“That might be true, but I still think he sought you out for another reason.”
She rolled her eyes. “And what reason is that?”
“To use you as a decoy to get something off this island. Has he given you anything to keep for him?”
“No. I wouldn't take anything from him.”
He nodded slowly. “And you're sure he hasn't slipped anything into your purse without your knowledge?”
“No, I keep my purse on me at all times, so he wouldn't have gotten the chance.” A frown then marred her forehead when she remembered something. “However, Damien did give me one of those tote bags that promoted the movie before we left the set that day. But it was empty.”
“You sure of that?”
“Yes.” And then she shook her head and pulled herself up in bed. “At least it felt empty. I didn't look inside of it.”
“Where is it now?”
“Back at the hotel.”
He was easing out of bed. “Do you mind if I take a look at it?”
Darcy shook her head, not wanting to believe he was starting back up on his mistrust of Damien all over again. “I'm going to ask you one more time, York. Why is it you want to nail everything on Damien? Why are you so convinced he's guilty of anything?”
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked over to the window and glanced out. Moments later, he turned around and said, “A woman who meant a lot to me was killed when she accidentally stumbled into a robbery. Recently I found out one of the men Felder is associated with is someone the authorities believed set things up that night. There was not enough proof to arrest him. If that's true, I might be able to solve two cases, and one is deeply personal.”
Darcy didn't say anything for a moment as she absorbed everything he said. She recalled everything Ellie had told her about the woman he was to marry and how she'd gotten killed.
“So what about you?” he asked. “Why are you so hell-bent on believing Felder is innocent?”
She drew in a deep breath. “I believe a person is innocent until proven guilty.”
She then told him what had happened with her father while she was growing up. “So you see, York, my father was accused of something he didn't do, and I saw what it did to him. I don't want any part of doing something similar to another human being.”
He nodded slowly. “I understand, Darcy, and would love to tell you I might be wrong about Felder but I don't think that I am. He has too many ties to unsavory individuals.”
He glanced at his watch. “I want to check out that bag he gave you.”
Darcy eased out of bed, met his unwavering gaze and sighed. “Fine. Give me a few minutes to shower and get dressed and then we can leave. But don't be surprised if you discover you're just wasting your time.”
It didn't take any time getting back to the hotel. York was well aware that Darcy thought he was wasting his time and that might very well be the case, but he refused to leave any stone unturned. Someone was sneaking footage off the set some way, and he intended to find out if his hunch was right.
York slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans after they entered Darcy's hotel room, and he closed the door behind them. His gaze drifted her over as she moved in the sunlight coming in through the windows. She was wearing a short denim skirt and a cute zebra-print midriff blouse that showed a lot of skin. He could vividly recall how his hands had moved over every inch of her body, touching her, caressing her, igniting heat wherever he touched and eliciting her whimpers and moans.
He had liked the sound of her calling his name. He had liked it even more when she'd reciprocated and touched him all over, making his body quiver beneath the contact of her hands to his flesh.
Since he'd told her what he thought Felder was up to, she had a no-nonsense air about her. At least he now understood why she'd always come to the man's defense. After what had happened to her dad he could understand her trying to defend anyone she felt was being falsely accused. But he hadn't told her everything about Felder. The man had all the reasons for wanting to make a little bit of extra money on the side, even if it was at York's client's expense.
It took him a moment to realize Darcy had said something. “Sorry, could you repeat that?” he asked.
A frown appeared between her neatly arched eyebrows. “I said the tote bag is in the bedroom. I had already packed it up with my stuff since I wouldn't be using it. I'll go and get it.”
He thought about following her in that bedroom and decided that wouldn't be a good idea. He might be tempted to toss her on that bed and make love to her, which was definitely something he enjoyed doing. Being around her was pure torture. If her touch didn't get to him then her scent definitely did.
He moved away from the door and crossed the room to the sliding glass doors to look out. If his theory was right then Darcy wasn't in any real danger; however, the thought that anyone, especially Felder, was using her made his teeth clench again.
There was something about her that brought out not only his protective instincts but his possessive instincts as well. A part of him just didn't know what to make of it when he'd never acted this way around other women. He needed to be in better control of his emotions since for the first time ever they seemed to be getting the best of him.
“Here's the bag, and just like I assumed, York, it's empty.”
He slowly turned from the window. He tried to focus on the canvas tote bag she was holding in her hand but instead he concentrated on her hands, and he recalled just where those hands had touched him, all the things those hands had done to him.
His gaze roamed over her, and he thought today the same thing he thought every time he saw Darcy. She was a beautiful woman—beautiful and striking. The sunlight highlighted her creamy brown skin and the luster of her dark hair.
He took the tote bag to check for himself. Carrying the bag over to a table, he heard her sigh of frustration when she followed him.
“I hope you don't plan to rip my bag apart trying to find something that's probably not there, York,” she said with a degree of agitation in her tone.
He merely glanced over at her and smiled. “If I have to, I'll make sure you get another one.” Although he knew he was petty and childish, he didn't like the thought of her stressing out over a bag Felder had given her.
He knew she had gotten really upset with him when she left his side and sat down on the sofa. He glanced over at her and met her gaze and saw the fire in her eyes. She'd gotten uptight again, and when they got back to his place, he would look forward to loosening her up a bit.
From his pocket he pulled out what to a layman looked like an ink pen. The tip of the pen had a scanning light, and he slowly skimmed it across the bag. He smiled when the tip began blinking. He turned to Darcy and said, “According to this scanner, Darcy, this bag isn't empty.”
She was off the sofa in a flash. “That's not possible,” she said adamantly as she came to stand beside him, giving him more than a whiff of her luscious scent.
“We'll see,” he said as he glanced back down at the tote bag. It looked empty and it felt empty, as well. Evidently there was a secret compartment somewhere in the bag. He flipped it inside out and didn't see anything suspicious. He then began feeling around and still didn't detect anything. Whatever was being hidden was a small object.
Using the scanning pen again, he skimmed it over the bag, and when the light turned red over a certain area York smiled again. Bingo. He glanced back over at her. “Like I said earlier, I'll get you another bag.”
With that said, he reached into his back pocket to retrieve a pocketknife and sliced through the seam. “What do we have here?” he asked when two memory cards slid out.
Darcy inched closer, and he noted the surprised expression on her face. Her eyes had widened, and her mouth had fallen open. “I don't believe it,” she said in both disbelief and anger.
“Seeing is believing, baby. Now if we had a video camera we could see just what's on here, although I have an id
ea.”
“I have a video camera.” With that said, she rushed off toward the bedroom.
He held up the memory cards in his hand to study them. Filming had just begun, so he couldn't imagine anyone collecting too much footage yet.
He looked up when Darcy reentered the room carrying her video camera. “Nice camera,” he said, when she handed it over to him.
“Thanks. It was a birthday present from my oldest brother.”
He slipped in the memory card, and they watched the screen flare to life. “Whoa!”
Flashed before them was footage of the scenes being shot for Spirit Head Productions. “I don't believe this!” Darcy gasped in anger. “Felder is ripping off the company.”
York clicked off the camera. “Looks that way,” he said, barely able to contain his anger. “Do you know what would have happened to you if these were found in your possession by anyone?”
He could tell by her expression that she knew the seriousness of the predicament Felder had placed her in. And he could also tell that the more she thought about it the angrier she was becoming.
“I can't wait to see him, and when I do I'll—”
“Say nothing,” he said with a dark scowl. “I tried to warn you about him, but you wouldn't take heed to my warning.”
She lifted her chin. “I know that, York, and I regret not doing so, but not saying anything to him is not an option.”
“It has to be,” he said. “Calm down and think for a minute. Felder believes that you're clueless that he's using you as a decoy to get these back into the States. Now I'm curious as to who is supposed to get these. I'm sure it's probably not anyone you know, so when was he going to get the bag from you? Who is it going to? And who—”
“And you think I give a royal flip about any of that?” she asked fuming. “If I would have gotten arrested returning from vacation carrying those memory cards I might as well have kissed my job goodbye. I can imagine the article that would have appeared in the papers, the embarrassment it would have caused my family.”
“But you would have been innocent.”
“Yes, just like my dad had been innocent—but the humiliation almost killed him,” she said furiously.
York knew she was taking in the blunt reality of what could have happened and he understood. Now it was imperative that he make her understand something as well. “But you've been spared all of that, Darcy. Think of the next person he might use. Think about how Felder and his accomplices are getting away with it.”
He knew his words had gotten to her when she lowered her head to study the floor. Her breathing indicated she was still upset and angry. But at least he had gotten her to start thinking. “Just think about it, Darcy.
I'll have a chance to nail this guy and his associates for good.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze head on. “Correction, York. We'll have a chance to nail them. I'm the one he's set up to take the fall if anything went wrong.”
She didn't say anything for a moment and then added, “But he's counting on nothing going wrong. Now I'm just as curious as you as to who is supposed to take this bag off me. I wouldn't just meekly turn it over to anyone.”
York's expression was mixed with wariness and caution. “What do you mean ‘we'?”
“Just what I said. In order for you to find out who this bag was meant for and how they plan to get it, I'll need to be a player in all this.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at her. “No, you don't. Now that you know the truth about Felder, I want you to bow out of the picture.”
Darcy shook her head. “No, I won't do that. I'm keeping that bag.”
“And risk going to jail?”
“Then I guess it will be up to you to make sure I don't,” she replied as she brought her face close to his.
That wasn't the only thing close. Her breasts were now pushed up to his chest. Desire as thick as it could get suddenly rushed through his veins. All sorts of scenarios entered his mind of what could go wrong if he went along with what she was proposing. But at that moment, he couldn't think. Lust was taking over, and logical thoughts couldn't compete.
He leaned forward, and he growled close to her lips before he took her mouth with all the hunger he felt.
Darcy knew she wasn't thinking sensibly. But she hadn't thought sensibly since she'd planned this trip. She had wanted action and a man, and by golly she was getting them both in the form of York Ellis. And the way he was kissing her was making her realize she was one lucky woman.
No man could kiss the way he did. No other male had his taste. And she was totally convinced that no man's tongue could do all the things that his could. He'd told her at breakfast that he thought her mouth was made for kissing. Well, she thought his was, too.
He was kissing her with a sexual tempo, a seductive rhythm that had her moving her body even closer to his. They didn't just fit together, she thought. They fit together perfectly. She could feel the hard tips of her nipples press against the T-shirt he was wearing.
And that wasn't all she was feeling. She knew the moment his hands cupped her backside to make them an even more perfect fit. She liked the way his huge and hard erection was nestled at the juncture of her thighs and the way his breathing sounded while he was kissing her.
Heat rushed through her bloodstream. She wasn't surprised when he lifted up the hem of her jeans skirt and with eager fingers explored underneath.
She moaned deep in her throat when those same fingers came in contact with her thong and moved beyond them to her satiny folds. He dipped his fingers in her wetness, and she gripped his shoulders to keep from tumbling in desire.
She pulled her mouth from his and moaned out his name. “York.”
“I want to take you into that bedroom, strip you naked and lick you all over.”
His words had her mind, her senses and her entire body spinning. She met the heated gaze. “If you get to do it to me then I get to do it to you. Is that a deal?”
He smiled. “Hell, yeah.” He then swept her off her feet and carried her into the bedroom.
Darcy's heart pounded hard in her chest. She had never made love in this position. She was straddling York's face and he was straddling hers, and the moment his tongue slid inside of her she nearly lost it. Every nerve in her body responded, and when he began feasting on her clit, she moaned deep in her throat.
And that's when she knew she needed to taste him the same way he was tasting her. Her fingers gripped his erection and brought it to her mouth. She began devouring him the same way he was devouring her. She could feel the strength of him throb in her throat, expand in her mouth, thicken around her tongue.
She loved the taste of him, and she loved what he was doing to her, how he was making her feel. Some type of movement that he did with his tongue made her moan out loud. What was he doing to her? To retaliate, she deepened her hold on him, and he rocked his hips against her mouth when she rocked hers against his.
She felt sensations burst to life inside her belly and knew what was about to happen. She sank her mouth deeper on him when her body exploded about the same time that his did. And she applied even more pressure on him to absorb the very essence of him like he was doing with her.
It seemed as if this orgasm for the both of them was endless and they rode it out, satisfying their taste buds as he filled her the way she was filling him.
Moments later, he rolled away from her, and she was forced to let him go. He faced her, then straddled her again and slid into her still wet warmth.
“York.”
“Darcy.”
And then he began thrusting inside of her. Hard. Penetrating. Deep. With every hard stab, every delicious pounding, she groaned. He was filling her, going deeper and deeper, and her greedy inner muscles were gripping him, clenching him, demanding he give her now what he'd shot into her mouth moments ago.
He lifted his head to stare down at her while the lower part of his body continued to ride her. “Like i
t?”
“Love it.”
He smiled, and that smile coming from York sent pleasure reeling all through her. “You're mine, Darcy.”
She heard his words, and for the moment she couldn't argue with him. At that moment, she and every part of her being were his. He was giving her insurmountable pleasure and she felt it from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, and when another explosion took its toll on her, she knew one thing was for certain. She knew she would never play around with a sex toy again. Not when she could have the real thing from York Ellis.
Chapter 11
“York, you are definitely a bad boy.”
York smiled as he shifted to his side to gaze down at her. She sounded out of breath, like she could get barely get the words out, like she had gotten worn out. He was filled with male pride that he was the reason.
“A bad boy?” he asked, holding her gaze.
“Oh, yes, definitely bad. I've never done anything like that before. In fact, I've never done half the stuff I've done with you. Who makes love on the beach or in a raft for heaven's sake?”
He chuckled. “A man hard up for the woman he's with.”
She smiled as if pleased with his answer. “And were you hard up for me?”
“Baby, I'm hard up for you now.” He knew there was
no way she could not believe what he'd said with the strength of his erection resting against her thigh, throbbing like it hadn't come a few times already.
“Now to get back to the subject we were discussing earlier,” she said softly.
He shook his head. “I don't recall us discussing anything.”
She gently punched him in his arm. “Liar. If I have to, I will refresh your memory. And speaking of memory, it was about those memory cards.”
York didn't say anything for a moment. He had hoped she had somehow forgotten about that but should have known better. He reached down and swept a lock of hair off her forehead and said softly, “Let me handle it, Darcy.”
She held his gaze. “I appreciate you wanting to, but I'm the one Felder figured to use. I owe him.”
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