There was thrashing, swearing and screaming as Megan struggled to get free. At last, soaked, she stood on her sodden bedding and turned off the water. Her hair was plastered to her face and her clothing had turned into a second skin. One look at her lush breasts told him the water had indeed been very cold.
“I am going to kill you,” she snapped at him. “Dead. Stone cold dead.” She pointed at him. “If you don’t have a will, write one now. You’re going to need it.”
With a laugh, Dimitri turned his back and headed for coffee. Just before he closed the door, a bar of soap flew past his head.
“Ten minutes,” he shouted at her. “Then I’m coming in to get you.”
“Was that really necessary?” Julia asked as he walked into the kitchen.
She was dressed for the day in a shapeless navy dress that came to her ankles. He’d been wrong, she did own other colours. Her honey coloured hair was tied tight in a bun at the back of her head and her wide rimmed glasses were perched on her nose. She looked like a cute little owl librarian.
“Nope.” He reached for the coffee pot. “It’s wasn’t necessary, but it sure was fun.”
He really hoped Megan found the shower to be perfectly adequate because in ten minutes time they were heading out—whether she was ready or not. He watched Julia shake her head as she walked out of the apartment. Dimitri sipped his coffee as he kept an eye on the hallway leading to the bathroom. He wouldn’t put it past the woman to try to sneak back into bed—with or without her bedding.
“This would be so much easier if you’d back off,” Megan grumbled.
They’d been in the shooting range for hours and so far she’d only hit the target once. It was humiliating. Not as humiliating as stomach problems during an operation, which was now her gold standard for all things humiliating, but this experience still rated. She probably would have done better if she’d been allowed to shoot more. Instead she’d had to sit through the world’s most mind-numbing safety talk—apparently she shouldn’t gesture with a gun while she was talking. Like she couldn’t figure that out for herself. Men. Now the same idiot man was crowding her space and it was messing with her concentration. It wasn’t fair. In a real gun battle she wouldn’t have Dimitri plastered to her back. If she didn’t have him there now, she was sure she’d do a whole lot better.
“I would back off if you’d get your grip right.” He wrapped his arms around her to cover her hands where she held the gun at arm’s length. The feeling of his body wrapped around hers was beyond distracting.
She tried to shrug him off, but he was immovable. “Can’t you just tell me what to do? Do you need to stand so close?”
“This is better,” he said against her ear, making her shiver. A reaction she, unfortunately, couldn’t hide.
“Better for who?” she grumbled.
His hands engulfed hers as he moved their position. “Like this.”
She couldn’t decide what was getting to her more, his scent or the sensation of his muscles moving as he pressed against her back. Scent, she decided. She wanted to breathe it in deep, immerse herself in it and rub up against him like a kitten.
“You’re sighting too low.” His words made her eyes snap open. Honestly, if Claire could see her now, her sister would laugh until she toppled over.
“I’m serious,” she said. “You need to back off and let me get on with it.”
“When you’re ready. Keep your elbows loose and raise the nose of the gun.” He physically moved her into position. All she heard was blah blah blah blah as the feeling of his strong hands on her body short-circuited her brain.
“Yeah, like that,” he rumbled. “That way you’re more likely to hit the greatest mass of your target.”
She snapped her head around to look at him. He was driving her crazy. He needed to back off and take his sexy smell along with him. And what was with the terms he was using anyway? When something was a spade, you called it a spade. Damn it. “You mean body. Why don’t you just say body?”
“Because the thought of you pointing a gun at anyone again makes me break out in hives.”
She scowled at him. It was very tempting to swing round and point the gun at his greatest mass until he apologised for being a dickhead.
“Don’t even think about it. Do I need to go over the safety talk again?”
And that was another thing that drove her nuts, his mind reading trick. It wasn’t impressive. It was just plain irritating. Along with his shirt. What was with that T-shirt? It was at least two sizes too small. He wasn’t Captain Freaking America. There was no need to flaunt his pecs to the world. Indecent. That’s what it was.
“Remember what I told you,” he said. “Don’t jerk the trigger, ease it softly.”
He stepped back from her so she could shoot and her body felt instantly cold. Already she missed his arms around her and it irritated the hell out of her. Her body was confused. It didn’t know whether it wanted to kick the man for driving her mental, or kiss him until he took off his annoying shirt and let her loose at his pecs.
Pheromones! That’s what it was. Now it made sense. He was oozing pheromones. Essentially, he was drugging her. No wonder she couldn’t think straight.
“Are you going to shoot anytime soon?” he drawled.
She glared at him. As she faced the target, her shoulders became solid and her arms stiffened. The gun jerked upwards and she missed it entirely.
“So much for keeping those muscles loose,” he mumbled.
Megan spun on him. “I hate this.”
“Maybe you should stick to the Taser?” he suggested for the millionth time.
If he mentioned that Taser one more time, she was going to get the thing and zap him until he cried uncle.
“Just because I hate training doesn’t mean I won’t eventually get there. It takes practice. Distraction free practice. Why don’t you run along and play with the other boys while I work on this?”
He shook his head. “Good try, but someone needs to keep an eye on you.”
“Have it your way.” She turned back to the target, fury building inside her like a fireball. “How about you put your damn pecs away and let me focus? Huh? You want to be helpful, dress in clothes your size.”
She didn’t take time to perfect her stance, instead she fired angry. Several shots barked out in succession as she cursed the man under her breath.
“Enough.” Dimitri’s hand covered her wrist. “This is no way to improve. We’ll try again once you calm down.”
“Telling a woman to calm down is a sure way to get her to aim the gun at your head.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. Then he turned to the target and stopped dead. Megan peeked around him to see what had his attention and felt a slow grin break out. All six shots had hit the dead centre of the paper target. The look on Dimitri’s face was priceless. It almost made breathing in his pheromones for hours on end, worth it. And now, she needed to get out of there—before she did something she regretted. Like peeling off his T-shirt and biting into his pecs. She shook off the image. Definitely time to go.
“I’m done here.” She placed the gun on the shelf beside her and took out her ear plugs. “I don’t need training. I just need to be mad to hit the target.” She put her protective glasses beside the gun. “Next time, just piss me off before you hand me a weapon. It will save time. It shouldn’t take too much to do it. All you need to do is open your mouth and let your brain run free.”
She left him gaping after her as she strode for the door.
“Hey, we’re not done here,” Dimitri shouted after her.
“Oh, we so are,” she shouted back.
“That was a lucky shot,” he shouted, undeterred. “You need to be able to replicate it under stress.”
He thought she wasn’t under stress? The man was an idiot. Honestly. He rubs all over her for hours on end, drugging her with his scent and then dismisses it? Oh, that was not on. She stormed back into the room to give him a piece of her mind on th
e matter.
Dimitri was reaching for her gun when she strode into the room. He caught sight of her and his eyes darkened. In that second, with that one look, the anger inside Megan switched to something far darker. Something she couldn’t stop and wasn’t sure she’d want to anyway.
She caught him off guard when she pushed him back against the wall. Without a word, she twisted her hand into his too-tight shirt and pulled his face down to meet hers. Her kiss was punishing. More like an attack than a tease. Dimitri groaned into her mouth. He wrapped his arms around her and she was engulfed in his scent. The same blend of woodland forest and pure Dimitri that was driving her insane not ten minutes ago, now made her delirious with need. She couldn’t breathe him in deeply enough. She couldn’t get close enough. His taste was ambrosia on her tongue. Addicting. He was addicting.
“More.” She grunted the word against his mouth.
His reply was a feral growl. He turned them. Her back hit the wall, making it shudder.
“Up,” he demanded.
Megan felt his grip on her ribcage as he lifted her. Her legs wrapped around his waist. She grabbed handfuls of hair and angled his mouth where she needed it to be. His fingertips dug into her backside as he pulled her closer. She felt his hard length rub against her crotch and moaned. Perfect. He was perfect.
Her tongue duelled with his. Because that was what this was, a fight. A sparring match between opponents. Each wanting dominance. Megan bit his bottom lip before sucking it into her mouth to soothe the pain. Somewhere inside her, on a primal level, she wanted to mark him. She wanted to leave evidence that he was hers. She was an idiot, wanting to tag her name on a building that didn’t belong to her. She shook off the thoughts as she fisted her hands in the bottom of his offensive shirt.
“Off.” She tugged.
He pressed her against the wall with his hips as he fisted his hand in the neck of his T-shirt and yanked it over his head. Oh, yes. Her eyes ran over every perfect dip and curve before her. He was an all-you-can-eat buffet for her senses. She closed the distance between them and licked a line across his pecs.
“Megan,” he groaned.
Salty, tangy, Dimitri. She nipped at his shoulder, before nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck and breathing him deep. Heady. It was heady. She was spinning out of control and she didn’t care. Her hands ran over his chest to his stomach, memorising every curve. His skin burned under her touch. She wanted to wrap herself in the heat and stay there forever.
“Babe, if we don’t stop, I’m going to take you up against this wall. Are you sure you want that?” Dimitri’s voice was a rumble that vibrated through her.
She closed her eyes for a second, revelling in the sensation. It took a minute for his words to penetrate. Megan’s eyelids flickered, like she was coming out of a daze. The gun range came into focus. The fact her legs were wrapped around a half-naked Dimitri and his hands were inside the back of her yoga pants registered.
“Megan?”
She looked up into his dark chocolate eyes and all but melted. Gorgeous. She licked her lips as she stared at his mouth. His lips were red and swollen. She smiled in satisfaction.
“You’re killing me here, babe.”
She tore her eyes from his lips. “We probably shouldn’t, huh?” Her voice was hoarse.
His forehead touched hers as he groaned. “You’re killing me.”
Thought replaced sensation as her brain rebooted. No, this wasn’t the place for this. Or the time. Probably. She pushed at his chest and he got the message. He gently lowered her to the ground, keeping his hands on her hips to steady her. His perfect chest filled her vision and she had to fight the urge to sink her teeth into him.
“Not the right place,” she said instead.
“The guys have a session booked here after lunch.”
She glanced at the clock high on the wall. Soon. That was soon. She hadn’t even thought about food, mainly because she was dealing with a very different sort of hunger.
“Wrong time,” she said.
He sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Later. When this is over.”
His words made her long, which in turn made her feel vulnerable, which led to irritation. It was the irritation that made her push Dimitri back.
“What makes you think you’ll get another chance at me?”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Well, I’m not an expert or anything, but I figured this meant you liked my particular brand of perfectly adequate.”
Men. Idiots. All of them.
She pushed past him and strode to the door. “This boat has sailed, Dementor.”
“Yeah,” he called after her, and she could hear the laughter in his voice. “You keep telling yourself that, Buffy.”
She stomped up the stairs to the sound of him chuckling behind her.
Chapter Eleven
“Benson Security, how may I help you?” Julia made an effort to sound confident and professional although she hated talking to strangers on the phone. Or generally. At least it was a whole lot better than in person.
“This is Commander Tessa Sharp with the Metropolitan police force. I need to speak with Callum. I can’t get him on his mobile.”
“I’m sorry, Callum is out of the office right now.” Julia grabbed a pen.
“In that case, give him this message and tell him to call me back ASAP. Tell him that negotiations have gone better than I thought they would and the timeline for picking up Rudi could move forward.”
“No problem. Anything else?
“That’s it. I’ve got a meeting. Thank you.” The line went dead.
Julia put the note in her tray for Callum and got back to reading quotes for a new roof. She’d only just started to go through them, when the phone rang again. The sooner they employed a receptionist to man the phones the better.
“Your grandmother has gone missing,” were the first words Julia’s mother said to her when she answered the phone.
“Hi Mum, no she hasn’t. I got an email from her this morning.” Julia put aside her work to focus on the conversation. Multitasking wasn’t possible when talking to any member of her family. “Her conference finished and she’s going to visit Machu Picchu with Alice.”
“Oh.” The wind went out of her mother. “I wish the old bat would email me too. It would save a lot of worry. I’m not sure about those two travelling alone. They attract trouble. Aunt Alice especially.”
“You’re one to talk,” Julia pointed out. If something disruptive was going on, odds were her mother would be in the middle of it.
“Next time she emails with a change of plans, can you let me know? It will save me from freaking out. I almost booked tickets to go find her and drag her home.”
Julia smiled at the thought of the media frenzy that would surround the family’s rescue attempt. It would drive her grandmother mad. Although not shy, the woman shared Julia’s introverted nature and the last thing she’d want to be was the centre of attention. No, Gran liked to live under the radar—that way she could get away with a whole lot more than she would otherwise.
“How’s my baby girl?” her mum cooed into the line.
“I’m twenty six, Mum, hardly a baby.”
“You’ll always be my baby. Now stop trying to distract me and tell me how the new office is coming together. And I want to hear about all those hunky men you work with. You didn’t send me photos. I need photos of the hunky men.” There was laughter in her voice.
“Does Dad know you’re collecting photos of hunky men?” Julia knew it was a joke, but she wouldn’t put it past her mother to have an actual collection stashed somewhere.
“He encourages it. Makes me randy.”
“Mum!” Julia’s cheeks turned red and she shook her head. This was one of the reasons she kept her life compartmentalised—the rest of her family had missed out on the shame gene.
Her mother laughed. “How’s it going? I want to know.”
“Fine, it’s going fine.” What else was t
here to say? The building was crawling with tradespeople, the team was completely dysfunctional and she had an aneurysm every time Joe came near her. None of which she planned to tell her mother.
“Mmm,” Libby mused. “I think your father and I need to make time to take you out for lunch. You can show us around the building. Introduce us to your colleagues.”
“No!” Julia took a deep breath. “I mean not right now. Soon. It’s just that it’s a terrible mess around here and we’re in the middle of a very tense, hush-hush case.”
“Are you sure you aren’t avoiding us?” It wasn’t an accusation. Her mother knew it was a very real possibility and she was concerned. Julia had spent a lifetime avoiding her completely over-the-top family. It had been her survival mechanism growing up. Not that she didn’t love them. She did. She adored each and every one of them. Just in small doses.
“Not this time, I promise. We’ll set something up as soon as I have a little more time.” Something that happened far away from the office. Or anyone she knew.
Lake had made it very clear when he hired her that he’d deal with her many personal issues, but he wouldn’t tolerate her family exposing the work of Benson Security to the media. If she wanted to keep her job, she had to keep them away from the office. Which was almost impossible now that she was in the same city as her parents and siblings.
“I’m holding you to that.” It sounded like her mother was settling in for a long chat. “Now tell me about the men. Which one do you fancy the most?”
Julia groaned, but was saved by the light flashing that there was someone else on the line. “I’ve got to go, Mum. Someone else is calling and I’m manning the phone.”
“Typical. Just when we get to the juicy stuff. One way or another we’re going to weed information out of you, Julia Collins. Okay, go play spy. I love you.” She made kissing noises and then hung up.
Taking a deep breath to cope with the whirlwind that was her mother, Julia connected to the other line. For once she didn’t bemoan the fact that there wasn’t a receptionist to cover the calls.
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