Caught Up at Christmas Read online

  I thought it would help to be close to her here, but instead it’s pure torture. All I can do is think about what she is doing, what’s happening to her when I’m not nearby.

  Sure, I can still capture her video feed on my watch, but I need to be closer. I need to be within arm’s reach of her if anything happens.

  And something is going to happen, and soon.

  I can see him sweet talking her, wearing down her defenses. I can see her struggling over it- trying to figure out what the right thing is. She’s been told that she is supposed to save herself for marriage, yet he’s also hinting that engagement is just around the corner... if only she’ll prove to him that she’s just as committed to this as he is.

  I didn’t even feel my hand curl up into a fist, but I do hear it colliding with the top of the North Pole, knocking off the piece that holds it together.

  “Hey, dude, chill,” the elf next to me reminds me. “Santa’s supposed to be a jolly kind of guy.”

  “Yeah, well Santa has a very special gift for a certain someone that he needs to deliver right now. So, take over, okay?”

  Before the elf, otherwise known as Agent Madison, could blink, I’m off the float, and I’m already pulling at my costume.

  “Lucas, no one wants to see Santa strip,” another elf hissed at me.

  “Then you play Santa,” I said, throwing my costume at Agent Barson.

  Don’t worry- I haven’t scarred anyone for life- I had black, second skin thermals on underneath. It’s only as I’m ducking under a hedge that I realize I still have the hat on.

  Pulling it off, I tuck it under my arm. Moira’s going to get a hell of a present from Santa this year.

  Once I get her away from those damn Russians. Good thing I already have our getaway planned out.

  Chapter 11

  Mikhail aka Michael

  “Quite the girl you’ve got there, Mikhail,” Ivan comments.

  “Operation Merry Christmas is quite a success, huh, Dad?” I said to Ivan, my superior officer. Ivan's also a totally sadistic shithead. I hate having to work with him. “And to think you doubted my ability to get her.”

  “You’ve gone to bed with her?”

  “Soon enough. Moira's a bit of a cold fish.”

  “Well, don’t go looking for warmer beds. Especially under this roof.”

  “Don’t start counting chickens until they’ve hatched. Or start celebrating too soon,” I said mockingly, rolling my eyes. “Moira is an early to bed type, which gives me more than enough time for Natalia and me to give each other a little fun.”

  “If this plan falls apart because you want your rocks off—“

  “If Moira was a little more accommodating, maybe I wouldn’t need to knock on Natalia’s door.”

  “You don’t see me needing to get daily sucked off by Exkaterina to carry out our mission.”

  “Oh, so that’s it, huh? Exkaterina hasn’t felt like sharing the fake marriage bed lately? You’re just jealous that I’ve got Natalia and I've also got Moira, hook, line, and is only a matter of time before I sink her. And I will make sure the sinking is lit well enough for the recording. If that isn’t enough leverage over Senator Lennox, there’s always the basement. Everything ready there?”

  Ivan nodded. “Natalia and I tested it while you were off wooing Moira at college.”

  “You bastard,” I yelled, lunging at him.

  “Easy boy, I’m supposed to be your father, remember? Nice American boys don’t punch their fathers. Besides, you should be pleased that we were given such prime equipment. After I gave her a good going over in the basement, Natalia couldn't walk for a week.”

  I snarled, my hand going for the older man’s throat.

  But for all my strength and speed, Ivan had more skill.

  “Stupid boy,” Ivan said, twisting my arm behind my back until I was gasping in pain. “Once this is done, you can buy yourself a hundred Natalia’s. And Natalia can buy a hundred more like you. Now, go upstairs and work on getting Moira Lennox to open her legs for you.”

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  “Then we’ll see how much she likes attention from a much older man.”

  “You? She wouldn’t go for you on a bet. I’m the one who matched her profile perfectly. You, on the other hand, are old enough to be her father. Way past your peak, old man.”

  “A lot you know. Even when anonymously filling things out online, people don’t always the whole truth. They leave out things like wanting to be drilled by daddy. Didn’t reading her diary show you that?” Ivan asked. “An important lesson- phishing and hacking can reveal a lot, but is never same as old fashioned one on one spying, no?”

  “I wasn't able to get her diary. She went psycho with a baseball bat on the guy I hired to extract it. Even if I had gotten it, I guarantee there wasn't anything in it about wanting to be fucked by a man old enough to be her father.”

  Ivan shrugged. “Then I’ll just have to make it one of her fantasies.”

  “Fucking Moira Lennox is supposed to be my part of this mission, not yours.”

  “Fine, than go upstairs and fulfill your assignment.”

  “I will,” I said heatedly.

  “Good. But, if you fail to, I will,” Ivan said.

  I mumbled under my breath.

  “Do I need to remind you that I’m still you’re superior officer?” Ivan asked.

  “No need, Dad. I’m reminded all the time.”

  ***

  Fuck.

  Fucking, fucking, fuck.

  I'll do what I can with Moira, and then I'll turn her over to Ivan, but more than anything else, I have to get Natalia away from Ivan's clutches. As much as I'm capable of love, I love Natalia with all my heart. As soon as I can, I'm taking Natalia and we're running from here. I know that'll mean a bullet in the back of our heads in the near future, but at least it will be a future that we chose. At least we'll have that short period of time together.

  Freedom.

  Fucking Americans just don't know how lucky they are to be free.

  ARC COPY- ARC READERS ONLY

  Chapter 12

  Moira

  I've barely been here a day, and don't know how I'm going to make it through Christmas. Michael has just been so kind and respectful. He even gave me a beautiful charm bracelet as an early Christmas gift.

  In fact, its not just Michael who has been too good to me. Everyone in the Anderson family has been just so nice to me. Too nice. I don't deserve any of this. And when Mrs. Anderson out her arm around me and told me that Michael had asked her for her mother's ring, I thought I was going to sink right down to the fiery depths right there.

  I can't do this anymore. I'm a fraud. A liar. I've been a horrible person leading Michael along like this. I thought I could be like my mom, or my aunt, but I can't do it. I can't have a marriage like that. I can't pretend to like him, I can't be his girlfriend, and I definitely can't be his finance. Or – shudder- Micheal’s wife.

  My parents are just going to have to accept that I'm nothing like they are, and that I'm my own person with my own needs.

  My mystery guy is out there, I know he is. He's just too real to me to be imaginary. And once I find him, I know that its going to feel very different, that everything is just going to click into place.

  But first, I need to make a clean break with Michael. As much as I'd like to just run away and avoid it, he and his family have been way too nice to me for me to ghost him.

  He went upstairs with his sister Natalia to show her something on his computer. I know its nothing top secret or anything, just some funny .gifs that he'd made for fun while we studied for finals with this animation program that he'd created himself. He's really good with computer stuff.

  So, there was no reason for me to knock on his bedroom door. After all, it was only him and his sister Natalia in there. The door wasn't even fully shut.

  It should have been shut.

  It should have been locked, and someone should have
thrown away the key.

  My jaw dropped and my stomach lurched.

  Micheal’s laptop was lying open on the floor, where it had probably fallen from his bed. I don't know what was on the laptop, but it was lines of code that definitely wasn't in English, and really didn't look like something a normal college student would be looking at. And even weirder, my laptop was under it, connected by a silver cable.

  Michael was either putting something on my computer or taking something from it. Either way, it wasn't good.

  I can definitely tell what he was putting in Natalia though. And taking from her. I don't even have the words for how disgusted I am.

  Well, this was certainly going to make it easier to break up with him.

  To think, I just assumed he would take a future mistress. I never expected that he already had one in his own sister!

  ARC COPY- ARC READERS ONLY

  Chapter 13

  Moira

  How could this be happening? How could I have put her trust in Michael? And what kind of a sick person would--

  Shaking my head, wanting to deny what I saw, I let the door close quietly.

  But I couldn't pretend it away. Darn it, there's such a thing as self- respect, right?

  I banged the door open. “Fuck you Michael, you cheating fuck,” I screamed at him, using two more F-bombs than usual. In my anger and disgust, I became a complete potty mouth.

  “To think I had ever-- No. Just go fuck yourself. And not me. And it shouldn't be her, but you already know that, don't you, you sick fuck?”

  Michael whirled around, his jeans open. “Moira, baby I can explain--,” he said, lurching toward me.

  “No, I think its all pretty clear. No explanation needed. And I don't need this either,” I said, pulling off the charm bracelet he had given me earlier in the day. “We are over. 100% over. Don't you dare call me.”

  I stumbled forward, obviously not in the best condition to walk in heels.

  I slammed the door and rushed through the house, running outside without my coat.

  What was I going to do? Where was I going to go? The property was huge, and Micheal’s family lived so far out on the point that my cell phone didn't even get any service. Forget one or two bars. There was no signal at all.

  I wanted nothing more to do than to run away, but there was no where to run to- Micheal’s family's estate was way too far from town, and if I wouldn't have been able to manage it in sneakers, I definitely couldn't manage it in heels anyway.

  But there was no way I could go back inside that house. I could never face Michael again.

  I started walking, not really knowing where I was headed, just needing to escape, stopping until when I reached the edge of the lighting used to illuminate the Anderson mansion. I didn't dare go any further- the property was surrounded by water- the last thing I needed right now was to accidentally drown in the dark.

  Once in the darkness, I stopped moving, other than her shoulders, which began to shake from the force of my silent sobs.

  How could I have been so blind? Michael had seemed absolutely perfect. Perfect on paper at least. “Don't you trust me, Moira?” I could hear him asking me, the line he always used, as if I was the one with a trust problem, and not him.

  Well, I finally had trusted, and look where it had gotten me. Gaslit and alone, shivering on the edge of a Long Island beach.

  “Merry fucking Christmas, Moira,” I muttered to myself. If ever there was a time for my guardian angel to show up, I think it would be now. I looked around, trying to find him in the shadows, but I don't see anyone out there.

  What I do see, is that the property is suddenly lit up like the Fourth of July, and there are floodlights turned on me, and loud yelling in a language that sounds like Russian.

  Clearly, my life has just taken a turn for the worse, even worse than finding out that my sort of ex-boyfriend is committing crimes against nature with his sister.

  Gunfire.

  People are actually shooting at me.

  Help!

  ARC COPY- ARC READERS ONLY

  Chapter 14

  Lucas

  First rule of dealing with the Russians- never trust the Russians. My boss assumed they wouldn't try to kill Moira, but he'd failed to properly asses the situation. Even if he was right, Moira was still in real danger of being badly wounded.

  Or, at least that would have been the case if it wasn't for me.

  She ducked into one of the few remaining shadows.

  “Moira,” I called to her, gruffly whispering in the dark.

  I saw her shiver of fear.

  “Its okay,” I said. “I'm not with them.”

  “Isn't that what Id expect someone with them to say?”

  “Probably. So, let my badge talk for me,” I said, tossing it to her.

  “You're a cop?” She asked, flipping it open.

  “Kind of. I'm Lucas Miller. A cop for America. I'm with the Bureau,” I said, just as her fingers ran over the letters that had to be familiar from so many action movies.

  “You're an agent? How do I know this isn’t a fake?” She asked.

  “You don't. You'll just have to trust me.”

  “I think I’m done trusting men.”

  “Well, its either trusting me, or the guys bearing down on us with guns and dogs. What do you think?”

  “Well, I guess I have to hope that you're my own personal superhero,” she said, stepping forward nervously.

  “Baby, you don't know the half of it,” I growled, scooping her into my arms.

  Maybe that was more dramatic than it needed to be, but I couldn't be this worried about her and not hold her, needing to feel her heat mingled with mine. “C'mon, I said, we're going for a late night boat ride?”

  “A boat ride? But they've got fast boats of their own and--”

  “Well, not quite a boat. And something they definitely can't catch. You ever been in a untraceable submersible before?”

  “I bet you say that to all the girls,” she said.

  I can't help but laugh. She's got more spunk that she realizes. God, we're going to be good for each other.

  Chapter 15

  Moira

  And just like that, the danger was over.

  Sure, there were still large Russian guys shooting at us with rapid fire machine guns, but there was something about this guy holding me that made everything else fade into the distance. Somehow, he really did seem invincible, the two of us invulnerable to everything. Everything but the growing heat between us.

  He clicked me into my seat in the submersible, and something else clicked. Here was the hero Id been waiting for.

  And hero's deserve to be kissed, right? So that's exactly what I did.

  I reached over, and I kissed him right on those rugged lips of his.

  My bold move takes us both by surprise, the unexpected heat like a bolt of lightening. I like it. And I want more.

  He does too, because he's kissing me back just as fiercely. At least until he isn't.

  “Baby, you can have all the kisses you want from me, but let's get the hell out of here first, okay?”

  I nod, feeling a little foolish. How could I have forgotten that there were men trying to kill us? But there's something about this guy that just makes me feel so incredibly safe.

  Safe. Protected. And unbelievably aroused.

  ***

  I don’t know how long we were underwater, only that I was barely awake when he lifted me out of my seat and carried me to a waiting truck.

  “Time to hide out for a while, baby,” he whispers to me, before driving me off into the night, the truck bumping along over dirt roads.

  ***

  “Here we are, home sweet home,” Lucas said, bringing me inside a rustic cabin in what seems to be an incredibly remote spot. “At least it will be our home until my boss rounds up the rest of the Mikhail's spy gang.”

  “Spy gang? Michael, I mean Mikhail, is really a spy?”

  “Every last one
of the Andersons is a Russian spy. Mikhail. Ivan. Exkaterina. Natalia. If it makes you feel any better, they aren't a real family. Natalia is definitely not Mikhail's sister. Although she has been his lover for some time.”

  “You heard that part?”

  He nodded. “I'm sorry you had to find out like that.”

  “Me too. Although I was on my way to go break up with Michael, I mean Mikhail, anyway.”

  “Were you?”

  I nod back. “We weren't right for each other. He was everything I should have wanted, but there was someone else I really wanted this whole time.”

  “Oh?' He said gruffly.

  “It was this shadowy guy who was always just out of sight. Just out of reach.”

  “Any idea who he was?”

  “Yeah. I think it was you.”

  “I don't think I’m out of sight anymore,” he said.

  I smiled. “And you definitely aren’t out of reach. And by the way, you still owe me a bunch of kisses from the sub.”

  “I was about to bring that up,” Lucas said, stepping closer.

  His arms reach out, embracing me, holding me against that strong broad chest of his.

  It’s like cuddling my favorite teddy bear, if my favorite teddy bear was made of solid muscle and.... oh, wow, that can’t be what I think it is, can it?

  He squeezes me tighter, his lips insistent against mine, and yes, I think it’s quite clear that what I’m feeling pressed against his belly is his... is his HUGE...

  I gulp, because I can feel it moving, can feel it throbbing through his jeans. And whatever he has in there, not only immense, its very insistent.

  He moans in my ear.

  What do I do? This feels amazing, especially after everything I’ve been through, but I’ve only just officially met him. I like what I see- oh, and I like what I feel, but...

  “I want you so bad,” he growls in my ear. “Your first and your last.”

  I have to admit, it sounds tempting, so very tempting.