Some dreams couldn’t touch reality.

He put his hand under her chin, aware of the weight of that dangling cuff. He tilted her head back so that he could plunder her mouth, so that he could taste her.

Hell, in that moment, he wanted to consume her.

His body ached for her. Need pulsed through his veins, and if they weren’t in some pit of hell, if the bad guys weren’t just down the hallway …

Drew lifted his head. “Then you’d be mine,” he rasped.

Tina blinked and shook her head. “What?”

He kissed her once more, just because he had to do it. There’s no way we’re dying. The woman was full of secrets, and he’d be sure he had the chance to discover every single one.

Undercover Captor
Cynthia Eden

www.millsandboon.co.uk

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author CYNTHIA EDEN writes tales of romantic suspense and paranormal romance. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and she has received a RITA® Award nomination for best romantic suspense novel. Cynthia lives in the Deep South, loves horror movies and has an addiction to chocolate. More information about Cynthia may be found on her website, www.cynthiaeden.com, or you can follow her on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden).

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

Chapter One

Excerpt

Chapter One

“You’re making a mistake!” Dr. Tina Jamison shouted as she was hauled out of the nondescript brown van and pushed into the dimly lit parking garage.

But the four men—all wearing black ski masks—didn’t seem to care that they’d grabbed the wrong woman.

And they had gotten the wrong person. They must have made some kind of mistake. There was no way these armed gunmen could actually want her.

The man on the right jabbed his gun into her back. “Move!”

When someone shoved a gun at her, Tina knew exactly what to do. Move. Just as the man had ordered. But Tina was scared and she stumbled, nearly slamming face-first into the cement as she hurried to follow the guy’s order.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.

She’d been safe in her hotel room less than an hour ago. Sleeping. Minding her business.

She’d woken to find a man leaning over her. His hand had flattened over her mouth before she could scream. Then he’d put a gun to her head and told her that if she wanted to live, she’d follow his orders.

Tina wanted to keep living.

One of the men pushed open the stairwell door. Then the gun was poking into her back once more. Tina got the message loud and clear, and she started double-timing it up those concrete stairs.

Why? Why have they taken me? “Look, you’ve got the wrong girl.” She tried telling them this fact for what had to be the fiftieth time. They needed to see reason and listen to her. “I’m a doctor, okay? Just a doctor who—”

“We know exactly who you are,” the man with the gun replied in a hard, lethal voice. “And we know just what Mercer will pay to get you back.”

Her blood iced as Tina grabbed for the stair railing. Mercer. Oh, no. With the mention of Bruce Mercer’s name, the situation went from bad to unbelievably, terribly worse. Because Bruce Mercer was the director of a covert group of agents who conducted secret missions for the United States’ government. Bruce Mercer operated the EOD, the Elite Operations Division.

Bruce Mercer was also her boss.

But I’m not an agent! I’m a doctor! The one who patches up the wounded after a battle.

Because Tina had learned long ago that she didn’t mix so well with danger.

Her heart was about to gallop out of her chest right then and, taking a breath— Oh, yes, it was hard. Painful. She was very afraid that she might be about to hyperventilate. Her breath sure seemed to be wheezing out with each frantic exhale.

“Can you...” Tina huffed. “Move the gun?” If the guy stumbled, that gun could accidentally discharge. She knew firsthand the kind of severe damage a shot to the spine would do to a victim.

“No, I can’t.” The gun jabbed harder into her.

“Look, I—I...” She tried to suck in air. Don’t panic. Don’t. “I’m not who you think I am!” She wasn’t an EOD agent. If these men were taking her because they mistakenly thought that she had some kind of classified information she could give to them, they were dead wrong. She didn’t have the clearance level needed to access that sort of intel.

“We know you’re not an agent,” the man snapped. “Now keep climbing. Faster.”

She climbed until her legs burned. Flight after flight. Finally a door opened above her. The scent of fresh air and the mighty Mississippi River teased her nose as Tina was led outside.

Stars glittered overhead. Glancing around, she realized they were on a rooftop. And...and she could hear the whoop-whoop-whoop of an approaching helicopter.

This is so not good. As if masked men with guns could be good. But any group that came equipped with their own helicopter sure equaled a whole world of trouble in her book.

Fear had Tina shaking, but she made herself turn to face the gunman. “I-if you know I’m not an agent...” She had to raise her voice, nearly shouting, to be heard over the helicopter’s approach. The wind from its blades blew against her, and she trembled. “If you know that, then let me go! I’m of no use to you.”

The masked man—the fellow had to be the leader because no one else had done any talking—shook his head. “Mercer’s daughter is going to be plenty of use to us.”

Mercer’s daughter? Tina’s eyes widened. Definitely the wrong person. “I’m not his daughter!”

A rough, twisted bark of laughter escaped from the gunman. “Sure you aren’t, sweetheart.” A Texas accent. She could just hear it slip around his words. “That’s why Mercer pays for your apartment in D.C. and why he sprung for the fancy hotel here in New Orleans. Why he’s been paying your bills for years.” More laughter. “At first, I thought you might be his lover, and that connection would have been just as useful to me.”

The helicopter circled around to land. Her abductors had given her time to dress—a humiliating task since they’d watched her every move. The wind from the landing helicopter made her T-shirt cling tightly to her chest and it tossed her hair wildly around her face.

“Then I got intel that revealed your true identity.” He let the gun trail over her cheek. If she had been an agent, Tina would have done something incredibly cool right then. Such as wrestle the gun from him or give him a sharp right hook.

Then take all of these jerks out.

But she wasn’t an agent. She knew how to heal, not how to hurt.

“You’ve been the one constant in Mercer’s life since you got out of med school. You’re that constant because you’re Bruce Mercer’s daughter. The daughter he tried to hide after your mother was killed in that attack in France.”

She swallowed. The fact that she’d been born in France was really going to work against her here.

“Of course, if you’re not his daughter, you can just prove that to me.”

The gun was still at her cheek.

The helicopter’s blades had stopped.

“Prove who you really are,” the man in the mask murmured. There were slits over his eyes so that he could see out, but the rest of his face was concealed. All she knew was that the guy was big, with narrow shoulders and hips, and that his words carried a slight Texas accent. She couldn’t physically identify any of the men who had taken her.

“Are we ready?” another voice called out as heavy footsteps approached from behind her. This voice didn’t hold a Texas accent. This one just sounded bored.

It also sounded familiar.

Tina felt her cheeks turn ice-cold, then they burned red hot.

Those footsteps kept approaching. “Yeah, we got our package,” the gunman said with a quick nod. “Though she’s been whining the whole time about us having the wrong woman.”

The weapon finally left her cheek. Moving slowly, carefully, because she sure didn’t want to set anyone off, Tina turned to face the man. The helicopter waited behind him, perched perfectly in place.

There was a ski mask over this man’s face, too. Slits for his eyes, a hole for his mouth. As the others, he was also dressed in black from head to toe.

But she knew him; knew those broad shoulders, the tall, tough build. He towered over the other men by several inches and he walked with a slow, stalking grace.

Relief swept through her and Tina felt dizzy. Drew Lancaster.

“If she’s been talking so much...” his familiar voice rolled over her, edged with a Mississippi drawl, “then maybe you should have just gagged her.”

Wait. What? Tina’s eyes widened in horror. That wasn’t what Drew was supposed to say. Drew wasn’t a criminal. He was a good guy. He was a federal agent with the EOD.

He moved behind her, and put his hand over her mouth. “See?” Drew murmured. “Easy enough to stop her from talking.”

She nearly bit him.

But Drew bent and put his mouth right next to her ear. “Stay calm.” A bare whisper. One Tina wasn’t even sure she hadn’t imagined. But she’d felt the warm rush of his breath against her ear and a shiver slid through her body.

Drew kept his hand over her mouth as his head lifted a few inches. His eyes glittered down at her. She knew those eyes were golden, the color of a jungle cat that she’d seen once in the D.C. zoo.

Drew had always reminded her of that great cat. Because he was wild and dangerous, and he’d scared her, on an instinctive level, from the first moment they’d met.

“I didn’t realize our cargo tonight was a woman,” Drew charged as he glanced over at the lead gunman. “Maybe next time, you should clue me in on that.”

The guy grunted. “Need-to-know basis, Stone. Need to know.” Then he jerked his thumb toward the chopper. “Now are you ready to get us out of here?”

Stone. Her lips pressed against Drew’s palm. She hadn’t seen him in two months. Not since he’d left for his last mission.

Drew shifted his body and glanced down at her. This time, Tina could see past her fear and she easily read the hard warning in his eyes.

Drew was undercover. These men—they knew him as someone named Stone.

And something else that Tina realized... Drew wasn’t about to blow his cover.

Not for her.

Her shoulders slumped. Things were going to get even worse before they got better.

“I’m ready,” Drew said. He dropped his hand and backed away from her.

The gun was jabbed into her back once more. She didn’t tense this time.

But Drew did. “Is that necessary?” The words seemed gritted.

“Yeah, it is. Now get that bird off the ground!”

Drew’s gaze dropped to the gun then his stare slid back to Tina. She knew that she had to look terrified.

Because she was.

“Do you seriously think she’s going to get away?” Drew glanced around the rooftop. “No one’s up here but us.”

The gun didn’t move.

“Her hands are tied. She’s not going any place.” Drew exhaled. “And I don’t see—”

“She’s Bruce Mercer’s daughter!” the gunman snarled. “You think he didn’t train her? Until we’re clear, I’m keeping my weapon on her.”

Drew blinked. “Bruce Mercer’s daughter,” he repeated softly, considering the information it appeared.

No, I’m not!

But did Drew know that?

“I guess that changes things,” Drew said. Then he turned away and hurried back to the chopper without even a second glance. In seconds, all of the men had climbed in behind him and Tina found herself secured in the backseat.

The blades were spinning again, matching the frantic beat of her heart, and the helicopter rose high into the air.

* * *

HISCOVERWASabout to be blown to hell and back.

Drew Lancaster slowly lowered the chopper onto the landing pad. His jaw was locked tight, his hands held the controls securely and rage beat at his insides.

Tina Jamison.

When he’d landed the bird on that roof, the pretty little doctor had sure been the last person he’d expected to see. But she’d spun toward him, her eyes wide and desperate behind the lenses of her glasses, and he’d realized that he was in some serious trouble.

She’d known who he was. Without even seeing his face, Tina had known. Maybe his voice had given him away. He hadn’t bothered to change accents with this particular group. He’d just wanted them to think he was a slow-talking, ex-soldier from Mississippi. A man with a grudge against the government. A man willing to do just about anything for cash.

Tina’s face had lit with hope when she’d seen him. Such a beautiful face it was, too. He’d found himself admiring it more and more during his visits to the doc at the main EOD office. She’d been all business, of course, checking his vitals, talking to him about stress in the field.

He’d been imagining her naked.

Before the blades had stopped spinning, Lee Slater was already out of the chopper and dragging Tina with him. The jerk still had that gun far too close to her for Drew’s peace of mind.

How am I supposed to get her out of here?

With narrowed eyes, Drew watched Tina and Lee vanish into the main house. More armed men followed them inside.

They were in the middle of Texas, at a dot on the map that most folks would never find. It wasn’t as if the cops were just going to rush in and rescue the kidnapped woman.

He was deep undercover. Working under the alias of Stone Creed. The men here—they were looking to cause as much chaos on U.S. soil as they possibly could. They were into drugs, into weapons and into wrecking the political powers that be.

And, in particular, it seemed that the men were looking to take out the EOD. Or, more specifically, they wanted to destroy Bruce Mercer.

Drew climbed from the chopper and checked his own gun.

“Can you believe it?” the excited voice asked from behind him.

Drew looked back just as Carl Monroe yanked off his ski mask. Yeah, that mask wasn’t exactly necessary anymore. Not since they were back on their own turf. They didn’t have to worry about unwanted eyes seeing them here.

Carl grinned. “We got the EOD director’s daughter!”

No, they hadn’t. Drew swallowed. Bruce Mercer did have a daughter, all right, but that daughter wasn’t Tina Jamison.

What would happen when the men realized that they’d taken the wrong woman?

She will become a dead woman.

He couldn’t let that happen. He’d been sent in to gather intel on this group, to determine just how much of a threat the individuals known as HAVOC posed—and, once his assessment had been made, his team was supposed to eliminate that threat.

It sure looked as if his timetable had just been accelerated.

“She sure is pretty,” Carl said. Like Lee, Carl was a Texas boy, born and bred. He was also very, very dangerous. Carl liked to use his knife—often. And, according to his file, Carl enjoyed watching his victims slowly die from their knife wounds. Torture and pain were all part of Carl’s twisted package.

“You should have seen her,” Carl continued, voice thickening, “when we found her in that hotel room. She was all tousled and—”

Drew whirled on him. “Are you going to help me secure the chopper?” His words rapped out. Fury had coiled in his gut. No way, no damn way, should Tina have been put at risk like this. At his first opportunity, he had to contact the other EOD agents assigned to the HAVOC mission. They needed to work an immediate extraction on her.

And if they didn’t, then he would.

Carl’s smile stretched. “You thought she was pretty, too, didn’t you? It’s those glasses... Sexy.”

He wanted to drive his fist into Carl’s face.

But Carl turned away and went to work on the chopper.

Drew exhaled slowly as he tried to bring his control back in check. He was still the new guy in this crew. Useful because he could fly anything—and kill anyone instantly. Sure, his dossier had been faked, but his skills were plenty real enough.

During his time in Delta Force, Drew had been turned into a lethal fighting machine. He didn’t need a weapon to take out a dozen men. He could do that just with—

A scream cut the night. Her scream.

Drew was running toward the main house before he could even think about his response.

The door was shut, so he just kicked his way right through it. The wood banged against the wall.

“Don’t!” Tina yelled. “Please, I—”

Her cry was abruptly cut off.

Drew felt the familiar ice encase his fury. That was the way it had always been for him. When it came time for a battle, he went ice-cold. No emotion. No room for mistake.

He’d been called a robot by some of his teammates before.

He’d been called a hell of a lot worse by his enemies.

Why had Tina stopped screaming?

Another door was in front of him. A tall, blond guy with a gun at his hip tried to block Drew’s path. “Stone, man, I don’t think they want you right now.”

Drew shoved the guy out of his way. He went in that room.

The first thing he saw was the blood. Fat drops that were sliding down Tina’s arm. Lee Slater stood next to her, a knife in his hand. “I think that’s what we need.”

In his mind, Drew saw himself rushing across the room and breaking the guy’s wrist. The knife would clatter to the floor, falling from Lee’s slack fingers. With him out of commission, Drew would turn on the other two men there. He could have them all on the floor in less than a minute.

But he didn’t attack. Not yet. Because he’d been given very specific orders from Bruce Mercer.

The job was top priority. The fear was that these men—men from the U.S., from Mexico and from parts of South America—had access to classified government intel. There had been a leak at the EOD just months before, and they were still tracking to determine just how much information had been taken from headquarters.

They’d followed the trail to HAVOC. Drew was supposed to be days away from meeting the group’s leader.

Days.

Getting an up-close audience with the man named Anton Devast wasn’t an easy task. Those who got close usually wound up getting killed.

Drew locked his jaw. “Why’d you cut her?”

They’d cut Tina and gagged her. The gag would explain why she’d stopped screaming. Damn it, the gag had been his suggestion, but he’d only said it to clue her in to the fact that she needed to stay quiet about him.

Her eyes—so green and bright—found his. There was a desperate plea in her gaze.

A plea that he couldn’t answer right then. Not if they wanted to both keep living.

“I was just showing her,” Lee said softly, “what would happen if she tried to escape. We can treat her well...” He lifted the knife. Blood coated the blade. “Or we can make this little stay turn into her worst nightmare.”

A tear leaked down Tina’s cheek. She had high cheekbones, a slightly pointed chin and the cutest damned nose with its spray of freckles.

Normally her face was full of soft color and life.

Right then, fear had etched its way across her face. He didn’t like for Tina to be afraid. Not one bit.

“You showed her,” Drew growled. “She got the message. Now put the knife up.”

Lee’s dark eyes narrowed. “I don’t take orders from you.”

Fine. Drew stalked toward him. He grabbed the guy’s wrist. Don’t break it, not yet. But the threat was there, and Lee would know it. “You think the boss would like it if you killed Mercer’s daughter? Seems to me she’s a tool that he can use. Not something to be damaged.”

Lee swallowed. The guy liked giving pain, but he couldn’t handle being on the receiving end of it. He was also afraid of Drew, mostly because Drew had gotten into HAVOC by fighting his way in. He’d taken down five men, left them bloody and broken. The initiation had been hell.

But so was life.

“It’s just a cut,” Lee said dismissively. “No big deal.”

“Don’t cut her again. If the boss wanted her, then the boss will get her.” Maybe he could use that. Surely, Devast would want to come in for a personal look at Mercer’s daughter.

That visit would give Drew his chance to eliminate the man.

After all, eliminating Anton Devast was his job. At his core, Drew was a killer.

Still holding Lee, Drew let his gaze return to Tina. He didn’t like seeing tears in her eyes.

And—her glasses were cracked. He let his hold on Lee tighten a little more. “I’ll take first watch on her,” Drew said.

Lee was trying to yank his hand free. Failing. “What?”

He hadn’t stuttered. “I’ll take first watch.” Because he didn’t trust anyone else with her. Definitely not Lee or Carl.

Lee’s eyes were angry slits, but he gave a grim nod. “Fine, you do that.” His short, red hair looked as if he’d raked his fingers through it. “You can stay with her while I get some sleep.”

He made his words sound like an order. Whatever. As long as the guy got out of there...

Drew released the man.

It only took an instant for Lee’s smirk to come back. “I’ll see you again soon, sweetheart,” he promised Tina. His gaze flickered to Drew. “And I’ll see you later, too, Stone.” A threat hung in the words.

He’d have to stay extra alert. The way Lee was eyeing him, Drew knew he might find a knife shoved into his own ribs during an unguarded moment.

Not like that would be the first time.

Drew lifted his hand and his fingers traced over the thick scar on his right cheek. “You sure will.” He made certain that his words held just as much of a threat as Lee’s had.

Actually they held more of a threat. Showing a weakness with these guys was a mistake, because they’d most definitely attack that weakness.

Drew didn’t move until Lee and his two cronies were out of the room. When the door shut behind them, he exhaled slowly.

Tina was still staring at him with her wide, desperate eyes.

He wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, but he couldn’t be sure listening devices weren’t in the room. When he’d first reached the compound, he’d found two bugs in his bunk room.

It only figured that there would be some in there, too.

He glanced toward the door. Even though Drew had said that he’d take first watch, Lee might have stationed a guard outside.

“Mumph.”

His attention slid back to Tina.

“Mumm-mph...” She jerked in the chair. Someone had tied her to the chair. Probably Lee.

He crossed to her side and knelt on the floor so that they’d be at eye level. “The ropes were tied too tight,” he muttered, feeling anger try to push past his control once more.

Can’t have that. Must maintain cool.

The other agents had him all wrong. They thought he was made of ice. That he didn’t feel when he went out on his missions.

The problem was that he felt too much. And if he didn’t control his fury... Then I’m too dangerous.

He loosened her binds. He glanced up at her, his gaze colliding with hers.

A crack ran across the right lens of her glasses, looking like a spider’s web. He reached up.

She flinched.

“Easy,” Drew murmured. “I’m just checking you out.”

He lifted the glasses away from her face.

She blinked at him.

Hell. She was just as sexy without the glasses as she was with them. He’d thought maybe it was just a hot-librarian-type thing working for him, but no. The woman was simply temptation.

He didn’t need temptation. He had a job to do.

She’s the job right now. The words whispered from within him.

He put her glasses on the nearby table.

“Mumph!” Ah, now Tina was sounding angry behind the gag. He wasn’t sure what would be better for her. Fear or anger. Unless they were careful, both might just get her killed.

He leaned toward her. Brought his mouth right to her ear just as he’d done before. Her scent, light, sweet strawberries, wrapped around him.

Because of Tina, he’d developed one serious addiction to strawberries over the past year. Not that she knew it. Not that she knew anything about him. To her, he was just another agent.

Another adrenaline junkie that she had to patch up and keep alive.

Only now it was his turn to keep her alive.

“Be very careful what you say,” he barely breathed the words against the delicate shell of her ear.

Tina shivered.

Was that shiver from fear? Had to be. In these circumstances, he was foolish to think it could be from anything else.

But, just in case, he filed that reaction away for future notice. Because he’d sure like to know every sensitive spot on Tina’s gorgeous body.

“They could be listening.” His mouth brushed across her ear.

She gave the faintest of nods.

Her smell was incredible.

Focus.

He lifted his hands and undid the gag. The cloth dropped from her mouth.

Tina licked her lips and sucked in a deep gulp of air. “Thank you.”

His own mouth tightened. She shouldn’t be thanking him. He hadn’t saved her. “I’m going to patch up your arm.”

She blinked once more, and her gaze found his. She was still breathing deeply, gulping in air as if she’d been starved for it.

Her skin was porcelain pale and he wanted color staining her cheeks once more. He wanted the fear gone from her eyes.

Trust me. He mouthed the words to her.

After the faintest of hesitations, Tina nodded.

The ice melted a little around him. He turned away from her. Fumbled through the drawers in the room until he found some first-aid supplies. The men—and women—at the compound were always ready for battle, so that meant they had to be ready for the cleanup after that battle. He’d quickly learned that there were first-aid supplies scattered all around the place.

Tina didn’t wince when he began to clean her wound with an antiseptic cloth. “It’s not deep enough for stitches,” he said as he put the bandage on her arm. “You’re lucky.”

Both her brows shot up.

Fine. So “lucky” hadn’t been the best word to describe her current situation.

He grabbed a chair and pulled it toward her. She was still tied up, and he had to keep her that way or the others would wonder what the hell was happening. “You’re going to be all right.”

Tina’s gaze just stared back at him.

He realized that she didn’t believe him. Maybe that was good—because Drew hated making promises he couldn’t keep.

* * *

“MR. MERCER?”

Bruce Mercer looked up from the files that were spread across his desk. His assistant, Judith Rogers, stood in the doorway. Judith hated buzzing him. She’d said once that buzzing was too impersonal for her, and she usually came in to tell him when he had a visitor.

So her standing there...walking in unannounced...that wasn’t unusual.

The fear in Judith’s eyes was unusual.

“Tina Jamison is missing,” Judith told him as she twisted her hands into fists. “I just got the call from an agent at her hotel. The lock on her door was broken, and Tina—she’s gone.”

Mercer didn’t let the expression on his face alter.

This situation had been one that he feared. He was playing a deadly game, and Tina could have just become a pawn in that game.

If he wasn’t careful, he might lose his pawn.

He might lose the whole damn game.

“Get me Dylan Foxx,” Mercer demanded. “Right now.” Because he was going to need agents in the field to work this case and to make sure that Tina survived the battle that was coming.

He’d foolishly positioned Tina right in the middle of that battle.

I’m sorry, Tina.

He didn’t make mistakes often, but when he did...they were deadly.

Chapter Two

“It’s time for me to take over.” The gruff voice had Tina’s head jerking up.

She’d actually fallen asleep. How was that even possible? Tina blinked bleary eyes and found herself staring at Drew.

He was right in front of her. His gaze held hers an instant, then he turned his head and looked at the guy who’d just come into the room.

Tina had no idea who this blond man was. As he watched her, his hard brown eyes glittered. There was a holster at his hip—she could see the butt of his gun. And he had a knife strapped to his left side.

After her last encounter with a knife, Tina wasn’t exactly eager to go another round with a blade.

“Lee said for me to relieve you,” the man said in that same gruff voice. He shrugged. “So here I am.”

Tina wanted to reach out and hold tight to Drew, but that wasn’t possible.

Mostly because she was still tied up, but at least the gag was gone. That horrible, terrible gag. If she hadn’t gotten her medicine just a few hours before the men had taken her, she wouldn’t have been able to handle the gag. Tina wouldn’t have been able to breathe.

“Keep that knife in its sheath, Carl,” Drew told him flatly.

Oh, no. Oh, that wasn’t good.

Drew’s face—handsome, hard, fierce—seemed to tighten even more as he studied the other man.

Drew Lancaster was a warrior. She knew it. Had known it from the first moment she’d seen him. He’d been dripping blood at the time, courtesy of a fresh bullet wound. He hadn’t even flinched when she’d dug that bullet out of him.

He was big; about six foot three, with wide shoulders, narrow hips and what she thought of as a go-to-hell golden gaze. His skin was tanned from hours under the Mississippi sun, and that slow drawl that crept out every now and then...

That drawl was temptation in a dangerous package.

She knew how lethal Drew was. She’d gotten a glimpse into his file once, thanks to her friend Sydney Ortez. Sydney controlled all the intel at the EOD, and when she’d noticed that Tina was spending a bit too much time gazing after Drew, Syd had wanted Tina to know exactly who she was day dreaming about.

Not a white knight.

More like a killing machine.

Drew’s gaze slid to her once more. His face was all tough angles and planes. The scar that cut across his right cheekbone just made him appear all the more dangerous.

Her breath felt too hot in her lungs.

After a tense moment Drew gave a curt nod and rose to his feet. There was a tiny window in the room and sunlight spilled inside that window. The light fell on Drew as he passed it.

“Told you she was pretty,” the one he’d called Carl mumbled.

Drew leaped at the other man. In an instant Drew’s lower arm was under the guy’s chin and Drew had him pinned against the wall. “And I’m telling you...keep your hands off her.”

The other man blinked. Then Carl smiled. “Like that, huh? Calling her yours already?”

I am in a nightmare. And Drew wasn’t calling her anything.

But he was leaning in even closer to the blond male. “If you hurt her, if you so much as bruise her, I’ll make you pay.” A deadly promise.

The blond man gulped. “No worries, man. I’m just watchin’ her.”

Drew stepped back. “See that you do.” He fired one more glance at Tina.

She had to press her lips together so she wouldn’t cry out and basically beg him to stay.

He was undercover. He had a job to do. But she knew that he’d get her out of there.

She just had to hold on long enough for the rescue to work.

Drew turned and left the room without another word.

Carl eased toward her. “Guess you two got cozy, huh? Figured old Stone was a secret ladies’ man.”

He dropped into the chair near her. His hand went to the hilt of his knife.

Tina tensed, but he made no move to pull out the weapon.

His gaze swept over her face. “Such a pity,” he murmured. “I hate it when pretty girls have to die.”

* * *

HEWASTAKINGa risk. A huge one, Drew knew it, but he had to make the call. He slipped away from the others at the compound and headed toward the old fence on the right side of the property. He’d scouted before, and this was the weak spot in security. No cameras could see this location, but, thank goodness, there was actually cell service here.

Sydney Ortez had been the one to tell him about this sweet spot. Before Drew had gone in undercover, Sydney had used her satellites and her computer magic to try to find him a safe contact zone.

Safe, but not one hundred percent secure. Because in a situation such as this one, you never knew when the enemy might decide to take a stroll and blow your plans to hell.

Drew fired a quick glance over his shoulder. The phone was clutched tightly to his ear. One ring...

“I know about your problem,” the voice on the other end of the line said. No identification was necessary. Drew instantly recognized the voice of his team leader, Dylan Foxx. The former SEAL had been the one to convince Drew to join the EOD in the first place. The two men had become old friends on the battlefield, on missions that they’d never discuss. So many years—so many missions. Through them all, Dylan always had Drew’s back.

“Yeah?” Drew surveyed the area around him, trying to make sure no one was close enough to hear him. “So what the hell are we going to do?”

“Keep her alive,” Dylan responded instantly. “Mercer knows what’s happening. He says that Dr. Jamison’s survival is priority.”

Mercer knew. Right. The guy had eyes and ears everywhere.

I’m a set of eyes and ears for him now. “Does he realize I’m the one undercover here?”

“He does, and he said that you should make certain you stick to the doctor.”

“They think she’s his daughter,” Drew stressed. How long would they keep working under that wrong assumption? How long until someone figured out they’d screwed up?

There was silence from Dylan, then he asked, “Is she?”

No. But Drew didn’t give that immediate response. He trusted Dylan, of course he did, but there were some secrets he couldn’t share.

Drew was one of the few people in the world who knew that, yes, Bruce Mercer actually did have a daughter. But that daughter wasn’t Tina. “Hell if I know,” he said.

It was a good thing Dylan wasn’t there to see him. The guy had always said that he could read any lie on Drew’s face. Lucky for Drew, the bad guys didn’t have such an easy time of seeing past his deception.

“Tina Jamison wasn’t supposed to be involved in this case,” Drew growled. “No way. Who messed up? How did this happen?” Tina wasn’t the bait for the trap they needed.

“I don’t know.” He could hear the frustration in Dylan’s voice. “That’s why I asked if she actually is his daughter, because that’s the only thing making sense on my end. We gave Devast’s men the false trail. They were supposed to follow it to our operative, not to Dr. Jamison.”

Something had gone wrong. Very wrong. Now Drew had to stop the train wreck before Tina was killed.

There was a murmur in the background then Dylan said, “Get back to her. Word just came down that someone is about to send proof of life to the EOD.”

Drew ended the call and started back toward the main house. Proof of life could be anything. Providing proof was the standard deal in an abduction case. That proof could be a video of the prisoner. A phone call from the captive.

It could be a severed finger. An ear that had been sliced off. That kind of physical evidence was actually often needed. High-profile prisoners were valuable and, before they were ransomed, their DNA had to be confirmed.

He couldn’t let anyone cut into Tina.

He checked his weapon. Fully loaded.

Then he kicked up his speed and raced frantically back to Tina.

* * *

THEREDHEADWASBACK. Tina stared up at him—no, she stared into the guy’s phone. He’d turned the phone sideways; he was video-taping her.

“This is what we call proof of life,” he murmured. “We need you to prove to your dear old dad that you’re still alive.”

They weren’t proving anything to her father. Her father was dead. So was her mother. They’d both died shortly after Tina’s eighteenth birthday.

Their blood had soaked her fingers. She hadn’t known how to save them.

I do now.

“Look into the camera,” he ordered her. “Say your name.”

The door opened behind him. Drew. Drew was back.

It got easier for her to breathe then.

She stared toward the redhead and his phone. “My name is Tina Jamison.”

“Good girl,” the redhead murmured. Lee. That was his name. She’d heard one of the other men call him that earlier. “Now tell us the date.”

She did. Her voice didn’t tremble. Tina was proud of that fact.

“Bruce Mercer, we have your daughter,” the redhead said. His voice was cold and flat. “She’s alive right now, but, if you don’t follow our orders exactly, she won’t be alive for long.”

Tina kept staring at him.

“We want an exchange,” Lee continued. “Her life for yours.”

That wasn’t going to happen. Not ever. Mercer was too important. He had ties to too many governments, too many agents, too many secrets.

She was just the doctor who patched up the team members.

I’m expendable.

Bruce Mercer wasn’t.

“For every day that you delay, we will hurt her.”

Oh, wait. What?

“We gave you proof of life,” he continued. Her eyes narrowed. Was he recording these images of her? Or streaming them live to Mercer? If the fool was streaming them, the EOD would be on top of this group in hours. Sydney would trace the signal back to this location.

His hold tightened on the phone. “Now it’s time for proof of pain.”

He’d barely even got the words out before the other guy—the blond who’d kept her terrified for the past hour—came at her with his knife.

Tina tensed, but the knife just went to the ropes that bound her. Carl cut through the ropes that circled her right hand.

“What the hell...” Drew began.

“Slice off her finger,” was the order that followed.

Carl smiled.

Tina tried to jerk her hand back.

She couldn’t. He was too strong.

“Stop!” Drew bellowed.

He wasn’t stopping. The knife pressed toward her hand.

Tina looked away.

But the blade didn’t slice her skin. Instead she heard the brutal thud of two bodies colliding. Her head whipped back toward that sound. Drew had just slammed into Carl. He’d tackled him, and both men had hit the floor. The knife clattered away.

“What are you doin’, Stone?” Finally, Lee had dropped his phone. The video show seemed over.

Drew pounded Carl’s head into the floor. Then he leaped to his feet. “You aren’t cutting her, Lee.”

“I’ll do anything I want!” His chin jutted out, and Lee motioned to the other two men who stood against the back wall. “Take that fool down.”

They ran toward Drew.

But they were the ones that hit the floor.

As he fought, Tina began to yank at the ropes still around her. Now that her right hand was free, she could escape. Her fingers were shaking as she undid the knots on her left hand. Then she started jerking at the ropes that tied her feet to the legs of the chair.

Grunts filled the room. The crunch of bones. The fight was brutal and—

More men were rushing inside.

Drew put his body in front of hers.

She untied the last knot and jumped to her feet.

“You aren’t hurting her!” Drew shouted.

Then she heard a new sound. A very, very loud boom. A gunshot.

Drew’s body jerked at the impact, but he didn’t stop fighting the men who came at him. Of course, he didn’t stop.

A killing machine.

He took down another man. Broke the nose of the fourth guy who rushed at him.

Hard hands grabbed Tina. A gun was shoved against her temple. Then Lee ordered, “Stop!”

Drew whirled. His gaze dipped to Tina’s face, then back to the face of the gunman—Lee. “You aren’t killing her,” Drew said. His lips twisted into a humorless grin, one that was ice-cold. “She’s no good to you dead.”

“True.” The gun lifted away from her. “Though it seems that you are no good to me alive.”

He was going to shoot Drew again. Kill him while she watched. “No!” Tina yanked free of Lee’s arms with a wild burst of strength. She put her body in front of Drew’s. “Don’t!”

Lee hesitated. His gaze went from her face back to Drew. “Interesting.”

“I’ll cooperate,” she said, desperate because more men had run into the room. Alerted by the sounds of battle, they’d rushed inside. Now she and Drew were surrounded by guns and by men who looked as though they were ready to fire those guns at any moment. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll get my...father to meet your demands.” Such a lie. “But, please, don’t hurt him.”

Carl had dragged himself off the ground. Blood dripped from his busted lower lip. “T-told you,” he stuttered to Lee. “Stone here got sweet on the girl during his night duty.”

“I think it’s more than that,” Lee said. A shrewd understanding filled his eyes. “Get some cuffs. Snap ’em on him.” His head cocked to the right. “Cuffs will hold him better than rope.” Then his lips lifted into a cold grin. “Even better, cuff him to her.”

* * *

SOMUCHFORkeeping his cover in place. He’d sure blown that fast enough.

As soon as that knife had come close to her fingers, he’d attacked.

Where was the ice? When the knife had hovered over her delicate hand, rage had ignited within him, driving right past his control.

The cuffs bit into his wrists. He wasn’t surprised they’d used cuffs on him instead of rope. But when it came to thinking that the cuffs would be more secure than the rope, Lee was dead wrong.

They’d taken him and Tina into another room, a smaller room, with no window and sealed with a heavy, metal door. They’d cuffed one of his hands to hers, and his other hand—they’d cuffed it to a metal pole that came straight out of the floor.

Carl smirked at him. “That will hold you until it’s time for us to play.”

Play. Right. Wonderful.

Lee stood in the doorway behind Carl. “You know, Stone, there was something about you that I never liked.”

Carl drove his fist into Drew’s gut. He grunted. The jerk sure knew how to deliver some pain with a hard punch.

Lee sauntered into the room. He pushed Carl back and glared at Drew. They’d taken Drew’s weapons. They’d also given him plenty of punches in the other room, despite Tina’s pleas for them to stop.

They weren’t exactly the type to show mercy. He didn’t expect any.

“You’ve got secrets, don’t you, Stone?” Lee said. His left brow rose. “If that’s even your name.”

Drew smiled. “You know you’re a dead man.”

Lee’s lashes flickered. The flash of fear was obvious as the guy stepped back.

“I’m sending the video to Mercer. The video of his daughter...and the video of you, getting your butt beat.”

Drew shrugged. “I don’t think Mercer will care that some jerk he doesn’t know was attacked.”

“Maybe. Or maybe...just maybe...he does know you.” Lee’s gaze cut to Tina. “You made a mistake.”

Saving her? No, it hadn’t been a mistake. Saving her had been worth every second of pain.

“You looked at her with a lover’s eyes, and you’ve never looked at anyone like that before.”

Every muscle in Drew’s body stiffened. Lee wasn’t as dumb as he looked. He’s too observant.

“I’ve seen you with plenty of women. You play around, you drink, and you don’t care what they do when you’re done.” Half of Lee’s mouth hitched up in a taunting smile. “But when you looked at her, when you burst into that room and saw me cutting her, your eyes were different. I saw you.”

This was bad.

“And you went crazy when I let old Carl loose on her.”

He forced his back teeth to unclench. “Carl shouldn’t be turned loose on any woman.”

“She’s not just any woman, is she? You know her.”

Tina wasn’t speaking beside him. But he could hear the sounds of her breaths, coming far too fast.

Then Lee advanced toward her. He grabbed Tina’s chin. “And you know him, don’t you?”

“No!” Tina cried.

Drew could almost believe her denial.

Almost.

“Well, I’ll find out. I’ll send this message to Mercer, and then I’ll be back to see just what secrets you have...you and Stone here. When I let Carl begin to cut him, I’m betting either he’ll talk—” Lee’s fingers tightened on her chin “—or you will.”

“Leave her alone,” Drew ordered.

Lee shook his head. “See, that’s what I’m sayin’. You get too protective for a man who doesn’t know her, and that makes me wonder... Just how do you know her? How would a man like you know Bruce Mercer’s daughter?” Menace layered his voice. “Want to know what I’m suspecting?”

“Not really. I don’t give a damn,” Drew retorted. He just needed Lee and Carl to get out of there so he could escape and get Tina to safety.

“I think one of Mercer’s agents would know her. I think you’re a man with a certain set of skills, skills a guy like Bruce Mercer would appreciate.”

“You’re thinking way too hard,” Drew told him. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

Lee’s eyelids flickered. “Getting an agent in here, monitoring us...that would be a Mercer move,” Lee continued as he stepped away from Tina. With a nod, he said, “Maybe you are the killer I thought you were—only you’re killing for the U.S. government. Not for HAVOC.”

Drew made himself smile. The bullet was still in his shoulder, and it hurt, throbbing and burning constantly. But he was used to ignoring pain, so he shoved that burn deep into the back of his mind. “If I am EOD, then you need to be watching your back. ’Cause maybe—” he deliberately tossed the word back at Lee “—I got a team here, backing me up. Maybe this little place of yours is about to explode around you.”

No, it wasn’t. Drew’s team wasn’t close enough for that fast of an attack. They wouldn’t even realize he’d been compromised at this point.

But Lee didn’t know he was bluffing. And all of a sudden the guy started to sweat as worry sank in deep. “We need to sweep the perimeter!” Lee said as he spun toward Carl. “I have to make sure the place is secure.”

With the big boss coming in, the guy wouldn’t want any screw-ups.

Lee grabbed Carl’s shirt. “You get outside that door. You make sure that no one enters and no one leaves until I get back.” His hold tightened on Carl. “I trust you. You came up with me through the ranks.”

How wonderful for them. Drew’s eyes narrowed as he filed that little piece of information away for later.

“In case this jerk has any other teammates here undercover, I want you securing him. No one but me comes in here, got it?” Lee demanded.

Carl nodded. “Got it.”

After firing one last fuming glare at Drew, the two men marched from the room. The door slammed and Drew heard the distinct sound of the lock setting into place.

“I’m sorry.” Tina’s voice was hoarse.

He grunted and yanked against the pole. He didn’t have anything with him that he could use to pick the lock on the cuffs, so he had to find another means of escape. Yanking down the pole seemed like a fairly good option number two.

“The bullet is still in you, isn’t it?”

“That’s the least of our trouble.” As soon as Lee realized that EOD agents weren’t about to swarm the place, the guy would be back. He’d torture Drew then kill him, and Tina would get an up-close seat for that bloody show.

The pipe began to groan.

“What are you doing?”

Drew figured there was no point in sugarcoating things with her. “You know this is a torture room, right?”

Her breath rushed out.

“See the drain over there? It’s so they can hose the place down when they’re done and just wash the blood right away. Fast and easy cleanup.” Lee had transferred them into that room so that he could fully take advantage of the facilities.

Lee had plans.

Drew was ready to destroy those plans.

“He should’ve checked the equipment,” Drew said softly. “Sloppy mistake.” Lee had probably cuffed other prisoners to this pole before to hold them in place.

But one thing Lee seemed to have missed...desperate prisoners struggled. The men and women that Lee had hurt in the past would have struggled desperately to escape from the pole—and the pain.

And their struggles had loosened the pole. It wasn’t fully embedded in the hard floor any longer.

Perfect.

“Drop with me,” Drew ordered in a low whisper. He didn’t want Carl hearing them.

Without a word, Tina dropped with him. The floor was cold and hard, and it smelled of blood. Hell, he wanted her out of that place. No way did Tina belong in a room like this. He yanked again against the pole and then...then Tina was there, adding her strength to his. She’d positioned her body closer to his, and she was jerking on the pole with him.

It groaned again, and Drew stilled. “Wait.” Because he didn’t want to alert Carl, not yet.

But Carl didn’t come rushing into the room.

“Again,” Drew whispered.

They yanked again, and the pole lifted off the floor, just a few centimeters, but that was all Drew needed. He slid his cuff under the pole and his left wrist was free.

Hell, yes.

He jumped to his feet and Tina rushed up with him. “What about this one?” she said, tugging on the cuff that connected their wrists.

“That one’s going to have to stay.” Until he could find something to pick the lock or find a saw to cut the cuffs off. And if she was going to stay cuffed to him, then Tina needed to realize... “We’re going to be targets.”

Her eyes were wide. Stark.

No glasses.

He swore. “Just how much can you see?”

“I’m fine. I’m near-sighted, so I can see up close pretty much perfectly.”

Which should work, since she had to stay up-close with him.

“I’ll be your eyes for distance,” he said.

She licked her lips and, of course, that just made his gaze drop to her mouth.

Focus.

He exhaled slowly and let the ice sweep over him. “You follow my every order, understand? No hesitations, no questions. Because a hesitation will get you—or both of us—killed.”

She nodded. Her dark hair brushed over her shoulders.

“These are bad men, Tina.” Bad was an understatement. “You know what they want to do to you.” Cutting off her finger would just be the start of their fun.

Her gaze held his.

“So just be prepared for what I have to do...to them.” Their escape wasn’t going to be some walk in the park. It might even turn into a blood bath.

“What can I do?” She shook her head. “I want to help you, not just be some burden that you have to carry out of this place.”

“Help by staying alive.”

Her lips tightened. “That’s not what I meant.”

He knew, and Drew also knew that he didn’t want to risk her. But she will be risked. There was no escaping the danger surrounding her. “How the hell did you even get in this mess?”

“I don’t know.”

His left hand lifted. The loose cuff dangled from his wrist. He touched her cheek.

Tina flinched.

“Easy.” He wouldn’t hurt her, ever. Didn’t she realize that? “Before I open that door...” And I run the chance of losing my life before I get the one thing I’ve wanted for so long... “There’s something I need to do.”

A faint line appeared between her brows. “What?”

He was a bloody, bruised mess. When he’d imagined this moment—and he had, many times—it had been different.

Oh, well. So much for his best-laid plans.

“What?” Tina asked again.

“This.” He put his mouth on hers. Drew had to do it. He had to find out if the woman would be as good in reality as she was in his dreams.

At first Tina didn’t move at all. She’d frozen on him—maybe his ice had transferred to her.

Some dreams were better than reality. He began to pull away.

Then Tina leaned toward him. Her lips parted beneath his and she kissed him back with a wild, reckless passion he hadn’t expected.

Some dreams couldn’t touch reality.

He put his hand under her chin, aware of the weight of that dangling cuff. He tilted her head back so that he could plunder her mouth, so that he could taste her.

Hell, in that moment, he wanted to consume her.

His body ached for her. Need pulsed through his veins, and if they weren’t in some pit of hell...if the bad guys weren’t just down the hallway...

Drew lifted his head. “Then you’d be mine,” he rasped.

Tina blinked and shook her head. “What?”

He kissed her once more, just because he had to do it. There’s no way we’re dying. The woman was full of secrets, and he’d be sure he had the chance to discover every single one. “I’ve wanted to do that since the first time I walked into your office and you told me to take off my shirt.”

Her gorgeous eyes widened. “Your shirt was covered in blood.”

As if a little matter of a bullet wound could have stopped him from wanting her. “It is now, too.” A bullet wound won’t stop the need. He rocked back on his heels. “Remember, no hesitation.”

Her lips were swollen from his mouth. She was so sexy right then. Sexy, but still scared. Talk about terrible timing.

That was the story of his life.

He backed her up against the wall on the right side of the room. Drew calculated that this would be his best attack spot.

He rolled his shoulders, pushed down his fury. He had to take out his prey one at a time. First, Carl would go down. Carl who’d wanted to slice away one of Tina’s fingers.

Rage... Drew swallowed and pushed the rage down again.

Carl would be taken out first. Then Drew and Tina would rush down the hallway. Another guard would be at the door that led outside. Maybe two guards would be there. Drew would have to take them out, too.

He and Tina would stay low, keeping to cover. There was a motorcycle waiting in the garage. One the others thought was out of commission, but that Drew had taken the time to ensure was actually fully operational.

He liked having backup plans available.

His muscles were tight, battle ready. Tina watched him with wide eyes.

Protect her. Get her out.

Once Tina was safe, he’d come back to finish this mission. I have to eliminate Anton Devast.

He gave a little nod. “Okay, Doc, it’s show time.” He waited a beat, then said, “Scream for me.”

She didn’t scream.

Hadn’t they talked about not hesitating? Drew was sure that he’d gone over that part with her. “Scream!”

She screamed.

An instant later Carl rushed through the door.

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