Betrayal (SSU Trilogy Book 2) (The Surgical Strike Unit)

by Kier, Vanessa

  She knew she should be elated. This was everything she’d dreamed of. Professional success and respect that washed away the lingering suspicion from Elena’s charges of black marketeering. A significant enough find that even her worst critics couldn’t continue to paint her as just a pretty face with no brains.

  More importantly, she’d been vindicated. Amerinis existed. And from the evidence they’d already uncovered, it had indeed been a society run by warrior women, just as the legends claimed.

  But Susana didn’t feel like celebrating. Instead, she wanted to go back to her apartment and crawl into bed. Every night on site she’d tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Afraid of what might be lurking in the dark, even though she knew the mercenaries were no longer chasing her.

  Unable to shake the fear that something would happen to her crew, she’d ended up walking the perimeter of the dig every night, freaking out the guards on duty who thought she didn’t trust them. But she couldn’t help it. The safety of her team was her responsibility. She needed to be aware of any threat.

  Her last crew had died because of her. She wasn’t going to let it happen again.

  To remind her of the consequences if she lost her vigilance, she’d insisted on seeing the ruins of her former dig.

  Big mistake.

  Ryker’s men had told her the stench wasn’t so bad since they’d removed the bodies, but she’d still vomited at the smell. Or maybe she’d been sick because seeing the charred remains of her tent made it all too clear how close she’d come to dying.

  And how many of her friends hadn’t survived.

  Her partner stopped on a vacant patch of dance floor and swung her around to face him. For a moment she stood frozen. Trapped in the past. Caught by sadness and regret.

  Desperately wishing the man putting his hands on her waist was Kai, not the pilot who’d ferried her crew out of the jungle.

  But then the music started, driving away her sorrow. Within minutes, the pulsing bass of the music took over her soul. She became the music, letting the sensuous rhythms move her body. Living only in the moment.

  Here under the hot, shifting lights, your dance partner was your great love. The one you desired most. Or the one who’d hurt you and needed to be teased and punished.

  Susana explored all those emotions with her body, so that a casual observer would think her in love with her partner. But in truth, her heart and mind remained untouched.

  She turned her back, raised her arms, and shimmied. Her partner grabbed her around the waist from behind and pulled her flush against him.

  As one, they moved sinuously up and down, pressed together from shoulders to hips. Her partner’s hand skimmed from her side up to her cheek, trying to turn her face toward his. Since for this dance she was playing a lover who’d been emotionally hurt and didn’t want to commit, she jerked her head away.

  Her gaze skimmed the crowd as she leaned away from her partner. Then she stumbled as she found a pair of familiar amber eyes. Her breath stopped. The music and her partner ceased to exist.

  Kai’s remote expression turned molten as he caught sight of her. He stalked toward her, his jaguar’s eyes focused on her with such intensity, she couldn’t look away. She sucked in a deep breath as her heart started shimmying in her chest.

  The crowd parted before Kai, people wisely taking one look at his fierce expression and getting out of his way. Susana took a small step forward, only dimly aware of her partner’s protest as his hands fell away. As she moved toward Kai, she searched his face for some clue as to why he was here.

  Deus, he looked exhausted. The corners of his mouth drooped as if even holding a straight line was too much for his lips. Troughs under his cheekbones gave his face an even more angular look.

  His eyes, though, were on fire. And, merciful heavens, when he reached her, she could feel the emotions pouring off him in a heated wave that pulsed against her sweaty skin.

  She had time only to gasp before he held out his hand.

  “Dance with me.” His voice was a husky command that tightened every lonely place on her body.

  Helpless to deny him, she moved into his arms and almost forgot how to dance, she was so overwhelmed by the relief of touching him again.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” he murmured against her ear, echoing what she felt in her heart. “Why did you leave me?”

  She pulled back. He wanted to talk? Here? On a noisy, crowded dance floor?

  “Answer me, sweetheart.”

  Couples danced around them, occasionally telling them to get the hell out of the way.

  She grabbed his hand and tugged. “Let’s find someplace quiet to talk.”

  He shook his head and pulled her back into his arms. “No. I want to do this here. Tell me why you left. Was it because of the men I’ve killed?”

  Her temper flared. Fine. If he wanted to fight in the middle of the freaking dance floor, so be it. She pulled his head down so she wouldn’t have to shout. “No. You haven’t killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. I left because I have a life of my own. Responsibilities and dreams. Besides,” her breath caught, “thanks to my cockroach-eating father, I’m a genetic freak.”

  She was still waiting for the results from the extensive number of tests she’d undergone with Ryker’s help. “Who knows what side effects might show up as I age?”

  Kai turned his head and ran his tongue along the rim of her ear before answering. “You’re no more a freak than I am. I love you just the way you are.”

  “Kai, I—”

  “We can work out the differences in our lifestyles, Susana. That’s no obstacle. As for the other?” His finger traced a delicate path from her eyebrow to her chin. “You’re not going to turn into Rafe, Susana. Your father’s drugs would have manifested that behavior long before now. Whatever he did to you is of no consequence. He didn’t make you the warm, giving, temperamental woman I love. He didn’t shape your soul.”

  Dammit, she actually trembled. Could she believe him? Did she dare?

  The man must have read her mind, because he smiled tenderly and began to move to the music. He wasn’t practiced, but each swivel of his hips melted a piece of the ice around her heart, until she gave herself up to the dance. Let herself fall into a rhythm of love and lust. For Kai. Only Kai.

  “Mãe de Deus, how I love you,” she murmured.

  When the dance was over, Kai bent her over his arm and kissed her. Marking her in front of the entire club and earning the applause and catcalls of everyone around them.

  Susana clutched Kai to her. There was no way she was letting him get away this time.

  This time it was for life.

  Kai knew it, too. She saw it in his eyes when he raised his head from the kiss. And then her man surprised her. He set her upright and got down on one knee, heedless of the dozens of people watching. There, before her crew and the rest of the club’s patrons, he asked her the question she’d never thought she’d hear.

  “Susana Dias, love of my life, soul of my body, keeper of my heart. Will you marry me?”

  Her heart swelled and tears blurred her vision. “Yes.” What else could she say? “Yes, I’ll marry you. Just try and stop me.”

  Epilogue

  Five Days Later

  Tuesday, Afternoon

  Washington, D.C.

  Susana sat next to Kai in Ryker’s office, her heart beating triple-time as she waited for the results of the physical and genetic workup done on her before she’d left the hospital.

  “Ready?” Ryker asked.

  She nodded and he handed her the manila envelope with the results. Susana glanced over to her left. Kai gave her a warm, supportive smile. It was hard to believe, but he honestly didn’t care what the data showed. He loved her. He accepted her. She had his full support. Kai’s only concern was whether the information would upset her.

  It was a novel sensation. She wasn’t used to facing life’s challenges as part of a team.

  Despite Kai’s insistence that
it didn’t matter, she needed to know whether she truly was a freak. For one thing, it would affect her decision to have children.

  And, okay, a small part of her was still afraid Kai would leave her if it turned out she was markedly different.

  Susana mentally shook her head. She had to stop borrowing trouble.

  Taking a deep breath, she pushed her thumb under the edge of the large manila envelope. Kai’s hand gently squeezed her shoulder. Absorbing his strength like sunlight, she flipped up the envelope’s flap and spilled the contents into her waiting palm.

  She skimmed over the medical terminology to the conclusions.

  Heart and lungs—highly efficient and healthy.

  Blood and muscles. The same.

  Immune system—very strong.

  Genes—several genes known to enhance intelligence and stamina were turned on, but a few were not.

  Overall conclusion—she was in exceptional health. Slightly off the charts, but not enough to scream of tampering. Athletes using performance enhancing drugs scored higher than her in several categories.

  Susana’s muscled softened in relief. If not for Kai’s hand anchoring her in place, she thought she might slide off her chair onto the floor.

  “Susana?” Kai asked.

  She realized that both Kai and Ryker waited for her to give them the news. She took a deep breath. Her ribs expanded almost creakily.

  Her lips tried out a smile. But that wasn’t good enough. She grinned and put her hand over Kai’s. “You were right. Whatever my father did to me had negligible effect, if any. All the tests show that I’m slightly better than average, but not so exceptional that doctors will clamor to study me.”

  Kai pulled her to her feet so quickly the world spun. She flung her arms around him, threw back her head and laughed.

  Kai grabbed her head, held her still, and kissed her.

  It wasn’t until they broke for air, gasping and grinning, that Susana remembered Ryker. She glanced over at his desk, but the man was gone.

  “I’m not a freak,” she crowed.

  Kai lifted her up and spun her around. As he lowered her back to the floor, she whispered, “Do you have an office here?”

  “No, but there’s an empty office anyone can use as needed. Why?”

  “Because I want you. Here. Now.”

  Kai’s eyes flared. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the office, down the hall, and around the corner to another office. Susana entered first. While Kai closed the door and slid the lock home, Susana shed her shirt and pants. Leaning back against the edge of the desk, she gave Kai her sultriest smile. “Lose the clothes, Kai.”

  “As you wish.” Kai prowled toward her as his fingers worked at the buttons of his shirt. By the time he reached her, his clothes lay scattered behind him on the carpet.

  Susana finished wriggling out of her panties, sat on the edge of the desk and pulled Kai into her arms. Her mouth devoured him, while her body squirmed, trying to get as close as possible.

  “Kai,” she protested when he refused to lower them to the desk surface. “Dammit, I’m ready.” She guided his hand between her legs, so he could feel how wet she was.

  “Not yet,” he murmured.

  Some day she was going to tell him how much his refusal to go fast annoyed her. But… “God, yes!” She writhed as his fingers pushed inside her, hitting just the right spot. The lecture on his lack of speed could wait. “Do that again,” she demanded.

  Kai didn’t answer. He was too busy using his fingers and tongue to send her into a screaming orgasm.

  “I hope…these walls…are sound…proof,” she gasped minutes later.

  Kai looked at her and his lips curled in a wicked grin. “You better believe it. Because I’m not done with you yet.”

  Two hours and some four orgasms later, Susana lay curled on top of Kai on the floor of his hotel room. She barely remembered their hasty dash out of the SSU building after that first frenzied lovemaking. Now she stared across the carpet at the legs of the armchair in the corner. Her bones had liquefied at least an hour ago, and she figured Kai was going to have to scrape her off of him when he was ready to get up.

  She grinned, then traced a circle around his nipple. “I hope your reputation won’t suffer because your colleagues suspect that we had sex in the spare office.”

  Kai chuckled, his hands stroking over her back. “Hell, no. I’ll be the envy of every man there.” A moment later his hands stilled and he gently lifted her head. The expression in his eyes was so earnest, she knew what was coming.

  “I’m happy for you that the results came back the way they did. But it wouldn’t have changed my love for you. You know that, right?”

  She nodded through the tears brimming in her eyes.

  “Good. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

  “I love you so much,” she said with a watery smile.

  “You better,” Kai said. He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “Because I don’t plan on ever letting you go.”

  Ryker smiled as he logged on to his computer. It was good to see Kai with Susana. After two hellish years, the man deserved to be happy. And Ryker liked and respected Susana.

  With Gonzales dead, and confirmed as the mole within the SSU, Ryker no longer had to split his attention. He could focus on the situation with Rafe. He double-clicked the icon to open the latest report from Rafe’s medical team.

  Despite the new drugs he’d been given, Rafe still didn’t remember the location where he’d been moved after Kaufmann abandoned his first lab. Ryker wished he had the time to let Rafe remember on his own, but the latest intelligence he’d received indicated that Kaufmann’s team would be participating in an upcoming attack that would have dire consequences for the United States. The SSU had to find the lab and shut it down before the team could be deployed.

  Which meant Rafe’s memory block had to be resolved. How to safely do this was the problem. The lab’s location was one of the few remaining triggers that set off Rafe’s rage. While Ryker had confidence that Kai and Dr. Montague would eventually free Rafe’s memories, they didn’t have time to spare.

  Although it went against his protective instincts when it came to his people, Ryker typed out an order for the team to use the most aggressive treatment, regardless of the threat to Rafe. The lives of thousands of people depended on him regaining his memory.

  Ryker just hoped that breaking Rafe’s mental block wouldn’t destroy the man’s newly regained sanity.

  Keep reading for a sneak preview of Rafe’s book, Retribution, Book 3 in the SSU Trilogy by Vanessa Kier. Coming soon!

  Excerpt from Retribution

  by Vanessa Kier

  Dusk, Four Months Ago

  Adirondack Mountains

  “Well, lookee here, boss. Your lady sure does get around.”

  Surgical Strike Unit team leader Rafe Andros took the binoculars from Muldovsky and focused on the rock face below the laboratory they’d been observing for the past two days. Part of the rock had slid open, revealing the narrow door caught on photos taken by the SSU’s satellite. Just outside that door, under one of the exterior lights, two women stood at awkward angles to each other.

  Rafe felt a tingle of excitement across the back of his neck. The SSU had been watching the compound via satellite for a week prior to his team’s deployment. Thanks to the satellite photos, Rafe knew several troop transport trucks had driven through another door further down the rock formation, indicating a probable garage or loading dock. The women’s stark white lab coats suggested there were also labs on that lower level.

  He didn’t recognize the dark-haired woman on the right, smoking jerkily on a cigarette. She wasn’t part of the group of scientists and other staff members that was bused to and from the housing village every day. Since the mystery woman had to be sleeping somewhere, it was likely the underground portion of the facility also held living quarters.

  Which meant more places for Rafe and his team to search for Nate Ngoro,
their missing teammate.

  Rafe shifted his binoculars to the woman on the left. Dr. Gabrielle Montague. One of the scientists the SSU’s satellite had recorded entering and leaving the upper lab.

  His men liked to tease, but damn, she made him hot. He’d always loved smart women and intelligence was stamped on every line of her face. A clip held her honey blonde hair behind her ears, revealing a long, stubborn shot of jaw that ended in a slightly square chin. Rafe found perfectly symmetrical beauty boring and Dr. Montague’s slightly too-wide nose pushed her past beautiful straight into fascinating.

  The photos in her background file showed a woman with the sensual, curvy body of a flamenco dancer, but looking through the binoculars at the baggy fit of her institutional gray pencil skirt and bulky lab coat, he’d have to say she’d lost weight. Still, even with her being too thin he had a hard time keeping his eyes off her.

  Too bad her presence made her a suspect in Nate’s disappearance.

  “Yo, Addison,” Muldovsky called through the com link. “Guess who’s outside? It’s boss man’s lady. And he’s staring at her legs again.”

  “Hey, can you blame him? She’s looking mighty fine for a dead woman.”

  There was no disputing that comment. Four months ago Dr. Montague had been listed among the fatalities in a bus crash on her way home from vacation. In fact, all of the staff here, except for today’s mystery woman, were similarly not-dead-as-reported.

  Of those staff they’d managed to identify from the photos, all had worked in the medical field. Dr. Montague’s expertise was treating veterans who’d been exposed to chemical or biological agents. The other doctors specialized in such diverse topics as drug rehabilitation, hypnosis to cure obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the use of growth hormones. There were three psychiatrists, ten medical doctors, sixteen lab assistants, and six administrative staff. All working at a facility that didn’t show up on any public or private records.

  A snort came through the com link. “Hell, you boys got it wrong,” O’Ryan pitched in. “Andros thinks the doctor has Ngoro stashed up her skirt. Never mind that Ngoro’s like, six-four and a gazillion pounds, and Montague’s lucky if she’s five-seven and a hundred thirty.”