She dipped her head to hide the hurt and focused on the new information.
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and bit the inside of her lip. Joel’s words stunned the hell out of her. She hadn’t been to her native country since childhood. And there was no way she’d run in that kind of circle on either side of the border.
The grim lines from earlier returned and marred both men’s expressions. Full-fledged warriors flanked her now and they were pissed. Thank God that anger wasn’t aimed at her.
Colt rocked on his heels next to her, his arms crossed, his head lowered as he took in the new information.
“Anything on the partial plate I caught?” she asked, her eyes trained on the phone.
Joel didn’t miss a beat. “No, ma’am. Not yet anyway. It might be a long shot since the van and tag were probably stolen.”
She nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Gracias, Joel.”
“De nada, Mia. Marc, Colt, I’ll keep my ear to the ground. I have a couple of contacts in Mexico I can call.”
“How much longer do you have before you pull out?”
“Forty-eight hours left. Hell of a way to spend some down time, huh?”
“Appreciate the help, man. See you on the flip side.”
“Count on it, bro.”
Marc ended the call, and both men turned, nailing her with quizzical looks. Geez. It was amazing how in sync they were, if not a little scary. She’d seen it before, one completing the other’s thoughts or performing the same motion, but to be on the receiving end was a whole other enchilada.
Colt took the lead and voiced the last question she never thought would be tied to a girl like her. “Mia, sweetheart, mind telling us how you managed to piss off a Mexican drug lord?”
Chapter Four
Mia dug her toes deeper into the cool sand, her gaze leveled on the calm waters of Puerto Vallarta. They had landed a little over an hour ago in the quaint Mexican beach town, but she could be in Alaska right now for all it mattered. After the men cleared the perimeter, she’d made a beeline for the water and hadn’t moved since.
She mentally recapped the last hour. For the entire ride from the airport to their safe house, Marc and Colt had peppered her with questions she had no answers for.
Do you have any family members that might have joined with the Mexican drug cartels?
Do you have any friends that could link you to any organizations beyond the border or possibly in the States?
The answer was the same for all of them. No. Contrary to what everyone thought about Latin families not everyone had a big posse of relatives. Mia shook her head, trying to make sense of it all.
Frustration bit at her resolve and her chin quivered. She ran through the questions again, searching for any connection that tied her to the craziness of the past twenty-four hours of her life.
She fisted her fingers in her hair and sank her head to her knees, the beginnings of a headache working the fringes of her mind.
She inhaled a lungful of salty sea air and her shoulders relaxed slightly. She raised her head and rested her chin on her folded arms. Dawn breached the horizon and the sky brightened with indigo and fuchsia. She loved watching sunrises on any other day, but today she only feared what the new day would bring to her doorstep.
Still wearing her borrowed sweatpants and T-shirt, Mia pulled the elastic cuffs of her pants over her calves and let the fresh air cool her skin.
Over the years, she’d taken several self-defense lessons, but how could she defend herself against something like a freaking Mexican drug cartel? Trepidation slinked a slimy path across her mind. The simple fact was she couldn’t.
Marc and Colt were the only people she knew that could deal with the extraordinary circumstances. Looking back, she was so foolish to think she could have stayed at home without their protection.
With bullets zipping by her head and explosions devouring her house to an ash grave, between both men she never doubted her safety. Ghost sensations of their distraction methods tickled a trail of anticipation along her spine. Colt had promised that their little demonstration on board their private jet was only the beginning.
She scooped a handful of sand and lets the tiny grains flit through her fingers and be carried away on the wind. If only she could get time to stand still right here and right now. Locked away with two warriors who obviously expressed more than a professional interest in her would be the easiest solution to all her problems. Mia laughed at herself. The release felt so good she rocked back and let out a heartfelt laugh that reached deep down into her belly. She’d almost slept with not one but two fucking drop dead gorgeous men after getting death threats, being shot at and losing everything she owned in this world.
She could still laugh, but it quickly fell away. Something was up with Marc though. They way he pulled back into himself so quickly worried her and if she asked him, he would only give her a cagey look. She’d be better off asking a rock for answers. Or Colt. Maybe he’d give her a little insight as to what bothered his best friend.
Mia rose and dusted off the damp sand clinging to her sweats. Determination elbowed out the self-doubt and fear, and she straightened her shoulders. She hadn’t gotten this far in life only to let some damn criminal intimidate her and push her out of her home. She quickly amended the thought. She had every right to be petrified of the Uzi-toting bad guys, but she had help and she intended to take full advantage of that fact. In more ways than one.
A small smile played at the corners of her mouth. If nothing else, today reminded her that tomorrow was never promised. Faint memories of her father’s warm laugh and vanilla-scented pipe tobacco danced across her mind. Sí, everything could change in a blink of an eye. If she waited, who knew where they would be tomorrow or even an hour from now.
Mia turned on her heel and crossed the small distance between the beach and the back patio of the villa Marc and Colt had secured for them. Speaking of, both Marines sat facing her, their sunglasses masking their eyes from her.
“I’d like to take a shower, if that’s all right, por favor.”
“Make yourself at home, darling. Bathroom is on the top floor to the left. Use the one in the master suite.”
“You’ll find a T-shirt and another pair of sweats in the drawers to change into. Sorry there’s not anything else, but we’ll remedy that today.”
“Está bien”, don’t worry. Clothing is the least of my problems.” She added a seductive infliction to her accent and raked her gaze over Marc’s body for good measure. No way she’d let him shut her out. Not if she could help it. Damn those glasses, she’d kill to see into his eyes right now.
Mia walked over to where Colt sat and trailed her fingers along the defined muscles of his arm, across his broad shoulders and down the other arm. She leaned in and brushed her lips against his in a feathery kiss of seduction. Without breaking a step, she moved to where Marc sat opposite Colt and settled in his lap. She slipped her arms around his neck and dipped her head to claim her taste of him.
Mia pulled back and peeled back his glasses to hold his gaze. Her lips hovered a whisper away from his, teasing him closer.
She trailed a finger along his stubbled jaw then stood, never breaking eye contact as she continued on her way up the stairs opposite the back doors that opened to the patio. With her foot braced on the bottom stair, she blew them each a single kiss. Even from this distance she could feel their heat radiate out and it wasn’t from the tropical sun that now poured down on her men.
Her heart quivered and she inhaled deeply to calm her nerves. Such intensity and it had a straight connection to her core. Her stomach dipped, sending a flush of fire through her body.
She tore her gaze from theirs and forced herself to move. But their game of seduction was far from over. It was up to them now to follow her. But first she needed that shower.
***
COLT grunted and shifted his weight from one side to the other. He hissed from the pressure of
his jeans against his dick. The damn thing was like granite thanks to Mia. Those amber eyes and the way she moved that tight little ass in Marc’s sweats. Damn, he wanted to sink himself into her sweet heat and never come up for air. She was their pure Heaven.
He leaned his elbows on the round glass table positioned on the back patio and braced himself for impact.
“What the fuck are we doing, man?” And there it was. A war raged in Marc’s eyes and it looked like he was on the losing end from the sound of his edgy tone. Mia had gotten to him and Colt knew that had to throw the other man off-kilter too.
“Not a clue. But I don’t think I can stop.” A smile stretched his lips despite his best efforts to bank the drive to seek out Mia and her sweet kisses again. “I can still taste her on my tongue and all I can think of is getting back between her legs for another drink. My dick is damn near busting out of my zipper I’m so hard, and don’t try to lie about how she affects you.” Colt raked a hand through is hair and leveled his attention on the man that sat across from him. Frown lines creased his eyebrows, which was the first signal to a coming argument. Ten years together in the CORP allowed a few insights, and reading the man’s telltale signs were one of them.
“You’re doing it again, man. Stop over analyzing everything.” Colt worked to keep the growing frustration from his tone.
He and Marc had been through some rough times together and that put it mildly. War had a damn strong way of bonding a unit and its members. They’d quickly become friends and now partners, but if Marc wanted to throw on the brakes before they even left the damn parking lot, Colt would have no problem in giving his best friend a pounding.
Colt angled his head to keep the beach in his peripheral while he waited for Marc to gather his words. “Just let it happen, Marc. You saw how easy the three of us fit together. You had no problem earlier and I can see how she affects you.”
“That’s what scares the shit out of me, man. It’s too easy and I can’t keep away from her. That kind of power is dangerous.” Marc leaned forward, slipping his glasses into place once again. He reclined and folded his arms across his chest. Classic Marc move when something weighed on his chest. Fuck. “There’s something different about her. I get it.”
“Not everything is supposed to be hard.” Colt stood up and shoved his fists into the pockets of his jeans. He had to do something or he’d be tempted to give the man a good wake-up call.
“Fuck it. Look, Marc, Mia’s not like the others. You’re right. She’s different on so many levels. Give her a chance to prove it, if that’s what you need. We’ve chewed on this topic for the last six months and there’s no going back after what we’ve already shared with her.”
“Do you really want to go through with this? Taking her? Damn man, what if...”
“What if she leaves like Heather? I know that’s what you’re thinking. She left us a year ago, Marc. And if she wants to leave…well, then that’s up to her. Not a damn thing we can do about it, but I’ll tell you one thing. While we’re here figuring the clusterfuck of a situation out, I’m not going to sit around waiting for you to grow a set. We decided a hell of a long time ago that our fucked up way of life is the way it is. We are who we are, Marc. Not many accept it. Heather is one of them. Time to move on. If you want to back out, go your separate way, no hard feelings. But if you want something real, Mia’s upstairs naked and fucking horny for us. That’s enough for me. For now. Everything else will play out like it’s supposed to. Or not, hell I’m not a fucking fortune teller. I’m just not waiting around anymore.”
With that thrown out there, Colt did an about-face and crossed the threshold to what awaited him upstairs. They had a lot of work to do to nail down the group behind the threat on Mia’s life, but it was all in the hands of their team at the moment.
For now, they had to shift gears for their afternoon meeting with the Jalisco governor. Training the federal police of Mexico as private contractors would look damn good on their portfolio, a topic that was hitting a little too close to home since the revelations of the past few hours.
His fists ached to give the fucker after Mia a good pounding, but today’s meeting was a bigger move toward taking the bastards down for good.
He took the last steps that led him to where Mia showered and his mind looped back to his talk with Marc. Damn. He had better ways of spending his morning than going over the same old argument with him. The man would have to make up his own mind.
***
MIA tilted her head back and let the warm stream of water work over her body like a lover’s touch, loosening the knots of tension until the remnants of yesterdays stress dissipated.
She stepped out of the spray of water and moved closer to the window. The wall of glass bricks broke away to reveal the panoramic view of the ocean just beyond the large open window directly opposite of her. It was love at first sight.
From the second floor she could see in either direction of the empty beach. Since arriving, she hadn’t seen anyone walk along the sandy shore. The guys’ private spread was like a hidden gem. Peace had no price, especially this morning and she lavished in the cool ocean breeze along her wet body.
Captivated by the water, she watched the waves break against the sand, the thunderous vibrations working their way inside her, amping her libido notch by notch.
What are you doing here, chica?
Taking it an hour at a time. It’s the best she could do.
Where was her sister when she needed her? Did it matter? Probably wouldn’t do her any good. Ema would tell her she was out of her flipping mind and she’d agree. But she was too deep to turn around now. Not that she really wanted to.
As if on cue, butterflies fluttered along the walls of her insides until a heat flushed over her body that had her taking a deep breath. How could she forget how Marc and Colt made her feel? How could she not want more of the same?
But where were they?
If she was a betting woman, she would have said five minutes tops before the men were in here with her, but close to fifteen minutes had passed since she’d climbed the stairs alone. She let out a sigh. Men could be so frustrating. What if they were regretting their little foreplay last night on board their plane? What if they realized making a pass at their assistant was a bad idea after all?
Mia turned to the water for another rinse. Instead, she crashed nose first into a wall of naked muscle. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her close. Water cascaded over her face, and she sputtered to catch her breath.
A masculine chuckle worked over her, the sound as soothing as the large hands holding her steady.
She didn’t need to see him to know which one was in the shower with her. “Colt, damn you. You scared me to death.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. The view was too beautiful to tamper with.”
“You should give a warning next time you plan on sneaking up on me.”
“Yes, ma’am. Noted and filed.” Colt moved his broad back in front of the water to block the spray from hitting her in the face. She wiped off the excess water then settled her hands on his chest. Smooth and solid. He pressed her closer and that’s when she realized his chest wasn’t the only bare part of him touching her.
What really caught her full attention was the indent to his hips that dipped to a very impressive erection pressed into her abdomen.
“Hope you don’t mind. Thought I’d join you in the shower.” He angled his head and spoke in a husky voice. He worked in the right amount of heat because the warmth that hit her from head to toe stole every ounce of air, leaving her panting in his arms. She didn’t know how, but he knew exactly how to push all her buttons. Repeatedly.
Not giving her time to adjust to having him so close and so naked, Colt swooped in and gathered her face between his palms, planting warm kisses along her cheeks, forehead then the very tip of her nose. “I love you all flushed and feisty. If I could bottle up your essence, it would be the most intoxicating drug in the world, baby, and every ma
n would gladly take it just to have a part of you.”
“And how about you? Am I your kind of poison, Colt?”
“Oh, Mia, you were made for me and I’ll prove it before the sun rises tomorrow.”
“Maybe it will be a sunrise for three?”
She gave him her sexiest smile and ran her fingers over the contours of his chest. A dark thought settled over her, erasing the smile. Sunrise was a long time from now and a lot could happen. And it didn’t escape her attention that Marc was missing.
Colt must have read her unvoiced question. “Give him a little time, sweetheart—he’ll come around. He just needs to pull his shit together and drop the demons that ride him a little harder than the rest of us.”
It burned a hole in her heart to think it was her he didn’t want. On their flight, he hadn’t participated much in their amorous moment. He’d made sure she was content and pleasured, but he’d let Colt take the reins. What kept him disconnected? Hell, he was the one that had kissed her first. Her face burned and the damn butterflies started up their torture again. She hated not knowing where she stood, and these two had kept her at a constant tilt for too long now.
Dios, Marc was the damn king of sending mixed signals. She didn’t know what was real and what was a front for others. What would it take to get him to see she wanted this as much as she thought he did? She bit her lip, her chest tightened and all she wanted was to put her arms around him and kiss the man senseless.
“It kills me to see that tortured look tarnish such a beautiful face, darling.” Both she and Colt swiveled to face Marc who stood in the doorway, his shoulder propped on the wood, hair mussed in a sexy mess and barefooted. His ankles crossed and hands shoved in his pockets. A look of uncertainty twisted his features.
Mia held Colt’s gaze for just a second before he nodded. He moved to the side and held her hand while she stepped out of the open-style shower. Water trailed ribbons down her body to make small pools along the red Spanish tiles, but she paid no mind to them. She only had eyes for Marc. His face turned pained, dark. She faltered in her step.
Sunrise For Three: A Military Erotic Romance (Sexy Siesta Series Book 3) Page 8