“That...” She took two breaths and whispered shakily, “That almost did it for me right there.”
Looking very tender, he pressed a sweet kiss to her parted lips. “Let me see if I can improve on it.” Still watching her, he began a slow, deep rhythm, pressing deep, almost leaving her, then driving in again. With each heavy thrust, the pleasure ratcheted up.
Yup, even better.
Curling her legs around his waist, Cat held on, unable to do much more than welcome the expanding need. In this new position, each glide of his body both filled her and stroked her clitoris until, without warning, the waves of sensation spiraled through her.
She cried out, closed her eyes against the intensity and just held on to him. Seconds later he pressed his face to her neck and groaned out his own release, his body shuddering, heat pouring off him.
As the fog slowly receded, Leese went to move to her side.
Cat hugged him, wanting him to stay over her, unwilling to give up the connection. Her body still pulsed and throbbed and a very sweet ache remained in her heart.
God, she loved him so much. She’d been drawn to him the moment she met him and the emotion grew thicker every day until it almost consumed her. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t known him long, she knew everything important. From the start, even with questions unanswered, he’d protected her. He not only believed in her, he gave her blind faith, trusting that she told the truth without pushing her for more than she was willing to share.
She’d already spent more meaningful time with Leese than she would have with anyone else she’d been dating for a month.
With an obvious effort, Leese shifted, coming up on his forearms at either side of her face. He looked mellow, his dark hair over his brow, his face relaxed in a way she’d never seen before.
His gaze searched hers.
Lazily, he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, then bent to sweetly kiss her. Against her lips, he whispered, “I’m glad I brought your lockbox.”
Immediately, Cat turned her head away to protest.
But he didn’t give her a chance. “I only have one more condom, and I can’t see sending Enoch out for more.”
“Absolutely not!”
“And since I’m not leaving you today, we’re going to need your supply.”
“Oh.” So he wasn’t talking about the vibrator, but about condoms. How many times did he plan to have sex? “Okay, then.”
“Love it when you’re agreeable.” He kissed her neck, his tongue soft and hot against her pulse point. “What do you say we go get something to eat first?”
That worked for her. “Sure.”
“Then we can shower together.”
Better and better. She nodded agreement.
“Tomorrow,” he promised, “I’ll go out for more rubbers. A couple of boxes at least.”
Her toes curled. “Sounds good.”
“After all the teasing you’ve done, you and I are going to make up for lost time.”
She smiled, but at the same time her heart broke a little. Forget lost time, she needed to make memories for the future—just in case this special time with him was all she’d ever have.
*
“THE CURTAINS ARE never opened on the top floor.”
Tesh paced as he talked on the phone. That probably meant Catalina was in there. His mind jumped ahead, formulating possible ways to get her out of the Body Armor offices. That place was like a fortress. Maybe he could call in a bomb threat, then everyone would have to evacuate. Once he had her out in the open...
Unfortunately, during a time of chaos like that, she’d likely be circled by every damn bodyguard in the building. Fuck.
The low-level lackey who he’d recruited spoke again, interrupting his internal rage. “The windows are always dark on the two floors below that too.”
Running a hand over his head, Tesh tried to reason through possibilities. Maybe those floors were just empty. He’d need to get the blueprints of the building, see if those floors were set up as offices or storage space or...whatever.
Since her brother had passed away, Sahara Silver had taken over, restructuring everything. It was possible there’d been a loss in business. Maybe she’d had to cut back. If so, that could explain the empty floors.
But maybe his little Catalina was inside, held prisoner by her own fears, fears that he’d play on, use to his advantage, fears that he’d nourish to make her his in every way.
Fears, he knew, that were well warranted.
As usual, when he thought of Catalina, his heart beat harder, slower. Soon he’d have her—and he wouldn’t let anyone take her from him.
*
BECAUSE OF A steadily falling sleet, Sahara held Justice’s arm—more like a tree trunk—on the slippery walk to the car. It was late, nearing 9:00 p.m., thanks to the lead she’d followed on the web. Sometimes tearing herself away from her work was harder than the work itself.
It was only knowing that Justice waited for her that convinced her to call it a night.
Her high heels were rarely a problem; she could run across snow-covered gravel in them without a single slip. But ice? It wouldn’t matter if she wore athletic shoes, she would still welcome a supporting arm.
“You’ve kept a lot of late nights,” Justice observed.
Which meant he, too, had suffered the same.
Over the past three days, she’d checked in with Leese on the progress each of them had made in their research. It wasn’t easy to talk privately with him when he and Catalina shared such close quarters. Generally she’d wait until they were leaving the gym so she could catch him while Catalina showered.
At first she’d been mildly irked about the breach of professionalism. But alas, she was a romantic at heart. While neither of them had mentioned love to her, even a blind man could tell that their relationship was beyond casual.
Sahara was far from blind.
The way the two of them clicked was actually heartwarming to see, and though she might be a barracuda in the business world, she was still a woman, and she enjoyed witnessing true affection.
So it was taboo. So what?
She ran the business and she could break any rules she wanted. Since she didn’t want to lose Leese as her number one agent, and since Catalina clearly wouldn’t be issuing any complaints about the familiarity, what could it hurt?
Now if only Catalina would come clean on the rest of the details. But she remained too wary to openly trust.
So far, without Cat’s knowledge, Sahara and Leese had narrowed down Webb Nicholson’s most likely cohorts to three men, two of them in politics. Before either of them said anything to anyone else, they needed more facts. Any accusations that couldn’t be proven would result in disastrous lawsuits that could cripple the company.
She couldn’t risk that.
Her PI was one of only a handful of people she trusted. Leese and, amazingly, Justice, were two others.
“Have you minded being my bodyguard?” Sahara asked.
Because he’d been too quiet, his gaze going everywhere around the lot, her question took him by surprise. “Why would I mind?”