Kara told herself to do as he said, to play her role, but her feet didn’t seem to move. The truth was, she wanted to smack him for talking to her like she was his property. She shouldn’t, though—not when they were undercover—but beneath the facade of his being master and her his damnable puppy dog slave, was true anger. Both his and hers. He’d tried to shut her down tonight, to leave her behind when her sister was in trouble. He was pissed it didn’t work. She was pissed he’d pull such a thing.
“Kara,” he said softly, his tone a low command, a warning telling her to stay professional.
He wanted her to come to him. Fine. She’d be right there. Kara stalked toward him as he had her, and took pleasure in the flash of surprise in his face at her determined approach. She halted in front of him, this time her hands settled on his shoulders, and did her best to ignore the instant zip of heat through her body when she did.
Leaning closer, she pressed her lips to his ear, the spicy male scent of him teasing her nostrils and stirring a cluster of butterflies in her stomach. “You’ll survive this night because I won’t let anyone hurt you but me. That’s my privilege.”
His fingers laced into her hair and he gently, but insistently, tugged—forcing her to look at him. “And this is mine,” he declared a moment before his mouth covered hers, his tongue pressing past her lips, hot with demand, and he tasted hunger, passion, and possession. He was claiming her, and it wasn’t for the camera. She could feel the raw need in him, the near desperatation in each lush stroke of his tongue. Kara had no clue if that need was really for her or for an escape from the emotions this trip to meet Alvarez had stirred in him. It didn’t seem to matter. A mix of desire and attachment to this man rushed over her, through her. Whatever he needed, she wanted to give it to him.
Kara sank into the kiss, clinging to him, holding him close, silently telling him she wanted him, she needed him, and in that moment she admitted to herself what that truly meant. Needing him reached beyond this kiss, this trip. In such a short window of time, he’d climbed into her soul and become a part of her. She couldn’t lose him and her sister. She couldn’t lose either of them.
Kara shoved at his chest, tearing her mouth away from his, her chest heaving. “Damn you, Blake.” Again, her lips found his ear, a firestorm of emotions balling in her chest. “You made me feel what I’m feeling right now, and damn it, you aren’t quitting on me. Damn it, you will stay alive. For me. I need you to do it for me.”
“What are you feeling, Kara?” he whispered, his voice barely audible.
“Like I can’t lose you.”
He stiffened, not moving, not responding, and then, suddenly, his arms wrapped around her and he buried his face in her neck. “I promise to stay alive on one condition.”
Relief washed over her with his response, at the possibility he might actually try to survive what she knew he saw as a death mission. Moving to look up at him, she searched his face, looking for a sign he needed her, too. “What? What is it?”
Several heavy seconds thick with tension ticked by, his expression unreadable until a slow smile transformed his features. “You have to let me spank you.”
She barely contained a flinch at the unexpected question. She’d been hoping for an emotional connection, and he’d dodged it completely. His warning that he wasn’t the guy for her to count on replayed in her mind. Kara shoved away from him and when he let her, a chill raced down her spine and spread to her heart. He didn’t plan on staying around. She didn’t mean to him what he did to her. Damn it, why had she picked Blake to finally let her guard down with? Why?
Snatching up his jacket, she leaned against the wall at the end of the couch, and pulled her knees under the heavy weight of the leather. Physically distancing herself from Blake, as he’d emotionally distanced himself from her. Trying to survive herself now, when everything inside her felt like metal shards and broken glass.
Now in profile, Blake just sat there. She sat there. Seconds became minutes before he sank lower into the cushion, stretching his legs in front of him. Kara let her lashes lower, feeling the tension between them like a thick, icy blanket that only chilled her further. Helplessness filled her. All she could do now was sit and wonder if they would both share a destiny, if not a life, and end up as Blake had suggested—sinking in the bay in concrete blocks.
***
For an hour, Blake didn’t look or talk to Kara. He couldn’t look at her. If he did, he’d want to touch her and if he touched her, he’d make promises he couldn’t keep. Okay, he still wanted to touch her, but at least he wasn’t spilling out things he’d regret later. He wasn’t promising her either of them would survive this night. He wasn’t sure they would. All he could promise was his willingness to die to protect her. But promise to be there for her tomorrow? He couldn’t do it. Not this night. But for the first time in years, he did want to survive. He wanted to survive with Kara.
Slumped down on the couch of the godforsaken deathtrap of a boat cabin, with the soft, sweet scent of her teasing his nostrils, his fear for her safety was shredding his insides. It didn’t help that he’d created at least one hundred ways the rest of this evening could go wrong, and he could come up with a counter-move for only about twenty-five of them.
Abruptly, the doors to the cabin opened, and Blake cut Kara a quick look, taking in her long brown hair, her pale skin, her delicate features. Fear punched him in the chest. Damn it, she couldn’t die. “Don’t move or speak unless you have to,” he ordered her.
“And you don’t get killed or kill anyone before it’s time.”
Blake opened his mouth to reply, but footsteps sounded, forcing Blake’s gaze to the door where Ignacio tromped down the stairs with about as much grace as an elephant on a stepladder. Ignacio stopped in the center of the cabin, glancing between Blake and Kara, a crude glint in his eyes. “Am I interrupting anything?”
“We managed to control ourselves,” Blake assured him dryly, stretching lazily as he sat up, maintaining a facade of boredom. “We know how delicate your sensibilities are and all. Are we done joyriding?”
“Yes, Mr. Wright, you are.”
Blake’s gaze jerked to the man walking down the stairs, and the hair on his nape lifted at the sight of the tall, forty-something Latin man in a fitted gray suit who joined them in the cabin. Adrenaline rushed through Blake’s body and acid spilled over his taste buds. For several beats, Blake could barely process what was happening. Alvarez. Alvarez was fucking here, so close he could smell the evil wafting from him. A flash of Whitney’s lifeless face, the blood pouring from her throat, shook him to the core. Anger burned in his chest and he grappled for control. The ease at which he could jump Alvarez and kill him had him struggling to remember what the downside would be. Hatred bled through his body and he could feel it darkening his mind, reddening his anger. He wanted this man dead, and there was no guilt in him at the idea to hold it back.
Suddenly a hand was on his arm, spreading warmth through him, jerking him back with a familiar, calming quality. Kara. Kara was here. Don’t go get killed or kill anyone before it’s time. Her words replayed in his mind, pulling him back to reality, to a place where more than hate filled his heart, where she did. He couldn’t kill Alvarez. Not yet. He had to protect Kara and find her sister.
Blake blinked himself back into control, and not a moment too soon. Alvarez halted directly in front of him and the game was back on. Blake flicked a look up and down the kingpin. “Am I to assume the expensive monkey suit means you’re the boss?”
Amusement flashed over the arrogant asshole’s finely carved features. “I’m the boss no matter what I’m wearing, Mr. Wright.”
“Right,” Blake said flatly. “Had I known you were dressing up for me, I would have worn my new boots.”
“Seems Ignacio was right about you being a smartass,” Alvarez commented, his gaze shifting to Kara, his eyes drifting over her, and lingering on her hemline. “He also said Kara was quite beautiful.” Blake curled his finge
rs on his knees and decided Alvarez had three seconds before his eyeballs got ripped out. On the three count, the kingpin shifted his gaze away from Kara and added, “No wonder you keep her close.” He spoke of her, not to her. She, like all women, was subservient to this man. No better than a cold beer to be sold off during happy hour.
“She’s here because you requested she be here,” Blake commented. “What’s this about?”
“Business,” he replied. “What else is there?”
“Money,” Blake said. “That’s what I’m about.” He glanced around. “And comfort. This isn’t what I call comfort.”
“I never invite anyone into my kingdom without my personal assessment—and I must say, I found your performance during the boat ride uneventful, boring, and downright Oscar-worthy.” He lifted his chin at Ignacio. “Leave us.”
Ignacio headed for the doorway, unknowingly leaving Blake alone with the man he hated the most in this world and a woman he was pretty damn sure was becoming his world. Not the most stable of situations for any of them.
“So, Mr. Wright,” Alvarez said the instant the door shut, “back to your Oscar-winning performance. Your complete silence this past hour allowed me little opportunity to assess you or your relationship with Kara. While frustrating, it was also quite brilliant. You have my attention.”
“If that’s supposed to give me a hard-on, it doesn’t.” Killing him was another story.
Surprise and a flash of irritation registered on Alvarez’s face. “You do know who I am, I assume?” There was an arrogant bite to his tone.
“We’ve covered this. I get it. You run the show, but I’m not part of the show. I’m contract. Free as a bird in a blue sky, and I plan to keep it that way.”
“I have no problem with you being ‘as free as a bird in a blue sky’ as long as it’s my blue sky.”
“That’s not happening.”
“You like money. I’ll make you a rich man.”
“Why do you want to make me anything?” Blake asked.
“Because I have a puzzle missing a piece. I think you’re that piece.”
“The only puzzle I fit is my own.”
“Your Oscar-winning performance we just discussed says you fit wherever you want to fit. I need people who know how to stay off the radar. You do. I also need people who know how to problem solve.” His gaze shifted abruptly to Kara, his dark eyes narrowing on her. “I understand you saved us from a potential disaster with the feds.” It wasn’t a question.
“I did what I had to do,” Kara replied, her tone as steady as if she were talking to a grocery store attendant, not the worst, most deadly kingpin.
“Au contraire,” Alvarez disagreed. “You didn’t have to do anything but run.”
“I’m smart enough to know that anything that happens while I’m working for you, and perhaps even after, will come back on me. Protecting you means protecting me.”
“You could have helped the feds,” he observed.
“If you’re on their radar, so am I,” Kara answered coolly. “And besides, the government isn’t paying my bills. You are.”
He studied her, and each second felt like nails on a chalkboard grating on Blake’s nerves before Alvarez replied, “Indeed,” and then looked at Blake. “Find out who is stealing from me in the next two weeks and there’s half a million in it for you. Since Kara seems to work well with you, her compensation is in your hands. If you succeed, then we’ll talk about a bigger paycheck and bigger role in my operation.”
“I’m contract and I plan to stay that way. If you can’t live with that, then you might as well find someone else now.”
“I can be highly persuasive.”
“Aren’t we just two peas in a pod, then? Because so can I. How do I reach you when I have a list of your thieves?”
“Mendez.”
“And if he’s part of the problem?”
Alvarez considered Blake for several lingering moments, before he said, “I’ll contact you.” His eyes moved back to Kara and narrowed slightly, before he announced, “You remind me of someone.” And then he turned away and started to walk.
The air in Blake’s lungs lodged at what had to be a reference to Kara looking like her sister. Warning bells went off in his head. Ignacio had mentioned metal detectors, which they’d never encountered, which meant Ignacio had expected them to go on to Alvarez’s home. Blake had to assume the worst, that Alvarez had recognized Kara, and had ended this night early. In other words, they were as good as dead.
The kingpin headed up the steps and Blake reached for his boot, ready to yank out a blade he’d hidden inside a leather flap. Suddenly, Kara was squatting at his feet, her hand covering his. “No,” she ordered in a hissed whisper. “This isn’t the end game.”
Blake tried to get up but Kara used her body to block him. The door slammed shut and Blake cursed, picking Kara up and moving her out of his way, and then charging for the door. It was locked and he tried to kick it open. He had to get them out of here. For all he knew, they were the only ones left on a boat about to be blown to pieces.
Abruptly, the cabin door burst open and Ignacio shoved a gun in Blake’s face—and for once, Blake was damn glad to see Ignacio. They were not alone and the boat was not about to be blown up. “What the hell are you doing pounding on the door?” Ignacio barked.
“Kara wants a Diet Sprite,” Blake explained dryly. “You didn’t answer when we knocked nicely.”
“A Diet Sprite?” Ignacio asked.
“It’s called Sprite Zero,” Kara commented from behind Blake. “But anything diet works. The boat movement is making me sick.”
Ignacio grimaced. “I don’t know what you two are trying to prove, but you aren’t funny, either of you. So either sit down and shut up or I’ll have you tied up.” He backed away and slammed the door shut. Blake turned to Kara and their eyes locked, fury radiating from the depths of hers. Yeah, well, he’d show her fury when they got off this boat. Now that he believed they were going to make it out of this alive, he was downright pissed about her drugging Kyle and showing up here tonight.
Blake moved to the couch and sat down. When Kara just stood there glaring at him, he shackled her wrist and pulled her to stand in front of him. “Save it for later, sweetheart,” he warned.
The glint in her green eyes said she didn’t want to do any such thing. She was furious that he’d wanted to kill Alvarez before they had her sister back. What she didn’t understand was that he’d save her at all costs, even his own life. Regardless of his reasons, of logic that had made sense, seeing the contempt in her eyes didn’t sit well. In fact, it pretty much sucker-punched him right in the face.
His gaze lowered to where his hand circled her wrist, and he realized right then that he didn’t want to let her go. Not now or ever. Just touching her did funny things to his chest, and this left him with a decision to make. He had to put distance between the two of them before things got complicated, or he had to hold her close and never let go. Who was he kidding? The decision was made the day he met her. This woman had woken him up from the dead. He wasn’t letting her go.
Blake pulled her to sit next to him and he could almost feel her wrestling for control. She was downright furious with him and the one thing he knew for certain was that she was only going to get more so. She was out of this mission, end of conversation. She wasn’t risking her life again and he’d make sure of it, no matter what that meant. The boat might be secure, but an explosion between him and Kara was imminent.
Chapter Three
The sickening sway of the boat, mixed with the tension between her and Blake, had stretched nearly an hour according to Kara’s cell phone clock, but it felt like an eternity. Each second passing should have given her the peace of mind they’d survive this trip, but it didn’t, and she had Blake to thank for that. His willingness to kill Alvarez, the only person she could be certain could deliver her sister back to her, cut deeply. She’d opened up to Blake. She’d told him her torment over lo
sing her family and her need to save her only sister, and he’d dismissed it in a blink of an eye. And for what? Vengeance. He’d lost someone and didn’t care if she did, too.
She glanced at his profile, cursing the flutter in her stomach created in her by just looking at him. Once again she wondered why, of all the men she’d encountered in her life, her work, that it had to be a man with a death wish that got to her. But then, maybe she understood. What did she have left without her sister? Him? No. She didn’t have him. Not for more than sex and a spanking if she wanted one. He could hold his breath forever. There would be no spanking. There would be no more anything for them. After what he’d pulled tonight, that should feel like the right choice.
Why didn’t it?
Suddenly, the door to the cabin opened and Kara jumped to her feet, aware of Blake doing the same beside her. Ignacio appeared and didn’t make even one wise remark, which struck her as unusual. Ignacio didn’t seem likely to miss a chance to prove he was “boss” to everyone, especially Blake.
Whatever the reason, Ignacio was quick to tell them they were back in San Francisco. In fact, he seemed like he couldn’t get them off the boat fast enough.
“Ignacio sure was eager to get rid of us,” Blake muttered as they stepped onto the dock, a deep scowl on his face.
“There was something he didn’t want us to see,” Kara agreed, putting her anger at Blake aside and letting the agent in her take over. “Either drugs or girls, I assume.”
“Something was off with him,” he said as they tracked a fast pace down the dock toward the parking lot.
“Like your priorities tonight,” she commented. Okay, so maybe she didn’t put her anger aside.
He didn’t comment. He didn’t even look at her. That only ticked her off more. In order to work with him, she had to know she could trust him—and right now, she didn’t. His betrayal bit so hard that she was only remotely aware of the cold wind crashing over them, lifting her dark hair from her shoulders and piercing the thin layer of her silk dress.
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