When Fernando finally set the brush down, he took up a washcloth. He anointed it with honey-scented soap, then leaned over the edge of the tub and stroked it slowly down the side of her face and neck. She purred under its rough touch. He rinsed the soap away with water poured from a cupped hand.
Carolina smiled in response. He saw her relax, her arms loose and comfortable where they hung from her wrist restraints. Fernando let out the breath he’d been holding and began to wash her in earnest. With the cloth, he gently scrubbed every inch of her warm, gleaming skin. He smoothed it down her side, traced circles over her stomach and worked his way up between the soft flesh of her breasts. To reach her back, he climbed partially into the tub and embraced her, whispering endearments in her ear as he washed her. He lifted her long legs out of the water one at a time, massaging her thighs, calves and feet as he scrubbed. Fernando wanted to memorize every sensation of her smooth, wet body against his.
His cock throbbed before him, erect and wanting her, but he forced himself to wait.
He knelt in the water, straddling her, and traded the cloth for his hands. Now he rubbed rose-scented body conditioner onto her arms, shoulders, neck, and then over her soft, full breasts. He adored Carolina’s body. He loved being the one who did things for her. Fernando’s fingertips brushed her captured wrist. He interlaced his fingers with hers. Words would have failed him—he was glad he didn’t have to speak.
She tilted her head back, shaking a lock of black hair out of her dark eyes. Her full lips curved and opened slightly, enough for him to see the questioning tip of her tongue. Fernando accepted the invitation, lowering himself more fully into the water on top of her, wrapping his whole body around her and taking her mouth.
In that moment, he could pretend she belonged to him. He could let his trouble fade, becoming only a man, alone with a woman who gave herself to him freely and completely.
Fernando held his weight off Carolina with one arm while he shifted to the side to allow room for the other to slide between their bodies. He touched the tip of one hard nipple and watched Carolina’s eyes. She closed them and arched her back toward his touch. “Don’t let me go,” she whispered.
He kissed her again and rolled the nipple between his fingers, tugging and twisting it slightly. When her breathing became fast and heavy, Fernando released her breast and brought his hand down between her legs.
He started by simply stroking her thighs, in and out of the water, sometimes using light scratches, sometimes rubbing firmly and sometimes barely feathering his fingertips over her. Then he gave her the palm of his hand, keeping it steady and strong over her mound. Carolina lifted her hips and rubbed against it. Fernando could feel her body’s wetness, thicker and slicker than the water.
He watched her face, already flushed from the heat of the bath, grow even rosier. She clenched her teeth and wrinkled her forehead as she sought her pleasure. Fernando grinned as she used her bound hands for leverage to lift higher and harder against the stimulation he offered.
“Here,” he whispered, and increased his pressure, pressing her back down into the water, pinning her against the porcelain surface of the tub. He adjusted his hand to bring his thumb toward her clit. He circled around it patiently, gradually approaching the erect nub, increasing his pressure as he did. His first direct touches to the sensitive flesh were fast and fleeting, but as she grew used to the sensation, Fernando adjusted his circles to rub firmly over her clit.
Carolina’s breath began to come in gasps. He kissed her to feel her moan into his mouth. She worked her tongue against his as desperately as she moved her hips.
Fernando continued to slowly draw the orgasm from her. He never wanted the moment to end. He let his fingertips tease her lips and entrance as he circled his thumb. Little cries sobbed from the back of Carolina’s throat and into his mouth, then she suddenly threw her head back and pressed up against his hand so hard that her hips lifted above the waterline. Fernando released the kiss and watched the glorious play of ecstasy across her beautiful face. He felt pre-cum weeping from his cock, but still he wanted to delay the moment.
He kissed her wrists and the restraints that kept her captive before him. She twisted in the tub until she could rub her cheek against his stomach. Fernando wanted to carry her to the bedroom. He moved to release her hands but Carolina shook her head. One shapely leg emerged from the water, dripping, and wound around his waist. She tugged him toward her center.
Fernando could not resist. He propped himself up with one arm on either side of her and let her pull him into place. He plunged into her with both tongue and cock, kissing her again to keep from crying out at the pleasure of burying himself within her heat. Water sloshed around them, spilling over the sides of the tub. Fernando’s knees ached from holding his weight against the hard porcelain tub. He did not care about anything except the woman moving beneath him, winding her legs around his waist and pulling him ever deeper into herself.
He could have come the moment he entered her, but he gritted his teeth and held back. He wanted to feel her around him for as long as he could. He moved slowly, the water settling down into a gentle wave washing over and around them. He pressed into her deeply, giving her everything he had. Unwinding her legs from his waist, Carolina planted her feet against the shower wall and opened herself to him in return. Her hips rolled beneath him and he knew she was close again.
Fernando released her mouth and ran his teeth lightly down her neck, finding the tender spot at its base. He nibbled there and her bucking grew more forceful. He let her take his full weight for a moment and slipped his hands under her ass, gathering her body up toward his and grinding his pelvis hard against her clit.
She sobbed her approval. She pressed up hard enough to lift them both and he held her through it. When he felt her relax, Fernando gave in to his own urgent need. He claimed her one more time. He allowed his thrusts to speed up, to go deeper, to express the full force of his desire for her.
He could not take that for long. His release came powerfully and completely. Fernando clasped her in the water, kissing the side of her face until his mind escaped the grip of pleasure.
“Thank you,” she said after a moment.
“Thank you.” He did not dare ask what next.
He reached again to release her hands, but Carolina stopped him with a sound of protest. “I can’t leave you like that too much longer,” he said, concerned. “You need circulation.”
“I need you to tell me the truth, Fernando.”
“Let me take you to bed.”
“No. You do it here and now.” She wrapped her legs around him, preventing him from pulling his softening cock out of her. “I heard on the radio that you are wanted. That you didn’t show up for trial. That you are accused of something terrible.”
“I didn’t do it,” Fernando said. The denial sounded weak even to him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
He tried to pull back but she did not allow it. He settled for lifting his torso in an uncomfortable curve so he could at least see her face. “I’ve done bad things, Carolina. You’re right. I lied to you about what I do. I’ve committed plenty of crimes. Just not this one.”
“It’s convenient that the crime you’re arrested for is the one you didn’t commit.”
“It’s not like that,” he protested, wishing he had new words to talk about this. Every sentence he uttered felt like a trap. The water had begun to grow cold around them. Fernando shivered despite the heat of Carolina’s body. “This is different. I wouldn’t hurt a child.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re accused of doing it on purpose. It sounds like the little girl was collateral damage.”
The warmth he’d been feeling toward Carolina went cold all at once. “Let go of me now.”
Carolina froze, then responded. Fernando stood to remove his body from hers, then stooped to undo the restraints. “Wait, Fernando,” she said.
“These come off now. If you can bel
ieve I would do something like that, why the hell would you want to be with me like this?” The cold fire of outrage churned through his body. He did not want to watch her face but could not take his eyes off her. Her chin trembled.
“I loved you, Fernando. I wanted to say goodbye.”
“Loved. Past tense.”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “Yes.”
His anger dropped, replaced by the fear of losing her. “You can’t even entertain the possibility that I might be innocent?”
She sat up in the bath, rubbing her wrists. “If you’re innocent, why couldn’t you trust yourself to the authorities? You’d be acquitted, wouldn’t you?”
Fernando pursed his lips. He didn’t want to argue with her, didn’t want to give her more details of the life he’d never wanted her to know about. Melancholy triumph spread over her face and his resolve broke. “I have enemies,” he said shortly. “And they have people in the jail. Working there. I’d be killed if I went there for any time at all.”
“That can’t be—”
He considered showing her the marks on the soles of his feet, where one of the prison guards had burned him while he waited for his meeting with Guy Nolf. Fernando decided against it. He could not alarm her that way. “Can you believe anything I’m telling you?”
Carolina gave a disbelieving laugh. “I can, Mr. Works in Finance. I just feel stupid about that now.”
“Carolina. I came here because I wanted to ask you—”
“Don’t, Fernando. Don’t.” She turned her face away. He knew she was crying, but when he touched her shoulder she shook him off. “Get out now.”
Fernando stumbled into his clothes and out her door in a muddled daze. He could not believe it was over.
Chapter Seven
Muttering from Emily woke Javier. He opened his eyes slowly. His arms and chest ached from sleeping in the restraints and his back creaked from the way the couch scooped under his weight. He bit his lip to keep from alerting her with a groan and craned his neck to see what had her complaining. The bleary sensation in Javier’s head insisted that both of them should still be asleep. The clock above her television agreed—4:00 a.m.
She was stooped over her beaten-up desk in the corner of the living room, cursing at her computer. He took a moment to admire her. Her thick hair hung down her back, longer than he’d realized. Her shoulder and left arm emerged from the curtain of it. Up close, he saw the muscle definition that belied her slender build, the lovely curves and lines that flickered over her slim limbs whenever she moved her arm or tapped her foot. She reminded him of a ballerina or an acrobat. The strength he’d felt from her seemed impossible in such a small, graceful body.
He still wanted her. The worst part about spending the night restrained had been being prevented from giving himself any relief. Once Javier had admitted he wanted to stay in her custody, Emily had refused any more kissing. Seducing her so he could stay was apparently just as bad in her eyes as seducing her so she’d let him free. Too bad she couldn’t accept that he wanted her for the entirely uncomplicated reason any man would.
Of course, there were a boatload of complicated reasons why he shouldn’t want her, and equally many reasons he should be thinking about Fernando and what to do going forward instead of about the tantalizing expanses of skin being shown by the woman before him. But Javier had never liked thinking about the unpleasant details of his personal life. He much preferred solving puzzles. Without access to electronic problems to solve, Emily’s body presented the most fascinating and distracting enigma available.
Emily cursed again, louder this time, and curiosity overcame Javier. He hauled himself into a sitting position, the couch creaking so much he feared it would crack beneath him. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” She growled the word.
Javier had to laugh. “What would you be doing if that computer weren’t driving you crazy?”
“Looking my quarry up on the Internet.” She turned toward him and shrugged and Javier had to master the appreciative gasp that threatened to rise from his throat at the sight of her. The bulk of her silver boxing shorts emphasized the slender power of her waist and legs. Without a bra under her thin white tank top, nothing prevented the dark pink of her large nipples from showing through.
With an effort, he parsed the meaning of her sentence. “Quarry? You mean my brother?”
She sighed. “No. This is a different job. Much as I’d like to concentrate on finding your brother, I can’t afford the risk.”
“Of concentrating on him?”
Emily gave Javier a wry smile. “I need to do jobs I know I’m getting paid for. Much as it would be nice to get fifty grand for finding your brother, I have to buy groceries in the meantime.” She turned back to the computer, stunning Javier again with a view of the compact curve of her ass. “You would think a woman with a criminal justice certification would be able to manage an Internet search, but apparently—”
“Mind if I take a look?” Javier struggled out of the evil grip of the couch. His joints felt better as soon as he stood up.
“You think I’m letting you near the Internet? Won’t you just send a message to your brother?”
“You can stand there and watch the whole time. Tackle me if I open webmail. You’ve proven yourself more than capable.”
Emily laughed. “All right, fair enough. I’d beat this thing into submission, but apparently computers can’t feel pain…”
“Yeah, if you’re at that point, you should let me handle this.”
Javier crossed the room to her and turned so she could release his restraints. She made a frustrated sound but set about letting him loose. Up close, he smelled the most alluring scent possible on her skin—his own. The traces she bore of his cologne reminded him how recently she had been in his arms. Combined with her fingers brushing over his, Javier had to suppress another overwhelming surge of attraction.
A few clicks of the mouse told Javier all he needed to know. “Your operating system’s too far out of date to run the latest version of this browser, which for some reason is the one installed. You could update your operating system or revert to an older version of the browser. You’re having trouble because the browser wants to go on the Internet to fix the problem, which requires a working browser.”
“Oh my God, I need coffee before I try to make sense of that.”
“If you want to do the reversion, I can handle that in a few minutes while you go make yourself some coffee.”
“Nice try, buddy.”
Javier had already begun opening windows and scanning through files. “Maybe we should talk about these trust issues you have, Emily.”
“Trust issues? Why should I trust you? Why would you want to help me?”
Which reason would she believe? That untangling problems on a computer came so much more naturally to him than fixing problems between people? That he would take any opportunity to get his mind off what Fernando was supposed to have done? That this was his way of impressing beautiful women such as herself? “I’ve got nothing better to do,” Javier said finally.
She bit her lip, a gesture that made him think too much about her mouth. “Well, that’s not technically true. How long is that going to take? We’ve got to leave before it gets too late.”
He stopped clicking and stared at her. “First, I don’t know any sane human who defines four in the morning as late. Second, what is this ‘we’?”
“Targets tend to be less trouble when you catch them sleeping. I actually meant to get going half an hour ago, but I had some trouble waking up.” She blushed in a way that caught his attention. Had she struggled to fall asleep? Javier hoped she’d mentally replayed their encounter as many times as he had. “Anyway, I can’t exactly leave you alone here, can I?”
“Trust issues again.” He clucked his tongue and waved her toward her computer with a flourish. “Your Internet awaits, my lady. Though I do have to recommend you update your operating system—older version
s are much more vulnerable to hacking.”
“Yeah, thanks. Next time I have a few spare dollars I’ll get all over that.”
Javier peered over her shoulder, watching her type in a name and initiate a search. “You think the Internet’s just going to tell you where that guy is?”
“Look, I know I screwed up with you, but I’m not that bad at doing my job. We’re driving this morning to a list of addresses where the subject is likely to have holed up—girlfriend’s house, mother’s house, stuff like that. The search is just to see about any obvious information I should know, like that the guy posts all the time on message boards about how awesome it is to own assault rifles. And you’d be surprised. A couple months ago I found a guy because he kept posting his location on publicly visible social networks.”
Javier smiled. “People never fail to impress.”
“Tell me about it. I usually pay a skiptracer for help with this sort of thing, but she’s been flaking on me lately.”
“You pay someone to do Internet searches for you?”
“I pay someone to gather information for me.”
“I could help.”
“I would answer that, except I think if I hear the phrase ‘trust issues’ from you again I’m going to have to smack you.”
“You’re grouchy in the morning.”
He enjoyed the narrow-eyed look she shot him more than he should have. “You’re awfully cheerful for someone who’s going back in restraints as soon as I finish this.”
Flirtatious banter. This was good. He barely needed to think about Fernando when she started talking like that. “Emily,” Javier said, trying out Fernando’s charming smile again. “I thought we’d gotten past the point of needing restraints.”
“Fat chance.” She gave a satisfied nod in the direction of her browser and grabbed Javier by the shoulders, spinning him away from her and pulling him tight against her body. Her breasts brushed against his back. He thought her nipples hardened at the contact. Javier moaned.
“You get way too excited when I manhandle you.”
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