Page 59 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

She watched his expression from the shield of her lashes. God, she was loving this. Loving sparring with him, confronting him, pushing him.

He stared back at her in bemused irritation. "How the hell do you figure that?"

She sighed, swallowed, then pointed her fork at him. "I felt it. You tensed, your eyes dilated, then you slowly relaxed. You knew. Deke just caught you off guard when he opened the door."

He dropped his head back, stared up at the ceiling as though he were praying, and breathed out roughly. "You're going to drive me crazy."

"Of course not." She gave him a rather delicate snort. "But I might be able to teach you to have a little bit of fun. Did I mention you had grown rather prickly over the last eight months? You used to know how to have fun, Ian."

He used to know what fun was, anyway.

"I used to know better than to involve myself in operations with you," he bit out. "You're dangerous, you're reckless, and I swear to God I've never met a woman that needed tying down for her own safety more than you do."

She widened her eyes. "Wow. Been holding that in for a while, Ian?"

She had to suppress a smile. He wasn't angry, at least not at her. She was affecting him, and she knew that affecting Ian wasn't an easy thing to do. She hadn't expected him to handle it nearly this well. He hadn't tied her to his bed while he went about his business; she considered that a major step in the right direction.

"Tonight, you're spanked," he informed her darkly. "Spanked until you scream for more, Kira."

"That's punishment?" she asked with a grin as a shiver of anticipation raced up her spine. She could handle that.

"No." He shook his head slowly. "That's my reward for not strangling you."

JOSEF MISSERN WAS AT HIS most charming. He stepped into the limo, taking the rear-facing seat and staring across the short distance at Ian and Kira. A sly smile curled the Frenchman's lips and lit his light blue eyes.

"Ah, how nice to see you again, Ms. Porter," he greeted her. "As lovely as a sunrise and as deceptive as the oceans." He chuckled. "You are a fitting mate to one such as he." He nodded to Ian with a sharp movement of his white-blond head.

"Let's get down to business, Missern." Ian's voice hardened at the obvious flirtation in the other man's voice. If Ian hadn't wanted to kill him before, he wanted to kill him now. "Would you like to tell me the connection you have to Sorrell?"

The slightest dilation in Josef's eyes assured Ian he wasn't off the mark.

"We are here to discuss weapons, my friend." Josef smiled easily once again. "I am willing to make you a onetime deal at a w

holesale price in apology for the assassin that showed up at our meeting, as well as the strike Martin would have taken at our fair Miss Porter. His games are sometimes not always understood by those who do not know him."

"And the assassin? Was he a game as well?" Ian asked coldly.

"He was an unknown variable." Josef sighed as though in regret. "We did not know he was there."

"Let's cut the shit, Missern," Ian snapped. "You knew, because you told Sorrell about the meeting. Just as Martin's attempt to strike Kira was a move designed to draw our relationship out into the open."

Josef's sensual lips pursed in amusement. "The information came to us by an anonymous source that told of your connection in Atlanta, and here as well. It seems you have other eyes watching you, my friend."

"And you report your tips concerning me to your good friend Sorrell," Ian suggested. "It's a very dangerous way to live, Josef."

"I did not relay this tip, Ian." Josef shook his head firmly. "Rather, I received it from a source that paid a hefty amount to have the connection proven." He spread his palms upward. "It was a business transaction. Yes?"

"Or your death warrant." Ian dropped his voice to a guttural suggestion, aware of Kira's subtle tension beside him and Missern's flash of fear before he covered it.

"We are men of business, Ian." Josef shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "This is what I have enjoyed in our dealings together. You understand the value of the dollar over the stains of blood. I am here to make amends for these things. I do not wish to war with the Fuentes cartel."

Ian tilted his head and stared back at Josef mockingly before he turned and stared out the window of the car instead. There, Trevor was landing the specially modified helicopter just as planned.

"Ian?" Josef questioned him curiously. "Is there a problem?"

"Order your men down, Josef," he ordered as the Missern bodyguards turned their weapons on the helicopter. "You're in no danger. You have my word on it."

Josef watched him closely but pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jacket and hit the keypad.

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