“You know what? Bad idea. The ambassador is in there, and I think it would be best if we just avoid another bout of small talk if you don’t mind.”
I didn’t mind at all. The last thing I wanted was to watch some beautiful Frenchman flirt with my date. My… work colleague. Whatever.
We made our way out onto the deep, wide stone terrace overlooking a beautiful pool deck teeming with potted plants and flowers. Beyond the pool lay the Aegean Sea, sparkling serenely in the moonlight.
“Gorgeous,” King said softly.
I turned to agree but found him staring at me instead of the water. My face heated. “Don’t do that. You’re going to make me hard,” I said under my breath, forgetting about my team listening to our every word.
“Even better,” he teased.
I pointed to my button mic and lifted an eyebrow at him. He had the decency to wince in apology even though I was the one who’d said something inappropriate. I reached for his hand again and squeezed before slipping my arm around his waist and pulling him close so I could nuzzle under his ear.
“Our target and his date are together at a round table to the left of the bar just inside the ballroom,” I said as softly as I could. King’s entire body shuddered as my breath blew into his ear. “I need to separate them so you can get what we need while I distract the date. So this is how we’re going to do it.”
I continued murmuring in his ear, dropping kisses along his neck while I spoke so it looked to any observer like I was simply lavishing him with endearments while loving on him. There were a few other people cooling off outside, but they weren’t close enough to worry too much about.
When I wrapped up my plan and asked if he had anything he wanted to add, I noticed King’s Adam’s apple bob with a swallow. “Uh-huh,” he croaked.
“What is it, sweetheart?” I teased him in a low voice.
He swallowed again. “What is what?”
“You wanted to add something.”
“Mmm.”
I leaned in and lightly traced the edge of his ear with my tongue.
King sucked in a breath. “Oh god,” he breathed, squeezing his eyes closed.
If only we weren’t on a damned mission, I could stand out here all night and tease him like this. He was beautiful and wide open. The man didn’t hold back how my touches made him feel.
“The op,” I reminded him softly.
“Nothing to add,” he managed to say. “All good. Please… please stop. I can’t…”
But I couldn’t. Now that I’d tasted his clean skin, I wanted to remind myself of what his mouth tasted like too. I turned him to face me, and then I lied. “Your friends are coming, and I don’t want them to delay us.” And then I cupped his face and leaned in to kiss the hell out of him.
King melted in my arms and kissed me back with abandon as if he’d been dying to get his mouth on mine the same way I’d been with him. It was over all too soon when I spotted our target conveniently saunter out onto the terrace. I braced myself, expecting Elek to follow him. If Elek spotted King, it wouldn’t be good. Not only would it increase his security at home, but it would also most likely cause a confrontation we wouldn’t be able to control.
If Elek came out here, I’d have to keep him from spotting King. And I was fully prepared to pull King back into a kiss for the sake of the mission if need be.
Ahem.
But he didn’t follow. Which meant this was our chance to get what we needed. I pulled back and met King’s eyes, still holding his face. “Showtime. I’m going to distract the date. Your man is behind you about twenty feet. I’ll wait for Linney to tell me when, and then I’ll meet you by the front door.”
Without thinking, I leaned in and kissed him again like he was my fucking boyfriend or something.
He blinked at me in surprise and then gave me his patented cheeky grin. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
I rolled my eyes and made a beeline for the ballroom.
Thankfully, Elek was still holding court at the table. Maybe his date had simply walked out for a cigarette. Either way, we were lucky.
Since Elek didn’t seem eager to follow his boyfriend, all I had to do was stand at the bar and order another drink while keeping an eye on him.
Unfortunately, that only lasted until I took the first sip of my fresh drink. And then, it was like a switch flipped and Elek realized his date was missing.
He strode across the room toward the terrace doors, but I was able to cut him off before he exited the ballroom.