He hoped that meant their boss would be down, too.
Rushing upstairs, he texted Lisa to give her a heads up to get ready. They had a small window of opportunity and needed to pounce. The boss’ morning SITREP would have to wait.
When he walked into their room, and saw her slipping a blue sundress over her head, he stopped dead. Sonofabitch. His tongue hit the marble floor, while his groin twitched to life.
With her back to him, she apparently wasn’t aware he’d returned, because she took her damn time as she shimmied the material over her strapless, lacy bra and matching blue thong.
His hand shot out to the wall to steady himself as desire stabbed through him in an almost painful burst.
It pissed him off. How the hell could he be so weak?
“Oh, you’re back,” she said, twisting around. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Obviously.”
He didn’t bother to try to hide the erection bulging his shorts. Her eyes widened and face flushed, and ah hell, she pulled her damn lip between her teeth again. His bulge turned into a full tent. “I need a shower. I’ll be out in five minutes.”
Maybe seven.
He’d never erected a tent that big before.
By the time Lisa was halfway through the buffet line, her control had returned. For a moment there, back in the room, she’d nearly followed Sam into the shower. After receiving his text, she’d quickly scrambled to get dressed and hadn’t realized he’d entered the room until awareness had spread down her shoulders and back in a delicious tingle. That’s when she’d twisted around and saw him…standing at attention, gaze blazing with a fierce hunger.
Holy SEALs.
It had taken all her willpower to remain still. She’d needed to bite her lip to keep from calling out to him.
But now, they were both back on the job with their heads in the game, and plates loaded with bacon and eggs and fruit she’d set on top of a cute little crepe drizzled with powdered sugar and chocolate. Okay, she added the crepe; he added sausage and ham. And more bacon.
She smiled at him. “Think you have enough protein there, honey?”
“Never,” he replied with an answering smile. Then added more bacon.
When they finally finished with the line, which meant, when Sam couldn’t fit anything else on his plate, they got lucky, grabbing an empty table next to the Russians. The men were alone again, speaking in English, discussing a boxing match that had been televised from the night before.
She sat with her back to them, because it was the closest, and began to cut her crepe.
“What would you like to do today, dear?” Sam asked, before shoving a forkful of protein into his mouth.
Blame it on the glint in his gray gaze that had a way of warming her from head to toe, the slight tilt of his head, giving him an assured, unruffled edge, or perhaps it was the lingering desire still fluttering low in her belly that made her look him straight in the eyes and say, “You.”
He stilled, and apparently sucked in a breath, but his mouth was too full, so he started to choke. Pounding on his chest with one hand, he reached for a glass of water with the other, and she couldn’t stop the smile from tugging her lips, a little empowered by the knowledge she could unsettle such a strong, solid, hardened SEAL with one tiny, little word.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a hushed tone, once he recovered.
She reached for his hand and squeezed. “Being truthful, and well, maybe taking advantage of you.”
A devilish glint entered his eyes. “Sweetheart, you can take advantage of me all you want.” He lifted her hand to his mouth to brush his lips over each knuckle, with slow and thorough precision, adding a little tongue along the curves.
Damn him.
Her smile disappeared, along with her breath, and she had to grip the arm of her chair to keep from launching herself onto his lap. A knowing grin occupied his handsome face as he released her to pick up his fork.
Touché.
“I might have to go up for seconds, so I have enough energy to take care of your needs, dear.”
Okay, now he was just being cruel. She wanted him to take care of her needs, and dammit, she was not going to be sleeping in that big bed alone again tonight. Screw it. Two days from now, he was more than likely going to disappear from her life for good. This forced time together was a gift. She was going to make the most of whatever downtime they had today, and was about to let him know when Koslov’s cell phone rang.
Lisa sat back in her chair and listened as he spoke in his native tongue to whoever was on the other end. For appearance sake, she shoved food in her mouth, but was too busy concentrating on the conversation to properly enjoy the decadent breakfast.
While she was doing this, Sam ate and conversed as if she’d answered, then went up for seconds. She tried to keep her mind on the job and not on his earlier remark. Guilt trickled down her neck at willing Koslov to finish his call so she could concentrate on Sam.
When her husband’s broad, powerful back and shoulders became too much of a distraction as he reloaded his dish, she dropped her gaze to her plate and refocused on the table behind her. By the time Sam rejoined her, the Russian was off the phone and agreeing with his buddy they should meet their mistresses at the pool.
“What do you say we go for a swim this morning?” Sam asked, cutting into a thick piece of steak.
She wondered briefly about the danger of him going into the water on a full stomach, then shrugged it off. He was a SEAL, he knew his limitations, and she was secretly excited at the prospect of seeing his hard body in nothing but swim trunks.
“Sounds great.” She smiled, waiting until Koslov left the area before filling Sam in on what she’d heard in a nonchalant way in case one of his goons remained. “I forgot to tell my father my aunt is meeting a friend from out of town tomorrow.”
He sat back in his chair and let out a breath. “We can call him before we hit the pool.” Frustration ruled his features as he stabbed at his sausage.
Yeah, she was bummed, too. Now, they’d have to wait until tomorrow to take down this associate of El-Mofty. Worse than that, it meant Nikki was probably going to have to stay with Rojas another night.
They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence. She’d pretty much pushed hers around on her plate, having lost her appetite. One thing was becoming very clear, she sucked at remaining detached, keeping her personal life out of her job. Just when she thought she had a handle on resisting the strong pull of attraction to Sam, he’d glance at her with a little bit of heat and she was a goner. Same went with Nikki. Just when Lisa thought she buried her feelings and despair over what her friend had gone through—was still going through—at the hands of that slick monster, her control faded and her body shook from the force of trying to hold it all in.
She lost a grip on her fork and it slipped from her trembling fingers.
Dammit.
Swallowing past her hot throat, she blinked away her tears and worked feverishly to regain control. If she was going to break down, it was not going to be in public.
No. Damn. Way.
A warm hand covered hers and squeezed, held firm and strong.
“Let’s go get changed, then call your dad.”
Sam’s strength seeped into her, stiffening her backbone and giving her that extra boost she needed.
She let him pull her to her feet, but didn’t dare look into his eyes. She already knew what she’d see. Compassion. Understanding. A shared frustration. Each had the ability to crack the fragile wall she’d just managed to construct around her feelings for her friend.
It wasn’t until her feet hit the sand that she realized he had led her to the beach. She stopped and finally turned to blink at him. “I thought we were going to the room. Did you need to do recon or something?”
“Or something.” A smile twitched his lips as he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear with his finger.
Chapter 7
“You okay?” The
concern in his voice matched the warmth in his eyes.
Dammit.
He wasn’t supposed to ask that, or stare at her with that compassion, understanding, and shared frustration in his gaze. She thought she’d dodged that bullet. Had she known the empathy was still there, she never would’ve glanced at him, because her stupid, fragile wall just took a direct hit.
Throat too tight to answer, she nodded as his face began to swim before her burning eyes.
She heard him mutter a curse before she was crushed against his hard body. He felt so strong. So capable. So…Sam. That was it. She was done. Clutching his shirt in her fists, she sank against him as all her frustration and horror and guilt burst free.
“It’s all right,” he said softly against her head while he stroked her hair.
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “No, it’s not. I hate that Nikki has to endure him for another night. God, Sam, I don’t think I can take it.”
“Shh…” He kissed her forehead. “You can do it. You’re strong, Lisa. And I promise you, he won’t go free. He’s going down and won’t hurt her anymore.”
She sucked in air and clung to him tighter. “I hope so, Sam. In fact, I’d like to hold him down while Brooke uses him for a pin cushion.”
His chuckle reverberated through her. “Her very own, life-size voodoo doll.”
“Yeah.” She sniffled.
He cupped her face and drew back. “I promise you, Lisa. It’s as good as done. You’ve read my file. Seen my track record. I never fail.”
“I know. You excel.”
His lips twitched upward. “Exactly.” That curved mouth lowered to gently but thoroughly kiss away her tears, all the way down to her lips, where he lingered at one corner, then the other in a caress so soft and sweet he had more tears forming in her eyes.
“Sam…”
“I know,” he said against her lips, settling his mouth fully on hers, taking his sweet time tasting and drinking in long, drugging kisses.
She missed this. Missed him and the way he made her body spring to life, tingling and anticipating, waiting for his warm, sure caress and the feel of his hot, hard body pressing close.
All too soon it ended.
He released her mouth to kiss a path to her temple. “Feeling up to giving your dad that SITREP?”
She laughed against his neck. “Yeah, perfect. Just what I want to do. Give him a report when I’m so turned on I could go off with a sneeze.”
Sam stilled, his chest rising on an indrawn breath. “You’re trying to kill me.”
Relief eased some of the angst from her body, knowing he was suffering, too.
“No.” She drew back and grinned. “But, we’d better go have that meeting, then get to the pool before Koslov leaves for today’s noon meeting.”
The playfulness disappeared from his gaze. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t until much later, while Lisa was pretending to laze around by the pool that she had the chance to dissect the events of the day. After checking in with her father, they’d learned Nikki had made contact during the night, insisting she stay with Rojas until tomorrow’s meeting with the associate. With no idea when or where this meeting was to take place, her father had reluctantly agreed. She and Sam had done a quick change and rushed down to the pool to see if they could possibly gain that knowledge from Koslov, if he was still poolside.
He was.
They found the man swimming laps, showing off a trim, muscular body full of tattoos she knew held significance in the Russian mob. Two of his men pretended to read newspapers as he openly flirted with several husbandless women, including Brooke, while in plain sight of his bored, overly endowed mistress, whose gaze lit up when she spotted Sam.
Not that Lisa blamed the woman. He was certainly eye-candy for the female population. And when he kicked off his sneakers, and reached behind him to yank the T-shirt over his head in a sexy-as-hell one-handed maneuver, her own mouth had watered.
She had barely recovered when he dove into the pool, then broke the surface and swam toward her, his strokes strong and sure. Her heart rocked in her chest at the determination deepening the gray in his eyes as he held her gaze.
“Come on in, sweetheart. The water’s warm.”
More like steaming hot. Had to be with his incredible body in there. He’d certainly raised her temperature to boil.
For the next half-hour, Lisa frolicked with Sam in the water, taking every opportunity to brush up against his body, reasoning it was okay to join the crowd, since the other couples were doing the same.
But, damn, the SEAL was hard, everywhere, as she just discovered when she slid her hands up his muscled chest and wrapped her legs around his lean hips.
She’d missed this. Missed him. And since they were supposed to make their relationship look real, she didn’t bother to hide her real desire, or accompanying tremors.
“You trying to kill me?” he growled low in her ear, then brushed his lips along her jaw, stopping just before her mouth, his breath warm and ragged. “Turnabouts fair play.”
Cupping her ass, he crushed her close, and the air fluttered in her chest at the feel of him—all of him—pressed against her. She held her breath, waiting for his mouth to take hers, when he stiffened, and slowly eased his hold.
“Koslov’s sitting with Rojas at the bar,” he whispered.
Damn.
She inhaled and slowly released it, working to get her body under control. “I’d better go order us something to drink.”
“No.” He grabbed her arm and shook his head. “I don’t want you anywhere near them. Especially dressed in a bikini. If that’s what you could call it.”
She bit back a laugh. Her underclothes were skimpier. It was actually cute, and a little thrilling to note he appeared protective and a little jealous. But, she had a job to do, and knew she needed to remind him.
Lisa cocked her head in Excalibur’s direction. “Would you say the same thing to Brooke?”
Indecision clouded his gaze before he clamped his mouth shut and released her.
“I didn’t think so,” she said, walking out of the pool to grab a towel from their chairs, Sam right on her six. As she dried off, she kept her voice low and held his gaze. “I don’t want to go near them either, but we need to know what they’re saying.”
He blew out a breath and nodded. “Okay. I’ll be watching from here, but if you’re not back in five minutes, I’m going to come over there and get you. Got it?”
“Got it.”
With another curt nod, he dropped down on his chair, and folded his arms across his chest.
Lisa hid a smile. He looked deliciously territorial with his eyes flashing fire, and nose flaring.
Instead of being angered, she was aroused.
With a smile on her face, she turned and headed to the bar, feeling a bit empowered by the sheer force of his protective gaze. Riding that wave, she sidled up to the bar, a few stools away from Rojas, to place her drink order with the bartender.
While she waited, and tuned into the men, Lisa popped a grape in her mouth from the bowl of fresh fruit on the counter. She wasn’t at all surprised to find they were speaking in Russian instead of Spanish. Rojas liked to think he was clever, no doubt assuming if anyone was trying to listen in on their conversation, they wouldn’t know Russian.
Wrong.
She continued to eat grapes and listen while she waited, willing the bartender to take his time making the smoothies she ordered. But, the only thing the men said worth noting was they were waiting for a call from the associate to confirm their meeting the next afternoon. They hadn’t disclosed any new details, and as she chewed another grape, she could feel their attention shift toward her.
Crap.
“You seem much steadier today.” The Colombian had switched back to English and…shoot…sounded a lot closer.
Conjuring a smile, she turned toward the men, and watched as they moved to the bar stools on her right. “Oh, hello. Yes. I�
�m doing much better today,” she replied, bringing a playful pout to her lips. “Sorry about your foot.”
He waved it off with a slimy grin. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, niña. No harm done.”
The way he, and Koslov, ran leering gazes slowly down her body, then back up, made her skin crawl. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest, barely. And since conversing with Rojas twice was risky enough, she decided not to acknowledge the Russian unless he spoke to her first.
Holding the Colombian’s gaze, she lifted her chin. “Is your wife here?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Her skin is too delicate for the sun. She is up in our room.”
A blatant lie. Lisa fought back a laugh.
Born with striking, chocolate brown hair and eyes, Nicole Locke never burned a day in her life. Her friend’s skin tanned a gorgeous bronze, and it had even been visible last night in the elevator. The creep may have covered Nikki’s hair and eye-color under a disguise, but there was no mistaking that glowing skin tone.
Lisa had always been envious as hell. If not for SPF four-friggin’-hundred, she’d burn, but not before a thousand more freckles would appear. Even so, she’d coated herself in the stuff real good before leaving their room an hour ago.
Realizing Rojas and Koslov were watching her, waiting for a reply, she wrinkled her nose. “That’s too bad. And she doesn’t have a Jacuzzi either.”
“Si.” The Colombian softened his tone, reaching out to cup her shoulder and brush her arm with his thumb. “You would think the penthouse would have such a thing. Would you not?”
It took all of her strength of will not to slap the jerk’s hand away…or puke. Maybe both. Her skin crawled, but she stayed put, not wanting to jeopardize the mission of getting her friend away from the monster.
“Absolutely,” she replied, aware of Sam’s rapid approach by the sudden tingling racing down her body.
Hot SEALs: Knight's SEAL (Kindle Worlds) (Dangerous Curves Series Book 1) Page 6
