Undercover Daddy (10 page)

Elaina had to sit back down on the bed after hearing what Collena Drake had just told Luke.

Mercy.

She didn’t want a man like Devereux involved in this. Now, the question was—how involved was he? Being an investor in a birthing center didn’t mean he had a hand in Taylor’s death or Christopher’s adoption. It also didn’t mean he had a part in what was happening now.

But then, it didn’t mean he was innocent, either.

Luke obviously felt the same because the moment he finished giving her the news, he began to make phone calls. The first was to Rusty to brief him on what Collena Drake had told him. The second call was to the Justice Department office in San Antonio. With both calls, he requested the status of the safe house and a thorough check on Devereux’s recent activities.

However, that wasn’t all.

Elaina listened as he made some comments laced with frustration and anger. Then he set up an appointment with Devereux for the following day.

“You think meeting with George Devereux is a wise thing to do?” she asked the moment Luke finished the call and put his phone into his pocket.

Christopher fussed, and she picked him up from the floor. Elaina rocked him gently to soothe him. She only wished it had a soothing effect on her, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not with Luke less than twenty-four hours from meeting with a convicted felon.

“I have to find out if Devereux is part of this,” Luke answered.

“I understand that. But what if the meeting only upsets him even more? What if seeing you makes him want to come after you?”

“It’s a risk I have to take. I won’t meet with him until Christopher and you are in the safe house. So, if Devereux wants to retaliate against anyone, then I’ll be the only one he can come after.”

Elaina couldn’t believe what she’d just heard him say. “Well, that’s just great. He’ll come after you and only you. Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She couldn’t sit still any longer. She stood and began to rock back and forth. Christopher must have liked the motion because he put his head on her shoulder, and she felt him relax.

“You’re angry.”

“You’re right.” But then, she heard herself and groaned softly.

“See, this is the problem with having feelings for someone,” he concluded. “Now, instead of thinking of the best way to approach this case, you’re thinking about the possibility that I might be in danger.”

Since that was dead-on accurate, she didn’t bother to respond.

“I’m dealing with the same thing,” he admitted. “What I should do is turn all of this over to another agent. One who isn’t personally involved. That’s by-the-book.” He put his hands on his hips. “But I can’t do that, and that means this isn’t fair to you or Christopher.”

“It’s fair,” she insisted.

He walked closer, and he lightly touched Christopher’s back. “He’s asleep.”

That didn’t surprise her. He’d had a very short afternoon nap, so she wasn’t going to wake him even if she hadn’t had a chance to bathe him yet. Elaina took him into the nursery and put him in the bed.

Luke followed her, of course, and stood in the doorway waiting.

“I’ll get him up when it’s time to leave for the safe house,” she whispered.

He got that concerned look again. Luke reached out, touched her arm, and rubbed softly. It was soothing, or at least it would have been if she hadn’t been waiting to hear what would no doubt be bad news.

“The safe house probably isn’t going to be ready tonight,” Luke confessed.

That didn’t do a thing to steady Elaina’s raw nerves. “Well, that explains why you got so angry while you were on the phone.”

“Anger is too mild a word for what I was feeling when I found out.” Luke took a deep breath. “We’re going to plan B. Just for tonight, we’ll stay here, and Rusty will sit outside in his car and make sure no one gets near the place.”

It wasn’t ideal, but then nothing about this situation was. She could only hope that the culprit wasn’t stupid enough to return with a federal agent standing guard. Plus, they had the security systems to give them warning if someone did try to approach the house or break in.

“I don’t want you to turn this case over to another agent,” Elaina told him. “This will probably sound maudlin, but you would do everything possible to protect Christopher. I can’t say the same about another agent, and that’s too big of a risk to take.”

He stared down at her, and Elaina could have sworn he was fighting a smile. It didn’t last long before the concern returned. “I don’t have a good track record when it comes to a personal life.”

Now, she fought a smile. It seemed an odd change of subject. “Is that meant to be some kind of warning?”

“Yeah,” he readily admitted.

She shrugged. “You don’t have to be good at it, Luke. Not when it comes to us. Just a few minutes ago, we admitted that this isn’t personal.” That hadn’t sounded as good as it had while still in her head. “What I mean is that it’s simply an attraction between two adults who haven’t had sex in a long time.” She winced. That didn’t sound right, either. “Well, that’s true in my case.”

“My case, too. For months I’ve been obsessed with finding Christopher. That hasn’t given me much time for anything else.”

“So.” And she wasn’t sure what to add to that. Maybe she could say something along the lines of
there, we’ve established an out for us, again
.

But it was beginning to feel like a situation where the lady doth protest too much.

He was close enough for her to touch him. Close enough to see the swirls of gray in his eyes. Close enough to feel his breath brush against her face. It stirred her blood. Stirred her body.

And the heat rolled through her.

His touch didn’t help things, either. He slid his fingers along the outside of her arm. A sensual, slow caress.

“Talking about sex probably isn’t a good idea,” he commented.

But he didn’t move.

“Just remember all the anger you feel toward me.” She didn’t move, either.

“The anger,” he repeated. He nodded. Nodded again. And for a moment, she really thought that was going to do the trick. Elaina expected him to back away. To put up those shields and barriers that were in both of their arsenals of relationship avoidance.

He didn’t.

Luke latched on to her hair with one hand, the back of her neck with the other, and he hauled her to him.

L
UKE DIDN
’
T EVEN
try to hold anything back. He would have failed anyway. He knew it. His body knew it. And his brain just surrendered to the inevitable.

Elaina surrendered, too.

She melted against him, and she let him take her mouth as if he owned her. Ironic, because even with the heat and the need slamming through him, he knew that she was not his for the taking. This was temporary. A lull before the storm of a custody battle. He’d deal with that when the time came. For now, he intended to take everything she was offering, even if it was a really bad idea.

Luke maneuvered her so that her back was against the wall and kissed her, deeper and harder. The kiss didn’t stop, it escalated. Elaina’s mouth was suddenly just as hungry, just as demanding as his. Not a good combination for a couple who had any hopes of trying to maintain a hold on their feelings.

She came up on her tiptoes and coiled her arms around him. Luke reacted to the intimate contact. Man, did he ever react. He pressed his body against hers. Tightly against her. Until they were perfectly aligned. His chest against her breasts. The front of her pants against his jeans.

Elaina reacted, too.

She made a throaty moan of pleasure and deepened the kiss. The taste of her fired through him, as did the feel of her in his arms. She fit.
They
fit. A thought that had him doing a mental double take.

Luke might have stepped away from her to consider why he shouldn’t be thinking that way, but their midsections brushed against each other. Specifically, her soft feminine body brushed against his erection. And all doubts and coherent thoughts went straight out the window.

The kissing session became a different kind of battle—they fought to get closer to each other. They fought for the intimate contact. The connection of man and woman. Each touch, each brush of her hips fanned the flames higher, and Luke knew he was lost.

She slid her leg along the outside of his, creating even deeper contact between them. Luke let go of her hair so he could shove up her stretchy top. Thankfully, the top cooperated, and he suddenly had her bra-covered breast in his hand. He shoved down the bra, as well, though it was hardly more than a swatch of lace, and she spilled into his hand.

He broke the kiss long enough to go down her body and take her nipple into his mouth. She moaned with desire. And she grabbed on to him and pulled him closer.

Luke didn’t stop there. He kissed her stomach, circling her navel with his tongue, and he sucked her. Not gently, either.

She said something. Something incoherent because his pulse was pounding in his ears. Elaina didn’t need words, however, to make herself clear. She slid down, as well, and eased her palm over his erection.

Luke damn near lost his breath.

The sensation was so intense that he knew this couldn’t last long. He considered carrying her to the bed. Or maybe the floor. Taking her. In some hard, fast, frantic coupling that would exhaust this maddening need for release.

But he also knew this was definitely not the time for full-blown sex.

After all, his sleeping son was only a few yards away from them. And if they had sex, he certainly wouldn’t be thinking about protecting Christopher and Elaina. His brainless body would take over, and he’d only one thought on his mind.
Take Elaina now.

She obviously had the same thought in her mind, too, because she tried to unzip his jeans. Luke put his hand over hers to stop her. He had to distract her before she made a second attempt because he didn’t think he could resist her if she got his zipper down.

Luke shoved his hand down her stomach, past her pants, and into her panties. His fingers found her. Wet and hot. He made his way through the slick moisture. A few strokes, and she gave up the zipper quest.

One touch, and he heard her breath break.

She slid her hand into her own hair, her eyelids fluttered down, and she rocked against his fingers. He could feel her already so close to release, and he took her mouth so he could taste her when she shattered.

But Elaina obviously had something else in mind.

While he was distracted, she went in for the kill. She was fast, too. Damn fast. One deft move, and she had his zipper down, and her hand was inside his jeans.

She didn’t fumble or hesitate. Those agile fingers bypassed his boxers and slid right over his erection. She proved that she was just as adept at stroking and touching as he was. A rather skillful swipe of her thumb, and she had him close to begging for the sex that he already knew they couldn’t have.

It became a war of will, and Luke fell back on his combat training. He couldn’t lose concentration because it would simply be too dangerous.

On many levels.

Including a personal one.

Luke gritted his teeth and dragged her to the carpeted floor. He landed on her. Between her legs. All in all, it wasn’t a bad place to be. For a moment, anyway. But he had to gain even more control of the situation. He caught both her hands in one of his. Imprisoning her.

It worked…for a few seconds.

And then there was another round of jockeying for position. She didn’t have use of her hands, but she made use of her body. She lifted her hips, thrust them forward, and the friction nearly caused them both to shatter.

The second phase of the battle began. He wedged his knee between her legs and eased his fingers back inside her. Just like that, Elaina stopped struggling. Thank goodness. She gave into the moment.

Luke practically cheered. This was a battle he couldn’t lose. Somehow, someway, he had to keep his wits and sanity, even if it required multiple cold showers later.

A long, deliberate sigh left her mouth. Once again she moved into the strokes. And she moved against him. Deeper this time. Against his fingers, against his body. A slow, sensual slide that brought out every basic, every carnal instinct inside him.

“We can do this,” Elaina whispered, her voice threaded with the heat. “Together.” But it was the passion talking. Later, she’d thank him for holding back.

Even if he wouldn’t be thanking himself.

“I don’t have a condom,” Luke lied. “We’ll have to do it this way.”

He snagged her gaze, because he wanted to see her face. Luke fought through the clawing primal need to claim and possess so he could see exactly what this did to her. Elaina shook her head, as if she wanted to pull back, as if she wanted to wait for him.

But Luke deepened the strokes inside her. He kissed her, hard. He added some pressure with the leg still wedged between hers. He touched and touched and kept on touching until she no longer shook her head. Until she couldn’t catch her breath. Elaina could only do one thing.

Surrender.

He felt her go over. Tasted her mouth as the pleasure rushed through her body. And when she melted, he gathered her into his arms and held her.

Elaina’s eyes stayed closed for several seconds. Her body stayed limp. Then, she opened her eyes and looked at him. She looked on the verge of saying something—what exactly, he didn’t have a clue. But whatever was on her mind, she didn’t have a chance to tell him.

His phone beeped.

That soft little sound tore through his body like a bullet.

“Text message,” he managed to say. Hoping he wouldn’t see the numbers on the screen, he pulled his phone from his pocket and looked down.

The numbers were there. Nine-one-one.

“Someone tripped the security equipment out back,” he told Elaina.

He didn’t watch her reaction, but he didn’t have to do that to know it wouldn’t be good. She quickly got to her feet and fixed her clothes.

Luke did the same, and he called Rusty. It took him two rings to answer, and with each ring, Luke’s adrenaline skyrocketed. “We might have an intruder in the backyard,” he relayed when Rusty finally answered. “The security equipment just went off.”