Deliciously Dangerous

“You in exchange for the launchers.”

“And instead he betrayed Miyagi, saving me and my sister.”

“Do you think that was a deliberate act?” Gillian asked, her tone speculative.

Callie shrugged. “He wanted the launchers, and we know how ruthless the Ghost can be when he wants something. I doubt that he considered his actions would save Allie-or Tina, as he knew her. He most likely instructed Jammer to use her for leverage.”

Callie couldn’t be sure what “orders” Jammer had received from the Ghost-which had been his decisions and which the Ghost’s-but she was sure he had orchestrated it so Miyagi would be on the losing end.

“In any case, now that we know what the Ghost needs, Gina Callahan is going to be very important to this operation.”

Callie smiled. “In what way, ma’am?”

“She’s going to be in possession of a shitload of weapons.”

“I’d better go pack my spandex and tulle.”

“DON’T SCREW WITH ME, Igor,” Jammer said to the man standing in a warehouse on the outskirts of Minsk. Igor was dressed in a heavy wool coat and wore the requisite ushanka, a distinctly Russian hat made out of sheepskin. “You told me you had the weapons I required when I spoke to you last week.”

“Then, I did. It is true. But now they are sold.” He shrugged. “So sorry. We had no deal. Weapons were, as you say, ‘up for grabs.’”

“Son of a-” Jammer paced away from Igor, trying to control his anger, his agitated breath fogging the air. He needed those weapons to add to his shipment for Fuentes. Walking back, he said, “A deal was implied, Igor, and you know it.”

“Da, you make offer. I did not accept. Someone make better offer.”

“Who?”

“I do not let this information out of bag. Protecting clients best business. You wish this so, da?”

“Yes,” Jammer hissed.

“I have more in two weeks. Will this do?”

“No, it won’t. I need these weapons yesterday.”

Igor shrugged without sympathy. “Market is tight. You will need the good luck to get the amount of weapons you want. Igor cannot help.”

“That’s just great.”

This was a serious setback to his very short deadline. If he didn’t deliver as he’d promised, everything he’d worked for would collapse.

Three years of sacrifice would be for nothing.

And that was not acceptable.

1

JAMMER SLAMMED THE DOOR of his hotel room in Minsk, still simmering about the lost opportunity to amass the weapons that Fuentes needed for his deal with the Libertad. He smelled her exotic scent and started to turn-a little too late. Someone struck him, knocking his feet out from under him. He hit the carpet hard, the air whooshing out of his lungs. That same someone put a knee into his lower back to keep him immobile.

“Hi, honey, I’m home.”

It seemed a lifetime ago since he’d heard that soft, sexy voice. Another kind of simmering overtook him.

“Gina,” he said.

“Don’t Gina me, pal.”

He didn’t figure Gina for the woman-scorned type, but he could hear the anger in her voice. He had to wonder if he’d gotten to her as much as she’d gotten to him.

“You recovered. Your knee feels like a dagger in my back.”

“Just be glad it isn’t a real dagger. It would be a shame to mar such an amazing specimen of muscle and bone. You do have an amazing back…and…front, Jammer. Everything is quite spectacular, in fact.”

His body pulsed, remembering how ravenous they’d been for each other. He felt her relax a little. It was the opening he needed, and he took it. Using his superior strength, he pinned her to the soft carpet.

Grabbing her wrists as he rolled, he straddled her thighs, using the weight of his body to hold her down.

She didn’t fight him or look remotely alarmed. If anything, she looked…excited.

She also looked damn good and a balm to his eyes. She was all black and white, from the cap of mussed black hair with the white streak, to the black-and-white halter top and black mini, to the white stockings and short black stiletto-heeled boots she wore on her feet.

With that combo he thought she should be gracing a stage with her rocker-chick attitude and beautiful, sapphire-blue eyes that showed the world how tough she could be.

He levered his body over hers, tracing his hands down her arms to her delicate wrists. She arched up into him, causing him to swallow a groan of satisfaction as the rigid length of him came into contact with the softest part of her. He managed to find the strength to resist the urge-a primal directive-to drill his hips into hers.

Instead he brought his mouth within a whisper of her lips. “This is a backstabbing business we’re in, Gina, but since I don’t see a knife in your hand, you must be here for a different reason.”

“I am here for something, Jammer. I have an offer for you.” Her lips parted, and she moved sinuously beneath him, torturing them both.

His response was automatic and out of control. Less than ten minutes in her presence and his focus was already shot. He had no business engaging in this activity with Gina. And he didn’t give a flat damn. It seemed as if the short number of weeks they’d been apart had been years. He’d waited a long time for a woman like her. Maybe a lifetime.

Too bad it was just too late. For both of them.

His distraction cost him. She bucked her hips and used the momentum to dislodge him and flip him onto his back. This time she weaved her fingers through his, trapping his hands to the carpet.

Their gazes locked. Fused, almost. He half expected the windows to fog up, given how much heat they were generating.

“Is that so?” he said.

She pressed down against his groin, then rubbed along the hardness with abandon. He moaned softly, his eyes closing.

“What do you have to offer me?”

“What? No preliminaries first? No, ‘How have you been?’ and ‘Gee, it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other’?”

“I’d offer you a seat and some fine wine, but I’m a bit indisposed right now.”

“I’d forgotten what a charming bastard you are.” She smiled then, her eyes twinkling with the mischief he knew all too well. But he had enough brain cells still firing to realize that forgiveness with Gina came at a price. The other reason he liked being close to her was that she kept him on his toes. Even when she was keeping him on his back. An added bonus.

“Now you’ve hurt my feelings,” he said. “I’d hoped you hadn’t forgotten a single thing about me.” They slipped into their usual banter as if no time had passed. And their playful tete-a-tete was nothing new. Play, however, was something they had more than a little experience in. And playing with Gina was as intoxicating as it was dangerous.

“You, on the other hand, are a hard woman to forget,” he said. There was a slight roughness to his tone, one he knew damn well she would pick up on. Just as he knew she’d use every bit of leverage she had with him.