She stopped and swallowed hard, hating all the memories but that one most of all. Corcoris and the way he had attacked her physically. She had gotten away before he could really assault her, but there were no witnesses, no way to prove that any more than she’d been able to find any proof about the rumors she’d been hearing about the pharmaceuticals.
“Are you okay?” Daniel had stood and come over to her and was kneeling, with one arm supporting her shoulders.
She considered turning in her seat and throwing herself into his arms, but that would be a bad move.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Really. But I’d like some more beer. How about you?”
“Sure.”
She went into the kitchen and got them each another bottle. “Just leave all that.” She waved at the table of dirty dishes, inviting him onto the beige plush sofa in the living room. “I’ll clean it up later. Let’s sit more comfortably while I finish this, okay?”
“Whatever you’d like,” he said.
Surprisingly, what she’d have liked at the moment was to throw herself into his arms. And cry? Probably not. But the guy looked so damned caring. So sexy. She might be able to get a moment of amnesia about all the horrible stuff if she could drag him into bed for a minute.
And here, sitting on her convertible sofa was like dragging him onto her bed, if not into it for sex. But she wouldn’t tell him that.
Nor would she act on her lust. Too foolish to even think that way.
She remained tempted nonetheless. Good thing he seemed more inclined to tease in the moments he departed from protective or planning mode—but she even found that too sexy.
She settled down on one side of the couch and he took the other. “Okay.” She placed her beer bottle on the coffee table in front of them. “I can finish now. I’d been so thrilled to start working for Corcoris in the first place that I didn’t want to believe what I heard. My mom has a rare blood disorder that has been kept under control for years by a Corcoris product. I wanted to be part of the company. Give back to it. And yet...well, I didn’t know whether things had changed or what, but I started to get horrified about the rumors I was told—stuff I tried to look into but could never prove. I tried going to the authorities, and the FDA did conduct an unannounced ‘for cause’ inspection but found nothing. I couldn’t prove it, since I’d been told by someone else, and anything I could claim in court would only be hearsay. But this supposedly mistaken whistle-blower—me—started receiving verbal, unprovable threats and having what looked like, but weren’t, accidents. I had to leave, but, with no ability to testify in court against anyone, I couldn’t get into witness protection.”
“And Judge Treena heard about you.” It wasn’t a question but a statement from Daniel.
“That’s right. She saved my life—and I guess she sent you to find all the evidence I couldn’t before other people, ill people who are relying on Corcoris, are killed. Or more are killed. Some of the rumors indicated there’d already been deaths.”
“That’s right.” His tone was gentle.
She sat up excitedly. “Have you found anything yet? Oh, I’d be so happy—”
“Not yet, but I will.” There was no hesitation in his voice, and his craggy, handsome face looked so certain that she again wanted to kiss him. “I’ve been here for about a month already, have been collecting information and working into being accepted so people will talk more around me. I’ve ideas about what kinds of meds and their ingredients I’ll want to sneak out of there, as well as some computer files, but I haven’t gotten much yet. And you?”
“This is such a different perspective from how I looked at the company before. I’ve only been here five days so far, so I’m mostly just trying to figure out what I need and how to look for it. But I intend to discover whatever evidence there is and get it out of here.”
Did she sound too optimistic? Hell, she had to be optimistic.
“Sounds like at least one of us had better do that,” Daniel said, lifting his brows as if just humoring her.
She stopped herself from snapping at him, keeping her voice calm as she continued, “You have to understand. My family has been receiving threats, and even though they’re supposedly under some protection, that’s why I’m here—to find the necessary evidence to stop Corcoris once and for all.”
“All right. Here’s the reality. In case you haven’t figured it out by now, finding that evidence is my job.” His expression had turned stern, but she ignored it.
“It’s our job,” she corrected. “And there’s something else, too. Have you met Milt Ranich or heard anything about him? He’s my former immediate boss, and he’s apparently not here any longer. I can’t ask questions about him but I have looked around and put out some feelers about his position. Someone else has it now. He’s the one who told me about the fraud being committed here and probably could have proven it. He also tried to protect me. But he disappeared, and I’ve still not learned what happened to him.”
* * *
The name was familiar to Daniel. Judge Treena had passed it along to him along with other matters he was to investigate. But—
“No. I’ve heard of him but not since I arrived here. I’ll follow up on it even more, since it’s definitely important to find him. Was he trying to get the word out, too?” He hadn’t testified against the company, so he wasn’t in WitSec—the Witness Security Program administered by the U.S. Marshals Service—any more than Andrea Martinez was.
“Maybe, but I doubt it. He was ambivalent about spilling everything, even though he wanted to protect me.”
“Well, I’ll see what I can find out.” Daniel felt oddly gratified to see a huge smile appear on Beth’s face. And she obviously wasn’t going to back off, no matter what he said. So he’d go along with her, at least temporarily. “And it won’t hurt for us to work together on this for now.”
But unless she started coming up with evidence soon or in some manner otherwise helped him, he would side with Judge Treena and encourage Beth to leave before she got hurt.
For the first time that evening, though, Beth seemed unguarded. Happy. Hopeful.
And she was definitely one hot and sexy lady. But as much as he wanted to do something about that, he recalled her description of how Preston Corcoris had tried to seduce her—or worse.
He wouldn’t give her that impression, no matter what he felt. How stirred his body felt by her curves, her newly relaxed demeanor.
Her unintentionally seductive moves.
Sexy? Yes. But he knew what a bad idea it was to give in to those urges—even if she started to encourage him.
“Thank you so much, Daniel,” she said. Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “What do you really think of Moravo Beach? I can’t do as much around here as I’d like, despite my disguise, since I don’t want to run into my family or anyone I know, but I loved growing up here.”
For the next few minutes, they talked about nothing, just having a friendly conversation. Daniel let it continue. The other information he wanted from her could wait for another time.
But it was getting late. “Why don’t we clean up the dishes?” he asked. “I should be going soon.”
“I’ll take care of them,” she said, but he insisted.
It didn’t take long to bus the few items they’d taken out to the table. They had to engage in minor choreography so they could both work in the kitchen together, but in a short while all the plates and cooking containers had been rinsed and placed into the dishwasher.
“Thanks,” Beth said when they were done. Her face looked radiant, as if he had solved all her problems and given her her life back.
Hell, that was his ultimate goal.
His current goal?
To leave and ponder how he might be able to use her to accomplish his task.
B
ut she was looking up at him expectantly. And it wouldn’t hurt just to give her an encouraging goodbye kiss.
He took the lovely, sexy Beth into his arms and, bending down, placed his lips on hers.
* * *
He was kissing her. Gently.
Beth found herself kissing him back. And enjoying it.
She pressed closer. It had been forever since she had even considered making love. Never at all, not even once, since becoming Beth. She had never wanted—dared—to get close to anyone, not even just physically.
And while she was still Andrea, Preston Corcoris’s horrible power-assertion attempts over her—his attempted seduction coupled with threats—had turned her off completely from getting close to any man.
But now, with Daniel...
Her conscious thoughts seemed to evaporate as she found herself even more engulfed by his intensifying kiss. His mouth was hot, demanding, as he thrust his tongue against hers as if daring it to play sexy games. His scent so close was tangy. All masculine.
Control. She needed to keep control. Of herself. Of her surroundings. Wasn’t that what had been drummed into her with her instructions on how to change her identity, her personality?
But at the moment, all she could do was concentrate on that kiss. And Daniel, his body against hers, hot and strong and hard, so hard, in all the right places.
She felt utterly aware of his erection pressing against her middle, and she felt herself strain against him even more.
Even as her arms held him even closer, her mouth teasing, kissing him as lustfully as he did her.
“Beth,” he muttered against her. “This isn’t—”
“No,” she responded. “It isn’t.” But as he started to pull back, she felt his hands go between them. To push her away? But she found herself leaning her upper body toward him even more.
His hands were suddenly beneath her T-shirt, touching her bare skin, creating a path of heat that moved upward, beneath the strap of her bra. She realized a moment later that he had unhooked it.
Now was the time to stop...if she was going to. But she didn’t stop him. Didn’t want to. Hadn’t she already encouraged him? It wasn’t past the point of no return, but...
He knew who she was. She knew who he was. Even so, they barely knew each other at all, and yet she somehow wanted to know everything about him.
Including his body and how it reacted with hers.
Her knees suddenly felt like buckling—or was it her libido telling her to lead him to the sofa behind them? The couch that pulled out into a bed...
Foolish. Foolish. This was no way to react simply to feeling relieved that she was no longer completely alone.
Assuming he’d told her the truth about who he was and why he was here.
But she knew her moment of mistrust was disappearing into the hot insistence of his touch. Her open bra was now pushed up above her breasts, and his hand had come between their bodies to caress her gently, teasingly, as her nipples reacted by tensing at his touch.
She heard her own soft moan, even as she thrust her hips forward against him. It wasn’t fair that his skin, his hands, were playing so magically on her while she wasn’t touching him that way. She lowered her hands, realizing that she would have a more difficult time than he had. His shirt was tucked in. Hers hadn’t been.
It was a hurdle she could easily conquer. In moments, she had pulled the tail of his shirt from the back of his pants, then ran her fingers up the heated, smooth skin of his back.
This time it was his turn to moan. The sound was low and sexy and motivated her to inch slowly backward, one step, another, until her calf touched the sofa.
Bad move. She knew that, even as she let herself go limp enough to sink onto it.
Daniel bent forward toward her, and in moments they were both stretched out on the couch. It was narrow, so her body remained close against his. Both were still mostly clothed.
What a shame.
He must have had the same thought, for her T-shirt was suddenly being pulled up over her face, and immediately after that her bra was fully removed.
His head bent, and his mouth closed gently over one of her breasts, even as his hand reached downward to unfasten the button on the front of her jeans.
No fair that this be so one-sided. Even as she arched her back so his tongue, now playing with her nipple, could continue its games, she unbuttoned his shirt. But the angle was too difficult for her to do much more.
“Take your clothes off,” she murmured against him.
“I will if you will.”
Even as she laughed gently, she carefully moved back and stood, tearing off what was left of her clothing. He remained on the sofa, and she watched lustfully, all of her need suddenly billowing to a crescendo, as he removed what was left of his own attire, baring his toned, muscular chest with its skiff of light brown hair and his long hard erection.
He reached up toward her. “Come here,” he said.
She quickly, delightedly, obeyed.
Chapter 7
Daniel was a government agent, a professional. With a conscience. And experience that taught him what a bad idea physicality could be.
But he cast those thoughts aside even as he looked at the slim, gorgeous figure of Beth Jones.
And that was exactly who she was to him—every tantalizing inch of her. Her breasts were taut and full and enticing. And below she was so damned sexy that he didn’t want to wait to have her.
He held out his arms, noting that she was taking in every inch of him, as well. Looking longingly toward his stiff arousal, and that only made him grow all the more.
“Come here,” he said gruffly, and suddenly she was back on the couch beside him. Against him.
Making him nuts with his need for her.
He moved. Touched her where it mattered. She was wet, and her legs opened as he caressed her.
She, at the same time, began gently pumping his shaft with her hand. Making him even harder, readier to thrust inside her.
But despite his disinclination to stop, his lust didn’t make him completely a lunatic. “Wait,” he growled, then moved again to grab the trousers he’d tossed on the floor near his feet. He managed somehow to get into his wallet, where he kept condoms in case of emergencies—like this one.
He ripped one open, then looked at her, right into those glazed, lustful violet eyes.
“Care to help?” he asked.
She took the condom from him. He bent over her, and she rose slightly and attempted to slip it on his aching penis. But whether it was the angle or her lack of experience or her shakiness because of need...who cared? She didn’t fit it on immediately.
He took it from her, slipped it on and without waiting another moment laid her down and plunged inside her.
* * *
Beth gasped with need and delight. Thank heavens he, at least, was maintaining some degree of sanity.
She felt herself rock upward with his every thrust, gasping and moving and concentrating completely on what his body was doing to hers.
His pace quickened, and so did hers.
In moments, she felt herself flying over the precipice into her orgasm, even as she quietly screamed, “Daniel!”
* * *
Foolish. She knew how foolish she had been as she remained on the soft plush upholstery of the sofa, lying there facing Daniel, his body warm against hers as it flexed from his heavy breathing.
But it had been so long since she had felt a shred of trust in anyone she had been in contact with—except those she had met as a result of Judge Treena’s coaching. Her instructors in changing her identity had been tools, nice enough people she’d believed she could rely on, but she hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything at all for any of them, male or female, except gratitude.<
br />
Even at that, she realized they were just doing their jobs. Giving her orders and advice based on their prior experience with other people—people who weren’t her, who hadn’t been in her situation, at least not exactly.
Now, though, she had made love with the one person here who might actually be able to help her reach her goal.
Had she blown that by her indiscretion this night?
Or...was it possible that she had increased her chances by giving him a reason beyond his job to help her?
“You okay?” His voice, rough from his still-heavy breathing, startled her.
“More than okay,” she heard herself admit. So much for protecting her feelings. Although maybe complimenting him on his lovemaking prowess might encourage him to work with her.
Especially when her enjoyment had been so real...
“Yeah,” he said, drawing the word out. “Me, too.” He paused, and she felt his whole body grow rigid, as if he’d tried to pull away from her on the narrow surface. “But—”
“Yes, I know,” she interrupted, anticipating what he was going to say. “This wasn’t a good idea.”
His brief laugh brought him up close to her again, and his arms went around her. “You could say that. But, hell, I’m glad we did it. Just this once.”
“Just this once,” she echoed, even as she felt a deep pang of sorrow pulse through her. They’d gotten any sexual attraction out of their system.
Now they had to figure out how they could work together to achieve the goals they both were here to accomplish.
“So,” she said brightly. “How about if I get dressed and make us some coffee?”
“Good idea,” he said. “We still need to talk.”
Covert Attraction Page 7