Trained for Seduction (22 page)

“Okay.” Her heart ached as it withered, killed by his words. He wanted his best friend to beat the crap out of her so the madman could use her to feed his addiction. She could take the beating. She and Jake sparred daily, and he’d hit her in the face by accident before. It wouldn’t take much for her to allow him to hit her again.

It stung that she’d been chosen for this mission, not because of her talents, but because she was blonde and in her twenties. She remembered Charlotte’s words, that she was nothing. Second best. They talked about her because they wanted her to die…

She glared at Chase, who had glanced down at the file folder on his desk. Fuck his emotionless mask. What she wanted was a reaction from him, one that said she was more to him than just an agent in this mission. One that said he was sorry for sending her.

Chase looked up at her. “You’ll plant the bomb. Tech will go over how and what and where you’ll keep it. It’s your father’s technology and the piece I had you make for me, so you’ll be very familiar with it. When you set it, the extraction chopper will be dispatched through a special signal. The tricky part will be getting from the compound out to the extraction site. Again, someone will go over the details of the layout of the building and outside. You’ll need to get back to Jake, release him, and then get out.”

“Okay.” Her mind swirled, taking in the directions. So much. He expected so much, and if he’d shoved her head into a barrel of ice water and held her under it would have been easier to withstand. She was in way over her head, and she wouldn’t have Jake at that point. No way in hell could she do all this.

Chase leaned forward, his dark eyes glittering. “Most important, Jake has to get out, no matter what. He is priority, and it’s your job to make sure he makes it to the extraction point. Do you understand? No matter what.”

She drew in a sharp breath. He didn’t care if she fucked Jake or a madman, or if Jake hit her, as long as she got Jake out. And the look in his eyes made it pretty clear. If Jake died, then she might as well not come home, either.

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

He sat back, studying her, emotionless. “I told you, one day, you would hate me. I warned you I would destroy you. That day has come. Do you understand what I need you to do, Agent Wells? I need you to go out and do your job.”

“Yes, sir.” She buried her brewing tears. Inside, she was dead. He didn’t want her. This is why he commanded her not to love him, why he demanded she hate him. He knew. Oh God, he knew, right from square one. She had trusted him, and he had warned her.

She refused to cry in front of Chase, her boss, the bastard with designs on the devil, so instead she decided to attack him right where it would hurt the most—his ego. “You were wrong, you know.”

“About what?”

“The bomb. It wasn’t my father’s technology. It was mine. I created it, every part and piece. He had nothing to do with it. At that point, he wasn’t well enough to think straight enough to wire right, never mind come up with the concept of adding weight sensitivity to the trigger component. So we are using my bomb for this mission.”

She loved the look of alarm in his eyes, and how he went from still to stone cold as he processed what she’d just told him, the impenetrable shield falling into place. Good. Let him wonder what else she hid. Let him feel trust dying, if he could even feel.

“Jesus, Kate. When the hell were you going to disclose that?”

“Never.” She shrugged. “When the government accuses you of terrorist actions by association and gives you ultimatums, you don’t let them know you were the mastermind behind the technology. Do you know what they would have done to me?”

“Christ, yes. You would have been sentenced to death. That technology was responsible for that last terrorist attack in Yemen.”

She wasn’t a terrorist, damn it. She was Kate, caught between a rock and a hard place her whole life. “I didn’t sell it, though. My father handled that. I just created it. I don’t feel overjoyed that my bomb was used for that, but there’s nothing I can do about it, no more than I can do anything about this situation.”

“Jesus, Kate,” he whispered again.

She could see the battle behind his eyes, and the mask unsettled just enough. America vs. friend with benefits. Who would he choose? In her mind, she wasn’t any guiltier than the first atomic bomb creator. They’d used his technology to destroy Japan and end WWII. But she doubted he’d see it that way. Now the U.S. had the technology in full, and she felt a little better about it. Her bombs would be used for good, hopefully.

She leaned back in her chair as he stared at her. Two could play his game. He wanted to destroy her? There. Go for it, Sanders.

“They can’t track it to me. I’m smarter than that, and my father had too much ego to admit to anyone his daughter was brighter than he was. So it’s your word against mine, and I will lie through my teeth and rot in jail if I have to.” She swallowed, and hardened her gaze. “I will die for it if you want me to. But I won’t admit to it.”

He frowned and looked confused, maybe even a little hurt. “I don’t understand why are you telling me this, now, except to give me a heart attack and to make me question if sending you anywhere is the right thing?”

“Now you know how I feel.” She opened her hands wide before her. “It sucks not to know everything, doesn’t it? It sucks to be used, to be on the outside while everyone makes plans for you. The ball is in your court, Sanders. You wanted to destroy me. There’s your ammo. Take me down.”

He shook his head slightly, and she tensed, waiting for him to bring the battle. He must have warred with the internal demons again because he closed his eyes and she held her breath.

Then he opened his eyes, and she wanted to die under that cold gaze. “You don’t know the half of what sucks.” He flicked his intercom. “Helen, send Jake in.”

“Yes, sir,” Helen responded.

A moment later, Jake entered and sat next to her, his blue eyes full of concern that couldn’t be real. “You okay?” he whispered as Chase took another call.

“Yes,” she lied with a small smile. She knew how things worked now. Of course, Jake already knew about the mission. God forbid she know anything first. No doubt Jake was hot on the seduction part, which is why he had started early, holding her, touching her. Kissing her. “He filled me in on the details. Everything’s crystal clear.”

“Shit, Kate. You need to learn to lie better. It’s going to get you killed one day. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Yeah? Well, he won’t sweat a bit when I don’t come home, just as long as you make it out.”

She watched Chase wind a paper clip around his finger as he talked. She didn’t understand how he could go from tender, loving Chase in bed to this Chase, the cold hearted bastard. She knew it was work—he had warned her—but damn, he could at least be sorry.

Chase ended his call and cleared his throat. “This is going to be a bit awkward for all involved, but the beginning part of the mission depends on the two of you being compatible as lovers. If they suspect Kate is an agent, they’ll kill you both.”

“I’m good with kissing her,” Jake drawled.

“You’d kiss a rat if it would have sex with you.” Chase glanced at him sharply. “But I’m not convinced she’s up to the part and I don’t want either of your lives put in jeopardy.”

Jake glanced at her, then back at Chase. “This isn’t Paris. You don’t need to worry.”

She saw a look pass between them and a part of her wondered what was so special about Paris, but the anger won. How dare they discuss her like she wasn’t in the room? How dare Chase basically tell his best friend she was inadequate?

“Why am I not up to the part?” she demanded. “And it’s not like he hasn’t kissed me. You watched him the other day. And I was stupid enough to think this was how your little inner circle acted with each other, that it was okay because you two have a past.”

“I am concerned because you are inexperienced.” Chase cleared his throat, ignoring her. “Two weeks ago you were a virgin, and you’ve only slept with one person. That’s why I’m doubting your proficiency.”

“Well, maybe the sex coach you assigned me should have passed me around some if he wanted me to be proficient.”

“Kate, he’s right about the experience part,” Jake said. “He’s asking you to go way out of your comfort zone on this mission, and he’s worried. Don’t get nasty.”

“Then maybe the government should have hired a blonde whore to get the job done.” She laughed bitterly. “Oh, that’s right. I wasn’t hired, so they have to mold me into what they want me to be. You want me to be more experienced? What about Jake? Right now?”

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to Jake. “You and my coach seem to run along the same tastes when it comes to women. Let’s put his seduction training to the test.”

She ran her fingers up Jake’s arm, along his jaw, ignoring the fear in Jake’s eyes. “So what do you like, Jake? Am I the aggressor? Submissive? God, I’d love to ride you. You’re a little shorter than my coach. I bet the angle will be exquisite when I—”

“Enough,” Chase growled.

Jake glanced first at her, then over at Chase, wary. She pulled Jake’s chin so he looked only at her and traced his lips with her finger.

Jake grabbed her wrist and held it firmly in his hand, the wary look changing to one of warning. “Playing with fire. Big time, Kate.”

Oh, you haven’t seen fire yet. She glanced at Jake’s hand on her wrist then she gave him a look that always had Chase’s attention. The next step would be for him to throw her on the bed, or floor, or against the door, and he’d be pounding into her. Chase saw because he gripped the edge of his desk, his knuckles white.

She glanced again at Jake’s hand, still gripping her wrist. “You like it rough?” She lowered her voice to a whisper, just loud enough to catch Chase’s ears. She touched Jake’s thigh, right near his cock—Jake jumped, Chase sucked in his breath—and she dug her fingers into the muscles of his quad. “My coach rides me hard. I’d love it. Hard. From you, Jake.”

Jake groaned and leaned his head back, breathing hard. “Put the gasoline away, Kate. Please.”

“I bet you’re ready for me, just from me talking dirty.” The tension from Chase’s side of the desk was so thick she could have cut it with a knife. “Chase doesn’t believe I’m ready. Do you?”

Chase slammed his hand down on the desk and Kate jumped.

“You’re being a brat. No, I don’t believe you can do this, not because of what your coach taught you, but because you’re too sweet. There’s still way too much Emma in you for this mission, and it scares me witless. Talking dirty to Jake now isn’t the same thing as kissing him while an entire tent of support personnel watches. It’s not the same as going as close to fucking him as you can, to be convincing enough not to get killed, while you wait for guards to drag you in from the border of their compound.”

Kate stiffened. “You don’t know—”

“Don’t tell me what I know, love. I have been in your shoes and let me tell you, you can kid yourself with feeling safe here. But tomorrow, you’re going to die because I was stupid and you’re a damned brat. Fuck your coach. He didn’t prepare you for that because your coach is a fool.”

“Chase. Again, this isn’t Paris. I can handle this. Her,” Jake said.

“Then maybe my coach should have been better at his job, like you, Chase. You’re real good at your job, aren’t you?”

“Kiss him. Here. Now.”

“Chase!” Jake whispered.

Kate’s hands shook, and she glared at Chase. Damn him, she had gone as far as she was going to go. Touching Jake’s thigh had been enough for her. But Chase had taken her blaze and made it an inferno, and now she was trapped. “Fuck you.”

His smile was cold and calculating. Smug. “Not so brave now, are you, Kate? How brave will you be tomorrow?”

She glanced at Jake. He gripped the arms of his chair, his knuckles white. She looked back at Chase, his gaze unwavering but heated, angry, firm in his demand. It dawned on her that this wasn’t a work thing. This had to be about them, about her. Maybe even a little about her relationship with Jake and how close they’d grown in the past few weeks. Because of this fucking mission.

“I’m waiting,” Chase said, dangerously quiet.

He was her boss, and he used that voice. She had to obey. She turned and leaned to Jake, inhaling deeply to settle her nerves. He smelled nice, but different, of soap and leather from his jacket. Her lips brushed his, gently at first, then she leaned a little closer, her tongue darting out to slip between his lips. He remained tight-lipped, his body stiff, not at all participating.

She ended the kiss and looked at Chase. “He’s afraid you’ll kick his ass. Tell Jake you don’t care about me.”

“Kiss her.”

“You don’t want this,” Jake warned. “Trust me, tomorrow will be bad enough.”

“I need to know she can do her job. Now kiss her.”

“She won’t fail, just like I didn’t let you fail. But what the hell.” Jake sighed and turned to her. His lips were firmer than Chase’s but less insistent, less hot. She leaned in and opened her mouth, letting his tongue in, half-hearted in letting her tongue explore his mouth. Then they broke the kiss.

“You’ll both die if you kiss like that.”

The part of Kate that fired the original blaze snapped at Chase’s critique. She had never seen red before, but she knew what the expression meant now as her vision blurred. Chase wanted to punish himself? Then she would offer him punishment. God knew he deserved it for being the cold-hearted snake he was.

She stood and dragged Jake to his feet by his shirt collar. Then she pushed him to the couch, straddled his lap, and kissed him with all of the hatred she felt for Chase. Her mouth was hot, demanding, and instead of hating Chase, she pictured him, imagined his lips under hers, his tongue in her mouth, his hand on her breast.

Jake groaned as he responded, his mouth sliding against hers, wicked in a different way from Chase’s. She ran her hands over his shirt, kneading his chest, appreciating his more muscular form. She ground her crotch against his, riding the ridge of his hard-on, then she grabbed his hands and held them to her hips, encouraging him to take part. Why not? Chase didn’t want her any longer. He proved that.