Page 52 of Savage Beauty

Probably not. Then again, if anyone sees us, at first glance, we’ll look like a couple strolling along the beach late at night.

She speaks to the team as we walk. “Yes. Okay. Yes. Do you want to speak to him? Okay.” There’s a break where she’s listening. “Bye.” She pulls the piece out of her ear and tells me, “The guy who entered the building left. He walked to an apartment building nearby.”

That’s why we didn’t see headlights.

“No one followed us. They’re calling it a night. They’ll follow up in the morning. Oh, and they said I probably won’t be able to access the databases outside of the firewall, but if they can get their hands on the laptop, it might be just what they need to get in. So, we did good.”

As we approach the villa, I scan the area. No headlights, no soft purr of a combustion engine in the distance. Palm fronds waft below the moonlight, and cricket chirps mix in with the soft pulse of the surrounding turquoise sea. All clear.

When inside, I don’t let go of her hand until I place her against the wall and tell her to stay. Room by room, I clear the place.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins with the fury of a stormy, turbulent ocean. There’s no way I’ll fall asleep.

When I return to her after clearing the villa, she enters her bedroom and I enter mine, setting aside my weapons, one by one.

A light glows in the hall, beckoning me. A silent siren.

From across the hallway, she sits on the end of the bed, her bare feet flat on the floor and knees spread to each side in an unfeminine stance that gives me a view straight up her thighs. A silver laptop sits beside her, but she hasn’t opened it. She’s staring at it.

Her dark, silky strands fall haphazardly around her shoulders.

“Something wrong?” I ask from the doorway. With her legs open like that, I’ve got a view of a slip of white panties that I assume are cotton. I shouldn’t look. But I can’t help but take her all in. Thighs, panties, perky little breasts.

“He’s right.”

“Who is?”

“I grabbed the laptop, but I won’t be able to get what I need if we’re not on the network.”

“Erik will figure it out.”

“You have an erection.”

My palm flattens against the protrusion snaking up my pants, reaching the top of the waistband. She’s direct. And correct.

“Is it adrenaline?”

“That plays a part.” Her fingers glide over her thigh, inching closer to the apex. She leans back on her other hand, and the angle sends those perky nipples skyward. “Do you have any idea how fucking sexy you are?”

“I didn’t think you wanted me.”

“Why would you think that?” I’m sure every man who sees her wants her. She’s not my type, but I’m flexible. I’m a man, after all. If humans weren’t flexible with our preferences, our species wouldn’t be on the verge of overpopulation.

“I suggested sex. You weren’t interested.”

“Never said I wasn’t interested. I said we shouldn’t.”

“Why is that?” The tips of her fingers reach the seam of her panties, and the pad of her finger rubs up and down. Fuck, she’s hot. My palm presses hard down over my dick, up along the tip, giving it some much needed pressure.

She moves the lining of her white panties to the side.

And holy fuck.

Her finger slips inside her glorious, silky, pink pussy. She shifts on the mattress, and that finger goes deeper.

She pulls it out and slips it between her lips, sucking it.

My breaths are so fucking shallow it’s a wonder I’m standing.

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