Exposed (17 page)

She stilled and gazed up at him with a slightly wary expression, searched his eyes. He usually didn’t question her about her work, and never while they were in bed, but this was important. His guys had already had a close call tonight, Cruz especially, and the Garcia thing made Matt uneasy. If there were more assassins in the area targeting the same people the HRT was, he wanted to know.

“On a job,” she answered.

“What kind of job?” Her security clearance was even higher than his, due to the nature of the ops she pulled. Sometimes on the books, but just as often not. And while he understood that there were things she couldn’t share about what she did, he didn’t think she’d keep something as important as this from him.

Her expression turned shuttered, the same one he’d seen when he’d first tracked her down in that snowy Colorado forest seven months ago. “Recon. Why?”

“Just recon?”

She frowned at him. “Yes. Matt, what’s going on?” Clearly annoyed, she pushed at his shoulder but he wouldn’t let her up. He liked the feel of her beneath him, and he could look directly into her face this way.

“There was a hit tonight,” he said evenly, watching her expression. He read people well, but with her, not always, even after living together for the past six months. In some ways she was still as much of a mystery to him as ever.

It was probably messed up, but he found that air of intrigue sexy as fuck. Before her, he’d never met a woman who could hold her own with him, tactically speaking. Briar definitely could. She challenged him, kept him sharp. It made their chemistry burn so hot it was off the charts.

“A big one,” he added quietly.

She stopped pushing, held his gaze. “Who?”

“Garcia.” Alvarez’s enforcer. Matt was concerned about other assassins who might be in the area.

The frown deepened. “Had to be
el Santo
.”

Matt shook his head. “Investigators found him dead in the office of the house he’d just rented two days ago. Single shot to center mass, fired from the greenway behind the house. They got two partial boot prints from the area where the shooter set up, but nothing else. Men’s size six-and-a-half.” Or a women’s eight. Her shoe size.

Surprise flashed in her dark eyes for a second, then she shook her head. “Wasn’t me. I was with Alex all night doing recon, you can call him if you want to check my alibi.” There was a definite defensive edge to her voice on the last bit, and he didn’t blame her for it.

Matt knew Rycroft would just vouch for her either way though. But as he searched her eyes, the tension in his gut eased. She was telling the truth and it relieved him. “No. I believe you. Know of anyone else who might be working in the area?” She had connections he didn’t. Former…colleagues who were less than orthodox.

“Haven’t heard anything.”

“Let me know if you do.”

“I will, and tomorrow I’ll see what I can find out.” She turned her head and pushed his shoulder again, trying to sit up, her expression remote.

Matt wouldn’t let her go. “I had to ask, honey,” he murmured against her temple.

She huffed out a breath. Apparently she wasn’t too annoyed with him because she relaxed against the mattress and peered up at him once more.

He leaned down to kiss the bridge of her nose, let his libido take over. She felt so goddamn good, he couldn’t wait to slide his tongue between her legs, listen to her moan and beg before he sank his cock inside her. When they’d first gotten together she’d been a little on the shy side when it came to sex, but within a few weeks she’d learned to trust him and her body and had quickly shed her inhibitions.

Now she was anything but shy about letting him know what turned her on or what she wanted in bed, and it was insanely hot.

“Thank you,” he murmured against the tip of her nose, pausing to press a tender kiss there. For all her badass skills, she was still so precious and delicate to him.

“You’re welcome.” She relaxed beneath him, the hand on his shoulder gliding up his neck to rub at the back of his scalp again. When he let out a throaty groan and flexed his hips against her, she grinned. “Anything else you wanna clear up before we get to the good part of this reunion?”

He was hard as a club at the thought of plunging into her slick heat. “Nope.”

“Good. And how long do I have you all to myself? Because I have very specific plans in mind that I’ve been thinking about for a week now.” She tightened her thighs around his waist and rolled her pelvis against him, bringing him to full, aching life in the span of a single heartbeat.

He couldn’t wait to find out what she had in mind. “Breakfast meeting with the boys at seven in Tuck’s room. I’m all yours until then.”

Her eyes gleamed with pure female satisfaction. “Perfect. Now stop talking, commander, and get me naked,” she whispered, and pulled his mouth to hers for a deep, intimate kiss.

****

Marisol picked her new phone up from her desk and checked the screen. Since being escorted into the building this morning at nine, she’d only stopped once to check for messages and it was dinnertime already. She’d missed another call from her mom, one from Ynez, and one from Ethan. Her conscience pricked at her.

He’d texted earlier that he’d come by and see her before she left, but she’d answered saying she wasn’t sure what time she’d be leaving. In all honesty, she didn’t know what to say to him.

That kiss last night had scorched her, left her edgy and unfulfilled and kept her up way longer than she’d expected, given how exhausted she was. Well, that and she’d also been worried about him. She knew he’d been called in for some kind of op, knew what sort of men they were likely targeting and the dangers that entailed.

They’d crossed a line last night. Sure, to him it was probably just a kiss, but to her it was more. For her it was having the man she’d always wanted standing right in front of her, and needing more. It felt like that kiss had branded her in some way. She might have slept with him last night if he’d stayed.

The realization had been eye-opening, but after mulling it over for a few hours, she knew it was true. What she felt for him wasn’t just lust, and it wasn’t going away.

Not exactly a surprise, though she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with it. Falling for Ethan when he lived so far away had heartbreak written all over it, but she couldn’t stop, couldn’t shut her feelings off.

She called her mom first, in part to stave off a full-blown panic amongst her family, but also to stall and give her time to think about what she’d say to Ethan. She had to play it cool, not let him know how much that kiss had meant to her.

Her mom answered immediately, as though she’d been poised next to the phone, waiting for the call. And, knowing her, she just might have been. Marisol explained the bare essentials of the threat she’d received last night, reassured her mother that she was okay.

“No, I’m not coming to stay with you,” she said firmly when her mother demanded she move back in. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s not safe for any of us. We’re all better off with me at the safe house until they have a suspect in custody.”

“Well then I’ll come stay with you,” her mother declared.

Marisol blew out a breath, the beginnings of a headache settling into the base of her skull. “No, Mom. I’ve got U.S. Marshals guarding me twenty-four seven. I told you, it’s—” She broke off when a brisk knock sounded at the door.

Before she could answer, it swung open to reveal Ethan standing there. Something inside her jolted at the sight of him. Her heartbeat quickened as she stared back at him, noting the intent, focused way he watched her.

“Mom, I gotta go,” she said when Ethan slipped inside and closed the door behind him. The room instantly felt half the size with him in it. “I’ll call you later, okay? Love you. Bye.” She hung up and set her phone down on the desk. “I was just returning the calls I’d missed earlier,” she explained, hating that she was babbling but unable to stop. “Yours was next.”

He didn’t move from the doorway. He stood with his back to it, his hand poised on the knob. His stillness told her something was off.

She swept her gaze over him, her pulse increasing. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you expecting anyone else to come see you in the next while?”

His eyes were too intense. She knew in her gut something bad had happened. “No, it’s just me and Frank holding down the fort tonight. Why? What’s wrong?”

Instead of answering he reached back and twisted the dead bolt. The sound of it sliding into place seemed overly loud in the quiet room. Her heart drummed faster, her hands tightening on the arms of her chair. “Are you all right?” He seemed unhurt, at least physically, but something was definitely wrong. “Are the guys okay?”

He nodded once, a muscle flexing in his jaw. “Had a close call last night.”

She withheld a gasp. “Oh my God. Were you—” She half rose out of her seat, stopped short when he took a step toward her. His face was set, his gaze locked on hers. Marisol couldn’t look away. Couldn’t move.

She finally sat back down as he reached the desk, that intent look on his face sending an electric tingle up her spine. Part warning, part arousal. He looked…hungry was the only word she could think of to describe it.

“Are you hurt?” she managed, feeling vulnerable and delicate all of a sudden with him standing so close and looking at her like a starving man would eye a perfectly cooked filet.

He didn’t stop at the desk. He rounded it, grabbed the arms of her chair and pushed it back from beneath the desk, stepped over to stand inches from the toes of her lipstick red pumps. “I don’t want to talk about it.” His voice was rough, a little unsteady.

Okay
… Marisol blinked up at him, caught her breath when he bent to capture her face in his hands. Her heart fluttered wildly. He was inches away from her. And he smelled incredible.

For a heart-stopping moment he peered deep into her eyes, then spoke. “I had a wakeup call last night during an op. Afterward, all I could think about was you. All I’ve been thinking about for the last sixteen hours, is you. Because I wanted to do
this
.”

Without giving her a chance to move he covered her lips with his and took complete possession of her mouth.

Chapter Twelve

Oh my God…

Marisol gasped and grabbed hold of his shoulders as desire exploded inside her. His tongue delved into her mouth to stroke along hers, tasting her. She tightened her grip, felt the tension in him when the muscles beneath her fingers bunched.

Heat roared through her, obliterating thought and reason.

She didn’t care about the consequences of her actions, that she’d be hurt when he left town, she wanted him. She didn’t know what had happened on the op but it had to have been bad to shake him so much. She could have lost him last night and she wasn’t going to waste another opportunity to show him what he meant to her.

Ethan shifted his grip on her face, one hand sliding into the back of her hair, holding her still as he plunged his tongue deeper into her mouth. Dominant. Raw male hunger, because he wanted
her
. Her entire body pulsed with arousal.

Ethan broke the kiss. He trailed the fingers of his free hand down the side of her neck, down to the open V of her blouse, then lower.

Marisol held her breath, her nipples already hard and aching against the cups of her bra. His eyes flashed down to them as his fingers crept lower, gently brushing against the underside of one breast. She sucked in a breath, arched her back, wanting more.

Leaving his hand in place, he lifted his gaze and searched her eyes. She stared right back, lost in those blazing, golden brown depths.

“Do I make you ache, kitt’n?” His thumb dragged gently across one straining nipple.

She made an incoherent sound of pleasure and grabbed his wrist to hold him there. Conflict warred inside her. Her body was screaming for relief but her mind was shouting that she was crazy. If anyone found out what they were doing in here it would ruin her reputation at work.

He leaned in to nibble at the corner of her jaw, right beneath her ear, his lips warm against her wildly fluttering pulse point. “Do I?”

Oh, dammit, she couldn’t think straight with his mouth on her. The lock on her door was solid. Only Frank and her security team were up here, and they likely wouldn’t disturb her, so if she wanted to do this, now was the perfect time.

“Yes,” she whispered, needing him too badly to bother denying it. She could be embarrassed about it all she wanted later. Right now she wanted him and he clearly needed her.

He hummed softly in satisfaction, flicked his tongue across her pulse point before sucking lightly. She squirmed in her seat, his grip on her hair holding her in place. The firm display of command was unbelievably exciting, something she’d fantasized about him for forever.

“Want me to make it better?” he added in a beguiling whisper.

Logic finally pierced through the fog of lust clouding her brain. She tensed a little as his meaning sank in. Sex, here? Her first time, in her office while her boss was just down the hall and federal marshals were on patrol? “I don’t think…”

“Don’t think,” he encouraged. He moved his thumb again, turned his head to capture her tiny gasp with his mouth as he caressed her sensitive nipple. Back and forth, back and forth in a maddening glide that made it hard to breathe. “It’s just you and me here and I need to touch you. Let me touch you.”

Marisol hesitated. She’d just warned herself against this not five minutes before he’d shown up and already she was wavering. He made her weak. His touch, his nearness and the need she sensed in him, robbed her of the ability to think clearly.

The door’s locked and no one’s coming in
, a voice in her head whispered.
You want him. This might be your only chance
.

There was no way she was walking away from it.

She wasn’t sure if he had full-on sex in mind, but even that she was suddenly on board with. Ethan was a lot more experienced than the men she’d dated. She trusted him and he’d be gentle with her. Even if this turned out to be a one-time thing, she could deal with that. Couldn’t she?