by Rylee Swann
For a long moment, he and Alec shared in genuine appreciation of each other’s skills and camaraderie. As one, they began to close the distance between them, meeting in the middle of the ring. Still smiling, they shook hands. Shawn wasn’t sure who’d initiated the contact, but it didn’t matter.
“You punch like a goddamned hammer,” Shawn said.
“And you’re faster than a goddamned eyeblink.” Alec put a hand to his stomach, chuckling. “I’m going to be hurting for days. I think we could both use a nice hot shower. Come on. Locker rooms are this way.”
The hot spray on Shawn’s battered body felt good, soothing. And it gave him a moment to unwind, to replay all that had transpired over the last couple of hours.
Something bothered him, though. He wasn’t disturbed by the outcome of the fight so much as sensing a missing puzzle piece. Over and over, he thought through the details as the scalding water pounded out well-earned kinks and aches in his sore muscles. Then he had it. The aha moment. How had he not seen it?
“Alec,” Shawn called out above the noise of the running water.
“Yeah…?” Alec answered from a nearby shower stall.
“You played me, didn’t you? Acted like an asshole on purpose.”
The sound of Alec’s laughter traveled loud and clear over the running showers. “Are we going to have to punch it out again?”
Shawn allowed himself a small smile. Damned if he didn’t like this guy.
In a moment, Alec’s shower turned off and Shawn finished his up too, sluicing off any remaining soap and pushing his hair off his face. After toweling off in the small dressing space and donning his clothes, he called out to Alec once again.
“So, do I have the job?”
13
Rayna was sick and tired of being walked by anonymous strangers through this damned government building full of spies as if she were a dog. She might as well be on a leash for all the freedom she supposedly had.
Unexpectedly, the dark-haired man built like a marine, including crew cut, stopped at a closed door and knocked. Without a word, he spun on his heel and departed the way they’d come.
Rayna gaped at him for a moment before turning back to the perplexing closed door. She stood there, biting her lip indecisively. Looking around but seeing no one, she raised her hand to knock again.
This is too weird.
She pondered the situation for another moment, her arm still raised. The marine had led her here, and already knocked. That meant that she was supposed to enter, right?
She lowered her arm and gripped the doorknob. It turned without a squeak as she opened the door and stepped over the threshold.
A man sat behind a large metal desk. The person in the chair facing the desk turned toward her and caught her complete attention.
“Shawn!” she gasped, rushing to him. His face was bruised in a couple of places and a nasty cut above his left eye made her cringe. “Oh, my god, what happened to you?”
“It’s alright. Have a seat and we’ll explain.” He smiled up at her, a genuine happy-to-see-her smile, and her legs turned to jelly. She collapsed more than sat in the chair beside Shawn.
The man behind the desk cleared his throat. Alec. Of course. They’d gotten on better footing after their argument, but she’d never felt as comfortable again knowing that he could spy on her any time he wanted. She knew mistrusting him was irrational. Alec was a nice enough guy and probably wasn’t wasting his time watching her sleep, but she hadn’t gotten used to this spy stuff that he no doubt took for granted.
“Hello, Rayna.” Alec rolled his chair up to the desk, placing his palms on the flat surface.
“Alec…” She frowned. Alec was as battered as Shawn. “The two of you beat each other up?” Neither replied, and she glanced from one to the other, noting Alec’s sheepish expression and Shawn’s impassive one. “Well? Are we in even more trouble now?”
“No, nothing like that,” Alec said.
“Then what? I feel like I’ve been called to the principal’s office.”
Shawn touched her forearm and she spun back to him so fast vertigo hit, sending her heart into her throat, which beat there like a frantic bird. “It’s good news, Ray. I got the job.”
“You did? Really? That’s great!” She checked for confirmation from Alec. “Isn’t it?”
Alec nodded slowly, unsmiling. “I’m sending him out on a trial run. If he completes the mission and comes back in, he has the job.”
“Oh. But this is still good news?” Fear started to grow in her belly like a baby demon, clawing at her insides.
“Well, it’s a difficult mission. I’ve already briefed Shawn.” Alec cast his eyes downward to his hands, not meeting Rayna’s gaze.
“Ray.” Shawn tightened his hand on her arm when she didn’t respond. “Ray, look at me.”
She turned to him, her hands gripping the arms of the chair until her fingers turned white.
“It’s a difficult mission for someone like him.” Shawn jerked his head in Alec’s direction. “It’ll be easy for me. Believe me. You know I’m good at what I do. Come on.” He took her by the hand as he stood, bringing her up with him. “You hungry? We’ll go to the cafeteria. Get some food. Talk, alright?”
She stared up at him, openmouthed. “We can just...go?”
“Yeah, we have free run of the place until I leave.” He offered her a small lighthearted smile and squeezed her hand.
Rayna squinted into the stark whiteness of the nearly deserted brightly lit and sterile cafeteria when they entered. It reminded her of a hospital.
“What do you want?” Shawn asked, motioning to the self-help food line.
“Just coffee.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded, moving to the coffee station, and filled a white Styrofoam cup. Adding a dash of milk and a liberal amount of sugar, she stirred it thoughtfully. Shawn took a bottled water from a large free-standing cooler and led her to an out of the way table to give them even more privacy. They sat across from each other, a ghost of a smile playing on Shawn’s lips.
Rayna knew her face must have a worried expression. “What happened? Why did the two of you get into a fight?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. I see Alec bought you a new wardrobe.” He opened his water but left the bottle on the table in front of him. “Good.”
A momentary frown flitted across her face, but she carried on with his change of subject. “You like?”
She glanced down at her white tee shirt, tightening the side knot she’d tied in it.
“Frankie Say Relax.” He took a quick sip of water and pointed the bottle toward her. “You’re the very epitome of 1983 style.”
“Well, yeah. You know the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, right? I mean, it’s a cool song, and I love the shirt.”
He nodded his understanding. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s a timeless style. I’m almost positive that my mother has one of those shirts.”
She gawked at him, almost spitting out the coffee. “What?” She leaned in close to whisper, “Your Native American astronaut mother has this shirt?” She waited for a reply, but all she got was that ridiculously sexy yet infuriatingly smile. “I think you might be teasing me.”
“You’d probably be right.”
Rayna laughed, although worry still gnawed at her. “I forgot how funny you are.” Her sarcastic tone caused Shawn’s smile to grow bigger. She allowed herself to drown in his smile for a moment, her heart beating faster. “Why did you and Alec get into a fight?”
Shawn half shrugged. “You’re relentless, you know? We didn’t get into a fight.” Rayna snorted her disbelief, and Shawn put out a placating hand. “We did fight, but it wasn’t in anger. We sparred like boxers in training.”
She bit her lip, slowly shaking her head. “I don’t understand. Why?”
“You were giving him all of my information, telling him everything he wanted to know, and he needed something more. He wanted to see me in action. S
ee what I was really made of.”
“See if the hype was the truth?”
“Yeah, something like that, I suppose.” He fell silent for a moment, and then took another long drink of water. “I think he needed to know he could trust me. Not just learn about me.”
“You could have killed him. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Wasn’t that kind of stupid of him? I mean, it was a big risk, right?”
“Smart girl. It was a big, dumb, macho move on his part.” He leaned toward her, amusement lighting his handsome face. “He could have talked to me for days upon days, employing various psychological methods to try and find out what makes me tick, whether I’m on the up and up about all this. But he chose the quick route. He’s a man of action, and I appreciate that. If he’s going to work with me, he has to know I’ve got his back.”
“And, do you?”
Shawn didn’t answer for a long moment. Rayna bided her time, let him come to a determination he probably hadn’t thought out until this moment.
“I’m used to working alone, but yeah, unless he threatens my life, or yours, I have his back.”
Rayna let out a slow breath. “Good, I’m glad. He’s not such a bad guy when he’s not being a jerk.”
“You think he’s a jerk?”
She laughed, stirring her coffee out of habit. “That’s not what I said.”
“But it’s what you think.”
“Maybe I think men in general are jerks.” She glanced up at him, a teasing smile playing on her lips, and found an even more interesting one on his. “What’s with that Cheshire smile?”
“Was I smiling?” He tilted his head, allowing the smile to almost turn into a taunt. A subtle seduction.
“Gah, you’re infuriating sometimes.” She snaked out her hand, grabbed the little plastic lid of Shawn’s water bottle, and threw it at him.
In a blur of motion, he caught the lid right before it hit him. Like a cat. A tomcat. A dangerous and sexy feline of the male persuasion.
He leaned in close, bronzed muscled forearms resting on the table between them, until his lips were a breath away from hers.
“Sometimes? You think I’m infuriating all the time, don’t you?” He held out the bottle cap. “Wanna throw it at me again?”
Instead of answering and playing into his hands, she picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip. Shawn sat back, a look of triumph on his face.
Sighing into the cup of cooling java, she shook her head. “Please stop doing that.”
Shawn’s brows furrowed in what seemed to be genuine confusion as he squinted at her. “Stop doing what?”
“Playing me. Like you’re picking me up in a bar or something. We don’t have a lot of time. Can’t you be real, even for a little while?” Setting her cup down, she blinked back the threat of tears.
“Is that…” He frowned and pushed back in his chair, the scraping sound on the floor grating on her nerves. “Is that what I’m doing?”
Rayna made an unhappy sound in her throat. “You’re doing it right now.”
“No, Ray, you’re wrong.” He lowered his tone, and her gaze shot up at the sincerity in his voice. “I’m not doing anything. I...don’t know how else to be.”
All of Rayna’s hurt and anguish disappeared with those words. She’d forgotten for a moment not just who, but what Shawn was—an alien from another planet who’d had a terrible upbringing. One she couldn’t possibly begin to fathom. Not yet, anyway. She needed...wanted more time to understand him.
Pain darkened his eyes. Sorrow creased his forehead, slumped his shoulders. She bit her lip, empathy tightening her chest.
Tentatively, she reached out a hand and laid it with a feather touch on his arm. “Do you want to be different? I mean, with me?”
Slowly, he raised his eyes to meet hers. “I think so...yes.”
Rayna smiled even as a tear escaped and traced a path down her cheek. “Promise me you’re coming back.”
He held her gaze. “I promise.”
“No. Say the words. Please, Shawn. I need to hear the words.” Her voice broke and she lowered her head, swiping at the tears.
Shawn reached out his arm, hooking a finger under her chin, and forced her head back up. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Cry. Don’t cry, Ray. I promise, I’m coming back.”
She nodded as fresh tears fell. They would soon be a torrent. “Say it again.”
Shawn smiled, and it was the sweetest smile she’d ever seen, on him or anyone else. It told her how much he cared. How much he was trying.
He caressed her cheek, and she bent her head into his touch, but he’d already stood up. He came around the table, pulled her to her feet, and pressed her against the wall. “I’m coming back.”
For a moment, she shut her eyes. His warmth, his body caused a wealth of sensations to cascade through her, all ending at the needful moisture growing between her legs.
Oh, what this man did to her.
He moved in for a kiss, but she ducked, looking up at him. “One more time. Tell me.”
He planted his palms on the wall, one on either side of her head. “I don’t understand. This is what you wanted. This is what I risked everything for.”
“I know, I know. It’s stupid. Just bear with me, okay, please?” She choked back a sob. “Female humans. We’re a mystery. Tell me once more.”
“Third time’s the charm?”
The warmth of his body cradled her like a blanket, and she wanted nothing more than to wrap herself up in him. Her hands traced a path up his back, reveling in his power, his strength, as he flexed his muscles to keep from crushing her as he stood pressed against her body.
He bent his head close to hers, his breath tickling the delicate flesh of her neck. “Don’t be afraid, Ray. I’m coming back.”
He spoke in a low, gentle voice that made him seem even more masculine, if that was possible.
Before she could reply, he brought his lips down onto hers. He kissed her with slow, burning urgency, his lips pressing harder with each passing second. She opened her mouth to him and his tongue crashed in, leaving her breathless. His hand snaked under her shirt and she gasped into his mouth, his palm a burning brand that radiated heat through her where it rested on her hip. His thumb flicked back and forth over her flesh, raising goose bumps as their tongues danced.
He’d told her three times. It was stupid, she knew, but she took heart in his promise. That he’d indulged her at all. In desperation, she clung to him, her senses overwhelmed, lost in a moment that needed to go on forever.
But it didn’t. He squeezed her waist and broke the kiss. His eyes shone, and a smile teased his lips. She melted into his gaze and reached for another kiss, but he pulled back.
“We’ll finish this another time, Ray. I gotta go.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek. “Be good while I’m away. I doubt they’ll let you go until I prove myself to them so have fun with it. Make ’em buy you a car or something.”
He flashed a teasing smile before returning to his solemn expression. He seemed to study her, burning an imprint of her face into his memory before turning and striding from the cafeteria.
She shivered, colder now for his lack of contact. Fear gripped her heart as he disappeared from view. He didn’t stop to glance back at her, and she heaved a sigh of relief. If he had, she likely would have run to him, held on, not let him leave at all.
This was her doing. He was going on a dangerous mission to kill someone because of her. If he failed, the fault rested on her shoulders. She didn’t want to wallow in the sense of dread that she’d made a horrible decision that threatened to drown her, but it was difficult not to.
She didn’t know if she could live with the potentially devastating consequences of her ill-thought-out plan.
How was killing for the government any better?
What the hell had she been thinking?
She suddenly wanted to stop him. R
un away with him. Take him away from this life altogether.
But it was too late.
14
It took every ounce of restraint Shawn had not to turn and savor another look at Rayna as he left her in the cafeteria.
He fought the desire to go back and crush her body against his one more time, and dashed down to the basement level of the CIA building. Pushing open the door leading to the Olympic-sized pool, he stripped down to his skivvies, and then dove into the heated water, barely making a ripple. He’d longed for this, the need made worse when he’d discovered the pool existed, and entering the water gave him an almost orgasmic sense of bliss. He stayed under for two quick laps then rose to the surface as if to take a breath that he didn’t really need.
He wished for privacy, for no cameras spying on him so that he could remain under, but doing laps like a regular human swimmer would have to suffice. Stress and pain from injuries sluiced off him as he propelled himself with ever-quickening strokes to one end of the pool and back. He slowed only when someone entered the room.
He wished it was Rayna coming to see him the way she had in the hotel in Long Beach. He wanted more time with her, even if he didn’t quite understand the emotions driving the desire. Instead, to his chagrin, he sensed the interloper was Alec before he heard his name being called.
Shawn raised his head and treaded water in the deep end.
Alec stopped at the edge of the shallow end, beckoning for Shawn to join him. “Come on.”
Stifling a sigh, Shawn floated lazily in Alec’s direction, enjoying Alec’s furrowed brow and continued motions with his hand to hurry up.
“That was quite the goodbye scene you had with Rayna,” Alec said. “I got choked up. Might even have shed a tear.” His voice held a fair amount of sarcasm, although he kept his expression light. Shawn scowled as he walked up the three steps out of the pool, the only sound the dripping of water off his body, until Alec laughed. “Damn, man, lighten up.”
Shawn’s frown deepened. “Never tell Rayna how much danger I’m being put in. Understand?”
Alec stopped mid-laugh. “You’d rather I lie to her?”