Instinctual (10 page)

“And stop looking at me! It’s rude to stare.” Her eyes temporarily abandoned his wanton gaze for the safety of the cobbles underfoot. Even with her head down, she could feel his eyes burn into her.

She wanted this to be over. It was strangling her.

“Kate, listen to me….”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Her words bounced off the road. She was unable to make eye contact. “I don’t want to hear any lame excuses as to why you left me or why you’ve come back. I have a new life now, Jake. I have a new boyfriend. I’m actually happy.”

In some strange way it was hard to even picture Carlos’ face.

“Kate, there’s something wrong—”

“You’re damn straight there’s something wrong. It’s called you coming back here. It’s called you walking out on me. It’s called you not deserving me. I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work. You can’t just waltz in here and expect me to forgive you.”

She needed to get away from him. His unfathomable beauty was painful. Time hadn’t erased her yearning. The damned urge to bite on the muscular curve of his neck. To find his slick tongue waiting and ready to inflame her mouth.

Kate’s brain screamed defiantly to be strong.
Fight the need to give away your power to desire.

She hadn’t struggled every day to have everything ruined in an instant. She owed it to herself to leave the past behind. To get over the stunning creature standing close enough to make her excitedly uncomfortable. Wickedly horny. It would be so simple to give in to her needs and have one last taste of the vital ingredient that was lacking from her mediocre life. The one person who could hand her that on a silver platter looked only too willing and eager. Only it was all too late for that now. There wasn’t just herself to think of anymore. She was with Carlos. She knew what it felt like to have your heart shattered and she couldn’t do that to anyone else. Carlos didn’t deserve that.

With that Kate broke free of Jake’s hex. Even as she turned and started running, it was a struggle to pull away from his allure. He smelled so good. And that mouth! God! That mouth looked so fine. There wasn’t an inch of Kate’s body that mouth hadn’t been on. Full and juicy to the point of becoming a distraction.

“Kate, wait!”

“Leave me alone! I don’t want to see you. Don’t think of following me, either, or I’ll call the police!”

“Kate! Don’t go. I need to tell you something. You’re not well. Please, you have to listen to me.”

She ignored his voice and raced home.

Chapter Fourteen

Kate was damned if she was going to stick around another instant and listen to Jake’s poor excuses even though he was the most delicious thing she’d ever seen. If she wasn’t so mad at him she could have quite easily thrown herself at him and put her body out of its misery.

Running back to her apartment was doing little to ease the ache between her legs or the feeling of loss that had overwhelmed her when she’d turned her back on him.

Reaching her apartment, she realized she was no closer to finding out what had happened that morning at the festival in regards to lost time and clothes. It had, however, confirmed that Jake was in town, was somehow involved, and still affected her, if not worse than before. How was she going to cope?

Her nipples were now betraying her again, standing at attention, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, all she could think about was the way Jake had looked at her. She’d seen the need in his eyes and the tension in his body. It was a strange thing, to be screaming at someone to stay away while wanting them with every ounce of your being. Her head was being reasonable but her body was being just downright slutty. If she laid eyes on him again anytime soon she was going to have to try and gather some more restraint to avoid giving in to her lust.

Once inside, she decided to try and get some sleep, even though she knew the idea was probably futile. Jake’s eyes were still piercing into her, even as she closed hers and tried to focus on something else. Did she really want to focus on something else? She knew she should. He’d betrayed her. She hated him for that. He needed a piece of her mind.

Yes! Being angry at Jake was helping to soften her nipples a little as she snuggled under the covers. It wasn’t too long before she was out.

Chapter Fifteen

No sooner had the sun lazily poked its head above the horizon than
Gemma
nudged her fat belly into the glamorous Hercules Port
that was a natural bay at the foot of the ancestral rock of the Princes of Monaco.

Carlos sat in the luxurious lounge, looking out a tinted window, nursing a monster of a hangover. The self-induced stupor he’d fallen into at the hands of a dozen glasses of martini had probably not been a good idea. He felt ill.

He’d tried calling Kate but there was no signal. He’d try again when they docked. He wondered if she’d fallen ill again. The thought didn’t stay with him for long as he enjoyed the view outside.

Adriano and Philippe appeared together half an hour later looking a damn sight better than Carlos.

“Carlos, my friend. How did you sleep?”

“Like a baby actually, thanks to the martini.”

“Good. Good. We’ll be docked shortly. Everything is going according to schedule so far. The Lord is pleased with our progress. All you need to do now is take those two statues over there off the boat when we stop and the job is almost complete.”

Carlos turned to find the two identical cream female statues, which looked ancient and delicate. They each stood about six feet tall and shared a corner of the gleaming lounge room. Last night he’d had too much to drink to even notice them. Each exquisitely hand carved woman bore a plain Roman face with long woven hair tied into a loose ponytail that was pulled to the front over the right shoulder and one life-like hand held a clay urn, while the other one cradled an upright branch covered in soft leaves. Their expressions were wistful, as if in a dream, and whoever the sculptor had been had captured the essence of a splendid era in ancient history.

“Stunning, aren’t they?”

Carlos turned back to face Adriano, confused. “Yes, they are, but what do they have to do with the shipment?’

“These are the shipment.”

“Statues?”

“Not the statues, Carlos, but what’s inside them.”

Oh. He got it now. The shipment was securely hidden within the ripe bosoms of the voluptuous figurines. Ingenious, if he did say so himself, although looking at the size of each woman he wondered how they would be able to carry them.

As if reading Carlos’ mind, Adriano spoke as she adjusted his tie. “Don’t worry. They are very good replicas but only one fifth of the original’s weight. They’re made from porcelain, not stone.”

Just as well. He could only imagine trying to lug some heavy-ass frigging stone statue out the narrow doorway of
Gemma
, down the stairs, while rocking to and fro like he was still drunk. As it was, the hangover had left him nauseous and light-headed. The constant swaying of the boat didn’t help matters.

Within minutes
Gemma
was safely tied to the pier and it was action time for Carlos and Philippe. Both men walked over to the statues and picked one up. The stash inside each one contributed to the weight but it was easier than Carlos imagined. Gingerly they exited the lounge room door onto the steps at the back. Adriano was standing at the bottom of the ladder so that each man could hand down the statues. Two long handled trolleys on wheels sat on the concrete waiting for the cargo.

“Deliver them to pier 27. Enrique is waiting for you.” Adriano looked at his watch as if he was as anxious to get the stash out of his hands as Carlos was. “Drop them off and don’t loiter. Get your asses out of there ASAP.”

It sounded easy enough.

“Philippe, here is your paycheck for this job and instructions for the next one.” Adriano held out an envelope to Philippe and bid him farewell.

Both men wheeled their trolleys down the long pier looking for 27, pushing with one hand and holding the statues with the other.

Philippe didn’t utter a word and Carlos was feeling too nauseous to invoke any kind of communication. Not that he had anything worthy to say to the Frenchman anyway, but the silence was uncomfortable. Both men were relieved when they reached their destination.

Before them stood a motor yacht that looked more like a torpedo than a boat. The mirrored paintwork of silver and black reflected everything around it, causing Carlos to squint, even under the security of his dark shades. The angular lines of the bow tapered into a sleek point with stainless steel handrails down each side. Dark tint covered each window on the multiple levels of grandiose magnificence.

Two security officers waited at the stern, looking eerily like the statues being delivered.

Another suited member of the shady transaction stepped forward off the boat to greet them. “Allo?”

“Allo! C’est Enrique?” Philippe was in his element.

“Oui. C’est Moi. Et toi?”

“Mon nom est Philippe. C’est Carlos.” Carlos didn’t speak French but could piece together the introduction. He shook Enrique’s hand.

“Voici le chargement?”

“Quittez-le ici.” Enrique pointed to the steps leading on board the “silver bullet.”

Philippe started wheeling the statue over, so Carlos followed suit, already anxious to leave, scanning the length of the pier to make sure they were alone.

Rows of sharp nosed, shiny cruisers lined the docks, crammed in like sardines. Even the smallest ones would be out of most people’s league. Carlos wondered how many of them had been bought with dirty money. Surely there weren’t that many genuinely wealthy people in such a small vicinity. One didn’t acquire that much money through working a nine to five job in any company.

“Merci, Enrique. Au revoir.”

“Au revoir, Philippe.” Enrique’s voice was laced with joyful satisfaction as he carefully lifted each statue onto the boat to the two black giants, who moved for the first time.

Carlos and Philippe left the shadow of the yacht and stepped out into the glory of the sun to part ways. The balmy morning did little to ease Carlos’ hangover. He needed to get back to his cabin to sleep it off some more.

“Carlos.” Philippe nodded as he started to walk off.

“Philippe.” Right back at you, asshole! Carlos was glad to be out of the Frenchman’s company and on his own, even if it did mean facing whatever lay ahead alone.

Carlos headed back to
Gemma
as he keyed in Kate’s number on his cell
.

It rang a few times and then cut out.

“Jesus! What the hell is wrong with the connection?”

He dialed again only to get the “this phone is not responding” message, so he swore under his breath and stuffed his cell back in his pocket, reaching his ride and the bed he looked forward to collapsing on.

Chapter Sixteen

Watching Kate sleep for an hour from the window ledge in her bedroom after he’d quietly snuck in during the small hours of the morning before the sun rose left such an craving in Jake that he’d physically had to hold himself back by grasping the surround with both hands. Even in such a weakened condition, her beauty was otherworldly. His lips parted. His eyes closed. It would be all too easy to crawl under the covers with her and wrap himself around her, burrowing his head into her neck. To forget everything else but Kate. To hold her like she needed to be held. To feel her porcelain skin…

“Shit! Baby, I’m dying over here.”

He had to try to stay levelheaded though and figure out how to broach a delicate subject with her when she woke. Things had changed. Not only did he need Kate’s help, she now needed his. How the fuck was he going to help her when she wouldn’t listen to a thing he tried to say to her? She’d run from him in anger. He should just let it go but he couldn’t. Not now. Time was ticking away all too fast and if he couldn’t get through to her it would be too late for both of them.

Jake hated the situation at hand. It should never have gotten this far. He shouldn’t be here under these circumstances. If his mother knew what he was wrapped up in it would kill her with worry. As it was he hadn’t had contact with her in two years. Not through lack of wanting to. It had been for her safety just as it had been for Kate’s. He loved his mom more than anything and didn’t want to risk her life in any way. There was no bargaining when it came to his mother. His father had walked out when he’d found out his mother was pregnant and hadn’t been heard of since. Jake had never missed what he’d never known. His father was dead to him. His mother was his only family.

The last time he’d spoken to her he’d had to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to contact him for a long while as he was traveling to a remote Andean town in Tumbatu, Ecuador to help upgrade community facilities. The high mountainous region would have no telecommunication at all and limited conveniences. She’d bought it hook, line and sinker. As far as she knew he was still there and would contact her when the job was finished. He longed to hear her voice again and touch base to let her know he was okay, but until he could shovel his way out of the trouble he was in, she was safer thinking he was hard at work being a good Samaritan.

As the room brightened with the beginning of another day in paradise, Kate stirred, rolling from her back onto her side so that she was facing Jake. He opened his eyes, gripping the window surround tighter, anticipating her reaction at seeing him sitting, gazing longingly at her in her bedroom.

Unexpectedly, Jake’s back pocket vibrated. Fuck! Kate’s cell phone! He’d forgotten he’d had it in there since picking up its strewn contents off the floor the day before. Quickly he yanked it out and looked at the screen. Carlos. Son of a bitch! He switched it off. That was an added burden he didn’t need. There was something shifty about that guy that left a sour taste in Jake’s mouth. Carlos wasn’t right for Kate. He’d deal with the repercussions of explaining why he had her cell later. There were more pressing matters.

Kate moaned softly, stretched and then opened her eyes. A smile came to her lips for a split second as their eyes met. It was as if she was still in some gorgeous, erotic dream and had yet to realize she was awake. Jake’s movements stopped and his eyes were like saucers. The connection was intense. In that second there was nowhere else he needed to be. The narrow sliver of light spilling in through the window that caught her eyes, infused her hazel irises with an iridescence that left him speechless.

***

As Kate closed her eyes and then opened them again, she sat upright, panicking, pulling the sheet around her as if she was naked.

“Jake! What are you doing in my bedroom?” Where the hell did he come from? He kept appearing out of nowhere.

Jake stood in a placating gesture, both hands held up in front of him as if to calm her.

“Kate, wait! I’m not here to frighten or hurt you. We need to talk. There’s something urgent I need to discuss with you, if you’ll just—”

“How did you get into my apartment?” She squeezed the bed sheet tightly. “Did you break in?”

“No, Kate! The door was unlocked. Why the hell was it unlocked?”

She barely heard his question. “I thought I told you to stay away from me or I’d call the police!”

“I just need you to listen for a minute. Please?” She’d never heard Jake beg.

“To hell I’m going to listen to anything you have to say. Now get out of my house. Get. Out. Of. My. Life!”

She turned to face the wall, pulling the covers up higher to show him she meant business. It was hard to scream at him when he was so damned hot. Part of her was so maddeningly furious and yet everything south of her navel was tingling with need. Her head was strong but her body had other ideas that didn’t involve talking.

“I’m not going anywhere until you hear me out.” She noted his defensive, loud voice but she wasn’t backing down.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses or apologies! It’s too late for that,” she yelled to the wall.

Jake strode over to the bed, causing her to sink lower under the sheet.

“Damn it, Kate! Will you fucking listen to me? This isn’t about me walking out on you. It’s about something much worse—”

“Worse?” she spat. “What could be worse, Jake? What could possibly be worse?” Her voice cracked as tears threatened to break the hard safety wall she’d put up. Her legs folded into her chest as she squeezed herself into the fetal position for protection. Protection from her own broken heart. “I’ve never suffered more than I did…”

Kate could feel the heat from Jake almost scald her, even through the sheets. She clutched the sheets tighter to keep herself anchored to the mattress to stop her body betraying her.

Jake sat down on the bed, pulling the covers aside, causing Kate to stiffen.

“Jake. You need to go. I have nothing more to say to you. You shouldn’t be here. Especially on my bed. I can’t do this.”

Her feeble plea ended up on deaf ears. Her hands shook and her skin tingled. She squeezed her legs together.

“Kate. My Kate. I’m so sorry. I’ve died a thousand deaths since I left. I’ve punished myself every day for walking out. You have to believe me when I tell you that I had no choice.”

She tried to shun his nearness as his breath on her hair drove desire deep into her core. This was not good.

“We all have choices, Jake. You made yours. Now you have to live with that.” Her wall was crumbling fast as her throat closed up. Her teeth clenched as she willed her body to be strong and behave.

An apology just didn’t cut it. What a nerve thinking he could just waltz back into Vernazza and expect her to be anything other than angry with him? What did he hope her reaction would be?

“You’ve been stalking me!” She turned her head slightly to project her voice.

“No! I haven’t! I had to find you. There’s so much I need to tell you, only I didn’t expect—”

“What? What didn’t you expect? Spit it out, Jake, and hurry up!”

“Something has happened to you! I tried to tell you earlier. You’re in danger!”

“Danger? The only danger I’m in is from you. I don’t want you here. Why can’t you understand that?” Did he not understand English? She’d practically spelled it out for him in every way possible.

And he thinks I’m the stubborn one! Okay, you’re doing good, Kate. Stay strong.

“I’m here to help you. You need to hear me out. I promise, if you listen to what I have to say and you still want me to go, I will. I’ll go and I’ll never bother you again.”

Silence. Jesus! Why was she even considering this? It was absurd.

“How do I know you’re not lying to try to get me to forgive you?”

“I wouldn’t lie about something like this. About you. This is a life or death situation. I’ve never been more serious about anything—except for my feelings for you. They will never change. You have to hear me out and then I’ll leave. You have my word.”

That tweaked her interest. A lot. Maybe she could hear him out and then he’d disappear for good. That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? What was so urgent he had to tell her? Why had he come all the way back to help her? She didn’t need his help. Did she? Hell, things were just too confusing. Her brain felt fried. She couldn’t think about anything but his closeness.

The touch of his hand on her head was like a power surge into every crevice in her body. She barely recognized the noise in her throat that sounded all too much like a groan.

He was more powerful than she. In his presence, at his touch, she could only surrender. Her body felt too weak to fight any more. She wanted to pound her fists into his chest and push him away but an overwhelming loneliness gripped her. The contact between them sizzled and she knew he could feel it too when he growled in response.

Her mind was angry with her body for its betrayal but her body was telling her to shut the fuck up!

Jake stretched out and around her with such ease, one arm pulling her to him, the other stroking her hair away from her head. She was blanketed with an embodiment of warmth that stole her ability to think, let alone function physically. He pulled the blanket down somewhat before turning her onto her back.

“Shhh, baby. It’s okay. Don’t fight me. Let me help you.” His head was on her pillow, his eyes closed as she watched him.

It didn’t matter that she loathed him. That was irrelevant all of a sudden. Kate could live with anything life threw at her but she couldn’t survive without his touch. Jake’s fingers sizzled on her forehead as he curled around her. She couldn’t feel their separation. She couldn’t feel where her own body ended and his began. They were one again. This was what she needed.

Kate stopped shuddering. She let Jake cocoon her, not happy at herself for letting her guard down but her stubbornness had disappeared with the gentleness of his touch.

His arm moved slightly, causing Kate to gasp as she felt her hard, taut nipple touch his arm with just a thin veil of fabric in between. Jesus! It was like an electric shock.

Jake must have felt it, too. “What are you doing, Kate?” His gravelly voice purred into her neck.

“Hmmm?”

“Are you…? Do you still feel it?”

“Yes.” Oh, how she felt it. Raw and sexual.

“It’s still there. After all this time, it’s still there.”

Caught up in Jake, temporarily forgetting why she was angry at him, she turned her face to him, catching him biting his lip in a gesture that made her make a small mewing noise. That mouth had her full attention. She licked her own lips in return.

Uncharacteristically gentle with his hand, he lifted her chin as if to draw her gaze from his mouth to his eyes that had now opened halfway, exposing dark, carnal greed as his thumb, whisper soft, stroked her cheek.

“Look at me, baby.” He moved his thumb to beneath her right eye, moving it back and forth lightly on her skin.

“Please?” She noted it was the second time he’d begged.

How could she deny these feelings deep within? A place beyond the hurt and pain. His voice. His touch. His unique smell. It was a narcotic that was fast making her high.

Raising her line of vision, the only place she could focus on was him. He was everywhere. There was no bedroom. No walls. No windows. Only Jake.

His long dark eyelashes accentuated the rich blue outline of his irises that were fast being swallowed by black. The look he was giving her was indecent, to put it mildly. His now parted, curvaceous mouth looked moist and soft. His fingers were still tracing small trails of bliss under her eye. It felt so good. She was his.

“Kate.” The tension was too unbearable for both of them as he rammed his open mouth onto hers, groaning loudly, causing her to do the same. It was heaven. Jake pulled her closer so that they were chest to chest, placing her head to the side, which deepened the kiss.

Kate gave a throaty sigh into his mouth as her tongue pushed into his mouth, searching for his. This was what she craved. Not what she wanted, but desperately craved. Her body was on fire with desire. It was screaming at her for release.

“Jake!” It was a half-hearted attempt at stopping him.

“Shhh. Don’t say anything. Just give in to the moment. Forget everything else but this very second. We need this,” he breathlessly spoke into her jawline after momentarily pulling away from her mouth.

Her fingers moved to his velvet hair as her hand clasped his head and forced his mouth back onto hers in a greedy move.

To hell with everything! Her being had come to life, thirsting for more. Electric desire. The need to escape her anger and grief and go to a place that only Jake could take her. Their place. It was all very ironic to think that her anger and grief had been caused by Jake, and yet he was the only man who could erase it all in a second just by his touch.

Kate’s mouth moved in perfect synchronized harmony with Jake’s, her tongue teasing, her lips almost bruised from the fervor.