Maybe Sean was really pissed about the whole stinger thing. He was definitely not the sort of man someone got the better of, not without retribution, anyway.
One look at Taser confirmed her theories. The Ghost Team was giving him a hard time of it. The idea almost made her smile. So few were capable of getting close enough to plant a thorn in Taser’s thick hide. The very thought that Sean might be looking for her – that he cared enough to do so – sent a thrill down her spine, even if he probably did want to kill her. She quashed the thought immediately, returning to the defense of her teammates.
“It’s irrelevant,” Taser said, halting Nicki’s argument before she could get going properly. “Fisher and Brookes are currently deployed elsewhere. You’ve got a new partner. One who I know will be able to keep you in line.”
The back of Nicki’s neck prickled, a natural response to the suggestion that anyone was capable of such a thing. Nicki answered to no one. Well, except Taser. But that was by her own choice. The man had literally saved her, both her life and her sanity. Maybe even her soul, but she didn’t like to think too closely about that one. She still wasn’t entirely sure she had one, or if she did, how much of it was intact.
“Who?”
His mouth twitched. “You’ll see soon enough.”
“Prick.”
“God you’re hot when you talk dirty, Nix,” Taser chuckled, completely unfazed. Nicki rolled her eyes.
The soft whir of nearly silent chopper blades had Nicki looking up sharply. “Ah, good,” said Taser. “He’s here.”
Nicki stood and put her hands on the rail post, squinting for a better view. A sleek black helicopter suddenly appeared over the tree tops and prepared to land right in the clearing in front of her. She watched as the pilot expertly maneuvered the craft, touching down as lightly as a feather. Whoever her new partner was, he was one hell of a pilot.
The engines were cut, and the soft whir grew fainter over the next several minutes as the blades slowed and then finally ceased moving. Only then did a familiar figure swing gracefully out from the pilot’s seat and begin walking toward the cabin.
Sean Callaghan. She’d know that confident, stalking gait anywhere. Images of those broad shoulders, muscular chest, and lean hips were hardwired into her brain. Nicki glanced back at Taser, he met her gaze head on. She swore his eyes were actually glowing.
What was he up to? Had Sean proven to be too much of a threat? Had Taser tricked him here to this remote, God-forsaken location using her as bait? Did he expect to eliminate two birds with one stone?
No, the sane part of her said. Not even Taser would be that arrogant. To take out Sean he’d have to take out the entire Ghost Team, and while the Chameleons were good, they weren’t that good.
Nicki turned back toward Sean. She watched him close the distance between them, stopping only a foot in front of where she stood.
“Meet your new partner,” Taser said from behind her, amusement lacing his voice. “Nix, Sean Callaghan. Sean, Nix Milligan.”
Nicki wanted to turn around and scowl at him, demand to know what game he was playing at, but she couldn’t. It was impossible to turn away from Sean’s icy blue gaze. Without touching her, Sean held her as captive as tangibly as if he’d bound her head to toe. His expression was fierce, but the reasons behind it were undeterminable. Was it hunger? Anger? Resentment? Relief? Need? Or, like her, did he feel all those things at once?
They stared at each other forever, or at least it seemed like it. Time didn’t flow around Sean Callaghan like it did everywhere else. It might have been a few seconds or a few minutes. Then, with the suddenness of a cobra strike, Sean pulled her into his arms and commanded her mouth.
Nicki’s head swam with the taste of him as her body ached against him. Was he bigger, harder? Or was her mind playing tricks on her? The thought of fighting him never even entered her mind. Sean assumed immediate and absolute control of her heart and body, with her mind chasing behind yelling “wait for me!” For those few moments, there was nothing else in her world.
“Ah, I’d forgotten you’d already met.” Taser spoke up, and Nicki felt, rather than heard, the growl in Sean’s chest at the blatant interruption. Had Taser not reminded them of his presence, Nicki was sure Sean would have taken her right here on the steps. Even worse, she would have let him.
The sound of Taser’s voice brought Nicki back to reality, or at least cut through some of the Sean-induced fog to which she seemed so susceptible. “He’s my new partner? How... how is that possible?”
Sean’s eyes sparkled like blue diamonds. He had released her lips, but his arms kept her tight against him – and his massive arousal – in a cast iron grip.
“Call it a collaboration, if you will,” explained Taser. “A joint venture between the Chameleons and the Ghost Team.”
Sean’s eyebrow arched at the reference. “The Ghost Team? Is that what you call us?”