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Belatedly, Alex replied, “Actually, there is something you can do for me. I’m going to need medical supplies when I get there. Nothing fancy. Stuff a field medic would carry. Bandages, antibiotics, clean surgical implements.”

“They’ll be waiting for you when you get to Baracoa.”

The air rushed out of Alex’s gut. His father might as well have punched him. How in thehelldid his old man know exactly where he and Katie were going when the two of them didn’t even know specifically where they were going.

Did Roman’s mole at D.U. figure it out, or worse, did the information come from the Cuban government? Either way, it was a stunning display of intelligence power. Russia might be a fading empire, but its legendary spy service wasn’t dead, yet.

Not that it mattered at the end of the day. He and Katie would go where they were sent, treat the sick and injured, discover what was being smuggled, and go home. But that wasall. He was damned well keeping his nose out of any other CIAorFSB business. He ended the call abruptly and jammed his phone in his pocket.

To hell with them all. He joined Katie at the window overlooking the ocean and, as she turned to him, drew her close, reveling in how she melted into him. She and Dawn were all he needed.

Katie stood back from the steamy mirror to inspect herself. Nobody would know she’d just screwed the living daylights out of her boyfriend…she hoped. Her cheeks were rosy and skin flushed, but that could be put down to good health and a hot shower, right?

The water cut off behind her. “Could you pass me a towel?” Alex asked.

She handed a dry towel into his outstretched hand with its long, strong fingers and dark tan. She would’ve expected a surgeon of his skill to have more delicate hands. Softer. His were anything but. They were what she would expect of a trained killer. He even had the telltale callous at the base of his right thumb that came from shooting handguns. A lot.

Her dad and brothers had the same shooting callus. She certainly knew how to handle a pistol—it was impossible to grow up in the McCloud house without learning how—but she kept meaning to ask Alex to show her how to use a rifle one of these days. More specifically, a sniper rifle.

She tugged her t-shirt down to the top of her snug jeans. She might only be a nurse, but she knew how to fill out a pair of designer denims. And she could handle herself in a crisis,compliments of her upbringing in a family full of soldiers and cops.

She took a quick look at the TV. The hurricane was wrapping tighter, intensifying into a tight knot of monstrous strength. Its outer bands were lashing the east tip of Cuba, now. In a few hours, the core of the storm would make landfall. It was morbidly fascinating to wonder just how bad the damage would turn out to be.

“Hungry?” Alex asked from behind her.

“Starving.”

“Vigorous sex has that effect on me, too,” he commented. “Although, you didn’t work that hard. Next time, you can do the heavy lifting and pleasure me while I sit back and relax.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and he dropped a kiss on the end of her nose. “And she thinks I’m kidding,” he muttered.

“I don’t for a second think you’re kidding. I look forward to having you at my mercy.”

That sent his right eyebrow into an arch and a speculative gleam into his silver eyes. Hah. She dared him to taste his supper, now. Not that she was going taste hers, either.

His hand landed lightly in the small of her back in a protective, possessive way that never failed to turn her on. Oh, so that’s how tonight was going to be, huh?

She leaned into him in the elevator, pressing her breast lightly against his arm as another couple entered the small space. He didn’t glance down at her, but a faint smirk curved his lips.

He asked for a corner table in the darkest part of the hotel’s restaurant. Pleased to see the long linen tablecloths, she immediately kicked off her shoe and planted her bare foot in his lap. While she massaged his groin with her toes, he massaged her calf under the table until she was all but groaning in pleasure.

He murmured over their entrées, “So tell me, Katie. What naughty fantasy is rattling around in your head wishing to become real?”

Her steak knife fell to her plate with a clatter as it slipped out of her fingers. Embarrassed, she picked it up and risked a peek at Alex. The smirk was firmly in place, again.

Her gaze narrowed. “I rather like the idea of you on your knees. Maybe even with your hands tied behind your back.”

“And then what?” His eyes glittered like shards of broken mirror.

“I would…present…various of my body parts for you to…”

“Make love to with my mouth?”

“Exactly.”

“And if I do this for you? What will you do for me in return? Sex is, at its core, a trade, after all.”

She leaned back, studying him. “That’s where you and I differ. For me, sex is a gift. Something I give freely to you. I don’t necessarily expect anything back in return. Of course, I get plenty back. But it’s not like I think to myself, “Okay, if I give Alexxamount of pleasure, then he owes meyamount back.”