The Laughing Assassin [Assassin's Diary] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

“It doesn’t have to look like much to be too much for you it would seem.” Jaden had apparently had enough of the snarky statements, and the meeting hadn’t been in session for ten minutes. The only way he saw this ending was in a fight. He could see the match between them in his mind. Even his hormones acknowledged that watching two women fight was really sexy, but he really didn’t want to waste his own time with bullshit sparring.

Toro spoke up. “Anatta, even as good as you are, she will break you in half. Just let it go.”

“Really? How about if I discover that for myself.” No sooner than Anatta spoke, she stood and boldly walked the vicinity of Jaden.

Jonah wanted to stop her, but if he got in the way the consequences would be worse than they were now. But to be fair, he would give her a single warning. If she was bitten by the tiger she teased afterward, so be it. “Anatta, I suggest you take your seat. You don’t know who you are dealing with.”

“Oh, I think I do.” The dusky-skinned woman had reached the object of her irrational ire and looked her up and down. Anatta had at least six inches on her quarry, along with a few more muscled pounds on her lithe frame. But Jonah knew that had no bearing on the ass whipping she was going to get if she didn’t get out of Jaden’s face. And fast.

Jaden’s posture was deceptive, as if there were no reason to be alert. “I think you better listen to your boss and get out of my face.”

Anatta pointed a finger and poked Jaden in the chest just once, but that was all that she got to do. Jaden moved so quickly he barely saw her snatch the finger and dislocate the joint before the digit crumpled in a broken, awkward splay of skin-covered bone. Anatta screamed and backed away so fast she nearly fell down on her spandex-clad ass mid-scurry.

“Next time you lay a finger on me, I’ll break the whole hand attached to it. Got me?” Anatta didn’t say one word, merely nodded once.

“Anatta, I think you should have that looked at with first aid.” Jonah wanted to smirk, but he schooled his features into their usual disinterested blank mask instead. Enjoying the woman’s misery wouldn’t have been a good idea since he was supposed to set the example the others worked by.

The rest of the meeting went by swiftly, now that the aggression had been tossed aside. The remaining members of the team didn’t appear to be in any way interested in taking on Jaden after the episode with Anatta. In fact, the briefing on the plan he set up months ago was faster than normal, as most of the facts were pretty cut and dried.

“This is the gist. When we broke in Lanham’s and flipped him, we found out how the messages were being issued, when and where the auctions were to take place. We took his masks for the event, one for him and one for his slave. Usually, there is only one mask per vetted guest. But we got a shit ton of luck due to the fact that he was the invited entertainment. And that comes with a bonus of a ten percent discount on the purchase price of our bid. So at this point, we already know who is going to do what, but I’ll do a quick recap for the new kid. Jaden and I are going to be the entertainment. Stein is the professor on staff. Toro is going to coordinate. Anatta is, as always, our resident weapons specialist. Armand and Juliana are going to CYA.”

Everybody laughed at his last statement, but it was what Armand was great at. He was a sharpshooter with a range out of this world, and Juliana had the ability to ferret out the best spots for cover. Not to mention the Frenchwoman was skilled as a backup. If Armand couldn’t take the shot on a still target long distance, she could catch the closer moving ones. And to round out their sharpshooting skills, both of them could handle any projectile weapon from grenade launchers to bazookas.

Jaden knew the plan as well as he did, based on her handful of questions, and he decided to let everyone else know what he had at this point. As if there was much intelligence he hadn’t beat to death yet. But it wasn’t until he opened his big mouth that things became really interesting. “Are there any other questions before we close out for afternoon training?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a question.”

It was Toro as usual with his loud mouth, and god only knew what was about to come out of it.

“Shoot away, Toro.”

“Boss, can we get an exhibition match today?”

“I don’t see why not. You volunteering?”

“Nope, as I had the pleasure earlier. But I would like to see you versus the new kid.”

What the hell? How did he know that one of these jerks was going to ask him to fight her today? “Depends on whether or not the new kid agrees.”

The sultry tones of her voice quickly interjected into the highly expectant air. “I have no problem with that at all.” Of course she wouldn’t. She was Annie Oakley. Only her weapons weren’t restricted to just firearms.

He had no choice, but this wasn’t the way he wanted their first spar to be conducted. If anything, it would have been best to have a private session for the initial one. At least then he wouldn’t have to control a raging hard-on in front half the damn team. But he consented. There was no other choice now that the idea was out there. If he refused it would look more even more conspicuous. “That’s fine, before lunch at the field.”

Everyone seemed pleased with the idea and left when he dismissed the group. He took the bit of time he had left to work on a few sticking points in his plan. It needed to be perfect, and his plan B wasn’t yet. He always had several possible variations on his plans for any operation. That ensured everyone was accounted for, and that they succeeded in whatever venture was underway at the time.

Jonah looked at the clock, and it was time to go to the secured meeting with the field operatives. It was set up online using Google. To find the chat room, he had to perform a search using the keywords zephyr, John, and pearl. When the search was done to access the temporary site, he had to go to page fifty-eight at two minutes until the prescheduled hour then enter his access code while hovering with his mouse on the third link down.

The meeting was primarily a recap, and he gave them the latest information.

When he finally finished briefing the away team, it was eleven, and he needed to head out to the field to lay angry hands on the woman he lusted for with vehemence. The weather was perfect. It almost always was on the island at this time of year. The sun was bright, and he slid on his sunglasses to beat back most of the glare. When he reached the field, he found everyone already there with Jaden up front. They were mirroring a defense she showed on a simple jujitsu combo block. Her muscles were so perfectly formed he could see the tight deltoids and latissimus in back.

When he stepped on to the field, Jaden did an about-face so quickly the others snapped along with her and floundered in the attempt. When she saw him, she smiled, and the look in her eyes was near foreplay status and just enough to get a rise out of him. He was lucky that his tee was baggy enough in front to hide most of his erection.

“You ready, big man?” Her face said it all. She was more than ready to take him on.

The statement must have been a cue, as everyone exited the field quickly. Even Anatta was quick to comply with the unspoken request.

“Weapons?” he asked, curious as to what she would choose.

“I’m in the mood for a bare-knuckle brawl. How about you?”

“I’m okay with that. What style do you want to use? And do you want a handicap?”

She made a face that spoke to the disgust of the idea of handicapping anything. “No handicaps and anything goes.” The small group of voyeurs gasped as one, and Jaden grinned.

From Fighting to Foreplay

Jonah could hear the snippets of disbelief murmured among the group, as no one ever fought him without a handicap. Even then his opponents were going to lose. It just took a bit longer. And they sustained less injury. He met her midway into the field and bowed before Jaden, her calm demeanor that of a battle goddess. She gave a graceful bend of her back and stood on guard.

He paced around her in careful steps, and her only response was to mirror his movements. She didn’t directly attack and seemed to wait for him to make the first move. He could appreciate her caution. He was a dangerous man, and she was a wise woman. After a moment of steadily stalking her, he bounced into action and gave a low kick combo that she blocked with one knee, and they parried twice. She chopped him in the ribs three times as he blocked her fist with the other arm.

They parried chops and blocks for long minutes, using feet and arms equally. She was quicker, but he was stronger, and he was able to get a solid blow at her calf after a while. For any other person the kick would have knocked them to the ground in short order. But she lifted her knee and went with the motion as she somersaulted away from his fast flurry of feet. Her next attack was low and took him from his center of gravity.

The next move was his as he nearly took her to the ground in a wrestling hold. But she evaded the bulk of the judo move and gave a quick stomp kick on the thigh. He smirked as she realized his quads were too strong for the move she employed. Though, she was able to follow with a jump kick that he barely blocked with crossed forearms. She was so close to connecting he could have sucked a toe into his mouth, and he would have done so if she wasn’t wearing their mutually preferred Nike trainers.

She arched the leg away in a graceful stretch and socked him in the kidneys with a double punch. The move was bold, but not enough to crumple him. He grabbed her wrists and twined his leg around one knee, effectively halting her attacks. But she wasn’t out of tricks yet. She used her free leg to stomp her foot on his then quickly maneuvered the free knee into the space between them. The knee rocked over his still-turgid cock and massaged over the head.

Jaden planted the ball of her foot and pushed away. He refused to let her go, even with the wedge between them, and they tumbled to the ground together. Jonah released her hands and swiftly rolled over. She was pinned beneath him now and at his mercy. Or so he thought. She got in one solid blow with her palm at his forehead, and he snatched the offending hand along with its mate in his fist.

“Give in.” He said that only because she looked determined not to. He could see she wanted to fight even harder now that she was down, and he agreed with her, as he wanted more of their erotic sparring, too. But if she laid another hand on him, he wasn’t sure what he would do to her. It was a close toss-up, between fighting his desire for her on her beautifully sculpted body or fucking the living daylights out of her, and he knew which side his body was on.

“Never.” She was going to get what her body asked for if she didn’t stop squirming.

“You better stop, or I’m going to give everyone here an eyeful that I’m fairly sure you would rather not share.” He rocked against her just once to let her feel him and let her know he was serious. There was no way he was going to let her make him lose all control. But it was a close thing. If Jaden panted one more time, he was going to have her and damn anyone else watching.

“Try me.”

“I have no problem with that at all, Jaden. Do you?”

“No… Dammit, I mean yes.”

“Really? Which is it then?”

“Just get off of me.” Jaden looked damn near angry, and he was, too. If they weren’t in plain view, he would have taken her where they lay.

He did as she requested and stood up, offered his hand to her so that she could do the same. The people watching hooped and hollered. He even saw money change hands. He knew that they were excited about the new kid. She was pretty damn good, even if he was marginally better. But he knew that if she had a weapon, he may just as easily been the one asking for mercy.

“Let’s go have lunch.” The team walked away swiftly, leaving only him and Jaden standing alone on the harshly packed ground.

“Come with me.”

“Where?” The look in her eyes was mesmerizing. He had never imagined that a woman could burn him clear to the bones with her gaze alone.

“Back to the house.”

She followed him without complaint, but her eyes spoke to a hunger that was far from that of food, and her hips twitched with every step. He slowed down and followed behind her with his eyes drawn to each step she took. The loam of lawn barely gave way for every light-footed step she made before the grasses sprang back upward and hid the fact she was ever there. No wonder she was so good at going unseen and unknown, a fact that he would be happy to utilize in the coming operation.

When they were concealed from the world in the small extension house, he couldn’t wait any longer. He grabbed one hand and pulled her into his arms. It only took a moment to seal his lips to hers, and he lifted her upright. Her hands fisted his short hair, and she twined her legs around his waist. His back met the door, and he barely felt it close completely behind him.

* * * *

Jaden was confused, and it was all Jonah’s fault. When he walked onto the field, she felt him, and not just with her primary senses. She didn’t see him as he was approaching from behind. She couldn’t hear him amid all of the noises of the team shuffling feet and cracking jokes. But even with a bounty of sensory distractions, she still sensed him watching her. Her very skin attested to the fact that he was near.

When the goose bumps prickled over her back, she finally gave in to the pressure of his gaze and turned around. The rest of the team scampered to keep up and swiftly turned as well. She knew he probably sported a partial hard-on based on the way he slouched forward slightly, as if he wanted to hide his response. Even her nipples were at attention and proudly saluted him on sight. The sun seemed to barely affect him. Jonah didn’t carry one bead of sweat. Just an all-over sheen highlighted his skin.