They stepped into the room on the third floor with an excellent view of the ocean. He glanced around, noting that it looked a lot like his room with the king-sized bed covered in a white comforter, cream walls, and blue-and-yellow accents.
He was slightly surprised that Daniel had chosen the Fairmont. The hotel was nice enough, with all the luxuries and amenities someone might choose if they were expecting to suddenly make a ton of money. But from what Edward had seen, the locks on the windows were practically nonexistent, and he had little doubt he could get a key to any room he wanted with a front desk staff that seemed more concerned with keeping its guests happy than protecting their privacy.
Daniel was turning into quite the surprise. He didn’t have the air of a confident agent. In fact, he held a sort of hesitant nature that belied everything Edward had been expecting when he’d started this job.
Find the rogue agent, get to know him, learn what secrets he was planning to sell to foreign governments. Simple, right?
When Edward joined the CIA nearly a decade ago, he’d expected all his focus to be on foreign agents and their activities. He’d never expected to be tracking down one of their own. But a mission was a mission, and he could get it done regardless of who his target was.
Only nothing about Daniel felt simple. He was supposed to be a traitor, but everything in Edward was telling him this man couldn’t be that. He reminded himself, though, that Daniel—or whatever his real name was—was most definitely a traitor. He’d seen the proof with his own eyes, the suspected documents that had been stolen, the decrypted messages talking of large sums of money and potential meeting locations.
It didn’t matter if Daniel had the sweetest smile. Or that he was brilliant and eloquent. He’d had to repeat to himself throughout their dinner that the man across from him was a liar and a traitor.
When Daniel excused himself to the bathroom, Edward checked all around the room—feeling under the mattress, behind the headboard, the nightstand, behind the picture frames on the wall, in the air conditioning vents, and more—but found nothing. Not even a weapon.
The niggling feeling he’d been fighting all evening returned. There was no way Daniel had all his weapons as well as stashed electronics in the bathroom with him. Something was really off about this agent, and he couldn’t put his finger on what. And he hated it.
His instincts were strong—they’d made him the best at his job. Nearly ten years with a flawless record. He always got his target, recovered the data, or got into places he had no business ever getting into. Going head-to-head with another agent was his bread and butter. It shouldn’t matter if it was another US agent.
When he arrived that morning at the Fairmont with only a picture of the man, his goal was to find and insinuate himself with the target in the first two hours. Not a hard task at all. Daniel hadn’t been difficult to find, lounging on the beach.
And damn but he was a pretty, pretty man with his lean body and handsome face. Edward even liked the dark glasses. Picking him up had been a breeze—all he’d had to do was reveal his interest with the way he’d looked at Daniel. Hell, if the guy hadn’t been a traitor and a job, Edward would have been happy to pick him up all on his own.
He would fuck the guy, get close to him, then find a way to trap him. And, unfortunately, he’d probably have to kill him. In the end, Daniel was just a job and nothing more.
Daniel walked out of the bathroom, the dark-rimmed glasses now missing. Bright-green eyes locked on him. He came right up to him. He didn’t say anything, just leaned up on his toes and pressed their mouths together. And like that, liquid fire hit Edward’s system. Shocked by the curl of desire deep in his gut, he cupped Daniel’s face and deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue past the man’s lips. Sex, he could do. It wasn’t like he hadn’t slept with a target before and at least this time, he found the guy attractive.
Extremely attractive.
Daniel grabbed Edward’s arms and pulled him closer. Edward slid his hands down Daniel’s back and grabbed both cheeks of the ass that had been driving him crazy all day. The guy was well-built, toned and lean, but he had this delectable round ass that invited touch more than any ass he’d ever seen. He couldn’t wait to see it naked. With that thought, he brought his hands around to unbutton Daniel’s shirt.
He’d seen the body underneath the clothes out on the beach and couldn’t wait to get his hands on it.