Out of the Dark (2 page)

“He wants you to fly back with me tomorrow morning.”

Shrugging shoulders that should belong to a dedicated bodybuilder, he stepped to the bed where his pants lay. His tapered back was as well defined as the front. For a guy, he had flawless skin. No tats, no moles, and no tan lines. However, the scars told a tale of a life lived on the edge.

Heat flared
from her chest up her neck to her cheeks. Her imagination went on a wild safari.

But s
he still didn’t like him.

From
behind, his gluteus maximus moved in a rhythm that soaked up all the moisture in her mouth. Her nails dug into the palms of her hands as she watched the damp towel drape perfectly across his rear, the hollow of his lower back, and cling to the roundness of his butt cheeks.

Emily
prayed she didn’t have drool dripping out of her mouth.

The hotel suite
shrunk to the size of a small single room at a pay-by-the-hour motel where the air conditioners didn’t work.

No matter how annoying Mac could be, he
had the hottest body she’d ever seen. With him wearing nothing but a towel, Emily grew more intoxicated than when she’d left the bar earlier after a couple of drinks. The hotel room spun like a carousel, and she fought to keep her breathing normal.

He t
urned and his amazing blue eyes pierced her paper thin armor. “So, what’s the problem?”

Emily stopped and tried to remember what they were talking about.
She could only stare...and imagine...and wish for...and...sigh.

He frowned
and cocked his head. “You okay?

Emily li
cked her lips and slowly swam out of her daze. She crossed her arms again. “I’m pissed you showed up in my room without asking. At least you could have warned me.”

Why doesn’t he get dressed
? Looking at his chest and the bulge between his legs was harder than not watching his rear. The man was physically perfect. His brown hair sported a cute cowlick right in the center of his forehead, but his he wore it so short no one would notice that it hadn’t been combed or not. The darker shadow on his lower face gave him a vaguely sinister look, but he couldn’t totally pull off the bad boy guise. He was simply too damn good looking.

“I apologize for that, but I was in a jam.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“If you spend
time in foreign countries, Emily, you need to learn some self-defense moves. They might come in handy,” Mac said.

Her brows squeezed closer
together. “What?”

“Figure out ways
to rig your door so you know if anyone has entered since you left. Don’t fumble with your keycard. Make sure no one is standing behind you.” Again he shrugged. “You know, stuff like that.”

She
grew speechless for a moment then put her hands on her hips. “Normally, I don’t need to be a martial arts expert because usually a spy isn’t waiting for me inside my room. Besides, I have a can of mace somewhere.”

“Best place
for that is in your hand.”

Emily shook her head.
Did she hear him right? He breaks into her room, uses her shower then scolds her for being careless?

“
A gal could get in trouble pretty easily around here.” Mac said. “These Russians don’t mess around. They don’t care if you’re a woman. And never, ever drink when you are in a strange environment. Too dangerous.”

“Go to hell
.”

“
Famous last words?”

She
narrowed her eyes at the sarcasm in his voice. “I can take care of myself, thank you.”

How did he know she’d had a few drinks
? Oh, so the spy had been spying. “You were watching me?”

He
spread out his hands, hitched his hip, and wrinkled his forehead in a mocking manner she found insulting.

“You think I’d
come into this room if I didn’t have a handle on the situation. Hell no. I saw you in the hotel bar with a couple of Russians who looked the lawyer types. I checked to make sure you didn’t have a traveling companion. Only then I knew it was safe for me to make myself at home.”

She smacked her lips
and nodded her head. “And I see you have.”

He
removed a black T-shirt from the open bag on the chair and slipped it over his head. As his arms came up, the towel slowly slid off his hips, down his well-defined legs and puddled on the floor at his feet.

Emily’s kn
ees wobbled and she grabbed the side of the dresser to keep from falling. She refused to acknowledge his penis nestling in a soft pillow of dark hair. No, try as she might, she couldn’t look away.

He shrugged the shirt into place then too
k his jeans off the bed and stuck one leg in, then the other. He bounced slightly to settle the pants in place then snapped the front closed. When he raised his head and their eyes clashed, Emily tried to breath normally so her heart would stop racing..

No underwear
?

To hide her inability to stay upright
, she leaned against the wall and tried her best to come up with something to say to break the embarrassing silence.

Luckily
he made the first move. He knelt beside his bag. “Since the room is checked out to a woman, can you order room service?”

She moved
toward the phone on the nightstand. “What do you want?”

“I don’t care as long as it’s food.”
He glanced at her across the king-sized bed. “I haven’t eaten in two days.”

She lifted the receiver. “I had a club sandwich the other night
. It wasn’t bad. Will that work?”

“Yeah, and
a beer.”

“Would you rather I order a full meal?” She studied his striking features
, the tightness of his jaw and the perfection of his nose. “I don’t mind.”

“Just the sandwich.”
She started to ring for service when he instructed, “Nothing to drink for you.”

She put down the receiver. “I had no intentions of ordering any alcohol. I’m a big girl, Mac. I decide when I’ve had enough to drink, not you.” She sucked in a deep breath and hiked her chin. “If I want a gallon of vodka, that’s my business.”

“Once I get stateside, y
ou can go on a three day binge. But with my life on the line, we do things my way.” He turned. “And my way is for you to stay sober. Maybe you should order coffee.”

Emily stalked toward him.
“I’ll gladly order you a sandwich and a beer. But don’t do that, Mac. I don’t like it and I find it insulting.”

He glared
up at her. “Then don’t drink.” Still squatted on the floor, he took out a gun.

Standing, he
pulled back a lever and clicked a bullet out of the chamber. Moving to the bed, he turned with his back to her, sat on the edge and began taking his weapon apart. “Please place the order, Emily. I’m hungry.”

She
picked up the phone. When a voice sounded at the other end, Emily said. “This is room 533, room service, please.” After a brief wait, “Yes, I’d like two club sandwiches, fries, and a bottle of local beer. Yes, on toast please. I’d also like two bottles of vodka. Thank you.”

Hanging
up the phone, she turned to see his reaction. No way would she consume anything else to drink, but he needed to be put in his place. With his back to her, she couldn’t tell if she’d struck a chord or not, and didn’t care. Nobody bossed her around. Trying not to gloat, she walked across the room to get her smart phone. She intended to call Frank and tell him to get his damn agent out of her room.

Now.

Unfortunately, she only took two steps before Mac leaped up, grabbed her by the waist and slung her on the bed. She bounced twice.

In an instant
, Emily lay on her back beneath him, his mouth inches from hers. His breath held the minty scent of her toothpaste. A smoldering hot look in his blue eyes reached out to the woman in her.

“Emily,
” he crooned. “You’re a very bad girl.”

“Le
t me go, McKinsey,” she said between clenched teeth. “You touch me and I’ll end your career,
and
your freedom.”

Mac
instantly held up his right hand and propped himself on his elbow. “I’m not holding on to anything. You’re free to move. And who said anything about touching?”

Only a
small amount of his hard body pinned her gently between him and the bed. The masculine scent of him turned her on like nothing else ever had. With a seductive smirk, he traced his finger lightly over her lips, across her chin and down to the hollow of her neck. He leaned closer, his mouth brushing her temple. Her whole body shook.

“You thinking about sex, Emily?” he asked in a voice barely audible.

Despite the fact that a trail of heat scorched her flesh, she managed to speak.
“Let me up.”

He rolled off her an
d immediately came to his feet. “I meant what I said about drinking. No more booze.”

Seated
on the edge of the bed and shaking, she shoved her hair back and said, “Don’t tell me what to do. Don’t get in my face. And don’t ever do that again.”

On
her feet, Emily went into the bathroom and slammed the door. She slumped against the side of the sink. The fresh scent of the hotel’s soap filled the steamy room, reminding her that Mac’s body held the same fragrance.

Ev
ery nerve in her body stood at attention and her heart hammered like an angry judge’s gavel against her ribcage. She stared in the mirror. In her reflection her cheeks were red and her face glowed. Even her eyes appeared too big and her mouth was wet and ready.

God help her, she’d never been so turned on
and so frightened of her own feelings.

Knowing nothing could b
e more foolish or unprofessional than to have sex with Mac, Emily splashed water on her cheeks and blotted them with the small hand towel. Her face buried in the soft fabric, the door swung open and Emily jumped back. His reflection looked back at her in the mirror.

“Room service is here,” he whispered. No evidence of what just happened between them lingered on his face. Nothing gave his emotions away. “Best you answer the door.”

T
hat Frank and Mac would consider pulling something this dangerous, and against everything she believed in, made her absolutely livid. She knew exactly what had to be done.

Furiously, s
he tossed the towel in the sink then shoved her tousled hair back. Too angry to speak, Emily marched toward the door. Once there, she pressed her palms down the front of her silk blouse, straightened her tight skirt, and squared her shoulders.

“
Tell them to leave it in the hall,” he ordered.

Looking over her sho
ulder with her hand on the knob, Emily wondered how a man so handsome could be so rude. If she were a guy, she’d beat him up. But if she was a guy, she wouldn’t be so turned on.

“Stay out of sight.”

With the door chain secured, Emily instructed the uniformed bellman to leave the food cart in the hall. The food and drinks would be an extra ‘thank you’ from Stromberg.

At the sound of retreating footsteps, Emily opened the door and
stepped into the empty hall. The delicious aroma from the food tray made her tummy growl. She pushed the cart over the threshold just as Mac came out of the bathroom.

At one time
Emily had a very normal mediation practice until she accepted Falcon Securities as a client. Nothing had been normal since. She’d never fought so many legal battles in her whole career. And oh, the trouble those agents got into. It took every legal skill she possessed to keep them all from being locked up somewhere.

With the food in the room and the door locked,
Emily snatched her cell phone off the bed and speed dialed Frank Hamilton.

After several failed
attempts, she finally hit the right button and Frank barked a greeting.

“This isn’t working, Frank
,” Emily said. “You have to find him another way out of the country. I could be arrested, disbarred, lose everything I have. I won’t even go into the horror scenarios this could turn into.” She looked at Mac sitting on the bed eating his sandwich. “And of course you know he’s the biggest jerk in God’s creation, don’t you?”

Frank’s
silence made Emily want to crawl through the phone and strangle the director for putting her and her career in this horrible situation.

“
Yes, he’s a pain in the ass, Emily.” Frank sighed. “He took out a Russian informant and his cover was blown. Mac has to get out of that hellhole. Look it’s not like I’m asking you to create world peace or anything.”

Turning
her back to Mac, Emily continued, “Frank, if I’m caught with him, it would be the end of everything for me. And I don’t want to tell you how much I want to avoid a Russian jail.” She glanced over her shoulder. Mac didn’t seem concerned with her and Frank’s conversation. “I don’t like him, Frank.”