Battle with the SEAL (Norse Security 3)

“I don’t want to stay here. I don’t like to feel trapped,” he said, sudden anger rising inside him. Being locked in this room, with no way to escape, hit far too close to home for his comfort. Not that he was claustrophobic. No, his fears ran much deeper. It wasn’t the physical confinement that bothered him so much, it was the mental demons he did his best to avoid at all costs. Ever since he’d started on this journey of espionage and false identities, his greatest fear had always been going too deep undercover, getting lost in the imaginary worlds he created and never finding his way back to normal again. Tonight, here, with M, those fears roared back to life in a way they hadn’t since that long-ago night when his older brother had left to go into Witness Protection. At the time, young Loki couldn’t imagine anything cooler than leaving your past behind to start a fresh new life. Now, though, he knew such beginnings came at a terrible cost, one he wasn’t prepared to pay.

Muscles tight with tension, he lashed out at M, since she was the only other person there. “And what was all that Mistress shit, huh? You didn’t think it might be important to tell me about knowing Simcova before we walked into this place?”

M walked over to the bathroom and turned on the lights, then flipped on the shower to let it heat up. “No, I didn’t. There was a chance she wouldn’t remember me at all. It was years ago and I look a lot different now.”

“Yeah.” Loki ran an agitated hand through his hair. “That’s your thing, isn’t it? Always changing, always moving. You can’t even commit to one hair color, let alone a mission like the one we’re trying to work together. I should’ve known better than to trust someone like you.”

Even as he said the words, he knew they were horseshit, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself. Rage at his own ineptitude and adrenaline pumped through his system, spurring him on. Signs were there that something wasn’t right. He should’ve seen them, heeded them. But no. He just raced on ahead, so goddamned cocky and confident in his own skills. Those skills would get him killed in the end, if he wasn’t careful.

Must be more careful. Must not trust this woman. Must not give in to this connection between us. Must not touch her, taste her, take her, because if I do then I might never stop.

His body, however, didn’t seem to have gotten the memo about not wanting M—judging from the rising of his cock along with his fury and the squeezing of his chest from need and yearning. Good thing she was heading into the bathroom and not facing him.

The door slammed shut behind her and Loki sunk down on the bed once more, scrubbing a hand over his face. What a fucking mess. And yeah, they’d gotten a new lead on Todd Martin, but they couldn’t do anything about it until tomorrow. Because tonight they were trapped. Trapped in this den of iniquity.

He flopped back onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling, replaying the last hour or so in his head. The conversations, the glimpse into that closet full of sex toys, M’s words—what I do or have done in the privacy of my bedroom is none of your concern…

Oh, but how he wished it was.

Frustrated and frazzled, Loki sat up and hung his head in his hands. The sounds of running water and soft, slightly off-key feminine humming drifted through the air and all he could picture now was M in that shower, steam rising around her, her hands gliding over her wet curves…

Yep. He was in big, big trouble here.

She wanted him too, he was sure of that, after their initial encounter in her kitchen that night making mac and cheese, then in the gym earlier. But there was so much at risk, so much they both had to lose here, with his business and her promotion.

It would be madness to put that all aside for a night of incredible sex.

Wouldn’t it?

As he stared out the tinted windows at the glittering DC skyline beyond, Loki had to admit that maybe the idea wasn’t as crazy as it sounded after all. There were locked in here, no cameras, no recording equipment. No one had to know except them.

He got up and did another sweep of the room just to be sure. Nope. Nothing. He shed his suit coat and toed off his shoes and socks, yanked open the buttons of his white dress shirt so that it was open to his mid-chest.

Standing outside the bathroom door, he placed his hand on the wood and closed his eyes, feeling a need he hadn’t felt before for the woman on the other side.

Perhaps they could share one night together, before reality crashed back in.

If she was willing.

Loki turned the handle and walked into the steamy bathroom.

8

M froze the minute Loki stepped into the room, her heart caught in her throat. Not because of fear, but because of desire. Honestly, being back in this place, back around Natasha and her girl, back to this sordid part of her past where flesh was fantasy stirred her passions like she’d never expected.

She hadn’t lied to Loki either, about her and Natasha. They’d never slept together. Nor had she slept with any of the clients. Didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized. Boy, had she fantasized.

In fact, she’d been imagining Loki bursting in here—caveman-style—and taking her right here in this very shower. Crazy, really, given that they had a mission to run and her entire future was on the line, but damn. Wouldn’t it be nice just to have this one night, this one moment, just for herself? Just for her and Loki to explore this wild connection between them for the next few hours and savor that sweetness before it was gone. Natasha had told the truth about the surveillance too. M had no doubt about that. The Mistress was nothing if not discreet.

“M?” Loki whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear over the rush of the water surrounding her. “Can I come in?”

She nodded, eyes closed, poised on a precipice of unknowns. Would he want her, just as she was? Would he like what he saw? Would he break her heart in the end? The only question she had a certain answer to was number three. Of course, he would break her heart, if she let him. But if she kept her emotions out of this, kept a clear head, she could escape all this relatively unscathed emotionally. As for the others, it was hard to tell. She’d spent so much time over the last few years being someone else—fake hair, the makeup, the clothes, all of it—that sometimes she didn’t know who she was anymore. Loki played his parts too, always wearing a front. Could two such imposters have any chance of a real bond?

Before she could answer that question, his silhouette appeared on the other side of the frosted glass blocks surrounding the shower. Broad shoulders, cut torso forming a V down to his slim hips and long, muscled legs. He had a hand up, palm pressed to the glass, and she placed hers over it, feeling silly and giddy all at the same time. Yeah, maybe they could bond over this, over their mutual need to connect, if only for one night.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes, come in.”

He did. Stepped around the wall and into the spray of wat