Take No Quarter Page 8

  “Si! Shall I get him?”

  “Please.”

  Five minutes later, he was joined by the man who had been with him for nearly twenty-five years, helping him build the cartel from the bottom up. They had come a long way from those early days, and Hector trusted him with every fiber of his being.

  “Are you okay, jefe?” was the first thing Diego asked when he walked into the den.

  “As much as I can be.” Hector sighed. “This was a most unpleasant thing to do. What hurts me more than anything is the trust that was broken, the deliberate defying of orders. And now I not only have had to break my sister’s heart but also to drive a wedge right down the middle of the family.”

  “Her husband will help her through it,” Diego assured him. “And the family will still be united, as it always has been and will continue to be.”

  Hector nodded. His brother-in-law was also a cog in the Lopez Garcia cartel machinery, and he hoped the man would really understand the cause of the tragedy.

  “But the problem is still out there. The reporter is back in her own environment with whatever information she gathered up. We don’t know how badly it will hurt us. And much as I don’t want to step into the larger spotlight, if she discovered anything about our plans, that could be more devastating.”

  “I agree. But we are smart, right? The woman first, and any information she might have. Then, when we are in the position of power we are preparing, we can revisit the rest. Flex our increased muscle and show the United States military they cannot kill our people without paying a price.”

  Hector’s mouth curved in a tight smile. “I knew I could count on you. Find me the girl. Woman, whatever she is.”

  Diego took out his cell phone and tapped a text message. “I will get with the men and we will follow up at once.”

  Hector smiled. He could always count on this man. “Of course you will. Meanwhile, we have plans to make.” He waved his hand to indicate the papers spread out on his desk. “I would like to go over these one more time, scan them onto a thumb drive which we will lock away, then burn the papers. Mi primo will handle everything. And of course everything is indelibly inked right here.”

  He tapped the side of his head. His cousin was a brilliant businessman and strategist, but Hector was also blessed with a photographic memory. In case of emergency, when any hard copies of records had been destroyed, he had it all stored in his brain.

  Diego nodded. “Then let’s get to work.”

  * * * *

  Kenzi loved her apartment. It was in an older complex in the city but it had many points in its favor. For one thing, it was close to downtown, so she was not always on an Interstate fighting traffic. For another, to compete with the many new communities popping up, the owners had renovated the units, so they had updated kitchens, floors that were tile but looked like hardwood, and in one bathroom a gorgeous shower while the other had a soaking tub. She was already dreaming about the tub when she headed for the bedroom, stripping off her clothes as she went. When Trey moved past her into the bathroom and she heard the water running in the tub, she had to smile.

  “You must have read my mind,” she called out to him.

  “Or maybe you read mine. Taking a bath with you has become one of my favorite activities.”

  “Give me one minute,” she said. “I just want to upload this picture to my computer and see if there’s a match anywhere for this guy.” She gave him a wicked grin. “It can do its thing while I’m doing nine.”

  When she had it set to go, she tossed her clothes into the hamper in the closet, then padded naked and barefoot into the bathroom, where clouds of fragrant steam were already rising from the tub and drifting up to wrap around her like a warm blanket. Trey turned to her, a hungry grin on his face. He had already removed his shirt, but he still wore his jeans, and was now tenting with a nice bulge at the fly. She had to stop herself from actually licking her lips.

  She had certainly been with her share of men, not that she was indiscriminate. Far from it—she was very selective. She just never used the word ‘relationship’ because she didn’t have time in her life for one. Her plan, to move from junior associate to senior associate to partner, was on a fast track and so close she was sure she could smell it. But staring at this man, she was shocked by the unfamiliar thought that struck her. What would it be like to have him in her life as something more than temporary? To plan for future visits, maybe even think about something long term?

  Suddenly she realized that walking away from Trey McIntyre might not be as easy as she’d expected. And what’s with that, anyway? She was a very smart corporate attorney, for the lord’s sake. What was she doing on the verge of losing her mind over a battle-hardened soldier who was the antithesis of everything she wanted in life?

  But he doesn’t demand things of me. He respects my brain. He thinks about me in bed rather than himself.

  She gave herself a mental smack. She had no business thinking about stuff like that at this point in her life. She had plenty of time for that later. Right now, she needed to concentrate on this moment and the pleasure they both enjoyed.

  “I didn’t realize getting into a nice hot tub took that much hard thinking.”

  His warm, teasing voice broke into her thoughts, bringing her back to reality.

  “Just admiring the scenery,” she teased.

  By now the tub was full. She realized the scent was coming from the bubble bath he’d found and poured into the hot water. He had also turned on the jets. The spa tub had been another big selling point for the apartment.

  “I’ll give you plenty to admire as soon as you get that sexy body into the tub.”

  She took the hand he reached out and let him help her step into the bubbling water. As she eased down into it, the combination of the water pulsing against her skin and the aftereffects of the two frozen margaritas combined to ease away any residual tension from the morning’s work.

  She slid down in the tub, her eyes fastened on Trey, who popped the button on his jeans and was slowly sliding down the zipper. She hoped he didn’t damage himself, because the swelling at his crotch had grown even more. Her hands itched to reach out and touch it, but she kept them beneath the water at her sides, waiting.

  He stepped out of his jeans, leaving him only in his boxer briefs, before those were gone, too. She sucked in her breath at the sight of him, his cock heavy and thick, the head a dark purple, his balls resting against his thighs. He stood there like a symphony of muscle and sinew, a thin scar bisecting his right thigh, another on his left upper arm and on his right shoulder a tattoo of what he’d told her was the Delta Force insignia.

  God! He’s just such a magnificent male animal.

  “Come on in,” she invited. “The water’s fine.”

  He eased himself into the tub behind, her, bracketing her body with his legs so her buttocks were pressed firmly against his shaft, capturing it in the cleft. At once the pulse in her core set up a steady throbbing, forceful enough that it resonated throughout her body, making it silently shriek in need.

  Trey slid his hands beneath her arms and eased them around so he cupped her breasts, lightly pinching the tips.

  “You have the greatest nipples,” he murmured, his lips against her neck. “Firm and ripe and just made to suck and nibble on. And when I pinch them, I love the little gasp you make.”

  Proving his point, he squeezed each nipple and she sucked in a hard breath. Electricity shot straight to her sex, setting off another round of internal throbbing. When she clenched her thighs, the muscles in her buttocks tensed as well, squeezing Trey’s cock in the hot cleft and eliciting another deep groan from him.

  “You’re killing me here. You know that, right?”

  She laughed, a low, throaty chuckle. She loved teasing him. In addition to so many other aspects of their relationship—or whatever this was—she loved the fact that there was humor in it, even in the most erotic moments. She didn’t ever remember feeling so comfortable
with a man. She had to keep reminding herself not to get too comfortable with this. Like every other situation she’d been in, it would soon be over.

  Any further thought disappeared from her brain as Trey teased her nipples, pinching and squeezing them and lightly dragging his fingernails over them. Those tight buds were exceptionally sensitive, and every time he stroked or sucked or teased them, heat raced through her body. Her clit tingled and again she squeezed her thighs together, doing her best to press hard on that sensitive little bud.

  Trey put his mouth close to her ear.

  “Keep doing that and I’ll come right here, right now.” He moved his hips a fraction, just enough to bury his shaft a little deeper in the warm cleft between the cheeks of her buttocks.

  Kenzi wanted to get up on her knees, giving him full access, and beg him to thrust into her right then and right there. On the other hand, she didn’t want to miss any of the good stuff that came before that. While she was attempting to have that internal discussion with herself, Trey coasted his hands down her body, over her stomach to her pussy where he paused to slide his fingers between the aching lips. Then he lifted her legs and placed one on either side of his, separating them so she was wide open. Shifting slightly, he positioned her so one of the jets pulsed directly onto her clit.

  At once desire surged through her and the internal muscles in her sex clenched and vibrated. She wanted to press her thighs together, but Trey had cleverly positioned her so that was impossible. He banded one arm around her waist, pressing her body close to his, while he slipped his other hand between her thighs.

  “Close your eyes,” he murmured, his lips still close to her ear. Then he gently nipped her earlobe, something that always set off currents of electricity in her body.

  She slid her hips back and forth in a desperate effort to signal to him that she needed more. Anything more. Something more intense. But Trey just laughed softly, held her even tighter against his firm body and continued to stroke her clit with the jets of water pounding against that swollen bud of flesh and into her open channel. The dual assault on her senses had her reaching for that orgasm, willing her body to climax.

  Just then, when she was about to lose her mind and beg Trey to give her relief, it spiraled up from deep inside her, a rhythmic pounding that surged outward, finally reaching her sex. She jerked against Trey’s body as her own shivered with spasms, riding his hand, silently urging him to thrust his fingers inside her.

  But he wasn’t finished yet. Still holding her against his body, he stroked her breasts, pinching her nipples then moving his hand downward again to tease her clit.

  “I can’t do it again,” she whimpered, when the stroking of his clever fingers brought her right to the edge of release.

  “Yes, you can. Come on. One more, then…” He licked the edge of her ear. “…then, I’m going to fuck your brains out.”

  He went to work again with his very talented hand, using the pulsing jets to best advantage and tormenting every inch of her desperate sex.

  By the time he brought her to climax this time, she was shaking with need, the buoyancy of the water enhancing her rising desire. This time she only had to beg a little, because her body was primed. When he pinched her clit and one of her nipples at the same time, she exploded again, the water pounding against her open sex, Trey working every nerve in her pussy, knowing exactly where and how to touch her.

  Kenzi closed her eyes and focused on the center of her body, willing it to give up one more orgasm that hovered just at the edge of exploding. Then it consumed her, igniting deep inside her, an orgasm that made the other two pale in comparison. The jet of water, Trey’s clever fingers pinching her nipple, his tongue teasing her ear, were all a total assault on her senses that catapulted her into an erotic whirlpool. She shook with the intensity of it and her inner muscles squeezed and spasmed as the tremors raced through her with incredible force.

  And just as she was sure she couldn’t stand it one more minute, it began to subside. Trey stretched his legs out so she could close hers together and rest them on his. He tipped her head back against him and murmured gentle, soothing, yet erotically teasing things in her ear.

  “I don’t think I can move,” she sighed. “I might have to spend the rest of the day and the night in the tub.”

  His sexy laugh rumbled up softly from his chest. “It might be a little drier in the bed, though. And I’m pretty sure I can move you without a problem.”

  “Well, you might be able to move me, but I don’t think you’ll get much response from me. It’s your fault, though. You pretty much did me in with the tub.”

  “We’ll see.” He winked at her.

  He rose with athletic grace, holding her in his arms, and hit the lever to drain the water. As he stood her on the bath mat and pulled a towel from the hook to dry her off, she marveled again at his strength and athleticism. His touch was so gentle yet at the same time sensuous. When he pulled back the covers and placed her on the bed, arranging her so her legs were splayed and her arms outstretched, she was shocked to find her body beginning to respond, to anticipate. She had never been this consistently and frequently responsive to any other man, ever. When he looked at her with his warm caramel eyes and ran his tongue over his lips, she wanted to pull him down and have him enter her right then.

  From the look in his eyes, she had a sense he felt the same. Reaching into the nightstand drawer, he pulled out one of the condoms he’d stashed there and rolled it on with quick efficiency. He settled himself between her legs, lifted them and draped them over his thighs, then slid one finger into her, inhaling a breath when her wet flesh closed easily around it.

  “Jesus, Kenzi. You’re wet and slick again already.”

  “It’s your fault,” she told him in a soft, breathless voice. “It’s what you do to me.”

  And that was just the damn truth. She couldn’t remember a single man she’d ever been with who turned her on so much and so fast as Trey McIntyre.

  “Here we go,” he murmured as he slid his cock into her waiting body.

  Here we go indeed, she thought, as he filled her completely. The feel of him inside her woke every one of her senses. She wrapped her legs around him, locking her ankles at the small of his back, pulling him in even deeper.

  “That’s it,” he groaned. “Yes. Like that.”

  At first his body moved with the rhythm of a slow dance, hips setting up a controlled rhythm. But then, as if restraint had fled, he sped up the pace, increasing the rhythm, faster and faster. With each thrust, he scraped against that sweet spot, taking her right up that Ferris wheel again. She’d worried that she had used up all her orgasms, but she should have known better. Trey McIntyre could wring more orgasms from her than she’d ever thought possible.

  Then she couldn’t think anymore, because he was taking her on the ride of her life, a ride she didn’t want to stop. Ever. Except it did, and as they exploded together, he pressed his mouth to hers in a kiss that scorched her to the soles of her feet.

  She had no idea how long her body shook with spasms, only that at some point they slowed down, and Trey lifted his mouth from hers and dropped his head next to hers on the pillow. Ragged breathing sliced the air and she wasn’t even sure whose it was, or whose heart was thumping so loudly.

  Trey lifted his head and gave her one of his delicious smiles.

  “I don’t know how it’s possible, but it just gets better every time.”

  She let out a long sigh and cupped her hand to his cheek. “It does, doesn’t it?”

  “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” With great care, he helped her lower her legs then eased from her body, pinching the edge of the condom.

  “I keep telling you I’m on the pill,” she said. “And we’re both clean. We don’t need those.”

  “Old habits die hard,” he told her, “but maybe one of these days we’ll get daring and try it bareback.”

  Daring, she thought. Just being with him was daring. But she sm
iled at the prospect.

  It wasn’t until the next day that she remembered to check the computer.

  Chapter Seven

  It was Monday morning and the team was having breakfast at Slade’s ranch. For those coupled up—and Trey, to his shock and surprise, counted himself in that group—it was an opportunity to discuss business while their women were working at whatever they did. With everything from attorneys to reporters to nurses in the group, those concerned counted themselves lucky to steal any time together.

  Today wasn’t it. Today the women were occupied with their various work, providing the opportunity for the group to meet. Teo had made a typical Mexican breakfast for them—huevos rancheros with ground sausage, breakfast burritos and refried beans. As usual, the men ate as if they hadn’t had a meal for a year. Finally, when they had eaten their fill and were kicking back with some of Teo’s excellent coffee, Slade took out his laptop.

  “I’ve been surfing through the news websites,” he began, “looking for articles by Dana Roberts.”

  “That’s our rescue from the Lopez Garcia cartel, right?” Beau asked.

  Slade nodded. “It is indeed.”

  “She happens to be Kenzi’s half-sister and I wish to hell Kenzi could get her off that kick,” Trey grumbled. “Getting kidnapped was bad enough. She’s damn lucky we found her alive. I’d think she’d be taking a step back instead of walking right into the fire again.”

  “That would make sense,” Beau agreed, “except that woman we rescued wasn’t scared shitless by the cartel guys and doesn’t look like much would make her step back.”

  “That’s the damn truth,” Trey agreed. “By the way, I don’t know if it’s connected or not, but Kenzi has a bad feeling about one of the firm’s clients, a man she’s handling with one of the partners. She ran a picture of him through the computer looking for articles but all she got was the usual bullshit about a solid fourth-generation citizen. I told her not to give up. I trust the sixth sense more than anything else. It’s saved our asses more than once.”