SEAL's Deception (Take No Prisoners Book 8) by Elle James Read Free Book Online Page B

the number one bodyguard, if he couldn’t keep his own act together. Risking the success of the mission wasn’t an option.

5
    Y asmin lay awake past three in the morning before she fell into a disturbed sleep filled with cruel sheiks holding her prisoner, cloaked women throwing stones and one handsome SEAL fighting through a crowd of terrorists unable to reach her in time to save her from the rampaging women.
    Waking with a start to the alarm clock buzzing on her nightstand, Yasmin stared at it, trying to remember where she was. A glance out the open windows revealed London, not yet awake in the gray light of predawn. One by one, the streetlights blinked out as the sun edged up on the horizon.
    Today, she and her SEAL bodyguards would board Prince Khalid’s private jet bound for Riyadh, where they would use whatever means at their disposal to locate the purchased vials of deadly virus.
    For a moment, doubt swept over Yasmin. Was she making a big mistake? Was she overly confident in her ability to fool the prince into thinking she was a princess? Dragging the SEALs into this charade could land them in a whole lot of trouble. She threw back the covers and swung her legs over the side.
    No. They couldn’t execute this idiotic plan. It would get them all killed or imprisoned. She couldn’t let the SEALs go through with this insanity. Yasmin ran to the bedroom door and flung it open. “I can’t do this,” she said to an empty room.
    “Ben?” she called out. No one answered. “Ben?” A strange, panicky feeling swept over her. He wouldn’t have left her, would he? She ran through the room, checking behind furniture, as if he’d be hiding with the thought of jumping out to scare her.
    Well, she was a little scared. Had someone sneaked in during the night and dragged him off while she’d slept through it all?
    A hundred different scenarios ran through her mind, each worse than the last. When she thought her head might explode, she saw the doorknob turn, and the door swung open.
    Ben entered, carrying a paper bag and two cups of what smelled like coffee. Balancing the items carefully, he kicked the door shut behind him and glanced up. “Oh, good. You’re awake. The kitchen cabinets were empty, so I went out for coffee. I didn’t know if you’d like it, but I picked up a cup of cappuccino for you from the shop on the corner. Black coffee for myself.”
    He was so casual and calm when she’d been about to come apart, worrying he’d been kidnapped, maimed or killed. She took several deep breaths and let them out before she could think or speak without screaming at him for leaving and scaring her half to death. “I love cappuccino,” she said. “What’s in the bag?”
    “Scones.”
    Swallowing the incomprehensible fear she’d felt only moments before, she settled in a chair at the tiny dining table and wrapped her hands around the steaming cup of cappuccino. “Mmm, this is delicious.”
    “Glad you like it. I was afraid you’d want the coffee. I think of cappuccino as the sludge coffee becomes if you let it sit too long.” He held up his cup. “I like my coffee straight, black and watery; not thick like old oil in an engine. It’s almost a dying breed among coffee makers.”
    Yasmin let Ben talk about coffee like she really cared. It kept her from having to come up with something to say when all she could think of was wanting to strip the SEAL out of his clothes and take him back to bed. Which wasn’t an option. Not with the cameras on them and an operation to launch.
    Talking about what happened last night wasn’t what she wanted, either. Coffee was a good topic. Safe, not controversial, and it didn’t require a commitment they couldn’t agree on. Not that one night in the sack was a reason to commit to anything. No.
    Sleeping with Ben didn’t mean anything more than scratching an incredibly satisfying itch. Once they found the vials, he’d go his way, and she’d go hers. They probably wouldn’t