“She’d be a lot happier if you stayed with her and I went out. You shoulda seen her when you called in the 9-1-1. She was all set to go charging after you. I think she’s got it bad for you.”
Even though it was all wrong, warmth still spread behind Niko’s breastbone at the suggestion Jenna might care for him. Jesus. He felt like he was in junior high and had just been told the most popular girl in school liked him.
Niko shook his head to snap himself back to reality and slipped the ammo clip into the pocket of his windbreaker. He strapped a small throwing knife to his calf and put a switchblade in the other coat pocket. The pistol went into its shoulder holster.
“Jesus Christ, Niko. You’re arming yourself like you’re walking into Armageddon, yet you refuse backup. Are you insane?”
Niko’s lips lifted in an uncivilized smile. “After the past two days, you really need to ask?”
“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so good for you, huh?” Rafe stepped up to Niko, put his hands on either side of his face, and placed a kiss of benediction on his brother’s forehead.
“Stay safe, brother mine.” The left side of Rafe’s mouth quirked up into a half smile. “I don’t wanna be the one telling Mamá you’re gone.”
More touched by his brother’s concern than he cared to let on, Niko nodded brusquely. “I’ve got to move.” He took the coward’s way out, barreling out of the bedroom and through the living room without looking at Jenna.
“Back in a bit,” he threw over his shoulder, yanking open the door. As he stepped into the hallway, he sensed Jenna coming to her feet.
“Hold on, Jenna,” he heard Rafe say. “Let me explain.”
#
Glancing up from his seat at the end of the bar, Niko bit back a groan as he recognized the men entering the room. They were dressed to blend in with the regular crowd of taxi drivers, cooks, and other low-income workers, but Niko had worked with SSU agent Enrique Gonzales before and recognized the man even under his stained coveralls and grease-spattered baseball cap.
“Damn it, Rafe,” Niko muttered. “I told you I could take care of myself. I’m not a damn greenhorn.”
He caught Gonzales’s eye and the man gave a slight shrug before joining his companions at the bar.
Niko leaned closer to the man sitting next to him, straining to catch his mumbled words. Something about the dogs and a man who’d lied to El Jefe…nightmares…screams…the sound of flesh being ripped by canine teeth.
Whoever the poor son-of-a-bitch had been, it wasn’t Paterson. Niko tried to steer the conversation in a new direction, asking questions about other guests of Alvarez. But the man was obsessed with the dogs and was too far into his cups to pay much attention to Niko. He was just a poor cook’s assistant and desperately needed to talk through the horror.
Christ. He wasn’t the man’s shrink, already.
Then the man said something that made Niko’s head turn. “What was that?”
“At least this time he didn’t make the woman watch.”
“What woman?”
“His mistress. So beautiful. Like an angel, she is. But very sad.” The man shuddered. “I think El Jefe hurts her. And sometimes he forces her to watch what he does to the men.”
Hallelujah. He finally had a confirmation of Aunt Madalena’s location.
“And now there’s el gringo.” The man’s hands shook as he tried to pour the last of the tequila into his glass. “I had to bring the guards their dinner one night and I heard him screaming.” Giving up on the glass, he tilted his head back and poured the liquid straight from the bottle into his mouth. But the tequila must have hit the wrong passage, for the man leaned forward, coughing most of the liquid out onto the bar.
Niko’s fingers itched to shake the man back to sense. But he forced himself to wait quietly until the man was finished coughing. Then he prompted, “And el gringo?”
“I hear his screams also in my dreams. El Jefe wants something from the man, but the man, he claims he doesn’t have it.”
So Paterson was still holding out. Good.
Niko’s companion grabbed a napkin and started mopping up the mess he’d made. “The pay is more than I ever dreamed,” he muttered. “But for such nightmares as it brings me, I do not think I can continue.”
“Are there any other prisoners?”
The man shook his head. “Only el gringo.”
Although it was entirely possible that the man was a plant from Alvarez, Niko had no choice but to trust him. “If you help me free el gringo and the woman, I’ll find you another job where Alvarez can’t hurt you.”
The desperate hope in the man’s eyes hit Niko with the force of an accusation. All the man wanted was a decent life for him and his family.
Niko had no right asking the man to risk death. But he was going to use the man anyway.
Chapter 23
“You’re a good brother,” Jenna said, referring to Rafe’s telephone call to Ryker requesting backup for Niko. “Watching out for him.” Even though they both knew Niko wouldn’t appreciate the gesture.
“Of course,” Rafe said. “I’ll do anything to keep him safe. But you understand, don’t you? You love your brother. That’s why you want to be the one to bring him in. To find out the truth about the night your family was attacked and make sure your brother is treated fairly.”
Jenna glanced away, afraid Rafe would read the truth in her eyes. Love Kai? Yes, once she’d loved and adored her older brother. She would have done anything for him. Even when he’d stopped coming home so often, she’d still believed he was the kind, honorable man she knew.
I won’t ever let anyone hurt you again, Jen-shine. She’d been maybe five or six, Kai almost eleven. Her brother held her in his arms, protecting and comforting her. Two boys had pushed her off the ladder to the playground slide. Kai had punched both of them and they’d run off, crying.
Until the night of the attack, Kai had still been her white knight.
“Kill them.” Kai’s voice, followed by his laughter.
Even now, she almost cried at the injustice. How could he do that to them? How dare he?
He didn’t deserve to live. Not after his betrayal.
She touched her tongue to the cyanide capsules resting against her back molars. One capsule for her, one for Kai, in case she didn’t have the strength to use her knife. Then it would be over. Justice served. Her family at peace.
No more pain.
Jenna fought to control her breathing and willed her fingers to stay relaxed at her sides instead of curling into fists.
“Jenna?”
She jumped. Dammit, she had to get away from Rafe before he picked up on her mood. “I’m tired,” she said with a shrug. “I think I’ll take a bath and climb into bed.”
He nodded. “I’ll make sure we don’t disturb you when Niko comes in.”
“No! I want to know when he’s back.”
Rafe’s smile said he understood what she hadn’t said, that she cared, but all he said was, “Okay.”
She felt like a coward, running away to the bathroom. But she’d felt off-kilter all day. Unfocused and edgy. Between her frustration at losing Kai, and her worry about Niko, she needed to relax. Maybe a long soak in the giant tub would do the trick. While she waited for it to fill, she sorted through the bottles of bubble bath and jars of bath salts lined up neatly on a shelf under the window.
Before the attack, she’d loved using light, floral bath gels, the more feminine the better. Since the attack, she’d only used cheap bar soap.
Tonight though, something propelled her to indulge herself. She lingered over the task, giving serious consideration to her choices before finally settling on peach bath salts.
The water foamed as she dumped in a generous helping of the fine crystals. On another shelf she found an inflatable pillow, a small radio that also played soothing nature sounds, and some scented candles. It felt decadent to indulge in such luxury, but as she slipped beneath the hot water, she cl
osed her eyes in ecstasy.
Oh, she’d needed this.
And why shouldn’t she treat herself? In a few days she’d be beyond such needs. Condemned prisoners got a last request. Why shouldn’t she?
She set the radio to play ocean waves, then leaned her head back against the pillow and let the hot water work its magic. As her muscles softened, her mind started to drift back to last night and the feel of Niko’s hands on her. Of the heat of his mouth against her neck.
Had her body always been that responsive to such light caresses? Or was it just Niko? She couldn’t remember.
A little jolt of panic tightened her skin. The doctors had assured her she had no memory loss, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember how she’d been with other lovers. She knew there’d been pleasure, but not how much.
She reached up to scratch an itch on her nose, and found her face wet with tears.
They’d done this to her. Kai and the other men who’d murdered her family had stolen everything pleasurable from her. Turned her into a woman too afraid to remember even the good times in case it led to more pain.
For just a moment, she let anguish flow through her, grieving for something she hadn’t even realized she’d lost. Then she pushed the sadness away and focused on the eternal ebb and flow of the ocean waves on the radio. Slowly, her tension melted and her mind drifted.
As an experiment, she traced her hands over her body—cheeks to breasts to belly—to see if she still had the power to arouse herself. At first nothing happened, so she did it again, letting her hands move of their own accord, discovering places that when touched sent the first tendrils of pleasure through her.
Her skin became extra sensitive. With each inhalation small waves lapped at her breasts like a lover’s mouth. She shifted her legs, trying to find a more comfortable position, and the water surged against the juncture of her thighs. Her back arched and her legs parted slightly, searching for some forgotten sensation.
She slid her hands down under the water and touched herself, imagining Niko’s fingers sliding against her folds. Picturing his mouth on her instead of the push of the water.
Sensation built, slowly, like the gentle hug of a long missed friend. So welcome, tears burned her eyes again.
A cold draft skirted across her skin, pulling her out of her sensual haze. Her hands stilled.
“I…ah…um…Sorry. I thought you were in bed already.”
She turned her head. Niko stood in the middle of the bathroom. His jaw hung loose and his eyes were fixated on the center of her body. A quick glance down at the water confirmed that the bubbles had dissolved, giving Niko full view of where her hands rested.
Thank heavens her cheeks were already flushed from the heat, because she blushed like a virgin. She jerked her hands away and positioned them to cover herself. She didn’t understand how he could like what he saw. Her body had changed so much since the attack.
There was nothing left but muscle and bone. And her collection of scars.
“Don’t hide on my behalf.” Niko’s voice was a taut, husky growl that made her belly clench. “God. You’re so beautiful.”
Her hands slowly dropped away, compelled by the strength of his words. She let Niko look his fill while her embarrassment faded under a punch of arousal.
He walked toward her with uncoordinated steps, as if pulled by marionette strings. His eyes traveled up her body and clashed with hers.
The heat in his eyes consumed her. Incinerated every thought of her mission, scorched through the lingering memories of pain and violation left by the attack, and turned her will to smoke. Her lips parted and her body arched toward him.
“Finish it,” Niko commanded.
She glanced at the door.
“Rafe went back to his hotel. He’s gone until the morning.” Niko took another step toward her.
Her hands moved of their own accord, stroking over her breasts, down her stomach, and back between her legs.
She kept her head turned so she could watch Niko.
Color washed into his face. He groaned. His fingers flexed at his sides.
She stared at those strong, battered hands, once again imagining them taking the place of her own touch. But dammit, her neck hurt too much turned at this angle. And she felt…lonely.
“Why don’t you save my aching neck,” she said in a husky whisper she didn’t recognize, “and climb in here with me?”
Niko took another step forward, then halted abruptly, like he’d run into an invisible wall. “You…” he gestured to the tub, then to the bulge behind his fly. “Me.” He cleared his throat.
“Jenna, with everything you’ve been through, are you sure you’re ready for sex? Because that’s what’s going to happen if I come any closer. Me. Inside you.”
It took a moment for her brain to pull back from arousal and focus on the worry behind Niko’s words. There he was again, watching out for her. She would have smiled if she hadn’t thought he’d take it the wrong way.
“I want this,” she said. “It’s been too long since I felt like a woman.” Now she did smile, hoping to break through Niko’s reserve. “The assassins stole everything from me that night. I need to take this back. Help me, please.” She moved restlessly in the water. “I’m not afraid. Not with you…”
She crooked her finger. “Come here. Please.”
Niko flung off his clothes, cursing when his bandaged arm got in the way.
She grinned, enjoying the quick strip show and Niko’s flare of temper.
But then he was lowering himself into the water, giving her a close up of fully aroused male.
Oh. Damn. She felt a faint lick of panic. Remembered how torn and hurt she’d been after the rape. Could she take Niko without pain?
With a groan of appreciation, Niko settled himself at the opposite end of the tub and stretched his legs out so they bracketed hers, while keeping his injured arm propped on the rim of the tub. The relief on his face as the hot water soothed his aching muscles banished her fear. Instead, she felt the warmth of tenderness and a fierce protectiveness. He’d been hurt and she wanted to heal him.
Underneath it all was the shimmer of growing need.
Niko’s eyes flicked to her face, then down to her hands. “Please…” He swallowed. Wet his lips with his tongue. “Continue.”
She hesitated, suddenly shy. Aware how out of practice she was. Afraid she wouldn’t be able to climax.
Niko must have sensed her nervousness. His good hand reached under the water and lightly stroked her shin. Up. Down. Circling. Re-igniting the fire within her.
She lost herself in the heat and approval in Niko’s eyes, and without further thought, she touched herself. His nostrils flared and he stared at the juncture of her thighs through the water as she slowly worked herself toward a gentle peak.
And there it was. Fullness. A sense of being helpless to hold back the pleasure.
She held his gaze until her neck arched and her lids closed, then gave herself to the sweet, short climax. Aware, when it was over, that her face was wet with tears again.
She brushed them away and opened her eyes, afraid to see the expression on Niko’s face. Not wanting him to pity her.
But pity was the last thing on Niko’s mind. His left knee was bent and he was stroking himself with long, mesmerizing sweeps of his hand.
“That was so beautiful,” he whispered.
The raw appreciation on his face jolted her body back to awareness. But she didn’t want to stay on this side of the tub any longer. She wanted his skin against hers.
She wanted to feel the rush from being in control. Of watching Niko as he came apart.
She shifted forward and pulled his bent knee down, so both legs were straight in front of him. Then she knelt with her legs on either side of his. Holding his gaze, she leaned down and placed her lips on his for the barest whisper of a kiss. Then she sat back, brushed his hand aside and touched him intimately.
Even through the war
mth of the water, he burned. Jenna closed her eyes so she could savor the sensation. Relearning how to touch a man this way. Discovering what gave Niko the most pleasure.
“Christ!”
Niko bucked beneath her and Jenna smiled. Yes! This was what she wanted.
Niko’s hands traced down the outside of her arms, moved across the water to her breasts.
She opened her eyes and shook her head at him. “Uh-uh. This is my show. No touching until I tell you.” She captured his wrists and placed them firmly on the edge of the tub. To emphasize her point, she looked first at one hand, then the other, then fixed him with a stern eye as she pushed firmly down on his arms.
His body arched toward her. She readjusted her position, but didn’t let him go.
“Okay, okay, I get it.” He gave her a strained smile. “No touching. I promise.”
She nodded and went back to her exploration. Each movement of his hips toward her roaming hands gave her courage. Made her feel powerful.
She wanted to see all of him without the distortion of the water, so she flicked the drain open with her foot. Deciding she wanted to taste him, she put her mouth on his flat copper nipple. His uniquely spicy flavor warmed her tongue like a cinnamon-spiked mocha and she couldn’t stop herself from gorging on his skin. Over the flare of his pectoral. Along the scar under his collar bone. Sucking on the wildly pulsing vein at his throat.
Her mind reeled under the sensory overload until she was writhing against him, seeking some outlet for the energy burning through her veins.
Finally, she couldn’t take any more. She sat back, desperate to catch her breath.
And noticed that the veins on the back of Niko’s forearms stood out from squeezing the edges of the tub so hard.
God, she’d forgotten about forbidding him to touch her. Even though she could tell it was costing him, he didn’t ask to be released. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that he would stay in this position forever if she demanded it.
So, perversely, she realized it was the last thing she wanted. She lifted his arms and placed them around her in a loose hug.
Vengeance (SSU Trilogy Book 1) Page 23