by Cindy Dees
Gunnar delivered Piper and Zane to the back door of the American building, and Avi watched the pair ride an elevator to their floor, walk down the hall and enter their room.
“It must suck being together again and knowing they’re on camera like this,” he commented.
Rebel smiled at him. “Piper was complaining about that very thing earlier.”
“You should shut off the camera in their room for a little while at least,” he suggested.
“When the lights go out, I’ll shift it over to a motion activated mode—and before you make a snarky comment about that, the motion sensor is pointed at the door.”
“Nice. Do you have motion sensors in the hallway, too?”
“Yes, and one outside the window, mounted on the wall of the building. Major T. doesn’t mess around when it comes to the Medusas’ security. We have the best equipment there is.”
“So, now that the lovebirds are tucked in to do what lovebirds do, does that mean you can relax a little?”
“Yes, but not how you mean.”
“How do you mean it?”
She pointed at the hallway monitor. “Here comes Major Torsten now. He’s going to spell me watching the cameras tonight. He’s the lightest sleeper I’ve ever seen. He can doze in the bed and will wake up if any of the motion detectors sense anything and ping.”
“Excellent,” Avi purred.
Definite alarm blossomed in Rebel’s oh-so-expressive eyes. Good. He liked making her a little nervous. She was the kind of woman who needed to be kept on her toes. If he didn’t miss his guess, boredom would kill her interest in a man faster than just about anything else.
Avi moved his chair back to its position under the window. The hall door opened and he turned quickly. “Hey, Gun.”
“Avi.” A nod. “How’s it going, Rebel?”
“All quiet on the western front.”
“Great. You go get some sleep. The next few days you’re going to get precious little of it while pulling double shifts working security for athletes and pulling shifts watching Piper and Zane.”
“Yes, sir,” she said crisply.
“I’ll walk you out,” Avi said casually. “Good hunting, Gun. I expect to have that green light from my government by tomorrow morning. I’ll let you know as soon as it comes through.”
“Perfect,” Gunner murmured, already pulling up views of the Iranian team building on a couple of the monitors.
Avi followed Rebel into the hallway and closed the door behind her. They walked to the elevator in silence and didn’t speak on the ride down. Rebel was obviously as vividly aware as he was of the cameras Gunnar would be using to watch them.
“Walk with me?” he breathed without moving his lips as they reached the lobby. Gunnar no doubt read lips, like most experienced operators could.
“Sure,” Rebel uttered back, playing ventriloquist herself, and without so much as glancing in his direction.
It was a crisp, Australian winter night under bright stars. The temperature was cool and bracing, perfect for a brisk walk. He matched his stride to Rebel’s, relieved that she was a quick walker and he didn’t have to hold his stride back too much.
The Olympic Village was quiet tonight, in stark contrast to the wild parties of the past several evenings. Many athletes had preliminary competitions coming up now that the games had officially begun, and they were tucked in bed trying to sleep. Although Avi suspected they would mostly fail to get much rest. It had taken intense training and practice for him to learn to sleep in spite of pre-mission jitters, and it wasn’t a skill many people successfully mastered.
“So what’s your answer, Rebel? Shall I show you how real men treat women? Yes or no?”
Chapter 7
Rebel glanced up at Avi. His profile was so handsome it hurt to look at it. She murmured, “You do realize it’s a bit arrogant of you to assume that you constitute a real man or a decent guy, right?”
His gaze glinted with amusement, spearing straight through her emotional defenses. Fine. They both knew that wasn’t true.
Memory of that first kiss they’d shared swept through her, and desire to do it again nearly overwhelmed her self-control. Only the knowledge that Gunnar had access to camera views of this sidewalk prevented Rebel from jumping in front of Avi and demanding another kiss right now.
He said mildly, “I’m merely stating a fact, not trying to making a value judgment. I like women. I respect women. I do my damnedest to treat women well and make them feel good.”
How good? What did he do that made them feel so good? These and many other questions suddenly crowded forward in her mind.
“Yes,” she declared in sudden decision.
“Is that your answer to my offer?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes.”
He murmured low, “Outstanding.”
He might not have said the word loudly, nor moved his lips when saying it, but he managed to pack the syllables with fervent relief. That, and a sure and certain promise of toe-curling passion.
“What comes first?” she asked a little hesitantly, now that she’d thrown her hat into the dating ring with him.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
She laughed. “You’re going to have to push me to the airport in a wheelbarrow if you keep feeding me all the time.”
“My mother always said the way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.”
“I thought that was what they say about men.”
“Men and women aren’t so different. While men may be in it purely for the food, women enjoy the intimacy of sharing a meal together. Admit it. You liked our supper last night. Wine, candles, a little waltzing...it created a mood, did it not?”
“Indeed it did. But it’s a little late tonight for seven-course French cuisine.”
“Ahh, my sweet, innocent Rebel. There are many more flavors of food romance than just that one.”
Her stomach fluttered in anticipation. What did he have in store for her next? “You’re going to have to work hard to top last night’s supper.”
“Challenge accepted,” he declared, smiling. “Come with me.”
He led her toward the giant dining tent in the middle of the village. Long rows of tables stretched away seemingly forever, and Avi wound through the cavernous space to a food stand that advertised custom-made flash ice cream.
“What’s your pleasure?” he asked her as she stared at a dizzyingly long list of possible flavors.
“I have no idea.”
“What’s usually your favorite flavor of ice cream?” he responded.
“My family always got vanilla.”
“Bah. That’s boring. We’re here to live a little. May I order for you?”
She had to laugh at his enthusiasm. “Sure. Go for it.”
He told the attendant, “We’ll have chocolate, raspberry and coffee flavored...a scoop of each in two waffle cones, topped with dark chocolate drizzle, whipped cream and one of those meringue puffs for each.”
“That’s not an ice cream cone! That’s an entire dessert!” she exclaimed.
“I’ll take you running again, tomorrow,” he said soothingly.
“I’m going to need to pull a 10K to work this off.”
“Okay. I run 10K’s for training every few weeks or so.”
“Of course you do,” she muttered.
“Don’t you?” He sounded surprised.
“Well, yes,” she allowed. “In our initial training, the Medusas ran one almost every day.”
“There you have it.”
She watched with interest as the ice cream attendant poured a liquid custard base into three metal stand mixers. The guy added pureed raspberries to the first, espresso coffee to the second, and a combination of chocolate syrup and chopped chocolate to the third. He turned the mixers on and then warne
d, “Ready?”
“Ready,” Avi declared.
The attendant flipped handles beside each mixer and liquid nitrogen was blown into each mix through a tube. In a few seconds, the mixtures had frozen. The attendant let the mixers run just long enough to keep everything smooth and creamy, and then he turned the machines off, scooped up the flash-made ice cream into cones and put the toppings on them.
Avi passed one cone to Rebel and took the other for himself. They sat down at the end of an empty table facing each other.
“Bon appetit,” he murmured.
Rebel took a cautious lick of the ice cream. The tartness of the berries, the bitterness of the coffee and the lush, creamy sweetness of the chocolate were a lethal combination. She groaned aloud. “Ohmigosh. That’s amazing. You’ve got to stop introducing me to all this fantastic food! I’m ruined for plain vanilla ice cream ever again!”
“Excellent. My work here is done.” He took a long swipe of the ice cream with his tongue and her lower belly tightened. Whoa. Who knew that watching a man eat an ice cream cone could be so sexy? Was he enjoying watching her do the same with as much relish?
She dared to glance up at him, and sure enough, his eyes were blazing with what she hoped was desire. She took a long, slow swipe of her own around the edge of her cone, catching the little dribbles threatening to escape the crispy edge.
Avi groaned under his breath.
Ooh. This was fun. Next, she pursed her lips and placed them on one of the scoops of ice cream, slurping at the sweet. She finished with a delicate lick using the tip of her tongue to smooth away the dent in the ice cream from her sucking.
Of course, Avi wasn’t above a little payback. He licked and sucked at his ice cream sensuously, the expression in his eyes devilish as he savored the dessert, never taking his gaze off her.
Oh, two could play at that. She opened her mouth wide and stroked her mouth over all three scoops of ice cream, ending with a satisfied smack of her lips. The mix of all three flavors at once was incredible, and she repeated the maneuver.
Avi’s eyelids grew a bit heavy, and his stare went hooded and dark, black fire blazing in them. In fact, his entire presence had abruptly gone very mysterious and inscrutable. But she wasn’t fooled. She’d gotten under his skin with that R-rated display of ice-cream eating.
And she wasn’t done with her cone, yet.
More dripping threatened, and she licked around the cone’s crown again. She was forced to suck the tip of the cone as it started to leak creamy fluid, and then she went back to long, sexy swipes around the scoops of ice cream.
Of course, Avi gave the same treatment to his cone, and her breathing was shockingly affected by the sight of him making love to the sweet. Her chest felt a little tight, and she was suddenly unable to draw a deep, full breath without conscious effort.
Hubba hubba.
It was a race to finish the ice cream before it dripped and leaked everywhere, but she managed to keep up with Avi, and they both averted a potential mess. Although, a fantasy of letting ice cream drip all over his body and having to lick it up flashed through her brain. Based on the incendiary glint in his eyes, she gathered something similar had passed through his mind, as well.
Avi stood, and she stood as well, reluctant to leave the fantasy behind. “Shall we walk a bit?” he suggested.
“Please. That sugar’s going to keep me awake for a while.”
They went back outside and strolled along one of the many beautifully landscaped paths winding through the village.
“Tell me what you like, Rebel.”
She frowned, not sure how to answer that. “I like my work. A lot.”
“Why?”
“It’s important, and I feel like I’m making a difference.”
“What else do you like?”
“What do you mean?” she responded.
He chuckled under his breath. “You’re really not very good at enjoying life, are you?”
“I’m sorry—”
He cut her off. “Don’t apologize. Never apologize for being exactly who you are. Actually, I find your...inexperience...endearing. Please allow me to clarify my earlier question. What’s your favorite food?”
“At the moment, I would have to go with ice cream.”
He grinned at that. “Favorite activity besides exercising for work—which I already know you enjoy?”
“I love to ski.”
‘Have you ever surfed?”
“No, but it’s on my bucket list.”
Avi nodded firmly. “Done. Next time you and I get a day off, I’m taking you to the ocean.”
The notion of wearing a skimpy bathing suit with him, sun and waves and sand—oh my. Her heartbeat just accelerated noticeably. “Don’t hold your breath on that day off,” she warned him. “It’s likely to be after the games end before I get a down day.”
“Same.”
Same? He intended to see her even after the games were over? Well, that certainly was a new wrinkle in whatever this was developing between them.
“What else do you like?” he asked.
“I like to sit by a fire and read a book on a snowy night.”
“Ahh, there’s my introvert coming through.”
“Is that bad?” she asked quickly.
“Not at all. I’m an introvert, too.”
“You? No way. You’re Mister Sociable.”
“And I get tired of being social eventually, then I want my alone time to recharge.”
She nodded. “I totally understand that. I love being with my teammates, but sometimes I just need to get away and be by myself for a while.”
“Anytime you want to be alone, let me know. I promise I won’t take offense.”
Wow. That was certainly considerate of him—
Ahh. That was what he meant by treating her well. Huh. She couldn’t remember dating a guy before who actually got her need to be alone sometimes.
“What am I going to do if you’re perfect?” she mumbled more to herself than to him.
“I beg your pardon?”
Oh God. She’d said that aloud? “Never mind,” she said quickly.
“I’m far from perfect,” he mused. “I want to win every argument and tend not to give up even if I’m wrong. I’m told I’m stubborn to a fault. I don’t like being told what to do. I prefer to be my own boss and not have to give orders much, either. However, when I do have to give orders, I don’t like it when they’re questioned, especially when bullets are flying overhead.”
“In other words, you’re an excellent special operator,” she replied.
He smiled a little. “I’m still alive after fifteen years as one, so I guess I don’t suck. But I’m told that makes me rotten long-term relationship material.”
So this whole seduction thing was a purely short-term deal, after all? Well, hell.
She stared at the sidewalk while shock rolled through her. She was already thinking about something long-term with this guy? What was wrong with her? She’d barely established that she liked him, let alone going and doing something dumb like falling in love with him.
She knew her life had no space in it for long-term anything except her work with the Medusas. What was Avi doing to her head? How had he gotten under her skin so fast? Sure, he was a great kisser, but no kiss was worth throwing away everything she’d worked so hard for—
“What are you thinking about so intently?” He interrupted her raging thoughts.
“Nothing.”
Avi laughed under his breath. “I learned a long time ago that women are never thinking about nothing.”
“Okay, then. Nothing I care to talk about right now,” she amended.
He nodded a little. “Fair enough. We can just walk.”
She blinked, startled yet again. Since when did the man she was with not p
ush her to explain herself? She had to give Avi credit. The man most certainly knew how to seduce a woman.
But that was all it was to him. A seduction. An entertaining diversion while he was stuck here in Australia babysitting athletes and being bored out of his mind. She would do well to remember that while he was plying her with sexy food and long walks.
“I probably need to get back to my room and get some sleep,” she announced. It was the last thing on her mind, but she surely didn’t want to come across as desperate and thirsty.
He frowned, obviously sensing her abrupt change in mood, but he didn’t comment on it. He veered back toward the American headquarters, and disappointment made her gut feel heavy all of a sudden.
Sheesh. Was she really that pathetic?
Maybe she should just go for the two-week fling and call it good. After all, he was the hottest thing this side of the international date line. And he was clearly completely at ease with the whole short-term thing.
Decisions, decisions.
Aww, what the heck. Why not go for it?
They reached the American security building and stopped out front. “Would you like to come up?” she asked as casually as she could muster.
“Not tonight, but thank you for asking,” he answered calmly.
What? He’d turned her down? Didn’t he find her attractive enough to sleep with?
He leaned in close to kiss her cheek and paused with his mouth on her temple, murmuring against her skin, “When we make love, it will be because you absolutely demand it and not because you think I expect it. I’m in no rush, Rebel. Sweet dreams.”
He stepped back, gathering himself to turn away from her.
“Avi. Wait.”
He went still, waiting and watching. He reminded her of a panther, as dark as the night itself, crouched in the shadows and ready to attack.
“May I ask for a kiss?”
His body hesitated, but his eyes blazed all of a sudden. His body won out and he didn’t move.
Well, hell. She grabbed the front of his shirt, fisting her hand in the starched cotton. He wanted her to demand it from him? Fine. Using her considerable strength, she pulled him toward her.
