by Geri Krotow
Rob hadn’t moved the entire time, and when he ran in a flurry of movement toward the nearest copse of trees, Vasin dropped the girl and fired. Trina used the nanosecond to aim and fire at Vasin. She saw his arm jerk, but he jumped from the ramp and disappeared into the woods.
Rob’s voice reached her before she saw him. “Get to the girls. I’m going for him.” His large form moved like an Olympic athlete, bruised bones and tissue be damned. Trina looked around, seeing no other ROC criminals and no backup. The girl Vasin had held was still huddled on the ramp of the trailer, whimpering. Trina ran up to her, and as she comforted the teenager she looked up into the truck trailer and into at least fifteen pairs of eyes, staring at her in shock.
She held up her hand in a wave. “It’s okay. You’re safe. I am US Marshal Trina Lopez. We’re going to wait for help to arrive, and you will be taken to safety.”
Her simple Russian elicited a mixture of relieved shouts, an onslaught of words of thanks and a few laughs of relief. After she urged the women to remain calm, she looked over toward the main building and wondered if Ivanov was in there. Before she could think any more about it, she saw a helicopter come out of the sky and land for the briefest moment in the largest part of the clearing. The building blocked her view, and she was unable to see if anyone got off or boarded the helo before it rose back up and headed north. Trina couldn’t see if anyone got into the chopper, but she’d be willing to bet it had been Ivanov.
Disappointment made her stomach churn but all she had to do was look at the group of girls she and Rob had freed. Ivanov’s escape would be temporary—the effect of saving their lives was lasting. As she watched the helicopter disappear, déjà vu struck. She’d felt this same sense of accomplishment, of a job well done, when she’d worked alongside Rob during the war.
No matter what had passed between them, no matter what their future held, they still were a great team.
Chapter 8
“It’s done, Corey. Vasin is in custody with the FBI, and we’re watching the girls board a passenger bus. They’ll all go to the hospital to be checked over.” Trina caught her boss up on the ops success before she admitted the one failure. “Ivanov was nowhere to be found. They captured all of his men that we knew were in the area, but no sign of him.”
“Sounds like your theory about the helicopter is correct.” Corey paused. “I’m not saying this officially, Lopez, but I’m damned proud of what you did. Even if it was incredibly reckless and stupid.”
“Thanks, boss. You can put me back on the clock if you want, but if I can have the weekend with Jake I’d appreciate it.”
“You got it. See you Monday morning.”
She disconnected and didn’t hesitate to call her brother.
“Hey, Trina. You’re still alive.”
“Yes. How’s Jake?”
“Great. Ate two huge blueberry pancakes at breakfast this morning. Mom let him put as much syrup on them as he wanted.”
“Of course she did.” Trina loved her mother for many reasons, but how she acted as a grandmother was tops on the list. “I hope that camp keeps them hydrated.”
“Relax, they do. Jake’s having a blast there.” Nolan grew silent, the way he did when he needed to talk about something serious. An attorney, he was adept at drawing out the truth. “You okay, Trin? This work job seemed to come up awfully quick.”
“Hey, I can’t dictate the needs of the US Marshals.” She gave a nod to the slogan of how everything depended upon the needs of the Navy. She knew he’d understand this.
“No, but you’re usually ahead of your schedule. I can’t remember the last time you had to ask us to fill in on short notice. And you’ve been talking about getting a desk job.” He didn’t press her, but she knew what he wouldn’t say, wouldn’t ask. He wanted her to be happy as much as he wanted his nephew to have his mom around for a long time.
“I could ask you the same, in terms of running for judge.” Nolan had served as a juvenile defender in Silver Valley for the last two years. He often talked about running for county judge.
His sigh was audible. “Yeah, about that—we’ve got such a heavy caseload here that I’d be a prick if I quit now.”
“Can you say what kind of cases?”
“More serious drug dealing than we’ve experienced. These kids are being backed by organized crime.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve run up against here. I’ll fill you in when I’m back tonight. Want to come over for pizza?”
“Sure thing. I’ll let Mom know that Jake will be back at your place tonight.”
“Thanks, bro. See you then.” She leaned against the rental SUV, under the shade of an overgrown oak tree. She wanted to tell Nolan about Rob, formerly Justin, but it wasn’t something you handled on the phone.
Rob walked over from the group of FBI agents he’d been talking to and stopped a couple of feet from her, his eyes unreadable under the ball cap he’d picked up. It had FBI emblazoned on it.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m good. Hot and thirsty, and I think my shoulder’s going to be sore tomorrow. Pretty damned good, considering what we did today.” She shielded her eyes from the sun that had broken through the storm clouds.
He nodded. “You’re as good as you ever were, Trina.”
“Same to you. Although the helicopter. It’s going to haunt me that I didn’t run after it.” Or try to shoot it down.
“You couldn’t. We saved the girls, and the FBI has Vasin, the man we both were going in for. We can’t ask for more.” Rob seemed almost cheerful in his demeanor.
“I can’t ask for more, you’re right. I’m not the one who’s responsible for taking down Ivanov or ROC. But I’d have loved a shot at it.”
“Believe it or not, neither am I.” He looked up at the sky, where two red-tailed hawks made slow, wide circles atop the late-afternoon hot air streams. “It takes all the agencies working together to bring down something like a ROC group. Look how long it takes to dismantle any of the Mafia groups.”
“True.” She wiped the sweat off her brow, dragging her palms against her pants.
“What are you going to do with this?” Rob slapped the side of the SUV.
“Drive it back home for tonight, turn it in to the local rental place in Harrisburg in the morning.”
“I’ve got a better deal for Uncle Sam.” She saw far enough beneath the brim of his hat to see the glint in his eyes.
“Oh?”
“I’ll follow you back to where we picked this up, and then you can ride back to Silver Valley with me. Unless you need to get your car from the Marshal office downtown? I can take you to either place.”
She contemplated him. Rob’s entire six-foot length was lean and sexy. Funny how quickly she’d adapted to calling him anything other than Justin. As if they were living an entirely new life together. Scratch the together part.
“I should go back to the office, but frankly I want to get home to Jake as soon as possible.”
He winced, and his reaction was so physical she winced, too. “I’m sorry, Rob. Of course you don’t want to do that, not tonight. I’m tired, on the adrenaline rush comedown.”
“Nothing to apologize for. I get it, remember?” He lifted the cap off his head and ran his fingers through his tufted blond crew cut. “We can talk about it on the drive back. Let’s get out of here.” He knocked on the car frame and headed toward the Jeep she’d seen him drive up in an hour ago, after the FBI had declared the area safe to move about. He’d left the Jeep buried in the woods yesterday when he’d begun his surveillance.
Trina got in the car, turned the key in the ignition and immediately blasted the air-conditioning. Better to get cooled down before spending the next three hours in the same car as the man she’d had the hottest sex of her life with, a long time ago during a Navy deployment far, far away.
> * * *
Rob told himself repeatedly that he wasn’t going to say or do anything stupid during the drive back to Harrisburg. Trina was his son’s mother, and as much as it hurt to think he might not see Jake yet, he’d have to play this by Trina’s rule book.
He followed a decent distance behind her on the highway, ignoring the desire to speed up and drive next to her, hooting and hollering like a teenager. It was as if they’d never been apart, the way they’d worked together the last twenty-four hours. The entire op had gone like clockwork with a few expected-unexpected challenges thrown in. Perfect work for a former SEAL and a bit of a stretch for a former naval aviator. But Trina knew what she was doing. The Marshals had trained her well.
Pulling into the rental office parking lot behind her, he parked off to the side, out of sight of the other customers. He knew they were safe from any ROC members for the moment, but couldn’t shake the feeling this wasn’t done. Ivanov had escaped, if indeed he’d been in that building. Rob didn’t doubt he’d been holed up there.
The agent he’d been while CIA would have taken out Vasin and all the guards and gone in the building to get Ivanov. Before he saw Trina again. And found out he was a father.
He had a son he wanted to meet. That made the risks higher. He stilled for a split second. If the mere knowledge that he had a child affected him like this, made him want to finish the mission safely, what was it going to be like after he met his son? After he looked into his eyes and connected at a soul level? Wondering how his parents had left him to the foster care system had always been a question, one he didn’t expect an answer to. But now he was a father. His enthusiasm to meet his child gave him new insight. His mother and father must have been suffering themselves, be it from addiction or other equally devastating emotional wounds, to give up the fight to be his parents. He knew with unwavering commitment that he’d never give up on the son he hadn’t even met yet. They had to get through this mission, and he had to get to Jake.
“Hey, stranger. Care to give a girl a lift?” Trina opened the passenger door and didn’t wait for his answer as she placed her luscious ass in the seat. He gave himself a moment to take her in, away from the constant tension of an ongoing, high profile op. Her dark cargo pants were dusted up, but he couldn’t care less—he couldn’t stop staring at how they hugged her sexy-as-hell legs, her strong thighs well defined under the thin material. Where said thighs met, his perusal stopped, and he wished he had X-ray vision as a skill, as his memory of Trina naked and willing wasn’t enough anymore.
“Rob?” Curiosity lit her eyes and brought out a peony pink flush on her cheekbones.
“Give me a minute here, Trina.”
He didn’t allow her to rush him as he continued his inspection up to her waist, where he knew creamy skin covered her toned muscles under her torn and dirty T-shirt. When he got to her breasts, his head felt like it might explode, so he continued to her lips. Wet lips that she must have just licked. When he met her gaze, he knew what he’d known since yesterday.
Rob knew with the understanding only previous lovers shared that Trina still wanted him. Maybe not for a friend or to go on a date with, and certainly not for any kind of commitment. She wanted him as he did her—in bed, on a sofa, on the forest floor, in this Jeep. Connected in the most primal way.
“I want you, Trina. Tell me you weren’t lying when you said you weren’t married. Are you with anyone right now?”
“No.” Her voice was thick, and he watched her nipples pucker under her cotton top. He saw the motion of her throat as she swallowed, and he knew she was going to give him an excuse, maybe even a good reason why they shouldn’t be together as lovers at least one more time.
Rob was tired of excuses. He hauled her to him, and she didn’t fight him but leaned in, her hands around his skull, in his hair, pulling her to him as her mouth opened for his.
“Hell, Trina.” He reveled in her reciprocal desire. They continued to kiss, and he took advantage of her being pressed up against him, running one hand up her spine to between her shoulders while cupping her breast with the other. “I’ve missed this.” He gently squeezed through the fabric, damning her bra for being another added layer in the way of her nakedness. At least she’d stripped off her body armor.
“Me, too.” She dragged her mouth down his neck, digging her teeth into his shoulder with just the right pressure. Rob thought his erection was going to split his pants and groaned when her hand touched his length, stroked him. “We’ve got too many clothes on, Rob.”
He pulled back, recognizing her need.
“Not here.” He looked around the asphalt lot. “But I know where we can be alone, and fast. Buckle up.”
He put the Jeep in gear and drove without thinking to the campsite he’d stayed in the night before his surveillance of Vasin. If he stopped to allow for rational thought, this moment would shatter the way their affair had. He couldn’t handle that, not after what they’d just been through. Not after finding out they’d made a baby together.
Rob needed to make love to Trina, if only once more.
* * *
Trina refused to listen to the logical side of her brain. She all but told it to shut the freak up as Rob drove a few miles down the highway to an exit that was marked with a camping sign. He pulled up to the guard shack and held up a tag, and the guard walked around to the back of the Jeep to verify that it matched the vehicle’s sticker.
“Good to go. Enjoy.”
“Thanks.” Rob’s hands looked steady, his demeanor calm and controlled, but she remembered how he’d looked right before he’d taken her into his barracks room the first time they’d made love. All professional and collected until his door clicked shut. Then the primal animal she loved came out.
No other man since Rob had drawn out her deepest passion as only he could, and she had to admit, it was going to be fun to see if it was the same between them. If that kiss in the hotel room, and this incredibly lusty foreplay were any indication, it was going to be better.
“There are private tent lots farther up.” He spoke low and controlled, as if afraid to break the mood. Since it was a weeknight, the place wasn’t as crowded as it would starting tomorrow, Friday.
Rob passed several campers and kept going until they didn’t see anyone in sight.
“Are you sure we won’t be interrupted?” When she’d taken Jake camping, they’d hiked all over the grounds.
“Do you care?” He ground out his reply, letting her know that he was as primed as she was. Knowing that a man wanted her was always a turn-on, but when it was the man who’d fathered her son, who’d loved her as no other, it took turned on to a new level. “Sorry. No, we’ll be alone here—see how there’s a long, private drive to each site?” He navigated through the forest, until they reached a slight clearing that was surrounded by trees and bushes.
He parked on a graveled area, meant for motor vehicles. “Meet me outside.”
She got out, and the air in the depth of the forest was so much cooler, a relief from the relentless sun they’d dealt with all day. And to her surprise, there weren’t any bugs.
“I don’t see any mosquitoes—”
Then he had her in his arms and kissed her words away, reminding her why they’d taken this detour. Giving in to the attraction that simmered between them since she’d gotten past the initial shock that he was still alive was as inevitable as ice cream melting on hot pavement. Still here—to kiss her, caress her, make love to her like she was the only woman on earth for him.
They made short work of their clothing, stripping down to nothing and both standing fully up to take each other in. Rob’s gaze feasted on her, and she’d never felt more beautiful or more powerful in a lover’s presence. The sight of him so fully aroused for her slaked the deep thirst she’d had for him since the day she thought he’d died. Trina didn’t want to think about the past any more. This
moment was the most powerful of her life, save for when Jake was born.
Trina didn’t try to break the intensity of the moment with words. It would be fruitless. All there was was Rob, her and this incredible chemistry.
She ran the last two steps to him and allowed him to hold her ass as she wrapped a leg over his hip, urging his erection to press against her.
He’d laid a blanket out on the ground, and they half fell, half rolled onto it. He gently put her down on the fabric, the move incongruous with the ferocity of their hunger. She saw a flash of discomfort on his face and froze.
“Your ribs.”
“To hell with them.” He lowered his mouth to hers and Trina stopped thinking. Gave in to the deep kisses, the caresses, the expert strokes. Rob lingered at her breasts, sucking on each nipple until she thought she’d climax before they got to what she craved: Total connection with Rob.
He let out a slow exhale. “I’m good, but with these ribs I’ll have to be on top. I wanted to take the ground for you—”
It was her turn to stop his words with her mouth, her tongue. And not only on his mouth, but over his entire body, as much as he’d allow her to reach before putting on the condom that had appeared like a quarter in a magician’s hand. “Where did you have that?”
“No. Words.” He closed his eyes as he leaned over her, and it was obvious to her that the pain in his cracked ribs was warring with his desire for her. Thank God his lust won out.
Trina opened her legs, her center, her soul to him. And Rob took full advantage, thrusting into her in the slowest increments, half inch by half inch, until she began to spasm around his length. And they’d only just begun. She let the orgasm take her, but Rob wasn’t done—and neither was she. As he continued to move under her, the swell of a second, more powerful climax propelled her to keep moving, too.
“That’s it, Trina, let go, babe.” And she did, her cry matching the sheer magic he elicited from her. Before her second orgasm ended, Rob was moving with her in the cadence she thought she’d never feel again. He held on to himself so tightly that to see the carnal expression on his face, as if he were claiming her, sent her to the edge again.