Page 69 of Broken Promise
The traitorous thing was wishing hard for just one more chance to see Rafe.
* * *
I peered across the street, my eyes watering with intensity as I scrutinized every person who passed in front of Rafe’s building. I was waiting for him to leave so I could sneak back inside and leave the flash drive, along with a note to be careful and watch his back. It was a risky move, for sure, but I couldn’t risk leaving it anywhere else.
Maybe I should just erase it.
I bit the edge of my thumb as my mind flashed through alternatives. It was taking a risk to sneak back into his home and leave it for him. Hadn’t I taken enough risks lately? I sighed. Everything was so mixed up now, and there was no way to tell who was good, who was bad, and where I fit in. But despite everything, I still felt compelled to protect Rafe. He’d obviously kept these files secret for a reason. Maybe they were his insurance policy against the people he’d worked for. Whatever the reason, I knew he wouldn’t have kept them if they weren’t important. As illogical as it may be, I didn’t want these to fall into the wrong hands.
Erasing it wasn’t enough. I didn’t have a tech background, but even I knew there were ways to recover information that had been erased. Considering the kind of sensitive information on the drive, the safest place for it was back with Rafe.
Ten minutes later, I stiffened when I saw Rafe’s SUV pull out of the underground parking garage. This was what I’d been waiting for. He was on his way to work, so I could go drop this off and then be on my way. It was a scary thought, and I shivered. After this, I was on my own. There was no one that I could rely on. No one I could trust. My only plan for survival was to run. Run! And never look back.
I took the elevator to the top floor and then crossed my fingers that my key would still work. It was my hope that Rafe hadn’t been able to get the locks changed so quickly. Another reason I had to move fast and do this now. If I didn’t do it now, I’d never have this opportunity again.
When the key slid in easily and turned, I let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Thank God!” I pushed the door open and then silenced the alarm. I had to move fast because knowing Rafe, his alarm system would notify him that it had been turned off. But I’d waited ten minutes before going in, so he was already across town. There was no way he could get back here and catch me in the next sixty seconds unless he sprouted wings and flew.
In shock, I looked around the apartment. It was a mess, which was so unlike Rafe. The books on the coffee table had been shoved to the floor, and when I reached the bedroom, my eyes took in the rumpled sheets and the clothes all over the floor. Rafe was usually so meticulous that he couldn’t stand to see anything that wasn’t in its place. He had a military-like love of order, and it made me sad to see what I’d driven him to.
This is what you’ve done to him. It’s better if you leave and never come back.
Although there was a selfish part of me that wanted to take my chances and confide in Rafe, seeing the tangible evidence of his rage made it clear just how unrealistic that hope was. I’d hurt him and betrayed him. Why would he care about what I had to say? Even if I explained everything and even if he believed me, there was no guarantee that he’d be willing to protect me. Why should he put his life on the line to protect a woman who’d lied to him from the start?
I dug in my pocket until my fingers hit the flash drive. I could put it back in the safe, and this would all be over. Just then I heard a noise behind me. Before I could even turn around, I was yanked backward and hit the wall.
“What—” My scared squeak faded away when I saw Rafe towering over me, his face twisted into a mask of fury.
“You thought it would be that easy?” he growled.
Even as fear filtered through the shock, desire made itself known. I whimpered and clenched my thighs together as a tingle of awareness made my core clench. He looked furious, but somehow I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. My knowledge was confirmed when he leaned over me, caging me underneath him, and buried his face in my neck. I sighed and angled myself to give him better access. What was it about his touch that made me so hungry for more? My skin was practically crying out for him, and I’d only been gone two days.
“Do you have any idea how worried I was?” he rasped against my throat in between hot kisses to the bared skin. He began kissing his way up my jawline until he buried his hand in my hair and turned me toward him so he could cover my mouth with his.
I didn’t fight it, just melted beneath him and allowed him to direct how I moved. My thighs opened of their own accord, and he moved right in between them like he belonged there. When he settled against me, everything inside me woke up and flared to life. Nothing else mattered but this.
I could fool myself that I’d come back to protect him or to keep the information from falling into the wrong hands, but there was no denying that a part of me had come back because I was drawn to him. Everything inside me wanted to be where Rafe was. Always.
“What are you doing?” I choked out when his hands went to the button on my jeans. I gasped again when he practically ripped the zipper off while pulling it down.
“Reminding you.” Rafe yanked his own shirt over his head and dropped it to the ground behind them.
“Of what?”
I gasped as his hand slipped inside my jeans and between my legs, the heat of his fingers branding me as it lit me on fire. I let out a harsh groan as those talented fingers rubbed and manipulated the aching flesh that suddenly felt very empty.
“Of whom you belong to. Whomthisbelongs to.”
Before I could respond to that arrogant statement, Rafe kissed me again, our tongues tangling wildly as we each fought to take control. Even though I’d always been an aggressive kind of woman, there was just something about Rafe that made everything feminine and soft inside me wake up and melt under his hands.
Maybe it was the way he always slid one hand into my hair, like he wanted to hold me everywhere that just did it for me. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but every single time we kissed, I turned into a puddle of mush. This time was no exception. Within minutes, I was whimpering and rubbing against him, desperate for what I knew he could give me.
Despite the internal warning blaring in my mind that this was not a good idea, I started pulling frantically at my own clothes, almost breaking a nail in my haste to get my jeans down my legs. My eyes took in his naked form greedily, trying to soak up all that sexiness just in case I didn’t get to see it again. I wasn’t fooling myself that this was anything other than a goodbye fling.
Even if Rafe didn’t know that yet.
Once we were both naked, he didn’t waste any time. He lifted me easily in a smooth move that made me want to sigh dramatically at the show of strength. But before I could focus on that, all my attention was pulled to where we were plastered together chest to thigh. With nothing between us now, I could feel everything. Every muscle, every twitch of his thigh.
