Defenseless (Salvation, #5)(2)
The woman’s hands slowly raise, and she casually removes the hijab that covers her mouth and hair. “Check out the garden, boys. Petunia.” Her accent is clearly American. “He’s down the hall and knows you’re coming. There are three on guard by his cell. The others are out doing errands. I’m leaving with you, so don’t f*ck this up.”
I stand there, staring, unable to form a f*cking coherent thought. This is the CIA op? This five-foot-four, drop-dead gorgeous woman? No wonder she gets information. I’d sell my soul if she asked. Her hair is almost black and hangs straight, her eyes are ice blue, and don’t get me started on what I imagine her plump lips doing. I’ve never seen anyone like her. I’ve never reacted to anyone like this before. I want her—any man would—but I want to own her. Every part of my body, especially one in particular, yearns for her. I want to see if her skin is as soft as it looks, if her hair feels like silk, and her voice—I’m done for.
Jackson lowers his gun and then addresses her. “Which door, Charlie?”
“Second on the left. I need a gun.” She puts her hand out.
The need to protect her calls from deep within. “Maybe you should stay out here.”
“And watch you guys get lost? I don’t think so. Gun. Now.” She doesn’t look my way when she replies. She just waits for Jackson to hand her his pistol.
I don’t like this. She may be trained by the CIA, but that’s not saying she can handle combat. “Are you sure you know how to use it, princess?” I ask.
Her eyes meet mine and narrow. Oh, that got her attention. A storm’s raging in those baby blues. She recovers quickly, though, when Jackson places his nine mil in her delicate palm. “Thanks. I’ll let that slide since you obviously aren’t aware of who I am,” she says without taking her eyes off me. “We don’t have a lot of time. Where’s the rest of your team?”
“We are the team,” I reply. Who is this girl? Maybe the CIA needs ten people, but Jackson, Liam, and I could handle this entire thing on our own—the six-guy team we brought is more than enough.
Jackson smirks. “They’re approaching from a different entrance. Let’s go.”
“I’ll lead,” Charlie says and lifts the hijab over her hair.
“We know what we’re doing.” I speak just so she’ll look at me again.
“Wouldn’t want you to get lost or hurt. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” Her voice drips with sarcasm. My cock hardens. It f*cking hardens on a goddamn mission. I am so f*cked.
She opens the door and I push Muffin out of the way. No way is he going to be behind her. Charlie turns to relay a message, and notices he’s not the one following. Her eyes roll, she holds up two fingers, and then she points to the room. The way her ass sways is hypnotic. I lock down the sexual urges flowing through me and focus. The two men trailing me let off two silent shots and then return to following us. We slink through the dirty hallway and come face to face with another guard.
I don’t have a moment to take the sight. Charlie doesn’t hesitate. No more than a breath passes before she raises the nine and shoots him in the head.
I’m in love. It’s official. I’m going to blow my f*cking load right here.
This woman is going to be mine.
She turns her head to face me and lifts her lips. The words that come from her mouth go straight to my groin. “Don’t be afraid to pull the trigger next time, princess.” Charlie’s eyes glimmer, and I know right then that this woman will not be owned, but she sure as shit will own me.
One Year Later
I toss my legs on my desk as I lean back in the office chair. I close my eyes with the phone against my ear. “Well, there are answers somewhere, Muff. I’m not sure what the hell to think anymore.” I swear it’s like talking to a brick wall. After the mission to save Aaron, I went through hell trying to find answers, but I came up empty.
Jackson sighs. “You’ve gone over our competitors?”
“No, I figured I’d leave them out,” I reply sarcastically. “Of course I looked at all of them.”
It’s been almost two years we’ve been dealing with this bullshit. Charlie and I worked together using the intelligence she gathered along with what little I had. It went dormant for a while, and we thought the threat was eliminated. Then she left on assignment, and we had no more problems. Seemed whatever it was had eradicated itself. But sure enough, it’s happening again.
Things are starting to go missing again. There’s no way I’m letting this go. Jackson and I will spare no expense to figure this out. I won’t lose another brother, and I’m not letting whoever this prick is get away with it.
“I’m just as frustrated as you are, Mark. Don’t be more of an * than usual. There’s a reason all of this is happening and why it’s happening now. The first shipment encountered issues around the time Raven Cosmetics came back into my hands. I had just hired Catherine. See what else happened around that time. Any new clients we took on, anything that was a shift.” Jackson lets out a deep breath.
I know this entire situation haunts him. Aaron lost a year of his life and his family, and Jackson almost lost his now fiancée, Catherine. She had a hard time when he got shot. Hell, we all did. Jackson is the reason we’re all here in so many ways. He and I are closer than the other guys. I see how heavily this weighs on him.