Shelter in the Tropics

by Cara Lockwood

  She shot to her feet. “I...I need to go.”

  Tack reached out then and grabbed her wrist. He gave a gentle tug and suddenly she was in his lap, their faces dangerously close.

  “Don’t go,” he said in a gravelly whisper. He put his arm around her, and he felt so big and strong and steady. She wanted to lean into that strength. Be protected. When she met his understanding eyes, she saw compassion, not pity. She also saw want. She’d forgotten what that felt like. To be seen and understood. She’d been living her lie of a life for so long, with only Mark and Carol knowing the truth. And they hardly ever talked about it.

  Cate’s head spun a little with wine, but she knew exactly what she was doing when she leaned forward and kissed him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE MINUTE HER lips met his, Cate felt the entire world melt away. It was all Tack, his soft but firm lips pressing against hers, his hands tightening possessively around her waist. His lips parted and she tasted him, their tongues meeting in a delicate dance. God, she wanted this man. Everything about him drove her crazy—the taste of him, the strong muscles in his legs that she could feel pressing against her backside, the thickness of the back of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him.

  The kiss turned deeper, more insistent, and so did Tack’s hands. Suddenly, she wanted them everywhere. Pure instinct took over as she hungrily devoured his mouth. She’d forgotten what this kind of passion felt like. Now, it all came roaring back, as if she were sixteen again, caught up in the throes of her first crush. Her hands roamed down his impossibly broad shoulders, down to his solid biceps. The man was a walking wall of muscle. She felt so little in his lap, so girl-like. The feeling gave her a little rush.

  Cate felt his lap come alive. And in an instant thought, Nothing small down there. Or soft, either.

  The wicked thought pushed her on and deepened the kiss. God, was he the best kisser on earth? It sure seemed that way.

  He broke from her and she gasped for air, shocked by how he muddled all her senses. All she wanted to do was taste him again.

  “Should we take this inside?” he asked her, and all she could do was nod. Speech was beyond her. Cate straightened as if to slide off his lap, but Tack had other ideas. He simply swooped her into his arms and stood, his mouth meeting hers once more. She had no time to think about how easily he carried her, as if she weighed nothing, or where he was leading her. Before long, she felt the soft comfort of bedding beneath the small of her back. Tack laid her down, mouth still on hers. He broke free long enough to look at her.

  “This okay?” he asked. The question was open-ended, but Cate couldn’t imagine saying no to anything he wanted to do to her right in that moment. She wanted it all.

  “Yes,” Cate managed to say, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him down on top of her. He came with little resistance, and she soon felt his sweet weight on top of her. She ran her hands under his shirt, her fingers exploring the tight muscles of his chest. They were so hard and so...defined. She circled his chest with her hands, and he moaned beneath her touch. Her breath quickened.

  It had been so long since she’d been with a man, she wondered if she could remember what to do.

  She could feel him stiffen on top of her. She was having this effect on him. The thought made her feel giddy with power. He wanted her. Cate let her hand slip down between them, feeling his growing hardness through the front of his shorts. The unmistakable bulge felt large in her small palm. Turns out, his shoulders weren’t the only thing broad about him, she thought with a wry grin. He responded instantly to her touch and groaned once more, a husky kind of growl into her mouth.

  Turned out, she did remember, she thought. She remembered what to do just fine.

  His hands roamed beneath her shirt, cupping her lacy bralette, massaging her. Now it was her turn to feel a rush of heat, to moan beneath his gentle touch as he gave her a tender squeeze. God, so good. It had been so long since she’d been touched like this. She never wanted it to stop.

  He broke free of her mouth, studying her face as if he wanted to remember it forever. “You’re so beautiful, Cate. So very beautiful.”

  The sincerity in his eyes drove her wild. She met his mouth once more, hungry for his touch, for more. She went for the front button of his shorts, but he grabbed her hand.

  “No,” he murmured. “No...not yet.”

  Before she could question him, he’d run his hand up the side of her leg, rising all the way to her deepest center. He slipped his hand inside her lacy underwear, and she gasped.

  “Oh, Cate. You’re so...wet,” he murmured into her mouth, surprise and awe in his voice. It drove her mad. She kissed him fiercely. He’d made her that way. Hot and trembling with need.

  He touched her gently, delicately, driving all the nerve endings in her body to the very brink. Just when she thought she’d fall over the cliff, he stopped. She burned with a desire she’d never felt before, like an addict in dire need of a heroin binge. She just wanted...more.

  “Please,” she murmured against his mouth. She wanted him inside her. She wanted to feel him in the most intimate way possible. Once more, she grabbed for the waist of his shorts, but once more, he moved out of the way.

  “Ladies, first,” he said, and his magic fingers went to work again. They drove her wild with want, with desire. She arched her back, desperately wanting more. He stoked the flames expertly. Before she knew it, she was tumbling wildly, hopelessly over the edge.

  She came in a strangled shout as a wave of pleasure nearly knocked her against the bed. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she felt like she would never be able to catch her breath.

  “There, that’s better,” he murmured against the hollow of her neck, laying gentle kisses as he withdrew his fingers. She felt so spent, so entirely wrung out. Yet she wanted him, wanted him to have the same pleasure. Cate reached out for him, but again, he stopped her.

  “I’ll get mine another time,” he said. “I’m in no hurry.”

  She should’ve fought him, but her arms felt like jelly. She’d never come so hard before, at least not like that.

  “You...know what you’re doing.”

  Tack grinned. “I told you, I’m good at tactical maneuvers.” He laid a gentle kiss on her nose.

  Cate giggled. “I can attest to that,” she murmured, her eyes suddenly feeling impossibly heavy. It was the wine. She wasn’t used to drinking so much, so fast...or having amazing, mind-blowing orgasms, either. The toxic combination of feel-good hormones and alcohol made fighting sleep a losing battle.

  “Rest,” Tack commanded, pulling her into his arms. She’d never felt so cared for, and so safe. She found herself drifting off in the warmth of his embrace.

  * * *

  TACK HELD CATE, listening to the sound of her delicate breathing. He tightened his grip on her, and she let out a delicious, satisfied little moan. He’d never seen a woman so open before, so willing to come for him in a way that left nothing behind. She’d been the most beautiful woman in the world when she’d orgasmed, and all he wanted to do was make it happen again. His groin stirred with frustration. He wanted inside her, in the worst possible way, but he also knew it wouldn’t be fair to her. Not when he was still working for her ex-husband, not when she didn’t know why he was really there.

  God. How was he going to tell her? He wasn’t. He couldn’t. He could never, ever let her find out. He’d been so wrong about her. About everything. Mark had been right about a terrible man in her life, and that man was his own boss.

  He looked at her sleeping peacefully in his arms, so amazingly trusting, so free. Her mouth fell open ever so slightly. He could get a DNA sample right now. It would be so easy.

  So he could hurt her again?

  Tack stared at the scar on her chin and felt the anger rise in his belly. He’d believed her
, every word she said. There was a brutal honesty about it, a core truth that even he could see. And this truth made him furious.

  He’d been working for the wrong side.

  All this time he thought he’d been doing the right thing, bringing a greedy and potentially dangerous woman to justice, reuniting a boy with his caring father, saving Adeeb. He’d been on his high horse, believing he was so very right. But now that Tack knew his boss was a scumbag, he’d clearly made the biggest mistake of his life.

  He berated himself for not asking Allen more questions, for not being more skeptical of the story of the homicidal socialite. But he had just wanted to fulfill the promise he’d made to the man who’d saved his life. He didn’t want to turn over any rocks, find any worms. He wanted a clean-cut and simple mission. No complications.

  He was usually so good at seeing all the angles, but not lately. Not in a long while.

  How could he have been so blind? Why didn’t he see the possibility before? Cate hadn’t been a killer. She’d been a victim. It all made sense now—when Carol had seemed hesitant at the mention of Cate’s ex. Now he knew why. Because the son of a bitch had been beating the hell out of her. He knew men like Rick Allen. Knew how they thought the world belonged to them, dripping with entitlement, because the rules simply didn’t apply. They didn’t live by a code, they only lived to get what they wanted, and they didn’t care how they did it. Or who got hurt in the process.

  Tack felt anger rising like bile in his throat. He wanted badly to teach that man some manners, but how?

  Cate snuggled into him, and all he wanted to do was protect her from her ex, from anyone else who’d ever try to hurt her again. He stroked her hair and realized he’d made the worst mistake he could—he’d fallen for this beautiful woman.

  But what happens when she finds out I’ve been working for her ex? Tack already knew. She’d hate him. She’d see it as the ultimate betrayal, because it was. He wanted her more than he’d wanted any woman he could remember. But he couldn’t take advantage of her like that. It would be the worst kind of violation.

  Yet how could he ever admit the truth? He didn’t know if he could. What would he even say? Hi, Cate, I’m working for the monster you managed to escape. Wanna date?

  And what really happened that night she left? The night she almost killed her husband? Now he wasn’t so sure. Was it self-defense? Or did she just snap?

  Either way, this mystery was far from solved.

  The fact remained that Rick Allen was in a wheelchair and Cate put him there.

  The phone on his bedside table came to life with a low beep. From where he sat he could see a text from his employer.

  Time’s up.

  His stomach sank.

  He wished he’d never taken this job. It was going to cost him. It already had.

  How could he decide between Cate and Adeeb?

  Adeeb was like a brother.

  Cate just might be...someone he could fall in love with. Maybe he already was falling in love with her. But Adeeb... If he or his family died, Tack would never forgive himself. But he wasn’t going to hand Cate over to this monster, either.

  He needed more time to figure another way out, more time to figure out what to do next.

  He wanted Adeeb to be safe.

  But every bone in his body wanted to protect Cate, as well.

  How could he possibly do both?

  The wheels of his mind began to turn. How would he fix this? He’d have to think of something.

  His phone lit up with an incoming text from his boss.

  Tack glared at his phone.

  You took too long to get the sample. I sent someone else. Already en route.

  Allen was supposed to give him twenty-four hours! He hadn’t reached that time limit yet, but apparently, the real estate mogul didn’t mind changing rules mid-game. It was one more thing he hated about the man.

  Wait. I can still do this, he typed.

  You want your visa? Better get the sample first.

  He felt his palms sweat. He’d have to derail the new guy. But then what? Allen would be relentless. There’d be another one after that, and another. Unless they could get a bogus sample and convince the mogul this was a dead end. It was their only shot.

  But first he’d have to figure out who the new detective was and intercept him. At the airport? The hotel lobby? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d have to run an op that required him to be in two places at once.

  * * *

  CATE WOKE UP to an empty room. She sat up in bed, startled as if from a bad dream, and glanced around for a second, not knowing where she was. Then she saw Tack’s seabag at the foot of the bed. Tack’s room. God! What did I...

  Then she remembered. The wine. The kissing. Tack and his magic fingers.

  And then she’d fallen asleep? In his bed! What was wrong with her?

  She waited for any sound in the room or adjacent bathroom, but heard nothing other than the distant sound of waves crashing on the beach. Quickly, she scrambled out of bed.She checked the clock by the bedside table. It was three in the morning. She hadn’t meant to stay this long.

  Where is Tack?

  Cate wondered if this was his polite way of telling her he’d had his fill? That somehow, she wasn’t welcome anymore? She didn’t know of many men who’d leave a willing woman in their beds and then hoped she disappeared while they were gone, but then again, she didn’t know what to make of the fact that he wasn’t here.

  And Cate was 100 percent sober. All traces of the wine had fled and now she felt the violent urge to flee. The panic rose in Cate’s throat. A pulse thrummed in her temple that started an uncomfortable rhythm she knew was the beginning of a headache, probably from the wine she’d now handily metabolized. She jammed her foot into one of her flip-flops.

  She had to get out of there. She marched to the door to his room and opened it, ducking her head into the hallway and doing a quick check. Only empty white tiles stared back at her. No sign of Tack, or any other guest for that matter. Thank God. She hurried out, wearing only one flip-flop and marched down the hallway to the elevators. She pressed the call button and waited, wondering if she ought to make a beeline for the stairs.

  Come on, elevator! The resort is half empty, so you can’t seriously be in use right now.

  What seemed like an eternity passed before the light flicked off, and the loud ding of the incoming elevator blared through the hallway. Cate cringed at the sound, glancing around once more as she slipped into the elevator and quickly pressed her floor number. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slumped against the wall. As the doors closed, she felt a small twinge of disappointment. Had she wanted to be caught? Wanted Tack to drag her, caveman style, back to his room and finish what he started?

  God, what he started. Cate’s cheeks flushed with heat as she remembered how deftly his hands had explored her body. How every light caress sent her barreling closer to the perfect peak of ecstasy. Would she want that again? Yes, please. Not to mention the impressive bulge she’d felt in his pants. Her mind whirled with the delicious possibilities of what they could do together, but she had no condoms. She wasn’t on the pill. Why would she be? It seemed an unnecessary expense for a single mom not planning to date. Was she just going to hope Avery didn’t wind up with a little brother or sister?

  She felt like she’d been hit with a cold splash of frigid water. How could she even think about being so reckless? What would happen if she were pregnant and essentially a fugitive on the run? No. She could not let that happen. No way.

  The elevator arrived at her floor, and she dashed out as well as she could maneuver with one flip-flop and quickly reached her door. She slid her key card in the lock and swung it open, only to have the door behind her open and Carol pop out. Had the woman been waiting to hear the lock beep?

>   Cate whirled. “Carol, God, you scared me!”

  “Back already?” she asked, grinning.

  “It’s like three in the morning!” Cate murmured, quickly kicking off her one flip-flop behind her and into her suite. No need for Carol to see she’d come home wearing just one.

  Carol perked up at that. “It is? Oh, then...”

  “What are you doing up?”

  “I fell asleep on the armchair, and when I heard your key, I had to say hi.” She glanced at Cate, taking in her full rumpled appearance. “Looks like someone got what she needed?”

  Cate’s hands flew to her hair, and she realized she was probably a hot mess. She hadn’t checked her appearance in the mirror before she’d left Tack’s room. She could only imagine what she looked like—wild sex hair, smudged mascara, the works. “I...” Cate trailed off. What did happen in Tack’s room? She’d gotten something. But had he? He seemed particularly fixed on not getting any himself. She wondered what that meant.

  “Well, I...I...”

  “You’re actually stammering.” Carol beamed. “My girl got laid!” Carol bounded over and gave Cate a huge hug. “I’m so glad for you.”

  “You sound like I just won an Olympic medal.”

  “Well, for you, you kind of did. I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever get back up on that horse again.”

  “You know that’s not my focus. I need to be here for Avery.”

  “And you are. We all are, but you also need to have a life, Cate.” Carol grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. “You don’t deserve just to waste away here, trapped by your past.”

  “But aren’t I, though?” Cate thought about what it would be like to level with Tack, to tell him the truth: she wasn’t who she pretended to be. She was in fact a fugitive. What kind of man would ever agree to be with a woman if they’d have to run from the authorities their whole lives? Would he turn her in? She thought about his reaction to news that her husband had hurt her. Could he protect her from him? She shook her head. No one could protect her from Rick. No one.