“Not my cup of tea? Bullshit. We both know I was a damn good officer.”
She frowned. The last thing she wanted was for him to get all agitated. She was agitated enough for the both of them. Reaching the wall, she turned and paced back across the dingy carpet. “Bad choice of words. I didn’t say you weren’t a good officer. I just meant we both know your heart wasn’t in it. You’re a doer, not a watcher. So why did you leave? Did you have an argument with your boss?”
“Sort of.”
Sort of. That didn’t tell her a lot. She glanced his way. His arms were still laced behind his head, but he was now staring up at the ceiling with a serious expression. One she couldn’t read. “About an assignment?”
“You could say that.”
“What happened?”
“Ryder told me not to get personally involved.”
Eve stilled in the middle of the room, and her mind tumbled. Personally involved . . . There was only one way you could get personally involved with an assignment.
Her heart picked up speed, and her skin grew cold and clammy. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear more, but some twisted place inside needed to know what kind of woman could get him to quit his job. “And you didn’t listen?”
“Nope.”
Her heart beat hard. Drumbeats against her ribs. “What happened?”
“He told me not to go after her. Said if I did, I wouldn’t have a job to come back to. I told him it wasn’t his fucking business and to shove the job.”
Ouch.
“Then he told me I needed to cool the hell off and that when I was ready, we’d talk again, but not to do anything in the meantime. I didn’t call him back.”
Obviously, whoever this woman was, she had meant a lot to him. “Was—” She cleared her throat because it was suddenly thick and sounded funny. “Was she worth it?”
“I don’t know.” He continued to stare up at the ceiling. “She sure has fucked my life up good, though.” He chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “Shot in the leg, shot in the shoulder, and my face is plastered all over the news linked to a terrorist bombing. You tell me. Is she worth it?”
Eve froze. The air caught in her throat. And his words from this morning ran back through her mind. Words she’d heard but had been too angry to process until right now.
“If I didn’t still want you, I sure as hell wouldn’t have spent the last year trying to track you down.”
Her. He’d been talking about her moments ago, not some random woman. Her chest constricted until it was hard to draw air. And somewhere deep inside, a warmth began to blossom, all around her heart.
The room grew stifling, and sweat popped out all over her skin. She needed air. Needed to breathe. Needed—her mind raced back to this morning . . . to stripping him of his pants, to sinking down onto his length, to the exquisite feeling of him filling her.
Tingles shot straight to her center. Oh shit. She needed to get gone before she did something she knew she should never do. Like fucked him senseless until they both screamed.
“I . . .” She could barely think, let alone speak. “I need a shower.”
His head came up an inch off the bed, and he looked her way. “You already took a shower.”
“Yeah, well . . .” Forcing herself not to look his way, she rushed for the bathroom.
Let her go. Don’t go after her. A smart guy would know he’s in over his head and leave well enough alone.
Yeah. Good advice. The problem was, when it came to Evelyn Wolfe, Zane had never been anything but a complete fucking idiot.
“Son of a bitch.” He pushed off the bed and crossed the floor. Running water echoed from the shower. He listened at the door but couldn’t hear her moving around. His skin vibrated. His muscles bunched while he stood still, trying to decide what to do. His breaths picked up speed as he imagined her naked under the spray, her flesh glossy and wet and pink from the heat.
His groin tightened. All the blood in his body seemed to rush due south. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight. There was too much energy arcing between them. And when he thought of the surprise he’d heard in her voice moments before—like she didn’t know she was his own personal form of kryptonite—his resistance where she was concerned crumbled just a little more.
Let her go. Don’t go after her.
Fuck it. He was tired of playing this game. Of dancing around each other. Of making himself insane.
He turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. Stepping into the steam-filled room, he could just make out her silhouette behind the white shower curtain. Head tipped up. Hands resting on the back of her neck. Perfect body filled out in all the right places, dripping with water as it hit her chest and slid down the curves and hollows of her physique, drawing him toward her like a magnet.
He waited until she stepped under the spray, and then he pulled the shower curtain open at the back and moved into the tub behind her.
She didn’t immediately hear him. But she tensed when she sensed him, and before she could whip around, he caught her arms, wrapped them around her front, and pulled her back against him.
“Archer, what are you—?”
The soft curve of her ass pressed against his damp jeans and his already hardening cock.
“I’m done tiptoeing around this, Evie.”
Beneath his fingers, he felt the pulse in her wrists pick up speed. “Around what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, you do. This. You and me. You know damn well what I’m talking about.”
She swallowed. “Archer—”
“Anytime the conversation gets personal, you run. Tell me, beautiful. Do I make you nervous?”
“As if.”
He tightened his grip on her wrists. “I think I do. I think you’re scared to death of me.”
She turned her head, just enough so he could see her profile and those plump, pouty lips. “Are you taking pain meds again? Because you sound higher than a kite. I’ve faced down terrorists. You’re a cupcake compared to them.”
A smile curled his lips. He watched droplets of water slide down the long, sexy column of her neck. “Always with the lies. How about the truth for a change? I think that’s what you’re most afraid of. I think it’s the truth that always makes you run.”
She tensed. “What have you been smok—?”
“You wanna ask the questions? Then you have to deal with the answers. Six months, Eve. I was in and out of physical therapy for six months after the raid in Guatemala. I didn’t just take a bullet; I took a shitload of shrapnel that tore my leg to pieces. Almost bled out on the helo. And you know what I thought about when I was in and out of hospitals and rehab and dealing with more doctors than any man should?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“Too bad. I thought about you.”
She was silent, but where his arms were crossed over hers against her chest, her heart pounded hard, and her breaths picked up speed.
“Now who lies?” she whispered. “You weren’t thinking about me for any reason other than wanting to make me pay for something I hadn’t done.”
“You’re right. I was. After I told Ryder what he could do with his job, I went to a friend’s place in the mountains of Mexico to recuperate. And the whole time I was there I thought about nothing but tracking you and finding out what you were up to. But I also thought about this.”
He released one wrist, slid his arm to the side, and gently brushed his fingertips over her soft breast.
She sucked in a breath, and against his arm, her pulse ticked up higher.
“Do you remember this, Evie?” He slid his fingers over her nipple and circled just the very tip.
She wrestled her hands free and gripped his forearms, trying to push him away, but he only held her tighter against him. “Don’t.”
“Why not?” Her movement gave him better access to her breast and he pressed her ass harder against his groin. Blood pumping, he brushed his whole hand over her and cupp
ed the soft mass in his palm. Then squeezed. She bit back a moan. “Because it feels too good? Or because it reminds you how much you want me?”
“I”—she exhaled a heavy breath—“don’t want you, idiot. I’m just stuck with you. What happened this morning was nothing more than adrenaline.”
God, she was good. But she wasn’t that good. “You know what I think? I think you’ve told so many lies, you don’t know when to stop. It stops now, Eve.”
He turned her quickly and pushed her up against the shower wall, face first, dragging her arms above her head. She gasped. Before she could decide what to do, he pulled the belt from the loops of his jeans and wrapped the leather around her wrists, tying them together. Then he pinned them against the cold tile.
“Goddammit, Archer. What the hell do you think you’re doing now?”
Water sprayed in his face and soaked his jeans. Keeping one hand pressed against her bound wrists, he reached up with the other and tipped the showerhead down so the spray hit at their waists. “Testing a theory. Time for a little truth or dare.”
“What? No way.” She twisted her head to try to look at him, but he pressed his hips against her perfectly rounded ass to hold her in place. She sucked in a breath and slowed her fight. Swallowed hard. Again. “I’m not playing some stupid game with you. It’s one o’clock in the morning.”
“We used to play this game all the time in Beirut.” Holding her wrists in his grip, he trailed his free hand down the subtle curve of her spine. “Scared?”
She opened her mouth. Closed it. Seconds beat by in silence. Then her shoulders stiffened, and she tipped her head, shooting a glare that was all challenge over her shoulder. “Never. I can beat you at any game, anytime.”
This was the Eve he remembered. The tough girl who always had to prove she was better than the boys. But she wasn’t the one he wanted. No, he wanted the girl he’d caught a glimpse of this morning. The one who’d nearly lost it over her sister’s abduction. The one who’d leaned on him when she’d discovered the Agency had abandoned her. The one who’d told him, in a moment of honesty, that she’d once loved him.
“Don’t move your hands.”
He let go of her. To her credit, she didn’t turn and knee him in the balls, and he took that as a sign to keep going.
“I think you’re at a clear advantage here, Archer.” She twisted her hands in the leather binding and pressed her palms flat against the wall. “What are the ground rules, and how do I win?”
Everything was a competition to her. But he didn’t care who won. He just wanted to see her finally give in. He glanced down the curve of her wet, pink, glistening body. “I get five questions.”
“You mean dares.”
“Yeah.” He watched the water bead on her skin and slide over her ass to drip down the back of her shapely legs. Of course she’d go for the dares, because Evelyn Wolfe didn’t know how to answer a question truthfully. But he’d use that to his advantage. “If at the end of five you can make me believe you don’t want me, you win. You can have anything you want if you win, Evie.” He brushed a line of water away from her lower spine. She tensed at his touch, telling him this would be a lot easier than he’d planned. “What do you want?”
She was silent a moment, then said, “I want you to leave.”
His head came up, and he focused on her profile. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at the end of the shower as if it held the mysteries of the universe.
“If I win,” she went on, “then tomorrow, after we meet with my contact—no matter what she has to say—I want you gone. You’re a big boy. With your connections, you can clear your own name without me. All you’re doing is slowing me down.”
A hurt he didn’t know how to define pierced his chest. After everything they’d been through the past few days, she still wanted to ditch his ass. Even when she knew she was safer with him than without. Then he noticed her gaze. Far off. Resolute. Unwavering as she focused on the tiles behind the showerhead.
She was protecting him. Trying to make sure he didn’t get hurt again. He’d seen that look on her face when he’d told her what he’d been through because of her. He saw it now in the way she couldn’t meet his eyes.
His pulse picked up speed, and the blood surged to his groin. He glanced back down at her ass, and behind his fly, the erection that moments before had eased, swelled and lengthened. “Done. Spread your feet, beautiful.”
Slowly, she inched her feet apart until her lower body formed a sexy upside-down V. The air in the shower grew hot and sultry, vibrating with the sexual charge between them. “Aren’t you going to ask me ‘truth or dare’ first?”
“Why should I? We both know you don’t tell the truth.” He unlatched the watch from his wrist and handed it to her. Her fingers closed around the band, brushing his in the process, sending tiny sparks of electricity all through his flesh. Then he settled both hands at her waist and leaned close to her ear. “Round one. You get sixty seconds. If you can keep yourself from reacting to my touch in those sixty seconds, you win the first round and we move to the second.”
Her head tipped back, and she looked at the watch face. “Is this waterproof?”
He smiled against her neck. “Yes.”
“And what do you mean by reacting?”
Same old Eve. Always so technical. He breathed hot over her skin. “You can’t come, beautiful.”
Eve’s eyes slid closed. “Oh fuck.”
He chuckled and brushed his hands up her ribcage. “Now if you ask me to do that, I think that definitely counts as you admitting you do still want me. In which case, you lose. Are you ready, Evie? Sixty seconds on the clock.”
Stupid. Stupid idea. Why had she agreed to this?
Eve held her breath while Archer’s wicked hands ran up and down her ribcage, sending shock waves all through her body. Hot water beat against her skin, but it was the man at her back—the one wearing soaked jeans and a wicked smile she could just barely see from the corner of her eye—that was making her sweat.
She bit her lip as his hands grazed the underside of her breasts, then came around and cupped the masses gently. Against her ass, she felt his erection pressing against her through the damp denim.
Holy shit. Okay, don’t moan. Don’t rock back against him. You want him gone for good? Be tough, and you’ve got your chance.
She could win this. He’d given her an out, and this time she was taking it. After listening to what had happened to him in Guatemala, after realizing he was sticking with her now because he still felt something for her, after knowing the bullet that had grazed his shoulder wasn’t the worst that could happen to him because of her, she wasn’t about to put his life on the line anymore.
His fingers brushed her nipples, and air caught in her lungs. She went perfectly still. Warm breath fanned the skin of her neck, sending tiny shivers all through her body.
“How does that feel, Evie?” He twisted her nipples, then pinched each one, ever so slightly.
“Fine.”
He chuckled against her neck, the vibration echoing through his chest and hips, right against her ass. “I think it feels better than fine. I remember how much you used to like it when I’d play with your breasts while I slid into you from behind.”
Eve swallowed a groan. Tore her eyes open and looked at the watch. Twenty-five seconds to go . . .
One hand let go of her breast while the other continued to tease and torture. Then she felt his fingers slowly sliding down her belly, inching across her abs and slinking lower.
The first touch at her mound caused her to suck in a breath. But he didn’t press inside like she expected. Instead he cupped her mound and rubbed the heel of his hand against her until she saw stars.
“I like this, beautiful. Bare. It’s so damn sexy. Did you shave for me?”
She scoffed, but it came out more as a gasp. “No.”
He brushed his fingers across her lips and over her naked mound. “I don’t believe you.”
/>
Eve focused on the watch face, but her vision swam. He pinched her nipple, and a jolt of electricity rippled through her, sending shock waves to her sex. It took every ounce of strength she had not to arch into his touch.
“Do you want more, Eve? Do you want me to touch you deeper”—he cupped her sex—“here?”
Eve bit down hard on her lip. Ten seconds. Eight . . .
He moved his hand up, and relief teased—that he was backing away, that she’d won this round—then two fingers pressed between her folds, sliding along her slit.
“Ooooh, baby. You are soooo fucking wet.”
His slick fingers glided up and around her clit. And every cell in Eve’s body shuddered. She gripped the watch tightly. The second hand blurred in front of her eyes. Two seconds . . . One . . .
“Time,” she groaned, dropping her forehead against the tile wall.
At her back, Zane chuckled. His fingers fell from her breast and sex, and the pressure eased against her ass. Cool air and the warm shower spray hit her body, but it did little to cool her down. She focused on the droplets splashing against her skin. Focused on her breaths. In and out. Focused on anything to take her mind off the fire growing in her core.
“You ready for round two? This time I get to add my mouth.”
Oh God. No, she wasn’t ready. The son of a bitch was sadistic. She should have realized that after he’d tied her up and cut away her blouse at that warehouse. And she was even sicker because a tiny part of her liked this.
Do not back down from him.
Her stomach caved in. She squeezed the watch in her hand. “Do it.”
His soft laughter met her ears. “A hundred and twenty seconds, Eve. Starting now.”
Fuck. Two minutes? She’d never last. Swallowing hard, she looked up at the watch. His hands landed at her shoulders, and she felt him move in close all over again.
Think about Olivia. And what Miller’s doing right this minute. And the bombing in Seattle. And how ADD Roberts fits into this mess. Don’t think about his mouth at your ear, blowing hot over your skin. Or the soft glide of his fingertips down your spine. Or—oh shit—his lips pressing softly against your neck . . .