Fire and Ice (an extended epilogue) (3 page)

“
Had enough yet?” Tim ribbed
him.

“
Is she always this kickass?” Jack
asked, grinning crookedly.

“
Always, man.”

It had been tense at the
datacenter. There were several signs pointing to a mission abort.
The backup plan was to follow the men to where they would take
their shipment and plan another stake-out if the contents couldn’t
be identified. Everyone had held their breath and Tim had muttered
“
Here we go again
” when Maia had walked up to the four armed men. Jack felt
all the blood drain from his face, and he wanted to grab the
transceiver from Tim to yell at Manning to stop Maia.
What if those men got startled and just shot
her?
He had controlled himself of course,
after all everyone seemed to have been quietly waiting for Maia’s
play. He clenched his jaw when he heard Kappel declare how he was
going to fuck Maia in a shipping container. Even if he knew Manning
and the rest of the team would prevent anything from getting that
far, Jack still felt all sorts of crazy. He was completely
unprepared to be on the sidelines. How could Viktor take it? Jack
knew damn well how the other man cared for Maia just as deeply as
he did.

“
Now you know why we call her a
rule breaker,” Viktor told Jack after finalizing operational
details with Manning.

“
I don’t know Viktor, I think it’s
her uncanny way of adapting to a situation,” Tim
corrected.

Viktor snorted.

“
You all need to rein her in,”
Jack pointed out. “This could have ended very badly and you know
it.”

“
Agreed, but there is no reining
in Maia,” Viktor replied.

Jack stiffened; The double-meaning was not
lost on him. Viktor was giving him some advice.

“
This is not the military, Jack.
We operate off the grid, we break laws but we get results,” Viktor
continued. “We do have certain protocols we adhere to. But since
the government would disavow our existence if we were to get into
trouble anyway, we’re really not restricted by any
rules.”

“
They’re on their way back to HQ,”
Tim broke in. “Viktor, are you doing the interrogation on
Kappel?”

“
Yes, we need the names of the
people running the firearms ring in Germany. The FBI and Interpol
are on standby pending results of our investigation.”

“
Is this mission going
international?” Jack asked.

Viktor nodded. Looking at Jack, he said, “I’ll
have Tim set you up with secure access to our database. I’ll have
to cut out to prepare for the interrogation. You best be on your
way. I don’t think Maia would appreciate your presence at our
datacenter right now.”

Unable to speak through the knot in his
throat, Jack jerked his chin to acknowledge what the other man said
and rose to leave. Instead of welcoming Maia back from a successful
mission, he had to make himself scarce. How screwed up was that?
Sensing that he was being watched, Jack turned and saw a Guardian
staring at him with undisguised contempt. What the hell? Who was
that guy?

CHAPTER
THREE

Late afternoon, the next day

Oh this was going to hurt,
Maia thought belatedly as she saw the grappling
mat rushing up to meet her. Braden had just thrown her over his
shoulder after neutralizing her offensive. The air was knocked out
of her lungs as she landed hard on her back. Maia squeezed her eyes
shut in frustration. She felt Braden immediately straddle her, his
sweat trickling onto her.

“
And that’s how you neutralize a
threat,” Braden said smugly. “Are you OK, Maia? I didn’t dump you
too hard, did I?” His voice lowered huskily in concern.

As if she was admitting to such a
thing.
She felt his hot breath near her
mouth, and she blinked her eyes open. “Of course not,” she fibbed.
“Show me the move again.”

“
I think you’ve had enough, lady,”
Braden said.

“
Hey, whose the instructor here?”
Maia retorted.

“
I seem to recall being asked to
teach a certain redhead some Krav Maga moves. So I guess, I’m the
instructor right now.”

“
Seriously—show me that take down
again.”

“
Ah...I don’t think so. But I’ll
show you one I think you will need to master to handle a big guy,”
Braden said as he knifed off her and gave her a hand up.

“
You make effective use of your
legs, but when it’s someone three times your size, that could be a
problem,” Braden told her. “You need to modify your
move.”

“
Oh, I know, the one where I
straddle the assailant’s neck and pitch forward,” Maia
replied.

“
Yep. You’re used to side take
downs with your legs. That’s excellent. But a behemoth might
present more of a challenge,” Braden said. “With the side take
down, he can simply grab you and slam you over his thigh, and
you’ll end up in serious shit or a broken back. You could use me
for practice and maybe Manning might be up for guinea pig
duty.”

Maia laughed. “I’m game.”

Braden looked at her intently and for a
moment. Maia was confused by the expression in his eyes, but he
quickly glanced away and smiled briefly. “OK—you ready?”

He glanced back at her. Maia
nodded.

“
You need to use my arm for
leverage and use my thigh to give you a leg up. Quickly jump behind
my shoulder, squeeze tightly, and then pitch side ways. Make sure
you land on your side and not under me. That would defeat the
purpose. Do not pause too long in between moves because you need
your momentum to take me down—you got me?”

Maia nodded eagerly. Braden gave her the
signal to attack. She drew his arm and locked it under his armpit
and floated up, barely touching his thigh with her feet before
straddling his neck with her thighs. Still locking his arm under
him, she jerked sideways to take him down.

“
Flawless!” Braden said when they
landed. His voice sounded strangled.

“
You were taking it easy on me,”
Maia replied dryly as she released him. Before she could untangle
herself, she found herself flat on her back, her wrists gripped
firmly on either side of her. Braden had wedged his hips between
her thighs.

“
I wasn’t,” Braden whispered. He
leaned in closer. Maia raised an eyebrow, scissoring her legs
around Braden’s torso, she watched his eyes bug out as he gasped
for air. She freed her wrists and positioned a couple of fingers on
his throat.

“
You’ve gotten me in a position
I’ve mastered in escaping,” Maia said, laughing when she released
her death grip on Braden’s middle. “Haven’t you watched James
Bond?’

She rested a palm on his chest and pushed him
away, untangled her legs, and rolled up.

“
I’m starving, wanna go eat?” Maia
asked.

Braden rested on one knee, mildly surprised by
her question.

“
No plans with your fiancé? It’s
Saturday.”

Maia scrunched her nose. “We’re giving each
other space. That’s in no way insider information. Jack and I are
not broken up.”

Braden chuckled. “I understand.”

“
Let’s see if Manning and Edmunds
wanna go with us,” Maia said as she picked up a towel to wipe off
her sweat as she walked out of the sparring room.

*****

“
You’re
getting too painful to watch,” Viktor said behind him. Jack decided
to occupy his time with the AGS CCTV when Viktor had left briefly
to address a situation. Jack knew Maia was in the sparring room and
clicked around to find it. At first he felt guilty about spying on
her and was ready to turn away from the screen when he saw him—the
Guardian who was staring at him yesterday with such hostility. And
right now, watching the whole sparring exercise, Jack understood
why—the man wanted Maia and wanted her badly. And that dick move
where he positioned himself between her legs—Jack felt his hackles
rise.

“
Who’s that guy?” Jack asked
tersely.

Viktor raised a brow. “Connelly? He’s a new
recruit.”

“
I don’t want him around
Maia.”

“
Back up a little McCord. You
don’t run this ship,” Viktor said.

Jack sighed. No he didn’t. This rift between
him and Maia was unsettling, and he was slowly losing his patience.
He had taken the afternoon off from MDI to familiarize himself with
AGS operations. He was more of a silent partner, but Viktor seemed
interested in his business and tactical insights regarding the
company. But the man made it clear—he still had autonomy on making
final decisions and nothing was by committee or by vote. Viktor was
a damned dictator.

“
I understand. But are you
ignoring how Connelly is around Maia?” Jack challenged. “It takes
one second to see him in a room with her to know exactly where his
thoughts are.”

“
Maia can handle herself,” Viktor
assured him. The blond man leveled his gaze at him. “Jack. Advice?
Maia is a rare find. A ring on her finger will not deter men from
lusting after her. And it’s not only for her looks. Her fighting
skills could give a man a hard on—”

“
Jesus, Viktor.” Jack
scowled.

“
I’m not speaking about myself,
asshole,” Viktor replied without changing his tone. “I’ve been
around this company long enough to know half my agents are in love
with her. That’s a fact. Deal with it.”

Jack remained silent. He seemed to be
clenching his jaw a lot these days.

“
She’s had men richer and more
powerful than you falling at her feet,” Viktor shared. “And yet she
chose you.”

“
That’s generous of you to say,”
Jack muttered.

Viktor gave a bark of laughter. “Truthfully, I
didn’t care for any of those pansies except Callahan. I admire the
guy and I think he would have been good for Maia.”

Jack felt his temper flaring.
Viktor grinned at him.
Asshole
.

“
But she took the chance with
you,” Viktor continued. “Not to feed your ego, but I was relieved.
Fucking can’t stand a man who will need his wife to protect him
when shit hits the fan.”

Jack laughed. Maybe he and Viktor would get
along after all.

CHAPTER FOUR

Jack had been watching old movie reruns all
evening when he heard his intercom beep. It was almost midnight.
Was it Maia? She had a keycard, but maybe she didn’t feel right
just coming up. Silly woman. Jack leaped over the couch, taking the
shortest route to the kitchen. He pressed the call
button.

“
Yeah.”

“
Jack?” It was Derek. Jack tried
to shake off his disappointment, but was baffled why his friend was
here. It was a Saturday night—well Sunday morning—Derek should be
at a hotel or his condo by now, fucking the last woman he’d picked
up.

“
Come on up.”

Derek appeared a few minutes later. He was
still in his suit minus the jacket, his tie loosened haphazardly
and he looked like shit. What happened?

“
Are you all right, man?” Jack
asked.

Derek blew out a breath and collapsed on the
couch.

“
I’ve had it,” he
declared.

“
Had it with what?”

“
Meaningless sex.”

Jack carefully lowered himself beside his
friend, unsure if he heard him right. Derek didn’t seem drunk. But
tired of meaningless sex? Derek thrived on meaningless
sex.

“
What happened?”

“
Took home brunette twins
tonight,” Derek said. “They were all tits and ass. I was the envy
of every man at Rooster bar. Checked into a hotel on M street.
Jack, I had the enthusiasm of a man about to be executed. What the
fuck is wrong with me? I’ve got one woman rubbing her tits all over
my back, another one on her knees about to give me a blow job, and
I feel nothing.”

“
You couldn’t get it
up?”

Derek snorted. “I have no problem there. But
my mind was disconnected with my dick. There was this void. The
last time I had sex, I came, but it was the weirdest feeling. As if
I was a disinterested bystander watching myself having
sex.”

“
Maybe you need to abstain for a
while.”

“
You could be right,” Derek
agreed. “But it scares the shit out of me. What if I couldn’t enjoy
sex ever again. I love sex. This is a disaster.”

“
You need to find someone you care
about,” Jack continued. “Trust me, Derek. Sex with strangers may
scratch an itch. But sex with someone you love? Mind
blowing.”

“
So you keep telling me,” Derek
replied dryly. “By the way, are you going to straighten things out
with Maia?”

Jack sighed. “I’m hoping she’ll miss me enough
to come back on her own.”