Harder Than Diamond Read online

  Coy’s brow furrowed.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I mean, it wasn’t her first affair. My childhood was happy before she left but I wasn’t deaf. My dad clung to the ghost of their marriage. He always loved her more than she loved him. It was only a matter of time before she did something selfish like this.”

  “Abandon her only child without a word?” Coy mused. “I thought you said your childhood was happy. Is that something a doting mother would do?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Shay snapped, suddenly angry. “Why does he care all this time later?”

  Coy pinned her with a stare, then asked quietly, “The question is, why don’t you?”

  He held her startled gaze for a moment, then shifted to stand and placed the bloodied cotton into the kit. When she went to move her legs, a firm hand held them in place.

  “I’ve come to terms with the fact she’s gone,” Shay explained sadly. “She waited until I was older before she did, so I have to respect her wishes, don’t I?”

  “And what if she didn’t run off with a lover? What if something happened to her?”

  Shay’s heart stopped. No, that couldn’t be. Her father was just hanging onto the past, unwilling to let his wife go.

  Oh Dad, why are you bringing all this up now? Why can’t you just move on with your life?

  But that was a question for her father, not for Coy, who continued to study her with those hypnotic eyes.

  “Nothing happened to her,” Shay breathed but there was a tiny thread of doubt in her voice. “Mom had a lot of secrets.”

  Several emotions passed through his eyes, all of them dissipating to a stoicism before Shay could identify one.

  “I come from a family of secrets too,” he offered lightly, allowing the subject to drop. “Do you remember?”

  She nodded, biting on her lower lip.

  “You lived on a compound like a bunch of survivalists, right?”

  Coy grinned and the hand on her leg began to massage her calf absently, his eyes taking on a faraway look.

  “Something like that,” he agreed. “We are survivalists, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

  “I thought about that compound often when I was younger,” she told him truthfully. “I often wished I’d gone with you that day, instead of being scared off by what I was feeling.”

  Coy’s smile faded.

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” he said curtly. “Nothing good would have come from it.”

  She nodded.

  “You’re probably right.”

  His fingers trailed along the smooth skin of her leg and Shay felt a flush of heat surge through her. Again, she became aware of him on a visceral level, her body responding to his nearness.

  She breathed deeply, inhaling the outdoorsy scent of him and her nipples ruched, the peaks hardening beneath the material of her top. Her cheeks stained red as if he could tell what was happening to her body.

  “But we keep finding one another, don’t we?” she quipped, trying to distract him from realizing she was turned on. “Like fate or something.”

  “Or something,” he conceded again, his eyes probing hers deeply.

  As he held her gaze, he leaned in and took her mouth in a scorching kiss that left her breathless. The surges of power that happened each time they made contact tore through her body, lighting her up as they moved to her core.

  Hunger poured from Coy, rocking her and spurring her own.

  It didn’t feel like a stranger kissing her, this was Coy. The friend that had touched her life whenever she needed him, even if it was just through emails. It was true that they hadn’t connected for many years, but he had been there for her whenever she needed someone to talk to as a teenager.

  Their first kiss, those many years ago, had been the prelude to this. This connection between them. This was Coy. And she was meant to find him. Somehow.

  The kiss went on for long minutes, while his hands journeyed over her body, discovering her sensitive spots, exploiting them. She groaned as his lips traveled down her neck and over her sensitive collarbone.

  Her hands slid over the rippling muscles of his broad shoulders, reveling in the heat that poured through their skin-on-skin contact.

  Wait a second…skin-on-skin…when…?

  Then he nipped the sensitive skin where her shoulder met her neck, and all conscious thought disappeared, like vapor in the wind. She sighed in bliss, giving herself over to his strong body and talented hands.

  Without breaking their kiss, he leaned back on the large sofa, dragging her over him. She felt the rasp of his body all the way down her sensitive nipples.

  His mouth took hers forcefully once again. Shuddering, she met his tongue, thrust for thrust. The kiss stole her breath, pulling her into a sensual swirl that she didn’t want to end.

  She moaned against his demanding onslaught, crying out as he squeezed her already sensitive nipples, creating a sensation that was so delicious that she felt weakened by it.

  What the hell was happening here? she thought, bewildered. How could I be reacting so strongly to this man? I hardly know him.

  Shay pushed up on her hands, bracing herself on his chest, as he slipped between her spread thighs. She cried out as she felt the hard length of him grind against her core.

  When had he removed his pants? Talk about superpowers…

  Never had she been kissed to the point where she didn’t know what was happening around her.

  Then he thrust upward again, and her thoughts scattered for the second time. Armageddon could have happened and she doubted that she would notice. She felt the muscles of his abs bunch under her splayed hands as he gripped her hips, holding her steady so he could grind his cock against her clit, tearing a desperate moan from her lips.

  “Ride me, Shay,” he ordered, his voice a commanding rasp that sent a shiver through her body.

  She lifted her hips until she knelt above him, her hands braced on his rock-hard stomach as he cupped her rear and lifted her until the broad head of his cock was positioned at her slick entrance.

  “That’s it, baby. Now look at me,” he growled, his dark eyes piercing her soul as she felt him slide a few inches into her. She eased lower, taking a few more inches as she indulged in the sensual haze that was enveloping her. The stretching sensation, the pain/pleasure burned through her, his size almost too much to take.

  Her head fell back on a cry of bliss as he thrust upward, driving another inch or two into her tight sheath. “Let me see your eyes, Shay,” he commanded. “I want to watch your pleasure.”

  She wasn’t sure if she could comply, the heat tearing through her was surreal. She just wanted to ride the feeling, roll her hips and revel in this bliss.

  Suddenly, a sharp little sting shocked her at the same time that Coy seated himself fully within her, a cry tearing from her throat as the fiery pleasure and pain of the hard impalement tore through her.

  Her eyes flew open, seeing the satisfaction in his gaze as his teeth held her nipple, his point being driven home in more ways than one. “Eyes on me, love.”

  “Oh God, Coy, please,” she begged, the sight of her tormented nipple between his teeth enough to push the first tremors of orgasm through her. She held his gaze as long as she could while her body shattered, then threw her head back with a cry.

  He groaned as he watched her body tremble, but her shudders were driving him higher, almost beyond his control. His hands cupped her rear, guiding her hips up and then slamming her back down onto his rigid length. Her scream of pleasure fueled him, and he drove her higher into a pleasure that only built stronger, hotter and more cataclysmic.

  Her second orgasm tore through him, the feeling of her sheath contracting, gripping his cock, so tightly that he couldn’t breathe for the pleasure of it.

  He growled as he continued to drive into her tight flesh. There was nothing he could do to hold back his own release and he shot stream after stream of hot come into her body.r />
  She squeezed her pussy around him, forcing another groan from his lips as their shudders slowly died off together.

  Their breaths were uneven, ragged yet completely matched despite the irregularity.

  Well hell, who is this guy and why has the universe brought us together? Again.

  As if hearing her thoughts, Coy propped himself up and looked at her, his eyes almost twinkling.

  “Well, it looks like someone is really trying to keep us together, huh?” he commented. “Like going out of their way to keep us together – for a long time.”

  She offered him a satisfied smile as his finger trailed over the silky skin of her breast.

  “I guess the universe works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it?” she mused.

  “The universe, huh?”

  She shrugged and nodded.

  “Who else? I mean what are the odds that my dad would hire you, of all people?”

  “I don’t believe in odds. I believe in facts,” Coy replied with some sharpness and Shay was taken aback.

  “Well, I don’t know how else to explain this,” she sighed. “Do you?”

  He didn’t speak for a long moment as he seemed to study her face.

  “Yes,” he finally said. “I do. What can you tell me about Oculus, Shay?”

  She stared at him uncomprehendingly.

  “The virtual reality tool?”

  Coy exhaled and sank back against the couch, shaking his head.

  “No,” he sighed. “I’m afraid it’s not that innocuous.”

  “What is it then?”

  Coy rose from the sofa, keeping her in his arms as he stood. He set her down gently on her feet, a feather-light kiss ghosting the top of her head as he turned away.

  She shook her head to dislodge the sexual bliss still riding through her and watched the muscles of his back and his sculped ass as he moved away from her.

  “Where are you going?” she demanded and he laughed.

  “If you thought you needed a drink before, you’re definitely going to need one after I tell you this.”

  Chapter 5

  When he had finished, Shay simply stared at him blankly, her expression unreadable.

  Well, what was I expecting? My story is pretty unbelievable too when I say it out loud.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in—” he sighed but Shay interjected.

  “No kidding,” she muttered, not meeting his eyes. She wrapped her long fingers around the brandy he had poured for her and a flash of concern spiked through Coy.

  I told her too much, too fast. But she had to have known something was up. She must have considered that her abilities came from somewhere.

  “So this Oculus…they’re a government agency?” she said, finally breaking the silence as she tried to process what she had learned. “What do they want with us?”

  “I don’t think they’re government funded anymore,” Coy explained. “I think once upon a time, they were a faction who had the full support of the US government but no one can really give us an answer as to who they are anymore.”

  “None of this makes sense,” Shay mumbled. “It doesn’t explain how you and I keep running into one another.”

  “It’s possible…but crazy…that it was by Oculus design. Over the years, my family has been looking into their motivations, their endgame, so to speak. Just when we get close to thinking we understand how this all started, a wrench gets thrown in our search, or our contact blows up, literally, and we’re sent off in another direction.”

  “That’s why you lived in that compound!” Shay said suddenly as a light dawned in her eyes, and Coy nodded. If he’d had any doubts about her involvement with Oculus before, they were dissolving completely.

  She’s just trying to figure all this out.

  “You must have wondered why you are the way you are,” he said gently. “What did your parents tell you about how you came to acquire your abilities?”

  Shay shrugged and shook her head, a look of confusion crossing over her face.

  “They skilfully sidestepped my questions,” she confessed. “Until I stopped asking about it. All my mom ever said was that I was special and that’s all I needed to know.”

  “Do you think your mom could have worked for Oculus?” Coy asked quietly. Her head jerked up.

  “First of all, I didn’t even know what Oculus was until you just explained it to me—not that I entirely understand. And secondly, do I think my mom is part of some agency that conducts human experiments? No. My mom is a lot of things but she’s not depraved.”

  Coy stifled a sigh.

  “Your mother could have been working for Oculus and not even known,” he explained. “One hand doesn’t always seem to know what the other is doing in that faction—for security, maybe, and probably because they know that people tend to have morality issues. She might have had a role and not even known it.”

  “I have no idea,” Shay growled, her eyes narrowing and Coy could see he had struck a nerve.

  Tread lightly. No one wants to learn their parents are evil.

  Not that Coy really had proof that Clara Collingwood had collaborated with Oculus, either intentionally or inadvertently. All he had was his gut and decades of investigating the organization.

  “I can’t do this right now,” Shay said suddenly, rising from the sofa, the throw falling away from her naked form to reveal her flawless body. Despite the somber tone of their conversation, Coy couldn’t supress the surge of heat from rising into his shaft as he stared at her, the desire to embrace her almost overwhelming him.

  But he wisely let her collect her discarded night clothes and hastily put them on.

  “Let me find you something else to wear,” he suggested but Shay shook her head, keeping her eyes averted.

  “It’s fine. I’m just going home to sleep anyway.”

  They both knew that wasn’t true. Neither one of them would close their eyes again, not after the events of the past night.

  “Why don’t you just stay?” he offered. “I have a guest room.”

  The notion of her sleeping in a guest room after what they had just shared was ridiculous, considering he still had her scent all over him, but Coy could tell she needed some space to think about everything he had dropped on her. He didn’t need to be breathing down her neck for her to do that.

  She raised her head and peered at him, meeting his gaze. He saw the indecision in her eyes. She wanted to stay, but there were definitely obstacles. After all, they had really only met again a few hours ago, in spite of how it felt like they had been together for years.

  “I-I have to work in the morning,” she explained weakly but he knew that wasn’t what was holding her back. She was weighing whether to trust him or not.

  “I think if any day ever warranted a sick day, it’s tomorrow…or should I say today?”

  It was almost four thirty in the morning and while dawn had yet to peek its head over the horizon, it wouldn’t be long before the grey light shone through.

  Shay smiled a bit and shook her head.

  “So, call in sick and then do what?” she sighed. “It’s not like I’m going to get any sleep after all…this.”

  “You could stay here and help me locate your mother.”

  Her eyes widened.

  “My dad obviously doesn’t want me to know anything about this,” she sighed. “What if he finds out we’re working together?”

  “Who’s going to tell him?”

  Acceptance appeared on Shay’s face but he could tell that it hadn’t taken much to convince her.

  “All right,” she agreed. “I’ll call in today. But I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

  “You’re selling yourself short,” Coy said, trying to mask the burst of elation he felt knowing she was staying. “What do you do anyway?”

  She eyed him warily.

  “I’m in finance,” she replied vaguely. “What do you do?”

  Coy hid a half-smile and reached for her glass to refi
ll it.

  “I’m in finance too,” he laughed. “Talk about another coincidence.”

  Chapter 6

  In spite of their determination not to sleep, the brandy did its job and by the time the sun had fully risen over Baltimore, Coy and Shay had fallen into a deep sleep, laced in one another’s arms.

  Shay had left a voicemail at her bank before practically passing out on the sectional. Coy had gotten back to the files that SHAY had downloaded before joining her, staring at her beautiful face until he, too, could no longer keep his eyes open.

  If not for SHAY rousing him a few hours later, Coy was sure he would have slept all day, inhaling the sweet scent of Shay’s skin.

  “Coy, you have a call from Roan,” SHAY intoned. “Shall I send it to voicemail?”

  Sleepily, he blinked and eyed his cell phone which was sitting on the coffee table just beyond Shay’s naked shoulder.

  “I’ll take it,” he yawned. Coy knew his cousin wouldn’t call unless it was important.

  “What’s up?” Coy asked, stifling another yawn.

  “Are you still sleeping?” Roan asked dubiously. “It’s almost noon.”

  “Late night. Long story,” Coy replied.

  “Aren’t they all?”

  “What’s going on?” Coy asked, trying to keep the impatience from his voice. He didn’t want Shay to wake up, her even breaths hot against the naked flesh of his chest.

  “We have a mission,” Roan explained. “All of us.”

  Coy’s brow furrowed at the words and he sat up without moving Shay. She stirred slightly but didn’t wake.

  “What do you mean ‘all of us’?” he asked suspiciously. “All of us who?”

  “The entire family,” Roan chirped and for the first time, Coy heard a strange note in his cousin’s tone.

  “Are you high?” Coy asked, his pulse quickening. “You sound funny.”

  Roan laughed and the hairs on the back of Coy’s neck rose.

  “Of course not. Where are you? I’ll send a car for you and Shay.”

  This time, Coy bolted upright, not caring if he woke Shay or not.