“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.”
— 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?”
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.