She hit the off button. Just in time. Her assailant turned over suddenly. If she had still been on the phone, Brad would have definitely heard the telltale squeak of bedsprings as Hawk began his assault.
She stared up. He had a devilishly satisfied expression on his face.
“I’ll come down soon,” he mimicked her words. He leaned forward and his kiss was hard and hungry. Possessive. “Come for me first, baby.”
14
Hawk had never, in all his life, slept withanother man’s woman, but he didn’t think he could hand Amber back to Bradford Sun that easily. This feeling of possessiveness was unfamiliar territory for him. He had never wanted a woman this much before.
“I need to explain,” Amber said, “before you two meet.”
“Are you going to tell him the truth?” he asked quizzically.
She regarded him levelly. “Do you think I’d have slept with you if I weren’t ready to tell the truth?”
“I didn’t give you the chance,” he pointed out.
“Oh yes, you did. You carried me up here. I’d have said no if I hadn’t wanted to,” she came back. She patted his newly shaven face. “I’m running late, and I don’t want to keep Brad waiting.”
“You really think he’s going to come up and have dinner with me here?” Hawk shook his head. If it were him…like hell. He would be running up here to break a few bones. He would feed the bones to the other man for dinner. He would…He shook his head again. He’d had too much violence the last few days. He continued, in a sarcastic drawl, “Sure, I’ll wait here. A nice civilized European air-clearing, followed by a nice glass of wine before dinner. You don’t mind if I make rude sounds now and then, do you? I’m an American, after all.”
Her eyes filled with amusement. “Brad’s American, Hawk. And there are things you don’t know about, so that’s why I’m bringing him up here. I don’t have time to explain it to you and have him wait downstairs. People will wonder. There are spies all over the place. We’ll be talking a little business, too, okay?”
“Okay.”
Hawk sat down and impatiently studied Amber’s living area. He hadn’t noticed anything that belonged to another man, not even when he asked for a razor. She had given him her own. If Bradford Sun overnighted here sometimes, he didn’t leave any of his stuff lying around, not even an extra pair of slippers for lounging. Well, hell, how would he know? He hadn’t checked under the damn bed.
He almost got up to return to the bedroom. Took a deep breath. Relaxed back into the chair. He looked around again. There was something missing in this picture and he hadn’t quite figured out everything yet, but one thing was for sure. Now that he’d had a taste of Amber Hutchens, there was no way in hell he was going to share.
He didn’t share. Or poach another man’s woman. He expelled a disgusted sigh. It seemed that ever since he took on this covert operation, he’d gone back on every one of his values, from protecting women and children to getting rid of the world’s scum that were responsible for hurting them.
Everything was fucking backward. He didn’t share. And the woman he wanted for himself was downstairs talking to another man.Herman. He didn’t poach. And he had gone and…He felt tension rising in him again. She couldn’t have a very loving relationship with the guy if she responded so passionately to his lovemaking. Maybe she would break off with him. Either that or Hawk would just break one more code of honor and steal her away from the son of a bitch. And then what?
Hawk scratched the back of his neck. What the hell was happening to him? He had a job to do, and shouldn’t be thinking about ways to seduce a woman or steal her away from her lover. His mind was back on the two things that had gotten him in trouble that first night when he and Amber had clashed. Woman. Amber in all her naked luminous glory. And now—his lips twisted in self-mockery—food. Running a hand through his damp hair in frustration, he stood up, needing to expend energy. Where was his SEAL training to forgo all physical needs when under stress?
Concentrate on the job, man.He needed Amber’s help.Don’t fuck it up.Everything depended on him.
The stairway door opened. Hawk turned around. Amber walked in, followed by a tall man. Light hair, almost as blond as Amber’s. Square-jawed. A big man in an expensive suit, carrying a bottle of wine. Hawk clenched his teeth. Unlike the other man, he was wearing his dirty pants and one of Amber’s T-shirts. Certainly no competition in the suave and debonair department.
Bradford Sun looked every bit the chief of CIVPOL, in command of his world. The easy and quiet self-assurance of a man of power. He looked very good together with Amber. Hawk disliked him already. Intensely.
Amber’s blue eyes narrowed just a little. Her smile was different, a smooth complacent curve that was nothing like the pouty, sassy grins she had given him. Then she broke the tension of the moment with a wink. The woman was a tease.
“Brad, this is Hawk McMillan. Hawk, this is my friend Bradford Sun.”
Brad regarded him for a moment before extending a hand. “Mr. McMillan,” he said, his voice cultured, his eyes keenly studying him.
What did one say to the lover of the woman he’d just bedded? Nice to meet you? A pleasure? Hawk opted for noncommittal. “How do you do?”
They both eyed each other for an instant before Brad inclined his head. “I hear you’re after Dilaver. That’s one thing we have in common.”
“Not the only thing,” Hawk said, keeping his voice bland. He didn’t like the way Brad smiled at Amber. “I’ve heard that you can’t seem to put him behind bars.”
He enjoyed the sight of Brad stiffening his shoulders. Hit a hot button there, hadn’t he?
Amber moved in between them. “Sit down, both of you, and please, my place is too small for all this testosterone. Can both of you stop baiting each other while I get us something to drink? We’ll talk like adults, and then we’ll eat.”
Hawk sat down again. Either something was very odd, or Brad and Amber had one of those very open relationships. Talk like adults and eat….
