Deadly Testimony
Page 19
It would be stupid and he would end up dead.
“I wouldn’t forgive me either.” Lizzy leaned back as her gaze swept across the high buildings and rooftops. “So we step up our game and upgrade this to a team operation.”
He was grateful. So much so, he didn’t have the right words. Thank you seemed too simple. And it felt unlucky to say it yet.
* * *
Lizzy gave Kyle time to work through whatever was going on in his head. Apparently, he was good to go because he stood and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, tugging her along a few feet. “Well, it looks like we’re headed back to Pike Place Market.”
“For what?” She lengthened her strides to match his, noting the pace of the tourists and businesspeople around them. It was the end of the workday and the streets were becoming much busier.
Good. Easier to get lost in the crowd. Though she was going to have to stash him someplace and go back for her gear at the other hotel.
“You wanted to slip into the private party tonight to talk to your teammates.” Kyle didn’t resist when she pulled him onto a side street to change their course.
“Yeah, there’s not a lot of time for me to figure out what catering company they have and get hold of a server’s uniform.” She wondered if she could be so lucky to have Maylin’s company catering the event. There was a chance. Maylin was one of the top caterers in the city.
“Ah, but that’s your usual approach.” Kyle made a tch,tch sound. “You said we needed to become harder to predict, blend in more. Be harder to find.”
“Yes.” For a man who’d almost died the other day, and been caught next to an explosion intended to flush him out today, he was sounding way too upbeat.
All right, she was being dramatic. Edict hadn’t found him yet, hadn’t realized he’d been so close.
Kyle nodded. “I’m done hiding and ducking for cover. From here on out, I want to outsmart our opponents. Walk right past their noses before they realize we’ve been there. Today, they threw a temper tantrum because they found where we were and didn’t find us, based on what you told me. I wish to drive them into insanity wondering where we are.”
“Don’t get full of yourself. Today was lucky. If we hadn’t been part of that tour group, you could’ve been spotted coming out of the store when the blast drove us all out into the street.” He needed caution and a healthy fear for his goddamned life. Hell, she was afraid for his life.
“That’s just it.” He tipped his head back and studied the sky. “It’s only a matter of time in a cat-and-mouse game. We need to change the rules because the longer we allow this to draw out, the more chance we have of losing. The game changer will be meeting up with your team and taking action.”
As they crossed the street and entered the market area, melding into the press of people shopping in the tight hallways lined with goods, he laughed. “If we’re going to do this, we’ll do this the way I do things.”
* * *
Lizzy stared at her reflection in the mirror.
“You’re beautiful.” Kyle was a dark shadow over her left shoulder. His words were simple, and when they first met a couple of days ago she’d shrugged his compliments off as meaningless. Candy offered by a man to sweeten her mood. She’d never believed it to be sincere.
But she knew Kyle a little better since their first, brief meeting. Even if the time had been short, it’d been intense. Or maybe she was willing to believe the words more. Either way, his comment brought heat to her cheeks and a pleasant warmth blossomed in her chest.
The tiny cocktail dress she was wearing had been his choice and was the epitome of the stylish “little black dress.” A simple black sheath covered by a sheer layer of chiffon cut to accentuate her figure and fall in a handkerchief hemline just short of her knees. It was sexy and elegant, daring and modest at the same time. There was even enough swing in the skirt to more or less hide the line of her handgun, holstered on her thigh. She’d never have chosen something so perfect herself. Hell, she hated trying on clothes. For her, it was all about the accessories.
And the shoes.
He’d picked this dress out from a rack at one of the shops around Pike Place Market though. She had no idea how he’d spotted it or known how it would look on her. Then he’d found her the shoes. At first glance, they’d been simple black pumps. Then Kyle had lifted the pair to show the heel and the pale cream silk with black lace ribbons tied in a tasteful bow. They were elegant. Sophisticated. Feminine.
Everything she loved about a pair of shoes and exactly the opposite of what most people would assume she’d wear.
They were what he thought she could be when most people only saw what she did for a living.
“Thank you.” She smiled at his reflection in the mirror.
He raised an eyebrow. “You’re getting better at taking a compliment.”
She lifted a shoulder, left bare by the cocktail dress. “You’re getting better at giving real ones.”
He stepped closer to the mirror, and her, adjusting the lapel of his suit. The man did clean up well. Good suits had something in common with military uniforms. They could make a person look sharp. But it took a certain kind of man to put it on and own it. He might not be a soldier by her terms of experience, but he was a man of action and having him at her side tonight was actually a welcome comfort. Her nerves were steady and she didn’t have the itch between her shoulder blades urging her to constantly look around to see who might be creeping up on her.
“Why the sudden frown?” Kyle placed a hand on her shoulder, the heat of his touch seeping through her skin.
Her nipples tightened slightly in response and she firmly told her libido to rein it in for the next few hours.
She looked at her reflection in the mirror again and blinked. Her face had gone neutral. Blank. It was one thing to know you wiped your expression to hide your thoughts and it was a completely different thing to catch a glimpse of yourself doing it. Not bad. Just...a learning exercise.
Turning up the corner of her mouth she gave a slight shake of her head. “A girl could get used to the idea of having you around. It’s a dangerous concept.”
He gave her a playful leer. “Am I that distracting?”
Turning to face him, she flicked an imaginary speck of dust off his shoulder. “Maybe. Not the issue though. You put people at ease. It’s a hell of a skill. But I can’t afford it.”
His expression faded slightly. “It’s not my intention to distract you or take your edge away.”
“You don’t.” She wanted to reassure them both. “I won’t let you.”
Somehow the silence after her statement echoed in the hotel room. Awkward wasn’t the word for it.
“I’ll make sure I’m on point.” She wanted to clarify. Wanted to take away the words that sounded too much like a rejection. But it wasn’t as if he’d made a long-term offer. So why was she suddenly stumbling over her own words? “You be sure to follow the instructions I gave you. No horsing around.”
He chuckled. Of course he’d get up to a few things.
It was a risk, taking him along. But Kyle had a couple of good points. He was safest with her and he also helped her blend into the kind of crowd this social event was expecting far better than if she went in there alone. Definitely less predictable than her trying to infiltrate the catering staff. Their pursuer probably didn’t know her face. Since this was a masked gala, they wouldn’t recognize Kyle’s behind the solid black domino he’d acquired and there was a low likelihood they’d anticipate him making an appearance in any case.
To be on the safe side though...
“Let’s get some of the gray streaked into the sides of your hair.”
Kyle scowled. “Is it really necessary?”
“It’s about stacking the deck in our favor.” She waited. “The peop
le after you have you pegged for midthirties. They won’t be looking for a silver fox.”
“That might be the closest you’ve ever come to saying you find me irresistible.” When she only huffed at his statement he sighed and shrugged out of his jacket. “I probably should’ve anticipated this before I got fully dressed.”
“True.” She reached into her duffel and came out with the hair chalk. Easy application and it did wonders to change a person’s look in seconds. Just as easily removed for another quick change later. She tossed it to him.
“It’s a good thing this is one of my older bespoke suits.” Kyle caught the package of hair chalk neatly. “I’ve lost a few pounds over the last few days. Otherwise, the bulletproof vest would mar the fit of my suit noticeably.”
“Fortunately, not a primary concern for tonight.” He’d looked very good as far as she was concerned and she felt better having him wear the vest all the time. Wouldn’t save him from a head shot, but it was protection from most shots taken at him.
“Perception is always a primary concern.” He tossed the argument back over his shoulder as he stepped into the bathroom. “Sometimes you don’t want people to notice you, sometimes you do. There are times to be recognized as the center of attention and others when it’s more advantageous to skirt the sidelines. The point is, you always want to have optimal control over how you are perceived.”
True. A skill some people worked on for years and one she hadn’t gotten the hang of yet. “You have a point there.”
“Controlling perception is fairly challenging. I’ve found the game to be an interesting mental exercise over the years.” His voice projected well even from the bathroom and she made a mental note not to let him talk her into having sex in there.
If they had sex again.
And damn it, the man had her thinking about bedding him when he wasn’t even trying.
“In my line of work, I’m mostly trying to stay out of sight.” As a sniper, she’d been in many situations where both her mission and her own life depended on remaining undetected.
“Perception is still applicable to the situation, arguably.” He came out of the bathroom combing his fingers through the sides of his hair. The gray streaks were heavy, beginning to look more natural as he blended them into his hair. “I guessed you wanted me to apply generously in this case.”
She noted and crossed the distance between them to help him blend just a bit more. The chalk changed the texture of his hair a little too. The strands were a touch more coarse. “Good news is, now you have an idea of how you’ll look in a few decades when you actually go gray.”
He left off finger-combing his hair, surrendering to her ministrations, and placed his hands on her hips instead. “I’m rather curious as to whether you’ll still find me desirable around then.”
She laughed. No answer for him though. She’d never thought ahead more than a few weeks, much less decades. Plus, he was fishing. She wasn’t entirely certain what he was hoping to hear in response but she didn’t want to make an ass out of herself if she was misunderstanding.
Instead she straightened his collar and didn’t quite meet his gaze. “Let’s get through tonight, then survive tomorrow. One day at a time.”
“Lizzy.” His voice had dropped from his playful conversational tone to a deeper, rougher sound. “Too many uncertainties are between now and tomorrow. I want you to know these last few days have had an impact on me.”
Her too. But just saying so would sound flippant, at least to her. Of course, her mind was going into overdrive so she was imagining all sorts of directions this conversation was going.
Give her a target and a rifle. Make life simple. Then she only ever had to have the right timing to hit her mark.
“Whatever happens, I would like to be able to find you again,” Kyle continued. “I would like to continue to explore this thing between us.”
She bit her lip and finally met his gaze. “I’d like that too.”
Kyle’s dark brown eyes were serious. Sincere. “Will I be able to find you?”
She owed him absolute honesty. And she didn’t have a good enough answer for him, not right now. “I don’t know.”
There were decisions outstanding. And to make those, she needed to think ahead more than a few weeks.
After a long moment, Kyle put his hands on her hips and turned her so she was looking into the full-length mirror again. “After tonight, it will be different. You change your hair, your accessories, your appearance at a moment’s notice and it is easier than a children’s game for you. I will not catch up to you if you don’t want me to.”
She studied the two of them in the reflection. They looked good together, she thought.
He used one hand to brush her hair off her shoulder, exposing the nape of her neck. Leaning in, he breathed deeply against her skin, his hot breath sending delicious shivers through her as he exhaled. “We have now.”
“We have like fifteen minutes before we need to get going.”
He chuckled, the sound coming from deep in his chest. “We can be quick and still make a lot of things happen. We’ll make the most of now.”
And he kissed her neck as he set his hands on her hips to hold her steady. He pressed his own hips into her ass, making her very aware of his hard erection. She let her lips part, and didn’t argue.
His gaze lifted and met hers in the reflection. “Watch us.”
Chapter Twenty
Kyle ran his hands up her sides then, lifting her arms and encouraging her to place her hands on the wall to either side of the mirror. As she complied, he kissed the smooth skin of her shoulder and the soft curve of her neck. Something about the spot where her neck met her shoulders was his favorite. He wanted to breathe in the scent of her there and kiss, even bite ever so gently.
Then he ran his hands back down her arms and over her back, around her torso and up her belly to cup her breasts. The tempting weight of her breasts filled his palms and he squeezed briefly. She rewarded him with a soft gasp, letting her eyes shutter closed.
Oh yeah, this mirror was going to be very useful.
He pressed his hips into her ass, rolling them to be sure she felt the hard ridge of his cock. “Eyes open, Isabelle. You don’t want to miss this.”
Long lashes lifted to reveal those liquid dark eyes, and the desire he saw there made him want to be inside her right away. He pressed himself against her again and struggled for patience.
He had a few other things he wanted to do first.
Releasing her, he stepped back just enough to reach under her skirt and hook the sides of her panties with his thumbs. He knelt then, drawing her panties downward and caressed her legs all the way to her ankles. When he reached the floor, she stepped out of the delicate underwear without prompting. Balling up the tiny bit of silk, he tucked it into his pocket so they didn’t lose track of it.
Looking up under her skirt, he enjoyed the sight of her shapely behind and lifted his hands to grip her just at the tops of her thighs. He squeezed once and she groaned in response, spreading her legs a little for him.
“More,” he told her. “I want you open for me.”
She shifted her weight, spreading her legs to a wider stance.
He smiled, looking up at her in the mirror’s reflection. “These shoes are incredible on you.”
Her eyes flickered as her gaze darted to the shoes and back to him. Color rose up in her cheeks. He wondered if she’d ever admired herself in a mirror before.
“You’re beautiful,” he told her. Because it bore repeating, even if she’d heard it a hundred times.
Then he angled his shoulders between her legs, further encouraging her to open to give him access. Steadying her with one hand on her thigh, he used the other to spread her with his fingers and he flicked his tongue against her clit.
Oh, his Lizzy liked that.
He did it again, gripping her thigh to hold her in place as she squirmed.
Pausing, he looked up at her. “Hold your skirt up for me, so I can see you.”
Her breath came out in shallow pants as she removed one hand from the wall to gather up the front of her skirt and held it to her chest.
He kept his gaze on her face as he tasted her again. She moaned and closed her eyes. He feasted. Licks and suckles, even a tiny nip here and there. All of it drove her mad and he enjoyed the way she moved her body, simultaneously trying to respond to him and encourage him.
He wanted to see her come apart in his hands, under his mouth, so he fastened his mouth over her clit and slide a finger inside her. A sharp cry escaped her as he did it and her inner muscles were wonderfully tight around his finger. Slowly, he set a rhythm, moving his finger in and out in time with the way he flicked the tip of his tongue against her clit.
She clenched her thighs even harder and froze, every muscle tensed.
He didn’t stop, instead sucking at her clit as he continued to slide his finger inside her.
“Kyle!” Her orgasm took over and her body shook with it.
He withdrew his finger, stroking her through it and prolonging it as much as he could. When she was still, both her hands bracing her against the wall again, he rose to his feet behind her and undid his pants.
“Ah, Isabelle. You are irresistible.”
She raised her head to look at him in the reflection. Her lids were heavy over her eyes and a pleased smile played over her lips. “You are a very. Bad. Man.”