Jami Alden - Kept (The Gemini Men)

CAUGHT

UNLEASHED

Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.

Kensington Publishing Corp.

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

To my parents, Patty and C. B.,
who always believe in me, no matter what.
And to Gajus, for everything.

As always, I have so many people to thank, people who offered everything from brainstorming and idea generating to emotional support as I cranked this book out under the wire. First, to Bella Andre and Monica McCarty, for the daily sanity checks, endless encouragement, and help getting me out of tight spots. To the SF lunch crewBarbara Freethy, Candice Hern, Anne Mallory, Carol Grace, Tracy Grant, Penelope Williamson, Veronica Wolff, Bella and Monica againfor helping me hammer out the details at the beginning of the book. Special thanks to Veronica, who came up with the hook, and to Penny, who reminded me to keep the body count high! To Karin Tabke, who put up with my endless heavy sighs that weekend in Tahoe. To my editor, Hilary Sares, and for the invaluable afternoon we spent locked in a room at the Marriott. And finally, thanks to my agent, Kim Whalenyour enthusiasm and support mean the world to me.

W HERE THE HELL does she think shes going? Derek Taggart watched the woman dart around a matron dressed in a heavily beaded ball gown and a thickset older man in a tux as she made her way to the back corner of the ballroom. Derek had been tracking her movements for the past twenty minutes or so from his vantage in the gallery above, ever since a bloated, self-important toad in a tux had run his fat finger up and down her bare arm and said something that had made her smile falter and the color leach from her carefully made-up face. Even from a distance, hed seen the way the muscles in her slim bare arm had tensed, like shed wanted to smack the guy.

Derek found himself hoping shed do it and was a little disappointed when her smile came back double strength as she said something and walked away. Too bad. A little tussle between a hot woman and an old lech would provide a little excitement to an otherwise snooze-worthy Saturday evening spent working security. This high-society charity function benefiting some socialites desire to save the wetlands was so boring, Derek resisted the urge to sink into a padded, upholstered chair and settle in for a nap.

Emma Bancroft had requested Gemini; hed gotten stuck with the assignment. Remembering her strained smile when hed showed up a few days earlier to go over the mansions floor plan, he wondered if she regretted it yet.

Derek couldnt blend in if he tried. Too big, too muscular, too uncomfortable in the confines of his expensive suit. He wasnt good at polite smiles and idle chitchat. He was there to do a jobmainly to make sure none of the party goers went where they shouldnt. Especially given the Bancrofts concerns after last years event, when several pieces of jewelry had gone missing from Emma Bancrofts bedroom as well as from the necks of several guests.

Which brought him back to Miss Thing, winding her way through the crowd, offering a smile here, an arm squeeze there, but never pausing as she moved purposefully across the room. It wasnt hard to pick her out of the throng, her slender, red-clad form moving like a lick of flame. Unlike the stiff gowns of most of the female guests, her short, silky dress left a good portion of her arms and legs bare, coming up to her throat in the front, dipping almost to her waist in the back. Even from this distance she seemed to glow, her skin and hair catching the light cast from the gaudy crystal chandelier hanging high above the ballroom.

She cast a quick glance over one silky shoulder and then ducked through a door hidden in a dark corner of the ballroom. He knew damn well she wasnt headed for the bathroom. Not only was the guest bathroom on the other end of the ballroom, but there was a low velvet rope propped in front of the door. The most polite KEEP OUT sign hed ever seen. Now she was in a hallway that led to David Bancrofts study and a back stairway that led to the second story.

Maybe she just needed a quiet moment. Maybe not. Derek wasnt about to give her the benefit of the doubt. The last time hed let something slide based on gender, one of his informants had ended up dead, along with his wife and two kids.

Big surprise that Derek didnt fall for the damsel-in-distress thing anymore.

Not that Miss Thing had enough room for a bomb under that dress, but the way shed looked over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching told him she was up to something she didnt want anyone to see.

He started to speak into his headsetto tell one of his guys on the floor to check it outand then stopped himself. Somethingcuriositynudged at him. Curiosity that had nothing to do with the supple curve of her back or her lean, tanned legs, or the silky fall of light brown hair across her shoulders, Derek thought as he moved quickly down one side of the gallery to the back stairway. He spoke quietly into his mic, alerting Alex Novascelic, the Gemini specialist who was working the main floor, to move up to the gallery to keep an eye on the crowd.

A caterer in a white shirt and black vest gave him a wary look and a wide berth as he passed. Derek did nothing to soften the expression on his face as he jogged down the stairs in hot pursuit. He was a cold, hard motherfucker, and the quicker Miss Thing realized that, the quicker shed abandon any illegal activities she might be entertaining.

He slowed his steps as he hit the dim hallway, his feet silent on the Persian runner. As a sniper for the Army Rangers, hed perfected the art of moving silent and undetected through all kinds of terrain.

He cornered her in Bancrofts study, taking a moment to observe her before making her aware of his presence. So far, she wasnt doing much of anything, leaning her butt up against Bancrofts desk, her fingers tunneled in her thick, sun-streaked hair as she massaged her scalp and temples.

From a distance, shed looked attractive. Up close, she was beautiful in a slight, delicate way that didnt usually do much for Derek. He tended toward taller, sturdier, more understated types. Women who looked like they had more on their mind than what color of lip gloss to wear, women who looked like they could take care of themselves, because Derek sure as hell didnt have the time or the interest to cater to anyones needs but his own.

But she was small and slender, like she might break if he grabbed her too hard with one of his big, calloused hands. She was leaning against the desk, but hed bet that even in those lethal-looking heels, the top of her head wouldnt come much past his shoulder. In profile, her nose was straight and small, her chin pointy.

Dainty. Or some other stupid word you use to describe china or glass or something he could snap with one flick of his wrist.

She let out a low sigh and grabbed her minuscule purse in a sudden movement. She rummaged around, and when she pulled her hand out he could see a small metal box. She popped it open, her hands shaking slightly, and drew out a couple pills.

His mouth tightened. He wondered why the bathroom wasnt private enough to pop her pharmaceuticals.

She placed a pill in her mouth and gulped at a glass of clear liquid. Vodka? Water? Hard to tell from here.

She was lifting the other pill to her mouth when he finally spoke. Bartender not mixing them strong enough tonight?

She jumped from the desk, wobbling a little on her spiky heels, and the pill went skittering across the floor. Oh, my God, you scared me! she gasped, her hand flattened against her chest. She whirled on him, eyes big and startled, a nervous smile pulling at her lips. The impact of seeing that face head-on hit him like a Mack truck. Big green eyes framed with heavy black lashes and made smoky with makeup. A full, plump mouth glossed in a way that made it impossible for any red-blooded man not to fantasize about how it would taste under his own. How it would feel wrapped around the tip of his cock.