C.J. Miller - Special Forces Seduction

Ruby brought her hands to her mouth, and her body trembled. Hyde moved as if she planned to go to the woman’s side, but Finn clamped a hand on her forearm. If Hyde interfered, she could get Ruby killed. It had to be killing Hyde to see this. Since he had known her, Hyde had harbored a passion for protecting women who could not protect themselves. Rumors had swirled about Hyde’s actions to protect others, and Finn had witnessed it himself over the last several years.

Humiliation was survivable. As long as Barnett didn’t throw a punch, Finn would let it play out.

“I suggest you go to our room. You can make this up to me tonight.” His grin was lascivious and Ruby looked at Finn and Hyde, her face red, and then fled the room in tears.

Barnett appeared composed. This was the hair-trigger temper Finn had read about. One moment Barnett was relaxed and jovial, and the next he was tearing someone to shreds.

Hyde was seething, twisting her linen napkin in her lap and tapping the gun at her thigh, but she was keeping her facial expression in check. The rest of the meal passed without incident. Ruby did not return to the table and Finn didn’t blame her. He hoped she had found a boat and was hightailing it away from Barnett.

When dinner was over, Barnett invited Finn to his private office for drinks and cigars.

“Are you okay on your own?” Finn asked, turning to Hyde at the table. It would be like Hyde to use the time to look around the house under the guise of admiring the decor and artwork. He ran his hand down the side of her face and she leaned into the touch. Their eyes connected and heat and anticipation arced between them.

She gripped her clutch in her hands. “If our generous host agrees, I’ll enjoy some wine on the portico.”

Barnett nodded. “I like a woman who can entertain herself.”

Hyde must want to stab Barnett. Everything the man said to her sounded like a slight or an innuendo to sex. Finn credited her with staying calm. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her lightly. She allowed the kiss, but she didn’t return it. He sensed she wanted to and was overthinking this. Finn would break through her walls and find out what was bothering her. It was a matter of time.

“Mr. Moore? Are you coming?” Barnett asked.

Though he hated splitting up from her, Finn followed Barnett into his office.

* * *

Hyde had worked as a spy long enough to have seen every type of relationship and had learned to categorize them quickly. Some were good, some were awful and most were somewhere in between. She placed Reed Barnett and every woman he dated in the awful category. He had humiliated and verbally abused Ruby. The idea made Hyde’s blood run red-hot with rage. If there was anything that elicited a reaction from her, it was a woman in trouble.

However Ruby had come to be involved with Barnett, she had to regret it. She could feel trapped or know she couldn’t leave with her life. Perhaps she was waiting for the right opportunity to escape to safety. Or she had been someone’s victim for so long, she didn’t know how to be anything but one. Though it wasn’t the mission’s primary objective, Hyde wanted to get Ruby safely out of her entanglement with Barnett when she was ready to take that step.

In her field, Hyde was often underestimated and men tried to push her around. She had pushed back and struggled for every scrap of respect she had. She’d had examples of strong women in her life. Her father treated her mother with respect, and Hyde expected nothing less from the men in her life. After a decade of missions, her reputation preceded her. Now, when a man learned her name, they reacted with the right amount of awe.

Barnett’s butler led Hyde out of the main house to a large patio overlooking the ocean. Citronella candles surrounded her.

Ruby appeared, having changed from the orange evening gown into pink yoga pants and a matching zip-up sweatshirt. Her hair was long and loose around her shoulders. She folded her hands in front of her and lifted her head. Hyde read her discomfort in the tightness of her shoulders, but Hyde also saw strength in her eyes.

Hyde would break the ice first and let Ruby know that she was a friend. “I’m glad you came out tonight. Who knows how long the men will be talking? It’s nice to make a friend on the island.”

Ruby touched the ends of her hair. “I’m embarrassed by what happened at dinner.”

It must be her first event of this nature, or she was playing a carefully scripted part to gain empathy. Hyde didn’t let her guard down until she was sure of someone and it was rare for her to be sure of anyone.

Hyde’s plan was to be as kind as possible to get close to Ruby without giving away anything about herself or Finn. “He overreacted. I’m sure he’ll be over it by tomorrow.”

Ruby touched her bare left ring finger. “He was pretty mad.”

“He seemed fine at the end of dinner,” Hyde said.

“Whenever he gets mad like that...” She let her voice trail off.

If she finished that statement with “he hits me” or any variation of those words, Hyde would kill Barnett. She and Finn would have to come up with a Plan B to destroy the rest of his network. Her retribution for Barnett was ready to be taken off its leash with the slimmest notice.

“He what?” Hyde prompted.

Ruby pressed her hands to her sides. “It’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Not what she’d expected, but Hyde rolled with it. She could be a friend to Ruby and leverage her for information. Allies came in handy. When the time came, she would help her escape Barnett’s network.

Hyde giggled. “They get worked up, don’t they?”

Ruby relaxed and Barnett’s staff brought a bottle of wine and glasses out to them.

Hyde accepted a glass of wine, but didn’t drink it. She brought it to her lips, but she was listening, gathering every detail Ruby was willing to share.

She needed to figure out if Ruby could help them or hurt them and if she could be trusted.

* * *

After several hours of speaking with Ruby about everything from music to travel to books they enjoyed, Hyde pretended to be drunk. She had dumped a fair amount of wine into the bushes around the patio. It was almost one in the morning, and Finn was still talking with Barnett. When Ruby begged off to get some sleep, Hyde couldn’t think of a reason to linger without raising suspicions.

One of Barnett’s guards drove her wordlessly to the villa on the beach. Hyde thanked Barnett’s guard and stumbled into the house, closing and locking the door behind her. Her feet crunched over the gritty sand that seemed to coat the brown tile floor.

Hyde swept for bugs. Thinking of Ruby, she hoped Barnett’s anger would disappear before bed. If their villa was closer to the main house, she could have kept a better eye on Ruby.

Hyde hit the shower. Ten minutes in, the sound of the front door opening and closing interrupted her thoughts. Finn was home. Hyde shut off the water. She wrapped a plush white lavender-scented towel around her.

Her time with Finn was the closest thing she’d had to a vacation in the last ten years. Finn had once needed to cancel plans with her when his mission went sideways, and Hyde had been utterly disappointed. That lingering displeasure had been an eye-opening experience. She needed Finn after a mission. It was how she bounced back from the soul-wrecking events that were her job.

When this was over, Hyde wouldn’t have Finn. Instead, she would take a vacation. A weeklong getaway to somewhere warm where she could relax without fearing for her life.

Keeping her towel around her, Hyde met Finn in the main room of the house. Achy, needy and unexpected desire swelled inside her.

He was removing his tie and it was one of the sexiest things she had seen in months. Finn in dress pants, his shirt rumpled and the sleeves rolled to his elbows, his hair askew and now the tie loose around his neck.