Blogger Bundle Volume I: Dear Author Selects Unusual Heroines

by Jo Leigh, Kathleen O'Reilly, Kay David

  RAUL PARKED directly in front of her house. Feeling too conflicted even to think about the consequences of what she was doing, Emma led him up the sidewalk to her gate, then through it, to the door. Her thoughts whirled, but she hardly noticed. Her body was the only thing that counted right now. Every emotion, every sensation, every feeling was something she’d never experienced before. The wind on her face, the heat of the evening, even the call of the wild parrots from next door—it all felt so different, almost unreal.

  Raul’s kiss had triggered something needy in her, something she didn’t even realize had been missing until this very moment. As they entered her house and he swept her into his arms, she wondered blindly if it had been his kiss or his offer of friendship that had brought them to this point.

  She had to have both, she realized now, and maybe he did, too. She wanted a man who needed her, but she needed a man who wanted her. There was a hidden side to him that called out to her, a side that said he’d been hurt, too. They could heal each other, at least for a night.

  He lifted his hand to her face, cradling her cheek in his palm. Their eyes met and locked, then he lowered his head and began to kiss her.

  CHAPTER NINE

  SHE ENTERED his embrace with an urgency that surprised him, and he took full advantage of her passion, ignoring the voices in the back of his head that insisted he leave while he still could. Their advice was useless and he knew it.

  He couldn’t have stopped kissing Emma any more than he could have stopped his heart from beating. She was too soft, too tender, too willing to let his lips and hands put aside the pain that was now a part of her very soul. As his mouth covered hers and he tasted the sweetness of her tongue, he thought of the way she’d looked when she’d told him about her children. He had never seen that kind of anguish on anyone’s face. It had ripped into him with a sharpness he’d never forget. In his past, he’d lost years, but she’d forfeited something even more precious. Her future.

  Their kiss deepened and he knew he was lost. Lost and crazy, for sure. Raul wanted Kelman, and he’d counted on using Emma to get him. The way he felt about her this very minute was not part of the plan, and it never had been.

  She murmured into his open mouth and made a sound of longing. Splaying his hands across her back, he answered her with a groan of his own, everything else fleeing his mind. A second later, he picked her up and began to climb the stairs to the second floor. To her bedroom.

  She clung to him with her arms around his neck, and when they reached the top, she nodded to the right. He turned that way and entered the room that faced the street, the one where he’d seen the light and billowing curtains that first time he’d sat outside her house. A huge four-poster bed took up one wall, and he headed straight for it.

  In two quick steps, they were there. Emma slid from his arms as quietly as a whisper, then raised her hands to his shirt. Unbuttoning it, she stayed silent, but behind her touch was a desperation that needed no words to be communicated. Raul felt the same way. He urged her out of her jacket and her skirt and blouse quickly followed. Within seconds they were both naked.

  He said nothing; he was afraid to break the spell as he stared at her in the darkness. Like Emma’s touch, he let his eyes communicate his thoughts. You’re beautiful. Beyond anything I ever imagined, even in my dreams. Her gaze met his in understanding, then she lowered it and brought her pale hands up to rest on his chest. The feel of her fingers filled him with desire.

  He forced himself to stand still and simply drink in the beauty of her body. In the dim light coming through the bedroom draperies, she was a carved statue, her skin the color of pearls. He knew at that moment he’d never forget, no matter what happened in the future, the way she looked right now. Her blond hair, hanging to her shoulders, echoed the creamy tint; the nipples of her breasts were a pale rose. The only shadow of darkness fell at the apex of her legs, and even there, he saw simply a deeper shade of ivory. She looked fragile and vulnerable, and staring at her, Raul felt as though he had just learned a secret no one else could possibly know.

  Finally he could stand it no longer. He lifted his arms and put them around her, and the feel of her skin against his own ignited their passion immediately. They fell onto the bed, a tumble of arms and legs and open mouths. Emma’s hands danced over his body, sending him into a spiral of passion. He returned the favor, his own touch sweeping over her and finding nothing but the soft neediness of a woman too long without someone who cared.

  They kissed deeply, almost as if they couldn’t part, Raul’s hands slipping over her polished back to her buttocks. Cupping their sweet curve, he managed to bring her even closer. A moment later, he tore his mouth from hers only to drop it lower, then lower still, his tongue finding all the places she’d kept hidden until now. She moaned under his caresses, then arched her back and cried out.

  When he rose above her, their gazes met in the gloom. Her lips were swollen, her eyelids half-shut, heavy with desire that had already been spent and that yet to be released. Without thinking further, he kissed her once more, her scent rising between them to cast a magical spell. For what seemed like a lifetime, they stayed that way, their lips their world, then finally he drew back once more. He reached for the foil-wrapped condom he’d brought with him. A second later, he entered her.

  EMMA’S FIRST LOVER had been an older man, a professor at her college. She’d been young and ignorant, too naive to understand what was happening until it was over. Afterward, they’d continued, because they’d started and neither seemed to know how to end it gracefully. The second man she’d made love with had been her husband. Their time in bed had produced the two most precious people in the world—her children. If Todd’s touch had been hurried, his kisses cursory, it hadn’t mattered.

  Neither of those two experiences meant anything anymore. Not after Raul’s lovemaking.

  Emma curled up on her side, the sheet pulled over her bare breasts, and stared at the closed door of the bathroom. The sound of running water escaped from beneath the threshold, a shadow accompanying the noise as Raul apparently crossed the room. She shut her eyes for just a second and ran her fingers over her mouth and down her neck. Her body felt the same, but how could it be? Surely it had changed under the fire of his touch, welded itself somehow into another form altogether. It must have, for she felt completely different on the inside.

  She lay perfectly still and relived the past hour. She felt as though she was in shock. Nothing had prepared her for this…this complete annihilation of her previous experiences. It wasn’t just the fact that Raul had touched her, she realized slowly, it was how he’d touched her. His fingers going over her skin as if he were a blind man, his lips covering her mouth as if he was dying of a thirst only she could quench. Raul had devoted himself to her, and in doing so, he’d lifted her up to a place she’d never been before. She truly felt loved.

  She opened her eyes slowly and rolled on to her back, her stare going to the ceiling. She knew the truth and she wasn’t trying to fool herself; Raul didn’t really love her, and she didn’t love him. They had come together in the heat of passion and nothing more. She was a fool to think there might be a possibility for something else. She didn’t even want it to be more, she told herself. There was no place in her life for love, other than that for her children. All her energies had to go in that direction. Yet, for just a moment—

  She abruptly cut the thought off. He didn’t love her, but there was something there, something that made her desperately want to tell him about Kelman. But what could she say? She wasn’t even sure that the man was trying to bribe her. And what if he was? Handling the problem was no one’s responsibility but her own. She shook her head, her hair whispering against the pillowcase. She was losing it. Sleeping with a client was bad enough; talking about another one with her lover was even worse. She draped an arm over her eyes as if to blot out her thoughts with her vision. A moment later, she felt the mattress move. She jerked her arm away to find Raul sitting
on the edge of the bed, staring at her. She hadn’t even heard him return.

  From the open bathroom door, a thin shaft of light fell on part of his face, illuminating his cheekbone and the line of his jaw. The rest of his face remained in shadow. Emma looked at him and thought about what she’d done, how she’d let this man into her life—into her bed—even though he was almost a complete mystery to her. She’d only seen a sliver—like the pale yellow beam—and she knew nothing of the rest.

  He seemed to sense what she’d been thinking. “Regrets?” he asked.

  “No.” She answered quickly—and truthfully—despite her thoughts.

  “Good.” He leaned down and kissed her. Pulling back slightly, he raised one hand and plucked a lock of her hair from the pillow to rub between his fingers. “You’re a beautiful woman, Emma. Inside and out. I’d hate it if you felt this was a mistake.”

  “That only happens when one person expects more than the other can give,” she said. “That’s not the case here.”

  He looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  She rose to support herself on her elbows. “We aren’t in love,” she said bluntly. “This means no more than it needs to—for either of us.”

  He leaned closer to her, his black eyes inches from her own. “Are you a mind reader?” he asked. “How do you know what it means to me?”

  His words threw her off, confused her. “I…I’m just making things clear,” she stammered. “I know you aren’t looking for a long-term relationship. And I understand that. I’m not, either. I just wanted to let you know that was okay.”

  “But what if I was?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You aren’t.”

  Their eyes locked. “You don’t know that for sure,” he persisted. “You don’t know what I’m looking for.”

  She tugged the sheet higher, suddenly cold. “You’ve never been married. Never had children. You told me yourself you liked it that way. I assumed you meant it.”

  He shrugged. “You’re right,” he said carelessly. “But things can change. Just because a situation is one way right now doesn’t mean it’ll always be that way.” He turned, the light now gleaming on his shoulder. “Things can change. People can change.”

  His words were curious, but to press him would be useless. She could tell that just by looking at the stiffness of his back. She’d touched a nerve, and she knew exactly how painful that could be. Raising her hand, she traced a pattern down his back, her fingers smoothing the ridge of his spine.

  “What kind of lawyer were you back in Washington?” she asked quietly.

  “I practiced family law.”

  Nothing could have surprised her more. “Family law?” she repeated. “You mean, like divorce…and custody battles? That sort of thing?”

  He nodded. “I worked for a big law firm. The cases were heartbreaking. It wasn’t work I enjoyed, but I usually felt as if I was doing some good.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “It was time,” he said cryptically. Turning to face her once again, he leaned down and kissed her before she could ask anything else. And within a few seconds, she didn’t care that he said no more.

  TUESDAY MORNING, when Emma crossed the lobby to give Christopher the report on Raul’s account, she again briefly considered telling him about Kelman. Just as quickly she dismissed the idea for several reasons. One, bosses hated problems—potential or otherwise—and telling Christopher about it now, after the fact, would do nothing but make him think she was second-guessing herself. It’d make her look weak and inefficient. She’d taken care of the problem and there was no reason to tell him about it. Besides, the bank paid her to handle her accounts, and that was what she’d done. She’d handled it. Kelman might not think it was over, but she knew otherwise.

  As she approached Chris’s office, she knew there was another reason she didn’t want to bring up Kelman’s name. It was going to be hard enough to get through the meeting just talking about Raul. She wasn’t sure she could do it and not give away what had happened between them. She had to, though. There were no rules about sleeping with clients, but Emma wanted nothing of her private life to enter the realm of her professional one.

  She knocked on the door to Chris’s private area, then opened the door.

  Glancing up from the reports he’d been reading, Chris regarded Emma with a neutral expression.

  She nodded toward his desk. “I see you got the news. The Santos account was funded last night.”

  “I looked at it first thing this morning.” Tapping the file with his pen, he shook his head and sighed. In his fifties and balding, Christopher Evans did his job and did it well, but he was only passing time in Bolivia, just like everyone else. It wasn’t a place he’d aimed for, but circumstances had brought him here.

  “I checked the account last night,” Emma said.

  “I certainly didn’t expect to see the funds, but they were there when we came in.”

  “We?”

  She licked her lips. “I asked Mr. Santos to meet me last night so we could discuss the problem. He was positive the funds had arrived and insisted we stop by and check.” She held out her hands. “And he was right. They were there. Maybe there was a glitch in the system.”

  He looked skeptical. “A glitch? I don’t think so.”

  “I don’t, either,” she confessed. “But the money was there when we looked. I imagine our draw beat his deposit—that’s the only explanation.”

  “The main thing is, it’s there now,” Chris answered. “And it’s a good account, Emma. Congratulations. You did well for the bank by landing it.”

  The praise was unexpected, and Emma smiled, albeit nervously. “Thanks. I was glad to get it. The money will certainly come in handy.”

  “I’m sure it will.” He paused. “But stay on top of it. That’s a pretty big balance. We don’t want to get involved in something sticky. Things are different here, but we still have rules. Make sure he fills out an F-Bar.”

  The F-Bar was a report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account, and Chris’s reminder was purely routine. Any U.S. citizen holding more than ten thousand dollars in a foreign account had to file this report with the IRS. Hidden assets were something the feds didn’t care for—they couldn’t tax what they didn’t know about. Yet Emma’s pulse took an unexpected jump. If Chris felt he had to warn her about Raul’s account, what would he say about Kelman’s offer?

  “I’ll keep an eye on it,” she answered thickly.

  Making her way back to her office, Emma threw a glance at the vault as she passed by its stainless steel doors. Kelman’s briefcases were locked inside, but she knew they were there, like a snake waiting to strike.

  She’d made plans to have lunch with Reina, so she worked until a little past two, then headed out, stopping at Felicity’s desk to explain where she was going. “I’ll be back in an hour. If Mr. Kelman comes by, tell him I won’t be gone long.”

  Standing in the shade of a tobaruchi tree, Emma waited for Reina. The Japanese restaurant they were going to was nearby, and it was just as easy to walk as it was to catch a cab. Emma felt her mind go right back to the night before. Thoughts of Kelman and Raul, but mainly Raul, took turns driving her crazy. She prayed she wouldn’t slip and say anything to Reina. The other woman would go nuts if she knew what had happened. A minute later, Reina flew up the street, fanning herself and fluttering with apologies.

  “I am so sorry.” Reina linked her arm through Emma’s and gave her a soulful look. “I had a client I just couldn’t get rid of, or I would have been here on time, I swear it. You aren’t mad at me, are you?”

  With a start, Emma looked down at her watch. She hadn’t even realized until Reina spoke that she’d been waiting fifteen minutes.

  “Oh, my God!” Reina squealed. “You didn’t even notice, did you? For once you would have thought I was on time, and I blew it.”

  “You’re always late,” Emma answered, hoping Reina wouldn’t notice h
ow flustered she was.

  “What does it matter?”

  Crossing the street, they dodged a scruffy dog and two children chasing it. “It doesn’t matter to me,” Reina said with a sidelong glance. “But it usually does to you.”

  As they drew closer to the restaurant, the walkway became more crowded, and Emma acted as if she hadn’t heard her friend’s comment.

  Reina had radar for Emma’s feelings, though, and she wouldn’t let the topic die. Pausing at the curb, they waited for a light, then started to cross a minute later. “What’s going on?” Reina asked as the crowd pressed in around them. “You’re upset about something. I can tell.”

  Before Emma could answer, she felt a bump from behind, then an unexpected push against her side. “What the…” She sputtered an expletive and stumbled slightly, grabbing her purse a little closer as she did so. After regaining her balance, she turned to look over her shoulder to see if she could spot the culprit. Only strangers with blank and unfamiliar faces looked back, yet for one quick second, she thought she saw a flash of gleaming dark hair and even darker eyes. Raul?

  Reina jerked around even faster. She’d felt the push, too. “¡Ten cuidado!” she cried. Take care! Cursing soundly, she grabbed Emma’s arm and bustled them to the other side of the boulevard. A few minutes later they made their way into the restaurant and collapsed on one of the padded cushions beside a low-legged table.

  “These people!” Reina shook her head and gratefully accepted the cup of tea the waiter poured. “I can’t believe it. They’re incredibly rude. Are you okay?”

  “It’s nothing,” Emma replied. And it was. She was actually quite relieved. The incident had taken Reina’s attention away from her question.

  They placed their orders for shrimp tempura and the fresh sushi they both enjoyed, then Reina turned her relentless gaze to Emma as the waiter left. “Now tell me what’s wrong.”