“Shouldn’t we go out there and see where we are going?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Not yet. I’d rather stay in here and torture you for using your hands when you should have used your words.”
She squirmed beneath him impatiently. “I was using my words. You just weren’t listening. You still aren’t.”
His hot gaze locked with hers again. “Damn it, Marin, the minute we leave this cabin things go back to the way they were. You go back to being a protectee. I go back to being who I am, a special agent, wearing a gun, doing everything I can to keep you safe. I just want a few more minutes of this, you and me. Stress-free and real.”
As Griffin bent his head and brushed his lips over her breast, Marin tried to relax beneath the warmth of his body. These last hours aboard Ben’s boat had been a magical time-out from her threatening reality. But she wanted to think they could continue like this, intimate and connected, long after the danger has passed. His words held a warning, however. One that was almost as frightening as the man who wanted her dead.
She leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. He tugged the blanket to form a cocoon over them. When his mouth found hers, Marin responded with a kiss as hungry as his. The boat picked up speed, but Griffin was unhurried as he made love to her reverently.
* * *
“Agent Morgan’s team found the curator’s intern,” Adam said. “Or what was left of him. Looks like he died the same way as Wes. A lethal dose of Sux.”
Griffin glanced toward the bow of the boat. Dressed in a white T-shirt and a pair of Daisy Duke jean shorts his idiot friends had picked out for her, Marin was out on the pulpit with Ben. The two of them were doing a stupid impersonation from the movieTitanic. Ben’s hands were all over her body. Her laughter floated through the air. Griffin should be glad to see her so relaxed. Instead, he was miffed his supposed friend was manhandling his woman.
His woman.
Jesus. Marin wasn’t his woman. She was a suspect turned protectee. Nothing more. Except for those hours they’d spent locked away belowdecks. Griffin had been more real with her than he ever had with any other woman he’d had sex with. He thought it was because he wanted to console her, to protect her. But she did something to him. And he was telling the truth when he said it scared the hell out of him.
“Shall I turn the wheel sharply so they both fall in?”
“What?” Griffin turned his head to face Adam.
His friend peered over his Ray-Bans. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”
“I heard the part about the White House intern being offed. Do we think that was our Ukrainian friend or the Greek buffoons who attacked us yesterday?”
Adam scoffed. “Those Greek idiots were an embarrassment to hit men everywhere. We could have rounded them up with a damn Taser last night. It’s no wonder they had to hire a Ukrainian henchman to be their muscle. By the way, I gave Agent Morgan the collar. She said they lawyered up almost immediately.”
“Then the Ukrainian killed the intern. But why?”
“Leslie thinks he was the guy on the inside,” Adam explained. “Apparently, Intern Ari comes from a well-connected Greek family.”
“That brings us back to the million-dollar question of why steal artwork from the White House? They’ve got a successful counterfeiting gig going. Why branch out?”
Adam steered the boat around a buoy. “That’s the question that kept Leslie and me occupied for most of the evening. Among other things.”
“Hmm,” Griffin responded refocusing his gaze on Marin and Ben.
“That’s all I get is ‘hmm’?” Adam asked. “I tell you I spent the night with a woman you’ve been sleeping with and you can’t be bothered. Yet Ben barely has his hands on Marin and you’re ready to throw him overboard.”
The waves crashed against the side of the boat. Griffin’s insides felt just as choppy. “Leslie and I were never serious. She’s all yours.”
“And Marin?”
“She’s a witness in our protection. Nothing more.”You keep telling yourself that, Griff.
“Right. And the condom wrappers strewn about the boat are because you opened them up to make balloon animals last night.”
Griffin glared at Adam. “It’s complicated.”
Adam laughed. “That’s the call sign for any guy to run in the other direction. You’ll be able to think more clearly once we drop her at the base.”
Ice rushed through Griffin’s veins. “I’m not leaving her there alone.”
His friend eyed him warily. “The director wants you back at the White House. This case has everyone tense and he wants you to dodge the flying arrows. Marin will be surrounded by agents on the base. She’ll be safe.”