Her Daring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 5) (7 page)

“I’m more of a beer man, but I can make do.” Rylie shot Darius a dark look.

“IPA’s?” Brandon asked.

“It depends, what do you have?”

Brandon went to a small refrigerator nestled under the counter and opened it.  Darius peered in and pulled out a Blue Moon. 

“I commend a man who asks for what he wants,” Albert said.

“Well then, you’ll really like Dare,” Rylie said.

“I already do,” Albert responded with a smile, as they all sat down to dinner.  Albert was very adept at keeping the conversation away from business, instead concentrating on all things northwest.

“What made you immigrate to Canada, or did you?” Darius asked.

“I still retain my Chinese citizenship, I just have a home here,” Albert answered.  “I deal in antiquities, and a great deal of my market is in North America.  I find Vancouver is ideal for easily travelling into the US and, of course, here in Canada.”

“What kind of antiquities?” Darius asked.

“Ancient jade as well as the silks, carvings, and porcelain from the Yuan and Ming Dynasties.” 

“I look forward to seeing some.  Sylvia has shown me an online catalogue of one of her clients, but it would be a pleasure to see actual pieces.”

“Sylvia is a dream to work with.  I gather most of the products from Asia, but she does a fantastic job of finding the right buyers and presenting the product in such a way those buyers are enticed to pay top dollar.”  Darius looked over at Rylie, and she worked hard to look pleased at the compliment.

“Sylvia is one of a kind,” Darius agreed.  “So will I see some of your jade when I get to your island?”

“You will definitely see some of my antiques when you come to the island.”  Rylie took a sip of wine. 

“Tell me more about this island of yours.  Do you own it?” Darius inquired.

“I have a fifty-year lease.  It is the longest lease I was allowed to take.”

“You were willing to build a house anyway?” Rylie asked.

“I won’t be alive, why not?” Albert shrugged.  “I don’t intend to have children.  What heirs I do have can try to sort out the renegotiation of a new lease.”  He picked up his wine for another sip.

“And the island itself?” Darius questioned.

“It is less than ten square kilometers.  The North side is mostly rock, and inaccessible.  There is one inlet, and that is on the South side.  It took almost two years to bring the men and materials in to build the house to my specifications.”

“Did you use any of the trees on the island to build the house?” Darius asked.

“Some, but mostly I wanted the house to be built from stone.” 

“And glass, Albert, don’t forget the glass,” Brandon interjected, and Albert laughed.

“Brandon’s right, there are an inordinate amount of windows, but with the views, I would have been a fool not to take advantage.  Don’t worry, they all have privacy coating so you can enjoy the views while you enjoy each other.”  Rylie set down her fork and grabbed her wine. 

Darius chuckled.  “Good to know.  Speaking of which, it’s been a long day, I’m thinking Sylvia and I might want to be shown to our room.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dessert and coffee?” Albert asked.

“Dare is right.  I am tired,” Rylie agreed.

“Of course.”  Brandon stood up.  He motioned for them to follow.  He took a room key out of his pocket as he escorted them to the door.

“Your bags have already been taken to your room.  It’s on the same floor as ours.  Down the hall and to your right, near the end of the hall.”  Darius took the key and thanked the man.  Once again he placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her.  Rylie thought she could get used to that small gesture.

As soon as they let themselves into the room, Darius stood still and looked to her for direction.  She pointed to her small bag that contained the EMF bug detector and had to assume that they did.  She also had to assume they had planted listening and video devices, but it was such a high end hotel, it probably would have been difficult.  Still, she always opted on the side of paranoia.  She pulled out the EMF Detector, as well as a small device.

He touched her shoulder and mouthed.  “Isn’t that a listening device?” he asked.  His hands moved as he asked the question.  She looked at them and grinned. 

She put down the equipment and quickly signed a response.

You know sign language?

She nodded and signed.
Yes.

Explain what you’re doing,
he signed.

I need to make sure the detector is still operable. I do that by having it detect the listening device I brought with me.
  She picked up the two pieces of equipment.  They both turned on, and the detector started to flash over the bug.  She set them down and then turned back to Darius.

Yes, the detector still works. 
She signed to him.  She grabbed the wand and did a slow sweep of the suite.

Dare finally asked out loud, “Well?”

“We’re good.”

“How did you learn how to sign?”

“My sister.”

“She was deaf?  I didn’t know you had a sister, she wasn’t mentioned in your file.”

“It’s a long story.  I don’t want to talk about her.”  Rylie’s tone was clipped, and Darius got the message, he changed the subject.

“I’m glad there is no video, I can finally get out of this monkey suit.”

She knew exactly what he meant.  She’d already slipped off her high heels, but she wanted out of her nylons ASAP.  Come to think of it, she wanted out of her bra as well.  Rylie wiggled and stretched and then giggled.  It would be good to get out of her bra.  She normally didn’t wear one, and the push-up one she
was
wearing was uncomfortable as hell. 

“What are you giggling about?  You live in Oklahoma, I’ve seen pictures of you with your family, and I saw you when you got off that plane earlier today.  You are not the type of girl who wears suits and heels.  You must want to get out of your costume as badly as I want to get out of mine.”

Costume.  He was exactly right, that’s what this was—a costume.  She did, she sorely did want to get out of her costume, but the problem was she knew her bags would eventually be searched so she hadn’t brought anything that would be out of character.  She brought up her thumbnail to bite it. 

“Fuck.”

“What?” Darius asked immediately concerned.

“I can’t even bite my nails.  I’d probably die of lead poisoning.  I hate these fake red nails. They are sooooo not me.”  She held up her thumb to prove her point. 

“Here, let me.”  He took her hand, and then brought her thumb up to his mouth, and sucked on it. 
Lord, baby Jesus on a four-wheeler.
  Her toes curled into the plush rug, and she felt her nipples harden.  His tongue swirled, and he continued on as she stared up into those caramel brown eyes. 
Those twinkling eyes.
  She yanked her hand away.  The man was far too smooth.

“Nope, no lead.”

“How would you know?” she demanded derisively.

“I’m a medic, I’m trained to test for poison.”

“You’re an idiot.”  A glimmer of a smile poked through.

“I see that.”

“Do not.”

“Do too.  You are beginning to fall for my masculine wiles.”

“There is no such thing as masculine wiles.”

“Ah, you have much to learn, grasshopper.”

Rylie whirled around and went to grab her suitcase.  Darius’s hand was there.  “Where do you want it?”

“I’m more than capable of picking up my own suitcase.”

“I know, but I’m here, so use me.  Where do you want it?”

“Dare, this is just my little bag with toiletries,” she protested.

“Bullshit, this is a pretty big bag for just toiletries.”

“Sylvia wouldn’t travel with something small.  She’s high maintenance.”

“Okay, then so you won’t tell me where you want it, I’m putting it in the bathroom.”  He proceeded her into the bathroom and let out a low whistle. 

“This is some bathroom.  I could go swimming in this tub.  Check this out, there’s two showers.”

“Nope, one of those is a steam shower.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.  How cool is that?  I call dibs.”  Rylie couldn’t help but grin this time.  She had felt the same way the first time she’d seen one. 

“Let me just freshen up, and it’s all yours, sailor.”

“SEAL,” he corrected.

“There’s a difference?”

“Big time.  Anyone can be a sailor, but it takes a hell of a lot to go through BUD/S and become a SEAL.  Anyway, better not get used to saying either one.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”  He turned around and closed the door.

––––––––

H
e pulled out his phone and activated the scrambler. 

“It’s about fucking time you called.”  Clint was pissed.

“Ahh, Clint, you missed me.  Does Lydia know you have a crush on me?”

“We both did,” Lydia interrupted.  “And yes, I know you all have boy crushes on one another.  I think it’s cute.”

“How can you guys be upset I haven’t checked in?  Do you have a tracker on me?”

“Yeah, but it doesn’t have audio and video,” Lydia explained.  Darius shuddered.  The idea of his friends having that kind of access to his life was not appealing.

“Dare, give me a report.”  Darius straightened at the sound of Mason Gault’s voice.

“We had dinner with Albert and his boy toy here at their hotel.  Rylie and I just got to our suite, and she checked to make sure there is no surveillance.  They’ve bought everything so far.  We’re going to the island tomorrow.”

“That’s great.”

“Lydia and Clint did a great job making the background spotless, and Jack could start a reality TV show doing make-overs.”  Everyone laughed.  “Are Finn and Drake in place?” Darius asked.

“Roger that.”

“How’s Rylie holding up?” Lydia asked.

“She’s amazing.  I don’t know how she manages to act the part of Sylvia.  She just puts on this Bitch Goddess persona and has me believing she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.  I would definitely believe she handled the slave trade.”

“Dammit, Dare, don’t call it that!” Lydia’s voice trembled with anger.

“I’m sorry,” Darius quickly apologized.  “I meant human trafficking.”

“Don’t forget to check in when you get to the island,” Mason commanded.

“I won’t,” Darius promised.  “By the way, your report on Rylie wasn’t complete.  She had a sister who was deaf.  See what you can find out about her.”

“What?  I can’t believe we missed that.”  Darius heard the upset in Lydia’s voice.  He knew how much of a personal affront it was to their hacking skills that they overlooked something like that.

“Lydia, calm down,” Clint told his fiancé.  “You know Rylie must have somehow erased all record of her.”

“I don’t give a shit.  We still should have found her.”  Darius could practically hear Lydia grinding her teeth.  “By the time you get to the island, we’ll have info on her, I promise you.”

“Sounds good.  Look, I’ve got to go.”

“Don’t forget to fucking check in ASAP next time,” Clint growled.

“I won’t, Mom.” 

Lydia was laughing as Darius hung up his phone.

Now work was out of the way, he had time to think of other things, and that was Rylie. All the time he had been talking to his friends, he had been staring at the bathroom door.  He might have been enticed by the steam shower, but now Rylie was behind the door, he couldn’t give a shit about the showers.  He hoped she’d been telling the truth, and there were just toiletries in that big satchel, and if that were the case, what would Rylie be wearing when she came back out?  It boggled his mind.  Darius wondered if she might be in the mood for a foot massage, those heels had to kill her feet.  Then maybe he could talk her into an all over massage.

Whoa boy.  He needed to proceed with a little more finesse.  She was not putting out the right signals for an all-out seduction.  He needed to take his time.  But it was damn hard to think about taking his time when she had been on his mind for damn near six months.  Had she thought about him?  Shit, he needed to quit mooning over Rylie Jones.

He scouted around the room and realized he had missed the champagne, strawberries, bread, and cheeses.  Their hosts sure as hell didn’t spare any expense.  He popped a strawberry in his mouth and was delighted to go out onto the small balcony and get some fresh air.  Brandon wore too much cologne.

It was beautiful here in the northwest.  He’d always heard it rained too much.  But looking out over the water and seeing all of the sparkling lights of the city, he could definitely see the attraction.  He heard the door to the bathroom quietly open, and turned around to see Rylie wrapped in in one of the hotel guest robes.  She looked so tiny and cute with her hair flowing around her, and her face devoid of make-up.  Okay, she totally made him hot.  He came back into the room.

“Door open or closed?”

“Closed, please.  I’m a little chilly.”

“I have some ideas on how to warm you up.”  He waggled his eyebrows.  She giggled.

“Don’t even.  I know how sexy I don’t look.  Now, if I were wearing the Sylvia outfit, or my cut-off jeans and a tank top, I would get the appeal.”

“Hmmm,” Darius turned to the platter of food.  “Do you want a strawberry?”

“I thought you were going to have a steam.”

“It’ll wait.”

“Don’t you want to get comfortable?  I thought you didn’t like to be in the ‘monkey suit,'” she said using air quotes.  The sleeves of the robe flopped over her hands causing her to blow out a puff of air in frustration.

“Allow me.”  He got up close, and rolled up the sleeves, looking deep into her blue eyes.  She stared back, there was hesitation, a little trepidation, but he saw the curiosity.  He fucking loved seeing the curiosity. 

His mind fired rapidly.  It was what he did, how he had always been and his training honed the skill.  He could tell her that the intimacy of a kiss would help to make them seem more at ease and legitimate to Albert and Brandon, but he discarded the idea as soon as it formed.  No, he wanted this kiss for all the right reasons.  He wanted this kiss because he was a man who desired a woman.  Scratch that, he was Darius, and he desired Riley, he had obsessed about her for months, and he fucking wanted his kiss!