Eli strained against her, his body quivering as he pushed himself further into her, like he wanted to invade every inch. He fell forward, covering her. They both lay shuddering in the aftermath, his body a blanket over hers.
She should push him away, avoid such intimacy. Sex was sex. But it felt good. He felt good. And she didn’t want the moment to end just yet.
“Holy Mother of God. I think you might have killed me after all.”
She smiled against his shoulder.
He shifted his weight and rolled to the side, and she had to bite her tongue to still the protest that sprang to her lips. His arm snaked over her side and pulled her close to his chest.
“If I go to sleep, you’re not going to off me are you?”
Did she want him to stay? Sleep implied he’d stay over. She bit her lip. The truth was, she didn’t want him to leave. She needed information. Needed some way closer to him. But she knew those weren’t the reasons she didn’t want him to go.
“I’m too tired to murder you,” she mumbled as she snuggled deeper into his arms.
He stroked her hair then let his hand glide over her back and to her bare bottom. “Let me get rid of the condom.”
She relaxed as he rolled away, and a moment later, she was back in his embrace. They both wanted information. She knew it and he knew it. But for the time being, they were content with mind-blowing sex. They’d deal with the rest tomorrow.
Chapter Five
Tyana awoke to Eli’s hand stroking up and down her spine. He was flat on his back, and she was curled into the crook of his arm, her head pillowed on his chest. It was nauseatingly cozy.
“We’ve fucked twice, and I still don’t know your name,” Eli said.
She stiffened, but his hand continued its caress.
“Or why you came after me in Singapore.”
She clenched her jaw.
He reached down, cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up so that their eyes met. “Care to enlighten me?”
A loud knock on the door interrupted her response, not that she’d planned to give one.
Mad Dog’s voice followed the bang. “Tyana, come on. It’s late. Get your ass up.”
She scrambled up and searched frantically for her clothing. Eli also slid out of bed, but he calmly collected his clothes and then stood watching her as she hopped around on one foot. She finally got her other leg into her pants and yanked her shirt over her head.
When she glanced over at Eli again, he started to fade.
“Damn it, don’t go yet,” she protested.
His smile quivered and stretched as he became a transparent apparition and then disappeared altogether. A fine sheen of mist streaked for the air vent above the bed, and he was gone.
She swore and balled her fingers into a fist. She wanted to hit something. Hard.
Mad Dog knocked again, and she hurried for the door. She opened it a crack to see him standing impatiently in the hallway.
“Hey, give me a few minutes, okay? I slept in and I need a shower.”
He grinned. “Meet me down in the lobby café. We’ll have brunch then head over for some more action.”
She smiled back and nodded.
Closing the door, she leaned against it for a moment before trudging into the bathroom. She took a quick shower and lamented for a moment rinsing Eli’s touch and smell from her body.
Idiot.
Angrily, she dried off and wrapped a towel around her head and then walked out of the bathroom to get clean clothes from her suitcase. As she was dressing, the room phone rang.
She yanked her head up in surprise. No one would be calling on her hotel phone. Jonah would have used her cell phone or just not called at all. They didn’t share chatty phone conversations.
Unless there was something wrong with D and Jonah couldn’t reach her on the cell?
Even as she frantically looked around the room for her cell phone, she rushed to pick up the still ringing phone on the nightstand.
“Allo?”
“Miss Berezovsky, so glad I caught you.”
The accented English grated on her nerves. It was a voice she recognized and one that sent warning bells clanging.
“What do you want?” The more obvious question would be how he knew she was here, but fuck, Eli Chance hadn’t had a problem tracking her down. There was some serious cause for concern when FMG was so predictable.
“Meet me at Chez Didier’s. There are things we should talk about.”
She made a rude noise. “Jonah already told you we weren’t interested in the job.”
“I’m not asking Jonah,” he said. “I want to talk to you. Before you refuse, let me say this. I know how to help Damiano Ruiz.”
She was stunned into silence.
“I’m offering a trade. You meet me. I tell you how to help Ruiz.”
“I’ll be there,” she said shortly. “What time?”
“Just ditch your companion and come. I’ll be there.”
The phone went dead in her ear, and she dropped the receiver. Shit, shit, shit. She ran a trembling hand over the towel on her head and jerked it away. Mad Dog would shit a brick over what she’d just agreed to.
“He can’t know,” she muttered. He’d drag her kicking and screaming back to the island and never let her off again. Hell, he’d do that anyway if he knew that Eli had found her.
She hurried for the bathroom to dry her hair. A few minutes later, she slid the room key into her pocket, retrieved her cell phone and stuffed it into the small backpack with her passport, money and the knife Mad Dog had given her.
With a sigh, she went down to meet him.
He was sitting at one of the small tables drumming his fingers impatiently on his leg. When he looked up and saw her, he flashed her a grin.
“You’re buying breakfast, by the way. You won the most last night.”
She laughed and allowed some of the tension to escape her shoulders. “I always win the most.”
He shrugged. “I ordered you an omelet the way you like it.”
She took the seat across from him and shoved her bag underneath the table. “Thanks.”
“You feeling any better yet?”
If she hadn’t got the phone call a few minutes ago, she could honestly say yes. Apparently a night of great sex was a great way to unwind. But now her nerves were fried.
So she lied and nodded.
“I need to call D,” she murmured as she pulled out her cell phone.
Mad Dog reached across the table and put his hand on her arm. “Ty, he’s okay. I talked to Jonah a few minutes ago. D’s resting so you’ll just disturb him.”
Reluctantly she put the phone down. “Sorry. But I worry about him.”
“We all do, baby.”
“Yeah, I know, it’s just that…”
Mad Dog nodded. “I do know, Ty. I do. But chasing Eli Chance all over Asia isn’t going to help D, not to mention he’d be pissed as hell if he knew what you’d done. Best just to leave it alone.”
Her cheeks grew warm, and she struggled to keep the guilt from her expression. Yeah, Mad Dog would go ballistic if she knew who had been in her hotel room.
They ate and talked about last night’s poker game. Tyana could tell he was eager to get back over and play some more. She fiddled with her food then realized her sleeping in and reluctance to eat could be in her favor.
She pushed the plate aside and slouched in her chair.
Mad Dog’s fork paused midway to his mouth. “Everything okay?”
She sighed. “I’m just tired. I don’t feel very well. Would you mind going over to the club by yourself and letting me catch some sleep?”