The Monte Carlo Affair: Across A Crowded Room (IATO Series Book 2) (7 page)

He sniffed his trembling fingers, the ones he had buried inside her folds moments before. “You smell delicious.” He licked the moisture from his fingers and groaned. “Let me kiss you, taste you, bring you to orgasm with my mouth.”

Emily let her gaze drop and flushed. She licked her parched lips, trying to drag moisture into her mouth, air to her lungs. Her internal temperature stoked up to critical, and she understood why Jason considered this man dangerous. Because, dammit, she wanted him to taste her. All she could think about were the years she’d suffered seeing Jason with other women—the torture of imagining his hands on them, his mouth, his body inside them, bringing them to orgasm—and not her.

A pulse beat inside the juncture between her legs, and the pressure building deep within her was one that Mosel could satisfy. She felt his need jerking against her mound, prodding her to allow him access, anxious for entrance. He needed satisfaction and so did she. It had been so long.

Something primal inside her wanted to accommodate him—satisfy all his desires—satisfy the itch she knew he could deftly scratch. As his mouth traced down her abdomen, he lifted her skirt, exposing her hips to his view. He moved the skirt of the dress higher, crumbling the thin material and licking his way between her legs.

I’m going to stop this. I am. Soon. Oh, God. In a minute. One more minu...

His hand splayed under her hips, lifting her, giving him better access for his mouth. His tongue danced over her folds, and his teeth pulled at the string of her thong, creating more tension. She placed her hands on either side of his head to move him away, but instead lifted to his lips as his tongue slipped inside her.

Oh, yes. Oh, no.
Oh hell, she was coming, and she’d be damned if she could stop herself now. Mosel was devouring her like a gourmet meal and making it sound that way, too. He moaned and groaned and encouraged her every response, bringing on the second climax and her scream of satisfaction as he tweaked her nipple and drove his tongue deep. She shuddered and the spasms inside her didn’t stop even when he stopped licking the nub at the top of her entrance.

Jason will be going nuts if he’s watching.
The thought had more juice gushing from between her folds.

“You’re so hot, so wet. I need to be inside you.”

Mosel kissed his way back to her mouth, and she tasted herself on his tongue. He nuzzled her neck, whispering a concoction of French and German sweet nothings in her ear. “You taste as sweet as you are. So good. You smell so feminine, so sexy.” He took her hand and placed it on his cock. “See what you do to me. Feel how much I want you. I can’t think straight.”

She loved and hated her response. But more than anything, she loved discovering the power she could wield over a man with her body, turning this strong, virile man into a diminished, desperate mortal who desired what she could provide. Only she could bring him immediate satisfaction, and for now, that heady feeling, knowing she could reduce him to this quivering mass of rock hard need, intrigued her.

She smelled the scent of her arousal in the air, the atmosphere wrought with sexual tension.

“Emily, I want you.” He slipped two fingers inside her, waiting for her response.

She couldn’t. Not that. All she could see in her mind was the image of Jason looming over her with his dark hair and blue eyes boring into hers as he stretched her and plunged inside her for the first time. The scene morphed into the moment Jason turned away and left, and the next scene was Jason with a blonde, a redhead, a brunette. One, then another guy from work, straining and panting out their own orgasms as she collapsed unsatisfied. No more, no more.

Then she heard the foil of the condom rip.

The hell with them all. This wasn’t about Jason, or Mosel, or the two other selfish bastards she’d slept with, tonight she needed this for her.
In for a penny...

Mosel’s cock poised at her entrance just as the fireworks exploded overhead. She glanced up for a brief moment and watched as a flare of light came toward the yacht, falling, falling...

And before Mosel thrust inside her, it hit the yacht.

Chapter Six

Jason’s gut clenched when he saw the explosion in the west cove. It had to be Mosel’s yacht. That’s where they were reported. A scary moment of déjà vu blasted through him. He kicked up the engine into high gear, searching the inner coves for signs of Mosel’s vessel until he spotted the flames behind the rise of rock blocking the actual wreckage. He shut down the motor to listen.

He shook, the fear almost consuming him as he approached the burning debris. When he couldn’t find any sign of Emily or Mosel on the larger remains of the wreckage, utter remorse and niggling hope battled for position in his mind.

She’s a great swimmer. If she’s conscious she’ll be able to at least stay afloat for a while.

He checked his watch. How long had it been?
Not long.
He searched with the light. He encircled the wreckage in wider and wider loops. Hoping. Praying. Damn, he needed help. The team was on their way.

* * * *

When the yacht exploded, the impact blew their bodies apart and tossed them both overboard. Emily felt the force of the water knock the wind from her lungs as she hit. The light from the explosion directed her as she struggled to the surface. The yacht was in flames, what little there was left of it, and she didn’t see Mosel anywhere as she frantically searched the surface. She dove under the water, hoping the fires above would provide enough light as she hunted for him.

After a couple of dives, she desperately rescanned the surface. She caught sight of a mass drifting several feet from the burning debris. Emily worried how safe it would be to venture closer to the yacht, but she couldn’t leave Mosel. He floated face up on a small piece of the deck.

Stroking smoothly, she reached him and noticed his breathing was shallow and irregular, and he was unresponsive to her voice. The responsibility to get them both away from the burning ship fell to her. Emily grabbed him beneath his arms and swam purposefully away from the wreckage.

He was too heavy.
His shorts were wrapped around his legs.
His clothes were dragging them down.

Emily gauged the distance to shore and figured it looked questionable in their present condition. She paused, felt the bump on the back of her head. Warm, wet, and sticky. Blood. She wasn’t sure how much she’d lost, but she knew she couldn’t afford blood loss and the strain of dragging Mosel too. Hell, were there sharks in this part of the Mediterranean? Where weren’t there sharks?

Her dress had ripped off her with the impact of the explosion, but she still had on the cute sandals she bought earlier in town. It broke her heart to kick them free, but her life and Mosel’s would depend on her strength and ability to get them to shore. She treaded water, holding him afloat as she struggled, removing his shorts and shoes to lighten the load. She used his shirt to hold him afloat.

If she hadn’t been consumed with getting them to safety, she would have had time to wonder about what caused the explosion. Keeping herself focused, Emily instinctively stroked, stroked, stroked while she recalled the flash of the incoming blaze from the fireworks. An unexploded rocket couldn’t be capable of that much damage, but she wasn’t a munitions expert.

She kept swimming toward the coast. “Stay alive, Mosel.” She hoped she’d have the strength to get them to shore. The rocks in the cove looked ominous with the waves breaking against them. Too bad he hadn’t chosen a more hospitable spot to seduce her.

Damn, I know Jason and the team were supposed to be observing from somewhere. They’ve had plenty of time to find us, and that explosion should have been more effective than a dozen flares.

“Jason, Jason,” she called, then cursed herself for forgetting about Mosel. Thankfully, he couldn’t hear her calling for Jason. The man remained unconscious. Her secret was still safe.

Her arms ached and her lungs burned. Just when she thought she couldn’t stay afloat a minute longer, she thought she heard the hum of an outboard motor somewhere off in the black distance. It sounded like it was coming closer, or maybe it was wishful thinking. Then she swore she heard her name being called.

“Emily, dammit, Emily, where are you?” It was Jason’s voice, the panic in his tone obvious.

* * * *

“Here, Jason. We’re over here.”

She knew he couldn’t hear her clearly enough yet, not over the engine and the distance. Not enough to determine where the sound had come from. When he turned off the engine, she shouted again.

He pointed the large probe light and slashed it through the dark repeatedly, covering every inch of water, and then he stopped on them.

“Don’t move.” He dropped the light and restarted the engine, blindly heading in her direction, slowly. Suddenly, the light hit the water again, and the boat came up alongside Emily.

He circled around to her and only then realized she held Mosel’s unconscious body afloat. “Shit!” Jason reached down to grab her.

“Thanks, but would you mind taking him first?” Emily reminded him.

“Of course, you’d be concerned about
him
first.”

Relieved of Mosel’s weight, she inhaled, catching her breath.

Jason had Mosel half in the boat, when he stopped. “What the hell?” Mosel was naked from the waist down. Jason roughly threw the unconscious man’s body into the boat and glared at Emily as he reached down to help her up to safety.

Jason’s lips were moving, but no sound escaped. As her body emerged from the water, she felt the waves of anger roll off him when he saw what she wasn’t wearing. She assumed her intact t-back was little consolation for her otherwise naked state.

She saw the moment understanding hit Jason and anger roiled. “You better have a damn good explanation.” His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Every muscle in his body was taut with tension, anger. He was furious.

She wasn’t sure what to do first, cover herself or Mosel. Thank goodness Jason saved her from having to make too many decisions. While she tried to catch her breath and spit water out at the same time, he ripped his own shirt off and threw it at her.

“Put that on.” He wouldn’t look at her.

She put it on quickly and crawled to Mosel, turned him over, and started administering CPR. It wasn’t long before he coughed up seawater and started breathing regularly. The bump on his head would have him confused for a while. None of the scrapes and bruises looked too serious.

* * * *

Jason glanced over his shoulder at her efforts. A brief thought flitted in and out of his head before he growled at her. “That’s not necessary, because if he survives, I’ll have to kill him, anyway.”

He picked up the radio and directed the team to their location. He needed help. But first, he had to find pants or something for Mosel.

Jason rummaged through the hatch until he came up with a blanket that he could throw over the bastard. He’d watched as Emily’s mouth covered the other man’s, jealousy biting into his gut, and then he saw the blood. Hers. His knees went weak. Pulling himself together, he went for the first aid kit.

He couldn’t let anything happen to her, no matter what.

Jason took out the first aid box, fussing about as he rummaged through it. He had the radio on, talking to Harrison while he applied pressure to the cut on her head. It was still bleeding, but not like it had been when the team arrived. As soon as Harrison boarded, she passed out.

A half hour later at the hospital, Emily was whisked away for X-rays. Jason decided to stay away from her at the clinic. Staying in character required a great deal of effort on his part, especially under the circumstances. He was torn between worry and wanting to kill her. There was no doubt, as soon as Mosel was well enough to stand, he was going to definitely kill him.

* * * *

The hospital sounds confirmed her location. Jason’s accusing eyes still haunted her. She didn’t care what he thought.
Nothing happened.
Well, almost nothing happened.
And what if it had? He’d already thrown her away once.
Thank goodness the yacht blew up when it did.
His anger stabbed into her as if she could read his mind. She was too tired to argue with him over this tonight, and her head hurt like the dickens. She closed her eyes and let the blackness take over.

Emily woke up in time to see Jason present his charming,
yes I’m as fantastic as I look
smile to a very young attractive nurse, right before he looked up and met Emily's eyes watching his performance. The sneer he flashed at her was instantly there and gone. He’d concealed his true feelings so fast no one else would have noticed. But she caught it.

“Hey, there you are, fine, just as they said.” Jason smiled broadly at her. “I’m relieved to see you’re doing well.”

“How’s Mosel?” Emily couldn’t resist aggravating him. “He looked so pale when I last saw him.”

He bent in to kiss her cheek. “Maybe that’s because his ass was naked,” he growled under his breath. Jason’s brow furrowed and his lip curled just a little when he stepped back and answered civilly, “I just came from him. You’ll be delighted to know he’s doing fine. Just a bump on the head, a few scratches. Nothing a few days here won’t fix.”

“That’s good,” she commented and put her hand to her own head. “I guess we’ll both have a headache for a day or two. Do they know what caused the explosion?”

“No.” He shook his head. “The authorities are going to need some answers tomorrow.” He dropped his voice so only she could hear the rest, “And so will I.”

“I don’t know what I can tell them or you.” She decided that would be all she would say to his whispered challenge. “It looked like a rocket from the fireworks display came right at the boat and exploded.”

His voice dropped to a quiet whisper again as he bent to her ear. “We all know that yacht wasn’t blown up with a bottle rocket.” He kissed her forehead and walked out as the nurse came in.

“You can go home in a couple of hours. Monsieur DesJardin has made the arrangements. Someone will stay with you overnight.” The woman had the nerve to sound a little disappointed.

Emily guessed the man couldn’t help himself. Jason was a chick magnet, always had been.

He’d acted jealous. Ha! She could only hope. Her lips curved, remembering his earlier expression, and something that felt a lot like satisfaction, maybe even revenge, spread through her.

How does it feel?
Her smile broadened. She wanted to throw his jealousy back in his face. After all these years, despite her aching head and body, it was satisfying being on the other end of jealousy.

* * * *

Two days later, while Emily dressed, Jason asked, “Do you feel well enough to go in to work today?”

Since the first night after the incident, he’d been staying to keep an eye on her. She wasn’t sure what excuse he was using for yesterday and today. The doctor said to watch her for twenty-four hours. She had a mild concussion, but it just felt like a bad headache.

“Sure, I have a few things I have to do anyway before I leave town.”

“Good. Here, take your antibiotic. The cut on your head still looks inflamed.”

He handed her the prescription bottle, opening for her. She took the pills he handed her, looking around for her glass of water.

“What’s the rush with the chip? You can’t make the exchange until the night of the Charity Ball.”

“I’d like you to do the forgery at the complex while Mosel’s still laid up. He’s scheduled to get released tomorrow. Take those,” he said, referring to the pills.

“Water?” she said.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll get it.” He went to the sink and filled a glass.

She took the glass when he handed it to her, then the two pills before she asked, “What’s the deal with Mosel?”

“When he comes back I have a feeling he’s not going to want you working much after that incident.”

“But that’s ridiculous—”

“Men are strange about endangering women they feel strongly about, and I’m betting he’ll blame himself. Besides he’s going to go all macho after he finds out you rescued his ass.”

“Jason, you rescued his ass and mine.”

“That’s a technicality I won’t let him forget, but in theory, you—the petite woman—pulled him from the burning debris and treaded water keeping him afloat until help arrived. He’ll be all over you.”

“Oh, please, I’ve always been a strong swimmer.” She finished putting her shoes on and brushed through her hair. There was no hope for it, so she clipped it up.

“I know that and you know that, but I’ll feel better if he isn’t fawning all over you while you’re trying to do this part of the job.”

“Okay, then let’s go. I’m ready.”

“The explosion looks like it worked right into our hands. We may not get another clear shot at this after today.”

“Do you have any idea what happened?” Emily was sure it was some sort of intentional explosive.

“No, but if it interrupted what I think was happening, then I’m grateful. Sorry I didn’t think of it myself.” He held up his hand to stop her from arguing. “And I don’t want to talk about it.” His jaw tensed and his fist clenched on the glass of water she handed back to him.