FREE
Amazon
Praise for Sapphire …
Book 1 in Taylor Lee’s NEW Sexy Suspense Collection: Ladies of the Night.
“USA
Today best-selling author Taylor Lee does it again! Sapphire is the
first book in Lee’s provocative new series, Ladies of the Night. The
Ladies are covert agents in a secretive, off the grid security
organization. Highly trained fighters, they’re as gorgeous as they are
dangerous to the evil men they’re hired to bring to justice. The only
thing these formidable women are NOT is “ladies.”
Gabriella
Shaw, Code Name: Sapphire is hired to seduce and capture the leader of a
lucrative international human trafficking enterprise. The epitome of
the mastermind’s targeted women, Sapphire is the consummate bait.
Unfortunately for the evil man, Sapphire is as deadly as she is
beautiful. Paired with former Col. Jase Malone, the two agents enter
the Caligula Club to trap their prey. The club is the salacious
playground for the rich, famous and deviant, and the conduit to the
human trafficking horror. The only thing more challenging than the
mastermind to the fiercely independent Sapphire is her commanding
partner. The sparks fly as Sapphire and Malone fight to capture the
criminally insane mastermind while their fierce personal attraction
threatens to bring them both—and the mission—crashing down.
Excerpt:
“Sapphire, incoming.”
Riley’s voice was low. Urgent. Even though the grainy footage on the
screen documented a scene that had taken place days before, Jase’s
antennae registered the danger. It wasn’t just Riley’s tense voice that
tightened the muscles of Jase’s chest, it was the indifferent reaction
of the agent on the screen. If the woman heard Riley’s command, her
dismissive shrug as she approached the desk confirmed that she was more
intent on her mission than in heeding her commander’s warning. Leaning
across the desk, Gabriella Shaw (aka Sapphire) booted up the computer,
her fingers flying across the keyboard. The frown marring her profile
telegraphed her frustration as she banged out one passcode after
another. At each unsuccessful attempt, Sapphire bit down on her full
bottom lip, her scowl deepening.
She was dressed in black. The tight
turtleneck above the collar of her cropped leather jacket was pulled up
over her chin. An array of silver chains on her studded black jacket
mirrored the ones decorating her pants. To Jase’s knowing eyes, it was
an outfit worthy of a hard-bodied biker bitch. Jase noted approvingly
that the skin-tight leather pants described enough curves to confirm
that the stealthy figure was indeed a woman, and a damn shapely one at
that. The kickass three-inch heels on Sapphire’s thigh-high black
leather boots emphasized a pair of long legs and a first class ass.
Jase’s
appreciative appraisal was cut short when Ian Ross’s voice echoed
Riley’s. His boss’s tense warning grabbed his attention, if not the
agent’s in the room.
“Sapphire. This is Colonel Ross. Listen
carefully. You need to leave. Now. It’s Diego Montero. He just drove
up. You have two minutes at most.”
The split screen image flickered
to the dark alley, revealing a black paneled van rounding the dingy
corner. Jase frowned watching the agent working furiously at the
computer while studiously ignoring her commanders’ terse warnings.
Sapphire’s shoulders tightened then eased as the flash of a smile washed
over her face confirming that she had opened the program.
Riley’s order was sharp, commanding.
“For
the last time, Sapphire. Get the hell out of there. Leave the goddammed
program. You don’t have time to download it. Go now, girl. That’s an
order!”
Sapphire glanced up to where she must have known the cameras
were. Tossing her head dismissively, she reached up and yanked the com
out of her ear then bent back over the laptop. Reaching in her jacket
pocket she pulled out a flash drive and plugged it in the computer.
Nodding appreciatively, she watched the information flying across the
screen.
The image on the left side of the split screen revealed a
long shadowed hallway. The heavy iron door at the end of the corridor
opened with a hard clang. It didn’t take Riley’s intense voice in the
background for Jase to grasp the danger. In the dim light, it was
impossible to see the intruder’s face, but light wasn’t necessary to see
his body. Tall, muscular, also dressed in black, he strode
purposefully toward the room at the end of the hall. Jase sucked in a
deep breath when he saw the tall figure of Diego Montero advancing. The
intruder was at most a minute from the office where the beautiful agent
huddled intently over the desk.
“Goddamn you, Sapphire. Abort. NOW!”
Even if she had chosen to obey the order, Gabriella couldn’t have
escaped. As the door burst open and the large, dark-skinned man entered,
she looked up and gave a careless shrug as if she had been expecting
him. Keeping her gaze locked on the fierce man mere feet away from her,
she furtively lowered the lid of the laptop obscuring the downloading
program.
The artfully positioned cameras caught the intruder
full face. Sharp angles underscored a strong jaw and high cheekbones.
His shoulder-length hair was caught in a leather thong at his nape. The
man might’ve been considered handsome, if not for the web of scars
crisscrossing his dark skin. The uneven, crooked arch of his nose spoke
to a life that had seen many skirmishes, no doubt more dangerous for his
opponents than for him. The bulge at Montero’s shoulder spoke to a
double rig. The visible blade tucked in the sheath at his waist
confirmed that he didn’t feel the need to hide his weaponry. Rather, he
wore them artlessly, confirming they were an essential part of his
aggressive persona.
His start of surprise when he saw Sapphire
quickly became a threatening gleam. The rasp of his voice sent unwelcome
shivers up Jase’s spine. Even though Jase knew he was watching a
replay, a scene that had taken place days before, he couldn’t control
the adrenalin spiking across his twanging nerves. The agent who had
looked fearsome moments before, now, in contrast to the enormous man in
the doorway, looked small, almost slight. Honed by years of fighting
dangerous men like the one advancing on Sapphire, Jase’s protective
urges flooded his ever-ready body.
The man’s voice was dangerous,
filled with an ugly disparaging humor that should’ve scared the shit out
of the young woman standing calmly behind the desk.
“Well, well.
Whadda we have here? If it ain’t the snoopy little cunt that’s been
flashing her hoo-ha at Alfredo. I warned him you were up to no good.
But that fucking wop can’t see straight if a bikini bizkit is within
five feet of ’im. What are you doing, Sugar Tits? Come to leave a note
for that randy pal of mine who’s as much use to our operation as four
tits on a boar-hog?”
At Sapphire’s dismissive shrug, the enormous man
inched forward, his eyes flashing dangerously. A knowing smirk crossed
his face. Acknowledging her outfit, he nodded.
“Hmm. Whatcha
wearing, Hoe? It sure ain’t that G-String and sapphire pasties you was
wearing when you were givin’ Alfredo one righteous lap dance last
night.”
Montero jerked his head at her outfit, a salacious grin tracking across his face.
“But
I gotta say, all that leather is as big a come-on as them skanky digs
you wear at the Club. You know, the ones that are guaran-damn-teed to
make a man blow his pants and fork over his last dollar for a taste of
what you was selling.”
Glancing at the laptop, his jaw tightened
visibly. Looking from the purring machine to the woman casually standing
behind it, he hesitated and then shook his head and frowned, as if
seeing her for the first time. The knowing grimace that lit his face
confirmed that he recognized the danger in front of him. Narrowing his
eyes, he moved closer, awareness bright in his shifty eyes.
“Now that
I think about it, Sugar Tits, you never did put out, did you? Nope, I
gotta feeling all that nooky you were purveying was just a come-on.
Makes me think you were after more than Alfredo’s randy dick and sloppy
seconds for the rest of us.”
Rounding the corner of the desk, malevolence spiked his taunting grin.
“Nope,
methinks all that leather might indicate that you’re more interested in
the records Alfredo keeps on that laptop than you are in his limp
dick.”
The burly man’s eyes gleamed with malicious humor. His voice was soft, insinuating.
“Don’t
tell me the sexy little hoe is nothing more than a plant, an undercover
snoop? What are you, baby? A big bad copper? Or maybe one of those
ass-sniffing DEA dogs out to ruin the good thing we got going here?”
Now
within inches of her, his predatory intent clear, Montero rasped,
“Sorry to break it to you, hotstuff. Even if you are a cop, you still
have a righteous ass and before I take you out, I’m gonna have me a
hella big helping of that cha-cha you been flashing.” He added with a
sneer, “And if all that leather is sayin’ what I think it is, you like
it rough, hard. And, honey, I’m here to tell you I’m the man to give it
to you.”
Jase’s breath caught in his throat. The looming man reeked
of savage intent. In his line of work, Jase had seen far too many women
who’d faced far too many evil men like the one about to attack the
leather-clad agent. Using their massive strength and sociopathic lack of
conscience, the sadistic bastards measured their success by the terror
on their victims’ faces, their screams of pain and the amount of blood
they left on the floor. Jase was admittedly gratified to see the strain
on Ian Ross’s face, and hear the hitch in his breath as he watched the
scene playing out in front of them. Even though his boss had likely
viewed the ugly footage many times before, like Jase, Ian was no
stranger to the brutality men could inflict. The fact that this
particular woman had eventually escaped didn’t erase the memories of the
countless victims they'd both seen who tragically hadn’t been strong
enough or skilled enough to flee.
Just as Jase was about to give in
to his fear that the agent couldn’t possibly have overcome the miscreant
who had at least six inches and a hundred-plus pounds on her, Sapphire
whirled away from him. With a loud warrior cry she spun in a circle;
then, crouching low, she rose and drove her knee into the bastard’s
groin. His startled cry was a mix of pain and outrage. With a fearsome
roar he advanced on her but the woman was too quick. Dodging his charge,
she whirled again and this time landed her steel-tipped boot squarely
against his jaw. An agonized wail amplified the sound of crunching
bone. The blood spurting from Montero’s mouth confirmed that the blow
had done more than break his jaw.
Not content to glory in her
charge, the woman flew at him again. But this time she used her fist,
ensuring that on the odd chance her kick hadn’t shattered his jaw, the
heel of her hand would. Leaping out of the way of her bloodied
adversary, and instead of running from the room as she clearly could
have done, the gorgeous warrior circled the bellowing man and taunted
him.
“You like it rough, asshole? Good. Let’s see how you like this.”
She
flew through the air in a leap worthy of the acrobats in The New
Shanghai Circus. Rising from the floor her leg arching, the heel of her
boot connected with his ear. The sound of breaking bone and the burst of
blood spewing across the room coupled with the tortured scream from the
man crashing to the floor. Righteous anger flashed across the
aggressor’s face as she strode toward him. The satisfied smile, sparked
by the clear fury undergirding it, were the first signs of emotion Jase
had seen in the icily calm fighter.
Her triumph at her takedown of
the bastard who attacked her had to be the reason she didn’t hear the
door open. Glancing up at the sound, she couldn’t hide her surprise at
the sight of the man barreling toward her. Not as tall as the
unconscious heap on the floor, the new assailant outweighed his unlucky
cohort by at least fifty pounds. The woman overcame her surprise, but
not before the rabid bull charged toward her with a furious roar. She
managed to spin to the side, but couldn’t avoid the glancing blow that
caught her cheek and drove her to the ground. Sure that Sapphire
couldn’t avoid the attack that was certain to come, Jase grunted in
amazement when the intrepid fighter scrambled away from the man about to
land on her, forcing him to slam into the corner of the desk instead.
The
stream of expletives spewing from the intruder’s mouth underscored his
fury at her escape. But her retreat was short-lived. As she scrambled
across the floor struggling to stand, he grabbed her ankle and yanked
her to the ground. Dragging her back he landed a crushing blow on her
jaw. Only her wiry move prevented him from breaking it. Not content to
beat his foe to death, the raving man reached to the back of his jeans
and pulled out a regulation Smith & Wesson M&P 9. Sucking in an
overdue lungful of air, Jase groaned hearing the gunshot. Relief mixing
with admiration, Jase took in the amazing sight. The woman, who had
somehow avoided the gun blast from the gorilla on top of her, slithered
out from under him, smashing the toe of her boot into his chest. But
her compromised position prevented her from breaking free. Rearing up,
her assailant grabbed for her.
If he hadn’t seen the flash of steel
in her hand Jase wouldn’t have believed what happened next. He whistled
and glanced over at Ian throwing his boss a disbelieving look.
His comrade merely shook his head and muttered, “Yes, she’s really something, isn’t she, Jase?”
At
that moment, with a warrior cry, Sapphire struggled up from under the
frothing giant and twisted free. Ignoring his outraged bellow, she
raised her arm revealing the ten-inch military grade blade in her hand
and with a slashing movement drug it across his throat. The gurgling
sound of blood and air escaping from the gaping hole in her attacker’s
neck punctuated her victory.
Rising unsteadily to her feet, Sapphire
glowered at the dying man. She shook her head in obvious disdain, then
leaned down and retrieved her knife. After wiping the bloody weapon on
her victim’s pants, she casually tucked it in her boot sheathe. Coolly
striding over to the desk, she took the flash drive from the laptop and
slid it into her jacket pocket. Glancing up at the camera, she tossed
her head and winked, a slight smile gracing her lovely face. Without a
backward glance at the mayhem in her wake, she walked toward the exit.
As she strolled out into the hallway, she swayed her curvy bottom from
side to side in a seemingly unconscious gesture.
Jase muttered, correcting himself in mock disgust.
“Unconscious, hell! That audaciously sexy salute was anything but unconscious!”
No comments:
Post a Comment