Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Katherine’s blood pumped hard in her ears, her body tingling with anticipation as Jasper set her on the edge of his bed and said, “Let’s get you out of those clothes.”
First, he knelt and removed her boots, tossing them aside. His fingers brushed over her ankles and under her pant legs to skim up her calves. When he lifted his gaze to hers, she saw the need in his eyes, the desire, and another tremor ran through her.
He was gorgeous, all lean muscle and intensity. She touched his broad shoulders, traced a line down the center of his chest, her gaze lowering to his taut abs and the thin trail of dark hair that disappeared under his waistband. She hated the bandage that marred his biceps.
Her mind cataloged all of him, every curve, every indentation, every breath. What was it going to be like to turn over control of her body to him? To let those deft fingers, his soft lips, and other parts of him undo her in the most delicious way?
Being the target of a killer had rearranged something inside her. Peeled away layers she hadn’t even realized she’d covered herself with. Somehow, someway, Jasper had seen her carefully guarded heart buried underneath procedures and protocols and found it appealing.
He ran his hands over her thighs, up her waist, and settling on her ribs. Pulling her to her feet, he undid the button at her waist and peeled the slacks down her legs. His hands came back up, fingers skimming over her thighs, naked now.
She was curvy, always had been, but her job sitting at a desk every day had made it worse.
He tried to catch her eye, but she couldn’t look him in the face, heat warming her cheeks.
Gripping his hands, she pulled him up and away from what she considered her worst asset.
She kissed him and hoped it was enough of a distraction that he wouldn’t look at her hips again.
He returned the kiss but then took her chin and forced her to look at him. “You’re beautiful,” he said, as if reading her mind. “Every part of you.”
His fingers slid to her underwear—a pair he’d retrieved for her at the rental. He skimmed the waistband, then his fingers hooked in it and slowly drew the garment down her legs.
He stepped back slightly and studied her. She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and tried not to hop into the bed and cover herself.
He crouched again, raising one foot and then the other to drag the pants and underwear aside.
He caressed her calves, her thighs, and landed once more on her hips as he rose again to look her in the eye.
“The things I’m going to do to you,” he murmured against her lips as he pulled her tight against him.
Her breath came out shakily. “I expect everything in the Premium Package.”
He chuckled, and then undid the buttons of her blouse. It joined the rest of her clothes on the floor.
His gaze landed on her full breasts, the tops mounded over the fabric of her bra. He skimmed his fingers over each one, then removed the bra, too.
His eyes feasted on her, his hands cupping her breasts and the room spun. She let out a low moan. She stood before him, naked and wanting. The world outside the room didn’t exist, only him.
Over the next few minutes, he learned her body, his callused fingers rough and yet tender as he explored her ribs, her stomach, her inner thighs.
He turned her around and traced her spine, sending goosebumps over her skin.
He released her bun and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it aside so he could kiss the back of her nape.
By the time he shed his own pants and pushed her down on the bed, she was too far gone to worry about her hips or any kind of protocol concerning their professional relationship. She could barely remember her name.
His lips teased her nipples, his tongue skimmed her stomach. She arched into him when his fingers found the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs. “Jasper,” she whispered.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured against her skin. “We’re just getting started. Let yourself enjoy the ride.”
What a ride it was. He brought her to climax with his hand first, his name a cry on her lips. Just as that began to subside, he took his mouth to her, and she went over the edge again. She’d never experienced anything like it.
When she surfaced from the second orgasm, he was holding her close, stroking her arm. She slowly opened her eyes and found him smiling at her.
“What?” she muttered, barely able to form the word.
His smile was smug. “Making you fly apart is the best challenge I’ve ever had.”
She curled into him, still riding the sensations flooding her body. “I think the bar might have been a little low. I made it too easy for you.”
He chuckled. “Then raise the bar, love. I’m happy to meet it.”
She shifted onto her back and opened her knees for him. “I want the full package this time.”
He rose up over her, sliding between her legs and nudging at her entrance. She was slick and ready and took him in inch by inch until he was fully seated.
Over the next few minutes, they built a rhythm that rocked the bed so hard, the headboard crashed into the wall. She didn’t care. As she locked her legs around his waist and dug her nails into her back, it felt like heaven.
When she came this time, his name tore from her throat. “Jasper!”
The sound echoed in the room, her ears ringing and her vision whiting out. Several more strokes and he followed her over the ledge.
They lay together afterward, her body boneless and heavy. He pulled her to his side. “Sleep now. You’ve had a big day. You need rest.”
So even though it was the middle of the afternoon, she did.
She woke sometime later to a sharp rap on the door.
Garrett’s voice called from the other side, hard and urgent. “Jasper. We’ve got a problem.”
Katherine sat straight up, clutching the sheet to her naked breasts. Jasper sighed heavily, rubbed his face and climbed out of bed. He grabbed his jeans and started pulling them on. “One minute.”
On the way to the door, he grabbed a clean shirt. “What is it?” he asked when he cracked the door open.
At this angle, Garrett couldn’t see her. Small mercies.
“CB got a trace on the SUV but then lost it near the old quarry road,” Garrett said.
Katherine slid out of the bed, careful to stay out of view, and began dressing.
Jasper’s grip tightened on the doorknob. “Can Detective Mallory put out a BOLO?”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Garrett said. “Blackridge PD ran the plate number.”
Katherine came to stand beside Jasper, raking her fingers through her tangled hair. “And?” she asked.
If Garrett was surprised to see her, he didn’t let it show. She hoped she didn’t look like she’d just spent the past hour having sex and sleeping.
“The plates are real,” Garrett said. “Federal fleet registration. Active assignment.”
Katherine’s stomach dropped to her knees. The man who’d tried to kill her had come to the gate with real federal plates, official-looking paperwork, and an order to turn over documents that technically belonged to the CIA.
And instead of complying, Jasper had put a bullet in his leg.
Jasper swore under his breath. “So what now?”
“I’m placing the compound on lockdown,” Garrett said. “Vivi’s got Reid working on the legal ramifications. Mallory is in the conference room. He needs statements from both of you.”
“Reid’s an attorney?” Katherine asked.
“A former Navy JAG,” Jasper told her. “He’s a trained investigator who knows the ins and outs of the law as well as he knows tactical recon.”
But if the Agency came after them, lawyers weren’t going to help. “That man tried to kill me,” Katherine said. “Whether or not he’s a legitimate CIA operative or employee doesn’t change that fact.”
“Agreed.” Garrett’s gaze held hers. “You’re absolutely sure he’s the man who broke into your rental?”
She raised her chin. “Yes.”
Garrett ran a hand over his face. “Then we are in serious shit.”
The next hour happened in pieces. She moved through all of them with perfect outward composure. Inside, she was an absolute mess.
She gave her statement to Detective Mallory in the conference room while Jasper stood outside the glass wall with Garrett, his bandaged arm crossed over his chest and his expression carved from stone.
Mallory recorded everything. He asked what she’d seen, when she’d recognized the man, and whether she was certain the man who’d fired at her today was the same one who’d broken into her rental.
“Yes,” she said.
Mallory’s pen paused. He glanced at the sketch Alyssa had done on the table next to him. “You’re certain.”
Katherine’s eyes darted to the mouth, then away. She heard the man’s voice in her head. Remembered his unmasked face at the gate. “I’m certain.”
He studied her for a long moment, then wrote it down. “And you recognized him by the lower half of his face.”
“His mouth, to be exact,” she said. “His voice confirmed it. I know it was him.”
Mallory’s expression shifted only slightly, but she could tell he believed her. Whether that would be enough later was a different question.
When he finished with her, Jasper took her place.
He didn’t look happy about letting her out of his sight, but Sebastian and Reid positioned themselves near the conference room door, Mack was in the hall, and Garrett had locked down the compound so thoroughly that Katherine suspected even the air had to submit a password.
Jasper still caught her gaze before he stepped inside with Mallory.
“You okay?” he asked.
No. Not even close. “I’m going to check on Priss.”
His eyes narrowed a little, but he nodded. “Take Sebastian with you. Go straight there and back.”
“I’m inside a locked compound.”
He gave her a look that begged for her cooperation. “Humor me.”
She laid her hand on his arm. “There and back. I promise.”
He let go of a tight breath. “Your cooperation is appreciated.”
“I’ve learned my lesson.”
Sebastian walked with her down the corridor to the private rooms without a word. She felt the tension radiating off him, though. Her presence had brought a gunman to their gate. Her refusal to hand over the Vance papers was putting all of them in the hot seat.
Katherine’s own mind kept circling the same impossible loop. Real plates. Real order. Unknown shooter.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Sebastian, “for putting all of you in this position.”
He nodded. “Vivi and Reid will get it straightened out.”
Would they? No one went up against the CIA and walked away unscathed. The thought of any of them, especially Jasper, ending up on the wrong side of the Agency made her skin crawl.
“I’ll wait here,” Sebastian said, leaning against the wall. “Take your time.”
Inside the bedroom, Priss sat in the center of the bed like an offended queen awaiting explanation. The moment she saw Katherine, she let out a sharp meow and sprang down, weaving around Katherine’s ankles hard enough to nearly trip her.
“I know,” Katherine whispered, crouching to run one hand over the cat’s soft gray back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you.”
Priss pushed into her palm, then stalked toward the food bowl with pointed meaning.
“Also sorry for being late with dinner.”
The ordinary task steadied her. She rinsed and dried the bowl, scooped food from the bag, and set fresh water nearby. Priss dove in with intense focus.
Katherine sat on the edge of the bed and let herself breathe. Her body hurt in small ways now that the adrenaline had thinned. Her thighs ached from sprinting to the gate. Her healing palm throbbed, letting her know it was still damaged. Her throat felt raw from shouting.
Beneath all of that was the memory of Jasper’s mouth on hers, his hands, his body warm and solid against her while the world had briefly become something other than fear.
Her phone rang. Katherine reached for it, prepared to see Emma’s name as the sender and already wondering how to spin her current circumstances so as not to worry her sister.
She’d say the work was complicated and had hit a snag.
That she was staying in a new, more secure facility.
That Priss was being spoiled shamelessly by a team of former military men who pretended they weren’t all emotionally compromised by one gray cat with judgmental eyes.
Then she saw the screen. Unknown number.
Unease slipped cold beneath her ribs.
When she opened the message and saw the photo, Katherine stopped breathing.
Emma stood beside her van in a school parking lot, one hand on the open sliding door, her hair loose around her face as she leaned in.
Cordi stood near the curb in a pink jacket, holding what looked like a lunchbox and laughing at something outside the frame.
Mardi was inside. Morning light shone across the windshield.
Other cars lined up behind them. Parents. Children. Ordinary life.
The image had been taken from a distance. A message appeared beneath the photo.
Find the Vance paper marked Cinder risk not closed. Bring it to the east service gate at 11:40. Come alone. Hand over the original.
Katherine’s hand shook so badly the phone nearly slipped from her fingers. Her lungs wouldn’t work.
A third message arrived.
Tell Perault or anyone at Shadow Point, and Emma’s brakes fail on the way home from school.
The room tilted. Katherine’s first instinct was to run to Jasper. To Garrett. To anyone with a weapon and a plan and the kind of terrifying competence that had kept her alive this long.
Then the next message came.
At 11:35, there will be a distraction at the main gate.
Use it. Bring only the paper. Leave your phone in the room.
If Shadow Point interferes, the Agency receives evidence of stolen federal materials, obstruction, conspiracy, and unlawful detention and injury of an authorized courier.
Perault and his team won’t be able to protect themselves or you from prison.
The words blurred, her heart pounded.
One final text appeared.
Delete this thread, or the next photo will be from much, much closer.
Katherine stared at the words until they blurred again.
Priss finished eating and jumped onto the bed beside her, pressing against her side. The cat purred softly, unaware that the danger had just reached Katherine’s family.
Her stomach turned cold and hollow. For one impossible second, she saw two paths in front of her. On one stood Jasper, the team, the compound, safety, and the promise she’d made—that she wouldn’t walk into danger alone anymore.
On the other stood Emma and two little girls who had nothing to do with Vance, Cinder, Upton, Caldwell, or any of the ghosts Katherine had dragged out of the archive..
Katherine closed her eyes.
Then she deleted the thread.