Seek and Destroy (11 page)

    "
You
came after
me
, remember?"

    "That isn't what I mean and you know it."

    "Actually," he cracked with a grin and eased back in the chair, folding his fingers on his chest as he studied her. "I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about. But you've got me curious. What are you hiding?"

    She shook her head. Maybe his pet name for her was nothing more than that. Could the fact he'd called her by her codename only be a coincidence?

    She didn't believe in coincidences. Things always happened for a reason. They may not be apparent when they happen, but it didn't take long to put two and two together. She did it on a daily basis as one of the top intel retrievers at ICE.

    He studied her, apparently looking for a reason to find her unworthy of succeeding on this assignment. God how she hated NASSD agents. They were arrogant. Conceited. Had egos the size of the western hemisphere. And, damn it, most were damn good looking and knew it, played it to their advantage. All of them had hard-bodies and killer instincts. Literally. "Okay, I'll bite. Why is NASSD trying so hard to get me back?"

    "I don't know. Like I told you, SD Weber won't talk to anyone about it."

    "I don't buy it. I know Weber. He may be a tight-lipped son-of-a-bitch, but this isn't his style. He wouldn't withhold information, not when it had anything to do with the op. And he sure as hell would not call in ICE to retrieve a NASSD agent."

    "Maybe I'm different."

    "What do you have to offer they can't get from one of their own?"

    She looked him square in the eye. "You."

    He laughed at that. "Have a nice flight back to Seattle. Give my regards to the Webers." He started to push himself up from the table.

    "David!" she pleaded. He paused, listening. "Please give me a chance."

    "And why should I do that?"

    "Because," she almost whimpered. "If I fail, I'm done. I'll be demoted. It's a waste of talent."

    He looked at her with a spiked brow.

    "I'm good, really good. I found you when NASSD couldn't. I can dig up anything on anyone. If the information exists, I can find it."

    He shook his head, let out a laugh. "You ICE agents sure are full of yourself. I'm surprised you fit into your little dress with an ego that size."

    She wanted to throw her wine in his face. Talk about arrogance. "Me? I'm simply stating a fact."

    "Fine," he conceded. "So you're good at what you do."

    "From what I hear, we both are."

    He threw a harsh laugh back at her. "It didn't stop NASSD from selling me down the river. What's to stop them from doing it again once they get whatever it is they need out of me?"

    "Do you think SD Weber would seriously do that?"

    "I didn't think he'd do it to me the first time." His comment bit into her, his harsh, hurtful tone telling her more than the words. SD Weber's decision to temporarily transfer him to ICE hurt him to the core and, no doubt, challenged their friendship.

    Shaking his head, he lost all expression and lifted his gaze off to the distance with a deep sigh. After several paralyzing seconds, he spoke softly. "I gave NASSD ten years. They gave me ten seconds in return." He lowered his gaze to hers. "That's how long it took Weber to decide to transfer me."

    "I'll fight for you," she heard herself say. What did she just say? What did that even mean?

    One side of his lip twitched. "Why would you do that?"

    Not having enough sense to lie, she started in. "Because I believe what NASSD did to you, what they do to all their agents seriously injured in the field, is wrong. You think I enjoy taking in bitter field ops agents? Half of them can't even turn on a computer, let alone search and recover any type of top-secret information. I'm tired of taking whoever NASSD says we can have without asking us if we even want them."

    The twitch in his lip grew to both sides. "And how do you propose we change that?"

    
Wink
. "We start with you," she replied.

    "Me?" David bounced back, clearly puzzled.

    "Go back to Seattle with me," she urged. "Tell Weber exactly how it feels to be treated the way he treated you."

    He shook his head.

    "He needs to know, David."

    "He already does." He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Weber is my best friend-well,
was
. He wouldn't throw me out unless he had reason to." Charis watched his eyes cloud. It was as if he made the realization right there and then.

    "I would never turn my back on you," she purred, barely audible.

    Her comment broke him of his melancholy. "What was that?"

    Oh no. Did she just say that out loud? Damn wine. She should have stopped after her first glass. "I didn't say anything."

    "Now, come on." He smiled that debilitating smile at her, weakening her defenses. "It sounded like you said-"

    "Nope." She hid her eyes, at first. But she stole a glance his way from underneath her lashes. "Wasn't me."

    He grinned at her. "You'll have to do better than that." He looked over her shoulder and muttered a curse before losing his smile and sinking down in his chair. Obviously repositioning himself to hide from whoever just walked into the room, he brought his attention back to her.

    "What are you doing?" She tried to turn around to see who he attempted to hide from.

    "Just turn around and keep talking," he ordered.

    She turned back around. "But-"

    "Just..." He clenched his teeth and shrank down in his chair even farther. "Talk to me."

    "Why should I do you any favors?" She threw his words back at him.

    "How about this? You keep me busy for a while and I'll owe you one." He reached over and took her wine glass, emptying the contents with one swallow. He set the glass down and riveted his eyes to hers.

    Oh dear God. That got her pulse rate up, her blood racing, and her panties even wetter than before. The thought brought such fierce heat to her cheeks she had to touch them to make sure they hadn't caught fire. Blinking to moisten her eyes, she blew out a breath to try and put a stopper on the springs of energy pounding in the tightness of her quivering pussy. She brought her eyes up and met his.

    
Wink.
Damn contacts.

    "Alright," Charis wiped her mouth with her napkin and threw it down on the table. "But you can't go back on your word."

    He straightened, keeping his gaze glued to her. "I never go back on my word."

    "Good. You can start by going back to Seattle and talking to the director."

    He shook his head. "I said I'd owe you one, not that I'd give in to your little scheme."

    "See? You
see
? I knew you'd go back on your word."

    That little accusation didn't seem to settle too well with him. His expression stilled. As he spoke, his voice low and oh-so-sexy, she felt her toes curl. "How about I sweep you off your feet and make this a night neither one of us will ever forget? You can go back to the states with a memory. Because that is all you will be going back with."

    She wanted to take offense at his arrogance, but something about him intrigued her, had her tingling with anticipation at the thought of a one-night stand with him. Something about this man made her want to take her shoe off and run her toe up his leg. She felt dizzy with desire, giddy with the thought of what a night with him would entail.

    Her crux gushed and engorged, the blood rushing to her lips sending a racing throb straight to her clit. The little bundle of nerves pulsed and jumped in anticipation of what, exactly, a night with David Snyder would be like.

    He seemed to bring out all of her very worst traits. And she loved it. She actually wanted to do it. Hell, they were both consenting adults. He looked like every woman's fantasy. Why not? He already said he wouldn't be coming back with her anyway. What harm would there be? This may be her one and only time to get out and do something wild, something wanton. She'd failed her assignment, which meant she'd closed the door for others to make it into NASSD. She'd better do her best to take advantage of the here and now. Come Monday she'd be back in the states fetching coffee for Joe the Janitor and filing paper after meaningless paper.

    Every ICE agent waiting on his or her transfer into NASSD would lynch her. She wouldn't be surprised to see a hate mob waiting to greet her at the airport when she flew back to Seattle.

    If she didn't take advantage of the here and now, she may never get another chance. No one would ever know. She certainly didn't plan on sharing. David wasn't going anywhere near HQ. Besides, he really didn't seem the type to kiss and tell. She'd probably never see him again, anyway. And he did owe her one.

    Why not? Her heart rate spiking, she boldly held his eyes. "You got it."

    He curled the corner of his mouth and eyed her lips, licking his in anticipation. "You're an agent. The last guy I know who got tangled up with another agent ended up marrying her. I'm not about to go down that path."

    "Didn't you just offer-"

    "I did, but I also want to make sure you don't expect anything more."

    "I'm not a NASSD agent. Besides, I don't want to marry you. I just want..." She stopped before making a complete fool of herself.

    "What? Me?"

    "Exactly." Did she just say that out loud? Holy Hannah. What had gotten into her? Whatever. It felt good. For twenty-eight years she'd suppressed what she wanted to say, all to be a proper daughter, a proper ICE agent.

    Fuck that.

    Oh my. Since when did she start using words like
fuck
?

    Charis suddenly felt the need to be wild. Wanton. She wanted to run through the waves in her bare feet. She wanted David Snyder. Wanted him to take her and make her cry his name as she begged for release. She wanted to scream as she experienced the most soul shattering orgasm of a lifetime. She'd never wanted anything more.

    Without removing his gaze from her face, he signaled for the waiter. He ordered some wine up to his room, dropped the man a greenback, and sent him away. Standing, he held out his hand. "Shall we? Shit!"

    "Shall we
what
?"

    "David! My sweet! Tony said I'd find you in here."

    
My sweet
? He tried to pull his hand back in time, but failed. She knocked into Charis, pushing her out of the way with her bony hips as she ran past her and wrapped her arms around his neck. She stole a quick glance at Charis to make sure she had her undivided attention before leaning up on her tiptoes and giving him a slow and sloppy kiss.

    Heat immediately sparked in her blood. Just who the hell was this voluptuous, perfectly tanned and gorgeous dark-haired, green-eyed knockout with her arms around the man about to make Charis' every sexual dream come true? Her long, board straight hair went all the way down to the small of her exposed back. She flipped her thick mane flirtatiously as she sent green-eyed daggers Charis' direction.

    Instead of feeling self-conscious about the fact that, on a scale of one to ten this one rated an eleven whereas Charis rated a solid eight on a perfect hair day, she wanted to weave her fingers in that flawlessly straight, thick mane and pull it out, strand by silky strand. She'd never felt the overwhelming need to protect what was rightfully hers, at least for tonight.

    Oh no. She actually wanted to
fight
this woman. Her last fight had been in the second grade when Jodi McEnroe had made fun of Charis' unruly hair. She'd lost that one and, from the look in this woman's contact-altered green eyes, she'd lose this one, too.

    Charis cleared her throat. David pushed the curvy beauty away and wiped her way-too-bright lipstick from his lips. "Gabrielle," he chuckled and eyed Charis. "You found me."

    Gabrielle? Who the hell was Gabrielle and why did she just kiss Charis' Mr. Right Now? Her fists clenched.

    Gabrielle thinned her lips and turned to out-and-out glare at her. She stepped closer to David, even wrapped her arms around his waist. "And who is
this
?"

    "She," he answered and removed her wandering arms once again, "is none of your business."

    "My name is Charis," she spoke up. If she wanted this night, she'd apparently have to fight Gabrielle for it. He' already brought out so much of her suppressed bad side. What was one more trait?

    "Having dinner with
my lover
?"

    "Gabrielle," he tried to say something.

    "No," Charis answered, knowing she'd never win physically. Her body may only be an eight, but she'd bet her PhD her brain outrivaled Little-Miss-Big-Boobs. "It's okay. Gabrielle, is it?"

    The young beauty eyed her carefully. "Yes."

    Charis smiled. "You have nothing to worry about."

    Gabrielle gave her a once over in obvious distaste. "I can see that."

    Okay, Ms. Big Boobs. You want to play rough? "I only say that because I'm just planning to use him for sex. If you'll excuse us, we have a long night ahead of us." Before Charis stopped herself, she reached out and took David's hand, and pulled him away from Gabrielle, leaving her standing there.

    Utterly speechless.

    Damn. She was starting to really like her bad side.

    

    

    

    David refused to pull his eyes off the beauty NASSD sent to retrieve him. She definitely held his attention, and he'd bet vital parts of his anatomy she didn't even know how. Hell,
he
didn't even know. His cock has been at attention since their not-so-chance encounter earlier at the pool.