Taking Sides (ARC Operatives Book 2)

Taking Sides

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Coming July 29th, 2016

Stay in touch!

Taking Sides

#2 in the ARC Operatives Series

by

Audrey Noire

Copyright © 2016 Audrey Noire

http://www.audreynoire.com

EBOOK EDITION

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes only. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created by the the author's imagination and are used fictitiously.

Cover image designed by Avery Knott at
http://www.averyknott.com

To Gina and Joce,

my pretty cheerleaders.

CHAPTER ONE

Daria Griffin stretched her arms up above her head and wondered how the hell she'd gotten so damn lucky. It'd been just over a month since their first (and very successful, hell yeah to her kickass acting skills) mission pretending to be newly weds. She might not have been able to keep the falsie-wedding ring after the operation wrapped up, but she'd definitely gotten to keep her new 'husband'. Nicolai was down on the main floor of his loft while she lazed around up in his bed. She could hear him padding around the wood floors, knowing full well he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers, and he was making her breakfast.

With a self-satisfied noise, she rolled over and looked out the the twelve foot windows of his ARC-assigned apartment. As an augmented, there were a few perks that Nicolai received that Daria didn't, part of the agreement that had been signed when he'd let the ARC scientists mess with his genetic coding. All augmented were given housing, if they didn't have their own, and even if they did it was strongly encouraged that they move into one of the ARC buildings located in the artsy district of New York City. Nicolai had made a tired comment once that it was buying him off for the sheer agony that had been the process of becoming an augmented.

 
Regardless, his place beat the pants off of her tiny bachelor bedsit, and hands down any day she'd prefer to be sprawled on his bed watching the city lights. Plus his place had soundproofing, and given her and Nico's rather active night-time habits, they needed it.

“
Mila
, you had best sit up, I am coming,” the man in question was walking up the black metal spiral staircase, a mug of coffee in one hand, a plate balanced in the other, and a sweet smile lighting his face when he saw her. Daria bit her lip as her heart thrilled in her chest and she sat, bending her knees under the sheets and leaning forward to wrap her arms around them. He put her coffee cup and plate on the bed-side table and then leaned down into her. She tilted her head up and he dropped a slow, warm kiss over her mouth.

Daria let out a happy sigh, curling an arm up around the back of his neck and tugged him in closer. Just a month in and the newness of him and their relationship still hummed in her veins every time they kissed. The first week back had been a tangle of figuring out what exactly their relationship was, and then the inevitable awkward conversation with their senior operatives, Anastasia Rykov and Frank Balfour, about fraternization with your op partner. Balfour had been all for them hooking up (not that his enthusiasm had been a surprise, the older man was like a barely-contained drunken ball-pit party on a good day), but Rykov had urged discretion. Discretion... that was more Nicolai's problem than Daria's. He was the kind of guy to wolf whistle, throw a cheesy line out, wink suggestively, and always had been before Daria had collided into his life. Being flirty at work didn't phase him in the slightest, but he'd never shown her that kind of attention there before and starting to do so would raise eyebrows. There had been a few close calls, but Daria figured they’d been cautious enough.

“You are always the most beautiful in the morning light, Daria,” Nicolai whispered against her lips, two of his fingers playing with a rebellious curl of her hair that spiralled down her cheek. Speaking of cheesy lines, she thought and pulled away with a wry smile.

“Already made me breakfast there, Secretariat, you don't need to lay on the charm to get me in your bed. I'm right here.” She pressed another kiss to his lips and then pulled away, eyeing up the peculiar breakfast offering. A waffle, with tomatoes, avocado and some sort of white sauce? It had tiny orange flecks of something crumbled over it too. She raised a speculative eyebrow at it and then looked at him. “This isn't one of your weird high-metabolism foods is it? Because unlike you I have to watch what I eat. I just bought new bras and I want to wear them out, not out-grow them.”

It was a blessing and a curse that most of her weight piled on her breasts first, not that being curvy was bad, just that bras were damn expensive. Nicolai snorted and passed her the plate.

“Do not underestimate the restorative power of crumbled Doritos on a waffle,” he said as she took it from him, and he pointed to the orange flecks. “You will like those, I can promise you.”

She gave him a suspicious look and then prodded her fork into the odd morning concoction before taking a bite. A surprisingly good explosion of flavor danced over her tongue and she swallowed her mouthful before begrudgingly nodding at him.

“It's good. But I have, for the record, never ever heard of anyone putting Doritos on a waffle. That's weird. I don't care who you are, that is really weird.” She used her fork to shovel another bite into her face – sex with Nicolai could be a little enthusiastic given his high-speed ability, and he'd damn near wore her out the night before. Her stomach was demanding sustenance, even as strange a mix of taste and texture as he'd whipped up for her.

She had to admit it though, it was good. Weird as hell, but good. That seemed to sum up Nicolai though, she thought as she munched her way through her breakfast. The man in question was sprawling out across the bed, hands under his head as he watched her eat, like he was waiting for something. She got down to the last piece of avocado, chasing it around on her plate with her fork before he spoke.

“Rykov is calling us in today,” his tone was casual, but she could see a slight shadow in his eyes. It was their day off, their only day off together, and Rykov was calling them in? The woman quietly approved of their relationship together, and had done her best to leave them be on the scant time they had alone.

“What? Are you kidding?” Disappointment settled over Daria like a wet blanket and she put her fork down on her plate. “She texted you? Why didn't my phone go off...” She swapped her empty plate for her phone and scrolled through her notifications. Nothing from Rykov.

Nicolai shrugged a shoulder, but she could tell he was grumpy. When they weren't on missions, they were training in combat and espionage techniques but didn't have too much time together... he had a special program due to being an augmented, and she was just a junior operative and needed a lot of supplementary training just to keep up with his powered self. That meant a lot of time at work, and barely any of that together.

Really she should have been grateful that she was being kept on as Nicolai's semi-regular partner, because his augmentation made him more senior than her. He should have been paired with someone like Balfour, who may have been fully un-augmented but was a very senior agent and a force to be reckoned with in hand-to-hand combat. He also mixed a great martini, she'd found out when she'd gone over to his place a week back for a rooftop party.

“Well that fucking sucks,” Daria muttered under her breath. Nicolai made a noise of agreement and then sat up, snaking his arm around her waist like a firm metal band as he tugged her into his body. A shiver ran down her spine and she let him, sprawling across his chest with a sigh. He was electric, every inch of him, like his augmentation was literally humming under the surface of his skin, and it just made her hungry for his touch. She tucked her head under his chest and listened to his heartbeat, the rapid pace of it had startled her the first time she’d heard it, but she'd gotten used to it. Just another one of the marks that being an augmented had left on him. Still, she'd never want him to change.

“I think,
Mila
, we have at least a few minutes to enjoy the day,” he said into the top of her head, his words warm and comforting. His fingers skimmed down her bare back, anything but comforting as they lit up a path of sparks that went straight between her thighs. Her mouth fell open in a soft gasp as his thumb stroked along the curve of her ass, and she rocked into him, up on her knees. God, yes, he did it to her every time. It only took a few touches, him calling her his love, and she was falling apart for him, scrambling to grip onto sanity or reality or anything really.

“You're a distraction, Nico,” she huffed out. He just chuckled and lay her back, gently, slowly, which she knew had to be killing him, he loved fast, so fast, but he'd take her slow just to torment her. He drew the sheet down her naked body, his blue eyes lighting up as he drank her in with his hungry gaze. She'd never felt so attractive with any of her past boyfriends as with Nicolai, and it'd given her the confidence to just lay and be looked at, to be admired.

“I think I do not agree,” he said after several moments of tracing whorls up and down her bare arms, his eyes never leaving her figure. Her breath caught in her throat when he bent down, mouth finding the peak of one breast, lips brushing over the nipple until it went tight under his touch. “It is you, every time, every minute, that distracts me. You are a menace, Daria Griffin.” He looked up at her from her torso, eyes glowing with heat and she pressed her thighs together tight to stop the pulse of need that was growing there. “But I have never been so happy to be distracted.”

He bent down again to lave his tongue over her skin, when both their phones beeped and chimed in unison, interrupting the moment. With a groan he hauled himself off of her, and grabbed his mobile in a blur of movement, answering it.

“Novik,” he said curtly. Daria grumbled and reached for her own phone. No call, but a message from Balfour. She flicked the screen and opened it, just as she heard Nico growl unhappily behind her. She turned to look at him, her own phone forgotten. His jaw was clenched. “Yes. Thank you. We will leave now.”

He ended the call and glared down at his phone.

“Wanna clue me in there, Man O'War?” Daria asked, not sure if she should reach out to pet at his arm for comfort, or what. He could be at times grumpy and more than a little volatile, though never with her. He shook his head and got off the bed. In a beat he was at his closet door, yanking out his work clothes, a thin specially designed track suit that would withstand his fast movements and resisted friction wear and tear. Ignoring the dissipating heat between her own thighs (speaking of friction), she got out of bed and fumbled around for her work skirt and a blouse.

“There is another operation, that is why we were being called in,” he said as she got dressed. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, looking serious and a bit broody. It was a handsome, if concerning, expression on him.

“Alright, that sucks, but it is what it is. That can't be everything. What's got you so pissed?” She pulled her hair back in a no-nonsense bun and his eyes flicked to her fingers. She knew he hated it when her hair was up, but work was work, and he had to just deal. His next words were like a punch to the gut.

“They are putting us with different partners. Rykov was calling us in early to tell us. The higher ups have been made aware of...” Nicolai motioned to the bed, and to her. Daria felt her stomach drop. Fuck. Well. She swallowed and then looked down at her phone, swiping across the screen and opening up the message from Balfour.

Hey kid. Bad news. Nic's with Rykov for the foreseeable future. I tried to get you, but it's a no go. I'll introduce you to your new partner when you get in. - FB

She exhaled a slow breath and looked up to where Nico had been standing. He was already gone, and she heard the door downstairs opening and then closing. Dammit. Him and his short fuse and super-speed and-

“Nico-” she nearly tripped over his jeans on the floor as she ran down the stairs, grabbing her ballet flats and shoving her feet into them inelegantly. He'd be waiting for her out front, would pull the car around, right? They'd get to ARC HQ and sort it out with Rykov and Balfour and everything would be fine. As she took the elevator down to the lobby, her gut curled tensely in on itself as apprehension took hold of her. Somehow, she couldn't convince herself that this would work out, and she walked outside with a pit of dread that was growing in her stomach by the minute. Somehow, she knew that this operation could mean the end of her budding relationship with Nicolai, both on and off the field.