Sinful Seduction

by Katie Reus

  “Go,” she said, close to jumping him again. Then they’d truly be late. “Or we’ll both get fired.”

  He snorted at that. It would take more than that for their boss to fire them. They’d have to burn down the casino for that to happen. “I’ve got something special planned for tonight, so don’t be late getting home.”

  She paused at the unreadable note in his voice, but nodded. His little surprises were always fun—and always sexy. “It looks like it’s going to be a low key kind of week.” Of course by saying that she’d probably just cursed herself for a manic one.

  Another kiss and he was gone. Moving into gear she showered and was getting dressed when her cell rang. No one called her this early except her boss. Hell, she probably had jinxed herself. When she saw the caller ID she frowned, not recognizing the number. But it was local. “Ellie here.”

  “Eleanor Johansen,” a familiar, hated voice from her past said with a dripping kind of smugness that made her want to reach through the phone and punch him.

  Feeling her blood turn to ice, she collapsed on the edge of the king-sized bed, her knees giving way upon hearing Kevin Murrell on the other end. He wasn’t supposed to be out of prison for another fifteen or twenty years. “How’d you get this number?” she demanded, thankful her voice didn’t shake. She knew she should just hang up on him, but she needed to find out what this creep wanted. And when he’d gotten out of prison, because she didn’t think he could be calling from inside.

  He made an obnoxious tsking sound. God, how had she ever thought she was in love with this moron? “Taking your mother’s maiden name isn’t enough to hide from me.”

  “I’m not trying to hide from anyone.” And she wasn’t. Not truly. She’d just wanted to put distance between her past self and who she’d become. “I take it you’re out. Good behavior?” She couldn’t hide a snort of disbelief.

  A long pause before he spoke again and this time he didn’t hide the bite of annoyance in his voice. “You’ve changed.”

  “If you mean I’m different than that pathetic seventeen year old who thought you hung the moon, then yeah, I’m very different. Why are you calling me?” Finding her legs again, she went to her bedroom window and slightly pulled the curtains back. She knew she was likely being paranoid, but she wanted to see if this bastard was watching her house. She wouldn’t put it past him. Not when she had something he wanted.

  “You know why. I want my belongings.”

  Ice settled into a hard ball in her stomach as she had to confess the truth. “I’ve got most of it, but I don’t have all of it.”

  Another pause, longer this time. “How short am I?”

  She closed her eyes, rubbing her temple. “About fifty.” Meaning fifty thousand dollars. For all she knew he was being monitored by the police or even the criminal he’d stolen from in the first place. “I didn’t expect you to get out for a few more years.” Because she would have replaced the money by then, with him none the wiser. She wasn’t sorry she’d taken it, not when it had given her a path to college and a better life. Kevin had stolen half a million from a low level mobster before getting arrested for something completely unrelated. Since Nevada was a three-strike state and he’d committed his third felony robbery of a residence with a deadly weapon, he’d been locked up and was supposed to have been kept there for a good long time. Looked like the justice system failed again.

  He was silent again, but this time when he spoke she could practically hear the glee in his voice. “No bother then, you can return what you’ve still got and do me one little favor. Then we’ll call it even.”

  She swallowed hard, knowing his type of ‘favor’ wasn’t something she’d be willing to do. Especially not if it was worth fifty thousand to him. She was tempted to hang up on Kevin, but knew it would be a mistake. He’d just harass her in person. “Favor?”

  “You’re going to help me rob the Serafina. And if you don’t, I’m going to rip apart the pretty little life you’ve made for yourself. I’ll start by telling De Luca you stole his money.”

  Without responding she ended the call, fighting the panic bubbling up inside her. She wasn’t sure if Carlo De Luca would actually believe she’d taken his money, but she couldn’t take the chance he would and come after those she loved.

  Fighting panic, she went to her closet and grabbed a small suitcase. Staying here like a sitting duck wasn’t the answer.

  Excerpt from

  Protecting His Witness

  Copyright © 2013 Katie Reus

  Out of the corner of his eye, Vincent noticed the same four-door sedan he’d seen drive down his street slowly cruise by his house again. For the third time.

  This time it stopped in front of a house two down from his and idled. He lived on a quiet, dead-end street and he recognized all the vehicles on sight. Even if one of his neighbors had bought a new car while he’d been out of town, there was no reason for the driver to be creeping around like they planned to do a drive-by. Not that he was actually worried about that. This was a middle class Miami neighborhood that rarely saw crime. But he believed in being vigilant.

  Vincent kept his stride even as he walked from his neighbor’s house to his. His fifty year old next-door neighbor had collected his mail for him while he’d been in Vegas at his friend Iris’s wedding. He still had a couple more days off and he planned to spend it with his family. If he didn’t go see his mom soon she’d chew his ass out and then he’d hear about it from his three sisters. Now that they all lived in the same city, he caught hell if he didn’t see them on a regular basis. He might complain about them hassling him, but he loved them more than anything.

  Right now he was going to find out who the hell was in that vehicle. Something about the way the person drove told him they weren’t lost. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he always trusted his gut and he always looked out for his neighbors. Life could change in an instant—something he knew from personal experience—and he wasn’t someone who sat idly by and did nothing if this was a potential criminal casing his neighborhood. He just wasn’t wired that way. Probably his Navy training.

  Once inside his house he dropped his mail on the small table in the foyer, then raced for the backdoor. The sun was setting, giving him enough shadows to blend in for what he planned. His backyard had a privacy fence so he climbed it into his neighbors’ yard. Even if any of his neighbors saw him it was unlikely they’d be worried. He’d been nominated as unofficial leader of their neighborhood watch and he took his job seriously. Plus when he’d retrieved his mail his neighbor had mentioned a few petty break-ins a few blocks over while he’d been out of town.

  Using the lengthening shadows, he scaled fences and jogged across backyards until he was six houses down. Adrenaline pumping, he hurried to his neighbors’ front yard and scaled another privacy fence because it was locked. His feet hit the grass with a soft thump and a second later, a security flood light came on, illuminating the side of the house. He inwardly cursed even though he was the one who’d recommended everyone on the street get the lights. Pausing, he took a moment before he peered around the corner of the house.

  From his angle he was still hidden from view of whoever was in that vehicle, which was good. Instead of using the well-lit sidewalk, he quickly walked across his neighbors’ front yards, avoiding kids’ toys and other crap left out. Two dogs barked in the distance, then he heard the soft sound of Mr. Canning’s automatic sprinkler going on like clockwork as he closed the distance.

  Two yards to go. Then one.

  The car still idled and even though the windows were tinted he could see the outline of a driver in the front seat. There was no one else in the vehicle and the person was small. Their head fit right against the headrest, but they were looking down at something in their hands.

  Normally Vincent was armed, but hadn’t felt it necessary now. Besides, with his training, he could take almost anyone out in hand-to-hand combat. He closed the last few feet to the car, sliding along the side until he
reached the driver’s door. He really hoped he was overreacting and this driver was just someone lost, but in his neighborhood, he never took chances.

  He rapped his knuckles against the top of the car. Judging from the small size of the person, he guessed it was a woman. She jumped and dropped whatever had been in her hands.

  Good.

  He’d wanted to startle the driver, take her off guard and it worked.

  A second later, the door opened and as the dome light flooded the interior and he saw her sitting there, he froze.

  For a moment, it was as if time stood still. His surroundings, his neighbors’ houses, the distant familiar sounds of the evening, just fell away in that moment. All he could do was stare as her head tilted up toward him and he found himself looking into familiar hazel eyes. His chest constricted and he tried to drag in a breath, but it was as if an elephant was sitting on his chest.

  Moving, breathing, thinking—impossible. His heart was a staccato beat against his ribs as he tried to control his breathing. He blinked once, sure this was a hallucination.

  Or a fantasy he’d conjured up.

  Nope, she was still there.

  Her small hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her dark hair a sensual cascade falling over one shoulder as she stared right back.

  His hands fell to his sides as he stared at Jordan Alvarado. The woman he’d loved more than anything. The woman who’d disappeared from his life seven years ago without a fucking word. The woman he’d never been able to get over. No matter how damn hard he tried. She was under his skin and in his heart, and nothing he’d done had worked her out of his system.

  Her hazel eyes were wide as she watched him with a mix of nervousness and…lust. Yeah, that had always been there between them. The explosive attraction was like a living thing. Combustible and raw. That definitely hadn’t changed. And he hated that he felt it too.

  “Jordan.” He hadn’t realized he’d been about to speak until he heard his own raspy voice scraping out her name.

  Her seatbelt was already off and he watched as she swallowed hard then took a tentative step out. She wrapped her arms around herself, her petite, compact body still as lush as he remembered. The halter-style dress she wore showed off all her curves and bronzed skin. Her dark hair had grown at least six inches since the last time he’d seen her. Back then she’d kept it shorter, so that it fell in a longer angle around her face and was shorter in the back. Now it was long, falling in soft waves. He wanted nothing more than to run his hands through it. “Vincent, I…you look really great,” she said softly, too many emotions to define in her expression.

  He couldn’t help himself. He had a billion questions—like where the hell had she been for so long—but he was overcome with the need to taste her. To dominate and possess her. It had always been like that between them, but he’d convinced himself that the electricity wasn’t real. That he’d built it up in his mind. People just didn’t react that way to each other after so long but here she was standing in front of him and all he wanted to do was jump her. To take her hard and fast against the car, right out in the open for anyone to see.

  Normally he was in absolute control of himself but before he’d realized he even intended to move, his lips were on hers and he was crushing her against the car.

  Jordan moved against him like liquid sin, her body melting into his as if they were made for each other.

  Acknowledgements

  I owe a big thanks to Kari Walker, Laura Wright and Joan Turner for their help! Thank you ladies for everything. For my readers, thank you again for loving this series. I’m constantly amazed by how you not only read my books, but spread the word about them and I’m truly grateful. As always, thank you to Tanya Hyatt, who does so many behind the scenes things so I can focus on writing. Last, but never least, I’m thankful to God.

  Complete Booklist

  Red Stone Security Series

  No One to Trust

  Danger Next Door

  Fatal Deception

  Miami, Mistletoe & Murder

  His to Protect

  Breaking Her Rules

  Protecting His Witness

  Sinful Seduction

  The Serafina: Sin City Series

  First Surrender

  Sensual Surrender

  Sweetest Surrender

  Deadly Ops Series

  Targeted

  Bound to Danger (2014)

  Non-series Romantic Suspense

  Running From the Past

  Everything to Lose

  Dangerous Deception

  Dangerous Secrets

  Killer Secrets

  Deadly Obsession

  Danger in Paradise

  His Secret Past

  Paranormal Romance

  Destined Mate

  Protector’s Mate

  A Jaguar’s Kiss

  Tempting the Jaguar

  Enemy Mine

  Heart of the Jaguar

  Moon Shifter Series (paranormal romance)

  Alpha Instinct

  Lover’s Instinct (novella)

  Primal Possession

  Mating Instinct

  His Untamed Desire (novella)

  Avenger’s Heat

  Darkness Series

  Darkness Awakened

  Taste of Darkness (2014)

  About the Author

  Katie Reus is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Red Stone Security series, the Moon Shifter series and the Deadly Ops series. She fell in love with romance at a young age thanks to books she pilfered from her mom’s stash. Years later she loves reading romance almost as much as she loves writing it.

  However, she didn’t always know she wanted to be a writer. After changing majors many times, she finally graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology. Not long after that she discovered a new love. Writing. She now spends her days writing dark paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense. For more information on Katie please visit her website: www.katiereus.com. Also find her on twitter @katiereus or visit her on facebook at: www.facebook.com/katiereusauthor. If you would like to be notified of future releases, please join her newsletter. Direct link: http://eepurl.com/jEABv