by Joanne Rock
“They’ll get a warrant and post his picture, but they can’t make an arrest until they know where he is. He could be out of the country or back in Florida.” He stalked closer, his blue and white Oxford button-down back in place now that he’d ditched the clothes from the Marquis. A worn gray T-shirt lurked underneath.
“Or he could be on his way to the resort, like he told Lianna.” Marnie’s heart beat faster, but only because of Jake’s proximity. She didn’t worry about Alec when she was with Jake.
He might have spied on her without her knowledge, but he’d also made sure her name was cleared. His sense of right and wrong had demanded it. And she really, really liked that about him.
“Alec won’t touch you.” Jake plucked her bag of shampoo and toiletries from her hand. “I promised you that no one else would touch you but me, and I broke that vow when those bastards grabbed you tonight.”
Anger blazed in his eyes, but his hand was gentle when he slid his fingers beneath her hair along the back of her neck.
“I think the promise was that we wouldn’t let other people touch us,” she clarified, remembering well those words they’d spoken that first night at the Marquis when she’d been exhausted and acting on pure instinct.
She’d wanted him then for reasons she hadn’t fully understood. She wanted him more now, even knowing he could stride out of her life without a backward glance once they returned to Miami.
“Semantics.” He stood so close that she had to look up to meet his eyes. “I let you down tonight and I’m so damn sorry I didn’t protect you.”
Green eyes probed hers, asking for forgiveness she would have never guessed he needed. And, oh God, she wanted to give him that and so much more.
“Jake, I never would have sat quietly in our suite at the Marquis while you did all the investigating. So if you think it’s your fault for not locking me up in the room, I can assure you I only would have left to contribute to your case in any way possible. Remember, it was my good name and reputation on the line.” She smoothed a hand over the unrelenting wall of his chest where his heart thudded a steady beat. “I didn’t ride shotgun with you for over twenty hours on the way up here so that you could put me in the backseat once we arrived.”
He tucked both hands under her hair, his thumbs remaining on her cheeks to skim small circles on her skin. She could catch hints of his aftershave when she leaned close enough, and the spicy scent lured her nearer with vivid memories of the last time they’d been wrapped around each other.
“But I never would have involved you if I had thought there was any real danger.” He shook his head, brows furrowed together in worry. “Embezzlement is a white-collar crime. The chance of violence is—”
“It wasn’t Alec we had to worry about.” She tipped her forehead toward his neck, absorbing the warmth of his skin. “I didn’t know the guests of the Marquis could turn so aggressive, and since it’s my job to be very well acquainted with all the properties I recommend to my clients, I assure you I won’t advise anyone else to stay there.”
“I’ll call Vincent and make him aware of that, too.” Jake rubbed his cheek over hers, the light abrasion of his stubble sending a sweet thrill of longing through her. “He needs to know that place is a lawsuit waiting to happen so he can disassociate with it before someone gets hurt.”
His arms banded around her tighter as he spoke, his hands sliding down her back to span her waist. Her hips.
“I was just about to take a shower so I could wash away the feel of strange hands on me,” she confessed, shuddering at the memory of being grabbed. Shoved. Held against her will. “Maybe you could help.”
She hoped it didn’t sound like a desperate come-on. But she needed him. Wanted him. Knowing that her last relationship had been a lie from the start had made her feel more than a little empty inside. And all the in-your-face holiday reminders urged her to take what happiness she could now.
He edged back from her enough to see her face, and perhaps to gauge her expression for himself.
“I’d like that,” he said finally, picking up her bag and untwining himself from her enough to lead her toward the shower.
Marnie thanked her lucky stars.
Once inside the bathroom, he leaned over the tub to crank the hot water on high. Then, setting her bag down on the edge of the vanity, he pulled her into his arms. Kissed her.
Marnie had a vague impression of clean white tile everywhere and a crisp linen shower curtain surrounding a huge claw-foot tub, but after that, her senses were only attuned to the man and the moment. Jake’s mouth covered hers, molding her against him to fit just the way he wanted. She seemed to melt everywhere, her knees going boneless and her insides swirling hot and liquid.
He filled her senses, obliterating everything but him and a vague sense of heat from steam filling the room. His tongue stroked hers with seductive skill, reminding her subtly of all the sensual tricks he could perform.
A moan reverberated deep in her throat and he answered it by sliding his hands under her T-shirt and skimming the cotton up and off.
“I fantasized about you in the shower at the Marquis,” he admitted between kisses rained along her exposed collarbone. “I wanted to point all those showerheads at you.” He palmed the cup of her corset where it pushed up one breast.
She’d been in too much of a hurry when they left the Marquis to change out of all the complicated underwear, settling for exchanging the gown for jeans and a T-shirt.
“I fantasized about you in the shower, too.” It was impossible not to have sexy imaginings under the powerful water pressure at the Marquis where the spray nozzles were strategically positioned to hit the erogenous zones. “Except I thought about focusing all that jet power here.”
She palmed the hard length of him through his jeans, stroking upward while he sucked in a gasp between clenched teeth.
“But after the day you had, I’m going to make sure tonight is all about you.” He turned her around so that he stood behind her, his one arm still wrapped around her waist. “Look.”
Blinking her eyes open, she saw their reflection in a mirror above the double vanity. Any moment, steam would cover the image since it crawled up the glass already. But for the moment, she saw herself with flushed cheeks and eyes dark with desire, her red hair tousled and clinging to Jake’s shirt. His muscular arm dwarfed her, the thick bicep making her look small and delicate against him while his tanned hand roamed the white satin corset.
“This is what I will remember from tonight.” In a million years, she would not forget the sight of herself, wanton and all but writhing against Jake.
“You look so good. I can’t wait for a taste.” He unhooked the first few fastenings on the corset and bent to place a kiss on her back. In the meantime, the steam covered up their reflection in the mirror.
All at once, he wrenched apart the sides of the corset, undoing the hooks in one move.
“Come on.” He tugged the garment down, unfastening the garters holding her stockings as he went. Soon, all she wore was a pair of pearl-gray lace bikini panties—something of her own underneath the layer of under things she’d bought at the Marquis.
She trembled everywhere as Jake hooked a finger in the lace and dragged the panties down her thighs. He didn’t pause except for a single kiss on her stomach, right beside her navel. Toes curling against the tile floor, she didn’t protest when he lifted her off her feet and stood her in the tub.
He shielded her from the water, taking the handheld sprayer off the hook to shoot down into the tub before he peeled off his wet shirt. When he reached for his belt, however, she couldn’t simply watch any longer.
“Let me.” Nudging his hands aside, she worked the buckle herself. “I want to taste you.”
Jake couldn’t have refused her on a good day. But tonight? After the scare she’d had back at the Marquis? He would have let her string him up by his toes if she wanted.
And this was so much better.
Her skin f
elt softer than silk against him, a sleek, gliding warmth that peeled his clothes away until he was bare-ass naked and rock-hard in her hands. Leaving a condom on the sink, he stepped into the tub with her.
Steam drifted up from the water around her so she looked like a slow-motion beauty shot in some film, her red hair curling around her neck with the heat. Her lips perfectly matched the tight peaks of her breasts, the deep pink flesh puckered and ready for his kiss.
Except then she was down on her knees in front of him. Kissing. Licking. Savoring every inch of him with a slow thoroughness that made his blood rush and all his muscles clench.
He longed to hold back, to let her take the lead in every way. But his release pounded in the base of his shaft already, coaxed on by the feel of her fingernails scraping lightly up his thighs.
“Marnie.” He stroked her hair, blocking out everything from the day but this. Her.
A slick trick of her tongue all but did him in, and he had to pull back. When she blinked up at him, she moved as if to kiss him again, and he had to hold himself away for a second to pull it together.
“I want to be inside you when I finish.” He dropped to his knees with her in the hot water rising slowly up the sides of the deep tub. “I want to be everywhere at once.”
In fact, it seemed imperative to make her feel good all over. To erase every fear and unpleasant sensation and replace it with pleasure. Wrapping her in his arms, he bent his head to her breast.
“Like here.” He flicked his tongue along her creamy flesh as he cupped her. “I’ve been thinking about doing this ever since I kissed you here in the dressing room yesterday.”
Taking his time, he lingered over his feast, scarcely coming up for air until she whimpered and dragged his hand down her body, almost to the water level. Right to the juncture of her thighs.
He drew back enough to take in the full-body flush of her skin, the parted lips and half-closed eyes.
“You’re so beautiful right now.” He anchored her waist with one arm while he sifted through the damp curls that shielded her sex. “When I first saw you take off your dress at closing time in one of those surveillance videos, I imagined you just like this. Passionate. Demanding.”
He’d fantasized about her all the time after that. Not because she’d been wearing the sexiest black and red bra imaginable, or because she possessed curves any man would love to touch. No, he’d been fascinated by her uninhibited dance and her obvious joy in life.
That was sexy as hell.
“Really?” She opened her eyes fully, the gray flecked with gold as she arched her back and rubbed against him like a cat. “Then touch me. Now.”
By the time he stroked along her silky center, she was so ready for him that she cried out at the contact, her body convulsing in a heated shudder. He throbbed to be inside her, the need to take her so sharp that he couldn’t possibly play around in the tub just for the sensual thrill of it. The time for playing had come and gone, leaving them both on fire and shaking.
He leaned away just long enough to retrieve the condom and roll it on. Then, leaning her against the back of the tub, he stretched over her. Hips immersed in the water, he edged her thighs wide to make room for him. When he slid inside her, she cradled his jaw in her palm, wet fingers trailing down his cheek as their gazes locked.
He’d never felt so connected to a woman. Not during sex. Not ever. There was a fire in her eyes that called to him. Challenged him. Made him want to join her in all those unrestrained dances of hers.
Jake responded by thrusting deep. He touched every part of her, possessing her for however long she would have him.
Her eyes slid closed and he focused on the building pleasure, the keen tension already so taut he thought he’d snap with it. Heat flooded his back as water swirled around his legs and sloshed over the sides of the tub.
Marnie’s fingers clenched the porcelain rim to hold herself up. He thrust over and over, finding a rhythm that tightened the knot inside him to until it became sweetly excruciating. Her feet wrapped around the backs of his calves, holding him in place. She cried out as her release hit her, racking her body with shudders.
He followed an instant afterward, unable to hold back another second. Their shouts mingled as seamlessly as their bodies, the sound echoing through the tile bathroom and off the churning water as they moved.
Long minutes later, when he stopped seeing stars, Jake heard the sound of running water and remembered why they were there in the first place. Toeing off the nozzle, he shifted so that Marnie lay beside him in the bath. He would take care of her. Watch over her every second until they returned to Miami.
He couldn’t risk her being hurt again, something that awakened a dark realization. Would she ever be safe with a guy like him? He’d been so certain when they first met that he would have made a move on her if she hadn’t been a suspect. He’d wanted her badly. But now that he’d spent time with her, he recognized she wasn’t the kind of woman he normally dated. She might seem easygoing and fun-loving on the outside with her impromptu stripteases and dancing around her office while belting out her favorite songs. Beneath that, however, she was as intense and passionate as him.
She could mean so much more to him than anyone ever had before. Which was exactly why he needed to be careful not to get any more caught up in her world. He didn’t want her hurt, and that meant he had to protect her—from himself, from the dark world that he moved in and from anything else that might threaten the most warm-hearted woman he’d ever met.
11
AN HOUR AFTER THEY ARRIVED at the All Tucked Inn, Lianna still couldn’t stop shivering.
She hid it well enough, she thought, keeping her coat on while she unpacked her clothes, then trading it in for a soft chenille lap blanket while she prowled around the room she would share with Rico. But the chill that had set in back at the Marquis wouldn’t go away.
If anything, she’d only gotten more nervous on the ride here, seeing the connection that shimmered between Marnie and Jake. It was obvious they had strong feelings for each other and it had made Lianna wish she could step back in time for a do-over with Rico. She’d thrown herself at him shamelessly, treating him like any other guy at the Marquis who only went to the resort to practice their seduction skills. But she didn’t want a relationship like that with Rico. He was more than just a fantasy man. He’d come after her when he thought she was in trouble. Surely that meant he must care despite the superficial way they’d related to each other at the start?
Peering over at him now as he shoved around a few logs in a cast-iron woodstove, she felt a fresh wave of nervousness.
“I’m glad you followed me,” she told him, still surprised that he’d come after her in a snowstorm.
“Yes? You’ve been so quiet since we arrived, I was beginning to wonder.” He set down the poker on the hearth and watched her thoughtfully.
Maybe she hadn’t hidden her worries as well as she’d hoped.
“I’m just shaken up, I guess.” It felt strange to admit the weakness. To talk about something that mattered with a man she’d once viewed as simply another player—like her. Or at least, like she used to be. She wasn’t so sure she wanted to play the games going on at the Marquis anymore. “I’m a lawyer. I defend those accused of crimes. I’m not used to being on the receiving end of accusations. Having Jack—I mean, Jake—think that I could be a criminal…”
She trailed off, still processing the emotions of the night. She felt like she’d been on a roller coaster with all the highs and lows, beginning with Rico’s kisses in the hallway outside the dining room and ending with taking to the road to elude a devious liar who’d fooled her from the beginning.
Rico rose and crossed the floor. As he drew near, she clutched the chenille throw tighter, not sure what she wanted from him just yet. Being with him here felt different than at the Marquis. She felt more naked here—under the layer of nubby chenille—than she ever had at the Marquis in her revealing costumes.
/> “This Alec Mason is a heartless bastard to incriminate the people he gets close to. But you are not the only one he deceived. How long did Marnie say that she knew him before she discovered his true character?” A trace of his accent came through the words as he touched her shoulders, warming her through the soft fabric of the throw.
“They dated for months, apparently.” Lianna had been too upset to recall all the details of Marnie’s story, which she’d shared with Lianna and Rico in the car on the way over. Normally, she had a clever mind for remembering nuances of information, an asset in her work as an attorney. But apparently all bets were off when she was the one under the microscope.
“And Marnie is a smart, successful businesswoman, right?” His fingers drifted up her arm and landed on her cheek, gently encouraging her gaze. “So that tells you that Alec is a skilled liar.”
She noticed that he had removed the contacts that made him indistinguishable from his twin. Sea-blue eyes replaced the predatory tawny gaze. Another layer stripped away between them.
“Con artist, more like it.” She sifted through her troubled feelings and tried to define what upset her most. “But I guess we are all playing games when we visit the Marquis. How can we trust what anyone says, when all of us are purposely pretending the whole time?”
“The idea behind the Marquis is a good one, but some people take it too far. In theory, it is nice to throw off the conventions of everyday society and play games for a few days. But we all have to be careful not to take the fantasy too far.”
“Like the scumbags who grabbed Marnie.”
“Yes. Or like Alec, who uses the anonymity of the place to slip into one character after another. Who knows how many other women he has taken advantage of in this way?”
The thought made Lianna want to jump into the nearest tub and scrub away every vestige of the place.
“I’m glad we’re here now,” she admitted, not sure how to proceed. How to tell him she wanted a do-over. “I don’t know if I’ll ever have fun playing those kinds of reckless games again.”