As if electricity shot from the fingertips she held against his jaw, a current sizzled straight to his cock. He was getting hard again. He hadn't even gone completely soft from one of the most explosive orgasms of his life and he was getting ready to go again.
"You are so...eager, monsieur." She giggled, but it was the fake one. "But first we must freshen up from this last encounter."
Perfect. She had segued them right into a need to find a bathroom. And gave him the opportunity to get 'lost' in the halls.
The earth trembled and the room rocked slightly. "Aftershock." Another harder, longer trembler struck. This was perfect. They could use the fear of the occupants to deliver the poison and the ensuing chaos to get the hell out of here.
"Give me the stuff." He nuzzled her ear as he demanded.
"Non."
"If I get caught, it's not that big of a deal. He needs the money and the aid." But if she were to get caught, the consequences would be severe. No one was going to notice if one woman went missing after a natural disaster. However, the executive officer of a relief org that gave the President money went missing, it would create an incident that LeRoy couldn't afford.
"We do it together." She rebutted. "You can do the actual deed," she avoided the word, poison. "If it makes you feel better, but you need a lookout."
Colin's stomach cramped. He knew that from their conversations six months ago that she was conflicted. He didn't want her to compromise her principles.
Jack had made him promise not to pressure her. That way she could make an informed decision. And if she chose not to participate in the deadly part of the mission, her conscience would be intact. She could continue to work for Jack on strictly the humanitarian side. He'd had Colin head this mission so that she would bear no ill will toward her brothers if she chose to back out. But now Colin was more worried about protecting her than protecting Jack and the company. "What about your...issues?"
"After the suffering we saw today, how can he live with himself?" she argued quietly. "I'm good."
Colin looked at her. Really looked.
Her hair was mussed, her pale skin flushed with the aftereffects of explosive sex and the sizzle of excitement. Her green eyes were bright with anticipation. Adrenaline had visibly affected her. She was getting off on the whole situation. The adrenaline. The danger. She was better than good. She was pumped.
He dove in for one last carnal kiss. Jess let her legs slide down his body, feeling liquid yet humming with tension. "Let us find a bathroom cherie and we can go for round two."
They slipped into the hallway. Colin had to hope LeRoy wouldn't leave his guests alone in the main ballroom. He needed to schmooze as many people as possible. And hopefully that last aftershock had created a little chaos.
And Colin wasn't about to leave her behind. How could he? She wanted to be here. She was the one who came up with the plan.
She caressed his shoulder with affection, 'be careful' inherent in the light touch. And then they walked out. "Let's do this."
Jack Stone was going to kill him dead. Colin's lips curved as he remembered the sound Jess made when he slid home. The little moan that was more than a puff of breath but less than a full scream. A reminiscent smile curved his lips and right this second, he couldn't bring himself to care.
Of course, that wasn't really true. He was blowing a years' long friendship and a mutually respectful professional relationship by ignoring Jack's request. But there was something about Jess. He hadn't been able to resist her.
Fuck, he was a dead man.
Eight
Two weeks later
"Jessica!" Jack roared from his office. Ava, his assistant froze, one elegantly-manicured hand on her throat, the other wrapped around the waist of her Calvin Klein suit.
Since Jess was almost at his door, the annoyed shout was completely unnecessary.
In the week since she had returned, her relationship with Jack had steadily improved. She finally felt as if she were truly a part of the family business. But the thunderous look on his face shot her straight back to outsider.
Dammit. Jess's mood plummeted. She needed this job for more reasons than one. She'd returned from Port-du-Bois buoyed by her success in the field. LeRoy had been found dead, apparently died in his sleep, so their mission had worked. Antoine D'Aramitz, with full support from the military, had stepped in. The deplorable conditions for the people of Port-du-Bois had improved almost overnight. The change in leadership occurred without bloodshed and at little to no cost to the devastated citizens who needed help, not an embezzling immoral leader.
Justice had been served Stone cold.
After the off the cuff, last minute change in plans, Jess had earned Keisha's grudging respect. Jess still didn't know why Keisha acted the way she did but they had reached a tentative peace, and Keisha had actually invited her to lunch yesterday.
Jess was thrilled about her newly changed, closer relationship with her brother Jack. When she'd asked him why he hadn't told her the truth about GHR and Stone Consulting, that the organization had multi-faceted layers of involvement in the countries and situations they participated in, he'd responded, "Sink or swim, baby. You are our sister. I was pretty damn sure that you'd step up to the action. But if you didn't or couldn't, this was the perfect opportunity to test the waters. And you performed, came through with flying colors, even better than I could have imagined."
Her sense of pride was nearly overwhelming when Jack said, "Welcome to the family biz, sweetheart."
She fit at GHR. She finally realized she could do good and still utilize her other skills when necessary. She was vital to the organization. It was as if everything was just falling into place.
Except for one thing. The only area of her life that was not going well was her heart. She had known her interlude with Colin would be brief, explosive and over before they left Port-du-Bois but even so, she hadn't anticipated the speed and finality of the end.
They'd managed to get the poison into LeRoy's bathroom without getting caught. There had been a few hairy moments. She'd had to duck into a hall closet when her guard pal almost caught up with her.
Aftershocks had continued to rock the city and they made their way back to the camp without detection. The soldiers were too busy trying to control the panicked citizens who were totally freaked out. The streets had been packed with terrified people afraid once again to go back inside.
Even though it had been late and most of the relief workers were tucked away in their tents, the occasional emergency siren blew long and loud. And when they'd gotten back to the compound, Colin had thanked her stiffly for her commitment to the cause and then promptly sent her to her own tent.
The only conversations they'd had after that pertained strictly to their relief work.
So two weeks later, even after full days of satisfying work, she went home every night to her lonely condo and she relived the moments with Colin.
Not just the sex, although, who was she kidding, she definitely missed how he made her feel. But she missed his company too. She'd missed him.
She refused to mope. He was clearly treating their time in Port-du-Bois as a hook up. She hadn't heard from him since she got back to Monterey. And she knew he was in town. The entire office had been buzzing about the handsome, hot Brit.
Jess shoved into Jack's office. "What's got your panties in a twist?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder and simultaneously noticed Colin sitting in the chair in front of Jack's desk. His familiar light brown hair and heart-jerking tilt of his head hit her. And then he turned around and looked straight at her spearing her heart with his direct regard. Jack tossed a glossy picture on his desk but Jess couldn't tear her gaze from Colin.
Wonderful.
She hoped she was hiding her visceral reaction to being in the same room with Colin again. But she wasn't sure. She licked her lips and tore her gaze from her former lover as Jack burst up from his chair, fists clenched and his dark black hair standing on end.
"What. The. Hell?" He snarled.
Colin jumped up from his chair and placed himself between Jess and Jack. She gave him a strange look. "What are you doing?"
Colin jerked his chin at her brother. "Protecting you."
Jess fell back a step. "Jack wouldn't hurt me." At least not physically.
"But I would hurt you." Jack stepped around his desk and fists in the air, threw a punch at Colin.
Colin's head snapped back but he didn't lift his hands to protect himself. A trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He wiggled his jaw back and forth a few times but didn't say a word.
"Jack!"
Jack punched Colin again. "Are you such a man-whore that you couldn't keep it in your pants for a few weeks?"
Jess's face drained of color. "What?" she whispered.
"Are you such an ass that you would bring it up in front of your sister?" Colin snapped back.
"It's been brought up in front of a hell of a lot more people than my sister, since I was sent the photos to prove it," Jack said viciously.
"Photos?" Jess said faintly. There must have been surveillance in that room. At the time, she hadn't cared. But standing in her brother's office, she was re-thinking that nonchalance.
Colin picked the 8 x 10 picture up off of Jack's desk. "It's my ass hanging out," he said casually.
Jess peered over Colin's shoulder and winced. Awesome. Even though only part of her face was visible, her bare legs were wrapped around Colin's very fine ass, and she was clearly identifiable in the picture.
It looked like Colin was showing her a very good time. Her head was thrown back and her mouth was curved in ecstasy.
"She did the job," Colin said to Jack. "She used her head and found a way in to the mansion to get the poison to me."
"And you just couldn't resist using her too?" Jack clenched his fists as if he was going to hit Colin again.
"The picture evidence would support our decision to make it real," Colin replied wearily. "If they'd had any suspicion after observing us in that room, we both, or at the very least, Jess would be dead."
All very valid, logical reasons. But suddenly Jess was back in that guest room. And she knew that the picture revealed a whole other reason for the fact that they'd had sex in that room. Their desire practically leapt from that photo. Sensual, sultry, and totally hot.
"Jack." Suddenly, Jess's temper began to boil. "If Keisha and Colin had sex in Port-du-Bois, this would be a non-issue. So why are you giving Colin a hard time?"
"Because I asked him to keep it in his pants. He was supposed to be watching over you, not boning you."
"You...." Her anger hit white hot. "Are you serious? I'm twenty-eight years old. It's not like I'm in high school and getting pressure from the Homecoming King, for God's sake."
"You're still my baby sister."
Jess rolled her eyes. "I cannot believe this."
Jack wasn't finished. "He promised me—"
"I'm sorry," Colin said stiffly. "I apologize for betraying our friendship."
He turned on his heel and walked toward the door.
Jack yelled, "What were you thinking?"
Colin spun around. "Jess has a joy that is incandescent. I just...wanted her to warm me up. How do you not see it?" Colin jabbed his finger at Jack. His usually pale eyes were dark with repressed emotion and his face almost angry. "Wouldn't you do whatever it took to feel that alive, that satisfied?"
Silence filled the office.
Jack's face was a mask of stunned remorse. "Jesus," he whispered. "You weren't just boning her."
"No, you idiot." Colin said despairingly, "I couldn't bear to stay away from her."
Jess was stunned. Her feet rooted to the floor as a gaping hole opened in her chest and all his longing and sorrow poured in filling her up. She stood unmoving, as Colin stalked toward the door and away from her.
"What are you doing?" Jack whispered. "Go after him."
She was frozen, numb. The seething emotion coming from Colin had taken her completely by surprise. She had made the decision six months ago to take control of her life. Take control of her future. She'd mostly been thinking of her career and her family life. But suddenly she realized she needed to take control of her
life.
"Wait." Jess sprinted toward him and grabbed Colin's bicep. He was hard and tense underneath her palm. She realized she'd fit with him since that hot, close room in a dingy underground station. They fit.
Colin turned, his face completely impassive. If she hadn't seen his intensity a minute ago, she would have thought that he could care less.
"You think I have that—"
"I know you do," Colin interrupted.
"Let me finish," Jess snapped. Her heart was beating so hard, she thought she might pass out. This was so important. She had to say it right. "I don't. Whatever you see, whatever you feel with me, is because of you."
Colin shook his head.
"It's true," Jess insisted, sick at his misery. "You do that to me. We fit."
She skimmed her hand over his hair. She'd clearly shocked him. As if he couldn't bear not to touch her any longer, Colin curled his hard fingers around her shoulders and yanked her against his hard, familiar body.
Jess melted against him. "I missed you," she whispered in his ear.
He slid his arms around her back and held her tight. "I missed you too."
"It sorta seems impossible." People didn't fall that fast. Did they?
"I've been missing you for the last six months." Colin slid a hand up the back of her neck and cupped her head. "But the last two weeks have been torture."
Oh, she melted just a little bit more. How did such a hard ass say the sweetest things? She nudged his erection with the curve of her belly, equally as turned on but they had things to discuss first.
What did he really mean? "What are we talking here?" Jess wasn't leaving anything in uncertain terms. She'd made the decision to go after life. If she was going to go after it, she was going all the way.