Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

more poking around.”
    “I’m certainly not about to do anything so silly.” Carol grinned at him. “But you have to admit, I broke the case!”
    Relenting, Jonas slipped his arm around her and dropped a kiss on her head. “You did do that. I now have gray hair, but you definitely gave us a very important piece of information.”
    “I’ll get back to my house and send off some inquiries immediately and see what data Interpol can give me on recent movements of materials needed for a bomb. I’ll also check the freighters coming close to the coast in the next few days,” Aleksandr said. “Harrington, don’t go after these people alone. Nikitin is dangerous and he has a few people working for him that are even more so. Ignatev is a venomous snake.”
    “I can’t move until I have something concrete,” Jonas said. “Right now, it’s all speculation.”
    “I’m taking Abigail home with me,” Aleksandr announced to the Drake sisters. “When she comes back, ask her to see the ring.”

Chapter 16
    “DID you mean what you said to Jonas?” Abigail asked as she tossed her purse on the soft leather sofa and whirled to face him.
    Aleksandr closed the door to his rented beach house and locked it. “I usually mean what I say, baushki-bau . What exactly are you referring to?”
    “The part about when we get married you’ll need a job.”
    “It isn’t as if I’m independently wealthy and I’m certainly not planning to live off of you. I like working,”
    he replied.

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    Her gaze was on him. Bright, half hopeful, half afraid. She looked so beautiful to him, standing there waiting. He could see the rise and fall of her chest, the way her breasts strained against her thin silk top.
    She looked an elegant lady, still in her clothes from the party. He wanted her the way he always did the moment they were alone. It always hit him that way, the need raw and intense and so strong it shook him.
    He never bothered to hide it from her, what would be the point? She held such power over him, over his body, over his heart.
    She licked her lips, that little flick of her tongue making him groan. “Here? You’d be willing to come here and work?”
    “I believe you’re persona non grata in my homeland,” he pointed out. “We can live anywhere you want, but I think this is where you’re happiest.”
    Her lips curved, trembled, but she held back the smile, still too afraid to believe. “I travel a lot with my work.”
    “I like to travel.”
    Her mouth trembled and she pressed her fingers to it. “Are you serious?”
    “ Ya lyublyu tibya . I love you in any language, Abigail. Wherever you are is home to me.”
    “But you love your country so much.”
    “That will never change. Because I live here or on an island somewhere doesn’t change who I am or where I’m from. I’ll always love my country, but that doesn’t mean I can’t love another one as well.
    You’re the most important person in my life, Abbey. I tried living without you. I didn’t like it.“
    “Are you certain, Sasha? Very, very certain?” The color washed out of her face. “I couldn’t go through losing you again. I mean it. Think about this before you answer. We’re so different. And you can be so ruthless sometimes. I’m not certain we’re capable of living together for any length of time.”
    “I’m not capable of living without you, Abbey, so we’ll find a way to make it work. That’s all there is to it.”
    She studied his face as if trying to see through his expression to what lay deeper. He’d spoken the simple truth and he was counting on the fact that she was a woman who knew the truth when she heard it. It took a few moments to believe. His heart jerked in his chest and he felt the familiar knots gathering in his gut. And then joy lit her face, her eyes, and he could breathe again.
    Abigail launched herself at him, crossing the distance separating them with a couple of leaps. Aleksandr caught her, laughing, his mouth meeting hers, hands tearing at her clothes. He dragged the jacket over her arms and popped three buttons on her silk blouse. Abbey was worse, ripping his shirt even as all the buttons went scattering in every direction. He wanted to touch her, touch that soft satin skin that drove him so wild. She always made him hotter just by the way she was so eager for him, sliding her hands up his belly and chest, her mouth frantic on his,