"What are you, a loon?" she asked, using another quote from that scene.
He laughed, then groaned. "You like Python?"
She nodded as she dropped the coat to the floor. "See the violence inherent in the system. Help, help, I'm being oppressed."
His eyes were light, even though his brow was creased with pain. "I need some towels, a knife, and a sewing kit with some kind of alcohol to soak it in."
Syd scowled at him. "Oh, you are not seriously going to tend this on your own, are you?"
"The only other way is to cauterize it. In which case I need towels, a knife, and a lighter."
She stared aghast at his calmness. "You're just going to dig it right out of your shoulder all by your lonesome, huh?"
"It would be nice for you to do it, but since I don't trust you not to nick an artery and kill me, I think I should handle it."
"Do this a lot, do you?" she asked as she went for the towels.
"Only when I have to."
And that made her stomach clench. She grabbed two towels and headed back for him. In all honesty, she was worried about him. He didn't look good, but then given his current state there was little wonder about that.
"Lie back," she said as she pressed the towels to the wound. "Andre will be here momentarily with help."
"No!"
She glared at him. "Yes, Steele. We can't afford to have you die on us. We're compromised enough."
She could tell he wanted to argue, but he merely laid his head back and kept his jaw clenched.
Someone knocked on the door. "Housekeeping."
Steele had the gun up and angled at the door before she could even reach for it. She motioned to him to stay down while she approached the door, half expecting it to be the hired killer.
She lifted herself up so that she could see out of the peephole. "Yes?"
"You need extra towels and alcohol?"
She relaxed only a hair at the code words. Still, she wasn't foolish enough to trust them completely. She glanced back at Steele, who still had the gun up, before she unbolted the door and slowly opened it.
The maid came in slowly, with Andre one step behind.
Steele frowned at the small Hispanic woman in a cleaning lady's uniform as he let his arm with the gun fall to the side. Andre closed and locked the door.
The "maid" had an armload of towels, but instead of heading to the bathroom, she moved toward the bed. He watched as she set them down at his feet and unwrapped a doctor's bag.
"It's all right," she said to him as she moved to cut his shirt from him. "I'm Dr. Vasquez."
"I hope so," he said quietly. "I'd hate to have Alice dig a bullet out of my body. Call me crazy, but I don't think they teach that in cooking school. Not to mention I don't ever recall the episode with Marcia, Greg, or Cindy getting a bullet wound."
She patted his arm before she unwrapped alcohol swabs, then set about cleaning his injury. "I know the pain makes everyone snappish."
"He's always like this," Syd said drily.
He snorted at her. "Oh, I'm barely getting started. Just wait until the pain really gets bad."
Syd didn't say anything as she moved out of the way while the doctor prepared to give him a local.
"Any word on our friend?" she asked Andre.
Andre shook his head. "He lost the cops and vanished on the interstate. He was last seen headed north of here."
Syd sighed as if that information irritated her. "That tells us nothing."
"I know."
Syd looked back to where Steele was watching the doctor dig the bullet out of his shoulder. Her stomach shrank again. The man definitely had guts. She'd give him credit there. There was no way she could watch a doctor work on her without losing her lunch.
She turned back to Andre. "We're going to need a few supplies..."
"An M21 rifle," Steele said from the bed. "I also want a handgun, a butterfly knife, and a few smoke bombs. A coded, secure cell phone and a gym bag. I need a Swiss Army knife, clay, wire, and electronic lock picks."
Syd frowned at him. He was really starting to sweat. "How on earth can you concentrate while she's digging a bullet out of your shoulder?"
He gave her a droll stare. "Mind over matter. Not to mention the fact that I don't want to die right now. I've still got a few things I want to do, like shove my foot up so far up the assassin's ass that he tastes leather for eternity...ow!" he snapped as the doctor twisted the unnumbed part of his arm.
Andre shook his head. "Okay, I have his list. I'll procure a new car, dump the old one, and get started on everything--"
"Let us procure the car," Steele said. "It'll look more authentic that way."
Andre nodded. "All right, refresh. I'll get a car and park it on the street. I'll put everything in the trunk and lock it tight so that it'll look like you stole it. I'm going to assume you know how to hot-wire?"
Steele nodded.
Andre looked at Syd. "You two be careful."
"We will."
At least, she hoped. But it was hard to be certain, since neither of them knew who they were up against.
Syd let Andre out of the room, then didn't speak while the doctor stitched Steele's wound. His strength was absolutely amazing, and she had to admit that she was learning to respect this man. How had someone like him lost his temper to the point he took a shot at his CO?
It didn't make sense.
Which made her wonder what else had happened between them. What had the CO failed to mention, and what secrets was Steele keeping? She had to admit, she was a lot more attracted to him than she wanted to be. But how could a woman not be intrigued by someone who was so calm and capable in such an extreme situation?
She cocked her head as the doctor finished.
"He'll need someone to help him keep the wound clean," Dr. Vasquez said as she wiped the blood from his stitches. "I'm leaving an antibiotic, swabs, and dressing for the wound. Just make sure it doesn't get angry looking. We need to keep as much infection out of it as we can."
"Got it."
Dr. Vasquez handed her a small bottle. "I also have some oxycodone for the pain, but I somehow think he might not want to use it, since it'll make him drowsy. But just in case..."
"Thanks."
"You know, I'm right here, Doc," Steele said. "And I'm not stupid or deaf. I can hear you."
The doctor didn't say anything as she finished packing up. By the time she left the room, the good doctor again looked just like any other hotel maid.
Neither of them spoke as the doctor left with what appeared to be dirty towels.
Syd bolted the door before she returned to Steele, who looked like he was only one step away from passing out. "How you doing?"
"I've been better."
She could imagine. Syd went into the bathroom to get a cool compress.
After wringing it out in the sink, she returned to place it on his damp brow. "I'm sorry, Steele. I didn't know they'd do this to you."
His features relaxed as he closed his eyes. "It's okay, Syd. Who could have imagined that a man who heads up a company of paid assassins and mercenaries would be psychotic?"
She let out a disgusted breath. "Could you please lay off the sarcasm?"
"I can try, but I make no promises. I tend to excel at it."
Yes, he did. "Well, I guess if anyone is entitled to it, you are."
He opened one devilish eye to look up at her. "What a day, huh?" To her complete shock, he pushed himself up.
"What are you doing?"
"We can't afford to stay down."
Syd pushed him back. "I have your back, Steele. You need to rest."
Steele started to fight, but the sensation of her hands on his bare chest did something odd to him. It wasn't in him to trust anyone. It really wasn't, and yet some part of him was betraying that code even as he tensed.
He lay back down.
Syd smiled at him, and his groin jerked in reaction to the way her face softened. She put the cool compress back o
n his brow before she lightly stroked his hair. It was all he could do not to moan at how good she felt.
He hadn't had a woman take care of him like this since...
Ever.
It was true, he realized. Not even his mother had been allowed to coddle him. His father had been adamant that a boy didn't need any kind of sympathy. He'd been afraid of making his son weak. And most of the women he'd dated had been more into their own comforts than his.
"Other than your sister, you got any other siblings, Syd?"
"A younger brother."
He wondered if she'd ever done this for him. "Does your family know what you do for a living?"
"Not a clue. They think I'm a government insurance agent."
"Are they proud of you?" He wasn't even sure why he asked that, but some part of him was curious. His father had never been proud of him. There were times when he suspected that the man couldn't even stand being in the same room with him, and that was even before his arrest. Not that he cared. He'd come to terms with his father's emotionless state years ago.
"They are, but I wonder what they'd think if they ever knew what I really did for a living."
"I'm sure they'd be concerned for your safety."
She nodded. "What about you? Weren't your parents afraid of having a son in the military?"
"Hardly. My dad couldn't wait for the day I turned old enough to join so that he could kick me out of the house. My mom's the kind who would gladly hand me a rifle and tell me not to embarrass her as I head off to war. I think she must have been a Spartan mother in a former life."
She pulled the cloth from his brow.
Steele opened his eyes to find her staring at him with a strange, almost weepy look. "Is that why you don't go by your name?"
"Not really. No one ever really used it. My dad always called me boy, or son. My mom and sister used J.D., and all my friends used my last name just to jerk on me, so Steele stuck long ago."
She cocked her head as she wrinkled her nose at him. "You don't look like a J.D."
"No?"
She shook her head. "Besides, that has too many derogatory meanings."
"Such as?"
"Jury Duty. Justice Department. Juris Doctorate. Juvenile Delinquent."
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Rather appropriate. I am a felon."
She lightly stroked his cheek. "Maybe, but you look more like a Josh to me."
Steele reached up to cup the softness of her cheek. He focused on those lips of hers that always seemed to beg him for a hot kiss. "If I let you call me Josh, will you kiss me?"
"Steele...I already told you--"
He pulled her to him and cut her words off with a kiss. Steele sighed as he tasted the sweet warmth of her mouth. For a woman who wanted to put this morning behind them, she had a funny way of responding to his touch. She buried her hand in his hair as she tugged lightly on his bottom lip with her teeth.
And even though his arm hurt like hell, he knew that underneath that little skirt, she was still naked, and he couldn't help wondering if this kiss was making her wet for him.
Syd found it hard to think with him kissing her like this. What was it about him that was so addictive?
He deepened his kiss as he took her hand into his and led it to his cock so that she could feel just how swollen he was. She cupped him through the denim, taking care not to hurt him. She moaned at the size of him as an image of him in her arms tore through her. More than that, she remembered exactly how good he'd felt earlier.
He was right, she couldn't really put it out of her mind.
But she had no choice. Pulling her hand away, she withdrew from his lips.
She saw the look of disappointment in his eyes.
"I know," he said gruffly. "Not the time or place."
"Not to mention you're wounded."
"Yeah, but you know what they say."
She frowned. "About what?"
"You can't feel both pain and pleasure at the same time. Since I can't take the meds, you wouldn't want to ease my ache, would you?"
She made a disgusted face at him. "You have to be the king of bad come-on lines. Have you ever had a woman take you up on one of them?"
His look turned devilish. "All the time. Women love my debonair wit. Besides, it was worth a shot."
"You keep talking like that, and you'll have another 'shot' to deal with."
"Yeah, yeah." He reached into his pocket.
Syd frowned as she saw him pull out a wad of dark green fabric. Her face flamed as she realized it was her underwear. "Give me that!"
He held it away from her. "Let me put them on you, and I will."
"You've got to be kidding me."
He shook his head.
Syd glared at him. Honestly, it would be easy to take them back, but to do that would hurt his injury even more. It could even reopen it.
Just do it. Get it over with and get your underwear back.
It wasn't like he hadn't already touched her. That thought seriously backfired as she remembered exactly how good he'd felt this morning.
"Fine," she said angrily.
His dark eyes were taunting as he unwadded the panties and got up slowly. In all honesty, she couldn't breathe as she watched him kneel on the floor in front of her. With one hand on the wall to steady herself, she lifted one leg and inserted it into the panties.
She knew from his position that he had a perfect view of her underneath her skirt. It was strangely erotic, especially given the heated look on his face. She knew he was thinking of how she'd tasted earlier, and the truth was, she wanted to feel his mouth on her again. Her body was already on fire as she felt the moisture pooling for him. Licking her lips, she lifted the other leg.
Steele pulled the panties up slowly, rising with them until he stood before her. He pulled the hem of her skirt up all the way to her waist before he slid his hand down between their bodies.
"Look me in the eye, Syd, and tell me you're not wet for me. Tell me right now that you're not aching to feel me touch you."
She couldn't speak. He was right. Her body was absolutely throbbing with bittersweet pain.
As he tugged at her panties, his knuckles grazed against her sensitive cleft. She moaned in spite of herself.
One corner of his mouth quirked up as he released her underwear and ran one long, hard finger against her. She shivered as he wiggled it against the part of her that was swollen for him.
Steele wanted to shout in triumph at how wet she really was and at the fact that she wasn't pulling away from him. Dipping his head down, he kissed those plump, taunting lips. She clutched him to her as he slid his finger deep inside her.
So much for forgetting about this morning, huh? But he would never tease her with that. The truth was, he didn't want her to forget, any more than he wanted her to pull away from him. Pain or no pain, he wanted another taste of her.
More than that, he wanted her to ride his cock the way she rode his fingers.
His body burning, he'd started to reach for his fly when he happened to see a strange shadow flash on the wall beside her.
Syd whimpered slightly as Steele pulled back from her white-hot body. He was now looking at the window and not her. Scowling, she turned to see what had him distracted.
But before she could do anything more than twist at the waist, Steele sank to his knees and pulled her to the floor with him.
Three seconds later, she heard a pop in the wall. She looked up and went pale.
There was a bullet hole in the vicinity of where her head had been just a second before.
Ten
M ore shots splattered the beige wall as glass shattered from their windows and bullets tore through the cloth of the muted colored curtains.
"Fucking amateurs," Steele snarled in her ear as he pushed himself away from her so that he could put himself closer to his weapon. "Then again, thank God or you'd be dead."
Somehow that wasn't comforting to her. Syd quickly pulled her underwear up and her sk
irt down, and tried hard not to think about the fact that their assailant had most likely seen their little interlude through the scope on his rifle.
"Where's he shooting from?" Syd asked.
He gave her a patronizing look. "I don't know. You want to go look out the window and then tell me the answer?"
She gave him her own peeved stare. "I thought you experts could tell these things from the angle of impact and such."
He crawled on the floor until he reached his weapon. "I could if I stood up to examine the busted drywall. But personally, I'd like to live long enough to shove the barrel of my SR up this guy's--"
His words were broken off by more shots.
But those shots were enough to give her a clue as to where they were originating--from across the parking lot. Rolling to her knees, Syd rose and fired out the shattered window.
Steele cocked his head. "What are you shooting at?"
"Hopefully our attacker."
"Do you have any extra ammo after you exhaust that clip?"
She bridled at his criticism and the fact that he was right. Once the ammo was gone, it was gone.
Steele let out a disgusted breath as more shots were fired haphazardly into their room. "Why is he shooting like this? It doesn't make sense. There are too many witnesses to take such a chance."
She heard the sound of police sirens approaching from outside. "Maybe he's doing it to get you arrested."
He shook his head, and she agreed--that didn't make sense either. Since Steele knew about their undercover club, the last thing they would want was to take a chance on him telling the police about their organization.
So why the dramatic attack? It was as if the assassin wanted to get caught.
More bullets arched through the room.
She glanced to Steele as he cursed again. "You want to run for it?"
His face hardened as if he were ready to stare down the devil and win. "Not really. He's out there waiting for us. We hit the street, and we're ducks in a barrel."
"Isn't that fish in a barrel?"
"Don't fuck with my metaphors right now, Syd. Can't you see that I'm under stress?"
He had a point. But where did that leave them? They couldn't stay here with the police bearing down on them while they were under fire.
"Hotel security!"
Syd added her own curse to his as someone pounded on their door. What kind of idiot would do such a thing?
Couldn't he hear the...
The assassin paused his assault--most likely to reload, but he could riddle the door with bullets again at any moment. God help the idiot in the hall if he did.
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