Night Life

The three men walked steadily toward her position. She felt Kane behind her. Knew he was readying himself for the coming fight as well. Though she knew he was a trained agent capable of taking care of himself, she didn’t like to think of Kane in danger. She hoped he didn’t kill any of these men. Sasha knew from her own walk on the dark side that the more you killed the harder it was to come back.

“Monitor the radio band and see if there’s anyone else out there,” she said to Orly.

“Gotcha, Nightshade. I’ll report back as soon as I find something.”

Kane dropped back into a fighting stance. “Go, Nightshade,” he said.

She kicked her opponent as he moved past her position, knocking his weapon from his hand. He countered with a one-two jab toward her face. The blow connected with her cheekbone, stunning her. She pivoted into the punch and spun around to attack again, this time connecting with her opponent’s ribs.

He moaned and stumbled backward. Sasha’s breath ripped in and out. Damn, her face ached. She analyzed her position and, realizing that she had to put her body on autopilot, she ceased thinking about everything but surviving. This guy was twice her size and smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in about a week. She wouldn’t be able to call herself much of an agent if she couldn’t bring him down.

Sasha diverted a blow as it came at her face. She hated getting hit in the head. As she spun away, he grabbed her hair, pulling her up short. Bringing both of her hands together, she reached behind her head for his wrist, applying a firm locking technique. Then, she twisted her body, and ducked under his arm. He tried to kick her but she lifted her leg and kneed him in the groin. He moaned as she twisted his arm behind his back and forced him to his knees.

Stopping beside him, she brought his hands together, using a zip cord to cuff him, then patted him down and found two guns and a knife on him. She took his weapons and put them in her pack.

Winning always brought its own kind of high. She’d forgotten how good it felt. She didn’t examine it too closely but tucked the information away for later.

“Nightshade, you’ve got about two minutes before you’re going to be outnumbered. Finish it and get out of there,” Orly said in her ear.

“Gotcha,” she replied.

She left the guy bound and headed toward Kane a few feet away. He was holding his own with the two assailants. Kane was one of the most skilled martial artists she’d ever met.

While she used a mix of tae kwon do and the street fighting her dad had taught her in hand-to-hand combat, Kane used an ancient art form and deadly skill.

But he was still just one man. She took a deep breath and a minute to analyze the fight, then jumped into the fray, at Kane’s back. Feeling truly alive in the moment.

Fighting back to back with Kane. Each of them was equal in this moment.

She’d been bred for this and she realized as she fought with an energy that seemed to come from deep inside her that she’d denied this part of herself for too long. She couldn’t live with the lies between her and Kane any longer.

“Let’s finish this,” she said to Kane.

“I’m trying,” he said, connecting solidly with his opponent’s sternum. Then used a judo chop to the neck.

The other guy attacked her with a strong kick that knocked her into Kane. He grunted and steadied her. “You okay?”

“Fine,” she said.

She was aware of Kane and the third sentry fighting behind her and when she heard Kane groan, she wanted to go see if he was okay. But first things first.

She focused all her energy on the fight she was in. This guy had pulled his knife and took a swipe at her leg.

She kicked the weapon from his hand and out of reach. Knowing she had to make this attack count, she concentrated on hitting his neck and head. She struck him hard in the chest with a front kick, forcing his head into the wall. Jabbing his neck with her elbow, she grabbed one of his meaty wrists and brought it up behind his back, then forced his hands together and cuffed him.

She turned to help Kane but his opponent fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Kane cuffed him.

“Two men are exiting the BMW and heading your way,” Orly said. “Stop dicking around—get Kane and get out.”

“Gotcha. Kane, we’ve got to get out of here. More men are headed this way.”

Kane pulled his handgun and kept the assault rifle loosely at his side.

“You’re just going to kill them,” she said.

“No. I’m going to negotiate with them.”

“Not tonight,” Nightshade said. She closed the distance between them and embedded her thumb in his radial nerve. Kane tried to pull away but she pressed harder and his gun dropped to the ground as he lost all sensation in his arm.

“Sasha, no,” he said.

“Sorry, lover, but I’m not letting you do this,” she said. She shut out everything else, the sexy smell of Kane’s cologne, the pain in her arms from pulling herself up the building, the dread of having to tell her husband she’d lied to him. And focused on the moment.

“Nightshade,” he whispered again, twisting his head so their eyes met. In the shadows his were just dark pools of indigo.

For a moment it seemed her disguise fell away and that Kane was staring into her soul. Right down to the part she’d hidden from him for so long. She opened her mouth on a sigh.

“Going to let me go?” he asked, leaning close to her and letting his breath brush across her cheek.

He was flirting with her. God, it had been a long time since Kane had teased her. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? I know how to change that to a yes.” He leaned closer and ran his lips down the side of her neck, stopping at the base where her pulse was starting to beat a little faster.

She stepped back. For Kane’s sake she couldn’t let him do this. Couldn’t let him stay free. Pulling a pair of handcuffs from her pocket, she quickly bound his wrists. Kane lashed out at her with his feet. Of course, he’d have to do it the hard way.

She stepped back into a defensive pose, realizing that the man she’d married had become a stranger to her.

Kane was no stranger to fighting—enemies and allies alike. But he wasn’t himself tonight and neither was she. Although, a part of her was very much the outraged wife who’d been left in the country. Kane swung around, his graceful masculine body moving in perfect symmetry and kicking her feet out from under her.

Sasha wanted to take him down. They’d been driving toward this confrontation for a long time. She pushed herself to her feet and dropped back into a defensive pose. He circled around her. Sasha’s nerves jangled. The aches and pains from her recent confrontation were starting to make themselves known and what she really wanted was to return to the Land Rover and get out the ice pack.

“Kane, you can’t win.”

“You’re good, wife, I’ll give you that. But I’m better.”

That pissed her off. She quickly moved behind him and hit him squarely between the shoulder blades, knocking him to his knees. With his hands bound behind his back, his balance was hard to maintain. Stepping up behind him, Sasha straddled his neck with her thighs.

She tunneled her fingers into his thick black hair and pulled back, exposing his neck. “Who’s better now?”

His breathing was uneven and he twisted his head as far as she allowed him. His breath was a hot brand against her inner thigh. He raked his teeth down the length of the pant fabric, causing rippling sensations along her skin.

Carefully she closed her thighs around his neck. He twisted his body, knocking her off balance. Sasha rolled to the ground, landing on her back. Before she could move, Kane fell on top of her, his head even with her breasts. He lifted his head and met her eyes. In an instant everything fell away except for Kane and this moment.

She’d missed this type of play between them. In the early days when they’d first started going out, Kane and she used to spar all the time like this.

“What went wrong?” he asked. “Where did the adventurous woman I first met go?”

She couldn’t tell him. She didn’t really know. She only knew that her last mission had changed something deep inside her and she’d never be the same again. She couldn’t be.

She lifted her arms, pulled his head to hers and took the kiss she’d been wanting. A kiss that confirmed Kane was alive. A kiss that made the past melt away and the troubled future seem even colder than she’d realized it could be.

She’d missed his taste. All her barriers were down tonight and she’d forgotten how wonderfully seductive Kane could be when he put his mind to it. She didn’t want to think about the reason he’d stopped seducing her. When she’d given him the cold shoulder, he hadn’t taken it very well. She’d never been able to explain that it was either that or surrender her sanity.

She slipped her hand around his neck as her tongue entered his mouth. He moaned deep in his throat and she had a second’s hesitation before she squeezed carefully on his carotid artery, rendering him unconscious. He fell limply on top of her and she brought her arms together around him to comfort him in a way he’d never allow when he was conscious.

Chapter 3

To the mind that is still the whole universe surrenders.

—Lao-tzu

Sasha carefully watched the men approach. She wished she knew what Kane was looking for. God, she ached from head to toe. She’d forgotten how to take a physical beating and shake it off. Or she was getting old. Because every hit she’d taken was screaming for an ice pack.

The man on the left walked with a slight limp and used a cane. He was thin and his head was shaved and he talked in a low voice to the man walking beside him. His voice didn’t carry. She hoped Orly had gotten photos of both men. The second man was vaguely familiar to her.

The one on the left wore a wool topcoat and his companion wore a ratty old raincoat. She wasn’t sure if that information was relevant, but it seemed to her that the men were underlings of Townsend’s, not peers. She itched to lift the assault rifle and just take them both out with one quick bullet to the head. But she wasn’t an assassin, and killing a man who wasn’t threatening her went against the grain.

Dammit. She lowered the rifle. “Orly, Kane is bound and unconscious, keep an eye on him. I need Ano to send a detention crew for the three sentries we captured and the body of the guard Kane took out. I’m following the men to see if they’ll lead me to Townsend.”

“Gotcha.”

The men boarded one of the large shipping vessels down the dock. Sasha quickly bound Kane’s feet and left him hidden in the shadows.

“Run a trace on a ship called the Eudora Manning,” she said. Then, using the international radio code, she spelled it for him. Her mind was still on Kane. Why was he doing this? He didn’t like Townsend any more than she did. Townsend was at the top of HMIA’s most-wanted list. Every agent there still felt Townsend’s betrayal very strongly. But in the last ten years he’d managed to continue evading them. And Kane was acting exactly the same way that had taken Townsend out of HMIA. Going out on his own. Not following protocol.

“I’m going in for a closer look.”

“Negative, Nightshade. Ano wants you to pull back.”

Ano be damned. She was in the field and should be able to make her own decisions. “Orly, I’m close enough to get some good info. Request permission to board the Eudora.”

“Relaying request.”

Nightshade crouched in the shadows, waiting for permission to act. This was one reason why she’d left A.R.C. Despite their renegade status, there was still a chain of command that had to be followed. Nightshade started toward the ship, which was still anchored to the dock. The anchor was a large steel one that would be so easy to climb. She could be on the deck in a matter of minutes.

“Negative, Nightshade. Ano repeats orders to drop back.”

“I’ll finish a visual recon and then drop back.”

“Relaying—”

“Don’t relay, Orly.” Did Ano not trust her to follow orders? Or did she not trust that Nightshade could complete the job? Neither question made Sasha feel any better about things.

“Gotcha.”

Nightshade made a note of every detail she could, relaying information to Orly. The Eudora was a large ship probably used to transport animals of some kind. She noticed there were two lorries parked in the lower shipping bay. She didn’t know if Townsend had his hostage somewhere in the bay or if these men that Kane had been lying in wait for were just doing some recon themselves. Setting up the ship to move the hostage. But who was the hostage? It was time to get some answers from Kane.

She was reluctant to let the ship leave without finding out who the hostage was. She knew Kane well enough to guess that he felt some sort of responsibility for recovering them.

Yet, she had to play by the rules. This time there were others to think about. Others like Dylan who needed a mom, and Kane who was now a man she didn’t really know.

Yet at the same time, he was that exciting, dangerous man she’d married. Sparring with him tonight had awakened every feminine instinct she had. Why now? Was it simply because they’d been apart so long? Or was it because she was once again experiencing that elixir she loved—the combination of danger, excitement and the one man who really made her feel alive.

“I’m returning to Kane. Should I take care of our captives?”

“Charity and Justice are on their way to apprehend them. We’re to return to London for debriefing and interrogation.”

“Gotcha.”

Nightshade blended back into the shadows and walked swiftly to the spot where she’d left Kane. The night air was chilly yet invigorating. She stopped for a moment, closing her eyes and tipping her head backward. She was in the field again. Something she hadn’t been sure she’d be able to manage until Dylan was in school.

But here she was. It was different than she’d expected it to be. She didn’t feel as if it was real. Except for the aches and pains from the contact earlier with the sentries. She felt as though she was pretending to be someone else. When was she going to feel like herself again? When was the damn feeling of playacting going to go away?

Kane was conscious when she returned. His eyes were steely and she had the feeling that if she released his cuffs now he was going to have her in arm shackles in thirty seconds.

She knelt beside him, her gun in one hand, her eyes watchful. It would be foolhardy to try to retreat until they were sure that the two men were still on the ship.

“Orly, give me an exit route.”

“Sit tight. There’s some activity in the next berth. Will advise when you can move.”

“Gotcha.”

She turned to look at Kane. He watched her with a stare that was devoid of emotion. Inwardly she shivered. Her marriage wasn’t going to survive this. And she wasn’t sure she was too upset about it. Kane was more dangerous than facing a loaded gun because he made her react more strongly to things than she should. She would have left any other man out here.

“I couldn’t let you do it,” she said softly. She wasn’t apologizing. But she wanted him to understand. Why did it matter? She’d carefully tucked away her emotions for Kane, channeling them into a more safer outlet—their son.

“Skip to the good part, Nightshade.”

“Is there a good part?” she asked. Because she didn’t see one. She saw her husband in jail for a long time and she and her son leaving Great Britain.

“Where are you taking me?” he asked, instead of answering.

“To Ano.”

“And then you’ll turn me over to Temple?”

She didn’t say. He had to pay for his actions but he was her husband and she was torn. She didn’t want to see him tried and found a traitor and then sent to jail.

He shifted to face her and in his eyes she saw something she hadn’t seen there in a long time. He leaned up, so close that his lips brushed her cheek when he spoke. His breath smelled of mint and she wanted to taste him.

“There’s still time, Nightshade. Set me free. I’ll come back when I can.”

God, she was tempted. She turned her head, brushing her lips against his stubble-covered jaw.

“No, Kane.”

The two A.R.C. operatives arrived ten minutes after the Eudora left port. Orly was tracking the ship via satellite and was running photos of all the men captured or seen with Townsend through databases searching for names and connections.

For a minute Sasha wished she were back in Yorkshire in the safety of her country home, her little son sleeping down the hall and her husband still working in London but not on the outs. But she knew that some dreams weren’t meant to be. And sometimes you had to realize the truth in that fact.

Sasha had escorted Kane to the command vehicle. He hadn’t spoken to her since she’d refused to release him. And until she had a chance to really talk to him, she wasn’t going to. She needed to understand his reasons. Plus, she was dealing with the aftermath of being close to once again breaking the rules and going after Townsend herself. She needed to cool down a little before she spoke to Ano.

She knew Ano wanted the information that Kane had, but Sasha knew she could’ve taken Townsend. Or at least disabled him enough to make him move slower.

Charity and Justice had arrived and were escorting the men she and Kane had captured into a white transit van with tinted windows similar to the ones used by MI-5. After the last man had been secured in the back and cuffed to the bench, Justice got behind the wheel and started radioing in the information that Sasha had gathered.

“Nice job, Nightshade. You’d never guess that you’ve been semiretired for almost two years,” Charity said.

Charity was of Asian descent, the daughter of an American soldier and a Vietnamese woman. She’d been sent to America at the end of the U.S. occupation there and adopted by Ano. In some ways, Charity was like her soul sister. They’d each been raised by one parent and that parent was absolutely fanatical about protection and global security. Rather than wishing the world was a better place, their parents were out there teaching them how to do it.

“It’s not like I was sitting on my butt. I have been doing a few jobs.” Sasha realized she sounded defensive. She’d been raising her son, and that wasn’t a task to be ashamed of, but she’d been feeling lately that it was. Part of the reason was her dad’s attitude. But a deeper part was her own longing and envy every time she talked to Kane or another agent.

“Yeah, I heard about that exciting revamp of the Yorkshire B and B’s security system.”

Nightshade heard the humor in Charity’s voice. “Very funny. I know it’s not exciting, but it was important and I was able to stay with Dylan.”

“How’s he doing? Any more new teeth?”

“No new teeth. But he’s started talking.”

“Really? I can’t wait to see him.”

Sasha felt a tug in her heart. Charity was Dylan’s godmother and had been to visit only two weeks ago. At that time Sasha had felt she had nothing in common with her friend. She’d felt as though they were slipping apart as Charity talked in very vague terms of her latest mission in South America. But now, now she was back in the game.

And she’d have to thank Kane for it. Because she realized that she wasn’t really ready to let this part of herself go. Protecting the security of tourists was fine, but she’d forgotten what it was like to go head-to-head with someone twice her size and come out the victor.

“You okay?” Charity asked.

Sasha realized she’d let the silence go too long. She also realized she wasn’t doing as good a job of hiding her restlessness as she should. Though she and Charity were friends, she knew that the other woman would have no qualms about reporting to Ano that Sasha seemed unstable. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Charity took her arm and pulled her a few feet away from the vehicles. “Kane.”

“Ano called him Sterling. A wild card that had to be stopped at any cost.”

“Mom can be a tough piece of business.”

“I know. The hardest part was knowing she was right. Kane is…”

Charity watched her and Sasha found she couldn’t say what she was thinking. That Kane had slipped past the control that all good agents had. It was the only thing that stopped an agent from crossing over to the dark side. The only thing that made you keep working for a system with faults and foibles. A system that was inherently fallible because it was made up of humans who made mistakes. Who were tempted and easily lead astray at times.

Charity reached out and gave Sasha a quick hug. “I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks. I’ll handle this.”

“You always do.”

“You going to chat all night or can we get back to work?” Justice called.

Charity gave her partner the finger, then turned and walked away from Sasha. Sasha watched her go then headed toward the Land Rover where Orly and Kane waited for her. She needed every shield she had in place. She wasn’t taking Kane to Ano until she had some answers, and knowing Kane, it wasn’t going to be easy to get them.

Sasha paused outside the vehicle then realized that she was acting like a wimp. Not a wimp. Just a woman. One who wasn’t ready to have another fight with her husband.

Kane had brought endless complications to her life. All of the unrest stemmed from his presence. Even her last mission, which had gone horribly wrong, was tied to him. She’d been distracted by the new man in her life.

She’d been weaker than she normally was because her life had been so full in those first few months of their becoming lovers, and Sasha had forgotten the truth she’d always known. That life didn’t work out for the best just because you wanted it to.

She reached up and opened the back door. Kane was bound similarly to the men he’d helped her apprehend. The image made her heart squeeze in her chest. She could see how uncomplicated her life in Leeds really was. And how her soul craved that solitude.

Her soul also craved adventure, but not like this. She climbed into the command vehicle. A thin piece of tinted bulletproof glass separated her and Kane from Orly. Orly had the vehicle in motion as soon as Sasha shut the door.

She sat down next to Kane in the back seat. He wouldn’t look at her and she felt an explosion deep in her soul. And part of that explosion was guilt. Rationally she knew she’d had no other choice. Kane couldn’t risk his life and the lives of other operatives to appease a villain like Townsend.

If he hadn’t gone crazy none of this would have happened.

“Did you give Orly the microchip?” she asked after a few minutes had passed. All of the data from the STAR list had been coded onto a computer chip. Easy to transport, easy to hide.

He didn’t say anything.

Nice. She thought. She didn’t want to have to rough up Kane to get information from him. And he knew it. He knew she couldn’t do it. But there were other avenues at her disposal. Avenues she’d never use with any other man but she could with Kane.

She leaned closer to him, pressing against his side. She rubbed her hand down his chest and felt his breath quicken. Her own senses stirred to life. It had been too long since she and Kane had made love. She refused to let this be anything other than a simple seduction to get information.

“Sasha, don’t,” he said.

Finally he looked at her, and what she saw in his shuttered gaze made her heart beat faster. He wasn’t immune to her, but then sexual compatibility had never been their problem. It was the emotional stuff that always caught her unaware. And it did tonight as well. Everything she’d felt for Kane converged, the lust, the anger, the hurt, the disappointment, swirling inside her head and making it impossible to divorce herself fully from the situation.

Just be an agent. But she couldn’t be—especially when she was so close to him that she could feel his warmth and feel the brush of each exhalation against her shoulder. She shifted farther away from him, lifting one hand to brush back her hair but encountering the black leather of her mask.