Page 81 of Killer Secrets (Tempting SEALs 5)

She could see it in his eyes. He knew they had something, knew they wouldn't be so insistent unless it were of vital importance. They would have merely watched and waited, backed him however they could.

"I didn't want them involved in this," he said then. "I didn't want you in it."

"They're you're friends. Did you really think you could convince them you had gone rogue? They aren't stupid, Ian."

"I wouldn't be the first that's stepped out for a life of crime." He grimaced in disgust. "Happens often."

"Not to you. You don't threaten, you defend. They know that. If you wanted to convince them you were all bad and evil then maybe you should have started before the Atlanta operation."

He grunted at that before he pulled his cell phone from the clip at his waist and hit the programmed button to Antoli's cell.

Ian didn't like admitting she was right, she knew that. And he sure as hell didn't like letting Durango team in on his operation. Not because he was its leader, but because Ian felt the risk was his alone, and no one else's.

"Delay the grab," Ian ordered into the phone, his gaze locked with hers, a brooding frown pulling at his brows. "I'll contact you at dawn with further orders."

Seconds later he disconnected the call and shook his head wearily.

"We'll slip over to the villa in two hours," he told her. "Dress to blend in with the night and I'll let Deke know that we'll be out."

She started to nod. Ian's hand cupped around her neck, as the opposite arm hooked around her waist and dragged her against his body. His lips came down on her with a hunger that seared her. His tongue drove between her lips, tasted her, then a hungry growl rumbled in his throat as he began to gorge himself on the kiss.

All thoughts of meeting with Durango team or even breathing became overwhelmed by the sheer, fiery pleasure of his touch.

It was always like this. He could steal her mind with a single hungry look and sear her senses with the lightest touch. He was her addiction, and she prayed to God she never had to go without a fix.

"When this is over." He drew back just enough to speak, then took another, short hungry kiss. "When it's over, we'll discuss your habit of poking your nose into my business."

"Okay," she agreed readily, as her arms tightened around his neck to bring his lips back to hers.

Another sharp, stinging kiss and he pulled away, staring down at her, his gaze burning into hers, hungry and intense. And angry. She could see the emotions roiling inside him, tearing at him. She could feel them. They whipped in the air around her, burned through her soul.

"What else is going on, Ian?" she asked, lifting her hand to touch his roughened cheek. "What happened with Diego in the study?"

He moved farther away from her, his gaze breaking away as he stared out into the distance, his expression becoming hard, set.

"Nothing happened," he growled. "We head out in two hours. Make certain you're ready or I'll leave you here with Deke."

"No." She caught his arm as he turned to go. "Don't close up on me like this, Ian. Tell me what's going on."

His bicep flexed beneath her hold, tightening dangerously as he stared down at her.

"Nothing that applies to this mission," he informed her, his rough voice bleak, the almost ruined quality of it grating. "Nothing that applies to anything but regret, Kira. And that's something I can't deal with right now. We'll deal with that one when it's over."

He pulled from her grasp and moved back to the bedroom as Kira followed him, her heart aching, her need to alleviate his pain, or at least a part of it, thickening her throat.

"We have two hours," she told him, moving to his back, her hands flattening against it before smoothing around his waist.

She laid her head on his back, feeling the tension growing inside him. "We could spare a few minutes."

"Do you think a few minutes are all I need with you?" He

caught her hands as they trailed to the band of his slacks. "Never enough, Kira."

"Then a few dozen minutes." She grinned up at him as he turned, the low lamp on the nightstand shadowing his dark, savagely honed features.

"You don't want this from me right now." His hands gripped her arms, his hold tight as the anger came to the surface and burned in his eyes. "Stand back, Kira."

"Why?" She would be damned if she would stand back. "So you can maintain that cold, hard shield you place so much stock in. Tell me, Ian, doesn't it ever get lonely in there, all by yourself?"

---