He stroked a finger through the hair along her temple. She looked back at him.

"I'm not letting you go alone."

"But-"

"Do you want me to come?"

She stared at him plaintively, then looked away. "I can manage without you."

"I didn't ask you that. I asked you if you wanted me to come."

She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. Her rigid expression slowly melted into acceptance. "Yes. Of course I want you to come."

Dave shook his head slowly. "Why is that so hard for you to say? Didn't I tell you once that if you ever needed me I'd be there?"

"You fulfilled that promise already."

"Did I say anything about it being a onetime deal?"

"No."

"Okay, then. Think of it as a perpetual coupon you can cash in anytime you want to."

He tucked his hand behind her neck, pulled her toward him, and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll help you get Adam and Gabrio out of there. I promise."

She nodded.

"Do you have access to a plane?"

"Yes. Blue Diamond has seven in the fleet. At least a couple of them should be available."

"Will they let you take a plane if they happened to see the news and know what happened at the airport?"

"Probably not. That's why we're not going to ask."

"So we're moving into theft now?"

"Technically, no. I have the keys and the authorization to fly any of them. The owner might not want me to under these circ.u.mstances, but I think it's best if we don't ask permission."

Dave checked his watch. "How soon can we get out of here?"

"Sunset is coming up fast. I can't land in Santa Rios in the dark, particularly since using the airstrip would attract too much attention even if it were lit. We don't want Robert knowing we're even in the country. We'll have to wait until dawn."

"How long is the flight to Santa Rios?"

"Three hours."

Dave nodded. "Okay then. You'd better let Sera know what we're planning to do."

Lisa phoned Sera back and told her they'd be there by ten o'clock in the morning, that she was bringing a friend to help, and that they'd be landing in the long, flat valley behind her farmhouse. And Lisa a.s.sured her that somehow, someway, she'd get all of them out of there.

She hung up the phone. "It's a go. We'll fly out at dawn."

"If we can get Gabrio to come with us, what about getting him into the U.S.?"

"Adam says he has a friend who's an immigration lawyer.

He can get Gabrio a nonimmigrant visa very quickly and then do whatever needs to be done to keep him in the country later."

"Good," Dave said, then frowned. "Where did you say we were landing?"

"There's some farmland at the back of Sera's property that's plowed under this time of year. Nice and flat. Secluded. With luck, I can put a plane down there."

"Luck? How much luck are we talking about needing?"

Lisa smiled. "Are you asking the odds of us walking away from a landing like that?"

"Uh . . . yeah."

"Less than a hundred percent."

Dave closed his eyes.

"But more than zero."

He shook his head.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm thinking probably a whole lot more than zero."

"Okay. I did notice that you seem to fly as well as you shoot."

"I fly way way better than I shoot." better than I shoot."

"Then I'm in good hands."

Her smile faded, and they stared at each other a long time. "Dave? Why are you doing this?"

"What? Putting my life in your hands?"

"No," she said. "Letting me put my life in yours." Suddenly he felt the same way now as he had in high school when he'd stood in that shop and looked at a girl who was so strong and so capable in so many ways, then discovered that she was more vulnerable than he ever would have imagined.

"You're in a bad situation right now," he said.

"Yes."

"Yet you haven't said a word about bringing Adam up here so he can tell the true story about the drugs and clear our names. All you've talked about is going down there because you love him and because you know exactly what that poor kid is facing. And you're determined to help them both."

"Yes," she whispered.

"So I'm determined to help you."

She closed her eyes with a gentle sigh. "It's dangerous."

"Yes. But I can't stand to see you take the fall for something you didn't do." He drew closer, his arm brushing against hers. "And I can't stand to see you cry." He glanced at her lips, so soft and full, thinking how incredible it felt to kiss her. "And every time I look at you, something happens to me that I can't explain. It's attraction. It's admiration. It's this strange out-of-breath feeling I get when I even think about touching you."

"Then don't think about it," she said.

"What?"

"Just do it."

chapter sixteen.

Dave slid his hand along Lisa's neck, pulled her toward him, and kissed her. She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and G.o.d, he couldn't believe how good it felt. That he was suddenly touching her again made everything they'd done last night come back to him, reminding him of just how much he wanted her. How much he'd always wanted her.

Good G.o.d G.o.d, he had no business doing this. Not in the middle of this terrible situation when their emotions were high and their resistance was low. He kept telling himself that, even as he swiveled around and pulled her into his lap, dragging her right up next to him until her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were pressed against his chest. And still he kissed her, feeling her hot, moist tongue twining with his. He moved his hand up and down her leg, shifting it slowly inward, wishing he could get these d.a.m.ned jeans off her and put his hand against the warm, silky skin of her thighs instead of denim.

In lieu of that, he slid his hand beneath her shirt and settled it against her waist. When his cold hand met her warm skin, she gasped a little, her fingers tightening against his shoulder. He paused until her flesh warmed his, then moved his hand upward to close over her breast. He gave it a gentle squeeze, then teased his thumb over her tight, hard nipple. She reacted instantly, shifting against him, grinding her thigh against his erection, a moan of pleasure humming against his mouth. Her hands were moving, always moving, her fingers ma.s.saging the tight muscles of his neck, her palm pressing against his chest, her thumb stroking his jaw. A hundred different sensations bombarded him all at once. He'd never been with a woman like Lisa-so hot, so responsive, so instantly ready for anything he could imagine. He was about five seconds away from standing up, sweeping her into his arms, and carrying her off to bed when suddenly she tore her lips away from his.

"I want you," she said breathlessly. "Right now."

He stood up immediately, hauling her to her feet alongside him. "Bed."

"I said right now right now."

She sat down on the tabletop, grabbed him by the shirt collar, and pulled him right between her knees, kissing him hard and deep as she moved her fingers down the b.u.t.tons of his shirt with lightning speed, then yanked the shirttail out of his jeans. She took the shirt off, tugging hard to pull the still-b.u.t.toned cuffs over his hands, then flung it aside and ran her hands up and down his arms from shoulder to elbow, a hungry look in her eyes.

"I have to touch you," she said, her voice low and coa.r.s.e, moving her lips so close he could feel her hot breath against his chest. "I have to. Everywhere."

She reached for his belt buckle, ripped it open, then gave the fly of his jeans the same treatment. He'd barely kicked everything off before she was dragging him back again. When she took his c.o.c.k in her hands, stroking it back and forth, he closed his eyes, loving the feel of her hands on him, moving so expertly, pressing hard enough to excite the h.e.l.l out of him and then so gently he wanted to beg her for more. She knew what made him crazy, and she never hesitated to do it.

She lay back on the table. He pulled her jeans and panties off, and as he was tossing them aside she drew her feet up and rested her heels against the edge of the table. He moved between her bent knees and placed his palms on the table on either side of her, sliding his c.o.c.k between her legs, feeling a jolt of pure l.u.s.t when he found her already hot and wet. He stared down at her, his breath coming faster.

"This is insane."

"No," she said. "This is insane." is insane."

She took hold of the sides of the shirt she wore and yanked hard. b.u.t.tons scattered, skating across the table and plinking onto the kitchen floor. She shoved the fabric away, then slowly, sensuously dragged her hands down over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her abdomen, her thighs, then traced the same path back up again, before finally crossing her arms over her head against the tabletop and giving him a smoldering look.

"I guess I owe you for a shirt," she said.

"I don't give a d.a.m.n about the shirt."

"Touch me."

As he skimmed his hands over her body, her eyes drifted closed. He pressed his hands to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, alternately squeezing and releasing, circling his palms around them and teasing his fingertips over her nipples. She closed her eyes with a soft sigh of pleasure, writhing gently beneath his touch.

His fingers spread wide, he moved his hands along her waist, her hips, the tops of her thighs. Pressing her legs farther apart, he eased his hands along the tender skin of her inner thigh.

Yes. There. That smooth, perfect skin he'd been dying to touch. Cradling her legs in his arms, he lowered his head and kissed his way along the warm, soft flesh, then dragged his lips along the junction between her thigh and pelvis. But the moment he touched his tongue to her c.l.i.t, her hands shot out and grasped his. That smooth, perfect skin he'd been dying to touch. Cradling her legs in his arms, he lowered his head and kissed his way along the warm, soft flesh, then dragged his lips along the junction between her thigh and pelvis. But the moment he touched his tongue to her c.l.i.t, her hands shot out and grasped his.

"What?" he asked.

She felt blindly for her backpack, which was still on the table, and unzipped one of the pockets. She pulled out a condom, put the plastic package between her teeth and ripped it open. Sitting up, she rolled it down over him with a few quick strokes.

"Are you always this prepared?" he asked. Just how many Just how many men have you slept with? men have you slept with?

"I never leave home without them," she said. More than More than you can count. Does that make you think twice? you can count. Does that make you think twice?

"Before now, I don't care who you've been with," he told her. "But from here on out, I'm going to."

The words rolled through his mind and right out his mouth before he ever realized he'd said them. Lisa froze. They stared at each other, breathing hard, his words hovering in the air between them. He lifted his hand and traced his fingertips over her cheek. Instantly she caught his hand in hers, then pulled him toward her, her voice harsh and needy.

"Just f.u.c.k me," she whispered.

Those words sent the same thousand-volt shock shooting through him as they had in Monterrey, every nerve in his body coming alive with antic.i.p.ation. She lay back on the table, pulling him along with her. Falling forward, he slapped his palms against the table and plunged into her with a single forceful stroke. She threw her head back with a strangled whimper and clutched his biceps, then rocked toward him in a silent plea to continue.

He began to move inside her, his pace increasing tenfold in a matter of seconds, quickly becoming a hard, furious rhythm. She rose to meet every stroke as he plunged into her again and again, the table quivering beneath them. He squeezed his eyes closed, blood pulsing wildly through his veins, his breath coming in harsh gasps.

He couldn't get enough air. Couldn't get enough. The room seemed to swim around him until finally it fell away altogether and he was aware of nothing on earth but Lisa spread out on the table beneath him, taking his body into hers.

For a moment he opened his eyes, and he saw her staring up at him, her eyes endless pools of emerald green, as if studying every nuance of his movements, every shift of his gaze, the slightest contraction of his muscles. He closed his eyes again, fighting the release he knew was only moments away. He wanted to know . . . needed to know . . .

"Lisa . . . ?"

He could barely say her name for the tension in his throat, for the overpowering sensation of her hot, tight sheath surrounding him. But he didn't know if she was with him- "Now," she told him. "Now!" "Now!"

She dug her fingers into his shoulders and arched against him, her inner muscles tightening around him. That was all it took to send a climax slamming into him, ripping a deep growl from his throat and pummeling him with one nerve-shattering pulse after another. With every muscle taut and every nerve alive, he rode out the last shuddering sensations with deep, grinding thrusts before finally falling to his forearms over her, his head bowed, completely spent. He dropped his forehead between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, trying desperately to drag in a good, solid breath.

"That," he said, "was incredible."

Still breathing hard herself, Lisa ran her palms over his shoulders, then stroked her fingers through his hair. "Just incredible?"

He laughed a little, sending just enough oxygen back to his brain that he could function again. He rose and took her hand, pulling her to a sitting position. She kissed him again, hard and deep, then dragged her hands along his chest.

"Let's get a shower."

Shower. G.o.d, if she had anything in mind like last night, he knew that this time she probably would would kill him. kill him.

She very nearly did.

By the time they finally collapsed in bed, he was completely exhausted. It was only seven o'clock, but considering they needed to fly out of here at dawn, sleeping now would do them both a world of good.