License to Love (An Agent Ex Novel) (21 page)

She kept smiling. “You know the answer. I see it on your face. But since you won’t say it, I’ll spell it out—I have a particular talent for manipulating men and making them fall in love with me. I study their profiles. I study them. I know what will turn my marks on and melt their hearts and I exploit it. I can look however I want, be whatever race I choose at the moment. Act however I want. I’m a man’s fantasy. Whatever fantasy they want.

“Men in love part with their secrets amazingly easily.” She paused. “How do you know I didn’t manipulate you?” She was breathing hard.

And so was he. As if this punishing game excited them both. She thought she had him. She thought she’d bested him. He read it on her face.

“How do you know I care?” he said. “I love you and that’s enough.”

She snorted, gently, almost seductively. Her eyes were still lit with the lust of the game. If she was surprised, she didn’t give it away. “That’s what they all say, Rock. I’ve heard this before. You fell in love with someone, but she wasn’t me. She was just a character I created to suit your needs, a figment of your imagination and desire.”

“No, Lani, that may have been your MO in the past. But with me, you slipped up and let the real Lani show. The little girl whose grandpa thrilled her with magic. The girl who never belonged. The woman who’d never met her match in deception.

“You belong with me. In my community where your looks are an asset and make you invaluable. Where your acting skills make magic, too. Stay with me, Lani. When this is over.” He was pleading with her, he knew it. That gave her the upper hand, but he didn’t care.

She put a finger to his lips and looked almost sad, though she masked it well. “I’m a spy, Rock. That’s who I am. I get my thrills and my joy from protecting this country and its people. It gives my life meaning. I can’t leave this life. And I don’t think you can stand back and watch me live it. What I do sometimes calls for infidelity. I never should have married. That’s not a lie. It wasn’t fair to you.”

Damn, she was good, speaking truth again to cover the truth of her feelings.

“Why did you come back, really?” he asked.

“It’s a mission. I’m under orders.”

He held her gaze. She didn’t flinch.

Finally, she sighed. “To protect you, Rock. And because I owed you closure.”

He took her fingers in his hand. “I love you, Lani. I’m not giving up. I will win you over.” He gently kissed her fingers and squeezed them before releasing them. “I’d better be going.” He turned to leave.

He stopped at the door and looked back at her. “One more thing, Lani, since you owe me.”

She gave him a quizzical look and waited for him to speak.

He swallowed hard. “Don’t sleep with Sol. Not to save me and not to save this country. Don’t sleep with that slime bag. Drug him. Manipulate him, but don’t debase yourself for him.”

*   *   *

Lani had no intention of sleeping with Sol. Ever. The very thought repulsed her. Her heart broke every time she pictured Rock’s face last night in LA as he professed his love for her. He was right, dead-on, about what he’d said. She did belong with him, if she really belonged with any man.

She’d longed to fall into his arms and tell him everything. But she couldn’t. To tell him why she really couldn’t love him or let him get too close was to put their baby in danger.

Once RIOT realized that Rock was planning to perform Outlandish Marauders, his life would be in even more danger than it had been. Rock may not have realized it, but NCS had stepped up their security of him. RIOT would be angling to bend Rock toward their will and looking for anything that would give them that leverage and an edge for getting into Area 51. They already knew Rock was beyond being bribed or enticed with money.

RIOT might still figure that putting her in peril would turn him. But now that she’d aligned herself with Sol, she was hoping it mitigated that danger at least somewhat.

RIOT would dump Sol for Rock in a second. And once Sol discovered he’d been usurped by Rock’s trick, he was likely to retaliate.

As she waited at the rehearsal hall for the choreographer and Sol to show up, she reviewed her plans. She was going to use her own brand of magic to lead Sol to the edge and make him
think
they’d had mind-blowing sex. Rock was right about one thing—she was planning to engage in some hypnosis-induced pillow talk with Sol.

Rock thought he’d taught Lani all the magic she knew, that she was merely assistant material. He had no idea of the real depths of her talents.

As she’d told him, she held a master’s degree in psychology and was a board-certified hypnotist. She could implant a thought or a whole false memory at will. If she could get close enough to the subject. That was key.

That’s why the Agency had her go after Rock the first time around, during the Dam episode, as she referred to it. Though it had quickly turned into the Damn caper.

She’d told Rock the truth. She’d played with his mind during that mission. Just as she was planning to play with Sol’s. Suggested to Rock’s subconscious that he fall in love with her, was in love with her. And then she’d played the role of the woman Rock had always dreamed of.

Only she’d realized, as Rock had said, the role she was playing was really who she was. And what a relief it was to be with someone and not have to pretend to be someone else. As she was implanting the thoughts in him that he was in love with her, she was falling in love with him. And no one was using any love spells on her.

It’s true you can’t hypnotize a person and get them to do something they’re absolutely set against. But if they have the inclination? Anything’s fair game.

And now she wondered—would Rock have fallen for her without her help? And was he right that it didn’t matter?

Around Sol she was playing another role, that of his ideal woman—a dark, deceitful girl who couldn’t be trusted. If she got the chance, she’d plant that same
you’re in love with me
thought in Sol. It was a dangerous game to play. Magicians were notoriously hard to hypnotize. They recognized the techniques. And love could turn to obsession. Men like Sol were prone to dark obsession and lethal jealousy.

Sol walked into the studio just then. “Ah, there’s my new star.” He looked around the room. “No one saw you come in?”

She gave him the smile she used to enchant men. “I’m a spook, Sol. You know that.” For once she was actually telling the truth.

Sol laughed and walked up to her, standing in her personal space.

“I was very careful.” She took his arm. “Believe me. I’m taking no chances with my big break.”

“I tried to reach you last night,” Sol said almost too casually. “You weren’t in the hotel room I reserved for you. Where were you?”

She’d expected he’d have her followed. But she refused to be his prisoner. Sol wouldn’t like it, but he’d respect her more if she could best him and disappear beneath his nose.

“Why didn’t you call me on my cell?” she said, playing his game.

“I wanted to know where you were,” he said.

“With a friend,” she said, equally casually. “Hiding out.” She gave his arm a squeeze and made eyes at him. “Like I said, I’m taking no chances. Making sure there’s no connection between us. Using extreme caution.”

“I appreciate that, Lani, my dear. I do. But we could have had a pleasant evening together.”

“Oh, there’s plenty of time for that.
Plenty
.”

The door to the studio flew open. A young, cute man with his hair stylishly highlighted and messily spiked strolled in dressed in dance tights and a tight T-shirt. The choreographer had arrived.

“My place. Tonight,” Sol said.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The view from Sol’s hotel penthouse suite was a breathtaking combination of neon and nature. The setting was intimate and the dinner catered. Lani had dressed for the occasion in a sexy, short, clingy black dress with a slightly exotic Asian cut to the bodice and skirt. She’d played up the slight almond shape of her eyes with liquid eyeliner and heavy plum makeup, going for smoky bedroom eyes. Her sandals were spiky and her jewelry gold, a Japanese crane pendant hung around her neck.

Asian women turned Sol on. They were his one big weakness. At least that’s what his dossier said and her personal experience confirmed.

Candles flickered. The wine was the most expensive the hotel offered. Soft romantic music played in the background.

“You were fantastic at practice.” Sol sat next to her on the sofa, swirling and sniffing an after-dinner glass of deep, red wine, his arm looped casually around her shoulders.

“You picked up the dance moves quickly and handled the reappearance and escape moves expertly.” He raised his glass to her. “It’s a shame Rock’s tastes run toward Hispanic women and you have to wear that gaudy wedding dress costume he designed for you.” He nuzzled her neck and ran a finger down her collarbone and between her breasts. “The dress you’re wearing tonight suits you
so
much better.”

Lani forced a smile and nestled her head into the crook of Sol’s neck, resisting the urge to slam her head back and break his nose. “Rock’s tastes run toward the showy.”

Sol wore an expensive, delicious-smelling cologne. Lani had the feeling that after tonight, the scent would make her gag.

“The way you’ve done your makeup suits you better, too. Plays up your gorgeous eyes.” He set his crystal wine goblet down on an end table next to the sofa and gently guided her chin until she faced him. “Maybe…”

She shook her head and pretended to be transfixed by the look in his eyes. In actuality, the lust reflected there repulsed her. “We’ve been over this, Sol. For the reappearance to work, I have to look
exactly
as I did that night. Top of my head to tiny baby toe. The same. Otherwise, how will the audience recognize me?”

“You’re too modest, Lani. How could anyone ever forget you?” Sol rubbed her shoulder with one hand. “You’re tense, baby. Let me help you loosen up. I’m
very
good with my hands.”

I bet you are.
She was good with hers, too. She knew how to kill with them and if he pushed her too far …

She set her wine goblet down and turned her back to him for him to massage. Or pummel, as the case may be. Sol liked to be obeyed and tonight it was her job to humor him. Until she bent him to her will using trickery and deceit. And hormones. Once she had him at her mercy—

Suffice it to say she wished there weren’t rules and policy and guidelines that restricted her from doing what she really wanted to do to the pompous, egotistical, illusion-stealing enemy of the state. Of course any regular licensed hypnotherapist would be thrown out of the profession for what she was about to do. Fortunately, NCS wholeheartedly approved of her methods. Torture may be out, but abusing hypnotherapy and implanting false memories were still approved methods of interrogation. And a lot of fun, too, if a tad on the dangerous side.

Sol rubbed both of her shoulders with enough force she almost winced. Which she was sure was his intention. Despite his clean-cut looks, Sol was brutal and brutish to his core.

When he was finished abusing her shoulders, he lifted her hair and bit the nape of her neck with the vigor of an angry toddler, stopping just short of breaking the skin. She let out an involuntary yelp, which only seemed to turn him on. He trailed kisses and semi-gentle gnaws down her back.

She was leery of him now. On edge, which she was sure was what he intended. Tense and ready to arch away if he bit again. The last thing she needed was a trail of his dental records down her spine. She’d already let him inflict one mouth-shaped bruise she’d have to hide from Rock and the world.

But she wasn’t most women. She’d pay him back for that bite.
Sol, baby, you just earned yourself a bout of erectile dysfunction.

Word on the street was that Sol liked his sex hard, abusive, and punishing. She’d like to disabuse him of his thoughts that he was a great lover. And deliver a nice karate chop to his groin.

Sol’s hot breath, followed by the long stroke of his reptilian tongue on the back of her neck, made her skin crawl. She involuntarily shuddered. Fortunately, Sol took it wrong and thought his finesse had turned her on.

If only he knew. Each nip and lick pushed her one step closer to removing him of his manhood—permanently. Only years of training and the thought of another two years of desk duty kept her in line. She let out a small gasp, mostly of disgust, and tipped her head back, letting Sol stroke her hair.

He yanked her head back by her hair until she was looking back at him upside down. He kissed her, brutally thrusting his tongue down her throat as he slid a hand down her dress to fondle her breast and squeeze her nipple, hard enough that she suppressed a yelp of pain.

He pulled back and grinned down at her, looking just as evil upside down as right side up. She half expected his eyeballs to start spinning like a mesmerizing snake’s, demonic and trance inducing. “How do I know you won’t betray me to Rock?”

“If I had any loyalty to Rock, would I be here with you?” she whispered back as she reached up to stroke his face. “Besides, I have something to tell you about Rock. Some secret information that will prove my loyalty to you.”

Sol froze. “What could you possibly know?”

“I still have friends here. Girls who hear things and like to share. Word on the street is that Rock went to LA yesterday with his new pal, that software guy, Tate something?”

“Cox.”

She had Sol’s attention. She nodded. “Yeah, that’s the guy. Him and some blonde. They went to the Magic Castle and interviewed a bunch of magicians for a top-secret new act Rock is planning.”

Sol’s eyes grew hard. He was definitely interested now. “What kind of act?”

Lani shrugged. “I don’t know. But one of the girls at the hotel said she’s seen him hanging with one of those alien-believing nuts, a bigwig of some sort with them. They have a conference coming up next week and he’s been in town making arrangements. Another one of her friends partied with that bigwig and he was bragging about a big surprise they’re planning for their attendees. Something that will blow them away.” Lani shrugged. “So I put two and two together. I bet he’s hired Rock to do a show for them.