Falling With Grace

“Grace,” my lip curled as I advanced, approaching her like a skittish wild creature. “I made it clear I’d send you home the moment you disclosed his whereabouts.”

She turned her side to me with another rueful shake. Her lashes fluttered as though a thought flitted through them. “Would you care if I died?” she whispered. Her gaze clashed with mine like a hammer on hot iron. “Because no one cares aboutthemexcept me.”

Heat surged through my body in raging ripples. “Yes,” I admitted. My lips dried, and I licked them. “But…”

Her brows raised, and her breaths faltered.

Had no one told her she meant something to them?

Grace’s eyes widened as she stepped into me, her lips crashing into mine.

Fire prickled down my spine, pooling in my groin as I wrapped my arm around her, fingers threading through soaked tendrils, water dripping down my brow. Our tongues danced in a fervent exchange, bodies pressing together, sealing a moment destined to linger in the recesses of my consciousness.

Whatwas this?

I deepened the kiss, a rush of desire flooding me like a rising tide.

A low groan escaped her as she nipped at my lip, a metallic hint spreading across my tongue.

Shit.

I pulled away. “Wait. Wait.”

Horror crept into her glassy emerald eyes, her hand covering her mouth as she drew in small, hurried breaths. “I’m sorry. I…” She retreated, letting the towel and blankets fall to the ground, her cheeks as red as her plush, swollen lips. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

“No, Grace…” I reached for her as she brushed her fingertips over her mouth.

“It… it won’t happen again.”

Her darkened, peaked nipples pressed against the now translucent white nightgown as she rushed through the double doors, a pang gripping my chest.

Shit.

I seized a towel and rubbed it over my drenched clothes as I made my way inside, her bedroom door closing with a resonating thud.

“Is this the strategy you were talking about?” Javier placed his phone on the table and folded his hands across his stomach. He kicked back in his seat, his feet propped on the table.

“It’s nothing.”

“That didn’t look like nothing.”

“I’m going to change. See that they’re quieter when bringing out that body.”

He nodded, and I darted into my room. Stripping off my clothes, I slid into a pair of comfortable jeans and donned a simple black T-shirt.

What the hell was she thinking?

What the hell wasIthinking?

My cock swelled, her lips imprinted on mine, her taste resting on my tongue.

Two steps forward and three steps back.

With clenched teeth and aching jaw, I stopped before Javier, his feet kicked up on the center table, an exhaustive expression.

“Carter’s in Mexico. It’ll take a few hours to bring him to the warehouse.”

The perfect distraction…