by Katie Reus
She’d ended up signing that contract for the casino spokesperson gig, but wouldn’t start for another five months. She was privileged enough to have been able to take a long maternity leave and she had no regrets. But she knew that definitely wasn’t the case for everyone, which was why she’d been working with Andre’s assistant to set up better childcare programs at all of his casinos. His employees kept odd hours and now they were trying to make sure that any parents who worked for him would have an easier time by having on-site care. He already had paid maternity leave in place, but he was taking it one step further.
“I think we’d be okay with letting Grace stay the night,” he said, surprising Alena.
The truth was, while it would probably be hard, she knew her child would be safe with Nika and Declan. She had no doubts about that. And she could definitely use a free night with her husband. She loved saying that word, husband.
They’d gotten married about a month after Nika had. Andre had been so insistent on them being married before she gave birth, not that she’d resisted. Of all the people in the world, she sometimes still couldn’t believe she’d fallen for the son of her enemy, but she was incredibly grateful that she had.
Because he was perfect for her and an incredible father, if crazy overprotective. Which was something she could understand.
“All right, if we’re going to let you take Grace tonight, I’m getting a little cuddle time.” She held out her arms, making her sister smile. From the time Alena was ten, she’d been both mother and sister to Nika. Yes, their uncle had raised them, but she had been the one who looked out for her little sister. Now they were both all grown up and she knew her sister was going to make an incredible mother. She wondered if their child would have Nika and Declan’s psychic gifts or a combination of both. Not that it mattered, as long as the baby was healthy.
Nika handed Grace over and stood, stretching. “I’m going to go grab a drink. Did you want anything?”
“A bottle of water would be nice, thanks.”
As Nika and Declan headed inside, Andre moved, sitting next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and ran a gentle hand over Grace’s cheek. “I’m going to miss Grace, but I’m ready for some—”
“Sleep?”
He barked out a laugh. “I was going to say sex, but sex and sleeping in sounds like heaven.”
She leaned over and brushed her lips over his. Automatically heat pooled between her legs. This man had the ability to take her from zero to sixty in a second. The last few months had definitely been difficult with lack of sleep, but it had brought them closer together. He’d mentioned getting a nanny, but she wasn’t to that point yet. She wasn’t sure if she ever would be. It took a lot of trust to let someone she didn’t know into her house and around her child. And she wasn’t afraid to admit that she still had trust issues in general where people were concerned. She figured that would never go away, not with her background. And she knew she couldn’t protect Grace forever, but for right now, she was going to do her best.
“We haven’t had hot tub sex in a while,” she murmured.
He laughed and brushed his lips over hers again. “Or shower sex.”
“It’s on tonight,” she whispered as she heard the sliding glass door open behind them.
Andre wrapped his arm just a little tighter around her as the others joined them.
She leaned into him, savoring his comforting hold. She’d certainly never expected a man like Andre in her life. She’d never expected to be where she was right now. In truth, she’d worried that her quest for revenge might kill her. Now she was glad that she’d survived, that she had a whole life ahead of her, with wonderful people she loved more than anything.
She laid her head on her husband’s shoulder and looked down at the perfection of her baby girl. Life was good. And she was going to hold on to this life forever.
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading Tempting Danger. I hope you enjoyed it! If you’d like to stay in touch with me and be the first to learn about new releases you can:
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Katie
Sneak Peak
Retribution
by Katie Reus
Copyright © 2015 Katie Reus
Declan scanned the surrounding area of the private airport as he walked around the nose of the twin engine Cessna. Black tarmac surrounded them for at least three hundred yards on all sides. He’d picked the most deserted area of the airport for Andre’s landing. Unless a sniper was hiding on top of one of the airport storage facilities—and Declan had cleared them all—Andre was safe. Safe being relative considering Declan still didn’t know the real intentions of the two women in the plane with him.
Declan’s skin tingled and burned at the thought of meeting Nika Brennan face-to-face. After their last meeting weeks ago, he’d forced himself to stay out of her head. As a dream walker he’d always tried to use his gift to help others. When he’d been inside her head, he’d felt himself growing attached to her. Protective even. It had been a foreign, disturbing experience.
With the exception of their erotic games, her mind was locked up tight. Occasionally he’d get flashes of random scenes of violence but nothing made sense and she didn’t think about anything in her dream state long enough for him to latch onto. As if she was purposely blocking her mind.
And he still couldn’t figure out what she was. Maybe she was psychic, but then again, maybe not. The last psychic he’d encountered had been nothing like her so he had no way of gauging. When she’d asked him if he was a night walker, he’d known it was time to put some distance between them. Unfortunately all he wanted to do was touch her, hold her, kiss her. Wipe away those frown lines when he could tell she’d had an upsetting day.
He’d been in so many individual’s minds over the years he’d lost count. No one ever remembered his probing. Until Nika. When he’d worked with The Agency, one night he’d be invading a known terrorist’s dreams and the next morning he’d be interrogating the suspect who was none the wiser.
Each night he spent with Nika, he’d been fascinated that she remembered everything about their encounters. He couldn’t know for sure if she’d know him in real life until they met.
After Vernon had given him the files on the Brennan sisters he’d done some extra research. From what he’d uncovered, the women’s lives were an open book. Alena modeled occasionally and partied regularly. Nika had traveled with her sister since graduating college but she’d been a very serious student and did a lot of freelance web design. From her portfolio, she was damn good. They had money from a trust fund and traveled whenever they felt like it. Which was quite often. A few weeks’ vacation in Antigua, then off to The Hamptons. Next, Europe. They definitely didn’t stay in one place for long. Which made them very hard to track. Despite their travel, Nika seemed to work a lot, seemed to enjoy what she did. Her portfolio was impressive.
Nothing in their files suggested either of them should know anything about the paranormal, though. The words night walker weren’t something Nika could have pulled from thin air. Yet, she’d asked him with absolute certainty.
Her question and their strange dream encounters suggested there was a hell of lot he didn’t know about her or her sister. And that had put him on high alert.
“Boss, the place is locked down. The warehouses are secure and the rooftops clear,” Clay Lamos said, as he came to stand next to him.
“Good.” Declan checked his SIG one more time before he tapped his earpiece, turning on his co
mmunicator.
“Where’d you hear about this threat against Makarov anyway? You sure it wasn’t meant in connection with Andre’s father?” Clay had been with Declan since he’d started Gallagher Security.
Even though Clay had been in the Navy, he and Declan had worked missions all over the world together when Declan had been with the CIA. Although he trusted the man with his life, Declan was playing this one close to the chest. No specifics. “It’s credible. I got it from one of my old sources. There’s a threat against him and possibly one of the women he’s traveling with. I don’t have hard intel though.”
As far as he knew there was no threat against the women but he was covering all his bases.
Clay nodded and pointed at one of the other men before he started giving instructions. While he ordered the men into position, Declan spoke into his mic. “The area is secure. The passengers can now disembark.”
“Roger.” The pilot waved once at him from the window before disappearing from sight.
As the airport employees rolled the retractable stairs toward the plane door, Declan and Clay followed and stood at the bottom.
Raw anticipation hummed through him at the thought of seeing Nika in person, especially after their last encounter. He could still remember the way she felt beneath him, the way she tasted and the way she sounded when she came. He bit back the twinge of disappointment when Andre appeared in the doorway first. Damn, he felt like a randy teenager with his first crush.
Wearing one of his trademark Armani suits, Andre stepped down with Alena Brennan holding onto his arm. The pictures Declan had seen of her didn’t lie. The woman had an old Hollywood kind of beauty. She wore tight, dark jeans, three-inch knee-high boots over them, a belted coat and oversized sunglasses to match her overdone hair.
“Declan.” Andre smiled as he descended the stairs. “Thanks for taking this job on such short notice.”
“Anytime. We’ve made some last minute changes on the route. I’d like to go over them before—”
“About that,” Andre glanced at Alena, then back at Declan. “Give me a second, there’s something I want to go over with you, too.”
Before Declan could protest, the other man walked a couple feet away with Alena in tow and just out of earshot from Declan.
Declan frowned, but his attention was immediately diverted as Nika stepped out.
“Now that’s the kind of woman I wouldn’t mind waking up to every morning,” Clay murmured beside him as she descended the stairs.
A primal surge of protectiveness swept through him. She might not belong to him, but he’d be damned if any one of his guys made a move on her. “She’s off limits.”
Surprise on his face, Clay nodded. “Understood.”
As Clay headed to talk to one of the airport security, all Declan could focus on was the woman coming toward him. She clutched the side rail and held up a hand to block out the sun. Everything about her was a sharp contrast to her sister. She wore jeans, a plain white T-shirt, a fitted military-style leather jacket, and flat shoes that looked like ballet slippers. And her dark hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail.
When she reached the last couple stairs, he stepped forward and held out a hand to assist her. “Let me help you,” he murmured.
Her head jerked at his voice. When her pretty mouth formed a small ‘O’, he realized she was noticing him for the first time. She yanked her hand back as if afraid to touch him and before he could react, she tripped over her feet and pitched forward, right into his arms.
Her hand splayed against his chest as she tried to get her footing and he attempted to get his body under control. Her fingers dug into his skin for a moment and he had to bite back a groan. What he wouldn’t give to feel her claw her fingers down his back as he thrust into her. An exotic, rich scent that reminded him of cool Florida nights surrounded him. Fuck him, this wasn’t remotely professional, but he couldn’t seem to force himself to care.
Touching her in her dreams was nothing compared to holding her for real. She was petite and soft in all the right places.
His heart pounded mercilessly against his chest as her body meshed against his. As if his hands had a mind of their own, they settled on her hips—as if he had a right to actually touch her. His fingers flexed around her possessively. Something primitive kicked in and he had the sudden urge to grasp her and pull her tighter against him just to feel her warmth. For a split second her hold on him tightened, but just as quickly she shoved away and out of his embrace.
“Are you okay?” He kept his voice low, not wanting to embarrass her.
“I’m fine,” she muttered. With her darker, caramel hued skin it was hard to tell, but she was definitely blushing. Her cheeks had a bright flush to them. More than anything he wanted to take those too-dark sunglasses off and see the expression in her eyes. In her dreams, those green eyes of hers were electrifying. He wondered if they’d be the same in reality.
“Nika, are you all right?” Her sister was by her side and shoving him out of the way before he could think of a halfway decent response.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just embarrassed.” She let out a light, self-deprecating laugh. He realized she was avoiding looking at him.
He frowned, not liking that at all. Did she remember their dreams too?
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all my wonderful readers who read Retribution and insisted that Alena and Andre get a story too! It took a couple years, but it’s finally here. For my wonderful editor, Julia, thank you for your attention to detail. For Sarah, thank you for all the behind-the-scenes work you do. Kari, you’re the best and I’m so grateful that you read the early versions of all my books! Chudney, thank you for answering my questions! Jaycee, thank you for another wonderful cover. You’ve outdone yourself this time. And as always, I’m incredibly grateful to my family and to God.
About the Author
Katie Reus is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Red Stone Security series, the Darkness series and the Deadly Ops series. She fell in love with romance at a young age thanks to books she pilfered from her mom’s stash. Years later she loves reading romance almost as much as she loves writing it.
However, she didn’t always know she wanted to be a writer. After changing majors many times, she finally graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology. Not long after that she discovered a new love. Writing. She now spends her days writing dark paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense. For more information on Katie find her on twitter @katiereus or visit her on facebook at: www.facebook.com/katiereusauthor. If you would like to be notified of future releases, please visit her website: www.katiereus.com and join her newsletter.
Complete Booklist
Red Stone Security Series
No One to Trust
Danger Next Door
Fatal Deception
Miami, Mistletoe & Murder
His to Protect
Breaking Her Rules
Protecting His Witness
Sinful Seduction
Under His Protection
Deadly Fallout
Sworn to Protect
Secret Obsession
Love Thy Enemy
Dangerous Protector
Lethal Game
Redemption Harbor Series
Resurrection
Savage Rising
Dangerous Witness
Deadly Ops Series
Targeted
Bound to Danger
Chasing Danger (novella)
Shattered Duty
Edge of Danger
A Covert Affair
The Serafina: Sin City Series
First Surrender
Sensual Surrender
Sweetest Surrender
Dangerous Surrender
O’Connor Family Series
Merry Christmas, Baby
Tease Me, Baby
It’s Me Again, Baby
Mistletoe Me, Baby
Non-series Romantic S
uspense
Running from the Past
Dangerous Secrets
Killer Secrets
Deadly Obsession
Danger in Paradise
His Secret Past
Retribution
Tempting Danger
Paranormal Romance
Destined Mate
Protector’s Mate
A Jaguar’s Kiss
Tempting the Jaguar
Enemy Mine
Heart of the Jaguar
Moon Shifter Series
Alpha Instinct
Lover’s Instinct
Primal Possession
Mating Instinct
His Untamed Desire
Avenger’s Heat
Hunter Reborn
Protective Instinct
Dark Protector
A Mate for Christmas
Darkness Series
Darkness Awakened
Taste of Darkness
Beyond the Darkness
Hunted by Darkness
Into the Darkness
Saved by Darkness
