by Karen Anders
He turned to look at her; her eyes were open and staring at him.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re thinking really hard. I was afraid your head might explode.”
“You don’t find this all very strange?” Max asked.
“What?”
“My being chosen to guard you.”
Rio shrugged. “Why would I think that was strange? I don’t even know you, nor do I have any pull with my boss. I screwed up, remember?”
“I remember, but still, there are plenty of other agents in the FBI my boss could have chosen.”
“Did you screw up?” she asked, taking a sip of her drink.
“What?” He hadn’t screwed up. He’d been pursuing his cases in the gung ho way he always did. All except the Ghost’s case. That was something he was pursuing under the guise of his FBI job, but was really much more personal to him. His supervisor had never really come out and said he should drop the Ghost’s case. It got him to thinking this bodyguard assignment with Rio had come at a crucial point in his investigation. Was he seeing a conspiracy theory where there wasn’t one?
“Maybe you treaded on somebody’s toes and this is your punishment.”
“Rio, I’m on a sun-drenched beach with a beautiful woman for a two-week walk-in-the-park assignment. Where is the punishment?”
Rio bent over to rummage around in her bag and Max almost swallowed his tongue. The globes of her breasts sidled together to form cleavage he couldn’t take his eyes off even if his life depended on it.
“You do have a point there,” she said casually as if she wasn’t giving him the peep show of his life. “But I’m tired of thinking and worrying about what happened,” she continued, shoving and searching through her bag.
Each time she moved, her firm, round breasts danced and bounced. He licked his dry lips. “Can’t we just take a break from all this and enjoy some time on the government’s dime?” He watched as her silky auburn hair slid along her shoulder and dropped down into that sweet cleft between her breasts. His heart rate accelerated and he started to sweat.
Damn she was sweet, such a visceral addiction, all heat, the taste and feel and scent of her imprinted on every fantasy he’d had, which was driving him insanely crazy.
Today had been such a tease, to be with her and meet the challenge of keeping his desires and his imagination in check. He’d done a pretty poor job of it. Every inch of bare skin had made him want to run his tongue over her to make a connection, to get her wet and mark her as his…the side of her neck, the tender inside of her wrist, the expanse of bare leg in that schoolgirl skirt. He wanted his mouth on her everywhere.
It was a conquest thing, meeting the challenge, and she was such an exquisite challenge. Yeah, he knew the goal. He understood what was happening between them.
It was like he wanted to meld with her, but he wasn’t a guy who “melded.” He was a guy who conquered.
Okay, it was a little crazy how much he’d thought about her, how much he wanted her, and there was nothing about the fact that had made him happy. His life was all about control, and wanting something he couldn’t have did not fit the paradigm.
But here she was, flashing him, and he’d gotten hard.
Rock-solid hard.
Finally, she found what she was looking for and straightened. She slipped the sunglasses on her face and looked at him expectantly.
He was supposed to answer, supposed to form words and do what humans had been doing for centuries—communicate.
“Okay,” he heard himself say as if the logical, quick-witted part of him had separated from his primal part. One syllable words. This was going downhill fast.
But not all of it was his fault. The water lapped against the beach in an erotic push-pull of waves, the palm trees swayed in the soft, gentle wind. He was standing in a freaking postcard for a sex-filled vacation. He was truly outnumbered and outmanned by an auburn-haired vixen with a glorious body and an intriguing personality.
Right. He was thinking about her personality right now.
He watched as a waiter walked up to her and asked her for her drink order. The waiter’s eyes lingered on her breasts and sidled down her torso and her legs. Max wanted to sink his fist into the smiling bastard’s face for even looking at her.
Quite the revelation for a man who prided himself on relying on quick thinking and fast reflexes rather than the use of brutality when it came to problem solving in tricky situations.
And he’d been in her presence for less than twenty-four hours.
After she ordered a virgin piña colada, she looked over at him. “Do you want something, Max?”
Did he want something? He wanted everything. He remembered what it had been like to kiss her and he wanted that again.
He remembered what it had been like to touch her, the feel of her hot, wet desire against the sensitive pad of his fingers. How could he forget that?
What he wanted to experience was how she’d feel naked in his arms. Ah, he bet she’d be so freaking soft, and so incredibly hot. The whole short interlude in the plane’s lavatory was permanently hardwired into his memory banks—and there she was, not three feet away, smelling like exotic perfume, in a red string bikini, with her hair coming undone.
“Max,” she said, pulling down the sunglasses so she would have an unobstructed view of his meltdown.
She was so unexpected. Her eyes were clear and guileless and such a pure jewel-like amber, her skin so satiny, her hair an awesome shade of auburn that caught the sun and burst into flame…everything about her so polished and just so.
“Whiskey, straight. The good stuff,” he said, eyeing the waiter.
There wasn’t a namby-pamby umbrella drink that would take care of what he needed now.
Rio gave him one last look and pushed her sunglasses back up her nose.
Max squeezed a generous amount of sun lotion in his hand and finished the job of protecting his skin. With a muttered curse he said, “I’m going for a dip.”
Unfortunately when he hit the ocean waves, the water was a balmy 81 degrees and didn’t cool him off one bit. He should have requested they go to a mountain retreat. No, that wouldn’t have been any good, either. Then there would have been a roaring fire, and with the cold there would have been too much of that trying-to-keep-warm business, which would lead to snuggling and other things that generated body heat.
When he got back to where Rio lounged, she was sipping from a tall glass with a little pink umbrella stuck in it. She glanced up at him and smiled. He picked up the whiskey on the side table of the cabana chair, the liquid the same color as her eyes, and downed the whole contents in one burning swallow.
“You okay?”
“Couldn’t be better,” he said. He walked over, snagged another chair and dragged it to where she was. The beach boy brought him a towel and Max dried off quickly and sank down in the chair. He reached for his discarded shirt, stripped his sunglasses out of the breast pocket and slipped them on.
“You’re not really a vacation type of guy, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Okay, I’ll spell it out. You’re a workaholic, right?”
“No. I’m not. I put in my time, but I take time for fun.”
She snorted. “Your overtime, you mean.”
“I can have fun when it’s the right time. I just chafe at being pulled away from open cases.”
“You mean your pursuit of the Ghost.”
“What do you know about it?”
“I got briefed. I know what happened to your sister. She was quite courageous, I might add.”
“Yes, she was amazing and I almost lost her because of the Ghost. You don’t remember anything about him that could be helpful?”
“No, I’m sorry. I wish I could remember.”
“How about giving me some details on how your mission went wrong?” When he saw her stiffen, he held up his hands. “I’m not asking for any mission specifics, Rio, just what happen
ed to you and how it came about you saw the Ghost.”
She was debating. He could see that by the way she worked at her bottom lip with her teeth. He also knew when she made a decision because she took off her sunglasses and looked at him.
“All right, but please don’t ask me any mission particulars. I can’t…”
“Divulge. I understand.”
“I found Eduardo Fuentes’s compound late at night. I didn’t know it was his at first until I got closer. I figured it would be a good idea to scout the area before I continued on my way.”
“Reconnaissance can save your life,” Max said.
“Yes, I can vouch for that. Anyway, I was tired. I had been up for twenty-four hours, most of that moving over tough terrain. I found what I thought was a good place to lie low until the sun came up and I could make my way around the compound and get to my destination.”
“I wouldn’t second-guess that call, Rio.”
“What makes you think I’m second-guessing it?”
“Just a hunch,” Max said.
“Okay, so I am. I’m thinking I should have just continued on my way. Working around the perimeter in the dark surely wasn’t optimal, but I could have done it.”
“Sure, and you could have walked into a booby trap or encountered a guard. It was a good call.”
“Are you always so sure of yourself?” Rio asked.
“Yes.”
She laughed as he’d meant her to because he knew how dangerous field work could be.
“How do you know so much about moving through a jungle in the dead of night?”
“I was a marine. I’ve been in more deserts than jungles, though.”
“Mmm, a few good men. Are you good?”
“I am.”
She gave him a soft smile. “Anyway, I found a suitable place and bunked for the rest of the night. When I woke up, it was still very dark. I realized I was on the very edge of the compound, but I’d hidden myself well. Well enough to see one of the balconies overlooking the compound. There were two men standing there talking. I pulled out my binoculars and when I focused in, I was overjoyed. It was Fuentes. The other man I didn’t know, but he…he looked so familiar to me.”
“Familiar? How so?”
RIO KNEW SHE HAD to be careful here. She really hadn’t seen the man’s face enough to identify him for the DEA, but Max didn’t know that and he couldn’t know that. It was the lie she was telling to keep him occupied and fill out her cover story. She hated the duplicity, but she had no choice. She was here duping Max because her boss had told her that a DEA agent’s life hung in the balance.
“He was in shadow and in profile, but something about him made me think I’d seen him before. Unfortunately, I just can’t remember anything important about his features.”
That seemed to appease Max. The next part of her story was all true and she wished she didn’t have to run the events of her capture through her mind ever again.
“Is it possible during one of your past missions, you came into contact with the Ghost and, of course, didn’t know it?” Max asked.
She shivered. In all the times she’d relived those events, over and over again, awake and in endless nightmares, she’d never once contemplated that possibility.
“It’s possible,” she agreed. “I’ve been on many drug raids and dealt with many shady and dangerous people. It was probably where I’d seen the man Eduardo Fuentes was talking to. Fuentes let it slip that his guest, the shadowy man on the balcony, was in fact the Ghost.”
“Fuentes told you the man was the Ghost?”
“He didn’t mean to and I’ll get to that.”
“Please, continue.”
She closed her eyes to gather her composure. That was an out-and-out lie she was telling. She couldn’t be sure that the man on the balcony was the Ghost. He could have been the Ghost’s lackey for all she knew.
They flew open when her waiter placed a platter of fruit on the side table between them. “Would you like anything else? We’re closing up for the night.”
“No, thank you,” Rio said. The waiter nodded and disappeared. In fact the little cove they’d settled in was quite empty. Most of the hotel guests had gone inside for dinner.
“Help yourself,” Rio said.
“Not right now. I want to hear the rest, Rio.”
She nodded. “This is the part of the story where you have to promise me you won’t laugh.”
“Laugh? Jeez, Rio. You’re in that much danger and you think I’ll laugh at you.”
“You haven’t heard the rest yet, have you?”
“No, but I can’t imagine you think I’d be amused at any part of this story,” Max said.
“Do you know anything about howler monkeys?”
“What?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Not really.”
“They’re red, of course, and not usually aggressive. They make this roaring noise and live in the canopy. I also need to mention I’m a bit afraid of monkeys. In fact, I am downright terrified of them.”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
“You’ll like it even less when you hear. One jumped on me straight from the tree I was standing next to. It lost its balance after it hit me and made a terrible noise as it went down.”
“What did you do?”
“I screamed so loud the angels in heaven probably looked around trying to figure out where that noise came from.”
“So if it hit heaven, then I’m sure Fuentes’s men heard you,” Max said.
“They sure did.”
This was where she expected him to laugh, but he didn’t. He looked at her for a moment, then rose and crossed to her chair. He sat down next to her and took her hand. “I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve never encountered a monkey and I have to say I’m not particularly fond of them. But if one jumped on me in a tense situation, I can’t say I wouldn’t have screamed like a little girl.”
“Screamed like a little girl?” she queried, trying to hide her sudden amusement.
He held her gaze, and then said, “With pigtails.”
She laughed then, and felt her heart contract and expand. The sensation was delightful and disturbing, as well. With the reality of why she was really here in such an idyllic spot with such a tempting, tantalizing man, she should say something intentionally provocative and flirtatious. She should because the probable outcome of the mission she was on, and the fact only one of them was going to be getting what they wanted, wasn’t exactly conducive to forming any kind of ongoing relationship. So to deflect and seduce, enjoy what they could have and be happy with that, would certainly be the wise course of action. It was certainly the course of action she’d always expected herself to take in such a situation.
She’d already suffered enough loss—her parents, Shane. Putting her heart on the line seemed just too dangerous to her, ironic really. So she didn’t do serious relationships.
“Why do you think the monkey jumped on you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it thought I was part of the tree. I was dressed in camo. I’ll never forget the look on its face. When I screamed and jumped away from it, my feet got tangled in the undergrowth and I fell. If I hadn’t been incapacitated, I swear I would have run for the hills.”
“Maybe he thought you were another howler monkey with all this red hair.”
She laughed again and didn’t know how he did it, but she suspected the next time she thought about this incident, she’d do so with more humor and less fear.
“So they caught you.”
“Yes. Hit me so hard I blacked out. As I was coming to, that’s when I heard Fuentes say they had better not have killed me because he wanted answers as to who I was and why I was there. He said he didn’t want the Ghost inconvenienced and was expecting a weapons shipment. That’s all I heard before I blacked out again. At least, it’s what I thought I heard.”
“Come here,” he said, reaching over and tugging on her arm.
“You’re too far away. This can’t be easy for you,” he said, pulling her across his lap and shifting back until he was the one with his back against the canvas of the cabana chair. He pulled the canopy over them. Her side rested against his bare chest. “Much better.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I know it doesn’t count for much, but I don’t like dragging you through this, either.”
It was all so much—unburdening herself, trying to reconcile having someone else understand what she went through, then this…this overload of sensations with him holding her, caring about her…“I can handle this,” she said while not making the least effort to climb out of his lap.
“I know you can. You took on a howler monkey and lived to tell the tale.”
She groaned. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”
“Far be it from me to tease you about the monkey, Rio. I think what you went through and how you’re dealing with it is admirable.”
She trembled a little, wanted to be strong enough to scoot away, but had the presence of mind to finally admit to herself this felt good. Having someone on her side didn’t just have to mean physical support. It meant emotional support, too. And her world wouldn’t come to an end if she admitted she needed a little of that right now.
“I’m not used to this, Max,” she said. “And I find it’s too easy to lean. I’m not the leaning type, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the support.” She turned so she could look more fully at him. “Now that you know more than the DEA, are you happy?”
“How is that?”
“I didn’t tell them about the monkey. I couldn’t. I just told them a guard saw the gleam off my binoculars and caught me. So now you know one of my most humiliating stories.”
“I’ll go to the grave with it,” he said.
“You will? My hero.”
With that, he leaned closer and captured her mouth. And that felt pretty damn good, too. How he had gone from complete stranger to this in such a short time, she had no idea. But he was here. And, for now, she liked it that way. Enough to kiss him back.
And despite the fatigue, the stress, the pain—or maybe because of it—their passion quickly got out of hand. And she did absolutely nothing to stop it. There was so much left to be said, so much more to go through, and this felt so very, very good. There wasn’t enough of this in her world, and she, quite greedily, decided to take it now that it was here.