by Joni Hahn
Once she was within arms reach, Riordan snatched her away from John. She fell into his arms. He kissed her hair before shoving her behind him. Sweat ran down his back in rivulets.
“You were saying, Warner?”
With a loud roar, John grabbed a hammer off the table and threw it at Riordan. It flipped end over end as it sailed toward him. Catching it, he shot it back at John, striking him in the forehead. He flew backward, hitting the concrete with a hard thud before sliding several feet. Shaking his head, John jumped to his feet.
“I want my money.”
John charged across the space. Rebar shot up from the ground and into Riordan’s hand. He repelled it at John, one piece after another, in quick succession. Covering his face, John ducked and dodged as he came closer, rebar bouncing off of his body with grunts and groans. He stumbled as he stepped on a pile of nails.
“You sonuvabitch.” His growl reverberated through the area as he dove for Riordan.
Riordan met him halfway, tackling him to the ground. Holding John against floor, Riordan punched him in the face, again and again, leaving John no chance of retaliation. John lay limp on the concrete, breathing hard.
Riordan moved to rise. John caught his fist in a firm grip. Riordan stared at their joined hands with wide, incredulous eyes. His fist shook with violent tremors, the flesh charring, smoking as John slowly overpowered him. Riordan growled in pain.
God, no. She had to help him. It was her fault Riordan had come in the first place. He couldn’t gain new hands only to see them destroyed again.
Natalie rushed toward him. “Riordan.”
He yelled over his shoulder. “For God’s sake, get back, Natalie.”
Backing against the plastic, she watched John lower Riordan’s hand to the ground, the smell of burning flesh rancid and overpowering. Tears spilled from her eyes.
“Didn’t Robinson tell you a magnet loses its power at Curie point, St. James?”
Backhanding John with his other hand, Riordan threw open John’s jacket and grabbed a handful of his shirt. The sound of material ripping resounded in the air.
“Didn’t your brother tell you that if the hydrogen fuel cell grows unstable, it could cause a nuclear explosion?”
With wild, frantic eyes, John tried to scramble to his feet. “Nooo...”
Jumping up, Riordan sped toward her, his bare feet hauling as he yelled orders. “Wrap your arms around my neck, Natalie.”
Her heart pounded wildly. “What?”
Without stopping, he scooped her around the waist. She held onto his neck, her legs wrapping around his middle. He dove through the slit in the plastic - and off the side of the building.
Her screams echoed off the surrounding skyscrapers, the wind rushing past her in heavy gusts. Pounding madly, her heart shot to her throat and lodged there as the ground quickly rose up to meet them.
His hands sliced through the air behind her. They slammed against a steel beam, knocking the breath from her lungs. Time stilled for a moment.
“Hold on.”
Riordan’s hands gripped the steel on either side as they slid down the beam at lightning speed. The lighted floors of the building across the street rushed past her in a dizzying blur, the wind rushing up her dress in a powerful blast.
His injured hand dropped from the beam. They skidded to a stop. He uttered a short, succinct curse before clamping onto the beam again with more pained curses. They sailed on.
The sidewalk rushed closer. Natalie squeezed her eyes shut. Riordan dropped his hand again, slowing them, but never stopping.
As soon as his feet touched the sidewalk, he ran, his legs swift as they flew across the pavement. Natalie held onto his neck.
Stopping across the street, Riordan backed against the wall of the skyscraper. Lifting his hands toward the Warner building, he growled through gritted teeth. The sound of steel creaking and grinding echoed off the nearby structures with a deafening roar.
Two of the beams peeled away from the shell. The top floors shook with booming thunder before falling in.
“Get the hell out,” Riordan cried over his armband as he took off running again. “Warner’s gonna blow.”
Rose and Naylor shot across the street and kept running. A bright light flashed in the air before the Warner building exploded in brilliant white. The ground shook beneath them.
“Get in.”
Powers’ bodyguard, Ringo, held open an SUV door. Riordan dove in the passenger seat, Rose and Naylor in the far back. Clem sped away, tires squealing.
Natalie held onto Riordan as she stared out the back window. The building fell like a tower of blocks, steel and concrete flying through the air in all directions. A huge wall of smoke and ash billowed out as the structure came down.
“Holy shit.” Rose stared through the back window with Naylor.
Dar turned to the front of the car. “You’d better haul ass. That ash is on us.”
A wall of ash and debris rushed up from behind, rolling and building in height. Rubble pummeled the car, a stick of rebar cracking the back window before bouncing away.
Rose’s voice held an imminent tone. “We’re screwed.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Natalie buried her face in Riordan’s shoulder. “I love you, Riordan.”
Holding her tight against him, he kissed her cheek, her temple. A thunderous boom crescendoed around them before the SUV flipped in the air.
“I love you too, baby. Forever.”
Epilogue
“It’s all yours.” Natalie smiled as she dropped the pen and shoved the signed contract across the table. “Warner Management is now part of Powers International.”
Scooping it up, Luke handed it to his waiting assistant. With a formal nod, she walked out without a backward glance.
“Are you sure you don’t want to run it for me, Natalie?” He leaned back in his chair and templed his fingers.
Four months had passed since John Warner’s death. Natalie still couldn’t believe he left no will, considering the size of his estate. Under the pretext of saving Warner employee jobs, Luke Powers had gone in and quickly scooped up John’s share in the company. When Natalie mentioned her desire to bow out of the corporate world, Luke had been more than happy to take her share off her hands. He’d eliminated his competition.
Natalie wondered how her father would feel about that.
“No way, Luke.” She shook her head. “I just sold my practice. I’m looking forward to a few quiet years in art school.”
“Quiet?” Hope said, as she turned away from her father’s office window. “You do remember you’re in a relationship with my brother, right?”
Natalie laughed as she tugged on her new double-holed ear piercing. “Yes, I do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Luke gazed at her with sober, blue eyes, the same shade as Riordan’s. “I wish I could get my hands on a piece of D.I.R.E., Natalie. Any chance you could put in a good word for me with Mitchell?”
She waved away his request. “Good luck with that, Luke. Mitchell likes his control. There’s no way he’d give it up. Although, he’s very interested in your DNA tracker and Hope’s visionary training. They may be a bargaining tool.”
“Perhaps.” Luke tilted his head from side to side. “I do have other investors to consider.”
Knowing Hope had been trained to be a visionary, Natalie really couldn’t dismiss Luke Powers as a serious partner for D.I.R.E. However, having two, controlling men like Mitchell and Luke working together could only cause fireworks.
“How is Riordan, Natalie?” Luke said. “He didn’t use his injured hand much at Christmas. The stubborn ass won’t ever give me a straight answer.”
Yes, her superhero was definitely a stubborn ass. Like his father. “His hand is good, Luke, and his nightmares are virtually non-existent. He’s doing well.”
Crossing a leg beneath her olive maxi dress, she winced at the pull on her tender skin. “You’ll see when he gets here. The skin grafts look
good. He’s been working in the field a week now.”
Riordan had thrived as a member of the D.I.R.E. super squad. He and the other agents had formed a special camaraderie, a respect that Riordan had worked hard to help build. Mitchell and Clint had been pleased with the development of his magnetic abilities, although they had both ripped him up one side and down the other for jumping off the building that night.
“I wish he’d hurry,” Hope said, bangle bracelets jingling as she braided her hair on a whim. “I’m hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast.”
“If you’d get home in time for breakfast, you wouldn’t be hungry.” Riordan walked into the conference room, Rose with him.
Natalie’s heart fluttered. Just the sight of him made her insides turn to warm gelatin, her toes curl inside her caged sandals. Scars and all, Riordan St. James was the hottest man on the planet, bar none. That brilliant smile on his face made her want to throw him down on the table and make the others wait outside. If he didn’t quit staring at her like she was on the lunch menu, she would do it.
“Hi, baby.” Leaning in, he inhaled the scent on her neck before kissing her there. He knew how that turned her on. He did it just to tease her.
However, she had a weapon of her own today.
“How did it go?” Her gaze bounced between him and Rose.
“Good – for your father.” Riordan looked over at his own father before caressing her cheek with his finger. “It looks like Dan will get off with a slap on the wrist and a forced retirement.”
Luke spat a short, succinct curse. “Of course.” He shook his head, his nostrils flared. “You can’t expect justice to come from the courts.”
“He asked about you, baby,” Riordan said. “He’d love to see you when you’re ready.”
Pulling in her lips over her teeth, Natalie nodded. She kept tabs on his recovery through his assistant. After what he’d done to her and Riordan, she just couldn’t face him. Not yet, anyway.
“So, are we eating today, or are we waiting for the courts to decide that, too?” Hope glanced around the room, her ice green gaze not quite meeting Rose’s hard stare.
“I thought you were the courts around here.” With a half grin, Rose crossed his arms over his chest.
Luke laughed as he rose from his chair. “She is, Jaydan. Has been from the day she was born.”
Lifting her upper lip, Hope made a face at Rose. “Yeah cowboy. Keep that in mind for future reference.”
He harrumphed. “Like you’d let me forget.” Dropping his arms, he looked at Riordan. “I’m going to take Judge Judy here downstairs and bring around the SUV. I’ll meet you at the front door.” He turned and walked out the door.
Hope followed him out, her steps hurried. “Excuse me? I thought you were taking me downstairs? It looks to me like I’m following you…”
Natalie shared a grin with Riordan.
Luke stopped at the door. “Are you two coming?”
“We’ll meet you downstairs.” Natalie smiled, completely ignoring Riordan’s surprised gaze.
With a brief nod, Luke shut the door behind him.
As soon as the door clicked, Riordan whipped around to give her a slow, hot kiss. Fanning herself, she shoved him away.
“Hey, slow down, cowboy.”
He pulled back his head. “Cowboy? Do I look like Rose to you?”
She gave him a long, slow onceover. “Mmm, no. I go more for the blonde and scarred type.”
“Really?” He kissed the pulse at her throat. “I just happen to know someone…”
She shoved him away again. He dropped his hands in disappointment.
“Does his name happen to be Riordan? Because I happen to have this…”
Propping her left foot on a chair, she lifted her dress to expose her left leg from ankle to thigh.
Riordan’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. Clutching her calf in his hand, he studied the tattoo she’d had done over the last week.
A vivid, complex drawing of a magnetic field trailed up the side of her leg, Riordan intertwined amongst it, written in bold script.
His hand on her leg made her already prickly nerve endings come alive. Visions of him covering her tattoo with open-mouthed kisses made her heart beat a little faster.
“You did it while I was in Washington…”
“Yes. I didn’t want you to see it until it was done, in case you tried to talk me out of it.”
Kissing her thigh on the A in his name, he straightened to give her another kiss that implied all of the things she wished he’d do to her on that conference table.
“Meeks, you know better than that.”
She played with the placket on his gray shirt. “I also know you’re very protective of my skin.”
“And you.” Clutching her head in his hands, he kissed her with reverence, his lips soft, gentle against her mouth. “Marry me, Meeks.”
Momentary shock rendered her speechless before her heart galloped out of control. “Where did this come from?”
Riordan splayed his palms on her back. “I told your father I wanted to ask you. He gave his blessing.”
After all Dan Meeks had done to him, Riordan still did the honorable thing and asked for her hand. How in the world did she get so lucky?
Cupping his cheek in her palm, she gave him a soft smile. “Riordan, I want nothing more than to be-”
Hope barged into the room and planted her hands on her hips. “I saw the vision, you guys. Will you say yes already, Natalie, so we can eat? And, don’t even think about climbing on that table.”
About the Author
By day, award-winning author, Joni Hahn keeps her secret decoder ring hidden while she works as a mild-mannered HR manager and accounting generalist. She believes the world can never have too many superheroes, and anxiously waits for the call when one will need help saving the world… or getting into his costume. Joni was born with a hopelessly tender heart and believes there is nothing on earth more exhilarating than falling in love (other than the rear shot of Chris Evans in The Avengers - that was pretty darn exhilarating). A native Texan, she thinks cowboys are the epitome of masculinity, and that country music is the other soul music.
You can find Joni online at: JoniHahn.com, on Facebook, and Twitter.
Are you a fan of Joni Hahn’s books? Join her street team, The D.I.R.E. Operatives!
The D.I.R.E. Agency Series:
Book 1: Agent I1: Tristan
Book 2: Agent E2: Aidan
Book 3: Agent T3: d’Artagnan
Book 4: Agent M4: Riordan