To Russia With Love (Countermeasure Series)

by Aubrey, Cecilia; Almeida, Chris

  Kostas appeared lost in thought, possibly weighing the merit of Trevor’s words. Words of a man he had never met before.

  Trevor sensed Cassandra’s anxiousness in the squeeze she gave his shoulder as they waited for Kostas’s reply. They both understood that if he didn’t agree to help them, it would take them longer to achieve their goal. They would lose precious time building connections on their own in order to get a foot through Mikhailov’s door.

  Kostas exhaled deeply. “I will see what I can do. I will keep this between us. Robert will kill me if he finds out that I help to put you two in danger. Know this: I will advise him if I feel it is for the best.”

  Cassandra squeezed Trevor’s shoulder a little tighter this time. “We are indebted to you. Thank you, Boris. We can call you Boris, right?” Cassandra asked Kostas sweetly.

  “Of course you can!” he smiled widely, standing and extending a hand to Trevor, who grasped it in a tight handshake.

  “Give me a few days to get this figured out. I have connections that can help, but I need to find the right way to approach them about this.” Kostas’s lowered voice and cautious tone caught Trevor’s attention. It was almost as if Kostas thought someone would overhear their conversation.

  “We’ll sit tight until we hear from you.”

  Kostas squeezed Trevor’s hand tighter and draped an arm around his shoulders in a close hug. “You better keep her safe and out of harm’s way,” he whispered in Trevor’s ear, and then spoke louder, “In the meantime, enjoy St. Petersburg.”

  “I definitely will.” Trevor’s response addressed both of Kostas’s comments, and from the knowing glance he shot him, Trevor knew the double meaning was understood.

  Kostas released him and pulled Cassandra into a tight hug. “I will bring a proper loaf next time.”

  Cassandra laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Boris. For everything.”

  With quick words of goodbye, Kostas left. Trevor locked the door and turned to Cassandra. “One step closer.” But at what price?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Roots

  A SLIGHT BOUNCE ON THE mattress woke Jessica right before a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and a warm body spooned against her back. A smile spread across her face as memories of the nights spent in Stephan’s arms engulfed her.

  The stirring of life tucked between her thighs caught her attention. Her breath hitched in her lungs when his hand slipped from around her and began a sensual trail of fingertips from her knee to her hip. When she didn’t react to it, a sharp intake of breath sounded behind her. His cock stirred against her ass cheeks again and she almost giggled at his impressive control.

  They did have a lot to catch up on and they were sure up to the challenge. Stephan had been a total surprise to her. Once he had surrendered to their attraction, their physical relationship had unfolded in unexpected ways. He was a domineering and bossy lover, and she adored every second spent complying with his every demand. The first days had eased the sexual frustration and hunger they both had been plagued with since their taste of each other in California. Their first weekend together had been especially satisfying, spent in mutual exploration, learning everything there was to be learned about each other. Their second even more so.

  The urgency had lessened, but not the attraction and desire. Those were growing with each simple touch, each gesture, each word. And with it also came the understanding that she wasn’t infatuated. She had a good old-fashioned case of unadulterated love for Stephan. Jessica had told Cassandra that she would know when she fell in love, that it would hit her square between the eyes. Jessica was smarting from it. She pictured herself growing old with Stephan. She saw a life with him beyond just desire and sex.

  With each day, she had started to spend more and more time with him, in his arms. They had fallen into a comfortable routine of sorts, having breakfast together, which usually consisted of two cups of coffee for him and whatever she could scavenge in his pantry, before they both tackled work. Cassandra had left Jessica a few tasks aside from housesitting. Their data retrieval business was booming. She had a few prospective clients to call back and gather preliminary information on their cases later that day.

  Stephan’s breathing deepened behind her and Jessica shifted her hips and rubbed her ass cheeks lightly against his cock. He groaned softly, still not taking that sensual wakeup call any further. She decided to take matter into her own hands. Draping one leg back over his muscular thigh, she reached down and, positioning his cock, pressed her hips against his, impaling herself on his hard, pulsing shaft.

  “Fuck!” Stephan cried out at the swift move, driving deep.

  It didn’t take long before he got the drift and began moving inside her, slowly, lovingly. His hand glided to cup her face and turn it to him. He took her mouth gently, reverently, nipping, teasing, until he plunged his tongue between her lips. She took him in, reveling at the swell of her heart, the heat growing low in her belly with each thrust.

  “Touch yourself.”

  The commanding tone didn’t leave any room for refusal. Not that she would anyway. Her hand traveled low to her engorged clit and wet folds. Her fingers fanned the fire burning with each push of him inside her. “Oh God, Stephan!”

  It didn’t take them long to burst into their release. Stephan wrapped his arms around her from behind and tucked his face in the hollow of her neck, holding on tight until their breaths quieted. He then broke contact and rolled from the bed. Once parted, she took notice of the condom and giggled.

  Stephan followed her eyes to his crotch. “I was hopeful.”

  “No kidding. We both know I’m weak when it comes to you. It was a sure thing.”

  A smile spread across his face but didn’t quite reach his eyes as he walked to the adjacent bathroom. She heard the water running and waited for him to come back, showered and ready to start his day.

  Stephan spent weekdays buried in business at work. He dressed for the job and she loved watching him shrug into well-cut suits each morning while she lay naked and burning for him under the covers. He looked amazing, and carried an aura of power whether he was naked, voicing his commands to her, or dressed in Armani, commanding the boardroom.

  “You clean up well, Mr. Connellan.”

  A smile quirked his lips and he gave her the look. She loved that “don’t tease me or else” look and the promises it carried. She knew that once the day was over, once the sun had set over Dublin, she would return to his house and be fulfilled again. Taken into his world, his arms.

  “Busy day ahead?”

  “Yes. I have a couple of appointments to view apartments. Narrowed the search to a few. I don’t want just anything and, thankfully, I don’t need to rush my decision. Trev and Cassie haven’t told me when they’ll be back, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be anytime soon.”

  “What exactly are they doing in Russia?” Stephan asked while tying his tie.

  “Data retrieval for a client.” Stephan raised his eyebrows. “Cassie hasn’t said much about it, only that it was something they couldn’t pass up and she would fill me in when she got back. From her last message, it sounds like everything is going like clockwork.”

  He removed the suit jacket from the hanger and eased it over his shoulders while her eyes travelled over his body, measuring, recalling. “Don’t.” A smile twitched across her lips at his reprimand. “You are a dangerous little vixen, Miss Forrester.”

  “One you would love to discipline this very moment for being naughty?”

  He stalked to the edge of the bed, leaned over, and caged her between his arms. “It’s amazing how well you can read my mind.” Placing a hard kiss on her lips, he nagged, “Move it. I can’t take any more of your tempting looks. I have meetings I can’t miss today.”

  He strode out of the room, leaving Jessica breathless and longing to tempt him more. She got out of bed and stretched. An ache in muscles she didn’t know existed greeted her. The soreness between her
legs was something she could appreciate. They had been very active since their first night together. She should really buy stock options of the brand of condoms he used. Jessica was sure she would make a tidy profit. Her mouth quirked with humor as she retrieved her clothes from the night before and dressed.

  The trips back and forth between Trevor and Cassandra’s home and Stephan’s were becoming a drag. Granted, she had work to do and plants to water, but it would be nice if she could at least make the trip in fresh clothes. Maybe she could just bring a couple of things over to Stephan’s. Small things—a pair of panties, a toothbrush.

  She walked to his closet and opened the doors. His suits and matching dress shirts were perfectly organized by color—blacks, dark blues, grays. She caressed the fabrics and buried her face in their softness, breathing in his tantalizing scent, and a liquid heat pooled low between her thighs.

  Jessica shook her head at her fancy and opened another set of doors. She found two empty sections. Perfect. She would bring a few things, leave them there the next time she was over—which seemed to be every night of the week. With a new spring to her step, she left the room to join him in the kitchen. Her mouth watered at the delicious aroma of coffee wafting at the top of the stairs.

  He handed her a cup when she walked in. “I was thinking I could help you with your apartment hunting.”

  “What do you mean? I thought you were busy.”

  “I can’t today, but if you’d like to reschedule, I can take the day off tomorrow and help you with the viewing. I can also advise on the locations.”

  “That would be a relief. I actually feel a little lost without Cassie to give me pointers.”

  “Then it’s settled. I will reschedule my meetings and join you. If the ones you have lined up don’t pan out, we can start looking again. Find one closer to me.”

  His words slammed her heart against her chest. The promise in them, alluring. “That would be a definite plus.”

  He left his cup on the counter and casually dropped a kiss on her lips on his way to the door. “Will I see you tonight?” His tone implied it was more of an invitation.

  “You bet.” She watched as he left and, with a deep breath, collected her purse from the couch. Their relationship had gone from zero to a hundred in less than two weeks. If she wasn’t enjoying it so much, she would have a case of whiplash from the speed at which they’d moved. Their arrangement was settling into comfortable routine. The clause was still a sore spot, but one Jessica could handle, especially with the attention and care he had shown her.

  Stephan was a dichotomy at the best of times. He had pushed her away sternly and surely, only to pull her to him faster and tighter than anything she could’ve imagined. Jessica still hadn’t figured out what had driven him to reject her back in California when the proof that he wanted her was so obvious. If she ever had doubts about his interest in her, they had disappeared shortly after their first night together. And his interest wasn’t limited to the physical realm either. He enjoyed her company. She could feel it in the relaxed way in which he behaved around her and how he sought her out.

  Jessica stepped out of Stephan’s house into the bright morning sunlight and waved for a cab. Next thing on her list—a car. It would give her more freedom and make life way easier, another step toward her new future. She was there to stay.

  *****

  Stephan slipped behind the wheel of his sedan and cupped his cock, pressing his palm tight against it to ease the ache that had built under Jessica’s watchful sultry eyes. They had burned him with their intensity as he had dressed. His desire for her hadn’t diminished. The more he tasted her, the more he craved her—to the point that he was beginning to second-guess ever entering into their mutual understanding. She was under his skin, embedded in his senses. He smelled and tasted the musky sweetness of her all the time. Their parting, when it happened, would be more painful than he ever envisioned.

  He had been a fool to believe that the understanding would give him control. Place her in the same category as the others, as Terese. A comfortable relationship without a driving need to be with each other, one he could orchestrate to his and her mutual satisfaction. He had definitely been a fool.

  Jessica was neither Terese nor any other woman he had met or dated before for that matter. She was uninhibited where he was concerned, a perfect match for him in every way. There wasn’t a day that went by that he hadn’t wanted to know how she spent her day, who she talked to, what her opinion about some random subject was. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t want to spend it enjoying the warmth of her smile or the heat of her body.

  She had grown roots inside him and they delved deep, as if searching for the softness in him, feeding off his need for her. Shaking his head, Stephan took a deep breath, turned the engine, and pulled into the morning flow of traffic, resigned to the fact that Jessica would be on his mind for the rest of the day.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  High up the Totem Pole

  TREVOR HATED THE SMALL LAPTOP screen, especially when he needed a number of windows open simultaneously. At home, he had the luxury of a triple-screen sweet set-up, which allowed him to have as many applications running side by side as needed; but Jack II’s screen was way too small for that. He had to either squish the windows to almost slivers or toggle back and forth, which was a pain in the ass.

  He had the split screen with the cameras’ views to one side and the text editor to the other as he kept an eye on the mansion’s movements while he screened another set of transcripts he had received from George. Whenever movement was detected, the little cameras would go live and send signals to their receiver, which in turn activated the recording and the view on his screen.

  Trevor caught movement on one of the cameras but thought nothing of it since the mansion had been a true revolving door during the day, and even some nights, since they had set up surveillance. He was about to return his attention to the transcript when something snared his attention.

  His heart accelerated and his brows drew together in a puzzled frown. “What the fuck?!”

  Cassandra turned in her chair to face him. “What happened?”

  “I think I just saw Boris walking into Mikhailov’s mansion,” he commented in a baffled tone.

  Cassandra scrambled to his side while he accessed the file. Opening the video file with the sequence recorded minutes earlier, they watched a replay of a black Mercedes with tinted windows rolling up to the gate and stopping for security clearance.

  Cassandra scribbled down the plate number picked up by their little camera on her notepad and continued to watch the scene play out with Trevor.

  “Son of a bitch!” Trevor exclaimed as Cassandra cursed under her breath when the car’s window rolled down and the driver’s face came into focus. That was definitely the same man who had shaken his hand and hugged Cassandra in their apartment days before.

  They watched in disbelief as Boris Kostas waved at the mansion’s security camera once cleared and drove through the gates. They figured, in his line of work, Boris would have connections. Trevor just hadn’t expected him to have connections that high up the totem pole.

  “What the hell does this mean?” Cassandra blurted out.

  “I don’t know. But having this little tidbit of information might come handy. We need to watch our backs.”

  “Can we just tell him we gave up on the idea? Maybe try to find another way in?”

  “Too late for that now. He knows we want in that mansion. Any infiltration would be directly linked to us in the time it took to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”

  Her expression changed and became almost somber. “So what do we do now?”

  “We continue our surveillance. Gather details on the people inside for when the time comes. And we wait. The transcripts are vague, but so far no sign that there is any development of the software taking place.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll leave you to it while I work on identifying the new
players from last night’s captures.” Including the woman she’d observed entering the mansion earlier that morning. There was something about her that intrigued Cassandra. Something in her walk, her face.

  Trevor nodded absently and Cassandra returned to her workstation. She stared blankly at the monitor. Thoughts swirled through her head. Is Boris on the up and up? Is he batting for the other team? Does Mikhailov know about us? Has he put Trevor’s life—and my life, for that matter—in danger?

  She sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, and chewed at her lip, deep in thought. Does Bob even know about his activities? Cassandra’s father prided himself on being a good judge of character. Robert had kept in contact with many friends who had covered his back in his Navy Seal days and who on some occasions had even saved his ass.

  She’d heard the stories of Kostas’s exploits and how they had met in the mid-eighties when Robert worked a security detail during Russia-US cooperation agreement sessions. Glancing over at Trevor, she saw speculation clouding his expression.

  “Hey, babe?”

  “Yes?” Trevor’s attention was focused on the screen, a frown still creasing his brow.

  “I’m dropping a line to Bob to see if he can shed any light on Kostas.”

  Trevor turned his narrowed eyes to her. “Don’t disclose what we saw just yet.”

  Friend or foe? That was the question. Cassandra was careful with her words as she composed the email.

  Hey Dad,

  Just a line to let you know we are in St. Petersburg and prospects look promising. You should see Trevor in action. Boy, does that man know how to work it. He reminds me of you, all determination and no nonsense.

  By the way, met Boris Kostas this past week. It was great to finally meet the man behind the stories I’d heard so much about over the years. Let me tell you, he lived up to expectations—larger than life and full of surprises. Not sure if you’ve had any contact with him recently, but he did mention he would be telling you the story of our little housewarming gift and his creative wrapping.