Extreme Measures

by Elisabeth Naughton

  Shit. Zane rubbed his suddenly aching forehead. “Well, I would ask her if she was here, but she’s not, so I can’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Zane sighed and dropped his hand. Man, he was so fucking gullible when it came to that woman. “What I mean is, she’s go—”

  The door to the motel room pushed open, and a breath of cool Pacific Northwest air swept into the room, followed by Eve, wearing slim jeans, a fitted black button-down blouse, and black ankle boots. In her hands she carried a drink holder and several paper cups.

  Relief spread through him like fog rolling across the ocean, and warmth seeped into his chest, dousing the ache that had started to grow there from her absence.

  “Archer?”

  Realizing Marley was still talking to him, he blinked and looked down at the sheet over his legs. “Yeah.”

  “Where is Wolfe?”

  “She just walked in. Listen, Marley, I’ll call you back after I talk to her.”

  “You do know how to keep things exciting, Archer. I will say that for you.”

  He smiled, feeling better by the second. “So do you.”

  He hit End on his phone and looked across the room. Eve’s back was turned toward him, and she was taking steaming paper cups out of the drink holder and setting them on the round, scarred table. “Who was on the phone?” she asked, not looking his way.

  Slowly, he unfolded himself from the bed, snagging the sheet around his waist as he moved. “Aegis.”

  “Worried about you?”

  “Something like that.”

  He tied the sheet together at his hip, stopped behind her, and drew in a whiff of her familiar scent. Her dark hair was tousled and messy, just begging his fingers to weave through it, and the way her ass filled out those jeans . . .

  The blood stirred in his groin all over again.

  She turned and handed him a steaming paper cup, then stepped past him, careful, he noticed, not to look him in the eye or touch him. “I couldn’t remember how you liked your coffee, so I just left it black.”

  “Thanks.” She was nervous. An odd sort of thrill rushed through him as he took the cup and turned to look after her. “I didn’t hear you get up.”

  She crossed the floor, sat on the end of the second bed, and tugged off her boots. “I couldn’t sleep. Look, we’re meeting my CSIS contact in a few hours and need to get going. I’m gonna finish getting ready. I got some food in case you’re hungry.”

  She pushed off the bed and moved for the bathroom. Surprise rippled through him when he looked over the selection. “You got me M&M’s?”

  “I got you oatmeal,” she called from the bathroom. “It’s called breakfast.”

  Bullshit. She’d gotten M&M’s too. Excitement slithered through his veins. He snagged the little brown bag and followed her into the cramped bathroom.

  She was bent over the counter, splashing water on her face, when he leaned against the doorjamb. Water slid down her creamy skin as she straightened, eyed him in the mirror, and reached for the towel. “What?”

  A one-sided grin curled his mouth. He ripped the bag open. “Nothing. It’s just . . . you got me M&M’s.”

  She rolled her eyes and swiped the towel over her face. “Maybe the M&M’s were for me, smart guy. Ever think about that?”

  He tossed a handful of the chocolate candies in his mouth, chewed, and moved in behind her. Swallowing, he dropped the open bag on the counter and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. “Mm, they taste good. But not as good as you.”

  A surprised gasp slipped from her lips. She tensed against him, pressing her hands over his forearms. “Archer—”

  He nuzzled her neck, loving the way she felt against him, loving the soft tickle of her hair against this face, loving the silly lift to his spirits just knowing she’d come back. “You have a photographic memory, Eve. You don’t forget anything. God, you smell good. Remember what we did with those M&M’s in Beirut?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Oh yeah, she did. He saw it in her eyes when he glanced into the mirror. “ ‘Melt in your mouth, not in your hand.’ We tested that theory, didn’t we? All over your body. I wouldn’t be averse to trying that experiment again.”

  “Archer.” Her stomach tightened beneath his arms, and when she gripped his forearms and squirmed, her sweet ass ground against his growing erection. “We have things to do today. We don’t have time for this.”

  He breathed hotly over the skin behind her ear, then pressed his lips to the supersensitive spot. A shudder ran through her. Releasing one arm from her waist, he slid his hand down her lower belly and over her jeans to cup her sex. “There’s always time, Evie.”

  Eve sucked in a breath. Muttered, “Shit.” Then her eyes slid closed. Her struggling stopped. She rested her head back against him as he palmed her, and she rocked her hips ever so slightly into his hand. “You make this impossible, Archer.”

  He smiled against her neck and kissed her again. “Make what impossible?”

  “This. Telling you to stop. You know this isn’t going anywhere, right?” Sighing, she ground against him, caught between his erection and his hand. “Oh God, that feels so damn good.”

  An uncontrollable urge to prove her wrong whipped through him. He let go of her, twisted her to face him, and then lifted her quickly and sat her up on the counter. Her mouth fell open in surprise, but he pushed her legs open and moved between them before she could close him out. “Look at me, Eve.”

  Her mouth slid closed.

  He braced his palms on the counter on each side of her. “Stop. Okay? Right now, just stop running from me.”

  She scowled. “I’m not running. I’m here, aren’t I? If I’d wanted to run, I’d have ditched you this morning when you were dead to the world.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Why not?” she repeated. “Because I told you I wouldn’t.”

  “More.”

  “Because you saved my life.”

  “More.”

  She sighed in clear frustration. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Archer. I’m here, dammit. That’s enough.”

  “No, it’s not.” It wouldn’t ever be enough for him. “You’re here, but you’re still hiding from me. I want to know the real reason you stayed. And don’t tell me it was because of last night. Because you could have easily fucked my brains out and then run from me this morning and never looked back. Tell me the truth, Eve. Let me in. Why are you still here?”

  She opened her mouth. Looked down at his bare chest. Pressed her lips together.

  “Tell me,” he said, moving in closer, until the heat from her body swirled around him to make him light-headed.

  “I . . . I . . .” Unease trickled through her dark gaze as it focused on his skin. “Because I . . .”

  “Because you care about me.” Her eyes shot to his. Wide, suddenly frightened eyes. Eyes that told him, Bingo! He was right. “Say it, Eve. It’s not a bad thing to care about someone else.”

  “I . . .” Her gaze searched his, and this close, he could hear the rapid beat of her pulse. “I . . .”

  He moved even closer, until his hips were flush against hers, his arms were circling her waist, and her legs were sliding around his hips. “Just tell me, Evie. I’m not gonna bite you. Well, not hard, at least.”

  Her hands landed against his bare shoulders, and she whispered, “I hate you, Archer. I really do.”

  He leaned in and brushed his mouth gently over hers. Loved the way her whole body tightened against him when he got close. “No, you don’t.” He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth. “You’re crazy about me. You always have been.”

  Her hands pressed against his shoulders. “Zane—”

  Pain zipped through his wound, but he ignored it. “It’s okay if you can’t say it. Just seeing how flustered you are this morning tells me everything I need to know.” He ki
ssed her jaw. Reveled in the way she started to relax, muscle by muscle. “And I’m a patient guy. I waited for you all these months. I’m willing to wait a little longer until you figure it out on your own.”

  He skimmed his lips to her ear, then slowly down her neck. And right then he knew what he wanted. Her. Back in his life. This time for good.

  She groaned, and tiny vibrations shook her body as he unbuttoned her blouse one button at a time, as he continued to tease her throat with his mouth and tongue and teeth.

  “You’re certifiable, you know that?” she mumbled, tipping her head to the side to offer him more. “Any sane man would run from me the first chance he got.”

  Grinning, he pushed the halves of her blouse apart, pulled away from her throat, and looked down at her perfect breasts, spilling from the practical, white cotton bra. “Yeah, well, my psych profile’s always been a little fucked up. God, Evie. You are gorgeous.”

  She straightened her head. Blinked several times. His gaze came up. But when it focused on hers, he didn’t see arousal. He saw sadness.

  “Zane,” she said softly. “You don’t know the real me. You know the person I was in Beirut, the one who was pretending not to be investigating you, and you know the woman you blamed for your injury when that op went wrong in Guatemala. But neither of those is the real me. Yes, I care about you, and yes, that’s why I came back. Because I don’t want to see you hurt anymore because of me. But incredible sexual chemistry—which we have—isn’t a real relationship. And it sure isn’t a basis for any kind of future. It can’t be, because you don’t know who I really am.”

  “So let me know you. Let me in, Eve.”

  She exhaled a long breath and looked over his shoulder. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t like the real me. And you won’t either if you get to know her.”

  He didn’t know what she meant. He only knew that she was moving away and erecting a barrier between them. One he thought he’d chipped away at last night.

  Carefully, she eased off the counter and moved out of his grasp. “Listen, let’s just focus on what we have to do next. I need to finish getting ready, and you need to re-bandage that shoulder. Looks like water got in it last night. The last thing you need is infection setting in.”

  He didn’t care about his shoulder. He didn’t care about anything except her. “Eve—”

  She held up a hand to keep him from reaching for her and stepped back. “No, don’t. Just don’t, okay? Let me focus on what I need to do today. That’s all I can handle right now.”

  If he’d seen confidence in her eyes or even challenge, he’d have grabbed her, shoved her up against the wall, and kissed her until all thought rushed out of her head. But he didn’t see that. He saw fear. Stark fear, over a truth he wasn’t sure how to argue against.

  She was right. He didn’t know the real her. Not all of her. And he’d been wrong about her before. If she let him all the way in and he didn’t like what he found, he’d be the one to blame for making things worse for both of them.

  But that didn’t mean he was giving up.

  “This conversation isn’t over, Eve. And whether you want to admit it or not, I know more of you than you think. I’m not the one you have to be afraid of.”

  He moved out of the bathroom, and she quickly closed the door at his back. But before it clicked, he heard her whisper, “You’ve always been the one I’m afraid of.”

  Eve’s skin felt three sizes too small.

  Sitting in the passenger seat of the Taurus, she shifted away from Zane and stared at the scenery whizzing by her window.

  She should have left. She shouldn’t have come back this morning. The more time she spent with him, the more he pushed her toward wanting a future she was never going to have.

  Forget this morning. She should have been smart from the first and left him lying on the floor of that warehouse loft as soon as he untied her from that chair.

  Her mind skipped back to the group of men who’d come barreling through that door, then to her meeting with Smith in Seattle. “Chechnya. I’ve never been to Chechnya. I’ve never investigated anyone working in Chechnya. So my being the target in Seattle couldn’t have been personal.”

  “Unless you know something you don’t know you know.”

  She harrumphed. “Okay, Dr. Seuss.”

  He frowned. “You can be a real smart-ass sometimes, you know that?”

  The hurt in his voice caused Eve’s gaze to slide his way. She watched the sunlight weave through his thick, dark hair, highlighting the strands and the bit of wave. His hair was longer than she’d ever seen it, brushing his collar and skimming his ears, but she liked the shaggy look on him. Liked the sexy scruff on his jaw from days without shaving too.

  Focus, Eve.

  She looked back out the window. “Yeah, well. It’s not easy being a woman in this business.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Whatever was on that drive is more than a simple list of compromised agents.”

  “What do you know about something called Project Thirteen?”

  Eve’s gaze shot his way again, this time in surprise. “It’s a top secret biological weapons program. Why?”

  He still didn’t look at her. His gaze was focused out the windshield, and both hands gripped the steering wheel, accentuating the muscles in his arms and the strength in his shoulders. “Adam Humbolt, the target in that Guatemalan raid, was a scientist supposedly working on some top secret shit for the government. Turns out, Humbolt was working on Project Thirteen, but we were told he was a chemical weapons specialist who’d been kidnapped while vacationing in the Caribbean.”

  “That cover’s a little convenient, don’t you think?”

  “Now? Hell yeah. Especially when I heard from Aegis this morning that ADD Roberts specifically requested Aegis be the one to go in after him.”

  That didn’t make sense. Eve’s brow dropped low. “Why would the assistant deputy director of counterintelligence for the CIA be involved in the rescue mission of a US scientist? That would fall under a different division.”

  “That’s what I want to know.”

  Slowly, Eve looked back out the windshield. There were too many questions. Too many threads to this that didn’t align.

  As they pulled into the parking lot of Lake Padden Park, where they’d agreed to meet Eve’s Canadian contact, Eve’s stomach tensed.

  The park was wide and green, with tall trees and a broad dog run. A running trail wound away from the parking lot and playground and into the woods. A handful of benches sat scattered through the area. Several young children swung on the swing set and ran around the bark chips near the play structure, and a few rambunctious dogs chased balls and returned them to their masters in the field.

  Zane shut off the engine and eyed the park. “Where’d you say we’re meeting her?”

  “About a quarter mile down the running path. She said there’s an old oak and a bench. Can’t miss it.”

  Zane pulled the keys from the ignition. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  The fine hairs standing at attention all along Eve’s nape screamed the same thing, but this was their best lead at this point.

  Grabbing the backpack from the backseat—the one Zane had had stashed in the wheel well of the car—she set it on her lap. She pulled out a Beretta 92G from the bag and handed it to Zane. “Those jam. Be careful.”

  He huffed as he took the weapon. “Not if you use them right, beautiful.”

  She rolled her eyes and checked the magazine on her Glock 17. “Her name’s Natalie.”

  He climbed out of the car without responding, and her chest squeezed tight as she watched his long legs filling out the faded jeans and that black T-shirt molding to his strong chest and abs. He holstered the gun at his lower back and pulled the shirt over the butt, then swung the backpack over one shoulder.

  He was upset with her over what had happened this morning, and he had every right to be. But it didn
’t change reality. And wishing she could rewrite the past so she could have a different future was futile at this point.

  Drawing a deep breath, she popped the car door and eased out. Cool morning air rushed over her skin, but the sun was shining, a sign the day couldn’t be all bad. She holstered her own gun and tugged her T-shirt over the bulge. Then she looked toward Zane over the top of the car. “Ready?”

  He grinned her way—a mesmerizing smile that lit up his whole face and warmed her belly. “Sure, baby. You want to swing first or go for a walk?”

  He was settling into their cover. Pretending to be a couple in love, out for a morning stroll. And while the thought of holding his hand electrified Eve, it also scared her to death.

  Be tough. Be strong. Don’t give in to stupid emotions right now.

  She worked up her own smile and moved around the front of the vehicle. “Let’s walk. I want to be alone with you, handsome.”

  He tugged on a Mariners cap and took her hand, his skin warm, the pulse beneath strong and steady. But she felt the tension in his muscles. Felt the way he was holding back after everything she’d said this morning.

  You have no idea how much I wish things could be different . . .

  The words were on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them when he tugged her toward the path. A dog barked. Nerves gathered in Eve’s belly when she realized heads were turning their direction.

  Zane’s fingers, intertwined with hers, shifted to her lower back, pinning her arm behind her. Then he stopped, tugged her into him, and lowered his head. “People are looking.”

  They’d talked about this. About the fact they’d be in a public place. That people would be on the lookout for anyone out of the norm. That Zane’s description was all over the news. But her face still hadn’t been made public by the CIA, and whatever they could do to keep attention off him as an individual was their only hope of not being caught.

  She’d known he might have to kiss her. That she’d have to pretend—again—to be his girlfriend or wife or lover. But the moment his head lowered and she felt his soft lips brush hers, creating a believable cover became the last thing on her mind.