Sea Haven 01 - Water Bound

could feel this way, so hot and achy and on the verge of loss of control.
    Arousal spread like a tidal wave, up his thighs, tightening his gut and chest.
    His lungs burned for air. And his cock was heavy and full, an urgent demand. All the while his heart pounded and his breath came in ragged gasps. The feeling was wonderful.
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Chapter 11
    “WAIT, stop here,” Lev said, and stuck his head out of the truck to look back at the storage facility they’d just passed.
    He knew he’d been in the Internet café Rikki took him to at least one other time— before the yacht sank. He knew which computer he’d used and he chose it a second time. Rikki hadn’t come in with him. She’d tried, but in the end she waited in her truck. He’d spent a great deal of time in the café, but when he returned, she showed no signs of impatience. She had a cup of coffee and was listening to music, and she smiled as soon as he got into the truck.
    He was grateful that she’d thought to get him coffee as well. Moving around hadn’t helped with the headache, and he was determined to get as much accomplished as fast as possible since they were out in public. He didn’t want to attract attention, but he needed clothes and he knew he’d left a couple of suitcases somewhere—ready for a quick exit. He needed to orient himself again and find where he had left them. He had her drive around for a while, while he sipped the coffee and tried to remember.
    “I recognize this place,” he affirmed. “I’ve been here before.”
    Rikki pulled a U-turn and stopped the truck just outside the high chain link fence. “Why would this place be familiar?”
    “I always leave a suitcase with money, passport, ID and clothes for a quick emergency exit in several places.” He carefully assessed the area. He could see the security camera was broken. He remembered throwing a rock with accuracy to make certain no pictures of him were captured on film. The camera hadn’t been fixed.
    “Several places?” she echoed. “Why several?”
    “I believe in being prepared,” he explained absently, his attention on the storage facility. “Which is why we’re going to add security to your house. You need to take better precautions.”
    “Did you rent a space under the name Sid Kozlov?”
    He shook his head. “Too dangerous. If I was on the run, I could be traced through that name. I always use a clean identity.” So even his 165

    handlers couldn’t trace him. One never knew when a hit might be ordered to clean up a mess. He trusted no one, least of all the people who had robbed him of his parents, family and childhood to train him to be a top operative.
    He was a tool, nothing more, and when his usefulness was at an end, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.
    Rikki touched his arm to bring his attention back to her. The moment their eyes met, he experienced a strange pain in the vicinity of his heart, like a vise gripping him hard. That expression, so close to tenderness, nearly shredded his heart. “How terrible to have to live like that. I’ve been afraid and angry and guilty for too many years of my life, and I’ve found peace here, Lev. I hope that you do as well.”
    She was peace. That’s what she didn’t fully understand. Looking into her eyes, touching her skin, kissing her mouth ... Hell, just watching the expressions come and go in her eyes gave him an immeasurable gift. I could look at you forever.
    He swallowed what he’d been about to say, because nothing would be right. There was no way to express what he felt without sounding like a complete lunatic.
    She smiled at him. “You don’t sound like a lunatic, you sound sweet.”
    He grinned like an idiot. He should have known they were connected, but the flood of warmth was worth sounding like such a fool. “There’s nothing sweet about me,” he warned.
    Her smile widened. “Really? Because I’m thinking the color red suits you very well.”
    He touched his face. Color had crept beneath the permanent tan of his skin. “That’s a first.” He leaned over and kissed her, brushing his lips lightly across hers just for the thrill. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
    “I feel like the gangster’s moll in the movies.” She leaned out the window and watched him walk around the truck. “Are there weapons in there?”
    “Of course.”
    She laughed and shook her head.
    Lev’s head jolted the moment he put his feet on the ground and began walking, but her soft