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And that’s why, even though part of her really, really wanted to kill Ty, she was never late for training and more times than not, fell asleep smiling because she was thinking of him.

So far, she hadn’t dreamed of him again. Not since the dream she’d had right after her arrival at Belladonna. But that just made her hunger for him during the day all the more unbearable.

When a knock sounded on her door, she mentally groaned and stayed silent, hoping her visitor would take the hint and go away. No such luck.

“Ana. It’s Ty. Meet me in the airplane hangar in ten. We’re going to work on your knife-throwing skills.”

She smiled in spite of herself. Yes, her time spent with Ty was as far from romantic as one could get. But it was certainly turning out to be fun.

An hour later, after Ana had thrown knife after knife at dummy targets while Ty stayed by her side, giving her tips on aiming and technique, she accompanied him to Belladonna’s giant lap pool. She scanned the area around it before turning to Ty. “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

To her surprise, he shook his head. “You don’t need one. Just take off your clothes and get in.”

“Excuse me?” Ana stared at Ty as if he’d lost his mind.

More like he thought she’d lost hers.

“You heard me,” he said, his expression blank. Almost cold. Completely the opposite of the subdued yet friendly one he’d been wearing ever since she’d first arrived. “I said take off your clothes and get in the pool.”

Maybe this was some kind of training in itself, she thought. Gamely, she asked, “And why would I do that?”

“Because staying alive on these missions is about doing whatever needs to be done.”

Okay, she was beginning to understand where this was going. Still, that didn’t mean she was just going to prance around nude in front of him simply because he demanded it. “Except I don’t have to strip naked at the moment. If I need to, I will.”

“No, you’ll hesitate, just like you’re doing now. You’ll search for an alternative.”

“I won’t.”

“Prove it.”

He was still looking at her with that cold expression. As if what he was asking was completely reasonable. As if he’d feel absolutely nothing if she stripped naked in front of him right now.

She felt a surge of disappointment at that.

One by one, she stripped off each article of clothing she wore. And even though this wasn’t about him getting his rocks off, even though he didn’t seem to care
that she was naked and vulnerable in front of him, that didn’t mean he took any pity on her. He took his time looking at her, making sure he started at the top of her head, stopping and paying particular attention to her key parts—her throat, her breasts, her flat stomach, and the mound between her legs.

As he did, Ana felt his gaze like a caress.

And to her shame, she trembled.

She yearned.

She wanted him naked. She wanted him pressed against her.

She wanted him inside her.

And she wanted to urge him to give her more.

More. More. More.

Until the world disappeared and nothing existed for either of them but the pleasure of being in each other’s arms.

As Ty admired the beauty of Ana’s body, he tried to remain detached. He told himself he was doing this merely as part of her training, which she’d been excelling at. She was smart, hardworking, an eager pupil. He’d admired and respected her before, but those feelings had only grown. He’d pushed her, but he’d also kept things strictly friendly between them. Not just for her peace of mind, but his own. It was hard enough to wrestle with her and gaze into her eyes without losing his shaky grip on control; if he reacted to the desire he saw in her eyes, he was afraid he’d have her stripped and nailed to the floor before either one of them could blink.

But a half hour ago, when he’d been watching her gleefully throw knives at man-shaped targets, he’d realized he wasn’t doing her any favors. By not forcing her to deal with her own insecurities or the possibility of
sexually charged situations, he could very well be placing her life in danger when she was in the field.

What he’d said was true—if for whatever reason she needed to strip buck naked at a moment’s notice on a mission—she had to be able to do it without hesitation. Fear, modesty, insecurity—none of it could get in the way.

Now, as he stared at her naked body, detachment and practicality and training were the farthest things from his mind.

He’d seen her like this before, and not just on his surveillance equipment. He’d seen her exactly the way she looked now, down to the mole next to her belly button, when they’d both been naked and touching each other. He’d licked that mole when he’d paused while going down on her to look up at her face. She looked exactly the way she had in the dreams he’d had of the two of them. The damn dreams that he couldn’t get out of his head.

But he had to. And he certainly couldn’t dwell on his suspicion that she might be sharing the sexual dreams with him. So he continued his inspection of her, moving from the best parts of her body to the worst—the burn scars across her thighs.

He knew how she’d gotten them and if her mother wasn’t already dead, he’d kill her himself. And it had nothing to do with his being a vampire. Even if he’d been fully human, he’d have felt the same way.

Maybe he’d spent too much time staring at her scars or maybe she read his mind, because she snapped, “Don’t pity me.”

His gaze locked on hers. “Why would I?” he asked, careful how he chose his words. Because the truth was he did pity her, but no more than he pitied himself. “You’re a survivor. I admire you.” And
that
was the honest truth. “Now, show me how well you can swim.”

With a muttered curse, she jumped into the pool and proceeded to do one lap after another. Eventually, after what seemed like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, he called out, “That’s it. You can get out and dress.”

Then he took a deep breath, vowing to hang on to his control long enough to do what he had to do next.

Ty had his back turned to her and appeared to be reviewing paperwork. Relieved, Ana climbed out of the pool. Her muscles were shaking with exhaustion and she shivered with cold. Hurrying, she dried off, then started yanking her clothes back on.

She’d just zipped her pants when Ty grabbed her by her arms, held her body against his chest for a brief moment, then backed her up against the wall. Even with their clothes between them, she was acutely aware of his chest sliding against her breasts. And how the sensation made her shiver with pleasure even as she shook with fury.

He pressed his mouth against her ear. “You’re too easy,” he complained. “I told you to never let down your guard around me. Don’t turn your back on your enemy, especially when you’re vulnerable. You have to be aware at every moment or you risk being overtaken.”

“Fuck you.”

He smiled faintly. “You also have to be able to stay calm when someone touches you sexually. You can’t let the past control you. You have to accept it and control it, so you can manage the situation and come out on top. No pun intended.”

Despite his attempt at humor, she struggled in his grip, the harsh brick of the building scratching her hands where he held them against the wall.

“I’m a threat to you. I want to take you down, Ana. What can you do to get away?”

“You’re bigger than me. Stronger. I don’t know what to do,” she snapped out. She twisted, hitching her hips, pulling against Ty’s hold. Nothing.

“I’m not giving you that answer. Figure out how to get away from me on your own.”

She would have kneed him in the nuts, but Ty clearly anticipated that move since his legs were firmly between hers. No way was she going to be able to get a knee between his legs. And his strength overpowered her. She couldn’t pull away.

He held her close, his heart beating almost painfully against her chest, his scent filling her nostrils. Too male. Too close.

Panic set in and her mind went blank, leaving her a reactive mess, a body twisting against the bondage of a man.
This
man.

Not because she was scared or feared he’d truly hurt her, but because she wanted him.

“Think, Ana.” Ty’s voice came through to her consciousness. “Think.”

She focused on his words, remembering she wasn’t really fighting Ty. She was fighting her feelings for him. He wanted her to prove she could let a man touch her sexually without freaking out, but little did he know that she only cringed from his touch because she wanted it too much.

She needed to turn the tables on him.

And suddenly she knew how she was going to do it.

Slowly, she softened her movements, replacing twisting with writhing, struggle with acceptance. She turned her face to his and let her breathing slow, opening her lips so that each breath caressed his cheek. Startled, he turned his face to hers. And then she kissed him. Licked his lips. Thrust her hips against his, then angled her
body to rub her breasts against his chest. Let a gasp escape her throat and deepened the kiss, going limp in his hold.

Yes, she thought. This was what she’d wanted all this time. And funnily enough, he’d given her the means to get it. Because she pretended it was all part of her training. That she was only giving him what
he
wanted, not what she needed.

Ty let go of her hands and groaned, but the sound wasn’t of pleasure. He sounded like she was torturing him. Teasing him with something he couldn’t really have. He swept his tongue through her mouth, toying with hers, then quickly ripped himself away.

Breathing hard, he stared at her. His eyes were heavy-lidded, his face flushed, his lips red and swollen. His fists opened and shut several times before he seemed to deliberately relax his fingers. He nodded. “Good. That’s a good start. You can fake sexual interest to get away from a man.”

But she hadn’t been faking, she wanted to say. She did desire him. She wanted him. And suddenly, despite the fear that had been driving her to get away from him before she revealed too much, she wanted him to know it.

Before she could say it, however, before she could even open her mouth, he was gone.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

The next day, in Belladonna’s formal dining room, Ana let
her fingers drift down the smooth, polished hardwood table that could seat at least twenty people, aware of her own reflection in the sheen. She’d used makeup to cover the dark circles under her eyes, evidence of the restless night she’d had after that incident with Ty by the pool. She’d spent half of her waking hours alternately trying to imagine more intimacies with him while berating herself at the same time for her attempts. She’d spent the other half wondering about the team she was supposed to meet today.

What were they like? What had brought them here? What had Carly promised them?

In the end, however, it didn’t matter. They didn’t need to understand each other. They didn’t even need to like each other. All they needed was to be able to work together.

She’d been living a lie these past few days. Enjoying her time with Ty as if this were some kind of vacation. But if Ty walking away from her by the pool hadn’t been enough to drive that point home, there was the fact that she’d spent a sleepless night in her bed, aching with her need for him. Everything Ty did was a means to an end, not a genuine display of affection for her. So he could get an erection around her. Big deal. Right now, she was the only other woman on the premises. It was to be expected.
He didn’t truly want her. He didn’t care for her. She meant nothing to him. She had to focus. All that mattered was finding Gloria.

She might not mean anything to Gloria, either. Not anymore. But given what Ana had been told, she was beginning to hope that wasn’t true.

It was now possible to believe that Gloria had cut off all contact with Ana not of her own free will, but because she’d been under the influence of cultish mind control. If that was the case, Ana had the chance to regain the most important person in the world to her.

She took a deep breath and looked around the semicircular library. Leather-bound books lined shelves that ran twenty feet high. Three sliding ladders hung from iron rungs. Leather club chairs in deep hunter green crowded around small tables with reading lamps, and in the middle of the room was a larger table with a speaker, Carly’s preferred method of communication. Either the woman was seriously paranoid, or she truly had enemies. And with the type of work Belladonna seemed to be conducting, Ana was betting on the latter.

“Like what you see?” A man’s deep voice came from behind her.

Ana whipped around, staring at the stranger who’d entered. Like Ty, this man was tall and broad with dark eyes. His hair, however, was slightly lighter, a tawny brown.

“No weapon,” he calmly observed, looking at where her hand was.

She realized she’d grabbed at her waistband out of habit. Once upon a time her switchblade had always been there, a vital accessory to her daily outfits. Part of her, when you got right down to it. She’d always gone for it when members of other gangs entered her turf.

But she hadn’t worn a knife in years. And when she’d first arrived, Ty had insisted she leave her gun in her
bedroom safe. “For everyone’s safety,” he’d said, acknowledging that he was probably going to piss her off more than once in the coming days.

“What were you reaching for? A knife?”

Ana just continued to stare at him, which made his lips twitch, as if he was suppressing a smile. “You know how to throw them?” he asked.

Thanks to Ty, she did now. But for some reason, she didn’t tell him that. “In the hood, you don’t throw away your weapon.”

“A bit different than Covert Ops. We had two knives—one for throwing, and the other for stabbing our enemy in the guts. Or slicing across the throat. Why not carry two?”

She suddenly got who he was. “You must be Peter Lancaster.”

“Avoiding my question?” he asked, his eyes twinkling and the corner of his mouth rising up in what she guessed was a smile.

“No. Why didn’t I carry two knives?” Ana shrugged. “I only wanted to protect myself. Pulling out a knife quickly was usually all we needed to stop an enemy. You, on the other hand …”