Operation Date With Destiny (2 page)

****

Tupper opened his eyes to a sharp blinding pain. Oh man, he hadn
’
t woken up with a hangover this bad in years. His head throbbed in time with his heartbeat and as he tried to lift his arms to hold his aching skull, he
realized
…he couldn
’
t.

Ignoring the pain, his eyes snapped open to discover he was tied to a bed…and beneath the sheet which covered him…he was naked. A million thoughts raced through his head at once—there was a bit of high fiving going on between his marine brain and his ladies-man brain…but then there was also a little voice of reason who brought up the whole,
dude you
’
re tied to a bed and you have no freakin
’
memory of what happened last night.
And just like that, the high fiving stopped.

Okay, so this could be a little bit of a problem,
he thought trying to stay calm,
but nothing you can
’
t handle—you
’
re a Marine for God
’
s sake! Think it through and toughen the hell up while you
’
re at it.

He looked around and his frown deepened. It was a dank, dark looking dive of a place. The bed beneath him felt lumpy so he could rule out being in a swanky hotel somewhere. He spied his clothing folded neatly on a chair across the room and tugged at the ropes once more.
Damn it.
Turning his head he spotted a blanket draped over something on the floor.
What the hell was that, then?
h
e
wondered, but at least it wasn
’
t in the shape of a body—so he felt confident it was nothing directly relating to his current predicament.

He tried to recall what happened last night. There were flashes of memory—he distinctly recalled a set of hot red lips and some pretty heavy making out. Looking down he gave a satisfied grunt as he saw the smudge of lipstick across his abs and chest and low down on his hip. Okay—so at least that bit he remembered and a rush of heat exploded in his chest.
Yeah—he remembered that.

He tugged on the ropes but they were tied tight—he had to admire the knot work—impressive, but that was soon wiped as the thought then occurred to him that they were
a little
too good
for a night of kinky sex…they were far more professional looking.

Dude—don
’
t panic,
he tried to listen to his rational side—he really did but he was tied to a God damn bed in the frick
i
n
’
nude! A sound outside the door stopped his silent hysteria momentarily as he watched the doorknob turn and the door open.

For a moment
,
relief surged through his body…it was the woman from last night…only it wasn
’
t. Relief was suddenly elbowed out of the way by confusion. The night before
,
she
’
d been all slinky and sexy in red satin and CFM heels but today
,
she was dressed in a singlet top and cargo pants. Her luscious long hair which had cascaded down her back in a raven waterfall
as they
’
d gotten hot and heavy
the night before was now pulled back in a no nonsense ponytail. And instead of her heels, she now wore… combat boots.

Something about this was not right.
Oh really? Which bit
,
dickhead? The fact you
’
re tied to a bed, or the naked bit
?
Man he hated that sarcastic prick in his head sometimes and at the moment he didn
’
t need the reminder of his utter stupidity in finding himself in this predicament.

“
It
’
s about time you were awake,
”
she said
,
but just like her previous night
’
s wardrobe, all the sultry come-hither-ness was now gone.

“
So…was it good for you
,
too?
”
he asked, hoping she couldn
’
t
detect
the fact he was feeling more than a little intimidated in this position.

As s
he stopped at the end of the bed he noticed a hunting knife strapped to her thigh.
“
Don
’
t get too excited—nothing happened,
”
she drawled and damn it, she had to go and say the word excited and he felt the reluctan
t stir of his slumbering friend
below
.

Great.
“
You know if you wanted a bit of kinky sex—all you had to do was ask…
”

“
If I wanted a bit of kinky sex—I wouldn
’
t have bothered with you.
”

Ouch.
Well that was uncalled for, he thought feeling slightly offended.
“
Obviously something happened.
”
He nodded his head down at the lipstick marks and caught
the
brief flicker
that crossed
her
face
.
Hmm, interesting
,
could it be that she was not as unaffected as she was trying to make out here?

“
Yeah well, you took longer to pass out than I
’
d counted on,
”
she said, brushing him off with a wave of her hand and he noticed the manicured, crimson
,
talons were also gone this morning. Then her words registered and another memory surfaced…
“
You
drugged
me!
”

He remembered they
’
d left the bar and gone back to his place, but this was definitely
not
his place he noted as he sent another glance around the room. They
’
d had a drink and started making out on the couch…he felt another stir beneath the sheets and groaned…
not now, damn it—do you have no pride? We just worked out she drugged us and you
’
re
still
turned on
?

Yeah—but she
’
s hot!

Well, there was that.

“
Sorry. I didn
’
t have much choice,
”
she said in a tone that didn
’
t sound as remorseful as it should have.

“
Sweetheart—trust me, you don
’
t need to drug men to have sex with you—
”

“
Would you shut the hell up about sex!
”
s
he snapped.

“
So if it
’
s not about sex, then what is it about? Drugging a guy seems a little excessive don
’
t ya think?
”

“
Not really. Not when asking you would have gotten me laughed out of the club,
”
she shrugged.

“
Asking me
what,
exactly?
”

“
To work for me.
”

“
Honey—I already work for somebody. A big somebody called Uncle Sam, and I gotta
’
tell you, if I
’
m not back on base soon, this place
’
ll be crawling with Marines.
”

The woman tilted her head slightly as she looked down at him.
“
If we were still anywhere near your base that might be an issue…but we
’
re not. Besides,
”
she added quietly,
“
you and I both know that you
’
ve just started leave. Don
’
t worry—this job will only take a few days at most. You
’
ll have plenty of time to make it back to base before you
’
re officially AWOL.
”

How the hell did she know all that?
She
’
s been watchin
’
you—dumbass!
That was a thought that didn
’
t sit well. He was trained to observe, to be aware of his surroundings—Christ! He was a God damn Force Recon Marine and this woman had somehow been watching him for wh
o knew how long?
“
Untie me and we
’
ll talk about this,
”
he said, holding her gaze as calmly as he could under the circumstances.

“
Not yet. I need you to hear me out first,
”
she walked around the end of the bed and sat down.

“
Don
’
t you think th
is is a tad extreme?
”
he
said
,
tugging at his bounds to emphasis his point.

“
Not necessarily. You out
-
weigh and out muscle me and could be a little upset…I think it would be best if we just leave you there for a minute until I know you
’
re going to take this seriously and hear me out.
”

“
Then hurry the hell up and tell me whatever it is you have to say,
”
he said through tightly gritted teeth.
This shit wasn
’
t getting any funnier.

“
I need you to retrieve something for me from a rather… secure place,
”
she said quietly.

“
Retrieve something? Lady, I think you
’
re confusing me with a dog.
”
He didn
’
t feel up to playing games right now. His hands were
going numb
and his head was thumpin
’
like a
sonofabitch
from whatever she used to knock him out. When she continued to simply look at him, he gave an irritated sigh.
“
What kind of thing and from where?
”

“
Let
’
s just call it a package for now. It
’
s inside a secure place under heavy guard and somewhat hard to access.
”

“
When you say secure…what exactly are we talking about? Prison?
”

“
Not a
legal
prison and not in the States,
”
she replied cautiously.

“
Where then?
”

“
Cambodia.
”

Tupper stared at her blankly for a moment then gave a nervous chuckle.
“
Oh, I see what
’
s going on here…the guys put you up to this didn
’
t they? This is one of those prank video show things right?
”
he scanned the room in search of a hidden camera.

“
I
’
m afraid not. Look, I know this is a bit…unorthodox,
”
she started and ignored his sarcastic grunt.
“
But I didn
’
t have time to discuss it with you beforehand
.
This is life and death—make no mistake about that.
”
She paused slightly before correcting whatever she was about to say.
“
I can
’
t do this through any legal channels. These people have their own laws.
”

Tupper shook his head with a sigh.
“
You would be surprised how many times I
’
ve heard this over the last few years,
”
he told her wearily.

“
This isn
’
t a joke
!
A life depends on you helping me. Trust me—I wish to God I didn
’
t need you, but the reality is that I do.
”

“
What do you mean you need me? Why
me?
”

“
Because you have the expertise I need. You know the country and I don
’
t have time to find anyone else.
”