“Honestly, I’d much prefer a beach. All these trees make tanning impossible.”
“Our view here is quite limited to the wilds of the jungle, but the treetops serve our purposes well. Besides, the sun is much too harsh for the delicate skin of a woman such as yourself. We wouldn’t want anything to mar this perfect flesh.”
Smirking, Marco bracketed his hands on either side of her hips. In a matter of seconds, she became trapped between the edge of the counter and his body. Shivers of revulsion scoured their way along her nerve endings as the back of his hand brushed across the dip of her collarbone. He leaned forward, his breath scraping across her cheek. Rancid bile rose to her throat as he pushed the evidence of his arousal against her belly.
“Maybe you should worry about your own skin, Se?or Fuentes,” she warned. “My Rafael is a very jealous man. I can’t promise you that it would be the only thing at risk.”
“A jealous man is an insecure man. And I don’t scare easily, mi bonita. You shouldn’t bother yourself with someone who would prefer to busy himself with business rather than the pleasure of your company.”
“And you’re that type of man?” she asked dryly.
“I’m a man of many surprises.” Marco’s hands slipped back to her hips, the bite of his fingers making her wince. “And I would love to show you all of them—starting with the way a man takes care of his woman. Properly.”
“Remove your hands. Now.” Rafe stood in the doorway, his gaze fixed on Marco like a missile targeting its drop. His hands clenched and unclenched at his side. Face hard, and eyes harder, this wasn’t Rafael the businessman. This was Rafael the commando, the highly skilled soldier with the ability to make grown men pee their pants. “I wasn’t kidding earlier about losing voluntary movement, Junior. If I have to move your hands for you, you’ll regret it.”
The younger Fuentes smiled as he turned unashamedly in Rafe’s direction. The second he dropped his arms, Penny skirted past and let Rafe tuck her at his back.
“I’m okay,” she muttered.
“Well, I’m not,” he returned softly before focusing his attention back on Marco. “You don’t like that I’m here, and I don’t really give a flying fuck. But while I’m working with your uncle, you damn well better keep your hands to yourself or you’ll have to learn how to jack off with stumps.”
Marco stepped forward until he was only inches away from Rafe’s face. “You. Cannot. Threaten. Me!”
“I didn’t threaten. I promised. And once I make a promise, I keep it no matter the cost. Learn your place before I show you one you’re not likely to enjoy.”
Marco ran a predatory glance over Penny’s body. “You can hardly fault a man for enjoying the artwork when you thrust him in front of a masterpiece. I wonder if she fucks as good as she looks. Perhaps you’d care to share, Rafael?”
Penny grabbed Rafe’s arm just as he was about to lunge. “No. It’s not worth it.”
Marco chuckled, turning from the room. Before he left, he flashed Penny a brazen wink that nearly had her releasing her hold on Rafe and telling him to go to town. “I look forward to our next meeting, mi bonita. Perhaps I’ll be able to show you I’m a man of my word as well.”
Tension poured through the kitchen even in Marco’s absence. Penny let out a trembling breath. “Would it be terribly unprofessional of me to wish I could break his nose a second time?”
She slipped in front of Rafe, who’d gone eerily still. His jaw flexed wildly with the hint of barely controlled anger.
“Hey. It’s okay.” She soothingly stroked the hard lines of his jaw and mouth, and when that didn’t work, she stood on tiptoe and covered his face in feather-soft kisses. “Tone down the caveman. I’m okay. See?” She unclenched his fists and brought them to her cheeks. “You need to breathe and focus, because I’m pretty sure we’ve gone over how much I need you right now.”
“He touched you.”
“Yeah, he did,” she said carefully. “But it’s nothing a hot shower won’t cure, okay? Promise.”
Rafe blinked. Once. Twice. And then he pulled her into a kiss, his hands holding her snugly against the front of his body as if trying to erase every bit of revulsion Marco’s touch had conjured. It worked. It wasn’t long before her whole body hummed pleasantly, Marco almost entirely forgotten.
“I can’t stand the thought of him touching you…not even a strand of fucking hair,” Rafe growled softly against her lips. Throat convulsing in hard swallows, he pulled back and studied her carefully as his hands continued their soft, caressing journey over her body. “Please tell me he didn’t—”
“I’m okay, Rafe. Promise. But…”
“But?” His worried gaze snapped to hers.
“If you’re worried about my fragile sensibilities, why don’t you take me back to our room and help me shower off all this sun block? It’s probably going to take a few good rounds—at least two if not more. I’m a redhead after all. I put on a lot.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN