by Em Petrova
Yeah, it was best she left without him asking her to. If they had to work together again, that could cause tension. Besides, he had errands, some laundry to do, and he’d like to go for a run later if he felt up to it.
Shrugging off the entire episode with Nealy was the thing to do. Nothing had changed, right?
He’d just had the most insanely dirty-hot night of passion of his life.
Just brushing his teeth reminded him of fucking her on the sink. Then in the shower. And her sucking him.
Ugh, he had to fucking stop. So he’d screwed a woman a few times. Nothing new.
With a canvas bag of laundry in hand, he walked down to the common area of the apartment complex to the coin laundry. There, he fed machines quarters and little boxes of powder, and he flipped through messages on his phone.
One from his momma, stating that the neighbors just had a new foal, and her gushing over how cute it was. He put away his phone. He missed his momma and the country. He’d thought about it a lot while trapped in that crate, and later in the burn unit when she couldn’t come and see him.
When would he be able to break away and visit? After Ranger Ops’ raid the previous night, there was sure to be another strike, and they’d be called out.
That brought his mind to Nealy again and the flash drive he’d retrieved. What had happened to it after he’d given it to Sully?
He punched a button and dialed his captain.
“Dick,” Sully answered with a laugh in his tone. “You miss me or somethin’?”
“Yeah, I do,” Linc responded.
“Nevaeh and I were just about to head out on horseback. You should come up sometime.”
“I will.”
“You keep sayin’ that and never do.”
“I’ve been missing the country life, so I’ll definitely take you up on the offer soon. That isn’t why I’m calling, though.”
“Figured as much.”
Linc got off the hard plastic chair and walked to the wall to look out the glass door. It overlooked paved walkways and manicured landscaping, all taken care of by a monthly fee that went with his lease.
He scrubbed at his jaw with his knuckles, over the stubble he hadn’t bothered to shave. “I wondered what happened to that object I gave you.”
“Nealy’s job was to return it to her superiors in DC.”
Linc’s heart sped up. “So she’s in DC?”
“Probably by now, yeah.”
Fuck. Linc felt like a dumb ass for not thinking of it himself. He hadn’t exactly been thinking straight—or at all last night.
The walls of the small space seemed to loom closer, so he pushed outside to draw some fresh air. As soon as he pulled a breath into his lungs, he felt better.
“Thanks for the info, buddy. I’ll let you get back to your horses and your pretty little wife,” Linc said.
“Hey, Linc, you all right?”
“Couldn’t be better.” He rang off and rubbed at his jaw.
Even if he didn’t exactly feel it, his statement was true.
He wasn’t trapped in a crate, he wasn’t stuck in a hospital.
But he wasn’t feeling himself either.
Stepping back inside, he saw the dryer was finished, so he walked over and stuffed all the warm clothes into the bag without bothering to fold them. Tossing it over his shoulder, he headed back home, making plans in his mind about how to shake off his ghosts. Even the good ones with plump lips and a dirty mouth.
Chapter Six
As Nealy stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed, she had a strong case of déjà vu. Different elevator in another building, and Linc wasn’t here, but her mind—and body—had muscle memory, and she couldn’t stop the feelings bombarding her system.
Leaving Linc’s bed in the wee hours of the night to catch the red-eye to DC had been a bit of a turning point for her.
She’d gone from firmly disliking the man—he was cocky and pushy when it came to telling her what she should do—to fighting more than a few warm, fuzzy feelings toward him.
She had absolutely no business letting those thoughts into her brain. It had been sex—nothing more.
But as she rode up to the floor housing the ATF office, her heart was beating a bit too fast.
She couldn’t believe the things she’d done with Linc—or demanded from him. That wasn’t her. Or was it? Confused thoughts still whirled in her brain as she stepped out of the elevator.
As soon as she walked into the office, people called out greetings, and she responded with smiles and waves, though her focus was directed on getting the item she carried tucked so close to her body into the hands of her superiors. In this case, Mark Mitchum.
He was expecting her, sitting in his office with the door open. When she poked her head in, he said, “Close the door, Alexander.”
She hadn’t seen him in days, but was it her imagination that he looked somehow more put together? Maybe his increase of salary had afforded him a new wardrobe. The suit he wore was tailored to fit his form, and a gold watch she hadn’t seen before flashed on his wrist as he held out a hand to shake.
“I heard you have good news for me,” he said smoothly. “Please sit.”
She did, feeling grubby in comparison after the flight and very little sleep. She smoothed a hand over her jeans and looked to her director.
Suddenly, she realized the big desk and the larger office with a window that overlooked the city had lost a bit of its luster for her. If she’d been promoted, she never would have been with Ranger Ops, in the field working to bring down Operation X firsthand.
And that had been the mother of adrenaline rushes. She could see why people got into the military now. Those commercials that said you could reach beyond your limits were true. She was a woman who was confident in her skills, but she’d never imagined in her life would she climb that cliff face to reach the mark, let alone all the events that followed.
He got up and closed the door, glancing around in the hall before he did so. When he returned to his desk and sat, he offered her a big smile. “You know, big things come to those who perform.”
She studied him. “That’s typically how the world operates, yes.”
“Adding this to your file will make the right people sit up and take notice of you, Alexander.”
She cocked her head. Why was he buttering her up? What was in it for him? Mitchum wasn’t a man who handed out praise unless it made him shine too, which was probably the case with the flash drive. It was his victory as well.
He shot a look at the door, but nobody came through it.
“Are you expecting someone?” she asked.
“No.” He leaned forward. “Do you have it?”
She gave a nod. “I wouldn’t trust it to my luggage and I carried it all the way.”
“And it was in the spot you were told?” He picked up his pen.
She hesitated. It was and it wasn’t, but what were a few inches to the left? She’d probably seen that divot in the wallpapered wall and mistook it for the location, when it was really just a dent from a piece of furniture or something.
“Yes, it was there,” she said.
Mitchum pushed out a breath. “Hand it over.”
She nodded and slipped a hand into her jacket and a pocket inside a pocket where she’d stashed the flash drive. Mark watched her pull it free, and she placed it on the desk between them.
At first, he stared at it as if she’d just collected the Holy Grail, and then he reached across the desk and covered it with a hand. “Tell the Ranger Ops they did a good job, Alexander. You’re dismissed.”
She blinked at him. “The Ranger Ops?”
She waited for him to say more, but he didn’t and all her anger rose up.
Was this asshole seriously giving them all the credit, when she’d been their reason for even going and without her, they wouldn’t have known where to go, how to get in… so many details that she’d provided to them.
And they wouldn’t have ev
en gotten the flash drive if not for her. Sure, she hadn’t punched through the wall like Linc had—damn, that was hot—but she’d been behind that too.
“Yes, you can give them my thanks and the accolades they deserve.”
Fury rushed over her like a big black funnel cloud, about to whip her up into the frenzy she needed to cut off before she unleashed her storm of anger onto her boss.
She drew a deep breath and stuffed down her ire.
“Thanks again, Alexander.” Mitchum bent his head toward the door.
She got to her feet, standing her ground. “That’s it? We’re not going to look at what’s on the flash drive?”
Eyeing her, he said, “That’s for further analysis by those with higher security clearances than you, Alexander.” He shot a fake smile that fell flat on her. When he stood to dismiss her, she straightened her shoulders.
“Look—I deserve as much recognition for accomplishing this mission as Ranger Ops. I came off that cliff as soot-covered as any of the Ranger Ops team.”
Mark gave her that same ingratiating smile. God, she wanted to punch it off his stupid, smug face. “You’re getting your emotions tangled up in this, Alexander. Do I need to remove you from the case?”
His statement infuriated her more, and she forced her rage back like a genie stoppered into a bottle. With as much of an even tone as she could muster, she said, “My emotions have nothing to do with this.” She held his gaze for more than a minute, and he stared right back in a battle of wills.
She was just beginning to think they might stand here all day, when the door opened behind her and Chief of Staff Holden entered. “Mitchum, did I just see the latest Lexus in your parking spot with your initials on the license plate? That thing’s a beauty—” He rambled to a halt and looked between them, obviously catching the tension hovering thick in the air.
“A word, Mitchum,” he said and looked to Nealy. “Alexander. A pat on the back’s in order, I believe.”
“Thank you, sir.” She didn’t feel as good about her achievement with Ranger Ops now that her douchebag of an acting deputy director had belittled her role in the mission and made that sexist remark that her emotions were involved. A common thing women in the ATF and all other government positions had faced at one time or other. People thought that because they were capable of love, motherhood and friendship, as well as bad-ass, hardcore brain-iac and physical strengths, that they were some kind of breed different from those who had dicks between their legs.
Well, she had news for them.
Suddenly, it wasn’t lost on her that the Ranger Ops had all clapped her on the back along with the others after they’d made it off that cliff. They’d treated her as an equal, and that surprised her, when she’d expected them to be all macho and take the credit.
“Thank you, sir,” Nealy managed to respond to Holden and gave Mitchum a final glare. “And you’re welcome, Acting Deputy Director.”
Turning on her heel, she headed out of the office, not even bothering to glance at her own cubicle space. She would not be sitting in it today—she was going home and take a hot shower and try to do something with the anger boiling inside her.
Too bad Linc’s not around. We could fuck it out.
* * * * *
Linc crossed his legs on the porch railing and kicked back with his beer, looking over the sunset on Sully’s ranch. The entire spread had been left to him and his wife Nevaeh after a good friend of his had died, a two-times widower with no family to speak of.
“I’ll say it again, man. You’re one lucky son of a bitch,” Linc drawled.
Sully swigged his beer, relaxing in a similar pose, while his wife lay in a chair beside him, reading a book.
They hadn’t gotten to ride for very long, but just being outdoors and getting some exercise with the animals he loved had given Linc a bit of the release he needed. He was still keyed up, though.
But that had to do with a sexy little ATF agent who’d stirred him up all over again. First the elevator and now the dirty shower scene that had blown his mind had him wanting more.
The fading rays of the sun were drawing lines through the sky in shades of yellow and orange.
“How’s your momma?” Sully asked.
“She’s ornery as ever. Complaining about the neighbors mowing parts of the land that belong to her, when Lennon and I tell her she should just let them mow it and save her the work and gas for the tractor. And at the same time, she loves the same neighbors because they just foaled and she loves watching them.”
Sully chuckled. “Sounds like she needs some grandbabies to keep her busy.”
Linc sipped his beer, enjoying the local craft blend. “Well, Lennon needs to get on that.”
“When was the last time you took a woman home to your momma?” he asked.
Linc snorted. “I mighta been about sixteen.”
Nevaeh looked up from her book. “You haven’t been serious about a woman since you were sixteen?”
Linc lowered his bottle from his lips. “Wasn’t really serious about that one either.”
They all laughed.
“What about that ATF agent?”
His neck popped as he whipped his head toward his buddy. “What would make you think about her?”
“Dude, I’ve seen you on how many missions now? I’ve never seen you hover over anyone the way you do her. All protective like.” He shot a look at his wife, who was giving him a soft smile. “Been there before.”
Nevaeh reached over and touched Sully’s hand.
Linc pushed to his feet. “Time for me to head on home. Good thing I didn’t have that third beer.”
Sully stood too. “So you don’t really care that Agent Alexander is back in town and staying at the Marriot?”
Linc felt a jerk in his gut, like someone had just hooked him and given it a yank. Damn… He couldn’t let his captain see his interest, though.
Stretching, Linc said, “Why would I care about that?”
Sully chuckled. “Suit yourself, Linc. Thanks for comin’ by.”
“Enjoyed myself. Thank you for being a gracious and lovely host, Nevaeh.” He took her hand and squeezed. “See you for bowling tomorrow night if we don’t have other obligations.”
“I’ll look forward to it, Linc,” Nevaeh said.
“I’ll see myself out.” He took his leave, and as he headed out to his car, his mind—and body—were very aware of what Sully had told him. Nealy was miles away, and he could be spreading her thighs within the hour.
Biting off a growl, he reached the crossroads. He drew to a stop and looked right and then left.
Go to her, his body urged.
Don’t fuck with her more than you already have, his mind directed.
The sun was sinking quickly. He had all night ahead of him, alone, and he didn’t have to be.
But what could he offer Nealy? He sure wasn’t taking her home to his momma. What would he say when he introduced her—this woman drove me crazy for a month when I was at my worst in the hospital after being imprisoned in a crate for days… then I fucked her in an elevator and all that changed?
But had all that changed?
He gripped the wheel and stared straight ahead at the land, the sky and the fading daylight. Yeah, it had changed, but it wasn’t the sex that’d flipped the switch in his brain. He didn’t know quite what it was.
Decision made, he turned left, away from the hotel and Nealy.
* * * * *
Nealy’s contacts weren’t dried out and playing tricks on her. She gently rubbed at her eyes just to be certain, but sure enough, when she opened her eyes, the same words were on the screen of her computer tablet.
Hot damn.
Her superiors had to know about this. She really had just unearthed a bit of information that was dire to the Operation X case.
But who to share it with? Her immediate boss was Mitchum, but after the way he’d dismissed her role in getting the flash drive, she didn’t care much to speak to the ma
n.
What other choice did she have? Going above him would only get her in trouble and below him could mean information leaked into the hands of someone who wasn’t cleared to know.
She pushed out a sigh and pulled her tablet closer. Cradling it, she took a screenshot and forwarded it using an encrypted, encoded and password-protected connection.
Okay, now her contacts were actually drying out. When she stood from the hard hotel chair and made her way to the bathroom, her body screamed at her for holding it in the same position for too long. She’d gone from Linc’s bed to an airplane seat, the ATF office, home where she’d pored over files all night, before she finally decided the only way to continue making progress on the Operation X case was to team up with the Ranger Ops again.
Which meant yet another flight and here she was going over yet more new and breaking details in the case.
She removed her contacts and did what every beauty expert warned her against and rubbed her eyes. To hell with wrinkles.
She splashed her face with cold water and put on her glasses. After she returned to the hotel seating and picked up her tablet, she saw she’d missed a message in all caps—CALLING YOU.
Her phone buzzed and she brought it to her ear. “Alexander.”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Alexander?”
Just hearing Mitchum’s voice made her jaws snap together. “What are you talking about?” she bit off.
“You’re digging into things that are way above your level.” He let out a bark of a laugh.
“Then why is it Homeland has given me access?” She felt her body coil up with the shot of adrenaline to her system.
“As your director, I advise you to stop looking and allow us to feed you the information necessary to do your job, agent. You don’t know what sort of trouble you just got me in by sending that screenshot just now.”
She took a deep breath. Could that be true?
Even if it was, she wasn’t going to bow down to this man. “Just doing what I was asked to do, Mitchum. If you’ve got a problem with it, I suggest you ask the director of Homeland Security why he provided me with the access key. Goodnight, Mitchum.”
Hanging up and getting the last word should make her feel good, but it was far from the truth. Her hands were a little shaky and she felt as if she’d just gotten into a sparring match with a man holding a knife. It was obvious Mitchum was out for her blood, but she could only think it was because she posed a threat to him. She was next in line for his position, and if he messed up…
