"What, then?"
"So much has been happening lately, I can't seem to keep track of it. On top of everything else, I lost my job. And tonight, Jack . . . Jack Kingsley came over. He, uh, flew in for business. He thinks I'm crazy to try and find Jenni." She stopped pacing and clasped her hands together nervously. "Am I?"
"You didn't have any trouble with this Jack, did you?"
"No." She glanced up and smiled weakly. "But he wasn't happy when I told him to leave."
Nick's big body moved quickly from the desk to Alex. Even without their touching, she received the impact of his energy, not in a torrent or rush, but a gentle outpouring cascading through her until she wanted to force him to her. This was why she came tonight—for the vitality only Nick could give her.
His powerful hands rested on her shoulders and the warmth radiated directly from his body to hers. The magnetism between them was intangible but real, urging her toward him.
For someone who functioned on the cutting edge of life, who spoke of calculating the enemy and demanded so much of her, his words were surprisingly encouraging and gentle. "You aren't crazy to want Jenni, Alex. We're going to find her, just be patient. I know this job thing has knocked you back somewhat, but we'll work something out."
She smiled shakily. "Thanks, Nick. Your confidence is contagious. I needed to hear that, especially tonight." Her hands sought the natural refuge of his chest. She could feel the pulsing vigor beneath the muscled wall and spread her fingers to encompass as much of him as possible.
"Why did you really come here tonight, Alex?"
"To check on the progress of the search for Jenni. To make sure you were still on the project." Alex broke down with a little laugh. "To hear you say this whole thing isn't crazy . . . oh, I don't know, Nick."
"I think I know," he murmured low and pulled her to him, slowly, ever so slowly. His eventual kiss was cool and tantalizing, not demanding as before, but beckoning, promising, sensual.
Alex swayed against him, then tried to pull back, but he held her securely. "Nick, I—"
"I think I know how you feel, Alex. Now that I've held you all night, I want you again. And again. It's damn hard to let you go."
She pressed her forehead to his chin. "I've never felt this way before. So mixed up." How could she tell him she needed him?
"I wish I could tell you that everything will be all right, Alex."
"Now, that's just too idealistic, Nick Diamond. Even I know that," she teased with a smile.
Nick took a deep breath, inhaling her alluring fragrance. "Being with you is the only idealism I want, Alex." He kissed her hair and slid his arms around her, pressing her close. His invincibility penetrated her being and Alex clung to his solid strength.
"I want to be with you, Nick."
"Tonight? All night?" Nick's voice reverberated with sensuality. "Don't tempt me, Alex. We aren't playing games anymore."
She nodded, admitting her true feelings to him and herself at the same time.
Nick locked the office and turned out the light. He tucked the files he'd been studying under one arm and looped the other around Alex. Without another word they mounted the back stairs together. Nick opened the apartment door and motioned her inside. "It isn't very fancy, but it's close to my work." He moved with familiarity in the room's darkness while her eyes adjusted. Alex heard him toss the files on a table before he returned to fold her in his arms.
"Alex, oh, my Alex . . . I’m glad you came tonight. I’ve missed you, wanted you."
As she buried her face against his chest and joyously breathed his rich, masculine scent, her world became complete. Tonight, she would enter the secure fortress of Nick's dominion.
Nuzzling, urging her face upward, Nick's lips left a moist trail across her cheeks until they merged exultantly with her eager lips. Tasting and teasing, he kissed her until she thought she would cry out for wanting him. But, he was in no hurry. Nick's lips seduced her slowly and gently but ever so surely.
Alex matched his forays with her own darting tongue, nipping at his lips, meeting his licking flames with her passionate sparks of vitality. She bit at his lower lip with her white teeth and he moaned and thrust instinctively against her loins. The reflexive action revealed his arousal, and she took feminine pleasure in the sensation.
When the squall they created swelled to a raging hurricane, Nick trembled with the potency of his desire. Gone were the gentle, stimulating kisses as his tongue plunged the inner reaches of her sweet mouth with a pulsating rhythm. She moved erotically against him, her hips matching the rhythmic motions.
Alex opened wider to receive his male thrusting, allowing the female part of her to gratify his hunger. As his hands traveled over her curves, outlining each contour, Alex knew shamelessly that soon she would be the one receiving gratification to her craving need. And she could hardly wait to feel him. She started peeling off her clothes.
"Nick, watch me, hold me," she gasped breathlessly.
"I don't think I can ever get enough of you, Alex. You're driving me crazy. I've never been like this." He shifted and began to undress her.
"I need you, Nick. And, I trust you ... so much." She waited, quivering nude, while he peeled away his clothes.
"Alex, I'm burning to touch you . . . everywhere."
As she stood before him, burning with a brushfire of desire building within her, Nick explored every part of her body. His fingertips swirled over her, searching out and stroking each of her erogenous zones until she was moaning with erotic pleasure. His lips followed, drawing her desire to the surface of every inch of her skin as he suckled her breasts and nipped the tender tips. Then his mouth plunged downward to her navel, and beyond to the fringe of her feminine crest.
Alex gasped as his fingers slipped inside to the moist softness awaiting him.
"Oh, God, Alex—"
"Nick," she murmured unevenly. "Don't stop. Don't ever let me go." Her hand closed over his arousal and his great body trembled with anticipation and agony.
Even as he lowered her to the bed, Nick wondered if he would hurt her worse by holding on to this joy they had or letting go now. It seemed inevitable that letting go would be the end result.
But it was too late to contemplate. With a compelling urge beyond his control, Nick immersed himself in Alex's softness, plundering relentlessly with each frenzied thrust. In the distant darkness, he heard her cry out his name in ecstasy.
"Nick! Nick!"
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Morning came softly. Hands touching soft places. Gentle kisses on eyelids. Warm breath on cool skin. The sensuous smells of hibiscus and sage.
She turned to him, wordlessly.
"I love to run my fingers through your hair. It's like silk. Yellow silk that smells like fresh flowers." He placed several kisses along her hairline, ending with soft, sensuous nibbles along the top edge of her ear.
"For someone so big, you certainly know how to be gentle." She shifted to plant indulgent kisses along his muscular chest, pausing to taste the two hard, budding nipples. Her blond curls brushed across his bare skin, and she heard his breathing accelerate. With a satisfied smile, she laid her head on his chest.
"With you, mi vida, it comes naturally." He caressed her head then buried his large, bronze hand in her silken tangles. "Ahh, if you keep this up, Alex, we may never get out of bed.”
“I want to stay here forever.”
“Then stay.”
“I have to go to work this morning.”
“Me, too. But later. . . much later. . . ” His hand softly traced her body.
"You tempt me. Wicked man.”
“You intoxicate me, Cherie.” And he stretched himself over her, legs along the inner part of her legs, spreading them. He braced on his elbows but his palms pressed hers into the bed. “I’m drunk with desire.” He kissed her long and hard, pushing her legs further apart.
"Oh you wicked man," she giggled and squirmed until they fit together nicely. "Using your brute strength against me is t
aking unfair advantage, you know." She arched her back and hummed a sigh.
"I see you aren’t trying to escape." He moved and continued to tease her.
She rocked her hips. “Come on. . . don’t wait.”
“Like this?” And he thrust himself inside her.
“Yessss… Nick, I love you. . . ” She clutched his lower back fiercely and rode the erotic climb with him, thrust for thrust.
His small pushes slowly grew into powerful lunges until they both reached the pinnacle of sexual satisfaction with sounds of joy and exhilaration.
Later, they moved away from each other, slowly. . . reluctantly. "I really do need to go soon,” she said. “I only have a few more days of work left. There are some projects I need to finish. And I'd like to make one last check on the two pre-schools in the field. I hope they can make it on their own without University supervision."
"You want everything tied neatly in a bundle. " He propped himself up on his elbows and his head swerved slowly from side to side. "My golden, golden girl who plays by the rules. Too bad the world doesn’t always do that. But I shouldn’t complain, It gives me a job. Because I, too, want things to be done right, without harming anyone." Dark, unruly hair edged his forehead and a slow grin broke beneath his mustache. “I admire your principles.”
"Are you the fixer, Nick?"
“Hope so. Sometimes I am.”
"I believe in you, Nick. Even though we almost bought a baby in Guaymas a few days ago, something that still sends chills down my back. With you, I helped smuggle exotic birds across the border without spilling the beans to anyone. I'm sinfully infatuated with a rogue of a man I met in a foreign country, even to the point of knocking on his door in the middle of the night, saying ‘please take me in’. Worse yet, this man may possibly be hiding from the law. That means I am, too. And, all this without a question, or at least without a question answered from my rogue." Her blue eyes danced spiritedly.
He kissed her nose and murmured with a hint of seriousness, "Senorita, when this is all over, we’ll have a long talk."
"I know." She smiled sadly. "You aren't the infatuated type. It's all right, Nick. What we have is enough for me. I'm a big girl. I know the risks."
He sighed heavily and pushed her away. "It's not you, Alex. It's just that, sometimes things get out of control in my world."
"I understand, Nick." She sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. "Do you have an idea about when . . . when all this will it be over?"
He stood up and gazed out the window. "Probably when we find Jenni."
"Am I foolish to keep chasing her? And hoping she’s safe and all right?"
"Not foolish at all. It would be a sin to stop at this point, Alex. I have confidence we’re going to find her. Sooner than later."
"Thank you, Nick." She took his hand. “I needed to hear that.”
“You must know that I’m in it for the long haul, no matter what, Alex.” He kissed her fingers, then gave her with a guilty grin. "We’re both too damn persistent to quit now."
“I appreciate everything you and Jose are doing.”
His dark eyes flickered with something close to viciousness. "I won't stop until those bastards are caught. All the way up the ladder too. Not just the fool who snatched Jenni off the street, but everyone who's connected along the way."
"I guess I never considered the others," Alex admitted thoughtfully. "I just keep thinking of the guy in the photo with half a face. And how much I hate him."
"He's just a link, but an important one. He's probably already passed Jenni on to another link and is back on the street again. We figure he doesn't know anyone has a photo of him or can connect him in any way, so as soon as he gets rid of her, he may feel free enough to try again. That's what we're banking on— that he'll feel safe enough to let himself be exposed. And ultimately caught." He punched his fist into his other palm.
She angled her head. "You and Jose really have this thing figured out, don't you?"
He shrugged bare, broad shoulders. "Only figuring the angles. If this doesn't work, we'll try something else. You can see by what happened in Guaymas, there are various ways these baby rings work. Sometimes direct. Sometimes down a chain. We intend to track the chain all the way to the end, even when it leads into the States."
"When? Then, you think it will lead into the States?"
"Eventually. Yes."
"Is that your cold, calculating mind at work, thinking like the enemy?"
"Yep. Trying my best.”
"It’s been lovely, but I have to report to work, Nick. Too much to do, too little time. Do you have a warm shower in this place?"
"Sure. A warm shower. A kitchen. And a bed. All the comforts of home."
She stood by the window. "I never noticed before, but you even have a great view of the city."
"It's prettier at night. You can't see all the shacks."
"But in the daylight you can see the mountains. One of my field projects is a pre-school near there, in a small village. I hope they can keep it going after—"
"Alex, stay with me."
"What?"
His hands framed her bare shoulders. "Stay here with me. Until we find her and you decide what you’ll do."
"Thanks for the invitation, Nick, but my rent is paid until the end of the month."
"That's only a couple of weeks away."
"I know, but I expect to find her by then." She turned abruptly and began picking up her clothes, discarded so carelessly on the floor. "Now where is this wonderful shower with the warm water?"
He nodded toward the small tiled bathroom. "In there. I'll start the coffee while you test the water."
She gave him a teasing grin. "You can even cook too? My, my, what amazing skills go with a calculating mind."
He laughed. "Wait'll you taste my fabulous veggie omelet."
"And I make great toast," she claimed as she stepped into the shower.
By the time she was dressed, he had prepared a small omelet and coffee. Just as he poured them a second cup of coffee, someone knocked. Nick headed for the door. "Must be Jose. No one else visits me."
"Are you saying that no other women knock on your door at odd hours?" she teased with a grin. “And end up spending the night.”
Nick didn't answer but let his hand affectionately trail her shoulders as he crossed to the door.
"Sorry to interrupt, Capitan, but this is important." Jose's dark eyes edged past Nick's shoulder to glimpse Alex sitting at the breakfast table, her hair still wet from the shower.
"Sure, Jose. I'm just late getting started. What's up?"
The two men huddled as information was exchanged. Alex strained to hear their words but their voices were too low. She almost slid out of the chair in her efforts and was tempted to simply join them. Then she realized their discussion might not concern the search for Jenni at all. Maybe they were planning another airlift of exotic birds. Or something worse.
Jose left abruptly, without even acknowledging Alex's presence. Tactful, she thought. Wonder how many times he's found Nick with a woman who obviously spent the night.
When Nick rejoined her, his expression was serious. "Father Ramon called with an identification of the man in the photo."
Alex's eyes grew round. "He actually knew from half a face? How—"
Nick's eyes halted her.
"I know, don't ask," Alex reiterated. "So what do we do with a name?"
"Jose and I feel it's time to include the policia in the investigation. He's going to talk to our contacts in the local police department about the information we have. The photos. The identification. The abduction in the photo. We have a suspect and a crime. We now have proof of a missing child."
"Do you think they'll help us find her now, with all this info?"
"They should be more willing, with the new evidence."
"Nick, this is amazing! Wonderful! I'm so excited! We're actually getting close!" She hopped up and hugged him.
"Take it easy, Al
ex. The hard part isn't over yet."
"Oh, God! We're on the verge of finding her! What could possibly go wrong? What do we do now?"
"That's the hard part. We don't do a damn thing. We wait."
"It's been two whole weeks, Nick! How much longer?"
"I told you this waiting wouldn't be easy. Alex, every cop in this city will be looking for this guy. It just takes time. He'll slip up. It'll happen. And when it does, we have our man. Our link."
"What about our child?" She looked at him quickly, then turned away. "I didn't mean it to sound like that. I meant, in the meantime, what's happening to Jenni?"
Nick's hands clasped gently on her shoulders and caressed her down the length of her arms. "Alex, try to hang in there. It shouldn't be too much longer. And you have to keep telling yourself she's okay." He pulled her into the comfort of his arms and held her for a long time.
Two weeks later, she took him up on his offer.
"How much longer?" she wailed, motioning futilely to the stacks of boxes and clothes piled on her bed.
“Any day now,” Nick answered routinely.
"That's what I thought two weeks ago. Now, here I am moving in with you. I thought—"
Nick turned her around and held her close. "Never mind what you thought. We’re doing the best we can. Besides, living here with me won't be so bad. I don't snore. And I make a damn good cup of coffee."
"Oh, it's not that, Nick. You know I . . . want to be with you. It's just that this search is so frustrating. I know I won't be such a great companion. I’m really stressed. Plus, there isn't much for me to do to keep occupied, now that my job has been dissolved."
"Maybe we can find something for you around the office."
She chuckled. "What? Driving getaway?"
"Now, Alex, don't be snide. Don't you trust me yet? I was thinking more of secretarial stuff, like answering the phone and—"
"And brandishing a mop wherever it's needed?"
"There you go, again. Maybe you could help build the tour business, like helping us with advertising ... we really haven't tried very hard to push it."
"No," she scoffed. "You've been too busy transporting strange cargoes at night."
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