Page 54 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

"I should follow behind," she told him.

Ian watched the frown that pulled at her brow as she began to consider the drawbacks to the meeting.

He continued, "We're meeting on the southeast coast of the island. The terrain is flatter and easier to do a flyover. We'll come in on the ground after Trevor takes the copter over it. We'll be in two vehicles. You and I will be with Deke, and Mendez and Cristo will be in the other vehicle. Missern will be meeting with us in the limo rather than in the open. I'll see what he has and then we'll leave."

"Why not teleconference? It would be safer."

"But harder for me to detect facial and body language," he told her. "Missern knows I'm pissed and he's trying to smooth things over before I retaliate against him. Let's see how determined he is to stay alive."

He watched her closely, gauging her reaction to the mention of his retaliation against the arms buyers. There was none; she nodded slowly as though considering the options.

"When we leave there, I'll be meeting with the men that transport Fuentes drugs from the Colombian ports to American waters. You'll stay with Trevor and Cristo while I talk to them. You won't be a part of that meeting."

Her head snapped up as her eyes glittered in protest.

"Wouldn't you consider that a mistake?" She questioned him with an undertone of the commanding force he knew she was capable of.

"No, I consider you being at that meeting very ill-advised. As my lover, your influential position in American society as well as your recognizable name would be a hazard."

Her lips tightened.

"Why didn't you come in disguise?" he asked her. "Why risk yourself like this?"

"You're not in disguise," she finally answered, her voice low. "We do this together, as who and what we are, Ian. And I don't ever want to hear another name from your lips while you're taking me. No matter the circumstances."

Damn her. He hadn't expected that, and he hadn't expected the sharp tug of response that pulled at his chest either.

"Not using a disguise was stupid." Anger built inside him. Dammit, he hadn't had a problem with control, with the things he had to do, until her. Now, the anger was rising inside him, making him a danger to her if he didn't find a way to contain and control it. "Do you have any idea the risk to yourself and your reputation?"

"Temporary." She waved it away. "When it's over both our reputations will recover."

Irritation flashed through him, emotion wore at his control. She was too confident, too certain of her abilities. It terrified him.

It made him hard.

He stared at her for long moments, trying to understand the effect she had on him, the strength he saw in her. What could have produced a woman so incredibly feminine and yet so strong? In all the years he had come into contact with her she had been protecting rather than protected, and despite her uncle's insistence on a bodyguard, she was fully capable of defending herself.

She made him crazy, and he was smart enough to know that part of the craziness was based on the fact that he was at heart as chauvinistic as they came. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to shield her. And she was having nothing to do with it. It was playing hell on his control and drawing him close enough to her that he could feel the risk to his own soul.

If something happened to her— He cut the thought, pushed it away and turned quickly from her.

"Let's go. Diego is waiting downstairs for us and then we have to head for that meeting."

No emotion, he reminded himself. If he kept his emotions buried then he could watch her enter the life he was forced to live and hopefully survive it.

Hell. Who the fuck was he kidding? She was shredding his control to the point that the night before he had allowed himself to be drawn into a confrontation with Diego and now he was bending Kira over a damned chair and taking her like an out-of-control bastard.

Hell, he hadn't even kissed her first.

As he escorted her from the room, something had him allowing her to move abreast of him, his hand lying naturally at the small of her back. Just to touch her. Guilt was eating him alive, curling in his gut and burning in his chest.

The memory of her bent over that chair, taking him, taking the mix of arousal, jealous anger, and furious concern she caused in him, had his teeth clenching again. He was going to end up wearing his molars down within days because gritting his teeth was the only option at this point.

He couldn't have her kidnapped and held for her own safety. He'd already broached that option with his boss at DHS during his latest secured contact. She was there to stay, he had been informed. Whether or not he put her covert talents to work was up to him, but he couldn't have her taken out of the game, and he couldn't force her out of it.

She was determined to be a part of this and he still couldn't figure out why. Unless she was working with Durango team.

They moved down the steps and headed through the foyer to the breakfast room. He was taking his lover to meet the monster he called his father and he was supposed to do it with a measure of control. He wasn't supposed to be gritting his teeth in arousal and irritation and fighting a hard-on he shouldn't have because his lover was the most self-assured, psychologically strong woman he had ever known in his entire misbegotten life.

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