Fire and Ice (Guardians Book 1)

Tommy reached down to pull Maia to her feet. Halfway up, she leaned forward and with all her might and making sure she had firm purchase with her feet, cracked the back of her head against Tommy’s nose and forehead causing him to crash spectacularly into a row of display racks.

Never taking her eyes off the other two men, she pushed Kyle out of the way at the same time Benny was leveling his AK-47 at her.

“Bitch!” Benny screamed.

Maia lunged forward and knocked the rifle upward, causing it to discharge into the ceiling. At the same time she delivered a strike to Benny’s nasal cartilage with the heel of her right hand, bloodying his nose and stunning him temporarily.

Syd raised his gun shakily at the wrestling pair, muttering, “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

Maia instantly swung Benny around towards Syd and with her hand guiding the AK-47—which Benny was still holding—pointed it at a stupefied Syd and blew his head off with a blast from the assault rifle. Then, yanking out the pistol that was stowed in the front of Benny’s pants, she kicked the back of his knees, forcing him to kneel, and shot him in the head, execution style.

Tommy held on to his weapon in his fall and started to get up, firing blindly. He could not see clearly as he was tearing up from his bloody nose.

Betty had ducked behind the counter (still screaming) and Kyle dived to the floor for cover. Maia didn’t even try to dodge any bullets; she knew Tommy’s shots were going wide.

She calmly raised Benny’s pistol at Tommy and said, “Die, asshole.”

It was over in seconds. Maia walked over to Kyle and asked, “Are you okay?”

Kyle sat up and scrambled away from her asking, “Who are you? What are you?” There was fear in his eyes. He had been courageous throughout the ordeal and now he was afraid of her. She sighed.

“We need to talk,” Maia said and hauled him unceremoniously to his feet, pushing him in front his mother who had emerged from behind the counter.

Betty was whispering, “Oh my God … oh my God. You saved us … how did you save us?”

“Nobody can know that I did this,” Maia said. “We’ll pin this on another customer, a good Samaritan who saved us all. He saw something through the glass door that something was wrong so he snuck in from the backdoor. You guys do have a backdoor, yes?” Betty nodded, Kyle’s eyes had narrowed. “He saved us and got out the same way. It’s a long shot, but at least there’s no camera footage. You understand me?”

“Who are you?” Kyle yelled, finally regaining some of his courage.

“I work for the good guys, Kyle.” Maia eyed him levelly. “I get rid of scum like them.” She jerked her head to the three dead bodies on the floor.

Police sirens started wailing in the distance. Betty had apparently pushed the alarm when Maia went on the offensive against Benny, Tommy, and Syd.

“We don’t have much time. Are you both with me?” Maia said in her no-nonsense tone.

“Are you going to kill us, if we don’t play along?” Kyle shot back.

“For God’s sakes, no! But it will make my situation very difficult as my organization and I are trying to get rid of the Russian big fish involved in all this. My cover is very important and we don’t want to spook him before we are ready to take him down,” Maia said.

“We got your back,” Kyle said and Betty simply nodded. The poor woman was shaking.

“Great. Here’s the description of our rescuer: he has short brown hair, around 5’10, black leather jacket, jeans, boots, beard. That’s all you can remember. Everything happened in seconds. They’ll be suspicious but they’ll hardly suspect a seventeen year-old boy and two women getting the jump on Russian mob flunkies,” Maia said as she started wiping her fingerprints off the pistol and the barrel of the AK-47. She left the pistol beside the body of Benny.

The helicopter had landed thirty minutes before at a private hangar near Dare County Regional airport. After filing the necessary paperwork to log his flight’s arrival, Jack headed straight to his black SUV parked nearby and navigated out of the airfield. He was driving along route 158 when a police cruiser with all sirens blaring, sped past him and took the exit that led into Westcove. Curiosity piqued, Jack turned on his police scanner to access the local police band, wondering what mischief the Halloween revelers had caused in the normally quiet community.

“Suspected 187 at the Westcove Specialty Grocer. Suspect is Caucasian male, 5’10, brown hair, black leather jacket, jeans,” an officer’s voice crackled through the radio.

Jack frowned. That was Betty Banning’s shop.

“We have a 245 with an AK-47 and semi-automatic pistols. All victims with fatal GSW to the head.”

Jesus Christ!

“Witnesses: store owner, son and one other customer – shaken but unharmed. They’re claiming perp is a good Samaritan who rescued them from the victims. No trace of suspect. Vehicles accounted for in parking lot. Ford pick-up belongs to the shop, blue vintage z28 Chevy Camaro to the customer, and a white Jeep Wrangler to the victims.”

Jack felt his stomach plummet as the second vehicle’s description hit him. He punched the speed-dial for the stonehouse telephone but got voicemail. He repeated the speed-dial—still nothing.

“Fuck!” Jack cursed as he took the exit that would take him into town.

There were three police cruisers, an ambulance and an unmarked police vehicle parked haphazardly in front of the Westcove Specialty Grocer. A crowd began to gather and two cops were keeping the spectators under control when Jack arrived.

He immediately recognized his Camaro, his concern for Maia escalating. He had barely gotten out of his car when an officer got into his face.

“Jack, you can’t park there. This is a crime scene.” Brian Reese was a buddy of his. They caught a couple of beers sometimes.

“That’s my car over there.” Jack pointed to the Camaro. “I’ve got a person inside.”

“I thought that was yours,” Brian replied, then indicated for him not to move, he barked into his shoulder radio, “Hey Tanner, I’ve got Jack McCord here for the redhead.”

“Shit, okay. Send him back,” Rick replied over the radio.

Brian walked Jack to the double doors and warned, “Haven’t ever seen anything as brutal around here but I know you’re not new to this. Hell, preliminary assessment shows these guys got whacked with their own weapons and it happened in seconds.”

Jack’s gaze flickered over the three bodies that were grotesquely sprawled in succession amid pools of blood. Head shots, Jack thought grimly. The middle one even looked like he had been taken down execution style. He didn’t flinch as Brian walked him through the crime tableau.

“They’re in the office by the counter.” Brian pointed over. “Gotta go back out and wait for the CSI guys.”

Jack entered the office and his eyes immediately sought Maia. He saw her sitting on a desk, hunched over. Kyle Banning was standing beside her and Betty was sitting in the office chair. All of them were looking grim. Maia was attempting to make herself appear as if she were suffering post-traumatic stress disorder. A paramedic was checking her reflexes; Rick Tanner and another cop Jack didn’t know were talking to them.

When Maia spotted him, Jack thought he caught a warning gleam in her eyes before she masked it. All of a sudden, Jack didn’t know whether he wanted to hug her or strangle her.

“Babe, are you okay?” Jack reached out and hugged her. Clamping a hand around her nape, he drew her head towards him and kissed her temple.

“Oh, Jack it was horrible … horrible,” Maia sobbed into his neck, hugging him tight.

“Any lead on what went on down here? Surveillance tapes?” Jack asked Rick.

“Those DBs came in here and demanded we stop the surveillance, so we have no record of what transpired after they arrived.”

“Do we know who they are?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” Rick replied shortly, not hot about the idea of sharing information. “What I don’t need is a vigilante taking out our chances of taking care of a bigger problem.”

Maia pulled back from Jack and looked at the detective. “That vigilante, as you call him, saved us. He was about to shoot Kyle.”

“What bigger problem?” Jack asked. He was trying not to grin at Maia’s terrible acting.

“I can’t discuss this with you, Jack,” the detective said firmly.

“Why not? If it affects the safety of the community?” Jack shot back.

The two men had a stare down.

“Can I go home now, detective? I’m feeling a bit queasy,” Maia interjected, obviously trying to defuse the tension.

Rick looked at her, his eyes softening. “Sure honey, if you remember anything else about tonight, you have my card.”

“Sure thing. Thank you so much, detective,” Maia breathed in appreciation.

“You all may want to use the backdoor,” the paramedic, who was now checking Betty, said. “If you are having problems processing everything that happened, if you’re having unwanted flashbacks, come to OBX General. We have trauma counselors on hand you can talk to, okay honey?”

Jack bristled. Would every male in the room stop calling Maia, honey.

“Thanks, Joe,” Maia replied sweetly.

And now she was on a first name basis with the paramedic?

“Come on,” Jack said gruffly and pulled Maia out the door.

The back alley of the grocery had a couple of cops and crime scene investigators combing for clues of the missing good Samaritan/vigilante. Jack knew they were wasting their time. The person responsible for taking down three armed men was, at that moment, climbing into his blue Camaro.

“See you at the stonehouse?” Maia said as she started the powerful engine.

Jack leaned in closely, was about to say something but thought better about it. Instead he brushed his lips lightly on hers.

“Yeah.”

The massive portal to the stonehouse parking garage trundled up. Maia parked the Camaro in its designated spot and Jack pulled up directly behind her. She exited the car and waited for Jack to walk up to her.

He stopped in front of her, leaned his head close and said, “You are full of shit.”

“I had no choice,” Maia protested.

“I mean, I don’t believe this,” Jack continued as if not hearing her. They were now walking along the length of the massive garage. “I leave you alone, not two days, and you’ve got three dead guys.”

“They were going to shoot, Kyle, I was not making that up,” Maia replied in defense. “You would have done the same.”

Jack didn’t answer her. His eyes were riveted to the wall—specifically the broken key cabinet. “What the fuck?”

“What? How do you think I got the keys to the Camaro?” Maia asked innocently.

“Most of my cars are off-limits, babe, but the Camaro is sacred,” Jack told her. “You can use the SUV.”

“I was thinking the Mercedes 2-seater next time,” Maia said, batting her eyelashes.

Jack smiled devilishly and drew her close. “I’m open to negotiations.”

She laughed lightly and tried to pull away, but Jack held her hand and said, “Come on, you need to get cleaned up.”

Maia looked down at her shirt and noticed some blood splatters, and then at her hands. “Do you have any of that cool stuff that takes away gun residue?”

“That’s illegal.”

“Well, do you?”

Jack looked over at her and grinned. “What do you think?”

Maia smiled up at him and then remembering something, said, “I need to make a call.”

“Viktor?” Jack’s jaw tightened. He didn’t like how she appeared to live and breathe Viktor. He knew she communicated with him every freaking day.

Maia pulled out her phone and typed in a text message. The minute she clicked send, Jack grabbed her phone and started punching in some numbers.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Maia said in annoyance.

“Exchanging numbers,” Jack said shortly. His phone started ringing but it showed her number as blocked. Figures.

He continued to fiddle with her phone settings until her number showed up on his cell phone, then he called her phone and saved his number in her contacts.

“We could have just asked each other,” Maia grumbled. “This bossiness is not going to work with me.”

“Maia, in case you’ve missed it, it already has.”

Maia stood under the hot spray of the shower, her mind processing the events of the day. Killing was never easy for her, specially in situations where hostilities were not an everyday affair. However, given the choice she would always decide to protect the innocent with everything she had, even if that meant ending the lives of scum like Benny and his men, and she would not lose any sleep over it.

After washing off the foamy residue from her hair and body, Maia reached for a fluffy towel and dried herself briefly. She ran a comb through her wet hair and bundled it up in a messy knot with a clip. She quickly threw on a tank top and a velour hoody with matching sweatpants. She put on some flip flops and made her way to the control room.

She already had an invitation to videoconference from Viktor.

“What took you so long?” Viktor asked impatiently.

“Had to shower off some scum residue,” Maia replied.

“What happened?” Viktor asked.

Maia told him about what had gone down with Syd, Benny and Tommy.

Viktor gave a low whistle. “You can never stay low can you?”

“Trouble follows me everywhere,” Maia said dismissively. “Benny mentioned the Russian getting impatient. Goods are moving, not sure if it’s the Rave-IX or the remaining drugs from Vergara. It’s obvious that Reznikov now wants to moved in on Vergara’s turf.”

“It’s the remaining drugs. We have no indication that the Rave-IX is in circulation. I think Reznikov is familiarizing himself with the distribution channels. With him alienated from his bratva and Vergara in jail, it’s the perfect storm. I’m concerned that what happened tonight might put a target on your back and bring trouble down on the town of Westcove.”

“Can’t say I’m not looking forward to it, but this town is too peaceful for the hellfire that Reznikov could bring. I cannot stay here for long,” Maia said.

“Patience, Maia. It’s two weeks until the medical conference. I’ve gone ahead and signed you up to attend with a couple of Guardians. You’ll continue to keep your cover as a marketing executive for a pharmaceutical company,” Viktor said. “I have some other information for you. Our forensics turned up some stuff on Rick Tanner’s data that didn’t add up. On a hunch, I poked into other organizations and got them to give up some classified information.” He paused.

“And?” Viktor certainly loved drama.

“Rick Tanner is actually Richard Grayson. He’s DEA.”

“What?” Maia was stunned. “Does he know about me?”

“No. Just like you, he’s in deep cover. I think his role as a detective was initially to flush out the dirty cops in some major cities that were on the take from Vergara. That’s why he kept getting reassigned. None of my contacts at the DEA know about you so you’re not in their database,” Viktor said. “If this Rick guy starts giving you grief, if for some reason your story about the good Samaritan doesn’t check out, give me a call immediately—and it better not be your one phone call from the slammer.”

“I don’t know how you keep track of who knows what but I’m sure glad you’re the one doing it,” Maia said.

“However, if we move on Reznikov in Baltimore, we’ll need to keep the DEA and FBI abreast of your role in this,” Viktor said.

“So, are we still playing the Lee angle?” Say no, say no. Maia prayed.

“Yes.”

Shit.

Maia stepped out of the elevator and pulled the lever down to slide the bookcases away. She stepped through into Jack’s study and pulled the lever up to set the bookcases back into place.

Jack was half-sitting, half leaning on his desk, arms across his chest, ankles crossed nonchalantly. He was looking at her. His slate-blue eyes had an exotic glint and he looked predatory. He was fresh from a shower, his jet-black hair curling slightly, still damp. He was wearing drawstring pajama bottoms and a worn-out grey t-shirt and was bare foot. His lean muscles rippled across his chest and his upper arms were bunched in restrained power.

Maia’s breath hitched. Jack McCord was the finest male specimen she had come across in a long time, perhaps ever.

“All done reporting back to your virtual babysitter?” Jack asked, raising a dark brow.

“Viktor is hardly a babysitter,” Maia said, grinning at the idea of Viktor and the word baby together in a sentence. “Why are you still up? I thought you had a rough week?”

Jack pushed back and walked towards her. Maia did her best to stand her ground and not shuffle back. There was raw carnality oozing from every fiber of his being and her body—damn her—couldn’t help reacting, her nipples tightened.

He held out his hand to her and said, “The smell of apple pie is all over the house, I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow morning.”

She thought Jack was going to kiss her, and couldn’t understand why she was relieved and disappointed at the same time. This man stirred up such conflicting emotions in her, it was so unsettling.

Maia threaded her hand in his as she followed him out of the study. “Well, I did try to procure vanilla ice cream, but my mission was foiled by the Russian mafia.”

Jack threw back his head and laughed.

“Now this is the best apple pie, I’ve ever had.” Jack smacked his lips as he forked the last bite into his mouth. “You have to marry me now.”

“Or I can just teach Grace to make it, that’d be a simpler proposition,” Maia replied dryly as she finished her own slice. “That vanilla ice cream would have been the kicker though.”

Jack brows knitted together as he scrutinized her under the bright kitchen light. “There’s a bruise forming on your cheekbone.” Then realization hit him and he asked furiously, “Did those bastards hit you?”

“Correction. I let them hit me. I needed to get them complacent,” Maia said in satisfaction.

“You play a dangerous game.”

“I had it under control,” she replied calmly.

Jack looked like he wanted to argue more but he reached out and touched her gently on the face where the bruise was forming, then sighed. “You’ll be the death of me. So how did you take them down?”

Maia told him.

Jack stared at her. “Remind me not to get on your bad side. Do you know who they were?”

“They’re working to hide the leftover drugs from Vergara.”

That caught Jack by surprise and his eyes widened. “You’re shitting me.”

Maia shook her head. “It gets better. The Russian guy who has me on his hit list, appears to be moving in on Vergara’s turf.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“Sorry, Jack I can’t tell you more than that,” she said. “I just thought you’d find it interesting how everything was intertwined.”

“You know where he is.”

Maia sighed. “Viktor has a plan to draw him out.”

Jack’s eyes sparked dangerously. “And you’re the bait,” he said flatly.

Maia shrugged. “It’s a brilliant plan.”

“The hell it is!” Jack grabbed her by the shoulders and snarled, “They’re the Russian mob. Can’t you get it through your thick skull that they’re dangerous?”

“And can’t you get it through yours that I’ve shot down every single merc they sent after me? You keep on forgetting what I do for a living,” Maia said angrily. “If you insist on behaving this way, we better call off our arrangement. You’re so getting into my space! This is not just-sex only.”

Jack’s eyes heated up, this time not with anger but with pure lust. He hauled her up on the countertop, unzipped her hoodie and pulled it off her, then yanked the clip off her head releasing waves of her glorious red hair.

“Fine, I’ll show you just-sex,” Jack muttered before his mouth came down hard and demanding, forcing her lips open as he sucked her tongue into his mouth and she gasped at the blatant invasion. He plundered her lips indecently as his fingers nudged the straps of her tank down to expose her breast. He trailed open-mouth kisses down her neck to draw circles around her nipples with his tongue before he begun to suck them to a taut peak.

He pulled her sweat pants halfway down and slipped his hand into her heated core.

“I want to taste you, eat you up,” he whispered thickly, starting to breathe hard.

Maia’s skin was on fire, she wanted his touch everywhere. She kicked off her sweats pants and Jack immediately wedged his hips between her thighs. His hand slipped through the lacy waistband of her panties, cupping her moist cove before sliding one finger inside her.

“Jack…” Maia cried out. She moved her hips in rhythm, wanting more.

After a few moments, he began to slide two fingers in and out while rubbing her swollen cleft with his thumb. She could feel the pressure building. His mouth was back on hers, kissing her urgently as she rode his hand wantonly. He tasted of apple pie and he smelled so good, spicy cologne mingling with a clean soapy scent. Then suddenly his fingers withdrew from their maddening strokes and Maia protested the loss of his touch.

He swung her up in his arms to carry her to the living room. With one knee to the sectional sofa, he laid her half sitting, half lying against the corner. His hands skimmed her hips and in one tug, her panties were gone, her knees hoisted over his shoulders and then his mouth hit between her legs. Jack growled low as he suckled and licked her tender feminine folds and flicked his tongue mercilessly against her clit, her inner thigh muscles alternately clenching and weakening as she trembled with pleasure.

“You taste so fucking sweet, I could eat you forever,” Jack rasped as he continued to hungrily lap up her honey-slick wetness.

Maia trashed her head wildly and moaned, ”Almost there, don’t stop!”

But he stopped and Maia wanted to strangle him.

“Not without me, babe.”

She heard a rustle of clothes as Jack took off his shirt and freed his raging erection and then he covered her body with his and suddenly slammed into her, burying himself to the hilt inside her.

Maia gasped as an uncomfortable fullness hit her; she had to struggle to take in Jack’s size.

Jack sensed her discomfort. He paused and searched her face.

“You, okay?” he whispered huskily.

Maia nodded and squeezed her legs around his hips to encourage him to move. He withdrew slowly and slid back in. Her core started relaxing and the pleasure returned swiftly.

“You’re so tight,” Jack gritted raggedly, pushing the edge of his arousal.

One of her leg was wrapped around his waist, the other dropped to his side allowing him to drive his shaft deeper.

Maia started writhing beneath him, she was so close. “Harder, Jack. Oh God, harder!”

“Come on, babe. Give it to me,” he grunted roughly.

He moved one of his hand to the back of the couch and started powering in and out relentlessly. He pulled out almost all the way and slammed back into her. The third time he thrust, Maia was overwhelmed with the burst of her own orgasm. She felt her inner muscles spasming around his rigid flesh.

“Jack…Oh God… don’t stop!” Maia cried out as she felt her sex pulsing deliciously.

Jack continued to pound into her furiously, almost savagely, his hand gripping the corner of the couch for extra leverage as he pumped harder. With one final powerful thrust his neck muscles tensed as he shuddered. He almost yelled his release but instead lowered his head and started kissing her, groaning into her mouth as his own orgasm overwhelmed him.

Coming down from his climax, he stayed buried inside her and started nuzzling her neck, randomly nipping her and breathing in her scent as he continued to rock gently into her.

Wow, Maia thought. That was intense. She felt Jack smile against her neck and realized that she had said it aloud. Shit.

He lifted his head and his slate-blue eyes connected with hers as he said softly, “Yeah, it was.”

“Um, you’re still inside me,” Maia told him.

Jack nudged his semi-hard cock further into her and grinned roguishly as her eyes widened. “So, I am.”

He then pulled out slowly, pushed back and tucked himself back into his pajamas. Maia had barely gotten her panties on before he swept her into his arms.

“Where are we going?” she demanded, a little peeved because he kept hauling her around.

“We’re going to get you cleaned up, and then we’re going to bed,” Jack declared before he added. “Together.”

Jack stared at the woman tucked securely in the crook of his arm, one leg thrown over hers, her ass pressed against his crotch. They were spooning. Jack didn’t spoon; he never had in his past relationships. Even with Claire, they’d cuddle briefly after sex but he’d pull away eventually. With Maia, it was different. It felt natural, like she had always belonged there, pressed close to him, a perfect fit. He had always known sex with her would be mind-blowing, but he hadn’t expected it to touch a part of his soul in a way he wasn’t ready to examine. As he drove hungrily into her softness, there was an overwhelming need for him to possess her, to make her his, to own her body and soul.

Jack sighed into her hair. He recalled how he had battled with her earlier to finally get her to sleep with him in bed.

After he had carried her up the stairs, she started to struggle in his arms, forcing him to set her on her feet. Then she tried to stalk into her own bedroom.

“You take another step towards your room and I’ll toss you over my shoulder,” Jack warned balefully. She was standing in front of him in her tank and her panties, her expression mutinous.

“Though I would enjoy kicking your ass, that would seem ungrateful after you’ve given me an impressive orgasm,” Maia acquiesced. “Fine, which one is your bedroom?”

Jack’s lips twitched. “Third door on the right.”

He immediately led her to a large bathroom finished extravagantly in Italian marble. There was a huge shower fitted with state-of-the-art shower heads and an even larger bathtub.

“Jeez, you can fit a cheerleading squad in there,” Maia said, eyeing the tub.

“Jealous?”

“Oh, puh-lease.” As she rolled her eyes, Jack found her so damned adorable he wanted to kiss her all over.

He had a hard time reconciling the image of the woman who had just blown the heads off three men with the woman he had just had the best sex of his life with.

He lifted her by the armpits and deposited her on the counter beside one of the marble sinks.

When she moved to hop off, he ordered, “Stay.” He turned on the water and got it to a warm temperature before he fetched a hand towel. Jack started to slip off her panties.

“Hey!” Maia glared at him, slapping at his hand.

He gripped her thigh and returned her glare, not backing down. “Now, we can do this the easy way … ” he began on a threat.

She huffed, then lowered her eyes and looked away. Jack tried not to smile triumphantly as he removed her lacy bikini and started to clean her up, intimately touching her with a warm moist towel.

“Are you always this considerate with the women you have sex with?” Maia asked sarcastically.

“Sometimes,” Jack lied. Actually, he had never done this before, he just wanted to continue touching her, he couldn’t get enough of her. Damn her.

After he had finished, he said, “There’s an extra toothbrush in that drawer.”

“We’re not sharing a bed.”

Jack lost his patience. God, was he going to have to fight her tooth and nail on everything?

“Look, frankly you’re getting exhausting. Get it through your head, while I’m fucking you, you sleep in my bed. You told me we got two weeks. Well, I’m not wasting any time. Every minute I get, whether it’s waking up in the middle of the night or waking up in the morning and I wanna be inside you, I’m getting fucking inside you.”

Maia looked at him for a beat as if considering what he had just said. “Could you please go to my room and grab me a pair of panties and pajama bottoms. Top and bottom drawers.”

“Sure thing, babe,” Jack replied, thrown off-guard by her sudden capitulation. Then he added, “Just move your stuff into my room tomorrow.”

All was going smoothly or so Jack thought until they got under the comforter. She was lying at the very edge of her side of the bed, her back towards him.

Jack felt his annoyance growing. He’d never been in this situation before. In all his relationships, the women usually rolled into him and hugged him across the waist. He would allow that position for a while before disengaging and setting them firmly aside.

And now, the woman he desired the most was showing him her back.

Knowing he was up for another battle, he edged closer to her. He saw her shoulders tense, and smiled sadistically as he tagged her around the waist, hauling her against him and trapping her legs with his.

“Jack,” Maia hissed. “I can’t sleep when my limbs are encumbered like this.”

“Give it a try, sweetheart,” he murmured lazily. “You might like it.”

She continued to squirm. Her ass was rubbing against his crotch and damn him if he didn’t find that arousing.

“Babe, unless you want me inside you again, I suggest you stop wiggling. You’re making me hard,” Jack said softly into her hair as he rubbed his growing erection against her to prove a point, laughter rumbling in his chest as she gasped in outrage.

“Go to sleep, babe,” he bent down and kissed her temple and held her close. Her body was tense and rigid, her breathing uneven. After about fifteen minutes, her body relaxed and she finally fell asleep. Not long after, he followed her into slumber.

Jack thought he was dreaming: a child-like voice was speaking Russian. He woke up and realized that Maia was having a nightmare. She had somehow broken free of him and was moving her head from side to side, her hands gripping the bedsheets. Jack had a little grasp of Russian and realized in horror what she was saying: she was begging someone not to kill her mother and father.

What. The. Fuck?

Jack propped up on an elbow and started shaking her. “Maia, wake up.”

Her eyes opened immediately. “Jack…”

“You were having a bad dream…” Jack started saying.

“Oh, okay…” she closed her eyes again and fell promptly back to sleep.

Jack stayed awake for a while, gathering her tightly to him. He was shocked at the revelations of her nightmare even if he had always doubted that Maia Pierce was her real name. Jack would bet his whole car collection that she was not of American descent either. He had always thought her features looked European, and he would bet she was Russian. She was getting too damn complicated for him. His survival instinct told him to run the other way, while another fragment deep inside him was demanding some answers and the latter part was winning. Jack was going to call in some favors and get the information he needed on Maia Pierce, damn the consequences.