Marked (Hostage Rescue Team Series) (19 page)

“God,” he moaned, his head tipping back, eyes closed and a tortured expression on his face. He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and
she’d
done that. Made him feel so good the pleasure bordered on pain. Triumph shot through her, blending with the residual waves of orgasm.

Jake let out a ragged groan and leaned his weight on the arm braced against the wall, his muscles cording. His fingers dug into her hip to hold her still and a deep, hoarse cry spilled free as he fisted himself and started to come across her belly in hot spurts.

Breathing hard, he bent his head to bury his face in her neck and just held her while they came back to themselves and the hot water rushed over them. Rachel lowered her foot to the shower floor and let him hold her up, her legs weak and shaky.

“You don’t know how many fucking times I fantasized about that,” he murmured.

She smiled against his hair. “Was it worth the wait?”

“
Hell
yeah.” He nuzzled the side of her neck and slid his hands over her wet skin, making her shiver with longing. “What about you?”

It turned her heart over that he might be worried about not meeting her expectations. She kissed his hair in reassurance. “Yes. So,
so
good.”

He hummed in satisfaction. “And just so you know, there are a lot of other things I’ve thought about doing to you. Really
hot
things.”

“Have you?” she teased.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What are they?” She wanted to know every secret, dirty thing he’d ever wanted to do to her. She had plenty she wanted to do with him.

“You’ll just have to find out.” His left hand smoothed over the right cheek of her bottom then delved between her thighs to stroke between her legs. A primal rumble came from deep in his chest when he felt how wet he’d made her. “My naughty, gorgeous girl.” He sounded extremely smug and pleased about that.

Rachel closed her eyes and wriggled in his hold. “It’s already after four,” she said, regretting that they didn’t have more time together.

His hand stilled and he scowled. “Hell.”

Yes.
“But maybe you can show me some of the ‘things’ you have in mind later on.”

A hard finger slipped beneath her chin and tipped her face up until she met his eyes. “Babe, that’s a promise.”

A shiver zipped through her. Grinning, he picked up the bar of soap and quickly washed himself off while she helped, getting distracted by all the muscles on display. “You feel amazing,” she murmured, awed by the sheer masculine power of him. “Is it okay if you’re a bit late today? I don’t know if I can stop touching you.”

A choked laugh sounded from above her and he caught her wrist when she slid a soapy hand down to wash between his legs. He was still partially hard and she wondered if she could make him ready for her again right now. “You’re not helping the situation,” he admonished with a grin, “but I’m glad my body turns you on. That’ll just motivate me more next time I hit the weights.” He turned slightly to rinse off.

When he got out she stayed to have her own fast shower and was just wrapping a towel around her body when he came back into the bathroom dressed to leave. “Morales texted me, said she’ll come by around seven-thirty or so.”

“Okay, but she doesn’t actually have to hang out with me in the room if she doesn’t want to.” She knew how busy the team was trying to find Xang and Brandon.

He snorted. “Babe, she’s coming up whether you want her to or not, so get used to the idea.”

That dark, heated gaze swept over the length of her body from face to toes and back, leaving a trail of heat that licked across her skin, then he settled both hands on her hips and tugged her close. “Make sure you take care of yourself today. Eat a full meal for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He pressed a slow, lingering kiss to her lips before raising his head. “Anything comes up, just text me and I’ll get back to you when I get it.”

“Okay. Be careful out there and have a good day.”

He grinned wider. “Thanks,
dear
.”

She was smiling when he walked out the door a minute later. They hadn’t talked at all about what was happening between them or what their expectations were going forward, but she knew what she felt was real. That what they had together was real. It wasn’t casual and she was certain he felt the same way.

But now that he’d left, reality crashed back in, turning her thoughts back to Brandon. For now she had to keep hoping that the FBI would find her brother. Once that happened, they could all move on with their lives. And not until.

Lowering herself into the upholstered chair set off to the side of the hotel room, Celida eyed Rachel. The woman looked like she was in desperate need of some coffee. She knew Jake had stayed the night with her but whatever had happened between them was none of Celida’s business so she didn’t ask. “So. How are you holding up?”

“As well as can be expected, I guess.” Rachel took the other chair opposite the occasional table. “Any news you can share on the investigation?”

After Brandon’s finger had been delivered, the FBI taskforce had basically pulled an all-nighter. “We’ve narrowed down the list of targets. A few of the hotels are hosting important conferences in the next week or so, and one is where a few upper level Chinese officials are supposedly staying. Since the terror cell Xang is connected to is part of a separatist movement and they’ve targeted Chinese interests in the past, we think they want to hit something here owned by the Chinese government. To make a statement, yada yada.”

That story got fucking old real fast when it got repeated ad nauseum throughout the world of radical Islam. “We’ve got teams going out this morning to check each location.”

Rachel nodded. “What about Brandon?”

There was no easy way to say it. “Sorry, nothing.”

Blowing out a breath, Rachel nodded and looked down at the carpet. “But he could survive that kind of injury, right? I mean, with all the bleeding and stuff.”

“Yes. And if Xang went to all this trouble, the thinking is that he wants your brother alive so right now we assume he must have given him some kind of medical treatment to keep him that way.” Rachel was smart—Celida didn’t have to point out that anything could have happened between the time of the amputation and now.

Rachel tipped her head back to rest against the chair. “I had to call and tell my mom this morning.”

“How’d she take it?”

“Not well. He’s her only son. Even though my dad was an American and we were raised here, she’s still traditional Chinese in many ways. Brandon is her only son, so…”

So he was the center of her world. “But you and your mom have a good relationship?”

“Oh yeah, I know she loves me to death. She was a good mom and never treated me any different than him once he came along. It’s just—I know how close she is to him. He’ll always be her baby. When my dad died six years ago she moved back to China to be with her family and took Brandon with her while I stayed here and finished my schooling. I didn’t want to move over there so he came back here when he started college.” She shifted in her chair, met Celida’s gaze. “Are you close with your parents?”

Celida hated talking about her personal life and her family, but she liked Rachel and knew she wasn’t trying to be nosy. “I lived with my mom up until she died. My dad remarried about ten years ago and I don’t see him much.” Only when she had to, actually.

“I’m sorry about your mom. Your dad must be proud of you though, going through the military and then into the FBI. Just like Jake did.”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But I don’t care what he thinks, to be honest.” And that was enough about that topic. “So what’s the scoop with you and Jake?” She hoped they’d at least moved beyond the friend zone after all this.

A light pink stained Rachel’s cheeks and she shifted in her chair again, clearly uncomfortable. “Um…”

Trying not to laugh, Celida waved a hand to stop her. “It’s okay, I get it, and I wasn’t looking for the gory details.” She couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad. Jake’s a good guy.”

“He is,” Rachel answered with a grin.

Okay, maybe she wasn’t done with this subject quite yet. Her natural curiosity was what made her a good investigator, and it was pretty damn clear how Rachel felt about him. “How long have you been in love with him?”

Rachel went dead still, her eyes shooting to Celida’s. “What? I mean, I’m not…”

“You are too. Come on, I’m not gonna say anything to him. Just curious.” And clearly it had been way too long since she’d been out with her girlfriends if she was this eager to know about this.

Rachel cleared her throat, looked away as she answered. “I can’t put a date on it. But I’ve had…really strong feelings for him the past couple years.”

Really strong feelings? Yeah, she could relate to that too. And love maybe wasn’t the right term for what she felt for Tuck anyhow. Half the time she wanted to rip the man’s clothes off and do very bad things to him, but the other half he made her want to strangle him into unconsciousness. “Cool. I hope it all works out for you guys. I think you’re good for him.”

A shy smile curved her lips. “Thank you. I hope so.”

Okay, girl talk over with.

Celida stood, tugging on the hem of her charcoal gray pencil skirt that went awesome with her lipstick red pumps. The skirt was snug around her hips and ass with a flirty little bow at the top of the seam just beneath her cheeks, but stretchy enough that she could still move comfortably. And if Tuck should happen to show up at some point today and just
happen
to get an eyeful of her…
assets
…so much the better.

“We might be called to one of the buildings to assist if the team wants to check anything about the blueprints with you,” she said to Rachel.

“That’s fine. I’m ready whenever, and I kind of hope they do call me in because I’m already getting a serious case of cabin fever.”

“Understandable.” She checked her watch. “Let’s give them a half hour to—” She broke off at the sharp knock on the door.

“Room service,” a slightly muffled male voice called out.

Celida looked at Rachel. “You order breakfast?”

She shook her head, looking surprised. “No. Think Jake might have?”

“Doubt it.” Though she supposed he could be pulling out all the stops to show Rachel his romantic side.

With a hand tucked into the side of her blazer, Celida grasped the grip of her sidearm. She took a cautious step toward the door. “I didn’t order room service,” she called out. And she distinctly remembered seeing the Do Not Disturb sign on the door handle when she’d come down the hallway.

“I’ve got breakfast here for a Miss Granger.”

She could text Jake to check, but she knew he wouldn’t be near his phone right now, and he would have told her if he’d planned to pull this kind of surprise. This didn’t feel right. “No thanks.”

“We have to deliver it, ma’am.”

We?

Glancing behind her at Rachel, she murmured, “Stay there.” Withdrawing her service weapon, she silently crept to the door and snuck a peak through the peephole.

Sure enough, two uniformed men stood next to a cart with a tray covered by a silver dome. Last time she checked, it didn’t take two men to deliver breakfast for one.

Instincts on alert, she looked over her shoulder at Rachel and waved her toward the bathroom with an urgent motion of her hand. Rachel’s eyes widened but she got up and hurried to the bathroom. The moment she started moving, Celida turned her attention back to the door, already backing away.

With her free hand she reached up and tapped her earpiece. “This is Morales,” she whispered. “Two suspicious men outside principal’s room—”

Three silenced shots ripped through the door, splintering the wood. A searing pain hit her left forearm as another round grazed her cheek.

She fell back against the wall and slid to the floor, but still managed to get off two shots through the door. “Rachel, lock the door!” she shouted, right hand shaking slightly as she aimed at the door and returned fire again.

Her third shot had just punched through the wood when the door burst open. She threw up an arm to deflect it but wasn’t fast enough. The edge of it slammed into the side of her head. Black spots swam in front of her vision.

“Morales, you copy?”

She couldn’t respond to the male voice coming through her earpiece.

“Morales!”

The attackers were already inside. Backup was down in the lobby, they’d never get here in time.

Fighting through the pain and disorientation, she managed to raise her weapon. A boot smashed into her right wrist. She cried out in agony, lost her grip on the Glock. A wave of dread crashed over her. If they got past her, Rachel had no chance.

She forced a shaking hand up to shield her face, failed to block the foot that kicked her in the side of the head and turned her world black.

****

Oh shit, oh shit…

Rachel scrambled to lock the bathroom door and crawled into the bathtub as the gunshots rang out from inside the room. Heart in her throat, she huddled there uncertainly.

There was no way out other than the way she’d just come in, and she didn’t know how to help Celida. Her phone was back on the bedside table.

The return fire stopped and the front door crashed open, then an ominous silence filled the room. Celida must be down.

No!

She frantically looked around her to find some kind of weapon—anything to defend herself with. Her gaze landed on a can of hairspray.

She lunged over to grab it, held it poised in front of her with her finger on the nozzle. It wasn’t much but when they came through the door she might be able to temporarily blind them and give her a few seconds to get out of the room.

Quick footsteps sounded in the other room, coming closer. She pressed back against the tiled wall. Trapped, with nowhere else to go.

A sickening burst of fear exploded inside her when a foot slammed into the lock. Once. Two times as she cringed and prayed that backup would arrive in time.