Hot SEALs: Knight's SEAL (Kindle Worlds) (Dangerous Curves Series Book 1)

by Donna Michaels

  “Okay.” He nodded, taking her hand. “Right now, we need to try to catch up to those Russians. The one looked like Koslov. Did you see him?”

  “Yes, it was him,” she replied, leaning into Sam, placing her head on his shoulder and telling her body to calm down. She was working.

  It didn’t listen, just heated and tingled and fluttered out of control.

  Stupid body.

  “Did you hear anything they said?” he whispered back, kissing the top of her head as they continued down the path in search of the foreigners.

  They were getting close; she could hear their laughter in the distance.

  “They mentioned October and what sounded like beer.” It didn’t make sense, then again, she’d been a bit muddle brained at the time. “They could’ve been talking about a party, or discussing a hit. I’m sorry. I’m not much help.”

  He stopped and turned to face her. “Hey. You’ve been great. And it’s not your fault that we stumbled upon them in the middle of their conversation.”

  True. She nodded.

  “Come on. Let’s see if we can stumble on them some more.” He winked, then reached for her hand and tugged her down the path.

  They didn’t have to continue for long. The Russians had stopped at a clearing and were staring out at the ocean as they puffed on cigars. The night breeze carried the stench, along with snippets of their conversation.

  Sam pulled her down onto a bench surrounded by palms and purple sage bushes where they could hear and not be seen.

  She frowned and shook her head. “They’re talking about their damn cigars.”

  “It’s okay. Keep listening.”

  Lisa nodded and tipped her head as if that would help her hearing. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on their voices, blocking everything else out. After another minute of small talk, the men launched into a hushed discussion about their meeting at noon the next day with a Colombian. She squeezed Sam’s hand but continued to listen, not wanting to miss anything if she talked. He still hadn’t mentioned Rojas’ friend from the Middle East.

  The sound of giggling and off-key singing grew louder and louder, halting Koslov’s conversation while two young, inebriated couples passed by.

  Sam muttered a curse, and she held her breath, willing the Russians to continue. But their discussion turned to talk of heading back to the bar to pick up some neglected American wives to show them real men, before returning to their mistresses.

  This time, Lisa muttered the curse, then her heart stilled when she realized the men would pass them on their way to the bar. It was too late to escape. Sure, they could kiss again, but wouldn’t catching them in an embrace, again, be one time too many?

  “Come on,” Sam whispered, yanking her behind the bushes barely tall enough to conceal their crouched forms.

  She held her breath, thanking her lucky stars when another couple happened by, blocking the benched area when Koslov and his man moved past.

  “Jesus, that was close,” Sam said, helping her up and tugging her back toward the bench.

  Lisa nodded, brushing palm fronds and small twigs from her dress before she sat. “I thought for sure we were toast.”

  “Nah.” He smiled, removing a twig from her hair. “We would’ve gone to plan B.”

  Her mind began to fog with his nearness. She blinked and stared into his warm, gray eyes. “What’s plan B?”

  “This.”

  Before she could blink again, he slid a hand to the back of her head and slowly lowered his mouth, pausing for a few beats, giving her a chance to push him away.

  No way. Not with the amount of adrenaline pumping through her veins. She grasped his lapel and leaned up to meet his mouth.

  Shit.

  Sam groaned, drawing her closer. He was making one mistake after another, and kissing Lisa was definitely a big mistake, especially with adrenaline running rampant between them. They needed to follow the Russians. Discuss what Koslov had said. Find Nikki. Instead, he was following the seam of Lisa’s trembling lip with his tongue, unable to get enough of her taste.

  God, he’d missed this. Hadn’t realized how much until he got a quick taste of her on the path. Now, he was like a mad man, dipping and drinking, sweeping her mouth with his tongue, bringing her taste into his to savor for his own. Warm and sweet, she tasted of strawberry lip gloss and mint.

  Moaning, she trembled against him, running her hand down his chest, her trajectory in line with his rock hard erection. He’d never survive if she touched him there right now. No way in hell. He grabbed her hand and broke the kiss, setting his forehead to hers as he worked to regain his damn control.

  “We have to stop.”

  She nodded, ragged breath hitting his chin. “I know. I wanted to tell you what Koslov said, but my body kind of took over again.”

  He understood that one hundred percent. Too damn bad BUD/S training hadn’t prepared him for the likes of Lisa Knight. He was beginning to realize, resisting her was futile.

  Sam released her. “Okay. Let’s talk. Tell me what you heard.” Drawing back a few inches, he listened as the woman brought him up to speed on the Russian. “Damn. So, he’s not meeting with both men tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. “No. And tonight, he was intent on picking up a lonely American wife at the bar so he could show her a real man before he returned to the mistress he brought with him. The jerk. As if he…” Her voice trailed off before she stood.

  His insides coiled. “What?” He shot to his feet and turned her to face him. “As if he what, Lisa?”

  Her sigh turned into a smile. “As if he could compare to someone like you. XL.”

  Relief washed the stiffness from his body, and he smirked as he dropped his arm around her shoulders and began to lead her back down the trail to the resort. Her sense of humor was one of the things he loved most about the hazel-eyed beauty.

  Loved?

  His steps faulted slightly. Thoughts like that would lead to a can of worms best left unopened. Especially during an op.

  “Look. There’s Koslov hitting on Brooke.” Lisa motioned with a quick nod as they passed the outdoor bar. “I hope she knows what she’s doing.”

  The Russian was sitting next to the agent, hand on her knee, smiling. Sam caught and held the woman’s gleaming gaze a moment, silently asking if she needed an out. Brooke shook her head ever so slightly, then placed her hand on top of Koslov’s.

  “I’d say she knows exactly what she’s doing,” he told Lisa, steering her inside the resort to one of their posh restaurants. “We should eat and see if we can find our friend amongst the guests.”

  A flash of sadness dimmed her hazel eyes. “Okay.”

  The filet mignon was delicious, but with no sign of Nikki, their time had been wasted. Despite the wonderful company and pleasant ambience of white table clothes and napkins amongst the lush backdrop of greenery and more waterfalls, he found it hard to keep up a conversation when he felt so useless. The lieutenant was in the building somewhere, but he hadn’t been able to locate her and get her to safety.

  All he managed to do all evening was make out with the commander’s daughter. And enjoy it, while Lieutenant Locke was enduring God knows what. Plus, he’d completely forgotten to have them wear their com links in their ears. Yeah, he was a total screw up today.

  He wasn’t exactly thrilled with himself at the moment. “We should probably go up to our room and check in with Merlin.” He stood, then moved behind Lisa to pull out her chair.

  Nodding, she set her napkin on the table and rose to her feet. “He’s probably chomping at the bit.”

  Knowing the commander, that was an understatement. He more than likely expected his SITREP an hour ago. But they’d needed to explore and scour the restaurants for the NIO, because once they went up to the room for the night, they would have no excuse to come back down until morning. And, of course, had he had his com link, he could’ve delivered his situation report on the go.

  As they stepped o
nto the empty elevator, he let go of Lisa’s elbow and was contemplating their game plan for the morning when someone’s hand grabbed the door to stop it from closing.

  “Hold the elevator,” the man said, his accent unmistakably Spanish.

  Sam quickly pushed the open button and felt Lisa stiffen next to him as Rojas stepped on, followed by a very familiar looking redhead.

  Chapter 6

  “Gracias.” Rojas nodded, sparing them a brief glance from the other side of the elevator.

  Dressed in a white suit, shoes, and shirt opened at the neck, he reeked of expensive cologne. Damn, did the guy bathe in it? And if Sam hadn’t recognized the Colombian, he doubted he would’ve known Lieutenant Locke was the sexy, auburn-haired woman in the slinky, gold gown at his side.

  Although they’d worked a few missions, none had required Nikki’s attire to be…quite so revealing. She’d never really dressed modest, but neither had she dressed so scantily. This…outfit…made him wish he’d worn his suit coat so he could place it on her shoulders.

  Bastard.

  “What floor do you need?” he asked, noting the middle-aged man hadn’t punched a button.

  The prick smiled, wrapping an arm around Nikki’s shoulder. “Perdone. Twenty-three. Gracias.”

  Unable to believe his luck, Sam couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. Stuck in an elevator with no elite guards or civilians, just trained agents. They were going to accomplish the retrieval and takedown all at once.

  “Are you two on your honeymoon?” Nikki asked, her blue contact lens gaze boring into him as she waved him off with the same, slight shake to her head as Brooke earlier.

  What the hell?

  They had the perfect opportunity.

  Lisa stepped forward, smiling. “No. It’sss our n-nivarsary,” she answered, words slurring slightly. Then she hiccupped and placed a hand to her lips and giggled. “Sorry. Too much champ…champa…bubbly.” She turned to him, patted his cheek and winked. “Right, honey?”

  His heart dipped to the floor. Shit. What is she up to?

  “Thishh place is unbelievable.” She waved her hands, stumbling toward the couple. “There’s a jacushhy an everything in our room. Do you have a jacushhy?”

  Nikki’s lips twitched. “No.”

  “That’s a sh-shshame.” She sighed, then stumbled again, this time bumping into Rojas and Nikki. “Oh, shorry.” She hiccupped again.

  The bastard got a handful of breast. His slick smile widened as he took his damn time steadying her. Sam clenched his jaw and forced himself to remain calm.

  “My apologies.” He stepped close to slip his arm around Lisa and draw her back to the other side of the elevator. As far from the bastard as possible.

  “Yeah, hish apologies.” Another giggle left her mouth.

  The drug lord chuckled. “It’s okay. Anniversaries are meant to be celebrated. Isn’t that right, mi querido?”

  Nikki smiled. “Yes, of course.”

  Sam’s gaze dropped to the huge rock on the woman’s left hand, and his insides bunched. Had the slimy bastard forced her to marry him? He had the sinking feeling the answer was yes.

  All too soon, they reached their floor, and thanks to Lisa acting drunk, he still didn’t have a way to contact the woman. The bell dinged and doors opened—they’d have to get out to keep their cover.

  Damn. All he could pass on to the boss was Nikki was staying in the penthouse on the top floor, since he at least knew that much. The resort only had twenty-three floors, the top being a penthouse. And the boss no doubt already knew all of this if TJ had hacked into the video surveillance. Most resorts had cameras everywhere but the guest rooms.

  His wife waved. “Bye. We’re gonna ush the jacushi now.”

  Laughing, she stumbled forward, and he had all he could do not to trip over her feet as he did his best to help her down the hall. As soon as the elevator doors closed, she straightened, and pushed from him to rush to their room.

  “What the hell?” He was frowning by the time their door closed behind him. “What were you doing?” Besides, giving me a heart attack.

  She dug her laptop out of her over-sized purse and set it on the table before turning to him, big grin on her face. “Passing Nikki the com link from my wristlet.”

  What? His heart literally stopped beating.

  Okay, that was brilliant, but Jesus… If Rojas had caught her…

  “When she warned us off, I knew we needed to figure a way to keep in contact.” Her smile faded as she stared at him. “It’s not a problem is it? I mean, I did okay, right?”

  “You did good.” Real good. Dammit. He’d never even thought of it, too busy blowing a gasket over the man pawing his…what? Exactly what was Lisa to him?

  Former lover.

  “Good.” She smiled, then turned her attention to her computer. “We need to tell TJ, and check in with Dad. He’s going to want his SITREP.”

  As much as he would’ve liked to have a few more moments to get himself under control, Sam sat next to Lisa just as she opened up a video conference with her father.

  The commander’s frowning face appeared. “’Bout damn time. We could see but not hear. What’s the situation, Bors?”

  Until that moment, he’d forgotten the commander had watched their…stroll, too. Ah hell, that meant her father had seen everything.

  Sam felt Lisa stiffen, and his gut rolled as if punched. He tried to tell himself to calm down, he’d done everything in keeping with his cover, and that the man had fully expected them to kiss.

  But that last kiss had nothing to do with the mission.

  “What did the Russian say?”

  His boss’ voice brought his mind back on track. “He’s meeting with Rojas tomorrow at noon, but he was interrupted and never mentioned the associate.”

  “All right.” The commander sighed and sat back. “I’m betting that’s why Nikki warned you off.”

  Lisa’s head jerked up. “You saw that?”

  “Yes.” Her father nodded. “TJ has us patched into all the video feed. It’s everywhere but the public restrooms and all the guest rooms.”

  Damn. Sometimes he hated being right. “So, you can’t see inside the penthouse.”

  “Unfortunately, no. But at least we know where the lieutenant is and what she looks like.”

  “Has she used the com link Galahad gave her?”

  “The what?” The commander leaned closer to the screen. “You slipped her a com link?”

  His daughter sat up straight and nodded. “Yeah, when I bumped into Rojas. He was too busy groping me to notice.” She smiled smugly, completely oblivious to the darkening expression on her father’s face.

  “We’re hoping she’ll get a chance to use it tonight,” he said, trying to dispel the tension.

  The commander’s jaw cracked, but he gave a curt nod and blew out a breath. “Let’s hope so. We need to know more about this associate before we can proceed.”

  “Understood.” Although, he was still smarting at not having been able to take down the bastard in the elevator and setting the lieutenant free.

  “All right. Good job.” Merlin nodded. “Check in at zero seven hundred. I’m hoping the lieutenant will have contacted us by then.”

  “Yes, sir,” he said, echoing Lisa before she closed the link and shut the laptop.

  “Well…” She blew out a breath and sat back. “That wasn’t so bad.”

  Yes, except now he couldn’t stop thinking about her father seeing them kiss. And they’d more than likely have to do it again tomorrow to keep up appearances. How the hell was he going to keep it together if his lips touched hers again? He’d already used up all his restraint today.

  And he still had the toughest part to come. The unchaperoned night.

  Shit.

  Sam rose to his feet and moved away, giving his mind half a chance to function without Lisa’s soft, sexy, floral scent fogging his brain.

  “We should get some rest. You heard your fathe
r. We start at first light.”

  “Okay.” She slowly rose to her feet and glanced at the big bed, then him, then pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

  He clamped his jaw tight, riding a wave of heat settling in his groin. It was going to be one hell of a long, trying night. “I’ll take the couch,” he managed to ground out before striding to the bathroom and shutting the door.

  First, he needed a very long, very cold shower.

  Sam slept like shit. Between dreaming of wrapping his hands around Rojas’ throat, and others of him wrapping his hands around Lisa’s soft curves, he had a restless night. The moonlight didn’t help, either. It illuminated the room, casting an ethereal glow over those curves tossing under the sheets of the very big bed…alone.

  Being chivalrous sucked.

  Why the hell did her father have to be Jameson Knight?

  No sense in sulking. There wasn’t anything he could do about it. Same went for sleep. He was done. Time to get up and face the day. Rays of light began to streak the sky. He had just enough time for a brisk run before he checked in with the boss.

  Having had the foresight to wear his running shorts to bed, he quietly slipped on his socks, sneaks, and T-shirt he’d set nearby, then stood. A soft snore hit his ears and a smile tugged his lips. He remembered entwined limbs and how her snores softly rumbled through his body.

  Dangerous thoughts.

  He needed to leave. Now. Rather than risk waking her, he’d use the bathroom in the lobby so she could catch another hour’s sleep, and he could avoid the dangerous curves beckoning him to the bed.

  In case she awoke before he returned, he scribbled a quick note and propped it by the fruit bowl on the table, then quietly left the room.

  An hour later, he finished his run and spotted Koslov heading for the outdoor breakfast buffet on the patio; a few of his goons were already there, pretending to be on holiday with their women. They stuck out like a sore thumb. Too stiff and unyielding, gazes always scanning and searching, never paying much attention to the beauty seated at their table.

  Rojas’ men, on the other hand, were the opposite and a hell of a lot harder to spot. Although, some paid too much attention to their women. Overkill. Because of this, Sam had noted two of the Colombian’s men also at the buffet.