Ethan glanced down at her. “You did good, but we need to talk. In private.”
Kate nodded in complete agreement, only she didn't have much talking in mind. They had to get rid of this tension between them if she had any hope of paying attention the rest of the week. Two daysin and she'd nearly seduced him in front of her new boss.
Chapter 14
Later that evening,Kate stepped into the bathroom and locked the door. A few minutes later she was undressed and standing beneath a hot shower, praying it would work out the soreness in her muscles.
She'd worked out five days a week, keeping her muscles toned and trying to stay healthy, but Ethan's training wasn't about health. It was about survival for herself and the person she would guard. And it was brutal. He'd continued to put her on the defense, tossing her to the mat more times than she could count, but each time Kate learned something new.
The one good thing about their training, she'd been beneath him, body to body, and after giving in to the fact that she couldn't deny the attraction between them, she accepted it and used it to help give her energy.
Each time he pressed against her, electric heat charged through her body. After being on autopilot so long, almost like she’d been desensitized to other people, reacting so strongly flooded her with vitality. He made her feel wanted, especially when she felt his hard length pressed against her. Outwardly he kept his expression blank, but there was nothing he could do to hide the banked lust in his eyes.
She'd left him with a promise to meet up later tonight at a bar in a neighboring town. Kate got out of the shower,toweled off and carefully selected her clothing for the night.
She had no intention of pulling any punches when it came to seducing Ethan Slade.
Ethan nursed a beer at the bar, if he could label the ramshackle shack built on stilts over a murky Mississippi bayou a bar. Somehow the clapboard walls were holding up, although every time the wind shifted, the entire shack groaned. The girl behind the bar had more tattoos than his entire team combined and nearly as many piercings.
There were two other couples in the bar. The first consisted of a broken down old cowboy clutching a bottle of rot gut and holding hands with a woman with hair so red it had to have come from a bottle. The other couple appeared almost normal, except they kept casting suspicious glances his way and twitching, which meant whatever reason they were here probably wasn't legal. This far out, they could be selling dope or smuggling alligator skin.
Ethan cast up a silent prayer that the motel room he'd rented wasn't a close relative to the bar. How could he expect to seduce someone like Kate in a shit hole with cockroaches as decorations?
The bartender stared past his shoulder and Ethan swung around and blanked. Kate strolled across the floor, graceful and predatory, almost feline. She'd let her hair hang long and straight down her back, a perfect touch to the skintight dress hugging her curves like it'd been painted on. And the heels. She'd worn those fuck me heels.
Kate didn't stop until she stood between his spread knees. She took the beer from his hand, and placed the bottle on the bar behind him. Ethan sat there, unable to move, mouth dry and body tense and ready to snap.
“Sorry I’m late. I wasn’t sure you’d wait.”
Her husky voice slid over his skin like a caress and snapped him from his stupor. Ethan pulled her to his chest.
Kate rubbed her chest across his, and Ethan clenched his jaw so tight he was surprised his teeth didn't shatter. He was so much worse off than he'd originally thought.
Ethan snatched her hand to his lips and nipped her palm, savoring her soft gasp. “I would've stayed here all night if you asked me to.” Although more than likely, he would've ended up back at Noni's to check on her. Kate wasn't the type of woman to stand him up, even if she changed her mind, she would've told him to his face. But when her gaze slid away from his, he felt the first niggling of worry. “Why did you pick this place?”
She nibbled her lower lip and faced him. “To be honest, I didn't want to chance running into any of the other guys.”
That got his back up instantly. Was she embarrassed to be seen with him or something? “Why?”
“I didn't want to put up with their shit tomorrow. I already put up with enough crap just because I'm female, if they get wind I'm banging you too...” She let her words trail off with a shrug and Ethan found himself grinning in response.
“So you're banging me, are you?” He palmed her hip and yanked her closer, allowing her to feel how much that thought turned him on.
Her eyes darkened from pale green to emerald and she lowered her lashes. “In a seedy motel and everything.”
The thought of her spread out beneath him on any bed was enough to drive him past the edge of control. Ethan ripped out his wallet, tossed a five on the bar and pulled Kate out behind him. “You lead the way to the motel.”
He'd only been around her for a few days and yet their tension had built to the point of exploding. Ethan knew as soon as she touched him, he was done for.
Kate stood with Ethan outside the one-story 1900's era motel, a heavy set of old keys dangling from her hand. Their door, Room 101, boasted a large crack across the top left corner and enough chipped paint she couldn't really tell what color it was supposed to be. Maybe blue? Tan? Red?
Ethan grabbed her hand. “You kidding me? No way I'm letting you stay here for the night. This is the place where murderers and thieves go to get rid of bodies, not for a romantic rendezvous.”
Kate ignored him and shoved the key into the lock, “You said Aaron told you this was the only place within a hundred miles.”
Ethan's hand landed heavy on top of hers, stopping her before she could turn the lock. “I'm not kidding Kate, there's got to be somewhere better than this.”
Kate turned the key. “I'm not kidding either. Besides, I did my own research. The FBI bought this place and uses it for undercover work. That nasty old man who checked us in is an agent. We are safer here than at the Hilton in town.”
