Smoke & Fire - Adult Paranormal Romance Series, Book #1

by Michele Wesley

  She ignored her brothers’ sarcasm and gave Mycale a positive glance. “You did good work tonight.”

  Catching the brothers’ immediate interest, they spoke as one unit again, “What work?” They cut a glance at Mycale, then four questioning hazel eyes traveled to Sori and stopped.

  Dawning her most innocent face she looked up through long lashes framing eyes that could get her anything she wanted. Speaking in her most sincere voice, she said, “We entered the mansion as a team, climbed fences and walls, disarmed devices, cracked a safe, retrieved the documents, and hand-delivered them to Twenty-five.”

  Switching her voice to sarcasm, she said, “Oh, and no one was killed, proving I don’t go looking to kill people.”

  Instead of the anger or disapproval he expected, Mycale received approving smiles from the brothers. Damon and Drake both punched him playfully. “Great job indeed!”

  Sori gave her brothers a halfhearted salute and headed to her room. Her job for the day was done.

  Drake gave Mycale a chin-up proud face, while Damon stared at the back of his sister’s head and back at Mycale with a peculiar look on his face.

  Mycale asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Smiling Drake said, “You are one of the few men who have returned from an assignment with our sister with a smile on his face.”

  Mycale didn’t understand. The assignment hadn’t been a difficult one.

  Naturally, Damon started as soon as his brother paused. “Our sister is a beast, plain and simple. She scares people—in life and especially on assignments. Guys, at first, are distracted by the way she looks, until they realize she’s smart and impulsively deadly, and I am talking people who are deadly in their own right. The only people that are usually not afraid to work with her are those that don’t know her or that are just like her.”

  Sure of his words, Mycale said, “I would follow her anywhere. She’s amazing. Do you guys realize she just had me sitting in front of the president! The president himself was just saying how she could get herself out of the Gaza Strip blindfolded in a shit storm during a war.”

  The brothers both burst into laughter. Damon asked, “He said that, did he?”

  Feeling torn, Mycale’s smart side told him to be intimidated and very afraid of Sori while the male in him felt captivated by her wisdom, strength, and beauty.

  * * *

  Over the course of the next three days, the brothers watched their sister’s and Mycale’s every move. Truleta Cartel be damned, they were going to get their sister a date even if it killed them.

  “She’s one of us, we are irresistible to the opposite sex,” Damon said this with a confident smirk.

  Drake didn’t seem to notice the arrogance in his brother’s last statement as he continued. “Her problem: she can attract men from here to China, but she can’t keep one. We know she’s not gay, so I am not sure if she’s being difficult on purpose or if she just doesn’t know what she’s doing. We probably insult her enough with the blind dates, so the last thing I want to do is insult her further by trying to give her dating tips.”

  “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Drake tapped a finger against his temple. “The biggest hurdle would be convincing him to pursue her and her to give him a chance, so we won’t bother with that plan. You know how we think, there is always a plan B.”

  Sitting at his laptop with a mischievous smile, Damon said, “Yep. I am working on plan B right now. The Rochester case was just a test.”

  While continuing to type, Damon asked his brother, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Not feeling guilty at all, Drake said, “We are her big brothers. We are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.” Drake stood over Damon’s shoulder. “She wouldn’t know how to spot a good man if one sat in her lap.”

  Damon laughed at his silly brother. “On a serious note, Bro, we can’t set Mycale up for failure. He is a good, hardworking kid.”

  Drake agreed as he reached his hand down to help his brother up.

  CHAPTER 12

  Preparing for Battle

  Playtime was over, and Sori couldn’t be happier. The group had been pulled into the briefing they’d been awaiting concerning the TC. Unlike the messages on the Mission: Impossible movies with the self-destruct option, the group had to drive to a facility nearly an hour away to receive the secret information.

  The Truleta Cartel case was officially back on the table. Sori had her plate and was ready to eat. She was glad Top had officially pulled her brothers into the case. For as silly as they acted sometimes, she had to admit they were crazy smart and resourceful. She did, however, wonder why Mycale was in attendance. Had her brothers found some way to work him into the case?

  As the brief neared its conclusion, Sori found she would have a partner. She glanced at the men in her life, eyeballing them suspiciously, but they wouldn’t meet her eyes. She projected a poker face, but she knew beyond a reasonable doubt that her brothers had set this up. A quick glance at Mycale showed that he seemed just as surprised as she was, but he kept his cool.

  It wasn’t until they made it back to the mansion and secured themselves within the SSR that the brothers’ sly smiles surfaced. Her brothers were a handful, but she had learned to tolerate them. Sori wasn’t upset that she was being partnered with Mycale. He was more than capable of handling the assignment. But, she was suspicious that her brothers had ulterior motives.

  Although she owned her attraction to Mycale, she had more respect for his smarts and hardworking attitude. He isn’t the first sexy and hot and sexy and good-looking and sexy and—man I’ve been attracted to and won’t be the last.

  She and Mycale accepted their partnership without a word as the brothers stood, preparing to speak. Drake started, “The suspects are presumed Hispanic, between the ages of twenty-eight and thirty-two years. The man is of medium build, and the woman is small. They are presumed to be a married couple. The file lists their names as Jeanine and Fredrick Gonzales. Agent Kay tracked them to a residence in New Orleans, Louisiana, by flipping an incarcerated ex-member of their team. The prisoner implicated the couple as the bookkeepers, money washers, and sometimes drug movers for the TC.”

  Damon took over. “All intel imply that they are perceived as nice but discreet. Which is probably how they have been able to cover their tracks for so long. Notes warn not to underestimate the couple. For as nice as they appear, they could be just as deadly. There is no confirmation if they have hired guns.

  The brothers went on for nearly an hour, citing some information they’d already heard, but most of it new.

  Pride zinged across Drake’s face as he sang out his words, “The best piece of the puzzle was discovered by Drake and Damon Anderson.” Taking a bow, he continued, “Yep, those brothers are the shit! And good-looking too.” Laughter filled the room as Drake continued, “We were able to confirm that they, the targets, booked an upcoming Caribbean cruise under the names Jeanine and Fredrick Gonzales.”

  Armed with new information, the group would decide on a game plan and how to proceed. Sori usually went all out in her approach: hunting and killing. This time, she wasn’t sure if her way was the way to go since her way usually ended with a high body count and no foreseeable leads.

  The brothers were like cryptologists when it came to deciphering intel. They had somehow cross-referenced the information they had received several days ago in some elaborate fashion, did some computer hacking, and turned out the best lead anyone could have ever hoped for—the location, time, and date of where the targets were going to be.

  Sori found it puzzling that the couple booked the trip under names that could be tracked. This was the second time known members of the TC used traceable names.

  The brothers were suggesting they, she and Mycale, try to connect with the couple aboard the ship—in other words, suggesting she and Mycale pos
e as a couple. Their main objective: to find a way to get in good company with the targets and gather intel since the couple wasn’t on Top’s kill list—yet.

  Before the brothers departed, Drake clapped his hands like a schoolteacher as Damon talked, “Kids, it’s time to pack your bags, you are going on a field trip.”

  With the most country accent he could imitate, Drake said, “Ya’ll be good now, ya hear?”

  Sori couldn’t help laughing. It was so hard not to like her brothers. They were always so upbeat and lighthearted, sometimes she found it difficult to believe they were genius-level smart and cold-blooded killers when they had to be.

  Mycale wanted to know how Sori felt about him being her partner. Joining her at the desk, he said, “I didn’t know I was going to be your partner. I thought I would be working background, sitting behind a desk or trying to chase down new leads.”

  She kept typing. “It’s all good. You’re a good partner.”

  For the first time in his life, Mycale’s heart smiled.

  * * *

  Three days in, Drake walked in and saw the new dream team, Sori and Mycale, huddled over a laptop. “Hi, guys. How’s it going?”

  They both replied, “Great!” glanced back briefly, and dove right back into what they were doing.

  Clearing his throat, Drake spoke low into his fist, “Can anyone say work addiction?”

  Damon walked in a few moments later, asked the same question and got the same one-word answer, “Great!”

  Masking a huge smile, Drake asked, “You guys seem to have thought of everything that a happy couple would need, but where are the couple’s photos?”

  Disappointed in herself, Sori said, “Hey, that’s not a bad idea. Why didn’t we think of that?”

  Yelling instructions for the two to get up and pose for pictures, the brothers pulled cameras and iPhones seemingly out of thin air.

  “Hey! We aren’t here for your entertainment,” Sori saw what her brothers were doing. They saw this as another chance for them to play matchmaker. It was bad enough they’d thrown Mycale into the lion’s den with her.

  Damon replied, “All is fair in law and war. By the way, has anyone told you that you two make a great-looking couple? Why don’t the two of you just go on ahead and really get married? That way, we won’t have to keep finding blind dates.”

  Sori flipped her brother the bird while Mycale took in their banter.

  After Drake asked them to do a kissing pose, they both looked at him as if he were the devil. Drake explained, “You know, kissing is something that couples do, but I guess the two of you wouldn’t know anything about things that couples do.”

  Sarcastically and surprisingly, Sori agreed with her brother. “You may be right, but if you ask me, dating is overrated. Who has time to be worried about someone else’s feelings all the damn time? I have a hard enough time trying to manage my own.”

  Mycale’s mind reeled at the fact that the brothers were asking him to kiss Sori.

  She looked briefly over at Mycale and back at her brothers. “I think we are more than capable of working this relationship out on our own.” She waved her hand between herself and Mycale to drive her statement.

  The brothers weren’t ready to give up that easily. Damon pressed, “Come on, what is the big deal? Just give each other a quick peck of the lips. Don’t you want to build a strong foundation for the start of your relationship? The two of you will be playing a couple, so at some point in time you guys are going to have to kiss or maybe even…”

  Sori rolled her eyes at her brothers, who both had huge grins on their faces.

  Pointing her finger at the door in an exaggerated arm signal, she said, “We are not here for your amusement! Get out!” She snatched the camera from Drake’s hand.

  Drake asked, “Why you gotta be so rude? And how you gonna put us out of our own room?”

  She didn’t answer.

  The brothers left, saying that they didn’t have to take such rudeness.

  Once the brothers were gone, Sori admitted, “As much as I hate to admit it, my brothers are right. I just didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. Would you have a problem doing a few couple’s shots?”

  “No, not at all.” Nervous excitement filled Mycale.

  Setting the camera up, Sori said, “This thing has a timer, so we can do some selfies and then a few shots on timer. We can play around with the backgrounds later and do whatever we want without the outside interference of the peanut gallery.”

  Using a selfie stick for a few shots, they posed like a happy couple. She informed him, “If I do something that makes you feel uncomfortable, please let me know. But, I must warn, you may have to be uncomfortable given certain situations. And at any time you feel like you don’t want to or can’t do this, I have no problem finding someone else.”

  “NO!” Mycale said louder than intended. “I can do this and whatever else I need to do. I could use the experience, so coach me and let me know what I need to do.”

  Putting her face close to his, she said, “Kiss me.”

  Suddenly, Mycale felt like he was suffocating. A surge of emotions swept through him like a fast-moving drug entering his bloodstream. It was funny; he could kill a man without batting an eyelash, but was now met with difficulty at the prospect of faking a relationship with a beautiful woman.

  He gathered his mind and positioned himself to kiss her, careful not to look into her eyes. He feared his own eyes, certain they would tell the story he desperately tried to hide.

  She counted down for the camera snap—eight, seven, and six…

  Suddenly, it seemed everything slowed to a pixel by pixel count for Mycale. He realized a second too late that he had made the one mistake he had been trying to avoid for days. He stared into her eyes and became instantly hypnotized. He couldn’t control his breathing, nor could he take his eyes away from hers. It took him a moment to force calm and focus on the task at hand. The camera. He took control of the overwhelming urge his body had to shake, leaned down, and gently placed his lips against hers.

  At first he thought he’d missed her mouth completely, but the feather light touch of her lips registered. Their lips melted into each other for only a few seconds, and Mycale swore he was about to pass out, taking a deep breath and losing his calm on her lips as he briefly tasted the sweet flavor hidden there. His inhale caught some of her exhale and her incredibly intoxicating scent. It wasn’t perfume or lotion or soap. She had a scent unique to her, and it smelled so mesmerizing he couldn’t back away or catch his breath, not even realizing that he had lost it. He had to kiss her again; he couldn’t help himself. This rush, something so good and exciting, was something he had never experienced.

  Her presence had him so intoxicated he couldn’t put a description to the rush that had so suddenly flooded his body. He had taken his first intoxicating hit, knowing he would become a slave to this addiction, knowing that this drug would take possession of his mind and control his body on demand. In this particular moment, he would be happy to let it devour his soul.

  The camera had long stopped snapping, but here they were still caught up in a wave of desire so strong they were both helpless.

  Sori felt Mycale’s nervousness but had enough confidence in him to know that by the time they were on assignment, he will have found a way to combat the pesky emotion. A second away from hyperventilating, Mycale felt the brush of her words against his mouth as her lips lingered dangerously close to his. “Once more, please, and this time, act like you’re enjoying it.”

  He wanted so badly to tell her that he didn’t have to act, but he couldn’t. He had to pour all of his energy into staying upright. When his lips fully touched hers a second time, he couldn’t think, his world had become Sori. All he felt were their lips slowly sliding across each other and the tender squish of his every emotion being pulled from his body.
Enveloped by an energy that sparked the pulse of his heartbeat, the wattage of the emotions being pulled from Mycale’s body was enough to light up Madison Square Garden.

  Nothing mattered more than just being in this moment, kissing her. His body tingled from head to toe, and he couldn’t stop his mouth from devouring the soft, warm, and flowing pillows of her lips. He was so entranced by the taste and feel of her he forced his mind to think about his actions, or she would soon find out that it was impossible for him to fake this.

  “That’s good. I think we’ve had enough.” Sori saved him.

  He kept his eyes downcast. If he looked at her now, she would know that he had been possessed by her. He couldn’t help wondering how she could be so casual when he continued to fight for oxygen. As an incessant sting danced on his lips, his breath rushed out of his mouth in fits and starts. His chest heaved like he’d been suffocated and was just allowed to take in air.

  Sori had never seen anyone react to her like this, but the more surprising revelation was her enjoyment of it all—his kisses and his reaction. As she ached for another taste of him, she inadvertently licked her lips.

  Quickly retrieving the camera, she connected it to the laptop, busying herself to stave off her need to kiss him again. Sitting in front of the laptop, she noticed she couldn’t stop her legs from shaking. The nonstop shaking of her legs seemed the only thing to calm the fact that he had somehow made her want him with just a kiss.

  Still standing in place, Mycale collected himself. Their first kiss had instantly become his obsession, and unbeknownst to Sori, it was the start of her emotional intervention. It was only after she had backed away from him that he’d been able to clear his mind.

  Composed now, he took a seat next to her. He had to work, had to stay busy, had to do anything to keep his mind occupied.

  * * *

  A day before the cruise, Mycale tagged along with Sori to do some desperately needed shopping. He had no idea, but their little shopping expedition would turn into a test exercise. Sori was determined to test his acting chops and didn’t hold back.