Cat Got Your Tongue? (22 page)

“That’s precisely why you can’t work for him, Alex. He thinks of you as his woman, not his bodyguard.”

“Butt out, Dan,” Cole warned.

“I’m only saying—”

“Stop it!” Alex yelled, jamming her hands onto her hips.

Both men froze and turned to stare at her.

“This jackass,” she shouted, waving a hand in Cole’s direction, “barely knows me so may not know this yet, but you,” she jabbed a finger at Cole, “know that I will not be muzzled! Don’t you dare treat me like some dimwit woman in over her head. You jerks didn’t even know what was going down until I filled you in.”

“Alex,” Dan said softly, taking a step toward her but she held out her palm, stopping him.

“I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Now that you’re in charge, you get to secure the house.” With a final glare at Cole, she grabbed her bottle of water and stormed out the kitchen.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Dan said.

Cole shook his head and blew out a breath. “No. I’ll handle Alex, you handle my security.”

As he straightened, his eye caught Alex’s bag on the table beside him. Not one for snooping, he would normally have ignored it, but the disk of the voice recording peeked out through the opening of the bag, sparking his interest. He eyed it with a deep frown as suspicion settled in his gut. Reaching for it, he shoved the disk into the computer, and replayed the taped conversation.

“Oh, God,” he mumbled as they listened to the recording again. Cole pushed back the chair with such force that it toppled backward and crashed to the floor. “Dammit, she cut the recording short. It’s not just me they want. They’re after her too.”

And she hadn’t said a word.

Cole wasn’t surprised to find Alex’s door locked.

He retreated to his room, opened the drawer of the nightstand beside his bed, and removed a set of master keys. He returned to her room and a moment later, he shut the door behind him, locking it.

She was in the shower and he paused before going into the bathroom, trying to steady himself. He’d been simmering with heated anger all evening—anger aimed directly at her. Now, outside her bathroom door, his anger had subsided, replaced by a sense of fierce protectiveness that wrenched at his gut. Her life was on the line—and only because she’d stuck her neck out to save his. And what had he done? Fired her, threatened her, and treated her like shit.

Such a damn fool.

She was sitting on the floor under the spray of water, hugging her knees, her head resting on her arms. When he opened the shower door and shut off the water, she gasped and waved a hand at him.

“Go away,” she mumbled, looking mortified that he’d witnessed her little meltdown.

He grabbed a nearby towel, and stepped into the shower. “Come here,” he said softly, pulling her to her feet and wrapping the towel around her shoulders. She was trembling and felt so ridiculously small in his arms.

“How did you get in here?” she asked in a husky tone.

“I have a master key.”

“So locks don’t matter to you either.” She was trying to distract him from the fact that she was a shivering mess.

“Maybe we have more in common than we thought.” Cole leaned forward and kissed her gently. “I’m sorry I was such an ass.”

She seemed surprised by the apology and lifted her eyes to his. “You should be more grateful when someone sticks their neck out to save yours. I’ve never met anyone more disgruntled at being kept alive.”

“I know.” Even standing in front of him, a shivering wet mess, she still looked beautiful. In a way, it relieved him to see her like this. It proved to him that through her tough exterior, sassy attitude, and big mouth, there was a whole lot of woman waiting to be discovered.

“Are we still fighting?” she asked, tilting her head to look at him as though she were trying to gauge his mood.

He smiled. “I’m done fighting, Alex. I know we have a lot to discuss. A lot has happened for us to figure out, but I’m kind of done with it all for tonight, aren’t you?”

“Hell, yes.”

He pulled her into his arms. “God, I was so worried about you tonight.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I know.” She was still trembling and he stepped back to look at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve tried to stop the shivering, but my body’s way past listening to me.”

He rubbed his hands across her back and kissed her forehead. “It’s been a rough day.” An understatement, but he left it at that.

“You fired me,” she said softly.

“I know.”

“No one’s ever fired me before.”

“I’m the first of many of firsts in your life.”

Her face relaxed into a small grin. “My first shield to crack my work code and my first shield to fire me. You are an ass.”

“I know. My testosterone takes over sometimes.”

“Only sometimes? Baby, you are testosterone all the time.”

He chuckled. “And so are you, my spitfire.”

“Our relationship is doomed.”

Cole trailed a finger across her cheek. She was scratched and bruised, and his gut clenched at the knowledge that she had received these injuries because of him.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, closed his eyes, and breathed her in.

That was why he had fired her.

****

Alex had always underestimated the power of an embrace. Her first instinct when Cole had wrapped his arms around her had been to pull away, to put some distance between them. But the safety she found in his arms kept her there. She inhaled, relieved they had decided to fly their white flags for the night.

Conflict had never bothered her—it came with the territory of her job, her life, and the people she worked with. But fighting with Cole was different. It unnerved her.

She must be getting soft. Either that or she was so damn tired from the several adrenaline rushes she’d had during the day.

Cole’s hand slid beneath her towel and settled on her naked waist, a saucy grin toying on sensuous lips. “Now that you no longer work for me, we no longer have a business relationship.”

“Then itʼs just sex,” she said quickly, glancing at him above the hem of her towel. The trembling had lessened, but she still huddled into its warmth.

He cupped her face in his hands, his fingers splayed across each cheek. “This is more than just sex, Alex, and you know that.”

“No. It’s—”

He dipped his head to capture her mouth in a firm kiss, cutting her off. She held back, hesitating. Sensing her uncertainty, he tangled his fingers into her hair and deepened the kiss.

Heat ignited between her legs and her arms came up to encircle his neck. She couldn’t help herself. The escape he offered was so tempting, and she relaxed into him, relenting to whatever he wanted from her. There had been enough arguing and tension for one day, and she could do with an outlet right now. Sex with Cole sounded perfect.

When Cole sensed her surrender, he tightened his hold on her and kissed her with a delicious roughness.

The towel fell away, and she gasped his name when he cupped her breast.

“Are you okay to do this?” he whispered, trailing a finger along the wound on her hip.

“Hell, yes,” she breathed and nibbled his lip, relieved that the wound had started healing.

Not needing a second invitation, he tightened his grip and ravished her.

Their breathing grew heavier, the uncontrollable spiral of desire and urgency drawing them in, fueling their need for the release they sought from each other.

Alex’s shivering vanished, replaced by the familiar longing that only he could give her.

Together, they quickly stripped him, his clothes joining the wet towel on the floor. His hard length, ready and primed, brushed against her womanly curves. With a small grin, she left a trail of kisses across his chin, his neck, his chest, and the hard muscles that bulged in his waist area. When she settled herself in front of his waist, she tilted her head back to look at him. The crazed look in his eyes spurred her on and she took him into her mouth.

“Oh, God, Alex,” he groaned, his eyes darkening in hot pleasure. His head tipped back and he shoved his fingers through her hair.

Alex teased, licked, and tasted, enthralled with the small sounds of satisfaction coming from him. She relished in the power she had over him. This powerful man was at her mercy, hard, hot and wanting her. And it felt great. So sensual and intimate.

“Alex, stop,” Cole rasped.

She smiled and dipped her head to continue the torment, but he stopped her.

“Stop,” he grated out, his voice husky and desperate. He pulled her to her feet. “I want to be inside you.”

She moved into his arms. “Now.”

Sexual determination and raw need sent them tumbling out of the shower and onto the bed. The darkness in the bedroom hid the war wounds on both their bodies and for a brief moment in time, they were able to forget about the day’s events and concentrate on each other.

Cole growled as he moved over her and caught her nipple between his teeth, his mouth hungering against the soft flesh. When his hand trailed to the soft curls between her legs, she spread her legs in complete submission, without hesitation, and he groaned.

Alex gasped as a fresh onslaught of pleasure ripped through her when he slipped a finger into her, working his magic once again. He moved his hand, his finger teasing the very center of her, and she bucked against him, crying out as he caught her mouth with his again.

She’d had a few lovers in the past, but this man aroused her in a way that no one else had. His masculine sexiness, determination, and manly aura completely overwhelmed her senses.

“Oh, Cole,” she breathed as she felt an intense orgasm building. She grabbed his shoulders to hold on to him, the sensation so powerful that she needed to feel him there.

But he wasn’t done with her yet, and she cried out in frustration when he pulled away. When his mouth took over from his hands, she arched her back, writhing beneath him, lost in the sensual act of having his mouth on her in such an intimate way. He slid his hands under her waist and lifted her, kissing her with the same intensity as she’d done to him.

She gasped when he drew back to look at her, his eyes dark with hunger. “Tell me this is more than just business,” he said softly.

“No.” She gave a frustrated groan when he withdrew completely. “What are you doing?” she cried, desperate for the release he promised, but seemed determined to deny her.

“Tell me this is more than just sex.” He shifted his body to kiss her hard on the mouth. When he nudged her legs open with his knee, she spread them eagerly, desperate to have him inside of her, and groaned at the masculine feel of him between her legs.

He hesitated as he slid the tip of his cock inside of her. She arched against him, trying to take him in further, but he swiftly withdrew. “Tell me, Alex.”

“Cole, stop it.”

Ignoring her cry of frustration, he caught her hands in his. He laced his fingers with hers and pressed them against the sheet above her head.

“Cole, stop messing around. I need you.”

His kiss was slow and torturous. “I know. And God knows, I need you, but not until you admit the truth to me. Admit this is more than just sex.”

She closed her eyes, fighting against everything he wanted from her. “This is only sex, dammit.”

“Liar,” he whispered and pushed his full length into her.

Her eyes flew open in surprise, and she gasped with pleasure. They both let out a long, slow groan as he started his rhythmic humping into her.

Alex met each thrust with wild urgency, her orgasm intensifying once again. “Please don’t stop,” she begged, gripping his shoulders.

“Then tell me, dammit!” he insisted, pumping into her. This time, his voice held a tinge of urgency that wiped away the self-control he’d seemed determined to maintain. “Admit to me that this—
this
—is more than just sex.”

He pounded into her, and Alex clung to him helplessly as the magical sensations wracked her body. She knew what he wanted. Abandoning all sense of self-preservation, she cried out against his neck as she finally—finally—felt herself going over the edge. “Yes,” she gasped.

“Say it.”

“This is more than just sex.” She let out a shriek as she came with an intensity that rocked her world and left her breathless and gasping for something more than air.

“Thank God,” he murmured, closing his eyes and burying his face into her neck. He came with a shudder, rocking against her, and gave a soft growl against her skin.

“You don’t fight fair,” she whispered in choppy breaths.

He lifted his head to look at her, a sexy grin curving his lips. “You’d best remember that.”

Tuesday morning

Alex crept down the stairs, listening for clues as to the whereabouts of the three men. The house was quiet and her escape route seemed clear, so she quickly descended the last few steps and headed for the front door.

Her heart sank as the door opened before she reached it and Cole walked in, his two new bodyguards directly behind him.

Oh, brother.

The three men looked striking, handsome, all dressed in shirts and jeans, and Alex’s stomach lurched at the unexpected sight of them.

Almost as though he sensed her need for a hasty exit, Cole moved in front of her, blocking the door. “Going somewhere?”

“I have a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

Oh, no. Not now. Alex lifted her chin and looked straight at Cole, hoping to mask her uneasiness. “Yes. A meeting with a new client.”

Cole’s eyes narrowed. “Bullshit. Tell me where you’re going.”

Alex wasn’t surprised when he saw right through her. He had spent the most part of the last fifteen years in heavy negotiations with people from all over the world. He’d learnt how to maneuver his opponents where necessary, mastered the skill of reading others, and had developed an accurate instinct that warned him when someone wasn’t being entirely honest with him.

She hadn’t stood a chance.

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing when to admit defeat. Besides, it might not hurt for them to know where she was headed. If her meeting went sour, at least they’d know where to start looking for her.