Page 15

T he quick glimpse I got of Knox in his little swim shorts makes me grin as I swim underwater.

He didn’t exactly look comfortable, but damn he fills them out well.

His body is even more amazing than I would’ve guessed.

I like how he’s tall and lean, but still powerfully built.

Those biceps of his are no stranger to the gym.

And don’t even get me started on his flat, ridged abs. Drool-worthy.

The warm water sluices over me as I swim up and break the surface.

Of course, the pool is heated, so instead of cooling me off, it’s making me warmer.

Slicking my wet hair back, I turn, treading water, but I don’t see Knox anywhere.

A moment later, I feel a tug on my ankle and glance down with a squeak.

He pops up and shakes his head like a dog, sending water droplets everywhere.

I laugh and slap the water, spraying him.

For a moment, we just stare at each other, breathing harder from swimming.

I can’t look away from his eyes. They’re like two sapphires the color of deep midnight, rimmed in onyx.

He has me pinned in his gaze, which is fine with me.

At this moment, there’s nowhere on earth I’d rather be.

“You look good wet,” he murmurs, eyeing me like a hungry dog eyes a steak.

Clearing my throat, trying to break whatever spell Mr. Charmer has cast, I kick my feet and swim over to the side. He follows, placing a hand on the edge. We can’t touch the bottom, but I manage to prop my toes on a small ledge.

“So, we’re just supposed to swim around?” I ask.

“Yep.” His mouth edges up and my attention drops to his angled jaw covered in light stubble.

Damn, the man is far too attractive. Why couldn’t he be an uninteresting, unattractive dud? Someone who wouldn’t make me want dangerous things?

You know what kind of guy he is, Hunter, the logical part of my brain says.

You’ve also been lonely for a very long time, the other part of me intrudes. Why not have a little fun?

The kiss we shared last night replays in my head and I can feel things heating up. Like a million degrees. We almost kissed again downstairs. And the truth is, I’m disappointed we were interrupted. I’m craving his mouth on mine again.

“What’re you thinking about?” he asks, moving closer, voice low and so sexy it has me rubbing my thighs together beneath the water.

“About—” I’m about to say “About that kiss” and take a huge, vulnerable leap, when I look over his shoulder and spot a few guests entering the pool area. Instead, I murmur, “We have company.”

A wave of disappointment floods me. If I’d said what I was thinking, would he have kissed me again? Because why lie? I want his tongue dueling with mine again. I want to press up against his wet body and caress his hard muscles. The woman in me needs it. Desperately.

He curses under his breath. “Time to do some laps.”

Maybe it’s a good thing we got interrupted, I decide, and start swimming the long length of the pool. I need to cool off and remember why we’re here. And it’s certainly not to get frisky with Knox in this pool. We have a job to do.

Knox is a wonderfully steamy distraction, and as much as I want to doubt him, I’m starting to see his good qualities. I really like how he includes me in everything, from the meetings with his crew to the conversations about the job.

With Ex Nihilo, I sometimes felt a bit on the outs. Probably because I was merely their pilot. They were the assassins gone rogue with a vengeance, and I hung back, stayed with the jet and let them do their thing.

Maybe there’s more to Knox Beckett than meets the eye.

After several laps, I let my feet touch the bottom in the shallow end. It’s about four feet deep and my toes slide on the glass. I see people below, looking up, drinking champagne and socializing, and I wonder if all these fancy guests live in houses like this.

I’m also wondering how Addie and the others are doing. We haven’t heard anything in a while, so they must still be searching. My earpiece is waterproof, so I know it’s working.

I watch Knox slice through the water with clean, strong strokes and lean my back against the side, lifting my foot, expecting it to hit tiles. Instead, it touches nothing, and I lose my balance slightly. What the hell?

Glancing down, I realize there’s an opening, and I’m trying to see through the blurry water when Knox swims up beside me.

“Look!” I murmur, pointing down at the circular hole. “There’s a tunnel.”

He moves closer, brushing up against me to get a better look, and I feel a thrum of awareness. Before he can comment, I pull in a deep breath and dive down. Swimming forward, I pass through the narrow tunnel, which is a few feet long, and find myself in a completely different pool.

Breaking the surface, I take a moment to look around.

I’m standing in a much smaller, shallower, very private pool.

Knox pops up beside me, pulling in a deep breath of air.

There’s a couch, table and expensive-looking piece of art on a pedestal.

Several large oil paintings hang on the wall, probably priceless originals, and I wonder if Torres stole those, too.

There’s also a display case, but it’s hard to see what’s inside from my low position.

Moving over to the stairs, we both climb out and drip water across the shiny marble floor. I gasp when I see the biggest, brightest, greenest emerald displayed on a black velvet cushion, sparkling beneath a light.

Beside me, Knox lets out a low curse then presses his comms. “We’ve got eyes on the emerald. Hunter found it,” he says, and my chest swells a bit because he’s giving me all the credit. And he also sounds proud.

“Where are you?” Addie asks.

We both look around, not quite sure how to answer that.

“No clue. Some private room connected to an underwater tunnel to the upper pool. Gimme a sec.”

“I don’t see a door,” I say, searching for an entrance, an exit, some way to get in or out of the room other than swimming.

“It must be hidden, and we don’t have time to search. This is where Torres probably hides the hot stuff.” He scrubs a hand down his face then pushes his comms unit. “Deck, I don’t think there’s any way to get you in here other than a swim, and that’s going to draw attention.”

“What have you got?” he asks.

“A glass display case…” Knox bends down, examining the edges, lightly running his index finger along the wooden base, just below the glass.

A shiver runs through me at that subtle movement. Plus, it’s cold out of the warm water. Or, at least, that’s what I try to tell myself as I rub the goosebumps away.

“There’s a keypad,” he continues.

“Perfect,” Brighton says. “He can enter the code The Man gave us, grab the emerald and we get the hell outta here.”

“Hold up,” Linc warns. “We don’t know if there’s an alarm or pressure switch.”

“And there usually is,” Addie states.

I exchange a worried look with Knox. This is Linc’s area of expertise and he’s not here, which makes me incredibly nervous.

“I can walk you through it. At least, I think.”

“That’s not very reassuring,” Knox says.

“Can you or can’t you, Linc?” Addie asks.

“Yeah, we definitely don’t want to trigger an alarm,” Brighton adds.

“I can deactivate the alarm,” Ryder interjects. “Hang on while I work some magic.”

My nerves are stretched tight and I feel like I might vomit. “Maybe we should go,” I suggest, but Knox shakes his head and lays a hand on my arm.

“I’ve got this. Trust me.”

I force a nod, but my stomach is a tight ball of nerves, warning me to run. “Knox—”

Suddenly, his hands lift, cupping my face, and our eyes lock. “Do you trust me?” he asks, searching my face.

I think so, I realize, but the words refuse to come out. “I’m trying,” I whisper raggedly.

“Try harder,” he demands. Then he leans in, his mouth crashing against mine, and we kiss hungrily.

Water drips all over the floor as our wet bodies mold together.

My arms snake around his neck and he tightens his hold.

There’s not much between us, just some very thin, barely-there material, and his hard body is making me want more.

Ohh . He’s deliciously wet, yet so hot, and I writhe against him.

“Okay, check the back of the case,” Linc says, and Knox and I reluctantly pull apart.

“You make me crazy,” he tells me huskily before tapping his earpiece. “Copy that, Deck.”

I shift, completely overheated as he circles around to the rear of the case and squats down.

“I’ve got a red, blinking light,” Knox reports.

“Good,” Linc responds. “That means you’re clear.”

Knox stands up and moves back to my side. “What’s that code?”

Linc starts rattling off a series of numbers and I’m holding my breath as Knox hits one button after another.

Oh, my God, this is absolutely nail-biting.

The only thing I can compare it to is when I was up in the air having a dogfight with the enemy.

My heart is racing, my palms are sweating and adrenaline is pumping through my body.

After he punches in the last number, there’s a slight wisp of sound as the glass lifts.

“It’s open,” Knox murmurs, and I finally release the breath I’ve been holding.

“You need to check if there’s a pressure switch,” Linc says.

“And how exactly do I do that?” Knox asks.

“You have your switchblade?”

“Always.”

He plucks a small, folded blade from an inside flap of his swimsuit where it’s been carefully concealed.

I slant him a look as he opens it. “Are you sure you’re not former military? A SEAL maybe?”

He chuckles. “Maybe in a past life.”

“Okay,” Linc says, “carefully slide it beneath the emerald—”

“There’s a velvet cloth under it.”

“Huh.”

Knox and I exchange worried looks. “Huh?” he echoes. “You gotta give me better direction than that, Deck.”

“Maybe there isn’t a switch.”

A very tense, excessively long moment of silence passes.

“What the fuck am I doing?” Knox asks in a singsong voice.

“Sorry, I’m just thinking of potential outcomes and how to avoid the bad ones,” Linc replies.

“Christ,” Knox murmurs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Yes, please let’s avoid the bad ones.”

“Okay, slide the tip of the blade beneath the emerald and feel around for a pressure switch. It’ll feel like a little button.

Just don’t lift the emerald off it,” he warns.

“If you feel it, you’re going to slide your blade over it and sideways, wedging it in the crevice, making sure to keep the switch down.

Don’t let it lift up at any point or it’ll trigger an alarm. ”

Knox pulls in a breath, and I’m amazed at how steady his hands are as he does what Linc says.

Once again, I’m holding my breath, my hands balled into tight fists, and anxiety fills me.

I watch as he holds the emerald in place with one hand and carefully maneuvers the knife beneath it with his other.

“I don’t feel anything,” he says, carefully probing with his knife.

“No button? A small switch? Some kind of nub?” Linc asks.

“Pretend it’s a woman and you’re looking for her—”

“I have no problem finding that, you idiot.” Knox rolls his eyes at Ryder’s comment. Then he gingerly moves the knife’s tip, carefully prodding again.

“Anything?” Linc asks.

“No. I don’t think so.”

“You need to be sure.”

Knox looks over at me. “I don’t feel anything.”

I give him a reassuring nod. “He said there might not be one.”

He swears under his breath, and I’m not sure if it’s a bead of sweat that rolls down his temple or a drop of water.

“There’s nothing,” Knox states firmly.

“Then pick up that emerald and get the hell out of there,” Linc says.

“Addie?” Knox asks, deferring to their leader.

“You heard him,” she says. “We’ll see you outside the gates.”

“Copy that.”

Knox sends me one more look, and I nod. With my heart in my throat, I watch as he pulls the switchblade back and lifts the emerald off its velvet bed.

And the shrill sound of an alarm fills the air.