Trained for Seduction (26 page)

She blinked, unable to believe what she just heard. He loved that about her. Surely, it was just an expression. “You’re joking, right? You are attracted to my mind. I knew that information would piss you off. That’s why I told you.”

“Chase the boss, yes, he was pissed. But Chase the lover…that made him want you even more than when you taunted him with Jake. I love it when you whisper those chemical names to me. And that one time, when you recited gun facts…I thought I would die a happy man, without even being touched.”

He hugged her closer. “And sometimes, watching you learn the ropes, watching you stumble over things that are so easy for me, I forget how brilliant you are. And then you throw me a curveball that I couldn’t catch if I wanted to, like today, and you remind me how damned lucky I am.”

She closed her eyes on his admission, fighting back the tears. He really had found her attractive, as Emma. Intelligence was the only thing they shared, except for their love of Chase. Maybe, though, he loved that part of her more than her beauty.

“I know you bust my ass because I’m good-looking, but I think you forget sometimes that I’m a smart guy. It’s easy to find a woman equal to me in looks. It’s almost impossible to find one that by far exceeds me in intelligence. Until I met you.” He shifted his hips. “Am I too heavy?”

“No, it’s part of the pleasure. Knowing I’m strong enough, woman enough to bear your weight.”

Chase smiled against her cheek, and she knew it was a smug, egotistical one. “I told you that you were a submissive.”

She hesitated on his words. Yes, she was submissive. But she was his submissive. No one else’s. She wasn’t allowed to love him. But God help her, she could belong to him. She could be only his, even if it was only in her soul. He said if bad things happened, she could go there with him and he would keep her safe. In that place, she could love him. And maybe, he could love her back.

“Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“I want you to know that I’m yours.” He sucked in a breath, and she continued, “My soul belongs to you. No matter what happens today, I belong to you. Not Jake. Not some madman. You.”

“You’re mine.” His cock lengthened and hardened inside her, stretching the walls of her pussy, igniting the passion she felt only for him.

“I’m yours.”

They boarded the plane at oh-six-hundred, fifteen of them, all bleary-eyed. Chase shook his head. So much for following his directive to be well-rested. Not a one of his team looked like they got more than an hour’s sleep, and he felt like a high school teacher herding a bunch of recalcitrant teens onto a bus for a field trip. Jake was the worst, of course, though he looked well-rested and ready to go, his hand on the small of Kate’s back as they climbed the stairs, already taking control of her.

Chase knew Kate hadn’t slept at all. At four, she’d screamed his name for the last time after he made love with her, and then he had held her. They waited as the clock ticked down the minutes, not speaking, just accepting the silence. Then she’d kissed him so sweetly on the porch, the last time as lovers before they went to work and he handed her over to Jake.

Chase shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the seat. She sat a few rows back with Jake on the opposite side of the plane. It was expected. The agents and other support usually sat together while he sat more up front. He looked back.

She held Jake’s hand, looking so afraid, so much more like Emma than Kate. Jake was telling her something and would glance down at her now and then, and Kate finally smiled. Jealousy nipped at Chase and he tamped it down. This was work.

But she was his—she had said so.

Kate took something out of her purse and gave it to Jake. He looked at it, looked doubtfully at her, then sighed and slid his hand to his neck, touching both sides. She took back the item—a glass vial of some sort—and her purse clicked shut.

Then Kate caught Chase’s gaze and her smile changed. It brightened, the fear in her eyes lessening. She patted to the seat next to her on the aisle. She sat in the middle.

He was the boss. He shouldn’t go. But Chase was so tired of what he should do, so he rose and went back, then plopped down next to her. She took his hand in hers—now she held them both—and she smiled up at him, though her lower lip trembled slightly.

“She’s afraid,” Jake explained over the top of her head.

Chase felt like an ass for being jealous, for feeling like an outsider, especially now that Jake was filling him in. “Why?”

“My last flight didn’t end so well.” She swallowed and closed her eyes.

“Oh. You’re right. I guess it didn’t.” Chase laced his fingers tighter with hers and kissed the back of her hand. Fuck what the rest of the support team thought. Half had bets she was sleeping with Jake already. The rest had bet she hadn’t yet, but she would, after this mission. Let them throw his name into the hat. Make things interesting. “They didn’t get you onto a plane before today?”

“No,” she whispered. “They scheduled it once, but something happened. It was cancelled.”

“I’m sorry about that. If I had known, I would have either arranged a flight or medication.” Chase gripped her hand tighter, wishing he could take her fear. She didn’t need more stress. “Did Jake ever tell you he was a pilot?”

“No.” Kate looked at Jake. “What airlines?”

Both men laughed. Chase said, “You are so beautifully un-military.”

“Oh. You mean a fighter pilot or whatever.” Kate nodded through her blush. “Does that mean you’ll know if we’re going to crash?”

“Yep.” Jake reclined his seat, her hand still firmly in his. “These buckets never crash. Tell her, Chase.”

“Best record in the sky.”

“I know you’re lying, both of you. But thank you.”

“Come here, darlin’,” Jake coaxed. “Let Chase take our picture.”

“Why?”

“Good luck. We do it all the time before special ops.”

Jake was so full of shit, but Kate bought it. She leaned over to Jake and Chase took a picture with his phone. His best friend and his girl, starting a new tradition with him. If they lived.

“Take one of us, Jake. Please?” She leaned over to Chase this time, and Jake did the honors. Chase took his phone back, loving how she looked up at him in that photo. Someone would have to be blind to not notice she loved him.

Chase met Jake’s gaze over her head and gave him a look he knew Jake would understand from their time together. A look that handed her reins to him, giving him complete control. She was now Jake’s. No longer his in body. Just in soul.

Jake nodded, once, looked down at Kate, then back at him. He nodded again, and Chase sat back, wishing he didn’t have to hand her over, but that was the nature of the job. Jake would take care of her.

She sighed and looked at Chase. “Will you stay with me, too? Can you?”

“I’m the boss. I can do whatever I want.” He kissed her trembling hand again. “Next time I’ll arrange things so you can be medicated, but I’m sorry, love. We have to get you through this sober.”

The plane began to make the usual start-up noises—whirring of wing flaps as they adjusted, the door slamming shut, locking down, sealing them in. She shuddered. “Can we join the mile high club?”

“Already a member,” Jake said. “So is he.”

“Jesus, Jake, do you have to tell her this crap when she’s scared witless?”

The plane’s engine roared to life, and she shook, gripping his hand so tight. “I don’t care about your past. I just want to take my mind off this bucket of bolts rolling down the runway. Please tell me it won’t crash. Jake?”

Chase sucked in a breath. It hurt to have her ask to Jake, instead of him. Jake regarded him again, trying to be as reassuring as possible. Jake knew him so well, knew how hard this was. All of it.

Jake held Chase’s gaze as he soothed, “No, honey. It won’t crash.”

Jake’s gaze told him to suck it up, to let him do what he needed to do. Kate had enough stress without Chase being possessive and protective.

Chase fought for control and nodded, then sat back in his seat.

“It won’t crash,” Chase agreed, and he leaned over and whispered very softly, “If you’re a good girl, I can get you into the mile high club another time. But today, just hold our hands and let both of us keep you safe.”

****

Jake held Kate’s hand as they walked to the clearing that lay about five hundred feet in, just inside the edge of the border of the compound, but on the outside of the fence. They knew the invisible border was rigged with security, and once they walked into that clearing a silent alarm would be triggered. It would be only a matter of time.

After they had landed, they were shuttled to their support location, a tent a few miles away, where Chase would command them. He was there, now, waiting. She didn’t envy Chase his job. Being here sucked, but waiting, watching, giving the commands had to be worse.

“I can’t believe I get to score with you, and you make me wear Chase’s cologne,” Jake grumbled.

She adjusted the blanket in her arms. “If you smell like him, you’ll get farther with me.”

“Third base?” He looked so hopeful she had to laugh.

“Second.” She stopped walking and clutched the blanket harder to her chest. Jake turned to wait for her, the look on his face so patient. “What if—”

“I won’t make you have sex with me, Kate. There’s a lot I can do with you—to you—and not go all the way, and still be convincing. I’m sure Chase has shown you quite a bit.”

“Leave him out of this.”

Jake sighed and they walked again. “Is there anything you want to say, in private, before I patch them in? I’m sure Chase is chomping at the bit to know what’s going on here.”

“I’m afraid.” She didn’t want Chase to know that. He wasn’t the kind of man to tremble in the face of fear. It didn’t seem very spy-like. It wasn’t the best thing to tell your boss. But she could tell her best friend.

She glanced at Jake, his handsome face so tan compared to Chase’s pale beauty. It felt odd to be here, with him, even after over six months of training for this day. Maybe because she truly felt she belonged to Chase now.

“Yeah. This sort of stuff looks a lot more fun in the movies.” Jake stopped and held his arms out. She shuffled the blanket to the side and let him hug her, wishing he were Chase but so glad she wasn’t alone.

“Are you afraid?” She looked up into blue eyes instead of brown.

“All the time. There’s no shame in being afraid, honey. It’s what you do with your fear that matters. You can run with it, or you can use it to build something strong. I think you’re capable of being very, very strong.”

“I don’t think I’m ready. I keep thinking about his office yesterday and what he said. If I screw this up, I kill us both. I don’t want you to die because of me. I love you, you know. Not like I love…” She sucked in a breath. Damn it, she almost broke the rule. “I love you like a brother.”

Jake tilted his head. No doubt, he’d caught her slip. “Not a second cousin you’d fuck? How sad.”

She laughed. “Would you like me to love you like that?”

“Yeah. Loving me should be dirty.” He hugged her closer. He smelled so much like Chase her heart ached. “You’re going to be amazing, Kate. I’m going to get you through this, and you’re going to go home to him, okay?”

He smoothed his hand up her back, along her shoulders, and dropped a quick kiss to her lips. He shot her a cocky smile. “But don’t worry. Soon you’ll be in my arms for real. You’ll forget everything.”

She wasn’t worried about forgetting. She knew nothing any of them would do to her would touch her soul. The soul she’d given to the devil last night. “I only hope Chase forgets everything.”

****

Chase watched Jake and Kate walk into the clearing on the arrangement of screens—five different angles for his viewing pleasure. All the better to see if guards approached, he corrected, but he didn’t look forward to the entire support team watching Kate fool around with Jake. He didn’t want to watch it alone, never mind with ten other men.

Kate spread out the blanket and Jake set down a basket. It held only food, and Chase hated they were unarmed, vulnerable. But to arm them would be dangerous, deadly.

“Approach is clear, sir,” one of the team reported.

“These things take time.” Chase shoved his hands in his pockets. He wished the guards were patrolling, right then, and they didn’t need to wait for the alarm breach to be investigated.

Then Kate turned to Jake, looking a little uncertain, and Jake took her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. His eyes closed for a moment, and Chase couldn’t see her face on any angle, but from the way her hand wrapped under his arm, gripping his shoulder she had to be terrified. Then Jake opened his eyes and lifted her chin.

The impact of that first kiss went straight to Chase’s gut. It was nothing like they’d done in his office. This was sweet, gentle, and fuck if Jake wasn’t making love to her. He’d seen Jake with so many women, and not all were threesomes. They often took women to a room and fucked them side by side. Sometimes they swapped. Jake’s tastes were close enough to Chase’s for a swap to work. Sometimes Chase watched. He liked watching. But Chase had never, ever seen Jake kiss a woman like he was kissing Kate.

And it turned Chase on more than if Jake had tossed her down and ripped her jeans off. His cock lengthened, and he removed his hands from his pockets to adjust his shirt over the bulge. “Border check?” Chase ground out through gritted teeth.

“Clear, sir.”

Chase pushed the button on the radio that connected him to Jake. “Clear.”

Why couldn’t they just eat the damned food?

Jake was laying Kate down, and she reclined on the blanket, kissing him earnestly, pulling him between her thighs, her hands at his nape. God, Chase loved it when she did that to his hair.

“Jesus, she has to be fucking him on the side. I want field training, sir. Immediately,” the young radio handler said with awe in his voice.

“Keep it in your pants, all of you.” Chase wanted nothing more than to release his hard cock from his pants and jerk off, watching her hips arch against Jake’s, her crotch rubbing the hard-on Jake had to have. He turned the volume up just a little and winced as Kate panted in Jake’s ear, right into the receiver.