by Jamie Pope
“He tried to kill me,” Cullen panted. “He took me on a trail with fallen trees, enormous bugs, and the steepest damn incline on the planet. It was terrible.”
“You were a bloody combat veteran. This hike did you in?”
“Yes. I haven’t seen combat in twelve years. My current principal doesn’t require much of me. I haven’t had to dodge a bullet in over a year.”
“You’re growing soft.” Darby shook his head.
“You’re a machine,” Cullen shot back. “I feel like you’re training for the apocalypse.”
“One can never be too prepared.”
“You’re red.” Wyn frowned at him. “Did you wear sunscreen?”
“If I tell you yes, will that prevent us from having this conversation?”
“There’s no conversation needed. I just want you to know that if you got some highly preventable disease and died just because you didn’t wear sunscreen, I would be heartbroken and devastated.”
“Heartbroken and devastated?” He looked at her for a long moment and frowned. “Those are strong words.”
“Yes. That’s why I said them. It’s hard to imagine my life without you in it,” she said truthfully.
It struck her in that moment that she might be falling in love with him. Or maybe she had been falling in love with him for a year now, she just hadn’t realized it.
“You’re making me feel bad,” he said softly.
“Good.” She kissed his cheek, feeling off-kilter. “Wear some damn sunscreen.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You’d be a good interrogator, girl,” Darby said with a little smile on his face. “You sure as hell cracked him quickly.”
“She’s spent a lot time in interrogation rooms,” Cullen told them. “Maybe she picked up some techniques.”
“Why were you in interrogation rooms?” Darby asked her, seeming surprised.
“When I’m not teaching, I spend many of my days translating for the local and federal court system in D.C. I’ve work with the FBI a few times as well.”
“You’ve translated some sensitive things, have you?”
“Yes.” She nodded, not sure why Darby’s eyes had sharpened on her in such a way that made her wonder what he was trying to figure out.
“Have you ever translated something you think someone might want to get back at your for?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’ve been threatened before.”
“What?” All the softness drained from Cullen’s face.
“It was before I knew you. I translated some letters from a gang member, confessing to the murders she committed. She told me she was going to slice my throat after I testified in court. But it was her fault. Anything that you send from the prison system is subjected to be intercepted and read.”
“You were just doing your job,” Jazz said.
“I was.”
“I don’t like it when she translates in police stations,” Cullen admitted. “I wish she would work in an elementary school.”
“I’m just saying what they are saying. Most people are very happy to see me, because I am giving them a voice.”
“I understand that, but I don’t have to like it.”
“You don’t.”
“You work too much,” Cullen told her. “What’s it going to take for you to take some time for yourself?”
“That’s easy,” she said. “I need something else to fill my days and give my life some meaning.”
“What would that be?” His eyes were locked with hers and for a moment it was so intense that she needed to look away.
“More people to love.” She turned away then and went back to working on her plans with Jazz. She had revealed too much. But she didn’t regret it. She had promised herself that she was done with that emotion.
Chapter 12
Dinner that night had been a little more special than usual. It was Jack’s turn to cook. He was never one to do anything typical and tonight was a perfect example of that. He was one of those people who made friends with everyone. All he had to do was flash that grin of his and he could usually get whatever he wanted from someone. He would have made a good intelligence officer. He could tailor his personality to make whoever he was trying to get something from feel at ease. It was a gift. But he wasn’t in intelligence like the rest of them had been, which made him almost an outsider in their little group.
They never excluded him, but he kept himself a little away from them, using his charm as a shield. It made Cullen wonder what his real personality was and if anyone ever got to see it.
“So they just gave you those lobsters?” Jazz asked as she sat at the little bar on the patio.
“Yes. And the steaks and the shrimp. And could you hurry up with those drinks, Jazz? My glass is starting to feel lonely.”
Jazz had made pitchers of rum punch that were delightfully sweet, but dangerously strong. None of them were big drinkers. Maybe a glass of wine or a couple of beers at dinner, but tonight four pitchers of the fruity concoction had been consumed. Everyone was a little more mellow. They lingered a little longer after dinner.
“It’s coming,” Jazz told him. “I don’t understand why people just give you stuff.”
“It’s because they like me. Can’t be that hard to understand.”
“It’s because you flirted like hell with the restaurant owner’s wife. You made her feel so good that she acted like giving you hundreds of dollars’ worth of seafood was doing her a huge favor,” Kingsley said from his spot by the pool.
“I was doing her a favor. It would have spoiled.”
Jazz smiled as she walked over to him to refill his cup. “You’re so full of shit. I’m surprised you haven’t drowned in it.”
“I’m not good at many things, but keeping my head up is one of them.” He grinned back at her.
“I think that’s something that you all excel at,” Wynter said.
Cullen glanced at her. She was maybe four or five feet away from him. Laying on a chaise lounge, the moonlight washing over her. She had her eyes closed and a little smile on her face. He had to stop himself from going over there, sweeping her off her feet and taking her back to their cottage.
He was breaking down. Every interaction he had with her made him want her more. But he needed to keep his wits about him, because he wasn’t sure he was going to be able to walk away from her if he didn’t.
“Do you want another drink, Wynter?” Jazz asked as she walked over.
“Yes, please.” She held out her glass. “This stuff is delightful. What’s in it?”
“Very strong rum and magic.”
She giggled as she took a sip. “I love magic.”
“How many of those have you had?” Cullen asked her.
“Two? Three? I don’t remember.” She sat up. “Should we dance? I feel like we need to celebrate tonight.”
“What are we celebrating, Wyn?” he asked her, knowing the drinks had gone to her head.
“This night.” She sprang out of her seat and ran into the house. A few moments later he heard disco music pouring through the Bluetooth speakers. Wynter reemerged with a huge smile on her face. “Who is going to dance with me?”
“Spies don’t dance,” King said. “Especially to disco music.”
“Why not?” She walked over to Jazz, grabbed her hands and started dancing. He never thought Jazz would comply, but he saw her guard drop again and she danced with Wyn.
Wyn spun Jazz around, which was a feat, because Jazz was about five inches taller than Wyn, but it caused both women to laugh. It caused all of them to laugh. Cullen looked over at King. He had been purposely ignoring Jazz for days now, but tonight his eyes were glued to her. There was such intensity there. Such aching need. Cullen looked away, feeling like he was intruding on a private moment.
He looked back over to Wyn, who was giggling now. There was sweet girlishness to her still. He never thought he would find that appealing. He liked harder women. A year ago he would have said Ja
zz was much more for him than Wyn.
And maybe if King didn’t look at her with such pure, naked desire, things might have been different. But there he was, staring at Wyn as she danced in the moonlight and he just hoped he didn’t look at Wyn with the painfully obvious need that King showed while looking at Jazz.
“Hey, ladies.” Jack got up from his seat and danced over to them. “You got to let me in on this action. I’m standing here watching one of my fantasies come true.”
“I’m fairly sure you’ve danced with more than one woman on multiple occasions,” Jazz said dryly.
“But I have never danced with two women as stunning as you.”
“You’re so full of it.”
“We should go skinny-dipping,” Wyn announced.
“Little Miss Prim and Proper wants to go skinny-dipping?” Jazz raised a curious brow. “Have you ever done it before?”
“Of course,” she said proudly. “With Cullen. He has the most beautiful body. You should see it.”
“Okay.” Cullen sprang from his place and grabbed Wyn’s hand. “I think it’s time we called it a night.”
“Why?” She wrapped her arms around him and shut her eyes. “You are very beautiful.” Her breath smelled like fruity punch and just a hint of rum. It wasn’t unpleasant; neither was the way she felt like warm liquid in his arms.
“Thank you, lass. It’s getting late. We should go home.”
“But the dancing isn’t over.”
“For us it is. Good night, everyone.”
“Good night, Captain Killjoy,” Jack said. “I might as well go out. You all have become so damn boring in your old age.”
“I’m not boring!” Jazz frowned, offended by the remark.
“You want to go out with me, then?”
“After ten? No way. I gave up those late nights when I stopped seducing powerful men for their secrets.”
“See? You’re boring.”
“You think because you fly planes and drink shots that you’re some kind of bad boy? I’ve danced with sheiks and eaten off of solid gold plates in private jets while state secrets were being discussed. Just thinking about those days still makes my heart race. You drinking shots and sloppily making out with drunk women doesn’t make you exciting. It makes you a basic flyboy with nothing better to do on a weeknight.”
“Ouch,” Jack said.
“Damn,” King added. “You just verbally castrated the man.”
“My balls are still intact.” Jack grinned. “That’s why I love you, Jazz. Your words hurt so good.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m about to go do what a flyboy with nothing better to do does on a weeknight.” He winked at them and disappeared behind the house.
“Was I too harsh?” she asked King.
“Your tongue is like a knife sometimes.”
“It makes me unlikable,” she said.
He shook his head. “Only to those who don’t know you.”
She walked over to him and curled herself into his lap. He stiffened at first, but then he relaxed, wrapping his arms around her. Jazz kissed him and Cullen knew that it was only a matter of time now. She was never openly affectionate.
“Let’s go, Wyn,” he whispered to her.
She sighed, but agreed, and he led her back to their little cottage. He was hoping she would go to bed, but she didn’t. He didn’t go either. He knew if he did, he would just lie there awake for hours. So he sat with her on the couch and allowed it when she wrapped herself around him and placed her lips on his throat. They felt good there. Her kisses were starting to feel familiar. They were soothing. He had never experienced that before.
“What do you think is going on with Jazz and King?” she asked him.
“I’m not sure. I suspect they have been sleeping together for some time now, but it may have been something casual that had turned into something much more.”
“Or they told themselves it was casual when it always was much more.”
“Yes. You’re probably right.”
“I know a secret about Jazz.”
“You do?”
“She likes babies.”
“No she doesn’t.”
“She does. That day we went to the spa, there was a young mother who was struggling with her two kids. She was about to break down and cry when Jazz went over to help. She helped wrangle the two-year-old and then she picked up the screaming baby and like magic, she quieted it. The kid just stared up at her, mesmerized, as she said little silly things to him.”
“It was a boy? That explains it. Most men find her irresistible. It doesn’t matter the age.”
“You’re missing the point. She liked the babies and she told me if I told anyone she would dislocate my arm.”
“But you’re telling me?”
“Well . . . yes. But you can keep a secret. She thinks we’re a serious couple, so of course I would tell you. Couples tell each other everything.”
But they weren’t a serious couple and yet she knew more about him than anyone. “Have you told me all your secrets?”
“What secrets do I have that you don’t know about?” She kissed his throat again.
“Have you ever been in love before?”
“I thought I was in love when I was a teenager, but looking back on it now, I wasn’t. He was just the first boy who made me feel special. What about you?”
“I was a teenager. She was a girl I thought I could save, but she was much more broken than I could handle.”
“Is Jazz broken?” she asked, taking him by surprise. “She thinks she is.”
“I can’t answer that. She’s sacrificed a lot for her country. Some might even say her soul.”
“What happened to her?”
“I don’t know the whole story. I just know that she was used as bait. Her job was to seduce powerful and dangerous men. She’s one of the most beautiful women in the world and her government used that face to protect their citizens. I know Jazz had to do some things that disgusted her and I don’t think she’s come to terms with it.”
“Don’t you all go through that?”
“No. I never had to use my body to get something.”
“That makes me sad. She wouldn’t like it if she thought I was sitting here feeling sorry for her.”
“No.” He rubbed his hand over her bare shoulder. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Will you kiss me?”
“Yes, but only a little bit.” He slid his hand across her cheek, pulling her face upward until her lips touched his.
She moaned and he knew they had to stop. She was too arousing. “I think we should have gone skinny-dipping tonight.”
“You’re drunk.”
“A little,” she giggled. “But I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
“I don’t want anyone else to see you naked. I shouldn’t have seen you naked, but I have and I’m a selfish bastard who wants to keep that image all to myself.”
“It’s just skin,” she whispered. She stood up, swaying slightly on her feet as she hiked up her dress and removed her underwear.
He was frozen, mesmerized by what she was doing. She straddled him. He could feel the heat radiating from between her legs through his shorts. “What are you doing?”
“Getting closer to you.”
“No.”
“No to getting close?”
“You know what I’m saying no to.”
She tilted her head and looked at him. Even her look was arousing. “You don’t want to have sex with me?”
“I’m not going to have sex with you tonight.” He wouldn’t lie to her. Want had nothing to do with it. He was so hard he couldn’t think straight.
“Please,” she whispered. “I want you so much.”
He wrapped his hands around her hips. “You’re killing me.”
“It won’t take long. You don’t have to move. Just sit back and let me do all the work. Let me make you feel good.” She kissed him then and he was powerless to stop her. Her lips
tasted sweet; her body felt so damn good pressed against him.
He was being tested. He had been captured behind enemy lines before. He had been questioned, punished, abused, and he never broke, but now he was breaking. She was more powerful than anyone else on the planet. She was causing him to break.
“Stop it,” he said to her, but even he didn’t believe his refusal.
“Look at me.” He opened his eyes, obeying her. She was so damn sexy. Her lips were swollen from their kisses. Her hair was curly and wild. Her eyes were filled with lust. “Say yes.”
“I can’t.”
“Say yes? Or be with me?”
“I can’t,” he repeated, because he wasn’t sure he could manage other words.
“You want to.”
“That is not the question. You know I want you.”
“You don’t have to be worried about your job. If you don’t make love to me, I’m going to have you fired.” She giggled and he remembered that she had had too much to drink, that she wasn’t clearheaded.
He couldn’t have sex with his principal, his employer’s daughter, especially now when she was drunk. That knowledge gave him just the strength he needed to act.
“Damn it, Wyn.” He lifted her off him. “No.”
He walked away from her and left the house, not looking back to see the hurt on her face, not looking back because he knew he wouldn’t be strong enough to say no a second time.
* * *
Wyn had left the house early the next morning and went to the little coffee shop in town so she could search the internet without anyone in the compound seeing what she was doing. She also escaped the house because she didn’t want to face Cullen. She had been so horribly embarrassed about what transpired between them last night.
One moment, he was staring at her with sleepy, arousal-filled eyes; the next moment he looked so angry with her. She had thrown herself at him and she was ashamed. She had misread things. He didn’t want her like she wanted him.
He had rejected her too many times. She wasn’t sure she could face him again. She had tried to search for flights home, but she was sidetracked by the details of her father’s affair making headlines once again.