Snowbound with the Secret Agent

by Geri Krotow

  The greeting had been his usual way of letting Portia know he was here. He knew that he had a habit of stepping softly to avoid detection. A good thing when working undercover, but terrifying for someone like Portia who was alone in this huge house all day.

  She didn’t answer, and the first niggle of concern tugged at his gut. Portia might be in the shower, or the workout room in the basement. She’d made herself at home, utilizing every space and staying busy beyond her gala planning and the miniscule library work she did long-distance.

  He dumped the bags on the island, where he noted she’d left her laptop open, a half-drank mug of tea next to it. He felt the cup—it was cold.

  A worm of cold fear began to take root. Nope, not going there. She was fine.

  But if she wasn’t, if Markova had somehow found them, despite his evasion tactics, he couldn’t run around shouting for Portia. He had to fight the instinct, not something he was used to. Normally he stayed cool under the toughest situations. But they hadn’t involved Portia.

  He silently walked to the French doors that led onto the enormous cedar deck, a full twenty feet above ground level. The structure held patio furniture, now covered with weatherproof protection, and a hot tub he vaguely remembered Josh mentioning.

  No Portia.

  But there were footprints leading to the steps that led to the concrete patio. It was impossible to peer between the slats, as they were laid tightly together. If Portia was down there, being held by Markova, he’d be walking into a trap from which he couldn’t save Portia or himself.

  Kyle quickly and silently retraced his steps back into the house and locked the French door behind him. He pulled his weapon as he ran back through the house, into the garage and then out the garage’s side door. To his relief, there were no prints in the snow that had fallen between the house and the immediate line of trees. His weapon drawn, ready to fire, he pressed forward to the back, northwest corner of the house. Listening for scuffling, any vocalizations, he heard nothing.

  He turned the corner with his .45 held in front, ready to fire at the first sign of Markova.

  The space under the deck was pitch-dark, the last remaining daylight long gone. He’d not turned on the outside lights, but as he moved to the space farther under the deck, a motion detector light blazed blinding-white in his eyes. He heard a gasp and froze, blinking to regain his vision.

  “Kyle!” Portia. Thank God.

  “Where are you?” Damn the light.

  “Why are you pointing a gun at me? I’m fine.” He heard her steps, then she was at his side, away from where he pointed the gun. “Kyle.”

  Only when he looked into her eyes, allowed himself to accept that she was alone and safe, did he let out his breath. His vision returned and he scoured under the deck for anyone else.

  “Kyle, I told you I’m alone. I came out to get a breath of fresh air. I’m so sorry if I worried you.” She hugged herself. “Holy cannoli, you scared the heck out of me! I heard your footsteps but you weren’t up on the deck, where I’d expect you to be if you came in and saw I was outside. I thought I was done for.”

  Kyle holstered his weapon and faced her. Snowflakes landed on her soft curls, the white sparkles contrasting with her brunette hair. “You’ve got a target between your eyes, Portia. Of course I was concerned.”

  “You seemed a lot more than ‘concerned.’” She made air quotes as her brows rose. “You need to be more careful, Kyle. For a minute there, I thought you cared.”

  He knew it was her nerves talking. He’d scared her, too, coming up on her like she was his target. “This isn’t the time for this.” Yet he didn’t move. Didn’t go anywhere, but instead stayed under the deck with her, where the ambient light from the motion detector allowed him to see her face without totally exposing them to anyone looking at the house.

  “There was plenty of time earlier in the week.” One side of her lush mouth curved up, and he couldn’t take his gaze off the warmth in her eyes. Was it for him? Dare he hope it was?

  “I’m not sorry for that, Portia. It was...fantastic. But I’m in the middle of a case. I can’t be distracted. And at the end of it—”

  “You’re moving back to California. You already told me that.” She stood her ground. He’d been about to say that he was an undercover law enforcement agent, she was a librarian, they lived in completely different worlds.

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “What? That you’re moving on? It’s not my concern, is it?” She watched him in a way he understood. As if she were waiting until he couldn’t take it anymore and admit that there was something deeper brewing between them than the ROC case or lust.

  “It’d be your concern if you thought I’d change my mind.”

  “I’m not looking to change your mind, Kyle. And I know you’re not trying to change me, either.”

  He wasn’t, not at all. Because the woman in front of him was far more than he’d ever dreamed existed. The real deal. The full package—for him.

  “Aw, hell.” Much against his personal vow to leave her alone, he had to have one more taste. Just a nip. He reached for her at the same instant she touched his face with her mittened hand. The rough texture of the wool scraped against his cheek, but he didn’t feel any discomfort the minute his lips touched hers.

  * * *

  Portia’s hand overshot Kyle’s cheek and she used the momentum to wrap it around his head, to tug him close to her as their lips met. Her fright turned to molten desire as his tongue probed deep, filling her mouth with his taste, his need.

  His hands roamed down her back, pulling her in close. The layers of clothing between them were too much. They’d avoided one another all week and it had proved too long. She could blame her emotions, being alternatively scared for her life and then so relieved to have Kyle’s hard, reassuring form against her. But it didn’t account for the taught tension that strung between them since they’d made love that first time, since she’d become aware of his presence in her life.

  She kissed him with all she had. And never felt any less than fully reciprocated as he whispered sexy words against her lips, told her what he intended to do to her. What he wanted her to do to him.

  “Kyle.” More kissing.

  “Mmm?” Another lick.

  “There’s a hot tub upstairs, on the deck.” She fantasized all week about being in it with him, had considered asking him to join her, purely platonically.

  But their connection would never be anything but very sexual, incredibly sensual.

  “Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and tugged her behind as he led them up the stairs. He stopped at the French door. “I have to go in and get a condom, but I locked this door when I saw you were gone.” Lines etched around his eyes, the light of the great room spilling a soft yellow glow over them through the door’s windows.

  “I’m sorry I worried you.”

  “It seems I did the same to you.” He kissed her hard, then smiled. “I can think of no better way to let go of it, can you?”

  “No. Here’s the key.” She handed him the set of house keys that included the one to the back-deck door.

  “You carried them with you.” He stared at them.

  “As you advised. I did listen when you talked to me about safety, you know.”

  He looked like he had more to say but instead unlocked the door. “I’ll be right back. You coming in to warm up first?”

  She laughed. “I’m not feeling any of this cold right now. I’ll get the hot tub ready.”

  He disappeared into the house and she took the lid off the spa, watched the steaming water begin to bubble once she found the switches. The snowfall had picked up and was a steady douse of white, piling up on the deck railing and steps where they’d just walked. She quickly unzipped her jacket and walked to the door to strip out of all of her clothes before she made a beeline for th
e warm water.

  Sinking into it was pure bliss. She’d managed to work out each day in the house’s high-end gym room, but missed her runs. So she’d pushed it on the treadmill and elliptical machine, which made her muscles complain a bit. The soothing vibration of the pulsing water was almost as good as—no, it came nowhere near to sex. Not with Kyle, at any rate.

  She heard the door click and looked up to see him stride naked across the deck. Kyle’s nude body wasn’t unfamiliar to her, yet to see his starkly masculine form, underscored by his raging erection, shot a bolt of pure lust through her. If it were any more tangible, the connection she felt to this man would part the water of the hot tub, cause the deck to quake. But she’d settle for making love to him again.

  “You didn’t waste any time, I see.” The flash of his teeth indicated his pleasure as he simultaneously dropped the house keys and a strip of condoms on the deck next to the tub and himself into the water.

  Portia couldn’t speak. Mesmerized by how his broad shoulders dipped below the water, rivulets running over and down his skin as the steam wove around them, kept her from being able to do anything but stare. Her limbs had no problem reacting, however, as she found herself moving next to him, her fingers running across his skin, cupping his face.

  “Where did you come from, Kyle?” She waited for his silver eyes to focus on her, saw the same arousal she enjoyed. And something deeper. Was it the sense of timelessness to their relationship that she felt?

  “Snowflakes are sticking to your eyelashes.” He held her face, too, as they knelt in the steaming water, keeping it shoulder level to stay warm as the storm intensified around them. When he lowered his head to kiss her, she met him halfway. As under the deck, their need exploded into a desire so fierce that Portia thought she’d never breathe again.

  “Oh, Kyle, this is so much.” She gasped out the words, unable to focus as his lips landed on her throat and his hands cupped her breasts. He suckled on one nipple, then the other, and as the frozen air hit her skin, it only made her hotter, more desperate to have him inside her.

  “Patience, Portia.” His mouth came back to hers and she expected he’d reach for the condoms, make short work of foreplay as they both so clearly wanted the ultimate connection. But he instead reached between her legs under the water and stroked her folds with his fingers. Before she got used to the intense sensuality he shoved one, two fingers inside her and caressed the deepest part of her. His caresses bespoke expertise, but so much more. She had no time to figure it out as an orgasm crested and took her out of herself. The only concrete sensation was the feel of Kyle’s muscular shoulders under her hands as she held on to him, used him as an anchor in the turbulent onslaught of pleasure. Her cries escaped her throat with no effort from her, and she thought she’d immediately find an apartment to rent that had a hot tub on the deck when this was all over.

  “Like that?” Breath from his sexy laugh tickled where he kissed her on her temple. Kyle nudged her cheek with his nose until their lips met again. As she kissed him, she reached for his erection, gripping him firmly and stroking with unquestionable intent.

  “Babe.” Kyle sat back on the spa’s underwater bench and closed his eyes, his head leaned back against the edge as she worked her hands on him, straddled him. Her body felt weightless, yet she’d never felt more empowered, been more aware of how her actions affected another human being.

  But it wasn’t just another human being or man—it was Kyle.

  She kissed him as she moved her hand over his shaft and was rewarded with an open, fully exposed kiss that communicated his total need, total trust in her. His erection hardened further, a feat she’d have thought impossible.

  His hands were on her shoulders and he gently pushed her away, his eyes heavy with lust. “Careful or it’ll be over before we get to the best part, babe.”

  She laughed softly as he reached for the condoms, tore one off and stood on the spa bench. Only his knees were underwater, and she was transfixed by the water sluicing down his powerful thighs as snow pelted his chest. Kyle had huge, strong hands and even so his erection seemed too big for them. She swallowed, her mouth wanting something that would have to wait for another time.

  Once he donned the protection, he sank back down and in one fluid movement pulled her, straddle-style, onto him, pelvis-to-pelvis. Maintaining eye contact, his hands gripped her hips, moved to her buttocks as he guided her over him, onto him, positioned himself at her entrance. The moment she closed her eyes, parted her lips in a sigh of want, he thrust into her, making her already sensitive sex on fire with need.

  “Kyle!” She grasped his wrists, which were behind her back, and tilted her head to the snow-filled sky as he pumped into her with complete abandon, as she moved over him and pushed back with a ferocity that matched his. They may have been like that for an hour or a minute—it didn’t matter, as time never did between them. But their connection, the thing that mattered very much, propelled them to the obvious conclusion as they both reached their releases at the same time, their cries of satisfaction muffled only by the now roaring wind.

  Afterward she remained on top of him on the bench as the water bubbled and gently lapped around them. The snowfall had turned into a full-fledged blizzard as the wind drove the flakes into her skin, but she was more attune to Kyle’s skin against hers, his breath returning to normal along with hers.

  Inexplicably, she’d found her match in the undercover agent she’d known for barely two weeks.

  Chapter 13

  Kyle left Portia within the hour, as darkness was complete and he was fighting against the snowstorm to get to the library, then return to the country estate before the roads became impassable.

  At least this time he didn’t have to dress as anyone but an undercover agent with much needed protection from the cold. And he’d accepted Portia’s work keys, saving him a trip to Josh’s desk at SVPD. Since they coordinated every aspect of the case, they’d agreed to leave most of what they’d need at SVPD. The less Kyle or any agent was seen going in and out of the actual TH headquarters, the better.

  Certain he hadn’t been followed, he parked his truck in the diner parking lot. There were only half a dozen cars as compared to the usual twenty or so. And the streets and sidewalks were deserted, save for a few intrepid souls scurrying into the local convenience pharmacy, no doubt to get that last loaf of bread or carton of milk. There were plenty of full-size grocery stores on the main pike, but the drugstore, with its few shelves of foodstuffs, was all the people who lived in the downtown area had within walking distance. Kyle knew it well, as he’d subsisted on plenty of its supplies these past weeks.

  Maybe that was why he was reacting so intensely to Portia. Not the sex part, which would be out of this world with her no matter what, but the emotional intimacy. The time he was spending with her at that beautiful house, in the perfect natural setting, was the most he’d had to just be since he didn’t know when. He’d been on this Silver Valley ROC assignment for a couple of months, but it was the culmination of years of following the criminal organization and its key players. He knew he wasn’t alone in this, which made it more frustrating that LEA hadn’t succeeded in toppling the nefarious empire yet.

  As he entered the library through a side entrance, unseen from the front and not in view of the back parking lot, he tried to clear his mind, open his senses to whatever evidence might be available. But Portia’s smile, her luminous eyes, the warmth of her, never left him.

  He supposed he should get used to it. He imagined she was going to stay with him for a long while, all the way to California and the future he’d counted on for so long.

  Whoa. He froze at the bottom of the library stairwell. This was the problem with accepting that he couldn’t get a woman out of his soul. His imagination led him to believe she’d always be with him, anywhere he went.

  Portia wasn’t leaving Silver Valley, and he sure as hell
wasn’t staying anywhere on the East Coast.

  For now, he had a job to do. He made his way to the international fiction section and read the very familiar Russian Literature label at the base of the metal shelf. Replacing his winter gloves with latex, he quickly removed each volume, shaking the books in case a note had been left inside and thumbing through the pages, opening each work to make sure it was a book and did not contain a concealed hiding place. He’d gotten through at least two dozen novels, from Chekhov to Dostoyevsky, when he noticed the small object at the back of the shelf. It had been painted a cream color to blend in with the metal surface and his gut tightened. As he plucked it up with his fingers, he saw immediately that it was a USB. Or at least was meant to look like one. He could do nothing with it until it was back at SVPD, the only “safe” place to take it. When working against the kind of intelligent criminals he did, he had to always assume the worst. Which meant he assumed that the USB port could in actuality be a GPS tracking device, or other technology that could reveal his location.

  He placed the device in a plastic evidence bag and pocketed it. Before he left, he continued his methodical search through each book, then replaced them, leaving them as he’d found them. No sense making extra work for the staff, or drawing unneeded attention to the Russian Literature section.

  He pulled his phone out to text Josh, so that he could arrive at the library in an SVPD vehicle to retrieve the USB stick. The face was lit up with weather warnings that urged residents to remain in place at home for the next forty-eight hours.

  Two days of storm? It should concern him that the operation would be stymied for that long, or that ROC might still somehow get their heroin shipment delivered under the cover of blinding snow. Instead, he experienced a surge of anticipation. He’d get to be with Portia for two full days.

  So much for keeping her at a safe distance.

  * * *

  She watched through the hole she’d rubbed out of the condensation on the diner window as the Silver Valley Police car pulled up and around the diner parking lot, saw it park next to the truck she’d noticed was often in the same spot. One thing none of them expected was that she’d take a job as a waitress, which allowed her to piece together who was who in this simple American town.