Daddy Devastating (17 page)

She stopped him with a kiss, and it was a doozie. Julia thrust her body against his, pushing him back against the door. She didn’t stop there. She curved her arm around his neck and tightened the embrace.

The need shot through him, consuming him, and Russ figured he only had one more try before both Julia and he were beyond stopping.

He pulled back and held her in place, so that she couldn’t go back for round three. “You don’t know me that well—”

“I know you.” And she brushed against him and nearly caused his eyes to cross.

Best just to cut to the chase. “Think this through. This is sex, Julia.”

She gave a crisp nod. “Good.”

Russ groaned. “Sex that you’ve never had before. And I don’t have a condom.”

That stopped her all right. She stared at him and blinked. “I’m on the pill to regulate my periods. But I’m pretty sure that covers sex.”

“Physically, maybe. But how about emotionally?”

“You want to talk about feelings?” she asked, but she didn’t wait for his answer. “Well, here’s what I feel. I want you. I’ve never wanted a man as much as I want you. Now, is that enough for you?”

Hell. It had to be enough, even if he had doubts. There was no way he could turn away from her. Still, sex against the door probably wasn’t the way to go here. So he kissed her until she was gasping for breath, scooped her up and headed for the bedroom.

She lit some more fires along the way by kissing his neck and touching his chest. By the time he eased her onto the mattress, he was primed and ready. But Russ forced himself to slow down.

He grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and pinned them to the bed so she couldn’t do any more of those maddening caresses. He kissed her again, letting the slow heat slide right through them. It was enough for a moment, but she soon began lifting her hips to meet his.

To hell with slow. It was a lost cause anyway.

Russ unbuttoned her dress and went after her breasts. He already knew how that particular part of her tasted, but he had seconds. And thirds. He kissed every inch of her and then took her right nipple into his mouth.

Julia didn’t say anything coherent, and she ground herself against him to let him know what she wanted.
Him.
She wiggled one of her hands out of his grip and pulled up her dress until it was at her waist. She tried to lower his zipper, too, but he was huge and hard, and that didn’t make her task easy. Plus, all that groping against his erection wasn’t doing much for his willpower.

“Can you cut the foreplay?” she asked, hooking her fingers onto her panties and pulling them off. “I’ve waited long enough.”

Russ couldn’t argue with that. Hell, his body would have laughed at him if he’d tried. So he just took what Julia was offering him. Later, he’d deal with the emotional aftermath, and he was pretty sure there’d be one.

He didn’t take off his pants, because every second suddenly seemed to matter. Everything was racing. His heart. Julia’s caresses. The needy kisses and urgent whispers. He got his jeans unzipped—how he managed that, he didn’t know—but it was Julia who took his sex from his shorts.

She guided him to her and lifted her hips. Russ tried to hold back, but she would have no part of gentleness. She wrapped her legs around him and thrust him forward, so that he slid right into her.

There was a flash of pain on her face. Russ cursed and tried to pull out. But she wouldn’t have any part of that, either.

“Finish,” she insisted.

As if he could have done anything else.

Russ moved inside her, keeping the strokes easy and slow. At first, anyway. Julia soon picked up the pace, and Russ put his hand between their sweat-slick bodies, so he could touch the sensitive flesh at the top of her sex.

He got the reaction he wanted. Julia tossed back her head and dug her fingernails into his back. Russ kept moving. Kept touching. And he watched her face.

Her eyes widened, and her expression said it all.
Ahhh. So that’s what all the fuss is about.

She came in a flash, her body pulling him deeper into hers. The sound of his name repeated on her lips.

She wound her arms and legs tighter around him, and for a moment, Russ got so caught up in watching her that he almost forgot that he was on the receiving end of this, too. Julia’s climax was what pulled him back. That, and that look on her face. That look was something he would remember for the rest of his life.

Russ buried his face against her neck and let Julia do the rest.

Chapter Fourteen

Russ was naked right in front of her. He probably didn’t know that this, too, was a first for her. She was only an arm’s length away from a hot man with no clothes.

How much her life had changed in such a short time. Here, she’d come to this small Texas town to find Emily’s father and had also found the man of her dreams. Well, almost.

Russ was rough around the edges, and perhaps a little dangerous, but he had a way of making her remember that she alive. Like now, for instance.

She idly thumbed one of the iridescent bubbles in her bath. The water was warm and perfect. It soothed what little soreness she had from making love with Russ. And his naked body made her all hot again.

After they’d napped and had eaten the food an agent delivered, Russ had undressed to join her in the large tub, but then he’d gotten a call, an update about the investigation. It was because of that call she’d gotten the nice view of seeing him pace across the bathroom.

He certainly had some interesting parts.

“Yeah, I got that,” he said to the caller. He sandwiched the phone between his ear and shoulder while he wrote down something on a piece of paper. He folded the paper and placed it on top of his gun, which was on the vanity.

“Good news,” Russ said to her, when he ended the call. “Toby did the decoy departure, so it’ll look as if we’ve left the hotel. I have the number for the account, and the money is in place. We should have the Richardson boy back in…” he checked his watch, “…about twelve hours.”

That meant it was around 9:00 p.m. She should be exhausted, what with the adrenaline-spiked day she’d had, and the little sleep the night before, but her body was humming.

“What about the man Toby took away?” she asked.

“He’s at the FBI’s regional office. Don’t worry, he won’t be leaving. He’ll be charged with a long list of crimes.”

Russ frowned, as if he regretted bringing up the attack, so Julia decided to make him forget all about it—something she was trying hard to do. So she smiled and popped more of the bubbles around her breasts so that she could flash him.

Still, it was a paltry effort, considering that Russ was buck naked.

He chuckled, a sound all smoky and thick, and he practically jumped into the tub. The water and the bubbles splashed all over them and the tiled floor. He scooped her up, and she had the pleasure of kissing a soapy, slick, smiling man.

So this was what it was like to have an intimate partner. No wonder people were so anxious to fall in love.

Julia froze at that thought.

Russ noticed, because he pulled back and stared at her. “Everything okay?” he asked.

She wanted to curse herself for ruining the moment. She might not get many of these, and she’d wanted to savor every one.

“Everything’s fine,” she assured him, and was surprised that it was as true as it had been for her in years. Strange, considering that, hours earlier, someone had tried to kidnap her. Before that, someone had fired shots at her. Yet, here she was, panic free. And aroused.

She leaned in and took pleasure in a long, slow taste of Russ’s mouth. A taste cut way too short because Russ’s phone rang.

He cursed but got up from the water, the suds streaming off his rock-hard body. Julia knew he couldn’t just ignore the call, because it might be related to the investigation, but she hoped it wouldn’t take him too long to handle whatever it was.

Russ grabbed a towel, wound it around his waist and grabbed his phone. He glanced at the screen and frowned.

“Yes?” Russ said. A moment later, he added, “Silas?”

That grabbed her attention, and Julia sat up so she could listen. Thankfully, Russ put it on speaker while he dried off.

“Someone tried to kill me,” Silas insisted. His words were rushed, and his voice was anxious.

“Where are you?” Russ ignored the bombshell Silas had just delivered.

“I’m here, at the service entrance to the hotel. Russ, you have to let me in.”

Sweet heaven,
Julia thought.
What else could go wrong?
But she immediately rethought that. Silas might not be telling the truth. Obviously, Russ had his doubts, too. After all, the man had gone missing only minutes after someone had fired those shots in the park, and Silas was implicated again in the ruse shooting.

“What hotel?” Russ questioned.

“The Wainwright, of course, where Julia and you are staying.”

Russ’s jaw tightened. “Who says we’re still there?”

“I paid one of the maids to check. I paid her to use her phone, too, because I lost mine when I was chasing the shooter at the park. You have to let me in, Russ. I’m hurt, and I need some help.”

“Hurt how?” Russ asked.

Russ continued to dry off and then reached for his clothes. Since Russ might have to leave the room to help Silas, Julia got out of the tub so she could dress as well. So much for her humming body and those extra kisses she’d been anticipating.

“I can’t get into that now,” Silas insisted. “Didn’t you hear me? Someone tried to kill me.”

“I heard. The problem is, I’m not sure I believe you.”

“What?” Silas howled. “But you have to believe me. I’m your partner, Russ.”

Russ groaned. He was obviously torn between whether he should help Silas or not. “I know who you say you are.” Russ let that hang between them for several seconds. “What happened to you? Why did you disappear from the park?”

Silas cursed. “I was in pursuit of the shooter when someone came up from behind me and hit me with a stun gun. I lost consciousness, and when I came to, I was tied up in the backseat of a car. The driver took me out into the sticks and dumped me.”

Russ pulled on his jeans and zipped them. He also stuffed the folded piece of paper in his front pocket. “Describe the guy.”

“Dark brown hair. Green eyes.” Silas didn’t hesitate, and Julia immediately realized that was a similar description to the man who’d attacked her.

Still, it didn’t mean Silas was innocent. Maybe her attacker and Silas were working together.

“You have to let me in,” Silas repeated.

Russ shook his head and finished dressing. “No, I don’t. And I won’t. I can’t risk putting Julia in any more danger. Besides, we’re not at the Wainwright. The maid you paid off was mistaken.”

“Julia?” Silas spat out. “You won’t help me because of her? You’re putting her ahead of me?”

“Absolutely,” Russ said, not hesitating. “I know she’s innocent, but I’m not so sure about you. And until I’m sure, here’s what I want you to do. Call Toby.”

“I don’t have his number. Hell, I don’t have anyone’s number, because I’m not using my own phone. Yours was the only number I remembered. That’s why I called you. That, and because I was sure you’d help.”

Russ’s jaw muscles continued to stir, and he rattled off some numbers to Silas. “That’s Toby’s cell. Tell him where you are and he’ll come and get you immediately. He won’t be alone,” Russ warned.

“So Toby suspects me, too?” Silas asked. In addition to the anxiety, now there was anger.

“It’s just a precaution,” Russ explained. “If you’re innocent, then I’ll owe you a huge apology.” He paused. “How bad are you hurt?”

“I’ll live.” Silas mumbled something she couldn’t understand, but it was clear that the man wasn’t happy about Russ’s decision. “It’s just a broken arm. It happened when my kidnapper dumped me from the car.”

“Any idea why the guy didn’t just kill you?” Russ asked.

Silas hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe he kept me alive so I’d look guilty. But I’m not.”

“I hope you’re right. Call Toby,” Russ told him, and he gave Silas the number again before he hung up.

“Could Silas be telling the truth?” Julia immediately asked. She hurriedly put on her dress and finger-combed her wet hair.

“I hope to hell he is. But I don’t like that he’s here at the hotel. At the very least, it’s suspicious. But it could be far worse than that. We need to leave.”

That sent her heart racing. “Right now? With Silas still nearby? Remember, you tried to convince him that we were at another hotel. If we try to leave, he might see us.”

“We won’t leave until I’m sure Silas has contacted Toby.” Russ shoved his gun into the slide holster of his jeans. “We’ll give Toby a couple of minutes to respond, and once he has Silas away from here and on the way to the hospital, then we’ll use the unmarked car in the parking lot to leave.”

Julia thought through all those steps they’d have to take. “Will we be safe?”

He looked at her and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “Safer than we will be here. I don’t think Silas believed we were anywhere other than at the Wainwright. And if Silas is working for Milo, then this could be the start of another attempt to kidnap you.”

That made the danger crystal clear. Milo could still want to use her as leverage, so that Russ would fully cooperate at the meeting. She would be Milo’s insurance policy. And his hostage.

Julia nodded and slipped into her shoes. “Just let me grab my purse and we can go.”

With Russ right behind her, Julia hurried to the bedroom, but she only took a few steps, when the lights went out, plunging the room into total darkness.

R
USS DREW HIS GUN,
because he didn’t believe this was a coincidence. Only a few minutes after he’d refused to help Silas, the power had gone out in the hotel. Either Silas was responsible, or Milo just wanted to make the agent look guilty. There wasn’t time to figure out which.

Russ took out his phone. Thank God for the backlit keypad, because his eyes hadn’t had time to adjust to the darkness. The drapes were all closed, and it was possible the street lights would help illuminate the room; but he didn’t want to take the risk of someone watching for him to open the curtains.