by M. Malone
“That’s probably for the best. Besides”—he shrugged—“I’ve given you all the details I have of that night.”
“Well, it’s always a good idea to double-check. I suppose I’ll let you get back to your guest.”
What was she playing at? Why was she really here? She couldn’t think that he’d possibly be interested after everything that had happened before.
“Perfect. I look forward to a more official meeting.”
She smiled up at him. “You go ahead and enjoy that beer though. Hope you and your guest enjoy the night.”
Rafe showed her the door and deliberately avoided her attempt to brush up against him. “I’ll be seeing you, Emilie.”
“That you will, Rafe DeMarco.”
After Rafe locked up and reset the security alarms, he pinched the bridge of his nose, his headache having become more prominent.
That’s what happens when you live a life of lies. They weigh on you.
In the kitchen, he found just what he needed on the counter. It looked like it had fallen out of Diana’s purse.
Picking up the bottle of aspirin, he took two. He’d carved a new life for himself. He was a new man now. The past was the past. Dredging up that old file would just drag him back to a place he never wanted to go again.
He was not that man. He wasn’t. And he resented Emilie trying to remind him of who he used to be. His future was down the hall and uptown in a glass penthouse. Family. He’d forgotten how important they were.
He was never going to be out in the cold again.
chapter fifteen
Rafe stood in the kitchen for a few minutes, too wound up by Emilie’s visit to pretend. Diana would want to know what was wrong and there was nothing he could tell her. She didn’t know about his past and how he was trying to reinvent himself. With her, he’d been able to start fresh, and he didn’t have to drag any of that shit into what he had with her.
He liked that what he had with her was pure. Untouched.
Gradually his thoughts turned back to where they’d left off, and he imagined her naked and wet in his bed. His erection sprang up immediately, and he followed it like a beacon to the room where Diana reclined on the bed. All he could see was soft skin, pink lips, and a smile.
At the sight of her, he felt a punch of lust so strong it almost took him to his knees. He climbed onto the bed and over her. Dimly, he realized that he was going too fast. Being too rough. But suddenly all he could think about was her—her smell, her taste, being inside her.
“Need to feel you,” he rasped before burying his face in her neck and breathing deep.
Diana scratched her nails through his hair, and a wave of lust drowned out rational thinking. He cupped her breast and groaned as the soft, plump globe filled his hand. God.
Every time she touched him, electricity arced between them. A woman’s touch had never affected him like this. What they had was pure fire.
Shifting off the bed, he yanked off his jeans, and her eyes focused on his thick erection.
Her eyes on his flesh only made him harder.
Rafe climbed back over her and placed openmouthed kisses along her jawline, the column of her throat, her collarbone. When he dipped to kiss her breasts again, she moaned just before his lips covered the pointed tip. With his other hand, he teased the other nipple until she whimpered. Releasing her nipple, Rafe continued the path of hot kisses down her stomach, past her belly button.
Rafe settled between her thighs and gave a long, leisurely lick of her pussy. Diana dug her hands into his hair, but he didn’t stop the expert strokes of his tongue except to occasionally nip and suck on her flesh.
Diana shuddered and cried out.
His deft thumbs separated her flesh slowly. He slid a finger into her and murmured against her flesh. “C’mon sweetheart. Come for me.”
In an instant, she exploded. Her cries and whimpers were so fucking arousing that Rafe figured his dick could pound through concrete by now. He grimaced and gripped his erection, trying to calm down. What the hell was wrong with him? He’d never had any issues with control before, but he legitimately felt like he might come at any moment.
“What’s wrong?” Diana murmured. She trailed her hand down his chest, and he drew in a ragged breath when she found what she sought.
“Oh, fuck, Diana.” His hips bucked, pushing his straining erection into her hand.
She trailed hot, openmouthed kisses along the column of his throat and when she found his nipple, his hips bucked again. With her thumb, she stroked the soft round head of his length, spreading the moisture that had leaked.
Hovering her lips over his erect nipple, she whispered, “Is something wrong, Rafe?”
Something that sounded like a strangled moan tore from his chest, and he dug his hands into the sheets.
“I’ll take that as a no.” Diana brushed her lips over his taut nipple and chuckled at the groan that tore from his throat.
He bucked again, digging a hand into her hair, gently tugging her head back. “I swear to God, Diana—”
She ignored him, instead grazing his nipple and pumping his erection again.
Before she could move, he had her flat on her back and her hands locked above her head, restrained with one of his.
“Rafe?” She struggled slightly, and he realized all at once how tight he’d been holding her. He sat back and ran his hands through his hair. He needed to slow down, but he wasn’t sure he could. His body was reacting like he’d been away from her for years instead of minutes.
Maybe this was what it was like when you were with someone you cared about?
Rafe reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a condom. Rolling away, he sheathed himself before settling back between her thighs. He kissed her deep, and Diana widened her legs to accommodate him. His erection nudged her, and she moaned as he sank inside.
He dropped his forehead to hers, retreated an inch, then pressed forward again until he was fully seated inside her. Her name on his lips sounded reverent.
Her gaze met his, and immediately none of it mattered anymore. In this moment, everything was perfect. She felt perfect.
The corners of his lips tipped into a lopsided smile as he retreated and sank back in. Diana clamped her legs around his hips, and he muttered curses under his breath. When she pulled him to her for a kiss, he growled low in his throat.
Diana nipped his lower lip with her teeth, and he scooped his hands under her ass, lifting her hips to his. The new angle had her sobbing at the pleasure. Only when she murmured his name on a sigh did he stroke into her a final time, then cry out her name on his climax.
Diana’s breath lodged in her throat as Rafe slid his tongue over hers again. After three orgasms back-to-back, he showed no signs of slowing down. The man had crazy stamina, she knew that, but this was unlike anything she’d ever seen.
He was kissing her like he was afraid she’d disappear if he let go. She’d never been the center of a man’s attention like this before.
She slipped her hands over Rafe’s torso, skimming over rippled abdominal muscles and the hard planes of his chest. The sounds he made at her touch were more like pain than pleasure, but when she paused, he canted his hips, bringing the hot, hard length of him directly against her heat again.
“Again. Already?” she squeaked.
To hold on and attempt some level of control, she slid her fingers into the thick, soft curls at his nape and gently tugged. With a moan, he smoothed a hand down her back to the curve of her ass and tucked her closer to his body. She rolled her hips into his, and Rafe tore his mouth from hers with a harsh curse.
“Diana, you’re addictive. I can’t stop.”
She trembled in his arms. “Then don’t.”
Diana shivered as Rafe kissed her softly before shifting her so her head was closer to the headboard. He then settled his body between her legs, tracing a path of kisses from her lips to her jaw, to the sensitive hollow between her neck and her ear. Slowly, he brushed
kisses over her belly, and Diana held her breath.
Leaning down, he breathed soft kisses on first one, then the other nipple, each responding to his caress by instantly budding into hard little peaks. Focusing his attention on one, he drew the dark bud into his mouth, taking greedy tugs while his thumb teased the other.
Diana bucked, and her back bowed as pleasure reverberated through her body.
“Yes, I need more. I can’t stop.” Rafe panted hard.
That’s when she noticed how flushed his cheeks were. He was bright red, like he’d just run a marathon.
“Are you okay? You’re all red.”
He lifted his head. “I’m not surprised. I feel like I’m on fire. You drive me crazy, you know that?”
Sure fingers slid through her lips, seeking her center. Rafe met her gaze as he found his quarry. Dark eyes, wild with lust, gazed at her, watching her reaction as his questing finger found the center of her torment.
She cried out as he gently sank into her. Rafe held perfectly still except for his questing finger, gently exploring and retreating, occasionally detouring to swirl around her clit but always returning to delve just a little deeper inside her.
“Jesus, you are so tight. So hot…” He bit his bottom lip as he sank in with two fingers and his thumb traced circles on her clit.
Molten heat spread through her body. She parted her legs to give him even better access to her folds. “Rafe…”
Instead of coaxing a response from her, he demanded one, and her body gave him what he wanted. His thigh wedged between her legs, bringing him in contact with her throbbing clit. She could feel the heat and hardness of his leg muscles and the friction he applied to her sweet spot. Her hips gave an involuntary jerk, and he gave her a satisfied grunt.
He left a trail of buzzing nerve endings in his wake as his hand traveled up her belly, then her ribs to her breast. His lips slid back over hers as his thumb skimmed the underside of her breast. Another shot of lust hit her hard, and she rocked her hips on his thigh. When he did it again, Diana threw her head back.
He trailed kisses along her jawline, then dipped his head farther to her neck. He traced a thumb over her nipple and she cried out. Moisture and heat rushed to her center, and the building need tipped her close to the edge of ecstasy. It wouldn’t take much. Just one more stroke from his deft fingers, maybe two.
“Jesus, you are so beautiful,” he whispered.
“Rafe…”
Suddenly his fingers slid away. Diana opened her eyes to find him slumped over, his eyes closed.
“Oh my God. Rafe?”
His eyes opened instantly. “Hmm?” His eyes latched on to her bare breasts and he smiled. “You’re so beautiful.”
She gasped. “What just happened? Are you sick?”
His brow furrowed. “No, I’m fine now. I took the aspirin in your purse.”
Diana’s mouth fell open as his eyes closed again. Holy shit. He’d drugged himself! Guilt assailed her as she pressed a hand against his forehead.
Well, that definitely explained his out-of-control libido tonight. But she hadn’t expected him to just conk out all of a sudden either.
As she watched him sleep, dread crept through her system. If she’d been waiting for a sign, there would never be a clearer one than this. Rafe would be out for hours.
This was her chance.
Diana gently moved over the mattress, grabbing Rafe’s shirt from the floor and pulling it over her head. Everything from her muscles to her soft center ached from the many times they’d made love. But the thing that hurt the most was her heart. Pain sliced through the beating organ. She knew she didn’t have a choice, but the thought of leaving him… of hurting him… it still pained her. What would he think? How would he feel when she left him?
Too late to worry about that. Now it’s time to move. Before he wakes up.
If she assumed he’d taken two since he thought they were aspirin, he’d be out all night. But she still couldn’t afford to waste any of that time. What if the decoder needed all that time to work?
At the threshold of the room, she looked back at his prone form on the bed. Rafe had rolled to his side, his muscular body looking like a sculpture in the soft light from the window. Her hands had been over every inch of that magnificent form, and she was still tempted to go back for more. After how insatiable he’d been, she should have been tired. But there was no such thing as too much Rafe. The man was more than a snack—he was a full buffet.
She knew how much Rafe wanted her when it was just the two of them, but add in a dose of whatever was in the pills and the effects were stratospheric.
He’d been Rafe, but he wasn’t as gentle as he usually was with her. The desperation in him was evident, in the way he’d gripped her, the grit of his teeth when he slid inside her. All night he’d been on the razor’s edge of tension. And he’d made love to her with a desperation unlike anything she’d seen or felt before.
Maybe he knew you were leaving.
A part of her liked it. Another part of her, the saner part, was worried about how much he held back. He did that for her. Oh yes, they’d made love before. And it was so intense it made her skin burn. But he’d been deliberately gentle with her before. Refusing to let go of control. Tonight there was no more control, and she realized she’d been looking for that.
Up until she’d come here, her life had been so rigid and mapped out. She liked the sense of freedom she felt with Rafe. Well, you won’t have any freedom if you stay here. Get moving.
She shoved aside her guilt and padded down the hall to her room to get dressed. With stark efficiency, she dragged on underwear, yoga pants, and a long-sleeved T-shirt, then a pair of socks.
Five minutes later, she was in his office, pushing the painting to access the safe. She placed the decoder over the keypad and turned it on.
She went back to her room and quietly started packing, checking on the decoder every fifteen minutes or so. After the first hour, she went to the kitchen and started packing food. Once she was gone, she planned to hunker down in her hotel room and figure out her next steps.
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. What if this was it? In the next hour or so, she could be holding the Jewel of the Sea in her hands. She’d spent so long dreaming about recovering her legacy that the thought of being this close was paralyzing.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The decoder might not even work.
She crept down the hallway toward the office and pushed open the door. Then she gasped.
It was finished. All she has to do was turn the handle.
You do this, there’s no going back. You don’t get to keep him. You don’t get to pretend that Diana and Rafe could have been together.
That thought kept her frozen in position for way too long. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to stay. She wanted to feel his not-so-gentle kiss on her lips. She wanted to make him lose control again, but next time without the benefit of drugs. She wanted him to be that desperate for her. The only thing he’ll feel now is desperation to catch you.
No. It was too late for all that. She’d made her bed before she ever came here. Gripping the brushed-nickel handle, she turned it down. The safe gave way with no audible sound. The door cleared to reveal a few folders, several stacks of cash and a thumb drive.
No diamond.
And instead of disappointment, Diana felt a brief flash of joy that it wasn’t there.
When her thoughts stopped swirling, she reached out and took everything out of the safe. A few bundles of cash. A stack of folders. A flash drive.
She grabbed the tiny laptop Charisse had retrieved for her. She needed to know what was on that drive.
There was just one problem. She wanted Rafe to be the man she’d gotten to know over these past few weeks, not the killer she’d been told he was. Either way, she was going to have to hurt him, and there was no way she was going to get to keep him.
chapter sixteen
She shoved the flash dr
ive inside. The command prompt told her it would take three minutes to decrypt the files, and she wasted no time.
She took the laptop back to her room and set it on the bed. Then she opened the closet to look for something to put her things in, finally settling on a small duffel bag. She’d gathered everything together, but she couldn’t very well carry it all in a shopping bag. Still, she hesitated before taking it, but she knew what she had to do. Funny that after everything she’d done to him, she paused at the thought of stealing his duffel bag.
He’s not going to care about the bag once he realizes what you’ve done. The annoying little voice in the back of her mind just wouldn’t stop pointing out the obvious.
While the files were still opening, she packed the rest of her things. She had to be ready to move. Rafe wouldn’t sleep forever, and she was already pushing it. Maybe part of her was hoping he’d wake early and stop her from leaving. He’d tell her that he didn’t care who she was or that she’d been plotting against him from the start, that he loved her anyway and they could take on the world together.
Yeah, right.
But even as she sneered at the overly sappy thought, her heart banged a mournful beat in her chest. She could deny it all she wanted, but there would always be a part of her that wished that scenario could be real. Her stomach clenched.
She should stop the pretending. He’d hate her in mere hours.
By the time she finished shoving her clothes in the bag and had swiped all her toiletries from the bathroom sink as well, the computer was done. She clicked on the program to see just what Rafe had deemed important enough to keep under lock and key.
She understood why it had taken so long. There were so many files. Names, dates, account numbers. Her mouth fell open as she accessed document after document.
Classified files.
Diana covered her mouth as she read through profiles on foreign dignitaries and notorious crime lords from around the world. These files contained everything about the person in question, including their family members and their routines. What was all this?
