Mission Made For Two (9 page)

“I’m a big girl, B
os
s.  I’ve got it under control. 
I kno
w Jak
e’s around here s
omeplace, probably watching Diaz.  Tell him I’m in room 635.  D
iaz is sending a limo for me at
n
oon.
”

“You seem to have things all planned out.”

Sierra smiled into the phone.  “I like to be prepared.”

“
You and
Jake are on your own for this one.  I can’t risk tipping off our mole by sending anyone to help you
.”

“
I as
sume my absence is listed as R and R
?”

“What you should be doing,” Trent said dryly.  “And Sierra, you and Jake play nice.
Don’t kill each other.  You’re the
b
est agents I have.”

Sierra chuckled.  “Tell Jake that. I’ve been trying to be nice.”

“By stealing his Harley?”

“Well, there is
that.  But it’s
safe and sound. I
t’s Jake that has the hang up about working with a woman.”

Trent
was silent a moment.  “Sierra, d
on’
t be too hard on him
.
He’s not questioning your ability as an agent.  He
k
nows you’re good at what you do.”

His words made her frown. “Then what is it?  Because he’s been acting like I’m too incompetent t
o help with this.”

Trent sighed. “You’ll have to get Jake to tell you that.  Just be careful and check in when you can.”

“Will do.”
  Sierra flipped her phone shut and stored
it
back in her hiding place. 

Sierra stripped out of her clothing
and hung her dress in the closet, then
walked into the bathroom, turning
on the shower.  Trent’s words
intensified
her curiosity even more about Jake.  Not that it should matter.
  They repelled each other the same as lik
e poles on a magnet. 
Both hard-
headed and set in their ways.

Climbing beneath the warm spray, she washed away the smell of cigarette smoke from her hair
and the lingering aroma of Diaz’s cloying cologne
. 

She imagined Jake’s reaction when Trent contacted him.  He was going to be
royally
pissed
that
she was involved, but she’d warned him that he couldn’t keep her out
of this.
  Diaz had made this way too personal when he’d sent his men after her and Daniel.

Not to
mention she had this thing with being told she couldn’t do something.  Jake’
s attitude rubbed her
the wrong way.  If he’d just give her one good reason why she shouldn’t be involved, maybe she wouldn’t feel such a strong need to prove something.

Why can’t you just stay out of trouble so we can keep you in a foster home? You’re always trying to prove something, Sierra.
  How many times had she heard that from Mrs. Grayson, her tight-assed social worker, who’d sworn
Sierra
w
ould end up behind bars one day.
 

She probably would have if
it hadn’t been for Mr. Henderson, one of her high school math teachers.  He’d pointed her toward the
army
, which had no doubt saved her
. 

She turned off the spray and climbed from the shower. After drying off with a fluffy white towel, she hung it on
a hook
.  She ran a comb through her hair and brushed her teeth
thoroughly and rinsed with mouth wash.  Kissing Diaz had left a bad taste in her mouth. 

She
walked into the outer room, still distracted by her thoughts.
  She hit the light
switch,
throwing the room in darkness, save for the silvery glow from the
full
moon.
  Cool air washed over her still damp skin.
 
A second ticked by before she realized the cool air wasn’t coming from her air-conditioning.
  She whipped around. 

To
o late.
  A
shadow swooped down and pinned her against the wall.

“Is that
that
your
Glock, or are you
happy to
see me?” Sierra gasped
as
Jake leaned
all two hundred some-
odd pounds of
well-defined
muscle
against her.  Even if she didn’t recognize the feel of his hard body, she’d recognize his
slightly spicy
smell
that couldn’t be imitated in a bottle of cologne
.
  T
he combination pressed
against her naked
skin
was seriously turning her on. 
 

“I knew you were trouble the minute I saw you three years ago,” he said
, his arms
and body
affectively imprisoning her against the wall.  “Where’s my damn Harley?”

Sierra chuckled.  “Don’t worry, it’s safe.  Guess Trent got in touch with you?”

“Yes.  He got in touch with me.
I happened to be outside watching the place as Diaz left when he called.
What did you do to get Diaz to invite you to his house tomorrow?”

If the thought of Jake Harding being jealous didn’t seem completely absurd, Sierra would swear he was
,
judging
by the tone of his voice.
  She let her hands move up to rest against his chest.  “Do you really have to ask?”

“Dammit, Sierra.
  Diaz is not a man to toy with like that.  What are you going to do when he really pushes you to sleep with him?
The man doesn’t take no for an answer.
”

Sierra brought her knee up, but Jake had anticipated her move.  He turned in the nick of time.  His arm brushed her naked breast.  Currents of desire shot straight to her stomach.

“
Why do you care so much, Jake?  What does it matter to you if I sleep with Diaz as long as I get the job done?”
  Taunting Jake was like taunting a panther, but
she
liked to push the envelope. 

Sierra
could have sworn she heard his teeth grind together.  She
pressed
a little more, wondering how long his control could last.  “That is all you care about, isn’t it, Jake?  I know you didn’t want any help, but now that you have it, what does it really matter how things get done? 
I can certainly get closer to him than you can. 
The bottom line is we take down Diaz, and whoever
is feeding him information
.”

Jake’s gaze tracked to her
naked breasts.
 
Her nipples responded immediately, bea
ding into hard
points. 

The fingers on his right hand speared
into her
newly shortened
hair.
  He applied pressure to the back of her skull
until she was looking into his eyes.
  The dark intensity in his gaze made her realize she’d finally done it.  She’d
broken
his control. 

His lips came agains
t hers har
d and hungry.  His tongue thrust
past her teeth, staking his cla
im
.
The primitive woman inside her,
responded in like.  Sier
ra clutched his waist and yanked
him against her.

The rough texture of his jeans rubbed her bare legs, his cotton tee shirt smoothed against her breasts.  From neck to thi
gh, her nerve endings felt over-
sensitized. 

This moment had been building for three years and Sierra meant to make the most of it.  Still locked
together, she shoved
against his chest until he
walked
backwards.

They to
ppled onto the bed, Jake’s rock-
hard body beneath her.  Sierra pulled back only long enough to push his shirt up and over his head.  She’d had more fantasies
about exploring the ridges of muscle on this chest
and abdomen
than she’d ever admit to him.

Jake apparently had similar thoughts as
her hands smoothed over his
pec
s
, reveling in the soft springy hair covering them.  His hands went to her breasts, his fingers
on her nipples sending delicious ripples through her body.

Sierra leaned down and stole another hot kiss from him.  When she pulled back, Jake framed her face with his hands.  “The mission’s not always the most i
mportant thing,” he whispered. 

His words opened something inside her chest she hadn’t even been aware existed. 
Some emotion that had never taken shape.
 
Had never had a chance to take shape.
 

Jake grab
bed her head and pulled her to him
for a ravishing kiss, while his fingers found her moist entrance.  When his thumb moved over that tiny bundle of nerves
hidden in her folds
, she almost came right then.
  “Ah, Jake,” she moaned.  “Please…”

Jake responded by flipping them over.  He stripped out of his j
eans and briefs
in record time.  He came down on top of her, his hard body
delectable
feeling as he
pressed
her into the bed. 

Drawing
his head down, she kissed
him
with
all
the hunger
she’d been saving up.  The man might be a loner, but he kissed like he did it all the time. His tongue toyed with her, retreated,
then
took
her m
outh the way she knew he’d take
her body.

He
lifted his head
, his blue eyes penetrating. “Are you protected?”

“Birth control shot
.  Disease free
,
too. 
You?”

Jake’s mouth twitched. 
“Completely.
  If you want to stop, you better say so now,” he said, his voice sandpaper rough.

Sierra smiled.  “If you stop now, I might have to kill you.”

That was all he needed to hear.  He took her mouth again, his hands smoothing over her body, learning her shape and feel.  He released her mouth and slid down to suckle a nipple.  Sierra’s back arched off the bed at the feel of his lips an
d the light suction.  Her womb
clenched as he rolled her nipple against the roof of his mouth at the same ins
tant his finger slid inside her
.

She clutched the sides of his head, not wanting him to stop.  He worked her with hi
s finger,
then
added another
.  When his thumb found the little nub
again
, she groaned and fought the climax that hesitated just a breath away. 

When he gave her other breast the same attention and moved his fingers against her again, she lost it.  Her orgasm rolled through her on a wave of ecstasy that almost blinded her.

Jake didn’t let her recover.  He released her nipple and
t
ook her mouth again.  Then h
e plunged
into her
in o
ne long stroke.  So big
, he stretched her, filling her to capacity.  She groaned. 

She reached around to grab his butt, make him move, but he took her hands and pushed them over her head, holding them there as he
slowly
move
d
, creating the kind of
friction that could start an inferno
. 

She gazed into his eyes as he
pulled
out,
then
plu
nged
to the hilt
.
  The length of him, hard and slick, stroked her inner walls sending starbursts of sensations exploding through her blood. 
“Your controlling nature’s showing,” she
panted
as he moved against her again.

He almost smiled.  “Think of it as retribution for taking my Harley.”

Sierra laughed,
then
moaned
as he picked up the pace.  Every muscle in her body tensed
.  She wanted to stroke him.  Jake held her wrists tight. His lips found the side of her neck, then her collarbone, then her mouth.  His tongue invaded, captured
,
and demanded surrender.