by Elle James
“It would only be a matter of time until someone figured it out,” she said.
“They haven’t so far,” Gus said. “What else have you got?”
“Trinity will come after me and make my life miserable until they finally off me with a bullet to the head.”
Gus swept his lips across her cheekbone and hovered over her mouth. “Maybe. But I’m not ready to let them through to do the job.”
Jane leaned in and brushed her mouth across his. “You might not have a choice. They have a tendency to wait until their victims are convinced they aren’t really going to come after them. That’s when they strike, swift and deadly. Now, are you done talking, because I can think of better things to do in bed.”
Gus kissed a path from her lips over her chin and down the long, sweet length of her neck. “You’re right. There are a lot better things to do than talk about Trinity and the CIA.” He reached the hollow near her collarbone and paused with his mouth to explore her lower regions with his hands.
He slipped his palm over her thigh and upward to capture her hip and pull her up against his growing erection. Holy hell, he was on fire.
No longer able to resist, he pushed the hem of her shirt up over her torso.
Jane raised her arms and let him tug it over her head.
He tossed it aside and dropped his head, pressing his lips to the swells of her breasts. She smelled of roses or some kind of flowers. He didn’t know, but he liked it and tasted her skin with the tip of his tongue. Then he hooked the straps of her bra in his fingers and dragged them down over her shoulders.
Her brow furrowed and she reached behind her, undoing the clasp in the back, freeing herself from the lacy confines.
Pushing it aside he feasted his gaze on her rosy nipples, puckered tightly into pretty little nubs.
Jane clasped her hands behind his head and brought him down to take them into his mouth where he rolled the tight little buttons around with his teeth.
Her back arched off the bed and a low moan left her lips. She gripped the fabric of his shirt and pulled, dragging it over his head.
Restraint flew out the window. Gus stood, took Jane’s hand and stood her on her feet. Within seconds, the rest of their clothes ended up on the floor. They stood before each other, naked.
Blood rushed through Gus’s veins, pushing adrenaline and desire throughout his body. He wasn’t sure what tomorrow would bring, but tonight, she was his.
* * *
JANE CUPPED GUS’S cheek in her hand and leaned up on her toes to press her lips to his. “I don’t know what will happen in the future, but we have now. Let’s not waste the time we have.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and dragged her body against his. “I was just thinking the same thing.” Gus touched the top of her head with his lips and then pressed kisses to each eyelid.
The pressure was so soft, it took her breath away. With her breasts pressed to the hard muscles of his chest and his erection nudging against her belly, she couldn’t think past what he was doing to her. She wanted so much more, but she wanted more to explore every part of his body. When he started to back her into the side of the bed, she shook her head. “Not yet.”
Gus groaned. “You’re killing me, assassin.”
She chuckled. “I’ve only just begun.” Kiss by kiss, she worked her way from his chin, down his neck to the hard ridge of his collarbone. Her fingers traced a path downward, stopping to lightly pinch his hard, brown nipples. She replaced her fingers with her lips, rolling the little buds between her teeth.
Jane inhaled the scent of him, all woodsy and musky male. She wanted to remember that scent for when he wasn’t there.
Slowly, she moved downward, dropping to her knees, nipping his skin and licking a path down his torso to the hair at the juncture of his thighs.
Gus threaded his hands into her hair and pulled her closer.
She took him into her mouth, licking the tip of his erection. Then she gripped his buttocks in both palms and pulled him into her.
He sucked in a deep breath and held it, his body stiff, his fingers digging into her scalp.
Jane moved him back out and back in, establishing a slow, sensuous pace, taking him all the way in, until he bumped against the back of her throat. She liked how he tasted, how big he was and how quickly he settled into the rhythm. But she liked even more how much power she had over him. How she turned him on by just being with him.
His thrusts grew faster and she held tight, determined to bring him all the way.
Gus stopped suddenly and pulled free of her mouth, dragged her to her feet and kissed her hard. “I want you where I am.”
“I’m almost there,” she whispered, her voice ragged, her breathing coming fast.
He shook his head. “You’re not even close.” He lifted her and laid her on the bed, her legs dangling over the side. Then he parted her thighs and bent down to capture her mouth in a long, satisfying kiss. “You taste of me. You don’t know how sexy that is.”
She moaned. “I have a good idea. Please, don’t take too long. I’m hot all over and I want you inside me.”
“Soon,” he said and started his assault on her senses, by kissing a path from her chin to the base of her throat where the pulse beat fast. He moved to take one of her breasts in his mouth, sucking hard, tonguing her nipple until she arched off the bed, a moan sounding from deep inside. “Please.”
“Soon,” he repeated. His hands moved lower, cupping her sex in his palm.
Jane’s breath caught in her throat and hitched when he pressed a finger into her channel. “Yes!”
He chuckled. “Like that?”
“Yes,” she repeated.
His mouth moved over her belly and downward to the puff of curls covering her sex. He parted her folds and slipped his tongue over that nubbin of flesh packed with a million nerves all firing at once.
Jane gripped his hair in her hands and held him there, urging him to take more.
He did, tonguing her there until she writhed against him. “I can’t take much more. Please.”
He sucked her between his teeth and flicked her with his tongue until she rocketed over the edge.
Jane tensed, her body tingling from the point of contact all the way out to the tips of her fingers. She rode the wave of her release all the way to the very end, finally dropping back to the bed. Then she dragged him by the hair up her body.
“I need you. Inside me. Now,” she said, her voice sounding like a runner having completed a marathon.
Gus scooted her up onto the bed, parted her legs with his knee and slid between them, his erection pressing against her entrance. “Now you’re ready.”
She smiled up at him. “Oh, yes.”
He slid in, filling her channel with his wide girth, pressing in slowly.
Impatient to have all of him, Jane gripped his buttocks and slammed him home.
Gus stayed deep, letting her adjust to his size. Then he slid out, and back in, establishing a rhythm as old as time.
Jane dug her heels into the mattress and lifted up, meeting him thrust for thrust.
His pace increased until he was pumping in and out, again and again. One last thrust and he buried himself deep inside her, his shaft throbbing, his face tight.
Then he collapsed on top of her, took her in his arms and rolled them onto their sides, retaining the connection. He held her close, kissing the top of her head.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered against her hair.
“I don’t want this night to end,” she said.
“Me either.”
Jane lay in the warmth of his arms long into the night, memorizing each breath he took, wanting to remember everything about this man and their short time together. Tomorrow would come all too soon.
Chapter Twelve
Gus lay awake long
into the wee hours of the morning, sexually sated, physically content and wishing the night could go on forever. He wished he could have protected Jane from everything the world had thrown her way. Losing her parents had been bad enough. He knew the pain of loss and the homesickness and terror of leaving everything you ever knew behind you to go into foster care.
But to be taken even from foster care into the harsh reality of a terrorist training camp...
His arm tightened around her. If only he could protect her from how the world would treat her should they discover all she’d done as a trained assassin. He’d bet she’d chafe at his need to protect. She was more than capable of defending herself. If it came down to it, she’d drop out of sight and start a new life somewhere else. More than likely, she’d be on the run from Trinity for the rest of her existence. Organizations like Trinity didn’t let their disciples walk away. If they wanted to leave, they were carried away in body bags, as she’d already pointed out.
Like John Halverson, Gus wanted to put a stop to Trinity. Once and for all.
John had made a start at identifying the key players, but he didn’t get far. Code names weren’t enough. They needed real names, addresses, locations of the handlers to reach the head of the snake. Cut off the head and the snake would die.
Until they found the key players, Jane would remain a target. She would not be at peace unless one of two things happened. The asp was captured...or Jane died.
Though Gus hadn’t known Jane for long, he felt a connection that transcended time. They’d suffered similar events and survived. They’d not only survived, they’d grown stronger and more powerful through their adversity.
Gus admired Jane’s passionate nature. Not only did she display it in bed, but she displayed it in her willingness to disobey orders to save young girls who had no one else to defend them. She was zealous about her belief that they should live free of their captors.
Sometime in the early morning hours, Gus slept, retaining his hold on the woman who was quickly capturing his heart.
A loud knock on the suite door jerked him out of a dreamless sleep and into an upright position.
The knocking continued.
Gus leaped out of bed and ran naked across the floor to the suite door.
“Gus!” Declan’s voice sounded through the paneling. “You awake?”
“I am now.” He opened the door a crack and peered into Declan’s clean-shaven face. “What’s up?”
“Get dressed and meet us in the conference room.” Declan didn’t give him any more information than that. And from his tone, he wanted him there ASAP.
Gus closed the door and headed for his duffel bag in the other bedroom.
“What’s wrong?” Jane asked.
He turned to find her wrapped in a sheet, her hair rumpled and her brow furrowed.
Gus’s heart squeezed hard in his chest. He didn’t see in her the trained assassin. He saw the beautiful, vulnerable woman. He held his arms open.
She didn’t hesitate but fell into them and let him hold her tight.
“Is it that bad?” she murmured against his chest.
Gus chuckled. “I have no idea. I just wanted to hold you.” He kissed the top of her head. “He wants us down in the conference room ASAP. We need to get dressed.”
“That might be a good idea, considering we’re naked.” She leaned back and kissed his prickly chin.
“I don’t think he meant for me to take time to shave.”
“I’m not complaining,” she said and kissed his stubbled chin again.
Gus heaved a heavy sigh. “As much as I’d love to blow off Declan, we’d better get moving.”
Jane stepped away, dropped the sheet and walked back to the bedroom. “I’ll be ready in less than a minute.”
With a growl at her blatant temptation, Gus turned back to his duffel bag and pulled out jeans and a T-shirt. He had both on and was shoving his feet into his boots when Jane appeared in his doorway, dressed, her hair neatly brushed and shoes on her feet.
“I don’t know any other woman who is that quick to get ready.”
“We learned to be fast or be hit.”
Gus’s fists clenched. He wished he could find the people who’d been Jane’s so-called instructors and beat them to a pulp for what they’d done to Jane and their other conscripted assassins.
Moments later, they were descending into the basement conference room where Declan, Cole, Jonah, Charlie and Grace stood around the bank of monitors.
“What’s going on?” Gus asked.
“Cole got a tip we need to follow up on.” Declan nodded toward one of the monitors with a picture of several men in suits entering a hotel.
“I got an encoded message from the Dark Web early this morning while I was surfing for more information about the bombing in Syria that Jane was involved in.” He clicked the keyboard and brought up the words.
Trinity’s next mark.
Gus shook his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The message was accompanied with a link to images on the DC news station.” Cole pointed to the monitor where the suited men were entering a hotel. The caption beneath the image read Inquiry into Shayat Airbase Bombing Continues.
“Isn’t that the Willard hotel?” Charlie asked.
Cole nodded. “They’re using the conference center in the hotel to conduct the preliminary hearings.”
“What kind of security are they employing?” Gus asked.
“A mix of Homeland Security personnel and rent-a-cops.” Cole’s lip curled. “Apparently, they don’t expect it to be a big deal, since it’s a preliminary hearing.”
“Anyone could access the hotel during the meeting,” Declan pointed out.
Charlie tapped a finger to her chin. “They’ll probably have the meeting rooms cordoned off, but the rest of the hotel will still be open to guests.”
“Do you think you’d recognize any of your fellow assassins if you saw them?” Declan asked Jane.
She shrugged. “Only if they came up through the training with me. And even then, we also trained in disguising ourselves.”
A soft ding sounded from the computer.
Cole leaned over the keyboard and clicked a few keys.
Another message popped up.
For more information report to HI HQ, J. Halverson’s office.
Charlie gasped. “What the hell? Ask him why.”
Cole keyed in the question mark and lifted his hands off the keyboard, waiting.
A full two minutes passed, and no response came.
“I assume HI HQ is the Halverson International building,” Declan said.
Charlie nodded, her face pale. “I know it’s not John, but if not him, who would have sent that message?”
Cole shook his head. “That’s the power of the Dark Web. If you don’t want anyone to know who’s sending the messages, you can get around the traceability.”
“Do you think it’s a setup?” Gus asked.
“Halverson International has pretty tight security,” Charlie insisted.
“Security can be bypassed,” Declan reminded her.
“But we have to go,” Charlie insisted. “If this request has anything to do with stopping Trinity from hitting their next mark, we have to respond.”
“Then we go.” Declan lifted his cell phone to his ear and called Mack. He explained the situation to him. “Get Snow and Mustang on the horn and let them know we’re meeting at the Halverson International building as soon as you can get there.” He ended the call and nodded toward Jane. “What are we going to do with you?”
Jane’s lips twisted. “I’d have booted me off the estate a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but we kind of like the way you operate,” Declan said. “Minus the assassin thing. Besides, now that you’re getting your memory back, you m
ight come in handy identifying fellow Trinity operatives.”
Jane nodded. “I’ll help in any way I can. However, once we complete training, we’re separated from other operatives, so we don’t know each other. We don’t even see the faces of our handlers. All we have is a cell phone to communicate assignments. Otherwise we’re on our own.”
“How did you travel in and out of the country?” Declan asked.
“With each assignment, we were given the proper identification documents we’d need. Forged, of course.”
“Who gave you the documents?” Gus asked.
“My handler gave me mine,” Jane said.
“Could you pick him out in a lineup?” Declan asked. “If Cole finds some shots of Trinity people, do you think you would recognize him?”
Jane shook her head. “Like I said, they never let us see them. Mine always met me in a dark alley with a hat that shadowed his entire face. The only thing I’d have to go on is his voice. That’s why it was so hard for Mr. Halverson to fill in the blanks on the chain of command. They guard the levels carefully. I think some are in high-level government positions. I’ve heard of operatives being killed who learned who their handlers were.”
“Sweet heaven, Jane. If it was that dangerous, why did you agree to help John find yours?” Charlie asked.
Jane’s jaw firmed. “I didn’t want to be a part of an organization that killed innocent women and children.”
Grace touched a hand to her lips. “They did that?”
“One of the operatives had a family. To punish him, they murdered his wife and child, in front of him. Then they killed him.” Jane’s gaze went to Gus. “They sent out a video of what they’d done to all the operatives as a warning. That happened right before John approached me with his request.”
“That’s awful,” Grace whispered.
“All the more reason for me to leave now before they think you all are important to me,” Jane said. “I don’t want what happened to that man’s wife and child to happen to you.”
Gus’s gut clenched. Jane would have to die for Trinity to leave her alone. He couldn’t let that happen. There had to be another way. He wasn’t ready to let go of this amazing woman he’d just found.
