License to Love (An Agent Ex Novel)

  “So you think you know me well enough for this now?” she whispered. “Even after seeing me with Tate?”

  “Especially after seeing you with Tate.” He sucked her breast until she gasped and threw her head back.

  No emotions, just lust. She repeated the mantra as if it were a magical spell that could protect her heart from Rock’s sensual assault. As if he wasn’t the man she’d loved enough to inadvertently marry. As if the bonds of creating a baby together didn’t exist. As if he wasn’t the father of the baby she’d die to protect.

  He laid her back on the bed. Trailed kisses down her neck as she ran her fingers through his hair. Still in control. Just lust.

  He pressed himself between her legs until she wanted to release him from the confines of his boxers and slide him into her.

  Rock conveniently wore very little to bed—a pair of tight boxer briefs that showcased his erection straining to get free and nothing else. No inconvenient shirt to remove. Nothing to hastily pull over his head and toss aside while she couldn’t wait to get at him. Just his hard, tattooed chest to stroke and caress, lit by the strobe of colorful neon lights filtering in through the window making him appear as if he really were enchanted. His shoulder to gently bite and nibble until he groaned.

  Very much in control, she thought.

  She traced her finger around his nipple until it budded. But as she reached up to lick and taste his wonderfully hard pecs, she stopped short. Hidden in the complicated tapestry that covered his chest, just over his heart, was a new tattoo, an intricate web of words.

  She ran her fingers through his hair, hoping he wouldn’t notice as she read the inscription.

  Lani in omne tempus.

  The words spiraled into a cleverly subtle heart shape, so understated it was almost as if it was trying to fool the viewer. An optical illusion. One of Rock’s magic tricks, the secret of the trick hidden in plain view. It was woven into the pattern of dragons and magic lore already in action across his toned frame.

  Lani’s Latin was rusty to nonexistent, but these words were an inside joke between them. Rock’s was a playful jest at adolescent girls and yet full of meaning at the same time—Lani until all time. In the immortal words of mooning girls everywhere—Lani forever.

  And the spiral heart? The heart was obvious enough. The spiral was a symbol of magic and energy.

  Her spy resolve cracked, simply shattered. The real Lani broke through—

  “Halt or I’ll shoot!” With a perfect sense of timing, Tate stood at the top of the stairs, dressed in the fluffy, white, terry, hotel bathrobe, holding a gun on them and wearing an expression very much like a father who’d just discovered his daughter caught in flagrante delicto.

  Lani slid from beneath Rock, made herself decent, and grabbed her gun. Next to her Rock had managed to pull his boxers up. He looked stunned, frustrated, and highly pissed at Tate. No doubt if he’d been capable of real magic, he’d have disappeared Tate for good.

  “Sorry. My mistake.” Tate grinned, but he was smart enough not to drop the gun. “I heard a noise and came to the rescue. RIOT assassins can be such pesky creatures. Tenacious, too. And capable of scaling tall buildings and cutting through penthouse windows.”

  “It took you long enough. Rock called out in his sleep ten minutes ago,” Lani said. “We could have both been killed in the time I’ve been down here.”

  “I can see that.” Tate slipped his hand into his pocket and smirked.

  Lani frowned at Tate. Sometimes he could be a real ass. “Rock had a bad dream. I came down to see if he was okay.”

  “And I see you were just about to give him something to make him sleep soundly again.” Tate winked.

  She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know what he was implying—a good screw and a mind-blowing climax were the most effective soporifics around.

  “Now that everything’s all locked up nice and tight and everyone’s safely tucked in, I can turn back in.” Tate rested his hand on the light switch.

  “Hold on!” Lani said. “I’m coming up, too.” The mood was ruined and she was regaining to her senses.

  “Lani—”

  Lani aimed her palm at Rock to stop him from protesting, and turned and stormed up the stairs.

  “Next time try a glass of warm milk,” Tate said to no one in particular and laughed to himself.

  At the top of the stairs, Lani brushed past him.

  “Don’t glare at me,” Tate whispered to her. “You asked me to have your back and save you from yourself. I gave you plenty of time to back off.”

  He smiled. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Lani is different, Rock thought as he sat across the breakfast table from Tate and Lani, studying her and listening to Tate as they ate scrambled eggs. Softer. Something had dulled her hard, tough edge. He hadn’t noticed it until last night in bed. The way she’d come to him and comforted him. The way she’d dropped her guard and almost let him make love to her. As if she needed him. If only Tate hadn’t interrupted …

  Rock liked the new softness. And at the same time, he didn’t. Whatever had changed her had made her less impenetrable, vulnerable, even if only slightly. Vulnerability couldn’t be good for a spy. Isn’t that why Bond’s true love interests always had to die?

  Lani was dressed for breakfast in the big, white, cotton hotel robe. Even as bundled up as she was, Rock couldn’t stop staring at her.

  “Now that we’ve vanquished one small head of the Hydra that’s RIOT, it’s time to get down to the business of Outlandish Marauders,” Tate said.

  “It’s just too bad Bancroft apparently doesn’t know anything about it,” Lani said. “At least not that our friends at the Bureau could find out overnight.”

  Tate shrugged. “They should have let us have Bancroft.” He winked. “Nothing we can do for now. Back to our business. First things first. Talented young magicians, I hear you need some.”

  Rock perked up and looked at Tate. “Yeah. I have a list of the kinds of talents I need.”

  “I know.” Tate grinned. “And I have a group of candidates lined up to audition for you.”

  “You know a lot about magicians?” Rock said.

  “Lani helped screen them.”

  Just as Nelson had said, this plan had obviously been in the works a while. Rock turned his gaze on Lani again.

  She gently shrugged. “I know what you look for in your onstage help.”

  “You mean like loyalty?” Rock helped himself to a plate of eggs.

  Lani fired back. “I’m loyal, to the right people.”

  Rock ignored her. “What time do auditions start? Do I have time for a cup of coffee with my eggs?”

  “Tonight,” Tate said.

  “Tonight?”

  “Eager?” Tate took a sip of coffee.

  “Yeah, we need every minute of rehearsal time we can get. We’ve already wasted a day. In the meantime, we’ll have to go over my equipment needs, check into rehearsal space—”

  “Not so fast.” Tate set down his fork. “You won’t find the kind of talent we need in Vegas. This requires a road trip to Los Angeles.”

  “Okay.” Rock shrugged. The CIA was impossible to fight. He had to trust they’d allowed him enough time to get the illusion into shape. “Are we taking your plane?”

  “Plane? What part of road trip don’t you understand?” Tate said. “We’ll get to LA just as fast, and have a hell of a lot more fun driving. With the added bonus of not having to drag out my corporate pilot and file a highly traceable flight plan.”

  “You mean if you’re driving, don’t you, Tate?” Lani spoke to Rock. “Tate loves driving. Fast.”

  Tate grinned. “I don’t drive fast. I just fly low. We’ll leave after breakfast.”

  “I’d better go put my face on then.” Lani pushed back from the table.

  For most women, that was a figure of speech. But Lani was literally going to put another face on and become another w
oman.

  “All right, Gillian, baby,” Tate said. “But don’t take too long.”

  “She’s going to be Gillian again today?” Rock didn’t think he could stomach another day of Tate and Lani falling all over each other.

  “I can’t very well parade around as myself,” Lani said. “Besides, I was seen going into Tate’s hotel room last night with the two of you. Think of the rumors that will be flying!” She winked and pushed back from the table.

  “Good point. You can show me a little public affection today, too,” Rock said.

  “Sorry, but regardless of the rumors, Gillian’s a one-man undercover woman.” She laughed and shook her head before disappearing upstairs.

  “You’re never going to win Lani back by being that way,” Tate said after Lani left. He was still sitting at the table finishing the last of his coffee. “That’s what you want, isn’t it?” Tate said when Rock didn’t reply. He was grinning. “What else could there be in it for you?”

  “The thrill. Duty to my country. The cash. Getting to perform the illusion of a lifetime. Should I go on?” Rock said.

  Tate laughed loudly, calling Rock on his outright lie, and shook his head. “Come on, you can lie better than that. I can help you, you know.”

  Rock stared back at him. Tate didn’t blink. Neither did Rock. They were locked in a kind of playboy, macho man game of who will blink first.

  “Really,” Rock said. “What do you know about women other than how to bed them? I don’t need your help. I do pretty damn well in that department myself.”

  Tate laughed again. “You’re such a sucker. Don’t believe what Lani told you earlier about my ex-wife. Our decision to divorce was mutual. We both wanted different things. When we were together, I made her extremely happy.

  “But that’s neither here nor there. Women like me because I like them and know how to treat them. I know what women want.”

  Rock let out a loud snort of disbelief at Tate’s incredibly egotistical statement, causing him to blink and probably lose the damn competition and alpha-male edge. “What? Wait! Don’t tell me. This is where you spout pabulum you’ve skimmed from women’s magazines and online help articles. Save your breath. I know how to read.”

  Tate shook his head. “Rock, Rock, Rock. You need to trust me, man. I know of which I speak. You want Lani back. You not only want her back, you want her back madly, passionately in love with you.” Tate’s gaze was steady and piercing.

  Right then, Tate looked too much like a mind reader for Rock’s tastes. And felt like one, too. Rock kept forgetting these secret agents were as adept, or nearly so, at reading people as he was.

  “Genius observation. For the last two years I’ve made that pretty clear pretty publicly. Hell, I’ve literally put up a billboard.”

  Tate was unperturbed. “Yes, you wanted her back. But you don’t really have her back, do you? Not in the way you’d imagined. You can bluff and bluster all you like, but I can see right through you, my friend. You want Lani back, Lani the loving wife. Lani forever. And I can help you. Not just because I know women, but because I know Lani.

  “It’s been written all over your face since I met you. You want her and you want the magic of what you had. The magic of love.” Tate winked. “I’m not a master magician, but I do know about love. I can give you the love potion you’re looking for. Of course, I’ll want something in return.

  “That’s the way it works with love potions and secret agents. There’s always a price.”

  Rock was interested now, if for no other reason than he’d like the amusement of hearing what the pompous ass had to say. “And what would that be?”

  “It’ll be obvious when I give you what you want—the secret of making Lani fall in love with you again.”

  Rock resisted the urge to purse his lips or furrow his brow in thought. He put on his poker face. “I don’t make blind deals—what will this priceless information cost me?”

  “I’ll need your complete allegiance for the duration of this mission—I’ll have your back and you’ll have mine. No hesitation. No enemy lines between us.”

  “Fair enough.” He could use someone watching his back. He held out his hand to shake.

  Tate took it and shook firmly.

  “Amaze me with the secret to Lani’s heart,” Rock said.

  “Also fair enough.” Tate stood and poured himself a third cup of coffee. He carried it to the couch and took a seat.

  Rock followed him and plunked down in a chair across from him.

  “Lani, like all the female agents in NCS, is an alpha woman. She likes to think she’s tough and independent, but deep down she’s still a woman. And what all women want are two things—to be appreciated for who they are, who they really are, and for their men to protect them and meet their innermost needs.”

  Rock rolled his eyes. “I hope there’s more.”

  “I’m just getting started,” Tate said. “Besides a certain quirk of personality, what makes a woman an alpha?”

  Rock frowned. “I’ve never thought about it.”

  Tate grinned. “And that’s your first mistake. You’re in love with a strong, independent woman, an alpha, and you haven’t bothered to wonder what made her that way?” He shook his head. “A need to prove herself,” Tate answered for Rock. “A need to protect herself so she can’t be hurt again.”

  “Lani? Hurt?” Rock was angry and thinking now, imagining all kinds of things like child abuse. “She never mentioned anything.”

  “When she was young and impressionable,” Tate said. “Oh, come on, man. This is easy. All you have to do is look at Lani.”

  “She’s beautiful and confident—”

  “And she’s a complete mutt. She has no community,” Tate said. “No ethnic heritage to relate to. She’s a quarter black, a quarter white, a quarter Hispanic, and a quarter Asian. She’s not anything. She belongs nowhere. Each group makes fun of her, tells her she can’t relate to them. Her parents were both half-breeds. They had no real sense of community, either.

  “All that wounds a child. Children are joiners, belongers. Anyone who doesn’t fit in with the mainstream is an outcast. Made fun of. Teased. Bullied.”

  Rock swallowed hard, imagining a little Lani being pushed around and bullied. Just the thought of Lani being tormented made him want to punch someone.

  Tate paused, studying him. “Have you guessed the secret key yet, Mr. Wise and Mighty Oz?”

  Rock didn’t answer. He didn’t have one.

  “Lani has a burning need to belong. Make her feel like she does and she’ll be yours forever. That’s the first part, the internal obstacle you have to overcome. Impressed yet? Worth your pledge?”

  Tate was a fricking genius. Though Rock would never say so out loud.

  “That’s why Lani loves the Agency so much; why she’ll never give it up. We’re a collection of like-minded people. A collection of fakers and freaks, actors and liars. A place where a woman of her unique ethnic background is an asset, not a liability. We give her the chance to pick an ethnic group and relate. She’ll never leave us, no matter what it costs her to stay.”

  Rock’s mouth went dry.

  “There was another place she felt she belonged,” Tate continued, almost too casually. “She told me herself. Another place where all those assets of hers fit in—in the magic community with you.”

  Rock felt suddenly cold, as if Tate had hit him with a sledgehammer. Why hadn’t he seen it himself? Maybe he was afraid she’d been faking that, too.

  “Deer in the headlights!” Tate was obviously enjoying himself. “You are such a neophyte where women are concerned. A rank amateur. You really didn’t know. I told you. I’m worth my weight in platinum when you need advice with women.”

  “But she left me—”

  “For us. Because she had to. Because NCS put her in an impossible situation—lose you or lose us. She can’t have both. And she knew us better. Knew what we offered. We can protect her.”

  “
Then I’m screwed,” Rock said.

  Tate shook his head. “Not necessarily. You have two choices staring you right in the face—give her a stronger sense of belonging with you than with us. Show her you can keep her safe. After all, you can give her something we can’t, true love.” Tate grinned. “Does that sound corny? Sorry.”

  “And behind door number two?” Rock said.

  “That’s obvious, too. Join us permanently. I’m living proof that marriage between Agency employees is allowed with the chief’s blessing.”

  Rock must have looked as stunned as he felt because Tate’s grin spread from ear to ear. He looked as if he was having the time of his life.

  “Oh, come on,” Tate said. “We have great benefits. And a pension plan.” He took a sip of coffee and set the cup on the stand next to him.

  “You have time to think it over. I’m not pressing you for any kind of decision. See how this mission goes. See if you like it. You asked for your love potion, for the key to winning Lani’s love, and I gave it to you. Is it worth the price now?”

  “But how do I—”

  Tate held his palm up to Rock to stop him. “The execution is up to you. I only promised the secret.”

  “Tricky bastard,” Rock muttered, lost in thought. Everything Tate had said made perfect sense.

  “I’ll give you one more piece of intel to help you out. Lani was picked for the original mission for many reasons, but a big part of it was her familiarity with magic. You may not know this, but her African-American grandfather was a magician. One of the first men of color to be inducted into the International Brotherhood of Magicians’ Hall of Fame.”

  “What?” So that’s where Lani learned her rudimentary knowledge of magic.

  “You never wondered why a dancer took to magic so easily?”

  No, Rock hadn’t thought about it at all. “Was her grandpa anyone famous?”

  Tate shrugged. “He was a local club magician. He did gigs everywhere, including department stores. But was he famous like you are? No. Just small-time stuff.

  “But Lani loved him. She was his little assistant. Magic holds good memories for her. It’s homey and reminds her of the best aspects of that miserable childhood of hers.” Tate gave Rock a minute to digest the news. “Time to pay the piper. Why does Sol Blackledge hate you so much?”