The Monte Carlo Affair: Across A Crowded Room (IATO Series Book 2) (14 page)

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. You don’t need to—”

“No, I do need to.
We
do need to talk. There’s too much unsettled between us, both personal and business. Tonight got out of hand way too fast. I’ve never been in a situation where I couldn’t control myself unless it’s been with you. Where you’re concerned, I don’t have any control. You should know that from our past experience. My mind turns to mush. I’m desperate. I can’t think about anything but having you.”

She couldn’t think of an appropriate response. “Hooray” didn’t seem right under the circumstances, not with him sitting there declaring his uncontrollable...well, lust if nothing else. Was she supposed to be sorry? Not likely. So, she kept silent and let him continue.

“I care about you, Emily. I have for years. But we need to talk when we get home. There’s something I have to take care of here first.”

Emily’s insides jumped with hope. If he touched her now, she wouldn’t stop him, and she’d probably go off like a bottle rocket. Hell, she might just need to seduce him on her own. All those wasted years! One taste of him wasn’t enough!

“Okay, we’ll talk when we’re both back on familiar ground. Right now, we’re not dealing with reality. Let’s just take tonight one step at a time.” She sounded so sensible, so under control for someone who was very out of it.

Jason reached his hand out for hers and held fast. “Don’t bet on what’s reality and what’s not. We’re almost at your place. I have to call in to make sure no one’s waiting for us.”

Both of them kept quiet, lost in their own thoughts during the remainder of the drive. As they cruised along in traffic on Princess Grace Boulevard toward Emily’s apartment, she thought about their relationship. During recent years, she’d done research for his team occasionally. Things only started thawing out between them recently, and his attitude began to change last year

“Jason, do you think the chip exchange will fool them?”

“You tell me. You’re the authority in that department.”

Even though the other computer specialist retired last month, there could’ve been an alternative method for the passing of the chip. Although she was the only female operative in the department with the ability, she wasn’t really field material.

“There isn’t any reason they would have to suspect anything. Until the sale is made, there won’t be anyone testing it. And, even then, they may not recognize the different technology immediately.”

She thought his performance with her would’ve been uncomfortable, especially because he’d distanced himself from her. Why had he chosen her for this mission?

“What’s wrong?” Jason must have noticed her grimace.

“Nothing, really. Jason, why me?” He had to have suspected the intimacy of the plan in advance.

“You were the most qualified.”

“No, really, why did you choose me?” If he wanted to keep his distance, this was the wrong way to do it.

“Emily, who would ever suspect you of anything devious?”

She thought about her plan the night she seduced him three years ago. “You.” She asked the obvious question, “Where do I go from here?”

He gave her a questioning look.

Her former uncertainty turned into a bigger issue since this mission paired them up as lovers. “What am I supposed to think of all this?”

“We’ll go to your apartment and get your stuff together.”

“Damn, don’t act stupid,” she snapped. “You know I’m not talking about that. Just don’t talk to me at all if you can’t be honest.”

“The plan is for you to leave first. With my valuable contacts all still here in Europe, my identity has to be protected at all costs, especially since the agency will need to utilize those contacts again.” His identity couldn’t be compromised.

If Kincaid saw him, he’d probably recognize him. There’s no way he’d have forgotten about him.

“I’m sorry. We’ll do what we planned on doing, and when I get back, we’ll take some time off together. We’ll get our relationship settled.”

Emily turned to look at him, stunned.

Jason glanced over at her and emphasized his meaning. “And Emily, in spite of how things have been between us, we do have a relationship.”

“Okay, I’ll wait.” She’d trust him. Without understanding the whys of their plan, it was probably safer if she knew as little as possible while developing her affiliation to Mosel. “It’s easier to act innocent if you are innocent,” she said. Well, as innocent as possible under the circumstances.

“True enough.”

“Tell me something, what was the purpose of bringing Mosel into this originally before I discovered his association with the terrorists?”

“Mosel also has contacts with the opposition terrorist group. We, or rather I, needed him to accept me. The easiest way to achieve that was to gain his respect by taking the woman who piqued his interest. It certainly appears you’ve piqued his.”

Emily grunted.

“One thing about Mosel, he’s ruled by his...let’s just say his opinions and self-esteem are measured in his feminine conquests. I needed to win one he wanted badly and hadn’t managed to get, in order to garner his attention.”

She grunted again.

“I owe you big time, Emily. You made me top dog in the Mediterranean playboy set tonight.” Jason smiled a tired smile at her, shifted gears, and pulled away from the intersection.

“Sure, like you needed any help in that arena.”

Clarifying the agency position, he said, “More important, if we can keep our cover intact, maybe there’s a good chance of undermining the competitive terrorist group. And, just maybe, we can throw suspicion regarding the chip switch in another direction if we need to. Let them kill each other off. You’re familiar with the phrase ‘no honor among thieves?’ I think it’s the same among terrorists. The consequences of this job are perhaps the direst of all the jobs we’ve undertaken since the agency was established.” Jason continued, “It is certainly the most dangerous for you.”

He picked up his cell phone and called security. “Harrison, run the check on Em’s place, we’re almost there.”

In the quiet of the car, Emily could hear Harrison’s response. “Hey, Jason, tell Emily that was some performance tonight. She looked great. Did you know she could look like that?”

Jason growled. “If you keep shouting, she can hear you herself.”

“All the guys want to be first on her dance card.” Jason heard that comment in the background from the rookie before Harrison could shut him up.

This subject Jason wasn’t willing to discuss, let alone with Emily sitting right next to him able to hear every word. She blushed so brightly it was visible in the dim interior of the car. He cleared his throat again, blocking the sound from the other end of the conversation, but the rookie rambled on while Jason quizzed Harrison.

“We didn’t have a great vantage point to watch the goings-on, but it looked damned realistic from my perspective. I was rooting for you, boss.” Jason tried to halt the kid’s runaway mouth by coughing into the phone.

Then he grimaced as he heard the rookie in the background again. “Half the security guys are betting it was the real thing going down.”

Jason’s jaw clenched with anger. “Harrison, I’m gonna kill him when I get him alone.” The rookie was out of line. “Just cover our backs. And, Harrison, tell the others to shut up and pay attention to what they’re supposed to be doing. We’re doing our jobs—tell them to do theirs.”

Was the snap of control like protesting too much? Would the quick retort only confirm the speculations the rest of the team were making? Jason regained control and said more calmly, “We don’t have time to discuss much now, we’re almost out front.”

He popped the phone back into his jacket pocket, preventing any further comments. He knew the speculation from her teammates made Emily uncomfortable. He leaned across the console, patting her knee supportively, turning to a professional approach.

“Em, keep a low profile when we get out. We’ll go in the back as soon as we’re cleared. Just remember, as long as you’ve been the one person involved with the chip, we could both be in real danger. You know what that would mean to the project.”

Harrison rang back with the all-clear code. Several low rings, coming from his jacket, interrupted Jason. “Okay, we’re ready, let’s go. Remember what I said. The guys checked out everything, but you can never be too sure.”

No one knew that better than Jason. After what went down with Em’s father, he’d never have enough fail-safes in place to suit him. Going in through the back would avoid the possibility of neighbor interference. Emily had made friends with a few of the tenants, but old Monsieur Demaret, the man in the apartment at the downstairs entry, seemed particularly protective of her. Now wouldn’t be the time to explain why her hair was askew and her dress split to her navel.

They checked around. Coast clear.

Chapter One – Cyber Seduction 3

Once inside her own place, Emily took a deep breath, leaned against the closed door, and sighed. The weariness from the tension began to set in almost immediately. She couldn’t move. Her knees were like jelly. Watching Jason check out the apartment, his gun in his hand, she wasn’t sure the weakness she experienced was a result of the evening’s events, or his effect on her. Just watching him, so unruffled, made her ache for him all over again.

Braced against the door, not sure she could accommodate the offer she was about to make, Emily asked, “So, do you want anything?”

“You better rephrase that offer if you don’t want to end up on your back, right here, right now.”

“Something to drink? Or eat?”

“Oh.” Jason had just finished checking the bedroom and small bathroom when he heard Emily’s offer. She was killing him.

Cautiously, before he turned to glance at Emily over his shoulder, he took a deep breath. Being alone with her set off all sorts of alarms in his head. This time, what would he use as an excuse? He turned and exhaled. When he saw her exhausted expression, his attitude switched from sex to concern. Emily was moments from collapse.

“Down, boy,” he thought to himself. Now wasn’t the time to jump her bones. She was dead on her feet and her dress was split to her navel. He’d done that, but he didn’t want to think about it right now. Everything except Emily could wait.

He walked over to her, slowly taking her around the waist. His first instinct was to support her, but when the sensation of her nearness and scent surrounded him, he brought his arms around her and held her for his own satisfaction. At first she shivered in his arms, and then she relaxed against him. Up to this point, she must have been operating on pure adrenaline. Running his hands over her shoulders, his face buried in her hair, Jason kept reminding himself she wasn’t used to this intrigue. Computers were her specialty, nice, safe computers.

He lifted his lips from her forehead and stared down at her, saying, “Thanks, I could use a chilled glass of wine. How about you? Just point me in the right direction. I’m capable of finding my way around your kitchen while you get cleaned up.”

“There’re several bottles in the wine cooler. Pick whatever you like.” She told him where the glasses were as he led her into the bedroom.

“A nice warm bath will do you a world of good. Go ahead, get the kinks out, and I’ll go scrounge up the food and that wine while you relax. I’ll help you get your stuff together later.”

Jason turned on the tub water and lit the rose-scented candles sitting on the ledge before he went into the kitchen to pour the wine. He returned, handed her a glass, and then left her to herself. He didn’t trust himself to let her relax. If he stayed a second longer, they’d both be in that tub, and he was sure there would be no relaxing going on.

“That bath never looked so enticing. A nice soak is all I need.” Emily dragged her hand through the bubbles and looked at the steaming tub like it was a life line.

“Enjoy the ambiance while I see to dinner.” Jason chuckled, turned without looking back, and closed the door behind him.

Emily ached all over, but mostly with desire. The very fiber of her being still reached out for him as she took the scrap of what was left of her dress from her shoulders, dropped it to the floor, and stepped into the fragrant water.

She couldn’t stop craving him, the feel of his hands, his scent, his heat. Her body screamed for more. Even though the discomfort from the evening’s adventures ran from tip to toe, she still wanted more. The hot bubbling water felt wonderful all over her sensitive skin.

She slipped farther down in the tub, realizing she had developed an insatiable sexual appetite for this man as well as rekindled her old emotional need for him. During certain moments tonight, he seemed to demonstrate similar feelings toward her. Was it possible he felt the same way?

Emily lathered the washcloth with the fragrant soap—something sandalwoodsy and rosemaryish. She giggled. Were those even words? Maybe not, but they were two conflicting scents, both invigorating and relaxing at the same time. As she scrubbed her body with the strange herbal mixture, she thought of the similarity between the fragrant soap and the vibes Jason gave off. The inner turmoil she felt began to subside a little, even though his conflicting behavior confused her.

For many years, he’d tried to play the older brother role, and he could be just as annoying as one, too. Between Jason and her father, the few times in high school when she’d tried to date, the poor guys were too intimidated to ask her out a second time. Coming to the house once was usually enough.

She put her head in her hands thinking about tonight. “Brotherly?” Definitely not tonight. That “brother” thing ended long ago. It had never worked for her, anyway. She spent night after night and year after year mooning over him like a starstruck teenager. Hell, she was a teenager then, what was her excuse now? She thought back to when he came home the weekend before his graduation from Annapolis, dressed up in his white Naval uniform. Even thinking back now, she felt a tingle of warmth flowing through her. She was so thrilled when he admitted he’d missed her and he spun her around in his arms. Jason wasn’t usually that demonstrative. In fact, he even seemed surprised at himself that day. He was out of the country a lot after that.

Lazing back in the tub, Emily couldn’t keep a smile off her lips. Ah, the
coup de gras.
Her best friends in high school, Liz and Amy, lived off the encounter of Jason kissing her smack on the mouth for a week. And she lived off it for years.

She considered the reason for her inability to gauge him. Too many times, he’d acted like a complete jerk, as if being in her presence was unbearable. So typically male, he remained aloof, almost cold to her in the presence of others. As she got older, there was no time for the old wrestling, hugging, or touching. The hug and buss in front of her friends was the last time they touched. Well, until the night she seduced him.

His arrogant, distant attitude stopped when he asked her to join this mission. He treated her in a professional, respectful manner at all times while they investigated the possibility of infiltrating the complex she robbed today. She was part of a team, his team. A year of groundwork had been laid for tonight’s heist before he’d brought her on board.

The knock on the door brought Emily back to the present. She jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Isn’t that water cooling off?” Without hesitating, Jason stepped into the bathroom, holding the huge bath sheet out for her. He wrapped her in his arms as he enveloped her in the towel, and she sank into the security of his embrace with a sense of being home at last, even if only for a moment.

He briefly brushed his lips across her forehead, his voice rough again. “Hungry?”

“Mmm, starved.”

“Come on, I’ll feed you.”

Jason had transformed the dining room area into what appeared to be an intimate setting. The small table was set, and her sterile looking dining area looked completely altered into a warm bistro. Candles provided a muted light, dancing over and enhancing the colors of the plants she had scattered around the room. “Wow!”

“Champagne?” Jason asked, handing her a fluted glass.

Emily stood dumbfounded, puzzled. “Where did this come from? How long was I asleep in the tub? I feel like Rip Van Winkle.” She glanced down at her hands to confirm her statement. “If I was in there that long, as long as all this should have taken to prepare, I would be more waterlogged than I am.” She eyed him suspiciously. “I know I didn’t have champagne in this apartment when I left this evening.”

Jason kept moving around her kitchen, bringing things into the dining area as he moved from one room to the other. “I sent Harrison for a few things.

“Well, I’m starving and, whatever this is, it smells heavenly.” Emily moved to sit down at the table. The towel Jason had wrapped her in was still in her one hand, the champagne glass in the other. She dropped the towel to the floor and placed the fluted glass on the table so she could adjust the robe she threw on, on the way out of the bathroom.

Then she picked at the plate in front of her, stabbing a small piece of food from the top. The sauce covering what appeared to be some sort of seafood crepe was delicious. Emily inspected the other food with interest. As she investigated, she waited for Jason to sit. When he didn’t, she looked up. He stood staring, watching her lick the sauce from her finger. He had the champagne bottle gripped by the neck, his knuckles white with pressure, a dark, hungry look on his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he grumbled, turning his back to her.

“Spit it out.”

“You’re killing me here,” he admitted.

She raised a brow at him.

“I want you so much.” He shrugged. “I have a lot to make up for, including my earlier bumbling attempt at making love to you. You should have a soft mattress to lie on. I want you naked beneath me without the bugs, dirt, and spectators.”

She frowned. “Right, the spectators. I sure could have done without them.”

“But you’re hungry and tense and exhausted, and I’m such a bastard.” Jason shook his head as if to clear it. Only after his speech did he chance glancing back at her. His concentration refocused on her mouth, and she finished seductively licking her fingers.

“I’m just being selfish.” His voice went gravelly, but a hopeful expression crossed his face.

The statement sent every thought of food from her mind when she saw the expression on his face. She sucked on her finger and thought of tasting him. The smoldering look Jason gave her quickly took her mind off the table and set her body on fire.

She ran her tongue over her lips, stood up, and dropped the robe from her shoulders as she approached him slowly. “I’m not that hungry right now, for food, that is. It’s you I want to dine on.” She wiggled her finger in his direction. “Come here, I’m naked.” She looked around. “Now, where’s that bed?”

Jason devoured her naked body with his eyes. When she got close enough, he moved up against her so he could resort to using his hands and mouth. “How did my skinny little angel turn into this?” he asked, and handed her the bottle of champagne.

She squealed when the cold pressed against her breast, and he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, whispering in her ear, “It would be a shame to let the champagne go flat. We’ll have plenty of uses for it tonight.”

She was so hot by the time he dripped some of the chilled bubbling liquid over her breasts, she only gasped from relief, imagining the steam rising from her body as it dripped down her breasts. His mouth and tongue soon followed, but she wanted to see him, touch him. “Take off your clothes, now. I want to look at you, it’s my turn.”

Jason shook his head and held her wrists, stilling her roaming hands. “Not this time. I want this to last, and if you touch me it’ll be over way too fast.” A sound like a low growl rumbled from his chest. “No control around you. Remember? Do it my way now, then we’ll try your way, later, okay?”

She wasn’t having it all his way. “Jason, please take your clothes off before I rip them off you.”

Emily felt out of control, and Jason still had both her hands pinned over her head pressed into the pillow. The sensation of his rough clothes against her sensitive skin felt arousing and sensuous.

“Okay,” he relented. “But don’t move.”

Emily acquiesced, unable to breathe while she watched him peel the clothes away, layer by layer, down to his tan flesh. Rippling muscles and broad, thick shoulders flexed as he moved. Her gaze followed each movement and then slipped lower, tracing a faint darkened line of hair leading to his groin, and his jutting cock.

Oh, wow!
She’d never seen him naked before, not fully anyway. He’d bulked up into a man in three years. Her imagination had never pictured anything like this. He was a vision, magnificent in all his powerful male beauty as he climbed on the bed and straddled her.

Jason smoothed her hair around her face, spreading it over the pillow. The tenderness made her tremble with expectation. Then he took her right hand and brought it to her breast, positioning her thumb and forefinger at her own nipple. She did as he directed, unable to move, and then she smiled, not daring to remove her hands from where he had placed them on her body. She wouldn’t chance ending this too soon as she examined his completely aroused body.

He manipulated her fingers in his as he brought his mouth down to her other breast and licked. She arched her back, reaching toward him, shuddering as he teased her nipple. In her stimulated state she probably would have preferred taking this hard and fast, but he seemed content to drive her crazy with a slow deliberate assault. She twitched.

“No, don’t move. You agreed. Stay right where I put you.” And then he touched her knees, gently separating them until she opened to his view.
Oh, God.
She should be embarrassed, but she wanted him to see what he did to her, see how she craved him.

He cupped her, slipping two fingers inside her to test her reaction. Her engorged pink nub swelled at his soft touch. The sensation made her want to beg for more. But it wasn’t necessary. He bent down over her mound, parted her curls, and then he lowered his face to nuzzle her. His lips brushed over her sensitive nub and kissed her there. Nothing had ever felt so good, and then he whipped his tongue over the throbbing tissue emerging from between her swollen, throbbing lips, and she felt the liquid heat pour through her body and pool inside her sex. A sensation like an electric shock shot up her spine, and she screamed. He held her down, exploring her entrance with his tongue, and when he suckled her clitoris once more, she screamed. He licked, suckled, nipped. She reached for him again, this time digging her fingers into his shoulders. He stilled her by holding her hips in place and feasted on her until she was frantic, thrashing uncontrollably beneath his mouth and begging, begging for anything.