by KaLyn Cooper
Unfortunately, three months ago she had been caught in the trap of seemingly innocent gossip among trusted friends that had ended in disaster. Xena was never sure who betrayed her confidence, just that it would never happen again. She hadn’t been drunk, but she’d been on her third glass of wine at four hours into the event. Now, she always carried a half-empty glass of wine, pretending to sip but never allowing alcohol to pass her lips.
As she scanned the room for her next conversation, her gaze met Wesley Schultz, the ambassador’s stepson. He was, of course, standing next to Crawford Sutton, the vice president’s son.
Fuck. She shuddered when the two men started to walk in her direction.
“Are you cold?” Concern was evident in Ryker’s voice.
Turning to him, she slipped her arm through his and placed her lips near his ear. “Incoming.” She giggled as though they were sharing a secret about their salacious intentions later that night.
“Should I prepare for an explosion?” Ryker played along, kissing her just under her ear.
Xena giggled again, but this time for real. His hot breath on her ear and lips on her neck sent heat to her nipples which decided to harden. Thank God the dress had a substantial built-in bra. The frat boys might get the wrong idea that she was excited to see them.
“Hmm?” Ryker nipped her neck.
What had he said? Her mind was a little preoccupied with sensations that she hadn’t felt in a long time. When was the last time she was turned on by a man? It had been so long, she couldn’t remember. Or it might have been that her brain wasn’t firing on all synapses.
Oh, yeah, explosions.
“You never know with these two. I hate these fucking frat boys. I might just have to kill them to put everyone out of their misery.” She pulled herself away from Ryker to stand next to him, acting surprised, and forcing herself to pretend she was pleased that they would approach and speak with her.
Ryker coughed to cover his laugh.
“Xena, you look fucking hot tonight,” Wesley said a little too loudly as he scraped his gaze down the full length of her body and back up again.
Fuck. He’s had way too much to drink already.
Ryker started to step forward, hand fisted, but she was able to grab his elbow and pull him back.
“He’s not worth it, Ryker,” she warned as she wove her fingers through his and wrapped her body around his right side. At least that way he couldn’t reach for his gun.
“Whoa, man.” Wesley stumbled back a step and Ford Sutton caught him before he fell on his ass. “I meant no insult to Xena. She and I, we go back.” He gave that drunken grin that he thought was sexy.
It grated her last nerve. And how dare he insinuate that they had been a couple. Never happened. Never gonna. She was about to shut him down when he dug the hole even deeper.
“Besides, you have to admit, she’s fucking hot.”
“She’s also mine.” Ryker sounded convincing even to Xena. “Don’t talk to my woman that way.”
Wesley threw his hands up in the air, palms out as though in surrender. “Sorry, man, I thought you were her bodyguard. I was just about to ask her when she started dating the hired help.”
Xena squeezed Ryker’s arm. “I prefer my men big and with muscles…everywhere.” Jab landed. Wesley the weasel was lucky if he stood five feet ten inches and had never worked up a sweat lifting weights in his life. She was pretty sure her biceps were bigger than his.
“Well, not all women appreciate the brainy type like us.” Wesley slapped the vice president’s son on the shoulder. For the first time, the guest of honor smiled.
She decided to totally ignore Wesley. “Ford, I’d like you to meet my…” She hesitated coyly, as though trying to decide what to call him, then gave the two self-consumed men in front of her a sexy smile. “Special friend, Ryker Tufano.”
When Ryker glanced her way, he’d gotten the double entendre. To her surprise, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “And we’ll be getting back to those special skills of mine, soon.”
They both smiled ear to ear at their inside joke.
“You can plan on it,” she reassured him. Just as soon as this soirée was over, they were heading to Eden. They had a job to do, one that the two men in front of them couldn’t even comprehend.
“Ryker, this is Crawford Sutton, but he prefers to be called Ford. You may be familiar with his father, the vice president of the United States.”
Ryker held out his hand to shake. “So, is this an official visit, or are you just here to hang out with your friend?”
Wesley straightened up and put his hand on Ford’s shoulder once again. “Business. Not political.” With a huge smile and slightly slurred speech, he announced, “Ford came to look at our joint investment. Tomorrow, we're going to take a helicopter up to Dembi.” He leaned in closer and almost lost his balance. “We bought into a gold mine up there.”
Xena felt like she’d been punched in the face and unconsciously tried to take a step back, but Ryker’s arm was around her waist preventing her from moving. Or falling to her knees in grief.
Dembi was where Ryker’s SEAL team had been ambushed. She stared at his face for a long minute. The name of the town didn’t seem to register with him. What the hell? Charley never gave them the whole story, only enough information for them to do their job.
She had to remember that Ryker was a job, not a sexy date. Most likely, she would never see him again after this mission. They would rescue his teammates, hopefully, find out why they’d been kidnapped, and he’d leave the country.
The mission. Dembi. Oh, yeah.
Her mind raced as she tried to recall who had been standing nearby as the group of embassy staffers discussed rebel movements and possible locations of their leaders, especially the groups that had recently been designated as terrorists.
Damn! She couldn’t remember.
But maybe it was just a coincidence that Wesley and Ford owned part of the mine in that area. Out of habit, her gaze swept the room but stopped on the Saudi prince who worked for Zesiro Neberu. “I didn’t think Neberu needed any partners.” Unknown to most, he held the mineral rights in the country per a deal cut nearly twenty-five years ago when the government desperately needed an infusion of cash. Her mother had helped negotiate that deal.
At the mention of the wealthiest man in Ethiopia, Ford’s gaze darted around the room as though looking for someone. “Wesley, I see the representative from Kenya has just arrived. My father wanted me to speak to him.” He smacked the ambassador’s stepson on the shoulder and directed him to the other end of the crowded room.
Ryker pulled her into his side and whispered, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No. I think I said something right.”
Chapter 7
Ryker stood patiently as Xena said goodbye to another African embassy staffer. He, like so many others that evening, pulled her aside as they had an intense conversation. He thought he’d played his boyfriend role very well, but the conditions his teammates suffered plagued him the entire night. He stood amid wealth and opulence and if the pictures were accurate, his friends survived in squalor.
“I’ll pass that along.” The smile she gave the mid-forties foreign service agent looked real, but after spending the last four hours with her, Ryker knew it wasn’t. He doubted the information would go any further.
“It was great seeing you again.” Another lie. Her withering glance his way was his cue.
He stepped very close to Xena. “Our car is waiting.” Ryker wrapped his hand around her elbow and held the gaze of the astute American agent. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but Ms. Riggs is expected elsewhere.” Without allowing either of them to say another word, he placed his hand in the small of her back and guided her out the door.
The bodyguard called Blade stood beside a white town car. “Your chariot awaits.” He opened the back door and she slid in, Ryker right behind her. As soon as the driver’s door closed, the
car started moving away from the embassy. “Are you going back to Phillip’s House for the night?”
“No. Take me to Dark Angel.” Xena kicked off her shoes and pulled the dress up to her thighs.
Beautiful, long, and tanned with just the right amount of feminine muscles. He usually wasn’t a leg man, but he couldn’t ignore hers.
Damn. Ryker had no right to look at her as a woman. She was simply a teammate for this mission. But he was male. After spending hours holding her soft hand in his, touching the small of her back where the dress draped loosely over her naked skin that his fingers brushed constantly, smelling her light spicy fruit perfume as he held her in his arms dancing, he’d been half-hard all night.
Xena Riggs was a gorgeous woman.
“Yes.” Blade pumped his fist, breaking Ryker’s stare. “I take it this means we are going to Eden?”
“Hell, yeah.” Xena hiked the dress nearly to her hip.
The sound of ripping Velcro caught Ryker’s attention.
“This damn thing was scraping my inner thigh all night long.” She rubbed the red mark only inches from the apex of her legs as she held a holstered gun in her other hand.
Shit. She was armed all night. He’d slow danced with her and had no idea how close his thigh had been to her weapon. He wondered if there was a slit through the side of the dress so she could grab her gun quickly if needed.
“Like the view?”
Fuck. She’d caught him staring.
He decided not to lie. “Matter of fact, I do.”
Xena held his gaze. Her face was completely unreadable, and he hoped his was as well. She was a beautiful woman. Although he hated to admit it, Wesley was right; she was fucking hot.
Blade cleared his throat and looked at them in the rearview mirror. “Do I need to pick up your mother?”
“No. She’s staying here. I doubt she’ll be leaving Phillip’s House until after her birthday party next week.” Xena settled into her seat and pulled out her phone. “If you need to contact anyone back home, do it now. We’ll be out of cell service in about ten minutes.”
Ryker took advantage by sending a text to his mom and dad, letting them know they arrived safely and intended to move on with their meetings in the morning. He also warned them that they would be without cell service but not to worry. He hit send as he started to lose bars.
He put his phone away and waited for Xena to do the same. He hated being at the mercy of someone else. Although he’d read through most of the information in the folder, he didn’t remember seeing any reference to Dark Angel. He wondered if this person was going to take them all to Eden. And he’d never gotten a straight answer as to exactly where Eden was located. He would ask that, and several other questions, as soon as she was finished fiddling on her phone.
To amuse himself, Ryker looked through the darkened windows into the late night. The city slid away quickly as they climbed a mountain on a major thoroughfare, forests lining both sides.
“Xena, there’s a tree blocking the road ahead.” Blade didn’t reduce his speed. “It’s probably an ambush.” He flipped something up and passed back an Israeli Uzi submachine gun.
Xena yanked down the back seat. “Get into the trunk.” She gave Ryker a shove.
“Why the hell would I want to do that?” He reached into his suit jacket and pulled out his pistol.
“This car is bulletproof, but the trunk is the safest place.” She glanced at the gun in his hand. “Good. You can use that if they get through us.”
Blade handed back a Heckler and Koch MP7. Ryker jammed his gun back in the holster then grabbed the H&K. He checked the chamber. “I’m not going anywhere, but you need to crawl in the trunk.” He pushed on the back of Xena’s head with the other hand on her firm ass.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” She whirled around to glare at him.
“Protect you.” Could she be any denser? He held up the submachine gun.
“Do I look like I need protecting?” She jammed the magazine into the Uzi. Without shifting her eyes away from Ryker’s, she yelled, “Blade. Roof.”
“Ryker, NVGs. In the trunk.” Blade called as he closed the distance to the downed tree.
Dropping to his knees, Ryker scavenged through the trunk and found a box filled with night vision goggles. As he was crawling back out, he found loaded magazines for both submachine guns so he grabbed several. After tossing a pair of NVGs to Blade, he handed the set to Xena then put on his own.
“Flip to thermal,” Xena ordered.
“Going dark,” Blade announced and turned off the car lights. “Roof opening.”
Instead of the roof sliding back, it quickly popped upright to form a shield. Xena picked up the bottom of her formal dress while she stepped onto the seat. Gun to her shoulder, goggles covering her face, she stood scanning the woods.
Ryker was a second behind her. As though they had been fighting together for years, they stood back-to-back each scanning one hundred and eighty degrees. “I see six. Three…no four…are behind the tree. I’ve got two in the woods on my side.”
“Same count with two more on my side. Got that, Blade? Eight total.” Xena announced. “All of them have weapons. Take them out.”
Before he could ask if that meant that they were to wait and return fire, Xena started shooting. The bad guys immediately shot back. In short bursts, like he’d been taught, Ryker took out the two on his side within seconds and started on those hiding behind the downed tree.
In less than thirty seconds, none remained standing or blocking their way.
“My side is clear,” she announced.
“All clear,” Ryker replied. He scanned the area looking for their backup.
“Brace. Plowing through,” Blade called from the front seat.
The tree moved relatively easily, sweeping everything out of its way, including the bodies. Ryker and Xena stayed in their positions scanning three hundred and sixty degrees.
No more attackers.
“Drop,” she ordered.
Ryker stepped off the seat and dropped down. He immediately moved to the side so Xena could return to the interior of the car.
“Blade, close the roof.” As though its hinges had been released on Xena’s orders, it slammed down and vacuum sealed.
“I’m turning the lights back on in five…four…” Blade counted down before he flipped on the headlights. “Damn good shooting, you two.”
“Who the hell were they and why the fuck were they trying to kill us?” Ryker hadn’t had time to think, only to react to the announcement of an ambush. He let out a long breath. He was more concerned with the possibility that someone had discovered he was back in Ethiopia, and they wanted to finish what they’d started three months ago—killing his entire SEAL squad.
“Bandits.” Xena touched the end of the warm barrel with her finger before she set the gun on the leather seats. When her gaze met his, he raised his eyebrows needing more of an explanation.
“This is one of the three main roads out of Addis. Anybody rich enough to own a car is wealthy enough to have something of value in that automobile.” She opened a hidden panel and pulled out two bottles of chilled water, handing one to him.
Ryker could have kissed her. He was thirsty beyond belief.
“Or they could have been trying to steal the car.” She cracked the cap and drank deeply. “There are thieves and robbers everywhere in Africa.”
Xena sucked down the last of her water. “We just eliminated eight more bandits.” Her smile lit up the car. “And we were in our first firefight together. I think we did well. We make a pretty good team.”
Ryker had to agree. “Damn good shooting, princess. Where did you learn to shoot like that?”
“Same place you did.” But her smile was sly, as though she had a secret.
“You were in the Navy?” He didn’t know that Ethiopia had a Navy. Why should it? It was a landlocked country.
“I served five years in the U.S. Navy after college.
Everyone in my family served in the military, except Mother. She serves our country in a political way.”
Before he could question her more about her service, they emerged from a copse of trees into a field seemingly on top of a small mountain. But, no, no crops were growing there, only grass surrounding a landing strip. Ryker wished he was still wearing the thermal night vision goggles. He would bet armed men hid in the trees.
At one end of the runway sat an unusual helicopter. It was completely flat black with gorgeous silver wings painted on the sides.
“What is this?” The words came out of his mouth before he realized he had spoken aloud.
“It’s a Russian prototype. They’re trying to convince my dad to replace his fleet with these.” Xena stepped out of the car and strode toward the chopper.
Ryker scrambled to catch up to her, but Blade was already at her side. He threw his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Good shooting, babe.”
She put her arm around his waist and leaned into him. Her loving smile as she looked up at the supposed bodyguard spoke volumes. “Thanks. I learned from the best.”
“You most certainly did.” Blade glanced over his shoulder at Ryker before he steered her toward the unique helicopter.
Message received loud and clear. He would keep his hands, and salacious thoughts, off Xena. It was better for the mission, anyway. He was in Ethiopia for one reason—to save his teammates.
Just as Ryker caught up to Xena and Blade, Nagasi seemed to emerge out of the black of night. “How was the party?”
She looked at Ryker as though asking for his opinion.
“Informative,” they said at the same time.
Nagasi smiled at Ryker as a teacher would at a struggling student who got the right answer. “Well done. Your bags from the house are already on board.”
