by Zoe York
Drew felt her start ever so slightly before she turned white and her eyes rolled back in her head. He braced his arm around her back as she crumpled in a dead faint. His arm snapped tight around her waist, his other hand holding her head close to his chest. “Jesus,” he spit out, then scooped her up and carried her to one of the benches.
“Not enough food or sleep, and far too much excitement,” Rik muttered, and Drew waved him back. He needed a minute to think. Wanted a minute alone with Annie, even if she wasn’t conscious, to process what they’d just heard and figure out their next step.
What’s this “we” business, asshole?
Kevin’s voice rocketed through his brain. He made a good point. Drew was no basic bodyguard. If he wanted that life, he’d retire and let Rik pay him handsomely for doing shit fuck all. He should probably think hard about getting back to San Diego before the end of the weekend. One sick day he could get away with. If he wasn’t there on Monday, there’d be hell to pay. And not just because he didn’t file a memo.
You can’t ignore me. Mitts off my sister.
Non-issue, dick-head. It was over before it had even started, and the realization slid into his gut like a trickle of ice water.
Before he could move away, let Calli or someone else take over, Annie moaned and blinked twice. “Whaaa--”
“Don’t get up,” he admonished, pressing her back against the bench when she tried to push up on her elbows. “You fainted.”
“Great.” She groaned under breath. “Could this night get any worse?”
“This is worse than when we thought your life was in danger?”
“More embarrassing, anyway.” She lifted a shaking hand to her forehead. “Everything is spinning.”
“Give yourself a minute to get your bearings.” In his peripheral vision he saw Calli slip into the room carrying a tray. “And then you need to eat something.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“You can and you will. And there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“I ran away from a weenie wannabe reporter!”
“I dragged you away from a potentially dangerous situation where someone was spying on you,” he reminded her. “You wanted to stay and play Woodward and Bernstein.”
She laughed weakly.
As two pale pink spots reappeared on her cheeks, he eased away and held out his hand. “Up.”
“Jeez, you’re bossy. I can do it my--” She batted away his hand and pushed herself up, swaying unsteadily. “Myself.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Shut up.” She leaned her forearms on her knees and shivered.
“Eat, then bed.”
“No, I need to apologize to Rik. All this effort--”
Behind him, his friend cleared his throat. “It’s what we do. We can consider this a training exercise.”
Annie furrowed her brow, and Drew cut her off. “We can argue about that more in the morning before I leave. Calli’s brought some food.”
“You’re leaving?” She frowned and waved off Calli. “Drew, you can’t dump me on this island and then abandon me!”
“You’re in good hands here.” It sounded weak to his own ears, and from the narrow set of her mouth and the difficulty she was having looking him in the eye, even weaker to her.
“I thought I was in your hands,” she muttered.
“Sugar, I made it really clear...”
“You know what? You need to stop calling me that.” She stood and addressed Calli. “Is there a private room where I could...”
Rik’s wife didn’t even glance in Drew’s direction. “Of course. Follow me.” She picked up the tray of food for Annie and headed back to the foyer. Drew tensed, holding himself back from following like a lost puppy.
He clenched and released his fists a few times at his side, then turned back to the group of men. “What else do you know?”
“If you want to go to her, Drew, we can do this in the morning.” Rik lifted one shoulder and made a doesn’t matter face.
“No.”
“Because I get it...they get under your skin...the fighting is good for a relationship, though.” Rik grinned. “Making up is, too.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Hmm. Maybe it should be.”
Drew narrowed his eyes. “We’re not talking about this.”
Maybe you should be.
We’re not talking about it either.
The only person he wanted to talk to was Annie, and every time he did that he ended up with his tongue down her throat and his hand practically in her pants.
Trent cleared his throat and redirected the conversation back to the primary topic. “Jackson has some suggested next steps.”
The Texan nodded. “First plan. Get a message to the senator. If Annie’s faced this type of mining mission, chances are so has he--or maybe someone in his family. He’d have express service from the FBI. Let them neutralize this so Annie can get back to her life as soon as possible.”
“How do we know we can trust him?” Operating in the dark made Drew edgy. He pulled his shoulders up to his ears and rolled them forward, then back. What he wouldn’t do for a fist-fight right now. An opponent he could see right in front of him. A chance to pummel. Conquer. Vanquish.
“We don’t. Which brings us to option number two. Go to Washington, do some on the ground surveillance.”
Not a real option. Time, information, location...none of that was on their side.
“Third idea. Since you’re heading back to California anyway, you could execute this. Trent narrows down who sent the message and you pay them a visit.”
That appealed to the brute in him, but it would just expose Annie further if the chain of command went higher than the hacker himself. As much as it pained him, the answer was obvious. “Set up a secure call to the senator tomorrow. Annie will want to be in the room.”
Rik nodded, eyes narrowed. “And you?”
“Make it early. Then I’m heading...” Home wasn’t the right word. “Then I have to leave.”
Chapter Seven
Drew found Calli in the foyer, coming down the right hand staircase. She pointed behind her. “There are two bedrooms up there. Annie’s in the closer one, you can take the one just beyond that. Do you need anything? It’s not quite a hotel, but there are towels and some toiletries in each bathroom.”
“Do you mind if I raid your kitchen in a bit? I want to grab a shower first.”
“Mi casa es tu casa. I’m going to bed myself, but one of the boys will be up all night if you need any help.” She came down the last few steps and stopped in front of him. “If you’re able to stay a bit longer, that would be lovely.”
He nodded, though the look on her face said they both knew it was an empty acknowledgment.
Upstairs, he paused in front of Annie’s door. What would he say? If only everything was different? He’d already tried that. And she was right. Then they wouldn’t have reconnected at all. They occupied two different worlds and his was a deliberate cocoon.
It was for the best that she be disappointed in him now. Reinforce her earlier impression and drift away.
Better than her leaving you after you fall in love?
Out of bounds, dude.
I’m you. There are no boundaries.
I’m not afraid of anything.
You’re not afraid of heights, bombing attacks or bad guys. You’re totally afraid of a chick that might get under your skin. You know what would be really brave?
Drew shoved his door open, not wanting to entertain that train of thought any longer, but he didn’t get far into the room before the sound of running water pulled him up short. Two slices of light cut across the bedroom floor, intersecting in front of him. One from the hall behind him, the other from the bathroom, where someone was showering.
Someone who had left the door ajar.
Ignoring the thump of his heart in his chest, he exhaled deliberately and raised his voice. “Annie?”
&n
bsp; When silence was the response, he tried to convince himself to pull the door shut and get changed.
Tried.
Failed.
He pushed open the bathroom door, impervious to the wave of steam that greeted him. He was too focused on the woman on the other side of the foggy glass. She was leaning against the tile, letting the water beat against her chest, head tilted back. Gorgeous. Tired. Done.
“You should join me,” she murmured, eyes still closed. Maybe not done after all.
“What are you doing in my shower?” he asked instead of answering her invitation. He was incapable of turning it down. His only option was buying some time. Maybe hoping to piss her off again before things got out of hand.
That’s a terrible strategy.
You need to get the fuck out of my head right now. There was no way he could do this with Kevin—
I’m not hanging around, chill. Just…be straight with her.
“It’s our shower,” she said as she turned lazily under the water, and his gaze lingered on the curve of her hip. The flare of her bottom ratcheted up his pulse. “Shared bathroom, two doors.”
“I thought you were mad at me.” He swallowed hard.
“I am. Take your shirt off.”
“Don’t you think we should talk?”
She sighed. “Actually, that’s the last thing I think we should do. Come wash my back.”
Be straight with her. Fuck. “If I get in the shower, I’m going to do a hell of a lot more than wash you.”
“Good.”
“Annie…”
“Drew…” Her mocking tone made him see red, and he pulled off his clothes, shoving them under the floating counter. He might be emotionally conflicted, but his dick sure wasn’t—bobbing in front of him, reminding him he needed a condom. Goddamnit. He rifled through his pockets and palmed the foil packet he’d tucked away earlier. He yanked open the door and flicked it on to the small ledge that held a shampoo bottle before curving himself around her back. Wet. Hot. Trembling.
He slid his hands up her arms and braced his hands on the tile beside hers, present but not pushing. “You talk a good game, sugar, but are you sure…”
“Shut up.” She arched her back, lifting her head up and into his neck, her ass pressing a sensuous welcome to his cock. He rocked gently into her, and she moaned. “I need you tonight.”
“Turn around.” His instruction wrenched out in a guttural bark, but she did it without question or retort, spinning slowly in the bracket of his arms. His whole world narrowed to the current pulsing between them as her taunting, turned-on gaze slammed into his. He leaned in, holding her attention as he pressed their naked fronts together for the first time. Around them the quiet, steady sound of dripping water bounced off glass and tile, enveloping them in a private cloud of desire. “You want me?”
“Need, not want,” she panted. “You’re a jackass.”
“Ah, but I’m a jackass you think is cute.” He smirked. “Turning the tables on me, sugar?”
“You sleep with women you don’t like?” She rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”
He didn’t, but she could think that. It would make leaving easier. But she couldn’t think it about herself, not even for a second. “I like you, Annie. A lot. More than is good for either of us.”
“And do you want me?” She whispered the question across parted lips, her eyes hungry as she watched him, waiting for the answer.
Instead of responding, he pressed his erection into her belly. Jesus, he wanted inside her. Want seemed a shallow, weak word for how much he desired her.
She growled and looped one long leg over his thigh, trying to lift her core, clearly after the same thing. If they did that, this would be over before it even began, and if they only had one night, he was going to make it fucking last. But even as he palmed her breast and stroked her side, he knew this wouldn’t be over in the morning. It couldn’t be neat and tidy, either, but he was done pretending he didn’t care.
“Not so fast, sugar.” He chuckled and caught her knee, pressing her leg up and away from him. Spreading her open. “I want to look at you.”
She shook her head and twisted her hips. “Don’t make this pretty, Drew. I just want you to fuck me.”
He knew he had zero right to disagree, but again the needling got under his skin and he growled right back at her. “Oh, I’m going to, sugar. But I’m looking at a six-month long deployment soon, and this shower’s got to fuel a hell of a lot of fantasies.”
At the momentary deer-in-the-headlights look she gave him, he realized he’d said too much. The fact he was heading overseas worried her, and he felt like an ass for dragging something that couldn’t matter into this step outside reality. But just as quickly as it appeared, she shuttered that reaction and lifted her chin defiantly.
He ducked his head and laid a line of light open-mouth kisses along her jaw, ending at her ear. “I need you too, Annie.”
She wanted to call him all sorts of names. Punch him, and push him away. Yell and throw things, make him apologize, but with his mouth on her neck and his hands holding her against the tile, one on her inner thigh and the other pinning her left hand above her head…she couldn’t remember exactly why.
Right. He was leaving her.
She’d only had him for twenty-four hours. A single day of soaking up Drew’s attention, and she’d stumbled head long into a sucker’s trap. And it was all because of some fictional drama. He was an adrenaline junkie with a thing for long legs.
Her anger re-focused, she jerked herself away from his mouth. “No, you need thrills.”
“This is pretty thrilling, I’ve never made love to a hissing cat before.” He pressed closer, glancing the hard ridge of his erection against her wetness.
“You don’t make love, remember? Just easy breezy fucking in Castleland?”
“This feel easy breezy to you, sugar?” Another rock against her, another test of her anger. Why did his body have to feel so good? So perfectly big against her, filling all the sad, empty spaces. “I know I’ve been running hot and cold. But you invited me in, and I’m not leaving until morning. Now, do you want me to wash your back or not?”
“Not.” She ground against him. She wanted relief, that exhilarating high that would come from riding him headlong into an orgasm. She didn’t need foreplay.
“Tough.” One arm spun her so fast she nearly toppled over. The other disappeared for a moment, only to return with a slippery bar of soap, which he proceeded to trail down her spine and then over her bottom. “Spread your legs for me.”
She expected him to push the soap over her sex, but instead he skimmed his hand down one thigh to her knee, then up the outside of her leg and over to the other, across her hips. She wiggled for his attention, but he ignored her, moving next to her arms and shoulders. Again he looped around her erogenous zones, and she wanted to scream as her breasts ached for his touch. She stretched again, pressing her nipples into the cool tile, and he shifted to her side, his erection straining against her hip.
“Tell me what you want.” His voice was rough and warm in her ear, and she glanced toward him. His eyes were hooded, but he wasn’t trying to hide the emotions brimming there. Drew was in control of their bodies, but he’d given up fighting the feelings between them. Damn him.
“I want to come,” she whispered. Just sex. That’s all it could be. What she needed to keep this to. She closed her eyes as he cupped one breast, his thumb teasing the nipple. Pure pleasure rolled through her body, wave after wave triggered by his gentle play. Yes. She dragged a ragged breath into her lungs and bumped her hips toward him, wanting more, and he gave it to her, sliding his other hand over her hip and into the cleft of her bottom.
A dark tremor danced through her core as he drifted over her tight anus, and her response didn’t go unnoticed.
“Have you ever…?” She shook her head and he swore under his breath. “If we had more time, sugar.”
“I don’t know—”
He pressed his face into her temple. “No. But that’s definitely going in the fantasy vault.”
She shivered and nodded. “Mine, too.”
He curved his palm lower, finding proof of how much she liked the idea. “Jesus. You feel good.”
She couldn’t respond, a weak cry the only sound she could form as her mouth gaped open, because as he said that, he’d slid two fingers around her clitoris and begun spiraling lazy circles up and around, spreading her slippery moisture all over. And with each pass over that bundle of nerves, he pushed her closer and closer to the release she craved. The blinding crash of sex hormones and physical tension. But just as she felt everything start to fall away, as she shifted into that muzzy altered headspace, he pulled back, still touching her, but slow enough that she lingered on the cusp. Floating. Wanting. Happy.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “I can’t wait to be inside you.”
She whimpered in agreement, and he moved his mouth to her neck, pressing the barest of bites to her skin there. Then he dropped to his knees behind her, and she grabbed her chest, desperate to replace his touch with her own. He nibbled at the base of her spine, making her squirm against his hand still steadily teasing her folds. And then lower, he kissed one cheek and then the other, and she thought she’d die for sure, of either embarrassment or pleasure or both. When he bit the back of her thigh, she knew it was the latter because she lifted her leg in wanton offer, not caring in the slightest what she looked like, just needing his mouth there. There. And as he kissed her core, the very heart of her, sucking her clitoris into his mouth with greedy abandon, she flew apart, clutching the wall and then his head as she rocketed to oblivion.
Drew caught Annie as she tumbled into his lap. His kitten might have claws, but she was sated for the moment. He reached up and turned off the shower, snagging the condom at the same time.
“You’ve got crazy ape arms, you know that?” She peered up at him through half-closed eyelids and licked her lips. “And crazy other things, too.”
“And one of them isn’t done with you.” He ground against her ass. Oh, to take her there…but that needed time. And trust. Maybe one day they’d have another chance…