Page 32 of Winter’s Heart (Three of Hearts #1)

JACOB WAS SO proud of her, his chest felt like it was exploding.

Nikki had fulfilled the brief and more with her beautiful performance.

She would’ve made a great cop, he decided as he cradled her in his arms. They were on the couch in the living room, her head in his lap, pretending she’d fainted as Linstead ranted from the doorway.

At least he hoped she was faking. Because she was doing an excellent job of it.

Nikki cracked an eyelid open and quirked a knowing eyebrow, then shut it again quickly as Miller came in carrying a glass of water, and he almost grinned with relief. He took the proffered glass and lifted Nikki into a half-sitting position.

“Come on, babe, have a drink. It’ll make you feel better,” he pleaded. She moaned something incomprehensible, but sat up straighter, opening her eyes and taking a greedy sip of water. Good girl. She was playing her role to perfection.

“Bakshi,” Linstead snapped. The new agent tore his gaze away from Jacob and Nikki to stare at his boss from his vantage point in the corner of the room.

If Jacob wasn’t mistaken, Bakshi had been enjoying the spectacle of Nikki’s meltdown and escape attempt.

The guy probably didn’t get much action on any normal given day.

“Make sure that damn window is shut, then get back out to the front porch and check no one in the neighborhood heard that commotion.”

“Yes, sir.” Bakshi skirted past his boss and headed down the hallway, giving one last glance in Nikki’s direction as he went.

Linstead had stabbed at his phone a few moments ago, turning the blaring siren off.

At least Jacob now knew the windows were indeed alarmed, and the notification went straight to Linstead.

The other agent who’d been on guard out the back had already returned to his station, having not been needed in the end.

“Come on,” Jacob urged, giving Nikki a gentle shake. “Another sip for me.”

She groaned again, and this time sat up completely.

“Where am I?” she asked in a bewildered tone.

Then her gaze landed on Linstead, and she said, “You,” in such a menacing tone Linstead looked up from his phone.

“Get out of my house. Now!” She lifted an imperious finger and pointed straight at his heart.

Linstead opened his mouth, probably about to utter a placation, but Nikki got in first.

“Don’t you dare say another word,” she growled. “Get out of my house, you…you…monster, or I’ll start screaming, and I won’t stop until the entire neighborhood comes running.”

Linstead shut his mouth with a click and glared at Nikki.

But her threat had him wavering; Jacob had been right, the less attention they drew to this house, the better.

Instead, he turned his focus to Jacob. “You need to keep your woman on a leash,” he said, and Jacob knew they were finally seeing the true Linstead.

Jacob had suspected there was a nasty side to the man.

“I won’t be so lenient if this happens again.

” He turned on his heel and with a swift gesture for Miller to follow him, headed toward the door.

Miller gave them both one hasty, appraising glance before she went after him.

Miller was much more astute than Linstead, and Jacob hoped she hadn’t just smelled something fishy in their little performance.

“Good riddance,” Nikki yelled after him. “Come on, I need a shower to wash this filth off me,” she stated loudly, staring after Linstead’s retreating back. The front door slammed, shaking the whole house on its foundations, leaving a heavy silence behind.

“Are you really okay?” he asked, not having to fake his concern.

Her face was pale but determined. And so beautiful that it made his heart squeeze just looking at her.

He wanted to kiss her until they both ran out of breath, could feel the life pumping through her veins, set her alight with his desire; the idea someone might be listening in was the only thing stopping him.

“Yes.” She nodded, then got to her feet. “But I really do need that shower.”

Without letting go of her hand, he followed dutifully into the bedroom.

But rather than heading to the bathroom, she made a beeline for the now-closed window.

Jacob saw two photo frames lying on the floor, with the glass smashed.

Nikki ignored the broken pictures, instead kneeling down and opening the top drawer of the small table.

She made a squeaking sound of triumph, which she instantly quashed, but when she turned around, she was brandishing a laptop in one hand and a dongle in the other.

Russell had come through. Their plan had worked.

All that subterfuge had been staged to achieve just one goal.

Once Nikki had turned on her hysterical scene, drawing all attention to her and away from the front garden, then got that window open, and re-directed all the agents’ focus away from her bedroom and back to the main lounge area, Russell had time to sneak around the front of the house, reach in through the window and deposit the computer and the Wi-Fi device, and then hightail it out of there before anyone was the wiser.

Simple but effective. All they’d needed was a diversion, and Nikki had provided that perfectly.

She now had the wherewithal to analyze the data she and her colleagues had collected, then capture it all in a document that she could send to the prosecutors in charge of the court case.

And she had two days to do it. Russell was helping as much as he could.

He would be her intermediary, liaising with the lawyers, letting them know what was going on.

She was counting on him to negotiate a video link-up for her testimony, rather than an in-person appearance.

This was going to take some wrangling, as it was unusual in a high-profile case such as this for the expert witness not to be there in the flesh.

They had to keep their fingers crossed Russell could convince the prosecution to get the judge to agree, because there was no way Nikki was about to get onto a commercial airline and fly to Oslo, not with half the FBI in America on her tail.

But if they could wrangle this just right, she might be able to get to some place safe and hunker down long enough to give her statement via video link.

And that would have to be sufficient. There was nothing else she could do.

Nikki quickly slipped the computer and dongle under the mattress—the same hiding place as her ancient iPad—then stood and took him by the hand, leading him into the bathroom without a word.

Her eyes told him all he needed to know.

The shower might’ve been a ploy to go back to her room, but she was going to make sure they both enjoyed their ablutions.

They celebrated their victory by stripping each other naked and exploring each other’s bodies under the hot spray.

Now he could kiss her however and wherever he desired, and he did exactly that.

Using his lips to tell her how much he cared.

How much he wanted her. A want like none he’d ever experienced before.

No other woman had quite this effect on him.

Desperate desire mixed with something painfully pure and yet intangible.

Lathering up the soap, he used his slick palm to wander over her curves and long limbs, flat stomach and then down to the V between her legs.

He gloried in all that soft, creamy skin, learning the lines of her body, the rhythm of her beating heart as he teased with his fingers, then his mouth.

She arched her back when his hands found her breasts, her eyes going dark with desire.

Nails dug into his shoulders, the light scrape sending an erotic pulse through to his cock.

Her mouth was wet and hot, demanding on his.

He took her up against the wall, covering her mouth to stop her crying out as he plunged into her over and over, then watched her face as her orgasm pushed her soaring over the edge to oblivion.

Only then did he allow himself to follow, the force of his own climax leaving him shuddering and weak at the knees, so that he had to grab hold of the showerhead to prevent them both tumbling to the tiled floor.

Afterward, once they dried off and snuggled beneath the blankets of her bed to keep warm, he nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, telling her how beautiful she was.

That she was a lioness, so courageous and fierce, standing up to Linstead and his cronies.

She smiled and stroked his face as they lay facing each other, and he knew a moment of such pure joy that he was almost speechless.

But soon, reality overtook them. She had a job to do, as did he.

His job was to protect her as she wrote up her testimony, not let anyone discover what they were up to.

And to come up with a plan so that she could fulfill her wish to appear via video link at that court case.

That was still a week away, but whatever they did to escape this house, it’d have to be foolproof.

The FBI weren’t dummies, and Jacob wasn’t stupid enough to believe this was going to be easy.

But he’d do everything in his power to make it happen.

Because of her. Because he believed in her. Because she meant a great deal to him.

Before he could explore that thought any more, Nikki sat up and stretched, revealing those delectable breasts as the sheet fell away. She gave a loud yawn, and announced, “I’m tired, I think I’ll sleep for a while.”

“Good. I’ll make dinner, you just rest,” he suggested loudly, easing himself out of bed and going to the bathroom to salvage his clothes.

“I’ll wake you up in a few hours,” he said as he returned and slipped his T-shirt over his head.

She merely nodded, watching him with anxious eyes as he retrieved the electronics from their hiding place at the end of the bed and as quietly as possible handed them over to her with a conspiratorial grin.

She took a deep breath, then grinned back at him.

But as she opened the computer, her smile fell away, and her brow furrowed as she turned all her focus to the task ahead.

Jacob watched her for a few moments, the sickly green light from the screen turning her face almost ghostly.

This was the only safe place for Nikki to write to make sure her captors couldn’t see what she was up to.

The Wi-Fi dongle allowed her unimpeded access to the internet and also made sure the FBI couldn’t track what she was doing.

They’d taken a chance sending the first email to Russell through her home Internet connection because the FBI were likely monitoring her usage.

It seemed they had got away with it, however, as there had been no repercussions and no questions asked.

Now, she’d have to sit in bed and type quietly, but it was the only way she was going to get anything done.

He left her to it, hoping that by making enough noise and mess in the kitchen, he’d divert the attention of anyone who was watching or listening onto his antics, and not what she was up to in the bedroom.