by Linda Conrad
Tarik thanked her and made his way through the tangle of sweaty, dancing bodies all moving to a bossa nova beat. In a darkened corner of the main floor, he found a staircase to the penthouse above. He made a mental note of its placement but moved on into an alcove that held what was loosely called the public restrooms.
The alcove was crowded with lines of people waiting for a turn at the toilets. He thought about asking someone to check the stalls for Jass but decided against it. No telling who was a real patron of the club and who was here on some kind of criminal business.
As he stood toward the rear of the lines considering his next move, he heard footsteps on the stairs behind him. An argument reached his ears, and he had just enough time to duck for cover under the open stairwell. The conversation was taking place in the Taj Zabbar language and the two men speaking were making no attempt to keep their voices down.
They stopped on the landing right above his head to continue their disagreement. “I do not like the idea of staying in the country for the next four days, Excellency. It is not safe. Too much frivolity in this place.”
“Nonsense.” With that one word, Tarik recognized the second speaker’s deep voice. “The Russian…uh… Eltsin is a powerful man. He will protect us while we are in Brazil. Has he not already told the elder that we have no risk of losing anything in this little charade of his?”
“But what about the other bidders? I am concerned about our main mission and the other item. The one we were sent to Rio to claim.”
“Remember your place and trust me to do what needs to be done. We’ve been invited to stay for the next few days at Eltsin’s retreat in the mountains not far from here. I assume that he means for us to procure that other item during our private stay. His men will escort us into the mountains tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s enjoy ourselves, shall we?”
“Yes, Excellency. Whatever you say.”
Tarik recognized the more formidable voice as that of Malik Kasim Taj Zabbar, head of the secret police in Zabbarán. The two men lit cigars and proceeded down the stairs, disappearing into the crowds on the dance floor.
Well, that answered one thing for sure. The Taj Zabbar were here in Rio to attend Eltsin’s auction. But now Tarik had many more questions. What charade? And what was the other item they’d been talking about?
And where the devil was Jass?
A commotion erupted above his head. He heard a man growling orders in Portuguese. And he heard a woman’s voice, calm and cool, returning the sentiments in Russian.
Jass. Tarik shot up the stairs without thinking. What had she gotten herself into?
Chapter 5
Jass tried to keep her voice down, low and sultry like Celile would. But this idiot bodyguard didn’t speak any of her languages and he wouldn’t give in and take her to see the Russian. All he wanted to do was flash his knife and make threats in a slang version of Portuguese.
All she’d wanted to do was a little scouting around. Maybe get a line on what the upcoming auction was all about. And she’d hoped to do so unnoticed. No such luck.
Now she was going to have to use force to make the bodyguard let her go. Something she was sure Celile would never be caught dead doing. Ah well.
Flipping her head and allowing the annoying silky veil of fake long hair to fall over one eye, she aimed a come-hither look at him. She continued to work her womanly wiles as she reached for the hem of her dress and slowly began lifting it up her thighs.
The bodyguard’s eyes bugged out of his head and his tongue nearly hit the floor. A little farther and Jass could reach the derringer she’d holstered between her thighs and right below her crotch. Another inch and…
“Trouble, love?” Tarik came up behind the bodyguard and pulled him into a headlock before the guy ever knew what had hit him.
One neat karate chop to the forearm and the guy’s knife disappeared into the darkness. Next Tarik used a tricky pressure-point move, and in seconds the bodyguard was quietly laid out unconscious on the floor.
Jass dropped her dress and shook her head. “I was handling it, Kadir. No sense making anyone mad.”
Tarik’s expression went hard. Something in his gaze shook her. But she didn’t have time to consider it.
He took her by the wrist and spun them both in the direction of the stairs. “Tell me later. Right now, I need to make a quick exit before the Taj Zabbar spot me in the crowd.”
“The Taj are here? Tonight?” She had seen two Middle Eastern men leaving the penthouse suite as she was hiding down the hall. They were the Taj Zabbar? Couldn’t prove it by her. “Can we please discuss this later?” He hustled her down the stairs and pushed through the crowded lines waiting to use the restrooms and mingling around the back exit.
Next thing she knew they were shoving past another couple of sleazy-looking characters who might’ve been bouncers as Tarik shoved their way out into the alley behind the club. The balmy night air and the unfortunate but prevalent smells of garbage hit her smack in the face.
“Keep moving.” Tarik dropped her hand and pulled a phone out of his pocket. “We’ll have our driver pick us up around the block.”
Yeah, if we live that long. “Hold on a minute. Let me reach my weapon, before…”
Tarik elbowed her in the back and propelled her forward as he frantically poked buttons on his phone. “Keep moving if you want to stay alive.”
Of all the arrogant, testosterone-loaded—
Jass didn’t waste any breath telling him off as she pounded down the dark cobblestones in her stilettos. Not yet. First she needed to live through the rest of this night.
But afterward…rogue agent Tarik Kadir had better watch his step. She was ready to let him have it.
By the time they arrived back at the honeymoon suite, Jass was in a full snit as she stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. A tiny kernel of guilt snuck up on Tarik. As annoying as she had been on the ride home, he was still hyperaware of that vulnerability he’d spotted in her on the dance floor.
He could see how CIA covert officer Jasmine O’Reilly would be hard-pressed to accept help from anyone in the middle of an assignment. Even if it might save both her life and the mission. Irritating. And yet, Tarik also found it somehow endearing.
But he hadn’t expected the private side of Jass O’Reilly to be so sexy. And a world-class kisser to boot.
The two of them still needed to arrive at a better working relationship. A good, soul-revealing conversation was in order. But not tonight. Tonight he would back off and let her lick her wounded pride.
He stepped into the walk-in bedroom closet, where the hotel valets had hung their things, and began pulling out a change of clothes for himself. The bathroom door opened and Jass walked out, completely covered in one of the hotel’s full-length terry robes. She still wore Celile’s hair and makeup, but in the robe she was all Jass. A little sweet and hesitant. And a whole lot spicy.
“I’ll take the couch, Kadir. Give me a moment to gather up a pillow and blanket.”
“No can do,” he told her with a shrug. “If any of the hotel staff lets themselves in to make up the kitchen or bring in an early breakfast, it won’t be acceptable for the lovebirds to be sleeping in separate rooms.”
For a split second she looked terrified. He had a guilty feeling that she was remembering the supposedly fake kiss he’d given her on the dance floor. He was having some trouble forgetting the kiss himself.
He reached for a solution that would give them both space. “You take the bed. There’s a decent chaise on the balcony terrace right outside the bedroom. I’ll be good out there. Give me a minute to shower.”
He edged around her as she stood mute where she was. “It’ll be fine, partner. Don’t worry. I sleep like a rock.”
It was a lie; he seldom needed more than a couple hours a night and always slept lightly in case of attack. But the excuse was the best he could come up with on short notice. The one thing he hadn’t lied about was that she nee
dn’t worry. As much as she turned him on in so many ways, he wouldn’t be rushing into a sexual relationship in the middle of an undercover assignment. Not with anyone, and least of all not with the woman who’d flinched in response to his touch and whose kiss was one of the most sensual and memorable of his lifetime.
Restless and too warm, Jass tossed the covers for the umpteenth time that night and sat up in bed. She automatically turned her head to glance toward the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony terrace, making sure Tarik was still where he’d been the last seven times she’d checked during the long night.
But this time when she looked, the chaise was empty. She spotted him then, standing with his back to her at the railing, staring out at the first rays of the rising sun.
Her body seemed to react to the sight of him all on its own. She swung her legs over the side of the king-size bed and threw open the glass doors, moving in his direction without fully knowing why.
He had to have heard her sliding back the doors, but he didn’t turn and remained silent and brooding where he stood. She went to the railing too and gazed out on beautiful Copacabana Beach and beyond that across the bay to Sugarloaf Mountain shrouded in the morning mists.
Tarik didn’t turn but said, “It’s early. Go back to bed.”
She gazed up at his profile. “I was hot and needed some air.”
He said nothing more and made no move. She wanted to drag her gaze away, but couldn’t keep herself from staring at his hard jawline and rigid stance. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his broad muscular chest led down to a flat belly and lower to a pair of white boxer shorts. The purely masculine and sensual sight captured her attention and imagination, paralyzing her with sudden longing.
She’d always known Tarik Kadir as the covert officer to play the part of a ladies’ man. The charmer. The agent who could worm his way inside any nest of bad guys with a few glib words and a smile.
Not her type. Not even someone she could be friends with, really.
Still, her body had reacted almost violently to his kiss last night. She’d been hyperaware of the extraordinary strength in the arms that held her tight. Super sensitive to his calloused fingers as he’d touched the skin on her arms. And extremely susceptible to the warmth of his breath on her neck. It had so affected her that she’d run like a scared rabbit.
Inside, where all her insecurities lay, she was still running.
She thought of later last night, when there’d also been that strange way his eyes had held hers for a single moment after he’d come to her rescue. Something she saw in those dark eyes said there might be more to the man. Could it be that all his fast-talking charm hid a sensitive and intelligent person underneath?
She looked at him again. As the first rays of sun hit his face, the strong set of his chin made her want to reassess all of her initial impressions. Perhaps she and her handler Ed had rushed to judgment about Tarik.
“So,” she began. “You went into Zabbarán to help your brother and found a nuclear reactor. That must’ve been a shock.”
“Not especially.” He turned and looked at her for the first time that morning. “By then I would’ve expected anything from the Taj. Both my brothers have firsthand knowledge of how truly terrifying the Taj tribe can behave when no one is watching.”
“Tell me about them— Your family, I mean.”
Tarik went to the chaise and sat, patting the spot beside him and inviting her to join him on the wide cushions. “Not much to tell. Darin and Shakir and their new wives are everything to me. I’m the baby of our three brothers. But there’s also dozens of cousins and relations and now a new nephew and another baby on the way. We’re a tight group, though some of the rest of our family are spread all over the world.”
“How has such an extended family managed to stay close together when you have no homeland?” Jass did settle on the chaise, but she kept a good distance between their two bodies and folded her arms tightly across her chest, her legs up under her butt.
No sense giving her own wayward body any ideas. She was curious about him and his family. About how he’d turned into the man he’d become. That’s all there was to this sudden need to be close.
“Ah. Well, we’re raised with a deep sense of family loyalty. It’s tradition with the Kadirs. But even that didn’t always keep us physically close.”
He stopped talking, took a breath and glanced over at her. “Are you cold? You don’t have much on. Just that T-shirt. You want to go inside or maybe grab your robe?”
“I’m fine. It’s quite balmy out here.” Again she was grateful for her olive complexion keeping the blush from her cheeks, but she wasn’t ready to open her arms or unfold her legs from beneath her body.
Tarik gave her an odd look, but then clasped his hands and leaned his elbows on his knees. “When the family first realized we were being threatened by the Taj Zabbar, they called us all to a family conclave from our various corners of the world. Darin had been running Kadir Shipping from a Greek island. Shakir had resigned his commission from a British paratrooper regiment in Afghanistan and was in the process of starting up his own security business. And I…well, you know where I was.”
She nodded but wasn’t sure he saw the movement since he was staring at the floor. “Every one of you dropped your lives and came, without question?”
“It’s that loyalty thing again. Runs in the family. Identity and loyalty have been a huge part of our makeup for centuries.” He stared down at his joined fingers. “Besides, I would go anywhere for my two brothers. I would die for them. They kept me going when things were rough.”
“What about your parents?”
He sighed, not so loud that she was supposed to hear, but she noticed anyway. “Our mother died of cancer when I was young. It shook all of us, but especially my father. He left us with the help and dived into his businesses with his complete attention.
“Turns out, the help left a lot to be desired,” he added with a snicker. “Oh, we were fed and clothed. But all three of us were very young and had been completely spoiled by our mother. None of us knew how to grieve and we were blindsided by the loss of our parents’ love.”
He shrugged and seemed to struggle for the right words. She was willing to bet that he seldom faced these old memories. They seemed to be raising a range of emotions he didn’t know how to handle.
“I’m sorry,” she said to fill up the silence. “I know how bad that must have been. My mother died when I was about ten. It was a difficult thing to get past.”
But her mother had not been the type to spoil her, not in the least. In fact, Jass remembered a moment when she’d felt almost glad her mother was gone, enabling her to be alone with her easygoing father.
However, things hadn’t exactly worked out that way either.
Tarik frowned and turned his head toward her. “Yes, it was bad enough. Did your father take up the slack in your life after losing your mother?”
“He would’ve liked to. But he had to work to support us. And his job with the CIA suddenly became all about the covert assignments and he was gone most of the time. My mother’s family took up the slack, as you call it.”
Tarik chuckled. “You should see your face. Like you tasted something sour. I’m guessing your mother’s family wasn’t exactly what you had in mind.”
Jass chuckled at her own reactions to the memories. “Um…no. They were immigrants from Iran and very strict. They expected me to grieve all the time for the first year. I was only ten. After that, it was pray, pray, pray. I escaped during breaks and in the summers when my dad was between assignments.”
She tried to push the memories aside like she always had as a child. It wasn’t working as well this time.
“Did you do anything else to escape?”
“Like what? I did read a lot. And I daydreamed about having adventures with my father. I idolized him.” When she noticed Tarik’s expression began to change again, she shifted the focus back to him. “So what did you do to
escape?”
“Me? I made up stories and acted them out.” He stood and paced along the length of the terrace. “In my daydreams, I became anything I wanted. I could go anywhere in my mind that I wanted—be anyone I wanted. A pirate, a cowboy or an astronaut. I learned I could escape into my head anytime if I plastered a smile on my face and stayed quiet.”
The man was a romantic. She never would’ve guessed that about him. Knowing it now, knowing he understood her daydreams, made him seem more human. Someone she could build a friendship with after this mission was over.
They were both quiet for a few minutes while Tarik kept pacing. She suspected he was as lost in his thoughts as she’d been.
“Seems we have a few things in common.” The sympathy in her voice astounded even her.
Tarik stepped behind the chaise and gently laid his two hands on her shoulders. It was a friendly gesture, but the electric shock that sizzled between them caused her to draw back in surprise.
“Tense?” He began kneading her neck muscles. “You need to relax with me. I thought we were getting closer to developing a decent working relationship. We’ll never pull off being lovers if you keep flinching every time we touch.”
She jerked away from his hands and stood to face him. “I can pull off any covert op. Don’t worry about me—I’m the best you’ve ever worked with. Keep your hands to yourself when we’re alone and stick to your job.”
“Jass…” He held out his hands, palms up, as if pleading for her understanding. “Before we’re through with this mission, we may need to be seen touching and kissing while in public places. And it’s even possible we may have to sleep in the same bed. We’d better come up with some solution if this thing between us is going to be a problem.”
Tarik looked exasperated but went on, “Maybe what we need is a good old-fashioned roll in the hay. To break the ice. It might conquer your inhibitions.”
Speechless for a moment, Jass stared until her indignation came pouring out. “Not on your li—”
