Secure Target (Elite Operators) by Rebecca Crowley Read Free Book Online

birthday now. This time next year he’d be older than his father ever was.
    Except by the time his father was killed in a car accident, he had a wife and three children, whereas he didn’t even have a pet. He’d never thought of himself as the settling-down type—he loved his job, loved the chaos, loved the unexpected. But this Hardy thing was making him weary. For months now he’d felt like Hardy’s puppet, dashing across the globe in pursuit of him, always in the right place but never at quite the right time.
    He wanted this to be over.
    And that could be the only explanation for the desire he felt for Lacey. She was a symbol—the last pawn in a long, stale game of chess. If he could just keep hold of her, he would finally win.
    Although it was a shame that they hadn’t met under different circumstances, he considered as he stepped in the shower and let the hot water pelt his skin. Otherwise he would’ve at least tried for a fling with her.
    She was absolutely stunning, if somewhat different from the robust, voluptuous blondes he normally fell into bed with at the end of a sloppy night out. Lacey was slight and willowy, and her green eyes were big and mysterious in her heart-shaped face.
    Definitely a shame. He imagined tugging down her snug running shorts over her toned thighs, his hand finding the warm softness between them, her perfect pink lips parting in surprise and delight…
    He groaned and leaned against the cool tiles of the wall. He really had to get this girl out of his thoughts.
    “This is not professional,” he chided himself, and reached down to grasp his erection. He wrapped his hand around the swollen shaft and began to work off some built-up tension.
    With his eyes closed, Bronnik rooted around in his mental library of surefire turn-ons. Lying flat on his back as the Dutch tourist straddled his hips, enjoying the view of her spectacular breasts. The surfer girl from Durban he’d met on the beach, the gleam of a distant bonfire on her skin as they had sex on the sand. The statuesque waitress who’d caught a glimpse of his badge and been so turned on she shoved him into a storage closet and gave him the most tantalizing, lingering oral sex he’d ever had.
    Nope, he wasn’t getting anywhere. His faithful standbys were failing him completely. He braced his other hand against the wall and adjusted his grip.
    He thought about Lacey’s tight, pert behind swaying in the taut sheath of her pencil skirt behind the reception desk. He thought about her soft, rosy mouth, imagined the way it would gape with desire at his touch. The buttons flying as he tore open her prim, spotless blouse, exposing the supple, heaving mounds of her breasts. Her eyes shining with anticipation as he slipped his hand between her legs, finding the betraying dampness in her panties, sliding his fingers beneath the thin cloth to plunge into her silky heat, her eyes clenching shut…
    Bronnik moaned and shuddered as he came, pressing his forehead against the tiled wall. His breathing was quick and short, his heart racing with the force of his release. He remained completely still for a moment, savoring the afterglow, letting the hot water pummel his back and shoulders.
    “Right, back to business,” he muttered, straightening and giving himself a mental shake, willing himself not to dwell on the particular imagery it had taken to get across the finish line. He reached for his towel but realized he’d left it hanging on the doorknob. He stepped out of the shower, and just as his hand closed on the towel, the bathroom door flung open.
    Lacey was on the other side, staring at him with wide eyes.
     
    “Sorry, sorry,” Lacey repeated desperately, shading her eyes with her hand. “I thought you were in the other room.”
    “Uh, it’s okay,” Bronnik said haltingly, his voice gruff. “Give me five minutes.”
    She shut the door and practically ran back to the bed, climbed up and sat cross-legged. She grabbed the TV remote and