Leather, Lace and Rock-n-Roll (19 page)

“He was there.” Steele’s eyes darkened and
Hawke felt the sniper go on full alert. “In the parking lot.”

“Whoever took that shot was either lucky or a
skilled marksman.” Hawke dropped his gaze back to the screen. “I
had her covered yet they managed to hit her.”

Steele asked the one question no one could
answer for sure. “Diego?”

Hawke nodded. “Most likely one of his men. He
doesn’t like to get his hands dirty.”

Steele propped himself against the back of
the sofa. “Maybe we should move her.”

Max punched numbers on the alarm pad. “That
might be possible if Hawke had let her in on the secret.”

Steele raised both eyebrows. “You didn’t tell
her?”

“Timing wasn’t right,” Hawke mumbled.

“She’s lying in the hospital with a gunshot
wound and the timing wasn’t right?” Steele shook his head. “Damn
Hawke, you have it bad.”

Max snickered. “Understatement of the
year.”

“I’m going to tell her as soon as she gets
home.”

Steele released a heavy breath. “Oh
shit.”

Max grunted. “What now?”

“If we tell Rachel, then you-know-who gets in
on the action.”

Although he felt Steele’s pain, Hawke
responded with ease. “We don’t have a choice. She’s in as much
danger as Rachel. He could focus on her just to torture
Rachel.”

Steele wouldn’t give up. “I vote Sterling
tells her.”

Max stopped poking buttons and glanced over
his shoulder.

“Hey,” Steele continued, “you’re the one who
calls the shots. It’s all about rank, Captain.”

Max released a heavy sigh. “Why the hell are
you nervous, Steele? You have five sisters. She’s a woman. A tiny,
loud-mouthed female, full of hot air.”

Hawke, for one, refused to answer. No way in
hell would be challenge Cameron. He wasn’t surprised when Steele
didn’t respond either.

Max shook his head. “I’ll take care of
it.”

“What about the package Cameron grabbed from
the office?”

“I put it upstairs in the master bedroom.
Figured you could use it for show and tell.”

“Any suspicious activity around the mail
room?”

“None. Surveillance hasn’t revealed the
courier either. The clerk says all packages received for shipping
are accounted for. Other than yesterday, Rachel’s tubes are
delivered by U.S. Mail. No one other than the usual contracted
couriers have picked up or delivered packages to the building.”

“How the hell is the son-of-a-bitch slipping
by us?”

“Easy. An inside job.”

“No.”

“We’ve already eliminated Rachel, Hawke.”

“Then who? We’ve checked everyone in the
building. Other than a few extramarital affairs and a couple
serious bondage fetishes, everything appears normal.”

“We know the tubes never leave this building
by U.S. Mail.”

“So how is Diego’s courier getting them?”

“That’s the million dollar question.”

“Security is amazingly tight. Rachel’s
clientele makes that non-negotiable. Someone inside works for
Diego.”

“I don’t know, Captain. Shadow slid in and
out pretty easily. You didn’t see him anywhere on the tapes. It’s
probable that Diego’s guy could be just as good.”

“Either that or sheer damn luck.”

Max nodded as his cell phone rang. Hawke
glanced at Steele who smirked and loaded equipment back into a
black bag.

“Rachel’s ready to come home,” Max told them
as he disconnected.

“Shadow’s alive?”

“And well. He’s waiting in the nurses’
lounge.”

“You guys head to the hospital. I’ll finish
up here and head to the suite.”

***

Just as Max suspected, reporters and news
vans waited like a pack of vultures waiting for their next meal
outside Rachel’s front gate. He released a heavy sigh and stopped
the Suburban a few feet from the house. As usual, news traveled at
the speed of light. Although irritated as hell, he was
semi-relieved to remember the gates opened by electronic code. Now
the only problem was how to prevent uninvited guests before the
gates closed.

He glanced at Hawke in the rear view mirror,
thankful that notoriety allowed a few advantages. Namely, an agent
to do the dirty work. “Not a problem.” Max punched a button on his
cell phone. “Huntington, send Diablo PD to Rachel’s house.”

Exactly ninety seconds after his call,
patterns of red and blue flashed in the early evening light and
ear-piercing sirens filled the silence when several squad cars
arrived to work crowd control. Max exited the vehicle and spoke to
each officer before he returned and drove to the gate.

“After I open the gates, the black and white
will keep anyone from entering behind us.”

The gates buzzed and squeaked open to allow
the Suburban inside. Max stopped at the end of the drive and
entered another code into an additional keypad. The gates squeaked
closed. Assured the policemen would clear the area, he parked in
front of the house.

He tilted his head to look out the front
windshield. “Too many damn trees.”

Rachel sighed. “Cameron wouldn’t let me thin
them out. She’s big on not disturbing the environment.”

Max bit his tongue, tempted to chase the
feisty little tomcat up one of them. He glanced back into the rear
view mirror. “Doesn’t appear to be anyone in the branches. Are we
going inside?”

He waited for Hawke’s argument, relieved when
he nodded in agreement. Max exited the vehicle and opened Rachel’s
door, offering an arm for support.

“Turn off the alarm, then let me go inside
first.”

Rachel’s ice-cold fingers burnt his skin as
she grasped his arm and eased herself to the pavement. He motioned
for Hawke to get out while Rachel limped to the front door.

Piercing sirens echoed in the early evening
stillness until Rachel entered the code to quiet them. Max took a
cursory look around, now convinced no one else was inside. His
eardrums throbbed and threatened to bleed. At least now she had a
decent deterrent in place.

“Coast is clear.”

Hawke and Rachel headed for the living room
while he shut the door and re-armed the system.

“Guess you figured out we re-vamped the
system,” he told Rachel once he entered the room. She gave a small
smile and sat on the sofa. “We need to review the plan,” he told
them.

Hawke gave him an irritated go-to-hell look.
“Now? She needs to rest.”

“Won’t take long, there’s not much to
it.”

Rachel grasped Hawke’s hand. “Go on,
Max.”

“Until we figure out what exactly happened,
nobody goes anywhere alone.” He gave Hawke a guarded glance. “I may
have to call for backup.”

Rachel gave him what he figured out to be a
genuine, honest smile. “Whatever you think, Max. I don’t want
either of us hurt again.”

Max raised an eyebrow. That was easy. Maybe
she could teach Hawke a thing or two.

“I’d like to go lie down now.” She stood from
the sofa and Hawke took her by the elbow. “The master bedroom is at
the top of the stairs.”

Max watched, almost envious, as Hawke
followed her upstairs. Envious? He shook his head. No, he just
needed a roll in the sack.

Max eased himself to the sofa, stretched his
legs in front of him, leaned back against the sofa cushions, and
dialed his cell phone. “Steele, you and Shadow head over here in
the morning.”

“Did he tell her?”

“Doesn’t matter. If he hasn’t, he has until
you two get here to do so.”

***

As soon as they were behind a locked door,
Hawke finally allowed himself to relax.

He drew Rachel into his arms and squeezed. “I
think we’re finally alone.”

She rested her head against his chest. “Don’t
you ever get tired of all the attention?”

He considered her question carefully. At one
time he would’ve said no. He’d played his current role so long it
became second nature. But now, he wasn’t so sure.

“I guess I don’t really think about it.” He
smoothed her hair with his hand. “I’ve always been a show-off.”

She tickled his skin with her lips as she
planted small butterfly kisses across the smooth surface of his
chest. “You’re still a show-off.”

He groaned and pressed her body flush to his,
running his hands down her back until they rested on her slender
waist. She had him strung tight. Painfully tight. But he was bound
and determined to wait and let her come to him, free of any
insecurity.

“Rachel,” he whispered, “are you sure about
this?”

“You’re not?”

“Your thigh—”

“I’m not in any pain. But if you want to wait
…”

He put a stop to that thought. “Hell, no! I
just want to be sure you’re up for this.”

Her eyes sparkled a very clear invitation.
“Without a doubt.”

His heart rolled over at her admission and he
gave her a cocky grin. “Good thing, because I don’t think I can
take much more hesitation.”

“No hesitation this time, Hawke,” she
promised, stepping out of his embrace.

Fire sizzled his insides. They were truly
alone, behind a locked door, away from prying eyes. Oh, and a sick
lunatic terrorist. And, despite his deception, Hawke would claim
her. Growling low in his throat, he reached for her to quench his
unbearable need to feel her against him.

With a gentleness he certainly didn’t feel,
he molded each of her curves to the indentions in his body. “You’re
so soft,” he murmured.

Her fingers worked to peel his shirt over his
abs until it hung around his neck. “You’re not.”

Hawke stood literally stiff as a board when
she ran her hands across the smooth, defined muscles of his chest,
down the steep stairway of his abs, and finally across the span of
his hips. His conscience cleared its throat several times to con
him into questioning his motives. Again.

For half a second he allowed himself to
listen. He knew damn well he was headed for a trainwreck, but her
touch intoxicated him and he was too far gone to rationalize. He
even considered yanking the emergency brake until she squeezed the
now very noticeable bulge between his legs. His hips jerked and he
swallowed hard. Screw morality.

Oxygen left his brain as he yanked his shirt
over his head, threw it to the floor, and fought to steady his
breathing. He traced her jaw with his knuckles then lowered his
head. Just a taste. A sweet, gentle nip of her full, pouty
lips.

When their lips finally met, her breathy sigh
filled his senses and sweet and gentle went straight to hell. He
devoured her like a last meal. In a lust filled frenzy, he tangled
his fingers through her hair and angled her mouth to fit firmly to
his. Once he locked her in position, he coaxed her mouth open and
dipped his tongue inside to meet hers.

With iron restraint, he forced himself to
slow down. Savor her sweetness. Show her how good he could make her
feel. Convinced he was now in control, he slid his tongue along the
length of hers. Her soft moan escaped the heated kiss just before
she wrapped his tongue with hers and sucked. Hard.

Sweet Jesus
.

Hawke lifted his lips from hers and eased his
hands under her top to massage the hollow of her stomach. “You have
on way too many clothes.”

Rachel took a step back, unbuttoned her top,
then shrugged it off each shoulder until it fell to the floor. She
gave her head a slight shake and the auburn strands of her hair
fell easily back into place. She shimmied her hips and the skirt
dropped to the floor.

Hawke stood hypnotized as he took in the
sight of her plump creamy breasts squeezed by a lacy white bra that
lifted them until they threatened to spill over the top. His touch
had excited her. Her nipples, now peaked, fought the restraint of
their barrier.

He forced his eyes lower to the scrap of
fabric she called underwear. The white material, most likely silk,
hung by a string from each hip and covered her just enough to tease
him with what was beneath. His dick demanded he shove the obstacle
to the side and penetrate her. Hawke looked up into her soft,
hooded eyes and reached for her.

Rachel dragged her tongue across her bottom
lip as she stepped further away until she bent to sit on the edge
of the bed. She leaned back, propped on her elbows, and crooked her
index finger. He didn’t need further encouragement, he stood in
front of her in less than a heartbeat.

He bent to place his lips to the top of her
collarbone while he released the catch of her bra with one finger
and moved a hand to cup her left breast. Her breath quickened when
his thumb found the rigid nipple and rolled it between his
fingers.

Hawke covered her tender skin with tiny
kisses while his mind flashed back to his first encounter with her
breasts. The force of her unexpected orgasm had nearly knocked him
on his ass. His heart pounded, pumping a mix of blood, adrenaline
and pure unadulterated sexual need through his veins. Intent on
giving her a repeat performance, he moved his lips lower until they
finally circled one, heated, pebbled nipple. Hot, white lightening
burnt his body when she thrust further into his mouth.

“Hawke,” she gasped.

Her response fueled his desire, his need to
claim her pushed to the point of no return. He released her nipple
and moved to the other, this time swirling his tongue around the
point, gently suckling as he played. Breathy whimpers left Rachel’s
throat and she lifted her hips to grind against his denim-covered
crotch.

Guided by her reaction, Hawke released her
nipple and eased her hips away from his body. He planted a kiss on
each breast, knelt on the floor in front of her, then stopped
short. Even incredibly aroused, he was severely pissed off by the
freshly stitched wound.

Rachel sat up. “Hawke?”

He hesitated. This was his prime opportunity
to call a time out and spill his bloody guts. But when he looked
back up into her deep brown eyes, the devil danced in the depths
and he knew he couldn’t.