Nik knew he’d done right by standing down and letting Maya take on Lister, but it ranked up there as one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. As if she knew he’d step in, her waving him down before he could leap had stopped his forward momentum and left him with his heart in his throat, choking the spit right out of him. When she’d handled the asshole with all the aplomb of a veteran warrior and proved her ability to take care of herself, he’d had only one thought in his rattled head.
Thank-you-Lord!
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known plenty of women in the forces who could take care of trouble just as well as any male, but in those situations, he’d never had his heart tied up in their welfare—not like he felt when he thought of Maya in danger. With no time to delve into his predicament right now, he instead faked being a relaxed partner. Meanwhile, his insides were being ripped into shreds from the shock and the recurring trauma symptoms from his PTSD.
He covered it up well, he thought. Hunching over an agitated Lister helped him grip onto his control. Playing the bad cop to Maya’s opposite role also calmed him enough that he was pretty sure she’d missed his reactions. One thing he did notice, though, was that the length of time had shortened before he was able to feel the erratic panic receding so he could breathe easier.
***
“He was telling the truth.” Maya ground out the words, along with her annoyance.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Intelligence training, it’s pretty darn thorough.”
“I bet.” Maya had noticed Nik’s face change just before she’d stepped in to deal with Lister. Galvanized to react, she’d motioned him to back off. But she’d been aware of the impact her brawl had made on him. Just thinking about it made her heart slip into the rhythm of a rumba, beating fast and furious.
He cared.
She’d seen it plainly. His acting all nonchalant had covered it up, but she’d sensed the toll it had taken and she wanted to wrap her arms around the man and squeeze him as hard as she had her favorite, child-sized, teddy bear that had withstood the brunt of many exuberant hugs.
It was time to relax, let go of the mad. “Wanna get something to eat and bring it to the motel? See if your buddy shows up? Maybe we’ll be lucky and he’ll be there.”
“Maybe we’ll be even luckier and he won’t.” Nik’s steady gaze caught her eye and she didn’t try to look away. Instead, heart starting to dance again, she smiled her acceptance.
Full-on seduction, the man knew how to stir it well. No playing games, he showed her clearly that he wanted her. And she was hot, wet and ready for him too.
Taking his hand, she led him to their vehicle. “Let’s hope…”
Once in the room, they both breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was empty. Nik set the sushi down on the table and advanced to where Maya had kicked off her shoes and settled back, with her elbows resting on the bed.
She straightened and her hands came up. “Hold it, partner. We need to talk.” Maya had this conversation with all of her lovers, not that there had been scads, but she believed it better to get the business side of the relationship over before any hanky-panky begun. That way, both parties knew what to expect from their…ah…friendship.
Nik lowered himself onto the edge of the mattress next to her and relaxed. “Okay. What did you want to discuss?”
“Do you know where Max is?” W
here did that come from?
Shocked and defensive, Nik straightened. “Now why the hell would you ask me something like that? And at a time like this! All I want to do is get your clothes off, kiss you everywhere my lips will fit and bury myself inside that luscious body of yours and you… well, shit, I’ll never understand he female mind. I thought you were with me on this.”
Mad at herself for letting her tongue bypass her brain—
yet again—
she backed down from her question and apologized. “Look, for a minute there, when you were taking off your suit jacket, you looked so much like him that he popped into my mind and I didn’t stop to think. I know you’d tell me if you had any information. I’m sorry.” Crawling toward him, she nestled close and offered her lips in apology.
Nik pulled his head back and looked at her at the same time as he loosened his tie and undid the buttons on his shirt. “You wanted to talk. If so, you’d better say what you have to, because when I get my hands on you there’ll be very little talking other than ‘Oh God!’, ‘Now!’, ‘Don’t stop!’ and maybe ‘Please!’.” His smile, slow and mesmerizing, drew her into his web and she realized that there were no questions waiting, only exclamations to be uttered. Without hesitation, she started.
“Please! Now!”
Slowly he reached for her face, slid his hand under her hair and lowered his lips to hers. Teasing, he nipped at her bottom lip, then the sides of her mouth until, with a groan, he kissed her fully. Hard, then soft, and with another stifled sound, hard again, he kissed her until she felt like she was drowning in his seduction.
Her needs as strong as his, she returned his loving assault. Opening to him, she let her tongue intertwine with his in a routine as old as time. “Oh, God!” The words broke free before she could stop them and they seemed to spur him on.
Laying her backwards on the mattress, he pulled his shirt the rest of the way off then followed her down. He searched for her hands, then he lifted them above her head, holding her hostage while his lips ate at the pebbled skin of her throat, under her ears, breathing there on purpose to ramp up her excitement.
“You smell good.” His voice, rough with passion, made her smile, her eyes connecting with his, loving…
“It’s perfumed soap.”
“I’ll buy you a truckload if you use it whenever we’re together.”
“I wash my whole body with it.”
“Oh, God!”
Undoing the buttons of her shirt seemed to take forever, but his kisses after each opening soothed her somewhat. Finally her chest was bared like his and he ground himself against her, breathing harshly, her body thrashing to bring him closer. She wanted him inside her.
His hands stroked everywhere, squeezing her breasts, fondling the nipples and caressing the skin. Parting her legs with his knee, he introduced his hard, throbbing need, his desire.
She answered by thrusting her pelvis upward, hugging him, stroking his back, his head, kissing his neck. Breathing loudly, unevenly, her whimpering sobs were probably enough evidence that she was ready for him, but just in case she added, “Yes.” And then… “Please, take my pants off. Now…!” And to be absolutely sure he’d get the message, she moaned his name, “Nik! Oh God!”
That’s when her cell phone rang. And two seconds later, so did Max’s, which was stashed in Nik’s back pocket.
He stiffened. So did she. They both groaned.
You’ve got to be kidding me…
Nik pulled away, put his on speaker and they both listened to the excited voice of Henry Lassiter talking fast and low. “Hey, something weird’s going on at the Smith & Son office. You might want to get down here. Can you find Maya? Conley’s with me and he’s calling her, but she’s not answering her phone.”
“Sure, we’re together having dinner. She’s in the bathroom and her phone’s here. What’s up?” He reached over and rested his palm against the side of her face, then he winked.
She nodded her thanks.
“First a black SUV pulled up outside the office building and a couple of big brutes forced a young girl out of the back seat. We contemplated going in to see what the devil was going on, but before we’d made up our minds about how to handle it, we saw this smaller person in a hoodie, figured it was another girl by the build, sneaking around through the gate and into the yard. We weren’t sure what we should do. The boss told us surveillance only. We didn’t want to screw with someone else’s ongoing investigation—you know?”
Nik watched Maya’s hand signals and followed her directives. “You’re doing right. Stand down and just observe. We’ll be there shortly. Leave the van doors unlocked.”
He pushed the off button and exhaled louder than necessary, revealing his resentment. “Oh, baby, you have no idea how much I want to say fuck it, close out the world and pull you back onto that bed. I guess it’s not gonna happen, though, is it?”
Grimacing, she answered, her voice filled with disgust. “Nope!”
Shrugging, Nik stood, grabbed his shirt off the floor and stopped what he was doing to watch her putting her bra back on. Another loud sigh escaped and made her smile.
“Hold that thought, sugar. We’ll get back to it later. Do you happen to have a black T-shirt I can borrow?”
“Seriously?”
“In case we have to do any snooping around. My white blouse is… ” Her raised eyebrow said it all.
“Right!” He dug into his bag and pulled one out and held it up, then he changed his mind. “Julian has clothes hanging in the bathroom that will fit better. I’m sure there was a black shirt in there.”
Sure enough, there was one with a big green, glow-in-the-dark, happy-faced marijuana leaf splattered over the front. Maya grinned, turned it inside out and slipped it on, sadly watching as Nik’s gorgeous physique disappeared inside his own T-shirt.
Her remorseful sigh equaled his. Shaking her head in sorrow, she went to step out of the room and Nik’s hands reached past her to hold the door closed.
Turning to face him, she knew her hunger for him was still obvious enough to read clearly. The rampaging desires he’d set loose couldn’t be stopped by a phone call—no matter how urgent. Dammit, she wanted this man with an intensity she’d never felt before.
Gripping her head in both his hands, he kissed her hard. “Be careful tonight. My instincts are telling me something is going to happen.”
“Always. You too. We still have a date for later, right?” She instigated another kiss and broke it off before it could carry them away. Then she spun around, opened the door and led the way to Max’s Lexus.
“Oh, no!” Nik took two steps back, his hands up. He already had some repair work to get done on the rear bumper.
“Yes. They’ll make our FBI issue, you know they will. Just get in and let’s go.”
“They know Max’s car too.”
“Not in the dark. It just looks like any car. Quit arguing and get in.”
***
They arrived in record time and snuck into the reconnaissance van. Lassiter and Conley were both there, avidly watching the screen. Lassiter turned to face them with a grin. “Wow, you were right, it didn’t take any time at all for you folks to get here. What kind of a diner were you at? Funny no one noticed your T-shirt was on inside out.”
Conley snickered and earned a dirty look from Nik—clearly an unspoken message to wipe the grin off his face.
Maya chuckled. “Didn’t think you had such good observation skills, Lassie.” First she pissed off Lassiter with a nickname he hated, and then she lifted her t-shirt up to give them an eyeful of bra-clad boobs and a big green happy-face. “We stopped at a nearby place to get me a dark shirt, in case we needed to get closer. They didn’t have plain ones. You satisfied?”
“Oh, yeah!” Both men laughed and nodded simultaneously.
Nik sighed. Then he spotted the video and pointed. “What have you got?”
Conley rewound the scene on the monitor, and soon Nik and Maya watched as a familiar SUV pulled up outside the entrance and two men roughly forced a struggling teen from the back seat. By her slender build, long black hair and darker skin tone, she looked to be Oriental, and the name Mai burst into Maya’s conscience. Hearing Nik’s exclamation, she glanced at him, and their shared look spoke what was in both their thoughts.
Soon, the tape revealed another figure breaking cover, stalking the premises, his hood pulled over his blond curls.
Juli!
Maya’s shock registered.
“Julian?” Nik uttered the name of the man they both recognized. “Son-of-a-bitch! What the hell is he doing here?”
“You know that person?” Conley pointed at the screen as it showed Juli disappear into the darkened yard.
“Yeah! He’s my pal from out of town.”
“Shit, man. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize him. What the hell has he got to do with this case?”
“Beats me! He just keeps popping up at the most opportune times. Have you got anything more on video?”
“Nothing that shows what’s going on down there. Hold it! Look.” He pointed to the other monitor showing real time. “They’re forcing those two in that truck. I think they’re getting ready to leave. Maya, isn’t that the same eighteen-wheeler you two have pictured on your case board? The one Al Bard got picked up in?”
“You’re right! Uh-oh! The SUV is leaving too. Looks to me like they’re the same two dudes who brought in the young girl. Only, they’re going in the opposite direction.”
Maya stopped with her hand on the latch. “You guys hang out here. Keep your eyes open, okay? We’re going to tail the rig with Julian and the girl. Maybe they’re going to pick up more hostages, or it could be they’re shipping the ones they already have to another city. Whichever way they’re headed, we’ll keep you informed.”
Nik followed Maya to their vehicle and threw her the keys. Intuition had him heading to the passenger side. Not only did she know the district better than he did, but she also drove like a demon, there were no two ways about it. Chances were they’d need her skills. Only problem he worried about was being able to stomp down on his reactive panic if things got too crazy.
Soon as she hit the gas he knew they were in for a wild ride. Wheeling the car around, laughing with joy, she cut in and out of the traffic until they were only two cars behind the truck. “Max has never let me drive his car. No matter how much I begged.”
Nik gulped and said a silent apology to his brother who, as far as he was concerned, never had to know his toy had been handled by this pro. “He was just protecting his investment.”
“You mean he was a big baby. I tried every trick to get him to hand over the keys, but it didn’t happen. I wish he was here now.”
Nik looked out of the side windows and grinned.
Hey, bro, you should see her handle this ride. Ha, you’d be shitting yourself.
The squeal of the wheels caught his attention and he leaned harder on the handle near his arm. They’d followed the truck to a dark road he didn’t know and there weren’t any more vehicles separating them. Suddenly, out of seemingly nowhere, a black SUV crawled up beside them. Shit! He’d seen them head off in the other direction. How the hell could they turn up here?
“Looks like we have company.” Maya’s enjoyment sparked excitement in her cheerful voice. Their situation didn’t faze her one little bit.
He watched her handling the powerful machine like she was doing what she was born to do.
Incredible! Even sexy!
Thick red hair framed her face, revealing her profile: high cheekbones, pretty, pert nose, and lush smiling lips. Her relaxed expression made him tense more. Wasn’t she taking any of this seriously?
Shit!
Nik, on the other hand, hated not being in control and was beginning to feel the saliva building in his mouth and the bile activating in his stomach. No goddamn way would he allow this shit to catch him now. He took deep breaths and, using sheer willpower, forced back the alarm. Slipping his gun from his holster, he got ready for whatever would happen.
Meanwhile, Maya fought to keep the car on the road while the black beast seemed determined not to let that happen. Gunning the engine and having it respond with a huge burst of speed, Maya was forced to cut off the SUV and overtake the truck. The driver, not liking their shenanigans, tried accelerating also. Only the he didn’t have the same skills as Maya and couldn’t handle the speed. The big monster began fishtailing like crazy.
Caught beside the weaving eighteen-wheeler and the SUV forcing them there, Maya had to either speed up and take a chance on getting rammed by the swaying mass or hit the ditch. At this speed, neither was a good option.
Handling the car like a qualified NASCAR driver, she connived to keep the car under her control, using the brake, steering wheel, gas pedal, and sheer guts. Strangely, Nik began to see the game she played and enjoy watching her reactions and her sheer genius in handling the powerful vehicle.
But, unfortunately, the driver of the truck didn’t have the same skills as she did. The long trailer swung out too wide cutting off the road, swerving crazily.
Forced by circumstances, Maya had no choice but to drive Max’s baby over the approaching embankment.