Wild Fury_Fury Security

by Lindsay Cross

  Tomi nibbled on his earlobe, savoring the rush of feminine power as chills raced across his flesh. “You’re mine.”

  31

  That’s it. She was going to drive him crazy. He should be planning the mission, dealing with Stahl’s double-cross and all he could think about was ripping off those loose sweatpants and bearing himself to the hilt inside her.

  Tomi licked the shell of his ear. Cole closed his eyes in ecstasy. Fuck the mission. He had his hand in the waist line of her pants when Carter, not so eloquently, loudly cleared his throat. “I think I can wait until after we deal with the asshole behind us.”

  Tomi, the little minx, giggled. “Can’t handle the distraction?”

  Cole drew in a deep, long and totally useless breath. His attempt to get his raging hard on under control completely futile. With regret, he picked Tomi up and sat her on the seat beside him, and then for his own sanity, reached across her, grabbed the seatbelt and snapped it into place. There, that should keep her still for now.

  She arched her blonde brows in his direction, letting him know she knew exactly what he was doing and why.

  Cole wrapped his hand around her neck, pulled her across the seat and planted a firm dominating kiss on her lips. When he released her, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were dazed. Cole nodded, satisfied that he’d accomplished his goal. Then he turned back to his brothers, knowing that if he kept staring at Tomi all flushed and hot and needy, he wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing.

  “Call the team,” Cole said.

  Carter already had his phone in his hand. “On it.”

  Cole glanced over his shoulder, the second SUV was incrementally gaining on them. If they hadn’t been playing so close attention, they wouldn’t have even noticed. “Clint, put some distance between us and the car. I don’t want to get into a firefight on the road, not with Tomi in here.”

  “Roger that.” Clint’s hands ground around the steering wheel, a look of anticipation filtering across his face. The SUV accelerated, holding the distance between them and the car behind.

  Carter was nodding quietly into the other line. A moment later he hung up and turned back towards Cole. “That was McKay. He’s got Troy, Donham and Marsh with him. Hasn’t heard from Rico yet, but three of Stahl’s agents showed up. They set up a loose perimeter right behind them. Way it sits now, Stahl’s men have us in a killing field. They could pick us off like sitting ducks. McKay is going to stay put and distract the agents while the other three flank around and take them out. We should be clear to do this at the site.”

  “Not the perfect set up, but it’s the only choice we’ve got.” If Cole had his way, they’d move to an alternate location, bring the team in and ambush them all. But if they deviated from their path, Stahl would know something was up. He might move in and attack their SUV. Cole wouldn’t risk a wreck, not with Tomi in here. “How much further?”

  “Five minutes. The rate of speed we’re going, maybe four.” Clint’s voice slipped into that matter-of-fact tone they all did when they were on a mission.

  Cole couldn’t help but embrace the low hum of excitement swelling inside the car. It was always like this when they were on the edge of completing a mission. The adrenaline rush was addictive to them all, he wasn’t humble enough to pretend as though he didn’t enjoy this part of his job. “Tomi, I want you to listen, and I want you to listen good.”

  Tomi didn’t seem to be the least bit impressed by the visible excitement, her blue eyes were large and round and her face was pale. She had all the classic symptoms of a woman on the verge of panicking. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but he couldn’t afford the distraction. Not yet. “Are you listening?” He tried to use his commanding Dom voice to scare her out of her own immobility.

  “What the hell else would I be doing right now?” She answered in a waspish tone.

  He chuckled, “There’s my girl. When we park the car, I’m going to move you into the house as soon as possible. We can’t let Stahl know that we’re onto his game.”

  “Got it,” she nodded, “Don’t tell Stahl anything.”

  Cole pulled his pistol out of his holster and chambered a round, savoring the feel of the heavy metal in his hands. “No baby, not just that.” Cole re-holstered his pistol and gave her his full attention. “If he’s going to buy into the thought that we are still playing into his hands, you’ve got to play your part too. I’ve got to carry you into the house, keep you covered up like I’m trying to hide you, just like I would do if we really were trapping Luis.”

  “O-okay.”

  “Once we’re inside, I want you to get up next to something big and sturdy and hide. No matter what you hear, you don’t come out. You got that?” He reached across the distance and captured her cold hands in his.

  “What about you?”

  Even now, when she was in danger, she was thinking about him. His protective instincts surged. “I’m going to take care of Stahl. And then, I’m going to take care of you.”

  A faint blush stained her cheeks at his erotic innuendo. Damn, she was so fucking beautiful it almost hurt to look at her.

  “Turning in,” Clint said.

  Carter had his rifle angled across his knees, loading a round and readying his gun. “Ready. Get her inside, we’ll cover your back.”

  “Cole, I’m scared.”

  He hit the button on her seatbelt, and then pulled her across the bench seat and into his lap. “I’ve got you. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Not with me here.” He reached behind him and grabbed the heavy gray wool blanket from behind the seat. “Wrap your arms around my neck, keep your head down. I’ll cover you with this and get you into the house. After that, you hide just like I told you.”

  “Yes, sir.” He could feel her smiling against his neck.

  Cole gave her ass a light slap. “Smart ass.”

  “Ready?” Clint said.

  “Ready,” Cole answered. He yanked the blanket over Tomi, slipped his arm beneath her knees and waited for the SUV to slow. A large awning stretched out in front of the door, two flood lamps flanked each side, casting the stoned entryway in a soft glow, while the rest of the trees and yard faded into darkness around them. The FBI’s headlights flashed behind them, signaling they’d turned onto the drive. Clint pulled to a complete stop. Cole grabbed the handle and opened the door. He stepped out with Tomi in his arms and practically ran to the front door. He was inside before Stahl’s team could get out of their cars.

  Once he entered the residence, he passed the polished hardwood floors and dark green walls of the hallway and kept on moving, past a large den. Right before the kitchen, he hooked a right down a darkened hall. He ripped open the second door on his right, dropped Tomi and shoved her behind him and cleared the room. A large bedroom with a massive four-poster at the center along the wall. Beside that stretched out a heavy dresser. Cole propelled Tomi forward and pushed her down at the end of it. “Stay here. Don’t come out. Don’t come to the door. I will come and get you, no one else.”

  She had that terrified expression again, but she nodded, agreeing with every word he said. “Okay, Cole.”

  Cole planted a hard kiss on her lips, burying his hand in her hair. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him close. “Please be safe.”

  Cole kissed her again, returned to the door and switched off the lights. He slid his pistol from his holster and crept into the hall, silently closing the door behind him. There wasn’t a single other sound inside the house. The silence was deadly.

  In a crouch, he made his way down the hall back towards the kitchen. The dim glow of light filtered from the entryway but that was it. His brothers hadn’t entered yet, but neither had any of the FBI agents. Careful, in case he was walking into a trap, Cole crept around the corner back towards the front door. A tall, heavy entryway table flanked the left wall and he ducked behind it, leaning out to peer through the window to the right o
f the door. He could just make out his brothers standing casually by the car, talking to two agents Cole didn’t recognize.

  They didn’t appear to be the least bit tense, but his brothers were always ready. They could handle the agents just like Cole’s team could manage the rest of Stahl’s backup. The only thing missing from this picture was agent Stahl himself.

  He should be barging through that front door, or at least trying to get inside.

  Carefully, Cole made his way around the corner of the table and to the living room, giving himself a better vantage point to look outside and take in the situation. He still couldn’t find Stahl in the picture, but he caught Carter’s worried glance past the agent’s shoulders, as if he were looking for someone or something to come stalking down the drive. Something wasn’t right here.

  “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”

  Cole froze, carefully craning his head to look over his shoulder. Stahl stood in the doorway behind him, his 9-mm raised and aimed directly at Cole.

  Careful not to startle him, Cole turned to face his enemy. “All the symptoms were there. You wouldn’t help agent Wise. You showed up at my hideout unexpected and changed the plans. Might as well have changed your name tag to Benedict Arnold.”

  Cole didn’t bother trying to hide his sneer of disgust. Any man or woman that betrayed their badge wasn’t worth the ground they stood upon.

  Stahl sneered, lowered his head and stiffened his arms. His standard issue navy blue FBI suit coat wrinkled. “You were so easy, the way you panted after her like a dog in heat. God, why the hell they said you’re one of the best is beyond me.”

  Rage rolled around inside him and he embraced the familiar feeling. Stahl had seen his weakness for Tomi the moment he laid eyes on him. And he used it, bending it to his own goals. “They say I’m the best because I am.”

  Stahl leveled his weapon. “You don’t look so hot right now. All I have to do is squeeze the trigger and you’re dead.”

  Carefully, Cole straightened to his full height and angled his body towards Stahl, giving him less of a target to aim at. The large double open window was directly behind him. If anyone glanced inside, they’d plainly see him standing there. They’d have to really look to see Stahl in the background, pistol aimed at his head.

  “My brothers will be in here in a second.” Cole needed to distract him, figure out a way to maneuver him out of the house and further from Tomi.

  “Your brothers will be dead too. My men have been instructed to take them all out. Unfortunately, tonight, your new Fury Security Firm will suffer a massive loss at the hands of the cartel.” Stahl spoke with confidence, his overblown ego poking its head out.

  “You bastard.” Cole glanced rapidly over his shoulder, trying to assess the situation outside. His brothers had Stahl’s men on the ground, almost fully contained. Clint was in the process of landing a substantial punch when Cole turned his back on them again. He cast his own expression into a mask of worry, as if he’d seen something to scare him.

  Stahl tsked. “I see the brothers are no longer an issue. I told you, tonight you’re done for. Now, where is the girl?”

  Cole took a step to the left and Stahl countered, keeping an equal measure of distance between them.

  “She’s gone. I sent her out the back soon as we got here.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “You’re welcome to look around the house. I’ll wait right here.” Cole crossed his arms casually, while his insides were boiling with the need to kill the FBI agent.

  “She didn’t go out the back. I would’ve seen her.” Stahl glanced hesitantly over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

  Cole zeroed in on his ambivalence. “She didn’t go out the door, dumbass. You think I would’ve been so stupid as to send her out that way? She went out the back window in the west wing. You’ll never find her.”

  Stahl’s eyes widened a fraction as he stared down the darkened hallway where Cole had taken Tomi. After another second, he turned back to face Cole, his steel gray eyes calm and assured. “You’re lying.” He took a step closer. And then another. He kept his pistol raised the entire time. Only eight feet separated them.

  “You’re right.” Cole looked past Stahl’s shoulder then, nodding.

  Stahl jerked around, readying for an attack that wasn’t coming. Cole knew the moment he realized no one was behind him.

  Cole launched, diving for Stahl, he drove his shoulder into the agent’s stomach. Stahl let out a grunt but didn’t release his gun. Cole threw him to the ground, straddled his hips and let loose a punch. His fist connected with Stahl’s jaw, snapping the other man’s head to the side. Stahl rallied and flung the haymaker with his left, catching Cole’s ear. Stars blasted across his vision but he held on, slicing his fist straight down to Stahl’s nose. The agent turned at the last second, deflecting what would have been a devastating blow.

  Using Cole’s own momentum against him, Stahl rolled with the punch, tossing Cole to the ground. Cole immediately reared up, slung his leg around and tried to hook Stahl around the waist. But the agent was ready, he once again deflected Cole’s blow, raised his hand with the pistol in it and brought the butt of it down against Cole’s temple.

  The entire room blanked. Cole fought his way through the dizzying wave of pain. By the time he regained his senses, Stahl was straddling him with his pistol aimed straight between Cole’s eyes. “The mighty Cole Fury isn’t so mighty after all.”

  “No!”

  Cole craned his head backwards to stare in horror at Tomi standing in the doorway.

  “Tomi, run!” He yelled.

  Stahl lifted his weapon from Cole’s head, taking aim at his prize. Before he could react, a loud explosion rent the air. Stahl’s forehead exploded and blood splattered on Cole’s face. The FBI agent fell dead. Cole took the brunt of his weight on his chest, sucked in a breath and then rolled to his side, shoving the traitor’s body off of him. In his own stunned daze, Cole climbed to his feet and ran for Tomi, wrapping her in his arms.

  She shook uncontrollably and buried her face against his chest. His arms went around her, squeezing her, reassuring himself that she was okay. “It’s okay baby. It’s okay.” The front door swung open, and Cole, on high alert, shoved Tomi behind him, ripping his pistol to take aim at the intruder.

  Carter held his hands up. “It’s good. All Stahl’s partners have been disabled.”

  Tension coiling like whips around his bones, Cole shoved his pistol back into his holster and jerked Tomi back into his arms. “Who the fuck took that shot?”

  “I don’t know,” Carter said, “must’ve been McKay.”

  “Remind me to have a word with McKay. He isn’t good enough to take that kind of risk yet.” In fact, McKay wasn’t even a sniper.

  “Whatever you need to do, brother.” Carter lowered his hands. “We’re just gonna tie up these agents out here until we figure out who the hell they really do work for.”

  “Good. I want to talk to them, later.” Because right now he needed to attend to the woman in his arms.

  Tomi was shaking so hard it nearly made his own teeth chatter in response.

  “It’s okay baby, the situation is under control now.”

  “When I saw him with a gun at your head, I panicked. I’m sorry,” she stuttered.

  “Shhhh, It’s okay. Everything’s okay now. You’re safe.”

  “But you weren’t. You were almost killed!”

  “But I wasn’t,” Cole said with confidence, leaning back to tip her chin up so we could look into her eyes. “Stahl is dead, we are all safe. I told you, you didn’t have anything to worry about.”

  Tomi shuddered and ducked against his chest. Cole cupped the back of her head and held her there, savoring her sweet soft body pressed against his. “But we’re going to talk about you disobeying me. I swear you just took ten years off of my life.”

  She leaned back and gave him a wavering smile. “You took ten years off of mine, too. I
’d say we’re even.”

  Cole couldn’t resist the temptation. He leaned down and kissed her. “Not even close, baby girl. Not even close.”

  “Well, well, what do we have here?”

  Cole looked up in shock to see his older brother, Case, casually leaning against the front door.

  "Where did you come from?" Last he heard, Case was unreachable.

  His older brother shrugged, which with his massive chest, was like a giant shifting of muscle. "Heard my Tomi was in trouble."

  Tomi chose that moment to lift her head. She let out a small cry and rushed from Cole's arms, straight into Case’s. His older brother opened up wide, encasing her in a huge bear hug. Those two had always been close. Too close for Cole's liking.

  Case leaned down. “I see you're still getting into trouble."

  "Just a little."

  "Good thing I was around to save your ass," Case stared at Cole over her shoulder.

  Cole shifted his weight onto his right foot and glared. "I had the situation perfectly under control."

  "Sure looked that way from my vantage point."

  "So you took out Stahl." It wasn't a question. Case was the best sniper he'd ever seen.

  Again, his older brother shrugged, keeping an arm firmly planted around Tomi’s shoulders. With her petite frame, her blonde head barely reached the center of his chest. "Should've called me sooner."

  "I thought you were out on one of your hikes," Cole said, letting his brother hear the sarcasm in his voice. When Case went off on his own, he did not like to be bothered.

  "I was, but this was a mission worth coming home for.” Cole watched as Case lifted Tomi off the ground and she squealed with delight.

  Then his big brother set her back down on her feet, turned her around and nudged her back in the direction of Cole. “Go take care of my little brother before he has a hissy fit.”

  Tomi rushed to Cole and he willingly took her into his arms, all the while glaring at Case. "Next time, stay on your hike."