Page 87 of Lethal Obsession

Alexei

Christ, she’s beautiful.

No movie director could have created a scene more perfect than the one coming into focus as the tender races toward the shore.

Late-afternoon sunlight gleams off the turquoise water, casting a buttery glow over the small beach. Lola and the two female security guards are fanned around the edges of the small space, flanked by several of my own men. Others stand guard on the rocky clifftop above, where they’ve been waiting for Ofelia’s arrival.

I barely notice any of them.

Right at the water’s edge, barefoot and wearing a white dress over some kind of halter-neck swimsuit, is Ofelia.

The breeze molds her dress to long, slender limbs gleaming gold in the soft light. Large sunglasses are perched on her head, pushing her hair back from her face. As I near the shore, the breeze picks up the blonde strands and fans them into the air, where the sun makes them a halo around her head. She laughs, the sound reaching me as I cut the engine, trickling into my soul like the most joyous music I’ve ever heard.

I leap out of the boat into the shallows, grounding it in the sand as I come to a halt a few paces from her.

“Hey,” she says tentatively, clutching a small carry-on protectively in front of her.

“Hey yourself.” I reach for the carry-on. “Is this all you brought with you?”

“I wasn’t sure—” Uncertainty and confusion chase across her face. “That is, I didn’t know—”

“It’s fine.” I touch her hand, savoring the satin smoothness of it under my own. She trembles slightly, then goes very still, staring at my hand on hers. “There are clothes on board if you need them.”

Except given the way that dress clings to every delicious line of her body, I’m far more concerned with getting her out of her clothes.

Fucking stop, asshole.

“Hey, Petrovsky.”

I look up, startled, to find one of the dragons giving me a death stare.

“Are you referring to me?” I ask politely, stifling my amusement at the incredulous expressions of my own men.

“Mak has been fully briefed.” The dragon’s eyes bore into me like lasers. “We’ll be calling in twice daily with a full report, including location.”

“Teresa.” Ofelia has gone a delicious shade of pink beneath her tan. “We discussed this already—”

“It’s okay.” I squeeze her hand, unwilling to let it go, then draw her gently to my side so we’re facing the dragons together. “You can tell Mak what Ofelia has for breakfast,” I say in the same even tone, “so long as you do it via the closed line in my secure room. Unfortunately, you’ll have to leave your own phones behind. Don’t worry.” I nod at two of my men, who step forward and take the reluctantly produced phones. “I have replacements for you that are more secure than your own. Obviously, they’re only to be used to communicate with each other, or the crew. Any personal calls are to be made from the secure room. My men will brief you on the rest.”

Privately amused at the open mutiny on their faces, I ease Ofelia toward the water, trying not to let my arm linger at her waist. “Shall we?”

“Yes.” She shoots me a sideways look from under her lashes that makes me want to rip the dress off her right here on the beach. “Please,” she whispers, and I inhale sharply.

As we approach the tender, a swell rolls in, lapping up Ofelia’s thighs and drenching the bottom of her dress. She squeals, then laughs, and my arms slide around her from behind. I put my lips close to her ear. “Ready, Ofelia?”

The way she shivers when I say her name has my cock almost busting a hole through my deck shorts.

She turns her head so her lips touch my jaw. “Uh-huh,” she breathes.

Fuck.

“Hold on, then.” Lifting her above the tide, I inhale her almond-and-rose sweetness like an aphrodisiac and deposit her into the boat, wondering how the fuck I’m going to keep my shit together long enough to offer her a drink.

“We’re traveling with you,” Teresa snaps from behind us.

I roll my eye at Ofelia, who giggles. “Of course you are,” I say without turning around.

They both clamber aboard without waiting for permission.