by Gennita Low
“So every time you call her, she asks, ‘What’s our favorite TV show?’ and you answer her?” There was something wrong here, but Reed couldn’t quite put a finger on it yet. “Can’t she recognize your voice?”
He watched Lily as she carefully sliced the apple into sections, as if it were very important to get every cube the same size. A password. Juvenile, but effective. Those girls were young, so maybe something like a password would appeal to them. But what kind of danger did they think they were in that they couldn’t even communicate on the cell phone without a secret code? They were escapees from thugs, not operatives involved in spy games.
“Want some apple?” Lily asked. Without waiting for his answer, she offered him a piece with a fork.
She was trying to distract him. He leaned closer, taking the fruit into his mouth. Their eyes met as he tugged it off the fork. The tart and sweet taste of apple filled his mouth as he continued watching her. She put a piece in her mouth, licking the juice off her lips. Fine, she wanted to tempt him, he’d bite. Time to push her again.
“Now that we’ve reassured your friend you’re okay and will be late going home,” he said, getting up, “let’s hear your other plans.”
She looked around the room, then shrugged again. “It depends on what your plans are.”
He settled onto the sofa by the fireplace. “So you’re placing yourself in my hands?”
“What choice do I have? First, I don’t have any clothes.” She came over to join him. “And don’t give me that look. I can read your mind.”
“That’d be an easy thing to do,” Reed said, amused. “All you have to do is keep reminding me you don’t have any clothes on.”
“You see? That’s so male. I said, ‘I don’t have any clothes.’ You’re the one who tagged ‘on’ at the end of the sentence.” She leaned back, drawing his eyes to her legs again. “Once you get me something to wear, we can go to my hotel to pick up the rest of my clothes.”
“And then?” He wanted to know all her options. His own were simple. Nikki had said they needed time as they gathered information. All he had to do was stall long enough for them to find out the identity of the person who’d shot at them, as well as whether there was a price on Lily’s head. In the meantime, he was to work at finding out what was on Lily’s mind. So far he hadn’t seen any evidence that suggested she was confused or afraid, which meant he had to get even closer to her. Quickly. He tried to distance his emotions by mentally going through what he knew of her. He watched her hands as they smoothed the hem of her T-shirt. Not working.
“Reed, I thought you said you’d help me get more passports. I know you have something in mind. What is it?” She crossed her legs, exposing even more of her thigh. “I don’t have the cash. If you can’t help me, let me know now. I don’t beg.”
“I can only help so much, sweetheart,” Reed said. “Look, I’m a gunrunner. I can make another deal, but if you know the business at all, you know these things take some time. I sold my last batch to get the passports so I can get out of this hellhole. So currently, aside from my own personal stuff, I’m running on empty. All I can do right now is go to Johnny to get some information, find out whether he has a buyer who’s in need of something hot on the market, and maybe cut you into the deal. Maybe.”
She tucked a stray strand of black hair behind her ear as she studied him thoughtfully. “What do you want from me?” she asked quietly. “Besides sex?”
He shook his head. “That isn’t part of our deal. I can have that from you right now and you know it.”
She arched a brow. “Confident, aren’t we?”
He was dying to get his hands on her again, but, hey, he was willing to play the waiting game a bit longer. After all, he still didn’t have any condoms. But that didn’t stop him from getting off the sofa.
Her eyes widened when he kneeled down in front of her. “Want me to demonstrate?” he asked. He put a hand on her knee. He felt her tightening to keep her legs together. “I have time.”
“I…don’t,” she said, a slight tremor in her voice. “This isn’t fair. I’m here like some kept woman while you play your stupid game. Are you going to help me or not?”
She was right. It really wasn’t fair, and Reed had no idea what this was leading to. But he wanted this woman to give herself to him freely. He wanted to do her in the most carnal way till she let all her defenses down.
“If I still say maybe, would you open your legs for me?”
Temper darkened her eyes to jet black. “You’re a damn crude American, you know that?”
Yeah. But only with her. “It’s important to me,” he said.
“Why?” She covered his hand with hers but didn’t stop him as he slid his fingers under her shirt. Her thighs were warm and smooth. “Why is it important that you seduce me? You don’t know me.”
“Exactly. But I want you badly enough that I’m actually thinking about doing one last run. I was going to enjoy myself with one wild weekend, you know, sort of like a celebration to the end of the old me. Then you came swaggering into my life.” He shrugged. “Providence, maybe?”
“Providence,” she repeated slowly. “That’s a mighty big word from a gunrunner.”
But it was an easy subject for Reed. And he could be honest about it. “They say things happen for a reason,” he said, feeling the tensing muscle in her calf as he ran a teasing finger up its length, “and so I’m always trying to find this reason. Take your dropping into my life, for instance. Is it simply just because of what I have, or is it just a means for providence to bring you right here?”
She shook her head, as if she wasn’t sure what to make of him. She wouldn’t be the only one. He’d never spoken like this to anyone but Arch. Even his SEAL teammates had never seen this side of him. He was Joker, the quiet one, always the listener.
“So what do you want to prove with me?” she asked.
“I want you to say yes to me, in spite of the fact that I might not help you.” Why the hell would that be important to him? He didn’t know. It shouldn’t matter, as long as she told him where the weapon was…but somehow he didn’t want that to become part of this attraction for her. He wanted her to want him for himself. “So I’m being honest. I like the idea of my final celebration being with a woman I didn’t pay for. I want to make you cream up because you want to. What’s wrong with that?”
She started laughing, just a little wildly. “‘Cream up’?”
“Yeah. Like this.” Nudging her knees apart, Reed bunched the T-shirt in one hand and shoved it up.
“Reed!” Her voice was breathless, panicked.
“Stop me if I’m not doing it right,” he told her and reached for the fruit he really wanted to taste.
* * *
Lily couldn’t believe this was happening. She’d lost it. She never let a man take the lead in sex. She never let a man take over, period. It was a point of pride for her that she was the one in control, that her partner was helpless and weak. Yet for the third time this morning, this man had broken through her resistance by just touching her.
A woman he didn’t pay for. He didn’t know how seductive those words were. To give to someone freely again—was it possible?
Her past had made it impossible for her to act normally with men, so she’d tended to avoid relationships. She’d had men wanting her before, had walked away from them without any problems. So why couldn’t she do it now?
Providence. She was at the end of her rope. He didn’t know it, but he was the only hope she’d left to help the girls.
But why not for you, too?
His shoulders nudged her thighs further apart. She pulled the ends of her shirt out of his hand and pulled it down, covering herself. His hands, however, remained where they were. She made a final attempt to escape the temptation of giving in to her needs. “Reed, we can’t spend the whole morning doing this. So much to do…I want to get my clothes and…” She lost her train of thought as his hands reached further up under he
r T-shirt.
“The stores downstairs don’t open till ten, so I can’t get you anything to wear till then anyway,” he said in the most reasonable voice. “Then when we get your things, I’ll have to get some cash and weapons, since I lost those in the river last night. We can’t see Johnny till late in the day because that’s how he conducts business. Plenty of time, Lily.”
She sucked in her breath as his hands roamed freely over her tummy, on her thighs, teasing her with his thumbs. “This is insane. Last night—”
“Last night changed everything,” he said, his voice low and seductive. “Don’t you agree? You’re getting wet. Why don’t you just sit back and relax?”
Relax? Was he nuts? She stared at him, then laughed. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked. She was supposed to be urgently running around town, getting the necessary papers to get her girls out and here she was being tempted to enjoy what fate brought her. “There’s got to be more on your mind than my body!”
He shook his head. “Right now? Nope, not a thing. All this arranging will take a couple of days, you know. So why not just relax here with me? I think you’re just a control freak. When was the last time you just lay back and let someone take care of you?”
She continued staring at him. Lie back, relax…let everything float for a few days. She’d been on the run for months. How she would love that. But the girls…there was nothing she could do without getting the passports, and this man, with his secretive gray eyes, was her chance to quickly get more. She knew he would help her, even though he kept playing this stupid game.
She was tired of thinking for everyone. She was tired, period. And for the first time, she wasn’t having that dreaded feeling of anxiety hanging over her. She should be afraid of this man, but she wasn’t.
She didn’t fully trust him, of course. He was a gunrunner, after all, with the same arrogance and for-the-moment attitude of someone who lived on the edge. He intrigued her with his air of mystery, spouting philosophy with such ease while his eyes undressed her. The way he was trying to get her to do things his way told her he wasn’t someone she could just play with. Plus, he wanted her.
And, she admitted, she wanted him.
Why was it so easy to let go with him? “And what happens in a few days?” she whispered.
His eyes gleamed at the knowledge that she was giving in. “Who knows? I can’t promise you anything. Maybe I’ll let you go, maybe not.”
She frowned. “I wasn’t talking about myself.”
His mouth curved. “I know. You’re obsessed with the passports. I want you to think of you and me in terms of you.”
She shook her head. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
She watched, fascinated, as his hands reappeared from under her shirt. He slowly pushed the material upward again. “Just think of it, Lily. A few days of pleasure. Just for yourself. No worry about passports, no girlfriend you have to report to, no vehicles trying to smash you to pieces. Just you and me, alone. What’s wrong with that?”
This time she didn’t stop his descending head. She gasped at the touch of his lips. Time for herself, he said. She couldn’t think of a single argument to counter his clever tongue.
* * *
The devil was an insidious piece of…Reed nodded curtly at Petr. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now.
“Have you called your father yet, sir?” Petr asked.
“Not yet. Why? He doesn’t like to be disturbed in the States at this hour anyway.”
“He’s actually on business in Prague.”
Hell. That was close enough for a visit. “He hasn’t mentioned anything about coming down here, has he?” Reed asked carefully.
“Not that I know of, sir, but I’m sure he can jet down here quickly for any family plans,” Petr informed him without any telltale sign he knew that would be the last thing Reed wanted. “But I wanted you to know because I’m sure he’ll call me today sometime.”
It was Petr’s way of saying that Reed’s stay wouldn’t be a secret any longer. The man was one of his father’s most trusted assistants. Of course Petr would have to tell his employer that his youngest son was staying at the suite.
“Will you get hold of me after you’ve talked to him?” Reed asked.
“Of course. Sir, wouldn’t it be better if you called him yourself?”
Reed didn’t feel like explaining anything to his father, and he had a feeling it would be one of those long conversations about his lack of ambition and his need to go talk to his mother. After all, he hadn’t talked to her since…he couldn’t remember when he’d last had any words with her. Had it been after Arch’s funeral? Maybe once more after that, who knows.
“Just let me know when he calls, Petr, that’s all. Tell him I’ll be staying at the suite for a few more days. If it’s inconvenient, I’ll find some other place.”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, Petr, are the stores down in the lobby open yet?”
“I think they’re just starting their business day.”
“If I place an order with them, can you pick up the items and deliver them up here? Thank you.”
Once he was alone, Reed stared at the portrait of his father, which was hanging over the mantelpiece in the office. This must be a recent piece, since Reed had never seen it before. His father had always been a handsome man, with the dark good looks of his Italian ancestors, and old age had given him a distinguished air. Or maybe the artist had somehow added that layer, like artists tended to do with important subjects.
He massaged the back of his neck to ease the tension that always seemed to appear whenever he thought of his father. Or anything to do with family, for that matter. It’d been a while since he’d sat down to talk to the old guy.
He should, at least, make a cursory call, but superficiality escaped him right now. There was currently enough deception around him that he didn’t think he could sound artlessly pleasant in any conversation with his father. He thought of Lily on the sofa upstairs. Her response to him was real. Her answers rang true so far. If that was the case, then he was the one doing all the deceiving here. He was surprised at how hard he’d had to fight his instincts. It’d always been his nature to accept things as they were and move on when deception got in the way; he hadn’t thought that would interfere in the course of a mission, though.
One thing was for sure. He couldn’t fail Admiral Madison in this Joint Mission with GEM. The latter had fulfilled their part of the bargain by letting his SEAL teammates destroy the caches of weapons that Dilaver had hidden. This device that he was trying to get from Lily was the only thing GEM wanted and his commander, Hawk, had been unable to secure. This was the last chance.
Reed sighed. Well, he’d always wanted a last chance in which things went right. With his parents. With Arch. Ironically, it seemed the only thing he was pretty good at was shooting things down, without giving them a last chance, so to speak. He thought of Lily again. Last chances were always powerful and meaningful.
Dude, quit thinking like that or life will drown you, man.
As it did you, Arch, my friend, as it did you.
Reed dialed the secure number to contact Nikki Harden. He had to report—without too many details, he hoped—he’d managed to get Lily to agree to spend a few days with him and to outline the new schedule of events.
The woman was like an addiction. He hadn’t wanted to leave her in the suite.
And you haven’t even made love to her yet.
He wanted to, desperately, but he wasn’t that far gone. He wouldn’t do it without protection. He’d be out of his mind to play with fate like that.
“It’s Reed,” he said, after he was patched through. Not that they didn’t know it already. “I’m to accompany her to get her belongings at her hotel. I need some weapons. Is there a place I can pick some up without trouble?”
There was a slight pause. Reed could hear some discussion in the background. “I can deliver them to you,
” Nikki said.
“You mean, meet me in person?”
“It’ll give me a chance to see Lily in person, too.”
He’d forgotten Nikki was working with him to evaluate Lily’s mental status. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea. “How do we meet?”
“Like all spies, of course—at the park.” Nikki’s voice was amused. “You know how they exchange goodies there while reading some paper on the benches.”
“Or feeding the birds,” Amber chimed in. “Don’t forget the dark sunglasses, even in winter.”
The women were making fun of him. “All right. What time and which park?” Reed wrote the venue and time down on the pad in front of him. “Do I introduce you to her?”
“Yes. The usual cover, but we’ll use a car instead of walking around in the cold. During the conversation, I’ll be telling her that someone’s after her, then when you get to Johnny Chic, he can confirm this again. Make a good bargain, Reed, so she can see you as a gunrunner who can help her sell that weapon.”
He didn’t want Lily to see him just in that role, but at least there really was someone after her. “Any news about the dead body in the alley?” he asked.
“He’s a former East German operative. I know, there’s no such thing as East Germany, but there are certain factions who’ve hired many of those who used to work for the other side. He’s been inactive for a while, so we’re working on the angle of a network of operatives who’s been called back. Johnny Chic talked to Greta last night, so whoever shot our dead operative also works for her.”
He was glad that one detail had been confirmed. Lily wasn’t working with Greta. Not now anyway. “Is she behind this whole thing with the sleeper?” Reed asked.
“That’s what T’s working on. Amber’s looking for information for us, too.”
