Operation Heartbeat (SEAL Team Blackout Charlie #1)

SIXTEEN

Con led Sophie into the bedroom and closed the door.

She turned to him, eyes wide. “I can help the guys find out more about the tattoo.” She threw a glance at the cot where she’d left her laptop open on the images of Henry VIII and the geometric design. “I need to keep working. There’s so much more to decode.”

He stared at her thighs and the enticing way his shirt swirled around them. “Can you put some pants on?”

Her face blanked. Suddenly, she looked down at what she was wearing. Red splotches of color spread over her cheeks. “I-I didn’t realize what I had on. Or didn’t have on. My only thought was to show you what I found.”

“I know, Professor.” His mouth dried out, and he swallowed hard. “We all have work to do. I need you to be ready to move if we have to.”

“Of course.” She moved to her bag. He watched her for a moment before realizing if he didn’t go now, he would never leave.

The emotions slammed straight into his chest. Into his heart.

He was falling in love with her, if he hadn’t already. Since he wasn’t known for his depth of feelings, maybe he was wrong—

Who the fuck was he kidding? He knew everything in his mind, inside and out. There was never a time he questioned himself. And he wasn’t questioning this either—he wanted Sophie.

“After you get dressed, bring your devices to the living room. We’re all going to be working there. You should be close in case you find something else.”

“Okay.” She grabbed a pair of pants draped over the end of the bed.

“Sophie. One more thing.”

She turned just as he grabbed her.

She melted into him.

As he lowered his mouth to hers, she surged onto tiptoe and claimed his kiss with as much force as he claimed hers.

Dark desire wove through him, and his cock throbbed with want.

Want that couldn’t be satisfied at this moment. He needed to stop kissing her.

He couldn’t stop kissing her.

Their mouths clashed again and again. He slanted his over hers, sinking his tongue inside in slick sweeps. She dug her fingers into his shoulders and arched her body toward him, pressing her hips against his stiff cock.

Realizing that the fate of too many lives rode on his shoulders, he broke the kiss. He released her and stepped back. Chest heaving, he sliced his hand through his hair to keep from grabbing her again.

“Come join us.”

She nodded, looking just as dazed as he felt. “I’ll just be a minute.”

When he collected himself, he returned to the guys. The tablet was still in his hand, and he stared down at the geometric pattern of that tattoo. It wasn’t a symbol of any gang or group that he’d ever encountered, but new things popped up every single day. New criminals met with old and conspired to break people down.

In no time, they all got down to business. Sophie entered a few minutes after him and sank into her own world. Con took three phone calls in a row with new orders each time. He’d just brought the phone back to his ear when Henner jerked his head up from the screen he was researching the tattoo design on.

“Hold on a minute,” he told the caller. Muting the phone, he said to Henner, “What do you got?”

“I think that design points to an organization.”

“A terrorist group?”

“I’m not entirely sure yet—I didn’t find much. Only that a group of people right here in Istanbul all sport that same symbol in the form of a tattoo.”

“Do you have a location?”

“There’s a building near the dock, two blocks from Deniz’s shipping headquarters.”

“Send a drone in for a closer look.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sophie turn her head and look at them, taking in their discussion.

He met her gaze for a beat before turning to another man. “Chickie, we need a drone.”

“On it, boss.”

“We don’t have much time left. Deniz’s deadline is soon.” He returned to his call. The CIA provided more intel they required about the organization and what crimes they’d been connected to. Moments later, they had approval from their commanding officer to go forward.

Con moved around the group, checking in on their progress. When he reached Sophie, he hovered over her shoulder, watching her work.

She was testing letters and numbers to decipher the latest cryptogram. The way she worked was a reflection of her mind as she quickly pieced together things and then discarded them to begin again.

“Drone at the ready, Con.” Henner’s voice made him straighten away from Sophie.

Con took stock of the maps. As he fired off coordinates, Henner sent in the drone. Everyone stopped to watch the big screen.

The drone swept across several city streets, headed toward the compound. The landscape was filled with the bustle of the dock in the distance, but directly beneath the drone was an eerie stillness that had everyone in the room going silent.

Just then, an armed guard walked out of the stone building and strolled at a leisurely pace toward the gate. Another guard made an appearance and joined him. They stood talking for a minute, rifles resting on their shoulders, unaware of the drone overhead watching them.

“Move in,” Con ordered Henner.

“On it.” With a few clicks, he hovered closer to the building and switched on the infrared. Blotches of colors that represented heat signatures popped up on the screen.

Con stared at the cluster of people in one part of the building’s interior. Then something else caught his eye. “What’s this?” He pointed to a single small blotch in another corner.

“Moving closer.” Their view of the western corner sharpened, revealing barred windows. Behind it, the single small heat signature stood. Alone.

“I think that’s her. Deniz’s wife.”

Sophie leaped out of her seat and ran over, pushing her way close to Con. She wrapped her arms around herself the same way he imagined Deniz’s kidnapped wife must be doing.

“The walls are twice as thick here as the ones on the other side of the building. They definitely don’t want anybody getting through them,” Con noted.

Henner grinned at his statement. “I can get through anything.” As breacher for the Charlie team, he wasn’t exaggerating.

It was time. He shifted his gaze from the screen to Sophie when he gave the order. “Team One—get to the dock. Now!”

Six men scattered so fast that Sophie gripped Con’s shoulder as if to steady herself.

“Time to shine, Team Two. Let’s go!” He jerked to his feet and turned to Sophie. “You’re coming with us.”

She shook her head. “I can’t go! I’m not trained.”

“You can’t stay here without protection. As of right now, it’s only a surveillance mission.”

Not yet. Even if they saw that Deniz’s wife was being held in that building and he made the call to go in after her, one of the Blackout team could guard Sophie.

She clutched his hand, and with all the trust in the world, let him lead her out of the safe house into the shadows.

* * * * *

Sophie’s stomach pitched as she watched Con adjust the binoculars he held firmly to his eyes. The breeze coming off the sea blew warmly at her back, carrying the scent of wrack and loads of spices that sat on the dock awaiting shipment.

“Anything?” she whispered to Con.

He shook his head. “No.”

Dawn spread across the horizon in an explosion of pink and gold. Sophie would give anything to be back on that hotel terrace with Con, watching the sun come up, and not here, playing this waiting game.

The tight knot in her chest only yanked tighter the longer they sat there. So far, there was absolutely no sign that Deniz’s wife was inside that building. The guards they’d seen by drone were nowhere around now, and according to Con, there was no movement inside the building either.

Con suddenly twisted his head away from her, listening hard to the comms device in his ear. “Go ahead, Charlie 2.”

Sophie’s nerves snapped. She didn’t have access to their communications the way she did at the concert, and not knowing was making her crazy.

He looked to Henner crouched behind a vehicle a few feet away and performed a series of hand signals. A moment later, Henner sent the drone on another flyover. From this position, Sophie couldn’t see what the drone revealed onscreen, but she did see Henner shake his head.

“Roll out,” came Con’s order.

Sophie blinked. That was it? They weren’t blowing off the door of that compound and searching the place for Deniz’s wife?

Con’s fingers under her arm, lifting her, were tender compared to the grating edge of his tone just now. Left with no other choice, she allowed him to pull her to her feet and propel her at a fast clip to the SUV that brought them here.

He guided her into the back seat, and the team piled in. All four doors shut. They took off down the street.

“What was that?” Sophie broke the silence.

Con looked at her. “What do you mean?”

She threw up her hands. “Nothing happened! We didn’t get the wife!”

“No one showed up at the dock, which means Team One didn’t get the intel. One was reliant on the other.”

“But couldn’t you guys have gone into that building after his wife? You know she was in there!”

He shook his head. “No, we don’t know she was in there. We know somebody was in there when we first flew the drone over. This time, the drone showed no heat signatures at all. If they ever had her in there, they moved her.”

Her eyes bulged the longer she stared at him, and she ran a finger between her brows, praying for patience. “So we just give up?”

Con’s gaze moved over her face as if trying to figure out why she was getting so upset. “We never give up until the very end. Sometimes nothing happens, Sophie. It’s a waiting game.”

“So unsatisfying,” she muttered and turned her head to look out the window.

“Sophie.”

She whirled to face him again. “This is why we could never be together. You don’t have the same feelings about romantic relationships that I do. To you, this is all work. To me, people’s hearts are on the line.”

He stared down at her, his expression giving away no sense of what he might be thinking or feeling.

One fact stood out to her like a blinding neon sign: they were too different.

She really wasn’t cut out for this kind of adventure. She could never have a future with Ryan. She’d be stuck in a classroom while he was out saving the world and getting shot at. She was crazy if she entertained a single thought that they could make this work.

Wait—when did she ever say that they could ? When did she ever think about a future with him? Never.

On several occasions, her emotions had swept her away, confusing imagination with reality. She was only here to solve those cryptograms—nothing more.

Long fingers stretched across her thigh, making her jolt with surprise. She looked down at the very familiar long fingers, sprinkled with dark hair on the back of each knuckle, and drew in a hitching breath.

Logic told her that this was just a fling, but her heart…

Oh, her poor heart would never recover.

Once this all ended, and she was back to her small and humble life, she knew that she would be replaying moments like this in her head.

Little moments when Con didn’t have to show that he cared…but he did.

After they reached the safe house, the men piled out of the vehicle. Sophie climbed out more slowly. In the daylight, the place was actually quite quaint and not nearly as scary as it had been upon their arrival the night before.

The guys headed straight to the kitchen, bantering about who was responsible for fixing breakfast. But Sophie felt the slump of exhaustion and couldn’t care less about food. How could she think about eating when Deniz’s poor wife was still somewhere in captivity?

Con walked into the kitchen, probably expecting her to follow, but she turned the corner and headed for the computer.

She only got a few feet before a hand wrapped around her wrist. Before she glanced over her shoulder, she knew it was Con by the feel of the way his rough skin raised shivers inside her core.

He pulled her to a stop. When she didn’t turn to face him, he moved in front of her and ducked his head to peer into her eyes. Quickly, he moved her into a vacant room.

“You’re not okay.”

She bit down on her lip. What else was there for her to say about the situation?

“It’s been a long day.”

“You haven’t slept enough. Why don’t you—”

She waved a hand. “I’m not tired. I’m going to work on the cryptogram.”

“Sophie.” He quickly closed the door, giving them privacy.

“That woman’s life depends on it. It may not matter that much to you and your guys, but Deniz is broken without her.” Her voice cracked. Bowing her head, she struggled for a long moment before meeting Con’s gaze again.

“Professor.” His soft tone sank into her psyche, seducing her without a single touch. “It’s important to my team that we find his wife. If it were you…”

She stared at him harder. “If it were me what?”

“You always respond with more questions, even when one isn’t needed.”

“Answer me, Ryan. Please.”

“Is this the same answer you wanted from me earlier?”

She pressed her lips together tight. When it became apparent that he wasn’t going to back down from this, she sighed. “When you kissed me earlier in the bedroom, so many emotions flooded in. The way you looked at me when you broke the kiss made me question…”

“Tell me.”

“I wondered if you’re feeling the same things I’m feeling.”

His chest heaved as he filled it with a deep breath. His eyes glinted with a brand-new light, making her lean closer in order to study them.

He closed his hands on her upper arms. “I am feeling things, Sophie. But I’m not a man who jumps into relationships. Hell, I don’t know the last time I had one, and I’m not supposed to have one now. But dammit if I don’t want to claim you as mine.”

The breath whooshed from her lips and she gaped at him in shock.

At the same time, they surged toward each other. She pushed onto her toes even as he lowered his head and captured her mouth.

She tore at his shirt. He whipped her pants down and whirled her to face the wall. She heard the clink of his belt a split second before the thick head of his cock teased across her wet entrance.

Cupping her breasts, he placed his mouth to her ear. “Take me, Professor. Take me deep.”

There was only one word for what he was doing.

He owned her.

In one quick shove, he sank balls-deep. Muffling her cry, she twisted her face for his kiss, her mind spinning out of control from the passion and love pulsing through her body.

He retreated with a shuddering intake of air and then slammed home again. And again. Her inner walls tightened on his every inch, milking him like never before.

She loved him. How? That was a question that had never been answered. In all the ages, nobody knew exactly how to define love.

But she felt it with each powerful thrust of Ryan’s cock inside her.

Pleasure had her hovering right on the edge of sanity. Her insides gripped him, and he issued a low growl that made her break out in goose bumps.

“I’m going to come!” she rasped.

“I’m there. Right fucking there!” He punctuated his words with hard plunges that took her straight to the summit.

Ecstasy blasted through her body. She curved into him, pleasure stealing her every sense until she felt that first jet of his cum filling her.

He let go. And so did she. No pheromone perfume required.