by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan
“Do you want to hear the rest?”
Her sharp voice stopped his feet.
She didn’t wait for an answer, and there wasn’t pain in her eyes anymore, but anger. “I hemorrhaged on the table. The only way to stop the bleeding was a hysterectomy. I was twenty-three, and I’d just lost everything I didn’t even know I’d wanted.”
His stomach rolled.
“The way I saw it,” she went on, “he owed me. My life changed in a heartbeat because of those damn Furies. His parents had no clue who I was. His sister turned up her nose at me when I went to the memorial service. So I waited until I knew his house was empty, used the key he’d given me, and I took his research before they could box it up and take it away.”
Surprise swept over him. “You stole it?”
“No,” she said in a hard voice he almost didn’t recognize. “I earned it.”
He wanted to reach out to her and pull her into his arms, but there was a clear don’t-touch-me look in her eyes that stopped him cold.
“I’m a damn good archaeologist,” she said. “I’ve proven myself again and again. I didn’t sleep my way to the top or cash in on my looks. After everything that happened with Doug, I made a pact with myself not to get involved with anyone I worked with ever again. And I did pretty well for about five years.”
Some of the anger faded from her eyes. “Until I was on a dig in Mexico, where I met a guy who made me believe in ‘happily ever after’ again. Even though it was stupid, I took a chance. He was everything Doug hadn’t been—younger than me, still in school, fair haired and quiet. I was crazy about him. Crazy, period.” She brushed her hair back from her face. “He was killed in a diving accident on that dig. And that was the last time I let myself feel anything for anyone.”
His heart ached for her. How much bad luck could one woman have? “Lisa—”
She held up a hand to stop him from stepping forward. “I didn’t tell you any of this so you’d feel sorry for me. No one feels sorry for me, okay? I was stupid. Everything that happened to me happened because I didn’t make the right choices. I only told you because…”
She swallowed and focused on his T-shirt. “Because, for the first time in ten years, I’ve got this little voice in the back of my head telling me to take another chance.”
Of all the things he’d expected her to say, that wasn’t it. He had trouble forming words. “You’re hearing voices?”
“Yes.” She didn’t meet his eyes. “Really irritating ones.”
He shifted his weight, careful about the words he chose. “Let me get this straight. You’re hearing voices telling you to take a chance on a thief? Did I hear that right?”
Her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink, but she still didn’t look up. “When you say it like that, it sounds insane. I’m not totally nuts. I…crap, I obviously have bad judgment.”
The quiver in her voice kick-started his heart. “Bad judgment, huh? The voice in my head’s been trying to talk me into risking everything on a smart-mouthed archaeologist I hustled in Milan. Can’t get any worse than that.”
Surprised green eyes lifted to his. He didn’t wait for a response, simply stepped forward and finally touched her, as he’d wanted to do since she’d slinked down the stairs. He ran his hands over the smooth, bare skin of her arms and looked into the face of a woman he’d never planned on, never expected, but was thanking God above for bringing into his life. “The way I see it, you’ve got a lot more experience with this than I do.”
“No, I don’t,” she said quietly. “This is different.”
“How?”
Her eyes went all dreamy. “Because it’s with you.”
That did it. Quicksand. Over his head.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, his lips gliding over hers, soft and gentle and full of all the emotions he hoped she could feel. The ones he was too afraid to speak.
When he eased back to look down at her, she dropped her gaze to his chest and ran her fingertips over his shirt. “So, um, you got a bedroom on this boat?”
Her fingers set off a tingling in his skin, her words a tingling in his chest. One side of his mouth curled, and the relief warming his gut went white-hot. “Yeah. Through there.” He pointed toward the aft cabin door to the left of the companionway.
She pushed out of his arms, stepped into the doorway and shot him a come-hither look. “As much as I like your ex, I don’t think I want to take this back into the house where she’s sleeping. So tell me, Slick,” she said with a playful smile. “You ever made love on a boat?”
If he’d thought he was in deep before, he’d been utterly clueless. His chest constricted until it was almost too hard to breathe. “No. I’ve never made love to anyone. You’re gonna have to teach me how.”
“Oh…”
Speechless. Again. He’d never get tired of that, or the way it made him weak in the knees.
Her expression went all soft, and she held out a hand, lacing her fingers with his and tugging him gently toward her. “Tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. How about we teach each other?”
Chapter Sixteen
Her heart was racing. To the point he had to hear it.
Lisa eased back a few steps through the small hallway and into the bedroom. Moonlight spilled from the windows above, highlighting Rafe’s handsome face, eyes dark and intense, features strong and determined.
This was different. Not that frenzied need to explore, but deeper. Like it mattered. She could read it in his eyes, feel it in the sultry air around them.
“Your hands are sweating,” she said when she found her voice.
“I’m nervous.”
She didn’t think it was possible for her pulse to pump faster, but it did. “You never get nervous.”
He moved closer, placing the palm of her hand over his chest. “I am now. Feel what you do to me.”
His heart was beating just as quickly and erratically as hers, and when she looked up, he smiled that sexy half grin that melted her insides. “It’s been doing that ever since you showed up in the Keys.”
Oh, man. She wasn’t just going to take a chance. She was going to fall for this guy. With a man who was changing every one of her long-held beliefs. With one who had the power to hurt her more than anyone else ever had. And even realizing that didn’t stop her, because her need for him was stronger than common sense.
She ran her fingers over his T-shirt, down to the hem, to push the soft cotton up and over his head. His chest was tan and covered with a smattering of dark, silky hair that tickled her fingers. She leaned close, smelling his musky cologne and unique scent as she pressed her lips against rough, warm skin.
His hands brushed her hair, ran down her shoulders to grip her tank top and tug it off. Her bra hit the floor. Her nipples pebbled at the rush of cool air, and she eased closer, skimming her breasts against his bare chest, skin to skin, warmth to warmth, the way she wanted to be.
“Lisa.” His voice was rough and thick with emotion. He tangled his fingers in her hair, tipped her face up and slid his lips over hers until she ached with the need to have him closer. His tongue delved into her mouth, hot, wet, as he kissed her and pushed her backward toward the bed.
Her legs bumped the mattress, and he gently lifted her onto the navy comforter, his mouth never leaving hers, his hands grazing her bare skin to knead and mold her breasts. Heat raced through her veins, pooled in her stomach, trickled down between her legs. But it wasn’t that mind-numbing desire she’d felt before. It was richer, a stronger need than she’d ever felt. Not just for sex, for release, but for him.
Her fingers streaked to the buttons of his jeans, and she pushed her hands beneath his waistband, stretching the denim over his hips. He groaned into her mouth as he wiggled out of his pants and kicked them onto the floor, then rolled and pulled her on top of him.
“Querida, you make me weak.”
She loved the sound of his voice, the way he said the Spanish endearment he’d used since
their first meeting. She arched into him, urging him to strip her so she could feel every part of his body against hers.
His hands moved to the button of her shorts, fumbled and slipped. When he pulled back from her mouth, a sheepish grin graced his face. “My fingers aren’t working.”
Her heart swelled at his words, at the vulnerability this big, tough guy was showing her. “Here, let me.”
She pushed back and unfastened them herself, slid free and straddled his legs, leaning over to bring her mouth close to his.
His hand snaked out over the side of the bed and she knew he was reaching for his pants to find his wallet. Before he found it, she clamped her hand over his to stop his searching and eased back enough so she could focus on his eyes. “No barriers this time. Just you and me.”
His eyes softened. “Lisa—”
“I can’t get pregnant, Rafe. And I trust you. Maybe more than I’ve trusted anyone in a very long time.”
He ran a hand down her cheek in a barely-there caress. “God, you melt me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
She leaned into his touch. “I know. Which is part of the reason I want you so bad. Right now. Skin on skin. Just like this.”
“Mi tesoro,” he whispered. Those mesmerizing eyes of his streaked over her naked body as he moved his hands to skim and explore her curves with the slightest touch. He lifted his head to press his lips to the base of her throat, and she shuddered at the warm sensation. One of his big hands settled at her waist as the fingers of his other hand dipped into her burning wetness.
She moaned and curved against his probing fingers, against his thumb circling and teasing. The hot tip of his erection brushed her center, almost home, and with that one touch, anticipation bloomed into full-blown desire to have him hard and deep.
His breath caught when she shivered and pushed against his arousal, just enough pressure in her core to make her light-headed.
He swept his hands up her ribs to cup her breasts. “Go slow. I want to remember every inch sliding inside you.”
If the look in his eyes hadn’t nearly stopped her heart, his husky words would have. Forget falling for him. She already had.
“Kiss me, Rafe.”
He lifted his head and slid his tongue into her mouth just as she lowered and claimed him with her body. Their joining was slow and slick, heated rod against clenching glove. She pulled him tight, tighter, until long moments later he was buried to the hilt.
She sighed into his mouth, loving his hard length deep inside, knowing she could never tire of the way he made her feel.
“Love me, Lisa.”
Her heart kicked over. She was afraid she was headed in that direction. Knew she probably wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
She was the first to move, a slow rock of her hips that brought a groan from his mouth and a tightening to his hands as they darted over her back and pulled her against him. She knew it couldn’t last, but she wanted to draw out the moment, to memorize every sound and sensation and the smoldering look in his dark eyes as she rode him.
He thrust upward at her rocking, and her pleasure built until she couldn’t fight it anymore. She gripped tighter with her muscles, pulling him closer to the edge, wanting to feel him go over with her. And when he did, when she felt that deep pulse of his release, her orgasm exploded through every limb in her body, shooting her down a slippery slope and into an abyss as dark and frightening as the one she’d fallen into in Jamaica. Only this time, she knew there was no way out for her.
She was trapped.
And a thief had just stolen her heart.
***
Rafe jolted awake. He wasn’t sure what had startled him—a noise, a rumbling, a feeling. Still as stone, he stared into the darkness, listening for anything out of the ordinary.
Dim moonlight slanted through the small windows above. Water lapped rhythmically against the hull. Beside him, Lisa stirred and shifted, draped her arm over his belly and moved her head against his chest as she murmured something in sleep he couldn’t make out.
Nothing. Just his imagination. He’d been on edge since his conversation with Pete.
Closing his eyes, he relaxed and tugged Lisa tighter against his side, breathing in her sultry scent. He was pleasantly worn out from the most incredible sex he could remember, from the sassiest woman, who was all his.
His. A smile spread across his face. He could get used to that idea. Somehow he was going to have to figure out a way for her to get used to it, too.
Two loud pops wrenched him out of his fantasies. He sat straight up.
Lisa jerked upright. “What was that?”
Gunshots.
He scrambled from the bed and dragged on his jeans. “Stay here. Lock the door after me.”
“Rafe. Wait.”
Barefoot and ignoring her, he eased up the companionway and looked over the deck. Nothing moved. He glanced across the lawn toward the house. A shadow darted behind a tree. He heard a muffled thwack, followed by Hailey’s terse voice.
Hailey.
He was off the boat in a flash, moving silently through the shadows toward the house. Crouched behind a palm frond, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness so he could figure out just what the hell was going on.
Something grazed his back, and he whipped around, ready to throw a punch.
“Whoa!” Lisa whispered, jumping back.
“Me cago en nada.” His heart lurched into his throat, and he yanked her down next to him. “I told you to stay put.”
She shot him a dry look. “When have I ever done anything you’ve said?”
He couldn’t argue that point. The woman was too bloody independent. He gritted his teeth and tugged her closer to him, into the shadows. Knowing she wouldn’t listen and go back on the boat, he was stuck with her.
Fuck.
“Stay behind me and don’t make a sound.”
They crept around the corner of the house. Moonlight spilled over the lawn. At the far end of the patio, garbled voices echoed back to them.
“You have the right to remain silent…”
Rafe could just make out Hailey’s stern voice. He peered into the darkness to where it looked like two shadowy figures were lying on the ground. The bottom figure was facedown. The top one—Hailey—had one knee braced on the man’s back as she grappled for his hands.
“Get the fuck off me. I’m a police officer, goddammit!”
“Like I’ve never heard that one,” Hailey mumbled. “Anything you say can and will—”
“Oh, shit.” Lisa shook free of Rafe’s hand and ran around him out into the moonlight. “Hailey. Stop!”
“Carajo,” Rafe muttered. Was the woman brain-dead? He raced after her.
As Lisa and Rafe came around the corner, Hailey’s head darted up from where she was still struggling with the trespasser. “Get her back, would you?” she yelled at Rafe.
Lisa dropped to her knees next to them and reached for the man’s hands. “He’s my brother, and he is a cop. Let him go.”
“He’s who?” Hailey faltered.
“Your worst nightmare.” Shane wriggled against her. “Now get the hell off me!”
He jerked free of her hold, and Hailey lurched back a step. Shane twisted out from under her and whipped around to sit on his butt on the patio.
“Her brother’s a police officer?” she asked Rafe in complete bafflement.
Rafe rested his hands on his hips and tried to slow his breathing. He was staying out of this one. In fact, he wanted to drag Lisa back to the boat and pretend none of this had happened.
Hailey’s attention jumped back to Shane. “What the hell were you shooting at me for then? I identified myself.”
“I wasn’t the one shooting at you,” Shane tossed back, pushing to his feet.
That got Rafe’s attention. “Someone else was here?”
Shane’s gaze finally darted his direction, and there was a clear don’t-fuck-with-me warning in his eyes. “I don’t k
now, Romeo, but it sure as hell wasn’t me.” He held his hand out to Hailey, palm up. “Gimme my gun back.”
She set her jaw. “It’s against the law for an out-of-state, off-duty officer to carry in Florida.”
A vein pulsed near Shane’s temple. He ripped the gun from her hand. “So fucking arrest me then.” He looked at Lisa. “I’m gonna take a look around. You. Stay put.” His fiery eyes shot to Rafe. “You. Don’t even think about leaving.” He cast Hailey a withering look before disappearing into the shadows.
Lisa scrubbed both hands over her face.
Wide-eyed, Hailey turned toward both of them. “What the heck was that?”
“That,” Lisa said, “was one of the Windy City’s finest detectives.” She dropped her hands. “And you just pissed him off.”
“What’s he doing here?” Hailey asked.
“My guess? Making sure I’m not dead.”
That jolted Rafe back to reality. He ushered both women into the house. If there was really someone out there, he preferred having the cover of the house for protection. Right now he felt exposed in more ways than one. “Come on.”
They moved into the kitchen. Lisa started the coffeepot and pulled mugs from the cabinet. He resisted the urge to tell her it was three A.M. and too early for java, but he had a sinking suspicion their romantic night was over and things were about to get a whole lot more interesting. And not in any way he wanted.
He looked toward Hailey. “What happened?”
Hailey checked the kitchen doors and windows for signs of a break-in. “I had the terrace door open upstairs and heard a noise. When I came down to check it out and realized it wasn’t either of you, I stepped outside to take a look. Someone fired three shots at me. I saw a shadow dart into the trees and went after it. That’s when I ran into Rambo out there.” She shifted toward them. “I’m gonna do a quick sweep of the house. Stay here.”
She disappeared into the living room.
Lisa stepped to the fridge, pulled it open and reached for the carton of half-and-half.
Rafe watched her move around the room like she didn’t have a care in the world. Like the last few minutes hadn’t shaken her at all. A mixture of relief and anxiety rushed through him. Followed by a surge of disbelief.