by Leslie North
“That’s interesting,” Boom grunted.
“Why?” Lee straightened, Mike and Andrew doing the same.
“Well,” Boom replied, “my analysts and I thought there might be a U.S. based or even Russian organization moving in on her, but that doesn’t make sense if the attackers are Icelandic. I’ll get the team working on this right away. In the meantime, keep her safe.”
Hanging up, Lee stared at nothing beyond the portal window. Too many close calls happened today and the culpability for the latest fell squarely on his shoulders. He’d been irresponsible. From now on, no more outings until this job was done. If something happened to Viktoria, he’d…
His first thought should have been about him failing and losing his job, but it wasn’t. This afternoon had changed so much for him. He’d already been drawn to her inner steel and sexy intellect. Seeing her relaxed and playing…then watching her step up like a hardened warrior…
He scrubbed his face. Shouting Timber looked more and more imminent. He’d already broken the hands-off edict, but like a dumbass, he’d also allowed his heart to get involved. If he didn’t get himself under control and stop breaking the rules, he’d lose his job as well as his heart.
11
Viktoria hit send on the email response she’d spent too long drafting and turned on the small TV mounted in the space above the desk. Instead of a familiar news broadcast station, she found a map of the United States filling the screen along with a plane icon showing their flight path as well as their destination in the bottom corner. Interesting, but not really. She turned the TV off and sat back in the simple computer chair.
She preferred the desk area in the main cabin but didn’t have the energy to maintain the unaffected façade in front of the other two members of the security team. The trembling finally stopped by the time she finished the hot shower, but flashes of memory still assaulted her. And not all of them were surrounding the kidnapping attempts. Too many focused on the amazing afternoon with Lee and the extraordinary kisses. God, Lee took her to another place with his mouth.
She shifted and the edges of the silk robe brushed her thighs.
For the last hour, she’d been steadily chipping away on the backlog of emails in nothing but short black silk. A sinful breach in work decorum, but she’d already broken so many rules today, why not another? Besides, no one would ever know.
Tap. Tap. “Viktoria,” Lee whispered against the wood. “You awake?”
“Yes,” she answered huskily, spinning the chair to face the door. Clearing her throat, she tried again. “Come in.”
Lee shut the door behind him and stopped in the middle of the room. Those incredible exotic irises she couldn’t stop fantasizing about zeroed in on her exposed legs. He swallowed hard, then traced his gaze up the length of her body to meet her eyes. A stillness fell over him and the air around him pulsed with tension.
Her nipples pebbled beneath the silk and she shifted just to feel the material rasp over the buds. Shivering at the tiny sparks hitting her lower belly, she placed both hands on the armrests, opening her posture for his inspection. “Is there something I can do for you?”
His eyes narrowed at the double meaning she purposefully tossed at him. “Instead of heading to the airport on the itinerary,” he answered, his voice low and gravely, the air filling with thick, exquisite danger. She wanted to provoke him to attack. “We’re detouring to a different location. I’m hoping this time, it’ll throw off whoever’s following us.”
“Good idea.” Her fingers trailed along the edge of the robe just above her right breast. “Do you know anything about the attackers yet?” she asked, not really paying attention, she only wanted a way to prolong the seduction.
His hands clenched by his sides, and she licked her lips at the way his tight T-shirt showcased his magnificent chest and rested on hips she imagined wrapping her legs around.
“We’re working in it,” he replied, his tone even huskier. “But they may be from Iceland.”
That announcement froze her fingers. “What?” She leaned forward. “Why would you think that?”
“Something I heard.” He shrugged, taking a step closer. “With that in mind, do you know who might be behind the attempts?”
“No.” Viktoria stood, encouraging the robe to gape at her breasts. The sleeves draped at her elbows and the hem hit her mid thighs. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Grasping the soft belt tied at her waist, she played with the material.
“Viktoria,” Lee growled, his body puffing as the air charged with barely leashed control. “I’m not allowed to touch you.”
Pulling the ends apart slowly, she stalked closer. “But you already have.” The bow unraveled.
A visible shiver stole over his large frame as his attention focused on the edges of the robe playing peekaboo with her body. “But I shouldn’t have.”
“Lee,” she drew out. “You want me.” She needed to hear him say he wanted her specifically for reasons she didn’t want to examine right now.
His nostrils flared and he inhaled noisily. “God, yes,” he croaked. “I want you, Viktoria.” The skin around his bruising knuckles whitened and her heart thumped harder. “Maybe when this is over…”
“This is my life.” The carpeting scratched her bare feet as she continued to stalk closer. “There’s always something going on.” She stopped a foot away and cocked her hip, forcing the robe to part enough to show more of her skin. “But, by all means, go.”
Gathering her willpower, she thrust her shoulders back to dislodge the robe. The material scraped over her skin as it soundlessly slipped to the floor.
His breathing stopped and he froze.
“If you’re not interested,” she continued, hardening her voice to hide behind its defense. She refused to beg, but standing before him naked and asking him touch her exposed more than she’d intended. “Walk out that door. I’ll forget this afternoon ever happened.”
Another growl rumbled Lee’s chest.
Rosy nipples topped full, perfect breasts budding so prettily, his mouth watered to taste them while creamy skin covered the hourglass figure that had taunted him all day.
Her chin inched up a notch and her blue eyes cooled. She tried hard to project she didn’t care if he stayed or left, but he saw the flashes of vulnerability. Saw the woman behind the façade. That woman, the real Viktoria, could play, laugh, joke, be a little bit of an exhibitionist and a warrior all rolled into one. A woman far too tempting for him to resist in so many ways.
Screw Boom’s edict and rules. If he was going down, it might as well be in flames.
“Like hell you’re going to forget my kiss,” he snarled and yanked her forward. She fell against him and he didn’t give her a second to get her bearings. He sealed his mouth over hers to remind her of what he’d never forget.
Her hands wound around his neck and she straightened. Pulling back a touch, she bit his lip, then licked the sting away.
He grunted, loving the burn of her teeth. “Take my shirt off.”
“Take your own shirt off,” she retorted, shifting to begin unbuckling his belt.
The urge to force the issue hit him hard, but he swallowed the argument on the tip of his tongue. Instead, he whipped his T-shirt off and met her blazing blue irises. “Untie my boots.”
“In your dreams.” She unbuttoned his pants and slowly slid the zipper down.
His dick bulged through the opening, demanding to be set free of his briefs. “If you want me to fuck you properly, untie my boots.”
“Properly is boring,” she purred, then waltzed to the closet. Opening the door, she fiddled with a suitcase, then closed the door again. Spinning, she held up a foil packet.
His heart fell a little bit more. She had her own goddamn condoms and was proud of it. When I have sex, I own it. He’d show her that he’d own her as much as she owned him.
Prowling across the short expanse, he crowded her against the wall between the closet and bathroom. �
�Free my dick,” he ordered against her neck, then licked and kissed the soft skin.
She lifted her chin, giving him full access, and exhaled, her body squirming against his. “Push your jeans down and I’ll think about it.”
Goddamn, this woman understood how to turn him on. “Touch me and I’ll get rid of my jeans.”
Warm skin caressed his back as she smoothed her hands up, then over his shoulders. Electricity shot through his body, pulsing his dick, making him so hard it hurt.
“Jesus,” he murmured, his self-control fraying. Jamming his jeans and underwear down, his cock bobbed free and yearned toward her.
Her eyes widened, then smoldered as she licked her lips and unabashedly traced her gaze over his body. “Another tattoo,” she whispered, then leaned forward. Her tongue glided over the black crosshairs inked over his heart. The circles and lines looked like what he saw when he peered through the scope of his sniper rifle. Or what he used to see.
Need rocketed straight to his balls when she used the tip of her tongue to flick over his nipple. He slapped the wall with one hand to keep from falling over and snatched the condom with his other. Her tongue traced a path to his left bicep, and she outlined to the Ranger Airborne tattoo he had filling the skin.
It was too much and not enough. The tattoos represented everything he thought he was and everything he thought he’d lost until he met this courageous, intelligent warrior woman.
“Last chance for properly,” he grunted, rolling the condom on.
Her hand gripped his cock just right and he groaned, resting his head against her shoulder.
“Fuck me, Lee.” She lifted her leg and wrapped it around his hip while guiding him to her entrance. Their heights were perfect, allowing him to push in without having to do anything acrobatic.
Warmth gripped him, ripping another groan from deep inside him.
She closed her eyes and lifted her face. “More,” she moaned, thrusting her hips forward to take him deeper.
The last bit of his self-control snapped. He forced her off-balance to give him all her weight, then he spread her legs wider and slammed all the way home. “Fuck me,” he whispered, dots blinking in his vision at the incredible feel of her surrounding him.
“Yes, please,” she answered, her nails digging into his shoulders.
And he did. So hard, the back of her head smacked against the wall along with the rest of her body, but he didn’t stop pumping into her. Harder and harder, he thrust.
Fire blazed in her blue eyes and she matched his rhythm. Then he saw it. “Come on me,” he ordered as he hit that perfect spot inside her again and again.
Her mouth dropped open and he lunged to capture her cries in his. Her channel pulsed around him and he couldn’t hold back. Euphoria robbed him of his vision as his orgasm pummeled forward.
Dropping his forehead on her shoulder, he tried to catch his breath and regain a piece of his sanity. Never in his life had he come so hard; never had sex felt so good.
“Told you properly was boring,” she murmured, then kissed him chastely on the side of his neck.
He chuckled and forced himself to step away, his legs rubbery and his body well spent.
She waltzed into the bathroom and plucked a washcloth off the rack. He gathered his jeans and underwear, pulling them up just enough he could waddle into the bathroom to get rid of the condom. Rolling it in toilet paper, he spied his button-down shirt hanging on the outside of the shower stall, looking much better than when he’d handed it to her. The steam had gotten rid of a lot of the wrinkles. He just hoped the fabric retained her scent.
“I’m going to take a quick shower.” He barely fit into the tiny stall, but he made it work and liberally used her soaps, loving how the fragrances kept her claim on him. Striding to his duffel bag still sitting on the edge of the bed, he dropped his dirty clothes beside it, then redressed in a fresh black T-shirt and jeans.
She sat in the computer chair in her sexy black robe, watching every move he made and he inwardly smiled at the way her body languished in the seat. Nothing of the proper, aloof woman remained.
Lacing his boots, he asked, “What did you mean before? That ‘there’s always something going on’?” Not the best “pillow” conversation, but he didn’t get the sense she wanted to wax on about hopes and dreams.
She stretched and shrugged. “It’s just a fact of my life. I have money and power, therefore I have enemies.” Pulling her hair from the silk collar, she met his gaze and her eyes softened. “In my culture there’s something called hamingja; it’s like luck, but not. It’s the cumulative success and baggage of the family line and everything else that goes with it.” Her palm flattened against her chest. “I inherited Father’s and Grandfather’s hamingja—the good parts and the bad. It’s just how my life is going to be.”
After fastening his belt, Lee strolled to her, then kissed her lips gently. “What about joy and love?” he asked softly. “Where does happiness fall in the equation?”
A strained chuckle vibrated her robe. “Happiness?” She shook her head as if confounded. “I was born to wealth and privilege, and invested with power. Responsibility is part of that equation, so I’ll have to make happiness out of that.” Her fingers scraped through the back of his hair. “Are you staying with me?”
He kissed her lips longer this time, riding the line of inciting the passion still simmering in his blood. He wanted her again and he worried that he’d never get enough. “I want to,” he whispered, knowing the longing was evident in this tone. “But I can’t.” He stole another kiss. “I may have broken the rules, but I can’t ask Mike and Andrew to lie to Boom. I should get back out there.”
Staring at the door Lee closed minutes ago, Viktoria played with the ends of the robe’s belt. Happiness. The kind Lee meant…the kind that some people had the luxury of pursuing…she’d never given it a thought before.
Could it be possible to have both happiness and responsibilities?
Tingles lingered in her body, and her brain replayed her adventure in town and her interactions with Lee.
Was it possible she already had both?
Picking up her phone to call her assistant, she couldn’t stop obsessing about the answer.
12
Sprawling in the soft leather recliner in the main cabin, Lee skimmed the Army’s letter on his phone again. He needed to decide if he was going to go to the ceremony or not. No question his teammates deserved the award, but what was his role there when he’d let them down? He should have seen the men who threw the pipe bomb before they reached his building. It didn’t matter that chaos reigned below, his unit had needed him to keep the enemy off their back and he’d failed to do that. Thanks to him, four of his fellow Rangers left with bullet souvenirs.
The bedroom door swung open, and he smashed his thumb on the screen to close the letter. Andrew, lounging beside him, jolted straight in his seat and swiped a hand over his short, wavy brown hair as he stared intently at the beautiful woman coolly crossing the threshold.
Lee swallowed back the urge to pound on Andrew until the man recognized Viktoria was his. Shit. His heart was getting more and more entangled by the second.
Mike rose from his recliner across from them and Lee got to his feet as well. He’d left her forty-five minutes ago and wished he’d been able to stay ever since.
Viktoria had fixed her hair, reapplied her makeup, and put on one of those designer dresses that made her look gorgeous, aloof, and unattainable. It made him want to mess with her just to ignite the fire and laughter that hid beneath.
“My friend Katrin is going to meet us at the airport,” Viktoria announced, stopping a few feet from Lee, wafting a cloud of wildflowers his way. The very ones he now smelled on his skin too.
Lee narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean your friend is meeting us?”
“She left a message while I was preoccupied.” Her eyes sparked and Lee knew exactly what she’d been doing, or more accurately who she’d been doing,
when the call came in.
“And how did she know where we’d be?” Lee asked, inching closer. He couldn’t tower over her, thanks to her heels, but he could invade her space. “No one is supposed to know where we’re landing. That’s the whole point of changing the itinerary.”
“Back off.” The pads of her fingers dug into his chest as she jab-pushed him.
“No.” He purposefully stepped forward. “Who is this Katrin and how does she know where we’re landing?”
Viktoria’s chin shot up and her eyebrows drew down. “I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
“When it comes to security, you do,” Lee shot back. “I’ve told you repeatedly, your safety comes first. Always.” He held her gaze and told her the same thing with his eyes, doing his best to keep from showing her he meant it on a personal level now too. He didn’t want to think about all the undertones and body language he and Viktoria were giving away to Mike and Andrew.
Viktoria remained silent for one heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Three—“I’ve known Katrin since I was eight years old,” she bit out, then relaxed her rigid frame without losing the fight simmering in her eyes. “Her father is one of our company’s main suppliers of wool, and they’ve been close friends in all that time too. She and I grew up together.”
“And how does that equal Katrin meeting us at an undisclosed airport?”
She paused as if considering, then re-met his gaze. “She didn’t say in the message, but I’d bet she reached out to my assistant, Aleta.”
“Let me guess.” Lee had a tenuous hold on his temper. “You told your assistant where you were, and she told Katrin for some asinine reason. Does Aleta not care about little details like confidentiality or how you’re in danger?”
Viktoria’s spine stiffened and the muscle in her jaw ticked. “It’s Katrin, not some random person on the phone.” She lifted her arm to point a finger inches from his face. “Stop insinuating Aleta is a criminal for sharing my location with my longtime friend. They’ve talked to each other over the years. Aleta knows we’re close.”