Slowly she turned onto her side and bent down to Cole’s mouth. The kiss was gentle, almost chaste, until she ran the tip of her tongue along his lips. The taste of him was even better than she remembered, hotter. The feel of his tongue caressing her own made streamers of sensation uncurl in the pit of her stomach.
She didn’t know how long she kissed him before both of them were breathing quickly and she was making small sounds at the back of her throat with each deep, slow stroke of his tongue. At every breath, every heartbeat, she joined her mouth more deeply with his, lured by the hot pleasures of his kiss. Slowly her hands began to explore his arms, from his strong wrists to the hard swell of biceps and shoulders to the surprising, exquisite softness of the hair beneath his arms.
For long moments she savored that unexpected silkiness. Then her fingers moved on, exploring. She threaded through the intriguing fur on his chest, stroking and kneading the flesh beneath, silently telling him just how much she enjoyed his masculine textures and strength, and drawing a nearly soundless groan of pleasure from him when her fingers skimmed the flat disks of his nipples.
“Did you like that?” she asked, touching his nipples again, feeling them change as they drew into tight beads.
“I’m not sure,” he said in a low voice. “Why don’t you try it five or ten more times?”
For an instant Erin didn’t understand. Then she did, and laughed. “You’re teasing me.”
“I would have sworn it was the other way around,” he said. “But I’ll forgive you if—”
Cole’s voice broke as her hands skimmed down to the elastic band of his underwear. And stopped. When she reversed direction and went stroking back up his chest, he had to bite back words of disappointment. Slowly she bent and tasted first his neck, then the middle line of his body to his breastbone. With great care she closed her teeth over a sleek swell of muscle. His breath broke again and she smiled.
“I like that,” she said. “I like knowing I can affect you.”
“Then run your hands a little farther down and watch the fireworks,” he offered, smiling despite the need that made his whole body clench.
Her laughter was like soft flames licking against his stomach. For a few moments there was only the sound of skin sliding over skin and his quickening breaths as she stroked his chest.
“Cole,” she whispered against his neck, “would you touch me too?”
He unlocked fingers that ached from the pressure he’d used to keep from reaching for the soft temptation of her body.
“Where?” he asked huskily.
She made a puzzled sound against his skin.
“Where do you want to be touched?” Cole felt the heat of Erin’s blush where her cheek lay against his chest. He smiled. “Good. That’s one of the places I’m dying to touch.”
But he teased her first, caressing the hollows beneath her slanting cheekbones, fitting the warmth of her neck into the hard curve of his palm, massaging her arms from shoulders to fingertips until her eyes closed and his name came from her lips in a sigh of pleasure. He kept stroking her until she began to twist in slow motion against his hand, wanting him to touch the breasts whose nipples were growing hard with her own arousal.
“Cole, please,” she said, her voice husky.
“Please, what?”
Instead of answering, she took his hand and drew it over one breast. The first instant of contact made her shiver. Instinctively she moved against him, trying to ease the sensual ache as her nipple hardened in a rush.
Cole felt the change in her, saw it, and the force of his own response made his hand shake. Slender fingers closed over his, but not to push him away. Slowly she pressed him closer and yet closer, moving against his hard palm.
“Do you like that?” he asked, trying to make his voice gentle, and failing. His tone was like his body, too hard, too hot, too obviously aroused.
“Yes, but…”
He set his jaw and lifted his hand, freeing her. Immediately her arms moved as though to shield her breasts if he changed his mind.
“It’s all right,” he said.
Then he realized that Erin wasn’t withdrawing. She was trying to unbutton her blouse, but her hands were trembling too much. A wave of desire clenched his body, shaking him with its intensity. He took her hands, brushed his lips over them, and smoothed her fingers against his chest.
“Let me,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m shaking, but I’m not scared. Really I’m not.”
“Look at my hands.”
She looked, saw the fine tremor in his fingers, and made a sound of surprise.
“Yeah, it shocked me too,” he said. “I’ve never wanted a woman until my hands shook.”
Her eyes widened. She glanced back to his face and saw that he was watching her, half expecting her to panic.
“Should that make me nervous?” she asked.
“Why not?” he muttered. “It scares the hell out of me.”
Deliberately Erin glanced down the length of his torso.
“Um, I don’t know how to put this, but that doesn’t look like fright.”
Cole laughed and the claws of hunger loosened in his groin. His fingers eased between the warm folds of her blouse, pushing aside the dark cloth until he could see the smooth rise of her breasts beneath a rose-colored bra.
“Should I stop now?” he asked, sliding a fingertip beneath the edge of the bra, skimming the rising and falling of her breasts. “Or do you want me to touch you the way you touched me?”
Before courage deserted her, Erin reached up and undid the front fastening of her bra.
For the space of two breaths Cole simply looked at her and counted the pulse hammering in his body. Her breasts were more beautiful than he had expected, full and high, and her nipples were flushed deep rose with desire. Her skin was flushed as well, bringing into stark relief the fine white lines of old scars.
Understanding hit, bringing him under control in a freezing rush. “He used a knife on you.”
It took her a moment to figure out what Cole meant.
“I forgot about the scars,” she said. “They’re much less ugly than they used to be, but I understand if you don’t want to—”
Erin’s voice broke as the tip of Cole’s tongue traced first one scar, then another, then another, touching her so gently that tears gathered and overflowed. His words were another kind of caress, a glittering fire licking over her mind and body, telling her that she was beautiful, softness and heat, sweetness and hunger, a sensual fire burning all the way to his soul.
The restraint and unexpected tenderness of his caresses unraveled her. She forgot the past, forgot the future, forgot everything but the exquisite sensations radiating through her body with each touch of Cole’s hands, his body, his mouth, until she was breathless and whimpering softly, twisting against him in slow motion.
Cole felt her response in the heat of her skin, tasted it in the fine mist he licked from between her breasts, heard it in the soft, broken cries that were his name. Her sensuality was as unexpected as it was uninhibited. Blood hammered through him so fiercely he could barely breathe. He bent to her breasts once more, tugging on a hard peak with his mouth while his hand slid down her body, undoing her clothes, pushing them to her knees, then returning to find the softness and heat that had been hidden beneath cloth.
When his hand curled possessively around her tangled thatch of hair, Erin went rigid.
Instantly Cole retreated. Then her sultry response spilled over his fingers. A wild answering heat swept through him, making him groan with the knowledge that it was pleasure, not fear, that had tightened her body. He moved his hand again, rubbing his palm over her sensitive flesh, and was answered with another passionate shudder. Unable to stop himself, he slid one finger between soft folds of skin and caressed even softer, hotter flesh.
“Cole.” Her husky voice was barely recognizable.
“I’m right here,�
� he said, teasing the hard peaks of her breasts with his tongue while his finger slowly withdrew from her body, only to return even more deeply. “Do you want me to stop?”
She laughed a little wildly. Then her breath broke in a cry of surprise as pleasure burst, sending heat shimmering through her. Instinctively she moved, seeking more of his touch, needing it with a force she neither understood nor questioned.
“Is that yes or no?” he asked, biting her nipple with exquisite care.
Another shudder of pleasure ripped through her, taking her voice. “Yes,” she managed finally. “I mean no.”
Erin’s eyes opened. Their smoldering color was more beautiful than anything Cole had ever seen, even the green diamond she’d given him.
“Don’t stop,” she said.
“Does that mean I can finish undressing you?” he asked, his voice as caressing as his hand.
She looked down the length of her own body to the dark masculine hand nestled between her legs. She made an odd sound, not quite laughter and not quite embarrassment.
“All I’m really wearing is you,” she said. “I should be embarrassed, but I…like it.”
Cole set his jaw against the force of his own response. Erin’s honesty and sensuality kept taking him by surprise, stripping away his control with every hot word, every hungry movement, her eyes a green fire burning through him. He tried to be gentle as he took off the rest of their clothes, but he knew he was moving too quickly, almost clumsy with the violence of his own need. He saw her head turn slightly and knew the exact instant she saw that he was as naked as she was, lying on his back, unable to hide the extent of his arousal.
Closing his eyes, Cole prayed he wouldn’t have to find out if he could keep the promise he had made to her: We could be dead naked and you could be all over me like a hot rain, but if you changed your mind I’d get up and get dressed and that would be the end of it.
“Cole?”
His eyes opened. “Frightened?”
Slowly she shook her head.
“Sure?”
She nodded.
“Then what is it, honey?”
Unable to bear his intent look, Erin bent and brushed her mouth over his shoulder while she asked her question. “Is it all right if I touch you?”
“Any time, anywhere, any way you want.”
Her hand slid hesitantly down his body. “Even here?”
His breath broke. “Especially there.”
Her fingertips were cool, uncertain, and incendiary as they traced the hot, unfamiliar textures of his desire.
“I can feel your heartbeat,” she whispered, curling her hand around him.
He shuddered and groaned.
“I’m sorry,” she said instantly, withdrawing.
“Do it again and I’ll forgive you.” His breath came in with a ripping sound as her hand returned to his hard, aching flesh. “Yes, like that. Just…like…that.”
In an agony of pleasure, he pressed rhythmically against her hand, once, twice, three times before he managed to bring himself under control again.
“There’s another way to tease each other,” he said finally, his voice low and almost rough. “A way we’ll both enjoy.” He saw her expression and smiled. “I said tease, not ease. I won’t take you, honey. You’ll have to give yourself to me every inch of the way. Do you believe me?”
When she nodded, he lifted her and settled her astride his hips. Her breath broke as she felt him lying between her legs, pressing against her without entering her, sending streamers of sensation coursing through her with each small movement of their bodies. When he rocked her hips gently, sliding her over his hard flesh, a low ripple of sound came from her lips. He rocked her again and fought not to lose control.
He released her hips but the rocking didn’t stop, for she couldn’t stop, her breathing rapid and broken, her body shaking, urgent, driven.
“Cole,” she whispered, reaching for him, trying to complete the union she’d never expected to want, much less need, until she was wild with it. “Help me!”
His hand moved, covering hers, guiding her. “Like this,” he said, pulling her mouth down to his. “Like this.”
Their mouths and bodies joined at the same time. A low sound of pleasure came from Erin as she settled over him, feeling him fill her slowly, never taking before she could give, until finally she could get no closer and he could get no deeper. She tried to speak, to tell Cole how incredible the sensation was, but when she lifted her mouth from his, the motion tightened her around him even more.
Words burned into silence as she moved again, deliberately measuring herself and him at the same time, pleasuring both of them, feeling the world slide away with each motion, each breath, until Cole made an anguished sound and went rigid beneath her. She felt the intimate pulses of his release deep inside her and shivered in return, balanced on the brink of something elemental, unknowable.
Then his hand moved, searching through her sensual heat, finding the focus of her need. He stroked the satin nub, caressing her until her eyes went wide with surprise. Intense pleasure burst through her, drawing a ripple of sounds from her lips as her body convulsed delicately around him. He drank the sounds with a kiss and held her until they could both breathe evenly again.
And even then he held her, for he had tasted the salt of tears as well as passion on her lips.
“Honey?” Cole asked, kissing Erin with a gentleness that was at odds with his harsh voice. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“You’re crying.”
“Am I?” Her hand moved to her cheek. She took a shivering breath. “I am.” With a sigh she smoothed her cheek against his chest before burying her face against his neck. “I’m happy, Cole. I never expected to be. Not this way. I never expected to fall in love after Hans. Then I met you.”
Cole’s hand hesitated as it stroked down the elegant line of her spine. “Don’t mistake what we have as lovers for love. You can get hurt that way. I don’t want to hurt you, Erin.”
For an instant her eyes closed. She hadn’t expected Cole to return her love, but she’d hoped.
“I believe you,” she said, letting out a long, shaking breath. “Unfortunately, I’m not a halfway kind of person. But don’t worry. I’m not expecting any deathless promises from you. That doesn’t mean I won’t try to trip you and beat you to the floor from time to time.”
He laughed in surprise and brushed a kiss over her hair. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Erin touched his hot skin with the tip of her tongue, tasting him almost secretly. Then she gave a long, shuddering sigh and relaxed against him. With her next breath she was asleep.
The trust in the utter relaxation of her body sank into Cole, sliding past defenses he didn’t even know he had, shaking him as deeply as passion had. For a long time he lay quietly, smoothing his hand over Erin’s hair and back, thinking of the past and the unknown future.
But most of all he thought about how he would keep Erin alive when ConMin got serious about canceling her ticket to ride on the diamond tiger.
20
Amsterdam
Hugo van Luik sat in the half-light of his study, holding the phone in one hand and trying to think. But it was hard to think while Jason Street poured Australian slang into one ear, the night poured silence into the other, and painkillers blurred everything.
Frowning, van Luik stared through the open door to the bedroom across the hall. Limned by light from the street, his wife stirred and rolled over in bed. Her hair was a pale silver glow in the darkness. If she was awake, she hadn’t called out to him. Thirty-eight years of marriage had taught her to leave her husband’s business to him. If the problem that loomed in the middle of the night took five minutes or five days, she rarely commented. Or perhaps she simply didn’t notice.
Van Luik sighed soundlessly. Once he’d relished alarms and intrusions at odd hours. They were proof of his importance to the plans of corporations and nations. Now he regard
ed the job at hand—that of bringing the elusive Cole Blackburn to bay—as one more hoop to jump through. Van Luik was tired of hoops and trials of strength. He simply wanted it done.
Finished.
“Are they still in Darwin?” Street asked across the thousands of miles.
“They checked out of the hotel before the men found them. No one checked into any other Darwin hotels under the names of Blackburn or Windsor. No one rented a vehicle under those names. And we believe Blackburn might be wounded.”
“Gunshot?”
“Yes,” van Luik said.
“Then he’ll avoid doctors.”
“We are assuming the two are still in Darwin.”
“Maybe,” Street said. “And maybe they’re using false papers. Her father would be able to get them anything along that line they wanted.”
“Agreed. I have asked McLaren to enlist his contacts in ASIO. They will use photos to assist the search.”
“McLaren, eh? Was he the wanker who hired the girls Blackburn chewed up?” Street asked sardonically.
“Mr. Blackburn is a formidable brawler, from all accounts.”
“What do you expect them to say, that he fought like an old woman?”
Van Luik bit back a curse as pain stabbed. “Next time, you will take care of the matter yourself.”
“With pleasure, mate. But first we have to find the bastard.”
“What is the best way for him to reach the Windsor station?”
“There’re only two ways. You rent a plane and fly in or you rent a Jeep and drive. I’ll bet on the Jeep. He’ll need it at the station anyway.”
“What about a bus?”
“To the station? Not a chance. It’s way off the only highway.”
“Could he walk there?” van Luik asked.
“Not this time of year, mate. He’d be dead of heatstroke before a day, and the tart would pack it in after a few hours. Tell McLaren to shut down Darwin’s rentals. I’ll take care of Derby.”
“Derby?”
“It’s the only other place in northwestern Australia you can rent a Jeep. This isn’t bloody London.”
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