Fire and Ice (Guardians Book 1)

It was 7:30 p.m. 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 seven until midnight and then a DJ took over transforming the hall into a dance club between midnight to 4:00 a.m. 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 p.m., 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.

“What, Princess?”

“Have you ever done any uppers?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, look around us.”

Lee looked up and glanced around and chuckled, “Well I’ll be damned.”

“Do you want to do some?” Lee asked with interest. “It’s almost my set so I can’t, but afterwards I know where I can get some.”

“Where?”

Lee smiled. “There’s a backroom here that deals them. We have to be careful though … guys running them look scary.”

Maia’s heart skipped a beat. She should have asked Lee sooner, but there was no better opening than right now. Misreading her excitement for something else, Lee’s hand reached straight between her thighs, startling her with his seeking fingers.

“Lee, what…”

“Shhh … I knew you were a bad girl,” he murmured thickly. “If I’d thought of this sooner we’d probably be having sex right now. Though I don’t need any stimulant drugs with you, clearly you’ve piled on some inhibitions since we last got together.”

Lee’s mouth came down aggressively on hers. She was almost horizontal on the couch, Lee’s body almost fully on top of hers as his fingers sought mercilessly to stroke her to orgasm. Though there was nothing wrong with Lee’s expertise, Maia did not crave his touch the way she did Jack’s and couldn’t bring herself to let go.

Lee had no problem rubbing himself against Maia to gain his explosive finish as he buried his groan in the crook of her neck.

When he was done, he whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. You weren’t done.”

“That’s okay,” Maia assured him. She was actually feeling guilty it had gone that far.

“I’m losing my touch,” Lee said in frustration. “Shit. I need to get ready for my set and I need to get cleaned up.”

“Go.”

“Don’t go anywhere, Princess. I’ll be watching you from the stage.”

“Babe, I’ll always come back to you

I know this much is true

Though we’re apart at times

Know you’re always mine”

Lee was singing the chorus of his new song over and over as he focused his gaze on Maia, who was at the foot of the stage. While she had waited for his set to begin, she walked around Addison exchanging secure text messages with other Guardians. They had observed some dealers of Rave-IX, but had backed off apprehending them when Maia informed them about the existence of the backroom. So far, none of the dealers distributing the drug to the general public was Colt, better known as Peter Coltrane. Facial recognition from the AGS data center had returned with a successful match.

Maia also spied Jack in the crowd. Though he did not approach her, he gave her a chin lift. His face was a blank mask. At least he had gotten himself back in control before he decided to come to Addison Music Hall.

At 10:30 p.m., by the time Lee’s set was coming to an end, Maia headed for the backstage which was a challenge since the music hall was jam-packed like sardines. He gave her an access card to show security so they could let her through.

After his last song, to deafening cheers and whistles from an enthusiastic crowd, Lee descended the stage and headed straight for her. He lifted her up and twirled her around.

Sliding her deliberately down against his sweaty front, he kissed her thoroughly before taking her hand to walk to his dressing room.

“Come on in, I won’t bite,” Lee said smiling broadly. He was high from the performance. He took off his shirt, grabbed a towel from the dresser and started mopping himself dry.

“So how many rooms are here at Addison’s?”

Lee shrugged as he put on a fresh tee. “I don’t know. Some are pretty hidden. God knows what goes on behind them.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t care. All I care for is my music, and if you’ll let me, you.”

Maia rolled her eyes and then suddenly, he was right on top of her. “We need to get rid of those inhibitions.”

“Oh, yeah, how?”

“Follow me.”

Lee led her down a narrow hallway beyond the backstage. On the blueprint of the building that they had acquired, this area was one big rectangle, but Maia saw a series of rooms. Obviously, what was filed at the city planner’s office was incomplete or bogus. She was so screwed. She had no way of letting the others know where she was unless she could shoot off a text the moment Lee released her hand.

They reached a steel door that was slightly ajar, but Lee still used the intercom. There was no answer.

“That’s strange. The door is open,” Lee said, sounding baffled.

“Maybe we should go back,” Maia suggested as the back of her neck started prickling. “You said they were pretty scary.”

“Nah, Peter’s a cool guy. He wouldn’t mind me bringing my girl over to hit him up for a couple of R9s.”

Maia tried to tug Lee away but he dragged her through the steel door. They were met with two bloody corpses with fatal chest wounds.

“What the fuck?” Lee whispered as his eyes bugged out.

“Let’s get out of here,” Maia said urgently as she pulled a frozen Lee back through the steel door, but they were too late. A giant of a man holding a mean looking assault rifle blocked their way.

“Sorry, I can’t let you leave,” he declared.

Yep, screwed.

They were forced into the inner sanctum. There, a man was bound to a chair and was being interrogated by three other men. Peter Coltrane. Judging by the superficial bruises on his face, the torture had only just begun.

“Look who I found lurking around. Rock star boy,” the goon said. “I’m heading back outside to stand guard.”

These were Gavlik’s men. They had slipped off the Guardian’s radar when everyone was recalled and put on the search for Colt and Richard Grayson. Hadn’t she proposed that keeping tabs on these guys would lead them to Reznikov? The DEA gave the call this morning to pull that resource.

Colt’s eyes flickered over her but did not react. This guy was going to be hard to crack.

“Pete, what the hell is going on?” Lee demanded.

The second henchman whacked Lee through the face with the butt of his M4 carbine. “Shut up!”

Maia screamed as Lee staggered back. It was damsel-in-distress time. “Don’t hurt him!”

“Igor, damn it!” the third henchman stood in front of Igor and glared him off.

Turning to Lee, he said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Isaac. We just need to keep you and your girlfriend here until we get the information we need from Colt. If I may have your cellphones please.”

“I don’t have mine on me, it’s in the dressing room,” Lee said as he fingered his jaw.

Maia handed hers over. Better give it up quick than have them search her purse and find the gun.

Lee went over to Maia who pretended to start shaking. “God, I’m so sorry, Princess. What a nightmare.”

Igor observed them, his beady cruel eyes hazed with bloodlust. Lee’s apologetic words tore through Maia’s heart as she despaired of getting him mixed up in this. She was going to get him out alive even if she died trying. But it wasn’t going to be easy, they would not want to let her and Lee live, no matter what the henchman had said. That was not the way of the Russian mafia. They hated loose ends.

“I repeat Mr. Coltrane: where is Sergei Reznikov?” the third henchman asked. When Colt continued to stare stonily in the distance, the third henchman nodded to the fourth. “Kiril.”

Kiril struck Colt across the cheek twice.

Colt spat out some blood and started laughing. “You all need to do better than that!”

“Jesus Christ,” Lee muttered as he held Maia’s head to his chest. “Don’t look, honey. Please don’t look.”

The beating continued for a couple more minutes before Kiril said to the third henchman. “Boss, I think we need to get messy.”

He nodded in response. Maia snuck a peek over Lee’s shoulder and saw them produce a canvas roll of medical instruments. She did not want Lee to see this.

“Oh God,” Lee whispered as he realized what was about to happen. He hugged Maia tighter.

Suddenly there were sounds of suppressed gunfire from the front room. The big guy who had brought them in started bellowing for aid.

“Igor, go!” the third henchman shouted.

Kiril dragged Lee away from Maia and pointed a gun to his head while the third henchman did the same to Maia.

“Maia!” Lee screamed in an agonized voice.

The third henchman said to Igor. “Tell them we have hostages and if they don’t fall back we will kill them.”

“No! Damn you. No!” Lee shouted while struggling against his captor.

As with most adversaries who’d never heard of her, Gavlik’s men underestimated her. Her captor lowered his gun hand while maintaining a tight band around her waist. Maia waited until the third henchman moved behind Kiril before she unzipped her beaded purse that was strapped diagonally across her front. She reached in, grasping the grip with a finger resting near the trigger.

Lee’s struggle with the huge Russian was short-lived. Kiril brutally kneed Lee in the gut, sending him crumpling to the floor. This gave Maia an opportunity for a clear shot.

She stomped her right stiletto into the third henchman’s combat boots. As he grunted in pain, she forcefully jabbed her left elbow against his nose at the same time pulling her gun out to shoot an astounded Kiril three times in rapid fire in the neck and chest.

“Maia!” Lee yelled in horror as the third henchman raised his gun at her.

Maia’s gun jammed.

“Stay down,” Maia screamed at Lee as she threw her useless pistol at her assailant while rushing him at the same time. His gun went off and Maia felt the burn of a bullet whiz pass her face, but she didn’t falter and managed to grab his gun hand with both of hers as they wrestled for control. He overpowered her and knocked her to the floor when she lost her footing. Maia’s blood turned to ice when he leveled the muzzle of his gun at her.

A shot rang out. Maia watched his head jerk back as a bullet entered between his eyes, his body buckling to the ground—dead.

She looked back and saw a stony-faced Jack scan the room for additional threats before lowering his semi-automatic pistol to his side. He made a move to go to her but Lee reached her first, embracing her tightly in relief.

But when he withdrew and looked down at her, there was confusion in his eyes. “What the fuck is going on?”

“Your girlfriend is not who she says she is,” Colt said, laughing derisively. “She works for a private military corporation and was using you to get to me.”

“Oh my God,” Lee whispered, the confusion turning into accusation. “It’s true isn’t it. You were using me?”

“I’m so sorry, Lee,” Maia said beseechingly. “I didn’t mean for it to happen this way.”

“You nearly got me killed!” Lee roared at her as he shook off her hand. “Don’t touch me. Stay away from me!”

Lee saw Jack, recognizing him from earlier, and glared at him. “She’s all yours.”

He stalked out of the room.

Jack instructed one of the Guardians that just had arrived. “Go after Lee Isaac. He needs to be debriefed.”

He walked up to a despondent Maia and cupped her face. “Are you okay?”

“No. I feel like a bitch. Damn Viktor and his ideas.”

More Guardians poured into the room.

“What are the orders, Agent Pierce?”

“Take Peter Coltrane to our DEA contact.”

“I’ll never talk!” Colt spat.

Maia spun around gripping Colt’s throat and squeezing until it became difficult for him to breathe. “Oh, I think you will. The DEA won’t torture you. They’ll use coercion.”

His dead eyes suddenly held a spark of fear.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Maia turned and walked out the room.

Maia and Jack exited Addison Music Hall through the delivery dock located in the rear of the building. DEA agents, Guardians and some Feds were milling about. A huge stash of Rave-IX had been discovered in the backroom. The Baltimore Police Department was in charge of regulating the orderly evacuation of the crowd from the venue.

The music venue was in walking distance from the hotel. Jack was able to grab an AGS jacket from one of the guys and put it over Maia’s shoulder.

“Are you sure you want to walk?” Jack asked quietly as he looked at Maia’s stilettos.

“Yes, I’m used to it.”

“Stop blaming yourself.”

“I shouldn’t have allowed him to take me to Colt,” Maia said. “Colt knew what I looked like. I endangered Lee’s life. I got too aggressive.”

“We all wanted to get Rick back. We had to step up the game.”

“One life for another? I hardly think that’s fair.”

They continued to walk in silence. Halfway to the hotel, Jack grabbed Maia’s hand and was relieved when she didn’t pull away. He needed to touch her. Seeing her at the mercy of the Russian’s gun had punched him in the gut with ice-cold fear. Jack was amazed at how he had been able to take the shot calmly when he was no where near calm inside. It was almost like a vacuum: all he saw was the need to eliminate the threat. He also let the episode with Lee play out. Jack realized that now Maia’s cover was blown she had to live with the consequence of her deception which was hurting someone she cared about. But the end-result was that they got Colt. That should have given her some consolation, at least.

Jack was concerned that the fallout might make Maia question the prudence of emotional entanglements. The thought sent a panic through him and he felt compelled to remind her of what they had.

“How did you all know where I was?” Maia’s question broke through Jack’s introspection.

“I had Scott track your cellphone.”

“I’m surprised they let you back there.”

“Aah, we kind of forced our way in.”

“What?”

“We outdrew their security and subdued them.”

“Oh my God, McCord! You’re going to give Viktor an apoplexy.”

“No, you give him enough of those yourself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

They reached the lobby of the hotel. Jack wrapped his arms around Maia and lowered his head to her ear. “Invite me upstairs,” he demanded suggestively, deliberately tickling her neckline with his warm breath.

“No.”

“You owe me.”

“Owe you for what?”

“I have a taped audio from your room. Lee got pretty far,” Jack said darkly as he remembered the incident from the earlier evening.

Maia flushed red. Since it was late at night, there was an open empty elevator already waiting to be boarded. Jack didn’t wait for her reply as he dragged her into the empty car and punched the number for her floor.

“Jack…”

“And then back at Addison Music Hall, Lee wouldn’t stop kissing you, rubbing himself all over you,” Jack went on feeling a masochistic need to rile himself up with jealousy. “It took all my self-control not to yank him off you and rip him apart.”

“You said we’d deal…” Maia reminded him.

“Exactly.”

When they reached Maia’s room, Jack took Maia’s keycard, opened the door and shoved her inside.

Once inside the threshold, Jack pressed the hard length of his body against her soft pliable one, immobilizing her with possessive intent.

“We’ll deal by having me fuck you so hard you’ll be feeling me inside you for days afterwards,” Jack vowed brusquely as his lips swooped down on hers in a crushing, almost punishing kiss. Maia tried to push him away, aware that she was about to be ravished right where she stood, but he gripped her wrists and pinned them against the wall, using his body to grind into her further.

“I’ve been imagining ripping this dress apart all night,” Jack whispered thickly. He released one of her hands and bunched her neckline together before tearing it from her body, revealing the silky expanse of naked breasts.

“Jesus,” he groaned hoarsely as he captured one pink nipple with his warm mouth, almost nipping at it savagely, Maia moaned in response. He began to suckle voraciously, using one hand to push the soft orb up to accept his hungry lips while her other nipple was deftly rolled between the fingers of his other hand. Her soft mewling prompted him to release one breast and cup the junction between her thighs. She was drenched in arousal.

“You’re ready for me, babe,” Jack murmured as he drove first one finger and then a second finger into her warm moist heat, his thumb spreading the slickness around her sensitive cleft. She was riding his fingers and thrashing her head, aching wildly for release.

“Jack, …Jack…please…”

“I will fuck you until you scream,” Jack promised as he yanked the scrap of silk out of the way and then worked to unbutton his cargo pants and lower his zipper, springing his erection free. He was rock hard. Jack felt like exploding before he had even slipped inside her. Growling low, he grasped her ass and lifted her up.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he ordered and Maia complied without hesitation. Before she could fully secure her legs around his hips he had surged up inside her, impaling her fully on himself.

“Oh my God, Jack!” Maia cried, bracing her arms around his shoulders to hold on.

His shaft plunged and withdrew from her at a furious pace, pounding mercilessly into her, her back slamming against the wall with the force of his possession.

“You. Are. Mine. Mine!” Jack growled, the ferocity of his thrusts punctuated his words like a brand.

He drove into her until he felt the grip of her sex contracting around him as she reached her peak. She cried out his name almost in a sob, which finally took him over the edge as well.

“Maia, fuck! Oh shit!” Jack yelled raggedly as his blinding release tore him apart. He continued pumping until he was spent and then they both collapsed on the floor.

“Holy shit,” Maia whispered, almost echoing his words. “Did that just happen?”

Jack was ecstatic that Maia had felt the same as he hugged her to him. “Yeah, babe it did.”

“Uh, no one heard us did they?”

“Your room is wired only to my computer. Now whether they can hear us in the hallway is a different matter.”

Maia covered her face with her hands as she remembered Jack slamming her against the wall. “Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed.”

Jack rose up over her and pulled her hands away from her face. “You are adorable.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that. Super-agent here, remember?”

“Hmmnnn…” Jack mumbled as he began kissing her again. “Let’s move to the bed.”

“No. You are not sleeping here.”

“Why ever not?” Jack scowled down at her.

“I’m working. This is already against protocol and I’m working with you on this assignment.”

Jack nodded reluctantly before he knifed off of her and gave her a hand up. She looked thoroughly fucked, he thought in satisfaction.

Maia picked up her torn underwear. “Seriously, why do I even bother with these?”

Jack felt himself get hard again as he regarded her, thinking of her nudity under her torn dress. Maia caught his look, opened the door, and covered her bare breast with her other arm while trying to avoid the cameras in the hallway.

“Oh no, Mr. McCord, it’s out you go,” Maia said firmly.

Jack smiled and gave her a kiss on the nose before leaving.

A phone was ringing. Maia lifted her head from the pillow to look at the clock. It was 5am. It wasn’t her smartphone, it was her room phone that was ringing. Who the hell would call her on her room phone?

Lifting the receiver from the cradle, Maia murmured sleepily, “Hello?”

“Princess?”

Maia sat up, all sleepiness melting away. “Lee? Is everything okay?”

“No. I’ve been unfair to you.”

“Well, I haven’t been totally honest with you either.”

Lee was silent for a while. “I’m in the lobby. I didn’t want to show up at your hotel room and have you thinking I’m after a booty call. Could you … can you come down and talk.”

“Lee …”

“I hate the way it ended between us. I just want to understand so I can move on.”

Maia felt guilty. She did owe him that.

“I’ll be right down.”

She spotted Lee immediately. He was wearing the same clothes she had last seen him in. His face looked haunted, his jaw was bruised, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Maia’s heart clenched. She had done this to him.

He walked towards her and hugged her tightly, kissing the side of her forehead.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry what I said to you,” Lee whispered.

“You have every right to hate me,” Maia replied.

Lee heaved a deep breath. “Can you walk with me? Along the Inner Harbor?”

“Of course I could. I’ll just let the guys know where I’m headed.”

“Guys?”

“The whole place is on surveillance.”

Lee’s eyes widened. “Uh, your room?”

“Just the hallway,” Maia assured him, not wanting him to know of the taped audio Jack had of their little romp.

“But you got Peter, right? All the danger is over?” Lee asked.

“Not yet. We’re still after this Russian—Colt’s boss. I can’t really tell you much,” Maia responded as she typed a text message to the surveillance team.

Lee nodded as they exited to the street.

“So I went through all of what happened in my head,” Lee began. “You were trying to keep me out of it. From the very first night, you discouraged me.”

Maia wanted to come clean. “The original plan was to get your attention. You were the main draw at Addison Music Hall. This Russian drug lord already knows who I am and he hates me, I mean really hates me. If he knew I was close to his cash cow, that would make him nervous.”

“You used yourself as bait?” Lee said angrily. Same reaction as Jack. Men!

“I can take care of myself.”

Lee grinned. “Come to think of it, what you did last night was pretty hot.”

“I almost got you killed,” Maia reminded him.

“No, if I recall you were pulling me back. You knew something was wrong, didn’t you?”

Maia shrugged and then shivered a bit.

“Cold?” Lee murmured. She nodded as he wrapped his arms around her.

“So the reason you turned me down at Bali, was it because you thought I couldn’t handle your job?”

“It’s not that. I just didn’t want a relationship. You could be used against me by my enemies.”

Lee laughed humorlessly. “That’s a shitty life to live, Maia.”

“It’s the life I chose.”

Lee stopped walking and put his hands on Maia’s shoulders, gazing deeply into her. Maia winced at the sheer agony in his eyes.

“I still love you, Princess,” he whispered. “I hate it that your job is dangerous and I know I can’t live with that thought of you in constant danger. So where does that leave me?”

Lee bent down and brush his lips gently on Maia’s.

“I’m afraid to get lost in your kisses again,” Lee said ruefully. “All those feelings, all those years, they just came roaring back.”

“I’m sorry Lee. You shouldn’t see me again after this,” Maia choked back a sob. Her heart was breaking with what she had done to someone she cared about.

“No. No, Princess. Don’t say that,” Lee said and smiled wryly. “After all, most rock stars become successful because they’re broken in some way.”

“That’s not funny.”

Maia’s phone dinged with a text message. She glanced down and saw a short message from Jack.

“WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE THE HOTEL !!!”

Damn those surveillance guys. They must have woken him up.

“Fuck,” Maia muttered.

“Everything all right?”

“Yes,” Maia sighed. “We better head back before Jack rips your head off.”

Lee’s eyes narrowed. “Jack?”

“You know him as Craig.”

“Ah,” Lee said in recollection. “So what is he to you?”

“It’s complicated.”

Just then, a dark SUV sped up behind them and screeched to a halt, blocking their way.

Armed men spilled out.

“Run!” Maia screamed at Lee as she pulled him to try to get around the SUV. She drew her side arm and pointed it at the big guy blocking her way.

A cold voice arrested her attention as a blonde man stepped out of the vehicle. “You’ve been—what do you call it—a pain in the ass, Maia Pierce. I should just kill you right here.”

“Let him go and I will go with you without a fight,” Maia nodded to Lee.

“Maia, no fucking way!” Lee growled.

“Lower your weapon,” Reznikov instructed her.

Maia did as she was told; almost all the guns were pointed at Lee, she had no choice.

“Let. Him. Go,” she repeated.

Reznikov’s stare sent a chill through her veins.

“Kill him.”

“No!” Maia screamed as she lunged at the man who was going to shoot Lee. The gun fired just as she had barely nudged it. She saw Lee jerk back as the bullet hit him.

“Nooooo! Lee!” she screamed again in anguish.

“Maiaaaa!”

A blow to her head had her buckling to the ground. Even as she fought for consciousness, she felt herself being lifted. It was Jack calling her name. But soon after that realization, she blacked out.