Special Forces Rendezvous (8 page)

Nevertheless, she sank into the chair next to Sebastian, grateful that at least they were choosing to include her in the discussion. She knew Tate still didn’t trust her, but frankly, she didn’t care. She had nothing to prove to the man.

“We need to find a reputable lab that can test the water sample Stone brought,” Tate told his fiancée after she sat down. “Preferably one that employs a lab tech who’s looking to score some extra cash. There can’t be a record of this.”

Eva nodded in agreement. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Or you can let me take the sample back to Boston,” Julia spoke up, her jaw tight. “I tried to tell you this earlier, but I know someone who can help, and he’ll do it without asking any questions.”

Tate’s lips curled in distrust. “Forgive me if I don’t take that at face value, Dr. Davenport.”

It amazed her that he was still able to look so damn menacing even with a sleeping toddler draped across his chest.

“Who’s this friend?” Sebastian asked, his tone far more encouraging than his commanding officer’s.

She shot Tate a quick scowl before turning away from him. “Frank Matheson. He’s a microbiologist and a professor at Harvard. He works out of a lab on campus, mostly does research, development, taking on the occasional government contract.” When all three men stiffened at the word
government,
she quickly reassured them. “He’s discreet, and he would never, ever betray me. He thinks of me as a daughter.”

“We’ll find a lab here,” Tate said firmly.

Julia rolled her eyes. “Right, you’re going to bribe a lab technician to test the sample and trust that the person you paid off keeps the results to himself. Sounds like a
much
better plan.”

“She has a point,” Nick said cautiously, reaching for the beer bottle on the table.

“Frank can be trusted,” she insisted. “And he’d be helping out of a sense of loyalty, not greed. Your lab tech will sell you out the second someone offers him more money.”

As a short silence hung over the table, Julia stared at the dark ocean twenty yards away, then up at the crescent moon shining in the inky-black sky. It was a warm night, the water calm, the breeze balmy. She inhaled the fresh, salty air, realizing this was the first time in a long time she wasn’t running around in a stressed-out daze.

And yet she missed the commotion of the clinic. She missed her patients. Her coworkers.

Her throat clogged, and she swallowed the lump of sorrow that formed there. They were all gone. The clinic was gone. And for what? So the military could cover up whatever inhumane tests they were conducting on unsuspecting people?

“I think we should let Julia contact her friend in Boston,” Sebastian finally said, his tone resigned. “We can ship him the sample—”

“No way,” Tate cut in. “We’re not letting that sample out of our sight. If it’s going to Boston to be tested, then one of us is going with it.”

“I’m the one who has to go,” Julia said. “Frank won’t agree to help unless I’m there to ask for it in person. He won’t trust any of you, even if you drop my name.”

Tate didn’t look the slightest bit pleased about the idea of sending her to Boston alone. Neither did Sebastian, who turned to her with a frown. “You’re not going anywhere without backup, Doc.” He glanced at Tate. “If she goes, I go with her.”

“And while they take care of the lab part, I’ll keep digging about Project Aries,” Eva spoke up.

“Project Aries?” Julia echoed.

Sebastian nodded. “Remember I told you my unit was sent to Corazón? Well, we were ordered to extract a man by the name of Richard Harrison, an American doctor who was supposedly being held hostage by the ULF. Long story short, Harrison was already dead when we arrived. Turns out he worked for a private research facility that specializes in biological weapons development. He was in charge of something called Project Aries, which we think has to do with the virus he was testing in Corazón.”

“I’ve been looking into it, trying to find out more details, but it’s slow-going. Some of these databases are impossible to hack into,” Eva said, running a frustrated hand through her black hair.

Julia was taken aback. “Wait—you’re a hacker?”

“A damn good one,” Nick piped up.

“I’m working with a friend to crack this,” Eva admitted, “but we keep striking out at every turn. We need to find out who else worked on Project Aries, what the objective was, what this virus actually
is.
”

“Well, Frank can help us with that last part,” Julia answered. “The man’s a genius.”

“Then it’s settled,” Sebastian said. “The doc and I will head to Boston while you guys stay here and do what you can to shed some light on Project Aries.”

Although Tate didn’t look particularly happy about this latest development, the man didn’t object.

“We’ll need to secure some papers for Julia,” Sebastian added. “How fast can Fernando get them done?”

“Less than twenty-four hours if we email him the photos.” Nick was already scraping back his chair. “I’ll grab the digital camera.”

The next thing Julia knew, she was being ushered inside and forced to pose for several photographs in front of the white wall in the cozy living room of the beach house. Nick even asked her to tie her hair up for some shots, for “authenticity,” whatever that meant. The photo shoot didn’t last long, and when it ended, she drifted outside again and made her way down to the water’s edge.

Tate, Eva and Rafe had disappeared into their bedroom, and Nick had stayed in the living room, hunched over a table laden with laptops and monitors. She’d noticed the computers earlier, as well as the fact that the men were armed at all times. Eva didn’t seem to mind it, but for Julia, it was an obtrusive reminder of the danger they faced. These men had been forced to leave their homes and flee to another continent.

And now she was in the same awful boat.

She hugged her chest, gazing at the silent ocean. A part of her was still in denial about everything. She wasn’t
really
in jeopardy, right? Those soldiers who’d detained her hadn’t
really
planned on killing her, had they? But even though she wanted so desperately to believe that this was nothing more than a messed-up misunderstanding, the memory of the clinic being devoured by red-and-orange flames rendered that impossible.

Her colleagues and patients had been murdered.

She
would have been murdered if Sebastian Stone hadn’t come to her rescue.

“You’re too damn skinny.”

Speak of the devil. At the sound of Sebastian’s rough voice, Julia turned around.

She watched him approach, her gaze drawn to the rippled six-pack beneath his white T-shirt. His long cargo shorts revealed a pair of muscular legs dusted with golden hair, and as he got closer, she noticed that he still hadn’t shaved. Dark blond stubble coated his powerful jaw, and her fingers itched with the urge to stroke that prickly growth.

Distracted by his sheer sexiness, she tried to remember what he’d just said, then frowned when it sunk in. “It’s hard to find time to eat when I’m working,” she said defensively.

But he was right—the fact that she was nearly drowning in Eva’s dress told her that she’d lost more weight than she’d thought. Eva was definitely packing more curves than Julia in her chest and butt regions, but she was still a slender woman, which meant that Julia was indeed skinnier than she ought to be.

“But if it makes you happy, I’ll eat more,” she said grudgingly.

Sebastian came up beside her, chuckling softly. “Wow, that was easy.”

She edged closer to the waves, her bare toes sinking into the warm, wet sand. Sebastian was also barefoot, and he followed her right into the water, not even complaining when his ankles got splashed.

She bunched up the hem of Eva’s filmy blue dress and brought it up to her thighs so the fabric wouldn’t get wet. The lukewarm water lapped at her shins, the ebb-and-flow motion oddly comforting.

“Eva’s really nice,” she murmured. “I’m surprised she ended up with someone as grumpy as Tate.”

Sebastian laughed. “Me, too.”

“He
is
sweet to that boy, though,” Julia had to concede. “He loses some of those sharp edges when he’s talking to Rafe.”

“That was another surprise. Tate’s not much of a kid person, but he warmed up to Eva’s son fast.”

“Who’s...” She hesitated.

Sebastian read her mind. “Who’s Rafe’s father?”

She nodded.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

She was instantly struck with curiosity. “Well, now you
have
to tell me.”

“Hector Cruz.”

Julia’s mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“Eva had a child with the former leader of the United Liberty Fighters?”

“Yes.”

She shook her head a couple of times, trying to make sense of that. Hector Cruz had been at the ULF helm for more than a decade before he was killed in a military raid two months ago. Julia had watched the coverage on the news, and she didn’t remember hearing anything about Cruz leaving behind a son. There hadn’t been mention of a wife or girlfriend either.

But that wasn’t even the perplexing part. After spending an entire evening with Eva Dolce, Julia couldn’t fathom how that intelligent, caring woman had gotten tangled up with a group of revolutionaries.

“Eva was young and idealistic when she met Cruz,” Sebastian said, yet again decoding her thoughts. “It didn’t take long before she realized what a tyrant he was, but by then, she was knocked up and at his mercy.” He shrugged. “She’s been living on the run, too, ever since the kid was born.”

“She must have been relieved when Cruz was killed during that ambush.”

Sebastian’s laugh was long and husky. “She
orchestrated
the ambush, Doc.”

“I’m confused again. The news reports said that an elite San Marquez military unit located Cruz’s hideout and eliminated him.”

Now he snorted. “Elite is right. Me, Tate and Eva were the ones who infiltrated Cruz’s base camp, and we’re the ones who blew it all to hell.”

“And you killed Cruz?”

“Tate did.”

When she winced, Sebastian’s gray eyes softened. “Don’t look at me like that, Doc. Remember what I said in Esperanza?”

She swallowed. “Kill or be killed.”

“Exactly.” He released a breath. “This is a dangerous world we live in. It’s inhabited by a lot of greedy, selfish, sadistic people who will trample over you to achieve their goals. Cruz stole from the people he claimed to be protecting. He and his men murdered and raped and pillaged, and he would’ve killed Tate if Tate hadn’t killed him first. Same with those guards standing outside your tent—who do you think would’ve pulled the trigger when the general gave the order for you to die? Those men, Julia.”

“I know.” She spoke in a tortured whisper. “But it’s difficult for me to think in those terms. I took an oath to save lives, not take them.”

“You’re saving your own life. That’s equally important.”

“I guess.”

She moved away from the water and let the flowing skirt fall down her legs. Sand clung to her wet feet, but she didn’t bend over to brush it off just yet. She wasn’t ready to go in, and apparently Sebastian was in no hurry either.

As she fixed her gaze on the waves again, she became aware of how just how close they were standing. His muscular arm brushed her shoulder, and that appealing woodsy scent filled her nostrils and made her light-headed. She couldn’t help but remember their flirty exchange at the clinic, how badly she’d wanted to kiss him. So much had changed in such a short amount of time, and yet one thing hadn’t changed at all: she
still
wanted to kiss him.

No matter how inappropriate it might be, no matter how much her heart ached at the moment, she still wanted to discover what Sebastian Stone’s lips would feel like pressed against her own.

So find out.

Julia wasn’t sure if it was confidence or insanity that fueled her next move, but either way, grabbing Sebastian by his collar and bringing his head down for an impulsive kiss was completely out of character for her.

She felt his big body stiffen for a moment, but he recovered quickly, returning the kiss with such passion she nearly keeled over. Her knees wobbled, pulse raced, palms dampened. Sebastian’s lips were firm, his mouth warm as he slanted it over hers and deepened the kiss.

When his tongue slid into her mouth in one sensual glide, she was helpless to stop him. The skill with which he kissed her stole the breath from her lungs. He licked, swirled, explored, his mouth hot and insistent as it met hers in blistering kisses that made her entire body burn with uncontrollable arousal.

As her hands came up to rest on his broad shoulders, his slid down to stroke the small of her back. They were both breathing hard, panting each time they broke apart for air, groaning each time their mouths reconnected.

She’d never felt this way before. Hot, needy, desperate. She bit Sebastian’s lower lip, then sucked on it, eliciting a growl from deep in his chest.

“Holy hell, baby, that’s hot,” he muttered, and then he did the same damn thing to her, making her moan with abandon.

She had no clue how long they stood there, bare feet sinking in the sand, arms wrapped around each other, mouths and tongues dueling, but when they finally pulled apart again, her lips were swollen and her hair was a tangled mess from Sebastian’s fingers running through it.

“I... Wow.” She gulped, then sucked in a steadying breath. “I don’t know what came over me.”

His gray eyes smoldered with residual passion. “I’m not complaining.”

Julia offered a faint smile. “So...what now?”

She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to say. Maybe “now we make out some more.” Or maybe “now I take you inside and rock your world.” She would’ve been just fine with any response, really.

Except the one he gave her.

“Now we pretend that didn’t happen.” All the humor had left his eyes, and now his expression was somber.

She raised her brows. “Are you joking?”

Sebastian shook his head. “We can’t sleep together, Julia. Especially tonight. You watched the clinic burn to the ground yesterday, for chrissake, and we’ve been on the move ever since. You’re afraid and upset and the adrenaline high is still—”