Seth didn’t deny himself. He slid his mouth to the left and traced his tongue over the ridge. His hand went to Rick’s erection, smoothing over him, tightening his fingers.
Rick’s ass lifted off the bed. “Take your damn clothes off.”
“I love your enthusiasm.” It made Seth’s brain shut off and his body switch into gear.
“You should see what else I can do.” Rick’s hand moved down and his fingers slipped into Seth’s hair. “Let me show you.”
Seth turned his head to the side, inching closer until even air had trouble passing between them. “So tempting.”
“That’s the goal.”
Rick’s hand slid under the neck of Seth’s shirt to his upper back. Fingernails raked across his skin. The line between touching and being touched blurred.
Seth wanted it all.
Reaching down, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and tore it up and off. Up on his knees, he had his zipper down before Rick lifted his hand to help. Then his palm went to the back of Seth’s leg and he half sat up. With his hands and teeth, he tugged Seth’s clothes down. Had them to the tops of his thighs.
A punch of adrenaline shot through Seth. In record speed he stood up and stripped his clothes the rest of the way off. When he came down on top of Rick again, nothing stood between their bare skin.
Seth’s fingers slid through Rick’s. Seth raised Rick’s arms high and trapped them there. “I’m going to watch you this time.”
“Do it.”
Not yet. Seth lowered his head and nipped at Rick’s mouth. Lips crushed lips.
Rick raised his knees until his inner thighs tightened against Seth’s hips. They were locked there, kissing and holding on to each other. The need to rush pushed Seth, but he inhaled, trying to slow his breathing and keep his mind clear.
He wanted to savor every minute. To watch Rick’s head press deep into the pillow as he slid inside him. Now Seth had to get him there.
He slid his hand down between them. Wrapped his fingers around both of them, resting Rick’s erection in his palm. He held and squeezed, sliding his hand up and down around both of them until Rick gasped.
The kiss went on and their bodies shifted against each other. Heat rose off them and the friction of skin against skin had Seth squirming. He needed the lube but didn’t want to let go of Rick long enough to grab it.
Then the buzzing started. Not just any sound. The one he’d programmed. The staccato ringing in a series of three. It went off, stopped, then started again.
Rick tore his mouth away and stared with a dazed expression. “What the fuck is that?”
“Fuck.” Seth let his head fall against Rick’s shoulder as his body cooled. Excitement clicked off and a new sensation flooded him. A sort of anxiety to rush and attack. “My alarm.”
Rick shook his head but the confusion didn’t leave his eyes. “Your what?”
“I set a trap.” Seth sat up, so reluctant to break physical contact that he trailed his fingers over Rick’s bare chest as he moved.
“And?” Rick lifted up on his elbows. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Here, in the building, and it caught someone.” Seth threw his legs over the side of the bed and searched for his underwear.
Rick groaned as he pushed up and sat next to Seth. “I guess that means we’re done.”
“Yeah.” Seth scooped his tee off the floor as he stood up. Next came the jeans, which he unballed with lightning speed. “But this is not over. It’s on hold.”
“Tell that to my dick.”
Seth froze as he glanced down at Rick. He sat there, still and naked on the edge of the bed. A new flare of heat surged through Seth. “I plan to have a serious, uninterrupted conversation with it later.”
“I knew you were going to be trouble.”
Seth picked up Rick’s white dress shirt and threw it at him. “You have no idea.”
—
Rick had managed to put clothes on. He was pretty sure he’d misbuttoned the shirt and he didn’t remember finding his briefs. The whole thing would have been ridiculous if they weren’t practically running through the halls of the consulate while Seth’s phone buzzed.
It was late but people still milled around. The evening staff sat at desks and waited in the hallways. Security stood guard. Rick nodded to all of them as he rushed past.
Seth got to the top of the emergency stairwell at the far end of the building and stopped. He put a hand on Rick’s chest. “Stay here.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. “No fucking way.”
“Rick.”
He held the door and gestured for Seth to lead. “Go.”
They didn’t have time for a fight, but Rick sensed they would have one. Seth was a man accustomed to having his orders followed. That was fine out in the field as he led his team, but Rick had his limits. Leaving Seth to face whatever was happening alone proved to be one.
Seth shook his head. “We’re going to talk about this later.”
“But not now.” Rick slipped past Seth and into the stairwell. The heavy door clicked shut behind them. “Where are we going?”
Their feet pounded on the metal stairs. The railing squeaked under Rick’s hand as they ran. Down two flights to the very bottom.
“Garage.” Seth didn’t even sound winded as he answered. He was too focused. Too on task.
Seeing him in action this time reminded Rick of the last time. He wondered if the memories of the last time he witnessed Seth like this would well up every time he saw him flip into protector mode. Rick could almost handle that. It was that punch of guilt that came right after that threatened to kick his ass.
He pushed it all away and focused on the world in front of him. “The exit is guarded.”
“The main ones. Back and side.” Seth pushed the door open to the garage. “We’re going through the bike room.”
That didn’t make much sense to Rick, but he wasn’t about to question it. Not on this. Not when Seth seemed so sure.
The smell of gasoline and dampness hit Rick as soon as they started walking. They walked around poles and skimmed the outside wall. Weaved in and out of the few cars still parked in the lot.
Seth kept going, heading for a door at the opposite end from the main garage. He’d been there less than twenty-four hours and already had the place staked out from top to bottom.
They just reached the bike-room door when Rick heard footsteps echoing on the concrete behind him. He saw the flash of a dark suit coming around the corner. A weapon.
“Uh, Seth.”
He ignored Rick and pushed the door open. Kept going. Three bikes lay toppled over in a pile, stacked on top of each other. A bookcase stood out from the wall.
It looked like someone had moved things around and now Rick saw the outline of a door without a knob or handle or any obvious way to pry it open. But the security panel next to it suggested it had been a viable entrance at one point. “What the hell?”
He didn’t expect an answer, not to the question anyway. But now he had some sense how a person might be able to get in and out without being seen. The security pad still should track comings and goings. The question was whether it had been tampered with and why. He guessed the reason they were there and that buzzing of Seth’s watch might provide some answers.
The footsteps behind them stopped. Rick turned to find Owen Rankin standing there. He headed security for the consulate. A civilian who worked with private contractors, his team and the marines to keep the place locked down and safe.
He had his gun out and was talking into a small speaker hooked to his shoulder, likely assembling security personnel, as they stood there. His gaze zoomed past Rick to the outline of the door. “What are you two—”
“I found this earlier,” Seth said in a whisper as he smoothed his hand over the line framing the makeshift door.
Rick heard pounding and a muffled noise. “Someone’s in there?”
“Damn right.” Seth shifted until he sto
od in front of the security pad. “Trapped.”
Owen lowered his gun. “How is that possible?”
“Exactly how you think.” Seth spared Owen a quick glance over his shoulder before turning back to the pad again. “I rigged it.”
Now Rick knew what Seth had been doing when he left the office for a half hour at a time today. Damn, the man could get shit done fast.
Owen didn’t appear as impressed. His eyes narrowed and he looked to be on the verge of losing his cool. “Excuse me?”
Seth didn’t bother to respond. He pointed to the security keypad hidden behind the shelf. The equipment matched the ones hanging next to every office and every door in the building. “When I open this door, someone could come flying out.” He looked at Owen. “Your job is to catch him or her if I miss, even though that’s unlikely.”
“Right.” Owen flipped into protector mode. He had his arm in front of Rick, across his chest, and pushed him out of the way. “Sir, please stand back.”
Great, now he had two of them trying to order him around. Rick hated everything about that. “I’m fine here.”
“Listen to your head of security.” Instead of scanning his handprint, Seth placed a small black device over the keypad.
“What’s—”
Seth cut Owen off with a quick shake of his head. “Without this the keypad won’t work.”
“Why?” Rick asked.
“I programmed it that way.”
Of course he did. Rick figured he should have expected that sort of response.
After a soft click, Seth put his hand on the pad and the light turned blue. He pushed on the door to open it a second later.
Forget about anyone running out or yelling. All Rick saw was a grown man in his mid-twenties standing in the far corner of a ten-foot corridor near another outline of a door without a handle, clawing at the wall as if trying to dig his way out.
It took a second for Rick to put the name with the face. The casual clothes and black backpack threw him off. Then the memory came rushing back. Tim Craine, a consular fellow. He was part of a special program that placed individuals with special language skills in embassies and consulates in multi-year non–foreign service career appointments. Rick remembered Tim because they were fluent in roughly the same languages.
When he first turned around to face them, he looked pissed. Then he stumbled, falling back against the wall, and his expression changed.
“Oh, thank God you found me.” He shook his head as he started to walk toward them. “I’ve been stuck in there. The door jammed and then—”
“Face the wall.” When Tim didn’t move, Seth grabbed his arm and spun him around.
“What?” The backpack fell to the ground with a thud. “No, I work here.”
Seth patted Tim down as the security head watched and Tim shifted and fidgeted. Both men hovered around the guy. Shoving and posturing. Rick thought talking to him might be more effective, but if the security folks wanted to make a point, he’d let them.
After a few minutes of squirming, Tim finally settled down. “What’s going on?”
Seth spun Tim back around to face him. “Why were you down here?”
“I was just…no, look.” Tim raised his hands as his gaze zipped from Seth to Owen and then landed on Rick. The pleading in his voice grew more panicked. “It’s not what you think.”
“You’re sneaking in and out of a consulate through an unsanctioned exit,” Owen said.
Seth scoffed. “And a previously hidden one, I might add.”
“No.” Tim shook his head. “You’ve got this all wrong.”
Rick couldn’t tell what was going on or why Tim would take this risk. Well, there was one answer. Tim could be the point man on the vaccine-for-guns exchange, and possibly a killer. Using this exit would give him cover. He didn’t need his badge here, which meant the security system would provide him an alibi by saying he was still inside when any exchange occurred. Possible, but Rick guessed there were easier ways to cover his tracks and move around the city than this.
Seth picked up the backpack and unzipped it. “What are you carrying in here?”
“Hey!” Tim watched as Seth dropped the contents on the floor. A wallet and a laptop.
Items that should be searched as Tim walked in and out of the consulate. Protocol was clear. Rick refused to believe the last consul general relaxed the rules that much. They were designed to prevent smuggling anything in or out. To stop incidents just like this. Tonight showed why the procedures were needed.
“Calm down.” Seth didn’t sound the least bit worried about Tim’s token fight for privacy. “You’ll have plenty of time to explain later.”
“I was going on a date.” Tim blurted out the explanation then stood there. “Really.”
They all stared at him.
In the strained silence Rick’s patience hit the breaking point. “You should know that sounds ridiculous. There are legally guarded exits all over this place.”
“With my people standing watch,” Owen said.
“I didn’t want Lisa to know.” Tim said the words in a man-to-man tone as if his point made sense. “My girlfriend.”
Rick knew who Lisa was. He’d met her on his first day. He also understood the concept of dating, but he wasn’t sure Tim did.
How any of this fit together was a mystery. “You lost me.”
“Lisa Hernandez. She’s the economic officer,” Tim explained as he looked from one man to another. “We’re dating and I needed space.” He snorted. “Come on. Surely you guys get this.”
Seth swore under his breath. “Not really.”
“I leave at night through a regular exit and word gets back to her.” Tim didn’t blink for a few seconds. “The guy who used to have Ben’s job told me about this. A lot of us use it.”
“Are you kidding me?” Owen sounded fired up now. “Then why aren’t the comings and goings on my regular readout?”
“Uh…” Tim shrugged. “Someone said it was a glitch.”
“Your brain is about to glitch,” Seth warned.
“Wait a second.” This was fucking insane. Tim acted like they were in high school, not stationed in a consulate in Germany. Rick seriously considered banging the guy’s head against the wall…then warning Lisa to run. “You could break up with her and save yourself all this trouble.”
Tim frowned. “But I like her.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Owen grabbed for Tim’s arm. “Let’s take this upstairs.”
Tim tried to shirk out of the grip and step away but Seth stood right in front of him. Not moving. Looking as if he was done with this shit. “Listen to the man. Right now.”
Tim’s mouth dropped open. His gaze shot from one end of the small space to the other, looking hunted and right on the edge of doing something really stupid. It took him another second to regain his calm and for the wild to leave his eyes.
He turned to Rick. “Do we have to make this a big deal?”
No way could this guy be this stupid. “Not to stun you here, Tim, but this already is a big deal.”
The rest of the color left his face. “Shit.”
“Now he’s getting it.” Seth slipped Tim’s backpack over his shoulder. “Better buckle in for the interrogation.”
Chapter 9
Tim stuck to his story during more than two hours of questioning. Seth didn’t lob softballs. He was impressed that Owen didn’t either.
The guy was in his fifties and fully committed to the blue blazer uniform and weapon strapped to his side. He strutted more than walked around the place, all with a sense of purpose. He had his sphere of power and he protected it, which was interesting since Seth would bet the marines thought they were in charge.
Up until now Owen refrained from pulling rank or acting like a dick, but Seth sensed that lull was about to end. After two marines escorted Tim back to his room, Owen stayed behind. The two of them stood on opposite sides of the table in the conference room they’d turned into an
interrogation center, staring each other down.
Seth considered just walking out. It wasn’t as if Owen would shoot him. Not likely, anyway. Seth might have tested the theory if Rick hadn’t picked that moment to come waltzing in with Ben following close behind.
It seemed the whole damn building was awake at two in the morning. The possibility of sneaking back to Rick’s rooms and having sex was getting more and more remote. And that ticked Seth off more than being right about that damn door in the bike room.
Just as Seth started to move, Owen held up a hand. “You care to tell me what that was about tonight?”
Interesting that he waited until now to pick a fight. Seth could only guess this was his big power-play move. He hoped he stayed awake long enough to see the whole thing. “Safety.”
“You rigged the door.”
That wasn’t exactly a secret. Seth was pretty sure he’d admitted that first thing. “Yes, I did.”
Owen folded his arms across his thickening stomach. “Want to tell me why?”
“I did a check today and spotted the outline—”
Owen shook his head. “No way. That door has been hidden.”
“Tim managed to find it.” Rick hadn’t moved from the door but he watched the room and picked that moment to pipe up. “He insists others have found it, all on your watch.”
Seth appreciated the assist, but he didn’t need it. He’d go round for round with Owen if necessary. “The door had a scanner. After checking the security logs, I noticed that one didn’t show up on the list. It’s registered as being locked down.”
“Apparently not,” Ben said.
“It didn’t take much tampering to see it could be used for access. When I tried it, no alarms went off. No one came running, and my attempt still didn’t appear on the log. That’s when I knew there had been some sort of work-around.”
“By you.”
“Keep up, Owen. Before me.” Probably during the other consul’s term, which would explain the secret mission he and Rick had embarked on. “I just exploited it.”
Guarding Mr. Fine (Tough Love #2) Page 7