Taken by Fire by Sydney Croft

wheel had gone well.
    Until two years earlier, when Itor’s leader, Alek Kharkov, had used his genetic link to Dev in a way that had left ACRO vulnerable and had nearly broken Dev completely. Learning that Dev’s greatest enemy was a biological part of himself was the only thing that had put him back together. That, and the need to avenge not only the psychic violation that had taken place but the danger Dev had inadvertently put his own agents in.
    He turned back to his desk now and, in a habitual move leftover from years of blindness, ran his fingers over the mission report Ryan Malmstrom had dropped off the night before. Ryan, who had been one of the very agents Dev had put at risk. The man had been deep undercover in Itor at the time, having infiltrated the organization after months of careful planning. Ryan’s cover had been blown, and he’d been tortured, his mind scrubbed, and it had been only by the grace of God that the agent had been returned to ACRO last year.
    Ryan had forgiven him, but Devlin couldn’t forgive himself. He’d promised his operative that he would take Itor to the ground or die trying.
    This year, things had begun to fall into place. Thanks to Ryan’s infiltration, they’d gotten some important inside information that included a possible highly dangerous weapon.
    And now … now they had Alek’s daughter.
    Alek had killed Dev’s birth mother—Dev had learned that only a few years earlier. His parents had never let on that he wasn’t their biological son, that they’d rescued him from Itor’s evil leader when he was a mere newborn.
    Dev wondered if Melanie/Phoebe’s mother had suffered the same fate.
    He could trust Stryker not to kill her, no matter the man’s personal grudge. He needed to spend the day planning how best to use the information Stryker had given him about Australia, as well as figuring out how his half sister could aid with the takedown of Itor.
    Devlin had no qualms about murdering his biological father. He just had to decide if his sister would be part of the collateral damage.

Beneath Melanie’s feet, the floor vibrated, reminding her of the first time they’d met, when whatever power he possessed had ripped apart the jungle earth. She stiffened, her body rigid, her mind spinning. This man clearly hated her. Yet he wanted her. And she … Lord help her, she wasn’t sure what she wanted. Her body was definitely reacting to his touch, and she was pretty sure her initial suspicion was correct, that it had been conditioned to like danger and roughness.
    She was actually
turned on
.
    God, what had Phoebe done with this body they shared?
    She swallowed, her throat catching on a moan when Stryker’s thumb smoothed over the sensitive underside of her breast. “Look,” she rasped, “do you want to kill me, or fuck me?”
    “Both. Neither. I don’t know.” His voice was impatient, guttural. “Where’s Phoebe?”
    “The earthquake … it scared her. She retreated.”
    Stryker bared his teeth and leaned in, even as his hand slipped beneath her shirt. “Get her.”
    “I can’t. She’s too deep. Why do you want her anyway? Why did you change your mind? First you want the drug to keep her suppressed and now you want her out. Which is it, because I’m about to get whiplash.”
    A muscle in his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth. Finally, he cursed and stepped back. “Forget it.”
    “No.” It was a stupid move, but she inched closer to him. “You said this isn’t personal, but that’s bullshit. You want to kill her, you want to take revenge, but you need to keep me alive to use against Itor. That’s it, isn’t it?”
    “You don’t know anything.”
    She snorted. “I know the idea of ending me makes you hard. Is that how you do all your killing? Maybe strangle your victims while you’re screwing them?”
    His entire body jerked, the stark horror in his eyes actually making her take a step back. “
What?
I’ve never … Jesus!” He shoved