“Then why do you need to see him again so soon?”
Because if I don’t find out where his daughter is they’re going to kill me.
“He asked me to come today. I should be on the list. Is there someone you can check with?”
Looking all kinds of annoyed, the guard grunted and shooed him off to the side. “Wait here until we’ve processed everyone else. Then we’ll see.”
Having no choice, Amir sank onto a concrete bench and waited. His arm throbbed like a separate heart beat and his stomach lurched from the constant pain. At most he’d slept a total of two hours last night, mostly in snatches of a few minutes each. Each time his phone rang his heart had tried to pound its way through his chest. He hadn’t dared answer it but he’d listened to the messages.
When he’d heard one of his handlers saying he was to link up with the others once he found the Titanium team members, he’d realized he was trapped and called back to confirm. At least this way he had a chance to finish the job and win his freedom, rather than be shot down by someone from Hassani’s network.
The guard finished checking everyone and motioned him over. Amir pushed to his feet and walked over, every step jarring the burning wound in his arm. Another guard joined the first one, both wearing latex gloves and ready to pat him down. Did that mean he was going in?
“We’re gonna let you in this once because you’re on his approved visitor list and because our computer’s down so there’s no way for us to verify whether you got your name on the list last night or not. But this is a one-time thing and won’t happen again. You want to visit, you have to be on our list.”
He almost closed his eyes in relief. “Thank you.”
“What’d you do to your arm?” one asked him.
“Had a biopsy done yesterday. Skin cancer scare,” he answered.
Apparently satisfied by the lie, they patted him down for weapons and contraband. “All right, go ahead.”
With a silent prayer of thanks Amir entered the visitor’s area and took a seat opposite the Plexiglas wall. It took a while but finally Ibrahim appeared. The moment he saw Amir his eyes lit up. He sat and took the receiver from the wall.
“Is it done?” he asked.
Amir wanted to squirm in his chair. “No. I…no.”
The excited light in his eyes died. “What happened?”
“There was someone with her when I tried to warn her,” he said slowly, careful to keep up the lie from last time. “A man. Very well trained.” He nodded pointedly at his arm, shifted enough for Ibrahim to see the edge of the bandage he’d slapped over his hasty patch job.
“Then why are you here?” he asked disdainfully.
“I need your help to find her again.”
“Mine? How can I help you from in here?” he said with a bitter laugh.
“I have to find her, within a day or two at most.” At this point Zahra was still his best chance at tracking any of the team members.
“I can’t help you.” Those dark eyes were cold now, so cold Amir suppressed a shiver because he knew if Ibrahim had been on the outside, Amir would be sorry.
He blew out a frustrated breath, barely refraining from dropping the receiver and dragging a hand through his hair. “There must be something you can tell me that might help. Would she go to a friend’s house? A relative’s?”
Ibrahim shook his head. “She is many things, but not stupid enough to do that after last night. And I don’t know who any of her friends are anyway.”
Damn. “What about another city she has some connection in?”
Another head shake.
“A sport or hobby, something that I could find a trail that might lead me to her?” He knew he sounded desperate but he didn’t care.
“No.”
“A favorite place she might go?”
Ibrahim started to shake his head and the spark of hope burning in Amir’s chest flickered out, leaving him cold and in the dark. Then the older man stilled and Amir saw a flare of something in his eyes as they stared at each other.
Anticipation. It made Ibrahim’s dark eyes gleam and Amir’s heart thudded hard against his ribs as he waited for him to speak.
“There is a cabin,” he said at last.
Zahra awoke to the sound of a door creaking open. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light coming through her open door from the hallway. Gray, muted daylight peeked through the small window beside her bed. The wind had picked up while she’d been asleep. It moaned and gusted against the wooden exterior of the cabin, pattering it with pine needles and bits of branches. Rain pounded on the roof. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been asleep but she stopped thinking altogether when Sean stepped out of the bathroom rubbing a towel over his hair. Her built, sexy bodyguard with those strong arms that had sheltered her so securely, kept her alive and safe tonight despite the risk to his own life. And he’d done it all without hesitation or asking anything in return.
She came up onto her elbows to face the door as Sean walked over and leaned against her bedroom doorframe, carelessly draping the towel over one broad shoulder. Backlit in the hallway, he stood unmoving with his arms crossed over his wide, bare chest. His incredibly hard, muscular chest she’d cuddled against earlier. She drank in the sight of him there in nothing but his jeans, noting the tribal bands tattooed around both his biceps. Never a fan of ink before now, she had to change her opinion on that at the mouth-watering sight before her. On him those tats were sexy beyond belief, framing the bulge of his muscles.
When she tore her eyes away from the sculpted expanse of his naked torso, her mouth suddenly went dry at the raw lust she read in his face. “Hi,” she managed in a whisper, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. She sat up and brought the blankets up to shield her breasts that tingled beneath his gaze, the T-shirt suddenly an inadequate cover. “Was I asleep long?”
“No, but sorry I woke you. Didn’t think you’d be such a light sleeper.”
She’d always been like that, but especially now. She was wound tight as a watch spring from the attack and also because she didn’t have the guts to outright invite him into her bed. Her cowardice was a huge disappointment. What more did she need than another near death experience to teach her to live life to the fullest? He was right there in front of her and clearly interested. Why couldn’t she just go after him? She licked her lips. “Did Hunter give you any new intel?”
He shook his head and when he didn’t say anything else, nerves started to take hold. Why wasn’t he making a move? Was he waiting for her to do it? Had he changed his mind?
She fiddled with the edge of the comforter, searching for something to say, battling against the rising need inside her.
Hold me. Make love to me so I can forget these terrible memories for a little while.
He still hadn’t moved from the doorway, just stood there watching her with that unreadable expression she couldn’t decipher. “If you want to work some more I can get up and help,” she offered. Her fingers worried the edge of the quilt faster.
You’re such a chicken shit, Zahra. Tell him you want him.
What the hell are you waiting for?
“There’s not much in the fridge, but maybe I can fix us something…” Her voice frayed and she swallowed the nervous lump in her throat, wondering if she sounded as dumb as she felt.
Sean unfolded his arms and prowled toward her.
Zahra held her breath as he crossed the room, her heart thudding against her breastbone. He strode to the edge of the bed and sat beside her hip, the mattress dipping under his weight. In the added light coming from the hallway she could see the way he searched her eyes for a moment. Then he reached up and cupped the side of her face with one hand. She almost closed her eyes in relief.
His palm was warm against her skin, his thumb gentle as it swept over her cheek. A jumble of emotions swamped her. Fear. Desire. Uncertainty. Loneliness. Need. A need she didn’t fully understand, but wanted to explore with Sean. She trusted him implicitly.
Gathering her courage, Zahra brought one hand up and curled her fingers around his strong wrist. Her gaze dropped to his mouth, so soft and full on what were otherwise such hard, masculine features.
Without a word, Sean brought up his other hand to cradle her face between them and lowered his head to kiss her. Zahra moaned and slid her hands into his thick, damp hair, opening her mouth for the soft caress of his tongue. Bolts of heat swept into the pit of her stomach and between her thighs.
Strong hands pressed her shoulders back onto the bed. She went willingly and lay staring up at him in the dimness, trembling all over. Anticipation, nervousness and desire all swirled through her in a dizzying rush. The edgy need he’d woken in her earlier was back full force, making her entire body throb and she was more aware than ever of just the bedding and T-shirt covering her. But part of her still balked about doing this. On some level—because of the strict way she was raised—she still felt intrinsically guilty about engaging in premarital sex. Whenever she’d taken a lover in the past, the sex hadn’t lived up to her expectations at all. She was a little afraid of disappointing Sean because all the guys had made her feel like her inability to reach orgasm with them was her fault.
But she’d also never been this turned on before, and that was all Sean’s doing. She wanted this. Hell, as a grown, healthy woman with natural desires, she
deserved
this. And she knew instinctively she wouldn’t be disappointed this time.
As though he sensed her hesitation, Sean stretched out beside her and braced his weight on one forearm, his upper body above hers. Poised there, he smoothed the hair back from her forehead, the gesture unspeakably tender from such a hard man. “Tell me what you need.”
Her inner muscles clenched at the thought of him driving the erection she could feel against her hip deep into her willing body. “More of you.”
“How?”
She blinked at the question. “Pardon?”
“Soft and slow? Fast and hard?”
Not soft or gentle. Right now she needed to feel his strength, a little of his roughness. Rather than answer, she smoothed her hands over his back and kissed him hard, letting her hunger speak for itself. Her fingers dug into the muscles in his shoulders, eagerly testing the power thrumming beneath his hot skin. He met the stroke of her tongue eagerly and took over, slowing the kiss to a drugging caress that made her whimper.
All too soon Sean broke the kiss and pressed her down harder into the mattress with his body, holding her there as he studied her face. The tension in his muscles told her just how much he was tempering his response. She could feel the predatory vibe coming from him, the dominant side of him straining for release.
She wriggled beneath him, pressing her hips into the hard ridge of his erection to urge him on. She wanted him to just take control so she could stop thinking. Wanted to feel him filling her, burning away the chill inside her with his heat. A shiver rippled through her at the thought.
But still he didn’t peel the shirt over her head like she wanted him to. Instead he sat up on his haunches and watched her, big hands clenching into fists on his thighs.
“Take off your shirt.”
Zahra’s heart pounded at the soft command. She hadn’t expected this authoritative side of him and hesitated an instant before sitting up and reaching for the hem of her thigh-length T-shirt. She started to draw it upward, then stopped. Sean’s eyes practically glowed as he stared at her. The air crackled. She wanted to draw this moment out, tease him, make him lose some of that iron control. Her hands inched the soft cotton jersey up her bare thighs, sensitizing every inch of skin with the gentle caress of the fabric. A heavy pulse beat between her legs, her sex growing damp beneath his intense gaze. Then a cool breath of air touched her folds and she stopped again, this time out of uncertainty. Once she crossed this line there was no going back.
“Take it off, Zahra.” This time his tone held a warning edge. She’d never seen him like this, so keyed up. A hot thrill shot through her.
The relative dimness helped, but she still fought embarrassment as she edged the hem up farther, exposing the neatly trimmed strip of dark hair between her thighs.
Sean made a low sound and set one hand on her upper thigh, the warmth of his palm and fingers burning her skin, making her core tingle even more. Biting her lip, she studied his face as she drew the shirt upward more, over her stomach and ribs, then over her aching breasts. They felt swollen, heavy, the nipples puckered tight from the cool air and anticipation of his touch. Sean’s expression was set, utterly focused on the flesh she’d revealed. She started to pull the shirt over her head, but he stopped her.
“Leave it there.”
Swallowing, she lay back against the pillow and watched him study her practically naked body. His heated gaze raked over her flesh before zeroing in on her tight nipples. Nipples that begged for his touch, his mouth. But the strong hand on her thigh never moved.
“How do you like to be touched?”
Zahra swallowed hard. Did he really expect her to answer that? She couldn’t spell it out for him, it was too embarrassing. But when she tried to tug his hand away from her thigh, he made a low sound of reassurance and wouldn’t budge.
Fighting a wave of self-consciousness, she stared at his bare, chiseled chest. “Softly.”
“Mmm,” he purred, seeming pleased by her response. “Where?”
The blood rushed to her cheeks. She’d never talked like this to a lover before but she wanted to with Sean. He made her feel sexy and desirable enough to embrace her sexuality. “Here,” she whispered, lightly touching a hand to her breast.
His eyes followed the movement with avid interest. “Show me.”
A forbidden thrill rushed through her at the erotic challenge in his voice. The command made her feel wickedly hot, and she was more than up for the task. Feeding on the power she gained from teasing him, she raised her hands and let her fingers brush gently back and forth across the lower swells of her breasts. Her skin tingled and warmed beneath her touch, under the potent magic of his gaze.
His eyes stayed locked on her fingers as they whispered over the lush curves of her breasts, driving her arousal higher. When he made no move to touch her, she decided to up the stakes and feathered her fingertips over her hard nipples. A bolt of sensation zinged through her body, ending in the throbbing bud of her clitoris. Zahra arched her back with a little gasp and did it again, pausing this time to grasp the sensitive tips gently between her thumbs and forefingers and squeezing.
“Oh,” she whispered, letting her eyes close as her head fell back. She upped the pressure and rolled her nipples, squeezing gently while the pleasure rose steadily inside her, imagining it was his bronzed hands tormenting her so deliciously.
Her eyes snapped open when Sean let out a dark growl. Meeting his hot stare, she licked her lips and kept playing with herself.
“You like to be teased,” he said, his tone at once approving and accusing.
Zahra nodded, fighting to keep her breathing calm as she waited to see what he’d do. She wanted his hands on her nipples, wanted him to take them into his mouth. Wanted his fingers sliding into the slick folds between her legs and pushing inside her.
“Does it make you hot to play with yourself while I watch, sweetness?”
“Yes.” So hot. More than she’d ever thought possible.
“Show me how much.”
Oh God, that deep, velvet voice washing over her. The arousal burning in her overrode any remaining traces of self-consciousness. She started to slide a hand down her belly toward the apex of her thighs, but he stopped her with a shake of his head.
“Spread your legs for me,” he murmured. “Show me how wet you are.”
Her heart thumped hard against her ribs as the acute sense of vulnerability came rushing back. Opening herself for his perusal made her feel too exposed, too helpless.
His fingers began a slow circle on the top of her thigh, the heat of his touch scalding her skin, sending tingles radiating outward. The pads of his fingers were mere inches from where she was so wet and slippery.
“I…can’t.” She wanted to submit, but she also needed to resist. Her reaction confused her.
One side of his mouth curved upward, as though he enjoyed her struggle. “No?”