Black Ice (Hunters Inc Book 2) Read online

  The walk across the room was no more than five strides, but it felt like a million miles.

  Her heart beating out of her chest, nerves filling her gut with an unwelcome churning that would see her holding her head over the toilet bowl if she didn’t get herself under control.

  Sarah held her breath as she pressed her face against the adjoining wall, closed her eye and listened… nothing… silence.

  Should she use a glass, did that even actually work?

  She was sure the room was empty.

  “Connor…” her voice a little braver than it had been before.

  “I’m here…” I wish you were.

  “I can’t hear anything. What do you want me to do?” her nerves where multiplying at an astonishingly rapid rate.

  “I’m coming up. I want you to stay where you are. I’m gonna hang up now and I will see you soon ok” the line went dead.

  She sat on the bed and waited.

  Tap tap …tap tap tap.

  That was it, that was the knock she had been told to listen for.

  She jumped up, almost a little too enthusiastically, her feet landing on the floor making a thud.

  What if the people below her had heard her movements, what if they were part of the whole blow shit up thing too?

  Now she really was allowing paranoia to invade.

  She needed to get a grip on herself and quick, before she became more of a hindrance than a help.

  Sarah stretched up and just about managed to glimpse the two men through the spy hole.

  They certainly looked like who she was expecting, but there was only one real way to find out for sure.

  Sarah grabbed a skate and held it high over her head, what she was gonna do with it, she wasn’t quite sure, hadn’t thought it through, but she needed something, anything and her blades were the closest thing to a weapon she could find.

  She unhooked the safety chain, turned the lock, slowly pulled open the door and froze.

  She had come face to chest with a wall, a wall made of solid man.

  Her stomach dropped. Chest pounding, breathing became rapid.

  Sarah lifted her eyes up, and up…it felt like an eternity before she reached his face, and suddenly her ability to function came into serious question.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Sarah…?” Connor caught his breath as the door opened and looked down, the young woman from the photograph stood in front of him, still dressed in her pajamas.

  He knew what he had been expecting, knew what she looked like, hell, he’d studied her image almost constantly for the past eight hours, so why he felt like he had just taken a drop kick to the gut when he came face to face with her, he didn’t know.

  She nodded and stepped to one side as he walked into the room, Harry following close behind him.

  The place was small, well, compared to the ones he stayed in these days, another perk that came with working at Hunters:

  One double bed, a desk, chair, shitty excuse for a closet that looked like it would collapse if leaned against too hard, and a poky bathroom that he would have problems even standing up straight in, let alone doing anything else.

  Connor saw the comforter from the bed now in a pile on the floor.

  He raised an eyebrow the way he did when he was curious, or impressed, he would reserve his opinion on that one until later.

  This was certainly not the kind of place someone like her should be staying in, one look at her told him she was better than this, that was for sure.

  She might have been in her oversized pajamas, with the remnants of what could only be described as ‘bed head’, but she’d grabbed his attention just a little more than she should have. Shit, this wasn’t the time nor the place to be having a rush of blood to his dick.

  Part of their specialty training was self-control, so why did it feel like all of his had just walked out of the door?

  “My name is Connor, this big guy is Harry, you spoke to our co, a nice fella by the name of Jenson?”

  “You mean Mr. Happy? Yeah, well, texts anyway” she was scared, that much was clear, but she was still sharp, he liked that.

  “Yeah, that’s the one, Mr. Happy, trust me, I’ve heard him called much worse. Ok, I need you to get your things together as quickly and as quietly as you can ok.” Wow, straight to the point, don’t leave anytime for chit chat, Connor thought to himself, what was the point, he needed to move, get her out of there, if she had been right about what she thought she heard, the longer they were at the hotel, the higher the risk of whoever she heard coming back.

  No point in staying longer than they had too, the plane was fueled and ready for wheels up the second they got back to the airstrip, they just needed to collect their package and get the hell out of there.

  He could see she was scared, her skin pale and clammy.

  Connor would have to keep a close eye on her, the last thing he needed was for her to go into delayed shock. He might have been known as Doc, but a medical emergency, that wasn’t something they had planned for.

  “Ok, yeah, erm…let me just get dressed.” He watched as she grabbed a discarded pile of clothes from the back of a chair, his eyes drawn to the black lace bra that she held in her hand, and then he instinctively focused on her breasts.

  Kind of a dick move on his part he thought.

  But the internal conflict between his brain and his balls was thoroughly out of his hands at this point, and he was ashamed to admit, his balls seemed to have the upper hand.

  Connor placed his holdall next to the one Harry had brought with him. He needed to look anywhere but at her.

  While his bag contained enough weapons to bring a small country to its knees, Harry's had all the tech gear, trackers, laser breakers, everything they would need to cripple a continent if he knew Harry at all.

  That man was more organized than the opening ceremony at the god damn Olympics.

  Connor had to admit though, he still got a kick out of all the new toys they took receipt of on an almost daily basis. And even if the tech side wasn’t his thing, he fucking loved this job.

  Connor glanced up, mistake. He knew she wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath her oversized PJs and it wasn’t something he should have been thinking about right now, but tiny peaks of nipple protruded through the material and he had physically felt a rise in his body temperature that didn’t have any place in this situation.

  Connor needed to check himself quickly and concentrate. He was on a job for Christ sake. Maybe a few rounds with a punchbag would be in order when he got back, he had some serious shit to work out of his system.

  “When we leave here, we’re gonna take the elevator. We get down to the lobby, you will be with me, we will walk out first and Harry will hang back a couple of seconds, we don’t want it to look like the three of us are together.”

  She clutched her clothes to her chest as she listened. Her eyes never leaving his, well shit, the girl held her nerve, a sign of confidence. Good, she would need that.

  “Ok. I only heard one voice, but I am sure it was an American accent. He said something that was…”

  “We can talk later, right now, I need you to put some clothes on” fuck, did that sound as bad out loud as it did in his head?

  A quick glance at the smirk on Harry’s face told him all he needed to know. “Do you mind if we help you pack? Wouldn’t normally ask, but we don’t know how much of a window we have and we need to get out of here before whoever was next door comes back”

  As much as she was trying to be helpful, he needed her to stop talking and get dressed so they could move. And he could get of the room that felt like it was closing in tighter and tighter, ever second that he stood doing nothing.

  “I…” she looked away, almost shy, it was the first time she had broken eye contact, and he was grateful for the temporary release.

  “Don’t worry, we’re not interested in what you have hidden in your underwear draw. Your secrets are safe. Where are your bags?” secrets s
afe? What the fuck was he expecting to find?

  He looked around the room and saw a large case on wheels and a back pack.

  Wouldn’t be ideal lugging that thing across Helsinki back to the plane, but at least it helped to clarify their cover, just a couple on their way home.

  Sarah blushed, it had been faint, but he had seen it, perhaps she did have secrets? Fuck man, what was wrong with him? that little snippet had made blood rush… shit, not what he needed right now.

  He was grateful for the momentary escape as she closed the bathroom door.

  Harry, who up until now hadn’t said much of anything grabbed the case and started to pack.

  Ever Mr. Organized Connor thought.

  He would have just thrown everything in and sorted it out later, but Harry was carefully folding pants and sweaters like he was packing for a family vacation.

  “Draws are all yours Dick, this was your idea after all” he saw the look of ‘karma’ on his team mates face.

  Connor hesitated, shit, he was about to have his hands all over her underwear and he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his dick under control while he did. Him and his fucking big mouth.

  The guys back at Hunters HQ aka ‘the warehouse’ would be sat round watching this like a fucking soap opera if they had worn body cams with a live feed.

  Thank God, they couldn’t see his face right now, or he wouldn’t hear the end of it for months.

  “Shut it will ya, what else are we supposed to do? And stop packing like a fucking Mom and just throw it in. We don’t have time for you pissing about”

  Harry laughed as Connor opened a draw, his eyes widening as he pulled out a handful of her underwear and froze. He took his cap from his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

  ‘Fuck sake’ he mumbled as he saw an array of silk and lace bras and panties, teenage boys fantasy right there, except he wasn’t a teenager, he was a twenty-eight-year-old ex-soldier who had hung off the side of Afghani mountains, swung from rope ladders while dangling under a god damn chopper, so why he was losing his shit over a woman’s panties, he had no fucking idea.

  Connor took a deep breath, grabbed the underwear, turned and threw it in the case. He would be screwed if Harry caught on to what was happening in his pants, thank fuck they didn’t have a habit of staring at each other’s dicks, cause right now, his was straining against the restriction of his jeans and it was starting to feel damn uncomfortable.

  Sarah stood stared into the bathroom mirror, her breathing shallow but rapid, her hand braced against the cold tile of the vanity unit.

  Is this what hyperventilating felt like?

  Whatever it was, she didn’t like it, not one little bit, and she wasn’t entirely sure it was solely to do with her situation, as much as it was about the six-foot-tall sex god with his grown-out buzz cut and deep fuck me eyes that had just walked into her room.

  This really wasn’t the time or the place to be thinking about things like that, but in all honesty, she didn’t think she had ever laid eyes on anyone quite like Connor Parry.

  The man certainly more than matched the deep masculine voice that had soothed her so easily over the phone.

  Tall, dark and handsome, the guy was a walking cliché and with his stubble covered chin and short brown hair, he looked like he had stepped from the cover of GQ.

  The other guy wasn’t half bad either, both would most definitely have earned a second look in a club, but she wasn’t in a club, she was in the tiny cramped bathroom of her grotty hotel room in the middle of fucking Finland, and she really really wanted to get out of here.

  Sarah dressed quickly, hair scrapped up into a messy bun on the top of her head, thin strands falling and framing her face.

  She had never been one to wear much make up except the slap she needed for competitions, so wasn’t worried that she hadn’t perfected HD eyebrows or the stick-on eye lashes that a lot of the girls wore.

  Why they wanted to make themselves look so damn fake was beyond her. Au Natural was the way to go, well, it was in her eyes anyway.

  She walked back into her room, the two burly men the size of quarterbacks, both stood frozen, they each looked at her in surprise as she approached the bed.

  Perhaps they were shocked at the speed she had managed to get herself ready? The girls they dated probably spent hours in front of the mirror, not her style, she didn’t do vein.

  Then she looked and saw what each had in their large hands. She wanted to die.

  If ever there was a moment for a hole to appear so she could fall into it, now would be the perfect time.

  Had she ever been so embarrassed? Never.

  “I didn’t think you were serious, Gees…” she snatched the bra from Connors hand, sure she saw him blush a little. She threw it into her case, slamming the lid and locking it.

  “OK, I’m ready. What do we do?” she stood and waited, she needed one of them so speak, tell her their down to the last detail extraction plan.

  They did have one, didn’t they?

  All the hero’s in the erotic romance novels she read would have had an extraction and three back up plans to boot, she hoped the two action hero wannbes in front of her were just as prepared.

  “Now we move” that was the first time she had heard the one called Harry speak.

  His voice was just as deep and just as masculine as Connors, but she didn’t get the same sense of comfort from his, maybe if he had been the one she had spoken too, she would have, but as it was, she hadn’t, it had been Connor and he was the one who had made her loose what little bit of rationality she had left.

  Blush and tingle forming in more than a few places that they should have been, this was neither the time nor the place for her to be getting turned on by her would be rescuer.

  Christ, she was gonna need a fucking good therapist when all this was over.

  Sarah pulled up the handle of her case, picked up her back pack, and grabbed the key card.

  “You won’t need that. You’re not checking out and you are certainly not coming back” Connor stood behind her, she didn’t have to see him to be aware of where he was in the room, his voice sending a cold shiver straight down the length of her spine, she could almost feel him breathing, even though he hadn’t touched her. Shit, who the hell was he?

  “Sorry, force of habit…” she threw the card back on the dresser, took a deep breath and nodded.

  She was ready.

  Harry opened the door slowly, he looked left and right, left again, then opened it further and stepped out.

  She was practically having to jog to keep up with their long strides and they lead her towards the elevator doors.

  They certainly held themselves well, an air of confidence that hadn’t been evident in her room now on display, yeah, they definitely looked like they knew what they were doing and she knew her dad wouldn’t have sent just anybody to fetch her.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The doors opened, she followed Harry in, Connor close behind.

  It wasn’t exactly the biggest space to begin with, and was made all the more cramped by the two giant men that flanked her on either side.

  They certainly were a sight to behold, and if she hadn’t been practically running for her life, she might have been able to appreciate the fine specimens that held her life in their hands.

  Sarah was more than aware of how close Connor was stood, she could sense him, feel him breathing, could feel his glances, she had met the guy less than 30 minutes ago, and he had her so wet she was at serious risk of losing control just from having him rubbing against her in the elevator.

  “Shit, intruder beam broken on the stairwell” all three of them looked up to see four men coming through the door marked ‘stairs’.

  Each one was dressed in black combat pants, boots and jacket, not unlike the attire of choice for the Hunters Inc: boys, when they were stateside, which raised more than a few suspicions in Connors mind. Was this another security team?

  As if by
instinct, Connor and Harry both took a step closer towards Sarah, reassurance or protections, either way, it was a clear sign that both men were more than ready to do the job they had been tasked.

  The four men in the corridor all looked in the direction of the elevator as the metal doors closed.

  They looked directly at the two men and one woman who were now stood in the small confined space of the claustrophobic metal box.

  They were now headed down to the ground floor, and thanks to the illuminated arrow that indicated which direction the elevator was headed, the four men new it too.

  The last thing Sarah saw as the doors slid shut was all four men had pulled a weapon, she was in more trouble than she had first thought, this wasn’t just about getting to the plane, this was about staying alive.

  Connor and Harry exchanged a subtle look and a nod, both knew what they would be expecting to face when they reached the bottom, knew the four men would be scrambling down the stairwell, trying to reach the lobby before the elevator, hoping to gain another advantage, after all, two against four clearly put the odds in the other team’s favor, or so they would be thinking.

  Connor and Harry both knew the chances of getting her out of the hotel without a fuss, were evaporating faster than an iceberg in the middle of the damn Sahara.

  He had been hoping his weapon wouldn’t have to leave its warm snug hiding place, cradled tight against his spine, but that ship had just sailed too.

  What was it he’d thought? ‘job sounded simple enough’? yeah, maybe time to scratch that.

  Connor had a feeling they were just about to create the international shit storm they had been so delicately warned about.