by Amy Rench
Everything else in his head washed away and the only thing that remained was Harper. He could imagine the shower door opening, steam whirling as she stepped inside to share the cozy, misty space behind him. Her strong swimmer’s hands gliding over his wet shoulder blades and slanting around to spread across his chest.
Rome pulled his hands away from the walls. Standing up straight, he felt his lower body tighten in response to his vision of Harper naked, her sleek wet breasts pressing against his back.
Keeping his eyes shut, he ran his hand down his solid stomach to slide over his hardness. Closing his fingers, he stroked himself slowly again and again as the shower spray soaked his body and the fantasy of Harper flooded his mind.
A heavy groan rumbled behind his back.
His eyes snapped open. His moving hand stilled. Looking down, he saw her hands clawing across his chest. Shifting his gaze over his shoulder, he saw her stirring green eyes were searing into his. Hungry and primitive.
It wasn’t a vision. Harper was really here. In the shower. Wanting him, too. A sharp desire spiked through him, igniting his entire being.
One of her hands slid down to cover his and resumed the unhurried stroking. Rome kept his stunned gaze locked on hers while the motion continued, setting fire to his blood. He watched her eyes darken as his breath hitched with the sensations radiating from their joint movements.
Her tongue poked out slightly, licking her lips, sending a powerful shiver through him. He was near bursting when she suddenly stopped the caress. A deep groan escaped him as she pulled him around to face her, a sultry smile creasing her gorgeous face.
Rome had to admit that he was more than a little nervous of what he hoped was about to happen. He’d never made love to a woman like Harper. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with her. She was so sure of herself. He wasn’t. It had been a while, and he’d always had to lead. But following her was something he thoroughly wanted to experience.
He watched her flaring green eyes fill with a playful yet sexy glint. Then she pushed him back a step and bent down to kneel on the smooth, tiled floor of the shower, facing him.
The shower spray pelted her slicked-back blonde hair as she moved closer, clutching his behind with one of her strong hands. The other hand gripped his thigh, kneading the muscles there.
Running his hand through the wet strands, he guided her to his thick hardness. She went willingly, running her tongue and lips along his shaft as though licking a Popsicle on a hot summer day.
Rome shut his eyes and tipped his head back, holding on to her head while she took him in and out of her mouth, over and over again. The breathtaking pressure built to unspeakable levels as he neared an earth-shat-tering release.
Then she stopped.
He opened his eyes to see Harper standing in the wet haze, raising her lengthy arms to grasp the top of the shower walls and spreading her legs while she stood, inviting him to take her.
There was absolutely nothing in the world he wanted more.
Raking a thorough glance over her long, athletic body, he marveled at the perfection of her sleek muscles and womanly curves. As in a dream, he raised his hands to brush his fingers across the hardened points of her breasts, amazed by the groan his touch elicited. He did it again, smiling at the identical response.
Taking a step forward, he reached his arms around her torso and grabbed her hips with slightly shaking hands, lifting her to him. Pressing his chest to hers. Her upper body strained against him as she hoisted her body upward, just enough for him to slide into her waiting center.
Her heated slickness clenched around him, their bodies setting a frenzied pace his mind could barely handle. Powerful legs twisted around his middle, pulling and pushing him. He crushed his arms around her tightly, holding her lean body as he thrust hard and wild, his confidence growing as their gazes linked like lasers through the shower’s steam.
Fiery sensation poured through his every fiber, igniting every inch of his flesh, boiling his blood. Her aggressiveness chased away any hesitance he had left. Rome wanted this flawless moment to last forever, but craved the climax she was drawing from him, wanting to share it with her.
Rome watched the green of her eyes brighten and spark. Could feel her searing center tighten around him, seizing his hardness as she neared her own release.
And as she gave him a radiant grin, his heart split into countless pieces, filling his entire being with an honest passion he wanted to give to Harper.
He loved her.
Against all rational thought, he loved her. He knew he shouldn’t. Their lives had just intertwined for this one blip of time. What would they do once this whole thing was all over? When she was over? He had no business falling in love with her.
But he loved her. And he realized in an alarming yet certain instant that he wanted this one blip to last for eternity. He had to find a way to make it so.
Her low moan reached through his thoughts, grabbing his attention. He watched Harper throw her head back and gasp, locking her thighs tightly around him, wringing from him everything he could give her.
Fiery sparks exploded inside of him, splintering through every muscle, shaking his vision. Riding out the powerful climax, he continued to thrust, savoring the feel of Harper’s undulating body against his until her urging relaxed and his breathing slowed.
Lifting her to stand once more, he relished the lazy, fulfilled look in her eyes and wanted to freeze it in his memory. Savor the knowledge that he put it there.
With a languid movement of his own, he placed one hand on her hip while the other reached around to turn off the warm water. She rested her hands on his wet shoulders, met his gaze with a charming smile that grabbed the hovering pieces of his heart, claiming them for her alone.
“I love you, Harper.” Rome couldn’t stop the words that poured from his soul.
He hadn’t wanted to get close to her, to fall in love with her, because he knew she was going to die. Because regardless of the serum’s healing power, it would kill her. And because he knew she didn’t trust him. A distance had been between them ever since he’d turned her in. Yet his heart had somehow closed that distance in spite of everything.
Her smile twitched and she blinked, obviously stunned by his open admission. He didn’t regret the words, but he second-guessed voicing them right now. He knew she wasn’t ready to hear them. And maybe he’d jumped the gun.
But after the still moment, her grin widened.
“I know you do,” Harper responded, and leaned in for a deep kiss, stealing his breath away.
She ended it just as quickly and twisted to open the shower door, taking his hand in her steady grip.
Apparently that was all she had to say. But it would be enough for now. He watched her reach for a towel, and then willingly went with her as she dragged him along to the big, comfy bed.
Then again, maybe it was more than enough.
Rome loved her.
He said he loved her. Harper had no idea how to react. No man had ever said that to her. Certainly not a man like Rome. A man she imagined she could love as well—a dangerous thought. That, even more than his words, had shaken her something fierce.
So, instead of making a fool of herself with some kind of hasty response, she’d taken his hand and led him out of the shower and they’d dried each other on the way to the foot of the bed. The superfluffy and cozy-looking bed. The kind of bed that made you want to make love to a man like Rome while on it.
Rome’s confusing yet adorable hesitance she’d sensed in the shower was all but gone as he tugged on her hand and pulled her against his strong body, already stiff again with desire. Apparently the shower did have magical healing powers.
Under the intense spray of the water, she’d tasted his heated length, revered the power of him once he’d slid inside her. She hadn’t even wanted any foreplay. Never before had her body been so fulfilled and her soul been so content.
But she didn’t want to think about that right now
. All she wanted was to lose herself in him for a little while longer.
He crushed his lips to hers, and she opened her mouth to him, allowing his hot tongue to sweep over hers. Back and forth, his hands glided over her energized flesh, searing trails that mimicked the movements of his mouth.
Moaning with a churning desire that was making her too weak to stand, she leaned back to lie on the bed and pulled him down on top of her. The brief seconds she was separated from him were pure agony, and the moment his sleek skin touched hers again was sheer bliss.
Running her hands down Rome’s muscular back, she shifted her head to the side as he nipped down her neck. His mouth skimmed across her collarbone, cascading feathery kisses on her shoulder, peppering the scar from her swimming injury. She vaguely remembered tracing the long scar on his knee with her tongue.
Harper’s attention snapped back to now and she clutched his solid biceps as he levered himself up to cover one of her breasts with his open mouth. He pressed the flat of his tongue against her taut nipple, stroking and licking around the rigid peak, while the other was pinched with exquisite vigor.
In reflex, her hand shot up to hold his head in place, latching on to the short damp locks. Tiny bolts of lightning flickered from her breast to her groin, the delicious sensations wetting her easily.
Rome shifted his mouth to her other breast, pleasantly rewarding it with similar treatment. She wanted him to stay there for a good long while.
Then his lips trailed down over the ridges of her ribs and abdomen. Balancing above her, he spread her legs and paused, hovering his mouth over her heated center.
Rising up on her elbows, she chanced a glance down at his face, wondering what the holdup was. His blue gaze burned into hers as the sexiest grin she’d ever seen flashed across his face just before he lowered his head to her.
She dropped back to the bed with a short gasp as he flicked his tongue over her, alternately licking and nipping, as if lapping rich cream from a bowl. Only she was melting.
A coiling pressure continued to build, centering from his mouth and spreading through every fiber of her body at a staggering pace.
Against her will, her hips began to buck against his fervent attention. Her body began to spiral and she immediately decided she wanted him inside her when it burst into a thousand glittering pieces as she had in the shower. She reached down to clasp her hands on each side of his head to pull him up before she lost it.
His body covered hers as he slithered on top of her, the hair on his chest grazing her oversensitive skin, thrilling her into a shiver, his thick hardness pressing against her tummy.
Bringing her hands to his shoulders, she pushed against him, flipping him over to straddle his solid abdomen.
A huff of breath escaped from his grinning mouth. He seemed to like her taking control. She did, too.
Running her hands over his chiseled chest, she shifted her hips downward. Harper lowered her head for a moment to dash her tongue across each of his stony nipples. His body jerked under hers at her touch, eliciting a low laugh from her. Rome brought his hands to her thighs and hips, running them up and down her scorching skin, leaving trails of fire behind his touch.
She grazed her slick center along his erection as she moved her breasts over his chest, the surge of sensations driving her absolutely crazy. Reaching a hand down, she circled her fingers around him, guiding his thick shaft to her and lowering herself to take him inside of her.
They moved as one, joined together in a timeless moment, sheltered by the resilient bond they’d forged.
The pace suddenly picked up by mutual consent. With a powerful joint thrust, the crest of the stormy wave came crashing down. The sheer force of their shared climax rivaled that of the energy that flowed from her psi powers.
He’d said he loved her.
And as Harper collapsed onto Rome’s heaving body, spent and sated like never before, she believed she might be in bigger trouble than she thought.
Because in spite of everything, she had to admit to herself that she was falling in love with him, too.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Harper peered at the laptop, scrolling through the files that had finished downloading as she lay on her stomach on the rumpled bed, naked beneath the down comforter. As soon as they’d awakened, they’d engaged in another round of lovemaking. Well, honestly, really hot and mind-blowing sex. But this time it had been slow and easy, even playful. When it was over, they’d just dozed until her empty stomach growled for some attention.
Rome had made them something to eat, and then they’d gotten down to some more research to plan their next move. It was the first time she’d been able to get back to the laptop and finish scanning over Bobby’s files. Reading the same paragraph for the third time, she rubbed her strained eyes, easily figuring out why she was so unfocused.
The reason was sitting against the sturdy headboard, his lower body covered by the other half of the comforter.
She’d known he was hurt at the compound, but it just now came to her how close he’d come to getting killed. Rome was willing to die for her. Yes, he’d betrayed her once, but even knowing that she didn’t have long to live herself, he’d now risked death to protect her.
Shaking her head, she glanced over her shoulder and saw his intense gaze focused on her. She smiled at him, which earned her a matching grin. He added a heated leer and then returned to reading one of the file folders they’d taken from the lab. There was no longer any doubt that he was committed to helping her in a way she was just beginning to understand, and she was eternally grateful for it.
She reluctantly turned her attention back to the bright screen and switched gears. A few extra seconds and the data began to register. The picture and scope of what her brother was doing flashed by as if she were on an interstate highway, soaking in the landscape as it spoke to her.
The serum, once bonded with the plants, couldn’t be transferred from them. Meaning you could eat the fruit, but not extract the formula. The plants wouldn’t pass it along. No wonder the creepy woman torturing her couldn’t get what they needed to replicate it. Bobby hadn’t got around to testing that for sure, but she was living proof.
As normal plants, they needed the natural elements to thrive. That’s why Bobby had constructed unique lights inside his lab to emulate natural sunlight. He’d built them sunshine. And it had worked. Perfectly. Plants that had received his sunshine had flourished just as if they’d been outdoors.
Just as she had. Her psionic power had worked in his lab and outside in the natural light. But in any dark confines, she’d been unable to summon it. And every time she’d stepped outside, she’d felt rejuvenated.
No damaging side effects had been found. Well, not to the plants. She, on the other hand, was in for a different fate given the results of Jeff’s trial. But at least the plants wouldn’t be shooting out angry psi-powered waves at people as they picked fruit or sprinkled water on them. She guessed that was a bonus.
Bobby had kept everything top secret so the serum wouldn’t get in the hands of people who would abuse its power. People like Jeff. He had intended the test plants and serum to be delivered to a few hand-picked secret agricultural regions for trials, but nothing could move forward until the final tests proved the serum’s perfection.
Harper smiled fondly. It was so like her brother to want to be absolutely, positively, one hundred percent, inescapably sure before he launched it.
The next folder she opened housed one lone document. She clicked to open it and was rewarded with a request for a password. Harper had to laugh. She should have known that Bobby would do the unexpected and make the final step straightforward instead of the most complex one of all. Any other hacker would be fooled. Sometimes she got so caught up in encryption and breaking codes that the basic password protection delighted her.
Until she realized she had no idea what that password could be.
Oh, for crying out loud. She closed her eyes and thought of her brother
. Pictured Bobby sitting at his laptop securing this folder with the simplest of protection. Yet the most difficult to crack by her standards. She could hack it, but that would take time, and she was running low on patience.
Okay, so she wouldn’t hack it. She’d reason it.
He’d probably been in a hurry, so it would have to be something that came to him quickly. And something he knew only she would know.
They had so much history to choose from. So many inside jokes. What would he think only she knew?
Maybe her name? It was simple enough. She typed it in but was denied. Darn.
Okay. Think. It would be a direct message from him to her. Olympics? Ever since she started training again, he’d e-mail her just one word: Olympics. Reminding her that he was with her every step of the way. That had to be it. She entered the word.
Denied once more. A simple password would lock out after three unsuccessful tries and she’d be back to square one. She had to get it right this time or maybe lose the data forever.
With a frustrated sigh, she glanced outside the window at the misting whitecaps of the frigid river.
A sudden memory flashed to her mind. A few years ago, they’d gone hiking on Mount Shasta. She’d slipped, slid down the slope, and splashed into a glacial pool at the bottom. Bobby had tried to reach her, descending carefully, but had ended up falling into the pool along with her. They’d laughed until their keisters began to freeze from the icy-cold water.
Ever since, whenever one of them tripped or fell, they had called out “Shastaboom.”
With a fond smile, she shifted her thoughts back to the present.
Wait. Shastaboom. Could it really be that easy?
She typed the crazy word in and held her finger over the Enter key. Hesitating, hoping she knew her brother as well as she thought.
But no. She was sure. She had to be. Pressing the key, she held her breath.
And let it out slowly with a grin as the document opened without fanfare.