Ignited (Titanium Security Series) (30 page)

“Claire.”

She pulled herself out of her morbid thoughts to focus on Alex. He was still studying the chat room messages, his attention on the screen, her phone sitting useless in his hand. “Yes?”

“This is damn good work. You might have given us the break we need to nail this cell and Hassani’s whole network.”

A trickle of relief slid through her, but the urgency to warn Gage remained. “Thank you, sir. Want me to get Tom on the line for you?”

One side of his mouth curved up, his eyes still on the monitor as he handed her phone back. “Yeah.”

****

Hunter cracked one eye open when his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Grabbing it before it woke Khalia, he snuck back to the bathroom to answer it. Tom bulldozed straight ahead with the situation the moment he picked up.

“Gage got some photos of Youssef and some other guy he’d been meeting with, and sent them to Claire. Her boss just contacted me to say it’s Malik Hassani, former head of intelligence for the ISI. This guy was fired under suspicion of aiding the TTP eight months ago and dropped off the face of the earth. This is the first time anyone’s seen him since then.”

Hunter went from groggy to wide awake in the space of a few heartbeats. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Dead serious. Apparently there’s also some chatter about another operation to happen this morning, but as far as the NSA can tell, it looks like it’s still in the planning stages. We’re pretty sure they don’t know where you guys are yet.”

Well, thank God for small favors. He grunted, checked his watch. “They planning to hit the airport?” Would make sense, since the cell had to know they were flying Khalia out of the country as soon as possible.

“That’s my bet. I’m looking into departures from another airport, maybe Lahore or Karachi.”

“Yeah, okay.” He ran a hand through his hair. Fuck, how far up the chain did this threat extend? If the TTP was getting help from the former ISI intelligence chief, then it wasn’t a stretch to imagine other agencies and officials being involved as well. Maybe putting Khalia on a plane back home wasn’t going to make her any safer. He wasn’t sure what else they could do for her at the moment though. “What about stateside, when she gets home? She’ll need a protective detail there until we can verify the threat against her is neutralized.”

“I’ll get on that later. You sure no one had eyes on you when you checked in last night?”

Hunter understood that Tom wasn’t questioning his capability, just making sure he knew all the facts. “I’m sure. I checked in using my ID and the only people who saw her were the two guys working the front desk.”

“All right. Stand by for possible airport change, but be ready to make the Islamabad flight.”

“Roger that.” He shifted on the edge of the tub, set into the wall across from the shower. “What’s the word on that Youssef guy? Are we bringing him in?”

“NSA’s still verifying he’s our man, but with all the agencies working on it now, I’d say our jurisdiction is well and truly fucked at this stage. Whoever gets to arrest him, it won’t be one of us.”

Hunter clenched his back teeth together in frustration. He may not like it, but there was nothing he or any of them could do to change it. “Understood.”

“Right. Charlie Mike.”

Continue mission. “Yeah. Later.” He went back into the bedroom and placed the phone on the nightstand. Khalia had rolled onto her side, facing him. One hand was tucked beneath the long veil of curls that obscured her bare breast, exposed by the drape of the sheet, and the other lay next to his pillow, palm up.

She looked so peaceful like that, he didn’t have the heart to wake her. No point in explaining the new development anyway, because it would only cause her further stress. Hunter intended to ensure their last few hours together were as perfect as he could make them.

He glanced at the digital clock on Khalia’s nightstand. Only five thirty. Plenty of time to climb back into bed and have her all to himself for a while longer.

Easing onto the mattress, he stretched out beside her and eased an arm around her waist. She sighed and opened sleepy eyes to blink up at him. “What time is it?” she mumbled, clearly still half asleep.

Hunter set a hand on the back of her head and drew her down to his shoulder. “Still early. Go back to sleep.”

Something squeezed in his chest when Khalia sighed and snuggled into his body, dropping right off to sleep without a second thought. Her trust meant more to him than she’d ever know. She was a good person; she deserved a hell of a lot better than what life had dished out to her lately. Though he knew he had to put her on a plane in a few hours, he wished like hell he could go back to Chicago with her and guard her there, to make sure she stayed safe. He didn’t want anyone else entrusted with her safety, but that was just too damn bad for him, wasn’t it?

Savoring the feel of her warm, naked curves nestled against him, Hunter closed his eyes and allowed himself to slip back into a light doze. A slender hand roving down his chest woke him a little while later. He leaned his head back to see Khalia better and found her watching him. She held his gaze as her hand trailed lower, her fingers caressing his naked abdomen. His cock hardened instantly, his body punched with a sudden desire so sharp, it was as if he’d gone months without her touch instead of a few hours.

Her hand slid down to close around his aching length and Hunter let out a soft groan. There was nothing hesitant in her grip this time. She worked him up and down, slowly, with a firm pressure that brought his lower back off the mattress in a wordless plea. “Thought you needed some more sleep,” he managed in a gravelly voice.

“Nope.” She pressed an open mouth kiss to the frog bones tat on his shoulder and bent to replace her hand with her lips. Hunter relaxed against the pillow with a little smile and let her explore, reaching down to tangle one hand in her thick curls when her cheek grazed his cock.

Pulling back the sheets to get a better view, he watched, spellbound as she leaned down and took the flared head between her parted lips. The feel of her hot mouth closing around him made him shudder. His hand contracted in her hair, tugging at the roots as a raw sound of need rumbled up from his chest. She stared up at him, her pale eyes gleaming with a wicked, seductive light as she pleasured him with her mouth and tongue. And suddenly it was both too much and not enough.

Hunter squeezed his fist around her hair to bring her eyes to his. “Do you want me to fuck you?” His voice was low, almost a growl.

He caught her swift intake of breath, saw the rise of excitement in her eyes. She nodded, her velvety tongue teasing him.

Hunter exerted pressure on her hair again, gently forcing her mouth away from his aching cock. He wanted to be inside her, now. “Roll over,” he commanded, and pushed her onto her side facing away from him.

She started to turn her head to look at him over her shoulder but he caught her around the ribs with one arm and hauled her tight against his body. After fumbling for a condom from the stash he’d left on the nightstand, he rolled it on and settled his cock against the curve of her ass. Pushing a hand between her thighs, he found her wet and ready. He groaned at the evidence of her desire for him.

Khalia arched toward his searching fingers, impatient. He smiled against her shoulder. “You sore, baby?”

“No. Do it.” Her voice was hoarse with longing.

He gripped her upper thigh and moved her leg forward, opening her to him. With one hand on her shoulder and the other between her thighs, he positioned himself and eased inside. Khalia let out a quiet whimper and grabbed his arm to anchor herself, pushing her hips back for more. Hunter stroked the pads of his fingers over her slick flesh and gave her a few slow thrusts, savoring every sensation.

But it wasn’t enough. If this was their last time together, he wanted to stake his claim. He wanted her to feel him hours from now when she was sitting on that plane, for her to never forget what it felt like to have him buried inside her.

“I want in deeper,” he rasped against her ear, and rolled her to her stomach beneath him. Trapping her thighs between his, he braced himself on one arm and slid his free hand around her hip to cup her mound. When she rocked against his fingers and made a soft sound of need, Hunter drove deep. Khalia moaned and tried to arch backward but he held her still. He needed her like this, desperate for the feel of him inside her, those soft, helpless sounds of pleasure spilling from her lips. He pressed his face against the sensitive spot where her neck joined her shoulder and scraped his teeth against her tender skin.

She jolted and threw her head back. “Ah! Hunter…”

He soothed the little mark with his tongue. Her body quivered beneath him, her inner muscles squeezing and rippling around his cock. With a primal growl, Hunter locked his free hand around the top of her shoulder and plunged deep, intent on imprinting himself in her memory forever.

Chapter Eighteen

Khalia was already drifting back toward consciousness when she felt Hunter jerk beside her. Her eyes sprang open in the dimness to find him pushing up into a sitting position. She immediately turned onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. He’d thrown both legs over the side of the bed and his head was cocked slightly, his body eerily still.

“What is it?” she murmured, reaching out to stroke a hand down the length of his naked back. The muscles beneath her palm were rigid with tension.

Then she heard it. Faint popping noises, from either down the hall or maybe the floor beneath them. Followed closely by what sounded like human screams. Khalia’s heart stuttered as she realized what it was.

Gunfire. Bursts of it.

Shit!
She shot upright, her eyes on Hunter as she lunged for her bra and panties lying on the floor beside the bed.

He was already up and reaching for his jeans, his phone to his ear. “We’ve got automatic fire in the hotel,” he said to whoever he’d called. “Can you confirm?” He met her gaze and tossed the rest of her clothes at her. Khalia leaped out of bed and hurriedly dragged on her jeans and top, her heart hammering. “I’m getting her out right now. I’ll contact you with a rendezvous point.”

No sooner had he hung up than the fire alarm went off. The eerie, high–pitched wail skittered like fingernails over her taut nerves. A second after that the sprinkler system turned on overhead, drenching them with a spray of cold water.

She gasped and covered her head to block the worst of it. “Is there really a fire?” she asked.

Hunter strode to the window that overlooked the front of the hotel and pulled the curtain aside. Weak rays of sunshine filled the room. “I can’t tell. Get your stuff,” he said curtly. “We’re leaving.”

She ran to the bathroom to grab her shoes and socks. Somewhere down the hallway, a heavy door crashed against the wall. Khalia froze. More screams, followed by a loud burst of automatic gunfire. “Hunter,” she cried, whirling around. He was right behind her, pistol in hand, his face a tight mask.

“They’re on our floor,” he told her, drawing her out of the bathroom and toward the window at the front of the room.

“What are we going to do?”

“I’m not taking you out there while there’s still gunfire. We’ll wait here—” He broke off and swiveled around as another door slammed against the wall out in the hall, this one sounding as though it came from the opposite end of the corridor. “Shit. They’re coming at us from both sides.”

Khalia’s insides shriveled. Those men were coming for her. She could barely breathe for the panic clawing at her, squeezing the air from her lungs. “Hunter…”

“Get in the tub,” he ordered gruffly, having changed his mind and shoving her back toward the bathroom. “Lie down flat and keep your head down.” He grabbed her hand and pressed another pistol into it. “Know how to use this?”

Technically? Yes. Actually? No. “Wait, what do I—”