Page 57 of Winter’s Fire

“Stupid question, but—do we know for certain they did actually come here? Maybe they claimed to be here as a joke or something.”

“No, they were here. You know the fountain in the main courtyard? It’s in the background of the photo I’ve been showing around.”

Diana had posted a handful of shots on social media, which they’d downloaded and printed prior to their departure.

“Then maybe we need to try something different—like me asking questions. No, hear me out… please. A lot of the staff here—probably most of the therapists, I would imagine—are female, and quite young. Forgive me for saying so, Sir, but you can be a little… intimidating.”

It went with the territory. He was a Royal Marine and a Dom—intimidating was in his DNA. Still, she had a point. “Go on.”

“I have an appointment for a massage tomorrow. The therapist I’m seeing only started recently, so I’ve been told. If there is something going on, and if she treated Diana, it’s possible that she’s not a part of the conspiracy. She might, in all innocence, spill something the others won’t. It has to be worth a try.”

Though he was reluctant to admit it, what Lucy said made sense. And if they were to get anywhere with this investigation, he might just have to agree with her suggestion. Hell, the damn woman would probably go ahead anyway, and age him another decade in the process.

“Okay—do it. But don’t take any unnecessary risks. If you have any reservations, do not, under any circumstances, proceed. We’ll work something out.”

~~*~~

Lucy nuzzled the muscular chest an inch or so from her nose, and inhaled deeply. What a wonderful way to start the day—warm, sexy male, with a hint of fresh sweat and sexual satisfaction. He always smelled so damn good. She’d make a fortune, if only she could work out how to bottle that scent. Then again, that would mean sharing, and there was no way she was doing that with this delectable piece of male real estate.

“You awake?”

She loved the gravelly sound of his voice when he woke from sleep. “Uh-huh. Getting there. What time is it?”

Plastered to his side as she was, Lucy moved with him as he reached for his watch on the nightstand.

“We’ve got a good couple of hours before you need to report to the spa—plenty of time to get cleaned up for breakfast. Shower?”

Lucy groaned. While she enjoyed sharing the luxurious bathroom with Logan, right now, the bed was a far greater lure. “Can’t I stay with you a little while longer?”

Odd, how his breath hitched. “You can stay with me for as long as you like, princess.”

He hadn’t called her that since the yacht, so why now? Should she read more into his statement than at first appeared?

“Hey, it’s ‘babe’ here, remember?” She forced a light-heartedness she didn’t feel into her tone as she swung away from Logan and planted her feet on the floor. “Why don’t you stay here, while I get cleaned up?”

She leaned down and dropped a playful kiss on his nose, before offering him her cuffed wrists. After the chat they’d had the previous evening, about how to progress the investigation, they’d both been in the mood for a little playtime. The scene involving cuffs had ended with Logan deep inside her, and the last thing she’d asked him was to leave the cuffs on for a while. “A while” had turned out to be all night.

“I know I could take these off myself, but that doesn’t seem…”

“Right?”

Lucy watched him unbuckle the cuffs, loving the way his fingers dealt so deftly with the silver buckles. She was mesmerised by the play of muscles in his forearms, the texture of his skin, and the light roughness of that scattering of dark hair. Those arms belonged to a man she could rely on, a man who made her feel safe when she was with him.

“Sure you don’t want company?”

“I want company, but I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be a good idea—not if we’re going to make it to breakfast before they stop serving.” The man would distract her for hours, if she’d let him.

“Okay. I’ll take the bathroom when you’re done.”

Without Logan diverting her attention away from the task at hand, Lucy’s shower was over in minutes. While he took care of business, she dressed quickly and dug out the tablet. Time to take another look at the private area of the resort’s website, see if there was anything they’d missed.

The pictures in the private gallery were explicit, to say the least. A mix of guest photos and those taken by the official photographer she’d seen wandering around the resort, they left little to nothing to the imagination.

Some of them featured staff members, but it was in the gallery of spa photos where Lucy found an image that had her doing a double take. “Logan!”

“What is it? You okay? Where’s the fire?”

He had one towel wrapped around his hips, while he was drying his hair with a second. Lucy gave herself a brief, stern, silent talking-to about lust at inopportune moments, then pointed at the tablet. “Look. I can’t remember seeing this one before. They must have only just uploaded it.”