by Zara Cox
She nodded. “Okay.”
When the gap widened, I drove through. Compared to the other houses on the street, hers was on a smaller scale but still impressive enough to blend comfortably into the neighborhood.
Built on two levels with a tapered roof, the tiered white European-style mansion took up several thousand square feet, with tall rectangular paned windows that drew an inward grimace. All her stalker needed was a decent set of binoculars and he could follow her every move when she was home. And that second floor tier was also a problem especially if my suspicion that one or all of the bedrooms came with a terrace overlooking the backyard was confirmed.
The front door looked solid enough, though. I couldn’t do anything about the Roman pillars framing the front porch, but the seven-foot potted plants on either side of the door needed to be relocated.
She opened her door and jumped out. I stopped myself from growling my annoyance and got out, reaching her just as she climbed the last step onto the stone-laid porch.
I touched her upper arm. “Wait.”
Apprehension flickered across her face. “Your security people were just here. Surely you—?”
“Can’t be too careful. Keys?”
She dug through her satchel and handed the keys over. I unlocked the door and saw a large foyer.
“There’s a light switch on your left,” she said.
I flicked it on, bathing the large space in a warm golden glow. An alarm beeped from a panel next to the switch. I entered the code.
Silence settled in as I took in the layout of the first floor. Two short corridors forked from the entrance foyer on either side of a grand staircase made of wood and trellised iron. At the end of the left hallway, I saw shadowy frames of sofas and a coffee table, which meant the right hallway probably led to the kitchen.
I motioned her inside and turned the dead bolt on the door. “Stay here. I’ll check out the other rooms,” I murmured. The gun I’d tucked in my back before we left the airport rested reassuringly against my skin.
She sucked in a slow breath before her gaze met mine. “I prefer to come with you,” she whispered firmly.
The statement wasn’t made out of fear of being on her own. No, Lily was nervous.
The possible reason why hit me with a punch. “Do you live here alone?” I demanded.
“What if I do?” Her chin rose, daring me to have a problem with it.
“Hey, I’m not judging.” The size of the house didn’t warrant the question. “I’d rather not surprise anyone at four in the morning.”
Her gaze swept away. “Oh, right. No, there’s no one else here,” she murmured.
“Okay, you can come. Just stay behind me, got it?”
She jerked out a nod, albeit a distracted one.
There were no surprises in the kitchen or the pantry, same for the sizeable laundry room. I double-checked the outer doors to make sure they were locked before inspecting the other rooms on my way into the living room.
I guessed the reason for her uneasiness a few minutes later.
The two living rooms connected by a long entryway with a door leading to a study weren’t exactly untidy, but they weren’t pristine, either.
A discarded throw on one side of the sofa, an empty glass on the table, cushions on the floor in front of a marble fireplace. Over one arm of another sofa, a tank top draped precariously with a black lace bra tucked into the sleeves. Besides the superficial untidiness, all the surfaces were clean, and the decor was tasteful enough to show someone cared enough to make the house a home.
However, when I glanced over, her cheeks were pink, adorable shades of strawberry over the cream.
“So I’m not the tidiest person in the world,” she said defensively. “When I’m buried in work I forget to pick up after myself. And I gave my housekeeper time off, so...” She shrugged, then skirted the sofa, her gaze darting furtively around the room.
“You like to be comfortable in your own space. Nothing wrong with that.” Except the sight of those plump cushions in front of the pale marble fireplace was restoking the fire she started on the plane.
She snatched the tank and bra off the sofa and dropped them into a cabinet drawer.
I dragged my gaze from her to properly study the room. Two sets of doors led outside. Lots of windows covered by expensive-looking drapes. All to be secured tomorrow.
As if drawn by magnets, my eyes returned to the cushions, to the hint of bright pink poking out from between two cushions. Before I could confirm what it was, Lily moved to block my view of it.
I raised an eyebrow and her color deepened.
“Shall we move on?” she blurted.
I ate the grin threatening, welcoming the chance to cool my raging libido. “By all means.”
We retraced our steps to the foyer and headed downstairs to the basement.
A flick of a switch illuminated the corners of the impressive movie theater, equipped with everything a movie buff needed, including luxury loungers and an extensive 1950s-style snack and drinks bar at the far side of the room. I checked out the bar, the small pantry and the bathroom before motioning for her to enter.
She made a beeline for the front row and the object lying out in the open.
The bright pink object was the same as the one I saw upstairs, but this vibrator clearly stood out against the black sheepskin throw discarded on the middle seat facing the giant screen.
My breath locked in my lungs as an image of her spread out on the lounger with her favorite gadget between her legs sideswiped me. Before I could recover from it, another image punched through. This time I was the one positioned between her legs, seeing to her pleasure as whatever chick flick she preferred played in the background.
Only she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on a single thing on the screen. Hell, no.
She would be half out of her mind, grabbing my hair and arching her back as she begged me to please, please, please get her off.
My pulse kicked into uncomfortable levels as I watched her grip close over the sex toy.
“Can I make a suggestion?” My tongue felt as thick as the hard-on pressing against my fly.
Her fingers clenched around the pink object. “No.”
I adjusted myself before moving toward her. “If you’re that embarrassed by having anyone see your naughty toys, maybe don’t leave them lying around?”
“A gentleman wouldn’t mention this,” she snapped.
“And a lady wouldn’t have crawled onto the table on my plane, teased me with her body and stroked my cock without at least buying me a drink first, but here we are.”
“I didn’t stroke you...it,” she replied hotly. “I just...” Her blush deepened.
I laughed, enjoying her discomfort a little too much. Not so much as the memory of her hands on me because it triggered a craving for more of the same.
“Lily, I don’t really care what toys you play with so there’s no need to feel bad about it. I am curious about what else you have stashed around the place, though. Personally, I like cold beers in coolers handy around my place but I guess with you it’s sex toys? Is it super-efficiency or do you just get crazy impatient when the mood grabs you?”
Sharp, irritated green eyes aimed lasers at me. “I’m going to bed, Mr. Steele. Please take that as a sign that I won’t be answering your inappropriate questions.” She shot for the door, moving quicker than I anticipated.
I intercepted her before she reached the foyer. “I haven’t checked upstairs yet.”
“Then I suggest you get on with it.” She headed for the stairs.
“Stop.” There was more grit in my tone, more pressure in my grip.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m Maggie, Mr. Steele,” she bit out.
My thumb slid over her skin before I could stop myself. “I would never mistake you for Maggie. You’
It had some effect on her, too, if her parted lips and the small gust of breath that escaped was evidence enough. I was completely stumped by the effect of that tiny sound on my dick.
The undercurrents that had swirled around us since we first set eyes on each other strengthened by the minute.
Shit, I needed to cool off before I did something crazy, like drag her close and taste her sinful mouth properly.
“Let’s get this over with. Same rule applies: you stay behind me.”
After confirming everything was good, I grabbed the bags from the car, fighting the temptation to pour myself a drink. Much as I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping under a strange roof, I couldn’t compound my rest with alcohol. The nightmares always found a way to filter through anyway.
Teeth clenched, I headed back upstairs.
Maybe choosing the bedroom next to Lily’s wasn’t the brightest idea. Most nights the nightmares only triggered cold sweats. But there were times when that last image of my mother ripped...sounds from me.
I eyed Lily’s door. She’d shut it firmly in my face after a curt good-night.
A tight smile tugged at my mouth. She wouldn’t appreciate being called a spitfire but that was exactly what she was. Despite the dark clothes and alabaster skin, she blazed red-hot underneath, a fuse ready to explode.
My grip tightened on the doorknob. Was she using her little pink toy right now to take the edge off her irritation with me? To bring much-needed relief from the shadows lurking in the dark?
Fuck, I was in danger of dying from blue balls if I didn’t get myself under control.
CHAPTER FIVE
Caleb
IT WAS BARELY daylight when the ashen image of my mother’s lifeless face jerked me from sleep to the pinging of the alarm. I ignored my racing heart as I sprinted for the door and yanked it open, relieved that it wasn’t the continual blare announcing a possible intruder. Until I remembered that I was dealing with a tech-savvy stalker.
Downstairs, I took a moment to listen. Only the muted chorus of birdsong broke the silence.
Followed a second later by the faint splash of water. The gun I grabbed from the nightstand before leaving my room bumped against my thigh as I moved toward the open living room door and stepped through it.
Thirty feet away from the back patio, the pristine lawn gave way to stone tiles and a larger-than-average pool.
And right there, swimming without a care in the world, was Lily.
Irritation and disbelief drove me past the large ivy-twined oak pergola with the center fire pit and the loungers that stood to one side of the swimming pool.
My gaze was fixed on the figure weaving through the water, completely oblivious to my presence.
I watched her swim one lap. Then another. I breathed in and out. Slow, deep to get myself under control.
No joy.
“Lily.” My voice pulsed with the quiet fury running through my veins.
She didn’t stop. Her strokes were flawless and efficient, her strong kicks propelling her swiftly away from me toward the far end of the pool. I trailed after her, watched her execute a neat underwater flip, turn and launch herself into another lap. The move was smooth enough for me to see the wireless swimming earbuds plugged into her ears. My pissed-off barometer ticked up another notch.
I tugged my T-shirt over my head and stepped out of my sweatpants before diving into the pool. Two hard kicks later, she was in front of me. Alarm flared in her eyes as my hands closed on her arms. She fought back, clawing and thrashing the water before she realized who she was fighting.
In that time an unhealthy number of what-if scenarios whizzed through my head, darkening my already foul mood.
“Are you out of your mind?” I made no effort to keep my temper from showing.
She sluiced water out of her eyes with one hand and attempted to push me away with the other. The hell I was budging. “Can you not yell at me, please?”
“I asked you a question.”
“Well, you’re not going to get an answer if you don’t let go of me. Or lower your voice by a couple of thousand decibels.”
Fine, so my voice was a little loud. It was barely daylight and I’d slept like shit. “I said—”
“I heard you the first time. I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard you, too.” She attempted to break free. I held her tighter, propelling her from the center to the side of the pool.
The water wasn’t deep but with her small stature, her feet dangled above the bottom. When she tried to move again, I trapped her with one leg.
She wriggled, braced one hand on my shoulder. The small charge that detonated inside me at her touch was perfectly echoed in her expression. A tiny hitch in her breathing, and then her hand disappeared into the water. “What are you doing?” Her voice squeaked but that fire that was never far from the surface blazed pure challenge with her glare.
I shoved away the effect of her hand on me and glared right back. “I think that’s my question. What the hell were you thinking, coming out here on your own?” I demanded.
The first rays of the sun chose that moment to emerge and bathe her face in golden light, illuminating the pearls of moisture dotting her pale, beautiful skin. I couldn’t take my eyes off the three fat drops clinging to her top lip. Or the pure temptation of her full lower lip.
“I couldn’t sleep. Swimming relaxes me—wait, why am I explaining myself to you?” She shifted impatiently, her toes brushing my bare calf.
I clenched my teeth and tried not to let the heat stabbing my groin distract me. Now that I had her attention, it was probably wise to let her go.
Not until I made my point.
“Do I really need to spell it out to you? And these things in your ears?” I tugged the earbuds out and tossed them onto the tiles. “How the hell do you expect to hear anything with them plugged in?”
“I always swim with my earbuds in. And no, I can do without that narrow-eyed judgment. This is my home. My life. I can do whatever I want.”
“You have a thing for control. Trust me, I get it. But you don’t know when this creep will step things up another level. Why the hell didn’t you wake me if you wanted to swim so badly?”
She blinked. “I swim every morning, and I don’t need your permission to do it.”
“For fuck’s sake. That’s what I’m here for—”
“I’m not going to live in fear and let some random stranger pull my strings!”
The forceful words hit the tranquility of the cool morning. Echoed all around us before settling like a boulder between us. Lily froze as if her outburst had electrified her into silence. The stunned look on her face confirmed she hadn’t meant to voice them.
When she went a little pale, I frowned my concern. “Lily—”
“Let me go!”
Her hands rose in the water. One braced on my stomach, the other brushed my upper thigh, then my bare hip. Her green eyes went wide. A moment later her gaze dropped down my chest, and then lower. She gasped. “Are you...naked?”
Despite my disgruntlement, I smiled. “I don’t get my favorite sweatpants wet for just anyone, sweetheart.”
Delicious heat poured into her cheeks as her hands jerked away from my body. “Oh, my God!”
“Why the outrage? Just a few hours ago you were stroking—”
“Shut up!”
I followed the blush, unable to take my eyes off the alluring sight of it. God, I wanted to taste that blush, trail it with my tongue up and down her body.
“My, what a hot little temper you have. I could—”
The words choked off as the hands that pushed me away a minute ago clutched my head and yanked me down to meet her waiting lips.
Jesus.
I parted my lips to better taste her. She immediately slid her tongue into my mouth, pressing her velvety lips harder against mine as she licked her way inside the way I wanted to lick her pussy—bold and relentlessly. She nipped the tip of my tongue. I groaned again at the taste of her. She was just like I imagined she would be.
Heaven and hell.
Sin and absolution.
Pleasure and—
She pushed me away as quickly as she’d pulled me close. My stunned brain was still absorbing her spectacular taste when she whirled away, planted her hands on the edge and launched herself out of the pool.
“What the fuck—?” The rush of saliva in my mouth as I watched the water glide off her body was disgraceful enough to make me grimace. Jesus, she was breathtaking.
Her glare didn’t hold much power, diluted as it was by her arousal. “That was to shut you up. Nothing more.”
My eager gaze raked her incredible body, took in her erect nipples, the pulse racing at her throat. “You sure about that?”
She looked off to the side. After a minute she balled her hands. “Swimming alone is off the table for now. I’ll agree to that.”
“Let’s make a list so there’s no confusion. Five minutes in the kitchen okay with you?”
Her eyes still refused to meet mine. “Fine.”
Beneath the water, my cock pumped to full, eager life as the sun rose higher, giving me an even better view of her.
The black one-piece was skimpier than most two-piece suits purely because it was held together by a crisscross of ties designed to draw attention to her impressive curves. I stared my fill while telling myself if my gawking made her uncomfortable then it would be a little payback for what she’d just put me through. But I accepted that my reasons were far baser.
She looked even smaller in her bare feet. God, handling her during sex would be infinitely delightful. She turned away and my gaze dropped to her heart-shaped ass, her shapely legs and the cutest ankles I’d ever seen.
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