She grabbed his belt buckle and released the catch with what seemed like a flick of her fingers.
“Erin.” He grabbed her wrist, but the other escaped him. Besides, it wasn’t like he traveled with a stash of condoms. Fooling around was only going to leave him frustrated, and not in a good way.
She got the tab of his pants open and slid her fingers into his boxers.
“Kiss me,” she whispered.
He bent his head and pressed his lips to hers briefly.
“This isn’t going to work,” he said.
“Sure it is. Kiss me, pull my hair a little, and I’ll do the rest.” She wrapped her hand around his cock.
There was no stopping her, not that he wanted to.
She stroked his flesh. His pants slid down, giving her more room to work.
He gathered her hair into a tail and wrapped it around his hand. She sighed at the first tug and leaned into him, tightening her hold on his erection.
Riley pivoted, trapping her between the vanity and him. He flexed his hips, driving into her grasp.
This was going to be what he thought about whenever he closed his eyes for the next year. Erin’s teasing smile, the way her hair felt against his palm, how good her hands felt on him. He thrust, and she twisted her hand around him.
Outside, footsteps trailed by, but Erin didn’t seem to care.
“Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for a condom right now,” he whispered.
“You’re telling me.” She grabbed his other hand and placed it against her breast.
Scratch the weekend idea. He’d want a week.
Riley groaned and rocked into her hold. His vision blurred. Damn, what was it about her? These moments of pleasure went by far too fast. There was no stopping it, no matter how much he wanted to savor this.
Erin wrapped her arm around his shoulders. She kissed his face and neck, her hand on his cock never losing its rhythm.
“Erin—” His throat closed up around the other words.
He wished they were alone, that his team wasn’t on the other side of that door, because the things he wanted to do to her would be loud and long.
The skin at the base of his spine tingled so much it almost burned. He rocked forward, his whole body tensing up as the orgasm rolled up through him.
God damn. He hadn’t had a damn handie in ages, but that was hot.
Erin kissed his lips, the heat still simmering in her touch.
A sharp knock at the door startled both of them into wide eyed silence.
“Damn it, Riley,” Grant grumbled. “Stop hogging the bathroom. Dinner’s here.”
Erin buried her face against Riley’s shoulder and he pressed his mouth to the top of her head to smother his chuckle in her hair.
Score one for not getting caught.
5.
SATURDAY. AEGIS GROUP Safe House, Erbil, Kurdistan.
Erin sat at the head of the table and picked at her food. She didn’t have much of an appetite though she knew she should. Her body hummed with awareness of the man to her left. She refused to think too much about their stolen moments together. They were adults. They had needs, but needs didn’t have to mean more than simply satisfying themselves.
Yeah, when had that ever worked for her?
She glanced up and caught Thomas staring at her. He hadn’t said much of anything to her. not an I’m sorry or a glad you’re okay. Her skin crawled and the last urge to eat shriveled and died.
When he’d first been assigned to her Erin hadn’t paid him much mind. She’d gotten an email her previous guard was being replaced, and the next day Thomas was there to pick her up and take her into the office. They’d hardly spoken to each other.
It was after she’d wrapped up Osman’s project and got a little caught up that she’d stopped working during the drives. That was when she’d begun to notice the way Thomas looked at her, like he’d smother her in her sleep.
He performed his duties to the letter. There were no grounds to fault him or ask for a replacement. It was all in her head. Then why couldn’t she shake this uneasy feeling about him?
The only thing for her was to beef up her security at home and always make sure he didn’t follow her to her condo.
Maybe after this incident she could get him reassigned.
She hoped so. She hadn’t felt this uncomfortable doing her job in well over a year. Or was it two years now?
Fuck. Maybe she did need a trip home, but not yet. Something was going on here and she didn’t want to leave things unresolved. Everyone was still trying to sort out Osman’s workload. If she left, that would create a bigger backlog.
The backlog was killing all of them. She’d barely had a moment for herself.
“You don’t like the food?” Melody leaned toward Erin.
The woman was nice. A little too nice for Erin’s taste. The too-bright smile and perfect manners were a front.
“It’s wonderful. I think I’m just too exhausted to eat.” She held up her hand and feigned a yawn.
“Well, there’s plenty if you’re hungry later.” Melody smiled.
“What is our plan, exactly?” Erin asked.
“We have everyone on a plane out late tomorrow afternoon.” Melody picked at her food. She moved it around more than she ate.
“When can I go to the office? I have a lot of work I’d like to take with me.” Erin pushed her plate away.
“Actually, we were told to take you directly to Texas,” Melody said.
“But what about my work? Packing a bag?” Erin frowned. That didn’t make sense unless they were firing her.
“I think everyone is very concerned about ensuring your safety, and the rest of it is stuff that can get sorted out later.”
More like there was a reason behind the attack buried here and someone didn’t want her digging.
No, that was unfair. Her employers were decent people, but that couldn’t be said of everyone.
Erin couldn’t leave Erbil until she had everything figured out.
The attack was not random.
It was not happenstance she’d been kidnapped.
There was a purpose behind it all, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
“You know, I’m going to go ahead and turn in. That’s going to be a long flight tomorrow and I’m tired.” Erin pushed her chair back and stood.
“Did someone show you to your room?” Melody asked.
“Yeah.” Erin smiled through the lie.
She didn’t want Riley, Melody, or anyone else following her.
Erin climbed the stairs to the second floor. A few of the guys were already done with dinner and off in the living room staring at screens. Their gig was a whole lot more high-tech than the units she’d worked with during her years in the army.
With the guys watching the house from every angle, they were going to see her if she tried to walk out the door. How was she going to get out of here?
The best thing to do would be to wait until it was dark, and they began rotating sleep schedules. That would mean fewer people to see her slip away, but that would mean crossing the city in the dead of night by herself.
Erin edged out into the hallway. The voices from downstairs indicated the meal still continued. No one paced the hall. She went down two doors and pushed it open, peering into an empty bedroom.
She crossed to the balcony and slid the doors open. The outside space wasn’t any bigger than a hotel balcony. The wide railing, however, could provide a nice place to grip. But where was she going?
The wall between the properties was a good four feet away. Despite her balancing skills, she wasn’t going to vault herself over the fence and onto the neighbor’s property without seriously hurting herself.
The bedroom door eased open.
She turned and tightened her grip on the rail.
Thomas stared at her. She swallowed but kept staring right back at him.
“I’m glad they found you,” he said. The statement wasn’t reflected in his fac
e or his voice. He might as well be delivering the day’s agenda.
“Me, too. I hope no one held you responsible.”
“You know how these things are.” Again, his physical response and voice didn’t match up with his words. He was cold. Distant.
“They’re taking me back to America tomorrow. Any idea where you’ll be assigned?” It felt as though a million bugs crawled on her arms, legs and across her stomach.
“Not a clue.” Thomas took a few ambling steps into the room.
Erin stared at the door. It swung almost shut on silent hinges. Thomas could reach her before she’d be able to call for help.
“I’ll call my boss. Tell them how great you’ve been. Maybe you’ll get a cushy assignment?” She glanced at the wall dividing her balcony from the next room.
“That’d be awful nice—”
“Hey, Erin?” Riley called out, his voice far too loud. The door shoved open and Riley stepped in, hauling two large bags with him. Riley’s gaze went straight to Thomas, as though he’d known Thomas was there. “Oh, hey. There you are. Grant and Melody are looking for you downstairs. If I were you, I’d leave them together for as short a time as possible. They don’t like each other.”
“Well, I guess those are my marching orders.” Thomas glanced back at Erin and nodded. ”Talk to you later.”
God, she hoped not.
Riley watched the other man exit the room, no hurry to his stride.
The bedroom door clicked shut behind him and the tension snapped. Erin bent forward bracing her hands on her knees and sucked in a deep breath. Riley was at her side in a moment. His hand squeezed her shoulder, and he knelt at her side.
“You okay? He do anything? I swear he was downstairs one minute and gone.”
“No, I’m fine. Totally fine.” She shook her head, as though she could rid herself of the sleazy, creepy feeling of Thomas’ presence. Maybe it was all in her head. Perhaps the impact of three days in captivity wasn’t just an aversion to darkness, maybe she was seeing danger where there wasn’t any.
“Erin, talk to me?”
She straightened and pasted on a smile. Riley had run to her rescue, proving yet again that he was one of the good ones. Even if she wanted to throttle him and his team for not allowing her home or to her office before leaving the country.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine,” she said.
“What did he say?” Riley’s frown telegraphed his disbelief.
“Just that he was glad I was back. I asked if he was in trouble and what he’d do next. Nothing, really.”
“Yeah?” Riley peered over the edge of the balcony at the ground below. It was harder to make out the landscaping in the quickly fading light. “I wouldn’t recommend trying to get out this way. That fall would be a bitch.”
“How? I wasn’t...” Erin gaped at him.
“Oh, come on. Give me some credit.” Riley nudged her back inside the room and closed the sliding doors. “I can spot someone who wants to slip away. Tell me why?”
He perched on the edge of the bed, completely serious in his request.
“Someone wants me out of Erbil. Why? Why was I targeted? What do I know? Or what should I know?” She began pacing the bedroom, her mind whirling. “A month ago, one of the other Project Managers died from an allergic reaction. I inherited Osman’s workload. What if there’s something in those boxes? I can’t just leave and hope it all turns out okay because the company wants to cover their ass by pulling me out of here.”
“Where are these files?”
“My office at the NexGen complex.”
“How far from here is that?”
“Twenty miles? I’m not exactly sure.”
“Safe area?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“No. Erbil is as safe a place as you can get in this part of the world. It’s why they want me out of here. They want to cover up that an attack even happened.”
“Okay, then get dressed.” Riley opened one of the black bags and shoved a handful of material at her. It was dark colored and thin.
“What the...?”
“It’s something with a scarf. You know how to wear that, right?”
Erin stared at Riley. What was he implying?
“Look, you’re going to be a pain in the ass about this unless we get whatever it is you think you need. You’re going to keep looking for a way to slip away or whatever, and that makes my job more difficult. So, the only solution I see is to make a hard pitch to Grant and Megan about why we need to go get this stuff together. Otherwise we’re toeing the line of holding you prisoner and that’s not what we do.”
“You’re going to help me?”
“Your safety is on me. If you get hurt, even if it’s because you ran away, that’s still on me. Give me a chance to do this the right way with the right support. We go to your office, get the files, come back here, and you get on the plane tomorrow with us. Deal?”
He was serious.
She swallowed and blinked a few times, unprepared for Riley’s willingness to go to bat for her.
“What gave me away?” She shook out the garment and its complimentary scarf.
“Turning in early,” he said.
“Maybe I’m tired.” She laid the scarf on the bed and held up the long-sleeved, floor length garment.
“You did everything you could to not be in a room by yourself last night,” he said, a softness to his voice.
She swallowed, and her insides quivered.
Erin pulled the garment on over her head and shimmied it in place. The burnt orange color wasn’t something she’d pick, but it was popular among locals. The desert hues always went off well, it seemed. She wrapped the scarf in her best imitation of a hijab. Her mother would no doubt scoff and have a few words, but it wasn’t like she’d ever worn one before her first deployment.
“There. Not my favorite color, but it’ll work. How do I look?” She held out her hands.
“It works.” Riley pushed to his feet. “What is your favorite color?”
“Blue. Why?” She frowned, caught off guard by the question.
“Curious is all. Wait here. I’m going to go get Melody and we’ll make our case to her first. Grant’s going to say no, so our best bet is getting her on our side.”
RILEY JOGGED DOWN THE stairs.
Melody and Grant had retreated to opposite ends of the house, which meant their nightly sparring for who was really in control was over. Riley knew what he was about to do was over the line. Grant wasn’t going to forgive him for this easily, if ever. But it was the right thing to do.
“Hey, Melody?” He leaned against the kitchen counter where she stood going over something on her tablet.
“Hm?”
“Can I speak to you? Upstairs?” He kept his voice low.
Melody didn’t say anything but her body grew still and her gaze slowly slid toward him.
“It’s about Erin,” he said even softer.
Melody jerked her head once.
Here went nothing.
He turned and led the way back up the stairs, sweat breaking out under his arms and along his spine. Before Melody, when the team was divided, he and Grant weighed in with voting. Now that Melody was in the picture, there were three of them in charge. If Riley got her on his side, Grant would be out-voted. He would see this as a betrayal. In Grant’s mind, Riley was his loyal second and should do what he wanted. Riley thought the world of Grant, but the truth was they were human. Grant’s objectivity since Melody’s introduction was shit. More than a few of his judgments were out of spite.
Riley opened the door and ushered Melody into the room with Erin.
“Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like where this is headed?” Melody turned toward Riley.
“Because you aren’t, but I need you to hear me out because Grant won’t.” And Riley was counting on that last fact hooking her into at least listening to him.
“Go on,” Melody said
.
“Erin’s going to be a flight risk for as long as this job lasts if we don’t give her some leeway. I know Grant’s instructions were pretty strict about us not even going to her house for a change or clothes or personals, but that’s not right.”
“I don’t even need to go home,” Erin said.
“What is it you want to do?” Melody crossed her arms over her chest.
“I want to go to the office. Someone has set me up and NexGen wants to cover the whole thing up. I want to know why.” Erin’s eyes flashed.
“We can’t hold her against her will, and I’ve already talked her into not climbing out the window once.” Riley took a deep breath. “It’s a twenty minute drive to her office. Twenty minutes inside and twenty back, we’re gone under an hour.”
“Grant will never go for this, you realize that?” Melody glanced between them.
“That’s why we’re going to vote on it. You’re Grant’s equal. I’m second in command after him. I just need you to see that this is important to fulfilling our job,” Riley said.
“Have you considered how Grant will see this? Going behind his back to talk to me?” Melody clasped her hands in front of her.
Riley winced. He knew Grant had a chip on his shoulder about Melody. Going around him this way with her help wasn’t going to do positive things for the team, but it was the right thing to do.
“I’m willing to do it if you’ll back me up. I know I’m right on this,” he said.
Melody turned toward Erin.
“Is he right? Are you going to be a flight risk?” Melody asked.
“I’m not leaving without answers.” Erin stood up straighter.
“Alright. Fine.” Melody blew out a breath and rubbed her temples. “But we do this up here away from the others. It’s going to cause enough problems without having the rest of the team watching. Erin, wait by the patio doors. Riley, go get Grant. I’m going to tell Brenden to prep to go. Myself, Vaughn and Nolan will stay here.”
Riley could have hugged Melody, but the look on her face was all business.
He opened the door and they each went their separate way. Melody down the hall, he and Erin down the stairs.
Riley found Grant still at the dining table while Nolan and Vaughn were flipping channels.
Dangerously Taken (Aegis Group Lepta Team, #1) Page 6