by Leslie North
“So,” Loki said, adding a twang of Texan drawl. “We gonna get this party started or what?”
Natasha raised a brow at him, her expression bland. “Your cashier’s check?”
“Right.” He pulled out the check Cam had had messengered over to him, drawn on the nearly depleted accounts of Norse Security. And if that didn’t remind him why he was doing all of this, nothing would. He handed the funds over to Natasha then pushed to his feet, dragging a reluctant M up beside him. “Let’s do it!”
He started back toward the hallway where Natasha had originally emerged from, thinking they’d use one of the bedrooms in the townhouse, but she stopped him short.
“Ah, no, Mr. Smith. We won’t be doing it here.” She walked back over to the front entrance and held the door open. “We have other units in which we conduct our business.”
Of course they did.
Taking M’s hand, Loki led her out into the hall then down the corridor to where Natasha had stopped in front of another door. She punched a code into the key pad on the wall then pushed inside. Loki followed, despite his misgivings. After all, there were two of them and only one of Simcova. He knew firsthand what a good fighter M was. They could take Natasha down, no problem, when the time was right.
The new unit was nothing but a glorified studio apartment. One big open room with shiny wood floors, a few windows, and a huge California King-sized bed against the wall. Natasha closed the door behind them then walked over to what appeared to be a closet in one corner of the room. Inside, from what Loki could see, was the world’s largest collection of sex toys. Everything from neon pink dildos to whips and chains and a couple wicked looking pairs of spiked hand cuffs.
Natasha emerged with a semi-automatic which she pointed at his chest. “Sit on the bed, please.”
Loki glanced over at M, who was staring at her toes, then back to Natasha. “Oh, darling. There’s no need to—”
“I know who you are, Mr. Low.” The gun remained steady in Natasha’s hand. He had no doubt she knew how to use it. “I’m not an idiot. And I can guess why you’re here as well. You want information on Todavi Marcogonoff.”
At first, Loki just blinked at her, too stunned to speak. When the hell had he given them away? He’d been so careful, played his part to a T, been—
“It’s me,” M said, as if reading his thoughts. “She recognizes me from before.”
“Before what?” Loki hissed.
“Da.” Natasha strolled over, giving up any pretenses now. “You look like you have done well for yourself, myshka.”
M raised her head at last, jaw tense. “I’ve done better than well, Mistress.”
Natasha stopped a few feet in front of them and Loki finally connected the dots. “Holy shit! You used to work for her? M? Is that true? That sure as hell didn’t show up on any of my research.”
“It wouldn’t,” M said, her gaze never leaving Natasha’s. “It was one of my first undercover gigs. I spent a year infiltrating Simcova’s circles, gathering intel on her clients, building a database of sensitive information for my client that they could use against them, if needed.”
“You were an escort?” The thought both tantalized and terrified Loki.
“No.” M scowled at him. “I never slept with any of them. I was more of an assistant. Booked all the appointments, kept the girls happy and paid, managed security when needed. Like what the Asian woman is doing for you now, right?”
This last question was directed at Natasha, who gave a curt nod.
“I never sold you out. Never spoke a word about your business. Only what I learned about your clients and their, uh, proclivities.”
“I trusted you,” Natasha hissed. “I allowed you into my inner sanctum and you used it against my clients.”
“They’re big boys and girls. They can take care of themselves.” M squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. “If you help us now, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of too. You were a good friend to me once, Natasha. I’d like to return that favor.”
“Fuck you and your favor.” Natasha pointed at the bed. “Sit. Now, or I’ll call my guards and have you both taken down so fast you won’t know what hit you.”
Loki did as she asked, with M moving in slowly beside him. “She’s right. My client will pay handsomely for intel about Todd Martin’s whereabouts.” He cringed. “Sorry. Todavi Marcogonoff. If anyone’s betrayed you and your homeland, it’s him. He’s selling secrets to the highest bidders, regardless of collateral damage.”
“Idiota kusok,” Natasha mumbled in Russian. “I warned Todavi not to cross the KGB, but did he listen? Nyet. He just goes off and does what he wants, thinking he’s this big-time pop star and his life is golden.” She shook her head. “This is the reason I’m getting out. No one gives a shit for rules anymore.”
“You’re leaving the KGB?” M asked, her expression surprised. “But you love it there.”
“It’s not the same anymore, myshka. All these young assholes with their big plans and bravado. I’m done with these silly games. Besides, it’s beginning to affect my business.”
Loki tried to steer the conversation back on track. “What about Marcogonoff? Do you have any idea where he is now?”
“He escaped you at the charity ball, did he?” Natasha chuckled, still keeping her weapon trained on him. “He always was a wily shit. Took after his parents that way. And I have heard rumors of where he will go next, but they are just that. Rumors.”
“We’ll take rumors at this point, Mistress,” M said.
“You call her Mistress?” Loki whispered. “Did you and she ever—”
“Focus, cowboy.” M gave him a stern look. “Mistress is a title meant to show respect. And what I do or have done in the privacy of my bedroom is none of your concern.”
Well, didn’t that just make his traitorous cock wake up and twitch again. Not what he needed to be thinking about right now, but damn if he could forget it once she’d planted the erotic seed. He shifted on the bed and forced himself to concentrate. “Rumors?”
“Todavi, or Todd as he likes to call himself these days, has a friend who owns a club in DC. A club that caters to soldiers and arms dealers. The man’s name is Fritz. That’s all I know. But I would guess that if he’s trying to move that sort of information, this man is where he would go to do so.” Natasha gave a disgusted sigh. “I can’t believe I didn’t pick up on what he was doing until now. I always assumed the leaks were coming from inside the KGB organization, that it was on the government side of things. I never suspected an agent would turn, especially Todavi. His parents are practically gods in the Kremlin.” Her shoulder slumped. “As I said, I am getting too old for this cat and mouse shit. I am done. I won’t kill either of you. Consider this a final thank you, myshka, for all your service.”
“Do you have a name?” Loki asked, relieved when she lowered the pistol and clicked the safety back on. He could’ve taken Natasha then, but given the unknown relationship between the two women, he wasn’t sure whose side M would be on in this dog fight. “Anyone specific we should look for?”
“Other than Fritz? No. And the club’s name is Stripes, I believe.” Natasha walked back to the closet and stowed the gun away, then locked it behind her, sliding the key into her bra. “It’s in the Georgetown area.” She walked back to the entrance, her heels clacking on the hardwood floor. “Now, I must go. They will be watching me for any changes to my routine.”
Loki rose to go, but M placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. “Sit.”
“But we need to get out of here,” he said, frowning. “Get to that club and find Martin.”
“We won’t be leaving until the morning,” M said, staring at Natasha. “Right?”
“Unfortunately, your myshka is correct. This building is heavily monitored by the KGB. They have seen you both enter and will expect you to stay through the night, as is customary with my clients. If you try to leave before morning, they will be suspicious and they will take you in
to custody. I will lock the door behind me. There are no cameras or hidden listening devices within this room. I sweep regularly for confidentiality reasons, but the same is not true for the hallways, lobby, or exterior of the building. The KGB monitors them all quite thoroughly. My recommendation would be for you both to consider this a spa stay. Relax. Don’t try anything stupid. I’ll have someone bring you food and drinks shortly. You’ll be free to leave in the morning. Enjoy your evening.”
With that, she walked out, leaving Loki and M alone. The lock clicked into place with an ominous finality.
“There’s got to be a way out of here,” Loki said, getting to his feet to inspect every inch of the room. He could understand now why the decorations were so sparse. Nowhere to hide anything.
M stood and proceeded to toe off her shoes and remove her jewelry. “I’m going to take a shower.”
“Seriously?” Loki threw up his hands, exasperated. “That’s the most useful thing you can think of to do right now?”
“Mistress is right. We won’t get out of here until morning without capture. She might be a Russian sympathizer, but she’s also fair. Nothing will happen to us here.”
“I don’t want to stay here. I don’t like to feel trapped,” he said, sudden anger rising inside him. Being locked in this room, with no way to escape, hit far too close to home for his comfort. Not that he was claustrophobic. No, his fears ran much deeper. It wasn’t the physical confinement that bothered him so much, it was the mental demons he did his best to avoid at all costs. Ever since he’d started on this journey of espionage and false identities, his greatest fear had always been going too deep undercover, getting lost in the imaginary worlds he created and never finding his way back to normal again. Tonight, here, with M, those fears roared back to life in a way they hadn’t since that long-ago night when his older brother had left to go into Witness Protection. At the time, young Loki couldn’t imagine anything cooler than leaving your past behind to start a fresh new life. Now, though, he knew such beginnings came at a terrible cost, one he wasn’t prepared to pay.
Muscles tight with tension, he lashed out at M, since she was the only other person there. “And what was all that Mistress shit, huh? You didn’t think it might be important to tell me about knowing Simcova before we walked into this place?”
M walked over to the bathroom and turned on the lights, then flipped on the shower to let it heat up. “No, I didn’t. There was a chance she wouldn’t remember me at all. It was years ago and I look a lot different now.”
“Yeah.” Loki ran an agitated hand through his hair. “That’s your thing, isn’t it? Always changing, always moving. You can’t even commit to one hair color, let alone a mission like the one we’re trying to work together. I should’ve known better than to trust someone like you.”
Even as he said the words, he knew they were horseshit, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Rage at his own ineptitude and adrenaline pumped through his system, spurring him on. Signs were there that something wasn’t right. He should’ve seen them, heeded them. But no. He just raced on ahead, so goddamned cocky and confident in his own skills. Those skills would get him killed in the end, if he wasn’t careful.
Must be more careful. Must not trust this woman. Must not give in to this connection between us. Must not touch her, taste her, take her, because if I do then I might never stop.
His body, however, didn’t seem to have gotten the memo about not wanting M—judging from the rising of his cock along with his fury and the squeezing of his chest from need and yearning. Good thing she was heading into the bathroom and not facing him.
The door slammed shut behind her and Loki sunk down on the bed once more, scrubbing a hand over his face. What a fucking mess. And yeah, they’d gotten a new lead on Todd Martin, but they couldn’t do anything about it until tomorrow. Because tonight they were trapped. Trapped in this den of iniquity.
He flopped back onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling, replaying the last hour or so in his head. The conversations, the glimpse into that closet full of sex toys, M’s words—what I do or have done in the privacy of my bedroom is none of your concern…
Oh, but how he wished it was.
Frustrated and frazzled, Loki sat up and hung his head in his hands. The sounds of running water and soft, slightly off-key feminine humming drifted through the air and all he could picture now was M in that shower, steam rising around her, her hands gliding over her wet curves…
Yep. He was in big, big trouble here.
She wanted him too, he was sure of that, after their initial encounter in her kitchen that night making mac and cheese, then in the gym earlier. But there was so much at risk, so much they both had to lose here, with his business and her promotion.
It would be madness to put that all aside for a night of incredible sex.
Wouldn’t it?
As he stared out the tinted windows at the glittering DC skyline beyond, Loki had to admit that maybe the idea wasn’t as crazy as it sounded after all. There were locked in here, no cameras, no recording equipment. No one had to know except them.
He got up and did another sweep of the room just to be sure. Nope. Nothing. He shed his suit coat and toed off his shoes and socks, yanked open the buttons of his white dress shirt so that it was open to his mid-chest.
Standing outside the bathroom door, he placed his hand on the wood and closed his eyes, feeling a need he hadn’t felt before for the woman on the other side.
Perhaps they could share one night together, before reality crashed back in.
If she was willing.
Loki turned the handle and walked into the steamy bathroom.
8
M froze the minute Loki stepped into the room, her heart caught in her throat. Not because of fear, but because of desire. Honestly, being back in this place, back around Natasha and her girl, back to this sordid part of her past where flesh was fantasy stirred her passions like she’d never expected.
She hadn’t lied to Loki either, about her and Natasha. They’d never slept together. Nor had she slept with any of the clients. Didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized. Boy, had she fantasized.
In fact, she’d been imagining Loki bursting in here—caveman-style—and taking her right here in this very shower. Crazy, really, given that they had a mission to run and her entire future was on the line, but damn. Wouldn’t it be nice just to have this one night, this one moment, just for herself? Just for her and Loki to explore this wild connection between them for the next few hours and savor that sweetness before it was gone. Natasha had told the truth about the surveillance too. M had no doubt about that. The Mistress was nothing if not discreet.
“M?” Loki whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear over the rush of the water surrounding her. “Can I come in?”
She nodded, eyes closed, poised on a precipice of unknowns. Would he want her, just as she was? Would he like what he saw? Would he break her heart in the end? The only question she had a certain answer to was number three. Of course, he would break her heart, if she let him. But if she kept her emotions out of this, kept a clear head, she could escape all this relatively unscathed emotionally. As for the others, it was hard to tell. She’d spent so much time over the last few years being someone else—fake hair, the makeup, the clothes, all of it—that sometimes she didn’t know who she was anymore. Loki played his parts too, always wearing a front. Could two such imposters have any chance of a real bond?
Before she could answer that question, his silhouette appeared on the other side of the frosted glass blocks surrounding the shower. Broad shoulders, cut torso forming a V down to his slim hips and long, muscled legs. He had a hand up, palm pressed to the glass, and she placed hers over it, feeling silly and giddy all at the same time. Yeah, maybe they could bond over this, over their mutual need to connect, if only for one night.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, come in.”
He did. Stepped around the wall and into the spray of wat
er still wearing his shirt and pants. The cotton of his shirt soon turned transparent under the shower, conforming to every ripple of tanned flesh beneath it. M raised a hand and traced shaky fingers over the exposed flesh of his neck, biting her lip to keep from groaning. God, he was so beautiful. His skin felt like silk to her touch, warm and supple, and as he stepped closer to her, she could see the outline of his hard arousal pressed tight against the fly of his wet khakis.
Molten heat gathered in her core and she wrapped her arms around his neck, unable to resist any longer. With a groan, she dragged him closer still, until their bodies were tight together and kissed him hard. Their tongues dueled, danced. He grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground, pinning her against the wall using his body as she ripped open his shirt. Buttons scattered, but M didn’t care. She’d bet good money Natasha kept spare men’s clothes around somewhere in this place and all M could think about anyway was getting Loki naked.
Shrugging out of the wet shirt, Loki wasted no time rubbing his slick chest against her, wiry hair teasing her stiff nipples as he ground his hard cock into the heat between her legs. No gentle coupling this time, they both wanted each other too badly. M dug her nails into his scalp, pulling him back for another open-mouthed kiss. The tiles felt cool against her spine, but Loki was so incredibly hot pressed to her front. The shocking contrast only drove her desire higher.
“God, I’ve dreamed about doing this with you for so long, ever since I first saw you at that air show in Ohio.”
“Yeah?” she traced her fingers down the center of his chest, enjoying his answering shudder, then slipped her fingers inside the waistband of his sodden trousers. “Know what I’ve dreamed about?”