by Em Petrova
“Jess, we need confirmation. Top right window. Is that our guy?”
He lowered his rifle and peered through high-power binoculars. As soon as he saw the outline of the man, he thought it might be. But then he snapped his jaw shut as the face came into focus.
“No, that’s the caretaker.”
“What’s he doing in the house? Does he stay inside it?”
“No… he’s got a small hut behind the structure. He must be…” Realization struck.
“Fuck!” Jess’s cuss had Cav pivoting to look at him.
Jess went on, “The only reason the caretaker would be in the house is he's checking on things—because the family’s not home. Otherwise, he only goes into Moreno’s office to speak to him about issues.”
“Dammit.” This came from Sully. “Woody, hold your position. Jess, take the others and go internal. But watch for the old man. He’ll be prepared to defend the place.”
Jess got into a crouch and waved the others forward.
Going into the home he knew as well as he knew the house he’d grown up in with his mom and three brothers felt surreal. As he passed by a bicycle parked on the veranda, his stomach twisted. It was Moreno’s son’s bike, a gift from his papa for his ninth birthday.
“Shit,” he said under his breath and continued on.
He had to keep his head in the game. He knew what had to happen.
An hour later, they walked out of Chiapas and boarded their transport once again, the mission complete and a total dead end. The frightened caretaker knew nothing of where Moreno had taken his family, only that he would return in three days’ time.
One thing was certain—they’d made themselves known to Moreno by approaching that caretaker. He’d be on to them and most likely bury himself further underground with the dregs of humanity he dealt with.
Jess didn’t know whether to feel relieved that it hadn’t ended in a bloodbath or if he was pissed that Moreno was still out there, a crucial link to countless attacks spanning the years.
What was it that drove Moreno to trade dark intel? It had to be the money. Greed was a huge driving factor for most. It had provided him with the funds to update the land he’d inherited and keep his family home from becoming rundown and swallowed by the forest. It afforded him men to watch over his house and clip his hedges. It bought his children nice things.
But Jess had an inkling money wasn’t the only factor—which meant it must be power. Moreno had made himself important. He only had to give his name and people accepted his calls immediately.
Cav shifted next to Jess. “Damn, I wish it’d been him in the window. One twitch of Woody’s finger, and it would all be over. These guys who rely on Moreno would be scrambling without him.”
“Yeah, all over.” Jess stared at his hands, which were clean of blood… as was his conscience, at least when it came to Moreno’s kids. Today they still had a father. But not for very fucking long.
* * * * *
For two days, Avery had wondered what to say to Jess when she saw him again, and each time her mind toiled over the possibilities, it came up blank in the end.
Now she had about ten minutes to figure it out. If her anger management class had taught her anything on the first day, it was to think of the outcomes of her words and actions.
But deep down, she was furious that Jess had interfered in her work life. He had no right even if they hadn’t been going out for such a short time and—
There she went again, letting angry words fill her brain, when she needed to consider some that wouldn’t end her relationship with the only man who’d ever been important to her, along with her career in law enforcement crashing and burning.
She scooted to the edge of her sofa and dropped her face into her hands, breathing slow and deep.
When the buzzer sounded, she lifted her head and stared at the security camera trained on the door.
She tried to keep her damn heart from leaping in her chest, but it did anyway.
The camera was angled downward over the man who stood waiting for her to let him into the building, giving her a view of his bowed head and broad shoulders.
Shit—some of her anger was fading away now that she got a good look at her lover. A man shouldn’t be able to strip away her emotions so easily—or instill them either. Yet just looking at him, she couldn’t stop the thrum of her heart and the emotions building for him.
If she was honest with herself, she couldn’t deny those fluttery feelings could be more. They could be…
He poked the buzzer again, and she moved to let him in. A minute later, he stood at her door, looking down on her with that crooked smile cutting a path over his rugged features.
Damn him. Why did he have to look at her like that?
He reached for her, and she remembered the problem he’d made for her when he’d taken it upon himself to call the chief.
She took a step back. Confusion lit his eyes, and he closed the door quietly behind him.
Studying her closely, he kept his distance, which was good, because she didn’t quite know how to deal with him.
“Avery. What happened?”
“Jess, don’t pretend you don’t know. You happened. You called the chief and asked about my review. Why?” Settling a hand on her hip, she eyed him.
He let his gaze skip away from hers and turned it up to the ceiling for a moment. When he met her glare again, his eyes were soft with emotion but his lips were set into a fine line.
He didn’t answer.
She stepped up to him, so close she caught a whiff of his masculine body wash. That only set her mind spinning again with the knowledge that he’d probably just climbed out of a chopper and rushed through a shower, in a hurry to see her.
The knowledge didn’t stop her from being angry at him for the situation.
“Why, Jess? You made me look like a fool, like I can’t take care of myself.”
“Shit, that isn’t what I wanted. Avery—”
“Well, it’s what happened. And my chief told me you needed to back off, as if I’d set you on my case. My career’s already in the toilet, and you tried to flush it on me!”
“No, I didn’t. Avery, I just wanted to help. You’ve done so much for me. I just wanted to return the favor for you helping me with Madison, and all that work you did on the family tree when I was gone last time.”
She waved a hand in dismissal. “You can’t just barge into people’s lives and take over, even if that’s what you do as an operative.”
“That’s not what I was trying to do. Dammit, baby, listen. I wanted to help.”
She released a low laugh. “You didn’t help, Jess. And I’m capable of handling it myself.”
“I know you are, but dammit—”
“Dammit, what? You wanted to take over, throw around your name and rank?”
“No. Goddammit. I’m a born protector. And I was trying to save you from losing the job you fucking love. Is that enough reason for you? Because it’s more than enough for me that I tried to help out the woman I love—”
Her jaw dropped. She froze in place, all words tipping out of her mind.
He went on.
“I thought a call to the chief might speed things along, let them know that it wasn’t okay to be stringing you on all these weeks.” He caught her stare. “Say something.” He pitched his voice low. “You’re gutting me here, baby.”
“You…” The words died on her lips. She tried again. “You just said you love me.”
He blinked a few times as if it was news to him as well. Maybe it was just words, spat in the heat of the moment. Maybe—
He stepped up to her and rested a hand along her cheek. “Fuck it. I’ve spent years trying to back away from women, and you’re the only one my gut is telling me to run toward instead. I’m in love with you, baby, and I have been since the first time I saw you in that CPR class.”
A sound broke from her throat. She leaned into his hand and closed her eyes, letting the words and
moment sink in.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw fear tinting the depths of Jess’s eyes, darkening them.
He leaned closer. “If you’re kicking me out of your life, do it now while I can still walk away. I’d hate to crawl out of here.”
“Jess. I was upset that you brought my chief down on me for your call.”
“I understand. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“You were trying to help, I see that now. I’m sorry I got so angry with you when you were only trying to help me.”
He caressed her cheek with his thumb. “I’d say I won’t try to watch over you again, unless you tell me you don’t feel anything for me too.”
She released a breath. “I can’t believe a man in your position wouldn’t already know the answer to that. You must have been aware that I’ve been throwing myself at you since the CPR class. I wanted you to ask me out, and you were friend-zoning me instead. And when you go away, I can barely breathe thinking of something happening to you and wondering when I’ll see you again.”
A smile ghosted across his face. “Then I do something to make you mad.”
“Now that I know where you were coming from, I’m not mad. And you know what you said about loving me?”
He nodded.
“I feel the very same,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them. The fear was gone, replaced by joy.
Without another word, he caught her in his arms and crushed his lips over hers.
* * * * *
Avery removed a paperclip from a stack of printouts and spread them over her kitchen counter. Jess leaned over her shoulder, hands on her waist, and read over what she’d found.
Releasing her, he picked up a sheet. “You went back into 18th century England to find my father’s great-grandmother?”
She nodded, her hair soft against his cheek.
“All of this for my daughter?”
“Well, for you too.” She twisted to look up at him.
He stared into her eyes a moment before he was drawn back to the papers. “You’re freakin’ amazing. Have I told you that lately?”
“Not in the past half hour.”
“Well, let me say it now.” With a swipe, he cleared the papers from the counter and lifted her onto it. Wedging himself between her legs, he took her face in his hands and kissed her.
Quickly, it spiraled from a caress to bold exploration and need. When she wrapped her thighs around him, he lifted her and turned, thinking of laying her down on the closest soft piece of furniture. But they didn’t make it to the sofa or bed—he laid her down on the kitchen floor.
She tore at his shirt and ran her hands over his muscles. He ripped hers overhead and cupped one breast while reaching for her bra clasp.
She threw her head back on a laugh as he sprang it free, but the sound cut off abruptly as he sucked her nipple into his mouth.
Within moments they were both stripped and Avery had a condom in hand, a twinkle in her eyes.
“Let’s get this on you, babe.” A wicked grin spread over her beautiful face.
When she slid it over his hard cock with torturous movements of her hand, he closed his eyes, fighting for control. She took over more by rolling out from under him and straddling his hips.
Fuck, looking up at her, powerful, beautiful and sexy as hell, was going to kill him. He couldn’t wait another minute. Grabbing her hips, he lifted her over his cock.
She settled hard and fast, taking him to the hilt.
As a groan hit his throat, a cry of pleasure echoed off her kitchen walls. Need spanned him, locking down his need to give Avery the most intense pleasure of her life.
She rocked over him, and they shared another moan. When she started to move faster, he caught one hip in his hand and the other pressed against her cheek. Looking into her eyes, he grated out, “Slow, baby.”
She stilled, the hunger warring in her eyes with a flicker of love. Slowly, she leaned over him, breasts to chest, their gazes catching. When they moved again, it was subtle movements that somehow seemed to amp everything even higher.
His cock squeezed precum from the tip, and she clenched and released around him with each downward glide. When their mouths met, it was a sweet bonding, a melding he never believed could be real. He knew all those who’d come before her were nothing to him.
Passion rose up, and she kissed him with everything she had, pulling more from him.
“Fuck, I love you,” he rasped.
“Love you too.” She sucked on his lower lip, raising a growl from him. Balls aching, he took her ass in his hands and worked her over him faster. The heat took over, and soon they were slamming to the finish line. As Avery called out his name, he held her stare. It was all over for him—he was never letting this woman go.
* * * * *
Headquarters was all silent, the other Ranger Ops long gone. All but Jess. Instead of wasting time going home, he’d gotten caught in the web of Moreno and what OFFSUS believed to be time-sensitive intelligence.
Taking it had meant calling Madison and pushing back their time to meet at the coffeeshop later this evening.
At his elbow, he also had a hefty sheaf of printouts on his own family history, some Avery had done on her own, some they’d completed together, and much he’d uncovered on his own hunt. He had everything organized into a spreadsheet for Madison to complete her family tree project.
If Moreno ever wrapped up this bullshit conversation, Jess could get the hell out of here. From what Jess could decipher it wasn’t anything important—just soccer highlights. But he guessed even terrorist masterminds needed hobbies too.
For a moment, he listened to the scores repeated and compared them to the ones posted on the sports page. All checked out, down to the digit. Nothing out of line here.
He adjusted his earpiece to listen more closely to the talk, translating the Spanish seamlessly and typing it into the system. He hadn’t learned a thing about Moreno’s reason for fleeing his home that day the Ranger Ops invaded. They all suspected something had tipped the man off, forced him to take his kids and run.
But he hadn’t yet returned to the house in Chiapas either. They’d traced his calls to Mexico City, closer to the attacks popping up all over the country. Each time they believed they had him cornered, Moreno would slip away. But finding him would lead them to many of the terrorist cells plaguing so many countries and even the US.
Jess was feeling the pressure too. Damn if they were losing this asshole again—this time, he was determined to hear something that put them in Moreno’s path.
The intel spread across the computer monitors would make a spy pant with desire. Jess had Moreno’s life on screen, as well as every person connected to him, many responsible for atrocities on humanity that would earn them the death penalty.
Which they would receive, if OFFSUS had anything to do with it.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes a moment, listening to their conversation.
A hand clamped onto his shoulder, and he jerked upright to see Sully standing over him.
“Shit, man, you could warn a guy before you sneak up on him.” Jess eyed his captain.
Sully leaned against the long table and folded his arms. “I thought you’d be long gone. What made you stay here to work instead of going home?”
“The call came in before I could leave. Figured I’d better not miss anything.”
“You could have handed it off to another operative,” he said, referring to those team members of OFFSUS who worked behind the scenes on intel.
“I wanted to hear for myself.”
Sully stared at him, unblinking.
Jess huffed out a sigh. “Just say it, man. I know there’s something on your mind.”
Sully dropped his arms and gripped onto the edge of the table. “Okay. I think you’re too fucking close to this and you need a break.”
“You’d better mean take a break like go home and eat a pizza.”
“Not exactly.”
Jess slowly got to his feet and faced his captain. “Are you sidelining me?”
“It would only be on the Moreno stuff.”
“Hell no.” Jess’s raised voice echoed throughout the room.
Sully pulled away from the tables, and they faced off.
Jess took a step closer to the man—his friend and superior—but Jess wasn’t against telling the great Nash Sullivan he was wrong on this matter.
“I’m not backing off this case. I’m the one who got us to Chiapas, remember? We were this close to nabbing him.”
Sully arched a brow. “You were very concerned with Moreno’s children.”
“What’s that got to do with anything? Of course I don’t want to be responsible for a hit on kids.” His tone escalated once more, his anger banking fast.
“Colonel Downs and I—”
“Wait—this is coming from higher up? You spoke with Downs about it before bringing it to me? You didn’t give me a chance to state my side, did you? Son of a bitch!” He turned and strode away from Sully, crossing the room where he had distance between them, and time to decide if he should punch his captain’s teeth in.
“We’ve discussed it before, Jess. You were told to get a handle on your stress levels with this case in particular. Since you haven’t—”
“How the hell do you know whether or not I’m stressed?” Jess exploded. “I’ve never made a single error as an operative. Never have I failed to perform.”
“That’s true, but I’m also trained to spot warning signs in my men.”
He barked out a harsh laugh. “What are you ‘spotting’ then? Go on and tell me.” He clenched his hands at his sides.
“Restlessness, fatigue. You’re not sleeping.”
“Maybe that’s because I have a girlfriend I’m up all night fucking,” he shot out. “Remember those days with your own wife, man?”
“That’s not it, Jess. Admit it.”
“I refuse to admit something I don’t believe is true. My only problem with this case is that I don’t want to see Moreno’s kids harmed. I’ve got my own daughter to think about here—”
“Ahh, now we’re getting to the root of this.”
