Charge up the e-reader, snuggle up and
get ready for an adrenaline rush
get ready for an adrenaline rush
Duplicity
No one is as they seem and
the stakes are higher than any ever imagined
the stakes are higher than any ever imagined
Travel to Grand Cayman without leaving home in this action-packed, sizzling romantic suspense and adventure
Excerpt (adult content)...
The
man had the body of a god.
And
the mind of lunatic.
Lexi
dropped the fork onto her plate at the site of his hard ass walking away from
her and bit her lower lip. He'd stripped like he'd been naked in front of her a
million times.
Last
night had been too dark to appreciate all the delectable details, but daylight
did not disappoint.
"That
was weird," she mumbled to herself. "I'm stuck on a boat with a
lunatic, isn't that perfect."
She
debated about her next move. The way she saw it she had a few options—she could
stay here and eat like a civilized person or she could get naked and join him
in the warm Caribbean Sea so they could both burn off this excess energy.
Cooking
calmed her down, as did organizing, which is why she'd decided on a table
setting on the boat deck. Her hands had needed to be busy to stop her mind from
going and going and going. Being a sane person, she had had no idea he would
freak out.
When
she heard his fierce strokes through the water behind her, she pushed away from
the table and peeled off her clothes. A swim sounded perfect and she'd skinny
dipped back in her sorority days.
Before
she knew it, she swam just as strongly as he did in a strange lap around the
yacht. With each kick of her legs and every forward motion with her arms,
suppressed emotions surfaced.
It
wasn't fair.
It
wasn't fair that she'd sacrificed and worked her butt off for a company that
might be into illegal activities. What would she do if she survived this? Even
as someone championing justice, everything she'd ever fought for would be gone.
Poof! Just like that. She'd need to testify, all the fake friends she'd
accumulated might stick close for the gossip, but who would be there for her
when it was over?
It
wasn't fair that she wanted to fight for Luella who had basically sworn to call
her a liar.
He will make you disappear.
It
wasn't fair that she was stuck on a boat in the middle of the Caribbean with
Captain Hotness and he was a giant prick.
It
wasn't fair that, when this was all over, she'd be alone.
She
slapped the side of the boat with her hand before pressing her forehead against
the hull and battling against tears. Water sloshed against her and pushed her
body to and fro. Maybe she'd be dead and no one would ever know or care what
had happened to her while Owen played his sex games.
It
wasn't fair.
"I'm
sorry."
Larry
treaded water behind her.
"You
should be." She blinked away the tears, unwilling for him to see her
crying after he'd basically instructed her to do so earlier.
"I
can't explain my outburst."
"I
didn't ask."
She
moved away and swam toward the back of the boat, tired of swimming and needing
space. She spit water from her mouth before grabbing the ladder leading up the
back of the stern.
His
hands closed over her fingers. His breath caressed the side of her face.
"I am not a Hollywood caricature of anything. I'm me. This is who I am."
She
closed her eyes and savored the sensation of his naked body sliding against her
backside. "But you don't like plates?"
He
laughed and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Can we just forget about all
that? I will be the first to admit that I'm an asshole."
Unsmiling,
she turned within the circle of his arms, wrapped her legs around his hips, and
pushed the wet hair from where it streaked across his face. "Why did you
think someone paid me to pretend? Why would anyone go to such extremes? What
are you running from?"
Something
flickered deep within his blue eyes but he didn't look away. "I've got
sort of a fucked up family. It's a long story, one I'd rather not discuss, but
this is me. What you see here, what
I've built on Grand Cayman, my friends, all of it...one hundred percent
authentic."
She
curved her thumb along his cheekbones and nodded. "I'm trying to do the
right thing. I'm not a bad person. I don't want to die."
He
shook his head. "I won't let that happen."
"You
said you weren't my bodyguard," she reminded him with a small smile, once
again trying to hold the tears at bay. "You're just my captain,
remember?"
"Yeah,
well, I'm full of shit." He smiled against her lips before licking the
salt from them. "I really am sorry for losing it up there—"
"I
forgot about it the moment you stripped," she whispered against his mouth.
"One
drunken night is a hook up and nothing more...but the second time feels much
more deliberate." He hesitated a breath away from her face, his blue eyes
dark with both desire and concern.
"Let
me guess," she pressed closer to him, enjoying the feel of the metal
ladder pressing against her back while the warm Caribbean Sea lapped against
their bodies, "you're not the kind of guy who usually has more than a one
night stand."
"Stop
worrying about the kind of guy I am."
"That
means I'm right?" She nuzzled her nose against the side of his face. The
dread that had sunk her heart only minutes earlier dissipated.
"Do
you really care about anything beyond this moment?" He brushed his lips
over her neck, his massive body making her feel small and vulnerable in the
water.
She
didn't care about anything except the sensations of warm water, metal, heat,
salt, his body, his mouth, his breath. Sounds of the rope holding the dingy
behind the main yacht slapping against the hull competed with the sound of her
heartbeat reverberating in her ears.
She
slid her hands down his chest to his waist and back again. "I totally
understand why the coeds go for you even though you're past your prime."
He
laughed against her neck before pulling away and looking her in the eye.
"Past my prime, huh? My bet is that we are the same age."
Her
lips twitched because she knew she'd hit a nerve. Obviously, they were both in
their thirties, but she hadn't been able to resist a dig. Feeling more
adventurous than she had in a long time, she grabbed the steps of the ladder
behind her, unwrapped her legs from around him, moved up toward the boat, and
pressed her breasts against his face.
He
licked her abdomen as she slid past him toward the deck and she smiled at the
gleam in his eye.
He
followed, covering her body with his before she was fully out of the water.
Flat on the lower deck used for divers to come in and out of the sea with the
ocean sloshing beneath them, he captured her mouth in a kiss that left her
breathless with need.
Passion
from the night before had been fueled by whiskey, but today it erupted from
pure desire. She couldn't get enough of touching him, kissing him—couldn't get
enough of him manhandling her as if she were his plaything.
No
man had ever before triggered her into this frenzied lovemaking. She craved him. It was as if inhibition had
evaporated in the sea breeze and all common sense had been left on land.
He
nipped, pinched, licked, and kissed every inch of her until she slapped her
hands at her sides and prayed for release. The boat rocked beneath them,
saltwater splashed over their joined bodies, and the sun dipped lower in the
sky.
He
consumed her, his body claiming hers while his mouth crushed her lips.
She
screamed, losing all control of her body as it shuddered and bucked beneath
him. The intensity of the orgasm left her weak and satisfied.
He
propped himself above her, his wet hair sticking to his neck and face, and
smiled that smug, toothy smile that made her ache for more.
"Now
I'm ready to eat."
"Despite
the plates?" She ran her fingertips over the tattoo of a budding rose
before moving down to its thorny stem.
He
rolled from her, snagged her hand, and pulled her up. His face grew serious for
a moment before he looked away.
"We'll
eat and you're going to tell me everything. I need to know what we're up
against, no more secrets."
The
man switched gears so fast it made her head spin.
"Does
that apply only to me or are you going to confess all your mysteries as
well?" She couldn't stop touching his tattoo now that she had full access.
It was so elaborate, so well done. She wanted to know the story behind it.
She
wanted to know all of his stories.
As
if reading her mind, he snagged her hand, held it against his chest, looked her
in the eye and said, "No, that vault is permanently locked."
She
swallowed hard and pulled her hand from beneath his. For a minute, she'd almost
forgotten why they were here on this boat alone in the middle of nowhere.
Get your dignity together, Lex, she reprimanded herself as she pulled on her
discarded clothes. You're wearing
borrowed clothes, hiding from a former friend who wants to kill you, life as
you knew is officially over, and yet here you are letting your guard down with
some guy who's a good lay and that's all he'll ever be. Toughen up.
He'd
pulled on his pants, but hadn't buttoned them. Once again, he wore the lopsided
hat and sunglasses. He reached for one of the ice-cold beers before turning his
focus toward the clouds approaching in the distance.
"Here's
the thing," he said after a long silence, "your pal the oil guy has a
plane flying around looking for you, or I assume that's what its doing although
I am not sure what they are hoping to find by buzzing over a few boats."
She
stiffened, fork in her mouth, and flicked her gaze toward his face.
"I
called my guy Pete—"
"Your
guy who?" she asked after swallowing.
"We
locals stick together, especially those of us in the dive community."
She
rolled her eyes. Her ex Bill would go on and on about the dive community.
"Sometimes
I think you forget you're not wearing sunglasses and I can see your
expressions." He laughed before continuing. "Anyway, I saw the plane
head toward Cayman Brac, that's why we anchored for awhile, but the storm looks
like it is ahead of schedule."
She
twisted on the bench to look out toward the clouds stacking up over the
turquoise sea. "It's not a hurricane is it?"
"Tropical
Storm Selma," he said, sounding amused. "I'd like to rename it to
Tropical Storm Alexandra but—"
"You're
a funny guy, Larry."
"I
am, actually. My friends adore me."
"I'm
sure they do."
She
turned and resumed eating. She'd never felt so hungry.
"He
intends to do whatever necessary to find you. I want to know why."
Suddenly serious, he leaned his elbows on the table and studied her intently
from across the table.
She
took her time chewing before paying extraordinary attention to the placement of
her fork on the plate. When she finally leaned back on the bench with a beer
tucked between her fingers, she looked anywhere but into his face. Without
emotion, she described the scene she'd walked into with Luella and the stilted
emails she'd unearthed that spoke about an auction coming up in several days.
"I'd
say your suspicions are true judging by his overreaction to your
disappearance," Larry said after she'd finished.
"I
need to prove it, though." She shrugged. "I need something concrete,
not just vague emails, my word against Luella's—if she is still alive—and some
documents that apparently I signed, although a review of my work shows nothing
out of the ordinary." She rubbed her fingers over her temples. "I
can't figure out what she meant when she accused me of making this happen, of
signing the documents."
"Dummy
corporation, probably out of the Middle East, Africa, or another oil rich area
of the world that you wouldn't second guess, especially if your boss vouches
for their credibility."
She
squinted at him, at the authoritative way he spoke, and started questioning her
assumptions.
"That's
plausible. I'll look through everything again, dig deeper."
"Your
death or disappearance is better than setting you up because that would open
the company's internal documents for review," he continued before finally
reaching for his sandwich and adding some salad to his plate.
"That's
exactly what I was thinking," she said with a grin. "You're not
exactly the bubble headed beach bum you look like."
"There's
that mean girl you hinted at." He nodded, his smug smile reappearing.
"So what is your plan?"
"Finding
what I can, taking it to the authorities you say you trust, and catching them
in the act at this auction. Think you can keep me off their radar long enough
to do all of that?"
"Yeah,
I think I can handle the job."
They
finished their lunch slash early dinner before consuming every last beer in the
ice bucket without speaking. Both stared at the sea, the clouds, listened to
the water caressing the side of the boat, and allowed the sun to soak into
their skin.
She'd
never felt so relaxed in all of her life.
The
irony intrigued her.
Arms
spread wide on the back of the bench seat, she looked up at the sky filling
with clouds and sighed. Maybe she couldn't explain it, but sitting here on this
boat with this man in shared silence felt like the safest place in the world
despite the dangers she knew waited somewhere in the distance.
Blurb...
Nothing bad happens in paradise...or does it?
Lexi Dubois is in trouble. On Grand Cayman for
business, she discovers the company she's been working for is funding a human
trafficking ring—and the money trail leads back to her. Scared for her life,
she charters a boat for a week to hide from the men on the small island who
want her dead and to buy time to find enough evidence to take them down. The
last thing she expects—or wants—is a torrid affair with the hot captain and
dive master.
Larry Gibbon has been running a charter dive
boat operation in Grand Cayman for years. He's seen it all—and done his share
of creating havoc. But when a mysterious woman charters his boat for a
week—alone—he has no idea what trouble she's bringing aboard.
The ocean is vast and unforgiving, but will Larry's knowledge of the Cayman
Islands and Lexi's relentless determination to survive be enough to save them?
**The Wanderlust Series consists of stand-alone adventure
romance novels. Occasionally, characters from previous novels may make a cameo,
but each story truly does stand on its own merits.
PS: If you've read Riptide, then you'll recognize Larry...this is his story.
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