Hot and Dangerous (Decorah Security) Read online

  She moistened her lips before starting to say, “I don’t . . .”

  “Make love with a guy you just met?” he finished for her.

  “Yes.” But she stayed where she was, her breath rapid and her eyes large and luminous in the jungle gloom. The scent of her was intoxicating. She was aroused, ready to make love with him.

  Her response to him was impossible to ignore. Unable to stop himself, he lowered his mouth to hers. The contact sent a bolt of sensation crackling between them like heat lightning.

  oOo

  Jenna didn’t understand what was happening between herself and this man. All she knew was that the physical contact—the arousal—was more than she could have imagined. And more dangerous. Because she knew on some deep, subconscious level that she was vulnerable to Zack Marshall in a profoundly elemental way. If this went any farther, there was no going back. Ever.

  “At the hotel, you stayed away from me because you were afraid this would happen,” she choked out, not even sure what she meant.

  “Yes.” he answered, his voice strong and deep. “But now I know I have to make love to you—or go insane.”

  That was a dramatic way to put it, yet she understood the truth of his words. He was as vulnerable to her as she was to him.

  He lowered his head, his mouth coming down on her for a kiss that sent a jolt of heat through her. He turned his head one way and then the other, drinking her in, nibbling at her, breaching the barrier of her lips with his tongue for an invasion that might have been savage if she hadn’t been a full participant.

  When he finally lifted his head, they were both breathing hard.

  He looked around as though just remembering where they were and why. “We can’t stay out in the open.”

  She’d also forgotten why they were standing in the jungle. The knowledge zinged back to her.

  “Where can we go?”

  “There’s a place I found.”

  He took her hand and led her farther from the resort, into the untamed jungle.

  The sun was high overhead, but the trees blocked out much of the light as they came to a little hut almost hidden from view. The walls were made of bamboo posts, and the roof was thatched with palm fronds.

  Beside her, Zack dragged in a deep breath through his nose and let it out.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure nobody’s here.”

  “How?”

  “I’d smell them.”

  It was a strange conversation, but she didn’t stop to ponder it as he led her forward. “Some of the locals must use this place from time to time, but nobody’s home now.”

  “You’ve been here before?”

  “I found it while I was exploring the island.”

  “Good thing you did.”

  “I always make sure I have a handle on my environment.”

  He draped an arm over her shoulder and led her inside. The interior was small and sparse. Looking around, she saw shelves along one wall with various supplies and a bed of blankets on the floor. No doubt where they were headed. And no doubt that her behavior was totally out of kilter—from the sudden danger of the gunmen’s attack. And from her reaction to this man.

  She stopped trying to fathom her motives when arousal made her legs unsteady. Zack solved_ the problem by scooping her up and bringing her down to the bed, turning so that she was sprawled on top of him.

  As he stroked his hands up and down her back and over her butt, she closed her eyes, absorbing sensations, loving the feeling of him under her and the way the length of her body fit against his—starting with her breasts flattened against his chest and moving downward to her hips cradling his cock. It was full and hard, ready for lovemaking, and she couldn’t stop herself from moving against him, thinking she was in danger of coming just from this contact.

  As he stroked one hand down her body, pressing her hips more tightly to his, he tangled his other hand in her hair, bringing her mouth back to his for another scorching kiss.

  She had been obsessed with him since the moment she’d seen him at the resort. It felt as if that had been months ago—and she had been waiting to make love with him all this time.

  “I want you naked,” he muttered, echoing her own thoughts.

  Both of them sat up and began tearing at clothing. She shrugged out of her gauzy shirt and pulled off her bikini bottom. As he reached around her to unfasten her bikini top, she leaned into him so that he could untie the knot at the back and toss the garment away.

  When he was done, she found the metal button at the top of his jeans, then lowered the zipper. Boldly, she reached inside his undershorts, wrapping her hand around his erection, feeling the strength and the power of him.

  He dragged in a sharp breath. “Lord, that’s good. Too good. I don’t want this to go too fast for you.”

  She was thinking that nothing would be too fast for her. Not with him. But he eased her to her back and kicked away his jeans before lying down beside her as he studied her.

  “You are so beautiful. I’m so lucky to have found you,” he breathed as he trailed a hand between her breasts, down to her navel, then lower to play with the blond hair at the juncture of her legs.

  His words thrilled her.

  “Did you ever think of shaving down here?” he asked as he lightly twisted his fingers in the springy curls.

  “No.”

  “Good, because the natural look is a lot sexier.”

  “Some men wouldn’t think so.”

  “I want you just the way you are.”

  What she wanted was for him to slide his hand into her sex, but she wasn’t going to beg.

  Instead, she lifted her own hand, running her fingers through the thick hair that covered his chest, then finding his flat nipples and circling them with her fingers before plucking on them.

  Again he drew in a breath, then cupped her breasts in his hands, running his thumbs over the tips, driving her mad with wanting more.

  He knew it, too, because he captured her nipples between his thumbs and fingers, twisting and squeezing them, sending hot currents downward through her body, where they coalesced in her clit.

  Lowering his head, he swirled his tongue around one of her nipples, then sucked it into his mouth as he kept teasing its mate with his hand.

  She arched into the caress, feeling urgency wrapping itself around them, making it hard to breathe. Hard to think.

  All she could do was surrender to the power of the moment, to the power of the man.

  Reaching down, she clasped his cock, deliberately pushing him past the point of no return.

  In response, his hand slid down her body again. This time his fingers parted her slick, swollen folds, lingering there before dipping inside her.

  She gasped, moving her hips to create friction, but it wasn’t enough. Not for either of them.

  He circled her clit with one finger, then slid lower again to circle the finger just inside the sensitive opening of her vagina, sending jolts of heat through her.

  “Please. Now.”

  He covered her body with his as she clasped his cock and guided him to her, crying out as he slipped inside. She felt more than physical pleasure. She was open to him, body and soul, and in that moment, a kind of terror overtook her.

  He must have sensed her panic because he whispered, “trust me.”

  Could she? Did she have a choice?

  She felt herself settle into the rhythm of lovemaking, her hips moving with his, her need for orgasm spiraling out of control.

  Conscious thought fled, driven out by the hot, greedy desire created by the friction of their bodies moving together.

  He slid his hand between them, pressing his fingers over her clit, giving her the extra jolt of stimulation that triggered her first spasm of release.

  As she reached the peak of sensation, he followed her, his hot semen pumping into her.

  She heard his shout of satisfaction. Heard herself cry out in wonder as the pleasure of it went o
n and on.

  When it was over, he cradled her against himself, holding her tenderly as she struggled to absorb the wonder of their lovemaking. Reaching to stroke damp hair back from his forehead, she was caught by an incredible feeling of closeness that she had never experienced before. Yet she knew so little about him.

  They lay together for long moments, until she finally broke the silence.

  “That was . . . more . . .” Words failed her, but he seemed to know what she meant.

  oOo

  “Yes, it was,” Zack answered, struggling to clear his mind. He’d dreaded this moment all his adult life. Now he wondered how he could have been so foolish.

  Jenna shifted against him. “I don’t even know where you live,” she murmured.

  He laughed. “I guess we should have exchanged some information first. I’m from Maryland. Not too far from you. And I had to come all this way to find you.”

  She blinked. “How do you know where I live?”

  He gave her a rueful grin. “I looked you up, after I found out your name. It turned into a compulsion. Maybe you didn’t see me around because I was in the business center on the computers, finding out everything I could about you. I know you went to high school in Bethesda. I know your political affiliation. You’re a PhD biologist who works for a drug company. You own your own home. Your parents are in Florida. You’re in the middle of a big project, but you needed to get away.” He stopped short. There was more he could tell her, but he wasn’t going to reveal the depth of his obsession.

  She laughed softly. “I guess I should have been doing the same thing.”

  “You wouldn’t have found much. I try to keep a low profile.” He sorted through the facts and settled on a brief account of his life. “I live in rural Howard County. I’m an environmental advocate. And I lead some wilderness expeditions when I want to get away.” He cleared his throat. “But I was seriously considering making a change. My brother, Cole, works for a detective agency called Decorah Security, and he wants me to join them. I came down here to think about it.” He could have added, “And to outrun my destiny.” But he kept that part to himself. For now.

  She skipped over the last part and said, “I guess you have investigative skills.”

  “Yeah.”

  He saw doubts flicker on her face.

  “You researched me. Did you find out something you didn’t like? Is that why you kept avoiding me?” she asked.

  He reached for her hand and knitted his fingers with hers. “Not at all. I was trying to—keep my life the way it was.”

  “Which means?”

  She was giving him an opening, but he didn’t think he could tell her the whole truth. Not yet.

  “I liked being single. I didn’t want that to change.” He dragged in a breath and let it out. “Then I saw you, and the pull was . . . more than I could handle.”

  She stared at him, and he was sure she was wondering about his choice of words.

  Answering her unspoken question, he said, “I know you felt the power of what just happened between us. It wasn’t just making love.” He swallowed hard, taking the discussion a step farther. “It was bonding.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That you belong to me.”

  As soon as the statement was out of his mouth, he realized he’d made a bad choice of words.

  “You’re sounding like a caveman or something,” she said.

  They’d run away from a massacre and ended up in each other’s arms. Probably she was wondering if she’d made a reckless mistake by making love with him.

  “Or something,” he answered. Rolling to his back, he stared at the thatched ceiling of the hut. He’d never had great communication skills. He needed them now, more than he ever had in his life. Jesus, what if she got up and walked away from him? The thought made a hollow place open up in his chest. He’d just found her, and now he might lose her.

  “I think you’d better explain.”

  “I’m working my way up to it,” he answered, wondering what the hell he was going to say, and wishing that the men in his family had clued him in to what this was like. But all of them would have been embarrassed to discuss something so private with him.

  When he remained silent, Jenna reached for her bikini top and put it on. Then she grabbed her bikini bottom and wiggled into it. He stayed where he was, watching her get partly dressed.

  His nerves were so frayed that his next words came out more like an order than anything else.

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Her expression hardened. “Then tell me what’s going on with you.”

  “It’s something that happens to the men in my family when we get to the age of thirty.”

  She was about to speak, when he suddenly sat up and tipped his head to the side, listening to the sounds of the jungle. He’d heard birds in the trees. Suddenly they were silent. But he was aware of something else—footsteps approaching.

  “Christ,” he whispered, climbing off the bed.

  “What?”

  “Someone’s tracked us here.”

  “I don’t hear anything.”

  “You will.”

  oOo

  To confirm the statement, she heard harsh voices approaching. Men speaking in Spanish.

  Zack walked to the shelves along the wall, looking through the contents. “There’s an ax handle. Use it to defend yourself if they get past me.” As he spoke, he leaped from the bed and faced the door. Naked. He didn’t even reach for his pants, only stood with his muscles tense.

  Then something happened that made goose bumps rise on her arms. He began to chant words that sounded strange and ancient, words that made her throat tighten.

  “Taranis, Epona, Cerridwen,” he intoned, then repeated the same phrase and went on to another.

  “Ga. Feart. Cleas. Duais. Aithriocht. Go gcumhdai is dtreorai na deithe thu.”

  It wasn’t just the words that made her stomach knot and her breath still. As she watched, his body began to change. She blinked as she saw fur begin to spring up on his skin. A tail grew from the crack above his ass. He went down on all fours as his entire shape transmuted so that in seconds he was no longer a man but . . . a wolf.

  As she sat there in shock, she realized she had seen the animal before—when the gunman had come after her. A large dog or a wolf had sprung toward him, taking him down before he could catch up with her.

  Now it was happening again. Only she was watching in horrible fascination as Zack Marshall changed from man to beast.

  She had just made love with him. And now . . . She couldn’t allow herself to finish the thought.

  Too shocked to turn away, she watched as he came down on all fours and sprang through the door, streaking away, leaving her alone in the hut.

  Seconds later, two armed men came toward her, their guns in shooting position.

  As she pressed back into the shadows, she saw the wolf reappear, this time behind the two men. With a mighty leap, he took both of them down, and they screamed as they hit the ground.

  Her heart blocking her windpipe, she watched the fight, knowing that Zack was in serious danger. He could have run into the jungle and escaped. Instead, he had stayed—to defend her.

  He might be a . . . . She couldn’t say it. Not even in her mind. But she knew he could have abandoned her. Instead he was putting up a tremendous fight, against two armed men. He bit the gun hand of one, clawed at the other. She couldn’t let the uneven fight go on.

  But what could she do?

  Running to the shelves, she grabbed the ax handle he’d showed her. Too bad it wasn’t the whole ax.

  Without giving herself time to think, she sprinted out the door, into the heart of the fight.

  Swinging the handle like a club, she brought it down on the head of one man, hearing a satisfying clunk as it connected with flesh and bone.

  The attacker went limp, and she hit him again for good measure. The wolf and the other gunman were still fighting.
She would have snatched up the machine gun if she’d known how to use it. Or if she’d been sure she could hit the man and not the wolf. Instead she was forced to step back and wait for an opening to clobber the man, but the wolf was on top of him, growling and snarling. She heard teeth crunch through bone, and then the assailant went still.

  The wolf raised his head, looking at her, and their eyes met. All at once, she was too stunned to speak. Stunned by the wolf and stunned by what she had done.

  He took a few steps away from her. As she watched, he reversed the process she’d witnessed in the hut. In seconds, Zack Marshall was standing in front of her.

  “You could have gotten hurt,” he said.

  She was still in shock from seeing him change. But that hadn’t stopped her from rushing into the fight without thinking—to save him.

  Naked, he knelt down and searched the pockets of the nearest man and pulled out a cell phone.

  “Let’s see if I remember the San Marcos emergency number,” he said as he pressed buttons. Punching in a number, he waited for someone to pick up. “This is a guest at El Sol y Enrolla Resort,” he said when someone answered. “The resort’s been attacked by men armed with machine guns.”

  He listened for a moment, then said, “No, I don’t know who the hell they are. I managed to disable one of them and take his cell phone. A number of guests and staff are dead. We need help.”

  He waited for an answer, then hung up. “The national police already got several calls from guests. They’re on the way,” he said, then walked past Jenna. She followed him into the hut, watching him pull on his pants and shoes, then his shirt.

  Her mouth was almost too dry to speak, but she tried. “You’re a . . .”

  “I’m a werewolf,” he said what he must have been trying to say earlier. I guess that turned out to be convenient, under the circumstances.”

  She nodded. “And that story you told me about the wolf back near the hotel—that was total bullshit.”

  “Yeah. What was I supposed to say?”

  “You should have told me the truth.”

  “When?”

  “Before . . .”

  He interrupted her with a harsh laugh. “You think that’s a conversation I have with a woman before we make love?”