Game of Fear (24 page)

Hotel sofas weren’t meant for sleep. Gabe shifted his head; his neck protested. His muscles were in knots, but he didn’t care if he didn’t move. Deb was draped over him, sound asleep.

After kissing and snuggling for a while on the couch, they’d both fallen asleep. If his brothers heard about this, he’d never live it down.

Some Don Juan he was.

He didn’t know how much time had passed since they’d showered and crashed on the couch. He shifted uncomfortably. At six-three, he hated short sofas. He liked being able to sit down and not have his head flop back.

But last night had been worth it.

She snuggled closer to him, her warmth seeping into his skin like a hot-water bottle. The citrus scent of her shampoo filled his lungs, relaxing him even more. He toyed with the auburn strands of hair. The silky locks slipped through his fingers.

He wasn’t used to feelings like this. He usually went for nice, quiet girls. Maybe they’d just been too nice. Maybe he’d needed the fire and light and craziness Deb had brought into his life, though he wouldn’t mind skipping the explosions.

But she was so damned brave, and so determined. He had no doubt she’d walk through hell to find the sister she loved.

No matter what she’d said the night before, he knew something else about Deb Lansing. When she loved, she loved hard and deep and true.

Could she love him like that?

Did he even want her to?

He stared at her face, peaceful in repose, and his heart swelled. It was crazy. She wasn’t exactly beautiful; her features held more determination than that. Her jaw was too strong, her eyes too wide, and right now, the shadows beneath them pulled at Gabe. But put each feature together and he couldn’t look away from her.

Had his brothers felt like this?

She shifted closer, her hand clenching on his thigh.

He’d give anything for her to wake up and look into his eyes.

As if she read his mind, those emerald beauties blinked, and she stared up at him.

She looked down at her hand, which lay perilously close to his lap. He couldn’t hide his physical response.

She bit her lip, the vulnerable expression so different from what he’d seen since they met.

She pulled her hand back, but he covered it and held it closer. “Don’t. I like it there,” Gabe said, his voice husky, not so much from nonuse, but from the stranglehold she had on his heart.

“Would you like it better here?” She slid her palm over his crotch, her hesitancy still clear.

“Oh, yeah,” he groaned, pushing up against her hand. With the stealth of a SWAT team she’d crept under his defenses and hit with a direct shot.

“Are we making a mistake?” she asked in a whisper, even as her body pressed closer to his.

“Probably, but I don’t care. I’ve wanted you for months.” He brushed his fingers across her cheek, then slid his hand to cup her head and lowered his mouth to hers. Unlike their other kisses, this one exploded in heat from the first second.

No question, he would make love to her tonight.

Nothing would stop him.

He settled her on top of him. Her hips pressed into his. She shifted against him, rubbing every sensitive nerve. He gasped, his body hard, wanting, and unwilling to wait. Her hair fell into a curtain around them, and she hovered above him, her lips just out of reach. He clasped the back of her head, pulling her closer.

“There’s a perfectly good bed a few feet away.”

“Too far,” he gasped, then possessed her mouth, and his lips ground into hers. She moaned low in her throat and opened for him, returning kiss for kiss, her tongue sparring with his. He pulled her body even closer; his hands rubbed down her strong shoulders to her trim waist and settled on her hips. He cupped her curves and thrust up against her. His body strained against his zipper, but the pain kept him sane. Otherwise, he might lose himself in her kiss, in her touch.

Panting, she sat up and looked down at him.

“This is probably a really bad idea but I don’t care, either.” Then, in a fluid motion, she pulled off the sweatshirt, revealing a turquoise camisole underneath. A spaghetti strap dangled on her arm. The color made her hair appear as a sunset halo.

Gabe simply stared. In all his fantasies, he hadn’t pictured her in silky lingerie. Would she ever stop surprising him? God, he hoped not.

His hands trembled slightly and tugged at the fabric at her waist, slipping underneath. Her skin, smooth and taut across her abdomen, shivered under his fingertips. He slid his hands up to brush the underside of her breasts.

She licked her lips and moved her own hands to the front of his shirt. She made quick work of the buttons, then pushed the shirt open. Slowly she lowered her body onto him, rubbing against his warm skin, like a cat. She nipped at his neck and arched her hips against him, her low moan of pleasure spiking his desire.

Gabe couldn’t deny how much he wanted her. He knew it was wrong, knew that they were in danger, knew that his investigation might put her in even more peril. In fact, he couldn’t be certain who was out to get them from one moment to the next, but, damn, he needed her.

More than he’d ever needed anyone in his life.

She skirted her lips across his jawline.

“You’re thinking too much,” she whispered. “I need you inside me.”

He grabbed the bottom of her camisole and slid it up over her head, revealing her milky curves. He cupped them tenderly, reverently, awed by the longing inside him.

His hips shifted in a sensual rhythm, losing himself to all thought. She groaned, arching into him. He drew her down to taste her nipple and her hands clenched on his shoulders, her soft cries signaling her growing need.

Dazed, she struggled to undo the button of his jeans. In seconds she had the zipper down. She raised herself so he could push his jeans down to his thighs.

“We’re going to get tangled up,” Gabe said with a laugh.

Without letting him fully undress, she shoved her pants down her toned legs, lowered herself until there was nothing between them, then slowly moved her body sinuously back and forth.

He responded and he nearly sank into her. God, how he wanted to. He longed to make love to her and feel every sensation he could. Feel himself spilling into her.

That would be insane.

“Wait,” he groaned finally, and felt into his pants for his wallet and a condom. He slipped it on, then plunged into her waiting heat, straining up against her as he drank in her cry of ecstasy. For a single moment he stilled and she pulsed around him. She gripped his arms, panting, dazed, desperate.

“More,” she whispered. “Make me forget. Make me—”

His hard thrust cut off her words, and with each successive surge, his body sang in triumph. She reared back as he drove deep inside her, clutching at his arms as he kneaded her swollen breasts. He felt her tremors begin, her body clenching around him.

Skin damp with exertion, he drove her up and over and she shuddered to completion. Holding her hip, he thrust deeper and deeper, then shouted out her name, stunned by his explosive release.

Panting, she sank down on top of him, her heart pounding against his chest, but she didn’t move.

Finally, she rested her chin on her hands, looked up, and smiled at him. “If this is what you do on a couch, I can’t wait to try the bed.”

His fingers ran through her hair. “Damn straight, lady. After what I intend to do to you on that bed, you’re going to wonder why we waited so long.”

She kissed him gently. “I already do.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A
SHLEY STOOD IN
the Warden’s office,
hovering near a window that overlooked the primary testing room. Justin sat in a chair close to the corner. A new recruit had just been brought in for that first fun-filled tour. Whoever it was had no idea what was about to—

Oh God. No!

Ashley closed her eyes, praying she’d been imagining things. She squinted. Sure enough, two guards shoved Mylo forward. He fell to his knees. Mottled bruises covered his face. She recognized that terrified look.

She hated this. A new recruit meant the guards were distracted. The perfect time for the escape. Why did Justin and Dave’s one chance mean Mylo had to be imprisoned?

Then she realized the truth. They’d been brought here to die.

Now even more depended on Justin making it through. She didn’t know if Dave had cleared the last level, but he was very smart. She hoped he’d reached Level 88. She didn’t want Justin to have to try to survive and get help all alone.

She squinted at the new computer they’d put Dave on. He was attempting Level 88 again, one of the many missions from the new game.

She prayed it was just a simulation. With the upgraded code and the right knowledge, anyone from homegrown terrorists to an enemy country could access classified information.

Her heart skipped a beat as she realized how blithely she’d hacked into NSA with Justin. Everything had been fun and daring. She’d never considered the damage—even though she and Justin had never intended to use the information. They’d screwed up big-time.

If Justin and Dave didn’t get the information to Deb and her father, people could die. A lot of people.

The door behind her squeaked open. “Well, Ms. Lansing. I see you’ve been causing trouble again.”

She hated that voice. She straightened and slowly turned. “I haven’t done anything you haven’t already punished me for.”

The Warden stood, his bearing stiff and military-straight, his expression very much like her father. She recognized the cold, aloof attitude well.

“Somehow, Ms. Lansing, I highly doubt that.” He walked over to stand before her, too close. “You’re the brightest, most instinctive, and inventive code breaker I’ve ever seen. In fact, we haven’t witnessed anything close to the likes of you since the first version of
Point of Entry
was released. That girl, too, was curious and unwilling to cooperate. Do you know what happened to her?”

He opened a desk drawer, lifted out a photo, and passed it to Ashley.

Reluctantly she took it.

A bus station. A blonde-haired girl, her body riddled with bullets. Blood everywhere. Other people lying on the ground, wounded.

The girl looked eerily like Ashley herself, and the similarity made her recoil. Suddenly, it dawned on her that the victim must be Shannon, the girl for whom Niko still grieved.

“Look at all those bullet holes,” the Warden pointed out. “You wouldn’t want something like that to happen to you. Or your sister. Would you?”

Ashley shook her head numbly.

“Or to your brother Rick. Or how about Ben? Isn’t that the name of the one who’s a black ops operative?”

She snapped her head up, fear slamming through her like bullets from a machine gun set on automatic.

“Oh yes, I know about your brothers. We’ve been doing our research. In fact, we know exactly where they are at this moment. What unit they’ve been assigned to, the coordinates where they’re currently encamped. Everything.”

He opened the door. “Come, Ashley. Let’s join your boyfriend, shall we?”

He led her to Justin’s station. He was completely focused, clicking the controller buttons in his hand faster than she’d ever seen.

“Mr. Connell, your friend, Ms. Lansing, is here to observe you.”

Justin turned toward her, his eyes haunted. “Ashley?”

The Warden backhanded Justin. “How dare you speak to her? I did not give you permission.”

Justin dropped his gaze immediately to the controller gripped tightly in his hands. His face was red, but whether the color was from the blow or his anger, Ashley couldn’t tell.

The Warden leaned over Justin’s shoulder, studying the screen. “Very nice. You’ve nearly completed Level 89, Justin. Well done.”

He smiled up at Ashley. “You might find this level of special interest, Ms. Lansing. Insurgents are trying to overrun a top secret American Army outpost in the desert. Land mines and bombs have been set around the perimeter as a deterrent to the attack. They may or may not save the troops inside. Justin has uncovered the access code to detonate and destroy the attackers.”

The Warden smiled. “Justin, finish the mission.”

“No!” Ashley cried. “Don’t do it!”

Justin swallowed, his hands froze over the keyboard.

“Hit the button, Mr. Connell.”

Justin still stalled.

The Warden put his hand over Justin’s and pressed the trigger.

A huge explosion filled the screen.

“Congratulations!” a mechanical voice bellowed. “You’ve successfully eliminated your target. All of the insurgents are dead.”

Ashley swayed, ready to faint. “Oh my God, no.”

The Warden turned to her. “I see that you’ve figured out what we’re doing, haven’t you, Ms. Lansing?”

“No.” She shook her head, not wanting to believe her suspicions. “You wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Oh, but I would.” He laughed with delight, then his face turned cruel. “Let me make something perfectly clear. Your little rebellion is over. You have bucked me for the last time. I told you what would happen if you didn’t stop, so don’t blame me for the consequences of your actions.”

She grabbed his arm. “Who did you hurt?”

“Hurt?” He feigned shock. “What a quaint word for the devastation I just released.” He pointed a remote to the monitor next to Justin’s and pressed a button. Live video feed flickered on. A small military compound burned, flames roared into the sky. “Your brother Ben, his black ops team, and their hidden military base camp have all been decimated, and the fault is entirely yours.”

“No!” she sobbed, holding her belly. It couldn’t be. Ben wasn’t dead. This couldn’t be happening.

The Warden grabbed her arm. “I warned you, Ms. Lansing. I can get to anyone, anywhere. Don’t forget again.”

Deb’s body tingled all over. She couldn’t believe she’d lost control like that, but Gabe Montgomery had just ripped away the emotional defensive wall she’d used to protect herself for so very long.

While in the military, it had been self-preservation to not get involved with the men in her unit. Work and relationships didn’t mix, particularly when you were fighting an entire desert of men for respect.

Since then, she’d dated, but the truth was, Gabe Montgomery had captivated her from the moment she’d realized he’d survived after his injury. He possessed gut and grit, but more than that, he had heart.

Now, he’d also laid claim to hers. “We really should have done this a long time ago,” she teased. “How come you never asked me out?”

Gabe’s eyebrow arched. “I watched you torpedo most of the men in the bar for months. You didn’t seem overly receptive to advances.”

Deb sighed. “They weren’t you.”

He caressed her upper arm. “So, if you weren’t looking for a relationship or a hookup, why did you come to Sammy’s anyway? Most of the women there are badge bunnies. It doesn’t seem like it’s your scene.”

Deb averted her gaze. “I miss being a part of a unit. The Search and Rescue team helps. That’s why I usually come in with them. I couldn’t ever join in when it was just cops. That thin blue line, you know.”

“There’s definitely a wall when you’re not a cop—even if you used to be a cop. Things have been different for me, too, since everyone thought I was just running the bar,” Gabe said. His fingertips glided down her skin. “You miss the Army?”

She shivered and eased off of him. Without answering his question, she tugged a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. Then she tossed him one.

He rose onto one elbow. “Hit a nerve?”

“You ever look back on something you did and would give anything you have to change the choice you made?”

“Everyone has a past. Some with more regret than others, but yeah. Some days I don’t think about it. The last few, I’ve been reliving that day every second. Well, except maybe the last half hour. This sexy woman kept distracting me.”

She lifted her lashes and met his gaze. She saw the humor, but also the sympathy. He was leaving it up to her whether she wanted to tell him or not.

With a sigh, she wrapped her arms around her knees. “We were doing a rescue mission just outside Kandahar. A real Leroy Jenkins. Multiple casualties. At least two guys with amputations.”

She stared at the wall, but instead of a nondescript print, a cloud of dust from her helicopter’s rotors appeared in her mind. Tension vibrated around her. A warning from her commanding officer rang in her ears.

“We almost didn’t sit down. The landing area wasn’t secure. They were close to scrubbing the mission.”

Gabe moved over to her, but she shrank away. He didn’t press.

“I checked out the site. What a mess. A half dozen injured friendlies lined up on the ground. Three US soldiers. There were two choppers, but we couldn’t take everyone. I got the two double amputees and fit in everyone else I could. The extra load was dangerous.”

She blinked, her eyes blurring. “I’d just started to lift off when this soldier staggered out of the desert, begging us to stop. He lunged for the helicopter. The lieutenant radioed me to take off. We had to get the patients to base. The soldier fell to his knees.” She shook her head. “God. He raised his hands up to me, his eyes pleading for me to come back, and then someone blew his head off.”

Gabe let out a low curse.

“I found out later he’d been followed. The insurgents took out everyone there. His name was Tate Tinsley.”

“You saved the other soldiers’ lives.”

“Yes, but it’s not their thanks that I remember from that day. It’s his eyes. They haunt me. His family haunts me.”

“If you’d waited, no one might have made it.”

“Maybe. But now, I don’t leave
anyone
behind. Not unless I know they’ll be safe,” Deb said. “Not ever.”

Gabe pulled her into his arms. “The guys talk about you in the bar, you know,” he murmured, kissing her temple.

Deb gave him a cautious look. “Oh, yeah? What do they say?”

He tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “Several of the cops have been at locations where you’ve flown. Or they’ve heard Search and Rescue talk. You intimidate the hell out of most of the guys who have seen you in that chopper. They say you can make that bird sing and maneuver in ways no human being should. They say you’ll take the jobs other pilots won’t.” He hesitated. “They say you take risks that are crazy.”

“Maybe I do,” she whispered.

He cupped her cheek. “Take it from someone who knows. Dying won’t make the past go away.”

He leaned forward to take her lips, but his cell phone rang. He reached over and snagged it off the table, his muscles rippling in a most enticing way.

Deb longed to explore his body again. This time more slowly.

“Hi, Luke. What’s up?” Gabe’s brow furrowed, then he shut his eyes. “Damn. Thanks for letting me know.”

Eyes bleak, he turned to Deb. “Ernie’s dead. They found his body in the landfill outside of town. He was missing one of his hands.”

“Oh my God. How?”

“Someone blew his brains out, execution style, and carved
snitch
across his chest.”

Ashley fell to her knees. “No. Please. Not my brother.”

The Warden grabbed her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. “Come with me.”

She couldn’t think, couldn’t feel. Her entire body had gone numb. She looked back at Justin. He sagged in his chair, then he bent over and vomited on the floor.

The Warden yelled to a guard. “Get Floyd to clean it up.”

He dragged Ashley back to his office and locked them in. “Listen to me, Ms. Lansing. One more step out of line, and I hand you over to my guards. I guarantee you won’t like what they do to you.”

Someone from outside yelled for the Warden, panic in his voice.