Getting through customs in Jorwani took some time once they deplaned. The Jorwani authorities scrutinized their passports, staring at Cody and then his photo again and again until finally they were satisfied he was legit. Then they did the same thing to Miranda. She was placid while they did so, though Cody wanted to snap at the one dude who seemed to take a lot of pleasure in staring at Miranda’s breasts rather than her face.

Finally they were through and hailing a taxi. The aid group was located in a neighborhood inside the capital city, Cape Lucier. Much of Cape Lucier was marked by the civil war that had raged for the past three years until Zain Okonjo overthrew the government and did his own cleansing of the population. Concrete buildings looked like swiss cheese in some places. In others, parts of buildings had crumbled from the fighting and lay in piles of broken cement and rebar. The streets were dusty and pockmarked with blast holes. The people looked fearful as they hurried about their daily business, women with baskets filled with whatever groceries they could beg, borrow, or steal and men with haunted looks that spoke of battle and bloodshed.

Cody knew that look, as did all Special Ops troops. They’d seen it far too many times before. The ratty taxi he and Miranda had taken from the airport dropped them off at the front of a compound that looked like every other building in the city. The sign out front proclaimed it was the Good Samaritan Aid Society. A bit cheeky considering that Jorwani was about ninety-percent Muslim. Another taxi belching fumes rocked to a halt and Kev MacDonald emerged with his wife in tow.

“Jesus, I was beginning to wonder if we’d make it,” he said as he and Lucky walked over to where Cody stood with Miranda.

Lucky laughed. “We’ve ridden in worse, babe.”

“True.”

They walked in through the open gates of the compound. There was a truck inside, off-loading boxes, and a group of Jorwani citizens standing in a line waiting for whatever was in those boxes. The air smelled of dust and unwashed bodies, and the noise levels rose and fell as children cried and mothers tried to soothe them.

A man walked out of another building farther away and waved at them.

“Fucking hell,” Kev said.

Cody snorted. “We knew it, didn’t we? Where don’t we go that Ian Black doesn’t appear at some point?”

“Yeah, but still. I was hoping he was merely running this one from afar for a change.”

“That’s Ian Black?” Miranda asked, and Cody glanced at her. He’d been trying not to make eye contact with her since the moment on the plane when she’d admitted that she wanted to suck his dick. Because holy hell, looking at her caused his blood pressure to spike. Something that felt very much like a growl hung deep in his throat, waiting for him to let it out. A growl like an animal made when it staked its claim on something.

Because he very much wanted to stake his claim on her. He was trying desperately not to think about all the ways he wanted to stake his claim since there wasn’t going to be much opportunity for that kind of thing out here.

“Yeah, that’s him. You know who he is?”

“I’ve heard of him.”

Cody almost smiled at the lack of emotion in her voice. She’d probably been fed the standard CIA line about Black, which meant she didn’t trust him. Not that she gave it away.

“Don’t believe everything you hear. Black’s an asshole, but he’s been instrumental in a few things we’ve done.”

Lucky turned and shot them a mischievous look. “Just wait until Nick and Victoria arrive. There might be a show.”

“A show?” Miranda asked.

“Vic was working for Black when she and Nick hooked up. It was dicey, to say the least.”

“Baby, I’m sure that’s all in the past,” Kev said.

Lucky shrugged. “We’ll see.”

“My, my,” Black said as they approached. “The cat just keeps dragging the riffraff to my door today.”

Lucky was unfazed by that statement as she sashayed forward and gave Black a hug. He shot Kev a look as he hugged her back. “Except for you, Lucky,” he said. “Definitely not riffraff at all.”

“Thanks, Ian. Love you too.”

“Hands off my wife,” Kev finally growled.

“And how are the marine animals today?” Black said as he let Lucky go, tipping his chin at Cody.

“Same as always. Ready to bite your fucking head off if necessary.”

Black snorted a laugh. “God, I love you people. So uptight and angry for no reason. Hooyah!” His gaze narrowed in on Miranda. “Hello, Jane Wood,” he said. “Been expecting you for a while.”

Miranda arched an eyebrow, cool as ever. “I don’t know why. Until yesterday, I had no plans to be here.”

“You never know, do you?” Black stepped back. “All right, this reunion has been fun, but time’s wasting. You aren’t here for chitchat and neither am I. I’ll show you to your accommodations. After that, you can come and see how the operation is run and maybe pitch in to help distribute aid to these people. The need is real, and we could use the bodies.”

“That’s not why you’re here,” Cody said, disputing the notion that Black had a big heart.

“No, it’s not. But we help out because, first of all, these people need it. And second, it’s a good source of intel on what’s happening in the city.”

He led them inside a long building that had a large room at one end and a central hallway with what appeared to be storerooms on either side. He reached one and swung the door open. “I’ve got three of these rooms for the couples since I assume you’re working with your partner on something mission critical—unless you tell me differently, of course. The rest of the men will bunk in rooms of six. There’s a meeting room in the back of the building that we use as a war room. It’s secure—shielded from radio waves coming in or out—so it will suit your needs.”

Cody peered into the room. It was no bigger than a closet back home really. There were two bunk beds against one wall and nothing else.

But it was private. He’d be in one of these with Miranda. Alone.

Holy hell.

Black left the door open and started down the hallway. “The other two rooms are here,” he said, pointing as they passed. “And the bathroom is down here. There’s only one shower—and there’s no hot water, but you don’t have to worry about that too much since it’s basically tepid straight out of the pipes.”

He stopped and turned to face them. “Chow’s at five. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s not an MRE either.”

“Thank God for that,” Kev grumbled.

“Briefing tonight at twenty-two hundred in the war room after you’ve all arrived. That’s where you’ll know what we know about Okonjo and Conti. I’ll leave you to do whatever it is you people do until then.”

“Ian,” Lucky called as he turned away.

“Yeah?”

“Are you any closer to finding whatever it is you’re looking for?”

Cody didn’t miss the way the man’s eyes flattened for a second. There were rumors about Black, rumors that he was still on the CIA payroll, but nobody knew anything for sure. All they knew was that he seemed to be a law unto himself. A mercenary who worked for the highest bidder but always somehow seemed to be on the right side of things when the shit hit the fan.

Whatever was in his eyes faded, and Black shrugged dismissively. “I’m looking for decent work and profit for my people. I find that all the time.”

“Well, I hope you continue to find it then,” Lucky said softly.

He gave her a small smile and then turned and strode away.

“Hey, homies,” a voice called and they turned to see a couple of Cody’s teammates approaching. It was Camel who’d spoken. “Heard you were here.”

“Just arrived. Find anything interesting?” Cody asked.

“Checked out the war room. It’s sound. The gear is state of the art too. Black is certainly fitted out well.”

“He’s a mercenary,” Kev said. “He doesn’t have to file a requisition to get the goods.”

They had the latest and greatest in HOT too, but Colonel Mendez fought hard for that. They all knew what it was like to be in outfits that had to make do with whatever they had. Improperly armored vehicles. Old computers. Gear that was good but not as good as it needed to be. Cody’d made a few field modifications to combat gear in his time, as they all had.

Being a SEAL was a fucking awesome deal any day of the week. Being a HOT SEAL was like being a SEAL on steroids. Fucking awesome with icing and a cherry on top.

He glanced at Miranda. She looked so damn pretty in her dress with the white cotton shirt tied over the top. She wasn’t showing cleavage, but it was clear that her magnificent chest was holding the top of the dress up.

No wonder the Jorwani customs agent had spent so much time staring at her. Cody knew a sudden, overwhelming urge to drag her into the small room they were sharing and tug that dress down so he could suck those nipples into tight, hard points.

“All right, boys,” Lucky said, cutting through the lustful haze in his mind. “Those people out there need help distributing supplies. I suggest we do that since that’s why we’re here for the next day or two.”

“Let’s put our bags away at least,” Kev said only half-jokingly, and Cody recognized the look of a man who wanted some alone time with the woman he was crazy about.

Not that Cody was crazy about Miranda. He just wanted her. Right now would be a good time.

He dragged his gaze away from her and found that Lucky was watching him with narrowed eyes. It was as if she could tell what he was thinking. He barely resisted giving her a who me? look before she turned her gaze to her husband.

“We can take a few moments to freshen up. I’d say Jane and I need to change, of course. But no trying to distract me, Kev.” She looked about as serious as bad news on a sunny day. “We’ll meet out front in five minutes. Right?”

Nobody dared to disagree.

* * *

Miranda was used to hard work. She’d trained long and hard at the Farm, working to hone her body into a precision instrument. She was in the best shape of her life and had been for a few years now.

But slinging fifty-pound bags of rice and flour for a couple of hours used muscle groups she didn’t know she possessed. By the time they finished helping to unload the trucks—another one had shown up while they worked—she was sore and tired and ready for a tepid shower.

Except she didn’t have that luxury because her stomach was about to chew itself up from the inside out. She stopped and wiped the beads of sweat from her brow. She’d changed into a pair of lightweight cotton pants and a T-shirt. She’d brought a hat, thankfully, and she’d put that on to shade her face from the sun.

Miranda’s gaze slipped to Cody. He’d removed his shirt some time ago, and her belly clenched at the sight of all that golden muscle. The other guys had removed their shirts too. Quite frankly, they were all magnificent. How couldn’t they be considering what they did and how utterly in shape they had to be to do it?

She and Lucky were the only ones who didn’t have the luxury of removing shirts in this heat, unfortunately.

“Is it time to eat yet?” Lucky asked, coming up beside her.

“God, I hope so. But I think I need to clean up first.”

Lucky looked down at the sweat stains on her own clothes. “Yep, going to have to agree with you there.”

“Think they’d notice if we snuck off?”

Lucky watched the men for a second. “Nah, probably not one of us. But if we both disappeared, oh yeah. You go ahead. I’ll stay and cover for you.”

Miranda felt like she should protest, but the truth was she didn’t want to. She wanted to escape these larger-than-life men for a few minutes. Well, mostly one larger-than-life man. After what she’d said to him on the plane, after the revelation they were staying in a room together—a bunk room, but still a room—she had to take time to breathe and think. Were they headed where she thought they were headed? And could she handle it?

She could always ask Ian Black for another room if she didn’t want to go there. Her mind immediately sent up an objection to that thought, however.

She arched her back and put a hand to the curve of her spine for a second. “Thanks,” she said to Lucky. “I won’t be long.”

With one more glance at Cody, she headed for the building where their room lay. Thankfully there was AC, though it was anemic at best. But it did work to take some of the humidity out of the air.

Miranda gathered some fresh underwear and supplies and headed for the shower. The bathroom was old and creaky, with porcelain fixtures and a rust stain in the cast-iron tub that reminded her of her Granny’s tub back in Alabama when Granny had still been alive.

For some insane reason, Miranda had liked to clean that rust spot. There was a certain cleanser, she couldn’t think of the name of it now, but sprinkling it on and then scrubbing with a sponge was enough to make the rust magically disappear.

Maybe she’d enjoyed it because there was a tangible result to her hard work. It was something she’d been in control of, something that she could conquer.

She had half a thought that if she had that cleanser here, she’d be down on her knees beside this tub, scrubbing the stain away. Instead, she turned and locked the door, then shed her clothes and turned on the tap. The water trickled out at a steady pace and, yeah, it was tepid. No such thing as a hot shower here, but at least it wasn’t cold either.

Miranda stepped under the spray and washed off the sweat and dirt of the day. She worked quickly because it was obvious the water wasn’t precisely plentiful. When she finished, she grabbed one of the pitiful, threadbare towels stacked on a table nearby and dried as much as she could before tugging on clothing against damp skin.

Then she gathered her things and jerked open the door, intending to rush back to her room and go spell Lucky so she could have a shower too.

But instead of an empty hallway, she came face-to-face with a large, bare-chested man with blue eyes. The sight of him punched her in the gut the way it always did and left her gasping for air. She only prayed she didn’t do something idiotic, like swoon because her knees gave out.

“I’m disappointed in you, Jane,” Cody drawled, lifting his arms to grasp the doorframe, effectively preventing her escape.

“Uhh, why?”

His gaze did that slow crawl down her body that always heated her up from the inside out.

“Because you didn’t wait for me.”