"If it's there, Jimmy will find it. And I know it's there." He tilted her head back. "My snitches at least know Virgil's still in San Antonio. Someone's hiding him and probably helping him relocate and get his 'business' up and running again.""Your brother and sister-in-law are wonderful to let us come here." She frowned up at him. "She's the one you were in love with, right?"He brushed his lips against hers. "What I felt for Linda wasn't love. It was youthful lust." He gently licked the outside of her lips. "What I feel for you is love. In case you didn't know that.""You love me?" Tears formed at the corners of her eyes."You bet. I should have told you long before this." He used his thumbs to brush away the tears. "When we get out of this, we're going to make some definite plans.""Don't you mean if?""No, I said when and that's what I mean. Now. Linda suggested you might want to down and rest and I told her I'd see that you did. So let's not make a liar out of me."He lift
And she did. That and more. All these months Gus had coaxed her to enjoy her sexuality. To put the past behind her and think only of the two of them. And she'd been doing it. Now, even in the midst of this crisis, it occurred to her that nothing this man could suggest would turn her off. She wanted it all with him.I want it all."And that's what you'll get, believe me."Oh, god, had she said it aloud?But in the next moment she even forgot how to speak as Gus lowered his mouth to her, blew a stream of warm air into her pussy and licked her slit the entire length. She moaned again, riding the crest of the heat that shot through her. Her hands fisted in the bedclothes and her heels dug into the mattress."Touch yourself, Anya. Touch your clit for me. Rub it while I fuck you with my tongue."The flare of arousal that flooded her shocked her in its intensity. She slid one hand down over her tummy to find her clit beneath the nest of curls and pinched it between two fingers."Rub it
Once he was sure Anya was sleeping, Gus showered and pulled his clothes back on, then headed downstairs. Linda and Rafe were still busy with their own activities, so he poured himself a fresh mug of coffee and sat down to think about who else he could call. No one could call him, since he was using throwaway phones and disposing of them after a few hours, just in case.It both sickened and saddened him to think that his boss, for whom he'd always had the greatest respect, might be in bed with Virgil Branson in his dirty business. If that was true, he'd certainly fooled a lot of people. But mentally running through the list of agents in the San Antonio field office, there didn't seem to be a lot of other options. He knew it had to be someone in a position to have access to all the information and to the location of witnesses but shit! Dean Barton?Of course, it would explain a lot of things.The rest of the snitches that he called wouldn't say a word to him. Most of them sounded more fr
Anya stifled a small scream. Gus froze in place. Slowly he turned, putting Anya behind him. Jimmy Broughton, holding a 9 mm in his hands, stood inches away from him, outlined in the shards of moonlight that managed to poke through the canopy of trees. And swore because he hadn't taken his gun outside with him because he was so sure this was the one safe place in the world."I'm probably the only one who knows this used to be your home," Jimmy told him. "No one else would think to look here for you.""You bastard," Gus spat. "It's you, isn't it? You're the inside man." But the question was rhetorical."More like silent partner," Jimmy bragged. "Virgil and I have made some hot money over the years.""You protected him," Gus guessed. "That's how he avoided getting caught all these years.""And if hadn't been for that little bitch hiding behind your back, I'd still be riding the gravy train. But I'm taking care of that now." He sighed. You just wouldn't listen to me and send that bitch awa
It was one o'clock in the morning before everything had been wrapped up. Jimmy was taken away by two agents who'd helicoptered in from the San Antonio office.The car with Jimmy's friends was long gone but Dean Barton, who'd flown in with the agents, assured everyone when they swept up the pieces of Virgil's organization they'd no doubt catch him in the net. At last he stood on the back porch shaking hands with Gus."I can't tell you how sorry I am you had to go through this," he said, not for the first time. "I should have been smart enough to see what was happening. Or to put someone else on the case when we couldn't find where all Virgil Branson's support was coming from.""Spilt milk," Gus told his boss. "No one could have seen it.""We got into all his personal files and discovered a bunch of properties he owns, around here as well as in other states. I'm running a coordinated effort to hit them all at once I'm sure we'll find Virgil in one of them and that will be the end of hi
PART TWO: Dancing with DangerThe party had been going on far too long. It was a weeknight so dinner had been scheduled for six o'clock. The hosts had spoken and made their plea, things should be wrapping up now. The room should have been at least half empty. But it seemed no one was the least bit interested in leaving. The din of conversation competed with the sound of the orchestra, which segued from one rhythmic tune to another and people continued to jam the dance floor as well as both bars.Standing quietly in one corner, Rachel Winters looked glanced over the room. She couldn't quite conceal a smile of satisfaction. Another successful fundraiser for The Harris Foundation. Despite tough economic times, the people who had the money couldn't seem to give it fast enough to Sam and Loraine Harris, people with old money and a very old social position. People everyone wanted to curry favor with.Now the Harrises were mingling with their guests, discreetly collecting checks, their bod
She shook herself from her reverie to find Lincoln Harris standing in front of her with an expectant smile. Dancing with him was last on her list of things she wanted to do. Just being with him gave her a headache. She didn't like the man. The fact that he was handsome in a classical sense and kept himself in top condition didn't offset his personality. He was egotistical, self-involved and arrogant.Unfortunately he was also the heir to the family fortune, CEO of Harris Industries since his father's semiretirement and president of the foundation board. He wasn't someone she could easily brush aside. Or god forbid, offend in any way. Any imagined slight on her part could make her life very difficult. Board meetings that he ran gave her fits but she'd learned long ago how to deal with the Lincoln Harrises of the world. She just wished Sam and Loraine weren't quite so blind to him.Rachel rubbed her forehead. Tonight for some reason she was edgy and Lincoln Harris wasn't a recipe for c
They continued to move in time to the music, Gabe's pelvis grinding against hers, the sleek muscles of his thighs flexing with each step. One hand drifted down to cup the cheeks of her ass, pressing the light fabric of her dress into the cleft."People can see us." Rachel tried to reach back and rearrange the dress but he grabbed her hand and pulled it against him, trapping it between their bodies."They're all too busy being seen by other people." He bent his head so his mouth was close to her ear. "I love your ass. Do you remember the first time I fucked you there, Rachel? How hot it made you feel? How you loved my cock filling your hole? How hard you came?"If he didn't stop talking to her she would implode right there on the dance floor. Already she could feel her cream soaking the crotch of her thong and pantyhose and sticking to the insides of her thighs. The moistened fabric rubbed against her skin as she moved in the steps of the dance. Rather than causing a feeling of irrit
Rachel sat in a chair at her kitchen table, cradling a hot mug of tea in her hand. She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there. Hours, probably. Gabe had tried repeatedly to get her to go to bed but she seemed stuck in one place, unable to move. The shock of seeing Lincoln Harris walk into her house, in a role she never would have ascribed to him, learning he headed a global terrorist organization, had frozen her into virtual immobility. And that he had been cold-hearted enough to kidnap his own parents. She was stunned at both the vileness of the act and the revelation of Lincoln Harris as an international terrorist. How could he have involved his own parents? Put their lives in danger>She realized with a sick feeling that this was a man with no conscience, no morals, no scruples. Her heart ached for Sam and Loraine and what they would have to face with this stunning revelation.Her house had been filled with men dressed in black, speaking in low tones. Dan Killian himself ha
The blinds weren't closed so he could see what was happening outside. At the same time, he needed to keep below the level of the window sills. He'd taken the comm link Killian had given him, put on the thin wire headset and adjusted the earpiece."Ready," he whispered into the tiny mic."We're set," came back the voice of Randy Knowles, the team leader. "Red Team just called me that the guys we're looking for should be here within fifteen."Rachel turned on the bedside lamp, walked across the floor in front of the window, stretched, walked back to the bed and snapped off the light. Gabriel crouched low, pushed back his bight vision monocular and opened the blinds, slanting them just enough to let in the moonlight., allowing them to see out but no one to see inNow there was nothing to do but sit and wait. Gabe positioned himself in the living room where he could see both the front and back yards of the house. He'd taken a big chance, telling Rachel what he wanted. He hadn't even ma
"Quick shower," Gabe told Rachel. "We'll be out of time any minute now."He snagged his phone on his way through the room, reached into the stall to turn on the shower and stood Rachel on her feet inside. She clung to him for a moment, getting her balance."You certainly soothed my jangled nerves," she told him, grinning."Mine too."He climbed into the shower with her and adjusted the spray to cover both of them. But instead of reaching for the soap, he pulled her close to him and put his mouth to her ear."Rachel, I have something I want to say to you and I want to do it now, because it's always possible something could go wrong tonight."She froze. "You said I'd be safe. I believe in you, Gabe. In your ability to take care of me.""That's not what I meant." He let out a long, slow breath. "This…thing I'm involved in. Tonight may be what finally brings it to a head."When he paused, she said, "And?""And I have to tell you you're more than just a now-and-then person to me. Y
Things to say to her? Rachel felt a band suddenly tighten around her chest. Surely he wouldn't be the kind of man to have sex with her then dump her just before a critical operation, would he? Especially when she had a crucial role to play. Or was she just fooling herself. Had it just been the hot sex all along?He placed her on the bed, drawing the covers back first. In seconds he had her stripped of every piece of clothing, his eyes burning into her while he removed his own. She already felt her nipples bead involuntarily, her pussy muscles quiver and the liquid of her arousal seep out to the insides of her thighs. How could she want, desire—need—this man so incredibly much when she got so little of him? And when he was probably tuning up for the big farewell scene.But like it or not, there it was. Over the eighteen months of their—whatever you wanted to call it—he'd become like a drug she was addicted to. She'd given over complete control of her body to him, reveling in every ero
Rachel felt as if she'd been tossed into a giant mixer, spun around multiple times and dumped into a black void. Killian walked to a corner where he made a series of calls in a very quiet voice, to Gabe's obvious irritation. She'd barely gotten her wits together after fleeing from her house and ending up someplace in the woods, before a helicopter landed in the side yard and Killian was giving orders. What she hadn't been prepared for was Gabe obstinately digging in his heels and refusing to leave until he knew exactly what was happening. And insisting—no, demanding—that she stay put."You wanted action," Killian pointed out. "I'm giving it to you. That phone call gave me an idea.""Then we'd better let them find me on our own terms," he argued. "Let me call the shots. My gut tells me we're very close to finding out who the big man is. I refuse to pass up this opportunity."Killian shook his head. "That's exactly what I have in mind for you.""What you have in mind? Care to clue me
"The puzzling thing from the beginning," his boss said, "was how they managed to lock onto you tonight.""I agree. For two years I haven't given them any cause to suspect me of anything. Even when you managed to block some of their plans through info I gave you, I put myself in the line of fire so they wouldn't look at me crosswise. In fact," he went on, "I moved into the position of team leader thanks to a message from the head nut himself. Damn it. I was this close to finding out who he is.""What about your very rare off times, when you came here to visit Miss…Rachel?"Gabe shook his head. "Not even someone with the best skills could follow the routes I take. It has to be something else.""Then someone who saw you in your role as part of the cell spotted you tonight and put out the word.""But I've only been two places tonight—the blind apartment to change clothes and the Harris Foundation fundraiser.""Wait a minute." Rachel shrugged off Gabe's arm and sat up straight. "You s
"Listen, Rachel…" Gabe began.She shook her head. "I have a right to know what's going on. You'll have to tie me up to make me stay up here."From somewhere he dredged up a grin and a hot light flamed in his eyes. "Hold that thought for a better time." His face sobered. "I know you're exhausted and the workout I just gave you didn't help."She shook her head. "I told you. Some coffee and I'll be fine. Now. Are you going to help me find clean clothes to wear or do I sashay downstairs in nothing but this robe?"Gabe threw up his hands. "Fine. All right. I guess I wouldn't feel the way I do about you if you could be pushed around. But you follow my lead in everything. Agreed?"The way he felt about her? Exactly what did that mean? Something inside her unfolded and surged through her. Was it hope? Anticipation? Some emotion she'd deliberately kept buried? Hopefully when this was all over she'd have a chance to find out. But right now they had other things to worry about.She nodded h
Gabe put his hands at Rachel's waist and lifted her to the low, built-in seat in the corner. Now it was his mouth on her nipple, sucking it and grazing it with his teeth. One hand drifted between her thighs, urging them apart. Fingers probed between the lips of her pussy, seeking her wet warmth. His thumb grazed over her clit, sending flashes of heat through her."You're always so ready for me," he murmured, his voice hoarse. "Sometimes in the dark of night I think about it and my cock gets as hard as a spike. If you were right there with me then, I'd ride you so hard you'd never stop coming."She always loved the way he talked to her, the things he said, telling her in detail what he was going to do to her, the words heating her blood and adding to the stimulation of his hands and his mouth.Shifting his lips to her other nipple, he slid two, then three fingers into her quivering vagina. Automatically she began to ride his hand, arching to give him better access to her breasts. His
Gabe was so gentle with her Rachel nearly cried. The shock of the night's events had caught up with her. She stood, shivering, as he peeled off her top and slacks, then positioned her in the shower so the spray hit her just right. He brushed her wet hair away from her face, stroking her cheek with his long fingers. Even the hot water couldn't seem to warm her up, so Gabe pulled her tight against his naked body, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing her back.They stood there, water pouring down on them, creating a mist that wrapped around them like a cocoon. Somehow as his hands stroked her and his body warmed her she forgot about shivering and being scared. Her brain locked onto one thing—she and Gabe were naked, skin-to-skin in this shower. She closed her eyes and for a moment wished she was back at the foundation party, the orchestra playing something warm and mellow in the background, Gabe moving her to the music with a familiar fluid grace.But now they were locked in an erot