ArousingMemories (2 page)

Sev turned to her and gave a rueful smile. “Is there any
other kind?”

It wasn’t meant to be the kind of smile that seduced, she
knew that one all too well. Yet she still had to ignore the heat igniting deep
within her at the mere sight of his eyes. They were a deep blue, an interesting
contrast to his dark hair. Black Irish, and the man certainly had Celtic charm
to spare. She had fallen for it within minutes, and had tumbled head over
fucking heels in love once she had tasted his magnificent body. The mere
thought of how she had once clung to him in passion roused her senses, and she
crossed her legs to stop the tingle rising between them. Or, perhaps her
subconscious wanted to increase the feeling because the pressure on her clit
made her juices flow more.

She had to grip the armrests hard to refocus her attention
to where it belonged. She deliberately kept her voice cool. No sense in letting
the man know how he got to her. “Point taken,” she replied. “Anyway, we know it
will occur sometime in the next week or so to coincide with the Fourth. Noah
managed to relay that information to me earlier in the mission, although he
didn’t know whether it would happen on the exact day.”

Sev picked up the conversational ball. “These nutjobs like
symbolism, so the target has to be something related to the Revolutionary War
and independence.”

“Exactly,” she agreed, happy to be engaged in the important
issue at hand. “And this being Boston, we have lots to choose from.” The room
where they sat was actually in a Boston suburb. Their “offices” were located in
a converted factory from the nineteenth century. From where she sat, Haley
could see the Charles River meandering by. She mulled over the target choices
out loud. “In Boston proper we have Faneuil Hall, the State House, Paul
Revere’s House, the Old North Church.”

“Bunker Hill monument,” Sev added.

“Old Ironsides.” She added the naval ship, U.S.S.
Constitution
,
that resided in Charlestown near Bunker Hill.

Sev gave her one of his infuriating smiles. This one wasn’t
meant for seduction, either. It was his way of being condescending, which was
common for him. When he looked at her like that, it was enough to kill her
interest. And it was hard to remember why she’d ever loved him in the first
place. Arrogant ass!

“Wrong war, sugar. That’s the one in 1812.”

He had deliberately used the hated endearment. A year ago,
when they had still been jumping each other at every opportunity and planning a
future together, it had become a real endearment, one she treasured as a sign
of his love, not condescension. But that was then. Now it was the sort of
inappropriate thing a guy called a female colleague. If he had hoped to get a
rise out of her, she was determined to disappoint him.

Haley shrugged. “These guys aren’t the sharpest tacks in the
box. It’s a big tourist attraction and loaded with symbolism because it’s still
maintained as an actively commissioned ship manned by naval personnel.”

“I agree.” Ms. Mac’s sharp voice cut between them, reminding
them they weren’t alone and this wasn’t some lover’s game. Lives were at stake,
and Noah’s life and career were also on the line. What would happen to him if
his memories didn’t come back? There was no time to dwell on that extra matter,
however. The boss turned to the doctor.

“Is there anything, any treatment, to help regain a person’s
memories?”

With a head shake, Dr. Alvarez gave the harsh answer. “No,
not really. The brain is still a big mystery to us, memories even more so. We
can only hope as his physical condition improves, his memories will return,
although there isn’t a physical reason for his amnesia. The blow to the head he
obviously took was enough to knock him out but not enough to keep him out as
long as he was or to rob him of his memories. His fever, while high, wasn’t
high enough to render him insensate either. His condition was and remains
mostly psychological as near as I can tell with the medical results. His mind
is hiding from a truth he can’t bear.”

“I don’t understand why that would be,” Sev interjected.
“Noah’s not that green as an operative and pretty emotionally tough from what
I’ve seen. Sure, they worked him over, but he could take the pain.”

The women remained silent for a few seconds in reaction to
his comment. Sev only had the bare facts of what had happened. With a glance at
Ms. Mac, Haley reluctantly took on the task of giving him the details. “They
tortured Markowitz to death in front of him to make him talk,” she said in a
low voice. The image of the poor woman’s body was burned into her memory. It
would be there forever.

“Christ,” Sev murmured.

“They showed some spark of intelligence in that decision,
I’m afraid,” she continued grimly. “They must have known how well we’re trained
against breaking under physical pain, so they used a woman as leverage against
him. They hoped he’d talk rather than allow a woman to be slowly killed.”

“Any man would,” Sev agreed. “Any decent man, that is.” He
sighed heavily and pressed his thumbs against the corners of his eyes. “Except
a man trained to keep his mouth shut no matter what. No wonder he’s wiped those
memories from his mind. I’d do the same.”

Haley understood the sentiment. If she could forget what she
had found inside the warehouse, she would. Knowing she had managed a rescue
while Noah still lived was hardly comfort enough.

“They’re not necessarily gone for good,” the doctor replied.
“This isn’t like brain damage. The memories are locked inside and may come out
with the passage of time. It’s also possible something will trigger them.”

“Such as?” Ms. Mac prompted when the doctor fell silent.

The doctor waved vaguely. “Such as a sight, a sound, a
smell. It’s hard to say, but we do know it happens. The smallest things can
cause a memory to come flooding back.”

“Doc, are you suggesting we wave some…what, blood or
gunpowder under the kid’s nose to make him remember?” Sev asked skeptically.

“It might work,” the doctor allowed. “It might also send him
into shock and shut him down entirely if you’re too heavy handed about this.
It’s going to be difficult enough for him to cope with what happened when he
does remember. We don’t need him going completely catatonic on us.”

“That would be a no,” Haley added, grimacing at Sev. A germ
of an idea started to form in her head, however. Perhaps it was her own
memories of the intimate moment she had shared earlier that morning with the
still-unconscious Noah. “How about a touch?” she ventured leaning forward.
Severin’s gaze whipped over to her, but she ignored it and concentrated on the
doctor’s response.

“A touch,” agreed the other woman. “Touch can be very
evocative, too.”

Haley sat back in her seat, a plan blossoming in her tired,
yet eager, brain. Noah was a very sensual young man. He had spent hours
caressing her body, reveling in the feel of her, delighting in the sight and
smell of her. Reliving those moments might do the trick. It was a crazy idea,
maybe a little unfair to Noah, given his condition. He had to be frightened as
well as confused. His life was in limbo, and what she had in mind would either
help or possibly make him more confused. It would certainly make him more
emotionally dependent on her. She could handle that, though. She had known when
she took the first step toward taking him as a lover as well as a trainee that
she was accepting greater responsibility for him. He wasn’t like Sev, he wasn’t
an experienced operative or even very experienced as a man. He wasn’t a
player
.
She was older and more powerful, and with power came responsibility. She would
and could tread carefully.

She wondered if Sev was as concerned about Noah. The
relationship between the two men was mostly a matter of conjecture on her part.
Neither had spoken about it to her, thank God. She had no interest in hearing
about her old lover’s conquests with her new lover. Things were complicated
enough as it was. She knew, too, that for all his faults, Severin Blake was not
a callous predator. Whatever had happened between the two men would have been
consensual as it was between her and Noah. Or her and Sev, some part of her
brain added. Several years her senior, Sev had been her mentor once upon a
time. Their relationship had worked out well back in those days. It was
exciting, as were the missions. It wasn’t until she came into her own as an
operative and was given her own missions and her own trainees that things started
to go wrong. He had changed, or maybe she had. Things between them had changed,
that was for sure.

He stared at her. The heat in the room kicked up a notch or
two and it was Haley’s turn to want to squirm. She held firm, though. No way
would she let him see he could get to her. She shut down thoughts of her plan
for Noah. It wasn’t possible for Sev to tell what she was thinking, and yet it
was exactly how it felt. Instead, she offered up her assessment of their next
move to their boss.

“Ma’am, I suggest while we wait and hope for Noah to recover
his memories, we send agents out to canvas the more obvious targets. Maybe
we’ll get lucky and notice suspicious activity.”

Ms. Mac nodded her head once. “I agree, it’s our only course
of action at this moment. Now that the terrorists know we were able to
infiltrate them, they’ll be extra careful. I believe they’re arrogant enough to
go through with their plans, however. Allowing the detonation they set to blow
a few minutes after your rescue was completed was a wise decision, Ms. Walker.
And they likely saw the fake news story we put out about two dead bodies being
found inside. Draw up a list and assign the agents. If you need more people,
let me know.” Turning to look at Sev, she added, “Ms. Walker is team leader on
this one, but she needs a lieutenant. That would be you, Mr. Blake.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied and shot Haley yet another look she
knew too well. Sev was ex-military and followed orders, yet his expression
reminded her he never followed them blindly. He would challenge her and make
her justify her decisions. Typical alpha male, he would be a pain in her ass.
Still, there was no one she trusted more in the field, and a part of her she
kept trying to beat back was thrilled at the prospect of being with him again.
She had never really gotten over Severin Blake, and wasn’t that a testament to
how utterly exhausted she was to even think such a thing?

Standing up abruptly, Haley dismissed herself. “I’d better
get started.”

“Get some sleep first,” Ms. Mac ordered. “You can’t think
straight with as little sleep as you’ve had in the last few days. We have time,
so let’s do this as right as we can.”

“Yes ma’am,” Haley replied, although she didn’t want to
sleep while mass murderers planned their attack. Even as she thought it,
though, the room tilted a bit. She was that tired. Ignoring the vertigo, she
walked into the hallway, only to be stopped by a hard grip on her arm. Training
and the touch’s familiarity kept her from twisting away and launching a
counterattack. Back against the wall, she lifted her tired eyes to Sev’s
devastatingly sexy ones.

They held each other’s gaze for long seconds, he searching
hers as if to glean some information, and she giving herself the pleasure of
the mere sight of him. It was wrong and stupid. They were long over and there
was no going back. Still, she loved his blue eyes. Besides being such an
interesting contrast to his black hair, they always seemed to convey a sense of
mystery and invitation. It was as if Sev’s eyes said, “I know something and I’m
going to give you a chance to find out what in very interesting ways.”

Sev’s hand told tales, too. His fingers still held her arm
in a loose grip and it was impossible for her to not respond to the touch. Her
skin tingled where pressed, a flash of heat and arousal careened throughout her
entire body. Tired and worn out, Haley closed her eyes as she leaned against
the wall and focused on the sensation, enjoying how her nipples tightened
against her shirt and her pussy’s folds swelled against her panties. It was so
delicious, she forgot for a moment who was making her feel so good.

“Haley?”

And then she remembered. Sev’s voice could be a turn-on,
too, but his tone was one of faint amusement. He knew what was happening to
her. Her eyes popped open and, straightening from the wall, she shook off his
hold. “What?” she demanded in a clipped tone.

The look in his eyes said he wasn’t fooled by her effort to
appear unaffected. Her nipples jutted out from her soft cotton shirt, betraying
her. His gaze flicked down briefly and when he looked at her face again, a
small teasing smile played at the corners of his lips. She ignored it.

“Is there something you want, Sev, because I have a lot of
work to do?”

The amusement left his face. “We both have a lot of work to
do. I’ll help you draw up a list of possible targets and we can set up a recon
schedule, after you get some sleep.” She opened her mouth to argue the last
point, and knowing her the way he did, he overrode what she was going to say.
“After,” he emphasized. “I know you want to jump right in on this and so do I,
but you’re obviously exhausted and the boss lady was right about the sleep.”

Haley rolled her eyes and looked away, hating how he was
right. “Yeah, yeah,” she griped, “I’m sure I look a fright.” As soon as she
said it, she was appalled she had uttered such an obvious female line, the kind
geared to induce a man to reassure a woman. Sev, damn him, played his male part
without hesitation.

“You look beautiful, as always.” The statement was so simple
and said with such earnestness, she looked at him with suspicion. His eyes
conveyed sincerity and tiredness. For an instant, perhaps only in her own mind,
she saw something else, regret. If it had been there at all, it was gone. “I’m
going to check in on Noah in the meantime,” he added in a more businesslike
tone.