Agent I1: Tristan [01] The D.I.R.E. Agency (2 page)

“Is he okay, Jock?” Rachel nodded at Cody.

“Ah, he’s fine.” Jock gave a dismissive wave. “He must’ve had one helluva bachelor party last night.”

Aiden and Tristan exchanged a smirk.

I enjoyed it, anyway
.

“He’s embarrassed my daughter in front of everyone in town.” Kate popped Jock on the chest. “This is unforgivable.” Lowering her voice, she said, “I was counting on this marriage, Jock.”

Tristan felt Rachel still behind him. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

“I’ll do it.”

Tristan whipped around. What the hell? She couldn’t be serious. No wonder Aidan felt the need to step in on this wedding. The woman didn’t play with a full deck.

“
No
.” Aidan turned to point a finger at her. “Don’t be ridiculous, Rachel.”

Jock gave a wily smile. “She’s a consenting adult,
son
.”

A wiry, middle-aged man wearing church robes came around the corner. “Hello, everyone. Looks like someone is trying to wake up.” He nodded at Cody, who made soft, groaning noises in the fountain drain.

Jock and Kate rushed to Cody’s side. Aidan turned to Tristan, his green eyes intense, glittering. Taking Rachel’s hand, he slapped it inside Tristan’s palm. Sparks of awareness erupted under his skin.

“Take her.
Now
.”

Rachel stiffened beside him. “
No
.”

Tightening the grip on her hand, Tristan tried to drag her down the hall. Rachel held her legs stiff. He yanked on her arm, nearly toppling her face first on the floor. He helped her straighten.

“I’m not…” She shoved the veil out of her face. “…going anywhere.”

“Rachel,
go
,” Aidan said through gritted teeth. “We’ll find another way.”

She tried to break free of Tristan’s grip. “There
is
no other way, Aidan.”

“Like hell.” Turning to Tristan, Aidan clenched his jaw. “Do it.”

Tristan stilled.
Oh, hell no. Not here. Not now
. “
No
.”

Rachel halted mid-motion. “Do what?”

Aidan shoved Tristan back into the bride’s room, Rachel stumbling along with him. “
Do it
.”

“No, Aidan,” Rachel said. “I’m not going anywhere. Now, stop this, once and for all.” She turned her big, blazing eyes on Tristan. “And you. Let go of me…
now
.”

“What the hell is going on in there?” Jock boomed out in the hallway.

Aidan shoved Rachel flush against Tristan’s chest. The scent of orchids overwhelmed him. “
Go
.”

Cursing a blue streak in his head, he gazed down into her wide eyes, then lower. Her breasts nearly burst free of her strapless gown.

Damn
. He should
not
have Aidan’s saintly sister crushed against him like this. Did Aidan have any idea how long it had been since he’d had a woman?

Cursing aloud this time, he threw his arms around Rachel. He didn’t sign up for this - he was on vacation, dammit. Only six days remained before he had to be in Brazil to intercept one of Naylor’s gun technology deals.

Intense heat enveloped him. He felt a trickle of sweat at his temple. Was he
sweating
? Good God. He acted like he hadn’t held a beautiful woman before.

Rachel’s heart galloped against his chest. Fear shone bright in her round eyes and flushed face. He had to get them out of there.

Reaching behind her back, he shoved aside the cuff of his shirt and found the cover plate on his armband. His thumb slid over the scanner. He stared into her big, beautiful eyes as the thick, green plasma surrounded them.

“What did you do? What’s happening?”

“Hold onto me, Rachel. And, whatever you do, don’t let go.”

The ensuing burst of light blinded him, before the green plasma grounded them on the private beach outside his Caribbean home. He felt the sand beneath his feet, the sun on his back.

Thank God.

He stared at the woman in his arms. Rachel clung to him like a leech, her eyes squeezed tight. She’d made it through the teleportation with no issues. Too bad he couldn’t say the same for her wedding gown. Most of the flimsy train had been left behind.

“Are you okay?”

Her hold on him relaxed, but she never fully released him. Opening her eyes one at a time, she gazed upward. They were the same color as the water lapping at the sand forty feet away.

“What happ…?” She stiffened.

Rachel whipped to the right, towards the water, and gasped. She whipped to the left, where his tan stucco house stood hidden amongst dense, tropical foliage.

Her body shook in his arms. “What?... Where?...”

Tristan groaned mentally. He had to really be careful with this. “We’re standing outside my home – in the Virgin Islands.”

Rachel’s big, beautiful eyes rolled back in her head before she collapsed in his arms.

Chapter 2

Rachel stretched her arms above her head and moaned aloud. Mercy, it felt good in here this morning. Her air conditioner blew colder than normal, her bed as soft as a blanket of cotton. She just might lie here all day.

She really needed to get up and adjust the thermostat. Her budget didn’t allow for an expensive electric bill. Then again, her budget didn’t allow for much of anything these days except her father’s medical bills.

Rolling onto her side, Rachel rubbed her cheek against the smooth, cotton pillow and sighed. The air conditioner hummed low and steady, lulling her back toward sleep. She’d get up in a minute. Really. Inhaling slowly, she smelled a woodsy, citrus scent with a hint of vanilla.

Her mind came awake. Wait a minute. She always used a clean linen fabric softener…

Frowning, Rachel blinked open her eyes.

Three things crashed together in her brain: one, Tristan truly had teleported her to the Caribbean. She could see white sandy beach and turquoise water through the sliding glass door in front of her.

Two, judging by the position of the sun, it was late afternoon. She had been sleeping for hours.

And three, Aidan’s henchman was one,
smokin’ hot
hunk.

Sitting up on the side of the bed, Rachel watched as he stepped under a running shower on the patio. Water coursed down his tall, lean frame, catching in the thick braids of muscle and sinew that covered his bare chest and chiseled arms. The blue swim trunks he wore molded to his rocky thighs and downright perfect rear.

Turning, he smoothed back his wet, black hair. Tattooed between his wide shoulders was a vivid, three-D image of two intertwined atoms. Stamped in the nucleus of one was the number seventy-nine, the second, the number twenty-nine.

How did he do it? The ability to teleport was something out of a Star Trek episode.
Fiction
.

Obviously not, Rachel
.

Shutting off the water, he turned and grabbed a brown towel off a hook. What did he need a towel for? Between the bright sun and his hot body, surely his flesh dried itself.

Rachel squeezed her eyes shut. She wore Cody Brewster’s engagement ring, for goodness sake, and Tristan had taken her from Creekmore against her will. What in the world was wrong with her?

Jumping up from the bed, she took in her surroundings. Based on the male clothes scattered around, she stood in his bedroom. Beige-colored walls encompassed three quarters of the large room, the fourth done in a dark teal. A potted palm sat in a corner adjacent to a contemporary, espresso headboard. A matching dresser sat on the opposite side of the room, its surface scattered with keys, a wallet, a phone and the tie he’d worn earlier. The mussed bed lay covered in a thick, satiny comforter done in bold shades of brown, tan and teal.

A quiver shot through Rachel. The idea that he’d carried her from the beach to his big, comfy bed battled with the anger that simmered in her stomach. How dare he and Aidan just take over her life and steal her away to… the gorgeous Caribbean?

Ignore that ripped physique and focus on the anger, Rachel
.

She had to get home and straighten out this mess with Cody.

Moving to the sliding glass door, the remainder of her up-do flopped over one eye. Yanking out the pearl pins, she tossed them on the bed. She had to look a mess in her crumpled wedding gown, but that was the least of her worries.

Why did she feel a breeze on her backside? Looking over her shoulder, Rachel gasped when she saw the entire train of her gown had disappeared. Rushing over to the dresser mirror, she saw it had been sheared clean off. The dress lining remained, but her layers of ruffles were gone.

She gulped. Tristan had told her not to let go. What if that had been a foot, or a layer of backside? Not that she couldn’t use an inch or two sheared off in that particular area...

Answers. She needed answers.

Stepping onto the patio, her dress swished as she made her way across the concrete in her bare feet.

He had removed her shoes, too.

If she thought a nearly naked Tristan was hot from several feet away, up close, a Bunsen burner had nothing on the heat this man emitted. Covered in hard, sculpted muscle, his flesh appeared smooth and slick. Like any Navy SEAL –
former
SEAL - the man wore confidence, arrogance and strength like Superman’s
S
. Strong, silent types usually intimidated her, but she wouldn’t let him know that.

“I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up.”

His deep voice brought Rachel out of her musings. Okay,
ogling
.

She lifted her chin. “How?”

Facing away from her, Tristan hung the towel back on the hook. Water drops fell from the thick waves at the base of his neck to trail down his tattoo and into his swim trunks. A thick, copper and gold armband caught in the sunlight. Intricate carvings circled the band clamped on his left forearm, a prominent, round symbol centered on top. Rachel fought the urge to grab his arm and study it closer.

“I want answers, Tristan.”

Nonchalantly, he opened a nearby cabinet and pulled out a t-shirt. “Have you ever heard of Einstein’s Philadelphia Experiment?”

Rachel nodded, while she fought a losing battle with her eyes to ignore the six-pack abs suddenly sitting in her line of vision.

Fingering the one-carat marquee diamond on her ring finger, she said, “Yes, I’ve heard of it, but I don’t remember the details.”

Tugging a gray,
Nickelback
t-shirt over his head, he pushed his arms through the sleeves. The soft, worn cotton covered his chest like a glove.

Ugh
. Didn’t he have anything larger - like a Snuggie?

“The organization I work for used that technology to make enhancements to my body that allow me to-”

“Teleport?” she finished. “I thought the Philadelphia Experiment involved invisibility.”

“It did.”

Rachel stilled, her heart skidding to a stop.
No way
.

“Are you telling me you can become invisible, too?”

Nodding once, Tristan crossed his arms over his chest. The action made his shoulders appear enormous, like a comic book superhero.

Rachel crossed
her
arms over her chest. “Show me.”

He gave a half laugh. “What? Teleporting you to the Virgin Islands wasn’t enough proof that I’m telling the truth?”

She lifted her chin. “Let’s just say I’m a born skeptic.”

Cocking an eyebrow, Tristan walked to the sliding glass door and opened it. He motioned for her to precede him inside. Passing him, that woodsy, citrus scent filled her nostrils.

“I don’t suppose the back of my dress is lying on the beach somewhere?” She looked back to catch him staring at the hole in her dress.

“Nope. Hopefully, Aidan stuffed it behind the sofa before the others saw it.”

Moving past her, his bare arm brushed hers, causing gooseflesh to popped up on her skin. Memories of his big, strong arms wrapped around her flashed through Rachel’s mind. Tristan led the way into the living room, the swish of her dress echoing off the polished concrete floors.

“Stand back.” His voice lowered an octave as he placed her near one of the sectional sofa arms.

Walking away from her, Tristan slid open a gold plate on his armband and pressed his forefinger on the screen. A flash of light blinded Rachel. She raised her hand to cover her eyes.

Opening them seconds later, she lowered her hand to her side. Tristan had disappeared. Doing a full circle, she glanced around the room. He was nowhere to be seen.

“Tristan?”

“I’m right here.”

She whipped around. The sound came from the area of the television. “Say that again.”

“I’m standing right here.”

Heart beating like a Congo drum, Rachel reached out in front of her and touched the soft cotton covering the wall of his chest. His heat burned her skin.

Gasping, she pushed against him. She couldn’t see Tristan, but she could feel him, smell him, as surely as if she had shut her eyes.

“Oh, my gosh…” Swallowing hard, she slowly backed towards the sofa. Reaching behind her for the seat, she lowered herself to the soft leather.

Another burst of light flashed and Tristan stood before her once again, that darn eyebrow of his cocked once more.

“Proof enough for you?”

Her head bobbled.

“You’re now one of a select few in the world that know about me. I need your complete discretion – if not for me, then for Aidan.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Aidan? Why?”

“He works for The
D.I.R.E
Agency.”

Rachel jumped up from the sofa. “You mean he’s going to be given the same ability?”

Tristan shook his head. “No. So far, I’m the only one.”

She breathed an internal sigh of relief. “So, what exactly
is
D.I.R.E
?”

He stared at her in silence. Rachel lifted her chin. As if she would allow him to get away with no answer.

“I have a right to know.”

“No, you don’t.” He walked around the granite bar that separated the living area from the kitchen.