by Debra Webb
Ric reached for her then. He couldn’t bear to see her cry. “Don’t do this—”
She batted his hand away. “You,” she began, clearly grappling for composure, “didn’t do anything to antagonize SSU. They shouldn’t be shooting at you.” She turned away from him. “This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have let you go with me. It’s not safe to be with me.”
Instinctively his arms went around her. She resisted at first, then she sagged against his chest. He nuzzled her neck, reveling in the smell of her skin. “You shouldn’t worry about me, querida. I can take care of myself.”
She let out a big, halting breath. “I keep thinking that it could have been so much worse.”
It definitely could have, Ric didn’t say. She could have been hurt. He closed his eyes against the pain the mere thought sent hurtling through him. Townsend and Green had been standing by a few feet away, but neither of them had seen the shooter. It was pure luck that Ric had. He’d gotten just a glimpse of something in the second-story window across the street. If he’d been a mere second slower…
Ric frowned. It was almost as if the guy had wanted to be seen at that particular instant. The way he’d moved in the sunlight, causing that blinding glint. Whatever the case, he was dead now. Jack Raine was an expert shot.
Piper turned in his arms and looked up into his eyes. Ric felt his body harden at the feel of her against him, at the sweet concern in her eyes.
“You should stay away from me,” she said firmly, but the little hitch in her breathing after her statement ruined the effort at determination. Her soft hands flattened against his chest. “I mean it, Martinez. I want you to go.”
“I can’t do that, querida.” The rush of desire that shot straight to his groin made him tremble.
Her fingers fisted in his shirt. She was staring at his mouth and it was almost more than he could take. When she went on tiptoe and pressed her soft lips to his, he lost any control he’d hoped to maintain. She opened in invitation and Ric thrust into her. His hands found their way to her hair and he cupped her head, delving more deeply into her sweet mouth. The yearning that had been building inside him all week exploded into hot, searing need.
She tugged his shirt upward and Ric let go of her just long enough to pull it over his head and toss it aside. Her cool hands slid over his skin, making him crazy with want. Then she stopped and drew back from him.
For one long moment she simply looked into his eyes, drawing out the ache building inside him. He wanted so desperately to pull her back into his arms, but this had to be her decision. He knew the price he would pay, but he would not exact her cost, as well. If she wanted to cross that line and face the consequences that would come later, she had to do so of her own choosing.
Without a word she took his hand and led him across the room, down the hall and into her dimly lit bedroom. The late-afternoon sun couldn’t quite penetrate the heavy, laced drapes, resulting in a room in deep shadow. When she turned back to him, he saw the sudden hesitancy in her eyes. She sat down on the side of her bed, looking anywhere but at him, her hands cradled in her lap.
Ric sat down on the end of the bed, allowing her to keep her back to him until she decided to face him again, but close enough to reach out to her. While he waited he studied the gentle curve of her shoulder, her tiny waist that flared into slender hips. Her skin where the dress scooped low off her shoulders looked as smooth and creamy as porcelain. He could imagine how she would taste there.
She looked at him over her shoulder. “I’d like you to touch me. I know you want to.”
He trailed his fingers over that delicate, bare flesh that he’d imagined tasting only moments before. Her eyes closed and she moaned her approval. Taking that as license, he leaned forward and kissed her shoulder. She gasped. He eased the wide straps of her dress off her shoulders as he worked his mouth across that bare expanse of skin. The sound of her labored breathing sent another wave of urgency through him. He slipped the top button from its closure and pressed his lips there. He wanted to taste all of her. One by one he loosened button after button, kissing each vertebra as he bared it. He took special care when he unfastened her bra, lingering there.
When he’d freed the buttons all the way to her hips, she stood, allowing the dress to fall around her feet. She shrugged off the satin bra. Fire raced through his veins as he took in the beauty before him. Her skin was perfect, flawless. Her bottom was bared by a pair of thong panties, the sight of which made it very difficult for him to breathe. She stepped out of the puddle of lavender and moved around to stand directly in front of him.
Long, toned legs, made even longer by her spike heels, and then the barely veiled place at the center of her thighs made him weak with desire. The tiny Band-Aid at her belly button tugged his lips into a frown; he’d have to be careful not to hurt her. That worry dissolved as the need to see her naked breasts drew his gaze upward. Unable to help himself, he moistened his lips as he resisted the almost overwhelming urge to reach out and touch those small, firm breasts. They jutted upward, the tips rosy and pebbled into tight buds.
His gaze collided with hers then, and he saw the longing he felt mirrored there. Ric stood, needing to be closer to her. Her fingers went instantly to his fly. She dodged his mouth when he tried to kiss her and focused all her attention on unfastening his slacks. He groaned at the feel of her fingers along that highly aroused place. He felt ready to explode any second. She knelt before him, dragging his slacks and briefs down his legs. Looking at her kneeling before him like that sent a shock wave of heat hurdling through him. She tossed aside his shoes, then his socks. She stood as he stepped out of his discarded clothing, then leaned down and kissed his arm near the white bandage. When she looked up at him, the desire in her eyes had taken a back seat to the worry and regret that he’d been hurt. The idea that she cared enough to be concerned made him weak with tender feelings.
Unable to hold back any longer, he covered her breasts with his hands and squeezed gently. She threw her head back and cried out with pleasure. He kissed that delicate place at the base of her throat, all the while kneading those taut little breasts. She cupped his buttocks and pulled his hips against her. Her mouth found his and the kiss was filled with feverish urgency, making his heart pound harder, making him feel as if he were going to come before he got inside her. He couldn’t wait. He broke free long enough to scoop her up into his arms, grimacing only slightly at the sting of his fresh injury.
Her fingers clenched into the flesh of his shoulders as she held on tightly. Ric lowered her to the bed and knelt beside her. He leaned down and quickly kissed her hungry mouth before moving down the length of her. He kissed his way along those shapely legs, until he was kneeling at her feet. He raised her foot to his chest and removed the high-heeled shoe. He tossed it behind him, then reached for the other foot and did the same. He traced her tender arch with his tongue and then on to her ankle. By the time he had kissed and licked his way back to the top of her thigh, she writhed with need. She reached for him, tried to pull him close, but he resisted.
He placed a gentle kiss next to her belly button, remembering the fear he’d felt in that hospital. A kind of fear he’d never experienced before. Using the fingers of both hands, he lowered her strappy panties. Careful not to hurry, he dragged the satiny material slowly down and off. When those lacy panties dropped to the pile of clothing already heaped on the floor, Ric turned back to her, ready to devour her completely. She was so beautiful. His full and ready erection urged him to take her now, but he held back, trying to slow his plunge toward release. He wanted to make this last, to make it special for both of them.
Piper watched intently as Martinez disposed of her panties, and then as he sat back, simply looking at her. She could hardly breathe, her anticipation was so great. His powerful body was completely, beautifully aroused. Her body responded so totally to him that it was frightening. She was wet and throbbing, aching with the need to be filled by him. His kisses and his wicked t
ongue had brought her to the brink of climax already. Merely looking at him now further aroused her, adding to the frenzy mounting inside her.
She had seen practically all of him that afternoon when she’d interrupted his shower, however, certain strategic areas had been covered by his towel. But not now. There was nothing left to conjecture now. He was gloriously naked. Martinez was not only drop-dead gorgeous, he was incredibly well endowed. He aligned his body with hers, staring down so very deeply into her eyes. Looming over her like that, he looked like a naked Latin god, his smooth skin an alluring contrast to the white bandage on his left bicep.
He lowered that magnificent body onto hers, and what little breath she managed stalled in her lungs. He kneed her legs apart and lowered himself expertly between them.
“Don’t let me hurt you, querida,” he murmured.
“Don’t talk, Martinez.” She breathed the words.
He took her hands in his and held them on either side of her head just as that dark gaze held her in a sort of trance. She longed to feel his mouth on hers once more, but he denied her that pleasure, though she knew he could read the want in her eyes. Never taking his gaze from hers, he nudged her intimately, prodding her entrance with his hard, smooth tip. Instantly she opened wider for him. His next thrust sent him deep inside her, stretching her, filling her.
She climaxed.
He held absolutely still as she shuddered around his thick arousal. When she could open her eyes again he was still watching her, but the fire in his eyes gave away his own proximity to the edge. His mouth came down on hers in a tender, yet all consuming kiss. It went on and on while her inner muscles continued to spasm around him.
Then he moved.
Piper whimpered, the sound lost in his intense kisses. He thrust his tongue deeply into her mouth, mimicking the move with his hips, finding full, deep penetration. Slowly he drew his hips away, allowing his heavy arousal to drag along her tingling feminine flesh. She wanted to touch him, to pull him back inside her but he held her hands firmly in his. Her body aching for his next move, she wrapped her legs around his and pushed her hips upward, taking him to the hilt. He growled a savage sound and kissed her harder, drawing on her senses so completely that she felt powerless to do anything but feel.
He pushed her back down with his full body weight, then withdrew to the tip, taunting her unbearably. Piper wanted to rant at him, she wanted him inside her. She wanted him moving. A new climax was already building with a pounding crescendo. He went deep again. She moaned her approval. He pulled back and thrust once more, harder. His fingers tightened around hers, his expression was intent, fierce, as he started a rhythm that left her powerless to do anything but stare into those dark eyes. Harder, faster, their mingled respiration matched the frenzied pace.
The world around her flowered into color and her eyes closed of their own accord as pleasure cascaded over her. This time her whole body rocked with release, and it just kept building. When she thought the tide would recede, a whole new wave crashed down on her. Then he crashed, too, his release so violent, he cried out with it as it shuddered through him. He slowed his pace but didn’t stop, making it go on until the last ripple of pleasure subsided.
When he was spent, he collapsed beside her and tucked her body close to his. A sheen of perspiration slickened their skin. The cool air from the central air-conditioning made her shiver as awareness of her environment eventually came back into focus. Martinez pulled her closer, shielding her body with his own, just as he’d done on that sidewalk today. Protecting her, taking a bullet for her. Unbidden, tears welled in her eyes and she wanted to protect him more than she’d ever wanted to do anything in her life. Just when she would have asked him the question suddenly burning in the back of her mind, he spoke.
“I hope I didn’t hurt you, querida,” he murmured against her temple, a decidedly breathless quality to his tone. She smiled; she was breathless herself. “I tried to hold back.” He pressed a kiss there. “But I wanted you so much….” He sighed, clearly unhappy with himself.
She turned in his arms, studying his concerned face for a time, her question momentarily forgotten. “Well, if you’re not entirely satisfied with your performance, we could always do it again.” She grinned as realization dawned in his eyes.
“Is that a challenge?” He kneed her thighs apart. “Because if it is, I never, ever back down from a challenge.”
“Wait!” She pressed both hands against his chest, holding him at bay when her whole body yearned for his nearness. “There’s something I have to know. Just one question.” She had to ask while she still had the presence of mind. “Where did you learn to handle yourself so well under fire?” She had to know if what she suspected was right.
He frowned, just a little. “I told you already,” he whispered, then nipped her lips. “Where I come from you never take chances.”
Dodging his wicked mouth, she asked, “So you grew up in a neighborhood like Hope Place?”
He trailed a finger along her jawline, then down her throat. “Much, much worse, querida. Dodging bullets and bad guys was a way of life.” His finger circled her nipple slowly, so very slowly, his gaze trekking the journey with fierce intensity.
Piper shivered, anything else she would have said or even thought gone. His hand slipped lower between them; she caught her breath. Surely she wouldn’t come again even before he got inside her. But just watching him look at her, touch her, made her so hot she could barely stand it. Then that dark, sexy gaze locked on to hers and she was lost.
His mouth descended slowly toward hers.
She wanted him so desperately. She reached for him just as their lips touched.
The telephone rang.
Martinez jerked back as if someone had walked into the room and caught them red-handed. “I’m not answering it,” she warned.
It rang again. “It might be important,” he suggested, worry creasing his brow.
She shook her head. The damned phone rang again.
He grabbed the phone and punched the talk button. “Martinez.”
Ignoring propriety, Piper trailed her fingers down his chest and encircled his already fully aroused shaft, still damp with their lovemaking. She just couldn’t help herself; she needed to touch him. She stroked his length. He made a sound, not quite a groan, and placed his hand over hers to still her erotic movements.
“I understand.” He paused. “No, we didn’t go back to the station.”
Whether it was from her wicked touch or the person on the other end of the line, he looked immensely distressed.
“Yes sir, she’s right here.” He held the phone out to her. “It’s your uncle Lucas,” he said tightly.
Lucas’s timing was criminal, she decided as she accepted the receiver. Martinez got up and walked to the end of the bed to gather his clothes. The man had an amazing backside, too, she noted for future reference. “Hello, Uncle Lucas,” she said, sated and contented beyond belief. She’d never enjoyed sex that much before. That, she realized, was the way it was supposed to be. Mind-blowing. The final item on her long-ago proposed future mate profile flitted through her mind, but she instantly banished it and forced her attention to her uncle’s voice.
“Martinez?” she asked, surprised at her uncle’s question. “Oh, he’s unbelievable,” she said dreamily. Martinez shot her a quelling look as he fastened his slacks.
“What?” Piper sat up. Weaver was dead. “When?” Less than two hours ago. Near the same time someone had tried to kill her. Piper listened as her uncle explained that Weaver had been shot while meeting his fiancée in what had been considered a safe location. The Feds hadn’t wanted to allow the meeting, but Weaver had insisted. Now he was dead.
This was it. She was the only one left. She rested her head in her free hand and fought the urge to cry.
Her uncle’s next statement grabbed her attention. “Senator Rominski is canceling his trip to Atlanta?” She repeated her uncle’s words, certain she had to have heard wron
g. Lucas refused to go into the details on the telephone. He informed her that Townsend and Green were being briefed on a secure line at that very moment and they would provide her with the rest of the details.
“I don’t understand,” she argued as the last lingering remnants of pleasure she’d found in Martinez’s arms drained away, leaving her filled by this ugly reality. Lucas urged her not to worry, that everything would be fine. “I love you, too,” she whispered before hanging up.
She pushed the off button and looked up. Martinez had left the room and she hadn’t even noticed. She quickly dressed in a T-shirt and sweats and headed to the living room to find him. How could the senator back out on her like this?
Weaver’s dead. Her uncle’s words echoed inside her head.
And she was next in line on the hit list.
If it hadn’t been for Martinez they would have ended it today. She and Weaver would both be dead. She paused in her journey and closed her eyes for a moment to gather her composure. She thought of the way he had protected her, and then of the way he’d made love to her with the same fierce determination, but with utter sweetness.
Battling back her emotions, Piper walked into the living room. Townsend was already there talking in a low voice to Martinez. They both looked up when she cleared her throat.
“So, I’m the last one standing, huh?”
At the look of devastation on Martinez’s face, she instantly regretted her words.
“Miss Ryan, I’m going to brief both you and Martinez as to Mr. Camp’s plan.”
Piper dropped on the sofa and looked directly into the man’s eyes. “I’m pretty sure that I’m a goner, so let’s be frank here, shall we?”
Swearing a string of hot Spanish curses, Martinez looked away from her.
“You can’t fight an enemy when you don’t know who it is,” she said, voicing what neither of them would. She fixed her growing anger on Townsend since Martinez wouldn’t look at her. “The fact of the matter is that anyone could step out of the shadows and do me in at any time.” Townsend stared at the floor and let her have her say. “So, if we don’t know what the bad guys look like, then we’re screwed, right?”