Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (9 page)

Her face
flushed at his words. “Cowboy,” she stammered, and just for a second she turned
her face into his hand before jerking away.

Alex
allowed his hand to drop as he struggled to understand her bizarre actions. “Is
everything all right?” he asked.

In his
peripheral vision, he saw a Hispanic man approaching them.

“Who’s
your friend?” he heard the man ask.

Slowly,
he dragged his eyes from hers to the stranger’s nearly smirking face. He saw
her shuffle her feet and her face blushed nearly scarlet.

“
Uhhh
.
Roman,
this is… this is… I don’t really know who he is,” she said haltingly.

Alex
slid his mocking eyes over her once more before turning to the man. “Ben
Allred,” he said as he stuck out his hand.

“Roman
Alcazar,” the man said taking his hand. “I assume you’ve met my wife, Devon?”
he asked innocently enough.

His
wife
?
Those
two words ricocheted around Alex’s mind for an endless moment. He remembered
seeing a cartoon as a kid where Captain Hook shot a cannon ball which caught a
Lost Boy in the solar-plexus. He now knew what that felt like. He struggled to
contain the swift intake of air. He flicked his unbelieving gaze back to
Devon’s. She held it only briefly before dropping her gaze to the floor. His
chest tightened painfully as shock, disbelief, and pure fury washed over him.
She was married and she’d invited him, a total stranger to have sex with her.
To say he was shocked would be an understatement. She just didn’t seem the
type. In fact, she seemed nearly innocent. His mind went to the odd
conversation they’d had during that night, pressed against the window. Was she
talking about her husband? He quickly shifted his mind away from that memory as
the vision of her on her knees, naked before him came into view. He couldn’t
think about that.

Alex
realized the man, Roman, was waiting with a puzzled expression on his face.
Shame and guilt settled like a rock in his belly which only made him more
furious at her deception to both him and her husband. “
Uhh
,
yes, we’ve met. It’s nice to meet you,” he said to Roman.

“Are
you part of the expedition also,” Roman asked.

Alex
felt his body freeze. They were going on the expedition? Slowly, the man’s name
brought forth the dossier he’d read on him. Roman Alcazar -
gradated
from Baylor University, but hailed from Mexico… and had a cheating wife. Roman
Alcazar was looking better and better as his arms dealer. All he longed to do
was get far away from the two-timing hussy, and now he was going to be sleeping
within feet of her for weeks. He didn’t know if he could do it. Taking a deep
breath, he replied, “Yes.
You as well?”

“Yes.
This is my first official dig, so it’s pretty exciting stuff. How do you know
my wife?” Roman asked.

If the
man said
his wife
one more time, Alex
was going to throw something. He fumbled for a second for an answer, when
finally she spoke, “We met in the restaurant my first night here.”

“Good,”
Roman replied with a grin, “At least you’ll know someone on the team beside
me.”

Alex’s
jaw clenched. Needing to get far away from the vixen, he gave a quick nod to Roman.
“It was nice to meet you. I need to finish gathering up my belongings.” His
hard gaze fell on Devon one last time. With a trace amount of sarcasm in his
tone, he said mockingly in farewell, “Mrs. Alcazar.” He saw her flinch and he
gained a small amount of satisfaction from her discomfort.

With
that, Alex scurried away, unable to stand next to Devon and
her husband
. He felt physically sick.
He’d never knowingly messed with another man’s wife. He believed in the
sanctity of marriage. What was wrong with her? In a little corner of his mind,
a corner he lamented against, he wondered what was wrong with him… he still
wanted her, husband or no husband. This was going to be trouble… pure trouble.

~*M*~

Devon
felt as if she were falling through Alice in Wonderland’s wormhole.
Could things be anymore screwed up
,
she’d asked herself. How was it possible that the man with whom she’d had her
one and only one-night stand would be on the expedition team? She only had
herself to blame. She should have paid more attention to what he’d told her. He
was staying at the hotel… would be working in Mexico for a few weeks…
everything pointed to this expedition. As if his opinion of her wasn’t low
enough, now he not only thought she was a tramp, but was also a cheater.

She’d
not believed it when she’d seen him standing in the lobby. So great was her
disbelief, she’d looked right on past him in her search of Roman. When her eyes
had darted back to him, she’d felt a rush of intense heat flood her body. Want,
need, regret… they all warred within her until her chest burned. It was then
she’d realized she needed to take a breath.

When
she’d seen the warm expression on his face, her heart had melted. She could’ve
almost believed the night they’d shared had meant as much to him as it had to
her. But there was no way that was possible. He probably experienced sex like
that all the time. And her heart had nearly beaten out of her chest when he
strode over to her so confidently and stroked her cheek. Her body had responded
to his touch as if he had just as much command over it as he’d had during their
night together.

That
was immediately followed by wanting to throw up when Roman had referred to her
as his wife. The expression on Ben’s face had been heinous. She deserved
whatever abuse he wanted to dump on her. She longed to tell him her secrets –
to tell him anything to see the desire she’d seen in his eyes mere nights
before. But she just couldn’t. She’d chosen her path and now she would have to
follow it. With her shoulders hunched, she allowed Roman to lead her outside,
his hand against her lower back.

Roman
leaned his head toward her and murmured in her ear, “What was that about?”

She
glanced behind her for just a second to ensure they couldn’t be overheard and
met the stony eyes of, who she now knew to be, Ben Allred. From a distance, it
probably looked as if Roman were nuzzling her hair with his lips. She swallowed
and resigned herself to his loathing. There was absolutely nothing she could do
about it… except endure it.

Turning
her head to face forward once again, she murmured in reply, “Nothing.

She was
relieved when she and Roman were placed in separate vehicles from Ben. She’d
never be able to maintain in such close quarters with him for such a long trip.
She laughed humorlessly to herself, close quarters was what she was going to
have to endure for however long she remained with the expedition. She closed
her eyes as regret gnawed at her. She could almost feel the slide of his hand
against her skin. Feel the heat of his body pressed up against hers. Feel the
moisture left behind as he trailed kisses down her body. She swallowed hard at
her loss.

Anger
at the way Miguel Munoz still continued to damage her life filled her – which
immediately turned to abject terror. She wondered if the police were looking
for her right now… were Miguel’s minions, along with his son, Jorge? She
thought again, as she’d done a million times before, maybe she should just turn
herself in. She’d tried to call her mother, but her phone had been turned off.
What did that mean? She’d wanted to go back to Miguel’s – she’d not let her
mother take the blame for something she’d done – but Roman had told her to
wait. But waiting was so hard.

She
came back to the present with a start, when, seeing the tears streaking down
her face, Roman pulled her against his chest and pressed a kiss against her
hair. The familiarity of his touch should have comforted her, but
this time it did not… could not
. There were too many things
between them now.

“Everything
will be okay,” he whispered against her forehead.

She
struggled to suppress a sob. She was thankful they were situated in the back
seat of the SUV, somewhat away from prying eyes. She gave Roman a quick nod of
her head, but kept her face buried in his chest. She knew she was placing Roman
in danger as well, but she had no choice.

She
swiped at the tears on her cheeks and pulled away from him and leaned her head
back against the headrest of the SUV. She turned her head and studied the man
seated beside her. Roman Alcazar had been a beautiful boy who had grown into an
even more beautiful man. Unbelievably long black lashes framed his deep
chocolate eyes, making them appear to have eyeliner outlining their almond
shape. His dark, fine textured hair which he normally kept banded back, now
swung down nearly to his shoulders. His lips, made to be kissed, were now
curved into a gentle smile revealing his perfect white teeth. She’d known him
practically all her life and knew she didn’t deserve him. His family had lived
beside her grandmother when she was growing up and they had been inseparable
during the long summer months.

She
knew she should probably tell him about what happened at the hotel with Ben
Allred, but knew he’d never understand. No, some things were better left
unsaid. Guilt swamped her at how wanton she’d been behind the closed doors of
that room. She’d given no thought about anything or anyone except for her own
selfish needs. She could only pray that when everything was said and done,
Roman wouldn’t be hurt. She wondered if Ben Allred would tell anyone on the
expedition team about them… mostly she wondered if he’d tell Roman, but just
didn’t think he was the type. But there again, if experience was any indicator,
what did she really know about the true character of men?
In
a word… nothing.

Chapter 6

The
trek into the jungle took six hours. They’d long passed the comfort of paved
roads and now bumped along roads which consisted of more potholes than flat
surfaces. Alex sat in the passenger side, front seat of the SUV with his window
down and his elbow leaned against the door. His jaw was clenched tight as it’d
been for the entirety of the trip.
Married
!
He still couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Anger simmered in his belly.

When
the four SUVs ahead of them all pulled off and stopped in a small clearing,
Alex lifted questioning eyes to Jose, the driver.

“We go
it on foot from here,” Jose said with a grin.

Alex
nodded. He groaned internally at how many trips back and forth from the
vehicles to the campsite it’d take to unload all the vehicles. It was going to
be a long day.
But on the other hand, the busier the better.
Hopefully, he’d be so exhausted by nightfall he wouldn’t dwell on Devon
Alcazar. Besides, the sooner he got the camp situated, the sooner he could
begin his real reason for being here.

Tag
waited in the middle of the clearing until everyone had assembled. Alex glanced
around until he saw where Devon and her husband stood. She looked tired and
beaten down.
Well, she should
, he
thought bitterly. From under his lashes, he saw she kept casting furtive
glances his way. Just from the time he’d known her, he knew she was nervous by
the way she twirled a thick strand of hair between her fingers. His eyes
followed the line of her hair to where it fell on her breasts. The vision of
them, brown with pinked tips, filled his mind, as did the way she’d arched her
back to get them within reach of his seeking mouth. He forced himself to look
away.

As Tag
outlined the plan to unload the trucks, Alex looked around at the collected
group. He noticed that several of the men were openly ogling Devon as she stood
with her husband. Maybe she came on all the expeditions and had been with all
of the men before. She had practically thrown herself at him when he’d been
about to walk out of her room that night. His lips thinned and he returned his
gaze and his attention back to Tag.

Once
instructions had been given, everyone began to unload. As Alex had predicted,
it took several trips back and forth to the trucks to finally get all the
equipment and supplies to their base camp. Once everything was unloaded, he
began to set up his own tent and put away his equipment. Once completed, he
moved to help several of the others to set up the food and supply tent and other
miscellaneous things.

He
watched as Devon and Roman worked together to put up their tent. He seemed a
jovial enough fellow and made her laugh several times – albeit a strained
laugh. For reasons he didn’t fully understand, this annoyed him. She certainly
didn’t look unhappy with him. In fact, she looked perfectly comfortable. Maybe
they had an open marriage of some kind. Maybe Roman was okay with her sleeping
around.

When
everything had been set up, the campsite reminded Alex of the pictures he’d
seen of an Indian campsite. The fire-pit acted as an anchor to all the tents
placed in a semi-circle around it. He was happy to see his tent was several
tents away from Devon and Roman’s.

Once
all the set up needs had been met, Tag began to delegate other duties, Alex
groaned when he paired him with Roman to gather wood for the fire. He smiled
perversely, however, when Devon lifted her startled eyes to his. He could
practically hear her begging him not divulge her secret.