by J. S. Scott
“The wrong guy who has been bringing in enough explosives to blow up an entire state? The wrong guy who has been dealing with known terrorists? The wrong guy who is storing weapons of mass destruction somewhere on this acreage in Rocky Springs? You mean that wrong guy?” she asked furiously.
Tate gaped at her. “That’s not possible. Marcus is a straight arrow, Lara, and as ethical as they come. I’d tell you if I thought differently, but he doesn’t have it in him to do that, and you already know what happened to my dad. Marcus loved him, and he suffered the most when Dad died because he was the eldest and the closest to our father. Christ! The last thing Marcus would do would be seen anywhere near a damn terrorist, much less be part of a plot to blow up innocent people.”
Lara’s heart sank. How could she convince a man who loved his brother that his sibling was really a terrorist disguised as a businessman? “We have proof, Tate. I wouldn’t be here if we didn’t. The FBI isn’t going to waste money on an investigation without just cause. I’m sorry.”
“Show me your proof. I’ll help you. Where is this supposed stash?” Tate asked impatiently.
“That we don’t know. That’s why I’m here,” Lara admitted. “All we know is that Marcus has been buying enough explosives to blow up a very large area and transporting it here. He’s been seen with known terrorists. The members of this group are pretty powerful, wealthy, and well disguised as businessmen. Most of them live here in the US right now, Middle Eastern emigrants.”
“Marcus would want to kill every one of them if he knew they were members of a terrorist group.” Tate paced the kitchen. “He doesn’t have the storage for that kind of equipment at his house.”
“He built an airstrip in the summer—”
“So we could all land our jets here instead of in Denver. We all wanted it.”
“He also built a new hangar.”
“His other one is smaller and it was getting old. He has a brand new jet. But I’ll take you to the airstrip to check it out if it will satisfy you that he’s innocent. In the meantime, I’d like to hear about all of your supposed evidence against Marcus,” Tate demanded. He turned his intense gaze on her.
Lara looked into his eyes, trying to read his intentions. He could be a huge help or a hindrance.
“You either trust me or you don’t, baby. Make the choice,” Tate growled.
“Done. I have the files on my laptop at the resort.” She’d made her decision. Her gut trusted Tate. Even if Marcus was his brother, he wasn’t going to allow him to kill innocent people. He’d spent years of his life trying to stop that very thing from happening.
“We’ll check out the hangars and the airstrip first. I need five minutes to take a shower and change.”
“I’ll make some breakfast,” Lara agreed. “We have to eat.” The investigation had taken this long; it could wait another hour.
“Lara?” Tate called her name as she headed for the kitchen.
“Yeah?” She turned back to him.
“I’d trust Marcus with my life. We’re going to find out this is all one big misunderstanding,” he told her huskily.
She nodded. Her heart wrenched for him. “I hope we do, Tate. I really do.”
He turned and strode to the bathroom without another word.
“Why did you fuck me last night? Was it because you wanted to, or because you wanted information?” Tate asked Lara casually.
She glanced at him. The questioning and slightly vulnerable look in his eyes belied his nonchalant question. They had come back to the resort so she could change clothing and grab her extra gun, a compact Glock 27 that she was currently strapping to her ankle with her foot propped up on the bed.
“Regardless of what you might think, I don’t screw people for information,” she told him defensively as she pulled the denim of her jeans over the compact gun. “I wanted you. It’s actually not a good thing to get involved with a suspect’s family in any intimate way, and I shouldn’t have done it as a federal officer on a case, but I haven’t wanted to be with anybody in so long.”
“So you were just hot for my body? You couldn’t resist me?” he asked with a boyish grin. He looked up at her from his supine position on her bed, his hands behind his head as he watched her.
Lara actually felt her face turn red. Cocky, obnoxious man! He drove her crazy. One moment he looked so unguarded, and the next he spewed comments like the one that had just come out of his mouth. “Don’t flatter yourself¸ Colter. I’ve been having a dry spell.”
“Hey, I’m not complaining. I’d be more than happy to make your dry spell wet again. Feel free to use me to get you wet any time you want,” he shot back at her with an innocent expression.
You already make me wet!
Tate Colter was far from angelic, even if he might look that way occasionally. She studied him. Her core flooded with heat as she openly stared at his ripped body. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans that hugged his body like a lover, and an old T-shirt that matched his eyes. She could see every defined muscle of his abdomen and chest through the thin material, and his biceps flexed as they stretched to accommodate the position of his hands behind his head.
Sweet Jesus. With the amount of testosterone his body emanated, all she wanted was to straddle his body and wallow in him until his hotshot attitude turned into white-hot passion. He challenged her, tugged at everything feminine inside her. And she wasn’t quite sure how to handle it.
Sure, she worked in a male-dominated profession, and a lot of the men thought they were hot. But they weren’t anything like this man laid out on her bed. They might be similar to Tate in their overconfident, swaggering persona. But Tate had more inside him than any man she’d ever met. His confidence was real, and his underlying compassion and kindness were human. And his rare moments of vulnerability were heart stopping. There were so many facets to him that Lara’s head spun and her body hummed with need. She wanted to take him apart layer by layer, and figure out who the real Tate Colter really was…or if he was all of those things rolled together into one hot male.
She’d never been sexually aggressive, mostly because she’d never seen the sexual desire in a man’s eyes the way she saw it in Tate’s every time he looked at her. She knelt on the bed carefully and boldly cupped his groin. Her heart raced as she felt his hard erection beneath her fingers. She traced over it as she looked him directly in the eyes. “I wasn’t using you. Last night was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I didn’t know it could be…like that.”
All traces of humor left his face as his expression became intense. “You mean you never came that hard?” he asked in a voice harsh with passion.
“I mean I never came at all. Not with a man.” She sighed as he gaped at her. “I’ve been with two guys in my life: my cheating ex-boyfriend and my first crush in my senior year of high school. The high school experience was painful and then it was…rushed. The cheating ex wasn’t much into anybody’s pleasure except his own.” That made Tate special to her. He’d been so damn intent on making her come, focusing on her pleasure first. Sex like that could become highly addictive.
His strong hands wrapped around her waist and flipped her onto her back with one smooth motion. His body instantly covered hers. “Baby, a woman’s pleasure should always come first.” His expression became fierce and covetous.
“I’m different. I guess my ex saw me more as a federal agent,” she whispered breathlessly.
“You’re also a woman. All woman. I should know. I felt all of those soft, sexy parts last night. My only regret is I didn’t get to taste you, bury my mouth in your pussy until you screamed for mercy,” he answered huskily. His eyes searched her face. “Were you dressed to meet Marcus in the bar the other day? Were you trying to get his attention?”
“Yes,” she admitted honestly. “My objective was to meet up with Marcus in any way possible and have him notice me. Then I wanted to get close to him and get any information I could get.”
“How
close?” Tate growled.
She sighed. “Not that close. I love my country and the citizens here, but my job stops after flirtation. I don’t fuck men for information. This is an unusual assignment for me. Usually I’m not trying to attract a man’s attention.”
“You attracted me instead of Marcus,” Tate rasped. “I still regret the things we didn’t do, but I’ll put my head between those soft thighs later.”
Lara’s eyes fluttered closed as she imagined that visual; her body vibrated with need. What would that be like? With Tate, it would probably be a surreal pleasure like she’d never known. “Be careful. I’m armed,” she reminded him as her eyes flew open again.
“So am I. But the only danger you’re in right now is from me,” he growled. His mouth swooped down to take hers with a commanding swiftness that took her breath away.
Her arms went around his neck instinctively, and his masculine, musky scent captivated her, surrounded her until she couldn’t think of anything except him. His taste, his dominance, his sensual demand that she yield to him all set her body on fire.
He finally released her mouth and yanked on the high neck of the black turtleneck sweater she wore. He moved it downward so he could leave a path of fire down her neck as his mouth consumed the sensitive flesh.
“Lara,” he breathed against her temple. “You drive me crazy, baby.”
She was just tilting her head to give him better access when a loud knock came from the door.
“Shit!” she exclaimed. Her heart pounded from Tate’s sensual assault and the shock of being jolted back into the real world.
“Lara. Are you in there?” Chloe Colter’s voice came through the locked door.
“Oh my God. It’s your sister.” Lara pushed gently at Tate’s massive chest.
“Damn. She never did have good timing.” Tate groaned as he reluctantly let her get up.
“I’m coming.” Lara pulled her sweater down and tried to finger comb her tangled hair before she quickly confined it in a clip at the back of her head.
“I wish,” Tate grumbled as he rolled to his feet.
A giggle actually escaped her lips before she stifled it. Tate’s unhappy tone that they’d been interrupted actually delighted her.
He wants me. He really wants me.
It was one of the best natural highs she’d ever experienced. She wasn’t used to a man who treated her like an attractive female instead of a federal agent, and it made her feel lighthearted and blissfully happy.
She walked to the door and flipped the lock. She opened it with a small smile, an expression that quickly fled as she looked at the man who stood next to Chloe.
Marcus Colter.
“Hi Chloe,” she greeted Tate’s smiling sister. “Mr. Colter?”
Another man stood on the other side of Chloe, and she didn’t recognize him. He appeared to be about the same age as Marcus.
“Blake? I didn’t know you were back.” Tate’s voice was more enthusiastic than it had been a few minutes ago.
The tenseness in Lara’s muscles relaxed. Not Marcus then. She had been focused on photos of Marcus Colter for so long that she’d forgotten that he had an identical twin, Senator Blake Colter. Marcus was the oldest Colter brother, but only by minutes. Marcus and Blake Colter looked so much alike that Lara wondered how Tate could instantly tell them apart.
Obviously their siblings can easily tell which one is which. They grew up together.
“Senator,” Lara said as she nodded at him. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.” She looked at Chloe. “And it’s nice to see you again.”
She stepped aside to let the three visitors through the door so Tate could greet his brother. He did so with a slap on the back and a typical Tate smart-ass comment. “It’s nice of you to finally get your ass back here to actually see the people who voted for you.”
Blake shoved back at his younger brother. “Introduce us,” he told Tate with a grin as he looked back at Lara appreciatively.
“Don’t even think about trying to charm her. She won’t fall for your bullshit,” Tate growled, sounding like he was only partially joking. “Lara, this is my brother, Blake, and his friend, Gabe Walker.”
“Mr. Walker.” She shook the man’s hand.
“Gabe, please.”
“And none of the formalities for me either, Lara. Please call me Blake. Any friend of my family is a friend of mine, too,” he said charmingly.
I’m not so sure I’ll be a friend to any of you once I bust your older brother.
In fact, she was pretty certain she was going to be the most hated person among the whole Colter family. Her heart clenched at what the conclusion of this investigation was going to do to them, especially Tate.
“I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Chloe explained. “Tate texted me yesterday that he’d found you, but you weren’t here earlier this morning.”
“I—I was—”
“She was with me. My place was closer and she was stranded out in the cold,” Tate told them smoothly.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” Chloe said with a smile.
Lara smiled back at the attractive brunette. Gabe Walker couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Chloe. Interesting.
Blake looked at Tate, confused. “If you were at your place, why couldn’t you just take the Jeep and p—”
Tate shoved his elbow into his brother’s stomach.
“Ouch. What the hell was that?” Blake complained and rubbed his sore abdomen.
“Sorry,” Tate apologized with a total lack of remorse. “Lara and I were just on our way out. We’ll talk later.” He gave his older brother a warning look to stop talking.
Lara watched the interaction between the two of them with interest, but let Tate take her hand and lead her to the door. She picked up her outdoor gear from the chair and handed Tate his jacket.
The three visitors left with promises to meet up at a later date, leaving Lara and Tate to follow.
“Did you say you were packing?” Lara asked, nervous about going out to the airfield and what they might find there. Tate had said Marcus had been delayed by weather and hadn’t arrived yet, but wasn’t sure when he was due to come in.
Tate turned his back to her. “Do you want to feel my gun?” His voice was full of innuendo.
After she pulled the door closed and dropped the plastic key into her pocket, she put a hand to his back. “Big gun,” she commented as she felt the back holster before he put his jacket on.
“Baby, everything I have is big.” He winked at her. “My hands are larger. I need at least a standard sized gun.
“Harder to conceal,” she shot back at him as they walked down the hall to the elevator. “Bigger isn’t always better.”
“But in some cases it’s definitely preferable.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her as he waved her into the elevator first.
“Sometimes guys who have big things don’t always have the best equipment. They’re compensating.”
“You know that definitely doesn’t apply to me.” He grinned at her, his eyes twinkling devilishly.
Wicked man. But she couldn’t really argue much about that. Tate had absolutely nothing he needed to compensate for.
Their moods sobered as they exited the resort and Tate opened the passenger door of his heavy truck for her, another first. Guys didn’t open doors for her…ever.
He jogged around to the driver’s side and slid into the seat. “Let’s get this over with. I can think of much more enjoyable things to do.”
Lara swallowed hard to remove the lump from her throat. “Tate, I’m sorry—”
“Don’t apologize,” he rumbled. “Marcus has nothing to do with anything remotely illegal or harmful to anyone. I know my brother.”
The evidence against Marcus Colter was irrefutable. The shipments had been purchased by him, and the cargo transported to Rocky Springs. It was killing her that Tate was going to be shattered, but it was unavoidable.
“I hope you’re right,” she answered sim
ply, knowing he wasn’t, but wishing that by some impossible miracle that he really did know his eldest brother better than the FBI.
“I don’t suppose you have a key,” Lara asked Tate hopefully as she stood at the regular entrance door for the enormous new hangar that had been completed over the summer. She wrapped her arms around her body and hopped from one foot to the other to try to stay warm. The sun was out, and the day was crystal-clear after the storm, but it was bitterly cold.
“I don’t need a key.” Tate dug into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a jackknife, extending a portion that had several different thin metal extensions.
“You’re going to pick the lock?” Her teeth started to chatter.
He crouched down without answering and the door popped open in under a minute. “I wasn’t breaking in. I was just opening a door on my property in an unconventional manner.” Tate swung the door open and motioned her in. “You wanted in to take a look around…you’re in.” His voice was gruff as he put the knife back in his pocket.
Lara didn’t argue as she stepped into the warm, enormous space. The hangar was large enough to house several planes or a couple of private jets. Right now the main space was empty except for maintenance equipment for the aircraft.
Her heart sank as she looked at Tate’s remorseful expression. He might be convinced of his brother’s innocence, but Lara could tell it didn’t sit right for him to invade his brother’s space without permission.
He crossed his arms in front of him. “Take your look around and let’s get the hell out of here.”
There was no aircraft parked in the gigantic space, so she was able to get around the large area quickly, bypassing a few small rooms with desks, obviously small offices.
Not a big enough area for a large amount of explosives.
She shucked her gloves and put them in the zippered chamber of her ski jacket so her hands would be free, and pulled her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans to send a text.
I’m in. Looking.
She’d called the director of her division as soon as she’d learned that she’d have access to a possible storage spot for the shipments of the explosives. Even though she was only conducting an investigation, looking for possible evidence, he’d wanted her to have backup available. There was no time to get her regular team here to Colorado from Washington DC, so her boss had connected her to a team that had been rapidly assembled and deployed from Denver. The airstrip was currently surrounded by federal officers in case she found anything during her search.
