Stranded Temptation: A Flaming Romance Read online

  “I sure like the money that comes with their heads. My wife is too worried to use the American bills. Says it will make her look suspicious.”

  “You let your wife talk to you like that—”

  The elevator doors opened, and he grabbed Kara’s hand and hauled her forward, to her protest.

  “What the hell, Max?”

  “Shh.” He looked back at the men standing at the reception desk, talking to the guy behind the computer. The same one that narrowed his eyes at him turned. He must’ve heard Kara call out his name. Shit.

  “Excuse me, sir—” The suited man walked toward them.

  Max kept walking through the doors. A black car sat in the portico, which he took for granted was their ride to the embassy. A second later, the glass door he pushed on shattered into pieces.

  Instinctively, Max ducked but there was nothing to hide behind between the car and the man shooting at them. “Go. Go.” He pushed Kara toward the car then got between her and the man holding the gun, Max’s hands up. Max saw a shadow at the end of an aisle connecting to the lobby.

  The man in the suit smiled at him. Max stepped back hearing Kara yell his name.

  From the side aisle the man just past, a lady popped out and beat him with the wooden stick of a toilet plunger. She erupted into angry Spanish, rattling a mile a minute. Max understood her first words “You owe me for the door, dick head—” then he was in the car closing his door. A bullet ricocheted off the tinted window. Boy, was he glad for bulletproof glass.

  The car sped out, squealing the tire in the process. Kara had hunkered down on the floorboard.

  “You okay?” the driver asked, looking in the rearview mirror. The driver shot out of the parking lot, fishtailing onto the street without stopping, and maybe not even looking, Max thought.

  Max asked, “Do you know who those guys were?”

  The driver shook his head. “Probably cartel thugs coming to kill you or kidnap you to torture for information.”

  Kara slapped her hand over her mouth, keeping her screech under wraps. He collected her from the floor into his arms. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart. We’re safe in the protection of the US, now.”

  They rode in silence the rest of the way to their destination which was a deserted airfield. It looked like a ghost town with all the buildings locked up and dark. Going around the side of the main structure, he saw a jet the size of his sitting on the tarmac, lights shining.

  “Hell no,” Kara shouted, looking out the windshield. “I am not getting on another plane.”

  Max laughed. “I’m sure this one will be much less exciting.”

  She frowned but said nothing. He opened the door when the car stopped at the side of the jet. A man he didn’t know stood by a portable staircase. Max hesitated to step out of the shielding the car provided. The suit-clad man smiled and walked toward them. Max had to wonder if the man slept in a suit then got up and went to work.

  “You must be Mr. Richards.” They shook hands and he acknowledged Kara with a nod. “I’m glad you are both safe. I apologize for doing this at such a late hour. But I just got word that you two were found and brought to Panama.”

  “Not a problem,” Max said. “If you hadn’t called, we’d be red stains in the sheets.”

  The man’s face morphed from happy to disturbed. “Let’s not dabble then. Please board the plane. It will take to you to New York City.”

  “Wait,” Kara said. “What’s going on? Why the big rush?”

  Norman looked around as if someone might be listening to their conversation. “I was informed of where you were rescued and what had happened to the production house.”

  “You mean the scum stuffing dolls with drugs,” she said.

  “Yes,” Norman replied. “The cartel running that spot is rather nasty—”

  “Wait a minute,” Kara chimed in, “You know about the operation and you didn’t stop it? What the hell?”

  Norman grimaced. “Ms. Masters, there are many undercover jobs trying to root out the highest scum in the organization. That takes time and perseverance. Knocking out the bottom people won’t help us in finding the bosses.”

  Yeah, whatever, she thought. She understood his reasons but wasn’t happy with them. “That’s why those men were after us?”

  “Who?” he asked.

  Max said, “The driver thinks it was a cartel coming to abduct us.”

  Normal let out a breath. “Then let’s get you on the plane.”

  They climbed the steps to the interior of the plane. The inside was as he expect, opulent and stocked with food and drinks. Ambassadors flew in luxury, for damn sure.

  He settled Kara next to him in a large leather chair. From a cabinet on the back of the cockpit, he grabbed a few blankets and pillows. He was going to sleep and knew Kara would also.

  He hoped he was right when he said the trip would be less exciting.

  22

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Meghan pushed through Kara’s front door, past Kara, and headed straight for the kitchen.

  “What are you talking about?” She followed the other woman into the home and leaned against the doorframe.

  For the past few hours she’d been staring at the processed pictures from the island. Her heart cried whenever she looked at the shots of her and Max together. They looked so happy, she questioned if what she saw was real. Then there were those awesome photos of Max she’d taken.

  Every image of his sexy body had been burned into her brain and would forever be a part of her. Along with those were photos of her. Each one was a candid she never noticed he’d taken and showed her glowing joy at being with him. She looked happy, relaxed, and in love. With her stomach in knots, she wondered how she was supposed to deal with him after all that.

  Meghan turned to face her. A mixture of concern and anger were visible on her face. “You haven’t been answering your phone or going in to the office, and you are only communicating with Max through some really dry emails. If I remember correctly, you said you guys really hit it off when you were stranded in paradise.”

  “We did. But this is the real world, Meghan. I have a job I need to finish, and he has a huge corporation to run.” And I don’t want to go back to the impersonal relationship we had before. What if everything was just him taking advantage of the situation to have sex? What if he was too embarrassed to admit he’d been screwing her? Her heart wouldn’t handle it all that well.

  Meghan folded her arms over her chest and lifted a brow. “And why can’t you do that and have a relationship with him?”

  “He hasn’t said he wanted to date, much less have a relationship.” He hadn’t said anything. Yes, he’d called, but their first and only conversation had stayed on the vendor contracts. Not once had he mentioned doing anything together again. After that, she’d avoided speaking to him over the phone or in person.

  “Maybe because you haven’t given him the chance.” Meghan walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottled water.

  Memories of Max washing her with bottled water on the island slipped through her mind. No. That was the last thing she needed.

  “Listen, I’m doing my job. I’ll be in tomorrow if me being out is such an issue.”

  Meghan placed the unopened water on the counter and turned to her. She gave her a sympathetic look. “It’s not an issue. He misses you. I’ve never seen Max look so lonely. Why won’t you give him a chance?”

  “Did he tell you he wanted to see me?”

  Meghan gave a tired sigh. “Are you kidding? He’s been pestering me for the past two days to find out what is wrong with you. I wanted to give you some time to think, but he’s so pushy I couldn’t take seeing his sad face in my office anymore. Not to mention his mood swings are stressing out Susan more than Brian’s visits, and that’s saying something right there.”

  “What mood swings?”

  Meghan narrowed her eyes. “Oh, just the ones where he’ll be all sad one moment, and then he’ll growl at an
yone in sight. It’s really making the board of directors nervous. He’s never been anything but professional, and they’re all starting to wonder if he lost his mind while you were on that island. I’ve tried explaining that you guys were only stranded for what amounted to a day and a half, but it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference to them. The older members are questioning his ability to be the CEO of his own damn company!”

  Oh no. Poor Max. His job shouldn’t suffer because she’d turned into an insecure ninny.

  “I’ll be in tomorrow. I need to go through some notes I locked in my desk.”

  Meghan gave her small smile. “Thank you. Even if things don’t work out with Max, just knowing you’ll be there will help me deal with this. His stepmother is driving me up a wall with requests for meetings regarding his emotional wellbeing.”

  At that moment, Kara’s cell phone rang. She glanced down at it. “Speak of the devil,” she said. Kara tapped the green icon and lifted the phone to her ear. “Hi, Jane. How are you?” As soon as she heard the annoying voice of the pain-in-the-ass woman, she cringed. Meghan slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing too loudly. Kara would have to kick her friend’s ass for jinxing her.

  Kara replied, barely catching the question Jane asked. “I’m going back to the office to rearrange things for another South American trip and continue researching the contracts.” That project would never end. If she didn’t get answers to the one mysterious vendor, she’d have to call in the lawyers for help, which she didn’t want. Corporate lawyers could complicate the simplest tasks. Theirs could, anyway.

  “That’s great,” Max’s stepmother said. “How about we do lunch or coffee sometime? I’d love to catch up.”

  “That sounds great,” Kara lied through her teeth.

  “Awesome!” Jane replied. “I’ll call you later.” With that, the irritating voice was gone. Kara rolled her eyes.

  “What did she want?” Meghan asked.

  Kara clapped her hands together. “We’re doing lunch.”

  While Kara walked to her office, she wondered what the hell was going on with everyone. They all looked scared to death. When she reached her assistant, she had to ask.

  “Gwen, what’s the deal? Everyone looks like the principal caught them throwing spitballs.”

  Gwen pulled out a printed calendar and handed it over along with her messages. “It’s Max. He’ll come down to the floor all nice, and then when he gets here and looks into your office, he turns into an ogre. We’re all trying to figure out if it’s this spot that bothers him, or the fact that you’ve been out.”

  She nodded noncommittally and headed into her office. Nice. That was just what she needed, for everyone to start gossiping about Max and her. When she got to her desk, there was an envelope with a single piece of paper inside. “I miss you. Max.” Her heart thundered in her chest, and her eyes watered. How in the world would she be able to stay away from him now?

  “Gwen? Do me a favor and ask Susan for time on Max’s calendar for me today. I need to discuss some notes with him.” Sweat gathered in her palms, and she wanted to throw up. Nerves sucked.

  Not a minute later, Gwen came back with a reply. “He’s ready to see you now. Go on up.”

  Shit! Gathering her courage, she looked down at her blue sheath and black peep-toe pumps she wore. At least she looked professional. With a folder filled with her latest notes, she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and headed for the elevator to the top floor.

  Susan gave her an anxious look and mouthed the words “good luck” when she walked past. Holy shit. What the heck was she walking into? She was about to open the door when it was pulled from the inside. Max stood not two feet in front of her. His suit jacket was off, the tie had been loosened, and the top of his shirt was unbuttoned. He looked pissed. Anger radiated off him in waves. The sexy vein in his cheek quivered, and his jaw clenched.

  He grabbed her hand and hauled her inside. In the blink of an eye, she found her back pressed to the door and his hard body plastered to her front. Oh, my. Speech was hard to come by. He grabbed her face in his hands and lowered his mouth to kiss her. Yes. That was what she’d been missing. Papers littered the floor. He devoured her with his lips. She moved her hands up to tunnel through his hair. His hands molded her body to his. He kissed her with so much fire, it was like his own personal brand had been seared onto her lips.

  Before she realized what was going on, her dress was hiked up to her waist. He curled his fingers around the gauzy fabric of her thong and pulled. The soft material came off with a rip, and he dipped his fingers into her wet cunt. Oh, my. Wait, what were they doing? They were in his office, and Susan was right outside that door.

  She tore her lips from his and moaned at the delicious friction of his fingers rubbing on her pleasure spot. “Max.”

  “Hmm?” His lips moved to her neck. Tender nips were given to her sensitive flesh by his wicked mouth.

  “We can’t. Oh my God.” She dug her nails into his shoulders and whimpered when his fingers pinched her swollen nub.

  He trailed the pulse on her throat with long licks. “Can’t what, baby?”

  “Hmm?” Tension gathered in her, ratcheting up the fever coursing her veins. His fingers pinched at her clit again. Her legs shook, and she moaned into his shoulder.

  He delved two of his fingers inside her wet pussy and finger-fucked her fast. “Like that, sweetheart?”

  “Oh God, yes! But I need you inside me.” She rolled her hips on his fingers and curled a leg around his hip.

  He kissed her mouth, her jaw, and sucked on her neck again. “Fuck, Kara. I need inside you so bad, I’m half losing my fucking mind.”

  The raging inferno in her made her blind to anything and everything. All she knew was that she needed him inside her. She wrapped her hand around his cock and squeezed. She smiled when he groaned. “Then what are you waiting for? Fuck me already!”

  In one efficient move he pulled his pants down, and his hard cock sprang free. He lifted her off her feet, moved to the wall next to the door, and hauled her up and over his dick. The head of his cock kissed her entrance, and she moaned. Their gazes locked. The wild hunger in his eyes made her shudder.

  “You’re mine, Kara.” The rough gravel of his voice made her pussy drip with wetness. His cock slipped in an inch, and he stopped.

  Warmth crawled up her spine and settled into a fuzzy sensation in her heart. “Max.”

  “Say it!” He nipped at her lip.

  While her brain tried to figure out what the heck was going on, her body urged with her to agree and get him to put out the fire inside her. He spoke the truth, and she didn’t want to fight it anymore. She nodded. “Yes. I’m yours.”

  Again, he shoved another inch into her pussy. He nuzzled her throat with warm lips and brushed his tongue over her flesh, adding to her insanity. “No other man goes into your hot, wet cunt but me.”

  Oh God, yes. She wanted no other man. Harsh breaths panted out of her heaving chest. She gave him a quick, jerky nod.

  “Mine, Kara. Please, baby. Say you’re mine.” He pushed her back into the wall and gripped her hips tightly.

  “Yours, Max.”

  Satisfied with her compliance, he slammed the rest of the way into her in one quick thrust.

  “Oh, Max!” Air vanished inside her lungs. Her pussy walls fluttered and gripped wildly at his thick shaft.

  He pulled back and pummeled again and again with his cock. The ball of tension inside her exploded, and she choked on air when she came. He pasted his lips onto hers and drank in her broken cry. Seconds later, his body tensed, and his grip on her hips tightened more.

  His thrusts turned shallow until his cock jerked inside her. With their lips still fused together, she held onto his head and inhaled his groan when he came. It was long moments before their breathing calmed and they let go of each other. Max bent and picked up the torn thong and put it in his pocket.

  Well, damn. What the heck had jus
t happened?

  Once they’d straightened their clothing, he sat on the sofa in his office and pulled her onto his lap. He cupped her face in his hands and frowned at her. “Want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?”

  Hell no! “Not particularly.”

  “Kara,” he warned.

  He looked tired. Was that her fault? Guilt beat at her heart. “All right. I’ve had a lot on my mind and needed time to think. That’s all.”

  “So there won’t be any more disappearing acts?” His voice sounded strained and hurt.

  “No.” She lied and hoped he didn’t read the confusion in her face. She had no clue what the future held. Still freaked out about the new relationship between them, she was ready to bolt all over again. It was hard processing that he’d gone from the robot man she knew for months to the perfect lover she’d fallen for on the island. After a few moments, her brain shifted into working order, and she remembered the reason for coming to see him in the first place.

  She gave him a wide-eyed look. “Oh my gosh. I almost forgot about the contracts!”

  23

  Max watched Kara jump off his lap and run to the door to pick up the papers scattered on the floor. After everything was back in a neat pile, she came back and sat next to him on the sofa. The anger that had been riding him since she’d started ignoring his calls abated when he saw her hands shake. He wanted to pull her on his lap and hold her. He held back from grabbing her again, because he didn’t want to push her too far, too fast.

  She handed him a paper. “Okay, so check this out. Money has been paid out to a bogus manufacturing company, CalTek, shipping goods to the US.” On the paper were multiple payments listed for a company he’d never heard of before. He frowned and looked at the amounts which were low enough to not call attention to them, but over time added up into the millions.

  Shock reverberated through him. He had been handling all contracts on an individual basis. “How long have we been paying this company?”