Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (29 page)

She slid her arms around his
waist and moved into him, desire blooming in her chest and moving to burn
through her blood. She whimpered against his lips and then blushed when she
heard a soft cough from behind them.

Alex allowed her to step back…
a little, but didn’t release her face. He stroked his thumb over her cheekbone
and down her jaw. “Hi,” he murmured.

She swallowed at the intensity
of emotions racing through her at this simple touch. She loved this man. “Hi,”
she whispered back.

Behind them, Jacob coughed
again. Alex sighed, his jaw clenching. “Just leave the damned bags,” he told
him.

Silence met his words, but then
Jacob set the cases down and discreetly left and drove away without another
word.

While still standing on the
front doorstep of the villa, and without breaking eye contact, he reached down
and began to tantalizingly unbutton her dress. Devon swallowed hard and her
breathing became ragged. “Alex,” she whimpered, “I don’t think…”

He cut her off by lowering his
lips to her aggressively. He caught her lower lip between his teeth and nipped
before thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth and sucking against her tongue.
Her heart began to pound and she became nearly lightheaded.

Somewhere in the far recesses
of her mind, she felt the silky slide of her dress as it swirled around her
legs on its way to the floor. Slowly, he walked her backwards as his hands
began a slow exploration of her now scantily clad body.
“God,
baby!
I’ve missed you… missed this,” he murmured against her lips. “I
want you so much,” he continued.

Devon fluttered her hands
against his to stay them as they reached for her breasts. “Alex? I don’t know
if you can do this,” she said with concern.

He grinned as he nipped again
at her lip. “Oh, I think you know I
can
do this.”

She hit his chest lightly. “You
know what I mean. God, if anything were to happen to you…” she trailed off as
she shivered.

He ran his hands down her arms
until their fingers interlocked. “I’m fine.” Leaning his forehead against hers,
he said, “But I really… really need to be inside you right now, this instant.
I’ve missed you so much.”

Devon stared deep into his eyes,
seeking confirmation of his words. With a nod, she turned slowly and led him
into the vast bedroom which opened up onto their private beach.

~*M*~

“No!
Absolutely
not!”
Alex yelled as he ran a hand through his hair, which needed to be
cut.

As promised, Devon had thought
long and hard about Jacob’s bizarre proposition. At first, to herself, she’d
planned to refuse. But as time progressed, and her mother had still not been
found, slowly over the weeks, she reconsidered - now, she just had to get Alex
onboard. To say he was less than thrilled was an understatement.

They were sitting in lounge
chairs outside their villa listening to the pounding surf as it washed up on
the shore before retreating back into the ocean’s depths. Devon wanted to retreat
with the tide. Alex was fit to be tied.

Calmly, she said, “It’s really
not your decision.”

“The hell it’s not,” he
declared, his green eyes flashing hotly.

She spun her tanned legs off
the lounge chair and faced him. Grabbing his hands within her own, she said.
“Alex, I love you. But this is important to me. This is about my mother.
Please, Alex! Please don’t make me choose!” she begged, her eyes pleading with
him to understand.

“Devon, you don’t know what
this kind of life will do to you. I know the cost already. I don’t want you to
pay it.”

She exhaled slowly and dropped
her eyes to their intertwined fingers. “Alex, I… I don’t have a choice. I have
to find my mother,” she replied softly.

“It’s.
Too.
Dangerous,” he said each word slowly. “It’s a death-wish.”

Tracing the vein on his hand
with her finger, she said, “I have to try… she’s my mother… my only family.”

Silence met her words. Pain
tore through his midsection at her words.
Did
he mean nothing to her
? He stood abruptly and ran a hand through his hair
once again. “I don’t want that existence anymore. I’m on my way out of the spy
game.” Spinning back, he knelt down in front of her and took her face in his
hands. “Come with me. Come with me to the States. Be… with
me
,” he said, emphasizing the last word.

Her heart thudded painfully in
her chest. This was the dream she’d always wanted. She loved him, and while he
hadn’t said the words, she knew he loved her as well. “Please don’t do this.
Stay here with me,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes and slowly shook
his head. “I don’t want this life anymore. I’m done. As you will see, it’s a
beast. I can’t give the beast any more of myself.” Rising to his feet, he
turned to face the ocean, his hands on his hips. His beautifully tanned body
bare
except for the low-riding trunks he wore. “I’m going
back home… to Savannah… on Friday. You can
either pack your
bags and
come with me… or you stay here and fight this war… a war you’ll
never win - trust me on this. The choice is yours.”

“But my mother…”

He cut her off. “Devon, did
Jacob tell you the odds of your mother being alive? They’re slim… very slim.
You’re risking your life for someone who might already be… gone. They’re using
you as bait. Don’t you get that?”

Her stomach clenched painfully
at his words. Her chest burned with the pain that was coming. “I have to at
least try. I owe her that much,” she whispered.

He sighed and his shoulders
slumped forward. “I… don’t… I can’t go through that kind of loss again. It’s
just too… hard.” The sheer lack of emotion in his voice, made the statement
harsher, than if he’d screamed it.

Breathlessly, as she struggled
to contain her sorrow and the sobs which threatened to erupt from deep within,
she gasped, “I love you, Alex, but… I have to do this.”

He stood still as a statue for
a long while. Without turning around, he said softly, “That’s your choice,
then.”

Epilogue

Present
Day

Alex Masters stared pensively
out the window of Rush’s private jet as it soared on its way to Puerto Vallarta.
The skies were clear; which was in direct opposition to his mood. Devon
Montanez had broken his heart that day… the day she’d chosen a life without
him. Maybe he should have stayed – he’d left a major part of himself behind at
that small oceanfront villa anyway. But he hadn’t been willing to stand by as
she got herself killed. He’d already lived through that tragedy with Addison.

Jacob had tried to browbeat him
into staying with the agency, but he just hadn’t had it in him anymore. He’d
wanted something different. He gave a small, bitter laugh at that thought. All
these years later and he still hadn’t found whatever that elusive ‘something
different’ was.

He managed to keep tabs on
Devon through Jacob
Roundtree
and the man who’d
trained her and was now her current partner, Cash Devlin. She’d done remarkably
well within the agency, surpassing all their expectations. Cash couldn’t praise
her enough. Miguel and her mother were still missing, even all these years
later.

He’d seen her, of course, just
months before. He’d needed help when Trinity Drayton had been kidnapped and
she’d come. He’d lain with her, buried himself within her depths – both
physically and mentally, but at the end, she’d walked away… again.

Overhead, via the plane’s
intercom system, Alex heard the pilot announce they’d be landing in less than
five minutes. He sighed as his thoughts dragged him down. He’d followed Devon
to Mexico after their ordeal with the
Draytons
had
been finished. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected by going - whether it was to
persuade her to change… or
himself
.

They’d returned to that same
oceanfront villa and for two glorious weeks had
swam
in the warm surf and had made sweet, soul-clenching love.
Come home with me
, he’d whispered in her ear, while plunged deep
within her. But in the end, he’d returned to Savannah and she’d once again
chosen to stay in Mexico - not able to give up her quest. He’d not tried to
dissuade her this time. It was her choice… always her choice.

The End

Dear Reader,

I hope you’ve enjoyed part one
of Alex and Devon’s story. Book two in the Masters’ saga: Mastering the Devil
(Book 4 in the Rush series) will be out February 2014.

 ~~Other
books by LR Potter~~

The Hourglass Killer
Trilogy:

Dwindling Sands

Shifting Sands

Cascading Sands

The Hourglass Killer Trilogy
– All three books together

The Color of Snow Series:
(Paranormal)

Snow Blind

Snow Flurry

Memory Lapse – A Slater
Vance Novel

Flawed Beauty

The Rush Series:

Rush of Innocence

Rush of Redemption

Masters Saga: Part One - Master
of the Game – The Rush Series: Book 3

Collaborative Works:

Three of a Kind: Tales of
Luck, Chance & Misfortune – Lucky Strike

Summer Sizzle - A
Controlled Burn

Blood Bites – The Blood
Pool

Coming Soon in 2014:

Blood Haze (Paranormal) due
out January

Masters Saga: Part Two –
Mastering the Devil – The Rush Series: Book 4; due out February

A Long & Steady Cadence

Cash Saga: Hard Cold Cash –
The Rush Series: Book 5

Fangs for Hire (Paranormal)

Judgment Lapse: A Slater
Vance Novel