Blacklisted: Blacklist Operations Book #1

by Lauren Devane

  “Yes,” said Aidan, moving forward to wrap an arm around Sophie. She relaxed against him. Whether she was playing her part or simply seeking a refuge from stress, he cooperated and kept her close. “But I need to acquire an extra ticket, so we really do need to leave.”

  “Sorry, Adele,” said Sophie. “Do you mind if I go?”

  Aidan wondered what Sophie would do if her friend said yes.

  “Of course not,” she said. “I’m sure Brad and I can find our own fun.”

  “Brad?”

  “Hi,” said the husky guy behind Sophie’s friend. “Adele helped me find my way back to the hotel.”

  “I was on my way to a club with those boys when I saw Brad trying to ask directions. And of course, his Arabic is terrible, but he refused to switch to English.” She laughed. “I couldn’t just leave him there.”

  “I’m guessing the pretty eyes didn’t hurt either,” said Sophie wryly.

  “Nor did the suit.” Adele laughed and pinned Aidan with another look. “Are you sure you need to leave right now? We could all grab a drink first and you could take a later flight.”

  “The plane leaves in an hour. I’ve cut it close as is.”

  “Damn. That’s too bad.” Adele reached out and wrapped Sophie in her arms. “Love you, Soph. I’ll see you in Rome. When?”

  “Not sure exactly,” Aidan answered. “I have to fly to Dublin after Egypt and she said she might come with me.”

  “Well, the semester starts in three weeks, so I’ll see you by then no matter what. Make sure you’re on time—it’s so hard to fix a bad first impression. Remember Frankfurt?”

  “How could I forget?” Sophie laughed, but Aidan could hear the tension under it, and he wondered how Adele missed it. He supposed that people see what they want to, and thinking that her friend was off on a wild, spontaneous romantic adventure was what the vapid woman wanted to believe.

  “We need to leave now, Sophie.” Damn, Aidan thought immediately. His tone had been too tight. Adele had noticed the snap in it, and she moved a step closer to Aidan.

  “Listen, time frame, you’re pulling my friend away from her vacation. Don’t speak to her like that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sophie said, angling her body between Aidan and Adele. “I did tell him we’d be gone ten minutes ago.”

  “You don’t have to leave with him.” Worry clouded Adele’s eyes and Aidan damned himself, furious that he’d become frustrated enough to bark an order at Sophie and create suspicious where there was none.

  Sophie saw Adele’s hand reach out as if she was going to grab the suitcase from Aidan. She tried to calm her increasingly-agitated breathing, looking around at all the people in the lobby. It could become a bloodbath so quickly.

  When Sophie moved to block Adele, her friend’s eyes traveled up and down from Sophie’s bandaged hand to her swollen eyes. For the first time, she’d taken note of the bruises, the swollen lip. “What really happened to you?”

  “I just hit the ground so hard. Damn margaritas.”

  “Sophie, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we don’t know this guy. Maybe it’s not safe for you to just go off with him.”

  “Adele, stop.” Sophie girded her lions and then turned to Aidan, twined her arms around his warm neck and, raising to her toes, kissed him. It started soft, just a simple brush of her lips against his. He tasted like peppermint.

  She sighed without meaning to and leaned into him, touching her mouth to his again. Aidan groaned low in his throat, then pulled her in so that his body was flush against hers. People pushed past them as he kissed her, but Sophie felt for those moments as if they were the only two in the room.

  Aidan took control of the deception and pressed his body to hers so they were joined from thigh to chest. She could feel his thick erection pressing against her stomach, and would have pulled away in shock if he hadn’t kept her locked in his grip. Small sounds came from her lips when they parted for a moment, and for the life of her, Sophie couldn’t help but lean in for another kiss.

  Her body felt frenzied, like everything in her sparked and tightened. One hand moved up to tangle in his hair, which was like crisp strands of silk against her fingers. She moaned and opened her mouth, giving his tongue access.

  The spell was broken when Adele, her worries assuaged, giggled behind her.

  “Enough, Sophie.” She had moved away from her and Aidan and was standing closer to Brad. “I’ll stop being a bitch. Go. Have fun. Call me.”

  Sophie met Aidan’s eyes and saw the same shock there she knew was in her own. Neither had expected that the kiss would affect them so strongly. The clouds in his eyes broke and his lips twisted into a lazy smile. He reached for her arm, but she broke away and wrapped her arms around Adele.

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Call me as soon as you can. Be safe.”

  “I’ll try.” Brad slipped his arm through Adele’s, and she raised her other one to wave goodbye to Sophie and Aidan as they made their way to the doors. When she looked back again, Adele was gone.

  Her course was set. She was going with the strong, enigmatic man who kissed like a god.

  She was furious with herself for kissing him, furious that a man who’d brought her such pain could reduce her to a hot, wet puddle on the hotel floor without even touching her skin with his hands. It was his fault, Sophie decided, for forcing her into that position.

  “You don’t know her,” she said suddenly, desperate for him to understand what she’d done. “She’s doesn’t let go of things when she’s worried. I couldn’t think of another way to convince her. You said you’d shoot her if I didn’t. You would have.”

  Chapter Five

  Outside, she glared at Aidan and moved a few feet away from him. Aidan tensed to run after her, but Sophie didn’t bolt. “Don’t touch me again,” she said. He nodded tersely and shuffled her down the busy street.

  The faster he walked, the more heated Sophie grew. He had to be schizophrenic, she mused. One moment he was torturing her so that she saw black, remembered the orchard, remembered the way the sky ballooned above her when the fell. The next moment he was kissing her so that she saw red and felt fire eat its way through her body in hot, hungry bites.

  It wasn’t necessary for him to kiss her back, she mused. She could feel the heat from the pavement rising up around her jeans and imagined it was near unbearable during the day. It only made her angrier. He probably kissed her like that to humiliate or tame her.

  Sophie took deliberate steps, punishing the ground with each stride because she couldn’t punish him. The bastard got off scot free. Spices from vendors still danced in the air, tickling her nose and making it difficult to keep her head of steam intact. Music bled through the thin walls of nightclubs designed to cater to Western tourists.

  Groups of people walked by, laughing or arguing, but no one noticed that anything was wrong. Sophie had always prided herself on her observational skills, but she wasn’t sure she’d have noticed anything wrong if she’d seen two people in her situation.

  Hell, she hadn’t even realized Aidan was in her bathroom.

  She was angry, Aidan thought. It must be hell on her to bottle it up, when a girl like that was built to rage. He’d been in the business of people long enough to know what it meant when she huffed out her breath and pushed through congregating crowds who stood between her and the next section of the sidewalk.

  Chances were, the kiss had actually pissed her off. He took comfort in the fact that he hadn’t initiated it. Aidan had been planning a cutting remark for Adele when Sophie threw her tight little body against his and kissed him like it was the last pleasure she’d get in life.

  He should have pushed her away, even though her ruse had the desired result. But the attraction that had taken root complicated things. She still smelled like soap and roses; when her body had fitted itself to his, Aidan had gotten immediately hard.

  No way Sophie hadn’t known it, he admitted. She’d
rubbed up against him until all the passion he’d been denying himself roared to life and the kiss became something other than fake. He’d wanted to throw her down and sink into her hot, tight pussy in front of everyone in the hotel, mission be damned. He wanted to thrust into her until the searing hunger that permeated his veins had dissipated.

  Even when he knew bystanders were watching, he couldn’t push her away. She was like a drug against his lips, pure honey and sunlight, everything he knew he’d never deserve.

  When Sophie pulled away from him, it had taken all his strength not to follow her, to pull her back and work his tongue into her mouth. To kiss a line down between her beautiful breasts and taste her hot, tight slit.

  Aidan forced himself to think about something else. Anything else. He took stock of the girl he had to deliver to his boss. Fists clenched, leaning forward, she strode toward an unknown destination with more bravery than he might display under the circumstances. He’d never been captured before and, if she was anything like him, she was scanning the alleys for an escape.

  They were only three blocks from his car. If he could get her there, he thought maybe he could get her all the way to Oliver in London. Flying would be simpler, but her agency would watch the skies once word got out that she was missing.

  He shook himself. He was still acting like she was Veronica. But that wasn’t possible.

  She was too young. Too sweet.

  She deserved better than what he’d given her.

  Behind the college girl exterior—and who could believe that she had already graduated?—was someone braver than he could have imagined. With no training, she’d stood up to his abuse. Maybe that was what made her kiss like a stimulant to his starved system; he’d never liked weak women.

  “Aren’t you young to be a teacher?” Aidan slowed his steps almost imperceptibly, though he knew it was stupid. Still, he was rewarded when she matched his pace. They walked more slowly through the closed vendor stalls and light trickling from covered windows, together in the dim glow of the streetlights.

  “Do you honestly expect me to converse with you? Because you’ve already tortured me once tonight.”

  Unexpectedly, her tart reply brought a smile to his lips. “Yes, I expect you to talk to me. I expect you to do and answer everything I say, Sophie, until the day you’re free of me.” Guilt settled in his chest, but Aidan knew that dealing from a position of power was his best bet.

  “Who decides when and if I get to be free?” She stopped dead in the middle of the street and turned to him, depriving him of the excellent view her toned ass provided in the stiff jeans.

  “Why?”

  “I’d like to know the name of the person who has my life in their hands.”

  “A name won’t matter much. If you’re not who I thought, then there’s less to worry about.”

  “But not nothing.”

  “No,” he admitted. “Not nothing.”

  She laughed bitterly and turned around, slamming into a passerby who muttered a comment about useless tourists before stalking away. Sophie blushed and Aidan thought, ridiculously, that she was beautiful.

  “So this person might not want me dead. Maybe. Thanks for the comfort. I guess it doesn’t matter to you, though, because your life isn’t at stake.”

  It occurred to him that somewhere between the kiss and their argument in the middle of a crowded street full of strangers who didn’t care enough to listen that her life did matter. At least a little. “You’re right,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. And that means you need to move your ass before I decide you’re not worth the trouble and leave you here.”

  “Then leave me.”

  “With a hole in your head?”

  She shot him a look of furious hatred, then began to walk again, moving slowly down the street.

  Aidan dragged her toward a car, picking up his pace. He removed keys from his pocket and popped the trunk, throwing her suitcase in next to the bags already occupying the space above the spare tire. Sophie stumbled a little on the curb, but he kept a tight hold on her arm and settled her into the car, clicking her seatbelt into place before rounding the front and climbing into the driver’s seat.

  They drove in silence until they were out of the city and the traffic cleared.

  “Where are we going?” Sophie finally asked. He didn’t answer, of course, and turned on the radio. She shouldn’t have wasted her breath. By the time they reached a road that rolled along the coast, she was starving and regretting that she hadn’t ordered any food at the bar.

  “Where are we going, Aidan?” she repeated.

  “You don’t get to know yet.”

  “Fine.” Sophie reached for the radio and spun the knobs, looking for something a little less upbeat.

  “No,” he said, switching back to the sugary 80s American music. “You’re not in charge of the stereo.”

  “This is what you pick?”

  “It reminds me of being a kid,” he said.

  “So where are we going?”

  Silence.

  “Seriously. Where are we going?”

  Sophie repeated the question until his knuckles were white on the wheel and he was driving over the posted speed limit by 20 miles per hour. The more she asked, the faster he went.

  Two hours later, he asked if she needed the bathroom.

  “Where are we going?” she responded. But she silently wondered whether he was going in circles. Scenery flew by as night stretched to dawn, and still they didn’t reach a destination. It seemed that Aidan was either lost or deliberately avoiding a quicker route.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Damn it, Sophie. Ask me anything else.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  He looked at her, incredulous, then back at the road. Aidan’s eyes widened and he slammed on the brake; Sophie hit the back of her seat hard, then flew forward into the dashboard.

  It had been a mistake to look at her for so long, was his first thought when he came to. Sophie had been pissing him off, asking questions in that snotty prep school tone. Questions she knew he wouldn’t answer.

  He was so fucking tired. Right when she’d started in with the sassy road trip act again, he’d been fantasizing about a really good cup of black coffee.

  Sophie didn’t look tired. Didn’t even seem to dim as light streaked the sky. But he knew the adrenaline keeping her going would crash soon.

  When he tore his eyes away from her sexy, smart-assed face and looked back at the road, a goat was standing smack in the middle of it. Instinct kicked in and Aidan steered the rental right off the road and into a ditch with a jarring thump. He’d been in accidents before, but he could already tell that the car wasn’t going to make it the rest of the way to the ferry.

  Wiping the sweat out of his eyes, he turned to Sophie. She was slumped against the door, breathing in shallow gasps. A gash on her forehead was dripping blood into her eyes.

  “Slow down,” he ordered.

  She continued breathing fast, her chest rising and falling too quickly.

  “I said, slow down. You’re going to hyperventilate.” Her hands were clenched and shaking, even though he knew the motion had to hurt her damaged fingers. Aidan freed himself from the seatbelt and reached over to remove hers, then pulled her across the console and against his chest.

  “Everything’s okay now,” he said, holding her with one arm and stroking her hair with the other. He didn’t feel any broken bones and she didn’t seem to be in pain. Just scared. The head wound would bleed, but it wasn’t serious, he knew.

  Thank god she didn’t have any awkward bone injuries that would make getting her out of the country impossible. It was hard to disguise head wounds though, and Aidan didn’t look forward to public stares from passengers on the ferry who thought he was abusing his wife.

  Of course, he was responsible for Sophie’s injuries. But she wasn’t his wife.

  She wouldn’t or couldn’t stop her breathing. Her eyes grew large in her
head, and she passed out in his arms.

  They were three miles from the ferry. How the fuck was he supposed to get them onboard if she couldn’t walk?

  Chapter Six

  Sophie woke slowly, a ringing pain bouncing off the walls of her skull. Soft light filtered through the blinds drawn over the window of her room. Aidan sat hunched over in a chair on the other side of the bed.

  In the pale light, he looked softer. More innocent, somehow. In sleep, his face was relaxed and his mouth had gone slack. Still, his impressive muscles filled out the fitted black t-shirt he wore and she couldn’t help but admire his shape. Her fingers itched to push back the lock of hair that had fallen away from his eyes, but she killed the urge.

  Son of a bitch probably hit the brakes that hard to keep me from asking questions. Her body started to shake under the covers, remembering the accident.

  After everything he’d done, could he really justify punishing her for wanting to know her fate?

  Sophie pushed back the covers and then immediately yanked them back up. She was clad in only a bra, panties and the bracelet Aidan had clamped on her at the hotel. Though he’d already seen her naked, it still infuriated her.

  Determined not to let modesty stand in her way, she pushed her legs over the bed and forced herself to stand. Immediately, her limbs were covered in goosebumps. Aidan didn’t stir when she wrapped herself in a blanket at the foot of the bed. It covered her like a cloak and dragged on the wooden floor as she walked to the door, turned the knob and pushed it open.

  The sea.

  The only thing she saw were waves and water. It spread out before her, endless and inescapable, like the man who waited sleeping in the room behind her. There was nowhere to hide on a boat, not really. Maybe if it had been a cruise ship, she could have secreted herself behind hundreds of gallons of soda syrup, but this was smaller and he’d find her in hours even if she found a good spot.

  No matter, she thought, taking a step into the breezeway. She had to try. No sooner had her second foot crossed the threshold than she felt a hand warm on the back of her neck. Aidan squeezed gently with firm fingers. “Going somewhere?”