Close Quarters

by Lucy Monroe

  “So, your father’s sixtieth birthday is coming up. I don’t suppose you could make it back in time for the party? I would pay for the last-minute airfare.”

  Her father’s birthday was the last day of the month, about three weeks away.

  “I’ll talk to Fleur,” Tanya found herself rashly promising.

  But she meant it. Sure, she usually planned her trips home months in advance, but sometimes a woman had to take action.

  Besides, she had a feeling that once Roman was gone, a trip home to her family might be the best way to find comfort for the heartbreak she was headed toward.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  “I’ve modified it so all you have to do is press here and power is engaged. It stays on until you press it again.” Neil handed Roman the hand-held scanner.

  Roman turned the small black object over in his hand. “How close does it have to be to her chip?”

  “I don’t know. My guess is pretty damn close, or the soldiers wouldn’t have demanded a strip search.”

  “Maybe.” Those bastards could have had their own ugly reasons for wanting to strip Tanya.

  “Two of our men were with the Zimbabwe soldiers.” Neil’s certainty that American soldiers would never be party to rape was laudable, but Roman didn’t share it.

  There were bad apples in the American military too.

  “We don’t know if they were there on orders,” Roman reminded Neil. “All we do know is that they got called to heel when Corbin put a leash on their superiors.”

  Unfortunately, their presence did verify that the Americans were on active duty, though. Which led Roman to believe Colonel Idiot had something to do with the roadblock.

  “Just because the American soldiers were with the Zimbabweans, that doesn’t mean they knew about the hand-held scanner,” Neil said, showing how close to Roman’s train of thought his own was running.

  “For all we know, the American soldiers intended to search Tanya, looking for a USB storage device.”

  “Or they planned to prick her with something that would lead to death during the search.”

  Roman had thought of that and it left a cold spot inside him he’d been unable to shake.

  “Someone at the roadblock knew about the chip though.”

  “Which means we’ve got to neutralize this situation sooner than later.”

  “Right.”

  “You’re going to have to get the reader as close to her chip as you can.”

  “And let me guess, you have no idea how long the transfer will take?”

  “Oh, ye of little faith. I can’t tell you how close you have to be to her chip because I don’t know what kind of transceiver it’s got. For spies, these people are cheap. The wireless receiver on their hand-held is one generation old.”

  “So, how long?”

  “Well,” Neil drew the word out. “The JCAT is sophisticated software. It will be upwards of twenty gigs.”

  “So, not an instant transfer.”

  “No, but it’s not going to take hours either. Assuming the transceiver is the same generation as the receiver, even twenty gigabytes should only take six-point-two minutes. If it’s the generation before, you’re looking at more like thirty.”

  “Shit.”

  “Don’t tell me you can’t stretch it out for thirty minutes, man. I’ll lose all respect for you.”

  “Ass.”

  Neil just grinned. “That’s Spazz. You need to work on your diction, chief.”

  Roman whapped him on the back of his head, not too hard, but not like he was hitting a girl either. “My dick is just fine.”

  “Well, you were the one worried about keeping her occupied for half an hour.”

  “And keeping the damn reader near the chip.”

  “That’s a small consideration for a man who plans terrorist-level black ops before breakfast,” Neil mocked.

  “Staying up all night planning an operation does not count as doing it before breakfast.”

  “Sure it does; it’s all in how you look at it.”

  “I’d call you an idiot, but you’d know I was lying.”

  “Yep. I got me some heavy IQ points there, Geronimo.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if you didn’t fake your tests.”

  “And if I did? Wouldn’t that make my real numbers even higher?”

  Roman rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and that’s what worries me.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s an old fallacy that genius drives insanity.”

  “So you say.” It was his turn to taunt.

  “Just think about all the nice little gizmos I make you.”

  “I guess it’s just a good thing you’re on our side.”

  “Yeah, my plans to take over the world bored me.”

  “The scary thing is, I don’t think he’s kidding,” Drew said as he came into the room.

  Neil gave the other man a sour look. “You’re the one more likely to have delusions of grandeur like that, Face.”

  “For me they would not be delusions.” Drew smoothed his camo shirt.

  He was the only man Roman knew who could make fatigues look like they should be a three-piece suit.

  “Right,” Roman drawled the word out. Drew was one scary son of a bitch when it came to manipulating people on any scale.

  Drew gave a superior look. “Hey, some men like me become dictators; others fight the good fight.”

  “You’d make a lousy dictator,” Neil said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes. You’re too squeamish about blood.”

  Roman had to agree. Drew wasn’t a bad soldier, but he wasn’t like Kadin or Roman either.

  “So you think,” Drew said with a look that implied that was just another one of his cons and that he had them all fooled.

  “What the hell are you ladies gossiping about?” Kadin asked, coming in. “We’ve got things to do.”

  “Is Ben ready to leave?”

  “Yep. He’s going in the first jeep with the baby grunts. They’re dropping Johari off at school.”

  “And you two are going to ride with Drew,” Roman said to Neil and Kadin.

  “Right, he’ll drop us two clicks out. Then we’ll double back. I’ll go looking for sign of our watchers and Neil will sneak back into the compound.”

  “Enter it covertly,” Neil corrected him in an unctuous voice that earned him another head smack. “What? We’re covert operatives, not teenagers sneaking out to go partying with our friends.” But his eyes were laughing at both Roman and Kadin’s less than amused expressions.

  “Okay. So, the plan is for me to entice Tanna back here and keep her occupied long enough to transfer the data on her chip. Kadin will track whoever was watching the compound last night and Neil will get himself back into our hut without being seen, and keep himself scarce in the other bedroom.

  “Face, Ben seems pretty serious about doing the mining audit too,” Roman added. “Help him get the information he needs today. We don’t know how long we have here, but he’s doing a good thing.”

  “Damn right,” Kadin said.

  Drew nodded, his expression going to mission mode. “I’m on it, chief.”

  “Kadin, I want you checking in with Neil every thirty minutes.”

  Kadin scowled. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “Save it. We all know you MARSOC soldiers can fight our wars single-handedly, but you’ll just have to deal with following procedure.”

  Kadin’s scowl did not lessen, but he nodded. Of all of them, he had probably had the hardest time adjusting to working on a team. Prior to joining the Atrati, Kadin had done most of his work for MARSOC on his own. He wasn’t used to relying on others to have his back, but Roman wasn’t losing a man to stubbornness or independence. Or just plain misplaced pride either.

  Roman went looking for Tanya as soon as both jeeps had cleared the compound gate. Dr. Andikan informed him that Tanya was sleeping late this morning.

  He found her sitting on the edge of her bunk, her
sat-phone dangling from one hand, her expression one of dazed shock.

  “Tanna, liúba…are you okay?”

  She looked up. “Roman. What are you doing here?”

  “After last night you need to ask?”

  “I…I’m supposed to be working.”

  “Not according to Dr. Andikan. She said you were having a rare ly-in. Want some company?” He let his desire for her show on his face.

  These types of operations were always easier when an agent actually felt some desire for the woman he was seducing. Roman felt plenty for the sweet woman looking so lost. He wanted Tanya with a strength that was damn abnormal, but useful all the same.

  “I…my dad, he was shot.”

  “What?” He wasn’t one of those soldiers who believed real violence only happened in the field, but the news still stunned him.

  She shook her head, as if trying to clear it. Obviously, it didn’t work because she didn’t look any more focused. “In a carjacking. He refused to leave his car and the guy shot him.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Mom said he was going to be fine. He kept a taser in his car. Even shot, he tasered the guy, called nine-one-one and saved his car.”

  “He must really like it.” Or the man had lost his mind, but Mr. Ruston had not struck Roman as a man on the edge.

  “He got it the year Beau was born. It’s a Plymouth Satellite Sebring. He’s kept it in pristine condition all these years. Mom gets a new yuppie car every two years; she leases, but Dad’s totally attached to his baby.”

  “Did they get the carjacker?”

  “You know, I didn’t even ask, but I think my mom would have been a lot more upset if he’d gotten away.”

  “I’m sure she was plenty upset as it was.”

  “Yeah. She wants me to come home for his birthday.”

  “When is that?”

  “In a few weeks.”

  “You going?”

  “Yeah, I think I am.”

  “What about Dr. Andikan?”

  “She’ll probably grumble, but in the end, Fleur will approve the trip.”

  “You sound pretty sure about that.”

  “I am.” Tanya was sounding better, less shocky. “Family is important to her.”

  “Good.”

  She smiled, but she was still pale. He wanted to see her back to her indomitable self. For some reason that was really important to him. He moved into the room with a predator’s stride.

  It was time to get her thinking about something else. He’d brought the hand-held device with him, just in case plans changed. Good thing too, because there was no reason he couldn’t have sex with her here instead of his own hut. Also, there was the added benefit of knowing Neil wouldn’t be showing up in the second bedroom at some point.

  Tanya looked up at him, her gaze still a little fuzzy around the edges. “I need a shower.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “If you want to touch me, I’m sure.” She stood up, looking determined.

  He almost laughed, but he didn’t. “I don’t mind.”

  Her nose wrinkled. “Not going to happen, Mr. Super-soldier. I want a shower and I’m getting one.”

  “You’ll come back?” He did not want to lose her to work.

  “I should work.”

  Ah, he had her. “But you’ll come back?”

  “Yeah, I will.”

  And she did. Less than fifteen minutes later, she returned. Her hair wet, she wore a sleep tank top and light cotton pajama pants. Definitely not workwear.

  It shouldn’t be a sexy outfit either, but as he’d told her the night before, he didn’t need satin and lace to get turned on. The way the lightweight fabric of her top clung to her erect nipples, exposing the shadow of their raspberry pink through the white had his semi going fully hard in seconds. The look in her eyes was damn enticing as well. The pretty hazel depths ate him up.

  “You put the time to good use, I see.” Her eyes traveled up and down his fully naked form.

  Not only had he stripped off his clothes, but he’d taken the opportunity to put the scanner under her pillow for easy access. “I did.”

  The way her breathing went shallow from one second to the next had his cock jumping as it curved up toward his stomach.

  She shut her door and leaned against it. “I like this.”

  “It gets better.” He patted the bed beside him. “Come here.”

  She shook her head. “Today, I want to taste you all over.”

  Oh, shit. He couldn’t afford to lose his focus, but he wasn’t about to turn down that offer either. He’d never enjoyed another woman’s touch as much as he did the feel of Tanya’s fingers against his skin.

  “Feel free.” He lay back on the bed, stretching his body out for her.

  Her gaze darkened and her breath hitched. “You are beautiful.”

  “Men are not beautiful, sweetheart.”

  “So you say. I know what I’m looking at and it’s pure beauty.”

  Damn, if he couldn’t feel heat surging into his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d blushed. Hell, he wasn’t sure he ever had before.

  She peeled off her top and tossed it away. “Should I leave my pants on like you did last night?”

  He bit out, “No.”

  “Oh, that sounds certain.”

  “That’s because I know what I want.”

  “And what is that?” she asked as she brushed her palms over her turgid nipples.

  Damn, they were beautiful, perfect confections tipping the sweetly rounded mounds that were neither too small nor overly generous. “I want to taste those.”

  “What? These?” She plucked them, a small sound coming from her throat as she did so.

  “Yes,” he growled. “Damn it, get over here.”

  “You’re awfully bossy in the bedroom.”

  “We weren’t in a bedroom last night.”

  “No, you were in me.”

  The sweet teasing made him ache to hold her, but he could wait. He would wait. “That I was, and it felt damn fine.”

  “Did it?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “For me too.”

  “We fit.” The truth of that statement made the breath in his chest catch.

  “Yes, we do,” she said, looking like the knowledge was just as disturbing for her. “Better than we should, maybe, for what this is.”

  “You sure about that?”

  She turned her head to the side as if that was one question she did not want to answer. “I don’t usually do casual.”

  “This may not be permanent, but it’s not casual either.” No matter what else was going on, the way their bodies reacted to one another was anything but casual.

  She nodded and then looked back at him. “So, no pants for me?”

  “Right.”

  Her lips curved in a smirk, but she didn’t make him wait too long, sliding the cotton pants down her legs and stepping out of them to reveal she hadn’t worn anything underneath.

  Her pretty brown curls were a shade darker than the hair on her head, but still had a golden tone he hadn’t seen in the deepening twilight last night.

  “I could look at you for hours.” As he said the words, words meant to seduce, the truth of them slammed into him like an armor-piercing bullet. Shit.

  “Maybe later. Right now I want to have my way with you.” She approached the bed, her hips swaying with unconscious feminine allure.

  If he didn’t get a handle on his need, he was never going to last. The slightest brush against his cock was going to have him exploding like a teenager seeing his first naked woman.

  She stopped at the end of the bed and dropped gracefully to her knees. “I really did mean I want to touch you all over.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll survive it.” And the scary part was, he wasn’t kidding. The sight of her on her knees rocked through him like a mortar blast.

  And the thought of never seeing her like this again made that co
ld spot inside him grow until he felt hollow.

  “Trust me, you’ll survive. I have plans for after.” Her tone was filled with sultry promise.

  “You’d better get started then.”

  And she did.

  She spent what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, on his legs, caressing, kissing each spot that she discovered was sensitive. She whispered things against his skin he could not understand, but still managed to drive him wild. When her lips pressed to his inner thigh, her rapidly drying hair brushed against his balls and pre-cum leaked onto his stomach. She seemed to sense the effect she’d had because she turned to kiss his scrotum, licking and gently tugging on his sack with her lips.

  He groaned, holding on to the sheets with white-knuckle intensity to stop himself from reaching out and forcefully guiding her mouth to his cock.

  Damn, for a woman who didn’t do casual often, which implied long bouts of celibacy, Tanya was incredibly good at this.

  “Vidsokchy mih khuj,” he ground out.

  She looked up at him, her eyes heavy lidded, her lips swollen from kissing his flesh with just the right amount of suction. “English, Roman. If you want me to do something, you’ve got to tell me in a language I understand.”

  How the hell was she speaking so clearly when he’d reverted to guttural Ukrainian? It was a defense mechanism all the Chernichenko kids had learned early in life. Doing so had kept them from getting in trouble at school more than once.

  “‘Suck me.’ Put my cock in your mouth,” he demanded, even as he continued to force his hands to stay by his sides, his fingers curved into fists around the sheets.

  He would not try to direct her head where he wanted, but if she didn’t do something soon, he was going to have her under him.

  Only, damned if he didn’t want to feel the wet heat of her mouth on him.

  “I’m not done tasting the rest of your body.” She said it like they had all the time in the world.

  “Later,” he ground out between clenched teeth as his hands cramped with the need to reach out and guide.

  Her smile was as sensual as an incubus’s. “Okay.” Then she leaned forward and licked him from the bottom of his dick right up to the head, where she tasted his pre-cum. She licked her lips. “Sweet.”

  “I drink lots of juice.” It was a good source of electrolytes, but it was common knowledge that the side benefit was less bitter ejaculate.