“If you say so.” My gaze darts from him to the blue, shimmering ocean in the distance. I can’t help but be concerned.
“It’ll be fine, bright eyes.” We return to the hotel, neither eager to brave the rutted road back to the compound. But it’s something we’ll need to do. Eventually.
I climb into his lap and kiss him. Our lovemaking is hurried and passionate. One thing about Jake and me? It doesn’t take any time to reach paradise.
After a shower where we make love again, he says, “We have to leave before it gets dark.”
“I know.”
To allay suspicions, we need to return and make ourselves visible. But it’s painful as hell. A pall’s grown over the place. All I get are evil looks and surly countenances. They think that Jake and I basically ran off to Natal for a weekend of partying while everything’s falling apart back at the Storm Industries’ enclosure. Everyone fully expects the Brazilian government to pull the plug, but they can’t do that until the wind turbine fails. So that give us a week to find Edward’s son.
The scheme Jake worked out with his ex-Navy Seal buddies is for him to announce he got a lead as to who destroyed the equipment in the warehouse. That will give us the excuse we need to head out into the jungle in my jeep. We’ll double back and trek up the coast where a member of Mac’s team will be waiting to take us to the boat. An unexpected development’s erupted on the horizon, however. A tempest, strong enough to be classified as a tropical storm, is churning in the Atlantic so the water will be choppy. Hopefully that won’t affect our mission.
Two days later all the pieces and the players are in place. Only fly in the ointment? The tropical storm. Rather than take a northerly turn, it’s headed south, right toward Natal. It’s madness to travel over the ocean. But we can’t wait. The die has been cast. As planned Jake tells Terrence he’s gotten a tip. Some rebel team holed up deep in the jungle is responsible for the equipment theft and destruction, and he’s going after them. By the time Jake walks into the bungalow after talking to Terrence, I’ve packed our bags, including his weapons and my blades. He gives me a hard kiss, secures the bags in the back of the jeep, and we take off, hoping we won’t have to deal with a full blown hurricane along the way.
Hours later, we rendezvous with Riley, a member of the rescue team. He’s a shade shorter than Jake, but just as built. Seems Navy Seals don’t stop working out simply because they’re no longer in the military. When we climb aboard the 55-foot motor yacht, Jake introduces me to Mac, the leader of this rag tag team, Tex and Viper. Mac’s clearly the oldest of the bunch. In his early 40s, I would say. His red beard and ginger hair give away his Celtic ancestry. Tex, as can be expected, hails from Texas. His baby face tells me he’s the youngest. Viper sports a scar down the right side of his face. He got his nickname, Jake tells me, because he’s mean as a snake. His dark eyes do have a bit of a dark edge to them.
Mac asks Riley to pilot the craft while he leads Jake and me down below to the main deck to give us a status report. The main deck’s surprisingly roomy, with a wrap around sofa and a teak coffee table. While Mac retrieves a map from an overhead cubbyhole, I look around. The deck holds not only the salon, but a galley which contains a full-size refrigerator freezer and a cooking stove.
“The boat has three staterooms. I cleared out of the one that holds a queen bed. You don’t mind sharing, do you?”
I glance back at him. “Depends who I share it with.” I use my most sultry voice.
His face turns red. Didn’t know I could make a grown man blush.
He grunts. “With Coop, of course.”
Coop. Must be his nickname for Jake. “Guess I can put up with his snoring for a night or two.”
Mac doesn’t say a word, but his expression seems to disapprove of my flippant remark. All business, he takes a seat right along us on the couch and spreads out the map. “We’re headed toward a town near Rio de Janeiro. We’ve reconnoitered the site.” They were able to divine the child’s location from the photo which showed the Christ the Redeemer statue through the open window. I’d been so focused on the misery showing on the boy’s face, I’d missed the clue. Not that it would have helped. I don’t have the technical expertise to zero in on the location. They, on the other hand, do.
They found the exact spot by using satellite images. I don’t ask how they obtained them, but the answer is obvious. They came from military hardware floating out in space. Even though they were probably illegally obtained, I’m just damn grateful they did. And there’s no doubt it’s Edward’s son? The child is being held in a closed patio with two men holding assault rifles standing guard over him.
After a thorough discussion of the location, Mac rolls up the map and stows it away in its cubbyhole. I sense he wants to talk in private with Jake. Claiming exhaustion from the long day, I head down to the stateroom with the queen bed. The place’s neat as a pin and smells like a pine forest. Some sort of air freshener, I gather, because it should smell like the ocean. Guess that’s Mac’s way of putting out the welcome mat. After I slip into the only pair of pajamas I own, I crawl into bed. The hum of the engines drown out all other noise, except the one in my head.
When we took off, supposedly to look for those who bungled the equipment, I left Kurt in charge. He will have his hands full keeping the place locked down with the coming storm. But at least the wind turbine installation by necessity had to be postponed. This is both a blessing and a curse. The delay will give us a couple more days to find Edward’s son. But the choppy waters will more than likely delay our progress. Even now, the boat bobs and sways, much more than it probably would in a calm sea. I just hope we’re not forced to postpone the mission. If the kidnappers find out I’m gone, they might take evasive action and move the boy to another spot.
Hours later, Jake slips into the room. He finds me wide awake.
“Sorry, did I wake you?”
“No. Can’t seem to fall asleep. Worrying over what’s going to happen.” I pound the pillow beneath me.
He neatly stows his gear before he climbs into bed with me.
“By now they’ve probably sent out a search team to look for us,” I say.
“They won’t. Not for another day.”
“I’m worried they’ll figure out the equipment is bogus.”
He turns to me and brushes a hand across my cheek. “Stop worrying. No one will look inside the warehouse.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes. I do. It’s sealed tighter than a drum. I ordered electronic locks installed. Anyone tries to break the code, an alarm will sound and steel cages will drop, trapping the intruders.”
“Who has the code?”
He grins. “Me.”
“And you’re gone. Someone might be willing to take his chances with the steel cages or cut through the walls.”
“Can’t. They’re made of concrete. They’d have to blast their way into the place, which would bring Terrence and his crew in a hurry.”
“Why didn’t Terrence think of all this?”
“He doesn’t have the security background I do. He’s good at the job he had, but not at managing a project this size.”
“What job did he have before?”
“Logistics, assigning manpower to different duties, paperwork.”
“You hate paperwork.”
“Which is why I hired him.” He drops back into his pillow and rolls me toward him. “Go to sleep, bright eyes. It’s been a long day.”
Chapter 17
______________
Brianna
THE NEXT MORNING, we wake up to a turbulent sea. The team debates whether to take shelter in Aracaju. If we do, we’d have to drive the rest of the way to Rio. Something no one wants to do. They’d need to commandeer a strange vehicle and we’d be out in the open with an entire arsenal of weapons on us. Mac decides to push through on the water. No matter the storm headed our way, the farther we head south the safer we’ll be.
I’m so exhausted wit
h worry, I go to bed early that day. But hours later, I’m still awake. I can’t seem to fall asleep. Not without him by my side. When did I become so addicted to Jake? Why do I crave his company? Since forever, my conscience responds. After my father’s death, I went off the deep end because he was not there. I sought the BDSM lifestyle, not because I yearned for it, but because I wanted the pain. If Jake had been there, somehow I could have muddled through the aftermath of my father’s funeral without looking for someone to tie me up and administer punishment. I wanted to be beaten as an outlet for my agony. Not that it made any difference. Even after I flew to Brazil, the pain was still there. It still is. And I know why. Because he’s not by my side. As much as I want him to be here with me, he never signed on to babysit me for life.
Finding it hard to breathe in the stuffy cabin, I open a porthole to inhale the night time air. For a second, I enjoy the scent of the ocean. But then I hear Jake’s and Mac’s voices carrying down to me.
“So what are you going to do when you complete the mission?” Mac asks.
Rescuing Edward’s son? Is that the mission he means?
“Return to London and launch a security company. I’ve put out some feelers. Plenty of ex-Navy Seals, Special Forces, and British SAS types looking for work.”
“You’re not staying with Storm Industries then?”
Jake laughs. “No. Storm fired me, remember?”
The smell of cigar smoke drifts down to me. I didn’t even know he enjoyed tobacco.
“But after we rescue his nephew, surely he’ll rehire you.”
“Storm’s dismissal taught me one thing. I’m not interested in being anybody’s employee, not anymore. But I do enjoy managing a security team. My outfit will specialize in protecting high-risk targets. That’s what I’m good at.”
“What about ... her?” Mac asks.
“Brianna?”
“Yes. You too seem pretty cozy.”
“I’d just as soon not talk about her, if you don’t mind.”
Mac lets out a belly laugh.
“What?” Jake asks.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.”
“Well, better turn in,” Jake says. “Tomorrow’s bound to be a long day.”
“You got that right. Goodnight.”
When Jake arrives in our room, I toss the covers aside to make room for him and pat the bed. “Let’s talk.”
He crawls in next to me, and I can’t help but notice his scent. “Umm, you smell good. Just showered?”
He juts out his jaw. “Yes.”
“I heard you talking with Mac. So you’re planning on starting your own company once the Storm Industries assignment is done?”
“That’s the plan. I was in the initial stages of creating the venture when your brother asked for my help.”
“So you dropped everything to come here.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry your plans got derailed.”
“Not derailed, sidetracked. I’ll take them up again once I’m done here.”
It took a few seconds time to gain command of my voice so it wouldn’t tremble. “So what will you name your outfit?”
“Cooper Security.”
“I like the sound of that. It has a safe sound to it.” I nod toward the upper deck. “Would you hire them?”
“Them or others like them. Plenty of ex-Navy Seals and Armed Forces looking for steady gigs.”
“What kinds of jobs would you handle?”
“Mostly bodyguard services—rock stars, wealthy people, businessmen traveling to hot spots looking for protection. The work is out there for those with connections.”
“And you have that from all the years you worked with Storm Industries.” My family had traveled to many places throughout the world for one reason or another, sometimes on business, sometimes for pleasure. And Jake had always been there to make sure everything went smoothly. And they had, except for the horrible trip to Honduras five years ago. The only reason the guerillas had gotten the drop on Jake was because of the Countess. She’d known the details and had fed that information to the men she’d hired to kill Gabe. If it hadn’t been for Jake who’d rushed Gabe and Edward to the hospital, both my brothers would have died that day. Our family would have been destroyed, for we couldn’t have survived both those losses. And soon he will put his life on the line. I shudder at the thought of what could happen to him.
He turns toward me, cradles my cheek in his hand. “We’ll find him, Brianna.” He thinks I’m worried about Edward’s child. I am. But right now, I’m worried about him. He could die during this mission. Because I asked him for help. “Will we?”
“Yes.” His warmth sinks into my skin and suddenly I want more from him than platitudes. I push him back so he’s lying on the bed and straddle his hips.
“I thought you wanted to talk.”
“I never said that’s all I wanted. Did I surprise you?”
“No.” He shakes his head. I rock back and forth across his hard cock, pleasuring him, pleasuring me. When he reaches for me, I grab his arm and drive it toward the headboard. I love seeing him like this all stretched out and for the moment all mine. Burying my nose in his arm pit, I breathe him in. “I love the way you smell.”
His avid gaze tells me how much what I’m doing to him affects me. So does the pounding of his hard cock beneath me. I lick him across his collarbone, down the rib cage, suckle his brown nipples, nip their tips.
“Ummmph.”
I scoot down his body, past his hips, pull down the sheet. His cock springs upward as soon as it’s freed. The ruddy head is leaking pre cum which, of course, I want in my mouth.
His hand winds itself in my hair, but I pull it back to where it was. “You must keep your hands on the headboard while I have my way with you,” I say in my best governess voice.
“You’re a witch.”
It doesn’t take long for him to come in my mouth. This time, I swallow every bit of his seed. Once done he turns the tables and drives my hands to the headboard. “Turn about’s fair play.”
His rough hands drive down my arms, my breasts. He plucks and plays with them until I’m mindless. And then his mouth lands on my clit. It doesn’t take more than a minute before I climax. But I want more. “I want you inside me, Jake.”
Naked, he walks to his bag, pulls out a condom, rolls it on. Just as he climbs over me, the boat pitches and he lands on the floor.
“Oh, my God. Are you injured?”
“Yeah.”
“Where?” I visually examine him, but don’t see any cuts.
“My pride.”
I let out a belly laugh before he silences me with his mouth and enters me in one thrust.
When we come up for air, he warns. “Next roll of the sea, you might end up on the floor. So, hang on.” He drives my hand to the headboard where my hands remain while he pounds me into the following week.
In the aftermath of our passion, we can’t seem to draw apart. Draped half on top of him, I play with his chest hairs while the his heart beats strong and true beneath me. “I understand why Gabe hired you. You were a decorated hero, earned a Purple Heart. But what I don’t understand is why you took me on.”
“Your brother explained things very clearly when he hired me. He was afraid of what you’d get into at university. He needed someone he could depend on to watch over you.”
“And you still took the job?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I could see how you’d wriggle out of any security situation. Look at what you’ve done here in Brazil.”
“But I never managed to wriggle away from you.”
“No.”
“Why is that, do you think?”
Amused, he flashes his pearly whites at me. “Because I know what you’re going to do before you do it.”
“You know what I’m going to do now?”
“I can guess.”
I climb on him straddling his narrow hips, my groin right over his. �
��Is this what you thought?”
“Yes. And hoped.” His hands clamp down on my arms in a gentle hold. “Brianna. You know I’ll be gone after this mission is done.”
Swallowing back my disappointment, I flash him a bright smile. “Yes, I know.”
“And you’re okay with that?”
I shrug. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”
“No reason.” The odd tone to his voice tells me something’s wrong. But there’s no sense to asking him. He won’t talk.
Chapter 18
______________
Jake
WE’VE SCHEDULED THE MISSION for 0200 hours. By studying the satellite images, we’ve determined three armed males guard the child. One female appears to be the caretaker since she accompanies the boy on his daily walks in the small terrace and plays kickball with him.
Every move has been planned down to the smallest detail and we’ve made allowance for every possible contingency. First of all the mansion is located at the top of a hill, which means we can drive the vehicle only so far and crawl the one hundred feet up to the house wearing armor and heavy gear. At night. Granted, we’ve been trained to do so. But the weather could play havoc against us. If it rains, the humidity will amp up the heat factor and can make the hill a sloppy climb. We’ll have to pray we don’t run into any creatures, nocturnal or otherwise, or equipment likely to give away our position.
If we make it to the house without detection, a big if, we’ll need to take out the male who stands guard outside every night. And if that doesn’t set off an alarm, we’ll make our way into the house and incapacitate the other two men inside. Even though our plan is solid, we’re sure to encounter unknown variables. All we can do is rely on our wits, our skills and trust each team member to do their job. Once we’ve gained custody of the child, we’ll signal the jeep driver who’ll blow the gate and race up the driveway. We’ll pile up on the jeep and drive like a bat out of hell. Halfway down the mountain we’ll switch to a separate car. And if we manage to make it that far, we’ll drive the rest of the way to the pier where the Mac and Brianna await us on the boat.
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