ALIEN SHIFTER ROMANCE: Alien Tigers - The Complete Series (Alien Invasion Abduction Shapeshifter Romance) (Paranormal Science Fiction Fantasy Anthologies & Short reads) (165 page)

Chapter Four

              Anna didn’t say a word as Simon drove from the club to the office.  As for what would happen between them once they arrived, she had no idea.  She was sure that when he calmed down, he would regret his outburst, and make a joke about it, and it would all be over.

              And if he did that, she might take the gun out of his desk and shoot him with it.

              Simon reached over and took her cold hand in his.  “Tell me about you and Gareth.”

              Oh, now this made her evening complete, Anna thought.  She’d had sex with the man she’d tried to resist; now she had to reminisce to him about the one she’d killed.  “I’ve told you.  You know.”

              He made a negative sound.  “I know he didn’t die of leukemia.”

              Horror settled over her like a lead blanket.  “You ran a background check on my dead fiancé?”

              “Not at all.  You lied during the interview, but I didn’t realize it until after I learned your tell.”  He tapped the end of her nose before she could swat his hand away.  “When you lie, your nostrils flare.”

              “Then why didn’t ask me before now?” she demanded. 

              He shrugged.  “I was waiting for you to confide in me.”

              “Waiting for . . . right.  Because we’re such good friends.”  She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes before she dropped her hands.  “Gareth didn’t die of leukemia.  He died in a car bombing.”

Simon parked the car outside the office building and turned to her.  “Why would you lie about that?”

“Because I was told to,” she said tiredly.  “Everyone believed Gareth worked for the Under Secretary for Transport, but he was actually a data analyst with MI-5.”  Surely that would be enough for him.  It had to be, or she would truly fall to pieces in front of him. 

Simon looked uncertain now.  “Anna—”

“Please, don’t.”    She got out of the Jaguar and forced herself to walk up to the secured night entry, where she used her swipe card to open the door.

Anna knew Simon was following her in, and that once they were alone all the walls and barriers she’d built between them would come crashing down.  If she had any sense she would run, now, and tomorrow pretend as if it had never happened. 

Suddenly the thought of being sensible seemed rather stupid – like the rest of her life had been these five years.

She waited for him to unlock the office, and once inside, she turned on the lights and closed all the blinds.  Simon stood inside the door and watched her until she finished and returned to him.

“If you’d be so kind as to unzip me.”  She turned and presented her back to him.  “Which flat surface would you like to use, sir?  The desk, or perhaps the sofa in your office.”

Simon pulled down the zipper of her dress, and then rested his hands on her shoulders.  “Look, I got carried away at the club, Anna
. 
You can always say no to this.  To me.”

“Now why should I do that?”  Slowly Anna turned to face him, and let the loose bodice fall to her waist.  The silk chemise she wore clung to her breasts, and lovingly outlined her beaded nipples.  “I’ve been kissed senseless – by you – but never shagged that way.”

Simon traced the shape of a heart around one aureole before he asked softly, “Gareth?”

“He was Catholic, and wanted to wait until after the wedding.  I wasn’t, and I didn’t want to, and I should have at least . . . .” she pressed her lips together and shook her head.  If she kept talking about Gareth she’d be sick.

“We’ll not make that mistake, darling girl.”  Simon tipped up her chin and brushed his lips over hers in a tender caress.  “The sofa in the office, I think.”

They walked together into his office, holding hands like a couple of kids.  Anna let go of Simon only to slip out of her dress, and watch him shed his jacket and shirt.  His body proved to be even more superb than she’d ever expected, with long, hard muscles, flawlessly tanned skin, and soft, curly golden hair pelting his chest and belly.

Simon dropped his trousers and boxers and stepped out of them, his long, erect penis bobbing as he moved toward her.  “Your turn.”

He was so gorgeous Anna simply wanted to look at him.  She did that as she slipped out of her chemise and knickers, and hoped she didn’t disappoint him.  She considered her body nicely shaped, but her skin appeared more sun-kissed than tan, and her breasts landed on the small side of the feminine curve scale.

He looked at her for a long time.  “God, you’re lovely.”

“No, I’m not,” she said as he grasped her waist.  “I’ve only slept with two men my entire life, so I’ve no tricks I can use to impress you, either.”

“Really.”  He stroked a long finger along the curve of her cheek.  “What do you call what you did for me at the club?”

“Sexual fantasy fulfillment.”  She turned her head to kiss his hand.  “I’ve thought about doing that for a very long time.”

“Now I don’t feel so guilty about having a photo of your lips next to my bed.  Ouch.”  He frowned at the fingers she used to pull his chest hair.  “You know, you’re too damned spiteful to be a submissive.”

“You’re wrong.  I’d do anything for you, sir.”  Anna sat down on the sofa, and then stretched out, lifting her arms over her head in a provocative pose.  “And I’ll let you do whatever you like to me.”

Simon swore softly under his breath as he sat beside her, and ran his hand along her body from her collarbones to the dark coppery curls covering her sex.  “That’s a dangerous offer to make, my darling.”

“Not when you love someone.”  Anna parted her legs for his touch.  “And I love you, Simon Denning.” 

A flicker of regret passed over his handsome face, and then he moved his long body over hers, kissing her lips and cheeks and brow as he settled between her thighs.  Anna felt his shaft graze her nub as he rooted against her, finding their fit, and nearly came as he pressed in the first inch.

“It’s all right, darling.  It’s just me.  Let me in now,” he crooned, working more and more of his length into her clenching softness.  “This is what you wanted, what we’ve both wanted — oh, yes.  There, now, that’s my girl.  Let me have you.”

The luscious melding of their bodies made Anna tremble violently under him, every inch of her skin coming alive as he penetrated her completely, and then he stopped and bent his head to kiss her, his mouth hard and hungry.

“Simon.”  She groaned his name against his marauding lips.  “Please.”

“Oh, yes, darling girl.”  He drew out of her almost entirely, and then plowed back in, his thick shaft stretching and filling her, the slick friction sending a shockwave of sensation through her belly.  “Look at me now, I want to see your eyes while I shag this lovely little quim.  Oh, God, Anna, you feel so good on me.”

It was too much for her to hold back, and she clutched his arms as the climax burst over her, squeezing him with each ferocious pulse of pleasure.

“Yes, that’s what I want, like that, yes,” Simon murmured softly as he stroked in and out of her.  When she stopped shivering he clamped his hand over her breast, rubbing her nipple between his fingers.  “Put your arms around my neck.”  When Anna did, he dragged her legs up around his waist.  “Hold on.”

Simon dragged her up with him, and carried her over to his office chair, where he sat down and turned her until her back pressed to his front.  “Do you know how many times I’ve had a toss, thinking of you like this?”

Anna braced herself against the edge of his desk as she wriggled her hips enticingly.  “Probably as often as I have.”

“I doubt it.”  Simon lifted her and settled her over the spike of his penis, allowing her to slowly sink down over him.  “I’ve had sex with my hand, and you in my head, a thousand times.” 

Anna whimpered as he pushed her forward with a hard thrust, and then rose behind her, his hips colliding with the soft curves of her bottom as he fucked her with hard, powerful strokes.  Impaled as she was, she could only moan when he caught her bouncing breasts in his hands and fondled them roughly, his breath hot on her nape.

“Take my cock, take all of it,” he demanded, his body ramming against hers as he pumped into her.  “Yes, that’s it, that’s what I want.  I love this, you’re so fucking beautiful.  I love you, Anna.”

She cried out as he gave her one final, hard shafting, and then he was shuddering over her as his thickness pulsed inside her, his seed bathing her in sweet, silky warmth.

Anna collapsed against the desk, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw Simon’s fingers laced through her own.  The way Gareth’s had when he’d kissed her good-bye, the morning he’d been blown to bits – and because Anna loved Simon, loved him even more than her poor, dead Gareth, she knew what she had to do.       

Chapter Five

              Simon woke reaching for Anna, but found himself alone on the office sofa.  During the night she’d draped him with a light throw, and when he brought it to his nose, he smelled her honeysuckle perfume.

“You should be flogged,” a sweet voice said.  “In public.  Really, Simon, couldn’t you keep it zipped for once?”

“You’re supposed to be in America.”  He sat up to see Kameko Saito sitting behind his desk.  “And how did you get in here?” 

“Oh, please.”  The slender Asian woman ignored his glare as she rose and tossed his pants at him.  “We have a situation.  Get dressed.”

“We always have a situation.”  Simon looked out into the reception office as he pulled on his trousers.  “Where’s my secretary?”

“Gone home to pack up, I imagine.”  Kameko showed him a folded sheet of paper.  “She writes a lovely resignation letter, by the way.  Blames herself for overstepping and all that.  She’ll likely be in therapy for years, because of you.”  

He snatched the letter from her hand and read it.  Anna had been polite and brief, and thanked him for the wonderful work experience he had provided for her.  He crumpled the letter and tossed it away.  “I have to deal with something.”

“No, you have to stop Umbra from leaving the island,” Kameko corrected him.  “From here he plans to go to Hawaii, where it just so happens the President of the United States will be vacationing with his family next week.  You’ve heard the chatter.  He’s going to kill him.”

“He’ll never get near him,” Simon told her flatly.

“With ordinary weapons, no, I doubt he would.”  Her expression turned grim.  “But last night he took delivery of a new compact missile drone before he killed the entire crew of the ship that brought it to him.  You might remember the field test the cartel performed with the prototype last month, when they blew up that embassy in South America.  Over three hundred dead.”

“Where are you getting your intel?” Simon asked as he pulled on his shirt.

“Umbra’s favorite submissive.  She contacted me after the bastard broke her arm, and then made her service twelve of his men.”  She picked up Anna’s crumpled letter and placed it on his desk.  “She told me Umbra will make one last visit to the club before he leaves for Hawaii.  Simon, we have to get him and this drone -- tonight.”

* * *

              Anna took her suitcase from the closet and opened it on her bed.  Once she arrived home, she’d have to get some of her clothes out of storage, for everything she had now was far too light for London’s damp, chilly climate.  That meant wearing outfits five years out of fashion until she could go shopping for a new wardrobe.

              Her old boss had been very understanding.  “Of course you’re welcome back, my dear.  We’ve been rather lost without you running things.  But I know you’re needed there, too.  Are you certain you can’t fix this with Denning?”

              Anna wanted to.  She’d picked up the phone a dozen times.  She considered all the angles, even becoming his mistress so she could stay a little longer.  Finally, after booking her flight back home, she’d thought of someday having to identify Simon’s burned body, as she had Gareth’s.  To imagine her love killing another man had made her burst into great, sobbing tears that racked her for almost an hour. 

Now she was resolved.  “No, sir.  I’m finished here.”

“Right.”  His tone turned brisk.  “I’ll send a car to Heathrow for you tomorrow morning.  Until then, be safe, my dear.”

It took the rest of the day to finish packing and tidying up the cottage so she could turn the keys over to her landlord.  The sun sank down into the sea and disappeared as the vivid skies darkened to violet.  By then Anna was so tired and heartsick that when the phone rang, she picked it up without bothering to check the caller ID.  “Yes?”

“It’s Kameko,” the Asian woman whispered in a tight voice.  “Simon is in danger, Anna.  Umbra has lured him to the club in order to kill him.  I need you to warn him.”

Anna tightened her grip on the phone.  “Where are you?”

“I’ve been shanghaied by my billionaire, I’m afraid.  Don’t worry, I can manage him – but you have to get to Simon before Umbra does.”  She caught her breath sharply and added, “I must go now.  He loves you, Anna.  Good-bye.”

The line went silent, and Anna dropped the phone as she hurried into her bedroom to retrieve the metal briefcase on her bed before she ran for her car, using her mobile to dial the office and then the condo where Simon lived.  Both numbers went to voice mail.

“Damn, damn, damn.”  She tossed down the mobile and flipped the locks on the briefcase.  Inside, packed in cushioning foam, were five hand guns of various calibers, a pair of razor-sharp daggers, several vials of drugs, and a dozen smoke grenades.

Anna picked up the nine millimeter, popped the clip and began to load it with shaking fingers.  She glanced at herself in the rearview mirror, and saw the terror in her own eyes.

“No, not again,” she murmured, beginning the breathing exercises she’d learned during her training.  “Never again.”

Once she had loaded the weapon, she tucked it in her purse along with the other weapons.  She then drove as fast as she dared to the street behind the club.  Panic kept punching her lungs as she slipped through the shadows.  Anna fought back the terror, knowing it wouldn’t help her get to her lover.

I am not going to lose Simon.

When she walked up to the front of the club, the armed guards both gave her a sour look.  “You cannot come in alone,” one of them told her. 

“Charles called and said he needed me.”  Anna put on her best confused look.  “I’m to entertain one of your important VIPs.”

The men exchanged a look before the second guard said, “Charles said nothing about this.”

“Well, if you wish to explain this to Mr. Umbra, I’m sure he’ll understand.”  Anna almost laughed as they quickly opened the doors for her.  “Or not.  Thank you, gentlemen.”

Inside the dark, smoky club, she spotted Charles talking with a pouting blonde dressed in black leather.  She went directly to him and tucked her arm through his.

“Ah, the sweet girl.”  Charles’s expression turned lecherous.  “Did you come back to see me?”

“Of course.  Excuse us,” she said to the blonde before she drew Charles toward the stairs.  “Actually, I’m here to meet Simon.  Would you take me to him?”

The islander’s dark eyes became slits.  “Simon is not to be disturbed.”  He went still as he felt the gun she pressed into his ribs.  “You do not wish to do this here, sweet girl.  My men will tear you apart.”

“Yes, they will, but first I’ll shoot you and every important-looking man around me,” Anna assured him.  “Now, take me to Simon, or I start firing.”

Charles stomped upstairs with her, and took her to a room at the end of the corridor.

“Tell them to go downstairs,” Anna murmured as they approached the two men guarding the door.  “Nothing more.”

“Go downstairs,” Charles said to the men.  When they didn’t move he added a sharp, “Now.”

Anna smiled at them both as they reluctantly went off, and then had Charles unlock the door and shoved him inside before she followed.

Simon, who was tied to a chair and had a hood over his head, sat up straighter.  “Come on then.  Get on with it.”

Anna locked the door, and then used the gun to club Charles at the base of his skull.  Once he collapsed, she stepped over his body and went behind Simon’s chair.  “You’re always so impatient.  I think all rich people are, which makes no sense because you never have to really wait for anything at all.”

“Anna?”  When she pulled the hood from his head Simon stared up at her.  “What the devil are you doing here?”

“Rescuing you, sir.”  She cut through the cords, and pressed the blade in his hand.  “Kameko contacted me.  She’s been taken by her billionaire, but she said she’ll be all right, which also makes no sense to me.  Where is Umbra?”

“He’ll be here any minute to torture me,” he warned her as he got to his feet.

Anna pursed her lips.  “We’d better give him someone else to hurt.”  Together they tied Charles to the chair and pulled the hood over his head.  “Right.  I’ll flank on the left, behind the door.”  She offered him the gun and then opened her purse.  “Would you like some smoke grenades?”

“Bloody hell.”  Simon looked from the gun to her purse to her face.  “You’re not a secretary.”

“Actually I am, fully-qualified.”  She stepped back behind the door.  “My handler felt it was important to be the role rather than act it, but you’d know that better than anyone.”

He took a position to the right of the door.  “So Gareth wasn’t the only one working for MI-5, I take it.”

“It’s how we met.”  She winced as someone tried to open the door, and then slammed into it from the outside.  “Here we go.”

The men who burst into the room hurried toward the unconscious Charles, and were followed by a short, reed-thin man with a scarred forehead and a big, ugly grin.

“There you are, Simon Denning,” the little man said.  “I am so happy to meet you at last, but I think you will not be the same for Umbra.”

“Think again.”  Simon quickly shot each man around Umbra before he aimed at the assassin’s head.  “Hands where I can see them.”

Umbra pulled out a large pistol.  “Can you see this?”

Without thinking Anna threw her dagger, which landed in his thigh with a meaty thump.  As he screamed and stared down at the blade Simon shot the pistol out of his hand.

“Anna, collect all the guns, if you would,” Simon told her as he moved to stand over Umbra.  “Now, old chap, let’s talk about the visit you’ll not be making to Hawaii.”

* * *

              Forty-eight hours later, Anna walked into Simon Denning’s office with a tray of freshly-brewed tea.  “Gentlemen, would you care for some sandwiches?  I can order in anything you’d like.”

“Thank you, no, Anna,” one of the London agents said.  “By the way, your old boss sends his compliments.  I think after this op, he may even have Simon drop an extra pound in your pay packet.” 

Anna left the men and went to tidy up the kitchen and finish her filing.  The London agents had thoroughly debriefed her and Simon over the weekend, but she didn’t mind.  Umbra had been neutralized, along with his plot to kill the American president, all of which had been a major blow to the cartel.

Simon escorted out the agents and then regarded Anna for a long moment.  “My office, now, please.”

She went in and sat down, helping herself to a cup of tea as Simon vented.

“All this time you were an MI-5 operative, sent to babysit me.”  He paced around her chair.  “I can’t believe it.  Why?”

“I wasn’t sent to you,” she corrected gently.  “I fled here after Gareth died because I couldn’t do my job anymore.  They simply asked me to help you maintain cover by being your secretary.”

“You could have told me, Anna.”  He crouched down in front of her chair, trapping her in it with his arms.  “Why didn’t you?”

She hated the truth, but he deserved to know.  “Then I would have had to admit that Gareth died because he borrowed my car one morning.  The bomb that killed him had been intended for me.”

Simon studied her face.  “Then you weren’t just a data analyst for MI-5.”

“Gareth was.”  She couldn’t help caressing his cheek.  “I was his section chief.  I’m sorry, Simon.  You’re right. I should have said something a long a time ago.”   

“I’ve never allowed myself to be involved with any woman for long.”  He stood and walked to the window.  “I never wanted to put anyone in danger.  Especially you – and now you tell me you running a section for MI-5.  Anna, you must have as much training as I do.”

“I do.  I’ve also made some very bad enemies.”  She rose and went to him.  When she touched his arm, he dragged her up against him and kissed her thoroughly.  Once he finished she gasped, “Simon, we really shouldn’t.”

“I know.”  He touched his forehead to hers.  “I have as many enemies as you do.  But you’re done with MI-5, and I’m rather tired of getting tied up and shot. So, I think we both should retire from field work.  Anna, if you’re willing, we can make a real go of it.”

“Oh, I’m willing.”  She wrapped her arms around his neck.  “And I’m yours, Simon.  Always.”

THE END