Inked [From the CIA 1] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Read online

  * * * *

  With minimal clothes and towel-dried hair, they sat at the Formica table situated on the edge of the open kitchen.

  “Tell me your thoughts.” Cal needed to know. He didn’t want to play any more games.

  Mary’s eyebrows rose as she tilted her head. “My thoughts…about what? What we’re going to do?”

  Cal looked her in the eyes, held her stare, and made it clear what they needed to talk about before anything else. “That’s my second question. First, I need to know if that was for real or if you can take it or leave it.”

  She placed her fingertips on the edge of the table. “It was for real.” She paused and he let her continue. “I can’t promise anything.”

  “I’m not asking for a worthless promise, just the truth.”

  “The truth. The truth is that I haven’t ever felt anything as great as that.”

  Remaining motionless, he prompted, “I need to know more. Will there be more between us? More than great sex?”

  This time she broke the eye contact, and spoke softly. “I’d like more.” Again, he waited for a more in-depth analysis. “I want more for us, together. I’ll try to not block out what I’ve always blocked out.” She looked at him again. “I scare myself, but the emotion, the feeling of…of love, what I’ve never allowed to happen, is here. I feel it and I want it. For the first time, I don’t want to block it out. I want us to happen as long as you’ll still have me.” Her fingers fiddled with the edge of the table. “Teach me what you know about love because what you’ve shown me is the best I’ve ever had and far beyond what I’ve imagined.”

  He wanted to hear exactly that, but needed one more ounce of assurance before he dove in headfirst. “Are you sure? Will you let me inside your mind, not just your body?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was soft and sure. That’s what he needed.

  He glanced over her body, the part he could see over the table. He wanted to take her all over again. His hand reached out and gripped her fingers that held the edge of the table. “It probably would’ve been easier for both of us, if you still didn’t trust me and nothing ever came of us.” He let go of her fingers and stood. “I never took the easy road, though.”

  “So what are you saying? That you’d rather have me not be interested?” She did a bad job at hiding the smile creeping along her mouth.

  He walked around the table, putting his hands on her T-shirt-covered shoulders. He squeezed lightly and whispered in her ear, “I like taking the rough road and gladly welcome it this time.” His voice grew serious as he straightened and stared across the room. They had to discuss survival. “It’d also be better if we split up and went separate directions. We’d be harder to find and less dangerous to ourselves.”

  “I know. I’ve thought of that.”

  “So does safety outweigh the other side of what we just suggested?” He knew what answer he wanted and also which answer she should give. They weren’t the same.

  She gingerly placed her hand on his as he continued to knead a newfound knot from her shoulder. “Before I make a fool of myself and make a bad decision, I hope you’re thinking the same thing I am.” He remained silent. She had to say it first. He’d already made his wish plain. “I want to stay with you.”

  He felt a rush of adrenaline release and leave his muscles tired and ready to collapse. His exhaustion of the whole operation hit him full force as he reveled in her answer. “I’ve proved myself to you, then?” He didn’t know why he needed that little extra touch of assurance, yet it’s possible she misstated her intentions.

  “More than you know.” She swiveled around, pushing his hands from her shoulders. “I also know that you went back into the gunfire to save me on our last mission, a couple years ago. That you weren’t there accidentally, or that you didn’t cause me to get shot, but rather you forced the shot not to kill me.” She became rigid in her seat as she voiced her knowledge.

  It didn’t matter anymore, yet a flush of relief swelled in his chest. He hadn’t been at the scene by accident. His return appearance had been solely to save her, regardless of whether he would sustain a death shot or not. He didn’t act carelessly, as reported.

  If she worried about what he thought of her for not acknowledging his true actions so long ago, he hadn’t expected her to. As a matter of fact, to drop the whole incident proved a better choice in his career. Reporters had called him “a poor excuse for government intelligence.” Vic Grant knew the truth and that’s all the attention he needed.

  She clasped her hands and dug them into her lap. Her confession had been told. That being the only thing she held back for so long, he counted himself a lucky man.

  He didn’t say a word, yet her lips drew him near like a magnet. His breath rebounded off her cheek. She squeezed her eyes shut just as he bent and circled her mouth with his. The taste of her mouth consumed him. He nearly thanked God that they ended up together in Austria instead of heading back to the States with a completed mission.

  Whispering into her mouth as he couldn’t tear himself away, he said, “I’ll never let anyone hurt you, or take you from me.”

  “I know. I know.”

  * * * *

  The Delta airline came to a halt. A recent light snow had been plowed from the runway. The Stockholm-Arlanda Airport has a stellar reputation for runway maintenance amidst seasonal snow. They claim to never close a path to receive or depart a flight.

  Vic didn’t need any more difficulties getting to his destination. Sweden offered the obscurity he required to disappear.

  His second flight, boarded out of O’Hare, flew him nonstop to Gate 5, the only surface to allow international planes at Sweden’s airport.

  He unnecessarily glanced at his watch. He knew the hour the plane was determined to arrive and had already adjusted his time to 2:00 pm. This gave him a couple hours to find his temporary hideout.

  Departing from the plane, he entered the terminal busy with laughing tourists, crying departures, and a sea of business suits amongst the kiosks demanding a large price for bitter coffee, bruised fruit, and sweet Danishes.

  He didn’t think of his main concern until he passed through the security gates, as if it’d be detected.

  His main concern included the one-time discussion with Agent Cal Guevin over a tumbler of Irish Scotch. Vic had told him, “If you are ever scheduled in a covert operation and your position is threatened, leave to neutral ground and contact me. This means the mole is active and we’ll need to debug the system as our final entitlement.”

  Vic hoped Cal and his feisty partner, Agent Mary Reiss, were alive and well and ready for their most difficult assignment to date. And it wouldn’t be a honeymoon.

  Chapter 44

  They sat at the table and mapped out a plan to disappear together, for a short time and inevitably if necessary.

  “I think we’ll be good at watching each other’s backs and avoiding any detection.” Mary voiced her opinion on their new arrangement. She watched his biceps flex as he reached for the bottle of water at his side. How could she have been so blind before and pass on the best man who ever entered her life? She never counted on decisions made from the heart before, yet her life had never been more than another day at work. She didn’t have a job anymore. Another chance at life without a job surely seemed an odd combination. She wouldn’t let her nerves swallow up this opportunity.

  “We’ll have to move every month or maybe sooner until we can be sure we’re forgotten or considered dead.” Cal took the this-isn’t-a-game route. Glancing toward her neck, he added, “We’ll have to get that tattoo removed as soon as possible, too.

  “That’s high on my list, too.” She automatically reached for the inked surface on her neck, rubbing it with distaste. After a moment, she changed topics. “Not that I want to get married right away,” she hurried to explain the comment as he straightened up in his chair, “but we can keep on practicing, or pretending may be a better word, we’re on our honeymoon with each place
we move to.” She wouldn’t have a problem acting this idea out. Actually, it grew on her as she pushed aside the distraction of the tattoo and waited to hear his reaction.

  His eyes darkened along with a sly curve of his mouth, which quickly disappeared. “You like what we do?” She opened her mouth to answer before she could rethink and stifle her mood, but he cut her off. “We’ll have the living-together thing conquered real fast, I’m guessing. It’s the staying alive that may be the hard part.”

  She dropped her eyes to the table and fidgeted in her seat. “I know. There’s more to it than simply getting along.”

  “The good thing is that terrorists and their counterparts stay away from Austria.” He shoved his chair back and reached over the table to cradle her chin in his strong and sandpapery hand. “At least they’ll stay away until they have a definite target.”

  “We’ll be okay.” She laid her head to the side against his palm. Letting her eyes roam the room, she added, “I think we could make a nice and moveable home out of this place. I almost like it.”

  “I like any place that I’ll be spending time with you. We will be okay. I’ll make sure.” His body followed his hand across the table until he planted a delicious kiss on her mouth.

  She swore her lips had a slightly swollen feel. She could get used to that and much more. She gently extracted her lips from his. “I have to say one more thing.” His eyes became alert as he watched her face. “Cal, I love you. I love you with every part of me, and if all that has happened was what I needed to figure it out, I have no regrets.”

  Keeping her eyes focused on his, she waited for his reaction.

  “Mary, I love you. I mean forever, and I’m a man of my word.” His face remained serious, serious in love, as he pulled her hand and led her to their bedroom.

  Mary’s heart felt like it would burst from the sheer power of his words. Before she allowed herself to completely analyze her next question, she blurted it out. “Cal, will you marry me?”

  He stopped and turned to her in the short corridor outside the bedroom. He matched her stare and her nerves twanged somewhere near her heart. “Yes, Mary, I want you to be my wife.” He scooped her off the floor and stepped sideways through the bedroom door. “If you would’ve waited another five seconds, I was going to ask you the same thing.”

  He kissed her hard, stumbling into the edge of the bed at the same time. His arms remained wrapped around her until he set her at the center of the mattress. Releasing his hold, he kept his hands touching her thighs. “Is it okay if I ask you, also?”

  Mary’s smile widened at his request. “Of course, I’d like to hear it.”

  “Mary, my forever love, will you marry me?”

  The anticipation in his eyes caused a tear to slip down Mary’s cheek. She had never realized how a few simple words could result in such great happiness that she’d cry over it. “Yes, I want you to be my husband.” Her giggle choked with her sobs as he embraced her and buried his head in her neck.

  “Forever.”

  “Forever, definitely forever,” she whispered back.

  THE END

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  As a former private investigator with a BS in political science and attendance at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Dawn Kunda has reopened her legal books to create suspense in her writing. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and Kettle Moraine Writers’ Guild. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and dogs. Dawn would love her readers to contact her with questions or comments at [email protected].

  For all titles by Dawn Kunda, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/dawn-kunda

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