Jace swallowed the last bite of his turkey sandwich and watched Felicity from across the table. He knew he’d caught her off-guard with the question, but he wanted her to loosen up, needed to find out more about her. Besides the fact he was insanely drawn to her physically, if he was going to team up with her to catch Kevin Quinn he liked to be well-informed about the people he chose to work with.

She finished her last bite of salad, wiped her mouth and sat back in her chair. “I’m just serious by nature, I guess.”

“Nope.” He squinted at her. “Don’t buy it, darlin’.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“What? Darlin’?” Jace shrugged. “Not sure. Term of endearment, I suppose. Why? Do you like it?”

“No.” The pretty pink color creeping up her cheeks said otherwise, however.

Sitting back in his chair too, Jace stretched out his long legs, his feet tangling with hers under the table. She didn’t pull back and he grinned. “Liar.”

“About what?”

“Both things.”

Felicity exhaled slow and looked away. “Fine. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to make fun of me.”

“Okay.” He traced the toe of his boot up the inside of her ankle and delighted in her answering shiver. “Is it all right to snicker though? Especially if it’s really ridiculous?”

She gave him a flat stare.

“Fine. No laughing, no poking fun. Promise.”

Sighing, Felicity continued. “When I was a kid, I was always gregarious, always playing pranks and acting like a clown. Then, during my tenth birthday party, my younger brother turned the tables and told me all my presents had been stolen. They hadn’t, of course, he’d just hidden them in attic.” She snorted. “It was a good trick, now that I think about it, but at the time, I was not amused. So, to get back at him, later that night while my parents were cleaning up after the party, I lured him outside and locked him up in our neighbor’s nasty old utility shed. No one had been in that thing in years and God only knew what was living in there by then. My parents were frantic and I played along, thinking how funny everyone would think it was when I came clean and told them where my baby brother was hidden. Wasn’t I just so clever?” She frowned and stared down at her hands in her lap. “Anyway, no one found him until the next morning. Charlie freaked out understandably and had some kind of breakdown. He’d been bitten by mice and bugs and cut himself on the rusty old lawn mower blades in the shed and had to get a tetanus shot. He wet the bed for a year after that and couldn’t stand to be alone in the dark. He still has claustrophobia and nightmares to this day. I felt awful. So incredibly guilty. My parents punished me and there always seemed to be a slight rift between us after that, though they’d deny it if you asked them. Still, no spanking or grounding they gave me compared to the punishment I gave myself. From that time forward, I swore I would never let fun get the better of me, I would stick to the straight and narrow and conservative.”

“Wow.” Jace tilted his head, watching her. The thought this vibrant beautiful woman would suffocate who she was inside because of an honest mistake in her past, floored him. “I’m pretty sure that’s the saddest story I’ve ever heard.”

She looked up at him, hurt chilling her green eyes as she rested her forearms on the table. “You promised you wouldn’t laugh.”

“I’m not laughing. I’m serious.” He leaned forward and took her hand, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin of her knuckles. “You’re a young, gorgeous, vivacious woman. You should be enjoying life and everything it has to offer, not punishing yourself for some long-ago sin.”

“Tell that to Charlie.” She snorted.

“Is he dead?”

“No.” She scrunched her nose at him. “He’s a doctor in Cincinnati.”

“Well then, I think you’ve served more than enough time for your crimes.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” She shrugged. “What about you? Were you born to be a SEAL?”

“Me? Nah.” He gave a sad little snort. “I was a hellion when I was younger.”

“Only when you were younger?” She raised a brow at him and he laughed.

“Point taken.” He sat back again, but kept hold of her hand, forcing her to lean in closer to him. “Anyway, the neighborhood where I grew up in east LA was pretty tough. When I was eleven, one of the gangs tried to recruit me. And by recruit I mean, beat the living shit out of me and threatened my family.”

“Jesus.” Felicity frowned. “What the hell did you do?”

“Well, lucky for me there was this kindly old shopkeeper who ran the market down the street from where we lived. He took me in, gave me a job and something to do after school to keep me away from the gangs and out of trouble. He was always talking to me about teamwork and helping other people. When I was in high school, he convinced me to try out for the basketball team, then later, he helped me get into the Navy. The rest is history.” It felt good, talking to somebody about his past. So good, in fact, he didn’t want it to end. “Hey, I have an idea. How about we bust you out of your shell right now.”

Felicity frowned. “Oh, I don’t think—”

“C’mon.” Jace pushed to his feet, tossing their trash away with his free hand. “How about we break in those new whirlpools right.”

“The hot tubs?” she said, trailing behind him out of the breakroom. “Oh, I don’t know. I didn’t bring my suit or—”

Jace swiveled fast and captured her lips with his, effectively cutting off her protest. Just as he suspected, the sparks between them were immediate, and hot as fuck. She rested her hands against his chest, fisting the material of his T-shirt and moaning. He deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue inside her mouth to taste her at last—sweet and spicy and incredibly addictive. By the time he finally pulled away, they were both breathless with want.

He raised a wicked brow and winked. “Who said anything about swimsuits, darlin’?”

She chuckled, low and sexy. “Yeah, I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Which is exactly why you should do it.” He kissed her again, hard and deep. “C’mon. Live a little.” Jace pulled off his T-shirt again, not missing the way her eyes seemed to devour him whole. He kicked off his socks and shoes, perched on the edge of the nearest whirlpool, and switched on the jets before taking Felicity by the wrist and tugging her forward, between his legs. “Gotcha.”

She struggled at first against his hold. “Let go.”

“Shhh, darlin’.” He leaned in to nuzzle her earlobe. “It’s just you and me.”

“I know.” She gasped, pushing him away. “What if someone walks in?”

He glanced behind him, grinned, and took her hand. “Best we get in the water then.”

“Jace, really I—” She tried to pull away once more, but he wasn’t letting go.

“Trust me.” He slipped his hands beneath the hem of her T-shirt, reveling in her answering shudder as his fingertips grazed the soft, sensitive skin of her belly. “I think you want me and I know I want you. Have since the first time I saw you, all prim and proper in my office.”

“I was with Ted that day.”

“I don’t care if you were with the Pope. You are the sexiest damned thing I’ve seen in a long, long time.” He slid her shirt up to reveal a decadent and delicate plum lace bra, embroidered with tiny pearls and sequins. “My, my. What have we here?”

She rested her hands on his shoulders as if to steady herself, that pretty pink color returning to her cheeks. “I have a thing for beautiful lingerie.”

“Me too.” Jace couldn’t resist, kissing the valley between her breasts, tracing his tongue over the edge of the dark purple lace, tasting the salty sweetness of her skin. “Me too.”

“Oh.” She pressed tight against him, her head falling back and her eyes closing, all that long blond hair draping down her back in a silken fall against his arm. “Jace, I, oh. Oh. I—”

He silenced her with a kiss. Wet and hot and sexy as all fuck, keeping it up until she stopped trying to speak, stopped trying to do anything except hold him closer. He leaned back to whisper against her jawline, “Jesus. I want you so damned bad.”

Cheeks flaming and eyes dreamy, Felicity pulled her shirt off over her head in silent consent.

“Beautiful,” Jace said, pulling her against him once more, loving the feel of her skin against his. The scent of jasmine filled the air as steam from the hot tub rose around them. “You are so beautiful, darlin’.”

“No, you are.” Felicity ran her hands over him, tracing his muscles as if assuring herself he was real. His rock-hard cock twitched with anticipation. “I want you too, Jace.”

“Get ready to have me.” Without warning, he grabbed her around the waist and swung them both over the side of the whirlpool and into the warm, soothing water. She cried out and giggled and he laughed. “How’s that for action?”

“Pretty good so far.” She twined her arms around his neck and kissed him sweetly. “I’d like a whole lot more action though.”

“Your wish is my command.”

He flicked open the button on her jean shorts and pushed them down to reveal a matching deep plum-colored lace thong. Seemed his prim little FBI agent really did have a sexy lingerie fetish. He grinned against her lips as he slid her wet shorts the rest of the way off. Yep, they were going to get along just fine.

In the meantime, she slipped her hand down his front, running her fingertips over his abs before tracing them inside the waistband of his board shorts. Her touch grazed the tip of his cock and he groaned in frustration. He wanted her so bad that if she started caressing him now, he wouldn’t last, plain and simple. And he wanted this first time between them to last.

Torture as it was, he gently took her hand and pulled it away from him. “Not yet. I want to see you first.”

He reached behind her and unclipped that unbelievable bra of hers, freeing her small, firm breasts. Some guys liked busty chicks, but he’d always been happy with just enough to fill his palms and damn if her beautiful breasts didn’t fit that bill perfectly. He cupped them gently, stroking his thumbs over her taut nipples, savoring her soft mewls of pleasure. “Feel good?”

“God, yes!” She slid her fingers into his hair, urging him closer. Jace obeyed, taking one of her nipples into his warm, wet mouth while using his fingers to toy with the other. Felicity moaned low and arched into him, encouraging him.

Unable to resist any longer, Jace quickly removed her lace thong then propped her on the ledge of the whirlpool, moving between her legs and spreading her thighs wider with his shoulders. “Sorry, darlin’, but right now all I can think about is how wet you must be for me, and how spectacular your arousal would taste on my tongue.”

Felicity inhaled sharply as he lowered his head and licked her folds, using his fingers and thumb to stroke her clit and slip inside her slick channel. The warmth of her arousal set all his senses afire and he hummed against her, delighting in her responding shiver. Again and again he traced his tongue over her, around her, sliding first one, then two fingers inside her to prepare her for him.

“Ummmm,” Felicity moaned, moving her hips to the rhythm of his thrusting digit. “That feels….”

“Tell me,” Jace said against her sensitive flesh, his senses filled with the smell, the taste, the glory of her. “Tell me how it feels.”

She shivered against him and groaned. “It feels…oh, oh…it feels… oh God. Jace. Oh!”

He licked her clit faster, harder, and reveled in the squeeze of her body around his fingers, his tongue. Her legs clasped tight around him as she rode out her first, hard orgasm. He continued to pleasure her until finally she relaxed against him and smiled. “Wow. That was fantastic.”

Jace grinned and pulled off his own shorts, sliding out the condom he’d stashed there in his pocket just in case, infinitely grateful the tiny foil packages were waterproof. After slicking it on, he faced her once more.

She reached forward and took his hard cock in hand, stroking him just right. “Is this for me?”

“All for you darlin’.” He kissed her deep again, allowing her to taste herself on his lips as he positioned himself at her hot, wet entrance. “Ready?”

“Yes, please.”

In one long thrust, Jace buried himself hilt deep in her tight, slick body. Then he held still, holding her, kissing her, allowing her time to adjust to his size and length. At last, he started to move within her, setting up a slow, steady rhythm that had them both teetering near the brink again within minutes.

Breathless with passion, he rested his forehead against hers and watched their bodies joining, reveling in the wicked sexiness of it all. “You feel so incredible, Felicity. All hot and wet and tight around me.”

She bit her lip, her black pupils blown wide to all but obliterate the green of her irises, her cheeks flushed with desire. “You feel amazing too. Please, Jace, please, don’t stop.”

“Never, darlin’. Never.” He kissed her again, reaching between them to stroke her clit once more and push her over the edge into another intense climax.

Felicity cried out, her sharp little nails digging deep into his shoulders as she clung to him. “Oh, God, Jace. I’ve never, it’s never been like this before.”

“That’s it. That’s it,” he whispered against her neck, coaxing her through the waves of ecstasy, feeling a familiar tightness in his balls, signaling his own impending orgasm. Knowing he’d just brought this incredible woman out of her shell and made her feel things she’d never felt before, only made him come harder than ever. Stars winked in front of his eyes and he damned near passed out from the exquisite pleasure of it all.

By the time he drifted back to earth, he found them both floating in a sea of bliss in the whirlpool, limbs entangled and his forehead resting in the soft valley between her naked breasts. He felt boneless, weightless, yet heavy as concrete all at the same time.

Felicity stroked her fingers lazily through his damp hair, sending ripples of pleasure through him. He removed the condom and tossed it over the side of the hot tub, then pulled her into his arms, cradling her against his chest as the warm water bubbled around them.

“Well, then. I guess that solidifies our partnership then, huh?” he chuckled.

“I guess so.” She laughed, the sound tinkling around him like chimes.

“That sounds nice.”

“What?”

“You being happy.”

She snuggled against him and smiled. “It feels pretty good too.”

“Good.” Jace closed his eyes and was just starting to snooze when the bell above the front door jangled. “Fuck.”

Tensing, Felicity slipped out of his arms to bob beneath the surface of the water, only her head visible. “Who the hell is that? I thought you said no one would walk in on us?”

“I don’t know.” Quickly, he climbed out of the hot tub and tugged on his shorts, grabbing a towel from the stack in the corner to scrub over his head before handing another one to Felicity. “Best get dressed. I’ll go see who it is.”

She nodded and climbed out and he took one last longing look at all her gorgeous curves before heading around the partition and out into the main gym area.

Jace’s afterglow buzz soon, dissipated as he saw a uniformed sheriff’s deputy lurking near the front entrance. Still bare-chested, bare foot, and wet, Jace strode over, doing his best to appear as professional as possible under the circumstances. He didn’t remember Mark mentioning any prospective new clients dropping by today for a tour, but then again, his mind hadn’t exactly been on business lately. “Hi there, officer. Welcome to Brothers In Arms. What can I do for you today?”

Jace held out his hand for the deputy to shake, but instead the man stuck out an envelope. Frowning, Jace ripped open the top and pulled out a Notice of Safety Violations. “What the hell is this?”

“Sorry sir,” the deputy said. “But this establishment is being temporarily shut-down by the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration due to several anonymous tips we received of unsafe and potentially dangerous workplace practices at this location.”

“Hey,” Felicity asked, jogging up beside him, her wet hair slicked back into a ponytail and her clothes back in order, her clipped professional demeanor firmly back in place. “What’s going on?”

“They’re shutting us the fuck down,” Jace said, still trying to comprehend what the deputy had said as he thrust the papers at her. “That’s what’s going on.”

“Who made these reports?” she demanded.

“Sorry, ma’am,” the deputy said. “I’m not allowed to divulge that information.”

“Shit.” Jace paced back and forth, his mind racing. “Mark is going to go ballistic.”

“What are you going to do?” Felicity asked, scanning the paperwork. “According to these documents, you have to close all the facilities and vacate the premises by five o’clock today until further notice.”

“I need to call my partners.” He headed back toward the whirlpool area to grab the rest of his clothes and jam his feet into his shoes, sans socks. By the time Jace was fully dressed again, and had walked back out, the deputy was gone. He grabbed the papers from Felicity. “Whoever made these bogus claims had to be someone with clout and connections in order to get the paperwork pushed through that fast.”

“Are you thinking Kevin Quinn had something to do with it?”

“Maybe,” Jace said pushing outside to head for the office building next door, Felicity hot on his heels. “But I think there’s someone else we should talk to first.”

“Kim Rigsdale?” she guessed.

“Bingo.” They walked the short distance to the office, the hot, late-afternoon sun blazing. “Now, I just have to convince Mark not to freak out about this. And I’ll need to contact the people in my Water Rescue class and tell them things are on hold for now. Once I do that, we’ll be all set.”