Nowhere Safe

by Dianna Love

  Love was for family only. She was never going to be a pity case again. No man was worth risking the life she’d fought to rebuild.

  She’d carved that belief into her stone-dead heart and embraced it daily...until Josh kissed her. Every time he touched her, he chipped a sliver of stone away.

  If she let him, Josh could be the man to break through and get his hands on her heart. The thought scared her to her toes.

  He’d awakened a longing to be with someone–with one kiss.

  And she’d loved every minute his mouth had devoured hers.

  No man had ever kissed her with so much passion. That’s when she knew she’d stepped into trouble. Maybe Josh was trustworthy and maybe not. The issue wasn’t that she couldn’t trust him, but that she couldn’t trust herself to make a wise decision.

  Her conscience smacked her around, arguing she couldn’t keep grouping all men together. Zane was honorable. Ben was a great husband and father. Even Bunko was one of the good guys.

  Why discount Josh so fast?

  She didn’t have an answer.

  Damned conscience.

  Josh had stayed at her side the night police had shown up at ReSolution and he’d stepped in to protect her from being arrested last night.

  He kept showing up when she least expected him and doing things that pecked at her heart, a constant tapping to let him in.

  He made her want something more...something special.

  Heidi had said it was time Trish recognized the strength everyone else saw within her, but that was the image Trish wanted them to see. She hadn’t fooled Josh. He’d seen past her bravado.

  He’d offered a no-strings-attached arrangement.

  Could she do that?

  Just a little practice run spending time with a man her brother knew who would be gone in two weeks? Nothing too serious.

  That could work in her one-minute-at-a-time life.

  At some point she’d have to face the fallout from last night. Hiding up here was cowardly. She walked over to her closet and dug for an outfit that would boost her confidence. The day she left rehab she promised herself she’d face her fears and doubts head on. She hadn’t realized that would encompass a stalker and murder, but other women dealt with crisis and so would she.

  Jeans? No. Dress clothes? No.

  She looked at the peach dress that had a sexy swish to it. Wearing that downstairs might be dangerous.

  I could have been killed right along with Charlie last night. How much more dangerous could it get? She didn’t want to wake up one day and find her life was over and she’d been too afraid to take a chance again.

  Josh had been trustworthy thus far,so she would give him a little faith.

  It wasn’t as if he’d been trying to jump her bones. What had he told her that first night when she said she wouldn’t sleep with him? I didn’t ask you to.

  A man like Josh didn’t come along very often. Seize the damn day and start living again.

  Decision made and feeling more in control, Trish dressed, freshened up with a dab of mascara and suffered through a quick hair brushing. A splash of her favorite cologne and she exited the bedroom, ready to face her fears.

  Please don’t make me regret trusting you, Josh.

  Chapter 27

  At the sound of Trish’s muffled footsteps against the carpeted hall, Josh relaxed back against the kitchen counter. He could handle a few hours alone with Trish.

  He’d survived plenty of dangerous operations.

  How tough could it be to keep his hands off a female he was protecting? Even a smoking hot one? Besides, after what Trish had been through, the one thing she did not need was a man in her house pawing her.

  “I’m back,” Trish announced, strolling into the kitchen, wearing a...holy shit, what is that?

  A peach-colored dress that drifted to mid-calf, but not near enough material and it clung in the sexiest way. Those lovely breasts were back.

  Covered, but not hidden.

  Nope. Right up front. Accessible.

  All that soft peach reminded him of marmalade. He loved marmalade. Sweet and tangy, spread across her thigh...

  “Josh?”

  She stopped right in front of him. So close he could smell her powdery scent.

  Her nipples peaked. Ah, hell. No bra.

  Josh cleared his throat and stood up straighter. Tried to back up, but there was that counter behind him.

  Trish put her hand on his chest, sending a hot ripple through his muscles. “Sorry about yelling at you, I was just surprised to see you, but I’m glad you’re here.”

  She sounded breathless and that drove him crazy.

  “Me, too,” he mumbled.

  “When did you...come?” she asked, innocently.

  Come? Perspiration beaded at the back of his neck. Move, dammit. Stop thinking about that thin layer of material, the only barrier between him and paradise.

  “Was that someone at the door?” Weak, but all he had. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently moved her back so he could sidestep around her. “I’ll check it out.”

  The confused look on her face was nothing compared to what was going on in his chaotic mind.

  Had she just given him a green light?

  What if she had? She was off limits.

  How in the hell was he going to keep his hands off her for the next two hours when everything about Trish said touch me?

  She was likely just feeling vulnerable after last night and needing comfort. What he had in mind couldn’t be construed as comfort...except that she’d be noodle limp when he got through with her.

  You are such a dog. He was absolutely not going to take advantage of her no matter how hard he was. Again.

  She was killing him.

  He made a show of moving the blinds in the living room enough to look outside. Just as he’d seen ten minutes ago, the news people were hunkered down in cars parked along the street.

  They’d persist until the police he’d just called showed up to run them off.

  He heard the back door open and close, followed by excited yapping. A streak of fur blasted out of the kitchen and down the hall.

  Josh stepped over to see what she’d let into the house.

  Trish entered the living room laughing. She stopped a couple of feet from him. God, she was beautiful when she smiled.

  She whistled and called, “Come here, boy.” The blur ran back up the hall and around the living room twice, but stayed this time.

  Josh took one look at the dog–he assumed it was a dog–and asked, “What is that?”

  Trish sent him a frown filled with the promise of physical harm if he made a derogatory comment.

  “This is Dazzle.” She smiled down at a conglomeration roughly the shape of a Wire-haired Terrier. “Aren’t you, precious?” She melted for a multi-colored animal whose coat was a mass of black and tan streaks of fur sprouting out between tight clumps of burnt-orange corked curls. The mutt gave her a hairy crooked-tooth smile.

  Trish squatted, clapping her hands together.

  Dazzle leapt into her arms. She ran her hands all over him, massaging his shoulders, patting his stomach and hugging him to her breast.

  The mutt lapped up her adoration. What male wouldn’t?

  Josh considered telling Trish he was just as much of a Heinz 57 as that patchwork beast. He needed a rubdown and a hug too.

  “Dazzle is an adventurer,” Trish said, looking up at Josh with a big grin. “When he was about two months old, he survived a hurricane to find me and Heidi.”

  Adventurous or not, that beast had captured Trish’s heart–an organ she hadn’t seemed to think a man worthy of touching, from what he’d observed.

  Warmth rippled through him at the pleasure on her face over an anomaly of nature.

  He wanted to do that. Be the one to make her smile, and feel her hands touching him. Be the one holding her throughout the night.

  Where had that foolish thought come from?

  He didn’t k
now, but the longing had kept him awake most of the night. If he ever started on that body, he wouldn’t stop until he’d tasted every inch.

  Only a masochistic fool would stand here and torture himself.

  Trish lowered her dog to the carpet where she stood, and the mutt danced at her feet.

  Josh took a step toward the kitchen, anywhere he didn’t have to watch the way Trish’s hair curled around her slender neck or see her tongue slip out between her lips.

  “Dazzle, do you know how nice Josh is?”

  The mutt danced back and forth.

  Josh paused to see if the four-legged fur storm could do a trick.

  “Show him how smart you are. Let Josh know how much you appreciate him taking care of your mama.”

  The wiry length of fur spun in a circle.

  “Not that. Tell Josh thank you.”

  Her dog flipped an about-face and leapt high against Josh’s chest. He caught the ball of energy with a grunt, then lowered the mutt back to the floor.

  “No, Dazzle, not that high.” Trish giggled a happy sound that came out rich and womanly instead of girly. She raised a hand to her forehead as the dog sped away to some unknown target. “I’m sorry, Josh. We’re still working on that one.”

  Recovering his balance after being hit by the canine missile, Josh smiled. He hadn’t heard her laugh much since he’d met her and was reluctant to give up this relaxed moment with her.

  She lowered her hand to her mouth and nibbled on her knuckle. “Is your offer still good?”

  “What offer.”

  “Spending time with me over the next two weeks.”

  He’d made that offer off the cuff to keep the door open for seeing her again and had no idea if he’d be here for two full weeks, but the way she’d asked that said she wanted to do more than meet for dinner. “Yes.”

  Dazzle returned from another tour of the house. He chased his tail twice then shot between Trish’s legs, knocking her off balance.

  Dazzle yipped.

  Trish yelled.

  Josh reached for her just as the four-pawed terror circled his feet, knocking him out of sync. The coffee table would hurt. Josh pitched his weight toward the sofa. His back hit the forgiving cushions a second before she landed on his chest with a thump, and he eased them both upright.

  “Trish, are you okay?”

  She lifted her head, laughing as she sprawled across his lap. “I am so sorry. Dazzle, um–” Trish gasped a breath. “–is just happy to see me.”

  Dazzle scurried past them, gone. A squeaky toy screeched from some other room. Trish broke into a fresh peal of chuckles. “Then again, he gets over my absence quickly.”

  Josh couldn’t stop the laugh that came from deep inside. When was the last time he’d felt genuinely happy over anything? He had a hapless mutt to thank for the female in his arms. “You’re pretty, but when you laugh...you’re breathtaking.”

  A mint-scented sigh squeezed out of Trish. Two pert breasts rubbed Josh’s chest each time she inhaled, stoking the hot blood now pooled into his rigid erection.

  Her breathing stilled. She stared at him, so close he could see each lash. He wanted to kiss her.

  Not a wise idea in this position.

  He’d led her to believe he’d keep this nonsexual plus, hello, he was on an op.

  Time to remember Rule Number One: Never mix business with–

  She leaned forward and kissed him.

  Chapter 28

  Josh was stunned for the microsecond it took to realize Trish was kissing him. Erotic pleasure bolted through him at the first touch of her lips.

  She had her hands in his hair.

  Man, she was hot and kissing him with passion that rocked him.

  The need to taste Trish overpowered the voice whispering Rule Number One in his head.

  Instinct took over.

  He knew exactly what to do with a soft, willing woman in his arms. Knew what he wanted. Her.

  This amazing woman who smelled fresh and powdery.

  He cupped her face, taking over the kiss, hungry for more. When he slowed it down, she nipped at his lip and the race for satisfaction took off again. He didn’t know when his hand moved, but he had that plump breast out of her low-scooped top and in his palm. He lowered her back over his arm until he had her stretched out on the sofa. A perfect position to drop his mouth down and scrape his teeth lightly over the thin material covering her other beaded nipple.

  She gasped and let out a sound that said do-whatever-you-did-again.

  I aim to please. He eased the dress off her shoulders, baring both breasts, and gave attention to both at the same time. “Jossshhh.” She grabbed his shoulders, tensed up and arched with a quick intake of air.

  She was incredible.

  Kissing one breast, then the other, he used both hands to massage the soft mounds, gently rasping his thumbs across the tips.

  She made sweet little cries and shivered.

  Her reaction stroked straight through him.

  Every time she gasped and tensed as if she leaped closer to an orgasm, he felt his groin tighten and his erection get harder. She rubbed her hips against him.

  He sucked in a sharp breath.

  Another move like that and he’d have to be inside her or this would get embarrassing for someone with his experience. He didn’t lose control. Not with a woman or on a mission.

  That’s why he shouldn’t be doing this.

  Rule Number One.

  He should end this now, but he’d have better luck stopping a locomotive at full speed by jumping in front of it.

  Hell, he wrote damn Rule Number One.

  It was his to break, because giving her up right now would be impossible.

  Josh gripped Trish’s perfect little bottom with one hand, pulling her closer to him. He groaned in pain and pleasure.

  Narrow fingers combed through his hair, down his neck and over his chin, driving him mad with her frantic touch. She hooked her hands around his shoulders, fingers digging in to hold tight.

  And he wanted her to. He forged ahead with the kiss, sending his tongue in to tangle with hers.

  She kissed him right back, meeting his demands with those of her own. He loved the way she gave over to passion, holding nothing back. Her tongue mated with his as it moved in and out. He felt each stroke in his groin. In and out.

  Exactly what he wanted to do.

  With her. Right this damn minute.

  His conscience roared no! She was vulnerable after what happened last night. She’d even told him she wasn’t ready for this. She was sweet and sexy and trusting...the wrong man.

  She might be making a bold offer, but she didn’t know who she was dealing with. She thought he was an FBI agent with the task force and that was a lie.

  He was here to watch over the bait for the Chessmaster.

  Just thinking of that pissed him off all over again.

  She dropped her head back from him, panting. “What’s wrong?”

  Her lips were puffy from being kissed. Her eyes were heavy with desire when she looked up at him, breasts heaving up and down with each deep intake and exhale. She licked her finger and traced it over his lips.

  What’s wrong? Nothing. He drew her finger into his mouth and sucked on it.

  She closed her eyes and made an “mm” sound of pleasure.

  He wanted to give her real pleasure, but if he accepted her tempting offer now she might regret it later. Would regret it. He was touching her again just to watch her reaction. He tugged on her dress, sliding it further and leaned down to kiss her navel then kissed his way back up to her breast again and took the nipple into his mouth, stroking her with his tongue.

  She arched up and called his name.

  He wasn’t sure how much more he could take, but what was the old saying? In for a penny, in for a pound?

  He was all in.

  She rubbed up against him and his muscles clenched. Her body language begged for more. He’d be begging soon, too, but all
she had to do was ask.

  He’d give her anything at this point.

  But he couldn’t make love to her the way he wanted to and face himself later.

  Besides, he had no condom. Taking this to its natural end without one was out of the question.

  Josh moved back and slid his hands down to where her bunched up dress exposed the long legs now cupping his hips. He explored a little more and ran his finger along the thin elastic then dipped inside.

  She was wet and ready. What he wouldn’t give for a condom right now, but he would not deny her. He moved his fingers, teasing her, barely grazing the sensitive skin.

  She gripped his arms and tensed. “Oh, uh, Jossshhh...”

  Those sounds she made getting closer to climax drove him crazy. He fingered her wet folds, her breath hitched, missed. She shook with need, her body soaring closer, reaching for its limit. Josh caressed one of her dark pink nipples with his tongue, loving the way she whimpered when he stroked the hard bead.

  Any second now she’d explode.

  Pressure built beneath his zipper.

  He’d been denied few things in his adult life. At this minute, he’d give up a lifetime of wishes to drive deep into her heat. He pushed a finger inside her then pumped it again and his thumb toyed with the spot that had her shaking.

  A noise nipped at his attention.

  He tried to listen, but heard only Trish’s whimpered pleas.

  That was...until Dazzle flew down the hall again and into the living room, yapping and spinning around the table. The mutt batted the edge of the sofa with his paws as he jumped up and down then ran to the door. Once there, he repeated the whole process.

  Trish tightened around Josh’s finger and his erection pulsed in answer. She was begging him not to stop. Dazzle’s yaps were getting louder and more intense.

  The doorbell rang.

  Damn media. No way would he leave her seconds from climaxing.

  Pounding jarred the front door.

  Trish arched hard, her taut body straining as he pushed her to the peak.

  Pound. Pound. Pound. A muffled “Trish!” called from beyond the door. Dazzle batted the couch, yapping incessantly.