by Honor James
Smiling, he stood and pulled her up into his arms for another kiss. Grinning against her lips, he squeezed her close and even got in a little grope before he stepped back just as Peter came back into his office and shot them a curious look.
Hope was laughing right along with David when Peter came back in. She grinned widely, her hand slipping into David’s and simply standing at his side. “So, are we all set? The husband and I really do have plans.” Oh yes, wonderful and enjoyable plans too.
Peter eyed them up and waved a finger. “You two are getting way too into this role of yours. If I didn’t know you both better, I’d swear something was going on.”
David snorted and moved to take the decoy crate. “But you do know us better, Peter. Come on.” He shook his head. “We’re professionals, and we do the job to the fullest of our capabilities. Which reminds me.” He grabbed up the letter and handed it over to Peter to read. “We’re going to need some extra coverage for this meet. Stay back, but since we won’t be armed, having some friendlies there with guns wouldn’t hurt.”
Nodding, Peter folded up the letter. “Can do. I’ll keep this and see if we can get anything off of it.” He took the envelope Hope also offered to him. “I’ll have a couple of guys swing past the restaurant and then trail you back to the hotel. We’ll keep the team small that’s closest and have everyone else in the wings.”
“Sounds good,” David said, and even gave Peter the name of the restaurant they were apparently going to that evening. A quick round of handshakes and they were off with their fake painting in hand.
Hope was walking along at David’s side, smiling at the doorman when he opened the door for them this time. “Thank you,” she said with a slow and easy smile. Her eyes saw everything. Even though she looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world, she was watching for any trouble or danger.
Pulling out his cell, David only spent a moment alerting their driver. Guiding her out of the path of others on the sidewalk, he leaned back against the building. “We should stop by the hotel and change, maybe go for a lazy walk. Dinner isn’t until seven so we do have a few hours to kill, and I know I want to hit the market again if we can.”
“That sounds lovely. Place the painting in the hotel safe. They should have one, wouldn’t you think?” She knew that they did, and they needed to keep up the pretense that this painting was worth the small fortune paid for it.
“I’m thinking the vault would be better,” he said, hefting the crate. “This thing is not going to fit in your average safe, definitely not the ones in the rooms, so I think we’ll have to have them stick it in the main vault. Plus, it’s climate controlled in there, much better for a painting than anywhere near us and our showering.”
“True, very good point. Okay so we will ask them to put it into the vault. Very good thinking, darling.” She grinned and added, “And you love showering with me. And I’m grateful to you for it, because you know how I detest baths.” Or so she was going with, at least.
“Can’t blame you there, my sweet.” He smiled at her. “And we do have some of the best damn showers. All that water and soap suds.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “If only our feet didn’t get all pruney, we’d never have to get out. But that does then give us the option of other pieces of furniture for our sexual adventures.”
“Good point.” She grinned up at him and licked her lips. “Then again, the vanity is always a wonderful place, or the dresser, or, well, even the bed. The bed does have some marvelous perks, you have to admit.” She was teasing with him now, couldn’t help herself.
“Oh, it most certainly does. The fact that it has those posts spaced just right.” He chuckled. “I think I might need to tie you down again tonight, my love. See how long you can last my tongue lashing before you give in and scream this time.”
“I think that I might just have to let you. We both know how much I love it. This time with the blindfold again, though.” She could seriously get into seeing just how far he could take her. She knew that she would never, ever be left wanting and neither would he.
“Deal.” He nodded. The car pulled up to the curb just then, which was probably a good thing. Talking sex with David on a crowded street would only lead to distraction and unfulfilled want. At least back in the hotel room they could deal with it, but not where they were potentially targets. David handed off the crate to the driver and opened the door for her, taking her hand to help her slide in gracefully.
Once they were in the car, Hope moved so that she was close to David once more, her thigh touching his and her hand now in his. “I can’t seem to stop touching you,” she whispered. “That’s not a bad thing, I know, just something that I thought you should know.”
Lifting her hand, he kissed her fingers and looked at her. “I can’t stop touching you either,” he said just as softly. “Any excuse and I’m damn well taking it. From now on, Hope, so you’d better get used to it.”
“That’s a very good thing, because I’m going to use any and all available excuses that I can get to touch you as well. The more the better, in my mind. Even if it is just passing in the office, be ready for me to at least touch your hand.” Something, some sort of contact.
“That will definitely be part of my plan, too.” From the look on his face, she knew there would be much more. David was, if nothing else, creative when he wanted something. He’d gotten around the doctors and eagle-eyed nurses in the hospital several times just to get a cup of coffee. He could easily do the same with a bunch of coworkers, especially since they so often worked together in close quarters.
“Good because I know that we will work it out, even if we have to move our offices closer together and cut a door between them. I’m not going to go an entire day without touching you and I darn tootin’ well mean it, mister man.”
“And there is the exact reason why you never had the office next door to mine,” he said softly. Lifting her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers. “It’s a storage room right now, but it could be an office right quick and, bonus, I know, there is a connecting door. It’s just hidden behind that bookcase I have in there,” he admitted.
“That’s a very good thing.” She laughed and shook her head. “Okay, did you already have this planned? Did you have that planned to put me into that storage room, and that’s why you put the door in there? And bonus, no window out into the office, so you could come to visit me anytime that you would, darling, and we could get naked in the middle of the day.”
“Actually it always was an office. There’s just some drywall up over the windows to protect them that would take maybe ten minutes to pull down. And there are even windows to the outside world in there as well. I just had it made into a storage room when you started there because I knew that if you picked that for your office, I’d either have been brought up on murder charges or you’d have been brought up on murder charges.”
“Or we both would have been caught fucking like bunnies on the clock and fired.” Because he was right, it would have ended in one of the three ways. Him killing her, her killing him, or them fucking like rabbits.
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Technically we’re on the clock now, sweetheart. And we’ve been giving those bunnies a run for their money, all things considered.” Not that anyone was the wiser, of course. Anyone they worked with would assume they were putting on a show, going through the motions without actually having sex. Little did they know that they would be seriously wrong.
“Good point. Well, all that matters is that we are keeping up our cover, right?” she asked with a laugh. “We do need to do some investigation into how we will be able to continue this life together after we get home, you know that, right?”
“I know.” He looked at her, straight on. “I know this won’t be easy for us, Hope. They have rules in place for a reason but right now, all I can think is that they are going to seriously chafe. We will figure it out, whatever it takes for us to remain together and have our life. Promise,” he said in a low tone,
his eyes on the driver for part of what he said before looking at her as they came to a stop at the curb in front of the hotel.
“Whatever it takes,” she agreed softly. When they stopped, she didn’t say another word but instead just slid back into the facade of the woman she was playing. Sliding out after him, she slipped her sunglasses on and smiled. “All right, darling, let’s get that tucked away nicely and then perhaps go for dinner?”
Nodding, he accepted the crate from the driver and thanked the man. Walking into the hotel with her close, he led her right over to the concierge desk. Leaning in, he told the woman what he needed and the manager was called. It didn’t take long for the manager to agree, especially once he saw how big the crate was. Signing the required slip, David took a copy and thanked the man.
Hope had slid her sunglasses up and into her hair, pushing it back from her face the moment that they walked into the hotel. Leaning into David as they walked through the lobby, she squeezed his hand. They were being followed and they both knew it.
Squeezing her hand as they paused before the elevators, David leaned into her a little. They stayed quiet. They didn’t need to say anything then, anyway. As the doors slid open, they stepped in and turned, catching one of their watchers in the act of getting too close and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. David just lifted a hand and wiggled his fingers at the man, busted in every way, and the guy knew it. “Idiot,” he muttered as she hit the button for their floor.
When the doors slid closed, Hope smiled and looked up at David. Leaning up on her tiptoes, she whispered against his ear, “I hope the sunglass cam caught the new cameras that I noticed when we walked in. I don’t know how they were put up so fast, but did you see them as well?”
Nodding, he drew her in closer to him. “Yeah, I caught them. Someone’s been very busy while we’ve been out. The fact they are where they are tells me they’ve got the full cooperation of the hotel management, which could be bad for us. We need to take a few extra precautions without looking like we are,” he said quietly, into her hair to disguise the fact his lips were moving.
“Agreed,” she whispered and kissed his ear, nipping his earlobe to hide her actions as well. Pulling back, she touched her fingers to his cheek. “So, my dear husband, what’s next on our agenda?” She knew that they needed to check in with the other two members of their team, she just wasn’t sure on the “when” part of it.
“We will have a nap and then dinner and, if you are really behaving yourself, maybe a little dancing. There’s a club not far from the restaurant where our reservations are for tonight we could hit up. The crowd should be good by the time we’re done with dinner, and the DJ going strong.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful. I love to dance, but please tell me it’s not one of those techno-dance places that drive me up the wall.” She pouted. “I want to be able to dance close to you, to feel your body on mine, to know that our bodies move as one. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”
“From what I’ve heard, it’s more old-fashioned, though they do put on a few more modern tunes. It’s what they are calling retro, apparently.” He rolled his eyes at her as they stepped from the elevator and moved toward their room. “Which means we’ll probably recognize most of the songs and know all the words, too.”
That had her laughing. “Oh, I’m sure. As long as it isn’t the stuff that is all bass and pumping and, well, you know what I mean. There is, of course, nothing wrong with that type of music, but when I want to dance with my husband, I want to be able to dance slow and in his arms, not just facing him.”
“Hope, my love, I don’t care what the music might be. If I want you pressed up against me, just swaying side to side, I’m damn well going to do it and to hell with anyone that says we can’t. There are no rules about it, right?” he asked. Opening the door for her, he let her go in first and followed, both of them doing the visual sweep as they moved around, kicking off shoes and getting rid of their jackets.
“This is true. If you are there and I am there, then nothing else really matters, right?” she asked with a grin. “In the end, that’s all that matters, right? That we are together?” They moved along into the room and she took their jackets and hung them up in the closet, mostly so that she could check the closed doors once more.
“Absolutely.” He nodded. When she turned back, he’d tugged his shirt from his pants and undone more of the buttons. “I don’t know what it is about being in another country, but every time we do this sort of thing, about halfway through the trip, I just feel exhausted. You want to come nap with me? We’ve got a few hours before we have to get ready for dinner.” He smiled, slowly.
“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea. And I think that it’s the air. I honestly do. I think that the air differences make the change. What do you think?” She shrugged and walked back toward him. “Or it could be because we aren’t sleeping in our bed. Yes, this bed is spectacular and super soft, but it’s not ours. You know?” she teased with a smile.
“I definitely know. I’m starting to miss all that added support even though, you are right, it’s a very amazing bed. But I’m not getting any younger and everything starts to ache once you hit a certain point in life,” he said, shaking his head. Putting a hand on her back, David nudged her toward the bedroom.
“It’s a very plush bed, I think that’s what’s wrong with it. The one at home is very plush as well, but this one isn’t as firm under all that softness, if that makes sense?” They were both making inane chatter, but it was what any normal ‘married’ couple would do before going to bed.
“Ours has the pillow top for the softness, but is extra firm under that for the support. This just doesn’t have the support, is what I think you’re getting at.” Dropping his hand, he finished undoing his shirt and pulled it off, tossing it over a chair. Sitting down, he tugged off his socks and let out a sigh. “I can’t wait to get home to our bed, our super firm yet so-damn-comfortable bed.”
“This is very true.” She got undressed and then walked to the bathroom. While washing her face, she said, “I know the feeling. I can’t wait to get home and crawl in our own bed. It will be a superb thing.” Well, once they figured out which bed to crawl into, that was.
“Indeed,” he agreed with her. When she came out, he was in the bed, the blankets over his lap as he leaned back against the headboard. He was frowning ever so slightly and twisting the wedding band around on his finger, looking much too serious.
When she came back out to the bedroom and climbed into bed with him, she turned off the light and moved closer to him. “Talk to me. What has that look on your face?” she asked quietly. “David, what’s wrong?”
Looking to her, he shook his head and wrapped her in his arms. Pressing a kiss to her temple, he just held her close, his arms a little tight, like he was afraid she was going to run. Eventually they began to loosen and he let out a breath. “We should rest while we have the chance,” he told her quietly.
“Agreed.” Because they didn’t know when they would have to have to get up and go with this op. She moved in closer to him, her leg between his, and sighed. “I love you, David.” She pressed a kiss to his chest and closed her eyes. “Good night,” she whispered and dropped off to sleep.
Chapter Nine
For their meeting, David had arranged for a car, one they’d swept for all bugs and tracking devices. They were not going to make it easy for those following them. But they had dropped a CIA bug into the vehicle and each had another one taped onto their inner thighs. They had both agreed that, should they get separated, or if something went haywire, they needed someone to be able to find them.
Now they were driving around aimlessly like the semi tourists they were pretending to be, randomly stopping to peer at structures or get out of the vehicle to take pictures. It was all so that their CIA tails to get a bead on the other parties that were very interested in them. They knew that they had more than just the diamond smugglers to contend wi
th and thankfully their contacts in the CIA were more than willing to ensure that they too photos of all that showed just a bit too much attention to David and Hope.
The other bonus of having their own vehicle, with no driver or bugs, was that they could talk freely. So far they’d discussed the upcoming meeting mostly, ironing out all the details they hadn’t been able to talk about out in the open, in the car with the driver, or in their hotel room. They had a quasi-plan of sorts going on, but they both knew that no matter how good a plan was, some asshole always had a way to ruin it completely.
“When we get back, I think we should let the team know about us,” David said suddenly. He’d been quiet for a while now, and out he popped with that statement. “They’d figure it out anyway. None of them are blind or even mildly dense enough to miss it. Plus, it would just be better if we were upfront with them all.”
“I have to agree. I think that they would appreciate the honesty from us.” She grinned and added, “Then again, it depends on who would win the pool that was going on, according to you.” One she had no idea about, which floored her.
“When we’re on the plane home, I’ll check my cell and see who had what dates.” He grinned at her. “I’m sure I’m in and around this time period, but it’s been so long since I put the money in, I’ve honestly got no clue. You’re still pissed you didn’t know, aren’t you?” he asked with his smile only getting broader.
“You bet your ass I am.” She shrugged, however, and smiled. “But honestly, it doesn’t matter. I just can’t believe that they were split on if I would kill you, you me, or we would end up like this. I mean, seriously, did anyone see it turning out anything but how this is?”
“We were at one another’s throats a lot in the beginning,” he reminded her with a shrug. “Hell, some days I wasn’t even sure if I wasn’t going to put a bullet in your ass just for pissing me off. But then I’d be looking at your ass and realizing that it was a very nice ass and it would be a shame to put a hole in it. Then you’d piss me off again and I’d reconsider.” He chuckled.