She wiped away the smudges of mascara then combed fingers through her curls. After using the toilet, she checked her reflection while washing her hands. She shook her head. Her hair looked great. The English weather definitely did wonders for it. Now she needed some color in her face.
Pinching her cheeks until they glowed with pink health, she drew a long breath. “Round two,” she said aloud. She could do this. Teague acted interested and glad she had returned. How hard could it be to capture his heart?
In the study, she found him watching the storm out the window next to his desk. Her breath caught in her throat. The paperclips still protruded from his drawer lock. If he saw them, he would know she had tried to snoop.
Using a ruse of joining him, she went to his side and blocked any view he had of the desk drawer. “It’s not slowing, is it?”
“I’m afraid not.” He turned and gave her a hungry look. “You’ve improved. Did you get pretty just for me?”
“Of course,” she said with a grin.
Without warning, he pulled her close and kissed her hard. She squealed against his lips then relaxed as he gentled. Her heart thumped against her ribs, and her stomach quivered with a thrill as his arms snaked around her waist and held her tight.
Chapter Eight
His thighs, thick and hard, pressed against Jaeda's. Teague had her so close she felt each button of his shirt. She wanted him. Nothing tasted sweeter than forbidden fruit, and he was just that – the enemy in a well-built package.
She returned his kiss, grazing her thumb down his abdomen where their bodies met. The firm ridges she felt made her melt. The man must look amazing under those clothes.
He lowered a hand to the flare of her hip and lifted the other to cup her cheek. His sweet but possessive gesture weakened her further. Her knees promised to buckle. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she touched the tip of her tongue to the crease of his lips. He didn’t disappoint her.
They opened at the same time. Their tongues met in a passionate clash. She couldn’t get enough of him, and he seemed mutually engrossed. She sent her fingers into his hair and massaged his scalp above the sexy dip where the spine in his neck nestled between thick muscle. Nothing about him felt soft but his lips and hair. It made her want to tear off his clothes.
Am I so desperate?
He groaned into her mouth as his hand rode the curve of her waist to find and cradle the side of her breast. Her nipple hardened in anticipation of his caress. A quiver began low in her belly before traveling lower to spark a throb between her thighs. Her knees gave out altogether.
Yes. I’m so desperate. For him. For his touch.
Without releasing her mouth, he bent and caught her behind her knees. His kiss became soft and searching as he held her against his chest and carried her to the couch. Laying her on the cushions, he went to his knees and his lips became savage.
She met every thrust of his tongue with a thrust of her own, and she gripped the back of his head. His face tilted over hers, first one way then the other, as his desire fueled hers. She didn’t want him kneeling on the floor beside her. She wanted him on her, weighing her into the sofa, making love to her.
“Please,” she begged against his mouth.
He moaned. His fingers found the hem of her dress and pushed it upward until he found bare skin above the edge of her hose. But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.
“Higher,” she whispered.
He grazed his nails over the crotch of her panties, and the throbbing increased. Moisture slicked her crease.
“Teague, please,” she said on a moan. Lifting a knee, she issued an invitation.
He accepted. Cupping her, he used a finger to press satin into her folds then stroked the hood covering her clitoris. She cried out as wetness seeped from her opening. Jaeda rolled onto her hip and placed a hand to the bulging front of his pants.
She gasped, shocked by how badly she wanted him inside her.
“Oh, God,” he said on a groan, his voice so thick she didn’t recognize it. “We have to stop.” His ragged breathing stirred her hair as he withdrew his hand and lowered her dress.
She wanted to protest. To ask why. But she still clung to the faintest glimmer of lucidity and realized he was right. If they didn’t stop, they’d come together on a couch in the study. It would simply be sex – meaningless and empty. Her assignment couldn’t afford such a slip, and she commended him for wanting more than a trivial encounter. In his eyes as he sat on his heels, she recognized loneliness. The same loneliness that strangled her.
Nodding, she sat and raked fingers through her hair to get it out of her eyes. “Are you tired?”
“A little,” he said. He scrubbed his hands over his face.
With a shy smile, she asked, “Show me to my room?”
“Certainly.” He stood and offered her a hand.
“One moment.” Jaeda checked to ensure her phone remained in her thigh-high's rubber grip then crossed the room as fast as her wobbly legs would carry her.
Pretending to fix the folds of her coat before retrieving it from the desk chair, she bent and yanked the paperclips from the drawer lock. She shoved them in a coat pocket then gathered it over her arm. At the couch, she retrieved her shoes from the floor, letting them dangle from two fingers.
Teague held her hand as he led her out of the study, along the hall and through a door near the foyer. She couldn’t shake the sensations coursing through her body from his lovemaking. Stepping onto cold, hard floor helped some, but not much. Though she couldn’t see much more than shapes and shadowed expanses, she could tell they made their way through a cavernous space.
A dim orange glow caught her attention high above. Then she discerned two lamps turned low on a wall at the top of a massive staircase. Gripping his large, warm hand, she regretted leaving off her shoes when she set foot on the first step. Cold stone sent a chill up her leg, jarring her. Clenching her teeth, she climbed the stairs to the second level. By the time she reached the top, she had lost the urges he had easily stirred downstairs in the study.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pausing on the landing.
“Fine,” she forced past stiff lips. A shiver raced up her spine. When they continued and her feet met with padded carpeting, she went limp with relief for a moment.
He led her along a hallway lit at regular intervals by dim lamps that looked like miniature lanterns. So many doors stood closed on either side along the way, it reminded her of walking a hotel hall.
He stopped at the end in front of a double-door entrance that took up most of the hallway’s end. “This is my room. If you need anything during the night, don’t hesitate to knock.” Showing her to the door nearest his, he said, “You may stay here. It’s quite the best guestroom in the house.”
“Thank you.” Did he have to put her so close to his bedroom? She would have a difficult enough time getting through the night staying under the same roof as it was.
She let go of his hand and gripped the decorative knob and opened the door. She immediately smelled bergamot mixed with sweet lavender – a clean, pretty fragrance. Her feet sank into plush shag. After flipping on a light switch on the wall, she could only stare at her accommodations.
Purple. So much purple of every shade. And white. White walls. White canopy bed. White tables. White carpet. On the bed, a comforter and profusion of pillows sported purple flowers and plenty of frills. Draperies, the canopy overhead, a loveseat, and two puffy chairs were done in fabric matching the comforter. Jaeda imagined any little girl would be thrilled with such a room. She, on the other hand…
“What do you think?” Teague asked from the doorway.
You would have to ask. “It’s so quaint. I’ll be very comfortable here.” As long as I keep the light off.
“I’m glad you like it. I have a few matters to see to before I end my day, so I’ll leave you to your rest.” He took a single step inside to kiss her cheek. “Good night.”
“Good night,” s
he said vaguely as the door closed.
She dropped her bright red shoes on the garishly white carpet and moved into the room. A telephone sat on a bedside table. She went over and picked up the handset. A dial tone greeted her. Excellent. She flopped her coat on the bed and pulled free her assignment sheets from the hidden pocket in the lining then dialed the number given.
“State your op and code name,” said a woman’s voice after the first ring.
“Op name – MINK. Code name – Desire. I’m on an unsecured line.” Jaeda opened the nightstand's drawer, glad to find a pencil and notepad.
“Do you have access to the internet?”
“Yes.” She’d find a way. She took down a website, making sure to isolate a single page on the tabletop so as not to indent onto subsequent pages. She would remember it, but it was good to have on paper, just in case. The call ended without a farewell. She hadn’t expected one.
She ripped the page from the notepad and put it with her other important documents in the lining of her coat then went to see what her bathroom offered. Before she made it across the room, however, a knock stopped her.
“Yes,” she called, somehow guessing by the genteel rap that the person on the other side of the door wasn’t Teague.
“Are you decent?” called a woman’s voice.
Smiling, she strode over and opened the door wide. “That depends on what you mean by decent.”
“I meant by way of how much apparel you wore. I see you’re quite decent.” A mature woman with black hair sprinkled liberally with silver gazed up at her. “My, but aren’t you tall?”
“Not really. Are you Mrs. Wilson?” She wondered what the short, thin woman wanted.
“Oh, where are my manners? You’ve got us all by surprise, dear heart. Yes, Ms. Bennett, I’m the housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson. I brought you this.” She held out a folded wad of blue terrycloth.
“A towel?” Jaeda asked. “There aren’t any in the bathroom?”
“Oh-ho, no, Ms. Bennett. Of course there are towels aplenty in the washroom. This is a robe. I figured since the storm stranded you here, you wouldn’t have anything but the clothes on your back. Caster said you don’t even have a purse.”
Jaeda studied the little woman and concluded she was harmless. “Would you like to come in for a minute?”
“I don’t want to intrude on your privacy.”
“You’re not, believe me. Come on in.” Jaeda held the door wider.
Mrs. Wilson inched her way inside, glancing around as if she’d never seen the room before, which was absurd since she'd prepared it.
“You know, now that I’ve met you and see you in this room, I don’t think it suits you.”
“Tell me about it,” agreed Jaeda. “I mean, it’s pretty, and I’m sure everything is clean and comfortable. It’s just not really my style.”
The woman nodded with a benign smile. “I can surely see that. I could prepare a different room. I think I know just the one.”
Jaeda headed for the bathroom, as planned. “That won’t be necessary. This room is fine. It’s a lot nicer than where I live.”
The housekeeper followed. She stood in the doorway while Jaeda opened a narrow linen closet. “You’ve got as many towels and cloths as you might need right in there. At the top are more pillows and some extra blankets in case you need them.”
Jaeda swallowed a laugh at the idea of needing more pillows than the twenty-or-so already on the bed.
Mrs. Wilson went on to say, “I’ve set a brand new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste on the sink there for you. And I took the liberty of putting soap and shampoo in the shower. I suggested to Sutton that I could lend you some of my things to wear, but he didn’t seem to think that was a good idea. I see now that he was right. Why, it would be like trying to have a supermodel wear a child’s clothes.”
“Well, I don’t know that I’d go that far, but it was nice of you to think of me. And thank you for the robe. I will put it to good use tonight.”
The housekeeper blushed. “I thought you might. I only wish I could do more.”
“You’ve done a great deal,” said Jaeda, passing the woman to make her way to the loveseat. Lowering onto a too-firm cushion, she searched the housekeeper’s face. “So tell me, Mrs. Wilson, what did you mean when you said I had you all by surprise?”
“Why, dear heart, don’t you know? Mr. Jameson has never brought a woman home. Ever.”
Chapter Nine
Fifteen minutes later, Jaeda braced palms against the shower wall and let hot water stream across her shoulders and down her back. Teague had never brought a date here. What did that mean for her?
The agent in her went on alert, thinking of the old adage about keeping one’s enemies close. He had wanted to know about her, insisted she talk about herself. Yet he had revealed nothing about himself other than whom he worked for and what he did for a living.
The woman in her went soft, though. He brought her here, to his home – his most private place in the world, when he could have taken her to a hotel or restaurant or anywhere, really. Nothing in his countenance indicated he suspected her purpose. The times she had thought so during their evening together, it turned out his thoughts ran along a benign path.
So why would he act out of character? Why would he, after a brief meeting in a bar then a short car ride, bring her here? Or was she a fool to believe Mrs. Wilson? The housekeeper worked for him, after all. He’d even referred to his employees as his team.
Turning off the water, Jaeda let the agent take over. Teague was the enemy. The target. He couldn’t be trusted.
She toweled dry then wrapped the lush blue robe around her shower-hot body. She ran fingertips along the collar and seams to make sure it didn’t contain surveillance wires. The robe was clean.
In her room, she cracked the door enough to peek out. The hallway beckoned in deserted silence, so she tiptoed to the double doors leading to Teague’s private quarters. Holding her breath, she pressed an ear to the wood.
Male voices spoke in conversational tones. She could distinguish two distinctly different voices, but the door muffled them so much she couldn’t tell which belonged to Teague, much less what they said. It sounded like they talked about something important.
A sense of urgency came over her. What if their conversation concerned an issue of America’s national security? The agency had targeted Teague for a reason. This need-to-know thing stinks.
She had to get in there.
Trying the knob, she found it unlocked. She pushed open the door a crack and peered in. A sitting area contained a dark green couch, a gold and green striped chair and a walnut writing desk. On an end table, a gold lamp shone too brightly, making the bedroom beyond dark in comparison. The voices continued, still faint and far away.
How big is this suite, anyway?
She scooted inside and closed the door with a practiced touch, not making a sound. Her bare feet moved noiselessly across tan Berber carpeting. After edging past the small desk, she hugged her back to the wall and grasped the ridges of dark wainscoting below a smooth chair rail.
Glancing around the corner, she surveyed the large bedroom. A single lamp on a nightstand provided meager light that left far corners in shadow. Dark green curtains surrounded the bed, concealing it and obstructing her view to the other side.
She took a moment to admire the soothing hues, wishing her room looked more like his.
The voices talked on, and now she heard they discussed financial events that had occurred around the world during the day. Frowning, Jaeda still couldn’t discern which belonged to Teague. If they talked so quietly, they clearly talked about highly secretive matters.
As she moved quickly to the bed, she sank lower. Making her way to the foot of it, she duck-walked to where light spilled across the floor. The room stretched another fourteen feet past the bed and accommodated a second sitting area with a television.
A television!
She smacked a hand to her forehead.
Standing, she glared at the screen showing two men in suits seated behind a news desk, delivering the day’s financial report. The reduced volume made them sound as if they spoke in hushed tones.
Teague’s head appeared where he leaned sideways behind a green loveseat to get a look at her.
Caught! It’s official. He’s turning me into the worst secret agent in history.
Between his fists he held a balled hand towel. He had removed his shirt and tie, and his trousers sagged a bit at his waist thanks to an unfastened button. “Hello,” he said, his eyebrows arched in silent question.
Her feet cemented to the floor, and her lungs stopped working. She could only stare at the square slabs of muscle that made up his chest, and the ridges that defined his stomach. What should she say? What possible excuse could she have for coming into his room uninvited?
“Hello,” she squeaked.
Hello? Was that all she had? Why had she gone through intensive espionage training if all she could manage was hello?
“I was readying for bed.” He pointed toward a doorway, the source of the light spilling across the Berber. A bathroom. “Would you like to stay and chat?”
Chat. Yeah, okay. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
He released a bark of laughter and tossed the towel into the bathroom. The muscles on his arm flexed and released in a ripple that made her mouth water. “You may not mean to, Jaeda, but you do a very fine job of it just the same.” He strode to her and took her by the hands. Walking backward, he drew her to the loveseat.
“You find me disturbing?” Why did that bother her? He ought to be disturbed by her. She was about to expose his crooked dealings and ruin his life.
“Very.” With a wolfish grin, he hit the off button on a remote before dropping it to an oval coffee table. “Since the moment I met you, I can’t seem to think about anything else.” He urged her to sit then joined her. “I thought I would lose my mind when you left without giving me your number. Then I realized that Caster drove you, and he could simply take me to you. Still, it occurred to me that you might not want to see me again.”
Code Name Desire Page 5