Nautier and Wilder (23 page)

Her worry about her mother increased.

Grange and Pete prepped to leave. Pete changed into a pair of khaki pants and another
flowered shirt. Grange stayed in his camo pants and beige shirt.

She laughed at him. “Now I’m sure they won’t talk to you, at least a couple of these
people. If you go in there looking like a general, they’ll probably hide their bongs
and think you’re DEA there to raid them.”

“She’s right, Grange. You need to look more like a local,” Jed said.

Grange frowned. “This is what I wear.”

“Think undercover,” Jed said, then motioned to Pete.

“You want me to dress like him?”

“Yes. That might at least get you near the front door,” Elena said.

“No fucking way am I going to wear a shirt like that.”

“Hey,” Pete said. “This shirt is comfortable.”

Grange crossed his arms, lifted his chin and glared at all of them. “This is ridiculous.”

“You want to find your sister, or you want to maintain military bearing?” Pete asked.

Finally, he sighed. “Fine.”

Grange trudged off behind Pete.

“Really? That’s all he ever wears?” Elena asked Jed.

“Those are the only clothes I’ve ever seen him dressed in.”

She went in the living room and sat on one of the plush couches, grabbing a pillow
to her stomach. The sheik lived well. Or, she supposed, now Pete did.

When Grange and Pete came back out, she had to stifle a laugh. He and Pete could be
brothers, both in khaki pants, sandals and wildly colored flowery print shirts.

Grange’s mouth was twisted as if he were in pain.

“You’ll definitely blend in now,” Jed said, doing his best to hide a smirk.

Grange shot Jed a death glare. “If you laugh, I’ll make it hurt later.”

Jed raised his hands. “I’m just saying you’re appropriately dressed, General.”

“This is the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever worn,” Grange mumbled.

Pete rolled his eyes and cast a look toward Elena and Jed. “It lacks a sufficient
amount of starch for his liking.”

Elena snickered.

“We’re out of here. We’ll report in when we have something,” Grange said. “Elena,
there are clothes for you in the bedroom down the hall. Jed can show you. Take a shower,
a nap, whatever you need to do to feel comfortable.”

“Good luck,” Elena said.

Within a few moments she heard the sound of the helicopter. Her stomach tightened
and her lighthearted mood fled.

She was alone—she supposed she was alone, since she had yet to see anyone else wandering
the house—with Jed now. She caught him out of the corner of her eye, leaning against
one of the stone pillars in the oversized room.

“Hopefully they’ll find a lead.”

She nodded.

“Grange is the best at what he does. He’ll find your mom.”

She didn’t answer.

“Elena, I’m sorry I couldn’t have been honest with you. I was doing my job.”

She shot him a look. “So when you were doing me, you were doing your job?”

His brow furrowed. “You know it wasn’t like that.”

“Do I?”

She shot off the couch and started to walk away, then stopped, realizing she had no
idea where to go. This wasn’t her house. So far she’d been outside and in the kitchen.
She knew the path to the helipad. Other than that—clueless.

There was no place to run, but she’d be damned if she’d stay here like a trapped animal
and make small talk with Jed or listen to his lies.

“Where’s my room?”

He lifted his arm and pointed. “Down that hallway. Third door on the left.”

She started in that direction.

“Elena.”

She paused. “What?”

“At some point you’re going to have to talk to me.”

Wanna bet? She did a quick-step down the hall, found her room and shut and locked
the door.

The room was a palace, just like the rest of the house. It was oversized, ostentatious,
with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pool and gardens. She flung herself
onto the bed, sinking into the creamy duvet that wrapped itself around her with a
comforting caress.

Exhaustion took hold. She wanted to forget everything, to shut it all out like a bad
nightmare. Maybe if she took a short nap, she’d feel better. She was bitchy and short-tempered,
especially with Jed, who had only been doing his job.

She rolled over onto her back.

His job. Right. A job that hadn’t required him to sleep with her, to engage with her
emotionally, to smile at her and make her—

Make her what? Start to think she was falling in love with him?

He hadn’t
made
her do anything. He hadn’t made her any promises. He’d been there, been available
and hot and sexy, and she’d been all too eager to throw herself at him. It wasn’t
like he’d forced himself on her. He’d done his job by staying close to her. What had
happened between them had been mutual, but she sure as hell had been blaming him for
everything, hadn’t she?

She threw her arm over her head to shut out the streaming light and closed her eyes.

ELEVEN

J
ed held his breath and dove down to the bottom of the pool, skimming across from one
end to the other. He pushed off the deep end and broke the surface, his lungs burning
as he swallowed in oxygen. Then he turned, dove down and did it again, forcing himself
to drive harder, to increase his speed, to push himself past the point of endurance.

When he came up for air the fourth time, he was breathless and wasted, and this time
he hadn’t been thinking of Elena the entire time he was under.

He swam to the edge and hopped out, wiped his hands on the towel and checked his phone
to make sure Grange hadn’t called or texted.

Nothing yet, but it had only been a few hours. He wouldn’t expect to hear from them
for a while.

He turned, pushed off and plunged down again, forcing his body to remain submerged
while he swam the bottom of the pool from end to end. When he surfaced this time,
Elena stood at the edge, watching him.

He shook the water out of his eyes and stared at her. She was wearing an orange bikini.
Nothing overly sexy, just a two-piece thing. Except anything she wore was sexy because
of her curves.

And because it was Elena. She could have put a burlap sack on her body and he’d think
she looked hot.

She cocked her head to the side. “You trying to drown yourself down there?”

“No. It’s an endurance exercise.”

She took a seat at the edge of the pool and dangled her legs in the water. “I was
beginning to think I was going to have to jump in and rescue you. You were down there
a long time.”

“I’m used to it.”

“Obviously.”

She was talking to him. Something had changed from two hours ago when she’d stormed
off to the bedroom. Jed didn’t want to do anything to piss her off, so he turned and
resumed swimming, this time doing regular laps. She stayed at the edge of the pool,
watching him.

If that’s what she wanted to do, fine. It didn’t bother him at all.

Much.

Except when she leaned back on her hands, her body stretched out to the sun, reminding
him of what it was like to make love to her. The water in the pool was heated, and
so was he. He swam to the edge and climbed out, grabbed his towel and hoped for a
cold breeze to chill him out.

Elena slipped into the water, sank in over her head, then popped out and swam. Her
strokes were strong and confident as she did laps. He climbed into the chair and watched
her body curl from side to side as she took a breath, then put her face back in.

Even at swimming she was elegant and beautiful.

And gave him a hard-on.

He thought about going inside but didn’t want to leave her alone out here, so he was
just going to have to suck it up and suffer.

She finally stopped, came to the steps and walked out, water dripping off her body.
His gaze caught on one line of water running between her breasts. It slid between
the thin strip of fabric, down her ribs and over her belly, dipping into the front
bottom of her swimsuit.

He shuddered, then lifted his gaze to her face. She’d stopped in front of him, grabbed
the towel in the chair next to him and took a seat.

“What’s the deal between Grange and Pete?”

He arched a brow. “What do you mean?”

“I saw a moment between them. Something emotional about Grange being there for Pete
during a rough time in his life.”

Jed shrugged. “Not my story to tell. You’ll have to ask Grange or Pete.”

She sighed. “More secrets. Great.”

“Pete lost his wife in the Beirut Embassy bombing in 1983.”

Elena put her hand on her heart. “Oh, no.”

Jed nodded. “Yeah. Pete and Grange were both Marines, both of them stationed in Beirut
at the time of the bombing. Dina worked at the embassy. Grange was close to both of
them, loved Pete’s wife like a sister. I think it hit him as hard as it did Pete.”

“I can’t even imagine how tragic that must have been for Pete.”

“Yeah. Grange said he questioned his own dedication to the military at that point,
but Pete was determined. He was a strong sonofabitch, and he refused to let Dina’s
loss cripple him. He served honorably and has dedicated his life to bringing down
the bastards who preyed on his country and on the weak. When he left the military,
he did some time with the CIA, then special ops work, tracking missing persons, mercenary
jobs, anything that served his country in whatever capacity they needed him to. And
through it all he and Grange have stayed in touch and remained friends. They’re like
brothers.”

Elena leaned back. “Wow. It’s good that Pete had Grange to lean on. What a terrible
loss for him. So he never remarried?”

“No. Grange said Pete always felt Dina was it for him, and no other woman could come
close.”

Elena sucked in a breath and stared out over the water and the jungle beyond it before
turning back to face him.

“Okay, Jed. Tell me who you really are.”

He swung his legs over the side of the chaise to face her.

“I grew up in Maryland. Went to Georgetown. Wasn’t the best student, but I got by.
I liked to party and gave my parents a hard time. They were good to me, sacrificed
a lot to give me a good education. I didn’t appreciate it. They died in a car accident
when I was in my second year of college.”

She gasped, leaned over and grabbed his wrist. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry.”

He stared down at the water dripping on the ground between them, the memories thick
as fog rising up to swallow him. “I don’t remember much about that time. I tried to
bury it like I buried them. My dad had a distant cousin who tried to step in and help,
but I didn’t want anyone. After my parents died, I lost it at school. I’d barely had
the drive and ambition to start with. I dropped out of school and wandered aimlessly
for a year, doing a lot of drinking and navel gazing. Then I pulled my head out of
my ass and realized I wasn’t going to honor my parents by becoming an alcoholic. So
I joined the Marines, did two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. After that I
joined the FBI.”

She squeezed his hand.

He lifted his head. Her eyes shimmered with tears. Sympathy, not pity. He knew the
difference. Thank God. He couldn’t handle anyone feeling sorry for him, had had enough
of it to last him a lifetime.

“The FBI was okay but boring. No challenge in it, no action. That’s when Grange found
me and offered me a job with the Wild Riders.”

She arched a brow. “That’s what his organization is called?”

“Yeah.” He quirked a smile. “They’re a wild bunch, all right. But good people. Great
agents. And I like the job so far. I’m still new at it, but it gives me a taste of
adventure and some action instead of desk jockeying or paper pushing.”

“You’re an adrenaline junkie.”

He shrugged. “Maybe a little. I just want to do something to serve my country. And
maybe help people.”

She grazed her thumb over his hand. “Your parents would be proud of all you accomplished.”

Hearing her say that made his heart clench. “I’d like to think so.”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Not as raw now as it was in the beginning. I still miss them, wish I could pick up
the phone and hear my mom’s voice or my dad’s laugh. I took it for granted that they’d
always be there for me. You don’t appreciate what you’ve lost until you don’t have
it anymore.”

She stood. He figured she was going inside.

“Sit back in the chair.”

He did, and she shocked the hell out of him by climbing in the chair with him. The
chaises were oversized and could easily fit two, but God, he hadn’t expected this,
hadn’t expected her to snuggle her body against his and lay her head on his chest.

He was afraid to touch her, but when she pulled his arm around her and she moved in
even closer, he gave up trying to figure out what the hell was going on and just went
with it. He tugged her in.

“Thank you,” she said. “I know that wasn’t easy for you to tell me, and I appreciate
you sharing a little piece of who you are.”

“It’s okay.”

“Do you ever talk about it?”

“Not really. No one to talk to.”

She tilted her head back. “No other family, friends, girlfriends or anything?”

He smiled down at her. “No family. Guys don’t open up to each other about shit like
that. And I don’t have girlfriends.”

She gave him a dubious look. “I’m sure you’ve had girlfriends before.”

“I’ve had women in my life before. No one I’d consider a girlfriend and no one I’d
want to talk to about this. My lifestyle hasn’t been conducive to anything long term.”

“I guess that makes sense. Hard to establish a relationship when you’re moving around
all the time.”

She smoothed her hand over his chest. Jed gritted his teeth, trying to remember she
was just making conversation and offering comfort. His dick wanted a whole different
kind of comfort, which it wasn’t going to get. He hoped she wouldn’t notice.

“Do you ever want to settle down and raise a family?”

“I guess. Someday.”

“What will you do then? Get a job as an in-town bodyguard or something?”

He laughed. “I’ve never given it any thought. I’ve been pretty much living for the
moment the last ten years or so, not thinking of the marriage-and-family thing.”

She swept her hand over his shoulder, down his chest and across his stomach. God help
him, this was torment. The soft hand of a woman over his stomach, knowing that if
her fingers crept just a little lower and she’d hit the jackpot? Yeah, that was torture.

“You’re getting hard, Jed.”

“I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t notice.”

“Kind of difficult not to. It’s rather obvious.”

“Is this because you feel sorry for me? Because of my parents?”

She paused, lifted herself up and stared at him for a few seconds.

“No. It’s you I want. Did you feel sorry for me because of my mother?”

He pulled her down on top of him and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I never once
thought about your mother when I was making love to you. The only person I thought
about then was you.”

He put his lips on hers, tasting her. He’d missed her flavor, the feel of her mouth
against his. After last night, he wanted more. Maybe they didn’t have anything beyond
just this assignment, but he didn’t care. He’d only had a brief taste of her and he
wasn’t nearly done with her yet. He slid his tongue between her teeth and deepened
the kiss, waiting for her to pull away.

She didn’t, instead walked her fingers south and rested them on the top of his board
shorts, right where his cock was about to burst through the material and leap into
her hand.

When she started to rub his cock through the material, he tensed and pressed against
her, unable to resist how damn good it felt. He wanted more, wanted the feel of his
cock against her hand.

He untied his shorts and shoved them down. His cock sprang out and she sat up, straddled
the chair and grasped his dick in her hand. She slid his shaft between her fingers
then squeezed him with both hands.

“God, that feels good.” He leaned back, not sure whether he enjoyed the sensation
or watching the look of utter rapture on her face as she stroked him. Both were making
his balls tighten.

He wanted to bury himself inside her and forget she had ever been an assignment—that
she still was. This wasn’t part of his job. He didn’t have to pretend to get close
to her anymore, because this was as close as he was ever going to get.

And this time, she was here because it was where she wanted to be.

As she stroked him, she leaned forward, her breasts pressing against the flimsy material
of her swimsuit.

“Take it off,” he said, motioning to her top.

Her lips curved. She knew damn well she was the one with all the power right now.
She released his cock and reached back to untie the string at her neck, teasing him
by holding the material while she untied the back. Then she pulled the top away and
revealed her breasts.

Her nipples tightened under his gaze. Jed sucked in a hard breath as she leaned forward
and captured his cock between her lips, rolling her tongue around the crest. He jerked
against her tongue, the strong urge to let go almost more than he could bear.

But her sweet, hot mouth surrounded him, and he wanted more of it, knew he could hold
on if she’d just—

Oh, yeah. She took his cock between her lips, took her time sliding her mouth over
his cock. It was the sweetest hell. Sweat beaded and ran down his back as he fought
to hold on, to keep from jettisoning into her mouth. He needed this to last, wanted
to feel every second as she squeezed his shaft with tight suction, only to let go
and swirl her tongue over every inch of him as if his cock were an ice cream cone.

He swept his hand over her hair as she rose to the tip and licked the crest. She lifted
her gaze to his and smiled, cupped his balls and gave them a gentle squeeze. He swallowed
when she gave him a knowing grin, then covered his dick with her mouth and went down
on him again, stroking him with her mouth in a way that made him certain this torment
was going to end in a hurry.

He gripped the edge of the chaise and pushed against her mouth, feeding her his cock
as the freight train of orgasm rushed through his nerve endings.

“I’m going to come, Elena. Fuck, I’m gonna come.”

She gripped the base of his cock and stroked him, forcing his shaft deep into her
mouth.

He let out a loud groan, wrapped his hand around her hair and held her there while
he erupted, shuddering as he climaxed.

Elena continued to suck him as he came, holding tight to his cock while he gave her
everything he had. When he collapsed against the chair, she swept her tongue over
the head of his cock, then let go and raised her head, licked her lips and smiled
at him.

She was a vision. Topless, her cheeks pink, her hair wild around her face and her
lips moist. If he wasn’t utterly spent, he’d pull her on top of him and fuck her.