The resort’s isolation provided an ideal if unusual location for the mystery man to continue the tests on the effects of the latest, more vicious version of Genie’s Wish. At least that was what they’d been hearing whispers about from Vivi’s DEA contacts. The newest iteration of the drug that had simply amplified users’ lust, greed or fury now directed it, turning the users into puppets who weren’t even aware that someone else was pulling the strings.
Resolute, she grabbed the phone and turned off the reminder alarm. “We’ve gotta go soon.”
“We’re going to find her.” He dropped her bikini back into the suitcase, pivoted, and then reached into his drawers, scooped up the contents and dumped them into the empty suitcase next to hers. “Packing done. Let’s do this.”
How he managed to look so confident standing with only a towel wrapped around his hips, she had no idea. But he did. That just made the urge to poke his oversized ego too tempting to ignore.
She glided a finger down his bare chest, loving the way his jaw hardened as he attempted to maintain his iron hold on the control he valued almost above all else. “You forgot something.”
“What’s that?” he asked, his voice strained.
She hooked her finger around the towel and tugged it free. “Pants?”
“Kitten…” Whip quick, he grasped her waist and lifted her up so she fit snugly against his hard cock. “I know you love me best naked.”
Damn. He had her dead to rights on that one. She wrapped her legs around his waist and took his face between her palms. “I love you any way I can have you, but yeah, naked is my favorite.”
She lowered her mouth to his and showed him just how much. When their lips met, it wasn’t soft and gentle—it never was with them. It was all fire and passion and immediacy. They’d burned fast and scorching hot from the first time she’d walked into the Devil’s Dip Gym he owned. They’d fought it, but the heat won out.
He slid his hands down to her ass, cupping it, as she rocked against him. Even fully clothed, her body ached from the sweet torment of touching him. She couldn’t get enough. She had to taste him everywhere.
Somehow over the blood rushing in her ears, she heard the elevator ping. Fuck. It was the only entrance to the loft and no one ever thought to call ahead first. Of course, if they were on the approved list, all they had to do was punch in the code and scan their thumbprint to get in. The approved list was short—only Taz’s brothers and her girls—but right now everyone was working around the clock on the mission to bring Gidget home.
The number two above the elevator doors lit up.
And that’s what happened when you lived on the third floor of the building that housed the Devil’s Dip Gym on the first floor and the B-Squad Investigation and Security headquarters on the second—you never left work behind.
She broke the kiss. “If that’s one of your brothers for something stupid, I’m going to shoot them.”
“Not if I get to my gun first.” He released his hold on her ass, letting her body slide against his before her feet touched the floor, and then grabbed his towel and tied it around his waist.
Bianca spun around just as the elevator doors parted. Because of the loft’s open layout, there weren’t any walls between the bedroom area and the elevator on the opposite side of the loft, so she had an unobstructed view of the woman who strutted on four-inch heels out of the elevator and into the living room. Blindingly beautiful with long, blonde, artfully waved hair and a face that would make fashion photographers weep with joy, she wore a calf-length trench coat.
“Honey, I’m home,” the woman called out as she took off her sunglasses, revealing her murderously cold blue eyes.
Bianca went for her SIG SAUER on the nightstand next to the bed. Taz grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could take a step. His fingers bit into her flesh and pain shot up her limb.
“Taz,” she called out, wincing.
But he didn’t react. All of his attention was focused solely on the woman.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, his voice vibrating with fury.
“Is that any way to talk to your wife?” The woman smirked. “You know, I’ve missed you, Honey Bear.”
His hold slackened just as the earth shook beneath Bianca’s feet and she stumbled back.
“Your wife?” She reached out, holding on to the dresser to steady her stance, the hurt squeezing her lungs keeping her from passing out in shock. She and Taz had been together for six months and he was married. “How long have you been married?”
The woman admired the rock on her ring finger. “Five years next Tuesday.”
Bianca was damn glad Taz had stopped her earlier from getting her gun, because otherwise she couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t have shot him right in the center of his cold, black heart.
Chapter 3
Taz
Taz took stock of the situation.