that morning at the cabin. Duarte had left his shoes and flannel shirt behind in his own room a minute ago, and now wore only his jeans in the warm night air.
Lisa smiled hesitantly. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said. For a moment, he stood there, his bare feet rooted to the cool tile floor. Still time to about-face and not complicate things any further with her. “Just wanted to check on you. Make sure you had everything you need for the night.”
“I do now.” Her shy smile warmed, became a welcoming beacon in the moonlit darkness and dim light of the room. She glanced back out at the night sky and endless expanse of glittering black water. “Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?”
Duarte stalked forward, all thoughts of doing the right thing—the uncomplicated thing—blown away on the tropical breeze. He stood directly behind her, their bodies’ mingling warmth heating his bare chest like a furnace. He couldn’t resist sweeping her silky hair away from the side of her neck to make room for his kiss. “Spectacular,” he murmured against her satin skin. “Never seen anything more gorgeous in my life.”
Her soft moan vibrated through him as she leaned back, into the cradle of his arms. “Is that you or the single malt talking?”
God, he wished he could blame the scotch. “Just me, and I mean every word. You are...” He shook his head slowly, still trying to make sense of everything she was to him—back then, and especially now. “You always have been... a surprise.”
“In what way?” She sounded curious, but he could hear the smile in her voice as well.
“In the best way. Shit, in the worst way, too.” He caged her loosely in his arms, taking another taste of the sweet softness below her ear. “I’ve made my living always knowing how to respond to any situation, how to approach and attack any kind of problem. Nothing knocks me off course. I’m prepared for anything because I have to be. It’s how I survive. But damn if I’ve ever known how to handle myself around you.”
“Oh, I think you do all right.” She caressed his arms as she continued to rest against him. “And sometimes it’s okay to shut all that other noise out. It’s okay for you to just be, Johnny. Especially when you’re with me.”
Duarte held her and watched the moonlight dance on the water beyond the island’s shore. For a moment, it was easy to believe they’d escaped to some secluded haven together. Someplace warm and pretty and tranquil, like she deserved.
Someplace where the Phoenix program never existed and they weren’t running from armed killers on their trail or dependent on a minor drug lord to provide them shelter. For just a moment, he wanted to ignore the nightmare premonitions that plagued him and the dread that he might not be able to protect Lisa from the danger his vision and Alec’s predicted.
For now, holding her like this, it was all too easy to imagine none of that could touch them.
Feeling Lisa going warm and pliant in his arms made him wish the illusion could be real.
She slowly shifted, turning around to face him. Her touch was feather light on his cheek and whiskers. That gentle caress alone nearly undid him.
“I hoped you’d come to find me here,” she confessed softly. “I wasn’t sure you would.”
The night breeze lifted the fine tendrils of her golden brown hair, sent it dancing around her beautiful face. Dusky hazel eyes stared up at him from under the fronds of her lashes.
He saw desire there, raw and unmistakable, and it sent an arrow of need into his veins. “I shouldn’t stay...” He trailed off on a low, muttered curse. “You look too good out here in the moonlight. It’s been a long, fucked up day, and you’ve got to be tired. The last thing you need is me pouncing on you again when I’m supposed to be protecting y—”
She silenced him with a kiss. A very hot, take-no-prisoners kiss. Her bold tongue pushed past his teeth and invaded his mouth, turning his cock to fire-forged steel. His pulse quickened and the growl that rolled off his lips was ripe with need.
“If you don’t stop now,” he warned thickly, “I won’t be able to.”
She licked her lips. “Do you want to stop?”
Fuck no. He managed a vague shake of his head before he took her mouth in a hard, claiming kiss of his own. His erection pulsed with each heartbeat banging in his chest.