by Kaylea Cross
Claire stifled the urge to wipe her damp palms on her dress pants, and licked her lips. Either he didn’t know what she’d done yet, or he was playing her to see if she’d come clean. She never knew with him. “I have a situation I need to report.”
His posture and expression never changed. “Okay. Shoot.”
Where to begin? “I was checking into something and got a hit that you need to be aware of.” Alex didn’t respond, not so much as a flicker of an eyelid. She blew out a breath and plunged onward. “A friend contacted me and asked me to run some information about some chatter between a Pakistani civilian and the TTP.”
“And this friend,” Alex said slowly, “knew to contact you for this how?”
“I owed him a favor.” Her face was bright red, she knew it was. “He’s former SF and now contracting in Pakistan.”
Alex grunted. He put his foot back on the floor, sat up and folded his hands on top of his desk. “So you’re here to inform me that you’ve been looking into something you shouldn’t have.”
“Partly, yes. But the information I found is going to be flagged in the agency database, because—”
“And you wanted to come clean before I found out on my own,” he finished, one dark eyebrow arching.
God, it was near impossible to not squirm under the intensity of that gaze. “Yessir. But there’s more—” She faltered as her phone buzzed in her pocket. Gage. Had to be. She resisted the urge to grab it and check the display.
“Your friend?” Alex asked wryly. “What’s his name?”
SF was a tight knit community. Despite their age difference, it was possible Alex and Gage had crossed paths at some point. “Gage Wallace.”
Alex’s gaze sharpened with interest. “I know Wallace. Solid operator. What’s he working on that he needed Intel from you?”
Her phone vibrated again. Though she desperately needed to warn Gage, she didn’t dare talk to him here. Instead she gestured to the computer on Alex’s desk. “I found a link a few minutes ago—a big one. If you wouldn’t mind looking up Malik Hassani, Islamabad.” She reached down and silenced her phone without looking at it, sending a silent apology to Gage.
Alex’s brows immediately drew together. He turned to his computer without a word, making Claire sure that he was already familiar with the name. A few keystrokes and commands later, Alex turned his head to look at her in astonishment. “You mean him?” He angled the screen toward her so she could see Hassani’s face; a middle aged Pakistani man with black eyes and a closely trimmed goatee.
“Yes. I looked into it, and since the bombing last night in Peshawar there’s been chatter about another operation in the planning stages. It’s set for this morning, but they don’t mention where or who the target is.” Though she could guess and she wanted to be sure Gage knew what was happening. At least her voice sounded more confident than she felt. This information was important, and if she was smart she could frame what she’d stumbled upon as a win for both her and the agency. She just needed to find a way to make this work in her favor. Claire waited, bracing for a reprimand at the dark look on her boss’s face.
“Start at the beginning,” he commanded, his attention riveted on her, his posture radiating urgency.
Claire did, explaining about Youssef Khan and how he was linked to Hassani, how Titanium Security was involved in everything. She mentioned Khalia Patterson and her father, John, his kidnapping and murder and the riots that had cost the life of the American security contractor Scottie Easton.
Alex’s mouth was a thin line by the time she finished. “You realize who Hassani is, right?”
She nodded. “I do now.” And it made her feel sick to think of Gage being involved in anything to do with that slimy asshole.
Alex grabbed the phone and dialed someone, barking orders about gathering a team. She pulled her phone out, saw Gage’s text.
What’s up? I’m out doing recon. Call me.
She’d call him the first chance she got. When Claire got up to leave the room, however, Alex pinned her with a hard stare and thrust a finger at her chair in a silent command to sit, so she sank back down. A humiliated flush rose in her cheeks. In her three years with the agency, she’d cultivated a spotless service record and reputation. If she didn’t spin her involvement in this situation the right way, this one favor to Gage had the potential to blow it all to hell.
Claire forced herself to sit still and await Alex’s response. She’d known coming in here to expect a dressing down, but now she was afraid that her job might be on the line. It was her own fault for bending the rules, but then, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t do for Gage.
Except let him back into her life, that is.
Alex made two more calls then stood and crossed to the front of the desk, holding her gaze. “Go to your station and show me everything you pulled up. I want to see the chat room evidence myself, and I’ll need to talk to Tom Webster about Titanium’s involvement in all of this and what’s going on.”
Claire wasn’t about to argue. She hurried back to her computer and started pulling everything up as people began to gather around. Alex quickly briefed everyone and divided them into teams before delegating various tasks, including contacting the State Department, Homeland Security, the CIA and FBI. Claire’s poking had disturbed one hell of a hornet’s nest.
Each passing minute was its own separate agony. When everyone had broken up to take on their new assignments, Claire finally looked up at Alex. He was staring at her screen reading the e-mails from Youssef to his TTP contact, his eyebrows drawn together in concentration. From his time in SF he was fluent in Pashto, and it was clear he didn’t like what he was reading now.
“Sir,” she began, “I have to contact Gage and let him know what’s going on before they act on the Intel they’ve gathered.”
Alex flicked her an annoyed look. “Get Tom on the phone and I’ll brief him myself, then he can alert his team. As of this moment, you’re on a short leash.”
Her stomach clenched. “What? But I just brought us a huge find with this—”
“I know what you did and I can see the bigger picture here, but you also know the rules. And while I admire you for coming to me right away, I have to do my job and part of that includes making sure I can trust my staff to obey protocol. Understood?”
“So I’m on probation?”
“Not officially.” He slanted her a sharp look. “Not unless you make it necessary.”
Meaning he’d be keeping a close eye on her from now into the foreseeable future. Lowering her eyes, she pulled out her cell phone and handed it to him. “Yes, sir.”
Damn you, Gage.
With all the other shit she was dealing with in her personal life, her career was one of the only bright spots in her existence, and now it might be in jeopardy. Even when Gage wasn’t technically in her life anymore, he still managed to wreak havoc in it.
Yet through all the anger and embarrassment, the growing sense of fear was strongest. Hard as it was to acknowledge the amount of shit she might face from the NSA over this, Claire was preoccupied with Gage’s safety. Because she knew him. Hell, she’d spent her whole life surrounded by men like him, men who lived and died by the brothers-in-arms code. If the militants launched this next attack and caught the team unprepared, she knew without a doubt that Gage wouldn’t hesitate to give his life to defend his teammates.
And she also knew it would kill her if that happened.
“Claire.”
She pulled herself out of her morbid thoughts to focus on Alex. He was still studying the chat room messages, his attention on the screen, her phone sitting useless in his hand. “Yes?”
“This is damn good work. You might have given us the break we need to nail this cell and Hassani’s whole network.”
A trickle of relief slid through her, but the urgency to warn Gage remained. “Thank you, sir. Want me to get Tom on the line for you?”
One side of his mouth curved up, his eyes still on the mon
itor as he handed her phone back. “Yeah.”
* * *
Hunter cracked one eye open when his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Grabbing it before it woke Khalia, he snuck back to the bathroom to answer it. Tom bulldozed straight ahead with the situation the moment he picked up.
“Gage got some photos of Youssef and some other guy he’d been meeting with, and sent them to Claire. Her boss just contacted me to say it’s Malik Hassani, former head of intelligence for the ISI. This guy was fired under suspicion of aiding the TTP eight months ago and dropped off the face of the earth. This is the first time anyone’s seen him since then.”
Hunter went from groggy to wide awake in the space of a few heartbeats. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Dead serious. Apparently there’s also some chatter about another operation to happen this morning, but as far as the NSA can tell, it looks like it’s still in the planning stages. We’re pretty sure they don’t know where you guys are yet.”
Well, thank God for small favors. He grunted, checked his watch. “They planning to hit the airport?” Would make sense, since the cell had to know they were flying Khalia out of the country as soon as possible.
“That’s my bet. I’m looking into departures from another airport, maybe Lahore or Karachi.”
“Yeah, okay.” He ran a hand through his hair. Fuck, how far up the chain did this threat extend? If the TTP was getting help from the former ISI intelligence chief, then it wasn’t a stretch to imagine other agencies and officials being involved as well. Maybe putting Khalia on a plane back home wasn’t going to make her any safer. He wasn’t sure what else they could do for her at the moment though. “What about stateside, when she gets home? She’ll need a protective detail there until we can verify the threat against her is neutralized.”
“I’ll get on that later. You sure no one had eyes on you when you checked in last night?”
Hunter understood that Tom wasn’t questioning his capability, just making sure he knew all the facts. “I’m sure. I checked in using my ID and the only people who saw her were the two guys working the front desk.”
“All right. Stand by for possible airport change, but be ready to make the Islamabad flight.”
“Roger that.” He shifted on the edge of the tub, set into the wall across from the shower. “What’s the word on that Youssef guy? Are we bringing him in?”
“NSA’s still verifying he’s our man, but with all the agencies working on it now, I’d say our jurisdiction is well and truly fucked at this stage. Whoever gets to arrest him, it won’t be one of us.”
Hunter clenched his back teeth together in frustration. He may not like it, but there was nothing he or any of them could do to change it. “Understood.”
“Right. Charlie Mike.”
Continue mission. “Yeah. Later.” He went back into the bedroom and placed the phone on the nightstand. Khalia had rolled onto her side, facing him. One hand was tucked beneath the long veil of curls that obscured her bare breast, exposed by the drape of the sheet, and the other lay next to his pillow, palm up.
She looked so peaceful like that, he didn’t have the heart to wake her. No point in explaining the new development anyway, because it would only cause her further stress. Hunter intended to ensure their last few hours together were as perfect as he could make them.
He glanced at the digital clock on Khalia’s nightstand. Only five thirty. Plenty of time to climb back into bed and have her all to himself for a while longer.
Easing onto the mattress, he stretched out beside her and eased an arm around her waist. She sighed and opened sleepy eyes to blink up at him. “What time is it?” she mumbled, clearly still half asleep.
Hunter set a hand on the back of her head and drew her down to his shoulder. “Still early. Go back to sleep.”
Something squeezed in his chest when Khalia sighed and snuggled into his body, dropping right off to sleep without a second thought. Her trust meant more to him than she’d ever know. She was a good person; she deserved a hell of a lot better than what life had dished out to her lately. Though he knew he had to put her on a plane in a few hours, he wished like hell he could go back to Chicago with her and guard her there, to make sure she stayed safe. He didn’t want anyone else entrusted with her safety, but that was just too damn bad for him, wasn’t it?
Savoring the feel of her warm, naked curves nestled against him, Hunter closed his eyes and allowed himself to slip back into a light doze. A slender hand roving down his chest woke him a little while later. He leaned his head back to see Khalia better and found her watching him. She held his gaze as her hand trailed lower, her fingers caressing his naked abdomen. His cock hardened instantly, his body punched with a sudden desire so sharp, it was as if he’d gone months without her touch instead of a few hours.
Her hand slid down to close around his aching length and Hunter let out a soft groan. There was nothing hesitant in her grip this time. She worked him up and down, slowly, with a firm pressure that brought his lower back off the mattress in a wordless plea. “Thought you needed some more sleep,” he managed in a gravelly voice.
“Nope.” She pressed an open mouth kiss to the frog bones tat on his shoulder and bent to replace her hand with her lips. Hunter relaxed against the pillow with a little smile and let her explore, reaching down to tangle one hand in her thick curls when her cheek grazed his cock.
Pulling back the sheets to get a better view, he watched, spellbound as she leaned down and took the flared head between her parted lips. The feel of her hot mouth closing around him made him shudder. His hand contracted in her hair, tugging at the roots as a raw sound of need rumbled up from his chest. She stared up at him, her pale eyes gleaming with a wicked, seductive light as she pleasured him with her mouth and tongue. And suddenly it was both too much and not enough.
Hunter squeezed his fist around her hair to bring her eyes to his. “Do you want me to fuck you?” His voice was low, almost a growl.
He caught her swift intake of breath, saw the rise of excitement in her eyes. She nodded, her velvety tongue teasing him.
Hunter exerted pressure on her hair again, gently forcing her mouth away from his aching cock. He wanted to be inside her, now. “Roll over,” he commanded, and pushed her onto her side facing away from him.
She started to turn her head to look at him over her shoulder but he caught her around the ribs with one arm and hauled her tight against his body. After fumbling for a condom from the stash he’d left on the nightstand, he rolled it on and settled his cock against the curve of her ass. Pushing a hand between her thighs, he found her wet and ready. He groaned at the evidence of her desire for him.
Khalia arched toward his searching fingers, impatient. He smiled against her shoulder. “You sore, baby?”
“No. Do it.” Her voice was hoarse with longing.
He gripped her upper thigh and moved her leg forward, opening her to him. With one hand on her shoulder and the other between her thighs, he positioned himself and eased inside. Khalia let out a quiet whimper and grabbed his arm to anchor herself, pushing her hips back for more. Hunter stroked the pads of his fingers over her slick flesh and gave her a few slow thrusts, savoring every sensation.
But it wasn’t enough. If this was their last time together, he wanted to stake his claim. He wanted her to feel him hours from now when she was sitting on that plane, for her to never forget what it felt like to have him buried inside her.
“I want in deeper,” he rasped against her ear, and rolled her to her stomach beneath him. Trapping her thighs between his, he braced himself on one arm and slid his free hand around her hip to cup her mound. When she rocked against his fingers and made a soft sound of need, Hunter drove deep. Khalia moaned and tried to arch backward but he held her still. He needed her like this, desperate for the feel of him inside her, those soft, helpless sounds of pleasure spilling from her lips. He pressed his face against the sensitive spot where her neck joined her shoulder and scraped his tee
th against her tender skin.
She jolted and threw her head back. “Ah! Hunter…”
He soothed the little mark with his tongue. Her body quivered beneath him, her inner muscles squeezing and rippling around his cock. With a primal growl, Hunter locked his free hand around the top of her shoulder and plunged deep, intent on imprinting himself in her memory forever.
Chapter Eighteen
Khalia was already drifting back toward consciousness when she felt Hunter jerk beside her. Her eyes sprang open in the dimness to find him pushing up into a sitting position. She immediately turned onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. He’d thrown both legs over the side of the bed and his head was cocked slightly, his body eerily still.
“What is it?” she murmured, reaching out to stroke a hand down the length of his naked back. The muscles beneath her palm were rigid with tension.
Then she heard it. Faint popping noises, from either down the hall or maybe the floor beneath them. Followed closely by what sounded like human screams. Khalia’s heart stuttered as she realized what it was.
Gunfire. Bursts of it.
Shit! She shot upright, her eyes on Hunter as she lunged for her bra and panties lying on the floor beside the bed.
He was already up and reaching for his jeans, his phone to his ear. “We’ve got automatic fire in the hotel,” he said to whoever he’d called. “Can you confirm?” He met her gaze and tossed the rest of her clothes at her. Khalia leaped out of bed and hurriedly dragged on her jeans and top, her heart hammering. “I’m getting her out right now. I’ll contact you with a rendezvous point.”
No sooner had he hung up than the fire alarm went off. The eerie, high–pitched wail skittered like fingernails over her taut nerves. A second after that the sprinkler system turned on overhead, drenching them with a spray of cold water.
She gasped and covered her head to block the worst of it. “Is there really a fire?” she asked.
Hunter strode to the window that overlooked the front of the hotel and pulled the curtain aside. Weak rays of sunshine filled the room. “I can’t tell. Get your stuff,” he said curtly. “We’re leaving.”
