DeliciousDanger Read online

  Delicious Danger

  Desiree Holt

  Book 3 in the Phoenix Agency series.

  Kelly was shocked when her Caucasian Ovcharka, Xena, bonded with Rick Latrobe. The dogs are known for linking with only their owners. She’s even more shocked at the intense sexual heat that sizzles between her and Rick. When she tumbles into bed with him at the very first opportunity, experiencing a night of erotic bliss in his arms, she knows they have something special.

  But Xena is very much aware when an attempt is made on Rick’s life, and the dog drives Kelly crazy with signals of danger. Rick is nearly killed and Kelly and Xena are ferried to the secret clinic where he’s recovering. As Rick heals and they race to find the mastermind behind the attempted murder, the lust between them heats to the boiling point.

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  Delicious Danger

  ISBN 9781419932731

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Delicious Danger Copyright © 2011 Desiree Holt

  Edited by Helen Woodall

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book publication August 2011

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

  The publisher and author(s) acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book.

  The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  Delicious Danger

  Desiree Holt

  Dedication

  To Josh Felker of Lone Star Handgun, ex-Delta Force, gun instructor extraordinaire and an incredible human being, who answered countless questions patiently and did his best to make sure my story was accurate. You were great. Any mistakes are definitely my own.

  Chapter One

  “Granddad?” Kelly Monroe finished checking the air pressure on her truck tires and called out to her grandfather standing by the hangar. The vacation in Key West had been great and the visit here in Maryland with her grandfather even better. But now it was time to get home and back to work. Maine was still many long hours on the road away.

  Harry Monroe disconnected the call he was taking, shoved his cell phone in his pocket and jogged slowly over to the truck. At seventy he was still fit and jogging didn’t even wind him. “I sure wish you’d stay longer,” he told her. “I don’t get to see you nearly enough.”

  “I’d try to coax you up to Maine but I know being in charge of the Phoenix Agency airfield and running security on their craft doesn’t leave you much time for visiting.”

  The Phoenix Agency, a top security agency that took jobs for both the government and private industry, was based in Maryland. Headed by the charismatic Dan Romeo, he and his four partners had built its reputation on the quality of their work. All former military, they each brought an area of expertise to the business. Harry had been recommended to them by Dan’s former commanding officer in the Marines and it had given the retired sergeant a new lease on life.

  “They could spare me for a few days,” he protested.

  She grinned at him. “We’ll see. You were there for me when Mom and Dad were killed but I wasn’t a kid, Granddad. And you needed to do something besides rock and read. I’m glad you have this.”

  “Me too,” he chuckled. “And the guys are very good to me.”

  “As well they should be.”

  “You should stay the night,” he told her. “It’s late in the day. Too late to be starting out.”

  “We’ll camp out about halfway there. No problem.”

  “It’s a problem to me,” he grumbled.

  “I promise we’ll be fine.”She turned to a large dog sitting quietly by the hangar, watching them intently. “Hey, Xena. Come on, girl. We’ve got to get going.”

  Kelly had bought the Caucasian Ovcharka from a breeder seven years ago as a gift to herself on her twenty-first birthday. Unlike any other dog she’d ever seen, Xena had deep-set, dark eyes and ears densely covered with fur. The shoulders were slightly raised from the back and the tail had a heavy feathering of fur. With long forelimbs and large heavy paws, she looked exactly like what she was—a guard dog. And she guarded Kelly well, in many ways.

  “Come on,” Kelly called again. “Quit stalling.”

  “I think she wants to stay,” Harry said.

  “Oh, honestly.” She started toward Xena at a slow trot, motioning to the dog as she moved. She hadn’t taken ten steps before the one-hundred-thirty-pound body flew through the air like a shot and landed directly in front of her.

  Kelly pulled up short. “What the heck?”

  “You nearly tripped over that hose you didn’t see,” Harry pointed out.

  “Is that it, girl?” Kelly knelt and threaded her fingers through the dog’s fur. “Were you taking care of me again?” She fixed her gaze on the dog’s. “Yes, you’re right. I need to pay more attention.”

  “I swear.” Harry scratched his head. “You and that dog read each other’s minds. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “Don’t joke. Ovcharkas are known for certain psychic abilities. Xena’s have saved my butt more than once.”

  “You were always like that with animals. Knowing what was wrong with them. What they wanted. Having silent conversations with them. But with Xena?” He shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing. That’s just something else.”

  “She’ll take good care of me on the way home too. Don’t you worry.” She kissed the dog’s black nose. “Come on, girl. Into the truck. Time to hit the road.”

  “Don’t you even want to meet any of the guys? They always ask about you. The one time you show up they’re all busy with something.”

  “Next time,” she told him. “I promise we’ll stay a little longer.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” But he said it affectionately.

  * * * * *

  Eric “Rick” Latrobe was bone weary. He’d barely slept in forty-eight hours, his head throbbed and his eyes felt as if someone had rubbed grit into them. The noise of the helicopter wasn’t helping his headache, either. In spite of Mike D’Antoni’s superlative skills, the ride from the airfield where the cargo plane had dropped him off was bumpy and only added to his general pissed-off feeling.

  More than anything he wanted a hot shower, a cold beer and a clean bed. But he knew that none of those things would be forthcoming any time soon. Before he could even think about going home he needed a sit-down with his partners and a no-holds-barred conversation.

  He hadn’t wanted to get involved in the whole Iraq business to begin with. Phoenix was busy
enough as it was, with enough contracts to juggle. But Grainger Caldwell had gotten some lucrative pieces of the pie to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure, the company was a high-dollar client and Charlie Grainger wanted—no, demanded—that Phoenix game-plan the security they’d need, train the people who’d work the security details and set it all up.

  One of the biggest headaches was recruiting the right people. Many of them they were able to import from the States, especially those who filled specific requirements. The others came from local cities like Baghdad. Rick thanked god every day that one of the languages he was trained in was Arabic. Otherwise they’d have had more than the wool pulled over his eyes.

  But even so, he’d already made a mental note to tell Charlie they needed to cut back on the use of the locals. Communication was only part of the problem. Too many of these people were thugs looking for either a free ride or an excuse to shoot someone. That wasn’t what he needed, not when he was supposed to train people to protect the construction workers and the staff who had been sent there.

  And now they had to figure out what was going wrong with the setup. Why little things were happening that shouldn’t. In a week’s time he was shepherding a Hercules C-130J full of heavy arms and Humvees over to the Grainger Caldwell setup and he couldn’t afford to have any screw-ups.

  It was bad enough that a deep-cover contact had passed along information that a tribe of people in the north were quietly gathering resources to reclaim their land and power. And planning to eliminate all the coalition forces that got in their way. This meant great danger for Grainger Caldwell’s contracts, as some of their projects were scheduled for that area. He’d hinted that these small thefts might be nothing more than a test of the security at the GC compound.

  Damn! As if he didn’t have enough on his plate already.

  He’d told his contact he’d be back in about a week and made arrangements to meet with him again. These meetings had to be carefully planned. If the man’s associates had any idea he was feeding information to an American, he’d be killed in a slow and painful way and his family destroyed. He wouldn’t even let Rick see his face, always wearing a hood pulled over it.

  Not to mention the fact that on the long trip back Rick’d been trying to dig out of his mind some shadowy fact that insisted in hiding away from him. Something someone had said. Or something he’d seen. The harder he tried, the more elusive it became.

  “Welcome back to Maryland,” Mike told him, as he set the bird on the ground. “Next stop the office where everyone’s waiting. I guess we need to see how we can pull our irons out of the fire and handle this operation properly.”

  “You got that right, Ace.” Rick unstrapped himself and pushed open the door to the helo’s cabin. As he hopped down to the ground, his eye was caught by a blue pickup truck at the far end of the area. “Who the hell is here? Harry knows we don’t allow strangers here.”

  The field with its three large hangars was home to the two helicopters and three private jets Phoenix Agency owned. The nature of their work made them prime targets for every kind of nut. They had a state-of-the-art security system and no one came or went unless they had agency approval.

  “Relax.” Mike finished shutting down the machine and doing his post-flight cabin check. “That’s Harry’s granddaughter. She’s been visiting for a few days on her way back from Florida. He wanted to show her around and I gave the okay.”

  Then Rick took a good look at the female standing beside the truck and his heart nearly stopped. Holy hell! Why didn’t Harry tell them he had a granddaughter who was every man’s dream? She was tall and slim, with long red hair the color of burnished sunlight. She was in earnest conversation with Harry their caretaker-cum-maintenance man. As she talked she gestured so gracefully with her hands she could have been an artist sketching a picture in the air. Rick could take or leave his women but this one, with just one look, reached a place inside him he’d had closed off forever.

  Then he blinked as the object in the back of the pickup came into better view. “What the hell is that in her truck bed? A horse?”

  Mike chuckled. “Close. It’s a Caucasian Ovcharka. A dog.”

  Rick stared. The dog looked to be half as tall as he was, with a large head and mostly black fur. Only part of its hindquarters and its forelegs were whitish gray. Its jaws looked as if they could clamp onto a small animal with no problem.

  “Isn’t he a little much for her to handle?”

  “She, you chauvinist. The dog’s a female. I understand the males weigh a good twenty pounds more.”

  “So doesn’t she overpower her?”

  “Nah. They follow hand signals and voice commands almost like a machine. You know, those dogs are rumored to have Psi abilities.”

  “No kidding. A psychic animal? Well, I don’t discount anything these days. Maybe we should look into working with them.”

  “Talk to Mia and Faith. That’s their department,” Mike reminded him. “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”

  Rick hitched the strap of his duffel over his shoulder and followed Mike to where Harry and the woman were standing. Up close she was even more striking. Her hair was wound into a thick braid that fell halfway down her back. Curls escaping at the sides framed a classic face with alabaster skin, a tiny spray of freckles on her nose and eyes that flashed like emeralds in the sunlight.

  She turned in his direction as he walked up to her and the smile she flashed nearly brought him to his knees. This was Harry’s granddaughter? Good thing he was so tired or he’d be in big trouble here.

  “Hey, guys,” Harry greeted them. “Honey, you’ve met Mike. This is Rick Latrobe, one of the other partners. Rick, this is my granddaughter, Kelly Monroe.”

  She held out a slim hand. When Rick wrapped his larger one around it flashes of heat shot through his body like flames dancing through his blood. Good god. What was going on here? Maybe he’d been without a woman too long.

  “Nice to meet you.” Her voice was low and soft, the kind that made his body vibrate. She nodded at the dog, who looked even larger up close. Her eyes were fixed on Rick like twin lasers.“This is Xena. She doesn’t take too well to strangers, I’m afraid.”

  But the dog, standing motionless in the truck bed, suddenly leaped to the ground and sat at Rick’s feet, almost knocking him over. She looked up, her eyes telegraphing some kind of message.

  Kelly frowned. “That’s strange. She’s never done that before. She almost never goes near anyone but me.”

  Rick reached out a tentative hand to pet the dog.

  “Be careful,” Kelly warned.

  But the animal sat without moving, accepting the caress. Her eyes never moved from Rick’s face.

  Kelly did her best to control her shock at Xena’s actions. The dog never, never ever, did this with anyone but her. Kelly knew how the dog felt. She had an uncontrollable urge to throw herself at Rick Latrobe’s feet too. Why didn’t her grandfather tell her all these men were so good-looking?

  She looked at the dog and frowned.

  “Xena? What’s going on here, girl?”

  “Maybe I do better with animals than I do with people,” Rick joked. “She’s magnificent, by the way.”

  “Thank you.” She snapped her fingers once. “Xena. Truck. Now.” For emphasis, she opened the passenger door and gestured emphatically.

  The dog looked up at Rick, then at Kelly and almost reluctantly stood up and began to amble toward the truck. As she passed Kelly she shifted her weight and nudged her owner with her massive hindquarters. Kelly pitched forward toward Rick, saved from falling only by six foot two of hard, muscular body and a pair of strong arms catching her. She found herself pressed against his chest and when she looked up he was grinning at her. Ohmigod! His face was etched with heavy lines of fatigue but his penetrating electric blue eyes danced with mischief.

  “Nothing to spice up the day like having a beautiful woman fall into your arms.” He winked at her.

  For a moment she wa
s tempted to wrap her arms around him and press herself even closer. Her nipples hardened instantly and every nerve in her body woke up. Then reality hit, heat flamed her cheeks and she pushed herself away.

  “I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s come over that dog.” She turned her head toward Xena who was sitting beside her now. Kelly could have sworn the dog was grinning.

  “Please. Don’t apologize.” He grinned again and a dimple winked at the corner of his mouth. “The pleasure was all mine.”

  Kelly labored to maintain some semblance of dignity. Looking into Xena’s eyes, she was sure she could hear the dog thinking, “You need a man and this one’s A-plus. It’s my job to help it along.”

  She wiped a hand over her face. Impossible. She and Xena got into each other’s minds but this was beyond ridiculous. She snapped her fingers and pointed. “Xena. Truck. Now.”

  She swore the dog sighed as she lifted herself, then obediently jumped into the cab and took her place on the passenger seat.

  “I apologize again,” she told Rick, then turned to Mike who couldn’t quite keep the smile off his face or the laughter out of his eyes. “And you too. Mike. I think it’s time I got out of here.”

  Harry took off his cap and scratched his head. “That’s the damnedest thing. That dog won’t even come to me but she sure took a shine to you, Rick.” He slapped his cap back on and gave his granddaughter a hug. “Well, honey, I guess you gotta get going and I know these guys have to head for their office. Mike, the SUV’s all gassed up. Take it easy on Rick. He looks like he’s been run over a few times.”

  “I feel like it, too,” Rick told him. He turned those sizzling blue eyes on Kelly again and she had to clench her fists to keep from jumping into his arms again. “Do you live around here?”