Deliciously Dangerous

  Deliciously Dangerous

  Karen Anders

  Undercover agent Callie Carpenter is closing in on her elusive target, but she needs one man: Jammer, aka Shane McMasters – her target's right-hand guy and (coincidentally) an über-hottie Callie can't resist. And she won't!

  Callie's playing a dangerous game. She can be as irresistible and ruthless as her persona demands.

  But inevitably, even the most sensual games – involving good wine, good food and great sex – must come to an end. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, is an undercover seduction.with a delicious side of danger!

  Karen Anders

  Deliciously Dangerous

  A book in the Undercover Lovers series, 2010

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve come to the end of another series, and it feels both satisfying and sad. Satisfying because I’ve gotten the opportunity to write about three couples who have taken my writing from relationship stories to sexy romantic suspense. And sad because it’s finished. The final novel in my UNDERCOVER LOVERS miniseries is by far the most intense. Callie must remain undercover in her Gina Callahan alias, knowing that at the end of her mission she is going to have to arrest a man she’s fallen in love with. As Callie gets closer and closer to him, his facade falls away, and an intricate and fascinating man is revealed. Who is the Ghost and what are his real motivations? Will Callie find out in the end that she’s given her heart to friend or foe?

  Thank you for taking this journey with me. I so appreciate each and every one of you. I love to hear from readers, so please feel free to e-mail me. May you enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

  Best,

  Karen Anders

  To Tara Cowan for being there

  when I needed her

  Prologue

  JAMMER, AKA THE GHOST, stared out at the mess Max Carpenter and Watchdog had made of Eduardo Fuentes’s compound for the second time. All to save one DEA agent, Rio Marshall.

  Fuentes was livid. He was an egomaniac and had gotten it into his head that Rio and her FBI bodyguard, Max Carpenter, needed to be eliminated. It didn’t look good to Eduardo’s Libertad friends that he couldn’t keep track of a DEA agent who had eluded him twice. From what Jammer had gleaned in the chase across Maui that had ensued after Max and Rio escaped, Rio had bested Eduardo. Now he wanted her dead more than ever. Although Fuentes’s contacts had searched, it was as if the agent and her boyfriend had disappeared off the face of the earth.

  But Jammer was pretty sure he could get Fuentes back on track and distract him from his hunt of Rio and Max. The deal Jammer had made to provide a large shipment of weapons to support Fuentes and the paramilitary group the Defensores de la Libertad in their coup of the Colombian government would be front and center again. He’d worked for three years on this deal; he couldn’t let anything jeopardize it now that he was so close to the end.

  All he had left to do was assemble the rest of the shipment Eduardo required, and for that he’d have to make a trip to some dangerous places and deal with some dangerous people.

  Silently, he pulled a picture out of a secret compartment in his wallet. It was a photo of Gina Callahan, the arms dealer he’d met in Paris. He had, for a time, lost him self to her. He still longed to see her, but knew he’d made the right decision in leaving her.

  His longing changed into a heavy ache in his chest, but he turned from the window and prepared to calm Fuentes down and move on to the next phase.

  Soon it would all be over.

  CALLIE CARPENTER STOOD in front of Gillian Santiago, the director of Watchdog. She’d joined the agency only recently, after a stint with the CIA, but she already felt admiration and loyalty for Gillian. Watchdog had taken good care of Callie during her recuperation from the hit-and-run she’d endured while on an undercover mission in Paris. Her assignment had been to hook the Ghost in as a buyer and then, when the deal went down in L.A., take him into custody.

  But her twin sister, Allie, had been mistaken for Callie while she’d been decorating Callie’s decoy apartment for their birthday, and with Callie out of commission, Watchdog had recruited both Drew Miller and her tame, interior-designer sister.

  Callie had been out of it for most of the two weeks her sister had been posing as her undercover persona, Gina Callahan, a tough-as-nails, spandex-and-tulle-wearing arms dealer. Allie had done a surprisingly good job, but it was Callie’s mission and she intended to finish it.

  “It says here in your file, Callie, you’re fit for duty.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m ready.” She was. She’d already made contact with one of the Ghost’s lackeys, Jammer. Okay, so it’d been more than simple contact. She’d slept with the guy, unable to resist him. Watchdog didn’t know of her personal relationship with Jammer, and once this operation was over, she would have to put him behind bars. She squirmed inside, thinking about how she’d have to use Jammer to get close to the Ghost. But that was what working undercover was all about.

  “That’s good. Take a look at this.” Gillian held out a letter to Callie.

  FROM THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

  TOP SECRET AND CONFIDENTIAL

  To: Gillian Santiago, Director of Watchdog, Homeland Security

  From: The President

  It has come to my attention that the fugitive known as the Ghost is still at large. May I remind you the man is a direct threat to national security; he has sold weapons to our enemies. He has murdered government agents, and has broken innumerable national and international laws. I want this threat eliminated by any means necessary.

  Please notify me immediately when he has been either captured or killed.

  “The president wants the Ghost dead or alive. That gives us carte blanche, then.”

  Gillian nodded. “It does, and the perfect opportunity just dropped on my desk. The DEA has just alerted us to the fact that the Defensores de la Libertad in Colombia is throwing their lot in with Eduardo Fuentes.”

  “Which means they’re going to require a shitload of weapons, and for that, they’ll need the Ghost,” Callie said. It was time to finally put the Ghost out of commission, and if she netted herself a drug lord in the process, well, goody for her.

  “All these purchases have been for Fuentes? He’s amassing weapons for the Libertad.”

  “Yes. We believe the weapons you…er, your sister, Allie, sold to the Ghost when she was posing as Tina, your alias Gina Callahan’s twin sister, were part of the cache. As are the launchers the Ghost stole from Fudo Miyagi before killing him.”

  “Miyagi was mine-I was the one he wanted dead, or at least he wanted Gina Callahan dead. I was the one his thugs ran down in Paris, forcing my sister to step in and almost get killed dealing with Miyagi. He was my problem.”

  “You were lucky you survived. And you should be grateful that Jammer took care of your problem and helped Drew Miller and Allie to eliminate Miyagi. Jammer double-crossed Miyagi-they had a deal.”

  “What was the deal?”

  “You in exchange for the launchers.”

  “And instead he betrayed Miyagi, saving me and my sister.”

  “Do you think that was a deliberate act?” Gillian asked, her tone speculative.

  Callie shrugged. “He wanted the launchers, and we know how ruthless the Ghost can be when he wants something. I doubt that he considered his actions would save Allie-or Tina, as he knew her. He most likely instructed Jammer to use her for leverage.”

  Callie couldn’t be sure what “orders” Jammer had received from the Ghost-which had been his decisions and which the Ghost’s-but she was sure he had orchestrated it so Miyagi would be on the losing end.

  “In any case, now that we know what the Ghost needs, Gina Callahan is going
to be very important to this operation.”

  Callie smiled. “In what way, ma’am?”

  “She’s going to be in possession of a shitload of weapons.”

  “I’d better go pack my spandex and tulle.”

  “DON’T SCREW WITH ME, Igor,” Jammer said to the man standing in a warehouse on the outskirts of Minsk. Igor was dressed in a heavy wool coat and wore the requisite ushanka, a distinctly Russian hat made out of sheepskin. “You told me you had the weapons I required when I spoke to you last week.”

  “Then, I did. It is true. But now they are sold.” He shrugged. “So sorry. We had no deal. Weapons were, as you say, ‘up for grabs.’”

  “Son of a-” Jammer paced away from Igor, trying to control his anger, his agitated breath fogging the air. He needed those weapons to add to his shipment for Fuentes. Walking back, he said, “A deal was implied, Igor, and you know it.”

  “Da, you make offer. I did not accept. Someone make better offer.”

  “Who?”

  “I do not let this information out of bag. Protecting clients best business. You wish this so, da?”

  “Yes,” Jammer hissed.

  “I have more in two weeks. Will this do?”

  “No, it won’t. I need these weapons yesterday.”

  Igor shrugged without sympathy. “Market is tight. You will need the good luck to get the amount of weapons you want. Igor cannot help.”

  “That’s just great.”

  This was a serious setback to his very short deadline. If he didn’t deliver as he’d promised, everything he’d worked for would collapse.

  Three years of sacrifice would be for nothing.

  And that was not acceptable.

  1

  JAMMER SLAMMED THE DOOR of his hotel room in Minsk, still simmering about the lost opportunity to amass the weapons that Fuentes needed for his deal with the Libertad. He smelled her exotic scent and started to turn-a little too late. Someone struck him, knocking his feet out from under him. He hit the carpet hard, the air whooshing out of his lungs. That same someone put a knee into his lower back to keep him immobile.

  “Hi, honey, I’m home.”

  It seemed a lifetime ago since he’d heard that soft, sexy voice. Another kind of simmering overtook him.

  “Gina,” he said.

  “Don’t Gina me, pal.”

  He didn’t figure Gina for the woman-scorned type, but he could hear the anger in her voice. He had to wonder if he’d gotten to her as much as she’d gotten to him.

  “You recovered. Your knee feels like a dagger in my back.”

  “Just be glad it isn’t a real dagger. It would be a shame to mar such an amazing specimen of muscle and bone. You do have an amazing back…and…front, Jammer. Everything is quite spectacular, in fact.”

  His body pulsed, remembering how ravenous they’d been for each other. He felt her relax a little. It was the opening he needed, and he took it. Using his superior strength, he pinned her to the soft carpet.

  Grabbing her wrists as he rolled, he straddled her thighs, using the weight of his body to hold her down.

  She didn’t fight him or look remotely alarmed. If anything, she looked…excited.

  She also looked damn good and a balm to his eyes. She was all black and white, from the cap of mussed black hair with the white streak, to the black-and-white halter top and black mini, to the white stockings and short black stiletto-heeled boots she wore on her feet.

  With that combo he thought she should be gracing a stage with her rocker-chick attitude and beautiful, sapphire-blue eyes that showed the world how tough she could be.

  He levered his body over hers, tracing his hands down her arms to her delicate wrists. She arched up into him, causing him to swallow a groan of satisfaction as the rigid length of him came into contact with the softest part of her. He managed to find the strength to resist the urge-a primal directive-to drill his hips into hers.

  Instead he brought his mouth within a whisper of her lips. “This is a backstabbing business we’re in, Gina, but since I don’t see a knife in your hand, you must be here for a different reason.”

  “I am here for something, Jammer. I have an offer for you.” Her lips parted, and she moved sinuously beneath him, torturing them both.

  His response was automatic and out of control. Less than ten minutes in her presence and his focus was already shot. He had no business engaging in this activity with Gina. And he didn’t give a flat damn. It seemed as if the short number of weeks they’d been apart had been years. He’d waited a long time for a woman like her. Maybe a lifetime.

  Too bad it was just too late. For both of them.

  His distraction cost him. She bucked her hips and used the momentum to dislodge him and flip him onto his back. This time she weaved her fingers through his, trapping his hands to the carpet.

  Their gazes locked. Fused, almost. He half expected the windows to fog up, given how much heat they were generating.

  “Is that so?” he said.

  She pressed down against his groin, then rubbed along the hardness with abandon. He moaned softly, his eyes closing.

  “What do you have to offer me?”

  “What? No preliminaries first? No, ‘How have you been?’ and ‘Gee, it’s been ages since we’ve seen each other’?”

  “I’d offer you a seat and some fine wine, but I’m a bit indisposed right now.”

  “I’d forgotten what a charming bastard you are.” She smiled then, her eyes twinkling with the mischief he knew all too well. But he had enough brain cells still firing to realize that forgiveness with Gina came at a price. The other reason he liked being close to her was that she kept him on his toes. Even when she was keeping him on his back. An added bonus.

  “Now you’ve hurt my feelings,” he said. “I’d hoped you hadn’t forgotten a single thing about me.” They slipped into their usual banter as if no time had passed. And their playful tête-à-tête was nothing new. Play, however, was something they had more than a little experience in. And playing with Gina was as intoxicating as it was dangerous.

  “You, on the other hand, are a hard woman to forget,” he said. There was a slight roughness to his tone, one he knew damn well she would pick up on. Just as he knew she’d use every bit of leverage she had with him.

  He wished like hell that information bothered him a bit more than it did. He had a shipment to complete and three years of work riding on it; he should bring this to an end and send her packing.

  Not entangle himself once again in Gina’s very enticing web.

  There wasn’t a place for her in his world right now-or ever.

  “You’re not happy to see me. Why is that? Could it be because something big is in the wind?”

  It was as if she could read his mind-and he wasn’t too certain she couldn’t; it would go a long way toward explaining her uncanny ability to stay one step ahead of him. He had to wonder if he had Igor’s buyer on top of him right now.

  The black leather mini she wore had hiked up in their back-and-forth tussle. He could see the edge of her black garter belt and the tops of her delicate white stockings.

  He disengaged his hand, slipping it between them, taking in the way her white stockings made her legs shimmer, the way the lacy band at the top hugged her thighs. Lifting his gaze back to hers, he used his imagination as he traced the garter strap with his fingers, smiled as he touched her panties and her breath quickened. He found the ties at the sides of her hips, and his groin tightened at the thought of how easy it would be to tug on them and remove that flimsy barrier between his fingers and her soft feminine flesh.

  “Very, very nice,” he murmured, and withdrew his hand from beneath her skirt.

  He raised his eyes to hers once more, wondering just what he was putting at risk here. Gina simply wasn’t aware of the score, despite her savvy, and that could be dangerous-to his plans and to her. But it might be even more dangerous not to find out what her game was. Besides, all work and no play…
>
  The moment drew out to a taut wire of tension, all of it sexual.

  “What is it you came here for, Gina? I tend to doubt it was me.”

  She pursed her perfectly sculpted lips into a pout, which was so out of character for her it actually made him smile. “Darling,” she purred, running her thigh along his hip, “don’t sell yourself so short. I could be here for you.” Her voice was filled with the carnal knowledge she had of him, making him twitch hard inside his now snug trousers.

  He fought the urge-a constant battle-to yank her underneath him, shred the black and white covering her, and bury himself so deeply inside her they’d both forget, at least in that instant, why they were really there. He had carnal knowledge, too. And he was sure she’d be wet enough, tight enough, everything enough to fit him perfectly. “And I’d certainly never want anything less than complete honesty from you.”

  Something flashed across her eyes then, so swiftly he’d have missed it if he hadn’t been paying close attention. And, where Gina was involved, he always paid close attention.

  “So noted,” she said. “I’m here for two reasons. One, I’ve gotten wind of your need for a lot of weapons, and two, I simply want you.”

  “Two tempting offers in one day,” he replied.

  “Temptation is something we both know more than a little about.”

  SHE’D LOST HER MIND. It was the only explanation.

  Two weeks or two years. It wouldn’t have mattered. Nothing had changed between them. One grin-one flash of those white teeth-and the calculating professional who always put missions first, self second, vanished. And her inner sex kitten took over. What in the hell did she think she was doing?

  She could lie to herself and say she was just doing what she had to in order to get him interested in her offer.

  And it would be a lie.