by Molly Rice
He dropped them and rushed to the couch. “Dana, are you okay?”
She straightened her head and grinned at him. “Why? Did you think my head had slipped off my neck?”
A sigh of relief, mingled with exasperation, whooshed out of him as Nico stamped away to retrieve his luggage.
“Dammit, Dana, I still think you should get checked out at a hospital. Ramsey is just a few blocks away.”
She couldn’t stop grinning. “Were you really an altar boy, Nico?”
“How did you…” He glanced over at the framed photos on the window table. “Oh, right.”
Was that a look of embarrassment tinting his cheeks? Dana unfolded her legs and stood, giving him a sober, even look. “And you still attend church?”
There’d been a picture of Nico, as a grown man, with his arm around a priest’s shoulder. They were standing in front of St. Luke’s.
“When I can,” Nico admitted, a question in his eyes.
Dana nodded. “It’s not so hip these days, but I like to see men at Mass. Especially single men. It’s a good example for the kids.”
Nico stared at her. “You’re Catholic?”
She nodded again, surprised he hadn’t known that. But then, it wasn’t something one wore on the outside that everyone could recognize.
“Krystal and I attend St. Pater Claver. It was Zack’s church from childhood and I went with him because he preferred it to the Basilica, which is where my family worships. Then, Father Kevin was assigned there and I began going because I was so crazy about him. After Zack died, I realized that I’d come to think of it as my own church.”
Nico began to laugh.
“What?”
“Mama always told me I’d meet the right woman for me in church.” He sobered as he realized how much he’d just admitted.
Dana went to him, dropping the ice bag on the couch. She slipped her arms around his neck and raised her face for his kiss.
He bent his head and then hesitated, his mouth only a couple of mile-long inches from hers.
“Dana, this is really wrong,” he warned. “We can’t afford to let our emotions get in the way of the job we have to do.”
“I’m through working for the day, Nico, and I want you to make love to me.”
Chapter Twelve
Nico needed no further urging. His mouth closed over hers as if it were the only way to slake his considerable thirst. The kiss was deep and searching, leaving them both breathless and unsteady.
For a moment a red light filled Dana’s mind, warning her of the danger of so much chemistry, but the green light of passion obscured all other thoughts and prevailed.
She pulled him closer, her arms tight around his shoulders, her hands caressing his neck. They resumed the kiss, their tongues dueling as if each were fighting for control over the other. Their hands bumped repeatedly as they tore at each other’s clothing.
In mere seconds Nico achieved a state of full arousal and Dana was pulling him closer, urging his body to soothe the ache that pulsed at the apex of her thighs. Dana’s blouse and bra came off and fell to the floor along with Nico’s shirt. His tongue plunged the sweetness of her mouth over and over and his fingers moved so urgently over her breasts and then down her stomach that Dana cried aloud her runaway desire.
She pushed her hands down into his jeans, curving them around his hard buttocks to bring him closer to the ponderous ache.
Nico cried out and pulled the fly open, sliding jeans and briefs down in one swift movement, unable to wait any longer to unite their two bodies.
Anticipating him, Dana slid skirt, slip and panties down so they fell to her knees. He tumbled her onto her back and then he was filling her completely.
She heard his frantic, whispered endearments, some of them in Italian, inhaled his personal scent, felt his hands caressing her everywhere, and her heart filled as completely as her body.
The fire of their lust increased their body heat and Nico suckled her nipples as if quenching his thirst. Dana thrashed beneath him. She could feel her desire building as his body engulfed hers, every movement pure heaven.
She’d never ever experienced such passion. She wanted to wrap herself completely around him, to swallow him up into her body, wanted to hold him inside forever, every cell in her body screaming for more.
Nico felt her urgency and his heart swelled with adoration, his blood thrumming with excitement, as he gave her all that he had within him to give.
They reached the crescendo of passion together, their bodies pressed so close that not a breath could have fit between them. When they climaxed he pulled her up so that she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms twined around his neck.
They collapsed on the floor, still wrapped together, still throbbing as they began the descent into real time.
“I’ll never be able to move again,” Dana whispered hoarsely.
Nico’s voice was only slightly stronger. “You won’t have to, love, as soon as I’m able, I’m going to carry you.” But it was clear the speech had taken the last of his energy. They dozed until Dana became aware of the scratchiness of the carpet against her back. She nudged Nico.
“I need a ride,” she whispered into his ear.
He turned his head and grinned at her. “I’m not sure I’m not all ridden out,” he said.
“Not that kind of ride,” Dana scoffed. “A ride into the bedroom, to a nice soft, smooth bed.”
“If I can do that, I might be able to do more,” he warned.
“I don’t think so, sweetie, I think we’ve both had it.”
“Oh? You think so?” He kissed her ever so softly and carried her into the bedroom.
He laid her down gently, taking a moment to stare down at the wealth of femininity spread there for his eyes only. Her eyes glowed with the knowledge of his adoration and she brazenly lowered her gaze to his arousal. He couldn’t move. He stood there, mesmerized, as she slowly rose to her knees and inched over to the edge of the bed. Her eyes never left his as she reached out and carefully pulled him toward her.
He didn’t move at first. He held her face in his hands and caressed her lips with his tongue. “You’re mine, now, you know,” he warned, lifting his head to gaze into her eyes.
“Show me,” she murmured, lifting her body to accommodate him. His movement taunted her to the highest peak, threatening repeatedly to send her over the edge.
It seemed to go on forever. “Please, Nico, please,” she begged. He responded with a movement that drove her upward. And then he began the slow withdrawal, making her cry out, excitement and frustration warring within her.
When he added a new twist, she writhed under him, her hands clawing at his shoulders.
Nico held himself still, watching her face. For some reason a flashback rose in his mind just then and a cold chill ran up his spine. What if something were to happen to her? What if he couldn’t protect her for some reason?
He felt himself going limp. Dana responded immediately, rising up on her elbows, looking at him askance.
“Nico?”
“It’s all right, love, really. I’m just tired. Fatigue is a real deterrent to lovemaking.”
She looked skeptical but then her own exhaustion consumed her. She fell back on the pillow, her eyes already closing.
“Darling, are you sure you don’t want me to…”
“Go to sleep, Dana, you don’t have to do a thing.”
Her heavy breathing told him she was already asleep. He eased away, moving onto his own pillow, his body curled on his side. He’d done the unforgivable, allowed his emotions to dominate, wiping out all the knowledge he’d gained from his last slip, leaving him, and worse, Dana, totally vulnerable.
He gritted his teeth and struck his pillow with his fist as he realized that a band of guerillas could have invaded the premises and he’d never have known it until it was too late.
He turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He could never let his gu
ard down like this again. He glanced over at Dana and his heart sank. That sassy, strong-willed little bundle of voluptuous beauty would never let anything get in the way of something she wanted.
He sighed as he rolled off the bed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep and, in any case, knowing it was best to get this over with as soon as possible.
DANA’S PURR of contentment awakened her from the light doze she’d slipped into. She turned to fold herself back into Nico’s arms and found only cool sheets and the pillow that still held his unique and wonderful smell. She sat up and listened, heard the shower running. A gleeful, mischievous imp inside urged her out of bed and toward the bathroom.
She reached the door just as the water stopped running and she heard the shower door slide back. She looked down at her nudity and realized that what would have been a romantic surprise wasn’t going to work now that Nico was out of the shower. She fled back to the bed, to the cover of the sheets.
Nico found her propped against the pillows, her shoulders and arms bare above the sheet tucked across her breasts, her face illuminated by the lingering fulfillment of their lovemaking.
He hesitated before speaking, every cell in his body responding to the sight of her beauty, a lump of guilt rising in his throat.
“It’s very late, Dana, we should get back to the house before Heather starts worrying.”
Dana’s smile faltered at the cool tone in his voice, the grim expression on his face. And he was fully dressed, except for his socks and shoes.
“Is something wrong, Nico?”
He turned away, rummaging in a drawer for socks. “Nothing’s wrong. I just think it’s time to go.”
Suddenly she felt embarrassed at the thought of exposing her nudity to him, of dressing in front of him. But she’d just made love to this man, how could she ask him to leave the room while she dressed?
Nico spared her the awkwardness, mumbling something about leaving his shoes in the living room. The door closed with a quiet click behind him.
Dana sat for a moment longer, her fist against her mouth, fighting back threatening tears.
Nico was acting like a man who’d done something impulsive and now regretted that action. Was that all their loving had been to him? An impulse?
She stifled a sob and swung her legs off the bed. Okay, if that’s how it was, she could live with it. She’d lived with worse and never forfeited her dignity or pride.
Hurriedly she began to dress, all the while struggling against breaking down, muttering under her breath about how she’d warned him off continuously but how he’d persisted in coming on to her, seducing her with exotic meals, confusing her with sexual innuendo, even going so far as to get her involved with his family.
“So much for love,” she snarled, jerking up a thighhigh stocking with reckless disregard for its flimsiness.
The words were no sooner out than the impact hit her. Sometime during their lovemaking, he’d whispered that he loved her. She collapsed on the side of the bed, one leg clad, the other with the hose pulled up only halfway.
She was an experienced prosecutor, able to recognize the difference between sincerity and subterfuge. There had never been a time where she had felt that she had prosecuted, or been accused of prosecuting, an innocent person.
Nico had been sincere. She was sure of it. He hadn’t uttered the words through a fury of passion spinning out of control. Though there’d certainly been plenty of that, she thought, smiling wryly:
No, he hadn’t used the words as a means of using her, she decided. Something had happened, or occurred to him, to make him wary of an ongoing relationship.
She bent to ease the rest of the stocking up her leg. Okay, so now all she had to do was find out what the something was and make it go away.
When she joined Nico in the living room, she gave him an enigmatic smile. “All ready,” she said in as cheerful a tone as she could muster.
Still avoiding eye contact, he turned to retrieve his luggage. “Would you get the door, please, Dana?” he asked, gesturing with his burdened hands.
She made a wide swath around him and held the door open. Over his shoulder, he told her the door would lock automatically.
They drove to Wayzata in silence, except for the hum of the wheels rolling over asphalt, and the questions tumbling over and over in Dana’s head. By the time they were within a few blocks of her house, she decided they were going to have to reach an understanding, one way or another.
She cleared her throat. “Nico, it’s clear you’ve had second thoughts and decided tonight wasn’t a good idea. I have to assume that this has something to do with the fact that I’m your employer. If I’m wrong, I feel you owe it to me to tell me what’s upset you.”
Nico’s laugh was a short bark of disbelief. “Oh, Lord, Dana, you’re so off the track. I’m just not chauvinistic enough to let the fact that a woman is my employer get in the way of a personal relationship.” He shook his head and lowered his window halfway before continuing.
“And,” he went on, “I don’t really think of you as my employer. Given my job and yours and the one we’re both involved in, I consider us more partners than anything.”
Dana started to speak but stopped herself when she realized he had more to say. She turned in her seat, her back to the door, her eyes riveted on his handsome profile.
He sighed. “I guess I should tell you the whole story.” He turned onto her street, waved at the cop in the blue and white patrol car as they passed by, and eased up into her driveway.
He pressed the button that moved his seat back as far as it would go and turned off the motor. Mimicking her position, he turned so that they were facing each other.
“Four years ago, not long after I’d joined the agency, I was assigned to security on an estate not too far from here. The assignment was temporary, meant to last about three weeks during which time it was my job to make sure nobody came onto the premises who could tamper with the security system, hide away on the acreage surrounding the house, or attempt to infiltrate the dwelling for purposes of leaving bombs, poisons, drugs, or anything that might result in harm to any of the occupants.”
He cleared his throat, turning to take a gulp of fresh air through the open window.
When he turned back, Dana could see the steely look that brightened his eyes. Realizing she’d been holding her breath, she let it out quietly as he began to speak again.
“The purpose of all the extra security was the pending visit from the ambassador to Great Britain who was to meet—secretly—with the ambassadors of two other countries, and the U.S. secretary of state, on a matter of utmost political delicacy. They’d elected to meet in Minnesota because it was far from the gossip mill of D.C. and one of the better places to set up security surveillance.
“The people who were hosting the British ambassador, had two small children, boy and girl, three and four. They took a shine to me, following me everywhere anytime they could escape from their nanny. Trouble was, she was a lazy caretaker, and the kids could escape almost at will. At first, I tried to shoo them off, but they were so damned persistent, and so cute, I finally decided they were better off having someone look after them than left to their own reckless mischief.”
Dana could feel the tension building, could see it in the set of his jaw, the sound of his voice. She hung on every word, barely breathing.
“I began to play with them while we strolled the grounds doing my rounds. Tossing a ball or a Frisbee with them, showing them how to fly their kites, playing limited games of hide and seek. They were good kids. When I set up distance limits for how far away they could hide, or run ahead of me, they obeyed without question.”
His eyes glinted with unshed tears and Dana could feel her own throat filling as she sensed what came next.
“My partner, who worked the night shift so I could get some sleep, kept warning me that I was getting too involved with the kids. I laughed him off, told him a couple of tots, barely out of training pants, were
hardly any threat to national security.”
His voice had gained a tremor and it was evident that he had to force himself to push on. Dana put a gentle hand over his and was relieved when he turned so that their palms joined and he held on in a tight clasp.
It was almost as if he clung to her for the strength to finish. Her heart ached at the sound of despair in his voice.
Abruptly Nico jumped to the end.
“We were playing hide-and-seek when I heard a scream behind me and ran toward it to find that Daniel had fallen into the pond and little Rosy was screaming at the top of her lungs. Vaguely I was aware of a sound of thrashing of bushes over to my left, beneath the wall that enclosed the estate, but my first priority was getting to Daniel before he could drown.
“Naturally, once the boy was safe, we searched every inch of the grounds, but by then an hour had passed and we found no sign of an intruder.
“Two days later, the ambassador arrived with his entourage and a team from the Secret Service. When the bomb went off, it killed two of the agents and my partner.”
Even expecting it, Dana gasped at his final words. Nico had turned away, bending his head on the steering wheel, his hands clinging to the wheel. His shoulders were heaving with dry sobs. She put her hand on his back and when he didn’t shrug her off, she moved over to hold him in her arms.
“It wasn’t your fault, Nico, you did the only thing you could do by saving the little boy. Anyone would have.”
His face was pained when he lifted his head. “If I hadn’t got involved with the kids in the first place, Daniel wouldn’t have been anywhere near the pond.”
Dana shook her head and clenched her teeth. “Not so, my dear. You said the nanny was negligent of the children’s whereabouts. They could have wandered down to the pool all on their own and Daniel might still have fallen in. Had that been the case, and if you hadn’t been looking out for them, the boy certainly would have drowned.”
Nico rubbed his eyes to alleviate some of the pain. “That’s the only thought that kept me sane in the following weeks. But I learned a lesson about allowing myself to be distracted from my job.” He gave” another of those chuckles of derision. “Or thought I’d learned it.”