Keep (Command #2) (5 page)

“Tell me about the sex.”

“Excuse me?” she said, hushed.

“You heard me. You agreed to tell me about his problem.”

“It was our problem, and I’m not going to talk about it.”

“Bullshit. What was it?”

Her pulse raced with anger. “Forget it.”

“Did it get too kinky and weird? Or did you lose interest, stop giving it to him?”

Heat burned her face and she knew she was turning red. If he was going to challenge her, so be it. She’d give him the damn answer. “We were incompatible.”

“Incompatible?” Confusion flooded Shawn’s typically warm eyes. “Incompatible, how?”

Tension filled her shoulders and curled her eyes down to slits. He must have realized he’d reached the edge and shouldn’t push her any further because he softened.

“The incompatibility is on his end,” he declared. “We proved that yesterday.” She drew in a deep breath at the memory and his eyes lit up with opportunity. “I thought we were quite compatible, didn’t you?”

She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. “Please, enough.”

When he didn’t respond, she gave him a sideways look. He was studying her, like he was evaluating how much further he could push it. How much more pressure she could take.

“Is that what you want?” He sounded resigned. “For me to stop? Be honest.”

How could she give him an honest answer when she didn’t know herself? She was desired by this man and that feeling was addicting. He was annoying, and unbelievably handsome, successful, and… experienced. He could probably screw her without getting his feelings involved and, judging by the twenty minutes in his backseat, it would be enjoyable for both of them. But there was no way she could tangle with Shawn and not come out the other side a total mess. Separating the emotion from the act was impossible.

The cautious side of her, which typically was in control, whispered she should stop him. The other side wasn’t ready to shut the door on what he could offer. Paul made her feel undesirable and like she was inferior. She hadn’t felt that way with Shawn. Not now, and not in the backseat. Out of control? Yes. But she felt equal.

A worthy opponent.

“I want you to… slow down,” she admitted. It was a small death, for she assumed how he would interpret her answer. She’d just confirmed what he’d been telling her all along, that she did want him. At 20,000 feet in the air she could feel the ground shift beneath her as any remaining power she had went to him.

“Look at me,” he requested, and she obeyed. “If you want me to stop, I’ll stop. But slowing down isn’t something I can —”

“Is there a blanket?” she asked, derailing him.

“I’m sorry?”

“I’d like to pretend to sleep so I don’t have to talk to you, and I’m cold.”

His silence didn’t last long. “We don’t have to talk anymore.”

He moved too fast. A hand slipped into her hair and pulled her face to his, and he was kissing her before it could register what had happened. Heat spread down from his mouth, filling her body. She let him part her lips with his tongue and explore with no resistance; she had no control. It was all his. He broke the kiss just as she craved more.

“Victoria?” he said. She reappeared from behind a divider. “Kara would like a blanket, please.”

Not that Kara needed it now. His kiss had left her feverish and he seemed well aware, passing the soft blanket to her with a smug expression. It was made worse when she couldn’t figure out how to recline the seat and he leaned over, activating the lever, his eyes locked on hers as he lowered her seat almost flat. Once it was converted into a bed, she threw the blanket over herself and turned away from him in a huff. If he weren’t watching her, she would have marveled at the seat. How could she go back to flying coach now? Shawn had ruined it for her.

Kara had the terrible feeling that wasn’t all he was going to ruin.

Shawn decided to let her be for a while. He moved to the desk and spent the next hour reviewing e-mails and proposals until Victoria had breakfast prepared and Kara had to stop pretending to be asleep. Her icy blue eyes trapped his as he returned to sit beside her so that they could eat together.

“Thank you for doing this.” Her voice was restrained and polite. “But when we land in Maastricht, there’s no need for you to deplane.”

“I believe I mentioned I wanted to see you home, to make sure you arrive safely.” He tried not to put too much emphasis on it.

Her eyes narrowed. “That’s unnecessary.”

The annoyance at his brother and sister-in-law grew. Kara had a right to know she was potentially in danger. “Jason asked me to do this. Perhaps he’s paranoid, but I didn’t have a problem agreeing to it and I’m going to follow through.”

He witnessed his annoyance mirrored in her eyes. “Rhodes is in police custody in New York. I think I’m safe with the ocean between us.” She returned to her cantaloupe, cutting off a hunk with aggression.

“It’s not Rhodes that Jason is worried about,” he said. “It’s Juric.”

She froze mid-bite. Did her mind go blank like Shawn’s did whenever he heard the name of the psychotic hitman who became obsessed with Kara’s sister and had held her captive?

“What’s happened?” Kara returned to life, albeit paler than before. “Jason said the CIA took him.” Her voice sharpened with anxiety. “He was told they were safe.”

An unfamiliar need gripped Shawn. Not a sexual one, but a desire to protect. To keep Kara safe. He took her hand to offer comfort and found it cool to the touch. “The man Jason
believes
is CIA contacted him. There was a fire where Juric was being held and the bodies haven’t been identified yet.”

Her hand squeezed his as her eyes went wide. “Juric’s escaped?”

“Ethan doesn’t know. Juric could be one of the bodies. Apparently the fire was very bad.”

She made a face of confusion, and he understood.

“The agent that helped Jason and L,” Shawn continued. “He said his real name is Ethan.”

She struggled visibly to process the information. “Jason and Laurel —?”

“He took her to a safe house he owns outside of Munich.” That was technically a lie because Shawn owned the house. He also paid a small fortune for L’s around-the-clock security detail, but was happy to do it. He’d do anything for family and liked his sister-in-law very much.

“When was the fire?”

Shawn took a breath. “Two weeks ago.” Hopefully now she understood why the workplace incident had put the already concerned Dunns on high alert.

“
Two weeks?”
Her face hardened. “They should have told me.”

“I agree. That’s why I’m telling you now.” He hadn’t actually gotten authorization from Jason on that, but his younger brother would have to get over it. Jason had made it clear what he wanted. Shawn was supposed to keep his hands to himself during this trip.

His gaze dropped to her blanketed lap, where her hand was still in his.

“They didn’t want you to worry,” he said. “Hopefully all this caution is for nothing.” Then he made the mistake of brushing his thumb over the back of her palm, alerting her to his presence.

Her soft hand drew away, forcing him to do the same. Concern filled her elegant features.

“I’m sure you’re safe,” he added. Even in the scary event that Juric was loose, the likelihood of him coming after Kara was minimal. His obsession was the younger of the Hayward girls.

“I’m not worried about me,” she said, frowning. “I’m worried for them.”

“Of course, but I’ll escort you home.”
And straight to bed
, he wanted to add, but refrained. Not the time for that, he scolded himself. “I’ll be happy to wait with you until your security team arrives.”

“What security team?” Anxiety tightened her voice.

“The one I’ll hire until we know that Juric’s dead.”

Her anxiety ticked up another notch. “No, no. I can’t accept that.”

“Why not? I want to know you’re safe and I have plenty of money —”

“No, Shawn. I can’t accept this because it’s another thing for you to hold over me. Or maybe you want to keep tabs.”

The thought actually hadn’t occurred to him, but he grinned. “Like I have some sinister plan for you?”

“Don’t you?” The challenge in her eyes was sexy.

He lowered his voice so it was just barely audible over the engines. “Perhaps, but I know you’ll enjoy it.” He turned and dipped a hand beneath the blanket to rest suggestively on her thigh and felt her go rigid. To make sure she understood, he moved his hand between her legs, beneath the blanket. Her eyes went enormously wide and the fork in her hand clattered to the tray table so she could grip his wrist.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

This wasn’t a big deal. Victoria was in the attendant station behind the partition. Plus his hand was beneath the blanket and tray table. Even he couldn’t see what he was doing to her. “Relax, she can’t see.”

This action was intended to be a bluff, but it became real when Kara shuddered. Not in fear, but with
pleasure
. When he began to move his hand to touch her through her jeans, her eyes warmed with desire. “Shawn.”

He loved it when she said his name. She made no effort to stop him, other than whispering his name that bordered as a plea for more. The rise and fall of her chest was almost as rapid as her eyes darting around to make sure they wouldn’t be caught.

“Stop,” she said, but in direct conflict, she shifted beneath the blanket, making it easier for him to continue.

“Tell me,” he said, “that I can come home with you, and I will.”

“You’ll stop when I yell for you to,” she threatened, “and the goddamn pilots hear it.”

It was obvious that she was bluffing, but he kissed her roughly to silence her anyway and felt her dig her fingernails painfully into his wrist. That was all right. He liked it a little rough. Her mouth was resistant to his kiss for a heartbeat before she softened beneath him. The tiniest sliver of a moan came from her, but it rumbled as loud as thunder in his ears and struck him much harder than it should have. He broke the kiss, pulling his lips away, pushing the raging desire to the back of his mind. He had her with him. “Tell me, Kara.”

Her eyes pleaded with him to stop yet begged for him to continue. A war waged inside her — she wanted to stand her ground and not give up any control. But if she let him continue, it would give him a different kind of power and eventually the modest side of her won out.

“Fine,” she said, breathless.

That caused fleeting guilt in him and he stopped moving, but left his hand where it was. For insurance. Not because he couldn’t pull it away.

“Only to see that I get in safe.” Her hurried breathing slowed. “Nothing else.”

A large smile warmed across his lips. “All right.” He was fine with letting her believe that, but this thing between them was going to come to a boiling point, he was damn sure of it.

Twenty minutes after he’d put his hands on her and forced her to agree, he tilted his seat back and fell asleep facing her with his hand still on her leg. Possessive. She was tempted to slip away when his guard was down and move to another seat, but didn’t.

They looked like lovers. How soon would it be before that was true? There was no escaping him. You might as well enjoy the ride down to hell, she thought, and not make it too easy on him.