The Omega Team: Hot Target (Kindle Worlds Novella) (4 page)

He stood on the threshold of the bathroom, wearing nothing but a plush white towel around his waist and a raised eyebrow. The stark white looked great against his glistening tanned skin and his dark hair hung in damp waves. With billows of steam behind him, he looked every inch of her best fantasy—while she was trapped in an alternative universe version of ‘
I Love Lucy
.’

For a long moment, he didn’t say a thing until he cleared his throat and walked over to where she stood, cemented to the floor.

“Have you done this before, Miss Lyles?”

Her face flushed with heat.

“Please, it’s Jacquie. Done w-what before, exactly?”

With a finger, he raised her chin to look him square in the eye.

“Given yourself to a man, as you do now.” He nuzzled her ear and pulled her into his arms. In an instant she’d forgotten she stood ankle deep in a rainbow of rubbers.

“Oh, God,” she gasped and melted into him. “Not…exactly.”

“Then I have a proposition for you,” he whispered as he kissed her neck. “No games. Nothing happens unless you ask for it.”

He pulled from her and stared into her eyes. With a gentle touch, he ran his fingers through her blonde hair and down her cheek.

“Something tells me, you are offering a precious gift. I do not want to disappoint you.”

He held her face in both of his hands and kissed her lips with such tenderness, she nearly cried.

“Tell me what you want,” he said. “I must hear you say these things. If it pleasures you, I will do anything. We have the whole night.”

Jacquie trembled in his arms as a tear trickled down her cheek. One night of passion—fulfilling all her fantasies—would never be enough with Rafael Madero. She knew he would break her heart.

But she didn’t care.

Everywhere Jacquie looked in the hotel room, a mirror reflected Rafael wearing nothing but a white towel. His hazel eyes never strayed from hers and she felt the heat rush to her face and other parts of her body.

“Do you think we can have a little more privacy?” She nudged her head toward the open windows. “I don’t need to go Kardashian on Youtube.”

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Whatever you wish.”

When the drapes were closed, she had another request. If this would be her fantasy, she wanted it all.

“Maybe some music?” She shared her favorite station of sexy music with him and he found it.

‘
The Sweetest Taboo
’ by Sade filled the room and she smiled.
Perfection
. With the mood set, Jacquie mustered the courage to cross the point of no return with him. Without asking, she reached for the towel and let it drop at his bare feet. She had to look down and nearly choked. The sheer size and girth of him stole her next breath.

Naked, Rafael stood before her in all his masculine glory.

“Tell me what you want,” he whispered. His low voice sent goose bumps over her skin.

Steamy images flashed in her head, triggers of everything she had ever fantasized. In a million dreams she never could’ve pictured herself with a man like Rafe.
Baby steps, Jacquie
. She took his hand and placed it on the stretchy black fabric at her shoulder.

“Take it off. Real slow.” She fixed her gaze on his full lips and let her eyes trail up to his.

Rafe entwined his fingers in her garment and slid it down her body, inch by inch, without taking his honey brown eyes off her. When her black dress dropped to the carpet, Rafael feasted his gaze on her as if she were a porterhouse steak and he hadn’t eaten in a very long time. He didn’t have to tell her that he liked what he saw. His body told her everything she needed to know.

She’d never felt such desire in a man. No one had ever made her feel like this, like a real woman instead of a girl.

“Victoria doesn’t have a secret anymore.” She blushed.

Rafael pulled down her bra straps and lowered his lips to her nipples. In one snap, he unhooked her lingerie and her bra fell from her body. His large hands held her in place as his mouth got to work. Jacquie tossed her head back and melted in his arms, gasping with every wet stroke of his tongue.

“Yes, oh my God.”

Rafe pulled her closer with an arm around her back and she let go, letting him hold her. He slid his free hand down her body and slipped off her panties. Every caress, every warm nuzzle of his lips and tongue, nudged her closer to a powerful orgasm. When he thrust his fingers between her legs, she cried out.

“Am I hurting you?” he asked.

“Only if you quit.” She arched her back and writhed into the push of his fingers. “Don’t stop. Deeper. Oh, God. Yes.”

Jacquie shut her eyes and savored every stroke of Rafael. She collapsed into his strong arms as her first orgasm hit her, wave after wave, and tears of sheer joy trailed down her cheek. She’d never had a lover like Rafael Madero.

***

It took all of Rafael’s will power to rein in what he wanted to do with Jacquie. Churning with heat, his body had its own ideas—and as she cried out and rocked with each ripple of her orgasm—he wanted to drive into her and make her feel every inch of him.

The smell of her skin and the scent of her musk drove him insane.

With every glance in the mirrors that surrounded them, he couldn’t get enough of her body. Strands of her blonde hair and her lush pale skin would haunt him.

He didn’t expect to feel this way. He wanted it to be about sex and nothing more, but Jacquie had burrowed under his skin in a primal way. Her womanly body, coupled with her vulnerability and innocence, had marked him.

Rafael had warned her that there wouldn’t be a tomorrow, but he had a bad feeling that he’d be the one who would need a reminder.

One night with this woman wouldn’t be enough.

As she gasped with another orgasm, he covered her mouth with his and let his tongue entwine with hers. He breathed her in and lifted her from the floor to carry her to his bed.

“Say it,” he demanded. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you inside me. Now.”

Rafael laid her on the mattress and watched her open for him.

“You are so beautiful,” he said.

Rafe grabbed a condom from the carpet—the ones she had spilled earlier—and he tore open the wrapper and slid it on. He drank in the sight of her as she licked her lips, eager for him. He tugged her hips toward the edge of the bed and craved seeing the passion in her eyes when he would shove into her, but something made him stop.

A knock on the door
.

“Rafael, it’s me. Athena. Open up. We gotta talk.”

Jacquie’s eyes grew wide in shock. Rafael winced as he forced his body to stand down.

“Oh, God,” Jacquie whispered. “I can’t—”

“I know you’re in there,” Athena insisted and knocked again. “I hear music, Rafe.”

His sister’s voice and her sharp rap at the door jolted him, as if he’d been doused with cold water.

“Just a minute,” he called out. “I need to…dress.”

Rafael bought them time. Jacquie jumped off the bed and scrambled across the floor, picking up her clothes and purse and every condom dumped on the carpet before she dashed into the bathroom.

“Sorry. I can’t let her find me here,” she apologized before she shut the door.

The intoxicating moment with Jacquie had vanished. Rafe killed the music. Naked, he stood alone in a daze. He had to get dressed to face his sister, but he had no idea what Athena had come to say.

***

Rafael answered the door wearing worn jeans and a gray Chicago Bears T-shirt. His long dark hair looked damp as if he’d just showered. Athena walked into the room and spied the unmade bed and his clothes strewn across his open luggage. The mess struck her as odd for Rafe, until she noticed the faint smell of a woman’s perfume lingering in the air.

Athena ignored the obvious and turned to face him.
HisHis

“What happened today, Rafe? You walked out on the poly. Is there something you’ve kept from me?”

Rafael clenched his jaw and refused to look her in the eye. She knew from experience, what that meant. She’d never known her brother to lie to her. He had guts with the truth, but his weapon of choice had always been silence.

“You reached out to me, Rafael. I thought you wanted a new start in Tampa. What are you not telling me?”

“Sweet Jesus, Athena. You’re like a pit bull on a bone. Chalk it up to me having a bad day.” He glared at her and raked a hand through his hair. “I failed your polygraph. If that sinks my chances, then that’s it. I’m done.”

With her brother stonewalling her, she had to find another way to get him to open up to her.

“Your wife and baby girl were murdered,” she said. “I can’t imagine what toll that’s taken on you,
mi hermano
. I know you’re not the same guy. How
could
you be? But please…tell me what’s going on with you.”

She rarely brought up Elena and Ariana these days, unless he gave her signs he needed to talk. Athena thought that was the real reason he asked about working with her Omega group. He needed his only sister to be his lifeline back to the living.

Athena knew Rafe had been the one to find Elena and Ariana dead. She couldn’t begin to understand that horror. After it happened years ago, she’d gotten her hands on the murder book and saw the graphic crime scene photos. Even now she couldn’t picture them in her mind without the sting of tears and couldn’t imagine her brother’s immeasurable torment.

She knew the case had grown cold fast. There were only unsubstantiated rumors of a drug connection through Elena because of the way the bodies had been marked with a knife by the cartel. It killed Rafe to have to defend the mother of his child, but a powerful cartel had planted evidence and innuendo to muddy the waters—and like that, the investigation shut down.

No motive. No suspect.
Nada
.

“Give it a rest,” he said. “Do we have to talk about this now? I failed your interview. Let it go.”

Rafe fidgeted and wouldn’t stand still. That wasn’t like him either. He normally was cool under pressure and had a poker face she could bank on. 

“They never caught the shooter, did they?” She pushed. “Did any leads pan out?”

“No. Everything came to one big dead end. Bought and paid for.”

She barely heard him. He’d lowered his voice and stopped pacing. With shoulders slumped, he collapsed onto the bed.

“You didn’t look into it yourself? I just thought you’d—”

“Please don’t do this,” he pleaded. “It’s hard enough for me to sleep. I can still see—”

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t come here to—” She couldn’t finish. His tortured face stopped her cold. “I actually have good news. At least I think it’s good.”

“I could use it.” He finally looked her in the eye.

“I’m leading a mission into Cuba tomorrow and I want you with me. You failed the poly but you can still earn a spot on the team. Are you in?”

“Cuba?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s the assignment?”

“A cold case murder. I don’t have a lot of detail, but apparently the drug cartels are fired up about an old killing. A local politician requested me and he’s already footed the bill.”

“He asked for you? By name?”

“Yeah. Guess my reputation precedes me.”

Rafael shut down again. He closed his eyes and his chin dropped to his chest. Athena let the silence build a wall between them, to see how long her brother would keep quiet. If it had been a contest, she would’ve lost.

“You have your passport with you?” she finally asked.

He shrugged and said, “I carry it with me when I travel. Old habits.”

“Great. Be at Omega Team headquarters by 0600 tomorrow morning. You’ll meet my team and gear up before we leave.” After Rafe nodded, Athena turned for the door, but she wasn’t done.

“Oh and Jacquie?” Athena called out, playing a hunch. “You’re coming on this mission as our communications liaison.”

Rafe stared at her wide-eyed, shocked at her assumption, but he didn’t confirm or deny.

“
Ay dios mio
.” He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You good with that?” Athena called out to Jacquie again.

After a long moment of silence, a tiny muffled voice came from behind the closed bathroom door.

“Okay.”

Athena winked at a mortified Rafael and turned on her heels before she lost it. With a big grin on her face, she walked out the door, thankful she had recognized the very familiar perfume she’d smelled when she first stepped into her brother’s hotel room.

She winced and stifled a laugh. The Cuba assignment had become a lot more interesting.

***

Rafael would have appreciated his sister’s playful wink more if he hadn’t still been stunned by the details of the Omega mission. It had been too much of a coincidence for the cold case murder to be in Cuba and involve trouble with the drug cartels. Rafael knew his past had caught up to him and he felt like a man on death row, waiting for his last meal.

Would he have the guts to follow through with what he’d started five years ago, when he left a shell casing jammed into a boulder and dared justice to find him?

The bathroom door opened and Jacquie peeked out. She had dressed and when she came into the room, she had her purse clutched to her chest.

“I hope I didn’t get you into any trouble,” she said.

Rafael loved how her first thoughts were for him. He didn’t deserve someone as sweet as her. He couldn’t answer the polygraph—the question about if he’d ever committed a felony—because he’d murdered a man in cold blood. He’d taken the law into his own hands when he knew corruption, international borders, and crossed jurisdictions wouldn’t punish the man who’d killed his wife and baby girl, the bastard who had dared to mar their bodies with his sign.

“No. You didn’t,” he said. “You heard her. We have a mission tomorrow. Early.”

Rafael stood and walked toward the door.

“Yeah. Guess we’ll be working together after all,” she said with a sigh.

Jacquie didn’t have to say anything more. Her disappointment had been palpable, but she’d get over it.
She’d have to
. Rafe had buried his future five years ago in two graves. He would never forget Elena and Ariana.
Never
. For a brief moment, he’d shoved his pain deep enough to enjoy the pleasures of another woman, but Jacquie deserved better than half a man.

“I heard what she said about your wife and baby.” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I tried not to listen, but—”