Down Range (Tungsten Protective Services Book 1) Read online

  “I’m not going.”

  “They let you get dragged off and almost raped. Now you want to protect them?” Sweat glistened along his skin.

  “I didn’t expect them to face off with twelve armed men to save me. It’s not like they’ve betrayed me.” His flinch brought a feral smile to her face. “There are eleven more armed men down there. At least. I don’t know what the plans are but these people need help.”

  αβ

  Fuck he wanted to kiss her and ensure she was truly in front of him and not yet another cruel trick of his mind. Riz hadn’t exactly been welcoming to him when she’d realized who he was. Hell, his jaw still ached for she packed one hell of a punch.

  Even now, despite all she’d been through, her focus was on helping those other than herself. She’d always been that way, from the first time they’d met, she had been assisting him in picking up the papers he’d dropped, never mind the fact it had been storming out.

  “I didn’t come all this way to rescue everyone. We came to get you out.”

  She frowned. “I didn’t ask you to come at all.” Her gaze flicked up briefly before she muttered, “At least not in so many words.”

  “Mac said there are about five men on each level, doing a room to room search. They’ll be on this floor next. We had better decide what it is we’re going to do.”

  Lucifer looked at Cole. The ex-SRT member had been the one who’d fired the shot that killed the fucker about to force his dick down Riz’s throat. The man was a sharp shooter and he’d not been arrogant enough to claim he was a better shot. He knew Cole had that edge.

  “We can go out the way we came in, that other door back there. But it’s not going to matter, they’ll see the blood from their dead man.”

  “I say we kill them.” Cole spoke matter of fact. “We’re going to need them dead anyway to get out of this, we may as well start now.”

  Slicing his gaze back to Riz, he observed her. She stood closer to Cole than him. Problem one. She wouldn’t look in his direction. Problem two. And the fact she wasn’t about to leave without helping all the others. Problem three.

  “Lucifer?” Cole nudged him. “What’s the play?”

  The door behind them opened and they both spun in time to see Mac enter. Shaggy dark hair hung from below a doo rag bearing a psychedelic design, and the man’s expression was stoic.

  “Got two more down but they’re like roaches, kill a few and more crop up. There’s another way in here that we haven’t discovered yet. I’m betting more tunnels like we came in through.” He looked at Riz and smiled. “How are you doing? Can I get you anything? Water?” He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle.

  Lucifer hated the look of thanks on her face as she accepted the bottle. Rationally, he recognized he had not a single right to be pissed about any attention she was getting from other men. But he wasn’t rational when it came to Riz. Not even with Cole and Mac.

  And I even know that Mac has a girlfriend. It didn’t matter, it never mattered when Riz was involved. He watched her from below lowered lids as her throat moved while she drank.

  “So we need to figure out what’s going on down there.” He stepped closer to Riz, hating that subtle shift she made away from him. The other two flicked a glance in his direction but never made verbal comment on it.

  Thank the fucking gods.

  The men with him waited. Mac crossed his arms and said, “It’s very unlikely that these men have cleared the entire embassy. Even though they’ve had it for a while, there are lots of doors that they wouldn’t be able to get through immediately. I can get caught and suss out the situation where the main hostages are being held.”

  Cole nodded. “Makes sense, I’ll see what I can do about securing us some transport out. All of us. Not sure if the tunnels will be the best way, but I’ll take a look into it and figure out if they will be or if we’re confiscating some wheels.”

  He slanted his gaze to the woman at his left. “I’ll take Riz and we’ll stay out of the way.” She opened her mouth and he shook his head at her. “This isn’t up for debate Riz. You want these others saved, we’re doing it our way.” He had an edge to his tone but damn it, he wasn’t about to let her charge back into danger.

  “So what, I’m supposed to hide out here with you while they’re in danger?”

  “Yes.” He faced her fully. “That or we leave now, taking the tunnels and let them deal with their fate.” He held up a hand to stop the tirade he had no doubt was inbound. “We’re not on American soil, we don’t have permission to be here. This can be considered an act of war. So if you want us to help them, let Mac and Cole do what they can while I keep you out of the way and safe. That’s the only way this goes down.”

  She glared at him. “Still so fucking pushy.”

  Ralston got right in her face. “You know I love to push into you. Hard. Fast. Slow. It doesn’t matter.”

  Her button nose flared and her cheeks tinted. Yeah, he still got to her. Smirk hidden, he waited until she averted her eyes. It didn’t happen as quickly as he’d believed but eventually she did.

  “So we’re set then.” Mac stepped up along with Cole.

  He looked at the men he was with and the unspoken words around them were enough. They’d fought together and bled together. They would defend each other until death. Right now, they would do what they could to save the others.

  “We’re going up,” Ralston said. “Hide out on a floor they’ve already checked.”

  Mac shrugged out of his weapons and handed them over. “Liking this idea less and less right about now.”

  “Maybe you should stay with me and he should go down there. He’s always desperate to show off how big his dick is. Or is that how big of a dick he is? I can’t ever remember.”

  Mac chuckled. “Man, to be a fly on the wall for you two.” He reached out and brushed his knuckles against Riz’s chin. “I’ll be okay, darling. And whatever your past with him, he will protect you. With his life.”

  “Asshole should be worried about who’s going to protect him from me.

  If she’d meant her comment to be under her breath, she fell short of that mark.

  “If you could hold off killing him until we get out, I’d appreciate it.” Cole spoke up this time, moving in her line of sight.

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  “You’re a doll.” Cole smiled and gave him another look before slipping out the door they’d entered previously.

  Mac helped him hide the body by moving a desk over him and part of the blood. For the most part, all was covered unless they walked in and did a thorough sweep. Another look between the two of them and Mac vanished out the second door.

  Alone at last with her, Ralston’s heart kicked up even faster. She had fallen silent and still the moment Mac left.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, because yes, it was instinctive but two, because he truly needed to know.

  “I’ll be fine.” Three words, short, crisp, and cold.

  “Riz,” he started.

  “Don’t,” she bit off. “Just don’t.” She rubbed her arms and he took in her thin top, marred with dirt and blood.

  He weighed his options. “Let’s go. Stick to my six, keep close, and keep quiet.”

  Taking them to the door Cole went through, he cracked it open and carefully scouted the area.

  “Stairwell is about fifty feet to our right. We’re going to run there and head up to the next floor, they have cleared it and are on this floor now. Keep quiet.”

  She didn’t argue but merely nodded.

  He ignored the fear in her eyes, took her hand, and headed for the stairwell. It took a bit of time but they made it up to the next level. Peering through the small opening, he spied two men still hanging out on the floor. They were talking and laughing with one another.

  Shit.

  Above footsteps grew closer as men approached. They were trapped. Hefting the silenced Uzi, he looked at the woman beside him. Her light blue eyes h
eld uncertainty, anger, and damn it all, a bit of trust. She may hate him right now but she did trust him. “There are two tangoes in that hall we have to get into. Stay behind me,” he whispered.

  Then he kissed her.

  Chapter Two

  Riz moaned as his tongue surged into her mouth. Lord have mercy this man could kiss. In seconds beneath his touch and she had been transported to another time and place. Where her world had only two people in it. His taste had never been forgotten and she craved more, each moment it was on her tongue.

  A voice from overhead drenched her heated body in ice water. His gaze smoldered as he ran it over her form. Then he went through the door. Yeah, the same one that other people are there. Not like we can stay here though.

  She stayed as close as she could without doing anything that may hamper his ability to do whatever it was he had to take care of. She assumed shooting given the Uzi he held. The two men were dead before she could quietly close the door behind them. By the time she finished, he’d gotten to their side and beyond, to the door they’d been near. He ducked into the room then beckoned to her.

  “Help me drag them in.”

  While she had no desire to touch dead bodies, she didn’t hesitate in grabbing a pair of legs and dragging. He finished his first and took over for her. Again, grateful she stepped aside. The room wasn’t all that big, had one tiny window and a small fridge. As he secured the door, she opened the fridge and grabbed two bottles of water from the interior. Not as cool as they could be but better than nothing. Silent, she handed one over then took a seat far from the dead men as she could.

  He sat near, cracked the top on the bottle and preceded to drink half of it. She stared at the way his throat moved, mesmerized. Everything this man did boarded on sexy. Okay, that was a lie. It went beyond.

  Hell, she still dreamt about him and the sex they shared. He had been something out of a romance novel to her. Commanding, a bit overbearing, hot as fuck, and sexier than anything she’d ever laid eyes on before. He’d treated her like a queen. Or at least a princess. Escorting her to functions, even family ones, all without blinking an eye. He was there for her whenever she’d needed him. Her hot ass cowboy. Ralston had been a jean wearing man with a large belt buckle. Some of her family had laughed at him first but to her, it fit him. He never wore a hat inside, held the door for women and the elderly. Never failed to give respect to those he spoke to, always using yes sir or ma’am.

  Damn near perfect and that was even before you got to the sex. She closed her eyes and tried not to whimper from the recollection. However, none of that mattered when the truth came out.

  “Riz.”

  She opened her eyes to find him watching her, gaze intense. How the fuck can he look so calm and put together? And hot, let’s not forget hot. God, what she wouldn’t give to have his dick inside her once more.

  His eyes flashed and darkened to another shade of green. A shade she’d never forget for it was how he looked at her as they were making love.

  It wasn’t making love. You don’t do to someone what he did if it’s love. This was nothing but him using me and doing whatever he had to secure a spot at my side.

  “What?”

  “I asked you what you were doing here.”

  “So what, I’m not allowed to travel outside of the US?” Her tone dipped firmly in bitch.

  “I didn’t say that. Just unsure why you came here in the middle of this.”

  She flexed her fingers around the bottle and did her best to convince herself not to throw it at him. “Right, because I knew this was going on and figured, oh, what a blast it will be to go to an embassy in a foreign country and get captured by some fucking rebel force, where they can rape and kill me.”

  “I didn’t mean that.”

  “Of course not. You don’t mean anything you say.”

  The muscle in his jaw jumped and he took a deep breath. “That’s a lie and you know it.”

  “I know nothing of the sort. All I can go on is my experience and let’s recap shall we? You told me what I wanted to hear to get close to my uncle. Nothing we had was real, so how the fuck would I know that you mean a damn word you say?”

  “You’re putting it all on me?”

  “I sure as hell didn’t look you up and chase after you.” She crumpled her empty water bottle.

  “When did you start cussing so much?”

  “After you left my life.”

  “I was doing a job.”

  Her heart ached. “I know. I was nothing more than a job to you. I get it, and I have finally accepted that.” She took a calming breath for she had realized that and had done her best to move on. “For a while I was deluding myself into thinking maybe, just maybe, I had meant more to you but when you never came back I understood. I truly was nothing more than a job.”

  He exploded out of his chair and crouched before her, hands on her knees. “That is fucking bullshit and you know it.”

  “No, I don’t and get out of my face.”

  “It broke my heart to do that to you, Riz but I had a job to do.”

  “So you keep saying. Does that make it easy for you at night, so long as you tell yourself you had a job to do?”

  He gripped her knees tighter. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “What did you think would happen? That I would understand and be like, oh okay, he had a job to do so it wasn’t anything personal how he just up and left. Ripped out my heart and tossed it away. Nothing personal because his heart is gone and he’s used to manipulating people to get what he wants. So my own feelings mean shit. Sure, I get it. No problem. Now back the fuck away from me.”

  She was torn between kissing him again and clocking him once more.

  “It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.”

  “I don’t want to hear your excuses, Lucifer, although I do understand now why you have that nickname. You’re like the devil with his false promises. I’ve moved on. Way on. To the point where I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation on what I do with my life. So again, while I appreciate the rescue, back the fuck up and get out of my personal space.”

  Not that it would matter if he moved or not. His scent still surrounded her, burrowed into her and made her want nothing more than to close her eyes and relive the past. Now isn’t the time for this. One, she was far from home and had to focus on getting out alive, and two, he wasn’t the man for her.

  A noise out in the hall, flipped a switch in him. She noticed it in his gaze. The passion heat morphed swiftly into sharp awareness. He gestured for her to wait there.

  Like I have any plans on going anywhere else. I’m not the one who wants to run headlong into danger.

  Her idea of danger was rush hour traffic and sometimes crossing the street. Moving toward a potentially deadly situation didn’t even come up in her mind. Her eyes tracked him as he moved to the door.

  Yep, still possessed those jungle cat motions, the smooth predatory stride. Confident. Dangerous. Sexy as shit. He cracked open the door and slipped through. Alone she pushed to her feet, using the wall to assist. Her gaze drifted to the men lying there on the floor, dead. He’d not even thought twice or hesitated about killing them.

  “So different from the man who came into my life.” She walked to the far wall and the small desk in there. Pulling the chair out, she sat and started rooting through the drawers. The door handle turned and she crouched behind the desk, sliding free of the chair in less than a second.

  “Riz?”

  His deep voice carried a hint of concern and she stuck her hand up from behind the desk as she climbed out. “Here.”

  Back seated in the chair, she looked across the room to watch him stride over to her side. “What was it?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing you need to worry about. What are you doing?”

  “Being nosy. Never been trapped in an embassy before. Thought I’d take a pen as a souvenir.” Sarcasm flew from her mouth as on a free fall ride at an amusement park.
r />   He crossed his arms, unperturbed by her attitude. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?”

  “We’re going up. Trying to see if we can find a phone and call for an exfil.”

  “And you think a helicopter will just land on this building and pick all of us up?”

  “No. For when we get out into the jungle.” He pulled her from the chair and flush to his chest.

  Her core pulsed again and she struggled to keep her mind off sex. He dipped his head until their lips were barely separated. “Trust me, Riz, when this is done, you and I will be doing more than talking.”

  “No we won’t.” She pushed him and only succeeded to torture herself further, given he didn’t budge and she was tempted by his muscular torso one more time.

  “Oh, we will.” He kissed her again and she cursed herself when her knees buckled. Before she could regain her control, he’d broken it off and pulled her after him to the door.

  “Stay close and stay sharp.” Then he opened the door and led her out of her sanctuary, however brief it had played the role.

  Lucifer observed Riz as she checked more drawers in the desk of the room they’d just gone into. Three floors up but nothing yet which had proven to be useful in any capacity. Mac was down with the prisoners while Cole was off scouting for an escape route for the lot of them. All decisions which left him alone with Riz. A woman he’d been unable to forget. There were some differences in the woman before him and the one he’d left high and dry all those years ago.

  Differences he approved of wholeheartedly. The purple hair was new. When they’d been together, her hair had been dark brown. Not to mention long where now it had been cut into a pixie cut. It suited her, spicy and hot as was the woman who wore it. She’d come into her own. Not that she’d lacked confidence when he’d met her but this was different all the way around. Still didn’t change how much he wanted to strip her naked and bury his face between her thighs.

  Damn, he loved eating her out, the way her legs tightened around him, the taste of her cream, how she cried his name to the room as she fell over the edge.