CHAPTER THREE
A shark circled her. The closer it got, the more fear quaked in her limbs.
No. No. No.
She looked around in a panic, Reno wasn’t with her. Reno had lied. He’d said she’d be safe with him, that she could trust him, but he’d left her alone to face the shark. There was no protection against the man-eater.
Her heart beat a rapid pace.
Her eyes narrowed to slits as the shark’s face transformed to Vasco’s.
The deformed shark launched itself in her direction.
A scream tore from her chest and throat. Someone grabbed her. She batted at them, her fists pounding against them. Rough hands tightened around her, held her still. She screamed again.
“Lacey!” Reno’s voice called to her. Her eyes popped open. “Shhh… It’s only a dream. Wake up.” He let her go, brushed the hair from her face.
“Reno, you’re here. You didn’t leave me.” She threw her arms around his neck. He was kneeling next to her. He’d abandoned the couch he retreated to after they ate and came to her rescue.
He pulled her onto his lap. Coarse hair abraded her legs. She clung to him, her heart still pounding. He cradled her close. “No, querida, I didn’t leave you. I’m right here. It was only a dream.” The strong Spanish accent soothed her fragile nerves.
“It’s alright.” His mouth brushed her temple, sparking an electric shock. After his previous rejections she didn’t think she could take more of this sweet torment, but she only squirmed closer, trying to burrow into him. Praying he would continue to hold her, not tuck her back in and go back to the couch, leaving her alone again. She didn’t want to be alone anymore.
She shifted in his arms, her legs wrapping around him, burying her head to his neck. His heavy cock brushed her belly through the gap in the towel. Her breasts grew heavy, tingled. Her hardened nipples grew irritated by the coarseness of the material around her. She looked up into the darkest eyes she had ever seen. Her tongue moistened her lips, need coiled in her belly.
He groaned, his arms sliding over her back pulling her closer, fingers threading in the waves of hair at the back of her head.
Excitement sent her blood rushing at the feel of his erection swelling along her belly. Sensual pressure burst in her sex. Moisture pooled between her legs.
Lacey brushed a kiss along his jaw. Her back arched, pressing her belly closer to his hardness. She whimpered. “Reno, please don’t stop me again.” Her mouth grew bolder, placing several kisses along his chin and jawline.
Ignoring the tightening of his fist in her hair, she pressed her lips to his. With gentle nips and laps of her tongue, her mouth teased for him to open to her.
Reno groaned. The sound of a man about to surrender to something he had denied himself for a long time. A hand dropped from her hair, slid through the gap in the front of the towel to her sear her waist. Her breath caught.
His hand slid up farther to cup a breast. Fingers squeezed. A thumb rubbed over a nipple.
Lacey moaned, pressing into the sensation. She nipped at his mouth. “Please, Reno…”
“You sure?” He growled. “You sure you want this? Want me?”
“Yes.” Lacey sucked in a breath as his mouth possessed hers. His tongue thrust its way into the cavern of her mouth. It was much larger than her own. She sucked at it greedily, just as she had the wine he’d given her at dinner.
Shifting his position, he covered her body and braced himself on a forearm.
Her sex pulsed, ached for his touch. She arched her hips. She refused to break the kiss at the first feel of his rough thrust against her belly.
Placing her feet flat on the floor, she raised up to meet his rocking motion.
Wetness turned her sex slick. She moaned. Reno’s kiss gentled. He lifted his head.
She whimpered in fear that he’d stop their play.
“Querida, I have to hear you call me.”
Their gaze held in the semi darkness of the flashing storm and flickering flames. “Reno,” she breathed, liking the sound of it on her tongue. “Reno.”
No more time was allowed for thought before he claimed her mouth in another bone melting kiss. Their tongues danced, and dueled until she was left a quivering mass beneath him.
She gasped as he rolled them over. Lacey pushed herself up to sit on his abs. His fingertips slid over the rise of her breast and under the edge of the towel, tugging it open and off her body.
Bringing her upward on his chest, he lifted his head to catch a nipple in his mouth.
Lacey screamed in pleasure. Delicious, painful pleasure that pulsed from her nipple to the hub of nerves in her sex.
He sucked harder.
Light headed from carnality, she moaned. She rubbed her sex along his chest.
Reno moved over to the next extended nipple. Sucking hard, he roughly massaged the free breast.
Moaning, she squirmed.
When Reno came up for air his chest heaved. He urged her back down his hips.
Lacey trembled in anticipation. He wanted her to mount him. He wanted her to be in control.
“Easy.” Reno clasped her hips as she grabbed his erection and brought her wet core down to the tip of his cock.
Her hand trembled. Her palm didn’t fit around him. She had been right in her estimation of his size and she couldn’t wait to have him fill her.
Reno took the action from her. With a thrust of his hips while keeping a firm grip on her hips, he impaled her.
Lacey moaned in pure ecstasy.
She gripped his forearms as he worked her. He grunted and groaned all the while bringing her closer and closer to an abyss.
His hips rose in brutal thrusts, leaving her breathless. Her knees clenched his sides to keep her seated.
Her nipples ached.
Her sex gushed liquid heat at the feel of his hardness invading her depths. Over and over his hips rocked up. Lacey could do no more than try to stay on the ride, but knew his hold on her hips kept her anchored.
Quivering, she panted as his hands helped her catch a new rhythm. The motion less violent, more teasing. “Oh, Reno.” Her climax was only a breath away. She was dizzy from the onslaught of bliss.
Reno stilled beneath her.
Eyes opening, she whimpered.
He sat up to hold her still when she tried to grind herself upon his buried hardness.
“Dios, querida.” His chest heaved. Sweat coated his forehead and shoulders.
She nodded, afraid to do anything else.
“My name is…” He kissed her ever so gently. “Moreno Arjona. You should know my name.”
“Moreno Arjona from Venezuela.” Lacey returned the kiss. “Reno.” She rocked her hips forward. ‘God please, Reno, don’t stop loving me. It’s like magic.” And to her it was like magic. Never had she experienced this pleasure before.
Being in Reno’s arms was so different from her first stolen experience, and even more so from when Vasco had taken her. She shook her head. She wouldn’t spoil this. “Reno.” She kissed him deeply.
The loving turned slow. She rocked forward, he arched forward meeting her movements. Again and again she shifted on him, only to have him send his cock deeper still.
Lacey moaned, letting her head fall back. Reno took control urging her hips to rock faster. Her body clasped at his buried cock with the guidance of his hands.
She gasped as his thrusts turned rough once more. “Yes. Yes.”
His hardness pumped in and out of her welcoming depths. Her mind totally focused on the feel of his moving within her. She yearned for the ecstasy within her grasp.
On mark, Reno worked her over him faster and harder. She tried to match him, her body greedy. Too much sensation at the promise of rapture.
Reno growled something Spanish into her throat. On cue his big body tensed, along with hers.
Blissful unawareness overtook her in climax. Her nails bit into his shoulders while her body convulsed around him, draining him. She savored each eruption of his climax within her as she came down from new heights. Hungrily, she looked on while his climax still claimed him.
His face harshly strained as he lost control. He groaned as his body flooded her depths. She gasped, loving the thought of causing him to lose control. Never had she been so powerful.
Breathless, she rested her head on his shoulder and quivered. “That was wonderful.” She whispered to herself, before kissing his neck just below his ear. She’d somehow known all along how good sex between them would be.
His arms tightened around her. She enjoyed the feel of him turning semi-soft within her body. “Moreno Arjona, so great to know you.”
* * * * *
Reno’s breath rasped, his heart still pounding, muscles twitching from their exertion, the release of months of frustration. He brushed the waves of damp golden curls from her face. At the haze of satisfaction in her deep emerald eyes, his cock pulsed within her, remembering how those eyes had blazed with passion a few minutes before. When her muscles clenched in response, he wanted to see it again.
A smile tugged at her lips and she nodded as if she tried it on him for size and it fit. She pressed a kiss to his throat, her soft lilt whispered his name again. The sound vibrated against his skin, wrapped around his heart. It had been so long since he heard someone say his full name. Those that knew him by it believed him dead. Even to himself the person he was back then had died with it. But something about Lacey brought hints of him back to life. He had the strangest desire for her to know who he was. Not as Reno, or Gallant, the operative he lived his life as now, but the man he was born as. The real him.
“When you are with me I want you to think of me as Moreno Arjona, the man you can trust, not the bastard Reno that has to stand by Vasco’s side.” His hands’ gentle motions along her back stilled as she trembled.
“Vasco terrifies me. He can be so vicious at times. I wish there was some way we could just disappear, let him think we are dead.”
Reno clenched his jaw. Vasco sucked the life out of everything he touched. It was his way of control. He felt a need to say yes, to protect her and get her away from the man. He had a strong suspicion Lacey was no longer a voluntary guest, maybe never had been. But he needed to complete his mission, to have his vengeance on Vasco. He couldn’t let her go. Her safe return to Vasco was key to him staying in his good graces, to keeping his trust and staying at his right hand. He would do his best to keep her safe but he needed her to go back. Damn, it was getting harder and harder to wait for a green light to just kill the bastard.
“You’re safe with me, querida. But we have to go back, there are things I have to do and I can’t go back without you. Just stay strong a little while longer.” He should have been stronger, resisted her, but all his training had never prepared him for the likes of Lacey. Now he had put not only the mission in jeopardy but both their lives.
She nodded against his chest, he felt a warm tear fall. “I don’t want to think of that till tomorrow. Please just hold me.”
He tightened his arms around her, reveled at the way her soft, pliant body molded to his, the intoxicating feel of skin pressed against skin. This would be the only night they had together. Even if the mission was successful, she would be returned to her home and he would disappear, assigned to another mission.
The need to have her again hit him with a ferocity he didn’t expect. Not only have her but do everything he had fantasized about. He wanted to touch and taste every inch of her, memorize her, at the same time replace any memory of Vasco’s touch with his own.
He rolled them over so he was braced over her. Slowly, deeply, he kissed her as he withdrew from her body. Her whimper of loss mingled in the kiss and skittered through him. Her hands raked over his back trying to draw him back to her. With a growl, he fed his desire into the kiss, filled it with promise as his tongue committed the inside of her mouth to memory along with the feel of her tongue exploring him. She greedily sucked on his tongue, lapped at the roof of his mouth. Each brush was felt in his gut, tugged at his sac, made his cock lengthen, harden. Every moan she made he felt and heard—they bombarded his senses, vibrated over every cell of his body. Reluctantly he broke the kiss. His body was reacting way too fast, demand roaring in his ears.
He knelt back between her legs, wanting to slow things down, to savor her. His eyes fell to her body highlighted by the glow of the fire. He stared in awe, envious of the light and shadows that moved over her skin. He reached both hands toward her. Her breath hitched when he touched her, her lip caught between her teeth. But she remained silent, letting him do as he pleased. Her eyes shined with anticipation, waiting for what he would do next. His eye held hers briefly then followed his fingers as they traced over the ridge of her collar bone and along the edges where tanned skin touched white. The path passing over the curve of full orbs, now rising and falling in time with her anticipating breaths, areola puckered and nipples peaked… Yes, it was not the cold that she reacted to now but him; she wanted him again, was anxious for his touch… Not yet, querida.
She groaned, her body shifting restlessly as his hands left her breasts and his fingertips brushed against the rise and fall of her ribs and across her soft belly, teasing the indent of her bellybutton. The muscles in her womb clenched under his touch, her legs tightened against his as he followed the tan lines over her hips to the small triangular thatch of wiry hair. The pads of his fingers were greeted with the moisture that glistened off the swollen pink flesh spread invitingly for him to see. He traced over and around the various ridges. Blood surged to his erection as the muscles of her entrance clenched and opened. She was hungry for him, every part of her body responding to him.
“So beautiful.” He could only whisper, his throat tight with his need.
“Reno, please,” she pleaded, her hips rocked under his gaze.
He removed his fingers and slid his rough hands up over the curve of her hips, the narrow indent of her waist, and the expanse of her ribcage. He stopped under her arms, the curve of her breasts cupped in his palms. His thumbs moved to the fleshy orbs’ undersides as he leaned over her, braced on his elbows. His eyes on the taught nipples, his heart palpitated, his cock twitched with the heavy weight of his arousal.
“So beautiful.” He enclosed her breasts in his hands, rolling the nipples with his thumbs and forefingers. A cry filled with the stab of passion escaped her throat. Her body arched off the blanket, her wet folds brushing his erection. He gritted his teeth, restraining himself from plunging into her. There was more of her he wanted to enjoy, to remember.
His thumbs circled and brushed over the elongated peaks, before he lowered his mouth, flicked one with his tongue, scraped it with his teeth. She gasped, grasping his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin. With a desperate need, he surrounded the nipple with his mouth, deeply drawing on it like a man dying of a thirst he knew would never be quenched.
Her hips undulated beneath him. Her breaths came in soft audible keens. He knew she felt each suckle between her legs, that her swollen flesh throbbed with need. He moved to drink from the other breast, sliding a hand down between them, his fingers finding the welcoming wet flesh, the hard nub. Circling with his fingers he urged her to the edge. Her keening grew louder, her fingers tangled in his hair, her entire body tensing beneath him. His own body was tight with urgency. One he would deny.
He stilled his fingers.
“Reno, no,” she panted in frustration.
“Shhh, querida, it’s alright. I want to taste you, drink you in.”
He left her breasts, pressed heated kisses down her body. Her hands in his hair pulled and pushed as if unable to decide if she wanted him to return or travel lower. He paused at the one thing that had taunted him more than anything over the months of seeing her in bikinis and cropped shirts, and swirled his tongue into her belly button, making her squirm. A deep guttural groan escaped her throat and her hips lifted.
“God, Reno,” she panted. Now her hands were pushing, her decision made, urging him down. The strong scent of her arousal beckoned, her clitoris pulsed against his soaked, stilled fingers, making his testicles clench and his penis erect to a pulsating ache.
He lapped at the hardened nub, sliding his hand lower, thrusting two fingers into her slick opening. His groan traveled from very deep inside him, mixing with her cry at his first taste of her. Her hips bucked and her muscles clenched around him. He savored the sweet tangy flavor that was uniquely her, nothing had ever tasted so good. “You are delicious.”
She moaned and her body shivered, her spread legs bent, tensed near his head. Her hands gripped the wrinkled blanket beneath her. Her body straining for release of the passion he had built up within her. He traced the pattern of her folds with the tip of his tongue as he had with his fingers. Enjoyed every hidden crevice, suckled ever raised ridge. The sounds she made encouraged and tormented him. His cock pulsed with each incoherent murmur, each tightening of her muscles around his fingers. Wanting to be inside her, have her possess him completely.
Her hips rolled, naturally directing his tongue where she wanted him. Understanding her innocent cues, he undulated his flattened tongue against her heat, slurped up her abundant juices. His fingers inside her grew to three and he pushed them in and out, rubbing against the front vaginal wall. Her soft coos turned to loud cries. His hand resting on her belly, anchoring him to her rocking hips, felt her stomach contracting beneath it.
“Oh Reno don’t stop, please don’t stop,” she cried. Her clit appeared to retreat into the flesh swelling around it. He growled against her. So close, she was so close. Her thighs squeezed against his face, her breath caught, her vagina clenched his fingers then exploded in ripples of pleasure. Her breath escaped in sounds so sweet his heart twisted, his throat tightened. He kissed the inside of her thighs as they trembled, whispered endearments against her skin as he kissed his way back up her body, enjoying the shivers from her now sensitive skin.
He braced himself over her, looking down at her heart-shaped face, the fire’s flames dancing in the darkened emerald eyes that glistened back at him. His heart flipped and continued to pound. Tiny hands laced into his hair and pulled his face down to passion-parted lips, where he received the tenderest. The simple touch of her mouth added to the current tingling over his skin, traveling through his blood, surging in the veins of his rock-hard cock.
Her legs wrapped around his waist, slickening the tip of his penis with her wet heat. It pulsed in response. His breath rasped in his throat, he tried to keep from thrusting forward and filling her. She nipped at his earlobe, suckled it into her mouth. “Love me Reno, let me feel you inside me again.” Her voice sounded as if she needed him as much as he ached for her.
No more needed to be said, he pressed the head of his erection to her vaginal opening, stroked his fingers against her nub. “I love the feel of your body opening for me, querida, taking me inside of you… Take me in, querida.”
She whimpered softly, tilted her pelvis up to him, opening herself to him. He pressed forward with gentle rocking of his hips, filling her slowly. She gasped each breath in response to each of his thrusts. Her legs tightened around his waist as she lifted her hips to take more.
She quivered around him as muscles stretched, adjusted to him. Her welcoming wetness suckled him into her body, then muscles clenched, holding him there. He listened to her breaths shorten, felt her nails dig into his arms for support when he was buried completely and his cock flexed inside her as he stilled. He looked down at them joined together. “You possess me completely, querida. You hold all of me inside you.”
He wanted to throw back his head and roar. At this moment nothing else existed but her and him, joined together. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want to breathe, and didn’t want the moment to shatter. Feel her blood rushing through her veins as clearly as he could feel his own.
He could no longer ignore the pressure building in his gut, the tight clenching of his testicles and hard swelling of his cock. Not wanting to leave her he circled his hips, his pubic bone pressing against her clit. She moaned and circled her own hips in response.
Together they continued the circling and gentle rocking of hips. He stayed buried inside her. Their bodies one as they grinded together.
Their bodies were covered in sweat. His arms kept his body braced above her. Every part of him was taught with restraint. Tingles of pleasure raced through him, the fullness demanding to burst free.
Her body tensed around him, beneath him. Her soft cooing sounds becoming strained, louder. Her breath rasped in rhythm with his. Hands that had been wandering over his skin stilled, grabbed hold. Her thighs tightened around his waist.
“Reno,” she keened, her nails digging in deeper. Her eyes in a darkened haze watched his face as her body surrendered to its pleasure, to him. He dropped his mouth and captured the cries of her release, the sounds again twisting his heart.
She clung to him as her body shook with the force of her climax. She milked his cock till it throbbed and the pressure was no longer bearable. He growled into their kiss and thrust his hips hard, no longer able to hold back his own need. He grunted with each of his thrusts. The sparks the friction created ignited a current that burst from his feet to the top of his head.
Lacey screamed out another release before her first had passed. Her pleasure vibrated through him. Her strong contractions pushed him over the edge, his body shuddered as his own climax pumped into her, wave after wave.
She smiled up at him, her lips trembling slightly. They fought to regain their breath. There was moisture in her eyes, more than arousal or satisfaction would create. Tears. “Shhh, querida, did I hurt you?”
She shook her head “No, It was just… I never knew… I’ll never forget this, Reno.” Her loss of words said it all to him, made his heart swell in his chest, his own throat tense, holding back emotions he didn’t dare feel. He’d never forget any of this night either.
He lowered his head and kissed her eyelids and her lips gently, then rolled to the blanket, pulling her atop him. Still unable to remove himself from her. She nuzzled her face against his neck and sighed.
Moreno Arjona, that’s who he was with her. A name she should have never heard. Someone she should have never had a glimpse of. Someone the world knew as dead and buried and who should have remained that way but with her refused to stay dormant. Damn.
* * * * *
Lacey rolled over. She groaned, aching from the night she had shared with Reno.
No. Moreno. He’d said his name was Moreno Arjona. If she got lucky and lived a lifetime, she’d never forget his name or the man.
Opening her eyes, she discovered their makeshift bed empty. Sitting up, she clutched the blanket to her. She spotted Moreno standing on the balcony that overlooked the dock.
She didn’t want to deal with Vasco’s arrival. Instead she lay back down, reliving the magical night she’d shared with Reno. Moreno.
Moreno. And it had very much been shared. Moreno had loved her with an expert touch. He’d been hungry for her. He had even reached for her in the predawn hour. She had enjoyed the fact he’d been sleepy and had wanted her so badly. Waking to his kisses and the rising sun had been amazing.
She sighed and rolled onto her back. She gasped. Moreno stood above her. He wore his swim trunks. His legs were braced. His hands on his hips.
Freedom was over.
He didn’t have to say anything, she could tell by the blank look he gave her.
She sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. “Spotted them already, huh?”
“I let you sleep. They’ll be landing anytime.”
Unable to draw in a breath, she nodded. She would have liked to spend a little more time with him. “Great.” Her whispered lacked all enthusiasm.
“You’d best get your suit on.”
“Umhm.”
“ Don’t fall apart on me…” He knelt on a knee. “Call on those survival instincts one last time.”
Tears pooled, clouding her vision. “Sure.” She blinked them away. “Look, Re…Moreno. You don’t have to worry about me.” She stood, walking past him to her bathing suit, quickly covering what little areas the cloth hid.
Moreno clasped her chin to force her to look in his dark eyes. “You hold out just a bit longer and I swear you won’t have to deal with Vasco ever again.”
“Sure.” The man was crazy. With all the pleasure she’d experienced she hadn’t paid his talk much attention. Now with the haze of bliss cleared, it stared her in the face. Moreno wanted to move up higher in the Casimiro cartel, maybe take it over. She supposed he’d make it, too. After all, he’d killed a shark. Too bad, she’d be either dead or whoring in a house by the time he ever reached a higher position.
She moistened her lips. “Look Reno, I mean it—don’t worry about me. And personally, I think you should get out while you still can.” Moreno could be deadly, but there was a lot of goodness hidden.
She moved away from him to slide into her wetsuit. It would cover more of her than the bikini.
Lacey took a step toward the balcony. Reno stepped in her path. He clasped her face in his large palms. “And my name is Moreno Arjona. Don’t ever forget it.” He placed the most remarkably gently kiss for a man of his size on her lips.
She moaned.
Their lips had barely touched, when he stepped out of her way.
Three boats drifted toward the large dock below.
“Sure Moreno, whatever you say.”
“I’m trusting you to guard yourself and what you reveal to Vasco.”
She cast him a look. “You don’t have to worry…” She waved a hand. “I won’t mention this.”
Moreno's jaw clenched and he muttered something in Spanish. She looked away. Even after five months, her Spanish wasn’t much better.
Panic sent her heart to racing as the first boat reached the dock. “Reno, I want you to know last night was very special to me.” She drew in a calming breath. “I want you to know I’m not a slut, or a whore.” There she’d admitted her feelings, and now he could think what he wanted of her, because she knew she’d been honest.
He remained silent so she walked past him, taking the trail they had the night before.
Her bare feet sipped on a wet stone and he caught her. She gasped in surprise at the strength in his grip. “I swear, querida. Just be brave a little while longer.” He released her as quickly as he’d grabbed her. Followed her rest of the way to the dock.
Sweat beaded her palms at the sight of Vasco on the deck of a cabin cruiser. She didn’t hesitate to go to him. What choice did she have?
Two crew members helped her on board. Sergio a guard she’d never cared for took her arm, leading her to Vasco. Numbness seeped into her bones. Would she be able to cope with his touch again? Wouldn’t it be triply hard after Moreno’s touch?
This must be how a lamb felt just before slaughter. Sergio could be cruel. He no doubt planned something hateful.
Fear kept her from looking back to see if Moreno had joined her on the cruiser. Reno. She’d think of Reno and not Moreno Arjona. He’d be her lifeline. He’d keep her sane.
As she stepped into Vasco’s personal space, he smiled. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but she knew the smile didn’t reach his gaze.
God, how had she ever thought this man charming? He wasn’t a quarter of the man Reno was. Her lip trembled. God, could she survive longer?
Vasco reached out clasping her by the back of the neck. “Did you fuck, Reno?” His voice a deadly whisper in her ear.
“We were almost eaten by a shark.” She pushed at his chest. He tightened his hold. “We were almost eaten by sharks.” She couldn’t stop her voice from rising. “And, no.” She quaked with anger. “Only you would take an unconscious woman.”
Lacey lifted her chin as his fist raised. Good let the bastard knock her out. She hated him.
“Jefe.” Reno’s low voice bit a warning close by. She looked toward him, afraid for him. Afraid he would come to her protection, defend her. But Moreno was gone; Reno’s stoic face was there. The warning was to protect his boss. “The coast guard is watching.” The only sign Moreno still existed was the clenched fists restrained at his side.
Vasco released her. He laughed. “I should know to trust you, Reno. Go talk to the patrol. Fill them in for me.”
“Yes, jefe.” Reno nodded and headed toward the cutter stopped off the port side.
At the snap of Vasco’s fingers one of his servants handed her a computer. She looked down at the news article.
A frown pulled at her mouth as Sergio reached out and clicked a video to play.
“Jefe made sure the lackeys paid for leaving you behind.” Sergio sneered in broken English. “The crew went boom.” He threw his arms up with glee as the diving charter they’d been left behind from exploded, killing all the occupants.
Black spots swam behind her eyes. Dear God, they’d all died because of an accident, because of her.
The glare of the Caribbean sun went black, and quickly she cleared her vision. Now was no time to show weakness. Lacey wanted to survive.
Vasco took her arm in a tight grip. “Come on. We’ve a flight back home waiting on us.”
Enforces & Shields of Intelligence mobile headquarters.
Lily watched as Stone ran a hand through his short hair as he continued to pace. “Lacey J. Manning.” He snarled. “Fuck!”
Yep, their boss had gotten hot under the collar. Although it was frowned upon she admired him as he moved about the room. Stone, a former SEAL team commander, had gone on to be the youngest captain in Navy history. And now he ran ESI.
A man’s good looks could only distract her so long. She sighed in frustration. She gazed at the upper two monitors where images of a vibrantly beautiful young woman hovered. Her team now knew all there was to know about the Kentucky born and bred Lacey J. Manning. Right down to her seven shoe size.
Not only curvy, the young woman had a petite stature. That had to be a big turn on for Gallant. Probably made him feel more protective.
Hutch leaned back in his chair. “Well, mates, look at it this way. At least he got his rocks off before Vasco castrates him.”
Lily looked at monitor six. It showed a thermal heated grid of the private island, specifically the house and its inhabitants. Gallant and Lacey had spent the entire night together.
Oh yeah, Gallant had gotten a joy ride, probably more than one.
The big dumbass.
Damn it. Why did men always think with their dicks?
Hopeful, she looked over at Hutch. “Well, there is the slight chance we’re wrong. They only had a little fun behind the boss’s back.”
The Aussie arched an eyebrow. “The shelia’s record was so clean—we could nickname her apple pie.”
She looked away.
Damn it. Lacey had no criminal record. Nothing. Not even a parking ticket. She’d worked her way through college with honors. The chick hadn’t had time for men. She’d just been unfortunate to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Lily wanted to see Vasco’s operation taken down. If Gallant caught wind of the fact, Lacey was in danger…
The telephone rang. Stone snatched it up before she could punch in the speaker button. “Stone here.”
Lily looked on, trying to read their boss. But his name fit too well. Ninety-nine percent of the time he was stone. Nothing ever showed.
“The rescue boats arrived about ten minutes ago.” Stone’s eyes flickered to the screen showing satellite images of the dock, before shifting to linger on Lacey.
Knowing exactly who Stone spoke with on the phone, Lily frowned. Stone was their boss, but he wasn’t the top dog to their team. She’d never actually met the man in charge of all their operations. She hadn’t even heard him speak. Like her teammates, Lily only knew him by his codename: Judge.
“Yes, sir. I understand.” Stone hung up and left the control room.
She turned to Hutch. “What do you think Judge said to him?”
Pointing up at Lacey, Hutch motioned with his fingers as if shooting a gun. “Bang, there goes the beautiful distraction.”
The hair stood up on the back of her neck. She closed her eyes. Yes. If Judge thought Lacey a threat to their mission, or compromised Gallant, she would be taken out. That’s how things worked in their world.
For the greater good and all that jazz.
Nothing could stand in the way of bringing down one of the largest known drug cartels in history. But as far as she knew, none of her teammates had ever gotten involved with an American being held against her will in a foreign land.
Had Reno collected enough documentation of Vasco’s activities? Had they targeted all of the drug lord’s locations? Profit margins? Proof of his operations in the United States? Was it enough to satisfy the Colombian government? The United Nations? The world wanted to see Vasco’s cartel crumble.
Reno had been nose deep in hell long enough. What was Judge waiting for? Only last month the DEA had brought down one of the largest drug confiscations in US history thanks to Reno passing intel to Lobo. They believed the home in Miami belonged to Vasco, but there was no solid evidence. And people caught in the house all had accidents. Vasco was a violent man who often got his hands dirty. He didn’t always leave everything to his strong-arms.
Lily began to type. Lacey needed someone else on her side.