Hard Line

by Clare, Pamela

  “I’ll meet you in the galley. And don’t forget your radio. It won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t keep it with you at all times.”

  “Got it.” She unlocked her door. “Goodnight, Thor—and thanks.”

  He gave her a smile that made her breath catch—and walked away.

  She flicked on her light, locked her door behind her, and flopped onto her bed.

  Good God.

  How could she be so stupid?

  She had a full-blown crush on Thor Isaksen.

  * * *

  Thor got into bed and closed his eyes, images of Samantha running through his mind. Samantha in tears at her friend’s memorial service. Samantha looking terrified on the flight back from the crash site. Samantha concentrating as she did calibrations on the SPT. Samantha’s face alight with passion when she talked about galaxy clusters. Samantha blushing like a teenage girl when he’d caught her checking out his cock.

  She was a mass of contradictions. A razor-sharp mind and confident when it came to her field of study. Reserved and insecure when it came to her sense of herself as a woman. Was that the result of being bullied as a kid? Did she truly believe she wasn’t attractive? That’s not exactly what she’d said, to be sure, but she had implied it.

  If I had a body like Kristi’s, maybe…

  Thor had been serious when he’d said Kristi had nothing on her. He’d seen Kristi, and she was sexy—sweet face, dark hair, light brown skin, round ass, full breasts with dark nipples. But he didn’t need to see Samantha naked to know he’d find her sexy, too. Despite her layers and winter clothes, he could tell she was willowy like a dancer. Her breasts were small, and he loved the sweetness of small, delicate breasts.

  Heat rushed to his groin.

  Stop thinking about her breasts.

  He needed to focus on his job, not Samantha. Tower had trusted him enough to place him in command of this operation, and he didn’t want to fail.

  He willed himself to think of something else.

  Russerne. The Russians.

  He’d left Samantha and walked back to his room to find them gone.

  Segal had given him a quick update. “I heard them out here wondering which room was yours. When I confronted them and asked them why they’d backed out of ice streaking and what they were doing here, they said they’d changed their minds and had gotten lost on their way to their rooms. It’s bullshit, of course.”

  “Of course.” But Thor would rather see them here, outside his room, than outside Samantha’s. He was armed and trained for combat. She wasn’t.

  There was one other thing that struck him. Vasily knew about Sirius. Thor had never met anyone outside of Denmark or Greenland who knew what it was. That meant Vasily must have some military experience.

  Or perhaps he was old KGB.

  Thor would check in with Tower, bring him up to date.

  He had just begun to drift off, a dream about the Antarctic sky and running naked coalescing in his mind, when the alarm on his phone went off.

  He sat bolt upright, grabbed it, and was on his feet when he saw.

  On his screen was a black-and-white image of a naked Jones undressing Kristi.

  Thor reached for his radio. “Jones, this is Isaksen. Turn off your fucking camera.”

  He heard Kristi giggle through the wall, watched Jones on his screen as he walked over, dick swinging, and switched off the device.

  The image on Thor’s phone went black.

  Hold dog kæft!

  Fuck.

  But that was just the beginning. A few minutes later, the soundtrack began.

  “Oh, God, yes! Ahhhh!” Kristi’s moans went on until Thor was tempted to pound on the wall or knock on the door. “Ahhhh! Fuck me! Oh, like that! Yes!”

  Listening to the two of them fuck didn’t do anything to cool his blood, his cock rock hard now. But no way was he going to get off to the sound of Jones getting it on.

  Her cry was quickly followed by Jones groaning.

  Great. They’d come. Now maybe Thor—and Segal, who could surely hear this, too—could get some sleep. He would have to talk to Jones in the morning. It was one thing to get laid during downtime on the job. It was another to keep the rest of them awake while doing it.

  Thor closed his eyes again. But thoughts of Samantha wouldn’t leave him—and neither would his hard-on.

  He took himself in hand and let himself imagine that they were alone in the Dark Sector Lab, peeling off each other’s layers. He pulled the pencil out of her hair, let the blond strands fall around her shoulders. Then he bared and kissed those sweet, small breasts until she writhed and moaned.

  He finished undressing her, kissing his way over her belly, caressing the flare of her hips, grasping the curves of her ass, tasting her. Then she undressed him, took his cock in hand until he ached for her. He sat in her chair, helped her straddle him, and buried himself inside her, letting her ride him until her head fell back and she cried out.

  He sucked in a breath as he came, climax washing through him in a rush. But the sensual heat of his fantasy was all too quickly replaced by cold reality.

  He cleaned the cum off his hand and belly with a tissue, closed his eyes, and fell asleep at last, his dreams full of Samantha.

  8

  Thor got up early and hit the gym to burn off fatigue and sexual frustration, going for a run on the treadmill and lifting weights. Then he took a quick shower and met with Tower from his room, bringing him up to date.

  “They said they were lost, but I don’t buy it.”

  “Neither do I. They were checking things out—the location of your rooms, how you’d respond, any potential security.”

  “Vasily, the one who speaks English, knew what Sirius was. When he overheard me mention it, he knew I was Danish. If we looked into his background, I’m sure we’d find ties to Russian intelligence, maybe the KGB.”

  “I already got the names of the Russian guests from Hardin, and we’re running them by our contacts at the CIA and DHS. We’ll let you know if anything pops.” Tower reached toward his keyboard, shared his screen. “In the meantime, care to explain this?”

  There was a photograph of Thor, naked, just before he’d stepped outside, Jones right behind him, dicks hanging out for the world to see. It was part of a blog post. “South Pole Adventures,” by Jason Huger.

  Den forbandet idiot. That fucking idiot.

  Thor would deal with him later.

  “Jones and I joined the Three Hundred Club last night, sir.”

  “That’s what it says in the caption. What the fuck is that?”

  Thor explained, making it clear that Segal had stayed by their rooms. “It doesn’t hurt the mission to do what we can to fit in here and partake in their culture.”

  “No, I suppose it doesn’t. And you’re both okay—no frostbitten dicks?”

  “We’re good, sir. Any idea when you’ll be flying us out?”

  “It looks like we’ll get a break in the weather in eight days, but that’s still far enough out that the meteorologists are just guessing.”

  “Understood.” Thor signed off and met Segal and Jones in the hallway, he and Segal sharing a glance.

  Yeah, Jones had kept Segal awake, too.

  Jones took one look at them and knew they were pissed. “Things got a little noisy last night. I hope we didn’t keep you awake.”

  “You did—along with everyone else in this berthing area.” Thor didn’t hide his irritation. “No one cares if you get laid on your downtime, but be discreet, man. We’re not welcome here, and last night did nothing to improve that.”

  Jones got a cocky grin on his face. “Can I help it if she enjoyed herself? Nurses, man. They know anatomy.”

  Segal glared at him. “Next time, tell her to keep it quiet. It’s not like she can’t control herself.”

  “Maybe I just blew her mind.”

  Segal snorted. “Do you think she carries on like that when she gets herself off? Nah, man. When a woman makes th
at much noise, it’s theater.”

  “Maybe that’s how it is with you, but no woman has to act when she’s with me.”

  “Fuck.” Thor swore under his breath. “Enough. Let’s get breakfast.”

  The two ribbed one another—quietly—as they walked to the galley, where he found Samantha sitting with Kristi, who wore blue scrubs for her shift. Their heads were close together, Kristi speaking excitedly about something.

  Thor had a pretty good idea what that might be.

  Their conversation ended the moment Kristi saw them. Her face lit up in a smile, and she motioned to Jones to sit beside her.

  “No embarrassing her,” Jones whispered.

  Thor shot him a look. “I wouldn’t do that.”

  “No, but he might.” Jones pointed to Segal, who rolled his eyes.

  The three of them filled their trays—scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, toast, bacon, coffee—and joined the women.

  Samantha’s hair was down for the first time since Thor had met her, her pale blond strands hanging to the middle of her back. Thor shouldn’t have noticed or cared—but he did. He wanted to touch it, to run his fingers through it.

  She looked up but didn’t quite meet his gaze. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning.” He sat, sipped his coffee. “Did you sleep well?”

  She nodded. “You?”

  Thor met Jones’ gaze. “Well enough.”

  Just then, Jason walked by, wearing his kitchen uniform, phone in his hand.

  In one move, Thor stood and grabbed it from him. “Hardin told you to quit taking photos of people without consent. I’ll give this to him when I see him later. We’ll see what he has to say about your latest blog post.”

  The kid’s face turned a furious shade of red. “Give it back!”

  Then Lance, who was sitting at a nearby table, got to his feet. “Jason, it’s your own damned fault. Hardin warned you. Don’t you have more eggs to scramble?”

  Jason glared at Lance and walked away. “Fucker.”

  Lance stepped forward, held out a hand. “I haven’t introduced myself yet. Lance Barclay. I’m the winter IT guy. Sorry for how I acted when you first got here. I’ve been pretty torn up by Patty’s death.”

  Thor shook his hand. “No worries. I understand.”

  “What was that about?” Samantha’s gaze followed Jason back to the kitchen.

  “He posted nude photos from last night.” Thor didn’t mind being seen naked, but he worked in global security. He didn’t need his face all over the Internet.

  “Nude photos?” Kristi pulled out her phone to look. “Hey, that’s me! He posted naked photos of me! Jason, you ass! You need to take this post down—now! Shit. I need to go. See you later, Sam. You, too, Malik.”

  Jones watched her walk away, making Segal roll his eyes once more.

  With Kristi gone, Thor went through the plan for the day. Segal, as the only Russian speaker, would get to know their new friends. Thor would accompany Samantha to the Dark Sector Lab this morning, while Jones joined her in the afternoon. This arrangement wasn’t just about Samantha’s security. It was about mission priorities. Thor needed to get some distance where Samantha was concerned, and Jones needed something to do besides Kristi.

  It was time for all of them to focus on their jobs.

  * * *

  Samantha had made a mental checklist of what she would say this morning. She needed to set things straight with Thor, restore her sense of dignity, and convince herself that she did not have a crush on him. But so far, she hadn’t said anything, trudging in silence toward the Dark Sector Lab, Thor beside her.

  It didn’t help that Kristi had shared explicit details of her night with Malik—or that Thor was so damned good-looking. He’d walked into the galley, and her thoughts had scattered, attraction hitting her like a jolt of caffeine. She’d been able to see the outline of his pecs through his dark blue Henley, for God’s sake!

  Okay, maybe that had been her imagination. But who could blame her? The memory of his naked body was fixed in her mind.

  Just start with the apology.

  She drew in a breath. “I want to apologize. I’ve been struggling to cope with everything that happened this past week and have been out of sorts. I’m not usually as unprofessional as I was last night.”

  “You don’t owe me an apology. Who said you were unprofessional?”

  “Uh… Well, after what I said …I’ve said a lot of stupid things since you arrived.”

  “Like I said, you’ve been through a rough time. Cut yourself some slack.”

  “Thanks for understanding.” Next on her checklist was mentioning her extra workload without Patty and her need to focus and not talk to him while in the lab.

  She led the way up the stairs, unlocked the door, flicked on the lights, and began to remove her layers. “There’s not a lot of things to do here, I’m afraid, especially now that Patty’s gone. I should have suggested you bring a book so you won’t be bored.”

  “You do what you need to do.” He hung his parka by the door, tucked his mask in its pocket. “I don’t need to be entertained. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s keeping myself occupied.”

  Okay, well, that had been easy.

  “There are chairs in the break room, and you know your way around, so make yourself comfortable.” She took off her parka and walked to her computer to check the detector readouts.

  Everything was working fine—except for the light above the desk. Patty had called it their alien autopsy light. They had planned to replace the bulb, but they’d never gotten around to it. It wasn’t something Samantha could do alone because the bulb was six feet long.

  Maybe Thor could help.

  She found him in the breakroom, making coffee. “Oh. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He handed her a mug, grinning as he read the words on the side. “‘Astronomers do it in the dark.’”

  Grief hit Samantha in the chest, an ambush of pain.

  Samantha accepted it, poured in creamer, and stirred, her throat going tight. “This was Patty’s favorite mug.”

  Thor watched her, his blue eyes warm with concern. “I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose a friend.”

  Samantha took a sip, swallowed hard, willed herself not to fall apart, not to cry. “Did you lose friends in combat?”

  He nodded. “Three guys I served with in Afghanistan, three good friends, were killed during my last deployment. We were tracking down a high-value target through an area with lots of opium poppy fields, and we hit an IED.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Thor’s gaze dropped to his coffee, his brow furrowed, his jaw tight. “I was blown clear. I had some shrapnel wounds but nothing serious. But three of my friends were killed. Mads and Felix died instantly. Lars died while I held his hand. I lied to him. I smiled and told him everything would be okay.”

  Samantha’s throat went tight again. “You tried to comfort him.”

  “Yeah.” Regret clouded Thor’s face. “There was nothing else I could do. Lars was ripped up. He was…”

  “I’m sorry.” Could she possibly be more thoughtless? “I shouldn’t have asked. It’s really none of my business. I don’t mean to dredge up dark memories.”

  “It’s okay.” Thor smiled, a sad smile. “You didn’t dredge up anything. That memory, the grief—it’s always with me. But I’ve had time to make peace with it. You haven’t.”

  Tears blurred her vision. “How do you make peace with it? I don’t know why she died. I didn’t get to say goodbye. She was okay one minute and then…”

  Thor reached out, brushed a tear from Samantha’s cheek. “Eventually, you quit asking all of those questions, the ones with no answers. Why them? Why not me? Could I have saved him? You accept that it hurts, that they’re gone, and you keep going.”

  Samantha sniffed, nodded, grief a knot behind her breastbone. “Can you… Can you help me change a lightbulb?”

  * * *

>   Thor carried his dinner tray to the small conference room, where he, Segal, and Jones could speak without being overheard. He took a seat, the scent of spaghetti and meatballs making his mouth water. “Where’s Dr. Park? I didn’t see her in the galley.”

  “She took a tray to her room.” Jones had taken over her security detail after lunch and had escorted her back to the station at the end of her shift. “She’s pretty down about her friend’s death. She wants to pack up the woman’s things so they can be shipped back to her family in November.”

  Thor knew from experience how tough that was. When Lars, Felix, and Mads had been killed, he’d cleared out their lockers and gotten their personal belongings ready to send back to Denmark. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done.

  He dug into his spaghetti. “Segal, how did it go with your new friends today?”

  “Their names are Vasily, Vlad, Dmitri, Oleg, Pavel, Iosef, and Maksim. I beat Vasily at pool and darts, and Oleg beat me at chess.” Segal leaned in, a grin on his face. “Get this—chess is banned at the Russian bases down here. Some guy got so angry after losing a game that he put an ice pick through the winner’s chest. It wasn’t the first time that a sore loser stabbed someone over a chess game.”

  Jones winced. “An ice pick?”

  Thor wasn’t surprised. “I met with Hardin today about Jason and that damned blog post. Hardin told me the Russian scientists are heavy drinkers. You know what else he told me?”

  Segal and Jones looked up from their plates.

  “He says he got several complaints that one of us got lucky last night and kept the entire berthing area awake. He made it clear that it can’t happen again.”

  Jones shifted in his seat. “Yeah, man. I get it. Sorry.”

  Segal jabbed a meatball with more force than was necessary. “If it happens tonight, I’m knocking on your door, brother.”

  Thor waited until he’d finished chewing to ask his next question. “What else did Vasily have to say? I hope you talked about more than chess.”