She felt the tightening. He did, too, because he pulled his lips from hers and watched her as she came, his gaze dark and hot.

She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from screaming as wave after wave of intense pleasure squeezed her from the inside out.

Mac’s fingers dug into her ass cheeks as he pushed into her and shuddered. He still watched her as his orgasm thundered through him, the action so incredibly intimate it was almost unbearable to watch. Yet she did, stroking his hair as his breath caught and held while he stilled against her.

Her legs were shaking when he released them, and she held onto his arms while she caught her balance.

“Guess I’ll go take that shower now,” she said, slipping away from him to grab a change of clothes.

He grabbed her before she could leave the room, pressing his lips against hers. It was so unlike the hard passion they had just shared. The kiss was tender, a soft sweeping of his lips against hers. It made her ache inside.

“Don’t use all the hot water,” he whispered against her mouth.

She sighed and closed the bathroom door. She turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the steamy hot water pour over her, wincing as it hit her scraped back. She smiled though, her body still trembling with post-coital bliss. Sometimes things between them were so perfect.

But there was more to a relationship than just great sex.

A lot more. Like trust, and communication. Areas where she and Mac were still sadly lacking. They had made some headway, at least. That was promising. But was it enough?

Was he going to start opening up to her, confiding in her about what was going on? Granted, a phone was still off-limits, and she actually understood his reasoning for that. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to find and use one, but she did understand why he didn’t want her to.

He had to protect himself. If their situations were reversed, she’d do the same thing. But she knew she wasn’t working for the bad guys, so it was different. She didn’t know who he was working for. That was the piece of the puzzle still missing, the integral part he refused to share with her.

And who was Tom? Was he connected at all to the virus, or was he just another stopping point along the way to the drop off? She had a hard time believing Mac, if he really was a thief, if he had less than reputable intents for the virus, would trust someone in the military. Maybe Tom really was just an old friend and didn’t know a thing about the vial.

Maybe Mac was keeping Tom in the dark, too.

Once again, Lily had a ton of questions. And doubts about Mac. She hated her own skepticism, but she wasn’t certain if he was telling her the truth, or just feeding her a pack of lies just to placate her.

She hoped that wasn’t the case, because she really needed truth from him more than anything. She’d rather hear silence than lies.

And she really wanted to believe him. Her heart needed to know. She didn’t want the heartbreak, but she could feel it coming and despite the walls she built up, knew she wouldn’t be able to avoid it when they went their separate ways.

But leaving with lies between them, with deception, without knowing the truth and without having a positive outcome to all this—that would be a knife in her heart.

God, she didn’t ask for much, did she?

She shook her head and reached for the shampoo.

Maybe she just wanted too much.

Chapter Nine

Lily woke the next morning alone in the oh-socomfortable bed she and Mac had shared. They’d even managed to sleep. Tom had fed them well, and while she did laundry they’d spent a few hours talking to him about books and his military life. By the time Lily had climbed into bed, it had taken her exactly two-point-two seconds to completely pass out.

And she was fairly certain Mac had been even more exhausted than she was. He’d yawned several times, his eyelids had blinked closed, and he’d even fallen asleep in the chair downstairs. She finally booted him upstairs to bed when she finished the laundry. And though he’d acted like he wanted to devour her from head to foot, she knew better. Sometimes sleep was more important than sex.

At least it had been last night. She woke up well-rested and eager to find Mac.

She dressed in a hurry and headed downstairs, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and bacon alluring to her senses.

Tom and Mac were sitting at the kitchen table. When she walked in, conversation stopped.

She hated that. It made her think there were plans being made that she wasn’t privy to. Secret plans. Maybe she was becoming paranoid.

Yeah, right. No maybes about it. She was already there, front and center in Paranoid City. And rightly so considering she didn’t know a damn thing.

Tom stood and pulled a mug from the cupboard.

“How do you take it?” he asked.

“With cream if you have it. Otherwise, black is just fine. But I can do it myself.”

“Have a seat. I made breakfast, you’re a guest, and guests get served around here.”

She cast a smile in his direction and slid into the chair next to Mac. He cupped the back of her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

“Morning, sleepy.”

“Morning.”

The coffee tasted phenomenal and Tom slid a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her that she tried really hard not to devour like a starving animal. But she was hungry.

“I’ll be gone two days at the most,” Tom said.

Lily paused mid-biteful and laid her fork down.

“You’re leaving?”

Tom grinned. “Fishing trip.”

“When are you going?”

“This morning.”

She glanced at Mac. “We should pack, then.”

“Why? We’re not leaving,” Mac said.

“We’re not?”

“Hell no. There’s no reason the two of you have to go.”

Tom said. “You stay and enjoy the deck and the water.

Temperatures are already warming up. The next couple days are supposed to be great.” He stood and put his cup in the sink.

“I’m the one who needs to finish packing.”

He left the room and Lily shot a quizzical look at Mac.

“Why are we staying?”

“Safety reasons. Tom has a fortress here and I want to ride it out for a few days, see if anyone followed us or picks up our trail. I can monitor the perimeter, keep an eye on the surveillance cameras and watch the area. Then, if I think we’re all clear, we’ll head out.”

“Okay, that makes good sense.” Her stomach tumbled at this news. Once again he was communicating with her, sharing information. This was a very good thing, a step in the right direction. Okay, so maybe she was grasping at any straw she could right now. But they were light years ahead of where they had started in terms of progress in their relationship, and she’d take that as a good sign.

“And like Tom said, we have the place to ourselves. We can make use of the boat dock, do a little swimming, lay around in the sun and have some fun. Relax a little.”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. Lily knew what he meant by relax, but she wasn’t sure that was possible. Not with the virus still in his possession and its destination unknown.

Of course he knew what he was going to do with it. He knew everything, so it was easy for him to take some downtime. For her? Not so simple.

But the longer she played this game with him, the more he trusted her not to betray him, not to try and run, the more information she could potentially get out of him.

The problem was, with every day she spent with Mac, the more accustomed she grew to being with him, to renewing the feelings she’d had for him all those years ago. It was getting harder and harder to keep her professional side at the forefront, to use sex as a bargaining chip to gain his trust and to keep her emotions at bay.

She wasn’t that good at this spy stuff. She had a heart and she couldn’t keep a wall of ice around it forever.

Maybe he was better at it than she was. Maybe he was able to keep it all about the sex and not get emotionally involved. She really had no idea since they hadn’t broached the subject of how they felt about each other. He hadn’t brought it up, and she certainly wasn’t going to. She wanted him to think what was between them was easy and playful and all about ‘right now’, that it didn’t mean anything significant to her beyond just a physical thing. She wanted him to think that when this was over she would walk away without looking back, without any attachment to him.

Which meant it was time to step up the sex, to really have some fun with him, to let him know she was going to let things go for now and enjoy their time together.

She was going to bridge the gap of mistrust between them so he would continue to feed her information, so he would think he could tell her anything.

But when the time came for him to deliver the virus, she was going to snatch it out from under him and take it to the authorities. She had to, no matter what her feelings for Mac were.

Tom walked out with a small bag in one hand and fishing pole in the other.

“I take that to mean you’re packed?” Lily asked, eyeing the tiny duffle bag.

“Everything I need,” he grinned. He turned to Mac.

“You know where everything is and I have my cell if you need me.”

Mac nodded. “Thanks again.”

“Anytime. You two enjoy yourselves.”

Tom headed out the back door. Within a few minutes, Lily heard the sound of a boat engine firing up, then he was gone, and she and Mac were alone. She got up and washed the breakfast dishes. Mac dried and put them away. Neither of them said anything and the routine of working side by side with him was nice. Peaceful.

The windows were open and she realized soon that Tom was right. A warm breeze blew through the kitchen window and it smelled like summer. The sun was bright and Lily was ready to get outside.

“Let’s go exploring,” she suggested.

“Sure. I’ll take you down to the dock and show you the lake.”

“I don’t have shorts or a swimsuit.” Which was really too bad, because after last night’s chill, she ached to feel the sun on her body.

“That’s no problem. Tom’s college-aged niece and her boyfriend come to visit a lot. She always leaves some of their stuff here. Check the drawers for a swimsuit and some shorts.”

“Okay. She hurried upstairs and rummaged through the dresser drawers, thrilled to find a two-piece swimsuit and a pair of cotton shorts to toss on. Fortunately, they fit fairly well, though the top was a bit small. Her br**sts poured over the material, but it would have to do. Besides, it would just be her and Mac and he’d seen it all already.

She was glad to have the suit to wear, since as soon as they stepped outside she couldn’t believe how hot it was. The sun beat down on them as they walked the smooth path from the back porch to the boat dock. She was barefoot and the wooden planked walkway was warm under her feet.

It felt so good. Some of her stress was already melting away in the heat.

The dock was incredible and much more than just a spot to anchor Tom’s boat. It was huge, with lawn chairs and tables with sun awnings to block the rays and a couple lounge chairs for tanning. There was even a small boathouse next to the deck with a private changing room and bathroom so you didn’t have to walk back up to the house. She could spend an entire day sprawled out near the water’s edge and be perfectly content.

And the view—awe inspiring didn’t begin to describe it. The sun cast rays down upon the water, rendering it like smooth, shiny glass. Beyond were miles and miles of waterway, broken up only by shoreline and rising trees, so dense they looked like one giant mass of green hill, instead of thousands of hickory and oak. It was breathtaking. She sat at the edge of the dock and slipped her feet in the water.

“Yikes, that’s cold,” she said.

Mac stood next to her, looking out over the water.

“Yeah, the days have been warm, but that sun hasn’t heated the water enough to take a dip yet. If you get hot enough lying around out here, though, a quick swim will feel pretty good.”

“We’ll see about that.” It felt frigid to her at the moment. She’d have to be pretty damn hot to plunge into the icy lake. But the view was spectacular, it was quiet here, and she was actually relaxing. She scanned the area. Other homes sat off in the distance, their docks bobbing up and down in the water. Some had boats tethered to them. So far she hadn’t seen any people. With the thick trees and bushes, it would be easy for someone to hide, either on this side or the other side of the lake.

Someone could be watching them right now. Targeting Mac. She realized she wasn’t at all worried about herself, didn’t see herself as the target. He was the one with the virus.

Somehow she figured the bad guys knew that.

“We’re safe here, Lily. Properties in this area are well secure. If there was a problem, we’d know it.”

Mac had changed into shorts and T-shirt with cutoff sleeves. She liked the look. It gave her an opportunity to ogle his muscles.

“Are you going to sit?” she asked.

“I’m not much for lounging. Thought I might scrub the deck for Tom.”

She rose and wiped her hands on her shorts. “I’ll help you.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to. I’ve been doing a lot of sitting around the past few days. I like being active.”

“Okay.”

He gathered materials and they got to work doing some serious cleaning.

The day grew hotter, but it felt good. No, it actually felt great to be outside, to feel the heat on her skin and to simply enjoy working and playing alongside Mac. Every time the sweat would really start pouring off her, he’d squirt her with the hose and cool her down. Which would require her to jump up and wrestle him for it, and they’d both end up wet, which both cooled and heated her.