Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (35 page)

Katy’s stomach lurched and her hands shook with emotion.
Holy crap
. Her eyes met Dex’s and saw her own excitement and raw determination reflected in them. In that instant, the niggling suspicion she’d harbored from the instant she’d encountered him in Seán Mackey’s apartment coalesced into certainty. Dex’s presence on this particular expedition was no accident. He knew about the jewels and he wanted them. What was more, he knew she was after them, too.
Well, he won’t get them.

A broad grin spread across his handsome face and he leaned close to her ear. “May the best diver win, cupcake.”

By the time they returned to the mainland, Dex was bone tired. If he’d been alone, he’d have gotten take-out and crashed at the apartment but being part of an expedition meant fostering camaraderie. Group dinners were standard practice. The team members didn’t have to like one another, but they needed a rapport. Down in the depths, they depended on one another for their lives.

Dex stretched his sore neck and stifled a yawn. He was sitting in the snug area of MacCarthy’s pub with the expedition team, perusing the menu. The snug was a remnant of a long gone but never forgotten Ireland when pubs had small rooms for women, children, and priests to enjoy a drink in relative privacy. The owners of MacCarthy’s had knocked out the door to the snug, to connect it to the main bar, but they had kept the old-fashioned service bell. The walls of the snug were hung with vintage newspapers, many featuring articles about important events in Irish history.

“This place is adorable.” Moira ran a fingertip over the plush velvet seat in an almost obscene fashion. But then everything Moira did oozed sexual innuendo. Dex had no idea why he’d slept with her on the Mexican trip four years ago. Sunstroke? Tequila? Temporary insanity? Whatever the reason, it wasn’t an encounter he intended to repeat. Moira was the dictionary definition of a limpet. Rick, or whoever she was currently hooking up with, was welcome to her.

“Hey, look.” Katy pointed to a newspaper that had the sinking of the
Lusitania
as its lead story. “‘
Lusitania
Torpedoed By German Pirate. Huns carry out their threat to murder,’” she read aloud. “Wow. The
Daily Mail
hasn’t changed much over the last century, has it?”

Dex leaned over to get a closer look and accidentally brushed against her. Their eyes clashed. Raw desire curled through his body. His fingers tingled with the need to brush the stray strands of hair from her flushed cheeks, to skim over her skin and explore every centimeter of her tight little body. For a moment, it was as if the rest of the world receded leaving only them, their libidos, and a year’s worth of unspoken words.

Katy broke the stare first, sliding back onto her cushioned seat and grabbing the menu. “I’m starving. I want a double portion of fish and fries with a salad on the side.”

“I never could figure out where you put all the food you eat,” Bill said, slicing through the tension. “When we shared a flat in college, Katy ate more than I did and she’s half my height.”

Katy scrunched up her nose. “I’m short but not
that
short. As for my appetite, I have a high metabolism. Even if I’m not diving, I’m hungry, but deep sea diving kicks my appetite into overdrive.”

“I’m careful about what I let past my lips,” Moira said in a smug tone. “Women who don’t watch what they eat when they’re young pay the price later.”

Katy’s chin jutted in that belligerent way that made Dex want to kiss its cleft. “I doubt the odd helping of fish and chips is going to make my weight balloon.”

Dex breathed a sigh of relief when a waitress entered the snug. Moira knew exactly which buttons to press to irritate Katy, and Katy never failed to deliver. Catty and hot-tempered didn’t make for a good mix.

“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked. She was a small woman with strawberry-blond hair. Her gaze roved over their group and rested on Dex. “Wait a sec. Are you the divers? Is one of you called Dex?”

He returned her warm smile. “Guilty as charged.”

She smiled and thrust out a hand. “I’m Clio, Seán’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, hey. Nice to meet you.” He cast a more discerning eye over her. Striking green eyes and nice figure. His brother had chosen well.

“Seán says you’re coming over for dinner on Saturday evening,” she said, shoving a stray lock behind one ear. “Why don’t you bring your friends?”

“If it’s no trouble.” Dex looked around the group to see if the idea of a home-cooked meal appealed to them.

“That’s your brother the policeman, right?” Rick asked.

“Yeah.”

Rick grinned, bearing nicotine-stained teeth. “Go play happy families. I’ve booked the rest of us into a fish restaurant in Cobh on Saturday.”

“Suit yourselves.” Dex turned to Clio. “What time should I be there?”

“Would seven o’clock be okay? I’ll tell Seán to text you the directions.”

“Sounds good.”

Clio whipped a notepad out of her apron pocket. “So, anyone hungry?”

“I can’t imagine you having a policeman as a brother,” Moira tittered after Clio left to fill their orders.

Dex willed patience. Moira was the sort of person he could take in small doses—infrequent, minuscule doses. “And I can’t imagine you having a minister as a dad.”

Katy gave a crack of laughter. “Moira’s a minister’s daughter?”

Moira bristled and her lips formed a pout.

“Then we have something other than diving in common,” Jack said in a voice so low Dex had to strain to hear the man speak. “My father is a canon.”

“Is that so?” Moira’s catlike smirk was back in place. She inched closer to Jack and placed a predatory hand on his thigh. “We should get together some time and…discuss theology.”

Jack turned beetroot and stammered something incomprehensible in response.

Out of habit, Dex caught Katy’s eye and winked. She started to smile back, then checked her reaction and buried her nose in the menu.

Aw, hell.
Did Katy still think he’d joined Moira on the Indonesian trip because he wanted to jump her bones? Regret gnawed at his stomach. He’d been a fool to leave Katy behind in Ireland, an idiot to take the words she’d hurled at him seriously. After the miscarriage, she’d fallen into depression. He’d known that but he was struggling with his own smorgasbord of emotions. He should have given her a couple of days to simmer down, then tried to patch up their relationship. Instead, he’d hopped on a plane bound for Jakarta and buried himself in work.
What a fucking idiot.

The meal passed in the usual jocular fashion. Everyone was hungry—including Moira—and they ate like proverbial horses. By eight o’clock, the rigors of the day were catching up with them. Every member of the team, including the normally indefatigable Bill, was wilting and keen to call it a night.

Outside the pub, Rick addressed the team. “Be back at the boat tomorrow by seven o’clock. Currents will be dicier earlier in the morning. If we manage a dive and salvage some more artifacts, we’ll have Mickey and Katy shoot some video clips for the local
Lusitania
exhibition. Now go get some sleep.”

Katy and Dex drove back to Seán’s apartment in silence. He was glad they didn’t have far to go because the tension was flaying him. He stole a glance at her in the passenger seat. Fatigue was etched on her delicate features, but she was making a herculean effort to stifle her yawns.

“Tired?” he asked, flashing her a knowing smile.

She stiffened in her seat, adopting her Katy-in-defensive-mode stance. “I’m fine. No more tired than anyone else on the team.”

“I didn’t mean to imply that you were. There’s no shame in being exhausted after today’s dive, especially if you’re out of practice.”

“I started training as soon as I heard I had a place on the expedition,” she snapped. “I’m as fit as any of you.”

He cast an appreciative eye over her muscular form and felt his mouth go dry. Hot damn she was one sexy woman. “I know you are, Katy. You’re a damn good diver and you have a nose for where to find salvage-worthy goods.”

“You’re a shameless flatterer, Dex Fitzgerald.” This time, a grin teased the edges of her mouth.

“No flattery required,” he said, pulling into his brother’s parking space. “It’s the truth.”

When they reached the apartment, Katy flopped onto the sofa, wincing. Then she caught his teasing eye and grimaced. “Okay, I admit it. I ache everywhere.”

“You ache?” he asked with a laugh. “How do you think
I
feel? I’m the one condemned to sleep on a too-short sofa bed for the rest of the expedition.”

“About that…” Her expression was inscrutable. Then she sighed and shook her head. “Who are we trying to kid? We can share the bed.”

A shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, but I am sure I want to jump your bones.”

“Katy…” His heart rate kicked up a notch imagining her naked. Even when they hadn’t seen eye to eye, the sex had been off the charts. Katy enjoyed sex and she wasn’t ashamed to show it. There wasn’t an ounce of coquetry in her. Every flicker of emotion she displayed was genuine.

Her adorable rosebud lips curved into a smile. “Come on, Dex. No-strings sex. That part, at least, was always good between us. We’ve been dancing around one another all day like animals in heat.”

He laughed. “You have a way with words. You certain you want to start something with me again? It didn’t end well the last time.”

“That’s why I said no strings and no promises. Just you, me, and a comfortable bed.”

He ran a practiced eye over her sexy little body. Underneath the military-style clothing, he remembered every square inch of muscular flesh. His mouth grew dry.
Crap.
He was a lost man. “Okay, Katy. You had me with the promise of a comfortable bed.”

In an instant, Dex had closed the space between them and cupped her chin. “You are beautiful.”

Katy shivered in anticipation, her lips parting before her brain registered their action. His eyes darkened and he lowered his mouth.

The sensation of his lips on hers was exquisite. A starburst of feelings and physical reactions made it hard to think, let alone breathe. It was as if the last year had never happened, like they’d reset the clock to happier times. She tugged him closer and intensified the kiss.

This was insane. Dex Fitzgerald was the last man she should get involved with, but he was the only man she craved. And boy did she want him…If Dex had written that note, it was in the guise of a warning, not a threat. Whatever side jobs he did for extra money, he was a good man, right? A niggling doubt tugged at her heart. How well does anyone know another person? Could she truly say with certainty that Dex wouldn’t hurt her?

He broke the kiss, jolting Katy back to reality. Heat suffused her cheeks. She was being ridiculous. No way would Dex harm her. He was a complicated man to whom a myriad of descriptive adjectives could be applied—both positive and negative. Furtive wasn’t among them. Whoever left that note in her pack did not wish to be unmasked.

“Was that good?” He ran a fingertip over her cheekbone and down her throat.

“Yes,” she whispered, craving more. “Don’t stop now.”

He chuckled, and the low, deep sound reverberated against her neck. “I don’t intend to stop, merely change our location. Do you want to go to the bedroom?”

“What? Dex Fitzgerald wants to have sex in a
bed
? Are you getting conservative in your old age?”

“Far from it.” He grinned, placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back, and propelled her toward the bedroom. “But this isn’t going to be a sweaty quickie on the kitchen counter. I intend to make this last.”

In the bedroom, they hit the bed immediately. His hands caressed her shoulders through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. She tugged at his shirt and inhaled his scent greedily. “I’ve missed this,” she murmured. “I’ve missed it so damn much.”

So much for keeping her cool and ensuring the sex was of the no-strings variety. One touch was all it took for Dex Fitzgerald to shatter her bulletproof glass enclosure.

“I’ve missed this too. What happened to us, Katy?” he asked in a voice choked with emotion. “When did we stop talking? We used to have so much to say to one another. All of a sudden, you shut me out.”

“Shh. We’ll need to have this conversation at some point, but not during foreplay.” She found his lips again, silencing him with ruthless efficiency.

Dex ran a palm over her stomach and under her T-shirt. When he toyed with her bellybutton ring, she drew in a sharp breath. It didn’t take long for him to tug her T-shirt off and toss it to the floor. She smiled at his obvious appreciation for her small-but-firm breasts, still contained in a bra that she didn’t need to wear.

“Perfect,” he murmured. “Just like the rest of you.”

“They haven’t gotten bigger since you last saw them,” she said with a dry laugh.

“So? They’re yours and they suit you. Besides—” he flashed her a bone-melting smile and unhooked her bra in one neat movement, “—a mouthful is all I need.”

Then he claimed her nipple with his mouth and sucked her breast. Electricity shot through her body, igniting sexual desire in every atom of her being. She didn’t want this to end. She never wanted him to stop. Yet when he did stop, and trailed a zigzag line of kisses down to her navel, she gasped anew the instant he teased her bellybutton with his tongue.

He unsnapped the button on her jeans and tugged on her zipper. Wriggling the tight denim over her hips, she laughed when he rolled the jeans off and tossed them on the floor.

She leaned forward on her elbows. “Now it’s your turn, Fitzgerald. Loose the shirt.”

“With pleasure.” His fingers flew over the buttons, and the shirt hit the floor.

Katy propped her head up and enjoyed the view. Same six-pack abs, rock-hard torso, and sexy sprinkling of dark chest hair. His arm muscles were well developed from frequent dives and regular training sessions.

“You approve?” His amused smile warmed her belly.

“Definitely. But I’d approve even more if you lost your pants.”