Spy Now, Pay Later

by Diane Henders

  He stiffened, and I dropped my voice to a sultry tease. “I’m going to make you wait while I take my time finishing my food. And you’re going to sit there thinking about it the whole time.” I picked up a beer bottle, holding his gaze.

  Licked lazily around the rim.

  When I flicked the tip of my tongue into the opening of the bottle before closing my lips around it to take a drink, he groaned.

  “Aw, what’s the matter?” I leaned over to nibble up his jaw to his ear.

  Oh… my…

  Leather overlaid with the scent of gun oil and a hint of citrus. The erotic sandpaper of his five o’clock shadow stimulating my lips. That mind-melting salty/spicy flavour that was pure Kane…

  Thankful my moment of slack-jawed lust had been concealed by darkness, I murmured against his earlobe, “It’s all for our cover story. I’m just making sure everyone’s convinced you’d take me back to your place.”

  “Any man in his right mind would,” he muttered. “And if you don’t stop doing that, we’ll be facing public indecency charges when I take you right here on this table.”

  That breathtaking thought made my head spin, but I pulled back and ran teasing fingertips up from his knee, ending with a light smack on the inside of his thigh. “Behave yourself.”

  His hand shot out, his fist clenching in the hair at my nape. He dragged me closer, forcing my head back. “You forget,” he growled. “You told Parr I’m not a very nice guy.”

  His lips claimed mine, hard and possessive, his grip on my hair dominating me. I tensed, my hands bracing against his chest.

  Kane broke the kiss to pull me close as if ravishing my neck. “Are you all right?” he whispered next to my ear. “I didn’t mean to trigger anything…”

  Relax. This was Kane. Kane’s glorious chest hot under my palms, his lips drifting lightly down my neck…

  I turned to meet his kiss again, summoning a grin. “Don’t worry, you’re going to make that up to me.”

  “Oh, I plan to,” he rumbled against my lips.

  He deepened the kiss and I sank into the haze of lust. Our tongues tangled, my body igniting at the thought of a long hot night, unmarred by impending death for a change…

  A thump on the table pulled us apart.

  “Y’know we got rooms,” the waitress sneered. “Maybe you oughta get one.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled in the general direction of her receding back, my attention riveted by the plate of french fries, gravy, and melting cheese curds she had dropped in front of me. The rich scent of hot fat made my stomach twist with hunger, my mouth watering.

  Kane laughed. “I’m suffering a severely bruised ego here. If you looked at me like you’re looking at that poutine, we’d be halfway to my house by now.”

  “Sorry, I missed supper…” I began.

  “Don’t apologize. I’m joking. Eat.” He leaned back in his chair and raised his beer bottle to his lips, holding my gaze with hot eyes. “Trust me, you’re going to need the strength.”

  Hunger of another kind almost made me ditch the poutine and drag him out the door, but I contented myself with giving him a slow smile and turning my attention to my food instead.

  No rush.

  Tonight I could take time to savour the ache of anticipation. Let my need build…

  Under the table, his strong fingers kneaded my knee. I forgot to swallow while he worked upward, the heat of his hand burning through my jeans.

  “I thought you were hungry.” He gave me a devilish grin while his hand continued its northward migration.

  With circling fingertips.

  Ohmigod.

  I drew in a shaky breath. “I… uh…”

  His hand slid down to cup my knee again. “Hurry up and eat. I’m hungry, too.”

  I didn’t need to ask what kind of hunger he meant. It was burning in his eyes, practically consuming me where I sat.

  I shovelled in a few mouthfuls without tasting them. “Okay, I’m done.”

  “No, you’re not.” The wicked glint was back. “Not until you eat at least half that plateful.” He raised his beer bottle to his lips. “And I want to finish my beer.”

  “I’ll give you something better than beer.”

  “And I’ll take it.” He leaned close to growl in my ear. “And give it to you. Over and over. Until you forget everything but my name.”

  A wave of desire floated my eyelids half-closed, my breath easing out in a tiny moan.

  Kane chuckled, the low sexy sound vibrating my eardrum. “Which is why you need to eat now.” He sat back, smirking, and took another drink.

  “You…” My voice came out in a breathy whisper. “…are a very bad man.”

  He grinned.

  At last the bill was paid and we made for the door, stealing kisses every few steps. Outside, Kane’s arm tightened around me. “We’ll take my vehicle.”

  My mind still reeling from his last kiss, I began to demur but he silenced me with his lips.

  When we came up for air he rasped, “My vehicle. Now.” The raw edge of need in his voice sent a fresh burst of heat to places that were already verging on combustion.

  I hurried to his SUV and jumped in.

  The short drive to his house seemed to take forever. Reaching across to the driver’s side, I dragged my fingernails up his thigh to scrape lightly over his straining zipper.

  He hissed a breath, his knuckles whitening on the steering wheel. “Aydan, stop. I want to make it home at least.”

  I made small circles, feeling him swelling beneath my fingertips. “You’d better drive faster then.”

  “I’m… a cop. Laws… still apply…” The words grated from between his teeth. He gripped my wrist, immobilizing my hand.

  “You don’t want me to touch you?” I asked, my innocence slightly spoiled by the hunger vibrating in my voice. “Maybe I should touch myself then.”

  I slid my free hand up my thigh, parting my legs.

  Kane swerved over to the curb and slammed on the brakes, startling a yelp out of me.

  “If you don’t stop…” His voice growled low and breathless. “…you’re going to cause an accident.”

  I gestured at the empty street ahead of us. “It’s a small town. I think we’re safe.”

  “I didn’t mean a vehicular accident.”

  I leaned over to kiss him, easing my hand closer to my goal. “Would that be so bad?”

  He groaned as my fingertips brushed his bulging denim again. “No, it would be mind-blowing. But we’re thirty seconds away from my house. Please let me get there with my dignity intact.”

  “Oh, all right.” I grinned. “Since you asked so nicely.”

  “Begged.” He steered the SUV back on course. “I’m not too proud to admit it.” He shot me a look hot enough to melt every snowflake inside a ten-mile radius. “But it’ll be your turn to beg soon enough.”

  I shivered, my breath catching in anticipation.

  When we parked in his garage a few minutes later, he punched his seatbelt release and the garage door closer before lunging over to pin me to the seat in a ravenous kiss.

  My hands slid inside his jacket, roaming over those hot, hard muscles. His tongue parted my lips and I moaned into his mouth, knotting my fists in his T-shirt and arching to press my breasts against him.

  He fumbled for my seat belt button and grunted satisfaction when it released. Dragging me closer, he slid a hand down my back to knead my ass, the rough caress jolting more heat into my already-melting body.

  When he pulled back, I whimpered and clutched at him, far beyond the ability to form words.

  “Stick to the mission…” he rasped. “Surveillance… Get in the house.”

  “’Kay…” My voice was as hoarse as his.

  Somehow I managed to slide out of the SUV. Locked in each other’s arms, we performed a stumbling dance across his yard to the back door. He pinned me to the door frame beside it, kissing me breathless before unlocking his door.

 
; A couple of steps inside, he deactivated his alarm system and swung the door shut behind us, glancing at the blinking light on his answering machine. “Sorry…” he muttered. “Have to check this…”

  He pressed the play button and pulled me into his arms, devouring my lips.

  “Mr. Kane, this is Sunny Drycleaners…”

  He froze in mid-kiss.

  “…We’re calling to remind you to pick up the two shirts you left with us. This is your final reminder. If you don’t pick them up within forty-eight hours, we will donate them to charity. Thank you for your cooperation.”

  His body turned to iron in my arms.

  I stared up at him. “What? What’s wrong?”

  His hands closed hard on my shoulders. “Goddammit! Aydan, you have to leave. Now!”

  Chapter 24

  “What?” I goggled up at Kane, caught between frustrated lust and sudden fear. “What the hell-”

  “I’m sorry.” He pressed his keys into my hand. “Take the Expedition. Get your car and go home.”

  “I can’t, we’re under surveillance here and I’m supposed to be searching your house-”

  “Dammit, no damn blood left in my brain…” He scrubbed both hands over his face and gave his head a shake, visibly switching to tactical mode. “Fuzzy Bunny has remote cameras trained on the front and back doors of my house.” He hurried me toward the basement stairs while he spoke. “Go out the side basement window and over the fence into the neighbour’s yard. You can get to the back door of my garage from the alley. Take the Expedition. Leave it in the hotel parking lot. I’ll get it from there.”

  I planted my feet at the bottom of the stairs and refused to move. “If you need the Expedition, I can walk.”

  “No, take it; it’s cold out-”

  I cut him off with a gesture. “You need it, don’t you?” When he hesitated for an instant, I nodded. “Yeah, I thought so.” I handed him the keys. “What’s happening? How can I help?”

  Kane blew out a short breath. “I don’t know what’s happening yet. And you can help by leaving.” He jabbed a finger at the high window on the east side of the basement. “It opens on about four feet of space between my house and the fence. Their dog’s name is Max; black lab; friendly; not much of a barker. Stay away at least an hour. I’ll leave the window unlatched so you can sneak in again and go out the door for the cameras.” He unlatched the security bars and pushed the window open.

  “Wait…”

  Kane seized me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “I’m sorry for this. I will make it up to you, I promise. Go. Hurry. Be safe.”

  He pressed a kiss to my lips before letting go to make a stirrup of his hands under the window.

  “Be safe, too,” I whispered, and stepped into his hands.

  Several seconds of ungraceful heaving and squirming landed me in the dark recess between Kane’s house and the fence. Heart pounding, I hauled myself to my feet and took stock.

  The damn fence was a good six feet high, its smooth boards taunting me. I pressed an eye to the tiny gap between them, but it was too dark to see anything on the other side.

  Surely the dog would have been attracted by my struggles if he was outside. And I couldn’t see any lights on in the house. Small mercies.

  I clamped trembling hands on the top of the fence. Jesus, another workout. Just what I needed.

  Scrabbling and straining, I hooked one foot over the top and hauled myself up, stretching my mouth wide in a silent scream when I whacked my goddamn knee again.

  Perched atop the fence with the boards digging into my thighs, my breath puffed out on the cold air in steamy gasps while I shot a glance around the yard before lowering myself as quietly as possible.

  No barking greeted me, but judging by the smell the neighbours weren’t too fussy about picking up after the dog. And he’d been out recently enough that his latest contributions hadn’t frozen yet.

  Great, just fucking great.

  I scuttled along the edge of the yard, staying low against the fence. At the back gate I eased the latch open, wincing at its rusty squeak. Still no barking, thank God. I whisked through the gate and latched it behind me before collapsing against it to pant and tremble for a few moments.

  Then I blew out a long breath and dragged myself away from the fence to skulk down the dark alley, accompanied by the lingering stench of dog shit.

  A few houses down, it occurred to me that anonymity would probably be a good idea. Muttering a curse, I yanked my hood up to hide my face and hair. Then I spent several seconds grinding my boots into a snowbank trying to clean them.

  At last I set a brisk pace toward the hotel. The cold bit through my jeans, and the thought of the warm ski pants in my emergency kit mocked me. Smooth move, leaving the kit behind in the car. That’ll teach me to give in to lust.

  And speaking of lessons learned, didn’t something bad happen every damn time I even came close to getting lucky with Kane? Getting unlucky was more like it. Fights, explosions, plane crashes, court-martials… or was that courts-martial…?

  Whatever. But fate was probably trying to tell me something.

  I pushed that thought away and rubbed my hands over my icy thighs, picking up the pace despite the fatigue dragging at my muscles.

  What would Kane be doing now?

  He had probably left already, going into God-knew-what danger to respond to that coded message.

  I briefly considered calling Stemp, but discarded the idea. Kane would report his new mission, and mine hadn’t changed. Make Sharkface think I’d searched Kane’s house.

  After that, who knew? I hoped Kane and Stemp had a plan to appease Sharkface when I didn’t hand over the weapon, because I sure as hell didn’t. And my two days were ticking away.

  By the time I strode into the hotel parking lot twenty minutes later, my legs were blocks of ice and sweat trickled down the back of my neck inside my hood. Growling, I slid into my car and fired it up, cranking on the heater.

  It was hard not to feel conspicuous driving around the tiny town at ten-thirty on a Wednesday evening. Even after driving every street twice I still had time to kill, but I didn’t dare stop where I might be noticed. Keeping my fingers crossed that the hard-working populace were all in bed early on a week night, I orbited the town a couple more times, my shoulders slowly climbing up around my ears.

  The frigid breeze from the broken window did nothing to improve my mood. By the time I parked a couple of blocks away from Kane’s house around eleven P.M., my sweatshirt clung cold and clammy to my back and my legs had gone numb. I quivered out of the car and pressed the lock button before realizing how pointless that was with the driver’s window open to the world.

  Head down, fists jammed deep in my pockets, I trudged for the back alley, too exhausted to even swear. Stumbling down the snow-rutted lane in the darkness, I pulled up sharply at the sound of a low ‘whuff’ from the yard beside Kane’s.

  “Oh, for chrissake, seriously?” I muttered.

  As if in reply the neighbour’s gate rattled against its latch, accompanied by more whuffing and some vigorous sniffing from inside the yard. And there was a light on in the house.

  I groaned, generating another soft whuff on the other side of the gate. “Shhh, Max,” I muttered. “Who’s a good boy?”

  That didn’t help. Max started scratching, his nails rattling against the fence boards like hailstones while he whined and whimpered.

  Shit, shit, shit!

  I hovered, pulse pounding. Should I run? Come back later? Max whined again and redoubled his efforts against the gate.

  “Max, shut up,” I hissed. “Shut the hell up!” Sudden inspiration struck. “Sit, boy. Sit!”

  The scratching stopped abruptly.

  I drew a shaky breath and eased closer to the gate. “Good boy, Max. Good dog. Sit.”

  Did I dare?

  Going into the yard seemed like an extra-special flavour of stupidity, but Kane had said the dog was friendly. I’d prob
ably be okay. And if I made some noise going back over the fence, the neighbours would chalk it up to Max instead of freaking out and calling the police…

  “Hey, Max. Hey, boy. Sit, that’s a good boy.” I reached for the latch with trembling hands.

  This probably ranked right up there as one of the stupidest things I’d ever done…

  I held my breath and lifted the latch, wincing at a squeak that sounded loud enough to alert everyone on the block.

  “Sit, Max…” I inched a cautious hand in the direction of the black shape panting eagerly inside the gate. When a cold wet nose nudged my hand and a warm tongue slurped in its wake, I sidled a little closer, blocking the opening with my body. “Good boy, Max. Sit.”

  I was almost inside the yard when a sudden thump nearly rocketed my heart out of my chest. The series of rhythmic thumps that followed made me gasp a hysterical little giggle.

  “He’s such a good boy. Maxie’s such a good boy. Sit…” I quavered, and Max’s tail thumped even harder against the fence.

  I edged the gate shut behind me, wincing again at the squeal of the latch. Tearing my attention away from the dog and the gate for the first time, my heart froze when I glanced up at the window.

  Sock feet propped on his coffee table, a man sat facing me, bathed in the flickering glow of his television. If he transferred his attention away from the screen for even a moment, my black parka would show up against his white fence like a dog turd in the snow.

  “Keep sitting, Max. Good boy.” My whisper was so high-pitched the dog was probably the only one capable of hearing it.

  Paralyzed, I stood vacillating between making a mad dash for the side of the house or easing my way over slowly so I wouldn’t attract attention.

  Max whuffed and rose to lean against my legs, his tail whipping the air.

  Okay, a black dog against a white fence. Camouflage.

  I hunched down to creep along the fence line, trying to make myself approximately dog-sized. Surely the owners were so used to seeing Max moving around out here that they wouldn’t be alarmed.

  Nothing to see out here, folks. Just keep watching TV…