One-Click Buy: March 2009 Harlequin Blaze
Page 34
“You’ve, ah, proven your point…Allie.”
Her mouth was on him, taking him deep. He couldn’t tolerate it for long and she knew he was close. Allie loved it.
He took her down to the mattress, his hands and mouth trailing over her throat, her breasts. He paused to suck her nipples, draw on her skin, taste the curves of her ribs. His hands were busy everywhere, and Allie knew Drew had more skills than pulling a trigger and wielding a knife. Then he spread her thighs over his, baring her completely and met her gaze.
“No pithy comments?”
“Nope. Just a question. What are you waiting for?”
He laughed and his hands roamed from her knees to her center. He parted her, his fingertips dipping lightly, and he smiled as she twisted on the sheet, drew her knees up a bit. Pressing a finger inside her, he had her arching and thrusting into his touch.
“Oh, damn, again.” He obliged. She squeezed her breasts, arched deeper and slid her hands down her thighs. “Now, please.”
“No.” He introduced another finger and stroked her.
She whimpered, but Drew refused to move faster, and she found out he was good at something else. Sheer torture.
Then she couldn’t think at all as his tongue snaked and her breath hissed. He laid his mouth over her center, fingers peeling her wider as his tongue slicked in and out wetly. “Nothing to say now?”
“I am speechless,” she gasped, and he lifted her hips, his tongue flicking and circling fast, then slow. Allie gripped her thighs.
He tasted her again and again, drawing her to the edge and letting her dangle. She bucked once, then twice and kept her hands on her breasts, her feet on the mattress and pushing.
“Please, Drew.”
He arrowed up her body, pulling the nightstand drawer so hard it came out with a cracking sound. They both laughed like fools as he grabbed condoms until he could get one opened and cover himself.
Positioning himself, he grabbed the headboard and pushed into her. He left her completely and slid back, loving the look in her eyes as she watched his control snap like a dry twig.
Allie tangled her hands in his dark hair and moved restlessly beneath him. Wild sounds of yearning keening in her throat. She wrapped her legs around him, lifting her hips against his belly, seeking more contact, seeking to assuage the urgent ache that burned at the core of her desire.
“Oh, Drew.” She gulped a breath and strained against the fist of desire that tightened and tightened each time he entered her.
His chest was heaving, his thrusts deeper, driving, straining, filling her to bursting. The time for play had faded, paled in the face of something hot and intense that enveloped them and threatened to consume them.
He withdrew fully and plunged, but she wanted more and harder and told him so, and he pumped. Her climax clawed through her body, wringing a long, hard moan out of her and, as it crested, Drew came with her on the tail end of her ride. His body twisted in ecstasy.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as he collapsed on top of her, his weight bearing her deep into the mattress. It was just what she needed, just when she needed it.
“Drew. You’re freaking good.”
“You make it so easy to be good, sweetheart.”
He rolled onto his side and drew Allie with him. “It’s getting late and we have a lot to do.”
“Ah, recess is over, huh?”
Much later, as Allie sat on the bed getting dressed, Drew came out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist and one around his neck. His hair was damp and curling on the ends, something she found so endearing. He’d shaved.
He gripped the towel around his neck and she breathed deeply at how sexy he was standing there.
“This is a first. You’re almost ready before me,” he said.
“I get to wear my own clothes today.” All she had left to do was slip on her jeans. “It’s easier for me to decide what to wear. We have so much to do today, I didn’t want to waste any more time.”
“Hell, honey, that wasn’t wasting time, that was making time.”
She laughed. “Okay, you win.”
He walked over to his closet and pulled out a pair of black jeans and a T-shirt with lettering that read West Point U.S.M.A on the front.
Allie examined the cut on her leg. It was still raw and red.
“How is it?” Drew came over to the bed and examined it himself.
“Hurts like a bitch.”
“It’s going to be your first scar.”
“And hopefully my last. It was so damn scary.”
“I’ll be there every step of the way from now on. No more meetings with the Ghost alone.”
“Thanks. He’s in love with Callie and I was lucky to come in second best.” As usual, she thought.
“Don’t underestimate yourself.”
“I know who I am, Drew. I know what people think of me.”
“I don’t think you do. You did something amazing.”
“Then I think I deserve a reward.” She gripped handfuls of his shirt and yanked. Her mouth melted into his and she took her time kissing him.
Even though they’d just fooled around, she wanted to have him again, nuzzle his neck, lick his skin. She sighed.
“How was that?” he asked when they parted.
“Better than Disneyland and Sea World combined.”
“That good?”
“Yes.”
He dropped the towel and slipped on white boxer briefs. The T-shirt quickly followed, then he slipped into the jeans and zipped and buttoned them.
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s go get that decorating done. If I know Thad, he’s seduced every nurse in that place and is champing at the bit to get out of there.”
“I’m just so glad he’s going to be okay.”
“Me, too. He’s a good man.”
“And I want to hear how he saved the President’s life.”
Drew chuckled as they left the loft.
HE DROPPED the receiver for the hundredth time. He could not go to France, not until this buy was over and Miyagi was taken care of. The news was all over the TV. They were reporting the fire at the consulate yesterday evening, but there was no talk of gunfire or any fatalities. He breathed easier. He wouldn’t want to explain to Gina how he had let her sister die.
Her sister. Damn, the woman looked just like Gina right down to the color of her eyes. Yet the moment he’d gotten her in his arms, he’d known she wasn’t Gina.
It had crossed his mind that it could have been some kind of trap, but no one except a twin could look that authentic, and she intended to go through with the buy. He needed the military weapons for Fuentes.
It was time to take the next step in his plan to cage and end the reign of Fuentes, one of the most dangerous drug kingpins in the world.
It was his destiny.
He moved away from the phone and the temptation. France and Gina would have to wait.
She was in a coma.
His beautiful Gina.
An uncontrollable restlessness had been brewing since last night. Since he’d heard the words come out of Tina’s mouth.
His Gina with the light of the world in her eyes would recover, but that didn’t alleviate the rage at Miyagi for trying to kill her.
Clutching his hands over his head, he howled his rage and his pain up at the plaster medallion on the ceiling.
Why? He wanted nothing from anyone, had done his best to avoid emotional entanglement. Yet here he was, in it up to his ears. The frustration of it hardened and trembled inside him. Eyes wild, chest heaving, he sat down heavily in his chair.
It should have been just a one-night stand, but it had evolved into something else over those three days.
The anger that had cloaked him had left him feeling naked and vulnerable, his heart pumping too hard in his chest.
He was such a fool.
He’d known it couldn’t last and he’d been stupid to prol
ong it. They were both in a deadly business and she wasn’t an angel even though she looked like one. He shouldn’t want her, shouldn’t try to be her champion, her knight in shining armor. He was a jaded mercenary, a man with ghosts.
He held his breath a moment, fighting the rise of the old bitterness he’d thought he’d conquered.
Hitting an intercom button, he spoke into the machine, addressing one of the men he’d hired. “Is Miyagi here?”
“Yes, sir. He just arrived.”
“Send him up.”
Fudo Miyagi stepped through the door that his associate held for him. Jammer sat behind his desk. The Japanese yakuza scanned the room, nodding at the show of wealth and the seat of power. He started across the room and when he reached the desk, he bowed.
Jammer didn’t return the courtesy. He gestured toward one of the leather chairs. Miyagi’s wrinkled face frowned, his brown eyes snapping.
He sat. Jammer had had no doubt that he would. When he’d contacted Miyagi, he’d hinted that he had very important information Miyagi would want.
“I understand that you’re looking for someone. Gina Callahan.”
Miyagi’s eyes widened and he leaned forward. “You have information on this woman?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I am not a patient man.”
“I want the rocket-propelled grenades you have in your possession. It’s a big shipment and I need it for a client.”
“That shipment has been promised to another client.”
“That’s too bad. We’re done here.”
Miyagi sat still for a minute. “I agree. Where can I find the Callahan woman? She has humiliated me and damaged my reputation. I must have retribution.”
“As a matter of fact, she’ll be there tonight when we exchange the merchandise—The Port of Los Angeles, Berth 271.”
14
ONCE AT the Walden Estate, Allie made a game plan to finish the rest of the house. They stopped first at the wooden gate flanked by stone posts, and Allie made sure it was left open so that all the delivery trucks could get through. Once through, they climbed the driveway to the house.
Just as they were all entering the estate through the front door, Allie’s cell rang. When she answered and listened, her face fell. “Oh, no. No. I understand.”
“What is it?” Jason asked.
“My carpenter’s had a family emergency and can’t work today.”
“What do you need done, luv?” Frost asked.
“Carpentry work mostly, assembling a headboard, putting up curtain hardware and making a cabinet to go in the dining room.”
“Show me the power tools and your plans and I’ll get started.”
At her incredulous look, Frost chuckled. “I wasn’t always a mercenary, Allie. My da was a carpenter and he taught me everything he knew.”
“I can’t believe my good fortune. You all can do just about anything.”
“What room did you want to start in first?”
“Jason, dining room. Those walls need to be covered and it looks like the first of the deliveries is here.”
“I’ll take care of the truck and then get started on the room.”
“I’ll help,” Leila offered, following Jason out the front door to the truck.
Allie set down her bag on a foyer table and pulled it open, extracting her plans. “Here are the drawings and the dimensions. The wood is in the garage along with the tools. I need the headboard frame asap.”
Frost nodded and took the paper and walked away.
“Drew, you and I have to go to the library first. I need that sofa moved up to the bedroom. I found tapestry material to match and I’m going to make the headboard out of it. I also found these great art deco lamps and figurines…Oh, shoot. I left them at the office.”
“Want me to go get them?”
“No. I can have Katie bring them here.”
Allie called and talked to her secretary.
“Let’s go get that sofa.”
Drew and Allie brought the small sofa up the stairs to the master suite.
“Where’s Lily?”
“She’s staying in downtown LA at her mother’s town-house while I get the rest of the house done.”
“This is a pretty big job for you.”
“Well, you’ve been a big help. You know, you have a knack for it, I think.”
Frost came through the door with the frame for the headboard and there was no more time for talk. Jason arrived to help Allie stretch the material and staple it to the frame.
When that was over, Allie sewed rust-colored buttons all over the fabric.
They placed the sofa and made up the bed and the master suite was done.
All of them headed downstairs, and the doorbell rang as they hit the bottom.
When Frost opened the door, Katie, Allie’s secretary, stood there, juggling two lamps and a box. Frost caught the lamps and then Katie’s eyes met his. Allie watched as Damian Frost got lost in Katie’s brown eyes. Katie, on the other hand, just stood there like a deer in the headlights.
“Katie, thanks for bringing this stuff by. I really appreciate it.” Allie engaged the girl in conversation about the Rosemont armoire, but Katie kept giving Frost clandestine looks.
Frost set the lamps down by the door and turned away, but not before Allie saw the longing on his face, quickly masked. If Allie hadn’t been looking straight at him, she probably would have missed it.
Katie left and Allie was on the move again. The dining room was completed in an hour.
It was five o’clock when they finished. Lily had returned and the flower people were already unloading the table arrangements. As they got in the car, the caterers pulled up.
ONCE Allie and Drew returned to the loft, he needed little time to change into all-black clothes, and arrange an array of firepower on the dining-room table.
“Hey, looks like we’re going to a war.” She tried to sound flippant, but her voice came out weak.
“Just getting everything ready for tonight. We pick up the gun shipment in an hour. Your training is over. All of this is almost over.”
Allie nodded and went to Gina’s suitcase. Now what would her sister wear to a war? Her hands shook as she reached down and pulled out a pair of black leggings, a tight, hot-pink top and the boots she’d worn to Hell and Gone. They made her feel powerful. Right, powerful.
Actually, right now her bones felt as if they’d turned into jelly. Suddenly a warm hand landed on her shoulder and his presence anchored her. Drew.
“I’ll be with you every step of the way. I promise. We’re not going to let anything happen to you. You start off the buy and we’ll finish it. The Ghost goes down tonight.”
Allie nodded. She went to change.
It wasn’t long before they were speeding down the freeway toward the Port of Los Angeles located in San Pedro Bay, just twenty miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Frost drove the truck packed with weapons with Leila riding shotgun and Jason followed on his flashy motorcycle. The closer they drew to the port the more Allie’s nerves seemed to overtake her.
By the time they pulled up to Berth 271, she was shaking. Remembering what had happened at the consulate sent fear and adrenaline into her system. She wanted to bolt from the vehicle and run.
When Drew put his hand on her arm, she jumped. He grabbed her chin and his concerned eyes took in her face. “Allie…”
“I can’t do it. I can’t. I’m sorry, but I’m so out of my league here. I’m scared down to my toenails. I’m afraid I’ll mess it up and get someone else shot or worse.”
“It’s okay, Allie. Calm down. I could go in there and tell Jammer that your sister took a turn for the worse and you’ve gone to be by her side. Let you stay in the car and stay low. But, I need you in there.”
Allie tried to get hold of herself, but the thought of all those weapons, the terror she’d lived through at the consulate, all took her by surprise. Clear, linear thought was beyond her. Drew spoke again.
“I just can’t.”
Drew nodded and got out of the car.
She’d failed again. It was her destiny to be a coward and not follow through. All those years in the shadow of her sister had made Allie afraid of moving out of it and trying something on her own. Here she was, poised on the edge of doing something spectacular, and she was too damned scared to get out of the car.
Drew needed her.
Somewhere inside she found the courage to grip the door handle and open it. She stepped out and ran toward the big double doors of the warehouse. When she was almost there, she stopped, gathered her composure and swung her hips as nonchalantly as she could manage. Don’t act like Gina, be Gina.
Once she cleared the doors, she heard Jammer demand, “Where’s Gina?”
“She’s right here,” Allie said loudly, before Drew could give Jammer the excuse he’d come up with in the car. “Where’s the Ghost? You said he’d be here.”
“He is. He’s upstairs in the office.”
They looked up to see a silhouette in the curtained window. A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Jammer, make the deal and let’s get out of here.”
Jammer opened a briefcase on a nearby table situated near the door. Allie schooled her features at the amount of money in the case. She nodded and smiled at Jammer.
“The guns are in the truck.”
Drew stayed close to Allie, but Leila and Frost went to the truck to open the doors so Jammer could inspect the merchandise. After looking at one of the AK-47 machine guns, he ordered two of his men to load them onto a waiting boat.
Something metallic-sounding hit the cement floor of the warehouse.
Before he knocked her to the ground, Allie heard Drew shout, “Flash grenade!” Then her head contacted the concrete and she blacked out.