To Russia With Love (Countermeasure Series) (28 page)

Trevor took stock of Kostas. Weighing his options and finding no other, he prompted, “I have a little issue that I think you might be able to help me with.”

Kostas smiled. “I will do my best to help. Anything for Robert’s daughter and her husband. Robert is like family to me.”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed speculatively. He wished Cassandra was there to observe Kostas’s facial expressions. “I need connections…or to appear to have connections so I can get inside a very secure place here in St. Petersburg.”

Kostas’s smile grew wider. “There is secure. And there is
secure
,” he teased. “I know a lot of people. What is this place of yours?”

Trevor flashed a smile at his implication but treaded with caution, watching him carefully. “What if I were to ask you to find me a way inside Vladimir Mikhailov’s mansion?”

Kostas’s smile faded instantly and the glint in his eyes transitioned to one of disbelief. “Did you say Vladimir Mikhailov? You are joking, yes?”

“Not joking.” Trevor considered what to tell him. Honesty was the only way to go. “I need access to his servers. I’ve tried to infiltrate them from outside but I can’t. The only way is from the inside.”

All color bled from Kostas’s face, leaving behind a pallid mask. “You know what you ask is a dangerous proposition.” His tone was serious and the smile of minutes ago, a lost memory.

Trevor nodded. “I’m well aware of the risks. But it’s something important to me…to us. No other way around it. I
need
to complete this job.”

There was a pensive shimmer in the shadow of Boris’s eyes as he studied Trevor. “What exactly is this job you speak of?” he asked as his eyes narrowed, boring into him as if trying to ascertain what his and Cassandra’s real purpose in Russia was.

“Mikhailov has something in his possession. Something he stole from my employer.” Trevor wasn’t going to disclose the details regarding the job nor the personal reasons behind it. “All I can tell you is that I need to destroy Mikhailov’s servers.”

A cold, hard, calculating look filled Kostas’s eyes, now narrowed to slits. “Does Robert know why you are here?”

Cassandra returned from the kitchen at that moment, carrying a tray holding the tea and cups. “No, he doesn’t. We would like to keep it that way,” she said as she set it on the coffee table.

A thick silence engulfed the room as they studied each other. Kostas leaned forward in his chair. “You already have something in mind, I’m thinking?”

“Yes, indeed.” Kostas waited patiently for Trevor to continue. “We know Mikhailov employs hackers. He might be in need of a skilled one.” Trevor paused, allowing Kostas to absorb the full impact of the request. Kostas was as sharp as he appeared and didn’t miss the boat.

“You really want me to throw you into the shark tank,” he chuckled in disbelief.

Trevor nodded and glanced briefly to Cassandra as she moved to his side and rested her hand on his shoulder in support and solidarity. “I won’t go into detail as to why, but I need to do this. I would like you to trust me when I say it’s important. Can you help us?”

Kostas appeared lost in thought, possibly weighing the merit of Trevor’s words. Words of a man he had never met before.

Trevor sensed Cassandra’s anxiousness in the squeeze she gave his shoulder as they waited for Kostas’s reply. They both understood that if he didn’t agree to help them, it would take them longer to achieve their goal. They would lose precious time building connections on their own in order to get a foot through Mikhailov’s door.

Kostas exhaled deeply. “I will see what I can do. I will keep this between us. Robert will kill me if he finds out that I help to put you two in danger. Know this: I will advise him if I feel it is for the best.”

Cassandra squeezed Trevor’s shoulder a little tighter this time. “We are indebted to you. Thank you, Boris. We can call you Boris, right?” Cassandra asked Kostas sweetly.

“Of course you can!” he smiled widely, standing and extending a hand to Trevor, who grasped it in a tight handshake.

“Give me a few days to get this figured out. I have connections that can help, but I need to find the right way to approach them about this.” Kostas’s lowered voice and cautious tone caught Trevor’s attention. It was almost as if Kostas thought someone would overhear their conversation.

“We’ll sit tight until we hear from you.”

Kostas squeezed Trevor’s hand tighter and draped an arm around his shoulders in a close hug. “You better keep her safe and out of harm’s way,” he whispered in Trevor’s ear, and then spoke louder, “In the meantime, enjoy St. Petersburg.”

“I definitely will.” Trevor’s response addressed both of Kostas’s comments, and from the knowing glance he shot him, Trevor knew the double meaning was understood.

Kostas released him and pulled Cassandra into a tight hug. “I will bring a proper loaf next time.”

Cassandra laughed and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Boris. For everything.”

With quick words of goodbye, Kostas left. Trevor locked the door and turned to Cassandra. “One step closer.”
But at what price?

Roots

A
SLIGHT BOUNCE ON THE mattress woke Jessica right before a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and a warm body spooned against her back. A smile spread across her face as memories of the nights spent in Stephan’s arms engulfed her.

The stirring of life tucked between her thighs caught her attention. Her breath hitched in her lungs when his hand slipped from around her and began a sensual trail of fingertips from her knee to her hip. When she didn’t react to it, a sharp intake of breath sounded behind her. His cock stirred against her ass cheeks again and she almost giggled at his impressive control.

They did have a lot to catch up on and they were sure up to the challenge. Stephan had been a total surprise to her. Once he had surrendered to their attraction, their physical relationship had unfolded in unexpected ways. He was a domineering and bossy lover, and she adored every second spent complying with his every demand. The first days had eased the sexual frustration and hunger they both had been plagued with since their taste of each other in California. Their first weekend together had been especially satisfying, spent in mutual exploration, learning everything there was to be learned about each other. Their second even more so.

The urgency had lessened, but not the attraction and desire. Those were growing with each simple touch, each gesture, each word. And with it also came the understanding that she wasn’t infatuated. She had a good old-fashioned case of unadulterated love for Stephan. Jessica had told Cassandra that she would know when she fell in love, that it would hit her square between the eyes. Jessica was smarting from it. She pictured herself growing old with Stephan. She saw a life with him beyond just desire and sex.

With each day, she had started to spend more and more time with him, in his arms. They had fallen into a comfortable routine of sorts, having breakfast together, which usually consisted of two cups of coffee for him and whatever she could scavenge in his pantry, before they both tackled work. Cassandra had left Jessica a few tasks aside from housesitting. Their data retrieval business was booming. She had a few prospective clients to call back and gather preliminary information on their cases later that day.

Stephan’s breathing deepened behind her and Jessica shifted her hips and rubbed her ass cheeks lightly against his cock. He groaned softly, still not taking that sensual wakeup call any further. She decided to take matter into her own hands. Draping one leg back over his muscular thigh, she reached down and, positioning his cock, pressed her hips against his, impaling herself on his hard, pulsing shaft.

“Fuck!” Stephan cried out at the swift move, driving deep.

It didn’t take long before he got the drift and began moving inside her, slowly, lovingly. His hand glided to cup her face and turn it to him. He took her mouth gently, reverently, nipping, teasing, until he plunged his tongue between her lips. She took him in, reveling at the swell of her heart, the heat growing low in her belly with each thrust.

“Touch yourself.”

The commanding tone didn’t leave any room for refusal. Not that she would anyway. Her hand traveled low to her engorged clit and wet folds. Her fingers fanned the fire burning with each push of him inside her. “Oh God, Stephan!”

It didn’t take them long to burst into their release. Stephan wrapped his arms around her from behind and tucked his face in the hollow of her neck, holding on tight until their breaths quieted. He then broke contact and rolled from the bed. Once parted, she took notice of the condom and giggled.

Stephan followed her eyes to his crotch. “I was hopeful.”

“No kidding. We both know I’m weak when it comes to you. It was a sure thing.”

A smile spread across his face but didn’t quite reach his eyes as he walked to the adjacent bathroom. She heard the water running and waited for him to come back, showered and ready to start his day.

Stephan spent weekdays buried in business at work. He dressed for the job and she loved watching him shrug into well-cut suits each morning while she lay naked and burning for him under the covers. He looked amazing, and carried an aura of power whether he was naked, voicing his commands to her, or dressed in Armani, commanding the boardroom.

“You clean up well, Mr. Connellan.”

A smile quirked his lips and he gave her the look. She loved that “don’t tease me or else” look and the promises it carried. She knew that once the day was over, once the sun had set over Dublin, she would return to his house and be fulfilled again. Taken into his world, his arms.

“Busy day ahead?”

“Yes. I have a couple of appointments to view apartments. Narrowed the search to a few. I don’t want just anything and, thankfully, I don’t need to rush my decision. Trev and Cassie haven’t told me when they’ll be back, but it doesn’t look like it’ll be anytime soon.”

“What exactly are they doing in Russia?” Stephan asked while tying his tie.

“Data retrieval for a client.” Stephan raised his eyebrows. “Cassie hasn’t said much about it, only that it was something they couldn’t pass up and she would fill me in when she got back. From her last message, it sounds like everything is going like clockwork.”

He removed the suit jacket from the hanger and eased it over his shoulders while her eyes travelled over his body, measuring, recalling. “Don’t.” A smile twitched across her lips at his reprimand. “You are a dangerous little vixen, Miss Forrester.”

“One you would love to discipline this very moment for being naughty?”

He stalked to the edge of the bed, leaned over, and caged her between his arms. “It’s amazing how well you can read my mind.” Placing a hard kiss on her lips, he nagged, “Move it. I can’t take any more of your tempting looks. I have meetings I can’t miss today.”

He strode out of the room, leaving Jessica breathless and longing to tempt him more. She got out of bed and stretched. An ache in muscles she didn’t know existed greeted her. The soreness between her legs was something she could appreciate. They had been very active since their first night together. She should really buy stock options of the brand of condoms he used. Jessica was sure she would make a tidy profit. Her mouth quirked with humor as she retrieved her clothes from the night before and dressed.

The trips back and forth between Trevor and Cassandra’s home and Stephan’s were becoming a drag. Granted, she had work to do and plants to water, but it would be nice if she could at least make the trip in fresh clothes. Maybe she could just bring a couple of things over to Stephan’s. Small things—a pair of panties, a toothbrush.

She walked to his closet and opened the doors. His suits and matching dress shirts were perfectly organized by color—blacks, dark blues, grays. She caressed the fabrics and buried her face in their softness, breathing in his tantalizing scent, and a liquid heat pooled low between her thighs.

Jessica shook her head at her fancy and opened another set of doors. She found two empty sections. Perfect. She would bring a few things, leave them there the next time she was over—which seemed to be every night of the week. With a new spring to her step, she left the room to join him in the kitchen. Her mouth watered at the delicious aroma of coffee wafting at the top of the stairs.

He handed her a cup when she walked in. “I was thinking I could help you with your apartment hunting.”

“What do you mean? I thought you were busy.”

“I can’t today, but if you’d like to reschedule, I can take the day off tomorrow and help you with the viewing. I can also advise on the locations.”

“That would be a relief. I actually feel a little lost without Cassie to give me pointers.”

“Then it’s settled. I will reschedule my meetings and join you. If the ones you have lined up don’t pan out, we can start looking again. Find one closer to me.”

His words slammed her heart against her chest. The promise in them, alluring. “That would be a definite plus.”