Running Hot (9 page)

Seconds, minutes, maybe an hour later, images flashed in Tasha's brain, and she came awake with a gasp. She couldn't believe she'd drifted off, even for a few minutes. Compounding the sex with sleep . . . yeah, Ward totally had her off her game. But what a way to go.

She smiled as she lifted her arm to glance at her watch. With that one small movement, she knew. The air in the room felt wrong. Her senses kicked into high gear. Someone watched her. Someone who wasn't Ward.

She jackknifed into a sitting position with the thin blanket pulled over her. She still wore her shirt, but the beating vulnerability—something she hated—wouldn't subside.

“Get up.”

The angry voice rolled over her. The scene from earlier replayed in her head. Two men with guns. Slim builds and big weapons. But these two didn't glare. No, their gazes roamed over her. She refused to flinch or jerk the covers. She would not give them the satisfaction of thinking they had her on the defensive.

She was too busy being ticked off. Ward was nowhere in sight. She didn't even see his small pack.

This time she might just shoot him. Of course, she had to live through this first.

“I'm not doing anything wrong.” She put a hand against the mattress as her mind raced with possibilities.

Maybe she left something that she could . . . then she felt it. A knife by her side, touching her bare leg. The outline of metal under her hand, just a few layers below. A gun and a knife. Looked like Ward didn't leave her totally defenseless.

Maybe she'd let him live after all.

“Get up,” the one on the right repeated.

“No.” From here she could launch the knife and get off a shot. The timing would need to be perfect, but she'd practiced this sort of thing over and over.

The one on the right smiled. “Then maybe we'll join you.”

When the guy winked, she felt her world tilt. “I'll kill you first.”

And she would. Take them out and not think twice. Push down whatever guilt, knowing it was them or her.

The guy took a step closer. “I don't think so.”

Before he finished the sentence, the countdown started in her head. She'd take the one on the right first because that guy seemed like he needed killing.

“Drag her off the bed.” The one on the left gave the order with a nod of his head.

Go time.

Chapter Seven

W
ARD WAITED AS
the blinding need to attack boiled inside him. He'd gotten up to check in with Ford and heard a noise. He'd been coherent enough to scramble back in time to see these two idiots cross the property line. His skills hadn't failed him, but they had misfired. A few more seconds and he would have been back in the makeshift bed and kissing Tasha again and missed his move—the one where he hid and lay in wait, the element of surprise on his side.

But now it was time. No one touched her without her okay.

Slipping back inside, he had a gun aimed at the back of each of their heads, touching right against their thick skulls before they could lift their weapons. “The lady said no.”

The one on the right flinched. “What are you—”

“I will blow a hole through you before you can move your finger to the trigger.” Ward's resolve didn't waver. Even a twitch, and they were dead. No questions asked.

The one on the left laughed. Not a real laugh. More of a panicked snort. “We can kill her before you get off a shot.”

Not a chance. “Fucking try me.”

The one on the left wasn't smart enough to shut up. “Tough man.”

Damn straight.
“Keep talking, asshole.”

Without taking his gaze off the two men and their weapons, Ward's mind went to Tasha. He hoped she understood what had happened. He'd had to get out and get behind them to neutralize them and couldn't take the extra seconds to wake her and explain.

They'd moved a bit faster than expected and had a chance to say all the wrong things to her. Now they would die.

“Honey, did you find what I left for you?” To keep what little of their cover remained, he aimed for sounding loving, which wasn't tough in light of how he'd spent the past hour wrapped up in her.

She lifted the gun. Gave it a little wave. “You mean this?”

That was a good woman right there.

Ward poked the gun harder into the back of the one on the left's head. “Still think you have the advantage?”

“Yes.”

The dumb fucker moved. Just a twitch but a fatal one. Ward fired and shoved the guy to the side at the same time. He didn't want the attacker landing on Tasha or even getting near her.

Not that he needed to worry. As he shot, he heard a second round fire from Tasha's side of the room. By the time the banging stopped, both gunmen lay on the floor, bleeding and otherwise making a mess of what was a pretty great hour before they arrived.

Ward checked outside to make sure reinforcements weren't coming to help the gunmen then checked the bodies as his gaze bounced to her. “You okay?”

She held the gun up higher. “Good thing you left this.”

“Don't ever say I didn't give you anything nice.”

“Very helpful.” She rotated to her side and put her feet on the floor. When she stood up, her T-shirt skimmed over her, highlighting the fact she wasn't wearing any underwear.

Half-naked and holding a gun. She was damned near perfect for him.

But nothing else was going right on this assignment. “You know them being here, this far out from Tigana's supposed hiding place, is a bad sign.”

“They're scouting.” Her fingers fumbled with the hem of her shirt. “Probably searching for the truck's owner.”

“Just what we needed, more to worry about.”

Her head tilted to the side, and her hair fell over her shoulder. “Before you start thinking you're in the clear or that I'm dropping the subject, do you want to tell me where you went a few minutes ago and why you left without me?”

The question pulled his gaze back up to her face. So did the way she snapped her fingers in front of her. “I was trying to save us both.”

“Oh, really?”

No way was he going to be able to shortcut this with some sort of “trust me” thing. The long walk they had in front of them just got longer. “I'll explain on the way.”

“Yes, you will.” She shot him a you're-not-off-the-hook glare. “On the way to what?”

She wasn't yelling or refusing to go with him. That had to be a good sign . . . at least he planned on pretending it was. “We're meeting Ford.”

They'd checked in at the prearranged time, which was the main reason Ward had woken up before the gunmen came. Ford confirmed the exact location of Tigana's compound. Spotted the series of bures tucked deep into the hills, covered by guards and a newly built wall.

But that wasn't the only news Ford provided. It seemed gossip about Tasha's absence already had raced around the resort. Ward knew that meant they had to move now, ready or not.

“This isn't some dumb male morning-after thing, is it?” Tasha reached for her shorts and held them in front of her.

“It's nighttime.” It was a shitty response, but he needed them to move, not hang around and talk about sex. Though if he had any say, they would be having it again and soon. He damn well hoped she felt the same way.

She treated him to an eyeroll, her shorts dangling from her fingertips. “The sex-and-run thing is kind of sad. Please tell me you're better than that.”

He understood the conclusion jumping. “I was out there checking with Ford when I heard them. I intended to circle behind them and catch them on the way in, but I couldn't exactly yell or stop and lay out the plan for you. Even with me bolting to get back here, the timing was tight.”

She let out a long sigh. “I would have taken care of them.”

The prickly thing got old fast. “I was trying to be chivalrous and let you sleep while I made contact with Ford.”

“That almost didn't work out for you, did it?”

He decided not to debate that. “Speaking of which, if I had another condom, I'd be all over you. Screw the job.”

After a few seconds she nodded. “Okay.”

Not exactly the confession of mutual lust he was hoping for. “Okay?”

“I wasn't exactly expecting an audience when I woke up.” She took another step and froze before she tripped over the body on the floor. “These two kill the mood.”

“Not as much as they should.” But her words played in his head.

Through all the death and destruction, all he wanted to do was take her outside for a second round. Proof he had a long way to go toward restoring his humanity.

“Aren't you a dirty boy?” And she sounded pleased at the idea.

This woman was going to be the death of him.

“We finish this job, and I'll show you how dirty I can be,” he said.

She smiled. “Promise?”

At least they were back on the same game plan. “Put some clothes on that you can run and fight in before I forget that there are Stinger missiles sitting on this island.”

“Killjoy.”

“You've got the ‘killing' part right. The body count is up to four.” He knew it would blow much higher before the night ended. That didn't mean he had to like the idea.

“And there will be more. Every one of them needed to be stopped.” She put her hands on his shoulders and peeked around him at the scene on the floor. “I can't let people who get paid by a madman run all over this island.”

It was tempting to spin around, to at least lean back against her. He went with turning his head until his lips almost brushed her cheek. “You mean them and not me, right?”

“Mostly.” She stepped away from him with a smile.

With every second, his common sense dipped. Much more touching, and they could forget about the assignment and saving Fiji from being held captive. Her smarts and strength and beauty—everything—lured him in.

He cleared his throat in the hope of also clearing his head. “Your clothes?”

“You want me to put them on?” She held up the shorts and made a tsk-tsking sound. “That's new.”

Last thing in the world since he met her. “Fuck no.”

“That's what I thought.” She pointed at the doorway “But it's time, so you go outside.”

Shy now? She had to be kidding. She'd been standing there in nothing more than a short T-shirt for a few minutes. “I've already seen everything.”

“And if you don't go outside, you'll see it again, which will be a problem for what we need to get done.” She shifted to face him and shot a level stare.

The woman was not dumb. Staring at her looking like that made his stupidity meter stick on high. Too much of that, and they'd both be looking for new jobs.

He got as far as the door then turned around to look at her again. Every amazing, half-naked inch. “Have I told you how hot you are?”

“You can tell me several more times on the way to meet Ford.”

“Done.”

T
HE HEAT DRAGGED
at her muscles as the darkness fell. Forget the idea of a cooling breeze at sundown. Tasha felt the dewiness on her skin and wondered how the island managed to get even hotter without the midday sun.

Baking in a pool of sweat gave a woman time to think. Too much. She'd listened to Ward's explanation of why he left the bed without warning her. She bought it. In his place, she'd have done the same thing—gone out, checked in, then handled the situation. Maintained the element of surprise.

That wasn't what shook her. Her initial reaction to waking up alone should have been a sort of “so what” thing. Instead, she'd been stung with disappointment, and that scared the hell out of her. No way should anything Ward did matter to her . . . yet it did.

And she needed to say one more thing on the topic. “Thank you.”

“For?” He kept his gaze locked on the surroundings. They'd broken through the heaviest part of the tropical forest and circled an open area, careful to stay hidden as much as possible.

Looked like he was going to make her say it. Fair enough. “The assist back there.”

He slowed the pace as he glanced at her. “Why do I think it took a lot for you to admit that?”

This is what happened when she tried to play nice. She picked up speed again. “Forget it.”

“Whoa.” He grabbed her arm and stepped right in her path. “Stop for a second.”

No way.
“We need to keep moving.”

“This will take one second.” Without hurting her or pinching, his hold tightened.

The pull had her spinning to face him head-on. Play it off. That strategy hit her, and she went with it. Even used her hand to wave off words and the tension weaving its way around them.

“Not really something a woman wants to hear from the man she's having sex with.” The words spilled out, but she didn't regret them. Didn't regret what happened between them either. The intimacy, the touching, the sex. It fueled her, and she would not apologize for that.

His expression didn't give anything away. “I'm going to take the comment to mean you think we should do that again. Good, but do you think for five bloody seconds you could not compare me to every other agent you've ever known?”

She wasn't actually doing that . . . this time. But the bigger issue was his use of the word
bloody
. The idea of him dragging out British slang drained the last bits of grumbling about waking up alone right out of her. Amusement filled the empty space, and she bit back a smile. “Probably more than five, yes.”

He rolled his eyes. “Happy we cleared that up.”

The walking continued, this time with the silence stretching between them being more comfortable than before. Maybe it was the heat or lack of a decent meal, but she felt the last of her resistance to him fall away.

She'd once punched a guy right below the belt for calling her a job whore. It was his way of suggesting the sum total of her career goals amounted to sleeping with the right guys to collect information, which was not true—but even if it were, so what? But for some reason, the idiot thought she would appreciate his insight. She went with doubling him over instead.