Dark Nights Dangerous Men

by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan

  His eyes narrowed at her suddenly serious tone. “When I have something to apologize for, I do.”

  “Ah.” She nodded, recapped her water. “Right. Like the pity fuck comment. Gotcha. Because that’s a biggie. Definitely bigger than say, lying to me. Or seducing me. Or, wait,” she scrunched her nose, “stealing from me.”

  That did it. He’d had enough out of her smart mouth and the guilt she’d been laying on him since she’d shown up in the Keys. It was way past time he set her straight. “You believed what you wanted to believe in Italy. If I’d been honest with you about who I was and what I wanted, you wouldn’t have given me a second look.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Yeah. It is,” he said as the anger welled up in his chest. “I know your type, Dr. Maxwell, and I know exactly what you think of people like me. You wouldn’t have given me the time of day. Sure as hell wouldn’t have had drinks with me, let alone dinner.”

  She might have been hurt, but she masked it before he could tell. “You’ll never know now, will you? Fact is, Sullivan, you used me, and it doesn’t even bother you.”

  “Used you? Do you think I needed you in Italy? No way, chica. I could have been in and out of your room in under five and you’d never have known what happened to Alecto.”

  She tipped her head and shot him a droll look. “Then why didn’t you? Oh, wait. I already know the answer to that.” Fire flashed in her eyes. “Because you wanted me to know you’d taken it.”

  She was good and pissed now. Definitely no pity fuck being offered anytime soon. Ever, from the looks of it. Well, good. That’d make his life a hell of lot easier.

  “You’re right about that,” he said. “I did want you to know. But only so you’d come after me and I could talk you into working with me. And I could have done that without what happened in that hotel room. It sure as hell would have been better for me. What I should have done was slip the damn Mickey into your wine at dinner like I’d planned and gone in when you were sound asleep.”

  “Then why didn’t you?”

  Why? One simple reason. Her. He’d wanted her. More than he could remember wanting anything else in his life. More than made sense to him even now.

  When he didn’t answer, she rolled her eyes. “I thought so. You’re a guy. You saw an opportunity to get lucky, and you took it.”

  She didn’t have a clue what she’d done to him that night. What she was still doing to him. It hadn’t been only about getting lucky. There’d been more there. Right from the start. The fact she didn’t feel it told him everything he needed to know.

  “I didn’t do the seducing in that hotel room.” He shook his head. “You might want to take a step down off that high horse and think back to what actually happened that night, querida.”

  “I know what happened. You stole from me!”

  It took every last bit of strength he had to keep his voice even and void of emotion. “You want the truth? Stealing from you was the only smart thing I did that night. Wanting you more than that damn rock was my biggest mistake. It still is.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Lisa stood motionless after Rafe left the room, unable to move or even think. She wasn’t sure what had just happened. She’d pushed, as she always did, but he hadn’t backed down. In fact, he’d pushed back so hard, he’d damn near knocked her on her ass.

  Wanting you more than that damn rock was my biggest mistake. It still is.

  The raw emotion she’d heard in his voice told her he was telling the truth, and it nearly stopped her heart.

  Her legs felt like jelly, her stomach a hot coil of nerves. But it was the erratic trip of her pulse that kept her from moving. That and the twenty-pound weights suddenly attached to the soles of her shoes.

  Oh, God. He was right. She’d done the seducing that night. She’d wanted him with an overwhelming need that had made her throw all rational thought aside. She’d made every first move there was, had all but begged him to take her. She’d known—even then she’d known—she’d been in complete control in that hotel room. She’d read it in his eyes when she’d kissed him in the lecture hall, had felt it as soon as he’d touched her. The man had been so far gone he couldn’t have said no if he’d wanted to.

  And he definitely hadn’t wanted to say no. He’d wanted her.

  Still wanted her.

  Her mind skipped back to the night in Shane’s kitchen when she’d been ready to jump him and he’d held back. To the kiss at Landau’s party when he’d told her with his mouth just what he wanted to do to her body. And it dawned on her that he’d kissed her that night in a public place where nothing else could happen between them. Each time he’d made it clear he was more than interested, and each time he’d backed away, leaving the decision of where they went completely up to her.

  Her eyes darted toward the arched doorway leading into the living room. He’d done it again, this time with words, and she wasn’t about to let him lay that on her and then walk away.

  He’d taken one of the five guest rooms on the second floor; she knew because she heard water running from the end of the hall. She pushed the door open and took a sweep of the room.

  Guest room was a loose term. She’d peeked around when he’d been outside with Pete, and each of the “guest” rooms in the lavish house were bigger than her whole apartment back in San Francisco. This one was done in deep tans and dark wood tones, with gauzy curtains at the windows and a masculine-looking four-poster bed.

  His open bag sat on a nearby leather side chair. His shoes and shirt were tossed on the floor as if he’d just ripped them off. When the shower started in the bathroom, her gaze darted toward the open door.

  Steam billowed from the room. The thought of him naked and wet sent electricity zinging through her veins as if a live wire had gone off under her skin.

  She found his wallet on the dresser, and in it—just as she’d hoped—a three-pack of condoms. Smiling at his practicality, she stepped into the bathroom, then caught her breath when she saw him standing under the spray behind smoky glass-paneled shower doors.

  God, he was beautiful. Tan and firm from head to toe. All roped muscle and chiseled sinew. His hands were braced against the dark tiles, eyes closed, face tipped up to the water sluicing over him. Her mouth went dry at the sight of him, run worn and ragged after everything they’d been through the past few days.

  Need rushed through her entire body. She was tired of fighting it, of pretending this wasn’t exactly what she’d wanted from the moment she’d laid eyes on him.

  Her sweater hit the tile floor, followed by jeans and underwear. When she pulled the massive shower door open, he looked toward the sound, stark surprise registering across his handsome features.

  Good. She wanted him off-kilter. As off as she’d been since he’d walked into her life.

  His dark gaze swept the length of her naked body, making every inch of her skin tingle with anticipation and pure lust. She stepped in, closed the door at her back and let his heat and strong male scent surround her.

  “Don’t.” Danger brewed in his eyes. He grasped her hands at the wrists to keep her from touching him. He was good and pissed and struggling to keep his temper in check, but it didn’t discourage her. If anything, it made her need stronger. “Just turn back around and get out.”

  A muscle in his jaw flexed, warning her to back away, but the hunger lingering in his eyes contradicted his words. She stepped under the spray. “I would, if I thought that’s what you really wanted.”

  “What I want is for you to leave me alone,” he ground out. “I’m not in the mood for games, and you know damn well you’re playing with fire here.”

  She wasn’t in the mood for games either. She was in the mood for him, hard and hot and deep inside her. “Maybe I want to get burned.”

  The doubt that crossed his face told her she’d been right, that what held him back was the fact he didn’t think she wanted him with the same searing need. He couldn’t be more wrong. And s
he intended to prove it to him.

  “I want you, Rafe. Right now.”

  He shook his head slowly. “No.”

  “Yes.” She eased closer, until his fingers brushed her abdomen. When she felt his pulse kick up against her skin, liquid heat shot straight to her core. “Oh, yes. More than before. I want to finish what we started. I want you to take me like you wanted to back in that hotel room.”

  He took a step back, setting her away from him. The rigid line of his shoulders, the tense set of his jaw screamed for her to back off. But his eyes. They were the key. And they were wavering. “Trust me. You don’t want me like this.”

  This was exactly how she did want him. On the edge of control, exposed, greedy for the need of her. The way he’d been in Italy. The way she’d fantasized about him since that night.

  She moved closer.

  His grip tightened, warning her his restraint was slipping. “There’s no more nice left in me today, Lisa. If you touch me, it won’t be all sweet and romantic. It’ll be rough and hard, and I won’t quit even if you beg.”

  God, yes. That’s what she wanted.

  She smiled, knowing she’d just won, knowing he was as powerless as she was. “Romance has never done it for me, Rafe.” She eased up on her toes to bring her mouth within millimeters of his. “Make me beg.”

  The animalistic groan that tore from his chest sent excitement pulsing through every inch of her skin. He let go of her wrists, looped one hand around her waist, tangled the other in her hair to yank her head back and slammed his mouth onto hers.

  Water streamed over them as he pushed her back against the tile wall and devoured her mouth, thrusting his tongue into her in a way that made her yearn for the feel of his length deep inside her.

  Her hands slid down his back, over sleek muscles and carved angles, to grip his hips and pull him against her. His erection stabbed into her belly, confirming again what he hadn’t been able to hide from the second she’d stepped into the shower. He did want her. Now.

  Right now.

  “God, Lisa. Te necesito.”

  She didn’t have a clue what he’d just said, but oh, it made her wild. Just the sound. She tore the condom open at his back, tossed the wrapper and arched against him to match his frantic kiss as she slowly rolled the latex down his rock-hard length.

  He groaned into her mouth as she ran her hands up and down his throbbing erection. But she didn’t have time to explore as she wanted. Suddenly his hands were everywhere, his mouth taking her on a roller coaster of sensations as it streaked down her neck to suckle and bite and send her into an abyss of desire.

  When he pulled a nipple between his teeth, she moaned at the electricity coursing through her body. When he nudged her legs apart with his knee and thrust two fingers into her wetness, she gasped, sure she’d break apart from the sheer pleasure. But when he gripped her hips and lifted her, pinning her against the wall so he could drive inside her, she knew she was lost.

  She came in a blinding rush of light and heat that rippled out from her center to every cell in her body before he’d thrust a handful of times. And even as it faded, as she felt his thickness plunge into her again and again, another wave built, stronger than the first.

  Her heartbeat hammered against her ribs, against his as he groaned, “Again,” in her ear and pushed her back to the edge. Each deep thrust, every greedy stroke of his tongue against hers sent her higher until she was sure she’d come out of her skin. Until that final moment when he moaned into her mouth, drove deep one last time and took her into bone-melting oblivion right along with him.

  Incredible. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so…so satisfied.

  Slowly she came back to herself as his hands kneaded the muscles in her thighs. He let go of her hips, released her legs so they could slide limply down his until her feet hit the shower floor. Breath heavy against her skin, he nuzzled her neck while hot water cascaded down both their bodies.

  Long moments passed as he fought to steady himself. She heard it in his labored breathing, felt it in the rapid fire of his heartbeat.

  “Are you okay?” he finally asked.

  The quiver to his voice was so damn cute, she nearly burst from the sound. He’d kept his promise, and she hadn’t even had to beg.

  She wrapped still-shaking arms around his neck. “Yeah. I think I’ll live.”

  He eased back enough to look down at her. The driving anger that had pushed him before was gone, replaced with a lazy sated look in his eye that said he would, too. “You sure I didn’t hurt you? I wasn’t exactly gentle.”

  She ran fingers through the silky hair at the nape of his neck, loving that he was worried. “No. Not hurt. At least not yet.” She lifted her brows. “Maybe you should think about roughing me up again.”

  The smile curling his sensuous lips made her stomach tighten all over. “Tú sí que me vas a acabar.”

  She groaned. “God, that melts me. You keep speaking Spanish and you may never get me out of this shower.”

  He chuckled, visibly relaxed for the first time in days. “I’ll remember that. But if so, we’re going to need way more latex. Where’d you get the condom?”

  “Your wallet.”

  His brow lifted. “You stole it?”

  A sheepish grin slid along her face. “Sorry I did?”

  He shook his head, and heat rebuilt in her veins at the desire she saw in his dark eyes. “Never.”

  She waited with a smile while he stepped out of the shower to clean up, then came back. Sighed deeply when he lathered her body from head to toe and washed her with a gentleness that made her heart skip and brought desire twining through her limbs all over again. He kissed her tenderly, deeply, in such contrast with the wild and reckless way he’d kissed her before, she wasn’t sure he was the same man.

  His layers amazed her, surprised her, left her crazy with need for him. And just when she was ready to reach out and show him exactly what she wanted, he flipped off the water and pushed the door open.

  He pulled a navy towel from the rack, ran it over her head, down her body and across her skin. Her nipples hardened at the rush of cool air, at the careful sweep of his eyes along her body and the approval she saw flash there.

  The soft terry cloth landed at her feet. His mouth found hers again, wet, hungry, full of passion, and he wrapped his strong arms around her, lifting her so he could carry her into the bedroom.

  He dropped her on the mattress, then reached for his wallet from the dresser and tossed it near her head. Cool linen pooled beneath her. The hottest man she’d ever met hovered over her. Déjà vu flared, and she smiled, looking up into dark and needy eyes that weren’t nearly as satisfied as she’d thought.

  “I think we’ve been here before,” she said.

  His lips curled in a sinister smile, and he lowered, taking her breast in his mouth until she moaned with delight.

  “Not here,” he murmured against her skin, nuzzling her nipple slowly, slipping his lips along her abdomen as he worked his way south and drank her in inch by inch.

  Definitely not here.

  Her eyes slid closed at the wicked things he could do with his mouth. This wasn’t fast and crazy. This was slow and sensual and completely erotic.

  “Oh, that feels good.” She gripped the sheet at her hips in anticipation when he knelt on the floor and draped her legs over his shoulders.

  “You feel good.” His warm hands ran over the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, shooting sparks of desire through her whole body.

  She was keenly aware his goal had shifted. She could hear it in his husky words, feel it in his slow, heated touch. Having her wasn’t enough anymore. Complete possession was what he wanted now.

  And she didn’t even care. He could have whatever the hell he wanted, as long as he kept doing what he was doing.

  “Lisa?” He parted her with his fingers, let his hot breath wash over her, fanning the flames smoldering in her core.

  “Hmm?”

 
; “You said something about taking you.” His tongue made one long lingering sweep. “Was this what you had in mind?”

  She shuddered, arched and felt the room tip. Oh… “Yeah. Um. I think this works.”

  Laughter rumbled from his chest and vibrated up her body as he leaned close again. “Ready to beg?”

  God, yes.

  And she had a feeling she’d be doing a lot more begging before the night was over.

  ***

  The mattress dipped beside him hours later, rousing Rafe from sleep.

  “Wake up, frog prince.”

  His eyes fluttered open as Lisa’s tantalizing fingers slid across his jaw. She was propped up on her elbow looking down at him, eyes sleepy and sexy, red hair all tousled and wild from the bed and his fingers.

  “Am I getting fed in this deal, or what?” she asked with a mischievous grin. “Because those pretzels on the flight didn’t do it for me, and I’m starving.”

  He chuckled and reached for her, pulling her onto his chest. “Do you forget anything?”

  “Nope. Have a perfect memory. So, what’s the answer?”

  He glanced at the nightstand and the digital clock that read eight P.M., then back at her. “I’m up for a snack.” He tightened his hold and lifted his head to plant a sloppy kiss on her lips.

  She squirmed against him. “Not exactly what I had in mind, Sullivan. Three hours of raw sex takes its toll on this body. I need sustenance.”

  She smiled and eased out of his arms.

  He pushed up on his elbows to watch as she headed for the bathroom, enjoying the rear view. The sinful things she could do to him brought a fresh rush of arousal straight to his groin.

  Damn, but they were gonna need more condoms.

  When she came back, combing fingers through her hair, she was still gloriously naked and smiling. The first traces of moonlight spilled through the windows, highlighting the curves at her waist, the swell of her breasts. She was tiny, a perfect package wrapped around a woman full of sass and attitude. One who made his blood pulse in more ways than one.