“Lisa.” His voice was rough and thick with emotion. He tangled his fingers in her hair, tipped her face up and slid his lips over hers until she ached with the need to have him closer. His tongue delved into her mouth, hot, wet, as he kissed her and pushed her backward toward the bed.
Her legs bumped the mattress, and he gently lifted her onto the navy comforter, his mouth never leaving hers, his hands grazing her bare skin to knead and mold her breasts. Heat raced through her veins, pooled in her stomach, trickled down between her legs. But it wasn’t that mind-numbing desire she’d felt before. It was richer, a stronger need than she’d ever felt. Not just for sex, for release, but for him.
Her fingers streaked to the buttons of his jeans, and she pushed her hands beneath his waistband, stretching the denim over his hips. He groaned into her mouth as he wiggled out of his pants and kicked them onto the floor, then rolled and pulled her on top of him.
“
Querida
, you make me weak.”
She loved the sound of his voice, the way he said the Spanish endearment he’d used since their first meeting. She arched into him, urging him to strip her so she could feel every part of his body against hers.
His hands moved to the button of her shorts, fumbled and slipped. When he pulled back from her mouth, a sheepish grin graced his face. “My fingers aren’t working.”
Her heart swelled at his words, at the vulnerability this big, tough guy was showing her. “Here, let me.”
She pushed back and unfastened them herself, slid free and straddled his legs, leaning over to bring her mouth close to his.
His hand snaked out over the side of the bed and she knew he was reaching for his pants to find his wallet. Before he found it, she clamped her hand over his to stop his searching and eased back enough so she could focus on his eyes. “No barriers this time. Just you and me.”
His eyes softened. “Lisa—”
“I can’t get pregnant, Rafe. And I trust you. Maybe more than I’ve trusted anyone in a very long time.”
He ran a hand down her cheek in a barely-there caress. “God, you melt me. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
She leaned into his touch. “I know. Which is part of the reason I want you so bad. Right now. Skin on skin. Just like this.”
“Mi tesoro,”
he whispered. Those mesmerizing eyes of his streaked over her naked body as he moved his hands to skim and explore her curves with the slightest touch. He lifted his head to press his lips to the base of her throat, and she shuddered at the warm sensation. One of his big hands settled at her waist as the fingers of his other hand dipped into her burning wetness.
She moaned and curved against his probing fingers, against his thumb circling and teasing. The hot tip of his erection brushed her center, almost home, and with that one touch, anticipation bloomed into full-blown desire to have him hard and deep.
His breath caught when she shivered and pushed against his arousal, just enough pressure in her core to make her light-headed.
He swept his hands up her ribs to cup her breasts. “Go slow. I want to remember every inch sliding inside you.”
If the look in his eyes hadn’t nearly stopped her heart, his husky words would have. Forget
falling
for him. She already had.
“Kiss me, Rafe.”
He lifted his head and slid his tongue into her mouth just as she lowered and claimed him with her body. Their joining was slow and slick, heated rod against clenching glove. She pulled him tight, tighter, until long moments later he was buried to the hilt.
She sighed into his mouth, loving his hard length deep inside, knowing she could never tire of the way he made her feel.
“Love me, Lisa.”
Her heart kicked over. She was afraid she was headed in that direction. Knew she probably wasn’t going to be able to stop it.
She was the first to move, a slow rock of her hips that brought a groan from his mouth and a tightening to his hands as they darted over her back and pulled her against him. She knew it couldn’t last, but she wanted to draw out the moment, to memorize every sound and sensation and the smoldering look in his dark eyes as she rode him.
He thrust upward at her rocking, and her pleasure built until she couldn’t fight it anymore. She gripped tighter with her muscles, pulling him closer to the edge, wanting to feel him go over with her. And when he did, when she felt that deep pulse of his release, her orgasm exploded through every limb in her body, shooting her down a slippery slope and into an abyss as dark and frightening as the one she’d fallen into in Jamaica. Only this time, she knew there was no way out for her.
She was trapped.
And a thief had just stolen her heart.
Rafe jolted awake. He wasn’t sure what had startled him—a noise, a rumbling, a feeling. Still as stone, he stared into the darkness, listening for anything out of the ordinary.
Dim moonlight slanted through the small windows above. Water lapped rhythmically against the hull. Beside him, Lisa stirred and shifted, draped her arm over his belly
and moved her head against his chest as she murmured something in sleep he couldn’t make out.
Nothing. Just his imagination. He’d been on edge since his conversation with Pete.
Closing his eyes, he relaxed and tugged Lisa tighter against his side, breathing in her sultry scent. He was pleasantly worn out from the most incredible sex he could remember, from the sassiest woman, who was all his.
His.
A smile spread across his face. He could get used to that idea. Somehow he was going to have to figure out a way for her to get used to it, too.
Two loud pops wrenched him out of his fantasies. He sat straight up.
Lisa jerked upright. “What was that?”
Gunshots.
He scrambled from the bed and dragged on his jeans. “Stay here. Lock the door after me.”
“Rafe. Wait.”
Barefoot and ignoring her, he eased up the companion-way and looked over the deck. Nothing moved. He glanced across the lawn toward the house. A shadow darted behind a tree. He heard a muffled thwack, followed by Hailey’s terse voice.
Hailey.
He was off the boat in a flash, moving silently through the shadows toward the house. Crouched behind a palm frond, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness so he could figure out just what the hell was going on.
Something grazed his back, and he whipped around, ready to throw a punch.
“Whoa!” Lisa whispered, jumping back.
“Me cago en nada.”
His heart lurched into his throat, and he yanked her down next to him. “I told you to stay put.”
She shot him a dry look. “When have I ever done anything you’ve said?”
He couldn’t argue that point. The woman was too bloody
in de pen dent. He gritted his teeth and tugged her closer to him, into the shadows. Knowing she wouldn’t listen and go back on the boat, he was stuck with her.
Fuck.
“Stay behind me and don’t make a sound.”
They crept around the corner of the house. Moonlight spilled over the lawn. At the far end of the patio, garbled voices echoed back to them.
“You have the right to remain silent…”
Rafe could just make out Hailey’s stern voice. He peered into the darkness to where it looked like two shadowy figures were lying on the ground. The bottom figure was facedown. The top one—Hailey—had one knee braced on the man’s back as she grappled for his hands.
“Get the fuck off me. I’m a police officer, goddammit!”
“Like I’ve never heard that one,” Hailey mumbled. “Anything you say can and will—”
“Oh, shit.” Lisa shook free of Rafe’s hand and ran around him out into the moonlight. “Hailey. Stop!”
“Carajo,”
Rafe muttered. Was the woman brain-dead? He raced after her.
As Lisa and Rafe came around the corner, Hailey’s head darted up from where she was still struggling with the trespasser. “Get her back, would you?” she yelled at Rafe.
Lisa dropped to her knees next to them and reached for the man’s hands. “He’s my brother, and he
is
a cop. Let him go.”
“He’s who?” Hailey faltered.
“Your worst nightmare.” Shane wriggled against her. “Now get the hell off me!”
He jerked free of her hold, and Hailey lurched back a step. Shane twisted out from under her and whipped around to sit on his butt on the patio.
“Her brother’s a police officer?” she asked Rafe in complete bafflement.
Rafe rested his hands on his hips and tried to slow his
breathing. He was staying out of this one. In fact, he wanted to drag Lisa back to the boat and pretend none of this had happened.
Hailey’s attention jumped back to Shane. “What the hell were you shooting at me for then? I identified myself.”
“I wasn’t the one shooting at you,” Shane tossed back, pushing to his feet.
That got Rafe’s attention. “Someone else was here?”
Shane’s gaze finally darted his direction, and there was a clear don’t-fuck-with-me warning in his eyes. “I don’t know, Romeo, but it sure as hell wasn’t me.” He held his hand out to Hailey, palm up. “Gimme my gun back.”
She set her jaw. “It’s against the law for an out-of-state, off-duty officer to carry in Florida.”
A vein pulsed near Shane’s temple. He ripped the gun from her hand. “So fucking arrest me then.” He looked at Lisa. “I’m gonna take a look around. You. Stay put.” His fiery eyes shot to Rafe. “You. Don’t even think about leaving.” He cast Hailey a withering look before disappearing into the shadows.
Lisa scrubbed both hands over her face.
Wide-eyed, Hailey turned toward both of them. “What the heck was that?”
“That,” Lisa said, “was one of the Windy City’s finest detectives.” She dropped her hands. “And you just pissed him off.”
“What’s he doing here?” Hailey asked.
“My guess? Making sure I’m not dead.”
That jolted Rafe back to reality. He ushered both women into the house. If there was really someone out there, he preferred having the cover of the house for protection. Right now he felt exposed in more ways than one. “Come on.”
They moved into the kitchen. Lisa started the coffeepot and pulled mugs from the cabinet. He resisted the urge to tell her it was three
A.M.
and too early for java, but he had a sinking suspicion their romantic night was over and things
were about to get a whole lot more interesting. And not in any way he wanted.
He looked toward Hailey. “What happened?”
Hailey checked the kitchen doors and windows for signs of a break-in. “I had the terrace door open upstairs and heard a noise. When I came down to check it out and realized it wasn’t either of you, I stepped outside to take a look. Someone fired three shots at me. I saw a shadow dart into the trees and went after it. That’s when I ran into Rambo out there.” She shifted toward them. “I’m gonna do a quick sweep of the house. Stay here.”
She disappeared into the living room.
Lisa stepped to the fridge, pulled it open and reached for the carton of half-and-half.
She’d been moving around the room like she didn’t have a care in the world. Like the last few minutes hadn’t shaken her at all. A mixture of relief and anxiety rushed through him. Followed by a surge of disbelief.
When she closed the door, he plucked the carton from her hand, set it on the counter, gripped her at the shoulders and pushed her back against the stainless-steel door. He kissed her hard and pulled back. “The next time I say stay behind me, listen.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. That could have been Winters out there. Or Kimbel.”
“It was Shane. I heard him. I’m not stupid.” Her eyes sharpened. “And sleeping with me doesn’t give you the right to tell me what to do.”
No, but loving her did.
His jaw clenched at her blasé attitude. “You didn’t know who else was out there when you went running off. Who could
still
be out there.” When she rolled her eyes, he tightened his grip. “Don’t you get it, Lisa? Those aren’t squirt guns they’re shooting, and running out in the open without thinking is how people get dead. I guarantee they didn’t
take potshots at Hailey for the fun of it. They want Stone’s research, they know you have it, and they thought Hailey was
you.
”
The color drained from her cheeks. “You said no one knew we were here.”
“I was obviously wrong.” Fear crept into her eyes, making him feel like an ass for being tough with her, but he wanted her to get it. He wasn’t going to lose her. Not now. Not ever. “You either listen to me, or I’ll get somebody to lock you up until this is over.”
“You wouldn’t dare shut me out of this.”
The hell he wouldn’t. If it meant saving her life, he’d do what ever it took. “Watch me.”
“I’d like to see that,” Shane said from the doorway.
Rafe let go of Lisa and turned.
Shane holstered his gun in his shoulder harness and stepped into the room. “Whoever it was is gone now.”
Lisa shoved away from the refrigerator and pushed past Rafe. She jabbed a finger into Shane’s chest. “What the hell are you doing here?” She was at least a foot shorter than her twin brother and half his size, but her temper matched his, ounce for ounce.
And Rafe knew that temper was raging because of him, but for the moment, he didn’t care.
“Saving your ass,” Shane huffed.
“I don’t need you to save my ass, and I didn’t ask for it,” she tossed back. “And normal people ring the doorbell. They don’t go slinking around in the dark.”
“I wasn’t slinking around.” Shane’s jaw twitched. “I was parked out front scoping the place out. I came in on a late flight and was planning on knocking on the door in the morning, like normal people,” he added with sarcasm, “but I saw a suspicious character go over the wall and decided to take a look around. Good thing I did, too.”
“Why aren’t you in Chicago?”
“O’Conner booted me off the case once my sister wound up as a person of interest in our homicide investigation.”
She cringed.
His eyes finally ran the length of her body, down Rafe’s blue cotton T-shirt she’d pulled on before darting out into the night. The
only
thing she’d pulled on.