by Vivi Anna, Sylvia Day, Delilah Devlin, Cathryn Fox, Myla Jackson, Lisa Renee Jones
Eight
Jessica had made it to Brownsville just in time for the birthday party which included dinner, cake and lots of friends and family. Her mother had lived with Beth, her sister, since their father’s death several years before. It had done Jessica good to see her doing well with Beth.
Now, hours after the festivities, exhausted from travel and no sleep, Jessica sat on a wooden swing located on the back porch of her sister’s small, country house. Wearing jeans, no shoes or socks, and a t-shirt, she felt relaxed for the first time in a long while.
Staring into the rich black of night, no stars in sight, a breeze lifted her hair from her neck, her nostrils flaring with the scent of rain. Another storm was headed toward them. The thought conjured erotic images from the night before.
Of her Zorro look-a-like, with long, dark hair, mesmerizing eyes and milk chocolate skin. She loved his skin color. Loved how intimate and perfectly he had touched her. How sexy and feminine he’d made her feel.
The screen door squeaked, snapping Jessica reluctantly back to reality. Jessica opened her eyes, unaware she’d even allowed them to drift shut.
Beth peered around the doorway. “What are you doing out here, alone?”
“Just enjoying the peaceful night.”
Beth gave her a probing look, and then stepped past the door, letting it slam shut. “Why do I feel like you have some secret you’re dying to tell but you aren’t sure you should?”
Jessica laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as nervous as she felt. Beth had gotten married, a virgin, right out of high school. Admitting to Beth she’d slept with a stranger, and didn’t even know his name, simply wasn’t an option.
Besides, part of Jessica wanted to keep her Latin lover a special secret. “I assure you anything I might share is incredibly boring,” Jessica said, patting the seat beside her, the swing big enough for two. “Come sit with me.”
“I’m not wrong,” Beth said, tossing her long, blond hair over her shoulder. Several years younger than Jessica, they shared the same coloring, though Beth was much taller, a good three inches above Jessica’s five foot four. “I know you. Something is going on.” She sat down next to Jessica, and angled her body to study her sister. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“You are as crazy as always, I see,” Jessica teased, diverting her gaze, trying to act nonchalant as she stared out into the darkness. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she hugged them.
“Come on, Jess,” Beth prodded. “Tell me.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Jessica replied, peeking at Beth. Then, she held up a finger. “Wait. I go to trial on Monday. Want to hear about the case?”
Beth made a frustrated sound. “You are always at trial, prosecuting some bad guy. And no, I do not want to hear the details. You know I don’t like all that law stuff. I run a flower shop for God’s sakes.” She crossed her jean-clad legs. “And you’re trying to distract me anyway.”
“I am not,” Jessica insisted even though they both knew she was.
“Are too,” Beth said. She made a humph sound. “Fine.” Her lips thinned. “Keep the fun stuff to yourself.” She reached out and pulled a strand of Jessica’s hair through her fingers. “It’s gotten longer. The last time I saw you it was barely to your shoulders, and now it’s well past them.”
Guilt tightened Jessica’s gut as she turned to her sister. It also opened up the door for Jessica to say what was on her mind. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been far too withdrawn from you and mom. I buried myself in my work after the divorce but that’s behind me. I’m going to change that. I promise.”
Beth laced her fingers through Jessica’s. “Both mom and I knew you just needed time. All we want is for you to be happy.” She narrowed her eyes on Jessica. “Are you happy?”
“I’m getting there,” Jessica said, surprised at how much she meant her words.
Before her sister could respond, the doorbell rang. “Great,” Beth said, a frustrated sound following the word. “Mom and the baby are sleeping. Who would be visiting now?”
Jessica glanced at her watch and shot an amused look at Beth. “It’s eight o’clock. Not late by most people’s standards.”
Beth pushed to her feet and shook a finger at Jessica. “Wait until you have babies. Eight will feel like midnight. I’ll be right back.”
As the screen door slammed shut, Jessica laughed out loud. Beth hadn’t changed. Always melodramatic. Always in crisis. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed her until now.
Until this weekend, she hadn’t realized how much of everything she’d missed. Her mind raced back to the motel. To the awakening of the woman inside. The one she intended to keep alive and well.
Jessica was just about to go check on the visitor when Beth cleared her throat from behind. “Jessica,” she said. “You have a visitor.”
Jessica’s brows dipped. No one would visit her here. She’d barely kept in contact with her family, let alone anyone else. “What?” She rotated around in the swing to see the doorway. “Who?”
And then her jaw dropped because she could see exactly who herself. It was him. Her sexy stranger. Her lover for a night. And though she saw him there, in the doorway, looming above her sister by several inches, it didn’t seem real. Her stranger couldn’t be here, in her sister’s home. She blinked.
No.
It wasn’t possible.
With her back to the stranger, Beth proceeded to form the silent word “wow” meant for Jessica’s eyes only. God, what must her sister be thinking? Crap. What had he told her?
Her gaze lifted to his, to her fantasy man, who’d suddenly invaded her real world, and the impact stole her breath away. Those eyes…those dark, sultry eyes of his packed a powerful punch of pure heat. They seduced with a mere look, wordlessly promising pleasure.
And they demanded she remember.
Memories flooded her mind. Of naked bodies entwined. Of boldly telling this man what she wanted and needed. Even demanding it.
How long she sat there, unmoving, body getting all warm and wet, with the vivid play of intimate moments, she didn’t know. It was him, the stranger no longer a secret, who broke the silence.
“I told you I might be in town today. Didn’t you warn your sister I might drop by?”
His voice was both familiar and thick with the soft, silky accent she’d found such a turn-on. Still did, it appeared, because she felt the distinct ache of pleasure between her thighs.
Jessica swallowed, unable to think what to say. She didn’t understand how he was here or what he was saying. “I…I guess I didn’t.”
Beth made a tsk sound. “Now I know what your secret was.” She winked at Jessica. “I’ll leave you two alone.”
Her sister’s words shook Jessica back into action. She scrambled to her feet, backing up against the wooden railing of the patio. Beth disappeared, and he stepped out onto the porch and under the one dim light above the door.
His long raven hair was pulled back at his neck, a tie holding it in place, his square jaw dusted with dark stubble. His black jeans and matching, snug t-shirt, along with boots, completed the renegade look.
The one that screamed sex and fantasies.
Only this wasn’t a fantasy. He was real. And getting closer. Suddenly, he was moving, and in two long strides he stood beside the railing, and she rotated to face him. So close she could smell his spicy male scent. The same enticing scent she’d awakened wearing like a second skin just hours before.
But no matter how familiar her body might find this man, he was indeed a stranger. One who shouldn’t know how to find her. “Why are you here?” she demanded, straightening her spine. “No. How? How are you here?”
A hint of a smile lifted one corner of his sensual mouth. “Hello mi Hermosa.” A pause and a nod. “Jessica.”
She should be scared. Damn it, she was no fool. She didn’t really know this man. So why was her stomach fluttering with excitement and nerves instead of fear?
�
�How do you know me?” she asked.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a wallet, flipping it open and exposing a badge. DEA. She knew it at sight. Quickly, Jessica found his name, trying to determine if it was familiar. “Dominic Montez,” she said, reading it out loud, but not placing it. She narrowed her eyes on him, searching his masculine features, trying to think of a time they’d met. “Did we know each other before…um…?”
He leaned closer. “Before we made love all night?” he asked, in a husky whisper.
Her nipples tightened at the words, and she felt the ache of undeniable lust between her thighs. She let out a breath and eased backward, afraid she was going to lose all rational thought. Normally, as an attorney who knew the courtroom well, she handled herself with grace. With this man instinct took over. Right now, getting naked and repeating last night sounded far too good.
She needed answers and she knew it. “Did we know each other before?” she asked again, leaning her palm on the railing to her right for stability.
He mimicked her action, resting his elbow on the wooden ledge to his left. The position put him closer to eye-level with her.
“Not before last night, mi Hermosa.” He spoke the words precisely, emphasizing the familiar endearment he’d spoken so many times as he’d made love to her, his eyes holding hers as if he wanted her to see the truth in them. “I took the liberty of taking one of your business cards.”
The idea of him going through her purse bothered her, yet, if he hadn’t he wouldn’t be here now. She was confused. The feeling made her snap. “You went into my purse?” Her voice held accusation.
His nod came slowly. “That’s right, and I used my contacts to find out where you were tonight. I wanted to see you again.” He pushed off the railing, his expression suddenly indiscernible, his mood darker. The barely there smile, gone. “You can report me if you like. I won’t deny my actions.”
There was no apology in his voice. In fact, his words felt like a dare. She searched his eyes, his face. An almost overwhelming urge to reach out and touch him overcame her. Like an urge to reassure. To comfort. An urge she didn’t let herself act upon.
“Dominic,” she said, trying to offer in that word what she hadn’t been willing to in touch.
And just like that, he closed the distance between them. He reached out to do what she had resisted, to touch. Anticipation sent a shiver racing down her spine. But just as the reward, the desired feel of his skin against hers, was to come, he pulled back, his hand dropping to his side.
Her body ached for him. For the contact that never came.
“I broke the rules to find you,” he said in a low voice. “I wanted to see you that much. But make no mistake, Jessica Montgomery. This isn’t the only time I’ve broken the rules nor will it be the last. I’m no angel.”
At that moment, all she wanted to do was kiss him. To taste that spicy maleness so unique to him. But she sensed the importance of his words. He was looking for something from her. Perhaps she held back because she wanted something from him too.
But what? She didn’t know. Only that a line was drawn in the sand and it somehow, someway, had to be crossed. And she wanted to do it now, not later. To tear down the barriers.
She didn’t even know this man, but what she’d shared with him had felt far more exposing and intimate than anything she’d ever experienced with her ex. Everything inside her wanted to trust him.
“These rules you break,” she asked, forcing herself to be cautious, to act as she normally would. “Are they for the right reasons?”
One second. Two. “Is there a right reason to break the rules?” he asked.
There had been a time when she would have said no. Not anymore. Right and wrong weren’t always black and white. She’d learned that after years of seeing criminals walk free on technical issues.
Besides, how could she convict Dominic for finding her when being found felt so…exciting? “Breaking the rules brought you here,” Jessica said, not willing to say more, implying her meaning rather than speaking it out loud.
He didn’t so much as move a hair, but the air crackled with the impact of her words. With his reaction. “Which means what?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, and that was as truthful as it got. She was as scared as she was pleased to see him. “I’m…surprised.”
“I needed to know,” he said in a low voice.
“Know?” she asked, her stomach fluttering with nerves, anxious for his response.
“If what I felt back in that room was real.”
He barely finished speaking the words when he reached out and brushed her cheek with his fingertips, and she felt it clear to her toes. Every inch of her body went warm and then turned hot. His palm settled on her face, and she found herself leaning into the touch, her lashes fluttering.
The way this man impacted her was as amazing as it was frightening. It also excited and aroused. And most of all, it left her wanting more.
“Mi Hermosa,” he whispered.
She forced her eyes open, looking at him with what she knew had to be lust. “And what did you find out?” she asked. “Was it real?”
“I know how to be sure,” he said.
His thumb brushed her bottom lip, and though Jessica knew her sister could walk outside any minute, she couldn’t stop her reaction as she pressed her hand to that rock hard chest. Her panties were wet. Her body burning.
“How?” she whispered.
He looked down at her hand and then covered it with his own. After several seconds, he fixed her with a tormented look, and then, abruptly, stepped away from her, far enough to break contact, but close enough to speak for only her ears.
“I’ll be in room 112 tomorrow at noon,” he said. “If you show up we’ll find out.” With the words, he turned and started for the door.
Jessica wanted to call him back, but she didn’t dare bring attention from her sister. Instead, she stood there, staring after Dominic, her body scorching hot from his touch. His presence. His promise of more than one night.
The soft breeze the only thing offering any relief from the loss of the man who set her on fire like no other.
Nine
In front of 112 sat a motorcycle.
Jessica smiled, knowing it belonged to Dominic. Sleek and silver, it screamed of sex and power. It fit her image of her sexy Zorro lover like a glove. Just as her body had fit to his as if made for his.
Slowly, her eyes went to the cracked door leading to the room she’d shared with Dominic so recently. Her stomach fluttered with nerves. She’d called her contacts in Austin, and had Dominic check out. She assumed he’d expected as much. Only a fool would show up here, today, without such actions.
Dominic’s parents were dead, his grandmother raising him from his teens to college years, before she too passed away. He had no siblings. He’d spent most of his adult life undercover.
Dominic was alone.
And deep inside, she knew he didn’t want to be anymore. She had seen it in his eyes, and felt it in his touch.
As she walked toward the door, her boots scraping on the gravel, Jessica smiled. Dominic was nothing like her conservative attorney ex-husband.
And she loved it.
The idea of playing a little, and enjoying both Dominic, and life, felt exciting. And so did the continuation of her sexual exploration. She wanted to start there. She wanted to release her inhibitions and charge toward the future.
She eased open the door and found Dominic standing in the center of the room. Jessica stepped into the room and pushed the door shut. She leaned against the wooden surface.
Her eyes locked with Dominic’s, and they stared at each other, the air sizzling with implication. With heat and desire.
Her gaze traveled his body. He wore faded jeans and a tight white t-shirt. Boots. Hair down around his shoulders. She pushed off the door and walked toward him, seeing the surprise register in his eyes at her forward action. She forced down the nerves that threatene
d to destroy her plan.
Stopping only inches from where he stood, she pressed her hand on Dominic’s chest, feeling his muscle flex beneath her palm. Fighting the urge to explore his body. The time would come…just not yet.
Jessica started walking again, urging him backward until he hit the wall. He reached up to touch her and she waved off his hand. “Hands at your sides and against the wall.” He hesitated. “Do it or I leave.”
His brown eyes turned almost black. Potent. Hot. She could see the burn of desire in them. Feel the way her aggressiveness turned him on. She could even smell his arousal.
And she liked it. Really, really liked it.
Giving him a sultry look, she threw out her challenge. “You asked me what I wanted last night. In fact, you demanded I tell you.”
“And then I made your wants and needs reality,” he said, his voice husky with desire. “Did I not?”
She ignored his attempt at seduction. She’d come this far, Jessica wasn’t about to hand over control now. “I want to know what you want, Dominic,” she said.
“You,” he said. “I want you.”
She slid her hand down his body and palmed his cock, now hard and more than ready to be inside her. “I know that much.” Her fingers traced the tip of his erection. “You don’t really think I’m going to let you get off that easy, do you?”
A slow smile slid onto his lips. “I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
“What do you want, Dominic?”
“Everything you’ll let me have, mi Hermosa,” he responded. “All of you.”
Lost in the game, the lust, the desire to simply feel his body against hers, she still didn’t miss the implications of his words. “And what do I get in return?”
“Anything you wish,” he whispered.
“Anything?” she asked, a coy smile slipping onto her mouth.
“Your wish is my command.”
Jessica stepped away and took a seat on the bed. “Start by getting naked.” She paused. “Slowly.”
As Dominic reached for his shirt, prepared to do her bidding, Jessica inhaled, feeling the power. Loving the inner vixen come to life. She couldn’t wait to see where it would take her.