DeliciousDanger (31 page)

Mike winked at her. “I get the message.”

Lying on the bed in the other bedroom, he tried to blank his
mind and fall asleep. Morning would come far too soon for him.

* * * * *

“Father, please tell me you’ve made the proper arrangements,”
Zarife pleaded. “I don’t want this man calling again.”

“All is as it should be,” his father said. “I have contacted
the right people and set things in motion.”

“The man says Latrobe must be killed and evidence delivered
to place all the blame on him or we will all be in trouble.”

“Nothing is going to happen,” the elder al-Dulami assured
him. “All will be taken care of. With Latrobe’s death the case will be closed.
Even now we are planting the seeds.”

“Can you tell me what?”

But Zarife could almost see his father shaking his head.
“No, my son. It is not good for you to know. You must be totally clear of
anything that happens.”

“And the campaign you are waging?”

Al-Dulami chuckled. “To counteract the setback we had and
not bring either the coalition troops down on our heads or face attacks by
other insurgent groups, we have constructed a multi-prong plan. In two weeks we
will be ready to strike again and all will be ours again. No one will dare to
ask us questions or even chance crossing the borders of our territory.”

“And then I may come home?”

Al-Dulami hesitated only a moment. “And then you may come
home.”

* * * * *

“God damn it, Dan.”

Charlie Grainger had tried to storm his way past security
and bully his way into Dan’s office. Building security guards had escorted him
up from the lobby after first calling Dan but they weren’t going anywhere
without the head honcho’s okay.

“We’re fine,” he told them.

“If it’s all the same to you, Mr. Romeo,” the older one
said.“We’ll just hang around in the corner until you’re through with your
meeting. Our replacements are already in the lobby.”

Dan swallowed a smile of satisfaction. He and Mike had
handpicked the entire security staff for the building, paid them a more than
sufficient salary and given extraordinary training. They dressed in dark suits
rather than uniforms, could kill with one blow and were intensely loyal to
their employers.

“That’s fine,” he told them, then turned to Charlie, whose
face once again was an unhealthy purple. “If you don’t get hold of yourself
you’re going to have a stroke.”

“I just might anyway.”The big man dropped an armload of
papers on the polished surface of the desk. “Have you seen these?”He stabbed
the pile with a thick forefinger.

“I’d have to be blind not to.” Dan kept his voice deliberately
mild.

“Well, do something.” Charlie dropped heavily into one of
the armchairs. “My office is crawling with government agents. My lawyer is
spending all his time fighting subpoenas. There’s a lock on our government
contracts. And every source tells me Rick Latrobe is the guilty party and the
DOJ is just minutes away from arresting him.” He banged his fist on the arm of
the chair. “I wish I could be calm like Matt. He just rolls with it all and
refuses to let anyone rattle him.”

“That’s why the two of you make good partners,” Dan pointed
out. “You balance each other.”

“By the way.” Charlie’s voice softened slightly. “Thanks for
sending someone over to Iraq to straighten out the security situation so we
aren’t just standing around picking our noses.”

Dan shrugged. He’d picked Ken Murphy, his Beta Team leader,
to step into the mess. Ken had been one of the first Phoenix employees when the
partners decided they needed more manpower. Their client list had grown and
they needed more men to handle training and also to teach corporate security.
Dan had found Ken through a longtime friend and he’d never regretted it for one
minute.

“You pay us to do a job. One way or the other we get it
done.” He opened the single folder that was sitting on his desk. “The heavy
weapons might be gone but you’re got enough small arms and rifles for your
immediate needs. We don’t have the Humvees to ride shotgun to each work site
but the men we have there have figured out a way around that.”

“And who
is
still there? How many guards do we have?”

Dan flipped to another sheet of paper. “All the ones we
brought from the States are still good to go. We lost most of the locals but
the ones we kept are reliable. Several of the men we sent speak Arabic so they
can keep everyone in shape. And there’s no downtime for the guards. When the
day shift is sleeping, we’ve got a full complement on watch at night. More than
we had before.”

“Matt tells me with your help we’re actually moving forward
with the projects.” Charlie’s tone was grudging. “That’s good but I want to
know what you’re going to do about Latrobe.”

Dan sat watching the man for a long moment. Finally he put
down the pen he’d been playing with. “Rick Latrobe has yet to be proven guilty
of anything. The media is very good at speculating and yes, he was the front
man on this project. At your request, I might point out.”

Charlie huffed a breath. “We’ve worked with Rick for a long
time. I sure would never have figured him for anything like this.”

“Then don’t figure him. Wait for proof. Don’t let him be
judged and tried in the media. Charlie, whatever this is, we’ll make it right.
You know that.”

“Damn straight you will. So what do I tell people in the
meantime?”

“You let your attorneys handle the inquiries, let your
public relations department handle the media and you and Matt take care of your
projects.”

“I thought we were going to lose a bunch of contracts at
first,” Charlie admitted. “But I turned Matt loose on them and we’re still a go
on most of them. Balancing on the wire but doing it.” He pushed up from his
chair. “You can tell your pit bulls out there I’m just going back down in the
elevator. I’ll try to keep my shouting to a minimum but you damn well better
find Latrobe for me. I won’t draw a steady breath until I talk to him myself.”

“That’s going to be a while, Charlie. In the meantime, I’m
here when you need me.” He opened the door and signaled to the men in the
reception area. “Our guest is looking to head back downstairs, gentlemen. There
may be reporters outside. Please see that he gets safely to his car.”

They nodded and fell in behind Charlie.

Dan sat back down at his desk, propped his feet on the
surface and picked up his pen, rolling it back and forth between his fingers.
Something in the conversation with Charlie had tickled at his brain and he
couldn’t quite catch it. But he’d picked up a general feeling of unease that
was more than just the current crisis. Something was wrong and he’d have to
figure out what it was.

* * * * *

Kelly felt sluggish as she pried her eyelids open, nudged
awake by Xena’s cold nose.

“Oh, ugh,” she groaned, rolled over and found Rick’s blue
eyes blazing at her. She giggled. “I didn’t mean you.”

“Better not, Red.” He brushed her hair away from her face.
“Don’t worry about Xena the Warrior over there. I heard Mike let her out when
he came back, then she tried to knock the bedroom door down so he let her in
here.”

Kelly was suddenly aware of the fact that the covers on her
side had slid down and her nightshirt was up around her waist. “Ohmigod.” She
slapped her forehead. “Did he see me like this?”

“Don’t worry, sugar. I made sure you were decent.”

“I feel like we just got into bed,” she complained.

“We almost did.” He pulled the covers all the way back and
ran his hand over her thigh and the curve of her hip. “A shower will fix us up.
Come on.”

“You want us to shower together? I know you. Where’s all
this energy coming from? Last night when Mike came back you looked like you
were two steps away from the morgue.”

“I have amazing powers of recuperation.” He winked and gave
her a light tap on her bottom. “Let’s go. Save water. Shower with a friend.”

She let him coax her into it although she knew the wicked
gleam in his eyes meant they would end up doing more than just bathe. Sure
enough, the minute the water temperature and spray were adjusted, he pulled her
into the shower with him and captured her mouth in a blistering kiss. He took
her so deep she could only hang onto his shoulders and hope her knees didn’t
buckle.

When he finally lifted his mouth, tracing the outline of her
lips with the tip of his tongue, she could barely drag air into her lungs.

“You’re going to kill yourself.” She was amazed she could
even speak.“All this activity can’t be good for you.”

Even as his touch aroused her body, her eyes focused on the
angry red scar on his chest and her desire screeched to a halt. Tentatively she
traced the thick ridge with her fingertip, her breath hissing between her
teeth.

His hand came up and trapped hers. “Don’t. You don’t have to
look at it. I know what it looks like.”

Her eyes traveled up the length of him until they met his,
now a stormy blue, beads of water dripping from the thick golden lashes. “Is
that what you think? That it disgusts me? Oh, Rick. You are so far from the
truth. It scares me to think of how close you came to dying. That we might
never have…”

He touched a forefinger to her lips. “Sssh. I didn’t and we
did. I’ll only die if I can’t be with you. Touch you. Make love to you.” He
drew a line along the rim of her ear with his tongue, sending shivers
skittering through her.

Kelly was having trouble concentrating but she had to try to
be the sensible one here. He was still recuperating.

“Rick, yesterday was a very long day and I know you were in
pain last night. I don’t even know how you… How we… That is…”

His mouth turned up in that devil’s grin. “Yes, we did. And
we’re going to do it again. Don’t worry. I’m going to let you do all the work.
Now come on. I do a killer job with soap in the shower.”

She watched him reach for the bottle of liquid soap, pour
some into one hand and work up a rich lather. The minute he touched her skin
she felt heat bloom inside her and the pulse at her core beat like a jungle
drum. His slick hands moved over her shoulders, down her arms, across the line
of her ribs and up to her breasts, which he paid careful attention to. His
slippery fingers tweaked her nipples and tugged on them until they were harder
than diamonds.

“God,” she breathed.

“No,” he said in a thick voice. “Just Rick. But I’ve been
told my touch is heavenly.”

Adding more soap to the mix, he worked his way down her
tummy, teasing at her navel with the tip of one finger, until he found the seam
of flesh between her legs and worked it gently until she widened her stance and
opened for him. When his fingers slid inside her she shuddered from head to
toe, gripping his arms to hold herself steady.

He found her clit and gently he worked the hard knot of
nerves, bracing her with one arm around her. Kelly’s breathing quickened and
her hips began a rocking motion.

“More?” he asked in a velvet voice.

“More,” she begged. “Don’t stop.”

“Tell me we belong together, Red. Say you’ll marry me when
this is all over. I told you I’d wait for your answer but I’m a very impatient
man.”

“M-Marry?” Whatever air she still had trapped in her lungs
disappeared. “Oh, Rick. I don’t…I want…”

“Yesterday made me realize even more how precious each day
is, how fleeting life can be. I don’t want to waste another minute of it. This
is meant to be.
We’re
meant to be.” He put his mouth close to her ear.
“Besides, Xena told me. In a dream.”

She looked up at him, eyes wide, trying to focus. “A dream?”

“Yeah. Just like the ones you have. She says the three of us
have to stay together.”

Kelly closed her eyes and rocked into the movement of his
hand. Marry him. Oh god. The rightness of it flooded her with intense feeling,
centering her in a way nothing else ever had.“I-I guess my answer has to be
yes.”

“We’ll do it just as soon as this is over.” He breathed the
words into her mouth, his lips against hers.

When his fingers slid from the grip of her muscles, her eyes
flew open.

“What…”

“Just hold on a minute, Red. Don’t move. It’ll be worth it.
I promise.” His own breathing was as rocky as hers. Sliding the shower door
open, he snaked his arm out to the vanity drawer and pulled out a condom. He
lowered himself to the built-in seat, rolled the latex into place and
positioned her until she was straddling him. “Remember, I said you get to do
all the work here.”

He slid up into her with one smooth stroke and she realized
he’d been right. He was guiding her but letting her do all the work. With his
hands grasping her hips, he set the pace for them, holding her as she rode him
with intense ferocity.
Each thrust into her wet
channel dragged his cock against the tiny sensitive nerves. Every retreat was
torture, leaving her empty until he filled her again. Electricity jolted
through, sizzling in her veins. Nothing existed except the two of them, the
connection of their bodies and the intense climb to the top of a hot, erotic
peak. Lust unwound from deep in her body, spreading out, out, out until she was
almost there. Almost there. And then they hit the peak together. When they
climaxed Kelly felt as if a cyclone had picked her up and tumbled her through
space. She felt him pulsing inside her as her aftershocks continued to grip
him.

At last, spent, Rick lifted her to her feet.

“I think we’d better shower for real,” he teased, his
breathing still uneven, “or Mike will come in here looking for us.”

Kelly leaned her head against his chest, her hand resting on
the scar and breathed a prayer of thanks for whatever Fate had brought them
together.

* * * * *

Mike already had coffee brewing and was fixing breakfast
when they came out of their room. They were both freshly showered and somewhat
rested and there was no mistaking the glow surrounding them. Mike was happy for
his friend. Rick needed someone like Kelly who could keep him anchored.