Chapter 17 #2
He dropped his hand and found her smiling. Had he spoken his thoughts out loud? And how would he explain he couldn’t seem to keep his head on straight when his mind was bouncing back and forth between keeping Gwen safe as well as both worrying about and desiring Natasha?
“We’re here,” the driver announced before he could summon a response.
Once on the street, Wyatt motioned for her to move off to the side of the hotel entrance. “One second, I gotta let my people know we’re heading inside before we go up.”
She quirked a brow. “How’d you figure you’d find me at the party?”
His hand hovered over his iPhone. “Because it’s where I would’ve been if I were tracking a lead on the bastard in Montreal.”
“Great minds.”
“You certainly have one.” He took a second to indulge in the idea he and Natasha could work together on a regular basis, or hell, just spend more than their standard few hours alone.
His grandmother used to say Find a lady that makes you feel like sunshine after a rainy day.
He’d taken a more literal approach to her words and chose California as his leading lady, where sunshine was more plentiful than in London.
But standing before this brilliant woman, maybe he finally understood what his grandmother meant.
“You okay?” Slender fingers skirted the side of his inked arm.
He cleared his throat and blinked out of his stupor. “Yeah.” One extra nod to ensure he came across as believable as the phone line connected. “We’re outside,” he announced to Harper as Natasha removed her hand from his bicep.
“You found her. A.J. owes me twenty.” Harper chuckled. “He thought you’d come back alone. I’m preparing to loop the feeds now.”
“Thanks. Be in soon.” He tucked the phone in his back pocket. “We’ll head to my room first, then Harper will loop the security feeds to hide the fact we’re leaving to get to my team.”
“Smart thinking.”
“If he’s watching you, it’s best if no one connects you to my team.”
“But you think it’s okay we’re together?” Her back was to the brick siding of the hotel, and he wanted to lean in, to kiss her again. To feel the sun and escape the rain.
“I guess we’ll have to keep up with the act that we’re old lovers. I’m sure he won’t believe it, but for the sake of everyone else at the event, the cover story should work.” He pressed a palm to the building over her shoulder and angled his head.
A shaky exhale guided his eyes to her heavenly mouth.
“Well, I’m damn good at tradecraft. I can keep up with the act if you can.
” It was as if her words had reached out and physically touched him, and when their gazes locked, he saw the color of his mum’s family jewels in Natasha’s eyes. An almost crystal-like green.
“I’ve never had to kiss on assignment before.” A nearly audible gulp followed.
“Neither have I.” Feather-light words had him dipping his face closer to hers.
“You were a natural back at the club.” Those expressive green eyes remained connected with his, continuing to draw him in.
“I don’t know, I might need more practice.”
“Right.” Wyatt’s free hand cupped her cheek. “To help with the cover story.”
“For the cover,” she murmured, then pressed up on her toes to close the space between them.
A soft touch of the lips turned into something hotter. Deeper. Tongues touching. Hands roaming.
But shit. Her legs were freezing. Naked beneath her skirt.
It took all his energy to pull his mouth from hers after their long, sensuous kiss. “We should get you warm.”
She smiled as he removed his hands from her outer thighs where he’d been gripping hold of her, doing his best not to let his hands slide beneath her skirt. “Says the guy who doesn’t even have on a jacket.”
“Trust me, right now, I’m pretty damn warm.” She had his blood heated, at least. But he wanted to get her out of the cold before she lost feeling in her hands, so they went indoors.
It took them a matter of seconds to get inside the elevator, and before he even realized what he was doing, he had her against the wall with his mouth tight to hers.
He didn’t give a damn if this exact scene was looped and replayed on the security footage that Harper was busy creating. He didn’t even care if the boys were upstairs watching them and gave him a hard time later.
In his arms, she made the rest of the world fade away.
There was more feeling packed into her kiss than there’d ever been with another woman.
He couldn’t explain what in the hell was going on between them, but maybe if they had more time together, he’d have the guts to decode the foreign feelings he experienced when she was around.
If he was lucky, he could stand in the sun for longer than a few hours before the impending rainstorm would most likely strike and tear them apart again.
“We’re here.” Her words vibrated against his mouth.
He forced himself to step back, did his best to adjust his dick as she bit back a laugh at the sight, then they went into the hall and took a quick left to get to his room.
Once the door to his suite was secured, he faced her in the foyer. A small gap of space existed between them—her back to the wall, his against the door.
No eyes on them. No reason to kiss. But he wanted to, and he could see in her eyes she felt the same.
“Aside from the wedding, The Knight keeps bringing us together,” she said, her voice soft.
“I hate him more than anyone I’ve ever encountered, but the fact that I get to see you every few years .
. . it’s not so bad. Even when you lock me into a harness and force me to fly away on a rope dangling from a chopper. ”
“You finally forgive me for that?”
“You did save me. I guess I can forgive being held hostage on a beautiful island.” Her lips teased into a gorgeous smile as she dropped her backpack to the floor, and he took that as a sign to move in.
In two steps, he had her braced against the wall, legs wrapped around his hips, and his fingertips buried into the flesh of her arse cheeks.
Her tongue matched every stroke of his. They were both wild with need. Drunk on lust they’d left unfulfilled for eight damn years.
“What are we doing?” she asked between hungry kisses.
“Practicing our cover story, remember?” He held her pinned to the wall, and when his lips traveled from her mouth to the sensitive skin at the side of her neck, her short nails bit into his back. “You smell so good. Like coffee and vanilla.” It was the sexiest smell he’d ever breathed in.
“It’s called Black Opium,” she whispered.
He dragged his lips to her ear. “Yeah, well, it’s sure as hell addicting.” He wanted to lick, kiss, and taste every inch of her. Drag his fingers from her arse to her clit and see how wet she was for him.
But his mobile began vibrating, and like always, he was cockblocked by the call of duty.
When Natasha lowered her feet to the floor, Wyatt kept her caged in, his palms pressed to the wall over her shoulders. “We’re being summoned.”
She blinked as if trying to force away the lust in her eyes. “We got distracted, I guess.”
“Easy to do around you,” he admitted.
She closed her eyes and let go of a deep breath. “And there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“Which is?” he asked, his voice nearly hollow.
“I was working a case in Moscow and—”
“Weapons facility hack. I know.”
“You do?” Her eyes flew open in surprise.
“I do, and you tracked him here.”
She nodded. “And I found the exact location he wanted me to find. There was a surveillance camera, a phone, and a chess piece waiting for me.”
“What?” He pushed away from the wall and lowered his hands to his sides, her words an effective buzzkill. The mental image of her being abducted and tortured struck him with an intense blow.
“He called me. He’s brought me here to restart his game.”
“He could’ve killed you.” Worry broke his words in half. “He could’ve been there. You knew that, but you still went.”
He knew she was stubborn and determined, but did she have a death wish?
“And what would you have done?” A voice now void of desire. The seasoned CIA officer had returned. That woman yelling her wrath down at him while dangling from a helo in Algeria stood before him.
“I wouldn’t have gone in alone.”
“I didn’t have a choice, and I didn’t know you were in town.”
He leaned against the wall and brought the back of his head to it, willing his heartbeat to dial back down to normal.
“My people knew about the building, too, but we were organizing an infil plan to prevent being identified in case he had the place under surveillance. Or get taken out by a sniper on overwatch.” Horrible possibilities continued to hit him left and right.
“Or blown to hell from possible thermite charges set.”
“I’m glad you didn’t engage. He wouldn’t have hesitated to kill your people.” She cared about him, but where was the concern for her own safety?
“You were so sure he’d leave you alive?”
Fiery green eyes met his. “I have been hunting this bastard since before you and I met in Algeria.” A searing bite of anger cut through her tone. “I’m not an idiot. I knew he wasn’t going to kill me.” With her bag back in hand, she turned for the door.
“Damn it, that’s not what I meant.” He gently grabbed hold of her arm, and she grew still. “I know you’re not stupid, but it makes me a little insane to think about you there alone and right where he wanted you . . . in the palm of his hand.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not alone anymore.” Softer words met him this time. “We, um, should go meet with your people.”
“There’s something I need to tell you, too.”
She slowly turned to face him, concern etched as a tight line crossing her forehead.
“You should know the truth about me.” He’d been granted permission by the Commander in Chief to do so, which removed the burden of guilt for spilling his identity as Echo One for an elite unit of secretive SEALs.
“I work directly for the president, and once the Secretary of Defense is appointed, it looks like I’ll be working for your dad, too. ”