“Your office is beautiful,” she said.
He settled onto the edge of his desk. “Thank you. I would have kept Dr. Franchett’s furniture but it was splintering and falling apart.”
She nodded and smiled. “It was looking a little ratty.”
Her gaze snagged on an eight-by-ten photograph nestled on the bookshelves behind his desk. A beautiful blonde woman with long, curly hair stood next to him in the photograph. They looked perfect together.
A strange sinking sensation entered her stomach. “What a striking picture.”
He turned and looked. “That’s my favorite photograph.”
“I didn’t know you were married.”
“I’m not.” He turned and retrieved the photo, then held it out to her.
Puzzled, she took the pewter-scroll frame and examined the photo. Obviously, the background was in a studio setting. He wore a black suit and she wore a lime green jacquard dress. Synna took a closer look and thought she saw a resemblance in the woman to Ian across the eyes and jawline.
“Is she your sister?”
Another handsome smile carved his gorgeous mouth. “That’s Patti, my mother.”
Her mouth popped open in surprise and embarrassment. She gave a nervous laugh. “S-she looks so young.”
He crossed his arms, his gaze indulgent and warm. “She had me when she was sixteen. She’s an incredible self-made woman. Her parents disowned her when she got pregnant with me.”
Sympathy pinched her heart. “What did she do then?”
“She asked my Aunt Lillie if she could live with her, and Aunt Lillie agreed wholeheartedly. Mom finished high school, got a job, went to community college, and became an interior designer.”
She handed him the photograph and he returned it to the bookshelf. Admiration made her say, “That’s fabulous. She never married?”
“As a matter of fact, she’s engaged. The wedding is Christmas Eve.”
“You’ll have a stepfather for the first time.”
He stared at the photograph for an intense moment. “I’m looking forward to it. My father died five years ago.”
When he returned to the edge of the desk, she impetuously reached out and touched his shoulder. “I’m so sorry about your loss.”
Seated on the side of his desk, he looked at ease, nothing like a stereotypical head of a major intelligence agency with branches in several different countries. What kind of man did it take to run such a complex system and survive the politics and the stress? Looking at his face now, she saw lines of character between his brows and around his eyes, but he didn’t look any older than his thirty-six years.
“Thank you. He was an SIA agent and was killed on assignment.”
Astonished, she gasped. “Oh my God.” She shifted gears, curiosity eating her up. “How long was he with SIA?”
“For ten years. Before that he was in the navy.”
“What was his name? Maybe I knew him.”
“Jonathan Frasier.”
She nodded. “The name sounds familiar, but I don’t recall meeting him.”
He shrugged. “Dad spent most of his time in the field. You may not have run into him.”
She processed this information before speaking again. “Did you know him since you were a child?”
“Off and on when he came onto dry land. He was a good man. Mom and Dad realized they were both too young to marry when they first met.”
“And they never wanted to reunite when they were older?”
In an uncharacteristic gesture of uncertainty, he stuffed his hands in his pants pockets. “Dad wasn’t the marrying type. He liked his risky careers far more than he did settling down with one woman.”
“Did you join the SIA because of him?” The moment she said the words his expression went taut, and she at once regretted her hasty question. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
She sensed unease inside him, and she wondered if he wished he hadn’t told her personal information. “No, it’s all right. I was in the army since I was eighteen, and during that time, I saw almost all the adventure I needed.”
“Yet you’re employed by one of the most adventurous organizations on earth.” She grinned, taking a chance and teasing him.
To her relief, he returned the smile. “During my army career I worked for a unique organization of soldiers specifically qualified to investigate and fight the unusual.”
She’d heard of them, and her admiration for him went up another notch. “Alpha Unit?”
He nodded and crossed his arms. “That’s the one. I headed up a team within the unit.”
His concentrated gaze traveled over her features, assessing her in that all-encompassing way that made her nipples tighten and her lower belly pool with heat. Synna stood too close to his disturbing masculinity, and she took a few steps away until she could sit on the loveseat.
“It sounds like you and your mother make a wonderful family.” Hurt centered her heart as she thought about her own fractured family. “That’s a precious thing to have.”
“I’m glad she’s in love and happy.”
Love.
His velvety tone, so deep and mellow, sent warm trickles of awareness over her body. She couldn’t deny she felt better now she knew about his single status. Part of that realization ticked her off. So what if he was single? One impetuous kiss and she thought she owned him?
Ian seemed to break out of his reverie. “I’m sorry. I’m keeping you too long.”
“It’s all right.” The longer she talked to him, the more she wanted to stay. “What can I help you with?”
He grabbed a straight-backed chair, turned it around and straddled it. He leaned his arms on the chair back. “What I need to ask you is more than a big favor. And after what I saw happen with Tyler last night, I can see that I was right to fight against including you in this project. Hell, with what I did, I wouldn’t blame you if you refused.”
Instinctively, she stiffened at his statement. Why would he fight against including her unless he didn’t think she could do the assignment?
He continued. “There’s a mission I need you to tackle. I want you to hear me out before you object to what I want you to do.”
Her nerves started to rebel, the tension tight. “I’m listening.”
Ian pushed one hand through the thick length of his hair. Light glinted off the strands and reddish highlights gleamed. God, did he have any idea how overwhelmingly gorgeous he was?
Grim-faced, he abandoned the chair and moved to sit on the loveseat near her. She inhaled a little sharply, startled by his sudden change in venue. She couldn’t ignore his edge, the ferocity in his depthless gaze. He had mentioned last night she didn’t look him in the eye, but now she couldn’t seem to stop staring straight into those mesmerizing windows to his soul.
“I argued against the entire plan from the moment Level Ten suggested it,” he said.
By now, his hesitation to tell her ate a hole in her patience, but she tempered her statement. “Sounds intense.”
“It’s dodgy.”
A prickling feeling, a caution, made her lean against the back of the loveseat.
“I need you to go with Tyler to the Halloween party,” he said.
Chapter Four
Synna’s eyes widened, surprise keeping her silent for fifteen seconds before she spoke. “What?”
“I know it goes against what happened with him yesterday. I argued against this entire setup with Level Ten, but they filibustered and demanded that you be a part of this project.”
Baffled by the turn in events, she glared at him. “But you’re the Chief Executive Officer and Director.”
“If there’s a serious situation they feel needs immediate action, they can overrule my decisions. That way the head of SIA can’t abuse his or her power.”
“I see,” she said softly.
His gaze turned intent, filled with cynical doubt. She fidgeted with her necklace, rubbing the smooth surface. “Why would
Level Ten be concerned about me going out with Tyler?”
Ian’s eyes held contrition. “Because he’s not what he appears to be.”
“A spy?”
“I wish that was all. No, this is much worse.”
Chills coasted over her body, and she stood and paced the room. “A traitor?”
“Not exactly.”
Frustrated, she stalked toward him. “Ian, can we stop playing charades and just get to the bottom of this?”
“Let me start at the beginning. Tyler began work at SIA less than six months ago. He went through psychological and physical screening like everyone else. Unfortunately, his condition isn’t currently detectable until it’s too late.”
“Is he ill?”
“No. He’s possessed.”
She couldn’t have heard him right. She stopped fumbling with the necklace. “What? You mean like in The Exorcist? Spinning heads and everything?”
“No. He’s the demon. A weredemon.”
Now she’d heard it all. Despite knowing the SIA dealt with the paranormal on a regular basis, the supernatural hadn’t touched her much in thirty-two years.
One of his eyebrows tilted upward in question. “You look stunned.”
“It’s not every day the head of SIA tells me I’ve got to date a weredemon. Whatever that is.”
A quick smile passed over his lips. “A weredemon is capable of transforming into a human when it wants.”
She clutched the back of the chair he’d sat on a few moments ago. Her heart thumped a little harder, and her pulse drummed faster. Alarm started a slow encroachment, threatening to unravel her, one nerve at a time.
God, if this wasn’t a crazy turn of events. She didn’t know if she could say yes to the assignment, even if the most intriguing man she’d met had just asked her to do it.
She reached for her necklace again and clutched it. “You’re not going to tell me there’s a real hell and the SIA has found it?”
He chuckled softly. “The SIA doesn’t need to find it. Hell is a state of mind, not a place. The weredemons are from the Shadow Realm, a purgatory where lost souls wander and mingle with a few other unsavory beings.”
When she digested the mind-boggling information, she asked, “Tell me this is a joke my coworkers set up to freak me out in my last few weeks at SIA.”
“Afraid not. I know this comes as a shock. When I worked with Alpha Unit, we fought these forces more than once. Over the years the SIA and other government agencies have discovered these creatures exist.”
“Creatures,” she murmured with a dry throat. “So there are other things besides demons to worry about. Ghosts? Vampires? Werewolves?”
He stood and crossed the short space between them to look down at her, amusement dancing in his eyes. “All three. Most ghosts, vampires or werewolves aren’t a danger to humans. They have good and bad among them.”
“Where is this Shadow Realm, by the way?”
His lips tightened. “Another dimension. It’s complicated, but it has to do with leaks in the wormholes between one dimension and another. That’s why people can sometimes see ghosts.”
“So werewolves and vampires are from this other dimension.”
“No. They are here on earth with us and have been for many hundreds of years. Weredemons and quite a few other creatures belong to the Shadow Realm only.”
She groaned. “It’s a good thing most people don’t know about this paranormal stuff. They’d be scared out of their wits.”
“You can say that again.”
She let out a short laugh. “It sounds absurd. I accepted that a long time ago that the SIA was out there fighting terrorists and the paranormal, but I never thought I’d be a part of the fight face-to-face.”
“If you doubt me, you can call Dorky Shannigan. She’ll confirm it.”
“No. No, I believe you.”
She rubbed her palms over her arms. Excitement mixed with dread, and she didn’t know what to do. “Why do I need to go with Tyler—I mean, the weredemon—to this party? Fresh meat?”
A muscle in his jaw worked. “God no. I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
Passion in his eyes trapped Synna, kept her from speaking. He moved closer and soon barely six inches separated them. Now her heartbeat sped up from his potent nearness and not from trepidation of the unknown. How could a man inspire heady sexual awareness and pure safety at the same time? He made her feel sheltered and yet on the cusp, her body so tuned into his she wanted to reach out and touch him. Her loins melted, her nipples tightened.
“I don’t understand why you just can’t use some SIA trick to get this weredemon. You can’t just go to Tyler’s house, surround him SWAT style and be done with it?” she asked.
“I wish it was that simple.”
“Why isn’t it?”
“Weredemons have very good extrasensory perception. They can sense when people are lying. There are people, like me, with very controlled minds. We can’t be brainwashed. Because we can’t be brainwashed, a weredemon can’t influence us or take thoughts from our minds.”
A realization dawned. “Oh my God. That’s why you’re using me. Because I have a strong mind and I’m intuitive like the weredemon. Therefore, he can’t read my mind or detect what I might do. He must still think I’m completely incapable of deceiving him, when it really is that he can’t brainwash me.”
“Correct.”
“So if the team went in to take him out at his home, he’d get wind of it through one of the team member’s mind. He’d be long gone before the mission to capture him could be pulled off. Am I right?”
Ian grinned. “You’re absolutely right. It’s freakin’ incredible how right you are.” Serious and hard, his gaze found hers. “It’s the only reason why I want you on this assignment. He can’t read your mind at all and it drives him nuts. He wants to know you better. He’s also sexually attracted to you.”
“Ewww. I already know that.”
“Try not to let him gross out you out, or he’ll realize it because of your body language.”
She almost cringed. “This is going to take some work. I didn’t like him much before I knew what he really was, but now…yuck.”
He chuckled, his gaze dancing with hers in total amusement. “That’s very descriptive, you know? A damned girly thing to say, but it says it all.”
“Of course it’s girly.” Protest entered her voice. “I’m a woman.”
Ian’s gaze snapped up to hers. He inhaled, the motion moving his big chest and drawing her attention. “Yeah, I know.”
The way he emphasized the words echoed in her head.
She couldn’t keep uncertainty out of her voice. “I-I’m not a trained agent.”
“I know. That isn’t what made me want to keep you out of this situation.”
“What is it?”
“When I kissed you yesterday that was inexcusable, but I’m going to just break down right now and tell you why I kissed you. If it means my ass is grass and Level Ten finds out and decides to kick my butt out onto the concrete, so be it. I’ve never been one to pull punches, and I think that’s one of the reasons why they hired me.” He took a deep breath. “Ever since the first moment I saw you, I felt something hot between us. I thought at first it might be my imagination, but I realized that whenever we met I felt this connection.” He cracked a weary smile. “If the way I feel in any way makes you uncomfortable, please tell me right now.”
Her jaw dropped again, and this time she didn’t think she’d recover. What could she say to an unexpected confession like that?
When she didn’t speak, his mouth twisted a little. “Damn, if I screw this up any more than—”
“No,” she said a little sharply. Again, she reached out and touched his arm. The tight strength in his biceps sent excitement whirling through her belly. “You haven’t. I’m just surprised. I thought maybe there was a little something between us, but I also wondered if it could be my imagination.” A horrif
ying thought slipped through. “Did Level Ten see you kiss me?”
He gave her a warm smile. “Apparently Dorky did but she ignored it. She let me know in an understated way that she didn’t plan on telling any of the others. I have a feeling the kiss is going to disappear from the visual record.”
Wide-eyed, she asked, “She can do that?”
“You’d be amazed at what she can do.”
She heard admiration in his voice for the mysterious librarian. “She’s a special woman.”
He leaned in a little closer, his voice husky. “You’re more than special. You’re damned near intoxicating.” His gaze danced up and down her body. “Did you wear that top and skirt to drive me nuts?”
His bluntness no longer served to astonish her, and she plunged right into her own honesty. “I think maybe I did.”
“You’re not sure?”
Feeling a little mischievous, she winked. “Okay, I’m sure. I did wear them for you.”
“Well, you’ve succeed in catching my interest. I’ve been fighting a hard-on from the moment you ran into me this morning.”
She blushed violently. “Ian.”
Answering moisture dampened the folds between her legs, and she almost moaned at the torturing arousal growing moment by moment. She felt so out of control, she didn’t know if she could stand the spiraling need.
He reached out and cupped her waist, drawing her into him until her body molded lightly against his sinewy frame. His long, thick cock pressed against her stomach. “I swore I wouldn’t touch you, but damn it—”
Synna placed her index finger over his lips. “It makes me feel…I don’t know…good to think you can’t keep your hands off me.”
Oops, did I just say that?
“I was hoping it would make you feel more than good.”
She let her hands slide upward over his chest, and when her fingers passed over his hard nipples, he gasped a little. Her inhibitions started to crack. His body shuddered, a little shiver that signaled she affected him down deep where it mattered. Female satisfaction, primitive and undeniable, settled inside her.
Impetuous Page 4
