Until Midnight (2 page)

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?”

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Until Midnight

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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Until Midnight

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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Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

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.”

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Until Midnight

“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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Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

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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Until Midnight

him. Her breasts tingled and her nipples zinged with electricity. Her stomach flip-flopped 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.”