Burned (20 page)

“Want to feel you come,” she murmured. “Want you to mark me.”

The answering growl he made sent a primal shiver through her. He nibbled at the side of her neck. “Say you’re mine.”

She smiled at his possessiveness and arched her neck. “I’m yours. Make me yours.”

“All mine,” he muttered, his arms locked tight around her and then he took her hard and fast. Zahra gasped and pressed back for more, loving the feeling of him letting go, of being claimed. Their damp skin slipped and slid together as he plunged in and out of her. His breathing sped up, tremors wracking his muscles as he took what he needed. At the last moment he gripped her hips hard and pulled out. With a deep, guttural groan he bit the top of her shoulder and came against her lower back in long hot spurts.

He sagged behind her, resting his head behind hers on the pillow. His hands resumed stroking over her naked skin, skimming the curves of her waist and hips. Soft kisses trailed over the top of her head. “I’ll get a cloth.”

Zahra hummed in response and didn’t open her eyes. She heard the tap turn on in the bathroom sink, then his quiet footfalls returning. The bed dipped and he stroked her hair back from her face. She leaned her cheek into his hand then a warm, damp cloth touched her tearstained face. He washed away her tears gently before reaching around to clean her hips and lower back, then pulled the covers over her. Moments later he stretched out on his side facing her and ran a finger down the side of her face. She opened her eyes and smiled up at him in the dimness.

“How’s your leg?”

“Better now, thanks.” She felt like a contented kitten curled up for a nap in a puddle of sunlight.

He smiled back. “You never have to thank me for that. I do love it when you beg though. And when you get all demanding about me marking you. That was hot.”

She laughed softly, loving the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I wanted it.” Grasping his wrist to maintain the connection between them, she basked in the quiet intimacy while he ran gentle fingertips over her face. Her heart was so full for him. Though it scared her to death to expose herself in the face of possible rejection, she couldn’t hold her feelings inside any longer. She’d come close to dying tonight and didn’t want to spend another night on earth without him knowing what she felt.

“I’m falling in love with you.”

Her eyes snapped open at his soft admission. She’d never expected him to say it at all, let alone admit it first. “I think I’m falling in love with you too.”

His fingers stilled on her cheek, his eyes flaring. “You
think
? You’re not sure?”

She swallowed, heart pounding. “Okay, I’m sure.” Tell him the truth. “And I’ve already fallen.”

Groaning, Sean kissed her, his big hand curling around the back of her head in a possessive move that melted her. “Then tell me,” he whispered against her lips. “Say it right.”

“I’m in love with you,” she whispered back, sliding her hands into his hair.

“God, Zahra.” He kissed her until she moaned and squirmed in his hold, then eased back with a wicked grin despite her whimper of protest. “No more of that kind of medicine tonight.”

“In the morning then?”

“Hmm, we’ll see.” He trailed a hand down her spine to cup her bottom and squeeze. Propping his head in his hand, he stared down at her thoughtfully. “Alex will give us a few days together if we ask him. Come to Coeur d’Alene with me. I want you to meet my family.”

A startled smile broke over her face. She hadn’t expected him to ask something like that and it surprised and delighted her. “I’d like that.”

“Good.” He dropped another kiss on her mouth. “We’ll see how you’re feeling in the morning, but if you’re up to it we can fly out tomorrow.”

“Sounds good to me.” She sighed in contentment when he laid back down and wrapped his arms around her. Snuggling in close to his warmth, she closed her eyes and smiled in the darkness.

****

The NSA contact didn’t answer his call. It was the third attempt Malik had made in the past four hours.

The authorities must have figured out who the mole was, and arrested them. Which meant he no longer had anyone inside the NSA to help him with his plans. It also meant he’d just burned his own location by calling the damn encrypted phone number.

Curling his free hand into a fist, he slammed his phone onto his desk, fracturing the screen. His advisors had informed him of Amir’s failure mere hours ago, and that he was currently dying in a Baltimore hospital. Malik’s only comfort was knowing that the man would soon join his other fellow cell members in death. Both Abdullo and the former American army soldier known as Bob were currently in refrigerated drawers at a Baltimore morgue.

They’d failed to kill any of the Titanium members yet again and had let the weapon fall back into American hands. With all the evidence Amir was no doubt spewing forth as fast as his dying brain would allow, it was only a matter of time before the Americans realized where Malik was.

Shouting for his bodyguards, he tore open his office door and stalked through the house to the garage. The two men hurried ahead to make sure everything was secure and one opened the back door of his SUV for him. Malik climbed inside and settled himself into the plush leather seat. “Take me to the safe house in Peshawar,” he ordered the bodyguard behind the wheel.

As the vehicle raced away from the house he’d never set foot in again, Malik stared out the window at the sun-baked landscape. The remaining men at the house he’d just left would take care of destroying and disposing of his computer and cell phone and as always his bug-out bag was packed and in the trunk right now. If the Americans hadn’t yet evacuated them he’d still make good his threat about killing the mole’s family. That lesson would serve as another example of what happened to the people who crossed him, and what could happen to those they loved.

He leaned his head against the headrest, planning for what must come next. Precautions, security measures and the next phase of his plans to unleash more attacks in the US. He wasn’t a fool. He knew the Americans would be coming soon to hunt him on his home turf and he would be ready when they did. They’d soon learn he wasn’t an easy man to target and that his many friends in high places would make their attempts at locating him a deadly effort.

Chapter Nineteen

Alex set the phone receiver back into the cradle on his desk at NSA headquarters, braced his forearms on the cool wooden surface and let his head drop forward with a weary sigh.

Damn.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Part of him wanted to deny what he’d just been told, but he was too jaded to allow himself to entertain such blissful ignorance even for a second.

Evers and the other Feds working on the case had just confirmed the identity of the mole, beyond any shadow of a doubt. And now Alex felt sick to his stomach.

He’d suspected who it was a few days ago, then dismissed the idea as him being paranoid only to grow suspicious all over again. It was why he’d given Evers the go ahead to obtain the search warrant at the suspect’s house yesterday morning. They’d found the encrypted throw away phone only hours ago. Analysts at Quantico had discovered the damning evidence: a series of phone calls received from a secret number in Pakistan.

They all knew who the caller was.

Somehow, with every anti-terrorism agency in the country and its American allies looking for him, Malik Hassani was still in fucking
Pakistan
. In fact, it looked like he’d been there all along, maybe even because of help from the ISI and certain high ranking officers in the Pak military and police.

But unfortunately Alex had another, more immediate crisis to deal with at the moment.

He ran a hand over his prickly face and pushed up from his desk, suddenly exhausted. After no sleep for the past forty-eight hours and last night’s scary-ass incident with Zahra, he felt every one of his fifty-one years.

With a heavy heart he opened his door and strode down the hallway. People were busy at their desks and cubicles, business as usual on this typical Thursday morning.

But this was anything but business as usual.

He kept his gaze straight ahead, not glancing at the other employees he passed who smiled or said hello. Details tumbled through his mind, little things he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed before yesterday. The fatigue. The extreme anxiety during the interview he’d dismissed as a normal response to an unfamiliar and intimidating situation. Working extremely late hours, then being the first to arrive in the morning even though some of the team members were back in the conference room mere hours after going home to snatch a little sleep.

He now saw that what he’d previously viewed as dedication for what it had truly been.

Opportunities to sneak information from his office and report back to Hassani.

Understanding the why of it might make him sympathetic, but it didn’t change facts. He had no other choice than to turn the mole over to the Feds, no matter how much he wished it had turned out differently.

Anger and betrayal warred in his heart as he passed the last office and headed for the desk near the elevator bank. His footsteps were almost silent on the carpet. She didn’t hear him coming. Her back was to him, her silver head bent slightly as she typed something at her keyboard. Alex stopped beside her desk, noting the framed pictures of her daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. The collateral Hassani had wielded over his longest, most loyal employee.

Ruth stopped typing. Her shoulders went rigid. When she finally risked a glance up at him he caught the raw fear in her gaze and his gut twisted.

She knew he knew.

Ah, shit, what a goddamn mess.
He’d do what he could to protect her, though it wouldn’t be enough to save her from a prison sentence for treason.

Placing his hands on her desk, he leaned down and stared directly into those frightened eyes. He would have preferred to have this conversation in the privacy of his office but here was good enough. “Is there something you need to tell me, Ruth?” he asked quietly.

Tears instantly flooded her eyes. Her expression crumpled and she put her hands to her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispered shakily as tears flashed down her face, her eyes begging forgiveness. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but I didn’t have a choice. He said if I came to you or told anyone he would kill them. All of them, even my babies. He sent me pictures of them at school in their little uniforms, told me he had people there posing as guards who would kidnap and kill them with one word from him. I had to do what he said. I c-couldn’t let him hurt my babies…” She covered her face in her hands and dissolved into wracking sobs.

Cursing silently, Alex rounded the desk, knelt and tugged her into his arms. “I know.” He realized she’d felt she had no choice and that her actions were guided by the driving need to protect her family. “You know I wouldn’t have let him hurt them, Ruth. You should’ve come to me, I could have made this stop weeks ago.” That only made her cry harder.

“I was too scared he’d d-do it. I c-couldn’t risk it.”

He sighed. “A team of undercover FBI agents has already gone in to evacuate your son and his family, okay? They’re all being moved out of Jordan as we speak and will arrive on a plane tonight at Dulles.”

“Oh, th-thank you. Oh God,
thank
you.” She shuddered then slumped in his arms, her relief palpable.

“You’re welcome,” he said quietly. Unfortunately it was the only comfort he could give her at the moment, because she was in a shitload of trouble and the severity of the consequences would depend on how fully she cooperated with the authorities involved. Alex just hoped it wasn’t too late to undo the damage she’d caused to the investigation to capture Hassani.

****

Zahra was starving. Since Claire had just gone upstairs to put on a load of laundry, Zahra limped into Gage and Claire’s kitchen from the living room in their temporary safe house. She and Sean had driven over at lunch time to meet up with everybody, and even Tom Webster, the forty-something owner of Titanium Security, was there. All the guys were seated around the kitchen island and glanced up when Zahra entered.

Gage immediately stood to offer her his seat and she got her first view of why they were all gathered around the island like a testosterone laden pack of hungry wolves. They had food in here, dammit, and they were hoarding it all.

Scowling, she hobbled over and sat on the stool Gage had vacated for her. “Were you guys going to share?”

“I was gonna bring you a plate,” Sean swore, stuffing the last of a brownie he’d demolished into his mouth. A crumb-filled plate sat before him, only two brownies left. The sight of them sent a pang of sadness through her because they made her think of Ruth. Zahra hadn’t known her well but her betrayal still stung. When Ruth had told Hassani that Zahra was attending the awards dinner, she’d effectively made her a sitting target.

And yet, despite all that, Zahra couldn’t deny the thread of empathy she felt for the woman. A tiny thread, but still. Ruth had been in a truly terrible predicament and even now had to be scared to death that Hassani would take his revenge and kill her family members. Zahra still wanted her punished for what she’d done though.

Pushing the depressing thoughts away, she narrowed her eyes at Sean and reached for a potato skin from the platter in front of Hunter. “I’d like to believe that.”
Especially since I just confessed that I’m in love with you
, she added with her eyes.

His eyes widened in feigned hurt. “I totally was!”

“Who made all this, anyway?”

“Gage,” Hunter answered, stuffing his face with baked mushroom caps. “He’s a regular Martha Stewart.”

She eyed the redheaded second-in-command. “You bake too?”

He shrugged. “I’m just full of surprises, aren’t I?”

Yeah, he was.

“How’re those stitches holding up?”

“Good. The doctor said I can have them out in a week or so.” Her leg hurt like freaking hell though. Way too sore to even contemplate sex when the pain had woken her just after dawn. Alex had been gone long before Sean helped her out of bed and he’d called less than two hours ago to tell her about Ruth.

It was so hard to wrap her head around that and it made her even more anxious to get to Coeur d’Alene and decompress for a few days. Gunshot wound or not, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from getting on a plane this afternoon with Sean.

Since she was starving, she happily munched on the finger foods assembled before her while the guys got back to their conversation.

Tom swallowed a sip of his beer and rested a forearm against the edge of the granite topped island. “If we get the word to go wheels up for Pakistan, I’ve got a problem.”

At the mention of Pakistan her appetite took a serious nose dive but she swallowed her mouthful anyway and kept listening. Some part of her had known that Sean would probably be sent there once they got a lock on Hassani, but she hadn’t expected it to happen yet.

“With all the other jobs the company’s got going on, I’m stretched thin for manpower. I’ve got those two guys you mentioned lined up for interviews in two days, Hunt. What about the rest of you? Got any recommendations for someone I might want to hit up for a job? Ideally someone that’s as good with machines as they are with a long gun?”

At that, Sean stopped chewing what was no doubt his gazillionth brownie. Ellis glanced up from his plate of jalapeno poppers. They looked at each other, engaged in some sort of silent exchange, then Sean raised an eyebrow at the other man.

Tom took another pull of his beer, watching the two of them. “Ellis? You got someone in mind?”

The quiet sniper looked away from Sean and met his boss’s gaze. “Maybe.”

“They’re a mechanic and a good shot?”

“Yeah.”

“I know I probably don’t have to ask this, but former military?”

“Marine.”

Tom set his bottle down, seeming very pleased by this turn of events. “Can you ask them if they’re interested?”

Ellis seemed to hesitate a moment before conceding with a nod. “I can try. Their shop is a few hours away. I could go by there in person tomorrow.”

“Like to be a fly on the wall for that conversation,” Sean muttered, and grabbed the second to last brownie.

Ellis shot him a censoring look, then glanced at the brownie and seemed to hold back a grin as he responded. “You wish.”

Since apparently neither of them were going to divulge more than that, Zahra made a mental note to grill Sean about it on the flight and reached for the last brownie before he could snag it.

Gage stepped in front of her just as she stretched her arm out, blocking her. Looking up at him, she met his eyes and caught the nearly imperceptible shake of his head before he stepped away, carrying a plate to the sink. Frowning, she glanced at Hunter, who added a pointed look at the brownie and a tiny head shake of his own.

Confused and dying for a taste of that fudgy brownie, she suddenly realized that all the men were staring at Sean as he chewed on the brownie in his hand. He seemed to notice this at the same moment as her, and stopped chewing. “What?” he demanded, glancing around the table. “I left one.”

“Oh, no, it’s all yours,” Hunter said in a sardonic tone and all the others snickered.

Zahra locked eyes with Sean. What the hell had they done to the brownies?

She watched the suspicion transform Sean’s features. He slowly swallowed his mouthful and set the last bit of brownie in his fingers back onto his plate, a little pale all of a sudden. “What the fuck did you do?” he demanded of Hunter, scowling.

“Not a thing,” Hunter answered, smiling as he polished off another tidbit from his own plate. Zahra noticed that not a single one of the plates in front of the guys had brownie crumbs except for Sean’s.