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He laughed. “I doubt that.”

“Let me cure your skepticism.” With the added space between his knees and the desk, she slid down. Kept going until she hit her knees in front of him.

She ran her hands up and down his legs. The friction heated his skin but the way she stared at his zipper had him.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, I was wrong. This is pretty damn good.”

Her fingers went to work on his belt. Slipping the leather out. Unbuttoning the pants. Before she slipped the zipper down, she leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against the fly. His erection jumped to life. He twitched and grew until the material strangled him.

“You're all bunched up.” She slid her hands inside his waistband and opened him to her.

Then her mouth was on him. Her hand tightened on the base of his cock as her finger swept over the head. She sucked and squeezed.

Looking down, he saw her head bob as she worked her mouth up and down on him. Soft hair spilled over his lap. Lips wrapped around his cock. The storm of sensations had him forgetting where he was and all his rules about keeping his distance from her. When she stood in front of him, his resolve faltered. When she touched him, he couldn't remember why he needed to hold her away from him.

His head dropped back against his chair and his fingers clenched in her hair. The sound of her mouth over him mixed with the creak of the chair and shuffle of clothing against the leather. He got lost in the feel of her lips and hand. The knowing pull that had his mind shutting down and his body swamped with need. It all built until he closed his eyes and let the pressure grab him.

His hips pumped and her fingers tightened. A small breath escaped his throat as he came in her mouth. Holding him and sucking him, she dragged him over the edge. He filled her mouth and she took it all.

Everything about her turned him on.

When the pulsing stopped, he looked down and saw her staring up at him. His fingers slipped through her hair. He tried for gentle, because in that moment that's how he felt. “I'm sorry I was an ass.”

He meant it. He got a lot of things right but his failed marriage showed him how completely capable he was of destroying things, too. He didn't want to destroy Kyra.

She kissed the tip of his cock and smiled when it twitched in response. Then she was on her feet and tugging her skirt back down. “You're forgiven.”

“Good, we can—”

“One thing.” She leaned down until her lips hovered over his. “You've messed up twice. Let's not try for three.”

She pulled back before he could kiss her. “I can't promise I'll be perfect from here on.”

“Try, but I'll settle for not-annoying over perfect.”

“I will not take you for granted.” He watched her tuck her shirt in and smooth down her skirt. “But I was wrong about the office. You're welcome here any time.”

She shot him a how-are-you-so-clueless look. “Men are so predictable. Wrap your mouth around their cocks and they shut up.”

He couldn't argue with that. “True.”

She skated around his legs and made it to the other side of the desk before he could catch her. “Do yourself a favor.”

He braced his body for a new blow. “Meaning?”

“Regardless of your busy important schedule, figure out a way to call or text me within the hour and finalize tonight.”

“I can do that now.”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “Let's see if you really do know how to use a phone and can remember to use it.”

As she unlocked the door and slipped into the hallway, he set his cell alarm with a reminder.

With the latest news from Natalie and the unexpected arrival in his office a half hour ago, Bast called an emergency meeting. Just before four he stood at the head of his conference room table and looked down both sides. Jarrett and Becca on one. Wade and Natalie on the other. Elijah stood with his back to the glass double doors and looked ready to crash through them to escape.

Bast pulled out the chair and dropped into it. “I know you need to be at the club for dinner prep, but this couldn't wait.”

“That can't be good.” Becca liked to jump right to the point.

This time Bast appreciated the no-nonsense approach. It fit with her sleek black dress and intense stare. “We have a problem.”

Natalie shifted in her seat. The move, subtle and consisting of no more than placing a hand on the table, caused all gazes to shift to her. “He means
I
do.”

“Why are the rest of us here?” Wade asked. He'd never been a big Natalie fan but the way he steadily avoided looking at Elijah suggested he'd pick her over him right now.

“Natalie is about to be terminated.” Bast tapped his hand against the closed file in front of him. This one contained Natalie's official notice with citings to regulations and comments about “regrets” about her behavior.

Becca's attention shot back to her former CIA boss. “Since when does the CIA give notice?”

Natalie didn't have to move this time. All eyes stayed locked on her. “As of this morning my clearance was revoked and I was placed on administrative leave.”

Whether former agency employees or not, they all knew what that meant. The clock had started ticking. The CIA declared her unemployable in the covert realm and now she'd either get to walk away or meet with an accident. “We're working out a separation agreement.”

The room buzzed with energy now. All of the people around the table had either been trained to hide emotion or came from the criminal world where that skill served to keep them alive. No one panicked or demanded explanations. They sat and listened and assessed while saying as little as possible.

“Let me cut through the legal and spy talk.” Jarrett put a hand on the back of Becca's chair. “You think someone is going to make Natalie disappear.”

Eli piped up from the other side of the room. “Or hit her with a bus.”

“Well.” Wade shook his head. “I see you still have a problem with tact.”

“Why tiptoe? These people blew up Becca's place and tried to fill me with bullets.” Elijah stepped closer to the table, hanging back at the opposite end from Bast. “Natalie argued for our continued breathing and now she's in the firing line.”

Natalie opened her mouth but Bast jumped in first. “Eli is right.”

“Not something you hear every day.” Jarrett said the comment under his breath.

Eli stared down the table. “It's not hard to do the math and figure out Natalie is in trouble and our deals could be in danger.”

“I agree.” This wasn't a time to parse words or be careful about agency protocol. The CIA planned to fuck her, at the very least by taking away a job she worked hard at and deserved. Now he had to figure out how bad the personal attack would be and prepare for collateral damage.

Jarrett sobered. His face became even more drawn. “Now what?”

They still remained calm. Bast picked up some fidgeting and a hint of worry zipping through the room. He guessed most of that came from Jarrett wanting to pack Becca away and leave town.

Bast didn't blame the guy but they hadn't reached emergency status yet. “I will handle everything but I need you all to make my life easier.”

Jarrett jumped in before Bast finished the sentence. “How?”

“You and Becca stay low, and preferably at the club, and tighten security.”

Wade snorted. “They rarely go outside anyway.”

That led Bast to his next point. “And, Wade, you need to be locked in as well.”

Wade's eyes narrowed. “I never worked for the CIA.”

“Neither did Jarrett and yet you both got arrested the last time the CIA came calling.” Bast angled his chair to stare at Natalie. “You will have a bodyguard.”

“No.”

The reaction was not a surprise. That didn't make it any more welcome. Bast had a file full of photographs showing how Becca and Eli's old team members died. Accidents and a random theft-gone-wrong. All of it bullshit.

That meant she got a shadow, regardless of how much she whined about it. “It's happening.”

“Do you mean Eli?” Jarrett sounded amused by the idea.

Eli swore under his breath. “No fucking way.”

“For once, I agree,” Natalie said at the same time.

The round robin could go on forever. Though letting the conversation circle and dive sounded better than fighting Natalie. Bast guessed that was about to happen on a large scale. “No, Gabe MacIntosh.”

Jarrett hummed. “Interesting choice.”

It struck Bast that way. A former Army special-ops guy turned contractor-for-hire with sniper skills that rivaled Eli's was the perfect man for this assignment. With his diplomacy skills, Gabe could handle anything . . . including Natalie's sharp personality.

“Why is it interesting?” Becca asked.

“Gabe's a man's man, live-in-the-woods type.” Jarrett held his hands far apart. “And huge. He makes Wade look small.”

Natalie glanced at Wade. All six-foot-three of him. Then back to Bast. “No way. I'm a trained operative. The precaution is not necessary.”

Eli shrugged. “That's what I said before two goons shot me.”

“Probably the same goons who tossed a bomb in my kitchen,” Becca added.

It wasn't often Eli and Becca joined forces in support of something. Bast appreciated it happening now. “Right. Natalie is with Gabe and Eli will move in with me.”

The comment caught Elijah sneaking a look at Wade. Eli's head snapped back and he scowled at Bast. “What?”

One problem at a time. Bast focused on the most obvious one. “Natalie, you will have a shadow or you can find another negotiator. Last thing I need is someone shooting at you before you can sign an agreement.”

Becca leaned against Jarrett's shoulder. “Your friend's bedside manner needs work.”

Bast heard that. Then again, he supposed that was the point since she didn't bother whispering. “That's doctors.”

“Wait.” Wade leaned back in his chair. “Go back to the part where Eli becomes your roommate.”

“He lives in a shithole.” Which qualified as an understatement as far as Bast was concerned. “It would be easy for someone to take him out and make it look like a robbery gone bad.”

He paid the man good money but Elijah chose to live in a pay-by-the-week hotel in a sketchy neighborhood. Bast knew because he brought Eli on and checked his employment file after the office manager confided that she'd seen him sleeping in his car in the parking garage under the law firm's building.

Wade sat up again and for the first time since the meeting started faced Eli head-on. “Where is this place?”

Eli waved him off. “It doesn't matter.”

Not one to be ignored, Wade leaned forward, a mass of intensity and frustration, and tried again. “I'm thinking it does.”

Eli's expression turned feral. “You suddenly care?”

“Okay, stop.” That was enough of that. Now was not the time for these two to work through or fight about their messed-up relationship. Bast could only deal with so many impossible situations at a time. “There's a basement condo at my town house. Eli will move out of the crack den and stay with me.”

“Now
I
want to know where you're living,” Becca said.

“No you don't.” Jarrett rested his hand over Becca's and shook his head. “We could make this easier and Eli could move into the crash pad at the club.”

“Absolutely not.” The fury in Eli's voice ratcheted up with each comment.

Silence flashed through the room after the yell. Other than the rocking of some of the chairs and flipping of the corner of Bast's file, time ticked in quiet.

Finally Natalie broke the stalemate. “Well, that was adamant.”

Becca snorted. “I wonder why.”

Jarrett being Jarrett, he cut through the bullshit. “Why do you need Eli with you?”

Not that Bast wanted to discuss this topic. “I don't.”

“Liar.” Becca pointed at Bast. “You think you need protection.”

Eli's eyebrow lifted. “Why didn't you just say that?”

Because Eli would step up. After only a few weeks of working together, Bast discovered that trait. Eli might be surly and difficult but he worked his ass off. He came in early and would stay all night. To catch up on the firm's files, he studied and learned protocol. He didn't need lectures on confidentiality because the man had been trained to hold on to a secret through interrogation and torture.

“Bast isn't good at asking for, or accepting, help.”

The softness in Jarrett's voice didn't fool Bast. Jarett had added up the pieces about the potential need for security at the house. Bast sensed a confrontation in his future. “I'm fine. It's just a precaution and would be better for Eli if he were with me.”

“I can keep watch from outside of the house. Guard the perimeter, check the car and those things.” Eli stood with his hand in front of him. The stiff shoulders and dark hair gave him a menacing affect. “If you need a real bodyguard, I'll do that.”

Exactly what Bast expected. Eli figured out he was needed and stepped up. The guy was rock solid. It was a shame he didn't recognize that.

“You have a job and starting tomorrow you get a better apartment.” Bast knew he should move Eli in right away, just to be sure, but nothing was stopping him from seeing Kyra tonight. Bast didn't want spectators for that, so he could postpone Eli's arrival by one day.

Jarrett rested his elbow on the table and shook his head. “I don't like any of this.”

On that, Bast agreed. “Everybody be smart and this will be fine.”

He needed time to get this done. This wasn't his first negotiation with the agency. It likely wouldn't be his last. But this one dealt with people he cared about, which made it all the more important.

•   •   •

Elijah sat with his elbow on his desk and tried to ferret out the information he just learned. This wasn't just about Natalie. The tentacles reached everywhere. Kept growing.

The air in the room changed. Subtle and not noticeable to most people, but he'd survived more than one situation by being able to read the signs around him. His Japanese mother had called the ability
mono no aware
, literally “a sensitivity to things,” and it kicked in now.

Forget a panic button. He was the guy who got the call when someone else pushed it. Now, he'd handle this. He reached for the gun velcroed under the desk. In the same second his fingers touched it, he heard the familiar voice.

“Nice office.” Wade walked in and shut the door behind him.

The windowless room stretched, maybe, eight by eight. There was enough room for a desk and a cabinet. A paralegal used to sit in there. Now Eli looked at the bare beige walls. He should have been crawling out of his skin from boredom. That hadn't happened. He admired Bast, liked him even, and if that meant putting his body in front of Bast's to take a bullet or stop an explosion, Eli would.

And now he stared into the eyes of the other man on the planet who mattered and the anger festering inside him exploded. “What are you doing in here?”

Wade leaned back against the wall. “You know I'm not a threat. Take your hand off the gun.”

He knew about the hidden weapon. Of course he would know. Whether Wade believed it or not, he was the one person in the world who “got” him . . . at least Eli used to think that was true.

He held his hands out, turned them over, then put them on the desk. “There.”

Wade nodded as he stepped further into the small room to stand directly across from Eli. Only three feet of desktop separated them. “We're going to have to find a way to deal with each other.”

“Why?” Eli would rather stay away. The scene at the club and talk about Shawn proved the feelings for Wade hadn't died. Not on Eli's part.

“We know the same people. You work for Bast.”

“That's been the case for the last month and you managed to ignore me just fine.” Hadn't returned a call or a text. Pushed off any attempts to talk.

“It's easier.”

“On you, maybe.” It had been a fucking bitch for Eli. Between the memories and the desperate need to crawl back in bed with Wade, Eli had lost all sense of perspective.

He wasn't a guy who needed anything. His family had kicked him out the minute he questioned the sermons. His father traveled from camp to camp, engaging in his form of preaching while dragging his family behind him. His world centered on hate and when telling a makeshift congregation how to live their lives wasn't sufficient, he branched out to demonstrations. He'd picket anything. Despised everything that didn't fit with his idea of how people should act.

Finding his son with another boy had been an unforgivable crime. One against God and against humanity. Eli had been alone ever since. Even though he worked on a team in the CIA, he functioned as an island.

Until Wade.

“You understand you caused this, right? Your denial. Your dismissal of whatever we had together,” Wade said.

“Denial?”

Wade kept moving. He circled the side of the desk and leaned against the wall to Eli's left. “Come on, Elijah. Don't act like I'm an idiot.”

“What are you talking about?” But Eli knew because every argument with Wade circled back to this.

He shook his head. “You insist you like women and that I was the aberration.”

“I didn't say that.” Eli knew better than that. Didn't believe that. He'd used sex on jobs, but sex with Wade had been different. Right. “The real problem is you're only happy if I accept your label.”