Page 87 of Fire and Ice

"It's none of your business. Look, do you still want to go to Addison together? Because I've about had it with this petulant rock star persona," Maia retorted.

Lee's lips thinned in anger. "I just want to know why you won't sleep with me when you know how good it was between us?"

"Because," Maia huffed in exasperation. "I don't want a repeat of Bali! Now if sex with me is all you're here for, you can turn around and leave."

Lee's expression looked stricken. "I do want to spend tonight with you."

"As a friend."

"I can't promise not to kiss you or paw at you," Lee said, devilish charm taking over the lovesick facade of a few moments before.

"That's expected," Maia said as she checked her face in the mirror. Her lips were so swollen from Lee's kisses they didn't require any lipstick.

"You might want to ... er ... put on some panties."

Maia winced, hoping the bugs were turned off.

***

"It did sound like she kicked him off and I hear nothing in the audio that tells me she encouraged him," Derek said as he eyed Jack stalking back and forth in his hotel room like a caged beast.

"I could throttle her for wearing that dress," Jack growled. "What was she thinking?"

Jack had decided to hang out at his hotel room and work from there while Maia got ready for Addison Music Hall. Derek arrived at Jack's room just as his friend went tearing down the hallway cursing about some fucker making moves on his woman.

So Jack didn't hear the groans and moans after Lee had tackled Maia on the bed and God knows what else, but judging from the lip smacking, cloth rending, and zipper ripping it was close—really close—to a consummated encounter. Good thing Maia had knocked Lee off the bed. How Derek would have loved to have seen that footage.

Jack came back from Maia's room relatively calm but worked himself up to a rabid state again after hearing the full recordingof what had transpired in Maia's room.

"I'll kill him," Jack vowed, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I'll beat him to a pulp, I'll strangle him until his vocal chords give out. He's never going to sing again."

"No you won't," Derek said dryly. "We have to remember that Maia is putting herself out there to get Richard Grayson back. Her being the obsession of the number one draw of Addison Music Hall should get Reznikov worried. And if Colt is running that show, we got him."

Jack grabbed a lamp and hurled it against the wall. Derek winced, but didn't say anything. He did not however fail to make a mental note thatlampshadewould be a line item at checkout.

"You're right," Jack sighed, looking down at his feet, one hand behind his neck and the other on his hips in a resigned stance of masculine reflection. He laughed humorlessly. "Can't believe I'm behaving this way. What happened to all the self-control and focus that I learned as a Navy SEAL."

Jack heaved a sigh and this time looked at Derek steadily. "I'm going to Addison Music Hall. Can you handle surveillance with Scott?"

"Do you promise to hold back your Mr. Possessive at all cost?"

"Yes. I told Maia, I would deal."

"We do have a lot of Guardians crawling that place on the lookout for Colt."

"Is the protocol still tranq to neutralize?"

"Yes, we want him alive. Getting Richard Grayson back is a top priority."

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It was 7:30 pm and Maia was getting restless. There was no sign of Colt anywhere. She and Lee were hanging out in one of the secluded booths listening to the different bands playing. Live music was played from 7pm till midnight and then a DJ took over transforming the hall into a dance club between midnight to 4am. Since it was Saturday, Addison got packed pretty quickly with conference attendees starting the party early.

Since Lee couldn't drink too much alcohol before his set, he kept Maia busy with his lips. His roving hands were kept in check, but to keep up the pretense that he was crazy about her, she had to make it look like they were all over each other. She was thankful for the interruptions made by fans asking for autographs—more than a couple of them giving Maia the stink-eye for monopolizing Lee Isaac's attention.

At around 8:30 pm, the crowd got crushing and Maia noticed more than a few customers acting remarkably uninhibited, and not due to alcohol. Some were pressed against the wall, kissing and rubbing each other to orgasm. It was turning really bizarre, almost like a sex exhibitionist club.

"Hey," Maia nudged Lee who was at the moment nuzzling her neck with little kisses.

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