Unleashing the Storm by Sydney Croft Read Free Book Online

“Derek was just giving me some tips on how to make cuffs more
comfortable.”
    “I’ll
bet.” His mouth curved, but if his smile was genuine, she’d eat a burger. Raw.
    “I
came to see if you two wanted dinner—Oh, crap! Dinner! It’s burning.” She
shoved her wrists at Derek. “Take them off.” His smile didn’t fade, but his
gaze never left Tom’s.
    Men.
Morons.
    Once
free, she darted out of the room. “Come on, boys. Dinner’s ready. You’ll love
it. Sautéed asparagus with curried tofu and tomatoes.” She rolled her eyes at
the two men who stood there watching each other like rival roosters.
    Babs,
who hadn’t gone downstairs, gave her a look that said it all.
    Males
are dumb.

CHAPTER Four
    Ender
ignored Derek’s smirk, patted Babs on the head and turned to follow Kira. The
whole never-turn-your-back-on-the-enemy thing was overrated. So was Derek. And
sometimes, turning your back gave the enemy enough time to screw up, or to show
them that you didn’t give a fuck.
    But
Ender did give a fuck, and it looked like Derek was planning something for
tonight. And with the way Kira acted this afternoon, and again in Derek’s
handcuffs, he ran a real risk of getting the rug pulled out from under him.
    He
could almost guarantee that Derek had called in backup. Almost. But this was
the delicate balance involved in an Operator who acted as Convincer and killer.
    On
one hand, he needed to keep Kira safe and out of the enemy’s grasp. But she’d
already lost two farmhands, and killing Derek right now, which would be his
first, most natural instinct, would cause too much suspicion on her part. Then
again, it could bring them closer together, force her to turn to him for
protection.
    Part
of his plan also involved discovering just what uses Itor had for her. He’d get
that out of Derek later. And then he’d kill him. Because killing him too soon
would bring out the dogs, literally. I-Agents had a virtual worm implanted in
their brain that transmitted back to the home compound, let them know that
after twenty-four hours of no brain activity an agent had died.
    Ender
needed a little bit longer than twenty-four hours, and he had a plan to buy him
that time.
    The
kitchen was hot as hell even though the sun had already started to go down, the
heat from cooking raising the temperature enough so that Ender wished he could
strip down to his shorts and take a long swim in the lake that ran along the
back of the property.
    He
moved close to Kira, close enough so she needed to touch him to move past him,
the bare skin of her arm brushing his, and he waited to see if he got the same
vertigo-like sensation he had earlier out in the barn. When he led with the
wrong head. There had been nothing in the files about a latex allergy, or any
other, and she hadn’t even bothered to check to see that the condom was
lambskin. Although with her militant animal rights stance, that wouldn’t have
gone over well anyway.
    He
inhaled, taking in the freshness of her skin, the honey-cloves mix that drove
him up a wall, and his dick stirred, but that was a normal response.
    Babs
wouldn’t leave his side, a gray, Velcroed, touch-seeking bundle of energy. “Bet
she’s a beauty when she runs,” he said.
    “Feel
free to take her anytime you want. She can always do with more exercise,” Kira said.
Derek sidled to the counter and took the hot dish out of her hands and brought
it to the table.
    “Tommy,
can you grab the lemonade, please?” Kira asked.
    Tommy.
Fuck me. “Yes, ma’am.”
    Putting
the sedative in the drink took all of three seconds in between giving the
lemonade a final mix and pouring it into the glasses. Ender took a sip first,
then drank about half his glass because Derek watched him suspiciously.
Finally, the guy followed suit.
    Ender
took the seat on the far end of the large, antiqued farmhouse table, back to
the wall. Derek sat diagonally across the table from him and smirked when Kira
slid into the seat next to him,