Until Noon (2 page)

“Ah, good for him,” Raul offered with sarcasm. “So you think Graham’s neck was

broken before he fell?“

“I’ll let my forensics man tell me. But whatever the answer on his neck, I do

question if he fell or if he was pushed.”

Raul flared his nostrils.

Enrique frowned as he studied the body again. “Anything else seem out of sorts

about his position?”

“Looks like his trouser pockets are turned out.”

Enrique winced. “True. We’ve searched his coat. He has no wallet.”

Raul’s mind snapped on a sequence of deductions. Raul wanted to laugh. “This is a

robbery
? Ridiculous.”

Enrique crossed his arms. “That is my thought, but we haven’t found it.”

“How did you ID him?”

“His rental car in the parking lot near the visitors center.” Enrique pointed toward

the lot and the auto with police tape around it. “Rental agreement proves it is his.”

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Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

“And the rental company re-confirms this?” Raul pressed.

Enrique nodded. “
Sí.
That car is not stolen. We asked for the fax of the rental company’s copy of his driver’s license. This is the same man. Anthony Graham, age

forty. Resident of London, England.”

“Neck broken before he was thrown over the hill. Wallet taken to make it appear

like a robbery.” Raul squinted back up the hill, forcing himself to ignore the brunette several paces below. “I’ll look around at the top. See if there are any signs of a scuffle.

Better have one of your boys come with me, just in case.”

“Right. I want no problems with chain of evidence—or you being here.” Enrique’s

eyes danced.

“You can cover for me. I know your turn with me in Houston PD did you a lot of

good.”

A brief smile flashed on Enrique’s face. “Taught by the best. Go look at the top of

the cliff and tell me what you find.” Enrique tipped his head toward the path. “That

way you will stop eyeing the candy.”

“Candy?” Irritated that he hadn’t been cool about his interest in the svelte brunette, Raul wanted to ignore any affirmation that he might be attracted to the woman—but

couldn’t summon the lie. “How can you tell?”

“
Mi amigo
, I can smell the way she singes your heart.”

“Hell with that.” Raul chuckled. “Never my heart.”

Enrique waved a hand at him. “No. Your
cojones
. Did she reject you?”

Reject me?
He’d assumed that at first, but as the days marched on, Raul knew she had another reason to run. He’d wondered what it had been. “No, not that.”

“Hmm. If she did, she was the only one to ever do so. Interesting. I will send her up to you.”

Don’t.
“Why?”

“She must learn what you know about him.”

“And who is she?” he asked. Damn his soul. It was his eagerness to fuck her again

that was not a good idea.

“So. You need an introduction?”

“I do.”
Wish to Christ I didn’t.

Enrique teased. “What am I? Your social secretary?”

“Tell me, Petron. You know that you probably have a murder on your hands here.

And I have information from my employers about the dead man that can save all of you

time and heartache. How can she be here? Why did you allow her?” Raul insisted.

“She is a criminal investigator for the European Union.”

Alarms went off in Raul’s head. Whatever her name or her proclivity to fuck a man

blind within hours of meeting him, she had the same kind of profession as he did. Any coincidence that might have occurred to him about their meeting two years ago melted

8

Until Noon

away. Until he reviewed what he’d been working on that night he’d pushed between

her legs and lost himself, he would be very careful renewing his acquaintance with her.

Had she worked for the EU then? Was her interest in him purely personal or had there

been another method to her madness? He drove a hand through his hair. Damn if he

could recall what he had worked on the night he lost his mind with her in his arms.

“You have known her before today?”

“No. I saw her badge. She is, as you say in the States, good to go.”

“Good to be here. Why?”

“She’s investigating the work Graham was doing for a major oil company.”

“Which one?” Raul asked, his gaze devouring the willowy figure of the woman

who had lived in his memory for far too long and whose raw sexuality had spoiled him

for so damn many other females.

As if she too recalled the abandon of their lovemaking, she looked straight into his

eyes.

He might never be certain, but at that moment, he felt her tremble in recognition.

And enjoy the memory too?

Scenes of how she had laughed with him in the bar where they’d met ripped

through him. Memories of her warm mouth, ravenous for his. Her body, elegant in her

passion, long and reedlike, her breasts, firm mounds. Her pussy, tight as sin, glossed with dark brown hair, fat labia, soaking wet with cream, all for him. The way she came with abandon. The delight in sucking him off as if she’d never tasted any other man.

The way she let him have her, on the bed, against the wall. In his shower. Every time, she had come, crying her joy as her sweet cunt milked him dry.

“Did you hear me?” Enrique taunted him.

“No,” Raul admitted, knowing he sounded like a sleepwalker. “Tell me again.”

“Roca Oil. Their main refineries are down on the Barcelona waterfront.”

“
Gracias.
”

“
De nada
, my friend. Now go look at that path and stop ogling
Señorita
Terrasona.”

“That’s her name?” Raul asked, steeling himself to sound indifferent.

“Pilar.”

Pilar. Pilar Terrasona. You and I are going to get to know each other again. This time, I
need to know not just your name but what you do for a living and why you are here. That means
that this time, lady, you and I are looking at no sex. All business.

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Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

Chapter Two

Pilar watched as the tall, muscular, dark-haired man picked his way across the

rocky terrain toward her. He still had that tousled sexy look that she’d never been able to erase from her mind. An aura of machismo surrounded him, making her nipples

tighten and the pulse in her pussy set up a steady tattoo. Not good. Not good at all.

His confident stride brought back memories of Brussels. How he’d walked toward

her in his bedroom, as if he stalked her. How she had chuckled at his intensity,

sweeping her up into his arms and ravishing her with deep, dark kisses. God how he’d

looked, his dark hair dipping over his brow as he loomed above her and whispered soft words of bold seduction.

“I’m going to claim every inch of you,
cara
,” he had promised in that baritone that brushed her senses with longing. “Your breasts are so beautiful and mine. I will kiss them, make them hard and yearning.”

At the memory, her nipples peaked. She gulped. Flustered, she held her ground as

he approached her. But her head spun as if she’d been hit with a sledgehammer. One

night, that was all they’d spent together. Not even an entire night, just a few hours. In the dark. No names exchanged. But they’d explored each other’s bodies in the most

intimate ways. Murmured hot sexual words to each other. His cock had been in her

mouth. Her pussy. Her ass. Her orgasms had been the most intense she’d ever

experienced in her life.

And then, when he was in the bathroom disposing of yet another condom she’d

taken the opportunity to reclaim her sanity. She’d thrown on her sweater and skirt,

tucked the rest of her clothes in her purse and snuck out of his room like a thief in the night.

Not that she hadn’t thought about him nearly every moment since then. He was

truly unforgettable. But her line of work did not allow for anything more than the

briefest liaisons. She liked her sexual encounters fast, impersonal. The one time she had allowed anything more had been disastrous to her heart and her profession and had

taken a long time to get over. To deal with. She was a smart woman who didn’t commit

the same mistakes twice.

For one night she had lost herself in him, knowing she would walk away and they

would never see each other again. Yet now here he was, slamming into her life again,

the one man who had proven unforgettable. In the confines of that one night he was no threat. There had been no disaster. Just one fabulous memory of tenderness and bliss

that she had deliberately walked away from. The shock of seeing him here, so

unexpectedly, unsettled her for a moment. As both her body and her brain reacted to

him she needed to put distance between them.

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Until Noon

But no such luck. He walked toward her, crowding into her space, her profession,

her business where Tony Graham’s body had been found. And acting for all the world

as if he belonged there and she didn’t. Who the hell was he, anyway? And what was he

doing here?

He stopped only inches away from her, his midnight-black eyes boring into her like

twin beacons.

“
Señorita
Terrasona.” He nodded his head once.

She suppressed a shiver, determined not to show how his presence affected her. Or

his knowledge of her name.

“You have the advantage here,” she told him in a flat voice. “It seems my

anonymity is gone while yours is still in place.”

He flashed his killer grin. “Sorry about that.
Señor
Petron and I are old friends.” He held out his hand. “Raul Cardona.”

His hand was just as strong as she remembered and warm despite the chill in the

air and the cold wind.

“I’m surprised to see you here,
Señor
Cardona.” She kept her voice as expressionless as possible, although it took great effort on her part.

“Just doing a favor for a friend. And it’s Raul.” He studied her face. “And you?”

“I’m working,” she told him, purposely chilly as well as brief.

He stood there staring at her for a long moment, then burst into laughter. “Maybe

we should try this again. We might be able to help each other.” He cocked an eyebrow.

“I think we’re two professionals very good at our game.”

“Really.” She had to swallow a smile. He was too suave, too engaging. How would

she keep her distance? “And what game would that be?”

“I think it’s you show me yours and I’ll show you mine.” He paused, arching a

brow, waiting for his devilish invitation to sink in. When she didn’t bite, he said, “Okay.

So I’ll go first. I work for a global security agency based in the States. Nemesis.”

She nodded. “I have heard of it.”

“So you should. It is one of the best. One of the partners, Adam Molloy, was very

close friends with the victim, Tony Graham.”

“And you flew all the way here from the States?”
Not very likely.
“You got here rather quickly.”

“I happened to be here at the end of another assignment,” he told her. “The victim’s

wife called my boss and he called me. It also happens that one of our partners knows

the head of the company the dead man was doing the work for.” He paused. “Your

turn.”

She might have tried to sidestep but she figured Petron had already clued him in.

He was just dancing with her.

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Desiree Holt & Cerise DeLand

“I’m sure your friend let you know I’m an investigator for the European Union.

Tony was doing some work for Roca Oil, which supplies a good percentage of oil to the EU.”

And that’s all I’m telling you until I get a better feel for this whole situation.

What she really wanted to feel was him. His hard body against hers. Skin to skin.

His mouth on her nipples. His thick cock in her pussy while his thumb strummed her

clit like a musical instrument. Pilar was no novice when it came to sex but this man had outdone all the others combined.
And what the hell are you thinking?

His face sobered. “Then finding out what happened is all the more important.” He

glanced back at where Petron was hailing a trio of people in black jackets just making their way down the treacherous slope. “It seems the forensics team has arrived. I’m

guessing it will take them a while to do their thing. There’s a little bistro just down the road. There’s a black cloud closing in on us. We’ll be soaked soon. What do you say we get out of this foul weather and get something hot to drink? I’ll ask Enrique to call me when his people are finished.”

For a moment she was tempted to refuse. This man was dangerous to her and not

merely where this situation was concerned. Aside from the professional conflict of

interest, his very potent sexuality distracted her. Made her feverish. A cat in heat was not a rational creature and, lord knew, she could not give in to that. She needed to be rational. Especially when she was working.

Raul Cardona could make her lose focus. Distract her. He was already doing that

and he’d done nothing but stand there. But she was sure he’d see that as a chink in her armor. From the few hours one night they’d spent together two long years ago, she

knew any relationship with this man—public or private—would require her to be

strong. Strong to make love to him. Strong to walk away from him. Strong now to be

near him and not get carried away by his charisma. His overpowering male aura.

And the danger she knew lay in a relationship like this.

Not good, Pilar. Get your head together.

She could survive him—and her attraction to him. She would simply force herself