by Becky McGraw
“I can walk. I don’t want you touching me,” she grumbled, not about to let the man beside her touch her, much less carry her anywhere. She wouldn’t have at the hospital if she’d been in her right mind at that minute. Now that she had half-a-minute of sleep, and knew her sister was okay, she definitely knew better.
Logan waited for the rotors to stop, then slid the door open. He got out and reached back to help her. She brushed his hand aside. “I have it,” she said waiting for him to move, before she stepped down. For a second, the bright lights around the pad blinded her and her knees went weak as pain shot up her calves from the sharp gravel under her feet. Her bare feet. Her shoes must be at the hospital, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Standing straight, Susan took one tentative step, and groaned as a sharp point pierced her instep. Logan just stood there with a smug look on his handsome face and his arms folded over his chest watching her. She had never wanted to punch a man as much as she did right at that minute. “Piggyback me, you bastard,” she growled, the words pure acid on her tongue. “I don’t have my shoes.” And you knew it.
Hawk opened the front door and exited the aircraft, then joined Logan, who still just stood there staring at her. Another man, a little shorter and broader than the lanky pilot, walked around the aircraft to stand beside him. Susan pegged him as the former juvenile delinquent, Fletch, who was going to help them break into the lab at the university. Unlike Caleb, Fletch wasn’t smiling. His somewhat shady eyes were focused on Logan, not her. If there was ever a man who could be described as brooding, Fletch was the man.
After a minute, Hawk huffed a breath. “I’m bushed—you two can stand here and have a staredown all night if you want to, but I’m going to the barracks to get some rest.” With a shake of his head, the pilot, who looked as tired as Susan felt, stomped off toward the tree line. Without a word, Fletch walked off with behind him, leaving Susan and Logan standing beside the helicopter.
“Hawk wait!” Logan yelled, striding over to him when he stopped. “You need to piggyback her to the Hummer,” he said tossing a thumb over his shoulder.
He tried to speak in low tones, but Susan heard every word. How could she not, when the only competing sound were the crickets in the woods?
Logan was pawning her off on his man, and he didn’t seem to be any happier than she was about it. “Your fucking legs broken, Dave?” Hawk asked angrily.
Right then, Susan didn’t care if her feet were a bloody mess by the time she got to the truck, she was walking. Gingerly, she made her way on her toes across the gravel to them. “Carry yourselves, assholes,” she grumped, as she passed them. Gritting her teeth, Susan walked over what compared to hot coals until she reached the dirt path where the truck was parked. Breathing a sigh of relief, she smiled as she saw the black Hummer only thirty or so yards away.
“Ouch!” she shrieked, sucking in a breath as a pine cone jabbed into the pad of her foot.
“She always this damned hardheaded?” Hawk asked as he walked up behind her. He bent and put his arm behind her knees to sweep her into his arms. Susan rubbed the toes of one foot against the throb in the pad of the other.
“You have no idea, buddy,” Logan replied gruffly, as he walked past them. Fletch followed him like a duckling following its mother.
“You should have named this damned company Knee Deep in Assholes,” Susan yelled behind him with a snort. “It seems that’s all you attract. Must be because you’re the biggest one I’ve ever met!”
“Takes one to recognize one, Susan. And I hired you didn’t I?” Dave replied calmly as he walked around the front of the truck to the door. Hawk set her on her feet by the passenger door, but she limped to the back door and opened it. “You sit up there with him.”
“Wow, looks like I’ve been missing the fireworks,” Hawk said with a laugh, as he opened the passenger door and got inside.
“You haven’t missed a damned thing,” Susan said jerking the seatbelt across her chest and snapping it. “And you won’t have a fireworks show for long. As soon as this is over, I’m done. You won’t have to put up with a woman in your ranks after that. I’m sure I’m the only one the sexist pig who owns this company will ever hire.” Susan shot a hot glance at Fletch as he settled into the other side of the back seat and fastened his belt.
“Glad to see you’re not tired anymore,” Logan volleyed gruffly, as he cranked the truck and threw it into gear, throwing her against the back of the seat. He immediately hit a rut, and Susan bounced in the seat and vibrations traveled through her body taking her breath. Not now, she thought weakly. Not ever again. She was removing that damned thing the first chance she got. One thing was for sure, she wouldn’t be needing the stimulation. If she never saw another man after this, it would be too soon for her.
Susan lifted her ass off of the seat to lessen the impact, but found out that didn’t do any damn good, when Logan hit two more potholes in quick succession. He swerved to hit another one, and Susan moaned, as her butt connected with the seat hard. She met his eyes in the rearview. The bastard was smiling.
“Fuck you, Logan,” she groaned, as he hit another bump.
“This oral sex you two are having is turning me on,” Hawk said with a bark of laughter.
“Don’t worry, we won’t be having any kind of sex from here on out, I can assure you,” Susan grated, shooting Logan a glare in the mirror, as he hit another bump. Susan didn’t remember this many bumps in this road when they were driving out to the helicopter pad. There weren’t this many, or she would’ve remembered them.
Logan was doing this on purpose to torture her. Bastard!
If she had fucking shoes, she would make him let her out to walk, but she didn’t and the ground was full of pine needles and cones. It took ten more minutes for him to stop the truck in front of the main building. Hawk and Fletch got out and waved, before they headed toward the other big metal building to the left of the main building. Logan exited the truck and headed for the front porch, leaving her to her own devices.
As she opened the door, Susan hoped there weren’t rocks and pine cones on the ground, because her feet were sore as hell. When her feet hit cool, soft grass, she breathed a sigh of relief before she slammed the truck door.
“Bastard,” she grumbled at his back as she picked her way to the porch.
Logan went inside and left the door open for her. Susan limped inside, and shut it. Not only had he almost gotten her sister killed by withholding information from her, he was being rude. Acting like he had a right to be pissy with her. He was the one who’d screwed her over, not the other way around. Arrogant asshole. Unforgiveable, she thought, as she walked to his suite.
The door was closed, and Susan tried the lever, but it was locked. She raised her fist to bang on the metal door. When there was no answer, she waited a minute and banged more, harder. After five minutes of banging, the speaker above the keypad spoke to her in Logan’s voice. “Go sleep in the barracks,” he said gruffly, before the machine click off.
Frustrated and tired beyond belief, Susan screamed a curse and slammed her fist on the door one final time, before turning to stomp back down the hallway. The adrenaline was gone now, and Susan needed rest. Screw Logan and his bad attitude. She wasn’t going all the way out to the to the barracks. The walk was way too far, and she was barefoot. Susan staggered to the sofa in the living room and plopped down.
Grabbing a pillow, she punched her fist into the center, imagining it was Logan’s face. She tossed it onto the sofa, and removed her jacket and top, then stood to unzip her skirt and let it drop to her feet. Laying down on the sofa, she turned toward the sofa back, tucked her face into the pillow and was asleep in seconds.
“Damn, Logan—the view has improved considerably around here, since I’ve been in Houston,” Hawk said, with a whistle.
Dave carried his breakfast plate filled with the pancakes which he’d just made into the living room. He walked around the sofa and stopped cold when he saw what
Hawk had been gawking at. Susan’s beautiful, nearly-naked ass curled up on the couch. The red satin thong that separated her cheeks did nothing to hide them, and her position did everything to give Hawk a perfect birdseye view.
“Fuck!” he shouted, slamming his plate down on the coffee table to shake her awake. “Susan, get your ass up!” He looked around frantically for a throw blanket, but found none. Susan stretched her body out, and yawned, then rolled over and stretched like a cat. The low-cut cups of her bra slid below both nipples as she stretched her arms over her head, and Logan groaned. She smoothed those long legs of hers together like a cricket and shivered.
Logan knew why, Hawk didn’t, and his cock went rock solid. A glance at Hawk told him his pilot was probably having the same trouble, even though he wasn’t privy to that secret.
“Put your fucking tongue back in your mouth, Hawkins,” he growled as he stepped in front of him to block his view. Hawkins craned his neck to look over Dave’s shoulder and he grinned. “Eat your breakfast at the table,” Dave said, pushing him back toward the kitchen.
And this is why he didn’t hire women. Exactly why, he thought as he went back around the sofa to glare down at Susan, who was now awake.
She glanced toward the end of the sofa where Hawk had been, then her wide blue eyes met and held his as she feathered her fingers lightly up her midrift to her nipples. Her lids lowered as she tweaked them and sucked in a sharp breath, making an O with her lips as she pinched her knees together and squirmed. His breath hitched as her tongue flicked out to make a circuit around her full lips.
“I think I have a popsicle left in the freezer,” she purred rubbing her thumbs in slow teasing circles around her nipples. “Won’t you get it for me, pookie bear?” she asked, licking her lips again. “I think that’s what I want for breakfast. I’m jonesing, and need something to suck.”
Anger sparked in her blue eyes, but Susan held her smile as she sat up to bounce her breasts back into the cups of her bra. “On second thought, I need a nice, hot shower.” Pushing up to her feet, she bent to pick up her discarded clothes, giving him a spectacular, but very calculated, view of her beautiful rear end. Logan’s cock swelled painfully against his zipper, and he gritted his teeth. When she popped back up, Susan glanced at Hawk who was grinning like a fiend at the breakfast table. “Since, I’m banned from your quarters, Logan, I’m sure Hawk, wouldn’t mind me showering with him over at the bunkhouse. Would you, Hawk?” she drawled sweetly, giving him a blinding smile.
Hawk’s lips spread to show every tooth in his mouth, and Logan bit back a growl. “Oh, God no, I wouldn’t mind. Lady, I think I love you.” When his pilot threw back his head and laughed, Logan did growl.
Enough was enough, he thought, grabbing Susan’s wrist. She dug in her heels, as Dave dragged her toward his suite. Susan kicked him in the shins, and he grabbed her around the waist to carry her. She elbowed him in the ribs, then reached behind her to box her fists against his ears, but Logan didn’t turn her loose. His arms tightened around her, until he sat her down at his door, and penned her in while he punched in the code into his keypad.
He opened the door and held it open with his hip, as he grabbed her arm to drag her inside. “You don’t tease my men,” he grated, angrier than he could ever remember being.
Susan put her hand on her hip. “Or what big guy? You gonna spank me again?”
“I will spank your ass until it’s red as that popsicle in my freezer,” he grated, and at the moment that would give him the greatest pleasure on earth.
“You touch me, and I will kick your ass ten ways to Sunday,” she hissed. “Give me a reason, because I have plenty of steam to do it right now.”
Logan was at the end of his patience with her, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Maybe it was better that they were parting ways after this mission. Things happened for a reason. He huffed out a breath. “I think we’ve played this tune, Susan, and if you’ll remember, I won. It’s getting old, and we don’t have time for it today. Now, get your ass in the shower and don’t fucking threaten me again.”
“You won, because I let you win, jackass. They don’t hand out black belts in jiu jitsu unless you earn them. I earned it, and would be happy to give you a real demonstration if you push me.” She tilted her chin arrogantly, and put her hands on her hips.
There was nothing more beautiful than Susan when she was pissed off. Her red cheeks and that fire in her eyes could easily be channeled into much more useful emotion, but Dave was not going to put his hands on her. At all. Even to give her the spanking she so richly deserved, because that would lead to other things. Things better left dormant, because she was leaving after this mission, and he didn’t want to give her a reason to back out. That would be ample reason for her, because he knew this time her teasing wasn’t a prelude to have sex with him. It had nothing to do with sex. She wanted to hurt him, and she’d done that.
He deserved it and so much more.
Huffing a defeated breath, he said, “Just get your shower and dress. Dex and Mac are bringing the Russian up here, and we need to plan the op for tonight. I’ve had my shower, it’s yours.” His eyes tracked down her delicious body in the barely-there lingerie as flashes of their hot sex session in the shower at the clinic paralyzed his mind. Her slick, oily body rubbing against his, the friction, her hot mouth devouring him as her body begged for him to bury himself inside.
Dave groaned and turned to grab the doorknob. The best thing he could do right now was get out of there, before he dragged her into that bedroom and fucked her until they were both a pile of ashes. That’s what he wanted to do, but he twisted the doorknob instead. “We’ll be waiting, so hurry up,” he growled, as he walked out and shut the door behind him.
Breathing hard, Logan leaned against the door trying to get his body and mind under control. Nothing was in control in his life when he was around Susan Whitmore. Not his libido, or his mind. He hated that leaf in a windstorm feeling he always had when he was around her. Dave had been a man who relished micro-managing every aspect of his life for a long time now. It was the Marine in him, another tenet drilled into him in the corp that had served him well.
Susan took that away from him, fried every cell in his brain, made him want her even when he hated her, more when he loved her. Fate played dirty tricks on a man sometimes, and sending Susan to turn his world upside down had been the dirtiest of all.
This job needed to get over quickly so they both could move on. So he could have his life back in order again, he thought, as he pushed off of the door and headed to start the wheels rolling to get that done.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Susan dried her hair with the towel, pulled a comb through it, then put it up in a clip she found in the drawer of the vanity. Probably another item left by the mysterious Cee Cee, she thought, as she picked up the woman’s shirt and pulled it over her head. Her yoga clothes weren’t in the closet, so they must still be in the laundry. She didn’t care now. She just wanted this situation over with so she could get her life back again. A life that didn’t include Dave Logan, or the sky high heels and prissy suits that were so tight she couldn’t even move.
She needed to be comfortable and agile for the trip to the college she thought, as she walked to the bedroom door, and through the suite. That damned Russian they brought back with them from that clinic was going to give her answers, or she was going to kick him in the balls until he did. Government regulations and red tape weren’t something she was restricted by now, so Susan could do what the hell she pleased to get the information she needed.
It was a liberating feeling.
The Russian had no rights now, other than the right to tell her what she wanted to know or lose his balls. His choice, and she hoped he’d choose wisely.
With purpose in her stride, Susan walked to the living room and found the Russian at the breakfast table finishing his pancakes. Dex, Mac, Hawk, Fletch and Logan were huddled across the room, not even watching him. Summoning up t
he Barrcuda, Susan walked over to them.
“Think y’all could keep an eye on the prisoner?” she asked shortly. “I need someone to tie him up, so he gets in the right frame of mind for this interrogation.” Every head jerked her way, and Susan smiled, folded her arms over her chest, then turned to the Russian. “I hope you enjoyed your last meal, comrade,” she shot off in Russian.
His eyes widened, and he choked on his pancakes. Grabbing the glass of milk beside his plate, he downed it, swiped his forearm over his mouth, then looked at her with fearful eyes.
She notched up her chin as she walked over to him. “Yeah, you should be afraid. You are about to meet the Barracuda, and she is not a nice or patient lady. When she asks you a question, you better think long and hard before lying, or she may eat your balls for breakfast.” She took a step closer, leaned down to grab his crotch and he whimpered. “Or do you have any?” she said with a laugh, as she let go and backed away.
Logan walked up behind him, jerked his arms behind the chair and Susan heard the click of the handcuffs. “Tie his ankles too,” she grated.
“I don’t think that will be necessary, he’s been cooperative,” Mac said walking over to her.
Susan turned a hot glare on him. “Unless you speak Russian, I suggest you back off and let me handle this my way,” she snarled.
Mac backed up with his hands raised. “Yes, ma’am,” he said with a laugh. Logan shot her a hot look, but he cuffed the man’s ankles to the legs of the chair.
She smiled at the Russian. “Do I need to get my knife? Or are we speaking the same language here?” she asked smoothly.
“Ask your questions,” he spat, dragging his eyes to Logan.
“Look at me!” she shouted, and his eyes snapped back to hers. So did every set of eyes in the room. “What is your name?”
“Viktor Yudin,” he shot back.