Courting Passion

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

Courting Passion

ISBN 978-1-78184-018-4

©Copyright Elizabeth Lapthorne 2012

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright June 2012

Edited by Sue Meadows

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2012 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:

This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Total-e-burning
and a
sexometer
of
2.

This story contains 93 pages, additionally there is also a
free excerpt
at the end of the book containing 12 pages.

The Agency

COURTING PASSION

Elizabeth Lapthorne

Garth and Katherine try to find the mole within the Agency. They must follow the trail of two killers and use their wits and growing trust in each other to survive their mission.

Katherine Hitchins initially believes Garth Spenser to be the mole she is trying to uncover within the Agency. With the casual arrogance of so many cowboy Agents, he fires her senses. Chemistry crackles between them. She finally has to admit this isn’t the traitor she seeks.

Together they must race to uncover the real mole, while trying to find the man responsible for kidnapping and torturing Garth’s partner and murdering Katherine’s old partner in cold blood. As they get closer to the answers they seek, the sexual tension between them skyrockets and soon they both find themselves breaking more rules than they had ever thought possible.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Rolodex: Newell Rubbermaid

Penthouse: FriendFinder Network

Prologue

Katherine Hitchens knew she’d been acting like a ball-busting bitch, but she couldn’t bring herself to change her attitude. At heart she was a rule follower, a by-the-book shining example of what a product of the Agency could be. She hated how the rogue, cowboy-like antics of agents such as Garth Spenser put others’ lives at risk.

Now Garth Spenser was in deep water. His mentor and partner, Victor Adams, had been kidnapped and was likely dead. The equivalent of a terrorist’s Rolodex and lifetime’s collection of blackmail material was missing.

Anyone who possessed this intelligence held untold power over countless judges, politicians, barons, lords and heaven knew who else. As if that wasn’t enough, they now held an unimaginable source of contacts. There were details for underworld figures, protocols for getting in touch with everyone who could supply any need or desire—no matter how reprehensible.

And this was only what they knew was in there. All sorts of other possibilities could be laid out in intricate detail.

To their knowledge the bad guys now had it all.

Blasé, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants agents such as Garth might make the impossible a reality once in a while. But without the maturity and seasoning long-term work gave—the sort of experience Victor used to keep his own inherent cowboy tendencies in check—disasters such as those they were facing now were almost a certainty.

Katherine knew the other agents looked askance at her. That they whispered that she was too rigid, too by the book. She’d even heard tales behind her back that she didn’t have the adaptability a real agent required. Right bloody now she wanted to wave Garth Spenser in front of all those naysayers. He remained solid proof as to what happened to those with a cavalier attitude.

Not fame, glory and respect for Queen and country. No. Gung-ho, wildly wicked agents such as Garth always ended somewhere in the shit.

With a kidnapped, tortured and probably dead partner. With a missing piece of intelligence so priceless it could mean anarchy and the death of the world as they knew it, should the wrong people wield its power.

And now she and her partner Tarek had finally brought Garth in to be questioned about his knowledge. They’d found him making contact with Victor’s daughter at a local Thai restaurant. Once again, when Garth was involved in the simple pick-up and retrieval of a presumed rogue agent, things had gone straight to hell.

They’d been fired upon by unknown assailants.

Before she and Tarek could get control of the situation, Garth had shouted at them to evacuate. They’d barely made it away with their lives. A rocket launcher had decimated the restaurant. The formerly beautiful, old-style building was now nothing more than a smoking mess of dust and broken bricks.

Katherine didn’t even want to think about the paperwork. She had a headache just imagining what her summary report to their team leader would be like in a few hours, once word from the street hit the manager’s desk.

Tarek leaned against one wall, his muscled body full of barely repressed power, his sandy hair clipped military short. His gaze caught hers and he tilted his head a tiny bit, giving her the silent go-ahead to start their questioning. Garth sat behind the thin aluminium table, cool as you please.

Katherine knew he’d had a chance to speak with Skye Adams, Victor’s daughter, though she didn’t understand why he’d sought the girl out. She wasn’t an agent, wasn’t field trained and, to Katherine’s knowledge, didn’t have a clue about what was happening.

Part of Katherine assumed Garth wanted to warn Skye of the potential danger. Victor’s love for his daughter was common knowledge. If Garth was optimistic and felt his partner had a chance of survival it made sense he’d protect Skye to the best of his abilities.

Garth lounged in his seat. No tension showed in his languid pose, his black gaze was calm and the epitome of cool. His short, dark hair spiked up from his scalp. A thin, neatly trimmed beard covered his jaw and chin. Dressed in his standard black slacks and black button-down shirt he looked as if he should be working for the opposition, a black hat and he’d be every movie-goer’s dream bad boy.

Katherine wasn’t certain that Garth didn’t play fast and loose with those who worked against them. While she didn’t feel he was a traitor literally, she’d known men like him who would use both sides against each other for their own, personal means.

She let her thoughts wander as the silence drew out. Every agent was trained to withstand questioning, to understand the interrogation process. It made situations like this difficult, if not impossible. Add Garth’s ego, and Katherine knew she had her work cut out for her.

She tried to keep all emotion out of her eyes and resisted the impulse to check that every hair of her chignon remained in place. She knew she could break him, get Garth to tell her the truth of what really was going on under the surface of Victor Adams’ disappearance and the ruinous mess of the Thai restaurant. It was just a matter of using the right method with this man.

Instead of dancing around the situation, she decided that the direct approach would be the best place to start. She sat primly down on the uncomfortable chair opposite Garth, Tarek still guarding the door and acting as her spotter. She’d need to focus on the man in front of her. Tarek—as always—would guard her back.

“For now, I’m going to pretend that you didn’t ignore Agency protocol and elude our custody. You’re a big boy, Garth. You understand how running only makes you look more guilty. So, for the time being, we will act on the assumption that you had an urgent need to see Skye Adams, to inform her of her father’s status as MIA and give her whatever protection you managed in the ten minutes you were alone in her company. Let’s start this round of information gathering off on the right foot, okay?”

Katherine didn’t expect Garth to speak or acknowledge her in any way and she wasn’t disappointed. He stared at her with his hot, black gaze and didn’t move a muscle. Katherine smiled and pushed the unfurling lust in her belly out of mind. No wonder women all over the world craved and fantasised about the bad boy, each and every time.

Sitting here, pinned by Garth’s gaze, she could feel electric chemistry rise hotly between them. Garth dipped his eyes to her cleavage and she felt as if a laser beam had settled on her nipples. They pressed behind the crisp white linen of her low-cut, business shirt. Years of training and iron-hard restraint kept her from letting the flush of heat searing through her body being reflected on her face.

Her buxom curves had always been a problem in the Agency. Whenever they needed ‘bait’ in the form of a seductive woman, or a lusty wench to cause a distraction, she was always their first call. It wasn’t her fault she had a rack that could grace the covers of
Penthouse
magazine. For years it had pissed her off. Katherine’s body was considered more of an asset in the Agency than her brain or her numerous other skills.

Eventually she’d got over it. Instead of fighting for every inch of respect, she had used this need other agents had for her and worked it to her advantage. It didn’t mean she didn’t still feel the sting of being thought of as the ‘bait’ rather than an equal member of any team she joined.

Finally, after scrabbling for every case, she had been given command of a few smaller jobs. It wasn’t a lot, but she was determined to work her way up, even if she had to claw herself there.

Annoyed now, Katherine’s temper spiked. Crossing her arms over her chest, she snapped angrily as she lost some of her self-control.

“You realise we have witnesses,” she said. The momentary loss of her cool angered her even more than Garth’s lazy, and thorough, perusal of her breasts. Regardless, she ploughed on, the damage already done.

“There are witnesses from the airport. You were seen tailing Victor and making a call once he got into the cab,” Katherine spoke far more calmly. “Initial reports from the destruction of the restaurant also put a tall, dark-haired, lightly bearded man in the alley behind where the attack was based from. Obviously, this was a few minutes before you joined Skye inside the restaurant, but we’re slowly closing the net over you. So this is your one and only chance to not be facing certain death, Spenser. Explain to us why you’ve stolen the terrorists’ intelligence and not handed it directly over to the Agency. Tell us where Victor is—and even more importantly—why you kidnapped him in the first place. Was it a ruse? Does Victor have proof you’re dirty? Have you already killed him?”

Garth chuckled and shook his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. Anger flashed in his black eyes.