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She tightened her grip on his shaft and moved her hand up and down. “Call me stupid and naïve but I’d rather have a few hours with you than months with someone else.”

The moment the words left her mouth she realized how true they were. She lived a lifetime with each of his visits. And she couldn’t imagine sex with any other man after Gabe. The attraction between them had been so instantaneous and so electric she wondered even now how they’d made it to her house that first time without tearing off each other’s clothing.

The kind of sex they’d indulged in had been so different from anything she’d ever experienced. It was an unfamiliar dance but Gabe sang the tune and led her skillfully through the intricate steps. That’s all it had taken for her to become so addicted to him she’d forced herself to be satisfied with his unannounced, infrequent appearances rather than try to find a stable social life. It would have been unfair for any other man to be forced to be compared to him.

Latching onto one of his nipples again, she increased the pace of her hand stroking his cock. His body tensed as the shaft swelled even more.

Suddenly he pulled away from her and she looked up, startled.

“What’s wrong?”

“Time for me to take care of you.”

“But—”

“Now it’s your turn to hush.”

He put his hands at her waist and lifted her to the low, built-in seat in the corner.

Now it was his mouth on her nipple, sucking it and grazing it with his teeth. One hand drifted between her thighs, urging them apart. Fingers probed between the lips of her pussy, seeking her wet warmth. His thumb grazed over her clit, sending flashes of heat through her.

“You’re always so ready for me,” he murmured, his voice hoarse. “Sometimes in the dark of night I think about it and my cock gets as hard as a spike. If you were right there with me then, I’d ride you so hard you’d never stop coming.”

She always loved the way he talked to her, the things he said, telling her in detail what he was going to do to her, the words heating her blood and adding to the stimulation of his hands and his mouth.

Shifting his lips to her other nipple, he slid two, then three fingers into her quivering vagina. Automatically she began to ride his hand, arching to give him better access to her breasts. His thumb kept up its pendulum movement on her clit, driving her higher and higher.

Without warning he released his hold on her nipple, letting it pop from his mouth and withdrew his hand from her pussy. Before she could wonder what was happening, he turned her around and ran the tip of one finger between the cheeks of her ass. He reached around her to grab a bottle of shower gel and she felt its cool thickness rubbed at the puckered skin of her anus.

Gabe Peralta was the first—and only—man who’d ever taken her there. The first time she’d felt his cock plundering her ass her body automatically resisted. But he was a skilled lover and when he was inside at last, filling the tight channel completely, an icy hot flash of lust surged through her and she’d climaxed almost at once.

Now she felt the rush of anticipation, of expectation as his soap-slicked fingers probed her rear entrance. One finger, then two, scissoring to stretch her tissues.

“When we get out of this,” he rasped, “if you’re not ready to write me off, I’m getting you a butt plug to wear every day I’m not with you.”

“O-okay,” she stammered, wishing he’d just shut up and get on with it. The tight knot of need low in her belly was unraveling and spreading through her, lighting every nerve she possessed.

Gabe withdrew his fingers and she heard the shower door open.

“Killian damn well better keep this place as well stocked as his others,” he muttered.

She sensed rather than felt the movement of his body, heard something open and close. Then Gabe was back, his lips tracing a path down her spine ending with little nips at the swell of her buttocks. The distinct
snap!
told her he was sheathing himself in a condom. His fingers probed her again, spreading more lubricating shower gel into her hot, dark tissues. Then the head of his cock was pushing, pushing, pushing at her anus until with a thrust he was inside.

She sucked in her breath as he filled her, the muscles in her cunt pulsing in reaction.

His fingers manacled her wrists, lifting her hands and placing them on the shower walls, holding them there as he set up a steady rhythm, pumping in and out of her ass.

His lips were hot against her shoulder, his teeth just grazing her skin as they found that special spot where neck and shoulder were joined.

This was another kind of dance, one where she
did
know the steps and could lead as well as follow. She braced herself against the tile with her hands, trying to time the movements of her hips with Gabe’s thrusts. She was stretched on a rack of pleasure so taut she was afraid she would snap, yet she didn’t want this to end, either. The orgasm was building inside her, clawing its way up through her body like a tiger fighting to be unleashed.

Gabe moved his mouth so it was next to her ear. He traced the outline with the tip of his tongue before growling, “Come now, Rachel. Right now.”

His arm wrapped around her and his hand slid down between her thighs, seeking and finding her swollen clit, pinching it just enough to send her flying over the edge. As her climax exploded, Gabe shouted her name, pushed hard into her rectum and held himself rigid as his cock pulsed again and again inside its latex sheath.

As his spasms died down, he shifted his hand to reach her cunt, drove two fingers into it and worked them inside her until the last of the aftershocks quieted. She was panting, gasping for breath, her body so boneless she would have slipped off the seat if Gabe didn’t have her impaled on his fingers and his cock.

When at last he withdrew from her body, he stripped off the condom and lifted her down to the floor. She was soaked and shivering again, this time from the strength of the passion just expended. It seemed as if with the intensity of her orgasm her adrenaline had crashed and every bit of energy had leached out of her. Leaning against Gabe for support, she was glad enough to let him soap her again and rinse her off.

When he had her completely dried, he pulled a thick terry robe off a hook on the wall, bundled her into it and tied the sash. He shoved his arms into an identical one, then lifted Rachel and carried her into the bedroom, laying her gently in the bed. Sitting beside her, he took one of her hands and enfolded it in his.

“I’m going to dig in the closet find some clothes that fit me, then go talk to Killian.

They must know something by this time.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. “You get some sleep. You have to be exhausted.”

That was certainly true but she had no intention of being left out of whatever was happening. Gabe was becoming more important to her by the minute, not to mention the fact that she’d landed square in the middle of this hot potato. Exhausted or not, she was sticking to him like glue.

She pushed herself up on the bed. “I need to find some clothes too,” she told him.

“If I can just get a pot of coffee I’ll be fine.”

“Listen, Rachel…” he began.

She shook her head. “I have a right to know what’s going on. You’ll have to tie me up to make me stay up here.”

From somewhere he dredged up a grin and a hot light flamed in his eyes. “Hold that thought for a better time.” His face sobered. “I know you’re exhausted and the workout I just gave you didn’t help.”

She shook her head. “I told you. Some coffee and I’ll be fine. Now. Are you going to help me find clean clothes to wear or do I sashay downstairs in nothing but this robe?”

Gabe threw up his hands. “Fine. All right. I guess I wouldn’t feel the way I do about you if you could be pushed around. But you follow my lead in everything. Agreed?”

The way he felt about her? Exactly what did that mean? Something inside her unfolded and surged through her. Was it hope? Anticipation? Some emotion she’d deliberately kept buried? Hopefully when this was all over she’d have a chance to find out. But right now they had other things to worry about.

She nodded her head. “Agreed.”

Reluctantly he stood up and held out his hand to her. “I’m not happy about this but okay. Let’s find something to put on and go find Killian.”

Dan Killian was right about keeping a fully stocked wardrobe in every size. Both Rachel and Gabe were able to find jeans and shirts, even underwear, to fit them. Gabe dressed in his usual black, while Rachel found navy jeans and a dark blue pullover top.

Luckily her shoes were none the worse for the wear. The clothes she’d pulled on at home still reeked with the scent of sex. She’d either have to find a way to wash them or throw them out.

Killian was in the kitchen, waiting as a stream of water from a fancy machine somehow miraculously turned into coffee.

“Instant?” she asked. “Although at this point I’d take anything.”

He shook his head. “One of my new toys. It’s a Keurig.” He indicated a carousel filled with a variety of tiny sealed cups. “We’ve got every kind of coffee or tea you can think of. Brewed in less than sixty seconds. What’s your pleasure?”

She tucked her damp hair behind her ears. “Anything high test. Straight.”

In seconds he handed her a mug of strong Columbian roast. She sipped at the hot liquid, pleasantly surprised at the enjoyable taste.

“Tell me why you aren’t upstairs sleeping,” he said. “You look beyond exhausted.”

“Because she’s as stubborn as I am,” Gabe said, coming up behind her and resting his hands on her shoulders. “Surely you didn’t think I’d get involved with a woman who caved easily or could be pushed around.”

Killian gave a dry laugh. “Truthfully, I never thought you’d get involved with
any
woman.”

Gabe’s hands tightened on Rachel’s shoulders. “Sometimes we don’t get to choose.

Things just happen.”

“Not to you.” Killian stirred sweetener into his coffee. “You’ve always been my best black ops person because you’re an avowed loner.” He looked at Rachel, then back at Gabe. “Does Miss Winters know what kind of danger she’s in having any kind of involvement with you?”

“I can take care of her,” Gabe began.

Rachel interrupted him. “I think that choice has to be mine, Mr. Killian. Certainly any woman with a brain who’s been involved with Gabriel Peralta for more than eighteen months knows he doesn’t work as an accountant or a salesman. I could have shut the door on this any time. So please don’t discuss me as if I weren’t here.”

She thought she saw a smile tugging one corner of the man’s mouth but it was gone so quickly she wondered if she was mistaken. Daniel Killian didn’t seem like the type of man who smiled very much. He lifted his mug to his mouth, disguising any reaction by taking a long swallow of coffee.

“Fine. Those are things we can discuss after we get this current situation under control. I just wanted you to know, Miss Winters, that when you dance with danger it’s easy to make a misstep. One that can be fatal.”

She wanted to tell him she’d been dancing to that tune since the first night she and Gabe fell into bed together but she was afraid he’d think her remark flippant.

“I’ll watch my footwork,” she told him in a firm voice. “And under the circumstances you might as well call me Rachel.”

“Rachel it is,” he agreed.

“I want to know what information’s come in,” Gabe demanded, fixing his own cup of coffee. “There’s been enough time for the team to come up with some answers.”

Killian nodded and led them back to the living room area. Again he sat in the large armchair, leaving the couch for Gabe and Rachel. Gabe pulled her close to him, one arm over her shoulder.

“The puzzling thing from the beginning,” his boss said, “was how they managed to lock onto you tonight.”

“I agree. For two years I haven’t given them any cause to suspect me of anything.

Even when you managed to block some of their plans through info I gave you, I put myself in the line of fire so they wouldn’t look at me crosswise. In fact,” he went on, “I moved into the position of team leader thanks to a message from the head nut himself.

Damn it. I was this close to finding out who he is.”

“What about your very rare off times, when you came here to visit Miss…Rachel?”

Gabe shook his head. “Not even someone with the best skills could follow the routes I take. It has to be something else.”

“Then someone who saw you in your role as part of the cell spotted you tonight and put out the word.”

“But I’ve only been two places tonight—the blind apartment to change clothes and the Harris Foundation fundraiser.”

“Wait a minute.” Rachel shrugged off Gabe’s arm and sat up straight. “You said this before but you can’t seriously think anyone at that party has anything to do with this.”

“You’d be surprised,” Killian told her, “how many supposedly squeaky clean citizens are dirtier than the swamp. They just maintain a very carefully constructed front. That’s why we’re checking each and every one of them.”

“But everyone on that list is carefully vetted,” she protested. “We screen our donors very carefully. The Harris Foundation can’t afford a breath of scandal, not from its donors or its staff.”

“With all due respect,” Killian said, “if someone in that crowd tonight is the head of the Sword of Allah, he’s rich enough and clever enough to shield himself or herself so completely you don’t have the resources to dig that deep.”

“But—”

Whatever else she might have said was interrupted by the ringing of a cell phone.

Gabe and Killian both pulled theirs out, then frowned when they discovered both of them silent. The ringing continued and everyone finally looked at Rachel’s purse that she’d dropped on a table when she first came in. The ringing stopped but in seconds it began again.

She wrinkled her forehead. “Who would be calling me at this hour?”

Gabe nodded at her purse. “Why don’t you answer it and find out?”

Gingerly, as if it might explode, she opened her purse, pulled out her phone and pressed Talk.

“H-hello?”