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  “In the front of my jacket,” he replied, shouting over the ensuing noise of bikes and shouts.

  Nina put her arms around Luke, slid one inside his jacket and found his holster immediately. She wished she had more time to explore. The man felt hard and…

  The motorcycle roared as they went down the pathway, swerving left, then right. The wind and engine noise masked a lot of the other commotion but she caught sight of other headlights coming on. Their house invaders had decided to pursue.

  The path was bumpy and Nina found herself automatically fisting Luke’s belt. His head turned.

  “Hang on tight,” he yelled, and sped up just as the sound of gunshots rang.

  Their bike raced past one car and several bikes, zigzagging, circling, raising clumps of dirt and grass and spitting them every direction. Nina gasped as somehow they flew through the air, hit the hood of the car and continued riding over the top and down the back. Her backside went up and down as if she was riding rodeo. Cowboy was definitely doing his thing. She fired off several shots, causing the other bikes to swerve away.

  “Good girl!” Luke yelled.

  She didn’t have time to yell back because they were flying in the air again, this time a good ten or more feet. She hung on for dear life as the came back down in a crash, tearing a hole in the earth. She had no idea how Luke managed to land on two wheels and how they were still speeding away. Somehow, in all her preparations through the years to be a fixer, she’d not envisioned she would be doing extreme biking in Estonia. In the dark. With people shooting at her.

  She laughed. Exhilaration coursed through her like a current. Damn, but this was the kind of fun she liked. Nothing stealthy and all action. She turned and started shooting at the headlights, emptying her cartridge. Tires screeched and the headlights swerved erratically. She was on target with a couple of shots, as the headlights went dark. Take that, unknown armed enemies.

  “I need more ammo,” she yelled into Luke’s ear as they entered the street.

  “There’s another cartridge in the inside pocket,” he yelled back.

  Nina reached around and slipped her hand inside the other side of his jacket. The bumpy ride made it an interesting experience. She finally found the pocket.

  Load, turn, fire.

  One of the bikes following them skidded.

  “Any more weapons if I run out?”

  “One more, baby. It’s waiting for you.”

  She put her hand in one of his pockets. “Where is it?”

  “Lower.”

  “Not that one!”

  His masculine laughter was sexy, even over the racket. He handled the big machine with expert ease, as if he’d ridden with reckless abandon a lot in his life. Part of her thrilled to his mastery, fascinated by his calm at being chased and shot at. He sped the bike around bends and over slopes, weaving between a few cars which were out late, dodging their chasers in hair-raising ways. Hanging on tightly, she vaguely noted he was heading straight toward the city lights.

  “Won’t that bring out the police?” she asked.

  “Exactly. Maybe they’d stop shooting so much. I can handle them chasing us, but would prefer not to do so with holes in either one of us.”

  She agreed. Sure enough, as soon as the thugs realized the direction Luke was taking the bike, the number of shots began to dwindle.

  “It seems our pursuers don’t want the authorities involved,” Luke said.

  “They’re right behind us, though. Where are we going?”

  “How many bikes still behind us?”

  “Only one. I took one down and another must have crashed when it swerved.”

  “Good. I’m taking us down one of the alleys and then it’ll just be that bike behind us. Once I take care of that, we’ll have to find a way out of that alley because you know the other cars will be waiting at either end.”

  He didn’t wait for her acquiescence, racing the bike down the road at a dangerous speed. She hung onto his belt precariously, as she turned to check behind her. They were speeding up too.

  Luke handled the bike like a pro, passing cars and bouncing back and forth from the cobblestone pavement to road and back again. Lamp posts whizzed by at heart-jarring flashes. She tried not to think about how close they were.

  “Here we are. Hang on!” Luke warned and then the bike was mid-air over some parked cars and back down on its wheels. When they miraculously landed upright, he yelled to her, “Are you okay?”

  “My butt hurt from all that bouncing,” she replied facetiously.

  He laughed, which wasn’t the usual thing people getting shot at do. Maybe he thought he was in one of those old cowboy movies, where shootouts were the regular thing. She could only hang on as this crazy, delicious man did stunts that made her squeeze her eyes tightly shut, sliding in between moving vehicles and finally, gunning for a dark alley as their pursuers avoided accidents.

  “There is a small smoke explosive in the inside left pocket of my jacket,” he instructed while their bike roared toward the alley. “Just pull the top and throw it behind us. It’d get the motorcycle. That will leave just the two cars.”

  She found it immediately and as they zoomed down the long and narrow path, she looked back at the pursuing bike. She pulled the small cap and tossed the explosive at them. She didn’t hear anything because of the roar of the bikes reverberating against the old brick and stone walls, but billowing smoke began to rapidly rise like a ghostly apparition in a movie, enveloping the pursuing bike, effectively blinding the driver and his passenger. As they moved further down, she heard the unmistakable crash of a bike meeting a wall.

  “Good,” Luke said, slowing down the bike. “The others have to get out of their cars to come in after us. We have options.”

  “Options?” All she could think of was to escape.

  “Stay and fight them and find out who they are. Run and find out who they are ourselves. Get a room and fuck and not care who they are.”

  Naya jumped off the bike when it came to a stop. “You’re crazy!” she announced. “They’re after you, so why do I care who they are?”

  “Oh good, then we’ll just go straight to the third option. Your place or mine?”

  She wanted to scream and kick at him. “If we weren’t about to get shot, I’d shoot you myself,” she declared. “Do you have an escape route with this brilliant idea of holing up in a dark alley or do I have to fucking save your ass?”

  * * *

  Luke laughed softly. He hadn’t felt as alive as he was now in months. Imminent danger around the corner. Death threatening at his doorstep. The familiar exhilaration of facing near-impossible odds. Hell, yeah. He missed his Ranger days out in the field—running, chasing, hiding, moving, and attacking everything going at breakneck speed, with every decision being made at rapid fire. He missed his days ranching and chasing wild horses too. Life that was on the move, not like this past year, where everything was a constant test on his patience.

  The woman with him made him feel alive too. She was fearless, funny and sexy as hell. Kidnapping, gunfire, car chases, going Evel Knievel on a motorcycle and more hadn’t even phased her one bit. She was spitting mad and taking him on.

  God, he wanted to just do her against the wall right now.

  He was well aware that he was acting out of character. Hell, this whole night had been crazy. He’d finally gotten one big lead to his brother and what did he do? Let his dick do the talking, that was what.

  No more talking. Every time he tried, his dick interrupted and he lost concentration.

  Grabbing Nina by the hand, he pulled her down further into a side alley. She followed without further questions, moving with that nimble grace he’d found so damn sexy, whether clad in tight pants or clingy gowns. Okay, maybe one more zinger to get her worked up.

  “We’ll have to practice in bed once we get rid of these fuckers. Come on!”

  Her expletive was very inventive. He grinned. He liked inventiveness in a woman.
/>   “I hear police sirens,” she said.

  He’d hoped that would happen. He’d chosen this part of town because it was just outside a popular tourist district, with some big name hotels. The authorities would want to check out any reports of a speeding vehicles and flying bullets.

  “Good. They might not shoot so indiscriminately.”

  “Do you even know where you’re going?”

  “Trust me.” He was familiar with a few back streets here, having worked a contract that required looking for a missing weapon in a dumpster. He heard her snort behind him. “Just ahead is a building with a fire escape. If we climb up to the fifth floor the apartment there is registered to someone I know. We can take the stairs to the front side where the parking lot is, and take off from there. I’ll drop you off at your place.”

  “Right, and have them chasing us all over again. No thanks. We part ways once we make it out of this stupid chase.”

  “If you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty good at evasion,” Luke pointed out. His experience as a Ranger had returned handily. Old habits, it seemed, didn’t go away. His instinct was busy knocking, insisting he was missing a clue. Everything about this chase felt wrong, especially the part where they just showed up after all these months of him going to Drei’s place alone, but there wasn’t time to talk about this. He’d just have to do things his way. Arguing with the lady would just take away more time. Aloud, he added, “But if you insist, we’ll split up once we shed those goons. Come on.”

  His words must have placated her. She followed him with no further argument. They made their way in the dark behind some lowered awnings. He could hear the running footsteps behind them, scrambling about, looking for them. It was just a matter of time before they came by the awnings and started checking behind them.

  “We’re getting on that balcony,” he said, pointing up. “You come up after me and I’ll pull you the rest of the way.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  After testing the strength of a chain holding back some aluminum panels, he climbed up, then hauled himself over the railing. He looked over. Nina was already climbing up the chain, using the pillar nearby for foot holds. He muscled the chain up, hand over hand, to speed her ascent, then he leaned over the balcony and helped her the rest of the way. She stepped off the chain, balanced on the railing, and when he gave one last tug, she fell against his body. His arm held on to her tightly, while he walked backward, pulling the rest of the chain up so that it wouldn’t tumble down with a telltale swing. She had a way of being in sync with him. Wrapping her legs tightly around his waist, she twisted so she could use both her hands to get the chain up quickly.

  Not a moment too soon too, since flashlights started marching through the shadows, their paths crisscrossing as their anonymous pursuers continued searching for them. Luke stood very still, one hand around Nina, the two of them hanging on to the chain so it wouldn’t clatter. He could feel her warm breath against his cheek, and smell the soft sweet scent she had on.

  Damn if he didn’t want to kiss her right then. And, much to his surprise, her mouth found his. In the dark, danger lurking beneath them, with his feet planted apart in precarious balance and knowing exactly where her crotch was nesting right against, he found himself responding with quiet ease. Nina ran her tongue lightly against his, sensuously retreating, daring him to come after her. Damn if she wasn’t a wicked tease.

  The beam from one of the flashlights hit an aluminum panel, momentarily giving the darkness a reflective glow. If the arc of the light changed slightly and if their pursuer looked up, Luke knew he would see their tangled bodies. He held his breath, the corner of his eye, following the small spot of light as it traveled further away. The only thing moving was the soft caress of her tongue and the blood surging between his legs

  When the light disappeared around the corner, his tormenter took her lips off his. He licked his, still savoring her taste.

  “Good thing we’re both clad in black,” she whispered.

  “Not your panties. It was a deep blue,” he reminded her softly as they both quietly dropped the weight of the chain. He slowly lowered her to her feet, her lower body rubbing his intimately. “Piece of lace barely covering some tasty…”

  “Shhh,” she shushed. “You’re going to make me laugh and get us caught. Is this the right building?”

  Luke reluctantly let her go. “Next door, actually. It has a fire escape, unlike this one.” He took her hand and placed it on the railing. “Follow this to the end. There’s a ledge there we can easily jump over.”

  “Okay.”

  It was interesting having her beside him. Usually, when they’d met during their jobs, like the first time crawling in tight spaces, they were on opposite sides, doing their thing, so he hadn’t had the opportunity to study her. Now, he enjoyed her professional ease at treading in the dark and the fearless, unhurried way she walked on the ledge, even though it was the first time she’d encountered it. Having the perfect partner in any operation was hard to find. In the army, it took years of training with that person or a group of people to be totally familiar with working together as one unit, but he found it was strangely so with Nina. All in one night. He was damned intrigued by this discovery.

  They made it over the balcony and up the fire escape without any incidence. He carefully retrieved the apartment key hidden near the windowsill and unlocked the door.

  “Where’s the owner?” Nina asked, after she came inside.

  “Don’t know. Don’t care. It’s empty for now and that’s all I care about.” He turned on a hallway light.

  She glanced around, then gave him a curious look. “What if there’s someone here?”

  The place was owned by a client on the run for a while who had given him access because of a favor, but Luke wasn’t explaining that. “Then, I might have a whole other set of problems on my hands,” he replied, lightly. He walked to the front side of the apartment. “This place was chosen because of its easy front and back exits, so make your own brilliant deductions while I check out the window.”

  The outside looked clear. He knew the cars after them were probably parked on either side of the alley way they’d entered to block any escape. The police lights were a good deterrent to them making any more gunshots. Hell, they might even be gone, if they were trying to avoid catching attention. Traffic was light, so a quick getaway with no one gunning for them was eminently possible.

  He glanced back and found Nina lounging on the sofa, reading a magazine.

  “Catching up on your TV shows?” he mocked.

  She looked up with a bored expression. “Oh, are you done? Are we safe from your enemies? Can we leave now?”

  He cocked his head. “What about all that kissing we were doing just now?”

  He was beginning to enjoy teasing her too much, just to watch that warm flush of color blooming across her cheeks. She mostly kept her cool, though, which made it all the more fun.

  “Oh, that.” She yawned. “I figured I needed to shut you up so the bad guys can’t hear your incessant yammering. Kissing cured that.”

  “What about the crotch-nudging? My cock wasn’t yammering until you started teasing it.” Actually, his cock had been complaining a lot where the lady was concerned. “Now you’ve got him all hot and bothered and eager for you to kiss him.”

  “I wasn’t crotch…nudging!” She jumped off the couch. “And I’m not kissing him until you get us out of this. I need to report back to my people. I checked my phone and there have been no messages since the last one at Drei’s place. You know, the one I ignored because I was tied up?”

  “Huh. Let’s focus back on the earlier part.” Luke made a rewinding gesture with his finger. “You said you aren’t kissing my dick until I get us out of this. So, you are kissing him later?”

  He cocked a brow at the mutinous set of her mouth. Hey, La Niina was supposed to be the ice princess of all ice princesses. He was just too delighted to find out what a lie that was. She was
molten lava, hot like an enraged volcano, and he couldn’t help but kept wanting her to explode all over him. Preferably with both of them naked this time.

  “Luke, I’m just about ready to go outside and scream for help so the police will come arrest you for false imprisonment.”

  “Oh, all right,” he said. “Come on, let’s get to the parking lot and I’ll give you the keys to the car.”

  She frowned. “What about you?”

  “I’ll get back to my place, don’t worry. This way, you’ll have an excuse to come give me the car back and then we can…ah…talk more about any helpful stuff you find out for me.”

  She narrowed her eyes for a moment, especially at the part where he paused teasingly. “Fine. I’m really late. Let’s go.”

  They made it to the parking lot with no other problem and Luke reluctantly watched her drive away. Then, after she turned a corner, he jumped into a second vehicle and followed her. This way, he would make sure she was safe. He really didn’t believe all that happened tonight was 100 percent about him.

  * * *

  Nina couldn’t begin to put into words her jumbled emotions. What the hell happened tonight? Didn’t she say to herself it was going to be a quick and easy night because the job was simple? Boy, was that the understatement of the year.

  She pursed her lips, trying to decide what to tell her handlers when they debriefed her. She had broken an important protocol by either not sending a message or replying to their communications. They had to assume she’d been compromised. Texting or calling back right now would just generate more questions and she needed time to get her head back in the game.

  Cowboy fucked her tonight.

  Oh, boy, that wasn’t a good place to start to get herself back in control. That man she had been so attracted to all these months had kidnapped her, threatened her and then made her come with his mouth. His beautiful, sexy, 0h-so-talented mouth. And she had actually encouraged him because she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stay angry at him. In fact, she wanted to be naked with him and spend the rest of the night exploring him as much as he’d enjoyed exploring her.