Take No Quarter Read online

  Then he’d grinned at her, and out of nowhere her nipples had hardened and ached and a pulse had throbbed low and strong in the wet channel between her thighs. For a frightening moment she’d wondered if she was going to have a spontaneous orgasm just standing there looking at this guy.

  ‘Here.’ His deep, raspy voice had echoed through her body. ‘Let me help you.’ He’d taken the plate she was holding before it slipped from her fingers and set it on the edge of the table. ‘I think I’ll just go and clean up a little now.’

  Somehow, she’d found her voice and managed to reconnect her brain.

  ‘I am so very, very sorry. I promise I’m not usually this clumsy.’ If she could have melted into the floor she would have.

  ‘But then we wouldn’t have had a chance to meet.’

  He winked, and she was afraid her panties would melt right there in the Huttons’ dining room.

  She had insisted on going into the little powder room with him to help him clean off his shirt, never stopping to think how it would look to others. Or to him.

  ‘Please let me get you a drink,’ she’d insisted, when she’d repaired as much of the damage as possible.

  ‘Ah, sure. Beer is good.’

  From the spilled hors d’oeuvres and cold beer they had dissolved into a weekend with sex so hot she was afraid they’d melt the bed. For the first time ever, she’d been itchy to finish her work day and get home. When he’d left, he hadn’t asked for her last name or telephone number. That wasn’t usually the way she rolled, but okay. She’d deal with it. Anyway, her so-called relationships never lasted more than a few months. The men she met usually wanted more than she was ready to give, being too involved in her career to get tied up with some guy. She was up to her ears in the Reyes project, so she wasn’t even sure she had anything to give to a relationship now, anyway.

  Take it and enjoy it, she told herself.

  But sometimes, in the dark of the night, when frustration grabbed her enough that she reached for her handy little toy, she’d call up his face while she pleasured her body and gave herself some very intense orgasms. Had she made a mistake not giving him her last name and cell phone number? There had been something about him that the other men in her life lacked. Was she too afraid to find out what it was?

  It was important to her, however, to control every aspect of her life. She’d sensed with Trey that that would not be possible. In fact, she’d had an underlying feeling that any control would be in Trey’s hands. And that had scared the hell out of her. She was a corporate attorney, for heaven’s sake. A woman who controlled all aspects of her life. The last thing she needed was a battle-weary soldier who was the opposite of every man she’d ever dated.

  But there had been something so totally masculine about him, so commanding, so take-charge. And the sex had just blown her mind, invading her dreams and driving her crazy with desire.

  Forget it, Kenzi girl. Get dressed and try to have fun tonight. He’s long gone and you don’t need him.

  And a good thing, because he would turn my well-ordered life upside down.

  She looked at herself in the bathroom mirror and sighed. After the exhausting day she’d had, the smart thing to do would be to stay home, watch a sappy movie and enjoy some wine. But Deandra had scored tickets to the Spurs game tonight from her latest squeeze, a guy who worked in the team’s office, and the seats were just too good to pass up. Besides, she’d been so tied up with the Reyes file for days that the words ‘social life’ had been wiped from her vocabulary.

  She also had a hard-and-fast rule about never dating anyone from work. In the environment in which she labored, an office romance could be the kiss of death. Of course, that was even supposing there was anyone at the firm who made her hormones wiggle. But all that left her little time to spend with men who piqued her interest at all. Maybe she should have gotten Trey’s last name. Or asked the Huttons to check with Slade.

  And looked pathetic.

  Get going. Get going. One night out won’t kill you. It’s just a basketball game with Deandra. Girls’ night out. You might even have fun.

  She’d arranged to meet Deandra in the lobby of the AT&T Center at seven-thirty. Traffic was already thick by the time she arrived, but she managed to find a place to park that wasn’t in another county. They presented their tickets, took the escalator up to their level and stopped to get food and drink before taking their seats. They were the third and fourth seats in their row and she balanced her drink and food container carefully as she side-shuffled past the first two seats.

  “Hope you’re not planning to dump your food on me again.”

  The voice she’d been hearing over and over in her dreams broke through the noise of crowd chatter and startled her so much she nearly did drop everything. Shocked, she stared at the man occupying the seat next to hers as if he’d materialized out of a dream. Standing there dumbfounded, it took her a few seconds before she could form intelligent words.

  “Trey?” She blinked, wondering if he’d disappear. How was it possible he was here? No, no, no. He was over in Afghanistan or Niger or someplace on the other side of the world. Right? Was her tired brain creating a mirage?

  He looked as shocked as she felt, but then his lips curved in a smile she remembered so well.

  “Fancy meeting you here,” he chuckled. “What’s that saying from Casablanca? Of all the gin joints in all the world… Here. Let me help you.”

  He took her drink cup and the cardboard box with her pizza from her unresisting hands while she settled herself into her seat, moving as if in a daze. Trey with no last name was certainly the last person she’d expected to be sitting next to at this game. A game she hadn’t even known she’d be going to and had had to be talked into.

  “I didn’t know you were a Spurs fan.” His warm, deep voice moved through her like hot molasses.

  “I, um, oh, yes.” Well! Didn’t she just sound like the world’s biggest idiot. “Uh, thanks for holding my food.”

  “Better in my hands than on my clothes,” he teased, handing over the cup and box.

  Heat crept up her cheeks as she remembered their initial meeting. She was acutely aware of Deandra’s eyes on her, and busied herself settling her food so she didn’t dump it. For sure Trey Gorgeous would think she was a klutz. But then her cheeks heated as she thought of the things they’d done where she hadn’t been clumsy at all.

  Stealing a sideways glance, she noticed the men in the two seats next to him watching them with undisguised interest.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce us?” the one closest to Trey asked.

  He laughed. “Only if you promise to behave. Kenzi, meet Brock and Axel, the new guys on our team.”

  They nodded and murmured the usual “Nice to meet you” thing.

  “Hi.” Deandra leaned forward and stretched her arm halfway across Kenzi, nearly upsetting the pizza and soda. “I’m Deandra. Hall. Deandra Hall. My friend sometimes forgets her manners.”

  Kenzi would have poked her if her brain hadn’t suddenly turned to mush. “Uh, sorry. Dee, meet Trey—” She stopped as she realized she still didn’t know his last name.

  “McIntyre.” His grin was positively lethal.

  “A pleasure to meet you.” She nudged Kenzi, the look on her face saying I can’t wait to get you alone and ask questions.

  “Well.” Brock winked. “Things just looked up here. Always better to watch a game with someone besides these two ugly guys.”

  Kenzi noticed Axel studying her face and frowning.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “Have we meet somewhere before?”

  She shook her head. “No. No, we haven’t. I’m sure I’d remember.”

  “Funny, I could swear—”

  “Mexico.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s it. You look just like the reporter we pulled out of Mexico.”

  Trey was staring at her. “I kept telling myself that woman looked familiar. That she resembled someone I knew.�
�� He shook his head. “Yup. The resemblance is definitely there.”

  Kenzi’s eyes widened. “You—You were with the men who rescued Dana?” How ironic and off the charts was it that Trey’s team would be the one to rescue Dana? And that they both would be at this game tonight, in adjoining seats?

  The world certainly works in mysterious ways.

  Trey touched her arm. “Kenzi, it was our team that rescued her.”

  “Oh! Well. Thank you for that.”

  He studied her face. “So. Kenzi Bryant. Good to know.”

  Okay, now they had each other’s last names. Somehow, to Kenzi, that made the whole thing more personal, more real. Not quite so much a weekend fantasy. Was she ready for that? Right now she was still dealing with the shock of seeing him sitting right next to her at the basketball game.

  “Thank you.” She blew out a breath. “For saving her.”

  Axel winked, breaking the tension. “It’s what we do.”

  Kenzi just nodded, put her drink in the cup holder, her purse on the floor and settled the box on her lap.

  “Would you, uh, like some pizza?” She looked at the man sitting next to her.

  Somehow that broke the tension that had been wrapping around them.

  The rest of the evening went by in a blur. She must have eaten her food because suddenly the box was empty and Trey took it from her and put it under her seat. The Spurs scored, and often, because the crowd was going wild. She knew she jumped up and cheered when everyone else did, but she felt as if it was all happening to someone else.

  People were screaming and yelling, so she knew the game was exciting. Too bad her brain had gone to lunch so she had no idea what was going on. She couldn’t seem to get past the fact that Trey McIntyre was here! At this basketball game, of all places. What were the odds? And why was it all she could think of sitting in the middle of thousands of people was how mouthwatering he looked naked and how great the sex with him was?

  Then the game was over and they were making their way out of the arena itself and down to the lobby. She was acutely aware that Trey and his friends were stuck to them like glue, right behind them on the steps walking up to the concourse and on the escalators going down to the exit. Once they were outside, everyone stopped in the big area in front of the entrance.

  Now what? Kenzi wondered. Do we all shake hands and say what a great game it was? An image flashed in her brain of the two of them naked on her bed, his cock buried deep in her body, his tongue dancing with hers. She had to squeeze her thighs together to contain the errant pulse that suddenly throbbed like a jungle drum.

  Maybe just one more night with him. What could it hurt? And I could get him out of my mind, once and for all. Right?

  “So.” Trey stood with his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face but blazing heat in his eyes. “I guess we’ll head back to our hotel. Can we persuade you two to join us for a drink?”

  Kenzi looked at Deandra, who was doing her best not to grin.

  “Sure. We’d love to. Right, Kenzi?”

  “Uh, yes. That would be great.” Oh, my god. She sounded like she was twenty years old.

  “We came in separate cars,” Deandra told them. “Kenzi, maybe Trey would like to ride back with you? The two of you can get reacquainted.”

  “Great idea,” Trey said.

  Almost before Kenzi could unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth, everyone was climbing into cars, including hers, and heading back toward downtown San Antonio. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact he was back in San Antonio—probably the main reason her conversational skills had deserted her and she sounded like the idiot of the year.

  “If you’d rather just drop me at the door and head out,” Trey said in his deep voice, “I’ll understand. This all just kind of fell in your lap, and those guys can be a bit much. No pressure. Okay?”

  But was that what she really wanted? To just say goodnight?

  Go for it, the devil in her head whispered. Give yourself a break for a change.

  “I’d, uh, like to have that drink,” she told him in a soft voice.

  He took one of her hands, lifted it to his mouth and kissed the knuckles. “Good. I’d like to have it, too.”

  They drove in silence for a while.

  “Did you think it strange we never exchanged last names?” he asked.

  “Yes and no,” she said after a moment. “I don’t think either of us was looking for something beyond that one weekend, so it really didn’t matter, right?”

  “Right,” he agreed after a long moment. “Listen, I’m not a believer in fate, but what are the odds I’d be rescuing your sister in Mexico and we’d run into each other at this basketball game?”

  Kenzi laughed. “Sounds like a cheap movie, right?”

  “Well…” He hummed. “Maybe not so cheap.”

  “Okay.” She laughed, despite a sudden attack of nerves racing over her skin like an army of ants. And what was that all about? She wasn’t someone who ever, ever had that happen, not even when meeting with a client about a delicate situation. She turned into the hotel’s parking garage. “Anyway, here we are, and I think I’m ready for that drink.”

  She turned off the engine but sat there a moment, wondering which of them would move first. The air was thick with an overabundance of sexual tension. When Trey didn’t move, she climbed out of the car. She was barely aware of him doing the same, her mind being so busy with the whirlpool of thoughts. As she turned to walk away from the parking space, he was suddenly beside her, his strong hands gripping her shoulders as he pulled her body against his. Then his mouth was on hers and his hands sliding up to cup her cheeks and hold her head in place.

  His kiss was as consuming as she remembered, hot and hungry and demanding. He swept his tongue into her mouth, licking and brushing and tasting every inch. She let her own tongue caress his, drunk with the flavor of him, closing her eyes and giving herself over to the pleasure.

  He slid his hands from her face down over her shoulders and the line of her back until he cupped the cheeks of her ass, squeezing them. When he pressed her against him, she could feel the long, hard, thick line of his cock against her mound and in seconds her panties were soaked.

  Only when they both needed to breathe did he lift his mouth from hers. When she opened her eyes, he was staring directly into them, the navy of his irises darkened almost to black.

  “We, uh, should go in,” she reminded him, without answering. “The others will be looking for us.”

  “Fuck the others. I want to take every advantage of my good luck here.”

  “I, um…” God in heaven. Why was she so tongue-tied?

  Then he sighed. “You’re right. We should do the polite thing, even though my cock is telling me otherwise.” He stroked her cheekbones with his thumbs, and when he spoke, his voice was rough with need. “Come on. Let’s go have a drink. But then, after that…Kenzi, stay with me tonight.”

  Kenzi knew she should tell him she had to go. That tomorrow was a busy workday. That…that a million things. But she knew just as she stood there that she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to fall into bed with this man again. Fate had put them together. Who was she to argue?

  “Come home with me instead,” she whispered. “More private.”

  Chapter Three

  Making polite conversation had been an exercise in discipline for Trey. And making excuses to get out of the lounge where they’d been drinking didn’t fool anyone. He didn’t care. The extreme coincidence of sitting next to Kenzi Bryant at a Spurs game was a sign. Hell, no matter how much he’d tried to forget about her, it had been impossible. Much to his dismay, he’d been dreaming about the woman ever since the short time they’d spent together and waking up every morning hard as a rock. As much as he’d tried his best to make her just another face in his life, she’d crept into his dreams way too often.

  It was true that three of his team members, including his team leader, Slade Donovan, had found wom
en who fit perfectly into their lives. Trey was convinced, however, that they were anomalies. He’d seen many more relationships crumble under the weight of the demands of Delta Force. He wasn’t about to do that to himself or some woman. Why, then, had Kenzi Bryant haunted those dreams all these weeks? And why, now that they were shockingly and unexpectedly together—however it happened—was he determined to wring everything out of every minute he could?

  Enough with this crap. Enjoy the moment.

  Sitting in the cocktail lounge of the hotel and making small talk, Kenzi wondered if anyone could read the looks they kept giving each other. He was grateful neither of the other men made any wise remarks when he and Kenzi left after one drink. Especially when neither of them gave an excuse, just said goodnight and walked out.

  “Well, that was awkward,” she joked once they were in the car. “I’ll bet your friends will be all over you with questions tomorrow.”

  “Not if I tell them to shut up. We give each other grief, but we also respect each other. If I tell them it’s off limits, they accept that.”

  Sexual tension hummed between them as they rode to her house. It seemed neither of them needed words to acknowledge what they were going to do. But the moment they were inside her place, it was as if a tiger had been let loose. All restraint was off.

  He pressed Kenzi against the door, cradled her head between his hands and took her mouth in a hot kiss that singed every nerve in his body. Her lips were just as sweet as he remembered, and now the faint taste of peaches in her lipstick mixed with the distinctive flavor of the amaretto she’d been drinking, like an erotic cocktail. Thrusting his tongue into her mouth, he licked every inch of the slick flesh. He held her head in place, turning it this way and that to give him the best access.

  She was just as ravenous, threading her fingers in his hair to hold his head in place as she pressed her mouth to his just as hard. When she slid her tongue over his in a hot, erotic dance, every muscle in his body tightened, his cock got even harder—if that was possible—and a demanding ache gripped his balls.