And each time, her fascination for him had grown. Grown until she had researched him, tracked him, accepted assignments that were almost guaranteed to be supported by the team he fought with. Because he fascinated her. Because he had known her in all her disguises when no one else had.
What else did he know about her?
He knew how to stroke his tongue against hers and fracture her thoughts. How to grip her hips and pin them against the hard ridge of his cock, and how to make her long to ride it.
“What the hell are you still doing here?” he groaned as his lips slid from hers to nip at her jaw, then her collarbone. “I told you to get out of Aruba.”
“Go with me,” she panted, arching closer, holding him to her. “We could find a beach. Lots of sun and sand. Make love all day.”
He stilled and she felt her breath hitch in agony. He was going to let her go again. She knew he was.
“Kira, you’re killing me.” He sighed against her shoulder a second before he tasted her skin with his tongue. “You’re playing with fire, baby, and you know it. This is no place for you.”
“I can help you.” She didn’t have a choice. If she hadn’t taken the assignment, then it would have been given to someone else. Someone who couldn’t have understood the rage he was going to feel when he learned Diego would walk free. She understood. She ached because of it, hated it, and something inside her refused to let him face that alone. She knew, knew what he was doing. And she knew why. She understood why. And she couldn’t let him face the realizations and the betrayals alone. His head rolled against her shoulder. His lips pressed tightly to her neck. “You’ll distract me. You’ll get us both killed. I can’t concentrate like this. Sorrell will pick me off like a duck in water. Is that what you want? God!”
He jerked away from her, the lights flipping on, blinding her for precious seconds as he moved away from her. To check the room.
She leaned against the wall and watched as he moved around the office, checked the closet, then dragged his fingers through his hair and faced off with her from the distance of the room.
His brows were lowered, his expression tormented.
“You’re not leaving, are you?”
She lifted her shoulders, suddenly uncertain, wondering if the attraction between them wasn’t as strong for him as it was for her. She had counted on that. Counted on the fact that he ached for her just as much as she ached for him.
She was as fully trained as he was. If he could get under her skin so easily, surely she was under his as well.
“I won’t leave.”
“Why?” he bit out. “Why stay where you aren’t wanted, Kira?”
Oh, that hurt. A lot. She crossed her arms over her breasts and narrowed her gaze at him, allowing it to flicker to his obvious erection. Her lips curved in a smug smile before her eyes lifted to his.
“I’m not wanted in any way, Ian?”
She hated pushing him. Hated being forced to hide the truth from him. But God help her, Diego Fuentes, and Ian if Diego learned the truth of why Ian was there now.
“How you’re wanted doesn’t matter,” he informed her, his expression turning stony. “What you think you’re doing does. You’re poking your nose into something you have no business being involved with. Get out while you can.”
It was too late to consider walking away. It had been too late the day she realized what Ian’s mission was.
“I’m staying.”
He breathed out almost wearily, frustration flickering across his expression as he stared back at her.
“Don’t get in my way. Hurting you isn’t something I want to do or to see happen. But mess with what I’m doing here, and you’ll regret it.”
He moved toward her, but not to touch her, only to jerk the door open and escort her from the room.
His bodyguards were waiting outside, and behind them stood her bodyguard, Daniel. The sight of them had a grin tugging at her lips. Five men, each wearing expressions of varying degrees of disapproval.
“Goodbye, Kira.” Ian nodded to her as he closed the door behind them and moved toward his bodyguards. “I hope your visit in Aruba goes smoothly.”
“I’m sure it will,” she murmured, a smile touching her lips as she watched him walk away, his men surrounding him, protecting him.
“He’s a hard man,” Daniel reminded her as he drew close to her and they moved back to the dining area.
“Yes. He is,” she agreed, smiling gracefully at a few of the diners she recognized and the waiter who hovered close in case he was needed.
She stopped momentarily to talk to Joseph Fitzhugh and his son Kenneth. The English-born industrialist and his son dabbled in politics occasionally and contributed heavily to several of the charities Kira was involved in.
Thankfully, she had never had to fend off Kenneth’s advances, though he was always charming, almost sociable.
She returned to her chair, aware of Daniel taking his place once again at a table behind her and watching her as her uncle, Jason McClane, entered the dining room.
“Kira, sweetheart, the plane finally landed.”
Jason stopped in front of the table, accepting the chair the waiter pulled out for him and lowering his massive body into it.
Six and a half feet of pure, powerful muscle and Kira imagined she heard the chair groaning under the burden.
Jason McClane wasn’t a small man. He wasn’t a subtle man. The Texas native and multinational business owner did everything on a very large scale. Except his work for the Department of Homeland Security.
He was her handler and, in turn, he had his own handler. The Chameleon was actually two people, herself and her uncle. Neither was officially listed with any law enforcement agency, but the information they brought in was invaluable.
“I hear you’ve chosen a place to play,” he teased her, his gray-blue eyes sharp and knowing.
“The Villa de Angelic.” She leaned forward as though overly excited over the purchase and the property. She was still trying to regain her equilibrium after being in Ian’s arms. “And you’re going to love it, Uncle Jason. It’s so me.” And so very close to Ian.
He chuckled at that. “I’ve learned to trust your taste, sweetheart,” he announced. “So have you ordered yet?”
“I was waiting for you.” Her affection for him wasn’t feigned.