Shadows and Silk (5 page)

“Nice to meet you, Darcy
MacKenzie
,” he said, lifting her hand to his mouth in a gallant gesture. “I’m Max Devlin. I’ve
got an eighteen-foot sloop that rides the waves like she was part of the ocean. Maybe
you’d like to come out
with me
some time?”

“No—” the three other men in the room said simultaneously, making Darcy smile even
wider.

“Something tells me you say that to all the girls.”

“Just you
,
sweetheart,” he said, winking. “How
can
someone as beautiful as you be related to these assholes?”

“I’m pretty sure my mother had an affair with a Neanderthal. It’s not something we
like to talk about though
,” she whispered conspiratorially. “Shane’s very sensitive.”

She heard Brant snort out
a
laugh and
she
winked at
Max Devlin, taking back her hand as she made her way to the empty seat next to Brant.

“Jesus, you still have that smart mouth,” he said, shaking his head. “Nice to see
you haven’t changed.”

“Oh, more than you can possibly know,” she said, her eyes going cold as she met
the shuttered look of his gaze
.
He wasn’t giving anything away, and she’d be damned if she let him read anything
from her but the loathing she felt.

Tension coiled off her in waves, and she cursed herself for thinking seeing him again
after so long wouldn’t affect her. But here she was, hating him so much she could
have done violence and still so
turned on that her panties were
soaking wet.

He hadn’t changed, was all she could think. He still made her breath catch and her
heart stutter in her chest. It had been years since she’d seen him. His dark blond
hair was longer, but it
was still short, and he still seemed bigger than life—his chest broad and hard beneat
h the white t-shirt he wore—his riding leathers encasing
the hard muscles of his thighs.
The green
of
his eyes seemed electric
, and she remembered how they’d darkened as he’d slid inside of her.

“Long time no see, Brant.
What’s it been? Four years since I last saw you?” The smile she gave him was meant
to drive him crazy, and from the pressed line of his mouth, she could tell she was
doing an adequate job. “One would think you’ve been avoiding me after our little adventure
with the del Fuego cartel, but my brothers tell me you’ve been keeping busy. We’ll
have to catch up on old times now that we’re going to be working together.”

“Cut the man a break,
Darce
,” Shane said, rolling his eyes. “Why you couldn’t have been born mute is beyond me.
There’s a reason Brant gets the honor of carting your ass around the jungle—I’d probably
strangle you within five minutes of crossing the border.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes and turned to snap at the brother closest to her own age.
There were only two years between them, and they were more alike than either of them
wanted to admit. Their mother swore every gray hair on her head was because of dealing
with her two youngest children.

“You know,” Max broke in before a fight could start, “I wouldn’t mind taking her in
with my team.
I have a feeling she and Jade are going to hit it off
just fine
.”

Jade
Jax
was the lone female agent on Max’s team, and she was one of the best damn snipers
Brant had ever met. She was
deadly. And the thought of her
and Darcy teaming up was enough to make his balls shrivel in fear.

Shane clapped Max on the shoulder in sympathy
and sighed
. “
Darcy has you trapped in her evil spell. Everyone wants
to be with her in the beginning, my friend. And then she opens her mouth—”

“Enough, Shane,” Brant said before he could continue to insult Darcy.
“Leave her alone. She’s here to do a job like the rest of us.”

“Since when are you so quick to defend her?” he asked. “
You were the one telling boss man what a bad idea this is.
I happen to agree with you
. It’s got disaster written all over it.
”

Darcy met Declan’s cool stare and wondered what he was thinking. She could tell he
was doing his damnedest to analyze the scene before him as quickly as possible. Nothing
much got by Declan, and when his eyes narrowed and he looked between her and Brant,
she had a feeling he’d come to some sort of conclusion.

“My decision is final on the matter,” Declan said, standing and grabbing his leather
jacket from the back of his chair. “Darcy goes in with Brant. The other teams will
go in as planned, and we’ll stay
focused on them the
entire time.
Full disclosure between all teams.
I don’t want covert agency bullshit on this, or I’ll make all of your lives miserable.
And believe me, I can do it.
Darcy can fill Brant in on what she’s found so far.”

Declan focused his attention on Max and Shane. “I’ll leave it to the two of you to
update your
teams by 0800 tomorrow morning.
I want everyone in place near Darcy’s best estimate for the labs within forty-eight
hours.”

Darcy knew she wasn’t going to like whatever orders her brother was about to give
her. She could tell by that devilish gleam in his eyes that she’d seen so often in
her childhood. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, warning him
of retribution if she didn’t like what he had to say.

“Brant, you and Darcy will act as tourists,” Dec said. “Newlyweds on their honeymoon
who are interested in the ruins.
That’ll give you a good cover.
I’m sure the two of you can manage to make it look believable.”

Darcy’s
mouth dropped open, and before she could utter a protest she heard Brant mutter something
that sounded like, “I’m going to kill you.”

D
eclan’s smile was sharp, so the ragged scar along his left jaw turned white.
“All we need you to do is find and decipher the codes they’re using so it will lead
us to the labs. The teams will be there to back you up if you need us, but you’re
going to be on your own for most of the mission. We’ve got to stop that drug from
being manufactured. I’m sure you can put aside your differences for the greater good.
”

She saw Brant’s mouth clamp shut out of the corner of her eye, and he nodded once
at Declan.

“Are you getting any closer with the hieroglyphs?” Dec asked
her
.

Nerves slid
through her belly
at the thought of how much they were depending on her
.
She’d done all she could with what she had, but she knew she wouldn’t find the location
from the bits and pieces of information she was being sent.

“I’ve narrowed it down to region,” she said. “But it’s a
t least a
hundred mile radius.”

“Keep working on it,” Declan told her. “And bring Brant up to speed. I need you
to narrow it down to a fifty-mile radius
within twenty-four hours. That’ll still give us enough time to get the teams in
position
.”

Darcy nodded
and watched as her brothers and Agent Devlin gathered their things.

“I guess we’re done here for the night,” Shane said, rolling his eyes.
“I barely got to finish my beer.”

“Look on the bright side,” Max said. “You’ve got the rest of a Saturday night to yourself
and a phone number in your pocket.”

“There is that,” Shane said as he closed the door behind them, leaving her alone with
Brant for the first time in four years.

“I don’t suppose I can talk you into changing your mind, can I?” he asked, breaking
the tense silence.

“No,” she answered. Her throat was suddenly dry, but she had no interest in the beer
that sat in front of her on the table
.

He shifted his body subtly, so only inches separated them, and she could feel the
heat pouring from
him
and enveloping her in its hold. The strength of him hadn’t diminished over the last
few years. If
anything he was bigger, broader
, but
the desire in his eyes was
somehow hotter
.

“Go home, Darcy.
For your own sake.
You know I won’t be able to keep my hands off you, and then we’ll be back exactly
where we were four years ago. I can’t do that again.”

“What,
y
ou mean fuck me and
walk away without looking back? I think I’ll pass this time around. I’ve already
seen the ending of that story.”

He moved even closer, forcing her to strain her neck up to keep eye contact. “It was
more than fucking and you know it. And I told you I had to leave. It shouldn’t have
been a surprise.
You knew exactly what we were doing before I ever tasted that sweet pussy of yours.
”

Her breath caught at the memory his words evoked, and a bitter laugh escaped before
she could control it.
“I guess you
’
r
e
right
. I shouldn’t have been surprised that you ran as far and fast as you could. You’ve
been nothing but honest with me since the first time
you
realized I’d grown breasts
. I don’t know what I was thinking.” The sarcasm dripped from her tongue and she finally
gave in and put some distance between them. Standing so close was muddling her brain.

“And
you don’t have to pretty it up,” she said sweetly.
“Fucking was exactly what we had between us. Nothing more. I’ve gotten over it, and
I’ve mostly forgiven you for being an asshole and not even bothering to say goodbye.
It makes things easier, I think. And it’s not like you’ve been avoiding me on purpose
these last few years.
”
 

“You’re pissing me off, Darcy.”

“Then I apologize. I certainly don’t want to start this assignment out on the wrong
foot. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

“Which leads me back to my original question,” he said, patience obviously waning.
“How the hell am I going to keep my hands off you? I’ve thought of that night between
us every damned day since I walked away. And I’ve regretted it more than you can ever
know.”

“Don’t lie to yourself, Brant. You regret that things aren’t what they once were—that
the game was played out between
us and the sexy banter
and flashes of heat
are
n’t at your fingertips any longer. You regret the fact that you alienated yourself
from my family because you were afraid of what my reaction might be when I saw you.
You didn’t have to worry, you know. I wouldn’t have made scenes or demands. You punished
yourself for nothing. I forgot you as soon as you walked out the door.”

“You lie,” he whispered, his hand coming up and cupping the back of her neck, bringing
her closer so
she felt the warmth of his breath against her lips. “I dream of your taste, Darcy.
It’s like a drug that seeps into the s
ystem
and stays there forever. And you’re right. I did punish myself. I should have stayed
and made love to you until dawn. But I knew if I did I’d keep coming back to sink
inside that tight heat of yours, and it wouldn’t be fair to make you believe there
could be anything more than that between us. There are things you don’t know about
me. Things I’m not sure I could ever explain.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you left. You did us both a favor. And it’ll make
working with you now that much easier.”

“Wishful thinking, sugar.”

Darcy trembled as his body touched hers ever so slightly
, and her nipples tightened in response to his obvious arousal. His lips whispered
over hers—a delicate touch that was barely a kiss at all—but she felt the tug and
pull all the way to the sensitive bud between her thighs.

“We’re both fighting a losing battle here
,” he said
.
“
We might as well give in and see where it takes us. I need you so much I ache with
it.”

Darcy put her hand to his chest and pushed out of his embrace.
“
Maybe we should get you some cream for that
.” She moved further around the table, putting more distance between them.
She looked down his body to the obvious bulge straining against his
zipper. She’d never gotten to taste him, and her mouth watered with the need to release
his cock and
take him into her mouth
. She held in the shudder of longing
and
forced
herself
to
look him in the eye.