Free HOT SEAL Rescue (HOT SEAL Team - Book 3) by Lynn Raye Harris Page A

didn’t know how long the orgasm lasted, but Cody was good as his word. He pumped into her hard and quick, dragging it out. When she was spent, when he felt the tension in her limbs release, he gave in to his own pleasure, his body stilling as he shoved deep and let go. Only the jerk of his hips and the harshness of his breath in her ear told her he was coming.
    When it was over, he kissed her cheek, her neck, then licked her nipple before getting off her and disappearing to take care of the condom.
    Miranda stretched happily. Yeah, maybe she’d regret this in the morning, but right now? Hell, right now she was congratulating herself on such a good idea. Now if only she could manage to fall asleep, her night would be perfect.
    As if thinking about it made it happen, sleep crashed down on her and she heard no more.

14
    “ T hat’s bullshit ,” Cody hissed into the phone. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure he was still alone. He’d awakened an hour ago, feeling more relaxed than he had in a long time. The remnants of the dream had completely faded, and Miranda had been sprawled beside him on her belly, her arm flung over the pillow. He’d wanted to wake her and do a repeat of last night, but the truth was that he wasn’t sure she’d agree.
    She’d said she knew what she was doing. That she wasn’t going to regret the fact they’d fucked when they barely knew each other. In his experience, very few women were wired for one-night stands. They got emotional even when they said they wouldn’t.
    Instead of waking her, he’d let her sleep and gone outside on the porch to enjoy the early-morning desert air after he’d made a cup of coffee in the Keurig. It had been pretty enjoyable until Viking called him a few minutes ago.
    “Sorry, Cowboy,” Viking said. “But you have to bring her in. She’s not operating on a sanctioned mission. She has a personal beef with Victor Conti—she was going to kill him, not infiltrate his organization.”
    Cody’s stomach churned with anger and denial. “She could have killed him at any point—why try to worm her way into his operations to do it? It doesn’t make sense.”
    Except that she’d carried a gun to her meeting with Conti when she wouldn’t carry a phone. A suicide mission? Miranda didn’t strike him as suicidal.
    Viking blew out a breath. “I know that—but it’s not our call. Mendez has been on the phone with high-level contacts half the damn night. She’s wanted, Cody. The evidence against her is pretty strong.”
    “What about this Badger guy? He knows something. What’s he saying?”
    “We don’t know his identity for security reasons—but what he’s saying through our contacts is that she’s a good agent. He also says she’s been different since her mentor, this Mark Reed guy, was killed a few months ago.”
    “I don’t like any of this. We said we’d help her.”
    “And we will. It’s all any of us wants. Bring her in and she’ll get the help she needs. Samantha Spencer promised to look after her and keep us informed.”
    His gut was churning harder now. Samantha Spencer was a CIA agent that HOT worked with quite a bit, and she’d always been completely trustworthy. Hell, she was rumored to be hooking up with the skipper. And Mendez was certainly no fool.
    So was Miranda lying? Was she obsessed with Conti? It was possible, sure. And yet Cody didn’t see it that way. If she’d wanted to kill Conti, she could have shot him in the lobby of the Venetian. Yeah, she might have been caught—but if she was truly crazy and hell-bent on revenge, she wouldn’t have cared. It was also possible, being a highly trained operative, that she could have gotten away if she’d timed everything just right.
    There was also the fact she hadn’t shot him yet. If all she’d wanted was to kill Conti, she wouldn’t have let anything stand in her way. She’d have taken Cody down the first chance she had and then doubled back to her target.
    No, there