Page 128 of Fire and Ice

Viktor snickered as Maia rolled her eyes and said, "Billionaire-playboy sounds so cheesy. Hmmm, I didn't know Jack had billions."

The article also went on to speculate about her relationship with Ezra Crows frontman Lee Isaac and showed a picture of them together at Addison Music Hall.

"Edmunds said you've been acing your firearms tests," Viktor said. "You're not yet in top physical form for hand-to-hand, though."

"That's never been my strong point," Maia reminded him. She had been driving to AGS HQ in DC to bring her skills back up to speed. Jack wasn't pleased at first, because he wanted her to take it easy until the New Year, but Maia knew that would not be possible. She had to be in top fighting form ASAP.

She had to revert to her female wiles to convince him. "Jack, baby, with the sexual demands you put on me I think that point is moot."

Jack had an insatiable sexual appetite for her, which in turn fed hers. She had never considered herself an overly sexual individual until she met him. It was like he had unlocked a previously untapped reservoir of sensuality within her. Now there was an ache in her that craved his touch constantly. Maia wondered if that would diminish in time,but so far there were no signs that it would.

"Just keep up with the training," Viktor told her. "I have a feeling you'll need it. And don't forget your inoculations at our medical bay."

"For what? I'm going to Russia," Maia said. "I've been vaccinated enough times for that region."

"I heard the flu over there is vicious this winter," Viktor replied. "Best to be prepared. You don't want to end up a liability."

Jack looked at the time. It was 8:30 pm on December 23rdand there was no sign of Maia anywhere. He checked his cell phone for missed calls or text messages. Nothing. He exhaled deeply. He couldn't complain. He had dragged her to more holiday parties than he had ever been to in his life. He wanted to show her off. His beautiful Maia.

Jack opened the drawer to his bedside table and took out a black onyx box and raised the cover. Nestled in velvet was a five-carat diamond solitaire ring. He didn't know what had possessed him to walk into an exclusive jewelry boutique the other day when he was in New York City for a brief business trip. He told himself he was only going to buy Maia a necklace for Christmas. He ended up buying a necklace, matching earrings and an engagement ring.

Not that he was going to ask her to marry him any time soon, he told himself. He just wanted to be ready when the time was right. He heard the elevator ding and quickly hid the ring back in the depths of the drawer.

"Hey, babe, how was your day?" Jack met her at the foyer and gave her a big kiss on the lips.

"It was great. I kicked some ass," Maia said, her eyes sparkling. Her hair was plastered to her forehead like she had just finished an exhausting workout.

"Have you eaten? Wanna go out?"

"So exhausted Jack. Can we just stay in?"

"Sure, babe. Let's see... I can probably pick up some Indian food while you hit the shower."

"Perfect." Maia pulled off her sweatshirt and Jack felt his head explode when he saw the black and blue marks on her back and upper arms.

"Whatthe fuck?" Jack roared.

"What? What?" Maia exclaimed, startled by his vehement outburst.

"Your back and arms, Maia, they're black and blue!" He stormed over to her, sat her on the table and yanked down her sweat pants.

"You know if you're feeling frisky, all you had to do was ask," Maia teased saucily.

"I'm not finding this amusing, babe," Jack snapped and hissed when there was an even bigger bruise on her upper thigh. He glared at her, daring her to offer an explanation.

She stared down at herself and blanched. "Jeez, I didn't realize it was going to look this bad. Edmunds and I had some serious sparring this morning and this afternoon. Viktor said I was failing in hand-to-hand so we had to work overtime on that."

Jack looked down at his feet trying to control the combined feeling of impotence and rage he seemed to experience every time something like this happened to Maia. He couldn't forbid her from doing these things because he would lose her, but he couldn't simply stand by either and say nothing when she got hurt. What a fucking messed-up situation.

"Babe, you know what Doctor Anderson said about getting another concussion," he said, slowing down his breathing and then looking at her straight in the eye. "Is this going to happen again?"

Maia shook her head. "We're done with the advance-sparring. It looks worse than it feels. I just bruise easily."

"I really wonder what you're training so hard for," Jack asked quietly. His jaw clenched when Maia averted her eyes. He felt fucking helpless.

"It's standard operating procedure when an agent is coming off an injury," Maia said. "Can we not fight about this? I'm off until the end of the year and I'd really love a rub down from you tonight."

Jack's eyes softened. She had him wrapped around her little finger. A sweet request like that and he melted. This didn't bode well for his future.

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