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Lei Lu woke surrounded by heat. Shakespeare’s chest was against her back, his bent knees tucked into hers, his arm wrapped around her, a hand cupping one breast. His erection was hard and long, pushing against her bare ass.
This was the way she’d greeted the sunrise for the last three days. She had yet to sleep in her assigned bedroom two doors down. The hours she’d spent with Shakespeare had been filled with fun and a comfortable togetherness that she’d never experienced with any other man. But she’d never spent so many hours alone with just one man before.
When several of the new graduates of the Joint All Women Special Operations Program had first been assigned temporary duty at Homeland Security, they were added to existing all-male teams. Growing up with only brothers, she felt comfortable surrounded by men. They did everything together as a team, so she was never alone with any individual man. Too many problems with coed teams forced the agency to create an all-women team, thus the Ladies of Black Swan was born, the most lethal women in the world.
Lei Lu loved her team and enjoyed spending time with them, but she cherished being alone with Shakespeare. He filled a space in her life that she never knew was empty. She was going to miss him when she had to return home. Her heart started to ache, so she rolled over and stared at his sleeping face.
What was she going to do when he was gone from her life? Somehow, over the last few days he’d become very important to her.
Yesterday, he had fulfilled one of her lifetime dreams; diving on an eighteen hundreds shipwreck. Half of her team went with them, which made it even more fun. Katlin and Alex had volunteered to play on the beach and entertain Simon and Bella, allowing Nita and Daniel the adult opportunity of diving together. Griffin, the former SEAL, was not going to give up an opportunity to scuba dive and Grace was willing to go anywhere he did. Marcus was only four weeks from his last surgery and his physician had suggested he wait at least six weeks before swimming in saltwater, so he and Tori were headed to the small island museum to check out the John Glenn exhibition. Harper and Rafe wanted to explore more of the island and took one of the vehicle rentals.
Although not much remained of the original ship, gorgeous red, orange, and green coral—most groupings smaller than a coffee cup—had coated the wood maintaining the original ship’s shape. The dive proved to whet her appetite. She wanted to see more shipwrecks, and Shakespeare had promised to take her. When was not defined. Her time on Turks and Caicos was limited, and both knew it. But neither mentioned it. They chose to live in the moment.
She stared at Shakespeare’s face. He was damn good-looking. Even asleep, he had an unassuming air of wealth and confidence. His relaxed face made him look his age, as long as you ignored the nearly white hair. She could imagine him with walnut-colored hair, dark eyebrows, and his incredibly long eyelashes forming a brown fan on his cheeks. He would be stunningly handsome. As it was, he looked suave and debonair. Distinguished.
Blinking his eyes open, he smiled. “What are you thinking about this early in the morning?”
“The S in your name,” she lied easily, smiling convincingly. “I think it stands for suave. You have that James Bond look when you sleep, like you’d be completely as comfortable in a tuxedo as you were in camouflage.”
When he ran his finger down the side of her face, her whole body lit up and screamed Yes. More sex. Please.
“That only makes sense, because I am comfortable in my tuxedoes and in cammo.” He brought his lips to hers for a good morning kiss. “I’ve spent countless hours in both. I have to admit, though, I prefer utilities. If I’m wearing black tie, that means I am at another social function, and I hate those fucking events.”
“I can’t imagine needing a tux here on Grand Turk.” She giggled. “I’ll bet formal here means that you can’t show up barefoot.”
“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to a formal here on the island.” Shakespeare leaned in and started to kiss her, rocking his erection into her pelvis.
She rolled over onto her back and allowed him to slide in. Yesterday, they’d had the clean sex talk. Lei Lu had her annual physical just before leaving on the last mission, and Shakespeare had seen his personal physician when he’d been back in New York a month ago. Neither had been with anyone since.
Bareback had been another first for both of them. Lei Lu wasn’t sure if she could ever stand the feel of a condom inside her again. In truth, Shakespeare had ruined her for all men. Until him, she hadn’t known how wonderful sex could be. Each time had seemed to get better.
He was an attentive, unselfish lover. Since they were both quite experienced, neither hesitated to tell the other what they wanted, or needed. It wasn’t the position, or the orgasm, it was a combination of them. They worked in ways she’d never known before. That morning was no different.
When she came, he followed her over the edge. Just before he collapsed, he rolled, taking her with him, still connected. Unsure if it had been minutes, or hours, her brain rose to consciousness, bringing her out of bliss.
Her cell phone buzzed. Lifting it, she checked the text.
Oh, fuck.
She’d been a living blanket for Shakespeare and flew off. He grabbed for her, throwing his arms around nothing but air. “Shakespeare, wake up. We’re supposed to pick up the others in ten minutes. The salvage ship is going to meet us at the crash site in three hours.”
As she ran toward the bathroom, he shot to a sitting position. The daylight streaming through the crack in the curtains fell across his broad chest, making the white hairs twinkle. She had the crazy thought that he would look the same in thirty years and she wanted to repeat this scene with him over and over until she, too, was gray and they were in their sixties.
Lei Lu jumped in the shower, scrubbing off the sweaty sex from the night before...and the morning. As she stepped out, Shakespeare was swiping off the last of his beard and the shaving cream from the face she knew so well. He gave her a peck on the lips then stepped into the flowing stream of water.
Dressed in her bathing suit and cover-up, she was a few minutes ahead of him, so she dashed to the kitchen, popped in two bagels, and inserted the first pod into the coffeemaker. While smearing cream cheese over the toasted circles, the second cup dripped.
Shakespeare jogged into the kitchen and froze. Lei Lu held out a bagel in one hand and a go cup of coffee in the other, offering them to him. He took her in his arms and swept her off the floor, kissing her hard.
Setting her on the floor, he stared down at her. “Keep this up and I could fall in love with you.” He took the bagel and coffee from her, but his eyes never left hers. “I’m already halfway there.” With a quick peck on her cheek, he bolted for the door to the garage.
What. The. Fuck?
Had Shakespeare just said he was falling in love with her?
Blindly, she picked up her coffee and bagel and headed for the door. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She’d never been in love. Lust, many times. But love? Never.
She got in the front seat and wordlessly Shakespeare pulled down the driveway and stopped in the middle of the road in front of the rental house. While everybody else packed gear into the vehicles, Lei Lu checked the security systems.
Daniel was staying with the children. Alex, Rafe, and Marcus were guarding the houses, automatically including Shakespeare’s. They were going to take turns walking the perimeter and checking on the crew at the airport protecting the Black Swan airplane. The night before, Lei Lu had established a link of all the inside and outside security cameras directly to the operations center at USSOCOM.
When Jack found out, he called Katlin and immediately bitched about being left out of the loop. Finally, General Lyon called and reminded him it was not his operation. It was a military mission.
Making sure the large flat screen television in the rental house showed each camera, she double-checked the SOCOM link. She was ready to leave when Katlin strode in, Oli at her side, several deputies behind him.
Dread washed through her. Her stomach sank.
“As you can see, we have cameras everywhere.” Katlin pointed to the screen. “These are connected to our headquarters.”
The two Guardian Security men and Marcus joined them.
“I have three men on duty here.” Katlin swallowed hard. “But my little niece and nephew are next door. Daniel is well-trained, and I guarantee you he would not let anything happen to his kids, but as we all know, shit can go down fast.” She pointed to Alex, Rafe, and Marcus. “I want you to study their faces. Do not shoot these men. They are not the intruders.”
“I’ve circulated pictures to all the bars and restaurants of the three we had in jail. That’s how we knew the Russians are still here, and they’re not alone.” Oli stared at his deputies. “As police commissioner, I have to be over on Mouchoir Bank. I’ve been told that today is assessment only and they hope to raise the airplane tomorrow. If the Russians are going to do anything to disrupt the process, my guess is it’ll be within the next twenty-four hours. Stay sharp.”
“I totally agree. It’s what I would do.” Alex held Oli’s gaze. “You have the satellite phone I gave you?”
Oli patted the outer pocket of his cargo shorts.
Alex gave Katlin a kiss before he returned his gaze to Oli. “Call if you get any kind of a suspicious tingle. The hairs on the back of my neck have been itching since I woke up this morning.”
Shakespeare’s phone rang. As he looked at the caller ID, his brows drew together. “It’s Robbie from my shop. I’m going to step out to take this.”
“Sir, the cruise ship docks in ten minutes.” One of the deputies said without looking up from his cell phone. “Tugs are pushing it to the dock, now. We need to roll.”
Oli nodded. “Stay in touch. Keep your eyes open for three to six Russians.”
Shakespeare stuck his head back in the door. “My crew has the boats ready. Let’s go.”
On the ride to his dive shop, Shakespeare seemed preoccupied. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. It looks as though the electricity went out at my store and my backup generator didn’t kick in. I called somebody to come and take a look at it.” His smile looked a little forced. “Robbie is running the store again today. He’ll handle it.”
When they arrived at Pop’s Place, Shakespeare’s other dive boat captain, Carl, was moving tanks onto the dive boat.
“I thought you had an excursion this morning?” Shakespeare said as he grabbed a tank in each hand.
“I did, but the cruise line called and said our four customers got sick last night.” Carl moved closer to Shakespeare and said in a low tone, “Rumor has it that several people on the ship are sick. My afternoon snorkeling is still a go, though. I’d prepped the boat last night with these tanks, so your excursion today might as well go ahead and use them.”
Lei Lu was already checking the pressure in each of the tanks in the rack when Shakespeare brought over the last two. “These extra tanks may give us more downtime.” He secured them in place.
“I have no idea how long we may need to dive today.” She performed her last checks. “Good to go.”
“Let’s roll.” He grinned down at her. “Sit with me up at the controls?”
He didn’t need to invite her, but the fact that he did warmed her heart. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.” Except in bed with him.
Two and half hours later, as they approached Mouchoir Bank, it looked like a U.S. Navy convention. The submarine was on the surface and several men were standing on its rounded gray body.
Parallel to the sub was an unusual looking Navy ship. Instead of big guns, it had two cranes. The Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit ship looked as though a square notch had been taken out of one side. Sailors milled around on each deck, many taking pictures of the submarine. Several rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) were tied together between the two ships.
Seeming to know exactly what to do, Shakespeare headed for the small boats as Katlin joined them in the control room.
“Get me in as close as you can,” Katlin ordered and slid into a life jacket. “I’m headed to the bow.
They came alongside the rafted boats and Oli threw the closest one a line just as Shakespeare cut the engines.
“U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Katlin Callahan requesting permission to come aboard.”
“Granted.” A voice from the second boat over replied.
Graceful as a ballerina, Katlin jumped into the RHIB. After a lot of shaking of hands and about twenty minutes of conversation, the team leader returned.
“Change in plans, imagine that.” Everyone on Shakespeare’s boat gathered around her. “We’re to anchor where we did before. The salvage boat is going to send over four scuba divers, and we are to take them to the downed airplane. They will mark the location with buoys attached to the ends of the wings, nose, and tail. Their team will also do the initial salvage evaluation.”
Grace handed her a bottle of water and Katlin drank half of it. “We are to take pictures of the airplane and their crew at work. They are more than a little concerned that the Russian ship is still sitting out there. The captain of the submarine wasn’t sure, but he thought they had left and returned. When I told them about our attempted break-in, everybody agreed that the ship had to surface to recharge batteries and most likely sent an inflatable boat to Grand Turk.”
“They had to get fucking close for an RHIB to make it to shore.” Oli sounded pissed.
“It’s plenty deep for them right off the wall,” Shakespeare noted. “There are places where it’s less than two miles to the island. Eventually, they’re going to have to go back and pick those guys up. You could be ready for them.”
“But they’re out there, now. Right?” Lei Lu glanced toward the U.S. sub.
“Yeah. They’re cruising in international waters that are about eight thousand feet deep. For now, they’re playing it safe, keeping a few miles’ distance from the U.S. sub which is guarding the airplane.” Katlin took another swig. “Shakespeare, would you please take us back to where we were the other day and anchor over the bank?”
She refocused her attention to her team. “Lei Lu, since this was your find, you lead the salvage team down. Just in case the Russians were able to sneak by the American sub, I want Harper and Tori down there searching for explosives. The salvage team should be here in just a few minutes. Suit up. Grace, Nita, Tori, and Oli, you’re on the second dive.”
“Shakespeare, I can’t be in two places at once, so you’re helping me.” Using her hands, Katlin indicated where she wanted him to take a position. “Just like before, we’ll establish a rope line from this boat to the plane. Because you’re a better deep diver than I am, I want you on the far side of the airplane, close to the wall. You’ll be taking pictures and keeping an eye on everyone. Safety first.”
The buzz of an outboard motor skipping across the waves drew everyone’s attention. It was time to move. As dive coordinator, Lei Lu grabbed tanks and started passing them out, hers the last as usual.
The first dive team was suited up and she’d checked all their equipment by the time the salvage divers tied up next to Shakespeare’s boat. All four came aboard.
“I’m Navy Lieutenant Dax Danner. We have a policy that we don’t dive with anyone without checking their gear first. May we?”
Everyone introduced themselves as their gear was checked. Lieutenant Danner then nodded to his crew. “I understand we’re going to be pushing ninety to a hundred feet. This is a technical dive, not a recreational dive. We require each diver to carry a Deco bottle. Attach it to the front of your BC.”
The salvage crewmen handed each of the divers a long thin tank approximately five inches in diameter and eighteen inches long. Everyone on the first dive attached it to a D-ring.
Lei Lu noticed that it was a Nitrox mix. “What is the nitrogen to oxygen ratio?”
“Since we’re operating just above one hundred feet, we filled these with a seventy-thirty mix.” The lieutenant looked at each one of them. “Just to confirm, you two are going to look for bombs.” He pointed to Harper and Tori. Both nodded. He shifted toward Lei Lu. “You’re going to take point and lead us down, then take pictures.”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“Ma’am,” he said to Katlin, “you and Shakespeare will be photographing.”
“You are correct,” Katlin verified.
“My team will be swimming all around the airplane. We have to decide how we’re going to lift this thing. For the most part, you can ignore us. The last thing we’ll do on this dive is set the buoys.” His gaze swept everyone on the deck. “Let’s go.”
Lei Lu was the first in the water since she was on point. After submerging, she pulled out her GPS and oriented. Although she recognized several of the underwater features, she depended on her equipment. As soon as everyone was in the water, she headed down.
When she reached about thirty feet, her head started to hurt. Not a stabbing pain, a dull throbbing. She’d never had this happen to her underwater before. Figuring that it would soon pass, she continued to swim deeper.
Christ, she didn’t remember the plane being this far down. It felt as though she was swimming through Jell-O. She checked her dive computer and they were only at sixty feet. The plane was at a depth of eighty-five feet.
She tried to take a deep breath and clear her head, but she couldn’t seem to get enough air into her lungs.
Starting to worry, she checked all of her gauges. Everything looked fine. She needed to keep moving.
She checked the GPS and had to blink several times before she could read the numbers. Her vision was blurring.
Something was wrong.
There it was. She could see the airplane.
Or was that just another rock outcropping?
She stopped and stared at the GPS.
Nope. That should be the plane.
Why was she looking for an airplane on the bottom of the ocean? Planes belonged in the air. She wanted to look for shipwrecks, not plane wrecks.
She stopped and looked around.
Were those sharks? Several dark creatures swam past her. Maybe she should pull out her knife in case the sharks came after her.
Now, where was her knife? And where was that wrecked ship?
She spun around in a circle.
Whoa. She needed to sit down. Her head was spinning.
Maybe something was wrong with her.
No, she just needed to close her eyes.
She could take a little underwater nap. She’d known SEALs who had eaten while underwater and slept. One of the instructors at BUD/S had spent over eleven hours on the bottom without coming up.
But if she was going to sleep, she wanted to do it in the arms of Shakespeare.
Yes. She needed to find Shakespeare.
Where was Shakespeare?
Lei Lu was exhausted. Her arms were so heavy she couldn’t even move them to float in place.
She’d just take a little nap there and then go find Shakespeare.