Intimate Enemies (5 page)

“It’s not too bad, but it’s dirty.” His voice was near her ear, and either the sound of it or the heat of it raised gooseflesh along her neck. “Sorry I scared you.”

She turned her head and found her mouth just an inch from his ear. A perfectly shaped ear. One with a curl of wet black hair arcing over the upper curve. She should pull away, go inside where she was safe. Instead, she reached up and pushed the curl behind his ear with one finger. Let her touch slide down the side of his face before her hand drifted away.

He froze. His gaze darted toward her, then back to her arm. “And, I’m sorry about…earlier too. I wasn’t expecting anyone and—”

“I’ve thought of you…since the funerals.” The words just came out. “I would have…you know…called, but I realized later that I didn’t know who you were.”

Rio’s jaw muscles tightened beneath tanned skin and dark stubble. She wanted to lay her lips there so badly. Almost did. Then his eyes slid closed, and Cassie found herself staring at the length of his lashes, the beautiful curve of them against his cheekbone, amazed by the way the sight of them heated and softened her heart at the same time.

“Me too,” he said, voice low, rough. His eyes opened, but instead of looking at her, he focused on the sand. “Thought of you, I mean. But I didn’t think it was…I don’t know…appropriate, I guess, to call.”

The center of Cassie’s body glowed now. Before she could think of what to say next, Rio said, “I’ll get something to clean this.”

He lifted his head. Met her gaze for a brief second, their mouths just inches apart. Two very conflicting emotions warred—fear and desire. One should smother the other, but both feelings were so strong they continued to clash.

Cassie couldn’t help but think,
kiss me. Please. Kiss me.

His eyes lowered to her mouth.

Yes
.

Then slid away.

Damn.

“I’ll…um…” His voice rasped. “Just go get—”

Screw it.
A spark of determination burned a millisecond before she put her free hand against his jaw and pressed her lips to his.

Three

Warmer than Cassie had imagined, softer than she’d expected, his lips felt wonderful on hers. Absolutely wonderful. And right. So right. He didn’t pull away, so she let her lips linger there. Let them slide. Let them taste.

A sound drifted from his throat. A sigh or a moan. Soft and pleased. He lowered her arm but didn’t let go. The move broke their kiss and brought them face-to-face. There, reality trickled in. Damn. She shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t have kissed him like that.

Her sexy haze drifted into embarrassment. She took a step back, but Rio leaned in and slid an arm around her waist. A quick move. A deliberate, strong move that made her draw a breath. Made her body tingle. Made her mind go cloudy again. He eased her close, his arm tightening low on her back until they were pressed together, hips to chest.

And, holy hell,
wow
.
Wow.
She couldn’t think much beyond… Just
wow
. His body was hard. Cool on the surface, sending a shiver across her skin. Warm beneath, urging her to burrow closer. Her nipples tightened, and her breasts ached. Her breathing quickened.

She rested her hands on his shoulders, an awkward location, but she wasn’t sure what else to do with them. Her body urged her to do crazy things, urgent things she hadn’t done in a long time. Her mind struggled to understand her powerful response to him. And not a damn thing was meshing.

“I’ve been wanting to thank you”
—
she stared at his throat, rambling to fill the silence, but her voice gave away her nerves with a soft, uneven tone
—
“for your kindness…you know…at the cemeter—”

He bent his head and kissed her. She sucked in a silent gasp of surprise. Every muscle tensed. But then his lips moved on hers. Gentle pressure, firm, slow kisses. She softened against him, and he welcomed her with the strength of his body. The same way he’d taken her in at the cemetery, with warmth, acceptance, affection.

Oh, he had nice lips. Full, warm, supple. And he knew what to do with them. How to entice, to seduce. Not at all like the hurried, greedy men she’d been with in the past. Rio gave. He gave with the slow suckle of her upper lip, kisses to the corner of her mouth, the slide of his tongue over her bottom lip.

A soft moan slipped from her throat. His arm slid lower on her back, pulled her hips tight against a generous erection that had the potential to unsettle her all over again. But his other hand sweetly caressed the nape of her neck, and his palm settled there.

With his fingers deep in her hair, body aligned with hers, he tilted his head and opened his mouth. Cassie followed with a sigh. Without thought, without question. Met his tongue impatiently. Recklessly. Completely lost herself in a heady rush of lust, the heat of his mouth, the texture and talent of his tongue.

He tasted of tangy sea salt and male heat. And for the first time in years, she hungered for more than just this, just kissing. So much more.

His mouth abruptly pulled from hers, leaving her dizzy and frustrated. She tightened her hands on the skin of his back. When she’d wrapped her arms around him, she didn’t remember. And didn’t care. She just wanted that mouth back on hers.

“I have been thinking about this,” he whispered, his breath quick and shallow, his voice rough, “for
months
.”

She couldn’t absorb the meaning behind that statement. Especially not when his hand moved from her neck and cupped her jaw, his long fingers pressed so gently across her cheek. With the smallest movement, he made her feel precious and fragile.

But he didn’t kiss her like she was fragile. His mouth came back to hers with the kind of desire and need that set off a firestorm inside. She lifted to her toes and tried to keep up with him, to give back. But he was so good at it, he swept her away. From the erotic movement of his tongue to the smooth slide of his lips to the powerful movements of his body, he made the simple act of kissing both animalistic and artful.

Mind clouded, lungs burning, body aflame, Cassie broke away, whispering, “Air.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, and Rio held tight, both arms around her again. His mouth slid over her jaw, teased her ear, traveled down her neck and rested on her shoulder, his end-of-the-day beard an exciting contrast to those soft lips. And God, she was smiling. Smiling so big her cheeks ached. How long had it been since she last smiled like this?

God, she wanted him. But not only did she want him, she felt
good
about wanting him.

A little warning sounded in her head.
Too fast
, it whispered.
Too happy too fast. It won’t last.

A sting of fear urged her to jump right back in. “Okay.” She turned her head and nipped his ear. “Plenty of air. I’m good for at least another twenty minutes.”

His mouth curved in a smile against her shoulder just beyond the strap of her cover-up, but then faded. And that little voice snarled,
told you
.

“Rio?”

He didn’t answer, and his body language had already shifted—muscles now loose, hands at her waist instead of arms circling her. And his teeth took the strap of her little dress and restlessly snapped it against her shoulder, over and over.

She forced a laugh, forced herself to keep it light even though disappointment and hurt had already stolen her smile. “You’re gonna leave a mark.”

Reaching up, she combed her fingers through his wet hair, thick and silky on her palms. If she knew more about seduction, she could draw him back in, make him forget whatever had put him in pause. But she didn’t. She was at a loss. And she hated feeling inept.

“
Dios mío
.” He breathed the Spanish words for “my God” and pressed his cheek tight against hers before quickly letting her go.

He met her eyes, but he wasn’t smiling. And he didn’t look the least bit happy. In fact, he looked…tortured. He shook his head once, put his hand on her jaw and his thumb to her lips, brushing them gently.

She kissed the pad of his thumb. His lids lowered on a throaty sound before he took her face between both hands and kissed her. Hard. Thorough.

Lust spiked instantly, and Cassie covered his hands with hers, kissing him back. Just when she thought he’d gotten past whatever indecision was nagging him, he broke the kiss and released her.

He dropped his head into his hands and whispered, “Shit.”

Cassie flinched. “What’s…wrong?”

“I can’t…” His hands came away from his face, but his head stayed down. “I just… Let me get something to clean your cut.”

He walked past her.

Stunned, she stood there, staring at nothing, her brain one big knot. “
What?
”

The word barely reached the level of a rasp, and she wasn’t sure if she was asking him what he’d meant or herself what the hell had just happened.

Her stomach, so light and exhilarated just moments ago, now felt leaden. The wind, so warm and gentle earlier, now lifted gooseflesh on her arms.

What had gone wrong?

She turned and called, “Rio, I don’t need—”

She stopped when he headed left, toward a row of casitas, instead of right, toward the main house. He continued toward the last little guest house closest to the water and directly in front of them, walked inside, and flipped on the light.

Her mind slid sideways, then righted with a painful jerk. “Sonofabitch.”

She watched Rio through the front window as he disappeared into the bedroom.
“He’s my head of security,”
Saul had said. Of course he was living here. Stupid she hadn’t assumed as much. Key staff often lived on-site.

Then the fact hit her again, from a different angle. Rio
lived
here.

She sucked in a breath almost before she’d fully absorbed the deeper, uglier thoughts rolling through her mind—the prostitutes.

“Oh, no,” she whispered, her chest stone-cold as she thought back to her conversation with the private investigator. “Oh,
shit
.”

Yes, the PI had seen prostitutes enter the estate but had never verified
who
the women had been there to see. Cassie had thought there could have been only one recipient of their services. But… “Oh my
God
.”

She covered her eyes. The thought of Rio and…
Oh, shit.

A new urgency tightened her muscles. She searched the sand for her phone. She needed to call that PI and get clarification, but she already knew what he’d say: that he couldn’t tell her for certain who the women had been with—Saul or Rio.

She hadn’t found the damn cell when Rio emerged from the house wearing a T-shirt, his focus centered on the first aid supplies in his hands as if he’d discovered the Holy Grail in his medicine cabinet.

The corner of her phone poked from the sand, and she dug it out. The screen was dark. When she pushed the power button, nothing happened.

“Dammit.” She brushed off the sand and inspected the casing. She needed this phone. It felt more like an appendage than an electronic device. “Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“My phone,” she muttered, hitting all the buttons, sliding switches and opening and closing compartments. “It won’t turn on.”

“Come sit down,” he said from his patio. “I’ll take a look.”

No, she didn’t want to sit down. She wanted to go hide in the closet. She wanted to confront him and hear his denial from his own mouth, even though she couldn’t trust it. But she also wanted Saul out, so she moved to the patio. “How long have you lived here?”

“About a year.” He held his hand out for the phone. “I can probably get it to work.”

She handed him the phone, and he disappeared into the house again.

A year? He’d lived here
a year
,
and this was the first she’d heard of it?

She flexed and clenched her hands, her temper suddenly as brittle as plate glass. She was looking over the box of hydrogen peroxide, gauze, and other supplies she’d never need when Rio returned and handed her the phone with its screen glowing.

“It’s fine.” He was doing the guilty-guy dance. Not meeting her eyes. Staying several feet away. “Just had to clear the sand from the sensors.”

“Thanks.” She had to force the word out. “Why didn’t I know you were living here?”

“I…” He shrugged. “Don’t know.”

He pulled the hydrogen peroxide and some gauze four-by-fours from the box and set them on the table.

“I don’t need that.” She waited until he looked at her. “I need to know why my mother and brother didn’t ever say one word about you to me.”

Finally, he straightened and held her gaze. But his face was tight, his eyes solemn. “Did they always talk to you about their employees?”

“Yes, they did. All of them.” She crossed her arms, hurt and anger warring. “Even the damn gardener. And the gardener’s wife and his three kids and his eight nephews and his freaking crazy Great-Aunt Gertrude.”

Rio’s brows lifted, expression lightened. “Wow, I guess they did. Aunt Gertrude escaped her senior living facility last month, by the way. Rumor has it she was last seen in Las Vegas.”

Cassie huffed out a weak laugh and shook her head. His mouth tipped in a lopsided attempt at a smile. Both of them turned serious again within seconds.

This was beyond uncomfortable. And Cassie was sick of being uncomfortable. “What the hell just happened, Rio?”

He looked down at the gauze in his hand. “Can I clean—”

“No.” Cassie kept her voice firm, but hurt had overpowered anger, and that strength wouldn’t last long. “I want to know why you kissed me back if you were just going to push me away.”

“I didn’t want—” He stopped. Thought. Released a heavy sigh, set the supplies on the table, and looked at her. “Look, I really shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Little anger and even less force came out in the words, but enough to stop him from finishing with
kissed you
.