Deland-Until Midnight

Until Midnight

Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand Book 2 in the Nemesis series.

She’s a strong woman who runs her own high-profile security and protection agency. He’s a burned-out agent with Mossad, on a personal crusade. But when Adam Molloy saves Nicole Welles’ life at a Mexican resort, circumstances bind them together. Not to mention an instant chemistry so hot it rivals the Mexican sun. One predatory kiss and Nicki’s body melts. They may be after drug dealers and killers, but there’s plenty of time for powerful orgasms and inventive erotic activities. It’s soon evident that her would-be killer and Adam’s crusade intersect. The chase takes them from the Yucatan Peninsula to Washington, D.C., to a private island in the Bahamas. And the sex takes them to a new level of physical pleasure. As they scramble to escape danger and catch the killers before they strike again, the couple is determined to also make their pleasure last until midnight and beyond—and many midnights thereafter.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing

www.ellorascave.com

Until Midnight ISBN 9781419932441 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Until Midnight Copyright © 2011 Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand Edited by Helen Woodall Cover art by Syneca Electronic book publication February 2011 The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

UNTIL MIDNIGHT Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

Dedication To the men in our lives, past and present, who inspire mystery, desire and love.

Trademarks Acknowledgement The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction: Beretta: Fabbrica D’Armi P. Beretta S.P.A. Glock: Glock, Inc. Humvee: AM General Corporation Interpol: International Criminal Police Organization Interpol Association Israeli Desert Eagle: Magnum Research, Inc. Johnnie Walker: Diageo US VI Keds: SR Holdings Inc. LaRue: LaRue Tactical Co. Lear: Learjet Inc. NSA: National Security Agency PayPal: PayPal, Inc. Ray-Ban: Luxottica Group S.P.A. Spode: Porcelain and Fine China Companies Limited Willard InterContinental Hotel: InterContinental Resorts and Hotels Inc. World Bank: The World Bank Group

Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

Chapter One Nicole Welles drew in a deep breath, inhaling the salt-scented air and listening to the rhythmic lap of ocean waves against the sand. She consciously forced every muscle in her body to relax. The last two weeks had been a bitch. Financially rewarding but no less than a trip to hell deserved. Nemesis had been contracted by Macmillan Global to retrieve their boss who had been kidnapped by one of the largest drug cartels and held for ransom. Since this particular cartel was known for returning their hostages more dead than alive, Macmillan wanted the boss out right now. They’d done it. She’d led the team herself. There had been some bloodshed but fortunately not on their side. Now she was trying to decompress in a bungalow at a very private, very exclusive resort on the beach in tiny Costalegre near Puerto Vallarta. She was thinking about heading back to the villa for a shower and turned over to fish her watch out of her beachbag when a heavy thunk! sounded behind her. Instinctively her brain registered what it was and she rolled off the lounge onto the sand, grabbing for her beachbag where her 9mm was stashed. When she lifted her eyes to see what was happening they were met by a pair of very tanned legs dusted with dark hair. “I have a gun,” she said, pointing it upward. “So do I.” The voice was deep and almost gravelly. “Fucking lot of good yours would do you if I planned to kill you. You’d already be toast.” Keeping a two-handed grip on the gun, she rolled lithely to her knees and then to her feet. Inches away from her stood what she could only think of as a man who was menacingly sexy. And tall. Much taller than she was, which was a trick since she was

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five ten. Shaggy black hair framed a face defined by deep grooves in the cheeks, a square jaw and startling blue eyes beneath heavy brows and thick lashes. Dressed in a loose shirt and shorts, every bit of his muscular body she could see was deeply tanned. And the gun he was holding was even bigger than hers. An Israeli Desert Eagle, one she was very familiar with. “Who are you?” she demanded. “The man who just saved your life.” His voice was deep and hoarse as if he’d been shouting for a long time. “Who are you?” “What do you mean, saved my life?” He looked up and down the private stretch of beach, empty except for the two of them. As far as Nicki knew, only three of the resort’s bungalows were occupied at the moment. “Put away your gun and I’ll show you.” Put away the gun? She stared at him for a long moment, something weird sizzling between them, then lowered the 9mm to her side. “That’s as put away as it’s going to get until I know what’s going on around here.” “Come on.” He, too, lowered his gun and closed steel fingers around her wrist, tugging her toward the thick groves of palm and coconut trees bordering the beach. Carefully pulling back a prickly bougainvillea he pointed at a body shoved against the roots of the shrub. Nicki stared. “Who’s that?” “Since it’s you he was trying to kill, I thought perhaps that was a question you could answer.” His voice had a faint accent to it, one that Nicki was having trouble placing. She crouched down to get a better look at the body. Dressed in faded jeans and a dark t-shirt, he had the definite darker skin and features of a Hispanic. 7

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“I’d say Mexican at first glance.” She noted the bullet hole in the back of his head and looked up at the man standing next to her. “Your work?” He nodded. “I was walking down to the beach and saw him lining up to blow your brains out.” “Look at him. What’s he doing here?” Nicki peered through the dense foliage that crowded the crushed shell pathways. “This place only has eight bungalows and the owners are very particular who occupies them.” The man made a sound suspiciously like a grunt. “Tell me about it. And they’ve got enough guards here to protect a third world country.” She nodded. “People like him can’t just walk onto the grounds and wander around at will.” “So.” She stood up, still holding her gun by her side. “Yes, so.” Shifting her gun to her left hand she extended her right one. “Since you saved my life I guess I should introduce myself. Nicole Welles.” His grip was firm and warm, but Nicki wasn’t prepared for the little currents of electricity that raced through her body when their skin made contact. She schooled herself to retrieve her hand smoothly rather than yank it away, her first reaction. “Adam Molloy.” They stared at each other. “Well, then.” She looked down at the body again. “We need to do something about the trash here.” “I don’t think we want to take him up to the main building and call the police. Someone sent him. He didn’t conjure this up all by himself. Let’s stash him somewhere and let his bosses wonder what happened to him.” She looked at him with a speculative gaze. “Interesting solution. Are you someone I should be afraid of?”

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He smiled, white even teeth flashing against his dark skin and one dimple winking at the corner of his mouth. “Hey, I’m the guy who saved your life, remember?” “Yeah, but you could have done that to get close to me.” She took a cautious step backward. “If I wanted you dead, Miss Welles, you’d already be lying here next to this idiot.” She realized suddenly that she was wearing the tiniest bikini she’d been able to find and Adam Molloy was letting his eyes take a slow journey over her body. She turned slightly so he couldn’t see the instant puckering of her barely covered nipples. Well, wasn’t this a fine mess. She had no idea who this man really was, who the man was who’d tried to kill her, and her body, all on its own, was thinking about sex. “Let’s clean the place up.” Molloy’s deep voice cut into her thoughts. He shoved his gun into the waistband of his shorts at the small of his back and lifted the body as if it weighed nothing, hard muscles flexing beneath the tanned skin. “Why don’t you gather your belongings from the beach while I handle this…situation. I’ll be back in a minute.” He strode away without waiting for an acknowledgment from her. Nicki stared after his figure as it disappeared onto the trees. What an arrogant ass. And who exactly was Adam Molloy that he was staying in this very private place? Besides a walking sex machine, that is. Nicole! Snap out of it. Find out what the hell is going on. She stomped back to where her things still lay next to the lounge she’d been using. Picking up the sarong that matched her bathing suit, she wrapped it around herself and knotted it under one arm. She stowed her gun in her beachbag, drew the drawstring tight and slung it over her shoulder. She was halfway back to her bungalow when tall, dark and mysterious Adam Molloy materialized seemingly out of nowhere. She stopped in the middle of the path. “Finished already? What did you do, feed him to the fish?”

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There was that smile again, making her knees suddenly week and the pulse deep in her womb thump out its rhythm. Holy shit! Nicole Welles never reacted this way. Not to any man. Oh, she was far from a stranger to sex but it was always carefully planned and on her terms. She never allowed herself to react this way. It must be the situation. It’s not every day someone tries to assassinate me. “In a matter of speaking. I’ll tell you all the gory details if you buy me a drink.” “I don’t think I’m much in the mood for the bar. And I’d like to try to find out who that idiot with the gun is. Was.” He took her arm and urged her along. Her feet moved as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Me, neither. But I’ll bet your bungalow has a fully stocked bar. I know mine does.” She stopped, pulling against his hold. “We’re not going to your bungalow.” “No. We’re going to yours.” He tugged her forward again. “Don’t you want to figure out who that guy is and how he got here?” “I don’t think the answers are at my place.” “Right. That’s where we’re going to talk about this and dig for answers. Come on.” She found herself at the door to her bungalow, wondering how he even knew which one was hers. Oh, right. With so few people on the grounds he’d probably scoped out all the guests as soon as he checked in. And when exactly had that been? “Aren’t you going to open the door?” He had just a touch of amusement in his voice. “It’s not polite to keep people standing outside. Not to mention possibly dangerous.” Nicki pulled out her key card, shoved it into the slot and pushed the handle down. The artificially cooled air hit her warm skin with a frigid blast. She hurried to adjust the thermostat and threw her bag on a table, then moved behind the built-in bar. “All right. I suppose I do owe you a drink. And I do want some answers. What’s your pleasure?” 10

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His mouth curved in a wicked smile. “If I said ‘you’, would I be overstepping my bounds?” “Without a doubt.” She deliberately made her tone aloof. “What do you drink, Mr. Molloy?” “Adam. Please. And I’ll have bourbon on the rocks.” She fixed his drink and poured a glass of white wine for herself. When she handed him his bourbon his fingers touched hers and the same electric sparks shot through her again. What in god’s name was going on here? He was sitting in one of the armchairs so she hitched herself onto one of the stools at the bar. “All right,” he said, after he’d taken a sip of his drink. “I have two questions for you.” “And I’ll answer them because?” “You need my help whether you want to admit it or not. You’re here by yourself with some unknown killer after you.” “And you can save me.” “I already did.” He raised his glass to her and took another drink. “All right.” The fact that he had that gun, a great aim and a sense of order about what to do with the body of her would-be hit man told her that Adam Molloy was no ordinary guy on vacation. With her brain whirling about who might have ordered her murder, she needed to sort this out. What better way than with someone logical, intelligent and talented with a Desert Eagle. “Let’s hear your questions.” “Who are you really and why did someone send a hired gun here to take you out?” She looked down at her wine, away from his mesmerizing blue eyes. “I told you who I am. Nicole Welles.” “That’s a name. What do you do for a living? And why are you here?”

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Nicki sighed. She supposed she really didn’t have much choice. The narrow escape had shaken her more than she let on, and Molloy was right that she was here alone. In the time it would take her to call her agency and get help someone else could show up to try again. “I own a…security agency of sorts in San Antonio. Nemesis. We do…odd jobs.” “Odd jobs? Sounds intriguing. How odd?” When she paused, he added, “Come on. Don’t stop now. I can always find out for myself but that would be so much work.” “We provide security for high-profile individuals,” she told him. “We also do contract work for the government and sometimes…hostage retrieval. Things like that.” “Ah.” He leaned back in his chair. “A woman after my own heart. So we can safely assume that our mystery man was here on orders from someone you pissed off in your…line of work.” She nodded. It seemed the most logical thing. “But how did he get in here? This place has more security that the president.” “That, Miss Welles, is a question we’re going to find the answer to. But we’ll have to do it very quietly. We don’t know if there’s someone else lurking around.” She studied him carefully, his posture casual but his body on obvious alert. “And exactly why would you involve yourself in my problems?” “Let’s say I’m curious. I want to know who and how. And you might say I’m between jobs so I’m at loose ends.” “Between jobs,” she said slowly. “Exactly what does that mean?” “Just what I said.” He studied her over the rim of his glass. “Let’s see.” She tilted her head. “Dark tan so you’ve been in a hot weather climate. Longish hair so not military. Silent enough that I didn’t hear you approach and that’s a difficult thing, believe me. And one more tiny thing.” She craned her neck to indicate the gun he carried in the waistband of his shorts. ”You carry an Israeli Desert Eagle.

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Would I be off the mark if I said Mossad? Known in full as the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations.” He nodded agreement. “You’re sharp. But then if you’re in the business I’d expect you to be.” “And what’s a Mossad agent doing here in Costalegre, Mexico? Surely you don’t have any covert ops or paramilitary operations going on here.” Or do you? “No, I don’t.” He set his glass down very carefully on the little table next to him. “I just finished a very tough, nasty job that we couldn’t resolve. I’m, shall we say, weighing my options.” Nicki raised an eyebrow. “Thinking of getting out of the business?” He shrugged. “Maybe. If I had something else to do. Maybe not, though. That’s about all I know. But we’re not here to talk about me. We’re here to find out who wants to kill you and how they got onto this property without being stopped.” “I just finished an operation myself, but I can’t think that the people we went up against would waste their time chasing after me. They have bigger fish to fry.” “Maybe. But you never know.” He unfolded himself from the chair and was beside her before she even realized he was moving. “We’ll get to it…after.” She looked up at him. “After? After what?” His hands slid up her arms to her face and cup her cheeks. “After I fuck you.” And his mouth came down on hers.

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Chapter Two She tasted like sun and sand and suppressed fear. She felt like hard earth, the muscles beneath his fingers taut with training and tension. But her mouth? Her mouth that had driven him to a ripe hot erection was supple and sensual. And so very giving. She made a little sound in the back of her throat as if she hated to surrender but didn’t give a damn if she did. Just how he wanted her. Conflicted but trusting. He kissed her again, devouring her mouth, silently signaling to her the fierce passion he felt. She broke away, her head falling back, exposing her throat to him. And he couldn’t refuse such an offer. “We can’t do this,” she objected and pushed at him, even though her fingers tore at his polo shirt. “We can. Must.” He nibbled his way down the strong column of her throat. “We don’t know each other!” “Of course, we do. I’m the man who just saved your life.” He pressed his lips to the hollow where her pulse beat, fast and hot. “You’re saying thank you,” he murmured as he let her take his shirt up over his head. She let out a huge laugh. “That’s big payback, Mr. Molloy.” “Adam.” He licked at her collarbone. She sighed and sought out the button on his khakis. “An Israeli from the Mossad with an Irish name?” He caressed the curves of her shoulders, his lips brushing her silky skin there. “Mom’s from Jersey and lives in Jerusalem. Daddy was from Boston and Londonderry.” 14

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“Wow,” she said languidly, trying to catch her balance as he bent her backward in his arms and tasted the center of her deep cleavage. “Bet he was with the IRA.” “A rebel with a cause. Best bomber the Brits never caught.” He spread his legs, cupped her sweet tight ass cheeks and nuzzled the top of one full firm breast. “Is that why you’re Mossad?” “Runs in the blood.” He nodded and nudged her bikini top slightly with his lips. “What runs in yours?” “Apache warriors and Italian sculptors.” That had him smiling against her fragrant skin. “The lady is hot blooded.” She skimmed her hands up his shoulders, one set of fingers twining in his hair. “Injustice makes me mad.” “See?” he offered, relieved to learn that she had personal motivation for what she did. “Birds of a feather. Makes us perfect partners.” She chuckled as he untied the string of her bra and stared at her full proud breasts. Christ, what gorgeous nipples. Dark rose and pouting. He could hardly wait to see her pussy. He walked her backward to the wall, where he seized her wrists and forced them up alongside her face. “You know this is crazy,” she objected in a whisper. “Crazier if I walked away without you—or this,” he murmured as he shut her up with another kiss. “Last chance, Nicole Welles, to put me out the door.” “You’re staying,” she told him on a moan as he thrust his knees between her thighs and she rode him tight and fast. “I haven’t done this in forever.” “Neither have I,” he told her, as he felt her wet pussy moisten his leg. “Been waiting to get hard for you.” She bit her lower lip and groaned, her eyes glazed as he leaned down and took her nipple between his teeth. “I don’t imagine you have protection?”

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He let her nipple go with a pop. His gaze locked on her dark one. “Christ! No! I didn’t go for a walk on the beach with condoms in my shorts.” He cursed. She laughed then, her luscious mouth curling up in a heady smile. “Are you willing to try some I’ve had in my cosmetics case for years?” He cocked a brow at the last word. Then nodded. “Promise I‘ll never leave home without them again.” He felt like a kid, but who went out for a stroll on the beach prepared to find the most gorgeous lay of his life? “Where’s your case?” She pushed him away then. Shocked by her strength, he stood there grinning like a happy fool as she turned, took his hand and led him back through her bungalow to her bedroom.

The shadows of late afternoon dappled the room in shades of gold and cream as she led Adam down the hall and paused him at the bathroom door. She dug through her case and found four condom packages, definitely looking aged. She put a hand to her forehead. What was she doing making love to a man who was this dangerous, this daring? Was she nuts? Asking for trouble? Or was she wise? But what man in years had interested her enough to look at twice? None. And this one had struck her the moment he opened his mouth and challenged her. She couldn’t refuse him and she certainly couldn’t deny herself the opportunity to explore the glory of his torso and the satin of his golden tanned skin. The power that he exuded was what had drawn her to him. The danger that he met head-on was what intrigued her. But what enthralled her was how decisively he had saved her. So now if she agreed to his seduction, well then she was allowing herself the pleasure of the ride. She turned for the hall again, put the two foil packets into his hand and led him toward the master suite. As she approached the side of her bed, she turned to face him. With only her bikini bottom on, she knew her body told him how much she wanted

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him. Her breasts tingled and her nipples zinged with electricity. Her stomach flipflopped with desire. And her pussy, so very empty of a good man for so very long, creamed in expectation so that her thighs were coated. But Adam was as excited as she. As needy. She could see it as his eyes flowed down her body, the sight of her making his cock twitch, stand higher, big and red. “Take it off, Nicki,” he commanded in a raw voice, nodding to the tiny scrap of material covering her pussy. “I need to see those pretty pouting lips.” She took her sweet damn time. Torment for her, she saw how his nostrils flared, the seconds, the suspense killing him. Sliding her fingertips beneath the fabric, she shimmied the thing along her thighs and let it drop to the floor. He caught his breath. “A cute little puff of hair. I’m gonna enjoy combing it with my fingers. Gonna love putting my lips there where I can just see the top of your slit.” She wiggled, his words making her flood with want. “Lie down,” he instructed. “Face me. I want to see your cunt. All of it.” Her gaze in his, she stepped backward to the mattress and smooth as a cat she sat down and lowered herself to the bed. Her long legs coiling on the mattress this way and curving that way, she slid across the expanse, a wicked look on her face, her intent to arouse flaring in her eyes. A cool breeze fluttered the sheer linen curtains as she squeezed her shoulders together and her breasts tingled, seeming to blossom into even larger, riper fruit. He stepped toward her, licking his lips. “Baby, you are one tall, luscious drink of water. I’m gonna love you for a long, long time. Open your legs for me.” She smiled like a well-kept cat and put the soles of her feet to the bed, then widened her thighs. “Oh, god,” he groaned. “Your pussy is the same dusky rose as your nipples. Deep inside, you’re even darker shades. Did you know?” he asked on a breathless sound.

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Her answer of “no” was a blend of sound and mindless desire. No other man was so eloquent with her. Adam took her knees in his hands and pushed them apart. “Your lips are so soaked, they glisten. And the folds of your pussy are as pretty as lace.” He traced the edge of one with a fingertip and she bucked. “Shh, baby. I’m gonna know each one, learn each delicate little line with my fingers.” He feathered a finger along her seam. “And my mouth.” She swallowed hard. No man had ever been slow with her. “Start now.” “Aw, honey, I’m enjoying the view.” He bent to blow into her tiny pouf of hair. “Pretty kitty, she shivers for me.” “She purrs for you, too.” “Let me see,” he crooned as he inserted one finger inside her sensitive channel. Nicki bit her lower lip and her hips rose off the bed. “She likes to be petted,” he told her as he inserted another finger and another to stroke her. Her core swelled and pulsed. “She wants more. You!” “Does she?” he asked as if he had no idea, then suddenly, slid into her, his cock huge and hard and so damn long Nicki mewled in delight. “God!” She ground her teeth. No man had ever filled her completely. “That is wonderful!” He halted. “You’re telling me.” Nicki gazed between her knees. Adam stood with his head thrown back, his eyes squeezed shut, his toned body paralyzed in ecstasy. His eyes snapped open. He grinned wickedly. “With all the cream this pretty cat’s hoarding here, she must’ve been waiting for a long time for one good man. And I am that man.” He tipped his chin. “Got to have a piece of you. Hook your legs up around my waist, baby. Hang on.” 18

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She hugged him to her with her strong muscles. The fullness of him inside her had her biting her lower lip, wanting to arch, but not daring to let go and lose him. He began to rock into her then. Slow and steady, his hips plunged and took his cock deep and hard. With his cool nimble fingers, he spread her pussy lips and found her clit. “It’s big for me,” he grunted. “But I’m gonna make it bigger, harder, baby.” He massaged her, round and round until she keened. Then, fast as lighting he was gone. Her pussy empty and crying. She screamed in denial. He put a hand to her tummy. “No worries, baby. I need to taste this pretty cunt.” His breath was on her delicate tissues. Hot and fast, he blew on her pussy as he parted her lips and blessed parts of her with tiny kisses. “Sweet,” he murmured as he traced a circle around her clit. “Hot,” he told her as he nuzzled the inside of one lip, then the other. “Succulent,” he growled as he inserted two fingers in her core and made her buck, then gentled her with a hand to her soft curls. “Let me eat you, honey. Got to get myself all wet with your juices.” He spread her wide. She felt herself surrender to his command. She’d never been so open, so exposed. Never been so well nibbled and licked, stroked and sucked. He couldn’t seem to get enough. She never wanted to stop him. But then wild as thunder, she broke apart. An orgasm that shook her cunt, pounded through her stomach and tore her up and open. She clutched at his shoulders. Rocked with his mouth on her. And screamed with the pulsing release of the most intense orgasm she’d enjoyed in years. One that was stronger and longer than any that had ever ripped her apart. His cheek on her thigh, he kissed her tender flesh there. “Sweet baby, you are a treasure.” She gasped for breath. “Please fuck me now,” she begged. She never begged a man.

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“Honey, my pleasure.” He gave her clit a parting kiss, then rose up on his knees and winked at her. She reached down to grip his waist. “Do us right, Molloy, before I break apart in a thousand pieces.” He sank his cock inside her in a long slow hot glide. She took him, all of him, and sighed at the fullness she’d never known before him. He gripped her hips and hauled her up on his thighs to plunge into her with a smooth glide that stroked her cunt and made her gasp with delight. He plunged into her with deliberate might that had him hitting the top of her cervix and making her feel complete for the first time in her life. She grasped the sheets, lifted her head, watched how his long red cock rammed into her pussy and she screamed as he increased the tempo and rocked her into pulsing madness. His fingers on her clit, he pinched her and possessed her cunt with the command of a dark desert marauder. No man had ever possessed her. No man had ever truly fucked her. Not like this. Not with the power and might and sheer white-hot fury of a sensitive caring brute who was the best damn mate she’d ever had. In bed or out. The climax crashed down on both of them like a desert storm, tossing them into a whirlpool of sensation, spasms ripping through their bodies again and again, almost as if they were one person. On and on it went until she was sure she had nothing left in her, but then her body would quiver again and yet again. Through the thin latex barrier she felt the hot spurts of Adam’s semen as his cocked pulsed and flexed. And finally, spent and wrung dry, they collapsed. For a long moment they lay together as sanity returned and their breathing returned to normal. Adam slid carefully from her body and Nicki rolled to one side and he took her in his embrace. “I see what the Israelis pay you for.” He chuckled and hugged her. “I’m worth my salary?”

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She leaned back to gaze into his beautiful, heavily lashed blue eyes. “Oh, honey,” she sighed, her hand caressing his pecs and his ribs, cradling his very erect, very warm and ready cock. “Worth every shekel.”

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Chapter Three The gauzy overdrape at the sliding door drifted in the current of air from the lazily turning ceiling fan. Nicki and Adam lay on the rumpled bedclothes letting the fan cool their sweat-slicked bodies. Her head was cradled against his powerful shoulder while his lean fingers idly stroked up and down the length of her arm. She drew in a deep breath, inhaling the musky scent of him. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had taken her to such sexual heights before, if ever. Or left her body with such bone-deep satisfaction. She sighed and tucked herself closer to him. And realized if they spent any more time together they’d need a much bigger supply of condoms. “We need to talk.” His deep voice penetrated her thoughts, shaking her to awareness. Nicki sighed. “I’m not sure I have the energy. And I can’t believe you do.” He bent his head to nip at the tender flesh of her neck and then soothe it with his very sophisticated tongue. Tiny shivers raced through her and unbelievably, she felt a tiny flutter in the walls of her pussy. What was it with this man? He was like some kind of erotic drug to her. “If you want to stay alive,” he told her, “we need to have a conversation. And I can’t do it coherently when we’re both naked.” “I guess you’re right.” Reluctantly she pushed herself up as Adam swung his legs over the side of the bed. Her hand automatically reached out to the hard-muscled surface of his back. Fingertips grazed across the scars near one shoulder blade and defining his rib cage. “Badges of honor?” she asked, not really expecting him to give her the correct answer. In their line of work, misinformation and misdirection were all-important. 22

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“In a manner of speaking. Maybe someday I’ll tell you about them.” He stooped to pick up his shorts and tugged them on. “I hate to ask you to cover that delicious body of yours, but we have some key issues to discuss and I want to be able to concentrate.” “Spoilsport,” she laughed, but obediently climbed out of bed and pulled shorts and a t-shirt out of a drawer. Scraping her thick hair into a pony tail, she slipped her feet into her thong, pulled it up and yanked on her shorts and t-shirt. Then she turned to smile at Adam. “Satisfactory?” “Naked is better,” he grinned, “but of necessity this will do.” Nicki thought it spoke volumes that despite their skimpy attire, both of them shoved their guns into the small of the back. “Let’s get something to drink,” he suggested, “and take it outside to the patio. I think we both need fresh air to think better. And as long as we’re inside I might just forget myself and want to fuck you again instead of taking care of business.” Nicki laughed. “I can’t figure out of that’s a compliment or not.” “Oh, definitely a compliment.” His eyes darkened to navy, heat sparking golden lights on the black surface. “Trust me.” “All right, then. Outside it is. They grabbed bottles of water from the villa’s fridge and slipped out through the sliding glass door. Adam paused to drink deeply from his water before capping the bottle. “Come on,” he told Nicki. “Let’s walk a little. Even though we’re outside it helps to keep me from putting my hands all over you.” She laughed, but obediently followed him along the narrow path through the lush tropical foliage. “So what did you do with the body?” she asked.

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“That’s one of the things I want to talk to you about. I dumped it where no one will find it for a very long time. We don’t need the local policía coming around asking questions.” “Again, I’m very curious as to how the hell he got in here,” she mused. “Not only does this place have more security that the White House, but you have to actually know one of the four owners to be able to stay here.” They had reached a curve in the path and discovered an ornate white wrought iron bench someone had strategically placed in the shelter of two huge bougainvilleas. “Let’s sit for a minute.” He winked at her. “I think I can manage to keep my hands to myself as long as we’re not touching.” “I’ll try to make myself unappealing,” she assured him. His laugh was rich and full. “Honey, I don’t think you could do that no matter how hard you tried.” His face sobered. “Want to tell me how you wangled your reservation?” No details, she reminded herself. “Nemesis did a delicate job for one of the owners. He told me I had a standing invitation to rent one of the villas any time I wanted, as long as it was available. What about you?” He shrugged. “Same kind of story. Great quirk of fate we ended up here at the same time, don’t you think? And lucky for you.” She refused to give him the satisfaction of an answer. It had been a long time since Nicole Welles had needed anyone to save her ass. “While you were disposing of…the goods, did you manage to check around and see if there were any other strange people hiding in the shrubbery?” “No one that I could see.” The two of them might have looked relaxed to a casual observer, but Nicki knew Adam was as constantly aware of their surroundings as she was. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone else,” she pointed out.

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“I think we both know that. But since the first attempt on you misfired so badly, if there are more assassins here, they’ll want to be a little more careful before they try again. Which gives us a little breathing room.” “What a comforting thought.” She drank a long swallow of her water. “It would have been nice to know who the jerk was.” “No problem. Before I tossed him I printed him.” “Printed?” She raised an eyebrow. “With what?” “Don’t tell me Nemesis doesn’t have those dandy little digital fingerprint readers.” He turned back to her. “I’d think a high class security specialist like you would have all the latest gadgets.” “I do. We do.” She was still staring at him. “I just didn’t expect a stranger to be carrying one around in the jungle. Are you sure you’re not on some kind of assignment for Mossad?” “I told you.” His face lost every trace of good humor. “I’m thinking about my future. Anyway, I have this nasty habit I can’t break myself of. I carry it wherever I go.” His smile was forced. “You never know whose fingerprints you might need to read.” “So what did your little gadget tell you about my killer?” “Just because I’m, shall we say, between jobs, doesn’t mean I can’t still use the resources of Mossad. The little gadget also transmits so I sent them to the main office and asked someone to run them for me.” He uncapped his water bottle and drained the rest of the liquid. “Come on. Let’s go back to the bungalow. I think I’ve cooled my libido down enough that we can finish this conversation without me attacking you.” “What’s next?” She stood up and brushed a stray leaf from her shorts. “There’s a map of the resort in each bungalow. Let’s look at it and try to identify places where someone could be hiding in wait. And you need to tell me about any of the jobs Nemesis has done in the past year—specifically those where you took the lead—that might put you in someone’s gunsights.”

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Nicki gave an unladylike snort. “That list could be endless.” “Maybe so, but we still need to look at it. And by then I might have an answer on the prints.” They hadn’t taken more than a few steps back toward the bungalow when an explosion shook the ground beneath their feet and a column of flame shot into the air. “Explosion,” Nicki shouted. Adam grabbed for her arm and yanked her into the covering of a thick clump of shrubbery. “And it came from the direction of your bungalow.” “What?” Debris was raining everywhere and the flames glowed brightly. They covered their heads with their arms. “Your bungalow.” Adam rose to a half-crouch. “Do me a big favor and stay here for a minute. I know you’re big and strong and brave but I’d also like to keep you alive. I’ll be right back.” Nicki fumed but she stayed hidden as Adam crab-walked across the path and into the opposite flora. She counted off the seconds impatiently and was just about to go after him, regardless of what he’d said, when he was back and hiding next to her again. “Well?” she asked. “It was your place, honey. No doubt about it. And it’s a total disaster.” Nicki’s stomach cramped. “Holy shit. Adam, all my stuff was in there, My cell phone. My clothes…everything.” “But you’re alive and that’s what’s important.” He grabbed her elbow with fingers suddenly as hard as steel. ”Come on.” “Where are we going?” She knew it would be foolish to resist him, and anyway, he was doing the right thing. They did need to get out of the immediate area. “My bungalow.” He tugged her along through the dense growth. “We can’t stay out in the open.”

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It took them the better part of ten minutes, pausing frequently to listen for anyone following them, before they reached Adam’s place. He had the bungalow farthest from the main building, isolated by itself and almost concealed by the trees and shrubs around it. “Stay here for a minute,” Adam ordered, leaving her leaning against a thick tree trunk. Nicki watched him silently check the perimeter of the house, careful to keep himself concealed at all time. When he reached the patio she saw him feel for something with his fingertips, then work his way around the house doing the same, his gun solidly in his right hand. In a moment she saw the slider to the patio open and Adam beckoned her. She ran at a crouch until he pulled her inside. “You had a perimeter wire,” she commented. Something she should have thought to do herself. But who knew in this secluded, heavily guarded retreat she’d need to run the thin wire all around her bungalow as a trap for anyone trying to enter. “Always do.” He closed the door, locked it and drew the drapes across it. Nicki realized all the rest of the curtains were closed, too. The only light came from a tiny lamp in one corner of the living room. “I know I don’t have to tell you to stay away from windows,” Adam said as he prowled from one room to the other. “No, you don’t.” She took her gun from the small of her back and racked the slide, checking yet again to make sure she had a bullet chambered. “So now what.” Adam finally dropped into one of the big armchairs and crossed his legs so the ankle of one rested on the knee of the other. Nicki raked her eyes over him and swallowed a bubble of lust. Even with danger hissing at their heels, she couldn’t help noticing the lean, muscular length of his body. The dusting of dark hair on his legs and arms. Remembering how those arms had felt around her and how that body had felt next to her. She squeezed her thighs together to conceal what she was sure would be a suspicious trickle of moisture dampening them. 27

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Holy shit! Someone was trying to kill her and all she could think about was getting down with Mr. Sex On The Hoof. She wanted to bang herself on the head with her gun. Would the real Nicole Welles please stand up? Adam’s laugh was a low rumble. “We may be the only two people who get horny hiding from killers. But don’t worry, honey. When this is all over, we’ll have plenty of time for that.” “All over?” She blew out a breath. “I don’t even know what it is yet. How safe are we here?” “As safe as any place else right now. No one saw me with you except the guy who misfired, so no one will come looking for you here. We need a battle plan.” “We need to find out who’s behind this and how they got someone in here,” she pointed out. “You’re probably the only one who can answer that question.” His cell phone, which he’d placed on the little table next to him, began to vibrate and dance. “Or maybe we’ll have our answer now.” She watched as he eyed the text scrolling across the small screen and saw the muscles in his face tighten, the lines deepen. “What? It’s something, isn’t it?” He looked over at her. “Our dead body is Hector Felanda. He’s in the international data base. He’s an enforcer for Felix Calderon, head of the Campeche drug cartel.” Nicki could literally feel the blood drain from her face. Son of a bitch. Somehow Calderon had tagged her and found her. She should have known better than to stay anywhere in Mexico, but she’d figured at Costalegre she was far enough away. Not to mention being in the most secure compound she could find. Well, she could add this to her list of Stupid Things I Never Should Have Done. She realized Adam was staring at her, a strange look on his face.

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“What is it?” he asked. “You know this guy?” “No.” She shook her head. “But I know why he’s here. My last job was a hostage rescue from Calderon’s compound. There was bloodshed and I think one of the casualties was his brother.” “I guess that means you’re off his Christmas card list.” Adam’s voice had an ironic edge to it. And something else. ”I’m sure that’s true. But why are you looking at me like that? What do you know about Calderon?” He took so long answering she wasn’t sure he’d actually say anything. Finally he unfolded himself from the chair and began pacing, still holding his gun. “I don’t usually believe in coincidence,” he started. “Usually there’s a logical reason for two things to collide. But it has to be just pure chance that you and I ended up here. At this resort, at exactly the same time.” “I don’t understand. What does that have to do with Calderon? And the attempts to kill me?” Again he paused, as if searching for the right words. “The last case I worked was a pisser. And nearly did me in.” he blew out a breath. “One of my team members, Mike Reason, had a beautiful sister. Emily. Bright, funny. She’d come over here to attend Georgetown Law, wanted a taste of the ‘United States political scene’, or so she said. When she graduated she got a job working as a paralegal in one of the top international law firms in D.C. Mike begged her to come home, didn’t like her being so far away. Out on her own like that.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I was the one who flew here with Mike when he had to identify her body.” “Oh, Adam. I’m so sorry.” “Emily had been to a party with some people from work. They used to hang out at someone’s house on Friday or Saturday nights. Her roommate said for the past few weeks she’d come home disoriented, breathing heavily, hardly remembering anything that went on at the parties. Emily had allergies and so at first, she told her roommate 29

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perhaps she’d been in a place with too much dust. So she kept taking more and more of her meds.” Nicki shook her head. “So what happened just before Emily died?” “The night she died, Emily came home in the early morning hours. She collapsed on the couch. The roommate was still out. By the time the roommate got in the next morning, she found Emily and called EMS, but it was too late.” The story was horrific. Nicki couldn’t have moved from her chair if he’d asked her to. “What was the cause of death?” Adam rolled his shoulders in dismay. “Long story short? The roommate told the police she thought Em had taken too much of her prescription—and that’s what caused her heart failure. The police went with that on the initial investigation report. Because there were no signs of foul play, the police put it on the back burner. But when Mike got to Washington, he was like a maniac insisting they treat it like a homicide. I don’t think he slept and he barely ate while the D.C. Medical Examiners held off doing an autopsy for days. At first, they couldn’t ID her without fingerprints.” “They had to get them through the State Department and Immigration,” Nicki added. “Right. So while the M.E.’s office held off, Mike investigated himself. He must have given everyone she knew the third degree, but no one told him anything suspicious. No, there were no drugs at the office parties. No, Emily had never acted like she had a drug problem. No, she wasn’t drinking. No, she wasn’t feeling bad, except for the breathing and allergy problems. No, no, no to everything, but Emily was still dead.” He paused. “Finally, Mike decided to pack up all her things to ship them home to Tel Aviv. But as he went through her belongings, he came across these cute little plastic packets of something called Pleasant Dreams. He took it to a private lab in Gaithersburg and had it analyzed. Discovered it was used in an incense or potpourri burner. And the initial reaction to inhaling this stuff was something like a drug called Ultima, which was

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supposed to give ‘the ultimate high’. A drug that had been traced back to Calderon’s gang.” Nicki sighed. “Did Mike share the analysis with the M.E.?” “He did. I was over here by that time. The drug analysis plus confirmation of her fingerprints moved them off their asses. They sped up the request for bodily fluid analysis and two days later, they got a cause of death. Heart failure. Inflammation of the sinuses, too. If she inhaled this Pleasant Dreams concoction on a regular basis, then took too much of her allergy meds, she was playing with fire.” “Not homicide then,” Nicki concluded. “No. But damn close.” She nodded. “Lethal to some. Maybe lethal to a lot more. Meanwhile, you can’t be a one-man detective agency and a revenge squad.” “No? Don’t doubt my training. I’m looking for how the drug is distributed. Every last detail. Because someone’s pulling the strings besides that slimy cartel leader. Has to be. How did he and his caballeros run it into the States? It is one thing to conceal and smuggle raw coke over the Rio Grande in rocker panels or in the backpacks of illegal immigrants, but to bring in a refined chemical with lethal effects? How to distribute it without red-flags from your Federal Drug Administration? Not easy.” “Ah. So others were affected,” she guessed. He pointed a finger at her and pulled it like the trigger of a gun. “We got more reports of people dying or being hospitalized. Heart failure. Sinus inflammation. Not just people going to parties, either. Housewives. Office workers. Upscale furniture store clerks. Makes no sense.” “And wasn’t that a big ‘fuck you’ to Uncle Sam for them to be selling the drug right under the noses of the United States government?” Nicki commented in disgust. “Right in their seat of power. They must have really gotten their rocks off.”

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“Mike and I worked every lead, every angle, looked at the data ‘til we were blue. We tried to find the trail on the suppliers. Finally, we got a snitch who pointed us to Calderon’s gang. But in the end we still couldn’t find exactly how the drug got into the U.S. or how it was distributed. And more people kept dying.” “Adam! Oh, my god. How devastating.” “You don’t know the half of it. Anyway, we never got beyond the lead to Calderon. Absolutely no place.” He winced. “Which is really unusual for Mossad. I pretty much burned myself out working this with Mike. And it was just getting to be too much. When an international drug dealer—who could be using his profits to buy and sell arms to use against Israel—has things locked down so tightly—and obviously has someone pretty powerful behind him, I just didn’t know where to turn. Finally I told my boss I wanted out. He suggested I take a leave of absence and get back to him in a couple of weeks.” He shook his heads. “Like that was really going to help. But at least it gave me the chance to come here on my own.” “And save my ass. So it seems our lives intersect on the pinpoint occupied by Felix Calderon.” “You got it.” “All right. What we need to do is figure out who helped Calderon get his men onto the grounds of this resort. Maybe that will lead us to whoever is covering his ass in the distribution of the drug.” Adam stopped pacing in front of her. “The first order of business is to keep you safe. That means staying right in this bungalow for the moment. I don’t intend to let one damn thing happen to you. Not one.” He placed his gun on the table beside the chair, reached down and hauled her to her feet. Before she could realize what he was doing, his mouth had come down on hers. Hard and demanding, his tongue swiping across her lips until they opened for him. When he pushed inside her mouth, her insides melted and cream gushed into the crotch of her thong. 32

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The kiss was the most predatory she’d ever experienced, lust exploding within her and rushing through her body like a runaway train. Adam shifted his hands so one cupped her head and held it in place while the other pressed her hard against him. She felt the thick outline of his cock against the softness of her belly and shivers skittered along her spine. His hand cupped her ass, kneading the soft yet firm flesh and his long fingers pressed the thin fabric of her shorts into the cleft between the globes. Nicki moaned, the sound vibrating in her throat as Adam’s tongue swept the inner surfaces of her mouth, dancing like an elusive flame. She pressed herself against him and moved her hips from side to side. They broke the kiss only because they both needed oxygen, and stared at each other. “You destroy all my discipline,” he told her in a rough voice. “Same goes,” she whispered, trying to find her balance. “I need to go out and check the situation at your bungalow, but I think it makes sense to let things settle a little. Maybe I can blend in with the crowd sure to be gathered in a while.” “Okay.” If she had a coherent thought his kiss had wiped it away. “So I suggest we take this into the bedroom right now. If I don’t get my cock inside you pretty soon I might explode. Jesus, Nicki, you’re worse than any drug.” “Same goes,” she breathed, and let him lead her into the bedroom. She barely had a moment to wonder where her famous discipline had disappeared before Adam was pulling off her clothes and then his, splaying her on the bed and pressing his mouth to her very hot and wet cunt.

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Chapter Four Their first mating had been unique—and Nicki admitted to herself, far too fast. But he knew. Knew instinctively. Must have because he donned the condom over his dark red cock, then cupped her thighs and spread them wide as his mouth savored her with delicate, ravenous hunger. He was slow. Deliberate as he kissed her clit, then sucked at it like a connoisseur. His tongue laved the nub and once more, he had her screaming. He growled and pushed her thighs open and down to the mattress. Tore his mouth away to blow air on her slit. “Love your folds.” He caught the edge of one with a nip of his teeth. Made her buck. Then settled down on his elbows to trace her other folds with delicate fingers that stroked and tugged and massaged. She moaned as he claimed her with two strong fingers hitting her G-spot and stroking hard. “Oh, Adam. The first man.” She gasped with pleasure so rare, so unrivaled, she could say for the first time in her life she knew ecstasy. “So well named.” He chuckled and pulled her labia wide to lave her top to bottom, his tongue a thick, rough benediction to her swollen flesh. She arched backward, her throat exposed, her mind gone, as she reveled in every little movement he made. He was thorough, insatiable, loving every little inch of her pussy. Setting her on fire. Sending her up, up where she’d been only once before, minutes ago, with him. She clutched the sheets as he never stopped. Never gave up exploring her. Petting her. Eating her like he’d never have enough. She keened. “You’re killing me, sweetie.” “You’re thrilling me, baby.” She looked down to melt at the sight of his mouth wet with her and smiling at his work. His fingers busy inside her as he elbowed his way up to haul her up his thighs. 34

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Her pussy quivered in expectation. Her lips trembled. “Put that long red cock inside me or I’m gonna die here.” He slid right in. She could not breathe. He was so huge, so rigid, so bold. He snarled. Halted. Hung his head a minute, his nails digging into her ass cheeks. “You just get better and better.” “Yeah?” She meant to challenge him, but knew she just whimpered the word. “Yeah.” She squeezed his cock with her vaginal muscles. “Prove it to me.” He anchored his knees deeper into the bed and seized the flesh of her hips. “Coming up.” He pushed into her to the hilt. Worked his hips like pistons, filling her with the hot girth she knew now she was going to have a hard time forgetting. She wiggled nearer. Wanted him impossibly deeper, harder, stronger. He rammed her, creating a friction, a torment she treasured and then she broke like glass. Shattering, thousands of pieces of herself flung up high to cascade around her. Like a starburst, an explosion of a million tiny fragments of herself scattered everywhere. Flowing down around them both. Pulsing with him, she felt her cunt quake around him and then felt him throb with wild spurting releases of his own. She cried out. Her cunt throbbing. Full of him. Clinging to him. Needing him as she rejoiced at the tiny explosions that made her writhe and buck, mewl and catch him to her. He wrapped himself around her, his big, lean, hard body the force of nature that made her life suddenly real. Made danger a reality. Made her mind blank and then, as their bodies cooled and coiled together once more, made her realize that they were crazy to lie here and love each other. Some madman wanted her dead.

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And now, for protecting her, she was afraid the same man would want Adam dead, as well. She planted a kiss on Adam’s throat. “I have no words for what just happened here.” He arched back and smoothed her hair from her cheek. “So don’t try. I won’t. We’ll find words later. When you’re safe.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “Come shower with me.” “Is that wise?” she asked with a mixture of sexual innuendo and fear for their lives. “For now. Quickly.” He put his hand out. “We need to go see the management about our man.” He led her gaze to his cock, which even lax and covered in latex was impressive enough to make her bite her lower lip. “And we have to visit the resort shop for certain supplies.” His mouth tipped up in a wicked grin. “Coming?” “I did. I will. I hope to often again.” He pulled her up against him, his sculpted body against hers and making her think of how soon they could find their way to a bed again. “Job one for me is saving your luscious ass so I can make this sweet pussy purr for me often.” Their shower was filled with laughter and far too many caresses that seduced and tempted. But they each stayed prudent, wise. “I can’t keep my hands off you,” he swore as they dried each other off and he kissed her nipples, one by one. With one leg curled up around his thighs, Nicki rubbed her pussy against him one last time and twirled away. He wasn’t going to like what she planned. “I’ve got to stop plastering myself to your skin! I’m getting addicted!” He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist to look at her reflection in the huge wall mirror. “A habit I don’t want you to break.” She stepped out of his arms and put both palms to the top of the dressing counter. “We have to talk about who we’re going to see. We have to do it now.”

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He inhaled, his eyes going dark with the danger they now had to address. Throwing the towels to over the rim of the whirlpool, he went to the sink and began to comb his hair. “The owner I know is not in residence.” “Neither is the one I know.” Scott Henderson is recuperating from an emergency appendectomy on his Caribbean island. I’ll bet at his age that surgery wasn’t a lot of fun. “So that means we find out if the other two are here.” “No. Neither one,” he shot back. “I know. I checked before I came.” She accepted that, as Mossad, Adam knew things other mortals—even she—would never think to ask before arriving. “But?” He gave her a small wink. “The assistant manager is here. In fact, I called him to make my reservation. I met him years ago. In Ramallah.” “A Mossad agent goes to the West Bank capital?” “Honey, we go anywhere we want.” She grimaced playfully. “I will never again doubt how true that is. So what is this manager doing here? In Mexico? At an ultra lux resort?” “He’s a Palestinian, true. But no radical. Not in politics, either. And when I met him?” She nodded. “Yes?” “He was squeaky clean. Educated. Harvard. Business degree. Class of ’01. From a prominent family of very rich Palestinians who are in real estate development. Christian, too. In fact, they originally came from Jerusalem and were forced from their homes in 1967 when our army marched in. They say their family had lived in the Old City so long that they were there to greet Jesus when he came for Passover.” “So you are telling me he is a friend of yours?” “No. I’m telling you I trust him to tell us the truth. Or as much of it as he can.” She considered that a moment and strode away into his bedroom to get her clothes. When Adam followed, he got dressed as quickly. 37

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“What are you cooking in that mind of yours?” he asked. “What’s the manager’s name?” “Muhammed Abbas.” “And why is he the assistant manager here? Any ideas?” “His family owns a minor share of the business and he’s in training to run one of their new facilities solo. They’re building a new one outside Santa Fe in the States.” “Good to know.” She headed for the hall. “See you later.” “Hey!” She heard him jog after her. “Wait a minute, lady!” He took her elbow and stopped her. “You are not going alone.” She looked Adam squarely in the eye. “I know I am.” “And why is that logical?” he challenged her. “You think this man is safe. Uninvolved in the attempt on my life. Innocent about blowing up my bungalow. But I want to see how he plays it out for me. I don’t want his explanation clouded by niceties to you about old acquaintances not being forgotten. I want to see the whites of his eyes when he talks to me. I want to read his body language.” Adam raised the palms of his hands in the air. “You’re right. And then there is the other factor—” “Yes.” She smiled, drew close to Adam and curled her fingers into the wonderful wet black hair at his nape. “If he’s involved and distressed I still walk the earth, then the fact that you are somewhere out there able to rescue me is a big plus.” “Great minds,” he whispered as he gave her a hot hard kiss, “think alike.”

*****

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Nicole never made it to the manager’s office, but saw the confusion of resort staff aiming fire extinguishers at the rubble of her bungalow. Among the shouting men and women stood one tall, olive-skinned man who shouted orders to his staff and into his cell phone. She picked her way across the debris to look up into the anxious face of Muhammed Abbas. A square-jawed, deeply attractive man with the blue eyes of the Mediterranean Sea, he spoke unaccented American English and Spanish with an ease that astonished her. “Señor Abbas,” she greeted him and put out her hand, “I am Nicole Welles.” “Miss Welles,” he said as he immediately closed out his conversation on his phone, “I wondered where you were! Our staff did not know if you might be in your rooms!” He did look relieved as he examined her. “You are well. My god. So good to see you out here! Where were you?” “Out walking. I saw it happen from far down the beach.” She shaded her eyes with one hand in order to see him better. A handsome man. Utterly shaken. Good. “I am very sorry about this. I will, of course, make compensation to you for any items you have lost.” “Thank you. I appreciate that.” She tipped her chin toward the mess. “My personal items are replaceable. I’m concerned with who set this.” “Set it?” His winged brows shot upward. “I am at a loss—“ “I’m not.” She let her she-wolf come out for a bite of him, always the best way to push a man into confusion “Are you used to having your facilities erupt in explosions?” “Explosions? No. Never!” He was defensive, but also inquisitive. “We take pride in our maintenance and our supervision of our grounds. You think this was an explosion?” “I know one when I see one.”

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“So do I,” he said softly, realizing he couldn’t con her. He eyed her with a new respect before he turned to examine the small fires scattered over the blackened earth where her little house once stood. “I never thought there could be any here.” His voice drifted off into the mist of his own private memories. The West Bank, she knew, could be a violent place as Israeli settlers and Palestinians fought for the same land with fists and guns and C4. “I understand. But other things have happened here to me.” He swiveled toward her, shock draining his features of reason. “What do you mean?” “May we adjourn to your office?” He scowled. “Certainly.” He took her elbow as he called over one of his male staff and gave instructions to call him when the fire trucks arrived. “My first priority is your safety and happiness.” Nicki gave a fleeting thought to persuading Muhammed to remain and to call for the police. But she wondered how effective the locals would be in forensics for explosives. This part of Mexico was one that had quite a few exotic resorts, but it was also listed on Interpol’s list of most dangerous criminally controlled areas. The relationship between the drug cartels, law enforcement agencies and government was close and rife with corruption. Someone local had executed this job. And quite a few someones had knowledge of it. If Calderon and the Campeche cartel were truly the ones after her here, Nicole had to learn how they had gotten inside this compound and who had helped them. Then she might be able to look beyond Calderon and Campeche to finger the linchpin who had given the order to destroy her. She hurried beside Muhammed as he led her toward the main building sequestered among the huge palm trees and pink bougainvillea. Inside the cool, dark stucco building, he showed her toward his office. Appointed in caramel-colored Saltillo tiles

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and pale daffodil walls, his ultra-modern glass, steel and leather furniture spoke of a man and a corporation devoted to the very best of everything. She took one of the chairs and sank into buttery comfort. “A drink?” “Ice water, thank you.” He strode to the wet bar and fixed her a tall glass filled with slivers of ice and bubbling water. When he returned to hand it to her, he sat down across from her and with deadly serious eyes, said, “Tell me what has happened to you here.” She recounted the incident on the beach in short sentences. Leaving out Adam’s role in any of it, she told him that she had killed the would-be assassin. She had dragged his body into the shrubbery. But she kept her words short, her descriptions brief, thinking this best until she could read the wind on Muhammed’s complicity. At each revelation, Muhammed stiffened, and at the end asked, “Why did you not come to me immediately?” “I am a security expert, Mr. Abbas. I know to investigate my own challenges. Naturally, I was concerned for my safety but interested in relying on myself first. You, second.” “I hear your rationale, Miss Welles. But still, I do not agree.” She waved a hand. “Your agreement is of no importance to me, Mr. Abbas. But what you know and who you know is.” His sea blue eyes narrowed on her. “You think someone here had a hand in this?” “I know they did. How else would this man get inside your very secure compound?” He pulled back. “I see your point. I will call my own security team to investigate.” “I must ask you not to do that. Not at the moment and perhaps not until after I have left the resort.” “Miss Welles. You are not responsible for this facility. I am. Therefore—” 41

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“Therefore, tell me what your relationship is with Felix Calderon and the Campeche cartel.” “What?” Offense written on his features, he sputtered. “Why do you ask about them?” “I must.” She waited for his answer, cool and unmoving. She could wait forever, if need be. “I have no relationship with men like that. They are vermin!” “Agreed. Still, I must hear you describe to me if you know Calderon personally and what you and your corporation do to ward off interference in this facility by his Campeche cartel.” He stared at her for a long minute. “I do not know Calderon personally. Have never met him or seen him.” “But?” He pursed his lips and shook his head, disgusted with what he had to say. “One of our owners pays fees to the local boss of the cartel.” She sat forward. “And for this fee, the cartel allows you to operate without fear of invasion or reprisal?” He nodded, his blue eyes blank. “I pay the fee each month.” “How? Where? To whom?” “In cash. In the flower stall in the Mercado. I leave it with the old blind woman who tends the stall.” “Does anyone on your staff accompany you?” “My driver.” “Anyone else? Ever?” “Once, my assistant.” “Their names?” “Rico Hernandez and Miranda Sanchez.” 42

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“Thank you. I suggest you talk to them after I am gone and see if they have any personal relationships with anyone in the Campeche organization.” “You do not wish to meet with them?” he asked, astonished. “Only if you cannot tell me one more thing.” “I will do my best. What is it?” “What is the name of the owner of the resort who authorizes the payment to Campeche?” Muhammed winced, reluctant to give out this delicate information. “Come, come, Mr. Abbas. All the owners will know what happened here sooner or later. You will have to tell them. Especially after I issue my complaint and send in my bill for compensation.” He inhaled. “Winston Haller.” Oh my god. She blinked, unable to believe the significance of the name. This man whom so many thought was a beacon of light to the world personified a dichotomy of opposites. Light to dark. Heaven to hell. Good to utterly evil. “Of Haller Enterprises?” She tried not to gasp in astonishment. Haller was one of the foremost philanthropists in the world. Fourth richest man in the States. And he had earned his billions during the nineties in his own computer electronics inventions that made communications easier, faster, less expensive. “Winston Haller?” “Yes. None other.”

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Chapter Five Nicki tried to keep her shock under control as she finished with Abbas, promising to furnish him with a list of her personal belongings that had been lost in the explosion. Certain items, however, like her personal arsenal and the little gadgets she always traveled with would never make it to that list. A list, by the way, she planned to mail to him as soon as she could get the hell out of this place. But in the meantime she needed someplace to hide herself and she needed to make plans. Winston Haller? A partner with the man who’d been her client? That was a real shocker. Haller and Calderon. A devil’s mating if there ever was one. That meant that Calderon knew she was coming here—somehow, someway—and put his plan together. To destroy the “Yankee puta” who’d killed his brother. Never mind that his brother had been an integral part of kidnapping the hostage she’d just rescued. Or that the brother had been inches away from killing the hostage when Nicki shot him instead. This was blood vengeance and Nicki knew that was the worst kind. So he’d called up his good friend Winston Haller and blackmailed him into doing a “little favor” for him. Allowing a killer undetected on the premises of the very private resort. And god only knew who else, because the dead man hadn’t set the explosives charge. That meant that Adam’s contact was compromised, too. If one of the partners was tainted, they all were. She had to warn him. She’d barely made her way along the lushly planted walkway from the manager’s office when a hand reached out of a huge shrub and yanked her into the greenery. “What—”

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A warm male hand clamped over her mouth. She was gathering herself to react, wondering what her options were, when Adam’s voice whispered in her ear, “Just keep quiet. If I take my hand off your mouth can you do that?” She forcibly swallowed her anger and nodded her head once. Adam slid his fingers from her lips, trailing them briefly across her cheek before letting his hand come to rest on her shoulder. “What the hell—” she began in a furious whisper. “Liar.” His voice held just the edge of amusement. “You said you’d keep quiet.” Nicki took a long, deep breath, suppressing her bubbling rage and pressed her lips together. “Better.” Adam tugged her down to the ground with him, where the thickness of the shrubbery concealed them. “You have to know there’s another loose cannon walking around here and I was afraid he’d trailed you to Abbas’ office.” “The explosives.” She pressed her mouth close to his ear. “Our dead guy didn’t set them.” “Got it in one. I know you are the ruler of all things security but you can’t go running around here with a target still on your back. Come on.” “Where are we going?” “There’s a back way out of here that’s pretty well hidden. It has a gate and everything. I can’t figure out if it’s Abbas’ private escape hatch in case of trouble or if one of the owners put it there. Anyway, I scoped it out the first day I was here.” He tugged her along with him, crab-walking as they moved. “I have a car stashed there.” Nicki’s hand clenched over his momentarily in surprise. “You just happened to find this secret exit? And have a car there? Is that part of your usual activity when you take a vacation?” They had traveled a decent distance and no one seemed to be around. Adam stopped and faced her. “You and I both know what I’m doing here is no fucking 45

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vacation. And even if it was, old habits die hard. I never leave myself without an escape hatch. So come on.” Twenty tense, mind-numbing minutes more and they reached the farthest boundary of the resort grounds. The tall, chain-link fence was artfully disguised with the tropical shrubbery, but even more impressive was the way the gate had been camouflaged. Unless one knew where to look. Adam probed the glossy green leaves covering it until his fingers found what he was looking for. Apparently he’d already done what he needed to because in seconds the gate swung open and he hauled her through it. In seconds they were in the dark green SUV hidden among tall plants, Adam had kicked over the engine and they were pulling away from the resort. “How can you even tell where you’re going?” she wanted to know. She had the feeling they were driving blind. “Trust me. We’re golden.” And apparently they were because ten minutes later they pulled out of the jungle onto a wide place on the shoulder. Adam eased the SUV onto the highway and presto! they were part of the traffic moving along at a good clip. “So, on this so-called vacation of yours,” Nicki said slowly, “did you have a next stop in mind?” Adam chuckled, a deep, gravelly sound. “Guadalajara. Sound good to you?” Nicki was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that nothing in this clusterfuck was the way it seemed. “Sure. Any place is good. But first I have something to tell you.” Whatever she expected after her brief recitation of the facts, it wasn’t just a nod of his head. “I know.” “You know?” She practically screamed the word. “So you knew I was being set up?”

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“Not exactly. But I knew there was a connection here to Calderon, and that he was an integral part of the drug machinery.” His mouth tightened in a caricature of a grin. “I just didn’t expect a surprise package like you.” “I’d say we need to get the hell out of Mexico. We know the partners are involved but we won’t find the answers here. We need to tackle them in their own lairs.” She sighed in frustration. “If I hadn’t lost all my gear back there I could contact my office and set up an extraction.” Adam was silent for a long moment, his eyes focused on the road ahead. “I think you need to get out of here. Your safety is compromised.” She gave a short laugh. “And yours isn’t?” “Uh-uh. No one knows why I’m here. And I’m not leaving until I get what I came for.” “You connected the dots and the line on the deadly drugs led you directly to Calderon,” she guessed. “You got it.” “And your owner contact got you into the resort as a ‘vacationer’. Burnt-out spy. Whatever.” She nibbled her lower lip. “Wait. You suspected he was involved, didn’t you.” “I plead the fifth.” The casual tone belied the tension riding him. “Ah. Not with me, you can’t. This is turning out to be a bigger bowl of spaghetti than you thought, isn’t it?” When he didn’t say anything she went on, “You can’t do this alone, Adam. His hands tightened on the wheel. “I do very well alone. Believe me.” “Okay, but think about this for a minute. Now you have me. And all the resources of Nemesis. We can regroup at my ranch, get whatever we need and create a real plan together.” “This isn’t your fight.” His voice was tight, edgy.

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“The hell it isn’t!” “Look! I won’t have you killed because you and I are involved!” “I am involved. With or without you! Calderon wants me dead, so my only recourse is to take him down first. And you know as well as I do the dots here can wander in many directions. How do they distribute the drugs? What’s their system? If it’s international all the owners could be involved.” “I already thought of that.” “So. We need a plan and we need resources.” She rested a hand on his thigh. “I want to help you, Adam. Don’t think you have to do this alone. And I’m no novice, believe me.” He was silent for so long she wasn’t sure he was ever going to answer her. Finally he blew out a long, slow breath. “All right. But this is a shared op. We both call the shots.” “Agreed.” “Then let’s get to Guadalajara. I know a cheap motel. Secluded. Private. And I’ve got a secure phone you can use to call your office.” He slid his eyes over to her. “This is going to be a bumpy ride, Nicki.” She laughed, for the first time since the explosion. “Aren’t they all?”

***** The motel was buried among many others in a slightly seedy part of Guadalajara, the room a carbon copy of so many others she’d used for just this purpose. Hardly an icon for the cultural center of the Mexican state of Jalisco. Nicki had been to this part of Mexico before, as a tourist following another case, visiting the historic buildings and cathedrals and riding through the countryside that reminded her so much of the Texas Hill Country. But they weren’t here as tourists and the more anonymous the motel room the better off they were. 48

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“We’re good to go,” she told Adam, turning off the special secure phone he’d lent her. She hadn’t been the least surprised to learn he had a fully supplied go-bag stashed in the back of the SUV. A phone. A laptop. What else might he have, she wondered as she told him, “Extraction will be in the morning just at sunrise.” She handed him the slip of paper on which she’d written the coordinates. Adam sat down at the rickety desk and powered up his netbook, entered the information and pinpointed the exact location. “No sweat,” he told her. “I know the spot. There’s a small plateau between two short hills, and even a place to leave the SUV.” She raised an eyebrow. “Doesn’t someone have to pick it up?” “They will. Not a problem.” He closed the little computer, stood up and stretched. “That leaves us with some time to kill before we have to leave.” “My.” She smiled. “Whatever shall we do?” “Well, we could have some food.” He grinned, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “We need more to eat than each other.” Nicki chuckled, but heat surged through her body as it remembered the feel of his mouth. “There must be a cheap store around here.” “Taking a shower is first on my list.” He picked her up easily in his arms. “Yours, too.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “Are you trying to tell me I need a bath?” He elbowed aside the shower curtain, balanced her on one knee and turned on the water. “No. I’m trying to tell you that I can’t wait to see that sweet pussy slick with soap.” Moisture instantly soaked the crotch of her thong and a whisper of heat skittered over her skin. Her muscles still remembered the feel of Adam’s thick hard cock in her cunt, stretching her, filling her.

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Letting the water run, Adam stood her on her feet and peeled her out of her clothes. “Do you know how fucking hard I’ve been sitting next to you and remembering what that sweet little cunt of yours feels like? How soft the curls are around it? The taste of your nipples in my mouth?” Her attraction, their sex, was just like the first time. And the second. Instant, hard heat. Sizzling heat. Carnal heat. Desire that erupted like a geyser, bathing both of them. It couldn’t be too hard or too fast. Nicki pressed her hips against him, seeking the steely length of his cock, rubbing herself back and forth against the rigid planes of his body. His warm hands moved to cup her breasts. His mouth surrounded a nipple, pulling and sucking. He shifted so his knee edged between her thighs, pressing hard against the moist heat of her pussy. Nicki moaned, a delicious sound of pleasure that echoed at the back of her throat, and arched herself into him. Adam sucked first one nipple, then the other and each hardened to the point of painful pleasure. All the while he was busy caressing her hips, her tummy and teasing her with deft touches to her bush. When he released her nipple he knelt on the tile and reverently spread the lips of her pussy with his lean fingers. “You have the most gorgeous lips, beautiful. Pink and pouty and slick now with that cream that tastes like champagne. I could eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner.” Her legs shaking under the assault of his tongue, Nicki had to brace herself with her hands on his shoulders and lean back against the small counter as he pressed his open mouth over her cunt. He licked every bit of her labia and then nipped at her already sensitive clit. “Do it,” she ordered. “Don’t tease.” His laugh vibrated through her body. “But I love to taunt you. You are so responsive.” “You want responsive? Fuck me, and I’ll show you responsive.”

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“We were made for each other, honey. But one of these times it won’t be hard, fast and furious. One of these times I’m going to take hours to enjoy your body.” He nipped and she gasped. “And let you enjoy mine. But in the meantime…” Two fingers slid into the channel of her pussy and he pulled on her clit with his teeth. Nicki exploded, the climax taking her by surprise. She held on for dear life until the shudders subsided, then tried to settle her breathing. When she looked down at Adam he was smiling up at her, his lips slick with her cream. “God. I’ve looked for a woman like you all my life. Don’t go anywhere anytime soon.” “As if I could,” she breathed. She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he stripped off his own clothes, then reached into the pocket of his shorts to retrieve a condom. “After fucking you the first time I figured I’d better be prepared.” He kissed her, hard, his tongue probing into her mouth carrying with it the flavor of her musk. “Come on. Into the shower.” She stepped in, eager as a cat in heat. He reached for her instantly. His hands massaged lather into her, starting at her shoulders, working their way down her breasts, tweaking her nipples, rimming the tiny folds of flesh in her navel. Nudging her thighs apart he paid careful attention to every bit of her cunt, sliding his fingers inside and scissoring them to catch her sweet spot. Again she could do nothing but hold on for the ride as heat sizzled through her and lust encased her in an erotic fog. He paid as much attention to her back, kneading the muscles as he worked his way down to her waist. When he reached the globes of her buttocks he bent for a moment to nip each one lightly, then slipped his fingers through the cleft. She heard herself moan again as he teased at the tight ring of muscle at her anus, almost begging him to take her there. His low laugh against her ear was filled with need. “Later. When we’re in a time and place to do it right. But it will be my pleasure, beautiful. Believe me.” 51

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He turned her to face him again, handing her the soap. “What?” “Your turn.“ Her hands were shaking as she returned the favor, soaping his body, scraping her fingers across his nipples, loving the way he caught his breath when she did. But it was the tightening of his body when she grabbed his cock that made the inner muscles of her pussy quiver in anticipation. Thick and long and hard, with its swollen plumcolored head, his penis was a living thing in her hand and she stroked and caressed and squeezed. When she dipped her hand between his thighs to cup his sac he grabbed her wrists. “You send all my control straight to hell,” he said between clenched teeth. Reaching past the shower curtain, he found the condom and rolled it on. “Spread your legs,” he commanded as his strong hands lifted her. Nicki spread them wide and he lowered her onto his shaft with one quick plunge. Nicki wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer. He tightened his hands on her waist and pounded into her as if this was the last time he’d ever get to do this. “Look at me, Nicki.” She opened her eyes, aroused even more by the sight of him like some dark god with the water pouring down his face and body, pistoning into her again and again. “Tell me what you want, Nicki.” She sucked in a breath. “Fuck me. Hard.” “My pleasure.” He leaned her against the tiled wall and pounded into her, again and again. She felt his big body tighten as her own release blasted up through her and they exploded together. His cock flexed with each spurt of semen as the walls of her pussy clenched and milked him. The spasms rocketed through her hard and fast, stealing her breath, until at last they died into aftershocks. 52

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He was still holding her tightly when her legs slid down his thighs to the floor. She stood there shaking while he rinsed them off, turned off the water and grabbed two bath towels. When they were dry he lifted her out of the tub and carried her to the bed. “I think we need a little rest before we head out for some food,” he told her. Nicki looked at him and burst out laughing. “Ya think?”

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Chapter Six Nicki gazed out the chopper window down at the familiar sight of her compound, the headquarters of Nemesis, her security company. Nestled into the rugged hills of central Texas, the main building consisted of fourteen thousand square feet resembling a modern ranch house. Few could tell, from the road or the air, that inside were housed the most efficient state-of-the-art communications systems and the finest experts to run them. One of the two out-buildings of stucco and limestone contained back-up generators to independently power the compound, while the other stored an arsenal of weaponry only a few security firms in the world could rival for quality and quantity. “Nice,” Adam complimented her, squeezing her hand. “I should have heard about you long ago.” She smiled at him. “I’ll introduce you around. Show you the sights.” His gaze zeroed in on her lips and he whispered so the pilot couldn’t hear. “I’ve seen the best already and I love ’em.” She elbowed him. Soon, they were climbing down, and striding along the path to the main building. She led the way. “I’ve been dreaming of owning my own company for years. Started this almost five years ago. Growth has been swift, given the current state of the world’s troubles. But only in the past three years has Nemesis really blossomed. Great clients. Wonderful new additions to my staff. Meanwhile, so many other security firms have come under a cloud.” “Corruption charges. Operatives who are loose cannons in the field. Gives private ops a big bad name,” Adam said as he took note of the profusion of live oaks and yucca amid the rocky landscaping leading to the wide front doors.

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“Right. So I have strict procedures. Strict ethics. One misstep and a consultant is severed. No questions. No excuses. Gone, baby, gone.” Adam swung open the front door for her and let her precede him. “Good practice.” “Saves lives,” she told him as she beckoned him down the hall with a nod in one direction. “And a lot of heartache. In here,” she told him and opened the heavy door to her private office. He whistled as he measured the thickness of the metal door. “Are all the doors this tempered steel?” “Every one. No one can get to us. Or me.” She caught a lift of his brows. “Except you,” she murmured and gave him a smile. “Straighten up, Molloy.” She spun and smiled at her assistant. “Say hello to Catrina Cardoza. Hey, Cat. Meet Mr. Adam Molloy.” The young woman stood and grinned at Nicki, then handed her a stack of neatly opened mail and a glass of sparkling water. “Hello, Mister Molloy, welcome. Nicki, you’ve got Maddie and Dan Foreman in your private conference room, as you requested and you can call Ridge Tarleton whenever you want. He said to emphasize that, once I told him you were on your way in.” “Good to know. Thanks, Cat.” “Mister Molloy, would you like a drink? Anything to eat?” Cat’s dark brown gaze traveled over his rumpled clothes. “Anything? Name it.” “Sure. Now that you mention it. How about a pastrami sandwich on rye, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red and a glass?” Nicki had to chuckle. “Make that two sandwiches and two glasses, Cat. Come on inside,” she told Adam. “My lair.” “You shock me,” he told her after she closed the door behind him. His hands on his hips, he surveyed the room. “When you said the latest technology, I really didn’t expect you to rival our setup in Jerusalem.”

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She grinned as she took her chair behind her large granite-topped steel desk. “Actually, I’ve been told we rival the toys that the boys at NSA have at Fort Meade.” “Never been there. But I believe it!” He sank into a chair opposite her. “Cozy.” She pressed a button and a screen opened on the far wall. “For teleconferencing. Similar system to what’s in Camp David and the Secure Room under 1600 Pennsylvania. Over here—” she clicked on another screen for him to swivel and admire, “a traffic monitoring system for most major cities where we have client operations in progress.” “Isn’t that illegal in the States?” She nodded. “It is. But all of these are in cities outside the country. Addis Ababa. Singapore. Sana’i.” He got a horrible look of delight on his face. “No wonder you get big bucks. The worst hellholes in the world and you are monitoring them like hawks.” “Make no mistake. When we find something that we think the Feds or Interpol should know, we share. Good intelligence is all about being a team player. Gets you where you want to be.” “Not left in the dust?” He shook his head. “Amen to that, babe. I’ve worked with a clamp on for so many years, I don’t know if I’m able to share.” That got to the core of their issue and her problem here. “But with me, here, on this, you must, Adam.” She let that sink in before she let him know more. “Or we cannot go on.” He went still. “Old habits are hard to break.” She waited. “My entire identity is tied up with what I do.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think anyone has ever quit the service. Ever even tried.” As the silence in the room lengthened, he added, “A few have gone on to politics.” 56

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She tipped her head in question. “Not my ambition.” She arched a brow. “Mine has always been just finding bad guys and putting them away. Occasionally, I’ve helped a few people get justice, but it was always justice for the state, too.” She swallowed. Was she losing him here? He sat forward. “I’ll make you a deal for now. For this.” She held her breath. “What I know, what I learn, you’ll know. What resources I have, I’ll use them for this. I owe it to King Saul Boulevard. I owe it to my country. I owe it to myself. And my friend’s sister. At the end of this, when we find out who does this and why, I’ll make a choice.” She nodded. “I see.” “You agree?” “Deal,” she told him, knowing she had to take what he offered and run with it. He was key now to her thinking about this mystery. He knew facts, understood the pharmaceutical issues from a different angle and had experience tracking it. Whether he had been successful or not before this didn’t really matter so much as the fact that he wanted to continue. Continue with her. Continue for her. And she needed him. His clever brain. His smart humor. Yes, she craved him. Like sunshine and rain. And for an excitement and a delight in living that she had never known until he took her in his arms and loved her with that fabulous body. He tried to smile. His mouth didn’t work. She rose from her chair. “Come meet two of my staff who can give us the run-down on Abbas and Haller. Maddie and Dan are married. Recently, too. They met while Dan was on a project for the Feds and Maddie was chief of staff to the Speaker of the House.”

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“Maddie…” Adam snapped his fingers. “She worked for Paul Trask? Good god. I read about her!” “She helped to put him away. Dan and she saved each other from Trask’s attempt to kill them and bury what they knew about his operations in south Texas.” “It’ll be an honor to meet them,” Adam told her. “But why with this? What do they bring to the table?” “Maddie has a large network of friends and acquaintances. She uses her connections well. To our benefit.” Nicki wiggled her brows. “And Dan has a deft hand with technology. Computers. Decoding. Analysis. He has become invaluable to us here.” “Which way to the newly married couple?” Nicki threw Adam a grin and pressed a button. The wall behind her slid silently open and there, at a large glass table, sat her old college friend, Madison, talking quietly with her new husband, tall, fit, Dan Foreman. Dan had his hand on Maddie’s cheek and the tender look in his eyes made Nicki startle. That look. She’d seen it on Dan. Seen it on other men’s faces. But never directed at her. Until now. When she saw it on Adam Molloy’s face every time he kissed her or made love to her. The shock froze her. Love was not on her agenda. Never had been. An affair, loose and noncommittal, sure, she could do that. An interlude, fast and hot, always a possibility, but never often. Never an entanglement she sought. But tenderness? Love from a man she knew was so untamed, so talented, so quick and smart? That was the biggest danger. Wasn’t it? Maddie and Dan turned toward her and grinned, then rose. “Hey, Nicki!” Dan was first to put out his hand toward her. Because she was the boss and this was the office, he was always professional here. Never hugging her in greeting.

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Maddie was more casual, more natural. Fourteen years of friendship between them meant Maddie was going to be less formal. She came over and hugged Nicki, then held her arms to pull back and glance in her eyes. “How are you? Cat gave us headlines. But Dan and I need details!” Nicki smiled gently. “And we’ve got lots for you both. This is Adam Molloy.” “Adam,” Dan shook hands, his green eyes wary of the newcomer. “Hi, Adam,” Maddie greeted him and followed Nicki’s lead to take their seats. Nicole folded her hands on the table. “Let me tell you first that Adam happened to be in the right place for me at the right time. His ability to do that comes with his nineto-five job.” Dan got an astonished look on his face. “Nine to five? Yeah, right.” “Do tell,” Maddie encouraged with a grin. “Mossad,” Adam provided. “No shit,” Dan muttered. Maddie fell back in her chair. “So you were just out for a stroll on a private beach and managed to see a suspicious character about to hurt our girl, huh?” Adam tipped his head. “You might say it like this.” Then he explained what he was doing there, why, and how he had helped Nicki survive. Nicki shifted in her chair. The expression on Maddie’s face told her that her friend could detect a few holes in Adam’s summary. Dan absorbed the tale with a few nods. But Maddie’s cool blue gaze on Nicki’s face made her blush. She swallowed hard as Adam finished. “And now we have these suspicions of the owners of the resort.” “And you have to track them,” Dan added. “Who are they?” When Nicki listed the five, Maddie widened her eyes. Dan grimaced. “The manager of the place seems clean,” Adam told them, “but we’re not certain.” 59

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Nicole tapped the table with her fingertips. “We need a complete dossier on all five partners who own the resort. Plus the manager.” “That’s where I come in,” Dan added. “I’ll get on it.” “We also need,” Nicki added, “an update on their financial records. Public and private. If you can get the private ones. We suspect they have a few little accounts in the Caymans. Just for emergencies.” Maddie nodded. “Who doesn’t?” Adam agreed. “But anything we can get that isn’t in the papers or the bank accounts, that would be a bigger help.” Maddie grinned. “Just my cup of tea. Who are we talking about?” Adam rapped his knuckles on the table. “One of the five is an acquaintance of mine. He, of course, would rather forget how we met. But he owes me a favor. A big one. He seems to me to be the easiest to get to.” “Which is he?” Maddie asked. “Henri LeClerq.” “LeClerq. LeClerq.” Maddie frowned for a moment, then brightened. “I went to boarding school in Geneva with his daughter, Marie. Nice man. What’s your connection to him, Adam?” “Three years ago, I headed a team to find out who was funding the purchase of guns and rockets to Hamas in Gaza. We soon learned it was a group in Iran, but the money made its way through Henri’s private bank in Basel. We were about to make arrangements to close him down when it became clear he had no idea who he was really dealing with. The money had been laundered before it got to him. We cleared him and the bank. Saved his ass. Hence, he owes me.” Dan whistled. “Good story. He should be grateful.” Adam nodded. “Very.” “So you both want to get in to see LeClerq soon?” Maddie asked. 60

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“We do,” Adam nodded. “I doubt that can happen.” “Why not?” Nicki asked. “Because,” Maddie sat forward, “Henri is on his way to Washington for a meeting of private bankers at the World Bank. This is a big event. Bankers from the G-20 countries there to talk about the recessions in the States and Europe. Top security. He won’t be available.” “Can you get a message to him?” Adam asked. “I’ll try,” she replied. “Tell him I must see him.” Her blond brows shot high. “Adam Molloy?” “None other,” he confirmed. “Just checking.” She grinned. “I’d guess you’ve had a few other names over the course of your career.” He gave Maddie a lopsided grin. “I have. Molloy is the real thing, Maddie. Go with it.” “I will. I’ll see what I can do,” Maddie offered. “So,” Dan began, “What’s your next move?” Nicki glanced at Adam. “Henderson?” Adam got to his feet. “Henderson in the Caribbean.”

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Chapter Seven Adam looked out the window of the Nemesis private jet as it winged its way over the blue waters of the Caribbean. “It always looks so calm and beautiful down there,” he told Nicki, seated in the plush chair across from him. “You’d never know the kind of crooked filth that goes on just beneath the surface.” “That’s the damn truth.” She sipped lightly at her glass of wine. They’d left Maddie and Dan in charge of things back at headquarters. Five minutes after the initial briefing Dan was already busy searching for information—public, private and hidden—on the five resort partners. He was also looking for whatever had connected them in the first place. Maddie was pulling strings and exercising her charm to get past Henri LeClerq’s considerable security to wangle an audience for Adam and Nicki. “The car will be waiting for us when we land?” he asked. She nodded. “That was Cat on the phone a few minutes ago. “The man we use whenever we have to stage an op in the Caribbean will be waiting for us at the private airport with what we need. He’s also the one arranging the boat to take us to Henderson’s island.” “Pretty dicey owning an island so close to the international water line of Cuba.” He swallowed the rest of his drink. “I’m sure he thinks it will keep unwanted visitors away. You can’t land without his permission and stray boats won’t know exactly the waterline of demarcation.” “But your guy knows exactly how to take us in?”

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Nicki winked at him. “Trust me. “He took me here twice before. Anyway, you can’t get close unless he okays it.” She looked at her watch. “We’ll have about four hours after we land to check into the hotel and get to the marina. Henderson’s still recovering from that emergency appendectomy and he’s not so young anymore.” “I’m not sure it was a good idea to let him know we’re coming,” Adam mused. “He could have his helicopter pick him up and move him someplace else before we get to his island.” She shook her head. “He owes me big-time. If he runs out on me, I’ll be after his ass and he’s very aware of it.” “Your call.” His grin held a glint of the devil. “That means we have to occupy ourselves while we’re waiting. Did you have something in mind?” “Oh,” she drawled, “I think we can come up with something intriguing.”

***** Great Exuma Cay was an oven, the hot sun burning everything in sight, the air so moist and thick it was nearly suffocating. But it was mild compared to the heat sizzling in the hotel room where Adam and Nicki stood facing each other. They’d practically torn their clothes off the moment the door locked behind them but now it seemed they wanted to hit the Pause button and slow things down. The ceiling fan turned lazily overhead, creating a soft breeze on her naked skin but it did little to lower Nicki’s body temperature as Adam’s hot gaze raked over her. “Jesus, you’re a wet dream walking.” His voice was low and guttural with arousal. “I’m going to have to figure out how to control myself in public. I don’t think I want to walk into Henderson’s house with a raging hard-on poking through my jeans.” Nicki’s laugh was throaty and warm. “Then I guess we’d better do something about it.” She dropped gracefully to her knees in front of him and wrapped her slim fingers around his thickly swollen cock. One tiny bead of moisture sat temptingly at the slit on 63

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the plum-colored head. She lapped it gently with her tongue, making a low humming noise in the back of her throat. Adam sucked in his breath, a hissing sound that cut through the air. He held himself rigid, hands at his sides, but when Nicki opened her mouth and slowly slid her lips down the length of his shaft he tunneled his fingers through her hair and gripped her head. “Oh, fuck,” he growled. “Oh, shit, Nicki. Your mouth is…incredible.” She made that little humming noise again and began to slide her mouth up and down, swirling her tongue around his cock with each movement. Every muscle in his body was rigid, taut with anticipation as she sucked and lapped and pulled on him. When she slipped one hand between his thighs to cup his sac, fire shot through his groin and a growl roared up from his chest. The harder she sucked, the tighter he gripped her head. Almost unconsciously he rocked his hips, fucking her mouth as her tongue danced along his turgid flesh. He’d had a lot of women in his life—far too many, some might say—but no one had ever given him the pleasure that Nicole Welles did, or reached inside him to something he’d thought lost long ago. He rocked in rhythm with the movement of her mouth, her fingers rolling his balls in a gentle motion that sent heat lightning through his body. He felt the familiar tightening in his groin and the icy tingle at the base of his spine that signaled the rush of his climax. And then it rocketed through him, gripping him and shaking him like a giant fist. He spurted into Nicki’s mouth again and again, his hips thrusting forward with each spasm. She never eased her motion, swallowing every bit of his cum while her fingers continued to stroke him and her tongue lapped at his shaft. One final shudder and he was spent, leaning weakly over her, still gripping her head, now as much for support as anything else.

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One final lick and Nicki rose to her feet. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, the flavor of his cum still on her lips. The impact made his now soft cock twitch threatening to harden again. Drawing in a long breath, he exhaled slowly, turned with Nicki in his arms and carried them both down to the bed. “What’s good for one is good for the other,” he murmured in her ear before plunging his tongue into her mouth. She was like liquid fire, branding him with the tongue that moments ago had given him so much pleasure. He tore his mouth away from hers to trail it down her body, pausing to nip at each taut nipple. The soft little moans she made were like matches lighting his nerves and he moved his mouth at once to her nearly naked cunt. “You shaved,” he murmured, running his tongue over the newly bared skin. She’d left only a thin strip of curls covering the outer lips. “The better to feel you with.” The words were teasing but the tension in her voiced betrayed her instantly rising heat. Adam’s lean fingers opened the lips of her pussy and he sucked in his breath at the sight of the glistening pink flesh. She was already so wet. So goddamn wet. And hot. When he traced his tongue over the inner lips the heat of her liquid scorched him. “I’m gonna eat you until you scream,” he promised and thrust his tongue inside her. Tiny spasms rocked her at once. He gripped her thighs to hold her in place as he worked to give her the same pleasure she’d just given him. It was like having his tongue inside an oven filled with nectar—hot, sweet, addictive. And she was so ready so quickly. Hanging right there on the edge. He moved one hand up until he found her clit. When he pinched it hard between thumb and forefinger she screamed and convulsed, pouring into his mouth like a vessel. He sucked and pulled until he’d drawn the last drop from her before finally sliding out of her still quivering pussy. Lying down next to her, he pulled her into his 65

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arms and took her mouth in a hot, hungry kiss. The mixture of their flavors was intoxicating, surging through his body like a drug. His first thought was, How can I leave her when this is over? His next was, I am so fucked.

***** The speedboat they’d picked up at the marina cut through the cerulean water of the Caribbean throwing spray back from the bow. Adam steered as if he’d been doing it forever. Nicki could only think how incredibly hot and masculine he looked standing at the wheel, the breeze ruffling his thick black hair. As they approached Paul Henderson’s private island another boat roared out from a dock to meet them. She could see three men in the boat, two of them making no effort to hide the assault weapons they carried loosely in their arms. The boat headed in a direct line for them, slowing down only when they came close to Adam and Nicki. Adam throttled back and moved the gear to idle. “You are in private waters,” the man driving the boat shouted to them. “Turn back at once.” “We have an appointment with Mr. Henderson,” Nicki shouted back. “Four o’clock.” “Names,” he said. “Nicole Welles and Adam Molloy. Mr. Henderson is a friend.” They waited, boat rocking in the gentle waves while the man spoke into a radio he carried. Finally he nodded. “Follow us.” They tied up at the dock next to the other boat and waited patiently while they were searched for weapons. Then they were led up to the house, the armed men close behind them, the radio man in front.

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The house itself was a massive building of stone and glass rising from a slight hill and surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. They climbed the steps to the door which the man with the radio opened, and they were ushered inside. “Follow me,” he told Adam and Nicki, indicating to the two armed men that should also come along. Paul Henderson was lying on a hospital bed in a room with a wall of windows overlooking the ocean. He turned his head as they approached, and Nicki was struck by how pale and weak he looked. “Hello, Nicki.” Even his voice lacked strength. “Hello, Paul. I didn’t realize you were having such a tough time recovering from the surgery.” “Complications.” His smile was wan. “What can I do for you?” “I need to talk to you about your partners in the Costalegre resort and some rumors I’ve heard.” His eyelids fluttered closed. “Business, Nicki? I’m on no shape to discuss that.” “Just a few questions,” she persisted. “Please.” His eyes opened. “Who is this man with you?” “This is my friend, Adam Molloy. He’s…helping me.” Again the eyes closed. “I haven’t paid much attention to what’s going on there,” he protested. “I fear you’ve made your long journey for nothing.” “Paul.” She let out a slow breath. “I was almost killed.” His face took on a pinched look and he reached out a hand that trembled. “I am so sorry you were in danger, but I say again. I have been way out of the loop.” “So far out you can’t give me an idea of why someone would come onto the property with a loaded weapon?” Henderson gave a little shake of his head. “I don’t make my guests go through a magnetron at the front gate!” 67

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Surprised she could get that much vehemence from a man who was supposedly recuperating far too slowly from a surgical procedure, Nicki nodded. “Or do you keep a supply of weapons and ammo on site for those guests who request such…amenities?” “Don’t be ridiculous,” he spat. Not too ill, are you? “How well did you check out your manager before you hired him?” Henderson arched a brow. “Rigorously. Nothing wrong with Abbas. Can’t chance it with our clientele there. You know how high profile they are.” Nicki felt Adam tense beside her and reached for his hand, squeezing it hard to signal him not to say anything. This was turning out to be a dead end and they needed to get out of there. “Paul, I could really use some input from you here. I know what a tight rein you keep on things.” She huffed a breath of impatience. “If you could just point me toward someone who could give me the answers I need. Maybe one of your partners? I told you. There are some rumors circulating about them.” She really wanted to see if she could pry loose a connection to Calderon but she also wanted to get out of there in one piece. “I think that’s enough.” The leader of Henderson’s guard stepped forward. “It’s time for Mr. Henderson’s medication and his nap.” “But…” “Let’s go.” Adam’s voice behind her was low and quiet. She took one last look at the man in the hospital bed and allowed his men to lead her and Adam away. Neither of them said a word until they were in the boat. Then Adam turned to Nicki and said, “You know that was a total load of crap.” “Damn right, that asshole. He knows perfectly well what’s happening, but with that Praetorian Guard around him and his illness as an excuse we could have saved our energy.”

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“Let’s call Maddie and see if she’s been able to get us in to see LeClerq.” “Crashing a meeting of the heads of major financial institutions is no small feat. Can she handle it?” Nicki laughed. “If anyone can, it’s Maddie.” “That’s good, because now it’s even more important.” “As soon as we reach the marina I’ll call the hangar and have the pilot get the plane ready. If Maddie’s made contact, we’ll go directly to Washington, D.C.” They were in the air before Maddie got back to them with confirmation of their appointment with LeClerq. “Dan and I will meet you there,” she told Nicki. “You’ll need me in person to open doors for you. Besides, I’m the one with the invitation to the private reception.” “Can you also conjure up some clothes for us?” Nicki joked. “I’m making reservations at the Willard for you. Just tell the concierge to send up a personal shopper and she’ll fetch whatever you and Adam need. Isn’t that what you always do?” Nicki laughed. “You got it.” She hung up and explained to Adam what was happening. “All right. But if we run into trouble, I have a few hole cards I can play.”

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Chapter Eight It turned out Adam’s hole card needed to be an ace. Maddie called shortly after they checked in to the Willard to say that LeClerq refused to talk to them. If they came to the reception to corner him, he’d simply leave. They could save themselves the time. He had nothing to say to them. But Adam’s hole card was indeed an ace. “He owes me big-time,” he told Nicki. “You know, the money laundering thing. If not for me he’d have ended up in prison.” “Well, then. Time to let him pay up,” Nicki said as she opened the door to permit the bellboy to deliver their clothes in various boxes from local shops. “Got to try these on,” she said as she tore into the packages. “Mad to be into clean clothes!” She tried on the black dress and heels, then settled on a pink tee-shirt, slim jeans and pink Keds. As Adam sifted through the concierge’s selections for himself, he tried to get LeClerq on his secure line. It took patience and maneuvering to get through to LeClerq, but finally he came on the phone. Adam told him what he needed and why LeClerq was going to help him by giving any information he could get. “He promises to call me back on his private cell,” Adam told her as he donned his khakis, red polo and loafers. Within two minutes, Adam was picking up a ring from his cell. The conversation he and LeClerq had was brief, with Adam mostly listening. “He wasn’t happy to give me the information,” he told Nicki, shutting closed his phone. “Client confidentiality and all that. But I got it out of him that Henderson has a separate, personal account in his bank. And, he says it’s growing at a faster than normal rate. Too fast for the funds to come, he thinks, from legitimate enterprises. LeClerq has known about the growth for about six months. Red-flagged by one of the account 70

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managers who thought it was definitely an indication of some kind of illegal activity and who brought it to LeClerq’s attention.” “Did he say where he thought the money came from?” Nicki asked. Adam nodded. “First he warned me that it’s his ass and mine if anyone finds out he told me. But if it is illegal and I can keep his bank out of it, he’ll owe me again.” “Tell me the name of the company.” Nicki gestured impatiently. “It appears Henderson has a large number of shares in a pharmaceutical company. A third of Henderson’s deposits come from that.” “And it is…” “Interlock Pharmcorp.” He studied Nicki, waiting, and in seconds she understood. “Drug distribution. And the cartel.” Adam nodded. “Got it in one.” “But we need to know exactly how they’re distributing it, and…” He held up a hand. “The other two-thirds of Henderson’s windfall, however, is coming from a corporation Henri wasn’t familiar with, so he checked it out.” “And?” “All the directors are fictitious. It’s nothing but a blind shell.” Nicki’s eyes widened in amazement. “And LeClerq’s just been sitting on this information?” “Look at it from his point of view. He can’t exactly rat out his clients.” “We need to go back to the Caribbean. Confront Henderson again. Now that we know what we’re looking for, I think we can be more aggressive with him.” “Let me make another phone call first.”

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Adam called Mossad headquarters on his encrypted cell phone and talked for a long time in Hebrew. Nicki watched the lines in his face deepen as he listened. When he hung up, his expression was grim. “Okay. At least we have more news.” “Tell me.” “There have been reports now of deaths similar to Emily’s in Paris, Berlin and Madrid. Recently in Tel Aviv, too. The better parts of town.” “Same MO of the victims?” Nicki asked, “Housewives? Office workers? High end furnishing store clerks?” “Yes. But according to my boss, the bulk of activity is still here in the Washington metro area. Georgetown. Bethesda. Alexandria. More deaths. More hospitalizations.” He shook his head. “Did he say they have any clues how the victims acquire it?” “We think now they buy it in high end boutiques and shops that sell things like candles and oils for aromatherapy. And the company that’s selling it?” “Let me guess. The shell corporation where Henderson’s getting so much money.” “Yes. Our men had to call in a lot of markers to find that out.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Meanwhile, they’ll hack into LeClerq’s computers and monitor what’s going on with Henderson and his accounts. Mossad can get into anything. They’ll also try to see if Pharmcorp has a hand getting the drug into this country. These people can’t take the usual smugglers’ route or they’d never have such open distribution.” He made a rude noise. “Selling it like some good luck charm right out in the open. What balls.” “Do you know the names of any of these places? Maybe we can go talk to the owners, find out how they order it. If it’s through this corporation where Henderson’s getting so much money, we’ll have something to hit him with details.”

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“Headquarters will send me a list of shops to my smartphone. As soon as we get it we should hit the bricks. Find one close. Talk to the owners.” “We’re swimming in dangerous waters here, Adam,” Nicki warned. “I’ve been here plenty of times before. I just don’t want anything to happen to you.” “I’m good,” she reassured him. “I don’t run this company on my good looks, you know.” He grinned. “At one time, I might have thought so, but now?” Tension racked his features as he pulled her into his arms for a hard kiss, his tongue plunging into her mouth. He held her head tightly as he devoured her, then pulled back, leaving her breathless. His SMARTPHONE chirped. “Okay.” He read the list and when he glanced up, his eyes landed on Nicki and his heart wrenched with fear for her safety. “Let’s go.” He had a queasy feeling, a sensation that came on him when he knew he was missing something. When they’d checked in, he had walked the room, scanning for bugs in the phone, the TV, the lamps. He found nothing. Nicki had doubled down on his search, and found nothing. But dealing with someone like Henderson and illegal trafficking made him wary. And he was alone on this job with her. Headquarters had asked if he needed backup and he had requested it, but it could take ten to twenty-four hours before the alternate would be in place. They’d call with the signal when that happened. Until then, it was up to him to have all his antennae up. Nicki, too. As if she didn’t already, he thought to himself as he grabbed her hand and headed for the elevator, the lobby and the front doors. As if they were reading each other’s minds, they strolled up E Street as if they were tourists. They cut in front of the Treasury and over to the 1600 North Portico of the White House. Sightseers wandered about, gaping at the green expanse of the White House lawn and the alabaster home. No cars had been allowed here in front for more

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than fifteen years, so pedestrians—including anyone who might be trailing Adam and Nicki—could be easier to spot. But Adam saw no one unusual. Nicki didn’t either and told him so with a glimmer in her eye. “I can’t believe how many tourists are out here!” “Let’s get a bite to eat, shall we?” he offered as they made their way toward Seventeenth Street past the Executive Office Building and a line of taxis waiting for footweary travelers to hire a cab. He stuck his arm in the air and one zoomed to their side. Adam said “Georgetown” to the young black driver who cracked his gum loudly and spoke with a South African accent. “You can drop us at the corner of M and Wisconsin,” he told the kid as he glanced at Nicki and showed her the list of four addresses on his SMARTPHONE of where they were headed. “Didn’t want him to know where we were going, right?” she commented as they trekked north on the thoroughfare filled with ritzy old neighborhood shops. “Not a chance.” As they stopped to admire the fresh oysters and crabs in the window of a seafood restaurant, they glanced up and down the avenue. “No one’s interested in where we’re headed.” “We’ll continue to check,” he said under his breath. “Come on. Our first one is across the street.” The minute they opened the heavy glass doors to the place called Sweet Scents, the overpowering aroma of scented candles and oils hit Adam. “How does anyone even know what to order in a place like this?” Adam muttered. “You’d need to have the lining of your nose replaced after being in here.” “Ssh.” Nicki began to lift a few of the expensive soaps and candles to catch the fragrances. The shop was filled with customers, a fact that appealed to Adam who did not want to call attention to themselves if they asked for packets of Pleasant Dreams. But moving

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quickly through the stock and reading labels, Nicki found them. “These,” she told the sales girl who looked like a college student on her part-time job, “are absolutely wonderful. You have only four packets left though. Do you have more in the back?” The girl shook her head. “No, ma’am. We’re all out of that. It’s a big seller.” I bet. Adam leaned over to Nicki and said, “Honey, if you really like it, perhaps we can order a big supply from the manufacturer.” He looked at the clerk. “Is that possible?” “Oh, yes, sweetie,” Nicki said to Adam. “Great idea!” And of the clerk, she asked, “Do you have the name of the manufacturer?” “I’m not sure.” “Would you please look?” “Um. Well. I’m not even sure where to look for that.” Swell. Adam lifted his face toward the glass window where he could see a back office computer and file cabinets. “You must have records of purchasing orders.” “The owner does all that.” Nicki stepped toward the girl. “Could you call the owner?” She smiled. “We’d be happy to wait.” Within minutes the girl was back to say she’d gotten voice mail. “I can leave her a note.” “I’ll call her,” Nicki said. “When will she be in again?” “Tuesday.” The next shop, two blocks north, had a proprietor who was not much more help. The only information they could get from this woman was that she’d received a promotional email, ordered the packets through the mail, was pleased with their sales success, and paid online via PayPal. As soon as the woman gave him the name of the company, Adam emailed his headquarters and asked them to trace its provenance. 75

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“But it could take them a few hours,” he told Nicki as he took her arm. “Let’s head south and look at this last one.” “My guess is the money goes directly into Henderson’s Swiss account, and Calderon gets paid out of there by wire transfer,” Nicki suggested as they crossed M Street heading toward the Potomac. “I’d say you’re right,” Adam agreed. “We’ll have to see which way the money flows, from Henderson to Calderon or vice versa.” Once more they stood before a shop window. This one fronted a small antique store. Playing his part, Adam smiled at Nicki and pointed to a decrepit Louis XIII Rococo chair. “Imagine. Something we’ve always wanted.” She raised a brow. “Like me,” she affirmed and led him inside. The place was decorated in early federal style, with fraying blue wallpaper, pale peach Aubusson rugs worth a small fortune and stocked in antiques only the ancien régime of France and the well-heeled patricians and doyennes of Washington savored. That the place also smelled of mold made Adam wince. But the next aroma that hit his nostrils was much more appealing. He inhaled a huge draught of it and wondered if this might be the drug they tracked. He inhaled again and immediately felt better. Happier. Relaxed. Hell. No wonder this stuff is a hit. Just then, Nicki bent down and ooed and ahhed over a porcelain bowl. “Good afternoon,” an older gentleman ambled up to them, steepling his fingers together. Impeccably dressed in dark gray suit with blue foulard tie and matching hanky in his breast pocket, he had the demeanor of an aging connoisseur and roué. Adam bristled at the very idea this man might be peddling bad joss to anyone. “Do you

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like Spode?” the clerk asked Nicole. “This is from our wider collection of eighteenth century pieces.” “I adore it,” she enthused softly just like an avid collector might. “I find this an exceptional piece. You have other pieces?” Adam smiled, but was careful to make the expression appear more like the tolerant husband who allows his wife her amusing eccentricities. Mr. Foulard gave Adam a kindly nod of understanding. “We do. More than ten from one customer. On consignment, you see.” “Is there a set price or may we negotiate?” “Of course we may discuss the asking price. Follow me, would you please?” Adam ground his teeth together. Forbearance. He smiled thinly at the man and followed Nicki toward the back room. Minutes later, Nicki demurred and proclaimed herself uninterested in the set of four teacups and saucers, circa 1810. But she did sigh, rather convincingly Adam thought, and then raised her nose in the air. “I must say, what is that wonderful fragrance?” Oh, brother. Adam had to keep from laughing out loud. By the time they stepped outside into the sunshine, Adam noted they not only had the name of the distributor and an address in Chesapeake, Virginia but they also had a noticeable tail. Grabbing Nicki’s hand, Adam drew her close, kissed her cheek like a lover and said in a low voice, “Walk casually, talk to me. Pretend you’re hungry and point out the restaurant at the end of the block.” She grew instantly aware of his intent. “Where?” He knew she meant to inquire where she should look to spot their trackers. “Across the street. Jeans. Neon green Keds. This side, black slacks, white tee, RayBans. Scruffy.”

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“Wonderful!” She smiled, feigning that she noted the restaurant, but he could see she scanned one target, then the other. “Let’s go. Not there.” Her eyes met Adam’s and held. “I want steak. Trust me,” she said gaily for anyone nearby whom they might not have pegged as tails. Then she fell in beside him and told him, “I know this place well.” A block later, Adam pushed open the door of the steak house and bar, then she tugged him into the dark, noisy interior. “We’ll take a booth in the back,” Nicki said to the waitress who wanted to seat them up front. Down the long hall toward the rear, Nicki picked up her pace with Adam close behind. “Here,” he whispered as he pulled her to the rear through a connecting door and spun around to take them both out into an old alley. Breaking into a jog, she headed south. “Where are you going?” he asked as he kept pace. “The river.” He heard a shout and then another. “They’re on us.” “No.” She grabbed him by the sleeve at the next corner and sank back into a vinecovered alcove big enough for two. The guy in Ray-Bans zoomed past. Neon Tennis Shoes was on his heels. Nicki tugged at Adam and nodded toward the east. “Four blocks,” she mouthed and pointed east. “Then—” She held up three fingers and pointed south. As soon as the footsteps died away, Adam and Nicki broke out of their hole. The day was sunny, hot and at the end of the four blocks, Adam had a sweat. Quick glances told him no one was on them. Nicki maintained her racer’s pace. He had to give it to her that he had a challenge keeping up. Suddenly, she pivoted, leading them toward a large building and turning to the left toward the river. “Down here,” she told him on a breath.

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All he saw was a steep embankment, filled with detritus and tall grasses. “What the hell is this?” he asked as he followed her down the hill toward the rushing waters. “A set of stairs. Stones. Flat. Gray. See? Look for them.” “What the hell?” he said as he discerned the aged, mossy stones set into the side of the hill. “Almost two centuries old.” “What are they?” he asked as he picked his way down. “Stairs to freedom,” she said. He laughed. “From the Underground Railroad.” “You’re kidding!” “Never. Slaves rowed across from Virginia. In the night.” She was choosing her footing more and more carefully. “Climbed up these steps. Taken north by conductors.” “Conductors?” “Abolitionists.” She reached a hand up to him. “Come on, big boy.” Adam had to chuckle as he let her help him down. She led him onto a narrow ledge and she pointed ten feet below them. “Along this shoreline is a fisherman who goes out for rockfish and crabs each morning. I know him. Well.” Adam chuckled. “Each minute, I’m finding new things about you I love.” The sudden confession had him looking at her with new respect and hope. Her eyes glistened. Her mouth formed words she couldn’t seem to say. She cupped his chin and reached up to kiss his lips. “Can I show you later just how mutual that feeling is?” He kissed her back, fleeting as the kiss had to be. “Deal.” “For now?” She was back to business.

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“Yeah, what do we do here to get down? No more stones right?” “Right. Looks like they’ve worn away since I was last here. So we jump.” “And break our legs?” He wasn’t ready to do that, by god. “Either that or we slide.” He harrumphed. “We slide, baby. Come on. This I know how to do.” He grabbed her hand, told her to hang on to the tall grasses and let herself hug the earth, go for any toe hold she could get. Ten feet didn’t seem like a big deal, but the going was messy, muddy and the last few feet came with jarring slams into the earth. Adam went down first, then caught Nicki around the waist to lower her. The two of them wound together, breathing heavily and gasping for air. He brushed her hair back from her grime-covered face. “Still damn beautiful.” “Feeling kind of ugly, though,” she joked. “Look fine to me,” came a bass voice from a tall man who came around the escarpment. Ray-Bans. White tee. Adam did a quick scan of the shore. An older man in a slicker who must have been Nicki’s friend the fisherman stood, his arms behind him, hang dog, his eyes sad. “Nicole,” he said, but had no time to say more as Neon Tennis Shoes knocked him out with the butt of a gun to the back of his head. The fisherman crumpled like an old doll. “Hank?” Nicki cried out. “So much for Hank,” said Ray-Bans. “Get the boat over here, French.” Adam whirled toward Ray-Bans, but a third man came around from behind French and pointed a gun at him. “Enough! Walk!” Adam bent to reach for the knife in his boot. He saw Nicki open her mouth to scream as he felt his knees hit the rocks, and the sun, once so damn bright, went out like a light. 80

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Chapter Nine Nicki came slowly awake, swimming up through a thick fog. She couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating. Something was in her nose. In desperation she summoned the strength to force her eyes open. The first thing she realized was she was lying on a concrete floor and it was damn uncomfortable. What the hell? Her next conscious thought was that something was covering her nose, obviously the cause of her breathing problems. She lifted a hand, slowly because her limbs seemed encased in concrete, and discovered a plastic mask like those used for oxygen clamped over her nose and strapped to her head. Some little kernel of thought deep in her brain told her she needed to get rid of it as fast as she could. Easier said than done. Her entire body felt as if it had been run over by two trucks, pounded into the ground and run over again. Gritting her teeth, she managed to move her other hand and with a huge exertion of effort yanked the mask from her nose, pushing it up on her forehead. Immediately the feeling of heaviness began to leave her. She took a couple of experimental breaths to see if the air in the room had been doctored in any way. Not sensing any unusual odors, she took in three or four cleansing breaths and then, concentrating hard, she managed to roll to her side and look around. She was in a room empty of any furniture except for a small cylinder next to her, the kind used for oxygen. What she saw wasn’t encouraging. Bare floor and walls and one small window. And no idea what kind of building this was. Totally disoriented, she tried to figure out how long she’d been unconscious but it was either a couple of hours or a full day, because daylight was still streaming in through the window. Then she spotted the other occupant in the room. 81

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Shit! Adam lay about four feet away still completely unconscious and not giving any indication he was about to come around. He, too, had a plastic mask over his face, attached to a cylinder that was a duplicate of the one near her. Even through her hazy vision she could tell his color was very bad. Clenching her jaw, she rolled to her side, then to her knees. Finally, she managed to slip the mask off over her head, toss it to the side and crawl over to where Adam was. Another couple of minutes and she had his mask disposed of, too. Exhausted, she lay down next to him, gathering her strength to assess his condition. Her acute hearing was tuned into sounds beyond the room, listening for any approaching footsteps. All she heard, however, was the distant slapping of water against rock and the far away clanging of a bell. They were obviously on or near the water. Depending on how much time had elapsed since they’d been taken, the indicators meant they could be anywhere along the coast of Virginia or Maryland or even farther south. Calling on every one of her learned skills, she forced her brain to recall that last thing she remembered. Sliding down the rocks to where Hank had his crabbing boat. Doing their best to evade the tail. But Ray Bans and Neon Tennis Shoes had beaten them to the punch. She remembered Adam bending down to reach for his knife, heard again her scream as Ray Bans clocked him with the butt of his gun, then the lights went out for her, too. Gingerly she touched the back of her head where an intense throbbing pulsed through her body. A fair-sized lump lay beneath her hair and when she took her fingers away they carried traces of her blood. But that wasn’t her biggest problem Adam still lay cold and unresponsive beside her, his breathing so shallow it was almost nonexistent. The drug. That’s what the masks were for. They’d been knocked out, transported here—wherever here was—and apparently given the drug in a strength far beyond that sold in the packets. She didn’t think they weren’t given antihistamines with it, but if a

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strong enough dose had been administered she didn’t think it would matter. The results would be the same. Choking. Lowered respirations. Heart failure. She wasn’t sure if they were guinea pigs or if Calderon—and Henderson—were simply trying to get rid of them using what they thought would be an undetectable method. And in truth, if they died and their bodies were dumped into Chesapeake Bay, by the time they washed ashore, there’d be no trace of how they’d been killed. She had to get them out of there. Somehow. But before she could do that she had to resolve a more immediate problem. Making sure Adam was still alive. As she continued to breathe the aroma-free air the heaviness in her limbs slowly dissipated and her brain started to function again. Pulling up his shirt, she pressed her ear to his chest while pressing two fingers into the hollow of his neck. Okay, good. A pulse and a heartbeat. But it was obvious he’d been given a lot more of the drug than she had. How did you get it out of someone’s system? Did you use the same procedure as CPR? Not knowing what else to do, she pinched his nose and blew into his mouth, then began chest compressions. We really need two people for this. Come on, Adam, breathe. Help me out here. After two minutes she still wasn’t making much progress and she worried he might be getting worse. What she needed was some way to get a shot of adrenaline flowing through his system, to get his heart rate up and his pulse racing. With nothing else available to her, she did the only thing she could think of to accomplish it. In desperation, she opened the button on his jeans and dragged the zipper down. If this didn’t get his pulse pounding she didn’t know what would. She also had the idea that the chemicals, like epinephrine, that the body released during sexual arousal would counteract some of the effects of the drug and certainly kick his heart into gear. Slipping her hand into the fly of his boxers she lifted out his penis, cradling it in her hand, and bent to put her mouth over it. Even soft he was a mouthful. Cut it out, Welles. This is no time to be admiring his dick. 83

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She concentrated on what she was doing, moving her hand in cadence with her mouth. Up and down. Up and down. After what seemed like the longest seconds in the world he hardened beneath her touch, then hardened more. Finally she felt the blood pulsing in the thick vein that wound around his cock. A check at the hollow of his neck told her other pulse points were showing signs of life. Placing her hand over his heart she was relieved to feel the slow, steady beat beneath her touch. The groan that rolled up from his chest was possibly the sweetest sound she’d ever heard. “Wha—” He lifted a hand slowly, then dropped it back down beside him. “What— what—doing?” “Oh, thank god. Thank the good lord.” Nicki tucked his now fully aroused shaft back into Adam’s jeans and zipped him up. “Nicki?” His eyes were still unfocused and he was having trouble moving his limbs. “What’s…going on?” “We’ve been kidnapped and given a hefty dose of Pleasant Dreams.” She lifted the plastic mask she’d yanked from his face. “This is hooked directly into a cylinder next to you. I had the same setup but I have a feeling you were given a much heavier dose.” He tried to sit up but his limbs didn’t seem to work and he flopped back onto the concrete floor. Hell! “Adam?” She put her face directly over his. “We have to figure out a way out of here. I think they wanted to see if a dose this strong would kill us immediately. If not, it would give them some new parameters to measure its effectiveness. The only reason we’re still alive, I think, is because our conditioning makes our bodies more resistant than the average bear.” “O-kay.” He wet his lips. “Can’t…seem to move too well.” “Do you understand what I just told you?”

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If she could just get through to him and make him aware of the urgency of the situation it might send another shot of adrenaline coursing through his system and help dispel the lingering effects of Pleasant Dreams. In desperation, she clamped her hand over his cock again and squeezed. “Can you feel that?” she squeezed harder. Adam’s eyes popped wide open. “Jesus, Nicki. Yes. Are you trying to castrate me?” But she saw the fog clearing from his eyes and awareness replacing it. “I don’t know how long before someone comes to check on us. I’m going to look out that window and see if I can open it and if it leads to anything.” Adam managed to push himself to an upright position and Nicki took another look around the room. She hadn’t noticed it when she first regained consciousness but there was a dampness in the air, a persistent chill. A dankness and smell of salt obviously caused by whatever water they were near. Her best guess was they were in some kind of warehouse, probably one that either Henderson or Calderon owned along the Chesapeake. Someplace where small ships could offload without too much fuss or muss. She knew from experience that there were only a couple of places where large container ships could enter the waterway and even then, they had to be escorted by federal officers. Not something the unholy alliance would want to deal with. So Henderson probably owned small warehouses like this one where he could load those smaller boats with his product and have them hook up with larger ones for longer distances. Because it had a window, she assumed the room she and Adam were in was the kind usually used for an office. It didn’t seem to be used for anything at the moment except for stashing the two of them away. Nicki scrambled to the window, which was as dirty and dusty as the rest of the room, the panes covered with grime. She managed to wipe away enough to see that the building they were in backed up to rocks and different kinds of wild shrubbery. Putting

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her ear directly against the window she heard the faint hum of cars traveling on a paved road not too far away. The absence of sound told her there was either little or no activity going on at the moment, which was a plus. Henderson’s men no doubt figured she and Adam would be down for the count and were a little sloppy in their surveillance. Another plus for them. If she could just get the damn window open… It was an old double-hung and the latch had been closed for so long it didn’t want to budge. She was afraid of she broke it the sound of glass shattering would bring someone running. Taking a deep breath, she pushed one last time against the catch and with a groan it finally opened. There were handgrips along the lower sash that she strained with to push up the window. By the time she had it open she had nearly exhausted what little strength she had, and she still had to get both herself and Adam out of there and away from the building. Nicki sat down on the floor, taking a moment to gather what strength she had left. She was covered with perspiration and her heart was racing. Additionally, she was still having trouble breathing, another side effect of Pleasant Dreams. She closed her eyes briefly, gathering her inner resources, and when she opened them Adam had managed to crawl over to where she sat. “I know we have to get out of here.” His speech was still slow and slurred but he was far more alert than when he’d regained consciousness. “I’m good to go.” She looked at him skeptically, but realized they didn’t actually have a lot of options. She’d have to take the lead in this and hope she could get both of them to safety. “I hear cars not far from here,” she told him. “On some kind of road. If we can get through the rock and shrubbery behind the building we can get to civilization. And I can contact my office.” She looked at him. “Ready to give it a shot?” He studied her for a long moment, then reached a slightly trembling hand over to touch her cheek. Bending his head, He pressed his mouth to hers. Despite his weakness

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the kiss still packed enough punch to let Nicki know that the connection between them was stronger than ever. “Now,” he told her, lifting his head, “I’m ready to go.” Nicki exited the window first, climbing out backward. The window was low enough so there was almost no drop to the ground. As soon as she had her footing she reached in to help Adam out. Still groggy from the drug, he took much longer to crawl out than she would have liked, but finally they were both standing on the rocky terrain. Nicki managed to push the window shut, maybe buying them a couple of extra minutes if their absence was discovered too soon. Then, draping Adam’s arm across her shoulders and supporting him as best she could, she moved into the waist-high grasses and short pines that fortunately grew thickly at the back of the building. “We have to go this way,” she told him. “It’s more difficult, but it provides more cover for us and they won’t think we’d choose this direction.” Their forward process was very slow as Adam was barely able to move without Nicki’s help. They had reached the far end of the building when Nicki spotted the twolane road just at the top of a small rise. At the same exact moment, she heard men shouting from the direction of the warehouse. “We’re going to have to hide for a minute,” she told Adam. “They’ve discovered we’re gone.” “We don’t have any fire power,” Adam said as she hauled them both behind a thicket of greenery. “No shit.” She crouched beside him, sweat pouring down her face, peering through the tall grasses and the leaves of a large holly to see what was happening. “Don’t tell Mossad I had to be rescued by a woman,” he joked, leaning back against a rock. “If we don’t get out of here, no one will be able to tell them anything. Damn. I’d give everything I own right now for a cell phone.”

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“Can you see if there are any buildings along the road?” he asked. “Any place where we might make a call?” “I can’t tell yet, and I don’t want to move until those idiots are looking someplace else.” The men crashed through the bushes with all the grace and delicacy of a bull, swearing at each other in two languages. Nicki held her breath as they headed in the direction where she and Adam were hiding. Her hand came to rest on a large rock and she hefted it in her palm. She’d been a great softball player in high school and college and she hoped her throwing arm was still true if she needed it. At least she’d get one of them. But the corner of the building was as far as they seemed to look. “No place for them to go,” Ray-Bans shouted to his friend. “They didn’t just disappear,” Neon Tennis Shoes retorted. “I guarantee you they went the other way,” Ray-Bans insisted, just as Nicki had figured he would. “Neither of them is in condition to go clambering over rocks and through bushes. Come on. Let’s check over here.” As soon as they’d moved far enough away, Nicki released the breath she didn’t even realize she’d been holding. “Okay, tough guy.” She helped Adam get to his feet as best she could, supporting his weight again. “Let’s see if you can make it the last mile.” She blessed all the overgrown flora that offered them concealment as they made their way up the embankment and onto the road. Helping Adam over the guard rail was a little tricky, but then they were on solid ground. Cars whizzed past them as they stumbled along the shoulder of the road. State Route 657 declared a black and white sign. Virginia. And there across the street was a dinky, dingy convenience store. They were both sweating profusely, but Nicki thought that might be a good thing. Helping to flush the drug out of their systems. She didn’t want to leave Adam alone

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while she went inside, but she also didn’t think he’d be able to stand up long enough for her to make a phone call. And she was not interested in creating any more questions than she knew the store owner would have just by looking at her. A tiny copse of oaks and pines grew at the back of the store, so she helped him to sit down and lean against one of the tree trunks. They offered as much concealment as they were going to get, and anyway, they weren’t in the line of sight of the cars driving by. The man behind the counter eyed her suspiciously when she walked inside. She was well aware that her appearance left a great deal to be desired, but she’d pulled together a cover story that sounded somewhat plausible. “Could I use your phone to make a call and reverse the charges?” she asked the man. “My friend and I were kayaking on the Bay and a speedboat sideswiped us. Smashed the kayak all to hell.” The man raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? How come your clothes aren’t wet?” “Do you have any idea how hot it is out there? They dried in the sun while we climbed up to the road.” “Where’s your friend?’ he asked suspiciously. “Waiting outside. Still trying to dry off. He got a bit rattled. I just need to call a friend in Washington to come pick us up and I lost my cell in the Bay.” She waited while the man debated the issue, keeping an eye on the traffic outside. Finally he nodded. “All right. You can use the store phone. But the call better be collect.” She sighed with relief. “No problem. I’ll be quick.” She almost cried with relief when she got Maddie on the phone. “Don’t ask for details right now,” she told the woman. “Here’s where we are.” She gave her the location and description of the store. “Someone has to pick us up. Quick. And I do mean quick. Who have we got in the Virginia area that you can poke with a hot nail and get on their way?”

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“Just a sec.” She could hear the clack of fingers on a computer keyboard. “Lane Hallowell is just finishing an assignment. I talked to him twenty minutes ago. Hold on.” Nicki tried to hang onto her patience while she waited, but she expected Ray-Bans and Neon Tennis Shoes to burst into the store any minute. Then Maddie was back. “Okay. He knows exactly where you are. He’ll be there in fifteen.” “Tell him we’re at the back of the store. He should make sure he doesn’t see anyone wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses or neon tennis shoes, then honk for us. Bring water and a few bananas and yogurts. We’re dehydrated and starving. But not injured.” To Maddie’s credit she didn’t ask any of the questions Nicki knew had to be on the tip of her tongue. She’d save those for later. “Thank you,” she told the store owner. “Someone’s coming to pick us up.” “You should be careful on the Bay,” he warned her. “Not everyone pays attention out there.” “I know. Thanks for your concern.” She found Adam still propped against the tree where she’d left him. His eyes were closed and for a moment she felt a fist clenching around her heart. Then he opened his eyes and gave her a halfhearted smile. “I’m never walking home from a date with you again,” he joked, in a lame attempt at humor. “And I’ll make sure it never happens again,” she told him and brushed her lips against his. She crouched beside him, tensely watching in all directions, flinching every time she heard a car pull into the parking lot. Sore and aching, she didn’t dare close her eyes for fear of attack by their two thugs. At last a tall, lanky familiar figure rounded the corner of the building, and she was so relieved she wanted to cry. “Someone here call for a taxi?” Lane asked.

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“Oh, god, you are such a sight for sore eyes,” Nicki told him. “Listen, Adam can’t walk too steadily.” “Not a problem.” He looked at the man next to her. “I assume this is Adam. And that when we get away from here you’ll tell me what this is about and where we go from here.” “First, we’re in need of water and food,” she told him as they each hooked an arm under one of Adam’s and walked toward the Humvee. “Then we’re up for a little help from a few friendly law enforcement types.”

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Chapter Ten “Friends like the FBI,” Lane declared, “require strong evidence to enlist.” He had listened to their breathless summary of what the two of them had been through in the past day. Nicki nodded. “We’ve got it,” she told him as she sank limp as a rag doll into the back seat of one of the Nemesis Humvees. “We were locked inside one of Henderson’s warehouses,” Adam added as uncapped his second bottle of water. He needed to flush the remnants of the drug out of his system as fast as possible. “We had oxygen masks fitted to our faces inhaling their so called fragrance, which they apparently store there before shipping it out. The police need to be fast to get there before the two thugs who abducted us go in and clean up the evidence.” “Lane, call Maddie right now,” Nicki managed as she rubbed her arms and rolled her head around to relieve the stress. “Tell her to alert the Virginia State Police to illegal trafficking in and out of that warehouse. And maybe the FBI. See if they want Adam and me to come in to press charges or if they can find a way to lock it down without our testimony. Then, tell her to find Henderson’s location. We need to know where he is. And if he is still on his island, well then…” Her voice drifted off, the exertions of the last few days washing through her system like a typhoon. “And we’ve probably got only until midnight to get this all done or everyone will scatter. They’ll be out of our reach.” “We have to figure out who to send in to arrest him there,” Adam worried. Having downed his third bottle of water he now chomped on a protein bar. “He’s actually out of our territorial jurisdiction, and it could take longer than we’ve got to get international cooperation.” 92

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Nicki agreed as she peeled down her own energy bar and began to munch on it. “Not sure who has top jurisdiction on this, but we need all the law enforcement we can get.” Swallowing the last of the bar, she leaned her head back, eyes drifting shut as exhaustion took over. Two hours later, she startled awake when she heard Maddie’s voice on the speaker phone. They were crossing over the Potomac when Maddie reported that the Virginia State Police and the FBI had surrounded the beachside warehouse and secured it. “Evidence of your abductions intact,” she said with triumph. “What else do you need?” Nicki rubbed her eyes, leaned forward and reached for another bottle of water. “When you called the Bureau, was it Jared Donnelly you talked to?” “No. He was out. I got his next in line. Why?” “I need to talk to Jared myself, Maddie. He might need DEA as well on this. But our big fish is Henderson and to hook him, we need to know where he is.” “Hot damn! Well, for that, my friend, you are in luck.” From Maddie’s tone, Nicki could envision her friend grinning. “Is that so?” “Henderson is on his way to a meeting right in D.C.” Adam swiveled to check Nicki’s gaze. “Do we know where?” “He flew into Dulles this morning on his own Lear. Due to have lunch in a private dining room in a small Italian restaurant on Seventeenth Street at one o’clock.” “How convenient.” Nicki grinned at Adam. “How the hell did you learn that?” Adam marveled. “Hold on to your hat,” Maddie said. “He’s meeting my father.” Nicki began to choke on her water. “You’re kidding? How’d you find out?” “I happened to call my father on a personal matter and his new secretary is more incompetent than anyone expected. She told me where he is and how I can find him without any prompting or prying.” 93

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“And who he’s having lunch with.” Lane whistled as he steered the car past the Lincoln Memorial. “She’ll be on the unemployment line by five o’clock.” Adam, still a little shaky, bumped Lane on the shoulder. “His loss, our gain.” “What’s the name of the restaurant?” Nicki asked Maddie and nodded when she heard the name. “I know the owner.” “So do I,” Lane put in. “I’ve been dating her, off and on.” “Is that so?” a chorus of Nicki, Adam and Maddie said together. Lane shrugged as he turned east to head toward Seventeenth Street. “What can I say? I love Italian food.” “And Italian women,” Maddie added in a sultry imitation of the Romance language. “If you three will stop ribbing me, I’ll call her,” Lane offered, “and tell her to give the two of them the private room on the first floor. It’s easily accessible by the stairwell and the back entrance to the building.” “Deal,” said Nicki. “Let us know, Maddie, when you get Jared over at the Bureau and what their ETA can be at the restaurant. They need to get an arrest warrant from a judge so they had better be quick about it or we lose Henderson on U.S. soil.” “Will do,” Maddie agreed and clicked off. Lane meanwhile overshot the restaurant, pretending to search for a parking space and giving Nicki and Adam a good view of the interior through the glass front. “Maria’s maître d’ won’t let us in looking like this,” Nicki muttered. “Lane, my man,” Adam grinned at the big blond guy as if they were old pals, “looks like you volunteered to see if our two birdies are in the nest yet.” “Not a problem,” Lane agreed as he swung the Humvee down a side street and double-parked. “You okay to drive?” “I can manage,” Adam assured him.

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After the men changed seats, Adam had them circling the block once more. In front of the restaurant he stopped long enough to allow Lane to get out. “Just sit here for a while,” Nicki told Adam. “You’ll look like a native disobeying the law.” He grimaced. “And if a policeman comes and wants to check my driver’s license, I just turn out my empty pants pockets?” “And tell him you were abducted,” she finished. His dark brows danced. “Oh, that’ll work well. Meanwhile, here comes our man. Do not look left. He just pulled up in back of us. Climbing out. Going around to the street side. Okay, gone.” “And here’s Lane,” Nicki breathed. “Just in time.” “We’re good to go,” Lane announced as he climbed inside and kept his face averted from Henderson who passed him on the sidewalk. “Back private room is on. Drive, Adam. We’re going to the alley. Turn right. Yes. Then again. Good. Okay, boys and girls, time to bring out the party favors. Nicki, can you reach the toolbox in the back?” “Oh, can I!” Nicki exclaimed, having herself proclaimed it company policy that no Nemesis vehicle was ever without a “tool” box supply of two rifles, two handguns, two hand grenades and two bows and arrows. Taking a brand new LaRue Tactical rifle for herself, she handed a Beretta M9 with two fifteen round clips up to the front. “For you, Adam.” Lane, who favored a Glock 21 with a thirteen round clip, was checking his own pistol. “Ready,” he said. “Now comes the hard part,” Nicki murmured. Lane agreed. “Waiting for the FBI posse to arrive is always a nail biter.” Half an hour later they were still waiting and the three of them were ready to scream.

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“I’m going to chew my hand off,” Adam said, “if they don’t come soon.” Lane, whose big broad face was strained with the wait, smacked his lips. “Takes a while to get a warrant here.” “In Jerusalem, we work a lot faster.” Nicki rolled her eyes at Adam in the rearview mirror. “Could you live this way?” She knew it was a question that had implications for the future. Could you work with me? Here? For how long? Suddenly they spotted two black SUVs quietly rolling down the alley, one coming to a stop in front of their Humvee. One in the back. Two men in each vehicle climbed out. “Jared!” Nicki greeted her old friend from the Bureau’s Washington office. “Thanks for coming. On short notice, too.” “Happy to.” The tall man in sunglasses grinned at Nicki, making Adam narrow his eyes at him. Amused at Adam’s jealousy, Nicki hoisted her rifle. “Shall we?” “I have what I need,” Jared told her, patting his coat pocket. “Got the assistant attorney general to sign it over a bowl of clam chowder at the Boat House.” Lane snorted. “Bet he wasn’t happy.” Jared chuckled as he took out his service revolver. “Told me to come home with the goods or I was buying his lunch.” Adam shook his head. “Let’s go before it’s dinner time!” Nicki widened her eyes at Adam, then introduced him around. “Chill.” Lane joked. “We’re on this, buddy.” Then he looked at Jared and explained, “Long day for these two.” Adam grumbled something profane. The team turned for the back entrance of the building and the ground floor location of the restaurant. 96

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“You have the layout of this place?” Adam asked Jared as they went in on cat’s feet to the side of the restaurant. “We do. This back room that Lane has them in is the best. Trust me, we’ve done a few takedowns like this before.” Adam shook his head. “Sure. Sorry. Not used to your…uh…nonchalance.” Jared stared at him a second. “Not used to your intensity.” Nicki elbowed Adam. “We’re good.” Jared looked at each of them in turn and his own four men. “On the count of three.” The seven of them moved like the wind. No sooner were they through the heavy service door, than they were down the short hall and crowding the tiny private room. There only Henderson and Maddie’s father sat at a tiny table, two large pieces of bruschetta to their lips. Mouths open, both men gaped at the crowd pointing various types of weaponry at their faces. “What the hell is this?” Maddie’s father put his appetizer down and scowled at the assembled law officers. Then he saw Nicole and recognized her as Maddie’s friend. “Nicole, this is an outrage!” She ignored him. “I said stand up, Mister Henderson,” Jared directed the man. “Good, good. Nice to comply so easily. Cuff him, Howell. Shall I read you the charges, Henderson, or shall we skip the formalities?” Henderson glared at Nicole. Then Adam. “I should have known.” Nicki grinned not so much at him but at the skill she and Adam had used to outwit him and his henchmen. “Known what?” Jared attacked while one of his men Mirandized Henderson. “Remember what you say can and will be used against you.” “You bitch,” Henderson spat at her. The four agents shook their heads at his audacity. 97

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“Not wise,” said one. “Can’t hear you,” said Adam, who promptly took one step forward and kneed him in the nuts. “Now,” Adam proclaimed as the older man doubled over, “want to repeat that?” Henderson gulped back whatever expletive he had on his lips. Arthur Somers was standing by his chair, his face taut with anger. “Paul, I’ll call your attorney for you. Don’t say a word. Whatever this is, we’ll get it taken care of.” “Don’t count on it,” Jared told him. “I think Maddie will be interested to find out what you and this scum were discussing over lunch,” Nicki said, her voice taut. “This was a business meeting,” Somers spat at her. “I’ll have everyone’s job for this.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Donnelly said. “Get in line.” As the four agents hustled Henderson from the dining room, Adam put an arm around Nicki’s waist and said, “I would have hit him harder but the poor man just recovered from surgery.” “That’s okay, dear,” she told him, “I love a man with discretion.” “Shall we go back to the Willard?” His eyes gleamed with relief. And something else. “I think we’re done here and our first visit to the hotel was not the most relaxing. I’m ready to truly enjoy myself. We’ve earned it.”

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Chapter Eleven Adam pulled out all the stops when they got to the Willard—luxury suite, champagne on ice, exotic munchies, making the arrangements while Nicki ordered some things to tide them over from the shops downstairs. Now, showered and with the last traces of the drug out of their systems, Nicki and Adam stood by the window sipping the champagne and looking out at the nightscape of Washington, D.C. His hard, muscular arm was wrapped around her waist, keeping her close to him. “Tough few days,” he murmured, brushing his lips against her temple. “No kidding.” She took another sip of champagne. “You know I couldn’t have done it without you.” He chuckled softly. “Is that the kickass Nicole Welles saying she needed help?” She turned her head and grinned at him. “Don’t let it go to your head.” Then her face sobered. “I know you called your friend, Mike, while I was in the shower. Did it help at all to know the distributors of the drug that killed his sister are finally out of circulation?” “I think it gave him as much closure as possible. He’ll be mourning her for a long time, though. I’m just glad this is finally over and done with. What about you? Feeling any relief at getting the cartel off your back?” She nodded. “Glad the DEA was able to connect the dots from Henderson back to the cartel and put it out of business.” “Yeah.” He laughed again. “Isn’t that something? Some black ops team appears to have gotten into Mexico and blown up the cartel headquarters and processing plants. Imagine that.” “Yes.” She leaned her head into his shoulder. “Imagine that.”

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“But I think we’ve spent enough time talking about this business.” He took the champagne flute from her hand and set it on a low table, turning her to face him. “We have other business to attend to.” His kiss was so hot and predatory it scorched her clear through to her toes, his tongue ravaging her, stealing her breath. One hand cupped her head, the other splayed across her buttocks, the fingers like individual branding irons. One pressed into the cleft of her ass through the sheer fabric of the robe, sending a freshet of cream cascading into her pussy. The hard imprint of his rigid cock flexed against the soft flesh of her belly. When he broke the kiss, leaving them both breathless, he trailed his mouth down her neck to the hollow of her throat. A shudder racked her from head to toe and she snaked her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. He wore only a pair of silk boxers and when she ran her hands down his shoulders to his chest his skin was hot to her touch. Adam’s hands slid up to spread the fabric of her robe, leaving her skin bare to the shower of his kisses, across her collarbone and down to the swell of her breasts. His hands moved to cup them, his thumbs toying with her nipples and she could actually feel them swell and harden against his touch. A shaft of electricity sizzled its way directly to her cunt, waking up every tiny nerve. Nicki slid her hand down across his chest to his groin and closed her fingers around his cock, the thin silk almost no barrier at all. His erection flexed and pulsed beneath her touch. Need rose within her so fierce she was weak with it. “No bad guys waiting now.” His mouth traveled back to that pulse fluttering wildly at the hollow of her throat. “No national emergencies. Nothing but us and time. I’m going to fuck you slow and easy, fast and hard, in ways you can’t begin to imagine. I want to feel your pussy around my cock, hot and tight. And then I’m going to do it all again.” His lips closed over one nipple, pulling on it until it popped from his mouth. “That work for you?” 100

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“You bet it does.” She nipped his shoulder. When she looked into his eyes she saw rampant need flare and she had to grip his upper arms to steady herself. “I think we need a bed for this.” His voice was raw. “I had big plans to do the slow and easy first, but damn it, Nicki, you destroy any semblance of control in me.” She wasn’t a tiny woman but he swept her easily into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Yanking the covers back, he somehow managed to strip away her robe before laying her down on the six-hundred-thread-count, Egyptian cotton sheets. Her eyes locked on his, she opened her legs wide and bent her knees, exposing herself to him in a bold move. “Jesus,” he breathed, almost reverent. “I don’t think I’ll ever tire of looking at that sweet little pussy. “Or touching it.” He knelt between her outspread thighs and ran the tip of a finger the length of her slit, rimming her opening, gathering her liquid. When he lifted the finger to his mouth and licked it that dark spiral of lust began to uncoil within her. He did it again. And again. A soft tease even as his muscles bunched with his effort at control. When he bent low to take her clit into his mouth she whimpered and arched up to him. “I can’t wait.” He looked up, his lips glistening with her juices. Reaching over to the nightstand, he opened the box of condoms they’d added to their order, ripped a packet open and rolled it expertly onto his swollen shaft. Lifting her with his hands he poised at her opening and drove into her with one hard thrust. Nicki arched and wrapped her long legs around him, pulling him deeper inside her until every inch of her was filled. His gaze was devouring as his thumb played with her clit, rubbing and pinching it, before balancing himself with his hands on either side of her. And then it began, a fierce jackhammering of his hips as he thrust inside her again and again. He found the angle so with each movement he rubbed against her clit.

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This time it was a claiming. But she wanted hard and fast as much as he did. She needed the rejuvenation of hot, frantic, primal sex. And that was exactly what she got. They moved in tandem, riding the crest of arousal, gazes locked as they reached for a shared release. The orgasm slammed into her, rocking her with its force, at the same time his own climax hit. Her nails dug into his skin and she cried out with the intensity of the spasms, icy heat racing along her spine, her legs tightening around him, her heels digging into the small of his back. For a long time afterward neither of them said a word, simply lay together completely spent. Nicki wasn’t sure whose breathing was louder or harder, whose heart beat faster, as they lay there waiting for calm to return. Finally Adam eased himself from her body, disposed of the condom and crawled back into bed beside her. Pulling up the covers he cradled her against himself, one arm lazily cupping a breast. “I could easily get used to this,” he murmured in her ear. “Does that mean I’ll now have to chase you around the world?” Her voice was a lot more confident than she felt. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to light in one easily accessible place, could I?” “I don’t know. Could you?” His tone was light, teasing. “You said you didn’t have any plans after you finished what you started. And now it’s finished. Where will you go next. Back to Israel?” “You could always make me an offer I can’t refuse.” He bit the lobe of her ear. “If I asked you to come back to Texas with me and join Nemesis, the way Dan has, what would you say?” He laughed and tightened his hold on her. “I’d say tell Maddie when she sends the plane to pick us up there’ll be two passengers instead of one.” She squealed with delight, turning around to throw her arms around him. “Oh, Adam. Thank you. I was afraid you’d say no.”

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“I think this calls for a little more celebrating, don’t you?” He pushed her flat on her back and rose over her. “And this time I mean it when I say slow and easy. Now we have all the time in the world.”

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About the Author Desiree Holt: I always wonder what readers really want to know when I write one of these things. Getting to this point in my career has been an interesting journey. I’ve managed rock and roll bands and organized concerts. Been the only female on the sports staff of a university newspaper. Immersed myself in Nashville peddling a country singer. Lived in five different states. Married two very interesting but totally different men. I think I must have lived in Texas in another life, because the minute I set foot on Texas soil I knew I was home. Living in Texas Hill Country gives me inspiration for more stories than I’ll probably ever be able to tell, what with all the sexy cowboys who surround me and the gorgeous scenery that provides a great setting. Each day is a new adventure for me, as my characters come to life on the pages of my current work in progress. I’m absolutely compulsive about it when I’m writing and thank all the gods and goddesses that I have such a terrific husband who encourages my writing and puts up with my obsession. As a multi-published author, I love to hear from my readers. Their input keeps my mind fresh and always hunting for new ideas. Cerise DeLand: An award-winning author of more than two dozen romances and mysteries, Cerise DeLand creates heroes readers crave. Cerise has met many men in her worldwide travels and created the best of the best from all the wonderful places she’s lived and visited. Today, she lives—and writes—in wild west Texas, where a neverending stream of cowboys, vaqueros, para-military types and diplomats stroll into town and fuel her imagination for red hot affairs. Desiree and Cerise welcomes comments from readers. You can find their websites and email addresses on their author bio pages at www.ellorascave.com.

Tell Us What You Think We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at [email protected].

Also by Desiree Holt & Cerise Deland Until the Dawn Wedding Belles: Something Blue with Allie Standifer

Also by Desiree Holt 1-800-DOM-help: Delight Me Cougar Challenge: Hot to Trot Cupid’s Shaft Dancing With Danger Diamond Lady Double Entry Driven by Hunger Eagle’s Run Ellora’s Cavemen: Flavors of Ecstasy I anthology Mistletoe Magic: Elven Magic with Regina Carlysle & Cindy Spencer Pape Mistletoe Magic: Touch of Magic Emerald Green Escape the Night Hot Moon Rising Hot, Wicked and Wild I Dare You Journey to the Pearl Just Say Yes Kidnapping the Groom with Allie Standifer Letting Go Line of Sight Lust by Moonlight Lust Unleashed Night Heat

Once Burned Once Upon a Wedding Riding Out the Storm Rodeo Heat Seductive Illusion with Allie Standifer Switched Teaching Molly Trouble in Cowboy Boots Turn up the Heat 1: Scorched with Allie Standifer Turn up the Heat 2: Scalded with Allie Standifer Turn up the Heat 3: Singed with Allie Standifer Turn up the Heat 4: Steamed with Allie Standifer Wedding Belles: Something Borrowed Where Danger Hides

Print books by Desiree Holt Age and Experience anthology Candy Caresses anthology Cougar Challenge: Tease the Cougar anthology Demanding Diamonds anthology Ellora’s Cavemen: Flavors of Ecstasy I anthology Erotic Emerald anthology Mistletoe Magic anthology Naughty Nuptials anthology Rodeo Heat Where Danger Hides

Also by Cerise DeLand Carried Away Hat Trick Her Three-Way Merger

Laid Bare Mia Dolce Wedding Belles: Something New Whenever We Meet

Print books by Cerise DeLand Irresistible Forces

Discover for yourself why readers can’t get enough of the multiple award-winning publisher Ellora’s Cave. Whether you prefer ebooks or paperbacks, be sure to visit EC on the web at www.ellorascave.com for an erotic reading experience that will leave you breathless.

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