Circle of Desire

by Carla Swafford

  He cocked his head. “You keep surprising me.”

  “What did you think I was? All brawn and no brain?” She wasn’t some killing machine. It took organization and intellect to set up the hits and get away unseen. Her handler told her who to hit but never the details to accomplish it. “I’m astonished they didn’t blow it up.”

  “Four are in the hospital.” Though he said it with an even voice, she detected worry in his eyes.

  Uncomfortable with the thought, she wandered through the room, picking up a knick-knack she’d purchased in Singapore and rearranged it on the end table. Then she wiped off dust from a candy dish she’d picked up in Chicago and straightened a figurine from London, all mementos from her work. She felt his gaze following her the whole time.

  Unable to resist, she looked toward the sofa. He watched her with cold eyes, assessing and finding her wanting.

  She crossed her arms and rested a hip on the edge of her Carpathian wood desk. “What now?”

  His jaw shifted as he stared at her. Only the tick-tock of her grandfather clock broke the silence.

  Well, hell. What was he mad about now? She replayed their conversation and sighed. Why should she be concerned about his people? Their success with breaking into her home meant she had to live in the OS building for now. If . . . no . . . when she escaped, she would find a way to retrieve her things with or without his cooperation. Besides, she hadn’t asked to be taken and sure as hell hadn’t asked for them to invade her house. From what she’d seen, no children worked for the OS, so they were all adults and well aware of what they were getting into.

  “Okay.” She rolled her eyes. “Were they damaged badly?” She had difficulties in being compassionate.

  “Damaged,” he muttered beneath his breath in disbelief and then said clearly, “They’ll live.”

  She shifted to another hip on the desk edge. Why should she care that he looked disappointed with her? She cared about the orphans at St. Vincent and he was using it against her.

  “Listen, I don’t know what you expect. You’ve got me where you want me figuratively and literally. By controlling me through your threat about the orphanage, you’ve proved attachments of any kind are dangerous in our line of work.” She mentally shook her head. He’d shown her how she’d grown attached to more than she realized.

  Hell, she was now explaining herself to him. Why did she care so much what he thought of her? She stood and paced across her antique rug from Turkey. She refused to explain anything she did to anyone. One of the best ways to live a long life as an eliminator for The Circle was to keep her mouth shut. This time her life depended on her talking.

  She wiped her hands down the sides of her sweats. Tall, dark, and handsome hadn’t commented on her ramblings. The only emotion she caught on his face besides disappointment was interest. At least she had that, his interest in her body, though he fought it by snapping at her. It was obvious each time his gaze followed her around the room. His attraction toward her might help in her escape.

  “Excuse me while I shower.” She turned and pulled off the back of her sports bra and looked over her shoulder at Collin. “Want to join me?”

  When he remained on the couch, his eyes half-closed in contemplation, she shrugged. “Well, come in if you change your mind. If you don’t, your loss.”

  What was she up to? The look she gave him before announcing her shower warned she was planning to use him somehow.

  Collin stared at the hallway long after he heard the water running. The tightness in his groin frustrated him. He needed his mind clear while dealing with her.

  From their research, he learned that Olivia had lived at the same orphanage until age ten when a woman fostered her. None of the papers explained why the orphanage waited so late. Even after papers were filed for the woman to adopt her at age twelve, they never followed through. Olivia’s foster mother died and no explanation provided why the woman’s brother was given permission to take Olivia. By the time the orphanage reported the woman’s death and the sequential questionable guardianship to social services, Olivia was fourteen and a runaway.

  The last bit of information they scraped together pointed to The Circle recruiting her at eighteen. What she did to survive for four years, he could only imagine. The woman was a survivor.

  He dug into his pocket as his phone vibrated, irritating the hell out of him because he didn’t need another problem. Maybe he should be thankful the reminder of his duty to the OS eased his hard-on. At the same time, a knock brought his attention to the view panel next to the door.

  Rex grinned into the camera and raised his middle finger.

  Phone to his ear, Collin strode over to the door and keyed in the code. His second in command eyed the living room with unease and slid into a chair across from Collin. He jerked to look behind him as if Olivia planned to jump out and attack.

  Collin nodded toward the hallway, letting Rex know where Olivia was as he resumed listening to one of his handlers describe a clash between OS and Circle operatives.

  Rex lifted his chin in understanding and continued checking out the room while seated. He wrinkled his nose in distaste, waiting for Collin to finish his conversation. With a snap, Collin closed his cell phone and looked questioningly at Rex. The man hated Olivia and would never come into her apartment willingly.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Word has reached The Circle that you’re responsible for Olivia’s disappearance. They’re beginning to doubt you killed her.”

  Collin glanced at the hallway and back to his friend. “You know what that means.”

  “Yeah. We’ve got an infiltrator.” Rex stretched his long legs out and crossed them at the ankles. “I’ve got Nic checking to see if they’re sending messages out through the Internet or freestanding micros.”

  “Good. I’d hoped we would have a little more time.” He needed her fully encamped and questioned about every tidbit of information she possessed of The Circle.

  “Collin . . .” Rex’s hesitation pissed Collin off. When did his second in command hold back? Was everyone so certain he couldn’t handle the woman?

  “Spit it out.” He gritted his teeth to keep from saying more.

  “I know you examined her but could she be sending messages?”

  Collin stood and walked over to the hallway. The humming of a blow-dryer assured him Olivia wouldn’t hear.

  “I examined her thoroughly twice and Dr. Shelton once. She’s clean. We’ve checked under her skin and in all of her possessions for GPS micros or anything used for communications.” His body tightened with the memories of touching her body, all in the name of security.

  “I know you thought of everything, but I’ve never seen you so wrapped up with taking on a Circle operative like her. There are several operatives capable of handling her. She’s deadly and we need you elsewhere.” Rex inhaled deep as if he expected to be roundly reamed.

  “What happened to Jack won’t happen to me.” Collin hated to bring it up especially when his words drained the color from Rex’s face. “Maybe one day we’ll get all the specifics from her about Jack and Abby. Until that time, she’s needed. She’s the key to bringing down The Circle.”

  Rex jumped to his feet. “Don’t you think I don’t know that?” He stomped to the door and placed his palm against the steel, bowing his head. “You’re like a brother to me. I hate to see her sinking her claws into you too. She fooled Jack. Few were better than him. We all know she set up Abby.”

  No one deserved to live in the pain Rex did every day. For a man to lose his fiancée, the woman he planned to love and cherish forever, mere months before their wedding had redefined his thoughts of a happy ever after. Collin stopped behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. The big man’s body shook.

  “I’ll be careful.” Collin leaned to the side and punched in the door code. “Go and get things ready. Three months and then we’ll activate the plan.”

  When the door clicked closed behind Rex, Collin t
urned to see Olivia reclining on the couch with a white robe wrapped around her. Her bare toes painted a pink. They’d been red before.

  “Why three months? And what’s the plan?” she asked.

  Absent of makeup, her face looked younger. Then he remembered her file had said she was twenty-eight. Considering the difficult life she’d led, it stood to reason why she acted older, more cynical than most people her age.

  “You need to be briefed on our policies. Then we’ll test you to see what skills you possess and the best way to utilize them.” He watched one corner of her mouth quirk up as she tried to hold back the smile. “What’s so funny?”

  “You.” She gave up the struggle and grinned big. “All your policies, testing, and utilizing. Why don’t you talk like a regular person? And tell me in plain English what you want?” She raised one knee and the robe parted, exposing a long, smooth length of gentle muscled thigh to trim ankle. His hands itched to clasp her legs around his neck again and rejoice in the taste and heat of her body.

  Relaxed and smiling up at him, she revealed her true danger. Her sex appeal. Deep inside he’d realized he held an intense attraction to her. But for now, at the beginning of her training, he needed to keep her at arm’s length to a certain degree, holding himself away from her like a carrot in front of a donkey. He studied her face. If she could read his thoughts, he would be dead for comparing her to a donkey.

  She turned on her stomach, arms folded across the armrest, chin on top, looking at him with a poignant softness. Though she appeared all sweetness and femininity, he knew she was lethal. What method would she use to kill him? Her hand slammed into his nose, shoving bone and cartilage through his skull, killing him instantly? Or debilitating him with a hand to his crotch and then a twist of his neck? The latter took strength or skill. While she’d been handcuffed to the bed, he’d experienced firsthand the well-trained muscles defined beneath her silky skin. She had many deadly skills.

  In the business of training some of the most dangerous people in the world, he’d used every method possible to bond the individual to the organization. Over the years, he’d trained only two top operatives personally, leaving the others to the normal process, and neither had been as dangerous as Olivia. Plus the intimate bonding with the earlier operatives had never lasted longer than the six-month training, even though they remained friends.

  With his gaze lingering on her, she stood and shrugged, dropping the robe to the floor.

  “You were staring at me so intently that I figured you wanted to see me naked again.” She bent a knee, placing her bare foot against the other ankle and lifting her breasts like an offering.

  His cock sprang to attention. He wanted to take her on the floor, thrust into the hot depths of her body he’d tasted and remembered so well. One step, then another brought him close enough to smell her. The ordinary light flowery scents of soap and shampoo all women indulged in contradicted what he knew about her. No ordinary woman could hold an eighteen-pound sniper rifle, much less shoot one. Perversely the thought had his cock weeping for her touch.

  He leaned over; his shoulder skimmed her hip. His mouth mere inches from the place he wanted to return to, he inhaled the faint musk of her arousal. Her sharp intake of breath satisfied his inner demon. Always good to know she wanted him as badly. He picked up the robe and placed it on her shoulders. He swept her hair from beneath the robe and brushed his fingers across a high cheekbone.

  “Go to bed and sleep. I’ll wake you at five. We’ll start with exercise and go from there,” he said a mere breath from her lips. That his voice or fingers didn’t tremble proved he remained in control.

  “We could do some exercise tonight,” her tongue glided over his lips, “in bed.”

  Heat shot to his groin. Damn. The woman’s moves could easily bring him to his knees if he let her. His pulse sped up with the thought of tonguing her clit and tasting honey again.

  Placing a finger over her mouth, he held his head away. “Go to bed. Alone.”

  He walked toward the door and paused to key in the code. An itchy feeling had him glancing over his shoulder and he caught her staring fixedly at the keypad.

  “Don’t even try. The code changes every hour and I’m the only one who knows the sequence.”

  As the door slowly closed, he caught sight of her standing in the middle of the room smiling, giving him a one finger salute.

  He chuckled as he walked down the hall toward his office. If he’d told her how much she had in common with Rex, she’d say he was crazy.

  Considering he planned to risk the future of the OS on one unpredictable woman’s shoulders might prove her right.

  Chapter Five

  On, off, on, off, on. The little red light blinked in the far upper corner of her bedroom. Olivia’s vision blurred. Even lying in bed, they watched her. Earlier, while taking a shower, she’d seen the camera concealed in the bathroom. She couldn’t hide anywhere. How was the OS any different than The Circle? The Circle had spied on her the same way for the first few years, not until she’d proven herself.

  The hum of an air conditioner filled the dark room. She smoothed the chill bumps from her arms and glanced up again. The cameras probably turned to night mode when the lights were out. That meant they could keep an eye on her even as she slept.

  Was Collin standing at the controls and watching her? She slept without clothes. Theo had forbidden his women from wearing pajamas or nightgowns in his bed. Going naked so much made it difficult to sleep in cloth that twisted and restricted her movement. She even slept on top of the sheets. Her hands free to reach for a weapon.

  She chuckled. From what she could tell Collin and Rex had cleared out all her weapons. She could only hope he’d missed one.

  Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched the blinking light. Her gut feeling warned he followed her every movement. He waited for her to make a wrong move.

  Without giving her intentions away, earlier she’d searched every inch of the apartment. She pretended to examine her precious furniture for more nicks and scratches or to search for a lost earring. After a couple hours, she examined the living room between her eyelashes as she dozed on her couch. The vents weren’t large enough to crawl through and the apartment possessed only one door.

  If she wanted to attempt another escape, she needed out of the apartment and access to an elevator. The stairwell would take too long. When she entered the elevator, she would need a disguise or they would shut her down in five seconds flat.

  Off, on, off, on.

  Yeah, the sexy boss man was watching. What was a girl to do?

  A small grin played across her lips as her hand slipped between her thighs. She spread her legs a little, ensuring the camera had a straight shot. Her other hand cupped and squeezed a breast. She arched her back and dipped her head. One of the benefits of being big breasted was that she could reach a nipple with her mouth. It always incited a man into acts of passion they never planned or guessed they would do.

  Her tongue swirled a tip as she cut her eyes up at the camera and she grinned.

  Collin grasped the monitor until his knuckles lost all color. The woman taunted him.

  As soon as he’d seen her crawl into bed without a stitch on and look up at the camera, he knew they were about to see a show. He’d wasted no time shutting down the connection to the main monitoring station, but he’d been unable to resist and left it on in his office.

  He had no idea a woman could do that and the way his cock throbbed, he wasn’t soon to forget it.

  Then her hand drifted across her belly and thrust two fingers into the place he wanted to touch again. He remembered how soft her skin felt and the sweetness he tasted. He ached. How easy it would be to zip open his pants and relieve the tension her little show created.

  Shit! He stood up and turned his back to the screen. He needed to regain control of his body. Thinking about this woman all the time was not being productive. His father had lectured him and his brother about the dan
gers of a seductive woman. For that matter, his father taught them to never trust anyone, even each other.

  Heart racing, he took several deep breaths. Relieved he had the sense to lower the sound as soon as he realized what she was doing. Instead he soaked in the music of Nickelback filling his office from a stereo system built into the wall. Then he slapped a key near the monitor, shutting down the camera.

  He would give his life to the OS, but he’d be damn if he’d give that woman his soul.

  Olivia wanted to laugh, but the thought of how she’d affected the big boss man with her finger play brought her quickly to a climax. One day she would have the pleasure of seeing his face as she gave him an encore in person.

  Men were so predictable. He’d done exactly what she’d hoped. Checking the camera one more time, she smiled. Yep, the red light was off. But in case he played with her, she threw a blouse over it.

  She probably had around two minutes or less to do what was needed.

  Kneeling next to her bed, she felt the edge of her mattress. What a relief; they’d brought everything of hers to the apartment. Most of the weapons they’d confiscated, but she hoped they had missed one area. She pushed the mattress off the box springs, feeling along the side. A little indention gave it away. There! They’d missed the flat metal box inserted in the wooden side. From first glance it appeared to be part of the design, but it actually held the tools needed to unlock doors and a thin deadly knife. Hanging around Theo and his fetish for knives came in handy.

  She wasted no time straightening the bed. Then she slipped the kit and knife into the pocket of some pants she planned to wear in the morning. Without a second to spare she pulled the blouse off the camera and dove into the bed. Making sure her hands hovered near her groin as she pretended to be dozing. Opening her eyes to slits, she watched the camera. She’d counted to sixteen Mississippi’s when the light started blinking again.