Joint Engagement

by Karen Anders

  “Beau...please.”

  He pulled out and pushed back in so slowly, his face so fierce, she thought she might lose her mind.

  “Please...”

  She strained against him, wanting him to take her there, to make her part of him, to give her release and power, and the life of him that he promised with each thrust.

  “Please...oh, Beau.”

  He leaned down and kissed her again, and his next thrust came harder, and the one after that faster, each one stroking a banked fire deep in her core, until it caught and flashed into flame.

  She clung to him, riding wave after wave of pleasure, hearing him groan on top of her, a guttural sound of need and satiation that echoed in her heart.

  Beau, hard as nails, tough as granite, Beau. Her Beau had come undone.

  Slowly their bodies relaxed as they breathed together, still locked in each other’s arms, and dear God, he smelled good—all overheated male.

  The gorgeous interior of him matching and exceeding the gorgeous exterior, Beau Jerrott, with his soft mouth and heartbreaking eyes.

  By a twist of fate and a drifting Coast Guard cutter, Beau had dropped into her life. It was supposed to be temporary, but it didn’t feel like it now. She knew why he was here. For whatever reason, the universe worked the way it did, and Beau Jerrott was a haven for her, a place to rest. She’d felt it instinctively when she’d first met him. She felt it in every cell of her body now. He was here, by her, with her, and she was safe.

  She let her breath out on a soft, easy sigh, and he brought his forehead down to rest on hers.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes. I feel so safe with you.”

  He smiled. “You are safe with me, ma belle,” he said, resettling himself next to her.

  Man, she could stay in his arms forever.

  Wrapping his arm around her, he slowly rolled them to their sides, and he kept her close. He stuffed a pillow under his head and one behind her back and then he kissed her, slanting his mouth over hers and sliding his tongue in deep.

  It was a hot kiss, lazy, thorough, missing nothing. Breaking off, he gently bit her lower lip, then licked her, then kissed her again, taking her mouth with his own. She explored him, not just his mouth, but the taste of him, the angle of his jaw, the weight of him up against her, the hard muscles in the arm around her.

  She smoothed her palm over the broad curve of his shoulder and continued upward, tunneling her fingers into hair that she couldn’t stop wanting to touch. She kissed him, one long moment after another, luxuriating in the sensuality of having him naked and close, and in the comfort she felt. Even the way he smelled made her feel safe.

  She snuggled closer to him and kissed his chest and breathed him in, and after a moment, she said, “I know our next step.”

  “Sleep,” he said. “Then we’ll discuss that.”

  * * *

  The sound of a clip getting shoved home woke her. She opened her eyes to find Beau standing near the closet in the bedroom dressed in tight-fitting jeans and a tropical shirt.

  “Locked and loaded?” she said.

  He gave her a sidelong glance, holstering the HK underneath his shirt. “Good morning, sleepyhead. Time to rock and roll. We’ve only got two more days before extraction.” She rose to a sitting position and his eyes roamed over her. “I am damn sorry that I got up early,” he said.

  She gave him a sleepy smile and walked to the closet. Giving him a kiss, she opened the door and chose a pair of cropped jeans and a silk T-shirt that would also mask the weapon Beau had been able to snag.

  “I ordered breakfast. It should be here any minute. I also contacted Chris. He said he’d take care of notifying the DEA about Daniel.”

  She nodded, the whole terrible night flashing back. Daniel’s open, staring eyes. “I know I didn’t give you a good impression of him, but in the end, he tried to protect me. He really did care about me.”

  He wrapped his hand around her nape and rubbed her hair and scalp. “How could he not?” he said softly. There was a knock at the door. “That’s breakfast. You should call Stafford before we go. No telling what today is going to bring and whether we’ll even have a signal.”

  She nodded and walked to the dresser. Grabbing underwear, she quickly dressed. In the bathroom she ran a comb through her hair and pulled it all back into a ponytail to keep it out of her way.

  She picked up her cell from the nightstand and dialed Kirk. He answered on the first ring. “Are you all right?” he asked with genuine concern in his voice.

  “Not great at the moment.” He had always been a good boss and an even better man and she let just a bit of her guard drop. She’d never really trusted him, either, but he’d never let her down and had always believed in her as an agent. “It was a tough night.”

  He blew out a breath. “I can imagine. I’m sorry about Daniel, Kinley.”

  Her throat got tight. There had been absolutely no chance for them, not after she’d met Beau, but she was so sorry he was dead. Glad that she’d gotten a chance to hear his apology, since she’d been much too stubborn and hurt to open his emails before they had reconnected on this case. A sense of closure. She hoped that was true for Daniel, too. He’d died saving her from a sexual assault, giving Beau the added time he needed to rescue her. “So am I. The DEA will...take care of him? Right, Kirk?”

  “Yes, they are making inquiries. Their intention is to get his body back.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Keep me posted about that.”

  “All right.”

  “We might be cut off from communication. We’re going to get that name that we need, no holds barred, and then we’re going after that picture.”

  “Good luck and get back here in one piece.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  She disconnected the call. As she emerged into the room, the food was already on the table and she didn’t hesitate to dig in.

  No holds barred.

  For her country.

  For Daniel.

  And lastly, for herself.

  Chapter 14

  “You know where we’re going?” she asked, and Beau’s eyes narrowed.

  “Yes.” He threw her the keys to the sleek black Mercedes coupe.

  She got into the driver’s seat and they drove off in the direction that she and Daniel had taken yesterday. Arriving in Cuba had been like descending into the 1950s with all the amazing vintage cars on the streets. Havana was the capital city, province, seat of government and major port of the island, and the architecture attested to its rich history. The buildings were beautiful and the city well maintained.

  There was still a lot of lush tropical growth in and around the city, but she was under no illusion that the jungle beyond the metropolis wasn’t filled with plenty of danger, least of all the snakes and crocs.

  There was only one man on this godforsaken island who knew they were here.

  The arms dealer.

  “A bakery shop?” Beau said, eying the innocent and delectable-looking shop as she parked at the curb.

  “Yeah, he’s not just cooking up sweet things in the back. There are plenty of deadly weapons.”

  When they got to the front door, it was ajar and there was a smear of blood on the handle. Beau reached back for his weapon and she followed suit.

  There was no one there and it wasn’t lost on Kinley that there weren’t any delicious smells coming from the kitchen. Yesterday, there’d been a warm cinnamon scent in the air when she and Daniel had walked through the front door.

  Beau took a quick look around the counter. He stopped and pointed with the gun. There was a dead guy and a long swath of blood leading into the back.

  “That’s not the arms dealer,” she said.

  “Cartel?”
>
  “That’s the arms dealer’s assistant. Looks like he was cartel.”

  He stepped to the kitchen door and pushed the swinging door open just a tad. He gave her a signal that she should follow.

  When she pushed through the door she discovered the man she had spoken to propped up against the wall. He stared at them.

  Gut shot. The trail of blood was his as he’d dragged himself back here.

  “You.”

  She walked over to him and crouched down. “What happened?”

  “They don’t like loose ends. They left that guy out there to take care of me when I wasn’t useful anymore. Got the drop on him with a gun I keep for emergencies under the counter. Even when you help them there’s no guarantee you’ll live.”

  She nodded. “I’m here for information. I think you know what I need. What I’m looking for. Because you were Daniel’s contact. Weren’t you?”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Daniel’s contact sent us to you. I deduced you had to be him and was using this opportunity to make sure we were legit.”

  “It’s true. I had to be cautious and make sure this wasn’t a setup, but they got to my assistant in the bakery. He was one of them.”

  “The dead body out there.”

  “Those bastards killed my youngest son, shot in the street, so I was more than willing to help the DEA take them down. But then they took my oldest son for collateral to insure I wouldn’t warn you. Even so they killed him...” He sobbed softly, his face contorted in pain. “They let me hear as he pleaded for his life. They are a blight on our country.”

  “Then help me now so Daniel’s death will have meaning, so your sons’ deaths will have meaning. The DEA won’t give up. Especially now that the Las Espadas have killed Daniel.”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry about Daniel. He was a good man. It doesn’t matter what happens to me now. The name you want is Dr. Miguel Costa.” The arms dealer coughed. “He has a clinic just on the outskirts of town. You can find him there.” He rattled off an address. “Take what you need from my shop.” He recited the entry code. “You must hurry. It’s possible my assistant has already passed this information on to the cartel or someone else. They are offering money for information. Like I said.” His voice went weaker. “They have eyes and ears everywhere. They are ruthless...my boys...” He closed his eyes, his voice anguished. “My boys...hurry...”

  That was all he said as he suddenly stopped talking on a long exhale, and the life drained out of him as he slumped over. She reached out and closed his eyes.

  Together they turned away and Kinley led the way over to a rack. She reached behind a metal support and switched a button. The panel slid open and Kinley typed in the code he’d given her.

  The whole wall moved aside. Inside was an arsenal.

  “Hoo-freaking-yah,” Beau murmured enthusiastically, and Kinley turned to look at him. She huffed a short laugh and walked to a large green zippered bag.

  Beau wasted no time in grabbing a submachine gun, another handgun and plenty of ammo, along with other gear. Kinley went with her tried-and-true SIG along with enough ammo. They loaded up the bag and left.

  Once they were back in the car, she input the address and then checked the weather. It was habit. She’d often done it before a tour at sea. “Oh, damn. There’s weather coming our way,” she said. “A tropical depression. Not a hurricane luckily, though this is the season. It could get really wet.”

  Before they left the shop, Beau called in an anonymous tip regarding the shopkeeper. His death was something else Kinley could use to keep her going on this mission.

  Fifteen minutes outside the city, the rain hit and it was epic. Torrential, wind blowing and gusting. It slowed them down to a crawl.

  Beau had taken over the driving and she looked out at the smeared and indistinct landscape. The windshield wipers made a slapping sound as they crisscrossed, wicking away the moisture.

  She looked over at him. “You said you were from Louisiana, right?”

  His eyes lit up at the mention of his home. He nodded and smiled. “I’m used to driving in this kind of rain. We get quite a bit of it.”

  “Where exactly in Louisiana?” She reached out and absently rubbed her fingers along his forearm. He captured her hand and held it.

  “I’m from Vermilion Parish in the heart of L’Acadiane or, in English, Acadiana. My family lives in Delcambre, a small town right on the bayou. It’s the home of much of the local fishing industry.”

  “The bayou. What’s that like, living near so much water?”

  “There is no place like it anywhere. Lush ferns growing near purple iris beneath hardwood trees dripping with moss and some of the largest willows you’ll ever see. Some brighter flowers like black-eyed Susans and daisies. It’s a rich environment to grow up in. Some of the trees in the bayou are ancient. At night the swamp can be misty and dark, the water shining like black glass under a pale moon.”

  She shivered a bit. “Alligators, right?”

  “Ah, me gators. The bayou can be beautiful, but it can also be dangerous.”

  “You said you have a large family.”

  “Yes, four brothers and a sister.”

  “There are four men as handsome as you running around?”

  He smiled. “Yeah, we are similar. One of my brothers is a fisherman, one lives in New York City working on Wall Street, one is a firefighter and the last one is in the marines.”

  “And the sister?”

  “She’s in her freshmen year at Tulane. She’s into chemistry.”

  “You must miss them very much.”

  His eyes got that faraway look people had when they were thinking about the past. “Miss them like hell. We were very close growing up, but I’ve been away from Delcambre for ten years. I go home as often as possible, but my tours were extensive and now that I’m based in DC for my job, I see my family mostly during holidays.”

  They fell silent as the GPS tracker gave instructions for a turn and Beau navigated the slippery road and the heavy rain.

  “How about you, sugar? Where you from?”

  “All over. I traveled with my father to all his billets. I lived mostly in Coronado because that’s where my father was stationed. When he became a diplomat, it was London...and...well, after he was murdered, I went to an aunt’s back in Coronado, then to a cousin’s in San Francisco, another aunt’s in Monterey. The cliffs there are quite magnificent, the ocean so turbulent.”

  “Why were you tossed around so much?”

  “I was in demand until they realized that my inheritance from my dad was protected. Then they lost interest in supporting me. It was all in trust and I couldn’t touch it until I was eighteen. It was a help when I was in school and for living expenses. My family wasn’t as close as yours. When my father wasn’t deployed, he was training. When he wasn’t training he was on base.”

  “Your mère?”

  “Does that mean mother?”

  “Yes, sorry, mother.”

  “She died when I was one. My father didn’t remarry. He had girlfriends who I stayed with and caregivers, but when he could, he took me with him. After he left the SEALs, he was always there for me.”

  “That’s a tough life, huh?”

  “No, not really. I didn’t really experience that. My dad was great and all I needed. I was sheltered and protected.”

  “Why the Coast Guard?”

  “I think it stemmed from my time in Monterey. I fell in love with the changing face of the sea. Because of what happened to my father, I knew I always wanted to do some kind of police work and protecting our coasts appealed to me.”

  “CGIS was always your goal, then?”

  “Yes, I want to have my own team someday. If I can stop screwing up and getting myself tied up with se
ductive bastards who happen to be agents.”

  She hadn’t meant for that comment to come out so harshly. It could be a result of all that had happened with Daniel, but Beau didn’t deserve that. “I’m sorry, that was...”

  “Honest.”

  “I was half of that equation with both you and Daniel and I had a choice with both of you, so I can’t really complain. It’s just that with our kind of lifestyle, it’s really difficult to meet people and have a normal life. Mostly I meet guys on the job because I’m so often on the job. When I’m home, it’s downtime for me.”

  “Kinley, I understand fully.”

  “Then what’s up with the one-night stands?”

  He didn’t immediately answer. She was under no illusion that Beau had any long-term plans for them. This was a moment out of time. They’d been thrown together and they had an amazing connection. She tried really hard to not fool herself. When the mission was over, she expected they would be, too.

  That brought definite regret. But Beau had made things clear from the start and just because she was falling for him, that didn’t change a damn thing

  She realized he’d tensed up and she didn’t know how much she wanted him to confide in her until he spoke.

  “I got...burned pretty bad and now I’m a jaded jerk.”

  “What happened?”

  “Jennifer was ambitious and always gung ho about her job. She wanted to make admiral and that is a tough career path. I guess I thought she was willing to make room for me in her life. We had a lot of arguments about spending time together, mostly on my side. She suggested I go for SEAL training. I should have realized then that it was a way to put distance between us. I took the SEAL route and our correspondence waned, mostly because there isn’t a lot of downtime in BUD/S. She didn’t show up for my graduation and didn’t return my messages. When I got home, she was gone...everything was gone. I was going to propose to her...”

  Her chest filled and she squeezed his hand in sympathy. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say, but that caught her off guard. It would have been easier to hear that he was one-dimensional and a womanizer than it was to find out he’d had his heart broken. “I hate this woman already,” she murmured. And she did. How could she have hurt Beau like that? He was... She had to get a grip, especially now.