Page 31

31

Hex

This might be controversial of me to confess, but despite the very real danger we are in, I am having fun.

It’s the first time I’m out in the field rather than doing what I am good at from behind a screen at home or an internet café, and there is something very exciting about it. Part of it has to do with Aran being my partner, I’m sure. And let me tell you—he’s the best kind of partner, holding my hand as we jog up the secret stairs, caging me against the wall as we halt at corners to check if the coast is clear. His strong body presses against mine every time we do that, and it’s growing considerably harder to behave.

I want to push him down and have my way with him. He’s just too damn sexy when he’s focused on something. It makes me want to tease him and annoy him and distract him… and push my tongue inside his mouth and my hand in his pants. With how things are between us now, I’m positive he wouldn’t mind it… too much.

“Tien,” he whispers close to my ear, his fingers skimming over my chin. “Don’t tempt me like this.”

Tempt him? I perk up, the hairs all over my body rising. We’ve just reached the residences’ deck and are currently chilling behind a potted palm while he scopes out the hall ahead. He did it every floor, using a combination of observation and the layout plans we have on our phones to map out our route and avoid as many cameras as possible.

“Uh, I’m not doing anything though?” I argue, giving into a sudden urge to stroke his muscular arm.

I bite on my lip. God, I love his body. He takes very diligent care of it, and it really shows. I can feel his definition even though layers of clothes, every dip and ridge proof of how much time he’s spent training. It’s not just gym either—he runs, he swims, he rides horses. I’ve joined him occasionally, mainly to ogle him, but if I hope to ever accompany him again on a mission, I think I need to up my game. I’ll never excel at this the way he does, but if I can take care of myself, he would have no reason to say no.

“You are always doing something, Tien. Don’t play coy,” he counters in a low and playful voice, his lips grazing the tip of my ear.

Okay, he caught me. But I didn’t think my attempt to channel sexy thoughts to him would actually work.

“I can’t help it, okay? All I’ve been thinking about is you and me naked, but things keep getting in the way.”

He chuckles, and it’s dark and inviting. Fond, affectionate. It caresses my already euphoric heart, calming and agitating it at the same time. Part of me still can’t believe we actually got here, that I have a real shot with him, that he’s willing to let me try. He’s denied it, of course, but I can tell. All I need is a tiny crack in his defenses, a small, almost unperceivable gap.

“Focus on the mission for me, and once this is over, we’ll talk.”

I nod. “Okay, but only if we talk naked.”

He shakes his head. “I’ll think about it.”

That translates to a yes, because Aran has an incredibly difficult time saying no to me. I know and take advantage of that every time.

“Deal. I’ll be 100% professional from now on.”

He pecks me on the cheek. “We’ll see about that. Let’s go.”

I flush out of nowhere and have to adjust myself so my very present boner doesn’t betray my already failing resolve. Swoon . He’s the cutest, most adorable husband-to-be ever.

Clapping my cheeks to help myself focus, I follow Aran out from behind the plant. The long, wide carpeted hallway is mostly empty, save for the guards stationed here and there. We walk by them without an issue, nodding here, saying hi there, until we reach the mini-golf area. A couple of VIPs are playing there, and we greet them too, before turning down the corridor leading to Mrs. Lynx’s cabin.

Now, we knew already that there would be guards, so that’s not really an issue. The problem is the cameras.

“What do you want to do?” I ask Aran and lift Mrs. Lynx’s tablet so I can try to access the devices. It fails. “Beat them up, pretend we are here to cover for them because the boss summoned them, or call Mong?”

A faraway look settles on his face as he considers each of our options. If I had to guess, he dislikes the idea of further involving a civilian in this mess, but out of the three, that’s probably the safest choice. “Call Mong. Do you think you’ll be able to explain to him how to disable the live feed and loop the cameras?”

I snort. “Please, who do you think I am?” And because I knew which option he’d pick, I’ve already dialed our new friend. “Hi, Mong. You are on your break and currently in the security control room, right? Oh, yes, we have a lead! I’ll tell you all about it, but I need you to do something for us first.”

Ten minutes later, we have the green light as the red dots under the entire array of devices mounted along this stretch of the residences’ deck goes dark. We have maybe an hour at most before someone notices the feed shows four guards patrolling this area when, in fact, there will be zero.

As soon as I give Aran the thumbs up, he charges at the two guards currently chatting in front of a cabin door. They don’t even see him coming. He’s elegant and deadly as he jumps them from behind, wrapping his arms around the neck of one while shoving the other into the door. While he gathers himself from the sudden impact, Aran is done choking the first man, who drops to the floor with a thud.

His buddy just gawks at his still form, confused as blood drips from his nose. Ouch, Aran got him pretty good.

“Hey, what are you—”

A punch under his chin shuts him up. He groans and sways, falling on his ass as he clasps his head and moans in pain. Aran is on him a heartbeat later, squeezing his neck and suffocating him the same way he neutralized the first guard. This one too goes down not twenty seconds later, choking and wheezing until his eyes roll back and he goes limp.

Two down, two left. I search the hallway for them, spotting them just as they turn the corner just after the golf-course and freeze. They stare at me. I stare back at them with a smile while Aran rummages through the possessions of the two guards he just disabled.

“Hey guys! Great timing, we were just looking for you. There was an accident…”

I feel a kiss to the back of my head as a hand comes to rest at the small of my back. “Duck, Tien. And stay low.”

I squat down and fold myself, not questioning why. The guards reach for their radios or weapons as my heart tries to rip out of my chest. Man, I hope they don’t have guns! We didn’t, as a safety precaution, only knives and batons and tasers. The two guards are too slow. Or Aran is a step ahead, hell, ten steps ahead as the knives he must’ve thrown the moment I was out of his way hit their targets. It’s kind of ugly from then on.

Blood gushes from the neck of the left guy, painting his clothes and the floor red. He grimaces in pain and tries to scream, but no sound comes out of his open mouth. The second guard doesn’t have it nearly as bad since he somehow managed to block the knife’s path with his arm. It still struck though, so he’s bleeding profusely. But he also has hold of a gun. Uh-oh, why does he have a gun when we didn’t? The moment he shoots at us, the entire deck will know something is wrong and where we are!

I hear a crack and then an agonizing groan. My attention snaps to Aran, who’s crossed the space to the two guards and is holding the one with the gun by the neck. He’s bleeding from the side of his head and there is an impact mark on the wall, like something has hit it very hard. I put two and two together and find myself amazed by Aran’s speed and viciousness.

He’s scary, objectively. Positively deadly, too. And he most definitely has a thing for necks. It makes sense, since it’s one of the easiest and fastest ways to incapacitate or kill someone, but I wonder if maybe it goes a little deeper for him. Like, the kinky type of deep that I can take advantage of in the bedroom on a regular basis.

The man Aran is holding gurgles, thrashing and gasping. But it’s no use, his eyes rolling back into his head mere moments after Aran’s second hand joins his first.

“Wow. You are scary,” I say a little breathlessly, peeking at the dead man from behind Aran’s wide back.

Aran grins. It’s a boyish open grin that I’ve only seen on a few occasions. It steals my already stolen heart anew, and when he leans down for a quick kiss on my lips, I don’t know what to do with myself. “You already knew that, Tien. You better not be chickening out now because I have no intention of letting you go anymore,” he says and hands me one of the guns he’s retrieved from the dead guards.

Oh. My. God. I stare at the blood dripping from the firearm’s handle. Did he just confess to me? I’m stunned. Dead. In Heaven.

“Come on, we need to get moving,” I hear him say.

He’s no longer next to me, but rather, holding the door to Mrs. Lynx’s cabin open. I’ve no idea when that happened exactly, but I also have the tendency to space out when I’m overwhelmed, so I blame his surprise love declaration for that. It couldn’t have been better either—I mean, there’s nothing more romantic than the love of your life confessing to you while on the battlefield.

I run across to the door and slip inside. “For the record, does that mean we are official?”

Aran just chuckles as he brushes past me and begins searching the massive lounge. I let him off just this once because I won’t be able to focus if I get too excited. Mission first, wedding planning after.

As we move onto the bedrooms since the lounge is a bust, my phone rings. I almost jump out of my skin, but then I glance at the caller ID and let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s Mong,” I reassure Aran, who’s perked up like a rabbit on the lookout for predators.

“Hey, Mong, you were awesome! I don’t know what we would’ve done without your help,” I let my new friend know.

There is a pause, then a deep inhale. “I’m glad but, uh, there is a problem.”

Oh, that doesn’t sound good. I put him on speaker so Aran can hear as well.

“What happened?” I rush out, search all but forgotten. We’re the ones that dragged him into this, so if anything were to happen to him, it would be our fault. “Are you okay?”

“Yes… No? Sort of. I, um, got in a bit of a fight because one of the control room supervisors returned early from his break and noticed the feed was off. I had to knock him out. And now I’m legging it. We’ve got maybe ten minutes before the rest find him and, um, I’m coming to you.”

I can feel the frown slide across Aran’s face without even needing to look at him. “Ok, no problem. We’ve got you. But there is something you need to know first.” I take a deep breath. “We don’t work for the CIA.”

He laughs. “Yeah, I kind of figured that out already. I have a friend whose wife is in the FBI, and she checked for me. But anyway, I don’t blame you for lying. If you hadn’t, I doubt I’d have agreed to help you.”

Hey, at least he’s open-minded. I’ll make sure to explain to him that we only wanted to protect him by omitting the truth and I’ll come clean about everything. He deserves it. Plus, he’s our accomplice now and I’m sure he realizes we are his only chance of making it out of this mess without getting caught.