Aegis 01 - First Exposure (4 page)

Now
this
was the Cade Blackwell she remembered. A smart-ass to his core. At one point, she’d found that charming. Now all it did was piss her off. She might not know how to deal with Mr. Dark and Dangerous, but she knew how to deal with Mr. Smart-ass.

“Brace yourself, Blackwell.”

He looked up. His eyes narrowed. But before he could ask what she meant, she straddled his lap, slid her fingers along the scruff of his jaw, and tipped his face toward hers.

Heat sparked in his eyes, and between her thighs, his body tensed. “Avery—”

Victory pulsed through her. She’d caught him off guard.
Perfect.

Dipping her head, she pressed her lips to his, cutting off his words. Warmth spread across her own mouth and threatened to distract her, but she refocused on her goal and inched closer, bringing their bodies into full contact. His breath caught, and she felt the surprise ricochet through him, so she did it again, this time pressing her half-exposed breasts against his chest.

His hands landed at her waist but didn’t move. His masculine scent rose in the air around her, making her lightheaded, but she kissed him again and reminded herself she was proving a point. Then she waited for the moment he let her in.

Not a very good actress?
Bullshit.
She was going to make him eat those words.

She tilted her head the other way. Brushed her lips against his again. His fingers dug into the corset at her hips. He was fighting it. Fighting her. It was time to play dirty.

She lowered her weight onto his lap and rocked her hips against his. Then she slid the tip of her tongue along the seam of his lips, coaxing him to open.

He gasped. And she took the opportunity to dip into his mouth, lick her tongue along his, and tease him the way he’d once teased her.

A long time ago. A lifetime ago. When she’d been young and innocent and he’d been a horny teenager trying to get into her pants in the backseat of his Honda.

A long groan rumbled from his chest. His arms closed around her. And then whatever protest he’d been mounting crumbled at her feet.

He sat forward and kissed her hard. Heat, lust, need poured from him into her. She tasted it on his slick tongue tangling with hers, felt it in the way his fingers dug into her spine. Knew, from how hard he was growing between her thighs, that he wanted her.

She’d kissed a lot of actors over the course of her career, in some pretty hot on-screen love scenes, but none of them had ever reacted as quickly, as ferociously as Cade was now. And for a moment, that realization threw her off. She wanted to chalk it up to the situation, to where they were headed and the fact they had a history. But a bitter truth teased the edge of her mind. The real reason was that she’d never thrown as much of herself into a role as she was doing right now. And she’d never wanted any of those actors the way she wanted Cade right this second.

Fear made her pull back. She pushed off his lap, teetered on the stupid heels but caught herself before she went down. And though inside her stomach was twisted into a hard, tight knot, she pulled up every shield she’d perfected over the years and fixed an impassive look on her face. After all, no one could pretend better than an actress.

“We’ll call that lesson number one, Blackwell.”

His hands froze against the armrests, his tense body halfway out of his chair, ready to come after her. Smiling her warmest America’s sweetheart grin, she dropped back into her chair and reached for her magazine again.

She didn’t look at him, but from the corner of her vision, she saw the way his chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths. She tried to focus on the words in front of her, but they melded into each other, and in her mind all she could see was how he’d looked staring up at her. Face flushed with passion, lips swollen from her assault, and that giant bulge against the fly of his jeans—the same one she’d brushed against that had sent a tingle through her entire core.

Focus, Avery.
She blinked several times. Flipped a page.
This is no different than any other role.

Several tense seconds passed. And then he chuckled and relaxed back into his seat. “Okay, princess. You win. You pull that on me at Indulgence and no one’s gonna think you’re anything but hot to fuck my brains out.”

Unease settled in the bottom of her stomach. And memories of doing just that bounced around in her mind. Cade Blackwell had been an amazing lover, even at eighteen. At thirty she had a feeling he could rock her world into the next universe if she let him. And that knowledge—more than what she might find at Indulgence—scared the crap out of her.

She turned a page, feigning indifference. “Good thing I’m such a good actress. No one will know I’d rather cut your dick off than fuck it.”

The air changed. Tensed. Grew icy. From the corner of her vision, she watched his jaw harden and that dark look creep back into his eyes. She knew she’d probably gone too far, but she didn’t care. He was getting under her skin with his heady looks, wicked touch, and challenging comments, and she needed to lay down the ground rules. She wasn’t letting Cade Blackwell back into her life no matter what he did to help her find Melody this weekend. And there was no way he was getting inside her heart, regardless of how far they had to take their little ruse.

He pushed out of his chair without a word. Her pulse sped up, but she pretended to continue to read the architectural magazine in front of her. Several moments passed where she wondered what he could possibly be doing in the other room. She’d obviously pissed him off. Was he calling his boss? Telling him the deal was off? Had she just jeopardized finding her friend all because she couldn’t keep her own emotions in check? Why the hell did she let herself get so worked up by Cade Blackwell?

A manila envelope dropped against her magazine. She startled, then looked up in surprise. Instead of sitting across from her like he’d done before, Cade walked by and sat to her left. A console separated their seats. He opened a folder without looking her way. “Memorize what’s in there. You’ll need to know it all before we land. Since you’re such a good actress, it shouldn’t be that hard to do.”

The words felt like a slap, though why, she didn’t know. Hand shaking, she pulled out several sheets of paper, a woman’s wallet, and a passport. She flipped the passport open and looked down. Her new face stared up at her. Right after she’d done her makeover—before the waxing and fittings and wardrobe discussions—they’d taken her picture, but she hadn’t realized it had been for a passport. Aegis worked fast. She scanned the information and froze when she read the name.

Her pulse picked up speed, and her hands grew sweaty. “What is this?”

“Your alias.”

“I see that. But why
this
name?”

“Undercover Work 101: you stick with your real first name so you don’t get caught in a lie and forget to respond when someone’s talking to you.”

“Ava is not my first name.”

He huffed out a sigh and finally looked her way. Irritation reflected deeply in his eyes. “Yeah, but we’re trying to get people
not
to think you’re Avery Scott, so it makes sense not to use Avery. I knew you’d respond to Ava, so Ava it is.”

He looked back at his folder like the name meant nothing, even though he knew he was the only one who’d ever called her Ava. Back when they’d been kids, she’d loved that he’d used that nickname. Now…? Now it set off a host of repressed emotions deep inside her chest. But it was the other name that made her lungs feel like they’d grown three sizes too small. “And the last?”

“The last I know you’ll respond to as well. Welcome to married life, Mrs. Black.”

Mrs. Black.

Black had been his legal last name as a kid, and she’d been called that only once before. Before her life had turned to shit. Before he’d left her. Before he’d cut all ties to her and Coeur d’Alene and changed his last name. When he’d convinced her to run away with him, leave her family and friends, fake her age, and marry him.

Chapter Three

W
e’ll consider that lesson number one.

The words were still ringing in Cade’s ears. As was Avery’s admission she’d rather cut his dick off than fuck it.

Cade didn’t believe either. There’d been passion in that kiss, even if she didn’t want to admit it. She might be able to fool a lot of people, but she couldn’t fool him. He’d seen her kiss plenty of other guys on-screen, and though he wanted to punch every single one of them in the face, none of the steamy scenes he’d seen had looked at all like what he’d felt. She’d wanted him. She still wanted him. Before this weekend was over, he was going to get her to admit that much.

He placed a hand on her thigh in the back of the town car they’d climbed into after landing in Montego Bay and squeezed. Seated next to him, she glanced at the driver’s rearview mirror but didn’t push him away. And he took that as a good sign.

He leaned close to her ear but spoke loud enough so the driver could hear. “You look gorgeous, princess. Though I wish you’d worn a skirt so we could play on the way to the resort.”

Her leg tensed beneath his hand. She glanced at the driver’s mirror again, then turned to look out at the shacks and palm trees whizzing by. “I thought you liked the way my ass looked in these pants.”

She was falling into the role. He had to hand it to her. When she put her mind to something, she was good. But he wanted to see how far he could push her. Better to find out now than when they were at the resort.

Lightly, he trailed his fingers up the inside of her leg. The denim was thin and soft, but it was the heat between her thighs he wanted to feel. She sucked in a breath and held it when his fingers grazed the top of her inner thigh, just centimeters from her mound. “Are you sure? We’ve got at least an hour’s drive.”

She turned to face him. And in her newly green eyes, he saw a hint of the same heat he’d seen on the plane.

Oh yeah…

“Baby, you are such a tease.” She placed a warm hand against his chest, one that permeated his shirt and sent heat seeping into his skin. Then she leaned in and kissed him like she’d done it a million times. But the zing of electricity that rippled through him when her lips touched his was anything but routine. His pulse sped up, and beneath his fly, he grew hard, just that fast.

Easing back, she smiled sweetly. “I promise we’re going to have all kinds of fun at the resort. But if you wear me out now, I won’t be able to rock your world when we get there.” She kissed him again, this time long and slow, making sure to suck his bottom lip into her mouth in a seductive way that made the blood roar in his ears. Then she bit down playfully—or in warning, he wasn’t sure which—and pulled away. “You wouldn’t want that, now, would you?”

Cade wasn’t currently sure of anything. Except that he wanted her naked and panting beneath him. Right this second.

She shifted her legs, forcing his hand from between her thighs, crossed them so he couldn’t touch her there again, then wrapped her hands around his arm and laid her head against his shoulder. “I’m just going to rest my eyes for a few minutes. Wake me when we get there, baby.”

Cade’s pulse raced. He knew she wasn’t asleep, but one look at the driver smiling in the rearview mirror told him their disguise was working. And she was a lot better actress than he’d given her credit for. If he wasn’t careful, this was going to backfire on him. Big-time.

Ninety minutes later, Cade looked up from the file he’d been reading about Indulgence and closed the folder in his lap. They’d pulled off the main road and were now driving down a tree-lined private drive. Palm fronds swayed against the crystal-blue sky, and purple and pink bougainvillea formed a colorful hedge along the expertly manicured grass to both his right and left. He shook Avery at his side. “Wake up, princess. We’re here.”

She startled and pushed away from him quickly, making him wonder if she really had fallen asleep. Lucky girl. He’d been hard half the trip until he’d finally started researching their destination.

She sat up and blinked several times. But her voice was low and sexy when she managed, “Al—already?”

God, she was beautiful. Even with the fake glasses and dyed hair. And she still got to him. Even after all this time. Even when he knew her life had been better off without him.

“Yeah. You ready for this?”

She dragged her gaze from the window and looked his way. And for just a second, he saw something flash in her eyes. A hint of fear that told him she wasn’t nearly as confident as she seemed.

She looked away quickly, settled back in her seat and smoothed her hair. “Baby, I’m always ready for anything with you.”

Something in his heart softened. He draped an arm over her shoulder and leaned close to her ear again. But this time he kept his voice low so the driver couldn’t hear. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Just stay close to me.”

She swallowed once but gave a quick nod. And before he could say anything else, the car pulled to a stop. The driver climbed out, closed his door, and hustled around the car.

“Just promise me we’ll find Melody,” she whispered.

“We’ll find her, Avery. I promise.”

Avery glanced up into his eyes, and the same fear that had flashed there seconds ago flashed again. But there was something more in her gaze—a look, a feeling, a shared past that drifted between them. And in the silence of the car, it rekindled every memory, every emotion, every ounce of longing Cade had fought in the years since their split.

His chest tightened, made it hard to breathe. She was older, wiser, a thousand times more beautiful than she’d been back then, but that look told him the girl he’d fallen in love with was still in there. The one who’d taken a chance on the wrong boy, who’d stood up to her parents when they’d told her to stop seeing him, who’d demonstrated her loyalty by running away and marrying him when all logic told her it was a bad idea. She was proving it in her determination to find her friend against all odds, in the way she’d agreed to pretend to be his wife when he knew it had to be hard for her, in the way she stared at him now with eyes steeped in emotions he’d tried so hard to forget.