I walked past him into my wardrobe. The small bungalow I'd refurbished had included three moderate sized bedrooms when I purchased it. By the time I was through remodelling, it was made up of two, plus a small office, ensuite bathroom off the master and walk-in-wardrobe. A girl has to have her priorities straight. And once Kombatan became an important - and secretive - part of my lifestyle, a hidden panel, or cupboard, behind the floor to ceiling mirror at one end of the wardrobe.
I stepped up to the mirror, glanced over my shoulder to see Jason hovering right there, a curious and eager glint in his chocolate eyes, then turned back to see our reflections in the glass. I held his gaze over my shoulder for a moment, then reached up and pressed the right hand corner of the glass firmly with my thumb, making the mirror retract electronically in a smooth glide and soft hum of mechanics.
Behind it was revealed a dozen shelves laden with various sharp implements, each spotlit with LED lighting, all stacked in made-to-measure alcoves, to ensure no damaged while stored. I turned back to face Jason, whose eyes were scanning the entirety of the unit, cataloguing and identifying each weapon, and waited.
"Ordered and stored appropriately," he finally murmured. I guess in reference to his earlier questions from weeks ago, "So, do you keep them in the bedside drawer or the dresser? In between your Victoria's Secret underwear? Or maybe, stacked in organised piles beside your Kombatan Training Manual?"
I wondered if he was disappointed. He'd said the soldier in him would be impressed if I cared for my blades as my instructor would have advised. But he'd also said that he wanted more from me. He wanted me to push the limits and surprise. I turned my attention back to the knives and tried to see them from Jason's point of view. I couldn't. I was too close to the blades on display. Each one having etched itself on my psyche. I couldn't be impartial when I looked at them, because they meant more than just weapons on display. They meant my independence and my security.
They were an extension of me.
Jason reached past me and ran a finger dangerously down one of the curved blades of an Ulak. I watched mesmerized at his movement. It was reverent and extremely respectful, even though he'd touched the blade which was a big no-no typically in knife wielding martial arts. When his finger finished its caress, he lifted the knife by its leather hilt, weighed it in his palm thoughtfully, then replaced it on the shelf next to its partner.
"Please tell me you know how to use that correctly?" he asked, his eyes finally flicking to mine.
I wasn't sure what they were saying. There was genuine concern for my safety in his gaze, but also something else, I think. Something even more important to me right then. Respect.
I nodded. "Yes. I can use any of these knives competently." My hand waved out in a motion from top to bottom, indicating the whole cabinet and its contents.
"Which are your preferred?" he asked. "Those you are most proficient with?"
My eyes scanned the shelves and instantly honed in on a Kukri. A Nepalese knife with an inward curved edge, not as obviously bowed as the Ulak. It was by no means an attractive blade, but it was well weighted, the hilt fitting my palm perfectly, the 40cm length enabling a certain distance in hand to hand combat. It was the knife I practised with most.
"Gurkha," Jason said, surprise lacing the word. He'd recognised the blade and knew it was the preferred weapon of all Gurkha armies. "I saw one used in Singapore," he said, distractedly.
"I didn't know there were Gurkhas in Singapore," I admitted. "I thought they were only found in Nepal or India."
Jason lifted his eyes to mine, removing his attention from the blade at last. "There's a Gurkha contingent in the Singapore Police Force. You can also find Kukri blades in the Royal Gurkha Rifles regiment in the British Army. It's a good knife, Kate. Good choice."
I let a slow breath of air out at Jason's approval and it seemed, acceptance. I hadn't realised how nervous I was showing him this side of me. It was like I was opening up a secret part of my soul and letting someone, whose opinion I cared about tremendously, take a peek inside. It was an entirely revealing sensation, as though I was stripping naked before the man.
He might have realised, as his face softened with a look of understanding. Maybe it was similar to what he had gone through finally admitting his dominant nature to me, facing up to my potential ridicule or rejection, by showing me his deepest and darkest desires. We had both stripped ourselves bare and thankfully not been found wanting by the other.
"Can you use these accurately?" he asked, lifting up a SOG Fusion throwing knife.
"Yes."
He hesitated, the knife balanced perfectly in his open palm. We both stared at the matt black stainless steel blade. It was shorter than the Kukri by almost twenty centimetres. But it was equally as unattractive. I did own beautiful blades, but somehow I had gravitated toward the utilitarian ones instead.
"If you come with me," he started. I interrupted immediately.
"When I come with you."
His amused eyes flicked up to mine. "When you come with me," he repeated, flipping the SOG over in his hand easily without even looking at what he was doing, then replacing it on the shelf in its slot next to its brothers, before going on. "You do as I say. No questions. No arguments. Just do it. Understand?"
I held his now serious gaze and registered his determination and his absolute conviction that this was an instruction I could not disobey. I nodded.
"There can only be one person in charge, Kate," he pushed, as if my nod wasn't quite enough to convince him I understood how serious he was.
"I know," I said softly.
"I'm more experienced at this sort of thing," he pointed out. "This is what I do. I can weigh up the risks of a given operation and determine the outcome from a chosen course better than you." I don't think he was trying to be superior. He was simply being Captain Jason Cain.
"I understand, Jason," I said, evenly.
He sighed, ran a hand over his face and said, "If I ask you to leave. You leave. If I say duck, you throw yourself on the floor without blinking. If I say pull back, run, hide, anything. You do it. Understand?"
"Understood."
"I don't like this, Kate," he admitted, emotion making his words sound heavy and slightly thick.
"Together," I whispered.
"Baby." But he didn't say anything else, just stared at me for several long, weighty seconds.
I couldn't stand the tension anymore.
"What do think could possibly happen, Jason? Other than being arrested by the Police."
"I don't know, Kate. But that's when the shit usually hits the proverbial fan."
"He's an art dealer."
"A fucked in the head art dealer," Jason clarified further.
"Well, yes. He's unpredictable, but he won't be at ASI," I pointed out. "And I sure as hell won't be pulling a blade on a cop."
"You better bloody not," he shot back. Then sighed, flicked his gaze over the knives still illuminated and on display and then added, "Gear up. Time's not on our side. The longer it takes for us to get what we need from ASI, the more chance that we'll get caught. I'll phone a contact of mine in the SAS while you get armed, see if we can get surveillance images of the city from this morning."
It was a long shot and he knew it, but I was thinking he needed a distraction while I suited up and slipped my knives into place. Jason might have agreed with me being armed and accompanying him on this... what? Mission? God, I really didn't want to label this, it would make it more real. And although I was determined to be with Jason, to not let him out of my sight, I still needed to keep a certain distance from the reality of what we were doing. I'm no soldier, but I am a survivor. I survived two weeks with a broken heart and came out stronger because of it.
Hardly on the same level as a special forces military trained soldier, but in my world, it was something to be proud of. I was determined to make Jason - and my brothers, I suppose - proud of me too. Even if Jason still had his doubts about me going with
him to ASI.
I slipped a Kukri blade into a sheath in the hollow of my back, then strapped myself into a harness that contained six SOG Fusion blades down my spine. A bit Lara Croft to be honest. When one blade was pulled, another fell into place replacing it. So each blade could be drawn from the same position, left and right sides of my hips, at my back. A made-to-measure jacket covered them all. From the front, I looked unarmed. From the back I had easy access to my knives, but you wouldn't know it.
I walked back into the bedroom to find Jason still on his cellphone to his contact in the Army.
"OK, Horse. Just whatever you can find would be good. I'll send any pertinent information I gather from local intel that could help. But this is time sensitive, I need something, anything, to go on by tonight."
I couldn't hear this Horse person's reply, but he spoke for several seconds, before Jason finally answered with a half grunt, half chuckle.
"Yeah. I get that. But you would too if you were me." He hung up with a swipe of his thumb across the screen of the phone and pocketed the device swiftly.
His eyes came up to mine, quickly flicking over my clothing, trying to see my blades. He wouldn't be able to, my trainer had supplied both the holsters and the fitted jacket. No point learning to wield a knife and not be able to successfully carry them in reality. He didn't do this for all of his trainees, but Johnson - my trainer - had been aware of why I was doing this, and who my brother was. Nick and ASI had a reputation around this city, even my trainer was aware of the sort of trouble that could land at my door.
"Would do what?" I queried.
His eyebrows rose at my question regarding his final words to Horse. For a moment I thought he wouldn't provide an answer, but his signature smirk graced the corners of his lips and he said, "Would risk my arse for a woman and her family."
Oh.
"Ready?" he asked, coming to his feet before me.
"Absolutely," I replied.
"Kate," he huffed out on a laugh. "I've told you before, baby. You're a crap liar."
I rolled my eyes and received a swat on my butt for my efforts as we left the room and headed toward the front door. He stopped me before my hand could turn the doorknob. His fingers digging into my shoulder blade until I turned to face him fully.
"One more thing," he whispered, and I sucked in a breath prepared for more reminders about how dangerous this could get, and how I needed to follow his instructions without hesitation.
But I didn't receive either of those threats. Just...
"So you don't forget what you mean to me," he murmured, before his face tipped forward and his lips melded to mine.
My hands were in his hair before I registered they had moved. My tongue was wrapped around his in a duel that was both delicious and dangerous. I craved more of the exquisite taste of this man, yet I knew if I gave in to that yearning we'd never make it out of that door in time to beat the tech forensic team to ASI. A battle of wills took up inside my heart and mind. Pull back and get this task over with, freeing Nick and solving the mystery of Tremayne. Or take, perhaps the last chance, to savour this man before me. To worship him with my touch. To sink into the bliss he so easily created.
I moaned as he pushed my back up against the closed door. My knives, sheathed protectively in their holsters, digging into my spine. Competing with the hardness of his chest and thighs that draped down my front. Making me demand more; fingers digging into his back, my breasts pressed up against him; tempting, teasing, taunting.
His hands slipped down my sides, over the curve of my hips. Fingertips brushing the edge of my SOG hilts under my jacket. But even that reminder of what awaited us didn't stop Jason. He grasped my rear, kneaded the flesh for a moment and then slid my back up the door making me wrap my thighs around his waist as he continued to devour me.
I felt his arousal. It matched my own. I could sense his need and hunger. Only equalled in my necessity and longing for him. He rocked his hips, moaned into my mouth and then swallowed my groan in response down. I was panting for breath, clutching his body and mentally willing him to strip me right there and sink inside my aching core.
Had I been following his rules, I think it would have been inevitable. Maybe it was for the best that I'd disobeyed him this morning. Albeit a refusal to dress in a skirt with no underwear for legitimate reasons. Because Jason didn't attempt to undo my trousers, he didn't make a move to escalate this to anything more intimate than what it already was. He just kissed me like we had run out of time, like the end of the world was here and we had to simply taste each other, because to do more right now was impossible.
There just wasn't enough time to sate that desire, to fulfil our fervent yearning for completion.
He pulled his lips away and rested his forehead against mine, breathing as raggedly as me. His chest was rising and falling hypnotically. His hot breath washed over my face erotically. His strong arms and thighs held me in situ, pinned to the door. His erection pressed firmly and snugly in place at my centre, pulsing with both our need and hunger.
"Kate," he murmured. "Do you see what I mean?"
I huffed out a breath of air in mild confusion and rampant frustration.
"What?" I asked, ineloquently, panting the word out and then sucking in much needed air.
He chuckled, pleased I was as affected as him, no doubt.
"Baby," he whispered, laying a soft kiss on my lips and then pulling his body away from mine completely.
My feet hit the floor on shaky legs as his warmth became only a memory. I struggled to find my balance, making his hands come up and gently cradle my upper arms to steady me. If he did this while we were sneaking into the ASI building I would be worse than useless. I guess that's why he got it out of the way before we left home.
"Kate," Jason said, bringing my dazed gaze back to him. He smirked, clearly enjoying my ridiculously uncontrolled response to his advances. "Do you see what I mean?" he repeated.
"I'm not sure I do, Jason," I admitted, now not only turned-on with no hope of release, but rapidly becoming confused with his repeated question.
"It's simple, Kate," he murmured, chocolate brown pools staring down at me. "You mean the very air I breathe. Without you I will be no more. With you, my world is complete."
I blinked up at him, a little shocked at his sincerity and the depth of emotion lacing his words.
"Baby," he added. "I can face anything with you in my life. You make the darkness recede and the light shine. So," he took a deep breath in, "if it comes down to it, you do whatever you have to do to stay safe. Even if you have to leave me behind."
What?
"Jason," I began, thinking he was making this entire episode out to me more precarious than it needed to be. Sure, Tremayne was probably crazy. Sure, the cops would arrest us and throw away the key if we were caught interfering in a police investigation. Sure, if we didn't figure this out and clear Nick's name an innocent man and his team may be charged with a false crime.
But, none of that leant itself to the level of concern and depth of fear Jason had gracing his handsome features right then.
For a moment I wondered if this was all causing some sort of flashback to when he was in the Army. If he was reading more into this than he should have, because of what he had suffered, and still suffered from, while in the SAS. I didn't have time to think that through to completion, because he cupped my cheeks, leaned down and stared me intently in the eyes and said...
"Understand?"
And whether Jason was losing touch with reality now or not, that one word was all I needed to hear to know I would do anything to ease this broken man's mind.
"Understood," I whispered back and prayed that whatever happened next would not tip Jason over the edge into that dark abyss that seemed to beckon my beloved man.
Chapter 27
This Isn't What We Think
Anscombe Securities and Investigations was like Fort Knox. I had been aware that Nick ensured his staff were safest when on s
ite at ASI HQ. Surveillance cameras dotted the perimeter and even stood sentinel at differing locations across the street around the entirety of the block the building stood on. All of which could be viewed and directed by Eric in the control room inside. Of course, Eric was not in the control room, he was being questioned about a multimillion dollar burglary at Auckland Central Police Station downtown.
But there was more to contend with than the cameras.
Access was officially gained through the front entrance on street level, or from the garage beneath, up the monitored elevator which was only activated once the person attempting entry was visually approved by Eric in control, and then past a shotgun toting grandma, trained to assess threats and act appropriately with deadly force. And finally via an electronically key-coded titanium strength door. And then all the rooms inside were further controlled by key-code and security cameras.
Take out the cameras and you've gained access, might be a reasonable thought. But all the cameras have secondary back-ups, housed in an isolated and military level secured CPU. As well as scanners available at strategic gateways, which should the cameras and their back-up fail-safes fall, could scan identification directly and send the images to control.
Getting in undetected was impossible. It was what we could do once in there that made all the difference. If Jason had received top level clearance from Nick then he could wipe evidence of our visit completely. If he only received a clearance level that allowed him suitable access to 'radar' then we would be videoed and recorded as having been inside the building. The security system could also accurately display what it is we did, if Jason's clearance wasn't high enough to cover our tracks.
I could only hope that Nick had thought of this, but considering his recent relationship with Jason, it was not a given that he would allow his ex-employee, who he considered was on the edge of sanity, full admission to ASI's inner workings, records and systems. I had faith Nick was wiser than that, but Jason did not.
"OK, this is how it's going to be," he said from the front seat of his SUV, which was parked several metres down Broadway in Newmarket, in line of sight of the front doors and garage entrance to ASI. The vehicle was out of the security cameras' range, but he handed me a pair of binoculars and a secured walkie-talkie, which obviously was meant to combat the distance our strategic parking had created. "You stay here and keep watch. I go in."
Sweet Seduction Surrender (Sweet Seduction, Book 4) Page 26
