by Maggie Nash
Table of Contents
Legal Page
Title Page
Book Description
Dedication
Trademarks Acknowledgment
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
New Excerpt
About the Author
Publisher Page
The Relic
ISBN # 978-1-78430-790-5
©Copyright Maggie Nash 2015
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright August 2015
Edited by Jess Bimberg and Nicki Richards
Totally Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2015 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN
Totally Bound Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Sizzling and a Sexometer of 2.
THE RELIC
Maggie Nash
They used to be a great team, but could they forget the past long enough to save their lives?
Finding herself in the wilds of a Penang rainforest wasn’t something Magda was exactly happy about. Being there on a mission to recover an ancient relic that threatened world peace certainly had its appeal, but the heat, the bugs and wild animals quickly cancelled out any of the excitement of the chase. Adding to her misery was the arrival on the scene of the last person she ever wanted to cross paths with. Vincent Stone, her rival in the search for the relic, and her ex-lover. The man who’d ripped out her heart and trampled on it had no business being in the same country as her, let alone the same town.
Vincent isn’t doing much better as he tries to remember why he’d broken it off with her. She made him feel more than anyone else but in his line of work, and with his past history, he didn't have room for a relationship. But damn, she made him want one.
Fate has a way of playing with realities though and as they teamed up they both came to realise that sometimes it was better to just go with the flow. They used to be a great team, but could they forget the past long enough to save their lives?
Dedication
This one is for all my partners in crime at The League of Amazing Writers.
Thanks for being there whenever I need you.
Trademarks Acknowledgment
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmark mentioned in this work of fiction:
Superwoman: DC Comics
Jeep: Chrysler Group LLC.
007: Ian Fleming, Eon Productions
Lemon Ruski: Stolichnaya, Spirits International BV
Browning International S.A Belgium R.P.M
Indiana Jones: Indiana Jones, Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC
East India Company: (EIC), London, Defunct 1874
Tarzan: Edgar Rice Burroughs
Prologue
This will be the last time.
Vincent Stone lay on his back, his arms crossed behind his head, trying to convince himself that making love with Magda one more time would be make it easier to leave.
They hadn’t been together long, but Vincent knew a long-term prospect when he saw one. Magda was definitely a lifer, and no way was he ready for that kind of relationship. He hoped he hadn’t left it too long.
Tonight was meant to be a break-up dinner, but all thoughts of that had gone out of the window with just one look at her gorgeous body, those legs that went on forever…not to mention those amazing turquoise eyes. Lips—let’s not forget the sexiest lips on the planet. Bloody hell. Instead of dinner, they’d skipped the main course altogether and gone straight for dessert.
And what a delicious dessert.
Crap. Just keep your mind on the bigger picture here, Stone.
He didn’t do long-term for a very good reason. He sucked at them. Not only that, but he lived with what had happened to his parents. Long-distance relationships didn’t work, end of story. No way did he want to be responsible for the pain he’d seen in his mother’s eyes every time his dad had left. No way would he bring a child into the world only to go through what he’d gone through.
The problem was he really cared for Mags, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she really cared for him too. There weren’t many women who could keep up with him, or keep him entertained on an intellectual level as well as in bed, but Magda was a dynamo in and out of the bedroom. He knew she would never accept his reasons for breaking up. As always, she’d come up with some logical reason to shoot his argument down in flames and he’d be stuck. That’s why he had to kill any feelings she had for him for his plan to work.
Tomorrow, she would hate him, and as much as he knew it was necessary, he wasn’t looking forward to it one bit. However, he refused to think about that now. He looked over at the beautiful woman standing before him, and even as he thought about how it was going to make things more difficult for him, he knew he had to taste her one last time.
“Come back to bed, gorgeous.”
Magda smiled, turning her head as she stood naked leaning against the balcony rail of her Sydney Harbour-side apartment. It was almost dawn and no one was about to see her. She’d always had a bit of an exhibitionist streak in her and Vincent knew the thought of being caught naked more than turned her on. From the slight flush of her skin, he could tell this time was no exception.
Pushing away from the edge, she moved back to the door, her hand resting on the handle of the sliding door. “I was just admiring the view.”
Vincent sat up, the satin sheet sliding off his body. “The view from here is better.” Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t be able to resist the molten desire he saw in her eyes, and since he never missed an opportunity when he saw it, he wasn’t about to ignore that particular invitation. She walked slowly back to him, swinging her hips and rubbing her hands over her breasts, squeezing them gently and presenting their tightened peaks to him for inspection.
“You like?”
He jumped up, pulled her body against his and rubbed his hands over her buttocks. His tongue circled her ear, as he blew softly, his hot breath teasing her skin. “I love what I see, Mags, and I intend to love your body a lot more before I’m done.”
He nuzzled her neck, savoring the fruity smell he would always associate with Magda. “Mmmm…but you must be tired. We’ve already gone two rounds.”
Magda moved toward his mouth in a trail of open-mouthed kisses that sent tingles down his spine. “That’s what you do to me, baby. With you, Vincent,” she whispered, “I can go all night.”
Maneuvering them around to the bed, he gently pushed backwards until Magda lay on her back and he was stretched out over her, rubbing his body back and forth over her moun
d.
His mouth came down over hers, devouring her, taking all she had to offer and demanding she give more. She moaned as he gently ran a finger along her folds, his nail scraping her tender bud before sliding inside her. His mouth left hers, making its way to her breast, sucking hard on the tip as his free hand squeezed her other nipple between his thumb and forefinger.
“Oh, Vince…please!”
“Please what?”
“More. I need more…”
He inserted another finger and looped them both in a circle, catching that spot he knew would drive her wild. “Is this what you mean?”
She moaned loudly now as he felt her lose control. He eased back slightly as he didn’t want her to come just yet and if he wasn’t careful, she could explode at any minute.
“Oh yes, but I still need more. I’m so close, you have to help me.”
“Your wish is my command.” His mouth left her nipple and he kissed his way down her body until he latched on to her clit, licking and biting it alternatively.
She nearly jumped off the bed when he inserted another two fingers, circling furiously inside her, repeatedly rubbing against that most sensitive bundle of nerve endings while his tongue and teeth continued their assault on her throbbing clitoris.
“Oh God!” The first waves of her climax racked her quivering body, sending her over the edge as her muscles clenched around Vincent’s fingers.
Vincent moved back up her body and reclaimed her mouth as he entered her.
“So good,” she whispered against his mouth. “So fucking good, Vince.”
Opening his eyes, Vincent caught sight of the look of ecstasy on Magda’s face as her internal muscles clenched around him. He was going to miss that the most. His body stilled for just a second before that one last thrust, and he felt every last drop of his enjoyment emptying into her body.
As he rolled to his side, hugging her body close to his chest he felt the sharp pain of loss, knowing that their time together was at an end. His last thought as he closed his eyes was that he had to agree with Magda.
It was a fabulous fucking.
Chapter One
Two years later
Magda wiped the sweat out of her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. Bloody stinking rain forests. How did she get so lucky to score this assignment? Just wait until she got back to The Mansion—she intended to have something to say about always getting the dirty jobs. Phoenyx and Lyonene were probably lying around in the spa drinking champagne instead of manning the computers and digging up the research to help her with this mission. And as for Joell—ha! Next time there’s a job babysitting hunky male models, I’m getting in first! That crazy woman even had enough time to find a man the last time she’d gotten that cushy job.
Oh no…no more cloak and dagger and crawling through steamy, insect-infested jungles for Magda. No way, José. Next time she got sent out in the field, it was going to be a fun assignment. Limos and five-star hotels all the way, baby!
It wasn’t like they needed the money. All of them were bestselling romance authors, editors and graphic artists. They did the super heroine bit on the side because they liked to help people. Of course it was a fantastic way to keep up the training, and the research was invaluable. But that wasn’t the point! She must have been insane to take on this job!
She turned her head at a loud shrieking noise and reached for her Browning Pro nine millimeter. She never left home without it. The noise could be one of two things. Monkeys or birds—neither of which she was particularly fond of. The shadow that briefly swept overhead confirmed the creature was of the feathered variety. She replaced her gun in the special holster inside her shirt and waited for her heart rate to return to normal. It had to be a bird of prey of some variety, no doubt, and thank the Lord she was here on the ground.
Half an hour later, when she found another tear in her cargo pants courtesy of the thick undergrowth, she wasn’t so sure.
Bloody hell. This was supposed to be an easy job.
No danger. Go in, find the lost relic and get out.
Yeah right.
It’d been two days now and she still had no idea where the object was, and from the stories she’d been told, this wasn’t your average, everyday, garden-variety relic. This one had some pretty amazing legends attached to it that she had only just begun to learn about.
Boss, the unofficial office manager of The League of Amazing Women, had neglected to tell her that this particular relic was made from a chunk of crystal from Alexander the Great’s crystal sarcophagus. Even she had heard the stories surrounding the mystery of his burial place. Several different groups claimed they knew its location, but were hiding it to prevent wars over its ownership.
And protect it they should, if the stories were true—that the holder of the sarcophagus would assume power in the country in which they resided. Just imagine if terrorists got their hands on it?
Of course this little piece of crystal wasn’t the whole shebang, but hey, someone must believe it had some sort of power. The locals had definitely closed ranks and that was the one thing she was sure of. Since she’d arrived in Penang, she’d hit one brick wall after another.
Damn. She looked down at her ankle and saw the trickle of red seeping through her sock.
Another leech.
Why is it always leeches?
She stopped and reached in to her backpack for the salt. The slimy little creature curled up and came off in her fingers while she squished it the best she could before she wrapping it in a leaf and hurling it to the jungle.
Looking up, she squinted at the sun and wondered just how much farther it was to the small village the guide at the hotel had told her about. Okay, he hadn’t exactly come across as the honest type. He wouldn’t even look at her until she flashed a wad of money at him. However, one thing she did know about human nature was that people did not want to lose their meal ticket. So if he wanted her to come back for more, he would at least have to steer her in the right direction the first time. Unless, of course, someone was paying him more to send her on a wild goose chase, but she didn’t want to think about that right now. Nope. She was going to think positive all the way. And if she continued to say it, it might actually be true.
Another five minutes and the vegetation began to thin a little. In another ten, she walked into a clearing to find a group of three huts.
Definitely not luxury accommodations.
The walls were made of some sort of mud concoction and from what she could see, no windows. No doors were visible so she walked toward the edge of the closest one to investigate more.
Yuck! Something stunk like the old outside dunnie on her grandfather’s farm. Her nose twitched as the smell increased while she rounded the hut in search of the door. Catching a whiff of the noxious aroma again, her nostrils made the decision for her.
She made her way to the next hut to look for the door. The stinky one could wait.
“Hello?”
Maybe someone would come out and talk to her. She rounded the edge of the hut and found a roughly hewn doorway covered with a piece of hessian material that hung loosely from the top of the opening.
“Hello? Anyone home?”
Pausing for a few minutes, she listened for any signs of habitation. Finding none, she ducked her head and entered. She blinked a few times to get used to the darkness. The hut was definitely empty. The only things she could see were the rough matting on the floor and some sort of chest to the side along the circular wall. Looking behind her one last time, she took a step toward it and reached out to open the intricately carved door. A flicker of guilt crossed her mind as her hand paused mid-air.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Magda?”
Magda whizzed around, palming the gun from her ankle holster.
“What the—?”
And there he was. All six-foot-three inches of muscle, sandy blond mussed-up hair and the cockiest lopsided grin in the universe, and he was leaning agai
nst the wall of the hut.
The last person on Earth she wanted to see.
Relaxing her grip on the weapon, she took a few seconds in an effort to calm her racing pulse and shortened breaths. “You’re going to have to stop creeping up on people like that, Vincent. I almost shot you.”
His baby blue eyes twinkled. “Nah. I know you better than most, don’t forget. You never shoot real people.”
His gaze changed from amusement to desire as he moved his line of vision from her face, across both her swelling breasts, down to her groin and back.
Damn. Her nipples reacted of their own accord to his inspection.
Damn this man.
“Besides, you wouldn’t shoot me, Mags—you know you love me.”
She shoved past him and made her way outside the hut.
“You arrogant son of a bitch!”
“I guess that means I’m not going to get my welcome kiss?”
“Fuck off.”
“I guess not.”
“Get over yourself, Vincent Stone. Hundreds of women may drop at your feet, but I am definitely not one of them.”
Not this time.
Never again.
He feigned a crushed looked, pouting, but with that hint of laughter behind his eyes that had always attracted her. She was such a sucker for his sense of humor. Sure, he was tall, built and gorgeous, but it was the wicked wit, the laconic humor and the constant twinkle in his eye that had done it for her. But that had been two years ago, and she’d put it all behind her. Done a pretty damn fine job of it, too, if the ambivalence she was feeling for him right at this moment was anything to go by. Forget her bodily reaction, which was just a momentary aberration.
She was surprised, that’s all. She hated him. She really did.
