“I’ll have it legally changed if you stay this close to me…Oh, gosh, don’t stop doing that.”
“I can’t,” he whispered as he sank to the carpet, stroking her, and she grew more breathless, thrusting against him as she followed him to the floor.
She managed to say, “The bed…” Her hand closed over his erection, eliciting a dark, heavy groan.
“Can’t stop.” He pushed into her palm, his mouth rolling over the flesh he could reach.
She rose up on his thighs, guiding him, teasing him mercilessly as she rocked on his erection. Her smile was sinful, her fingers gliding over the tip of him. He couldn’t wait any longer, and leaned her back onto the carpet.
He entered her and for a moment held still, her hands on his face, her gaze locked with his. Emotions swelled, tightening his chest, his heart pounding so hard he swore she could feel it. The image of Gina with a gun to her head suddenly flashed in his mind-he’d almost lost her. The terror of it made him realize his need for her went beyond this frenzied desire, beyond his mission.
“This is so good, I don’t want it to end,” she whispered, and arched up to shred him with a kiss.
Jammer quaked with the savageness of it, her impatience, and without will, he moved. Gina pushed back, her heat flexing around him, a tight, firm lock on more than his body. He laced his fingers with hers, as if being joined together wasn’t enough. She smiled up at him as he withdrew and sank into her again. She rolled her hips in a devastating maneuver that almost made him come. When she quickened, he knew he wouldn’t make it, and then it didn’t matter. Her mouth was on his, her body pumping with his, and she stopped kissing him long enough to whisper, “I think you can handle me quite easily.”
Jammer chuckled and scooped her off the floor, onto his lap. Her eyes flared at the slick, wet length of him and she rocked, using her weight to drive him to the floor. She laughed at his startled look and said, “Well, maybe not.”
His response was cut off as she rode him, leaving him completely, only to shove back, her blue eyes wicked and full of her power. She knew what she was doing to him. Unhinging him. She had him. She truly had him cold.
Energy rocked and pulsed-around them, between them. He could almost taste it on her mouth. Jammer sat up, their motions primal and raw. She was on the brink, her body flexing around him, clawing him.
“Gina, oh, damn.”
“I know.”
He flipped her on her back and his hips thrust uncontrollably. The explosion ripped, pushing them across the floor. She bit her lip to keep from screaming, but Jammer swallowed her cries as her slick, wet muscles pawed him, drew him with her. Tumbling into pleasure. He watched her ride the eruption, savored the sight of pure satisfaction shimmering through her. Gina left nothing to chance, taking it all and glowing with ecstasy.
He wasn’t sure how long they lay there on the floor, panting and trying to breathe around the pleasure. He looked up into her eyes, then away, afraid of what she would see there. All this time, every step, action, kiss and embrace, had led him right here. To this moment.
He closed his eyes tight and sighed heavily, thinking about what he would have to sacrifice for a low-life bastard who didn’t deserve the time of day. Fuentes would get his just deserts, but Jammer still wouldn’t be free of the past that haunted him.
He would have to sacrifice Gina.
He opened his eyes and she was staring up at him like a woman dazed. She lifted her hand to his mouth, touching his lips as if she could absorb him into her body.
He would have been able to endure that look, even that touch, but what undid him was the tremble in her fingers. With a soft exhalation of air, he groaned, the agony of wanting almost too much for him to bear.
He grabbed her wrist and placed several kisses against the palm of her hand. She cupped his face, running her thumb over his mouth once more, then delved into his hair and urged him down to her mouth.
Her lips trembled, too, and he kissed her softly, gently, cherishing her response.
He got off her and picked her up in his arms. She smiled at him. “My Prince Charming.”
For her sake, he laughed, because that’s what she wanted him to do. Walking over to the bed, he cradled her against him as he pulled the covers off and sank down with her into the softness.
Then he curled around her and held her against him because he needed to. He knew he had a phone call to make and pressing problems to deal with, but he was going to take this time.
Time that would soon grow very short.
“Where do we go from here, Jammer?” She held his gaze intently.
“Tell me something about yourself-anything.”
“Why…” Her brow furrowed, as if she just couldn’t figure him out. When he did reveal to her who he was, she would be surprised, but would she forgive him for keeping his identity a secret? Or would she be fuming mad?
He shrugged. “Because I want to know. I just want to know.”
Her hand went to his biceps and she wound her fingers over him. A small smile curved her lips and her eyes met his. “My guilty pleasure is martial arts B movies.”
“Ah, a peek into the dangerous woman’s psyche. You like all that physical stuff, huh?” he asked, bumping her hip. “Is that why you’re in this line of work? So you can live out your guilty pleasure?” He smoothed his hand down her back in a slow caress, enjoying the feel of her soft skin.
“I’m not sure,” she said with a laugh, “but I do get to kick butt on a regular basis, which makes me happy. I just don’t shout ‘Hiya!’ when I do it.”
He laughed and pulled her close. “Next time you kick ass, and I’m anywhere near the vicinity, you will shout ‘Hiya!’”
“Is that a requirement for staying with you until this deal is over?”
He didn’t answer. He was torn-torn up inside and torn by his need to protect her. But he had to be realistic.
She sighed. “Do I have to go through how it was all your fault that I ended up compromised, or are you going to give in easily? Don’t make me shout ‘Hiya!’ at you.”
“It would almost be worth it. The part about you being a distraction hasn’t changed.”
“So, worry about me while I’m right beside you. You can allay all your fears and have me, too.”
“I like that course of action,” he said. For a moment they lay together without speaking.
The silence was soothing, and holding her was a boon to his soul. Finally her breathing slowed and he knew she was asleep.
It was time to pay the piper.
JAMMER LEFT A SLEEPING Gina. Donning a pair of jeans and a shirt, he slipped out of the hotel room and went down to the busy, noisy lobby.
He’d screwed up royally. Completely. Now came the damage control. He dialed the number and waited until the line was picked up.
“Since you’re calling me at this hour, it must be important.” The voice was slurred and concerned.
Jammer didn’t sugarcoat it. There was no time to break the information gently. “My identity has been breached.”
Now the voice was wide-awake. Jammer heard the rustle of blankets and a light being snapped on. “That’s not possible. Only you and I know that you’re-”
In a voice that sounded much calmer than he felt, Jammer said, “No, not my real identity, the Ghost identity.”
“How did this happen? Who is involved?”
Jammer gave him the story, leaving nothing out. The silence on the other end of the line stretched, but Jammer was used to it. His partner needed time to think about the next move.
“All right, we’ll snatch up Roorback and Fromme and put them on ice until you’ve finished with Fuentes. I’ll set that in motion as soon as I get off this phone.”
“What do we do about Gina Callahan?”
“What do we do with an undercover Watchdog agent who has the knowledge that the very man everyone is after has now just blown his cover?”
Jammer rubbed at his temple. “Yeah. I think I can persuade her to keep the information to herself. My guess is that I’m her target, but if she can bag Fuentes in the process, she’ll be happy to wait just a little bit longer.”
“We’ll neutralize her in a different way than we planned. Leave that up to me. She is still unaware that you know she’s Callie Carpenter, correct?”
“Yes, I’ve managed not to reveal that information. It would require explanations that I can’t give her right now.”
Jammer looked out at the people milling about the hotel-checking in at the front desk, going to dinner and moving in and out of the elevators. He sat down on one of the sofas in the lobby, suddenly exhausted.
“I understand why you revealed the Ghost’s identity. You had no choice. Letting a government agent die is not what we’re about.”
“I’m aware of that. If anything had happened to her, I would go mad and that would effectively screw up this whole thing anyway.”
“You in that deep, then?”
The question was not unexpected, and it was just common sense to reveal everything. This situation couldn’t get any worse. “I’m afraid so. I intend to keep her with me until this is all over, so square that up.”
“I think that’s the best solution at this point. At least with her by your side, you can watch her. Let me get moving on these problems. I’ll call you back when they’re handled. Jammer, stay focused. We’re almost to ground zero.”
Jammer sighed. “It doesn’t change anything for us. I still can’t have a relationship with anyone and you know it. We both do.”
For the first time since Jammer had met the man on the other end of the line, he heard compassion in his voice. “If she’s willing to go under with you…?”
“You think I would subject her to the hell that I’ve had to go through these last three years?” Jammer hissed. “I can’t ask her to give up everything like I did. She has a family.”
“You have one, too.”
“It’s not the same. I’d be asking her to choose between us, and that just isn’t fair. I had no other choice to make. I was already dead. I made my choice based on what happened to me. It was the right thing to do. Fuentes has to be taken out of action.”
“Yes, it’s a tough situation you’re in. I admire what you’re doing. We wouldn’t have even gotten this close to realizing our plan if it wasn’t for what you sacrificed. When we lost those agents…Even though we found you alive, I was incensed the mission had gone so wrong.”
“I bought into it. It was my decision. Their deaths are on both of us.”
“And now we have a real chance at making it right. So much is at stake-that’s why it’s critical to keep all this top secret. No one-I mean no one-can know.”
“I’ve kept my part of the bargain. I agreed to the rules.”
“I believe it’s what’s protected you all this time. Everyone-other agents, their agencies, even the president-was kept in the dark. It was our plan that the other agencies would perpetuate your cover for you. The disappearance of a few people all worked in our favor. But now those agencies are getting serious about bringing you in. So I’ll have to break protocol and reveal information to the director of Watchdog that I wouldn’t normally reveal.”
“Do what you have to do to buy me more time. Fuentes is so close to prison orange. He has to pay, or this has all been for nothing.”
“And the Watchdog agent? Would you risk it for her?”
“No. I couldn’t and still be able to live with myself-or look her in the eye.”
“I’ll be in touch.”