by Lexi Blake
“I think we should give those two some time,” a feminine voice said.
Dr. Ariel Adisa came to stand beside him at the small buffet that had been laid out for this morning’s conference. He liked the British team. Not that McKay-Taggart in Dallas didn’t occasionally cater in, but it was always something easy like donuts or bagels. Someone had cooked all this goodness and presented them with care. It was elegant and graceful.
A bit like the woman standing beside him.
“Yes, that was a bit uncomfortable, and believe me I’ve gotten used to the two of them fighting,” he replied. Since they’d been rescued in Africa, Theo had been having a hard time fitting in. He didn’t remember his previous life, and that included the woman he’d been in love with, Erin. Finding out he had a kid hadn’t helped, though Robert didn’t see the problem. TJ Taggart was cute as a button and Erin was…he was going to say strong, but that didn’t really describe Erin. She was a Valkyrie bitch goddess who could cut a man down to size with her mere stare. What she could do with actual weapons was far worse. He was a little grateful for Erin and Theo’s argument now because it gave him a chance to stare at the gorgeous woman beside him.
“He’s having trouble reintegrating?”
Robert was having trouble thinking. Words. He was supposed to say words. It was hard when mostly what he wanted to do was get his hands on her. She had the most beautiful eyes. They were big and kind, and he could get a little lost in those. “I think we’re both having some trouble. It’s weird, you know. I recognize that Danish. I know what to call it, but I can’t remember if I ever had one before today.”
“Your situation is unique. I’ve been reading up on it. The closest I can come is complete retrograde amnesia, and even then most of the time someone remembers the victim. They’re not left completely alone. They almost always have a family member who can come forward and fill in the blanks.”
Like Erin was trying to do for Theo when he wasn’t being a stubborn ass. Robert didn’t have that. No one had come for him. No one was looking for him. “That’s not going to happen for me. According to the Taggarts, they can’t tell I existed at all before Moth…Dr. McDonald caught me. I’m trying to view the whole situation as the ultimate do-over. Much of my life now revolves around trying to figure out what foods I like.”
“That has to be hard, Robert. I hope you’ll let me help.”
Robert was hard. So freaking hard, and he would love to let Ariel help him with that. When had he turned into this horny as hell asshole who couldn’t look at a woman without thinking about getting her in bed? He talked about being horny all the time, but she was the first woman he’d responded to this way. Visceral. Primal. A voice in the back of his head whispering that she could be his if he pursued her, if he didn’t give up.
So he was an obsessive stalker. He learned something new about himself every day.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but I’ve promised my therapist back in Dallas I would keep up with regular sessions,” he explained. He didn’t want to talk about therapy. He wanted to pretend for ten seconds that he wasn’t some damaged reject who needed daily sessions in order to function. He wanted to be a man who’d met a lovely woman at work and he could spend the day flirting with her and coaxing her into going out with him. He wanted to pretend he could take her out to lunch to one of the cafés that he’d seen from the car, where people sat in the sun and talked and ate and drank a beer and had a life.
He wasn’t that guy.
“Excellent,” she said. “We can start tomorrow. I think you’ll like it here. Are you going to apply for Master rights?”
He hadn’t thought about the fact that like the Dallas office, the London team was attached to a BDSM club. He’d seen The Garden the night before but there had been a ton of Erin and Theo drama and it hadn’t really hit him that he might be able to play while he was here.
Before he could answer, Ariel was shaking her head. “Or just rights to the club. We can always welcome another submissive.”
He felt his shoulders straighten and he was suddenly a bit taller than he’d been before. “I’m not a sub, sub.”
Sure enough her eyes shifted away from his. “I’m sorry, Sir. You never know these days.”
“No, I’m sorry. We’re not in the club. I pulled some Dom bullshit on you and I promised I wouldn’t do that. I’ve met some Doms who need to be in charge all the time and I’m not that type of top.” He was still figuring out the BDSM stuff, but he liked it. It had done exactly what Kai had promised. It had helped him find his center in one place in his out of control life.
God, what would this woman look like in fet wear?
Her lips curled up in the most delicious smile. “Then I’ll expect to see you on the dungeon floor, Sir. But remember I’m in charge in my office. We’ll have to find you the right play partner. I’ll think about it. I know all the subs. Lovely women. I’m going to get some coffee. See you later, Robert.”
She walked away and he couldn’t help but watch her. She was the only sub he would want.
And naturally she was the one he couldn’t have. Because she was going to be his therapist. She was going to listen to all his sad stories and tell him his life would turn out fine in the end if he was simply honest with himself. She would come up with ways to help him cope, and they wouldn’t involve shoving his cock deep inside her and riding her until he couldn’t any more and he filled her up.
“Uhm, Mr. McClellan, perhaps some ice water for you?” Damon Knight shook his head. “You don’t seem to need our coffee or tea to get warm.”
Damn it. He turned toward the wall to hide the fact that his slacks were tenting.
Knight chuckled and said something about wouldn’t this be interesting.
He reached for the water and took a deep drink. He definitely needed to cool off.
Robert took a deep breath and reality seemed to come back to him. He wasn’t where he’d been before. He’d been in the seat beside Ariel. Now he sat on the floor of the van, his head in her lap. She’d used one of the water bottles on him. His hair was wet, but the cool water had likely kept him from throwing up all over the van.
“Hey, are you all right, love?” Ariel stared down at him with worried eyes.
He managed to nod.
“It worked?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes. I’m better. Sorry.” He hated feeling vulnerable. He got back to his seat and glanced out the window. They were going super fast down what looked like an ultra-modern highway.
“It was the asparagus,” Tucker said. “It makes me sick, too.”
“Don’t mention it so soon,” Ariel admonished.
“Did we lose the tail?” He couldn’t think about what had happened or he would be right back in trouble again. He hated Hope McDonald.
“Absolutely.” Tucker gave him a thumbs-up. “Peter here is a race car driver and I learned that exits ramps are ass farts.”
“Ausfahrt, Mr. Tucker,” Peter corrected. “And it’s good to have you back with us, Mr. McClellan. I’ll have us in Munich in no time at all.”
Tucker laughed and he noticed Owen was grinning. Morons. But it made him smile.
“Did you find a good memory to hold on to?” Ariel asked.
He reached for her hand. He didn’t have to be a macho asshole about this. He’d gotten sick. She’d been there for him. “The best.”
He sat back and relaxed. It wasn’t how he’d hoped to start the mission, but as long as she was here with him, what could possibly go wrong?
Chapter Three
Ariel stood outside the pretty building that looked absolutely nothing like the hotel she knew Robert had booked their rooms at. They were on a quiet street in the city that their driver had explained was one of Munich’s more upscale neighborhoods. The building looked like something out of a movie with its gold and green façade. She half expected a Victorian lady to step out for her daily walk.
Robert had his hands on his hips, staring up at the fou
r-story building. “This is not the Charles Hotel. Is this where Big Tag decided to put up Dante and Sasha?”
Peter nodded and gestured toward the building. “Yes, this is where Mr. Taggart chose to house you. It’s mine. Well, mine and Lina’s. We don’t actually live here, but you’ll find the accommodations quite suitable.”
She wasn’t sure that was a good idea. “I don’t know that we should break up the team.”
Tucker had his duffel bag over his shoulder as he looked up at the building. “I’m okay with staying here. It looks pretty sweet. Which floor are we on? Are there neighbors? Are any of them women?”
Dear lord. She should have warned their hosts about Tucker’s insatiable need to flirt. And do other things with every woman available. Especially hookers. Did she have any cash, and could that be expensed? There was a reason she’d been happy to let Kayla act as mother hen to the lads all this time. “Tucker, try to remember we’re working.”
He glanced back at her and that grim look she’d seen in his eyes so often lately was back. “I promise I won’t forget we’re trying to figure out how evil I am.”
Yes, maybe she would find a couple of women for him. Perhaps Peter could help. It couldn’t possibly be the oddest request he’d ever received.
“We can’t break up,” Robert argued. “I got us all rooms at a hotel near the city center. I’m in charge of logistics and everything is set up. We’ll pick up Dante and Sasha and be out of your hair.”
“I canceled the rooms,” Peter said as if he were commenting on the weather. “You will stay here. It’s much easier. Big Tag told me to use my brain. My brain tells me you should all stay here. We’re closer to Kronberg. It makes sense for you to be here if anyone in intelligence discovers you are in Germany.”
“You did what?” Robert asked, his voice going icy cold.
She stepped beside him, putting a hand on his arm. Robert was one of the most reasonable men she’d ever met. He tended to be cool and calm under pressure, but he’d had a day. He also took great pride in his work and didn’t like having his plans go awry. Peter was pushing some of his buttons and she needed to make sure he didn’t explode. “Peter, I think what Robert is asking is what happened that you would change his plans. He does handle logistics for our group and he’s excellent at his job.”
“I think what Robert’s asking is how Peter would like to be murdered,” Owen countered with a grin. He looked like he was excited about whatever was going to happen next.
“The answer to this is not at all, though if I had to choose I would pick head shot from a distance and completely out of the blue,” Peter replied, utterly nonplussed. “I’ve thought about this much. It’s why I got out of intelligence.”
“We’re staying here and not the hotel?” Rebecca adjusted her hot-pink cardigan as she slipped her arm through Owen’s. “I was looking forward to it. It looked really nice.”
Peter frowned. “My place is nice, too. Well, it was before you sent along the slobs. You must tell them they have to clean up after themselves. I am not a maid. And I changed the plans because the hotel isn’t secure enough.”
“They require a key to use the elevators.” Robert had spent time working on the plans. She’d watched him as he’d carefully laid out their accommodations. “Do you think I didn’t check it out? I had us on the eighth floor. You literally can’t get to that floor without a key to a room on the eighth floor, and I reserved them all.”
Peter closed the trunk door with a thud. “And I happen to know that German intelligence keeps an operative at that particular hotel. His name is Sebastian and he’s a bartender. He’s excellent at getting intelligence from the many, many wealthy and powerful people who stay there. They usually stay on the eighth floor.”
“Fuck,” Robert cursed.
“Well, we would have checked for bugs,” Owen pointed out, in sympathy with his brother. “We’re not foolish. We’ve got a full complement of anti-spy tech.”
Robert nodded, obviously strengthened by Owen’s words. “You’re right. We have protocols to deal with this type of situation. And we’ll stay out of the bar. I picked that hotel for a reason. Thank you for letting us know what to look out for. We’ll take Dante and Sasha off your hands.”
Ariel hated the fact that she was going to have to be the bad guy, but in this case Robert wasn’t being reasonable. It was precisely what she’d worried about when she’d made the decision to try a relationship with him. “Peter, would you take the others in and show them around? I’m sure we could all use some time to clean up.”
“Of course,” Peter said, walking to the door. “I think you’ll find we have everything you could need right here. Let me tell you a little about the history of the building.”
Rebecca sent her a sympathetic look as she, Owen, and Tucker followed Peter into the house through what looked to be the back door.
“I think we should talk to Ian about that man,” Robert began. “We don’t need a guide who walks in thinking he’s in charge of this mission.”
She stepped in front of Robert, lowering her voice. “I think given what happened on the highway, we should consider staying here.”
“I know your first instinct is to please those around you and you’re a bit conflict averse, but I’ll take care of this.” Robert put his hands on her shoulders. “I think we’ll be more comfortable at the hotel. It’s only a few days. I promise we’ll be careful.”
“I’m not at all conflict averse.” That might be a lie. She wasn’t normally. Conflict was natural, though she didn’t want to be in conflict with him. “And yes, I prefer to please, but Rob, I’m not a doormat.”
His hands came up to cup her face. “I know that. But I want to make this as easy on you as possible. You haven’t really been out in the field, and it can get stressful. I want you to understand that I’ll take care of you.”
It was sweet of him. “I’ve been in the field before. You don’t have to worry about me. Let’s talk about this. What Peter said makes sense.”
His hands came down as if he realized affection wasn’t going to win this argument. “We don’t know this man. We have no idea what his motivations are.”
He was trying to save their time together. She knew exactly what he was doing. “Ian knows him, and we have to trust Ian. He told us to listen to Peter. I know you had plans and they were lovely. But we can’t take the chance. We have to think about Tucker. If German intelligence figures out who he is, they might decide to use him as leverage to get Big Tag or Damon to share information with them. We need to be as careful as possible.”
“I can handle it.”
She hated it, but she had to put her foot down. “We’re not going to the hotel. We’re staying here.”
Robert’s eyes went stony. “Are you saying that as the head of this team?”
“Yes.” She wished he hadn’t forced her into this position. “Yes, I am.”
“Then I’ll get us moved in.” Robert turned and grabbed his bag. He picked up hers as well. “Lead the way.”
He’d lost his soothing tones. “Robert, we should talk.”
“If you’re worried about anyone seeing us here, we should get inside. Apparently we have nowhere else to go. I suspect Peter is going to suggest we stay inside tonight, so I’ll cancel our dinner reservations.”
“Is this some sort of punishment?”
“Would you suggest you and I go out when no one else apparently can without some serious oversight?”
He kept putting her in that corner. “No. I think it would be unfair for us to be the only ones allowed out. But we’re not going to hide the whole time. Rebecca needs to be in that café tomorrow to meet with the researcher from Kronberg. Honestly, we should probably spend the evening going over those plans. It might be a good idea to wait until we get back to London to revisit the state of our relationship.”
He stared at her with suspicious eyes. “Now that sounds like punishment.”
“It’s not meant that way.
We need to consider what’s happening. We’re having our first argument and it’s affecting the team.”
“Not at all. We’re doing exactly what you think we should. I’ll go find my room.” He strode toward the door.
She would have followed him but her mobile vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket and sighed at the text. Kim. It was from a number Ariel knew she kept for personal use.
Smooth moves on the highway, Ari. But we need to talk. I’ll be around. And have fun in the sex club!
Sex club?
Today was definitely not going the way she’d planned. She sighed and followed Robert into their temporary home.
* * * *
Robert stepped into the house and looked around. He’d expected to walk into an elegant foyer, but the place actually did look a lot like a hotel lobby. There was a front desk and a sleek laptop sitting on top. There were a couple of seats off to his left and a bar to the right.
What kind of house was this? From the outside it had looked perfectly normal, but most houses didn’t have reception desks.
He walked down the center hallway toward the sound of voices but not before glancing back to make sure Ariel had gotten inside.
He could have made it work. She hadn’t listened to him at all. The first chance she’d gotten, she’d taken control from him, and wasn’t that the way his life went.
They were being too cautious and didn’t understand that it was starting to rankle. His men were starting to feel suffocated. It was always the same rooms, same jobs, with no hope for anything changing. It was starting to get to him, too, but he’d had some light at the end of the tunnel with Ariel.
Now he would be lucky if she talked to him about anything but the job.
She closed the door behind her and he found himself at the end of the hall looking into a familiar place.