Heated Pursuit
Page 6
When his tongue flicked the lobe of her ear, Penny’s eyes closed on a sigh. “If you want me to relax, stop making out with my neck.”
Rafe let out a soft chuckle. “Distracting you, am I?”
“Not in the least. I’m fine,” she lied.
“So you say, and yet your fingers are practically ripping a hole through my shirt and your heart is beating a mile a minute.”
Damn the man for being so perceptive.
As if making his point, Rafe’s mouth traced the hollow of her throat where he could no doubt see her heart’s frantic pace. “Fuentes is a greedy enough bastard that he should take the bait regardless if you’re here or not. No one would think any less of you if you chose to sit this one out.”
“Maybe not, but I would. Everyone agreed that having a sidepiece on your arm would help with getting—and keeping—his attention.”
“And it will. Beautiful women have always been his weakness. I’m just saying that your presence isn’t required for this plan to go the way we want. Think of yourself as an additional insurance policy. An extra something-something. A way to improve our odds.”
“It’s bad enough that we’ve had to wait two days to make sure everything was in place. I’m not taking any additional chances with Rachel’s life. If my being here increases our odds of getting him off the streets and bringing Rach home, then I’m happy to play bait. It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”
Albeit reluctantly, Penny admitted to herself. And not without Vince as her backup, but no one really needed to know that part.
“Playing bait to parole jumpers and tax evaders is a hell of a lot different than flaunting your wares in front of a man like Fuentes,” Rafe warned.
“If you think you or any of the guys can fit into this dress, I’ll gladly stay behind, but I should probably warn you that panties are a no-go.”
This time, Rafe was the one who stiffened. He pulled his head back far enough for her to see that his eyes had turned stormy blue, and she grinned internally, somewhat giddy that she’d been able to get a reaction out of the usual man of steel.
She added, “I also suggest that when you compare a woman to something, you use a beautiful sunrise or the breathtaking glow of the moon. You do not compare her to your collision insurance or make her sound as if she’s part of a blackjack deal. If I say I’m fine, I’m fine.”
He flashed her a wicked grin. “So you’re telling me that unlike most women, you actually say what you mean? I knew there was something special about you.”
The approach of a well-dressed, paunchy older man cut off her retaliating comeback. His overly wide smile refracted the colored strobe lights, making him look like a rotund, moldy-toothed troll as he introduced himself as the club’s manager. Two seconds later, he led them toward the VIP section of El Sótano.
Rafe’s hand caressed the bare patch of skin just above the curve of her behind. A few appreciative leers slid her way, but most of the male patrons were focused on their escorts—most women, but there were a few men intermixed into the group. Sharply angled collarbones and sunken cheeks seemed to describe the majority of them. Their emaciated bodies danced robotically to the music, but it was their eyes—empty and blank—that twisted Penny’s insides in a slow roll of revulsion.
What if Rachel was just like them? Just as hollow. Just as sickeningly obedient. On Penny’s left, a brunette knelt on hands and knees and pleaded with the man in front of her, no doubt for whatever drug was running low in her system.
A mental image of Rachel being subjected to the same treatment made Penny stumble.
“Easy, Red.” Rafe caught her and kept their feet moving.
“Rafe. We’ve got to do something.”
“We’re doing this for them, too, sweetheart. Just keep moving.”
Two armed guards stood vigilant outside the cordoned-off section of the club. Neither spared them a second glance as the manager ushered Rafe and Penny into the VIP room. By the time the heavy, velvet curtains fell back into place behind them, Penny fought to control the drop of her jaw. The sexual proclivities of the partygoers out front had nothing on the men and women in here.
Tucked in the far-back corner of the room, a large, opulent bed was shielded—only partially—by sheer harem-like curtains. It did nothing to hide the fact that the bed was occupied by more than one couple. And on a plush couch a bit closer to where she and Rafe stood, two women were facedown in one male patron’s lap, taking turns in a sexual act she was glad she couldn’t actually see.
This time, Penny didn’t flinch—or gawk. She lifted her chin and reminded herself, This is for them all.
* * *
Rafe clocked five seconds in the private room until they snagged the attention of the first curious set of eyes. He trailed his hand up Penny’s back and savored the coinciding quiver of her body as she turned toward him.
She wasn’t the strongest, or the most qualified, but she wanted this impromptu mission to succeed the most. Watching her go head-to-chin with Trey when he’d dared to attempt to put a stop to it had been a beautiful thing. Entertaining as well as enlightening.
The woman didn’t intimidate easily.
With a forced smile in place, she slid a hand up his chest and around his neck. Her lips brushed against his ear, making his heart somersault. “We should probably get ourselves into a better position, someplace that will give us a three-sixty view without it being obvious.”
He inwardly groaned when her gaze slid toward the dance floor. Talk about throwing a starving man into the short line of a buffet. But he let her take the lead, their fingers threaded together as she dragged him to the middle of the dance room.
He couldn’t help but enjoy the exquisite view. A couple days’ rest and ibuprofen sure did her body good. Her firm ass swayed gracefully in front of him, a sweet though painful reminder of what she admitted earlier wasn’t beneath the killer dress. He mentally chanted Do not touch, but when it came to Penny and all the things he should and shouldn’t do, he was deaf.
And technically, it was his job to touch, something of which she reminded him the instant she stepped flush against his body. This time when he brought his hand over the flare of her hip, she wasn’t the only one who shivered.
Rafe had been with his fair share of women through the years. He wasn’t a monk and they smelled too damn good to avoid forever. But any involvement remained casual and easy, and he made sure that fact was known right from the beginning.
Sometimes, the woman got it. Other times, she didn’t. Always, he broke things off before emotions complicated things—and he’d never once been tempted to see how things went, because in his experience being shipped from foster home to foster home, the more you hoped things worked out, the increased chance there was for disappointment.
What Penny conjured in him with a faint touch was new. It was distracting and dangerous. A lot banked on him keeping his head on straight, something that had no chance in hell of happening when he slid his hand over her hips and pulled her close.
“What’s wrong?” Penny’s soft question kicked him out of his erection-induced stupor.
“Nothing.” Except he was losing his damn mind.
She glanced up from where her hand absently stroked his chest. He couldn’t blame her for not believing him, because he didn’t believe himself. Especially not after she laid that kiss on him back at the safe house. It was days later and he was still reeling from the way she’d nearly melted in his arms.
This was unlike any lust he’d ever felt. His body ached when she wasn’t close enough. Her scent invaded not just his nostrils, but his entire damn thoughts. He needed her. To be in her. Around her. The only emotion stronger was the need to keep her safe and unharmed—laughable since she’d proven multiple times already that she could take care of herself.
Worn down from the effort to maintain both a physical and emotional distance, Rafe tossed his reservations on their ass and inserted a leg between her warm thighs. As far as
maneuvers went, it was the tamest of what was happening around them. Couples danced, hands roaming and pillaging beneath undergarments. One partner. Two partners. A few couples down, one man had four overzealous women attending to his every need.
If anything, he and Penny stood out like saintly sore thumbs. Arousal smoldered in her eyes as she fixed her gaze on his mouth and enflamed his own. He gently shifted his leg and her stance widened, the distractingly high slit in her dress making it easy for her to straddle his thigh.
“Tell me when to stop, Red.” Head bent, he trailed his lips along the curve of her bare neck. He fucking loved the way she always smelled of lilac and vanilla. He drew his tongue out for a quick taste only to find her pulse beat nearly as fast as his.
Each provocative sway of their bodies brushed his cock against her stomach, a steady and persistent pressure that had him fighting the urge to thrust into her softness.
Her fingers massaged the nape of his neck. “Would a lover really tell you to stop…Rafael?”
“If she ever felt uncomfortable with the progression of things, she’d damn well better. I’m following your lead on this one, sweetheart. If it were up to me, we’d be going somewhere with a lot fewer eyes.”
And that was the damn truth. Cover or not, he wanted her. He also didn’t want to scare the hell out of her or push her even an inch past her boundaries. When a shadow of uncertainty shimmered in her eyes, Rafe worried it was too late.
He nudged her gaze back to his with the crook of a finger. “Those were some heavy thoughts rolling around in there just now. Care to share them?”
“Not particularly.”
“Red, if you’re having second thoughts about this, you need to tell me. And it’s more than the danger it could bring. I don’t want you to feel you have to drop to your knees and su—”
She silenced him with a finger to his lips. “Stop. Trust me—you’re not the only one eyeing that relatively dark corner of the room.”
“Then what is it?”
“You constantly checking to make sure I’m all right makes me feel as though you don’t trust me.”
“It has nothing to do with trust—in you or your abilities. I’ve seen you in action, remember? I witnessed firsthand what kind of damage you can do. Call me a caveman, but I’d be concerned even if you were one of our female operatives.”
“Do you even have any female operatives?”
“Not yet,” he admitted hesitantly, “but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.”
She nailed him with a look that could’ve easily surpassed Maria’s best hairy eyeball. “So you’re saying that you’d give a female operative on your team a chance to back out of a mission?”
Rafe recognized the land mine he was about to step into, but it didn’t make him back away from the truth. “Truthfully, I don’t know. But this assignment isn’t our regular grab-and-go. Besides polishing up our backgrounds, there wasn’t much time for all the other shit that goes along with an operation like this. Like setting limitations. Expectations. I want to make damn fucking sure I’m not making you cross any lines you’re not willing to cross.”
Penny studied him a moment before gifting him the slow curl of her mouth. “You’ll know I’ve reached my limit when I knee you in the junk. Okay?”
“Do you think you can tell me before that happens?” Rafe requested with a faint grin. “My junk’s never going to be the same as it is.”
Penny didn’t have time to reply when they were approached by a server with an offer to join none other than their target himself—Diego Fuentes.
* * *
Impeccably dressed in a suit that easily cost more than two of Penny’s paychecks, Diego Fuentes looked the part of the polished businessman. His more salt-than-pepper hair pegged him to be somewhere in his midsixties, and though he smiled as she and Rafe approached, there was no hiding the emptiness lurking in his eyes. Cold and hollow, they conjured a combo surge of anger and nausea that pitched her stomach to the side as Rafe accepted the man’s hand.
“Señor Manuel, it is an honor to finally meet you.” Diego’s too-white smile flashed. “I have heard a great many things about you and your company.”
“And I’ve heard many varied things about you as well, Señor Fuentes.” Rafe’s arm, linked solidly around her waist, tightened as she stiffened in response to his remark.
Fuentes paused a moment as if shocked that someone would speak to him so candidly, but when he let loose a low laugh, Penny slowly let her muscles relax.
“I have heard you are a straightforward man, Rafael, and this I like. And who may I ask is this exquisite creature draped on your arm?” Diego brought her hand to his lips as his eyes dropped in a breast-to-ankle assessment.
Rafe introduced, “This is Nell Hanlan.”
At the brush of Diego’s lips, Penny nearly vomited her internal organs on the man’s thousand-dollar shoes. Screw boiling water and gallons of disinfectant. To feel clean again, she’d have to skinny-dip in a vat of flesh-eating acid and then rinse off in a pool of bleach. It took the man forever to release her hand, and when he did, she barely refrained from wiping it on her barely there dress.
“Americana?” Diego’s wandering eyes made her skin crawl. “With hair as brilliant as a ruby and skin as flawless as I have ever seen, you are no doubt a model? An actress?”
She forced out a small string of giggles. “Actually, I am an actress, but I’ve been waiting tables until something that suits me comes along. Rafael’s helping me.”
“No doubt he is a good ally to have, sí? Please, join me.” Diego swept his hand toward his table, whose only occupant was a dark-haired young woman.
Penny smiled at the brunette but got nothing in return as Rafe ignored the extra chairs and pulled her onto his lap. The woman was an empty void—not a twitch of lips or a jealous sneer, and only after a full minute did the woman finally blink. Once.
“Tell me, Rafael,” Diego said as he dismissed a nervous waitress after she appeared with two more glasses of whatever brown liquid was in his tumbler. “Your business seems to have come quite a long way in such a short period of time. One who has his hand into exports cannot seem to have a business conversation without Manuel Shipping mentioned. Have you ever thought about expanding?”
Casually resting one hand on the inside of Penny’s thigh, Rafe stroked his fingertips over the sensitive back of her knee. An arousing combination of innocent touch and gentle caress, the contact would’ve awoken every flammable cell in her body if it weren’t for the fact that they sat with the monster who had Rachel and God only knew how many others.
This was the exact direction they’d hoped to go in, yet Rafe looked as if he hadn’t a care in the world. He lifted a shoulder in a barely noticeable shrug. “I already own one of the largest shipping companies this side of the hemisphere. Why would I need to expand?”
“A shrewd businessman is always looking for new ventures. What would you say if I informed you that I have the perfect arrangement already planned for the two of us?”
The corner of Rafe’s mouth lifted. “I’d think it would be a little presumptuous, but I’d hear you out. I should warn you, Señor Fuentes. I maintain high expectations in my business relationships. Both my name and my company’s hold quite a bit of weight in the import and export business. When involving both in arrangements, I make absolutely certain the payoff is worth the risk of ruining my reputation.”
“That is understandable. And smart.” Diego nodded.
“So you understand why I’m going to have to demand a show-and-tell—everything from the manufacturing process to your testing facilities. And it goes without saying that I’ll be critiquing the distribution means you already have in place. In order to make this worth the risk, I need to know for certain you possess a top-of-the-line product from start to finish.”
“I assure you my product is pure—and unlike so many out on the market.” Though he was smiling, an underlying edge crept into Diego’s voice.
“I’m afraid I cannot do as you ask, my friend.” Diego kept his posture relaxed as he sipped his drink. “If it is a sampling of the product you request, of course. I will have some to you within the day. But your other wishes I am afraid I cannot grant.”
This was it.
Penny feigned preoccupation with the softness of Rafe’s hair while silently screaming at him for playing too damn hard to get. This was their opening, their chance to get on the inside. But his face was a blank slate as he slid his hands to her hips and gently guided her off his lap.
Rafe gave his head a faint, disappointed shake. “I’m truly sorry to hear that, Señor Fuentes. I really am. But I can’t go into business with a man who can’t see beyond his own challenges—and for you that would be the Honduran government and the American Drug Enforcement Administration.”
Their imminent departure startled the older man to his feet. Lips curled into a snarl, he looked five seconds away from bursting the bulging blood vessel at his temple. “To whom do you think you are talking? Some inconsequential street urchin?”
Rafe tucked an arm around her waist and stated blandly, “I thought I was speaking to a savvy businessman, one who understood that you’re the one in need of a new avenue to export your product. I may be fairly new to this game, Señor Fuentes, but I assure you that I didn’t start yesterday. Money is negotiable. My reputation is not. Before putting it on the line, I need to make sure the benefits far outweigh the risks. If you can’t agree to those terms, then we’re done here.”
Penny hissed under her breath as he led them away from the table, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Rafe mumbled back, “Wait for it. Three, two…”
Six steps from the table, one of Diego’s seven-foot watchdogs blocked their exit.
Fuentes slowly approached. Penny didn’t know what was worse, the man’s sickening smile or his blank, cool stare.