CHAPTER 1
Margot Merriweather stared out the window of her hotel room, reflecting on the state of
affairs that had brought her to Monaco on a hot, summer night in late August. Too many
questions ... too many secrets. Her job was to find the answers, to pry those secrets from
people who spent their days dreaming up new and more efficient ways of hurting people,
setting governments against one another, killing the environment. The trick was to not get
herself killed in the process.
"I`d aim a little lower," Margot said idly. "You don`t intend to miss,
now, do you?"
She heard a faint gasp from behind her and turned around. The other woman was stunning,
with dark eyes and a well-curved figure, her thin lips turned up at the corners in an
approximation of a smile. She was holding a gun, a silenced Walther PK. State of the art.
"You`re good," the woman said.
"At many things," Margot said. "You would be--"
"Jasmin Al-Khalid," the woman said. "And you`re Merriweather. Margot
Merriweather."
"I`m flattered," Margot said.
"Don`t be," Jasmin said. "I never even heard of you until an hour
ago."
Margot lifted her eyebrows in thoughtful surprise. "You`d kill a perfect
stranger?"
"Nobody`s perfect," Jasmin said.
Margot gave the other woman an appraising glance. "All evidence to the
contrary."
The other woman smiled. "Damn, you`re really good. But tell me ... what makes you
think I`m here to kill you?"
"That, for one," Merriweather said, cocking her chin to indicate the gun still
pointed at her.
"Oh, this," Jasmin said with a shrug. "Just a precaution."
Margot smiled, taking a step closer to her would-be assailant. "I suppose you want
to know why I`m in Monte Carlo."
"I already know that," Jasmin said. She also took a step. "I want to know
what you plan to do while you`re in Monte Carlo."
"I`m open to suggestion," Margot said.
"I like that in a woman, " Jasmin smiled.
Margot took Jasmin into her arms and kissed her, her hands furiously roving across the
assassin`s lithe body. The gun fell to the floor. Merriweather pulled her onto the bed.
"Tell me," Margot whispered, kissing her way down the other woman`s neck.
"How do you plan to get this information out of me?" She started to peel off
Jasmin`s skin-tight leather jumpsuit with practiced fingers.
Jasmin smiled and helped the process along. "By any means necessary."
"I see," Margot said. She rolled the other woman onto her back, kissing her as
she did so. "Then let the interrogation begin." She found Jasmin`s lips again
and devoured them with her own.
The things I do for my country, Margot thought, tracing the line of her enemy`s throat
with her tongue, feeling the other woman sigh and relax. Jasmin was delectable. Strong.
Unique, in Merriweather`s considerable experience. She wanted to lose herself in the
darker woman`s arms, even if only for an hour, perhaps a day, or even a week. Any longer
than that, and her resolve could weaken. Beautiful and alluring or not, Jasmin was,
ultimately, her enemy. If necessary, Merriweather would kill Jasmin. Before Jasmin killed
her.
But certainly not now. Now she would love her. If it came to that, Jasmin`s last moments
on earth would be happy ones, Merriweather promised herself.
For her part, Jasmin Al-Khalid wasn`t fooled. To her way of thinking there was only one
possible end to this scenario, and Jasmin intended to be the victor. She would wring the
information she needed from Merriweather, along with cries of ecstasy. She might toy with
her new lover for a short while, but it would end the way all her dalliances ended. They
didn`t call her the Black Widow for no reason. Then back to the cartel for her reward and
another assignment. No new assignment, however, was likely to equal this one for the
pleasure of the chase.
Jasmin rolled back on top, straddling Margot`s hips. "You`re mine," she said.
"You`ll tell me what I want to know."
"Sure of yourself, aren`t you?" Margot laughed. She could tell this magnificent
assassin anything at all, even the truth. She wouldn`t carry the tale to her employers.
"What do you want to know?" She raked her fingers through Jasmin`s pubic hair
and parted her thighs, enjoying the sight of the younger woman breaking into a sweat.
"The target of the Organization, the reason you`re here, now," Jasmin gasped,
finding concentration difficult. Margot`s fingers had found their way to their own target,
and Jasmin`s thighs, strong as they were, began to tremble with effort.
Merriweather took advantage of that and flipped Jasmin over again onto her back.
"You`re the only target I`m concerned with now," she said, using strong fingers
to tease her opponent closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy. If she had anything to say
about it, Jasmin would enjoy that altitude for a long time. Satisfied that Jasmin was
distracted enough, Merriweather slipped her strong shoulders under Jasmin`s hips and
plunged her tongue into her brimming, aching vagina. Al-Khalid bucked helplessly against
her lover`s demanding mouth.
"Oh, God, yes!" Jasmin cried, clutching at her lover`s scalp. "Do it! Do
it to me!" There had been another question or two, but they could wait.
Merriweather obliged, providing all the pressure and friction necessary to drive Jasmin
to the brink, then she stopped, and let her hang. "You work for the Medina Cartel,
don`t you?" she asked lazily.
"Oh, please, oh, don`t!" Jasmin screamed, out of her mind with need.
"The Cartel?" Merriweather prompted, holding off.
"Yes! Yes! Anything you say!"
"As I thought." Merriweather relented and bore down again, finishing the job,
enjoying Jasmin`s pleasure almost as much as she herself did. The ripple and play of
Jasmin`s muscles as her body vibrated under Merriweather`s touch was exquisite, and
sharpened her own arousal.
"Now," she said, when Jasmin`s many orgasms had ended, and she lay gasping on
Merriweather`s tumbled bed. "Show me more of your interrogation technique. What
little skills might you have picked up in the Middle East, hmmm?"
Recovering, Al-Khalid pulled Merriweather down on top of her. "I have many
skills," she agreed, "and I learned them ... all over." She demonstrated by
teasing and sucking Margot`s nipples, alternating between aggression and tenderness,
driving her knee between Merriweather`s legs and lifting her into the air a few inches by
holding her with a hand under each shoulder and her knee in her crotch.
Merriweather swallowed convulsively. "You are ... stronger than you look." She
looked down into Jasmin`s eyes, motionless, enjoying the unusual contact, not wanting to
move.
Experimentally, Al-Khalid bounced her a little. Merriweather gasped and gripped Jasmin`s
knee more tightly with her thigh muscles. "Don`t ... stop." This was a new one,
she had to admit, and very erotic.
"The target, then," Jasmin reminded her with a little jiggle.
"An agent ... we`re hoping to make an offer..." Merriweather was groaning with
pleasure now. "That can`t be refused."
"Who`s the agent?" Jasmin moved her up and down, just a little too slowly for
her to come.
"Haven`t ... ooohhh ... haven`t got the ... please, lover ... final orders
yet," Merriweather moaned through gritted teeth. "I have to ... make a pick-up
tonight."
"Pick-up of what?" Jasmin wanted to let her come, but she needed the facts.
"ID ... times ... details ... darling!" she pleaded. "You can ... come to
the drop with me." The senior agent was beside herself with want.
"Please!"
"Very good, Margot. Here`s your reward." She let Merriweather slide down her
leg onto the bed, then turned her on her back. Driving her tongue deeply into
Merriweather`s eager mouth and fingering her clitoris roughly, she polished her off,
making her scream with pleasure long denied.
A little while later they lay side by side, drinking champagne from the same glass.
"How long until the drop?" Al-Khalid asked, dribbling a little nectar from the
glass between Merriweather`s breasts, licking it slowly.
"We have another hour or so," Merriweather smiled, running her fingers through
Jasmin`s hair. Then she sat up. "Be right back," she said giving her new lover a
kiss. "You know," she called from the bathroom. "You shouldn`t be working
for the cartel."
"Whyever not? They pay well," Jasmin informed her. "Oil always does."
She sounded smug.
"They don`t like women," was the response, over the running water. "They
only use them."
"Agencies who really like women are hard to find," Jasmin responded,
stretching. "And the pay stinks."
Merriweather returned. She slid into the bed and grasped Jasmin`s shoulder. There was a
sudden sting. Before she could say "hey," although she tried to, Jasmin was
numb. Then, she was paralyzed. Her mouth worked, but nothing came out. She thought she was
trying to roll away, but she remained motionless.
"Sorry, darling," Merriweather said with genuine regret, easing a silenced
slimline automatic pistol from the night stand drawer. "It was delightful. I`m going
to miss you."
As Merriweather brought the muzzle to Al-Khalid`s neck, just under her ear, Jasmin cursed
herself once, all she had time for. Merriweather pulled the trigger, and there was
darkness.
* * * *
The drug took effect immediately. Al-Khalid slumped sideways.
"You`re the target, my love," Merriweather whispered. Expertly, she wrapped
Jasmin`s inert form in a white sheet. Leaving the room, she returned quickly with a hotel
laundry cart and loaded the unconscious assassin into it. She dressed quickly as a
maintenance "man," piled her few things on top of Jasmin and rode down in the
service elevator. An unmarked step van waited in the deserted rear yard of the hotel, and
it was the work of only a minute before everything was safely and quietly stowed.
Following the winding roads, Merriweather soon arrived at a cliffside pullout. A moment
later, a heavy, human-shaped object, wrapped in a sheet, rolled over the sheer cliff and
down into the water where it sank with hardly a splash. The van covered the remaining
distance to the marina in a matter of minutes. Merriweather negotiated the narrow passages
to the docks, where a sleek yacht was moored. Responding to her whistle, two young sailors
appeared at the top of the gangway and helped Merriweather with the laundry cart and some
other items. One sailor drove the van to the other end of the marina and parked it while
her colleagues on the yacht cast off. As it passed the jetty, the sailor turned driver
dove gracefully into the water, grabbed the ladder of the slow-moving craft and climbed
aboard. Soon the harbor was quiet again as the yacht sliced neatly away through
phosphorescent seas. It was as if they had never been there at all.
* * * *
Morning on the open ocean. Merriweather lounged on the deck, coffee, fresh orange juice
and croissants at her elbow. She wore a simple white cotton shirt and loose pants, her
bare feet up on the rail. She sifted through a pile of faxes that had accumulated in her
absence from the vessel.
A sailor approached quietly. "Your guest is awake, ma`am," she informed
Merriweather respectfully.
Merriweather looked up and, with a smile, allowed her gaze to linger on the well-muscled
anatomy of the young woman." Thank you, Rachel. I`ll take care of it."
As she neared the windowless interior cabin which doubled as a brig, Merriweather could
hear the pounding on the walls. She could feel the vibrations through the deck beneath her
feet. A sailor stood guard at the heavy hatch. Merriweather nodded to her.
"Dismissed." With a shrug, the guard hefted her Uzzi and departed. Merriweather
keyed the lock and quickly stepped in, locking the door behind her.
Al-Khalid turned from her most recent assault on what looked to her like a seam in the
wall of the cabin. "YOU!! YOU LYING BITCH!!!!" she raged, launching herself at
Margot. Using Jasmin`s own momentum, Merriweather swung her around and slammed her to the
bed, facedown. "Relax, darling, before you sprain something," she advised the
frantic operative. Merriweather had her in a hold so tight, Jasmin found it hard to
breathe. She trembled with fury and frustration, bur she stopped struggling.
"Now, listen to me," Margot said soothingly. "You`re so good, we had to
take you out. If you weren`t the best, you wouldn`t be here. So stop blaming yourself for
letting me capture you."
"I hate you," Jasmin seethed. "You`d better kill me, because if you don`t,
I`ll kill you."
"You don`t hate me," Merriweather told her, nuzzling her. "You hate
yourself. You said I was good. I am good. You have a thing or two to learn, and I intend
to teach you. And the first thing I want to teach you is to calm down, get over this, and
enjoy your new life. Do you hear me?" She kissed Jasmin`s neck tenderly, but didn`t
release the chokehold with which she controlled her former assailant.
"What new life?"
"You`re going to work for me."
"The hell I am!"
"Or you`re going to be my prisoner. Forever. You choose."
"I already have a life. I have a job. I have money. I don`t need you."
"You don`t have a job. If anyone at all was watching us, they think you`re dead. No
one will look for you. And unless your money`s in Switzerland or the Caymans, you`re a
fool. I`m guessing you`re not. You haven`t lost a penny. And," Merriweather shifted
over on top of Jasmin, "I need you."
"For what?" Jasmin grunted, beginning to be aroused in spite of herself.
"Various things. Companionship. Protection. Information-gathering. Industrial
sabotage. Making love." Merriweather was certainly aroused, and bored with subduing
Jasmin. "I`d like to let you up, so let me explain some things. We`re on a yacht in
the middle of the Mediterranean. You can`t escape, and my crew is as dangerous as you are.
If you threaten me, they`ll just keep stunning you over and over again, even if they have
to knock me or each other out in the process. It`ll be a long time before we reach land
again. I suggest you relax and enjoy your captivity. Behave yourself and you are my
honored guest. Misbehave and I`ll throw you back here in the brig. And I`ll make you watch
other women making love to me. Is that clear?"
At the idea of watching Merriweather with other women, Jasmin`s perspective changed
radically. Desire coursed through her veins like a drug. Merriweather felt the shift.
"Jasmin?"
"Damn you for making me feel like this!"
Merriweather`s voice took on a warning tone. "Jasmin! Shall I call one of my mates?
I`m getting very aroused lying on top of you like this. Too aroused to wait."
Jasmin didn`t know exactly what Margot meant by "mates" and she decided she
didn`t want to find out, either. She could cooperate for a while, be let out, and then see
what options there were. "All right. You win. You can let me up."
Carefully Merriweather set Jasmin free. She sat up and rubbed her throat where Margot had
squeezed it with her forearm. Satisfied that her prisoner was reasonably calm, Margot
stripped off her clothes and let them fall to the deck. "Come here, darling. I want
you," she said, lying down and pulling her angry young woman close. "Come here
and forgive me."
Stunned by Margot`s sudden gentleness, Jasmin cuddled against her, close to tears of
exhaustion and confusion. She wasn`t sure anymore what she wanted, except Margot. Margot`s
love was all she could handle for now. Side by side, they touched each other gently,
eagerly, as though it was the first time. They explored each other thoroughly, slowly
driving one another crazy with soft tongues and fingers. It became a contest to see which
one could provide more pleasure to the other, and they both won.
"Margot!" Jasmin moaned as she climaxed under her lover`s hands and mouth.
"Oh, my God! Don`t stop. Please!" As her body convulsed in ecstasy, tears of
relief finally ran down her cheeks. Margot came soon after, shuddering with an intensity
she hadn`t felt in more years than she cared to think about. Jasmin was an assassin in
more ways than one. She was killing Margot with pleasure, over and over again.
"My darling!" she gasped. "Oh, God. I want you so much. I want you all the
time," she sighed, wishing it never had to be over. But it did, so they could rest
and do it again.
A little while later, they were in Margot`s stateroom, the Captain`s quarters, enjoying
clean sheets and champagne again. Cupping Margot`s breasts, examining her nearly flawless
body with an interest that bordered on awe, Jasmin asked, "Would you really do that?
Make me watch you with other women?"
Margot eyed her speculatively. "What do you think?"
Jasmin nodded. "I think you would. I honestly do."
"Well, I have in the past," she confessed. "To get information from a man.
Or two."
"Let me get this straight. You made a man watch you. With a woman?"
"Women," Merriweather corrected. "Worked like a charm."
"And then what? You made love with him? Them?"
"Not ... exactly," Margot admitted.
"What then?" Jasmin pressed against her, feeling a prickle of apprehension.
"I made appointments for them with Davy Jones."
"Oh, God!" Jasmin shivered. She had met her match. "When do my lessons
begin?"
Margot laughed, deep in her throat. "They already have! Darling, don`t worry. I
didn`t love them, but I think I am going to love you. For a long, long time."
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