Danger and Desire: Ten Full-Length Steamy Romantic Suspense Novels

by Pamela Clare

  Jin would never agree to participate in harming others. And neither would her sister, but her sister had no idea that she would soon be manipulated to do something horrible, and that she would not live long enough to suffer regret. If she did know and could not avoid her role, she’d never forgive herself.

  Pang’s eyes narrowed with hatred. “I do not want you here.”

  Jin would no longer allow him to treat her as he had in the past. “I risked all to help you and still you antagonize me and try to make me feel lower than dirt. You should take care who you choose as an enemy.”

  Pang’s chin went up another regal inch. “Your blood is tainted. You are less than dirt. You are nothing.”

  Dingo appeared almost instantly behind Pang, his exposed eye taking them in with harsh judgment. “Settle your differences later.”

  Pang jammed his mouth shut and glared at her as if it was her fault the operative had castigated him. As the senior physicist in his department, Pang was considered the golden one upon whom everyone showered attention and praise. He believed himself as significant as an elite and tolerated no one talking down to him.

  He might need these American operatives now, but his arrogance would be in full bloom again once the time came to show what he knew.

  She had warned him that she was his enemy. He should not be surprised by what she intended to do once she arrived in the US. The world would be a better place had Pang’s father invested in condoms, and used them.

  But to keep the peace for now, Jin swallowed her disgust.

  Dingo moved to step away and tensed, listening with a finger to his earpiece.

  The Aussie told Blade, “They’re on the way.”

  Did he mean Bo?

  Glad to finally be somewhere with enough ambient light to see what was going on, Jin’s gaze wandered to the water when the bow of a boat came into view as it passed the dock where a fishing trawler was tied up.

  Blade said, “That beats walking.”

  Bo and his friend had found a boat? Jin started to smile until she realized what kind of boat was coming.

  A DPRK patrol boat cruised down the river.

  Toward her group.

  Bo was insane. She had picked the wrong person to take her out of North Korea. These men would not make it beyond the next bend in the river before they were captured. Did they think they could just drive away in a stolen DPRK patrol boat?

  Her mountain would die a painful death, because the military in this country would abuse them badly before accusing America of stealing their physicists.

  And she would be captured with them. She kicked that thought away, prepared to argue with her rocks-for-brains mountain.

  The patrol boat rumbled and belched diesel fumes as it moved slowly toward the bank near the bridge supports.

  Bo stepped around the cockpit and waved them forward. The man even waved his hand like an order.

  Her sense of survival warned her not to climb on that boat, but what was her second choice?

  Walk away and let her sister fall victim to men like Pang?

  Pang hurried past her and one sneer from him was all the motivation she needed to rush over and take Bo’s hand. He yanked her up and onboard as if she weighed nothing.

  She would keep Pang in sight at all times.

  As much as she hated it, she needed him.

  Chapter Eleven

  The only positive to stealing a patrol boat on the Taedong River was the additional weapons and ammo onboard.

  The immediate downside was that Tanner’s team would very likely need that firepower before they got off this tub.

  He squatted on the deck to minimize his silhouette as much as possible. Propping his weapon on the transom at the back of the boat, he pointed it toward Pyongyang to cover their asses as they cruised away from the city and toward the Yellow Sea. The deck smelled of dried fish and diesel. His clothes were drying out from the tunnel diving, but not fast enough.

  Damned cold air.

  Dingo snuck down beside him, using the transom to prop his weapon, too. “How long before they report this missing, mate?”

  “With any luck, not until daylight. We gave the two men guarding it a lights-out tap and locked them in the back of a truck that looked to be out of commission. It was parked way off to the side with weeds growing up around it.” Tanner wouldn’t leave someone to starve to death. The truck was close enough to the delivery area of a nearby building for someone to hear two men yelling.

  That was, once they woke up, figured out how to untie each other and got their gags off.

  “Har’s helping Nick figure out the controls.”

  Tanner glanced over his shoulder to see Har wrapped up in a life jacket, translating as Nick pointed at different gauges and kept the boat at quarter speed. “Har’s being Mr. Helpful because he’s terrified of this thing sinking. He doesn’t realize Nick won’t be cruising this slow any longer than it takes Har to explain everything on the dash.”

  Dingo chuckled in agreement.

  Pang stood on the passenger side of the cockpit, staring out at nothing, shoulders drooped in a sulking pose. Not a glamorous extraction like in the movies, huh?

  Cutting his gaze back at Dingo, Tanner said, “We should put those two down in the cabin.”

  “I’m on it.” Dingo was up and gone.

  Tanner watched the lights of Pyongyang shrink into the distance.

  “Hold on,” was all Captain Nick called out before he kicked it in the ass.

  Tanner heard a shout that was too high-pitched to be male.

  He flipped around and grabbed a fistful of Jin’s clothing just before she would have taken a nosedive over the transom.

  She locked her fingers on his arm and dropped down beside him, swinging around to face forward.

  Nick cut the running lights and the boat morphed into a black ghost ship riding the waves. Jet engines rumbled even at this slow speed, but another point for stealing one of these was that jet propulsion didn’t require propellers.

  Loud, but dependable on this type of boat.

  Jin was breathing fast by the time she settled with her back propped against the aluminum transom.

  Tanner returned to his watch position, asking, “What are you doing back here?”

  “Wasting my time most likely.”

  Why’s she annoyed at me? I just kept her from going swimming. Waiting to reply paid off. She grumbled, “Your man is not a good boat captain.”

  “He’s doing a great job.”

  “He does not check to see that everyone is seated before taking off and he has turned off all the lights. How will anyone see this boat?”

  “First off, you were told to stay in the cabin when you boarded the boat.”

  She made a noise at that. “The cabin stinks. Filthy men live on this boat.”

  Did she mean all men were filthy or just the men who had operated this boat? Hmm. Tanner continued, “Number two, the lights are out specifically so no one sees us.”

  “What if another boat approaches?”

  “We won’t hit them, because they’ll have their bow lights on.”

  “You hope.”

  Did she have to challenge every word out of his mouth? “I know. What civilian in this country wants to risk pissing off a DPRK patrol boat by running with no lights?”

  What? No more questions? Mission accomplished. He ordered his gaze to stay on the water and stop darting over to see her nibbling on her bottom lip. She had sweet lips. Kissable.

  But so had another scientist.

  There you go, Tanner. Perfect way to kill any sexual interest.

  “This is your plan for escape?” She grumbled to herself before her gaze pinned him with accusation.

  “Yes.” That wasn’t exactly the truth, but he’d had enough of questions.

  Next she’d want to know what he planned to do about the thunderstorm that blocked out what little moonlight they’d had. This boat was tough enough to handle rough seas, but a tall-enough rogue
wave in the open sea could toss a much larger craft. At this point, a fair amount of his plan depended on luck.

  He searched beyond the wake frothing bright in his monocular and settled in for the fifty-mile ride down the river to the Yellow Sea.

  They might make it that far if they managed to pass through the locks at the dam without any incident.

  Nick had the boat cruising at thirty knots. With no delays, they’d reach the sea in about eighty minutes.

  North Korea had built a dam that prevented the Taedong freshwater from mixing with the saltwater so they could use the river for irrigation. That had probably looked better on paper.

  Now the contained water had no way to naturally purify itself, so the dam had not only flooded farmlands but the water was contaminated. Just another way to screw the poor citizens trying to survive here.

  “They will attack a patrol boat if they realize who has control of it, even if their own men are onboard,” Jin said loud enough to remind Tanner that she was still sitting inches away.

  He hadn’t forgotten. His body hadn’t either, in spite of his remembered history with Allie. Studying the night skies had done nil to send Big John back into hibernation. Weird to have this reaction to a woman just because he was sitting close to her.

  “Don’t you see the beauty in taking a patrol boat?” he said, and smothered a smile at her scowl.

  He’d never admit that he’d had the same reservation when he and Nick had found this boat shoved up against the bank. Nick had taken one look, grinned and suggested, “What better boat to drive down the middle of the Taedong River than one that belongs to the military? Who’s going to bother us?”

  Nobody, or maybe the entire fucking DPRK naval fleet.

  Nick had made a valid point, even if a Vegas bookmaker wouldn’t take this gamble for all the money in China. Tanner shrugged at Jin, who shook her head and muttered, “We’re all going to die.”

  She huddled into herself. Had to be cold. She didn’t weigh enough to keep a mouse warm, but she wouldn’t admit being uncomfortable. Not when she could berate Tanner some more.

  “What if you run out of fuel? Did you even check?”

  “There’s fuel.” To be honest, he and Nick had guessed at which control indicated fuel level, but Nick and Har should have that figured out by now.

  Jin wasn’t done chewing on him. “What if you meet another patrol boat and they call you on the radio? What will you tell them?”

  “I don’t know.” There were so many ifs at this point, Tanner needed a spreadsheet to keep up with them. He finally gave her his full attention, and it was loaded with irritation. “If I stop to wonder about every possible problem, I would’ve thought twice about bringing you with us.”

  Her lips opened in a small O before she snapped them shut and looked away. “I should have known better.”

  Better than what?

  Had he hurt her feelings?

  He was too freakin’ tired and on edge about getting out of here for her to push him constantly. Women would forever be his downfall. He couldn’t let one face a threat alone. He couldn’t leave this one to face the fury of a military they’d outmaneuvered, with her help.

  And he couldn’t tolerate answering to anyone other than Sabrina when he was in the middle of an op, responsible for getting his team—and his own ass—out of the fire.

  Jin’s fingers touched his arm. “I am sorry. I am saying that this is madness. There must be a better way.”

  She had that right about this being madness, but Tanner had been stuck playing the only hand left on the table. There must be a better way. He’d heard those words before from another woman who hadn’t appreciated the sacrifice he’d made.

  Screw that.

  If Jin didn’t like the way he and his men were getting them out of Dodge, she didn’t have to stay for the ride. He caught her chin with his fingers and turned her head to him to make sure she heard him. “You were the one who decided to join us. Say the word and I’ll drop you off somewhere.”

  He knew she couldn’t see his face, but he sure as hell saw the stricken look on hers. She snatched her chin from his hand, wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at nothing.

  “I cannot go back.”

  He barely heard her words over the roar of the jet engine beneath them. The desperation in those four words slugged him and forced the truth to surface.

  He’d never leave her in the middle of nowhere.

  Instead of hammering on him further, she explained, “After I saw Pang’s boss dragged away, I ran home. Soldiers were waiting outside my apartment. No place will be safe for me anywhere in this country, or for anyone who associates with me, if I go back. I was lucky to get away when I could.”

  Maybe she was telling the truth about everything and she really did just want to defect. “So their boss is the reason someone got to our truck.”

  She looked away.

  Tanner’s conscience played handball with his suspicions. “Jin?”

  “I heard him admit that he knew Pang and Har were defecting. He said something about the truck. That was all I heard.”

  But she’d known the truck had been part of the exit plan and where it was parked. “How is it that you knew so many details about tonight?”

  She raised that stunning gaze at him. “I told you that I carried messages.”

  “Who gave—” Tanner banged his elbow when the boat bumped over a wake from a craft going toward the city. He repeated, “Who gave you the messages and who did you give them to?”

  “I am not told names.” She looked away. Again.

  Hadn’t she been taught how that was the wrong body signal for telling the truth?

  Evidently not. “So you just accepted what some stranger told you to do then did whatever he or she said to do? That sounds pretty … naïve.” He exchanged stupid for naive at the last moment.

  She wasn’t stupid by any definition, but she was naïve.

  Insulting her would shut her down faster than an antagonized clam.

  But she didn’t miss the subtle cut. “It is more complicated than that, cowboy. Why must you be so suspicious? You are most annoying. Your intelligence people must have been satisfied with the information they received or you would not be here.”

  “We were told to confirm two defectors and extract them. We confirmed Pang and Har. Not you. I shouldn’t have to tell you that you won’t be treated the same as those two since your name was never in any information related to this.”

  Reality of her situation hit straight between her eyes, which clouded with worry. She turned away, refusing to engage any further.

  It was the truth. So why did he feel like he’d broken her favorite toy?

  The boat leaned into a hard curve on Tanner’s side of the deck and Jin slid into him.

  He caught her with one hand again.

  Her face was right up next to his. Those eyes flared with an awareness that bloomed in her face and the first thing that popped into his mind came out of his mouth.

  “How old are you?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “You don’t look old enough to be doing any of this.”

  “I am twenty four. How old are you?” she countered right back, then her eyes shone with mischief and she added, “You look too old to be doing this.”

  “Thirty one.” And some days he’d agree that he was getting too old to be doing this. He put his time in at the gym when he was in a city for more than a week or two, but all the exercise in the world couldn’t cure years of being knocked around, shot and cut.

  She cocked her head to one side in thought. “How long have you done this kind of work?”

  An innocent enough question, but this was not the time to get social with the one person on this boat who was more mystery than asset. He said, “That’s more than you need to know about me.”

  The glimmer of humor fled her gaze and the easy moment shattered. She reached with her free arm to grab hold of a ring mounted on the trans
om and yank herself away from Tanner.

  Damn, but her little acts of defiance were sexy.

  He bet she’d be a pistol in bed, too.

  Whoa, cowboy. She was not someone who would end up in his bed. Even if the State Department eventually cleared her as no threat to the US, she’d disappear from existence just like Pang and Har.

  With an economy of movement, she bent her knees and wrapped her arms around them again. Then shivered.

  He reminded her, “It’s warmer in the cabin.”

  “I am fine,” she lied. It took a few minutes, but she decided to talk again. “Do you truly believe we can ride this boat all the way to South Korea?”

  Not a chance, which was why Dingo would be in contact with their backup in Seoul.

  Tanner had to trust that Logan Baklanov and Margaux Duke would come up with a way to rendezvous somewhere in the Yellow Sea without getting everyone blown to pieces by a DPRK missile. Logan ran a division of HAMR, a group of operatives around the world who were descendants of warriors from a thousand years ago. Tanner didn’t care if Logan was Underdog, as long as he actually had the connections he’d sworn to Sabrina he had.

  As a former Slye Temp operative, Margaux played liaison between Sabrina’s teams and HAMR when the two groups needed support from one another.

  Like during a FUBAR op.

  Logan was a native Russian whose family now resided in the US, but his contacts ran deep in the international market. He’d guaranteed he could have a private jet on standby to take the team, Pang and Har back to the states.

  That jet wasn’t worth squat right now.

  “I take your silence as no,” Jin said, knocking Tanner out of his thoughts.

  What had she asked?

  Oh, yes, if he really expected to reach South Korea with this patrol boat. He gave her another one-shoulder shrug. “We have a plan.”

  “The military patrols the Yellow Sea as well as this river. You may make it through here with no lights, but you will be on radar out there.”