At the entrance to the dining room, he slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. This was actually kind of fun, pretending to be something she wasn’t. The waiter showed them to their table, but the whole time she was looking for Salazar. From the moment they left their very beautiful and posh room, she’d been searching for him. All the trappings of this ruse aside, she’d like nothing better than to be on the beach with Bowie enjoying the ocean, the stars and the delectable man beside her. Instead, she had poured herself into this dress that was tight in all the right places. She was a bit surprised at the fact that she’d lost some weight, the size smaller than what she normally wore. Maybe it was because she’d lost her appetite after her mom passed, or it could be running after a very fit SEAL through the jungle for hours on end with very little food.

Speaking of right places. Rough and tumble Ruckus cleaned up pretty damn well. He was in the white linen slacks, the loose dark suit coat and the palm tree shirt looking elegant and expensive. She was a bit surprised at the amount of hair the navy allowed on their serviceman, but she guessed it was part and parcel of being special ops. He might have to do this kind of thing, go undercover, play many roles. Ruckus seemed as home here in this elegant dining room as he did in the stronghold.

Apparently, Bowie made everything look good. He even made nothing look good. She’d say that nothing on him looked the best.

The waiter brought them to the table, and before he could hold her chair, Bowie was there, sliding it under her. That gentlemanly move made her a bit breathless. “The wine menu, Senor.”

“No wine,” he said, his voice blunt. The waiter nodded and set menus in front of them. She picked up her water glass and took a sip. Her eyes roaming the dining room. “I thought the red dress was spectacular, but the one you’re wearing now, hoo-yah woman, you are something else.

She flashed him a grin and said, “I was just thinking the same thing about you, Lieutenant.”

He reached out and took her hand, bringing it to his mouth, kissing her fingers in a show of affection. It might be a cover, but oh boy, his lips were so soft, his breath warm against her knuckles.

“You have pretty hands,” he murmured. The waiter came back and they ordered, playing the loving couple to a T.

She looked down at her menu and her stomach rumbled at the thought of eating a solid meal. She went for the surf and turf and Bowie ordered a filet mignon.

As she handed the menu to the waiter, she saw Salazar walk into the dining room a Latin beauty on his arm. A shiver went down her spine at the man who had kidnapped her, controlled her for two weeks, who had terrorized her crew members. The man who had been much too familiar with her as if any woman in his orbit was fair game.

She hadn’t mentioned Salazar’s appetites to Bowie because she had no intention of ever being under the man’s power again. They were going to get him neutralized, and she’d get her memory cards. After that, it was back home to edit her project and get it ready for broadcast. She and Bowie would go their separate ways.

She didn’t even have to say a thing to him. He already knew by her posture that she’d spotted him. “Relax,” he murmured and she let her stiff shoulders go. “That’s better. Now smile for me, Dana.” She met his eyes, and it was easy to smile into the blue depths. “There you go. We don’t have a care in the world here. We’re on vacation.” She nodded. “We’ll enjoy our meal and when he’s done, we’ll follow them. Get the lay of the land and where his room is. Once that’s accomplished, you’re going to get very demanding and get us as close to him as possible.”

“All right. I can be pretty bitchy.”

“I know.”

“Hey,” she said, giving him a bitchy look.

He chuckled. “Yeah, just like that, cupcake. That will do it.”

They lingered over dinner, and she even ordered dessert, loving every bite. The minute that Salazar and his lady love rose from the table, she and Bowie rose, too.

Instead of heading back up to their room, they strolled to the back of the hotel. “They’re going for a moonlight walk. That’s going to be pretty conspicuous if we go, too.”

“No, it won’t. It’ll be natural. We’ll keep an eye on them and spend some time on lovey dovey crap.”

“You’re so romantic,” she groused as they pushed through the door, his arm around her holding her close to his hard body.

His eyes were on Salazar, but he said, “You have no idea how good I am in the romance department, sweetheart.”

“I think I have some idea how you are on the hot and heavy part.”

“Between the sheet stuff is easy,” he said taking her hand and pulling her down off the patio onto the sand. “It’s romance that’s hard.” Salazar and his partner kept moving. Bowie reached down and removed his shoes, setting them beneath a table with an umbrella. She reached for his shoulder for balance as she slipped off her sandals. He caught her around the waist, anchoring her.

Startled, she looked at him, but he was in SEAL mode, preoccupied with tracking Salazar. Suddenly, she wanted him in a normal setting, a real date, something that was mundane and everyday instead of this tension and danger every minute.

They followed at a distance, and it was easy to get caught up in the night, the stars brightening the sky with tiny twinkles, the soft lapping of the ocean waves, the gentle breeze and the deep, abiding attraction she had for this man.

Salazar stopped and pulled the woman against him. Bowie back walked her over to an outcropping of rock. “You know that scent you’re wearing is very distracting,” he murmured. “I don’t usually have many tantalizing scents around me when I’m working with those knuckleheads. They don’t smell as good as you do.”

She giggled. “Your job is so tough. Having to hang around with all those macho guys all the time, giving orders. It must be so darn taxing.”

He gave her a long-suffering sigh. “It is, and every one of them is as confident as all get out and smart asses to boot, especially Kid.”

He said the young man’s name with so much affection, it was easy to see that he loved his team. Why not? He’d been in the navy and after what he’d gone through as a teenager, it was easy to understand how much they meant to him.

With them, it did feel like a band of brothers.

Hooking his thumb under her jaw, he tipped her head and brushed his mouth against hers. “I find that this has to be one of my favorite cluster fucks ever.”

She laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding. Let me see: Running through the jungle, people trying to kill us, gunfire, people trying to kill us, things blowing up, people trying to kill us, wrestling alligators—” At his expression, she said, “Oh, excuse me, caiman and dealing with a woman who was arguing with you all the way. I believe you wanted to throttle me more than once.”

“People are always trying to kill me. Nothing new. I just try to make sure I take them out first. But, yeah, best damn op ever. I found a way to shut you up.”

He covered her mouth in a hot, wet kiss, and she relinquished conscious thought. All she could do was hang on to the one solid thing in her spiraling universe.

His touch dragged her down, deeper, and she slipped her arms around his neck, pressing tighter. “That’s an effective maneuver, Lieutenant. But I think it works both ways.”

Ruckus grinned and gave her a hard hug. “I’m going to keep my thoughts to myself on that one.”

“Oh, your body is telling the truth.”

“What can I say? I’m a man and you affect me, cupcake, all the way around, especially in that dress.” He ran his thumb along her cheekbone. “And out of it.”

She looked up at him, her heart skipping a beat when she saw the dark, unsmiling expression in his eyes. He held her gaze a split second; then he lowered his head. Snagging her chin, he brushed his mouth with the softest, slowest kiss. Dana’s breath caught, and her pulse stumbled. His lips moving against hers, he said, his voice very low, very raspy, “We’d better follow them before I forget why we’re here.”

It looked like Salazar was finally moving toward the hotel, and hand in hand they followed them. They retraced their steps and picked up their shoes, going back into the hotel. At the elevators, she used his shoulder to hide her face while they got in and watched as the elevator climbed. When it stopped on the seventh floor, Ruckus looked at Dana. “It’s getting late. Let’s get some sleep and we can stake it out tomorrow to find out exactly what room they’re in. Once we get that info, we can then get inside and search it. We’ll get the chance to also search him if the cards aren’t inside the room.

She nodded, her pulse skittering thinking about being alone with Bowie again.

They headed toward the room and the tension between them tightened. It occurred to her that there could be repercussions regarding her involvement in this op. “So, your boss, what does he think about me being here?”

“Other than the fact that you’re being exposed to danger, he was all for you being the buffer. Because we want to keep this hush, hush. Get him and then get out of the country with no one the wiser, it requires a little more finesse than we normally worry about.”

“That’s a relief. I don’t want you to be in trouble for my determination to get my work back, since it was my decision to do this.”

Inside the door, he grabbed her around the waist and pressed her against the wall. “Actually,” she said breathlessly. “It was your decision and you allowed me to come along convincing your superiors that I was important. This could have ended badly.”

“It still could, Dana. This is a snatch and grab and there’s never anything set in stone. But I will do everything in my power to get your memory cards back and make sure you’re safe. That’s a promise,” he said, his voice rough.

“I trust you will,” she said.

“Cupcake? I know the cards are important to you because of what’s on them, but do you think that you could be missing something here?”

“What’s that?”

“You didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to your mom, now you have something that she wanted you to do that was full of time, effort, and professionalism. A story to be told. But maybe what this whole Darién Gap trip is giving you is closure. Did you allow yourself to grieve her?”

Dana was taken aback by his words. Closure? Was that even possible. Could she honestly say that she had allowed herself to grieve her mom, or had she been punishing herself for the guilt all this time? Her mom had been such an amazing role model, selfless, courageous, even in the face of death, dauntless. Had Dana sacrificed too much of her life to be constantly at risk as a war correspondent, then undertaking these dangerous journeys into hazardous parts of the world just to be the woman her parents would be proud of? Had her mother been proud of her? She knew deep in her heart that her mom loved her. That was an unequivocal certainty. But had she been proud of her? She squeezed her eyes closed.

His breath was warm against her neck as he pressed his face against hers. “Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered, his voice husky. Then he so gently angled her away from him, and he looked into her eyes. His gaze was so electric that Dana jerked away from him, but he pulled her back. His voice gruff, he said, “You made me open my eyes, sweetheart. You made me think about my own life. What I want. Who I am. Who I could be.” He tightened his arm around her shoulders when she tried to bolt again, get away from his words. “I wanted to make sure you were doing all this for the right reasons, not under some misconception about what you really wanted. I think it’s better to be informed.”

Beginning to tremble, Dana buried her face in his neck trying to get her mind around what he’d said. Then Bowie grabbed her chin.

“I don’t know,” she said, unable to actually verbalize what she thought at this point because she was now in mental turmoil. “I can’t think around you. This is something. More than I had ever thought possible.”

“It’s something, babe. I can’t deny that. We’ve been through some stuff here.”

“It’s not that. It’s more than that and you know it. Connection, Bowie.”

“Dana…” he said, his voice subdued.

But she didn’t want to do this now. She wasn’t ready to define what they had. She knew it was substantial, but Bowie was a SEAL. He had his own crap going on. It seemed complicated.

“Let’s not do this now,” she whispered.

“All right,” he answered. Hooking his thumb under her jaw, he tipped her head and brushed his mouth against hers, telling her exactly what he wanted to do and how he was going to do it. His explicitness made her breathless, her breathing ragged and everything that seemed complicated and important tumbled right out of her head. She hung on to him, feeling as if she was about to dissolve. Then he covered her mouth in a hot, wet kiss and she relinquished conscious thought. All she could do was hang on to the one solid thing in her spiraling universe.

He took, but he gave so much. She gripped his arm, her senses spinning out of control. He tightened his hold, his voice rough and ragged against her ear as he urged her on. Kissing her, his mouth ravenous, he pushed her toward the bed. His hand reaching under the dress, drawing her hips hard against his groin. He delved into the waistband of her panties, cupping her bare ass, molding his hands over the rounded globes. Then impatiently, he pulled the dress over her head, the flounced skirt landing in a heap on the floor. She could barely breathe, anticipating loving this man. Her heart contracting because that word did have a heavy meaning here.

“Jesus, Dana,” he whispered, removing her bra. His mouth sliding along her skin, destroying her, creating a tempest inside her that could only be quenched by this man.

He cupped her breasts, kneading them, his thumbs brushing over the nipples. His head dipped, and he captured one of her nipples. She cried out and arched her back as he sucked and laved the hard tip.

His hand delved into her panties, touching her hot, swollen, moist flesh, finding the sweet spot and relentlessly massaging it with his frantic touch. Everything tightened, he was so in tune with her body, playing her like a master until all that burgeoning need started to pull tighter and narrow, and with one last stroke, he took her over the top. She stiffened and sobbed out his name as the paralyzing release ripped through her, turning her into raw, exploding energy.

He pushed her back onto the bed and stripped off her underwear. Then began removing his clothes in a flurry of movement, baring his sleek, heavy muscles, then his warm sexy body covered hers as he pushed her legs open for the heat of his cock to enter her in one, thick, heavy move. He moaned deeply in his chest as she gasped at the first delicious feel of him filling her.

“Bowie, oh please,” she whispered as he pulled out and shoved in again, capturing her leg and hooking it up with his shoulder so that he could get deeper, closer, thrust harder. “Bowie.”

Immobilized by the onslaught of need, Dana clung to him, certain she was never going to get enough of this man, and it saddened her that she had spent so much of her life without this…this passion. He fit to her like they were made for each other, like a puzzle piece she’d been searching for and had never found. Everything about him was so dynamic, the way he fought, felt, spoke, fucked her. It was all so wonderful, the raw emotion stunning her.

Her breathing out of control, she locked her arms around him, his harsh breath and sounds of deep, thick pleasure rolling over her. His mouth devoured hers even as he took her body over and over again. Hoarsely whispering her name, Bowie’s hand slipped around her throat in such a sexy possessive move, she arched into him, his thrusts getting deeper, sweat pouring off his body. Her breathing hitching, she lifted herself to meet him, as he caressed her throat, his hand so big he almost encircled the circumference. His hips moved as he thrust his head back. “Dana, babe,” he pleaded. “Come for me. Let go.”

This madness gripped her, and she knew that this trip had changed her, this man had changed her, ruined her, remade her in this fire and heat. Making a low sound of surrender, he tore his mouth away from hers, burying his face in her neck, kneeling over her, grasping her legs and thrusting hard and fast. His breathing raw and labored, he kissed down her neck, took one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked her hard.

His mouth so hot and demanding, she could barely catch her breath.

Her whole life had been about giving back, reporting responsibly. She’d come out here to Colombia to find a heartbreaking truth. Little did she know that the truth she would find blew her world to smithereens, and she’d found this man. This magnificent man who’d had the decency, the compassion to listen to her, understand what she needed and given her not only the gift of himself, but the golden opportunity to bring everything she’d worked for to fruition. She couldn’t even think about what her life would have been without him in it. What would have happened, how she would have ignored the signs and the messages that were trapped in her mind. Her refusal to see that she had been sacrificing everything. Everything.

He’d opened her eyes to her own deep, dark truth, something that she hadn’t wanted to face, but he believed she had the courage to recognize.

For that she would always be grateful to him.

Unsure how it would change her world, and what she would do once this was all over, she clung to him with all she had.

When he raised his head and their eyes met, she couldn’t breathe. There was so much raw emotion, so much agony of pleasure, pain, need there. She cupped his face, then brought his mouth down to hers so she could do her best to alleviate it. This beautiful man who had given Dana her mom back.

Her voice catching on a sob, she whispered his name and the aching returned. Blinded by sensation, she arched into his thrusts giving him as much as she could, feeling fused from two halves into one whole. Every thrust sent her higher and higher until her whole body exploded into a white-hot light, then everything exploded again, pulses of relief ripped through her, a million lights going off in her head. And on a tortured groan, Bowie twisted his hips, his own release pumping into her.

Incoherent and shattered, she hung on to him for dear life—on to her warrior, her Ruckus, her strong center.

It seemed like an eternity before bits of consciousness returned. His body heavy on hers, the weight of him, warm and solid made her sigh softly against his skin. Trembling and weak, and feeling as if every bone in her body had been liquefied, she wrapped her arms around him, aware of how tightly he was holding her, aware of how badly he was shaking.

Tears stung her eyes, tears of release and compassion, and the feeling that there would never be anything like this in her life ever again. That Bowie was so special, so precious that she couldn’t get her mind around not trying to see where this went. But it took two people to move forward, and she wasn’t sure he was willing to go that far. What if she put herself out there and he didn’t accept? She bit her lip.

He had his own painful loose ends to tie up as well. Not to mention he would have to finish out this op and get Salazar transported where he needed to go. A relationship with a SEAL wouldn’t be easy, and how much would her life have to change to accommodate him?

Bowie turned his face against her neck, his hand wedged under her head. Then as if too spent to move, he tightened his hold. His voice muffled, he said, his tone very gruff, “I can feel you thinking really hard. I think I’m offended.”

“Offended?”

“Yeah, I can’t put two coherent sentences together. I don’t want you to either.”

Bracing his weight on his elbows, he lifted his head and gazed down at her, the moonlight washing over his features. Taking her face in his hands, he studied her, a slow smile appearing. His voice was like rough velvet when he spoke. “Ah, Dana, my cupcake. You are full of surprises.” Holding back a grin, she reached up and caressed his mouth.

“You have a few surprises yourself, Bowie.”

His smile deepened. “You’re a little piece of dynamite, you know that?”

She did grin. “Did I blow you to smithereens?”

He laughed, a low throaty laugh that sent delicious shivers up her spine. “Something like that.”

Aware that they were both avoiding what had brought them together, Dana raised her head and kissed him along his jaw. It was almost as if they’d silently struck another pact not to open too many doors, and that was okay. This was too special to risk. Wanting to keep that comfortable easiness between them, she looped her arms around his neck and gave him another grin. She didn’t know why, but she wanted to see if she could make him blush. Keeping her voice deliberately provocative, she murmured, “You’re very, very good, Lieutenant Cooper.”

His expression altered, and even in the faint moonlight filtering in, she could see his eyes darken, his gaze becoming hot and intimate. Gazing at her, he stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, then he lowered his head, brushing his mouth lightly against hers. “Oh, yeah,” he breathed, caressing her bottom lip. “You better find some handholds, babe, because this is going to get rough.”

With that gravely uttered sentence, Dana’s heart started stammering, and suddenly it was impossible to breathe.

Pulling his head down, she brought his mouth into full contact with hers. The kiss was slow, soft and so unbelievably gentle that it left her absolutely breathless, and her whole body turned to jelly. A sudden urgency sizzled through her and she locked her arms around him, lifting her hips to urge him on. Dragging both her arms from around his neck, he laced his fingers through hers, holding her hands against the bed.

“Easy, darlin’,” he whispered, moistening her bottom lip. “We’re going to take our time—slow and easy.” He stroked her palms with his thumbs and shifted ever so gently against her. “This time we’re going to make it last.” Dana’s heart nearly climbed right out of her chest. She didn’t think she could stand it. She really didn’t. He’d only started, and it was too much already. And Bowie did take his time—goodness, did he take his time. It was just like the kiss, slow, soft, gentle. And painstakingly thorough—inch by inch. Dana had no idea a man could be that dedicated to detail, and he set off reactions she’d never, ever experienced before. And she couldn’t think of anything, except what he was doing to her. He took it so slow and easy, he nearly drove her crazy, and she was practically clawing at the bedding before he gave in to her. She was sure she was on the verge of losing her mind when he finally thrust into her, driving her up and over into a soul-shredding release. It was so unbelievable, so explosive, it was as if she came right out of her body. And he was the only thing that held her together. But then, he had been there to hold her together from the beginning.

Everything about him spoke to her. The words as beautiful as the way his body moved.

And she wanted this, always.

Always. Always. Always.