"That's understandable." Joel's long, warm fingers stroked across her jaw and brushed away stray strands of her hair, his gentle touch stirring feelings deep inside of her. "He's your brother and your only family, and you love him, despite his faults."

"Yeah, I do." She sighed, and eyed Joel's solid chest, thinking how wonderful it would be to curl up against him and forget about everything for a little while longer. At least until tomorrow morning, when reality would no doubt intrude on this idyllic time with him. "I'm really worried about Zach and I wish he'd get in touch with me so I can help him get out of whatever mess he's in."

"If you've bailed him out before, maybe it's time that he learns to handle the situation himself," Joel said gruffly.

She couldn't argue with that, yet… "If those guys had no qualms about putting a knife to my throat and threatening me with further harm, I can't imagine what they'll do to Zach."

Lora shuddered at the horrible thoughts passing through her mind, of Zach alone and susceptible to those evil men wanting whatever money her brother owed them. She was suddenly very thankful that she was here with Joel, instead of by herself at her apartment. "I want you to know that I'm so grateful that you were there for me at The Electric Blue tonight."

"It's not as though I was able to stop the attack." His jaw clenched in a flare of anger, and his eyes flashed with the same spark of fury. "It never should have happened to you, Lora."

She studied him for a moment, from the tension radiating off his body to the self-reproach in his gaze. He made it seem as though he was responsible somehow, and that was an absolutely ridiculous notion. "There's no way you could have anticipated something like that. Nobody could have. But you did find me out in the back alley, and who knows how long I could have been out there if you hadn't heard me pounding on the door. And you've taken great care of me ever since."

She moved closer, wanting him to know how much his attention and concern meant to her. "I can't remember the last time someone took care of me the way you have. It seems like I've always been the one taking care of everyone else, so to have you take charge of the situation like that, and me, was so reassuring. I needed you, and you were there for me, and I'm so glad that I'm here with you now and I don't have to be alone after what happened tonight with those men."

His sensual lips tightened. "Sydney wouldn't have left you alone."

"You're right," she conceded, though she wasn't sure why he was arguing the point, "I'm a pretty independent woman, but there's something about you that makes me feel safe and protected."

"Lora…" His gravelly voice trailed off, and he looked torn about something. "About those men who attacked you-"

Reaching out a hand before he could finish his sentence, she placed her fingers against his warm lips, stopping his flow of words. "I don't want to talk about what happened, or think about it," she said, and moved closer to him. "At least not right now."

No, at the moment she had other things on her mind, and they included taking advantage of Joel's magnificent body. She wanted him again, ached to lose herself in his sensual kisses, the knowing stroke of his hands, and the heat of his mouth tempting her beyond thought or reason. And judging by the dark desire sparking to life in his gaze, he craved the same things.

Emboldened by that knowledge, she closed the distance between them. Sliding her fingers into the waistband of his sweatpants, she tugged them down and off, then pushed his knees apart and knelt between his spread legs. He was already hard and thick, his erection curving up from his body as if begging for her touch.

That she could arouse him so quickly was a heady notion that made her want to please him all the more. Earlier, he'd given her exactly what she'd needed, generously, intimately, and unselfishly. This time, she wanted to be the one to seduce him, just as indulgently.

Flattening her hands on his strong thighs, she slid her palms upward. Her fingers traced the long scar on his left leg that he refused to talk about, then moved higher, until her thumbs brushed across the heavy sacks beneath his shaft, until the fingers of one hand were wrapped snugly around the base of his heated flesh.

She glanced up the length of his torso, watched the rapid rise and fall of his chest, and finally met his gaze. His eyes were dark and intense and hypnotic, and when she stroked him all the way to the tip of his cock then glided her thumb over the swollen head, she felt him shudder and jolt against her erotic caress.

Smiling, she lowered her head and teased him with slow, languid licks and wet swirls of her tongue. Tempted him with the promise of a deeper, moister heat. His fingers slid into her hair and cupped the back of her head, gently urging her to take more of him, all of him. Parting her lips, she drew his cock into her warm, wet mouth, as far as she could, loving the taste of him. She gradually withdrew, adding just enough suction and friction to rip a helpless groan from his throat.

Her own arousal pitched higher, and because she wanted him inside her when he came, she moved up and over him, until she was kneeling above his hips, poised less than an inch away from his jutting erection. His hands settled on her thighs as she began unfastening the buttons on the shirt she wore. She made him suffer through her slow, seductive strip tease, made him watch as the flannel material parted and she caressed her bared breasts with her hands and grazed her rigid nipples with her thumbs.

Feeling shamelessly uninhibited, and encouraged by the lust and need chiseling his features, Lora skimmed her palms down her ribs, over her belly, and let her fingers dip between her legs. She was already slick and wet, her flesh incredibly sensitive to the touch, and she couldn't hold back the moan that escaped her lips.

Joel's fingers dug into her thighs, and his breathing grew ragged. She knew she was pushing his restraint, and making him lose complete control became her ultimate goal. She inched downward, until just the swollen head of his erection glided along the weeping folds of her sex, and shivered at the delicious, erotic sensation of him sliding rhythmically against her cleft. Letting her lashes fall half-mast, she bit her bottom lip and rocked sinuously against that smooth, hard column of flesh once, twice, three times… and felt the beginnings of an orgasm start to unravel deep inside her.

She heard Joel swear as his control finally shattered, a dark, ripe curse that was raw, primal, and wholly sexual. Grabbing her hips firmly in his hands, he jerked her body down onto his engorged cock at the same time he thrust upward, impaling her to the hilt in one long, hard, driving stroke. She gasped in shock, and her head spun at the sudden, unexpected invasion, but he didn't give her time to think. Didn't give her time to react or adjust before he was bucking into her, grinding against her, repeatedly, impatiently, relentlessly.

She might have been on top and in the dominant position, but the man beneath her was far more powerful, far more demanding, and there was nothing she could do but match him stroke for stroke and ride out the sensual storm.

His hands tugged at the shirt she wore, shoving it down her arms and off so that she was as naked as he was. His splayed palms slid around to her back, moved firmly up the slope of her spine. Long, warm, insistent fingers curled around the nape of her neck, and he pulled her down toward him to fuse their mouths together, even as their lower bodies continued to mate and strain for release.

The kiss was deep. Hot. Bold and aggressive and ultimately possessive-a ravenous clash of lips and tongues that imitated the unbridled way he moved against her, inside of her. Then his hands were gripping her bottom, dragging her closer, increasing the heated friction between their bodies. Intense pleasure saturated her senses, and she clenched around his shaft as the beginnings of a climax rippled through her.

She groaned raggedly against his mouth, and unable to hold back, she let her orgasm wash over her. The release was strong and overwhelming, tearing a soft cry from her lips as she rode out the exquisite sensation.

Even as she was still convulsing from the aftermath and trying to catch her breath, Joel's body tightened beneath hers and he came, shuddering hard against her.

Chapter Ten

JOEL had always been a light sleeper, made more so by military training and the living conditions he'd endured during his time in Iraq. He'd learned to always be alert, anticipate danger, and react to the slightest sounds, even while sleeping. Especially while sleeping. Because that's when you were most vulnerable to the enemy.

So, before the first vibrating sound against his night-stand ended, Joel jolted awake, had his cell phone in hand, and was checking the caller ID. He saw private caller flash across the display, which automatically ruled out his partners at ESS, and cursed softly beneath his breath even as his stomach twisted with dread. It was never a good thing when someone got a call at three in the morning, and Joel instinctively knew that this one was going to be a hellish wake-up call.

He managed to move off the bed quickly and without disturbing Lora, who was sound asleep on the other side of the mattress, then grabbed his sweatpants from the floor and headed down the hall to the living room. The unit in his hand buzzed again, and he flipped open the cell phone and tucked it between his ear and shoulder as he pulled on his pants.

"Hello?" he said, keeping his voice low.

"Jesus Fucking Christ, Joel!" came the loud, pissed-off voice he'd been anticipating since Lora's attack. "What the hell is going on with my sister? I just got a few snapshots of her sent to my cell phone and she's got a goddamn knife pressed against her neck. Is she okay?"

Beneath the justified fury in Zach's tone, there was a trace of panic Joel couldn't ignore. "She's okay," he reassured Zach. "She's here with me at my place."

"What the hell happened?" Zach demanded heatedly. "How did these guys get her alone when you were supposed to watch over her twenty-four/seven?"

Joel pressed his thumb and forefinger against the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. The question prompted a fresh surge of guilt to rise to the surface, now compounded by the fact that he'd slept with Lora. Twice. He was beginning to think he was in way over his head when it came to Lora, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about that realization.

Still, he'd been responsible for her safety, and he'd failed to keep her out of harm's way, and that was something he couldn't deny to his friend. "They caught her when she went outside to throw away some trash at The Electric Blue."

"Jesus, Joel. They could have really hurt her, or worse, and I have no doubt that the next time they'll do more than just threaten her," he bit out furiously. "I trusted you to protect Lora, and if that's too much to ask, then let me know and I'll find someone else who can do the job."

Despite his own remorse, Joel felt his anger toward Zach spike. "You're the one who got her in this fucking mess in the first place, Zach," he said as he paced restlessly across the living room floor. "How about you take some responsibility for that, huh?"

"I'm doing what I can to get the money," Zach replied, backing down a fraction.

But Joel was fired up, and he wasn't about to let his friend off so easy. "If you would have been honest and up front with your sister about what you did, this never would have happened. She would have known to be careful and to watch her back. It's not easy to protect someone when they have no idea that their life is in danger."

Zach had no response, and Joel had no problem filling up the silence. "When is this going to be over, Zach?" he asked in a low, harsh tone. "How long are you going to string these guys out for the money you owe them?"

"Luck hasn't exactly been on my side lately," Zach said cynically. "I need a few more weeks."

Joel jammed his fingers through his hair in frustration, because he knew what kind of "luck" his friend was referring to. The kind of big break that compulsive gamblers prayed for as they tossed borrowed money into a poker pot. "This is bullshit, Zach. You're throwing good money after bad. When are you going to wake up and face the truth that you have a gambling problem?"

"The only problem I seem to have is finding someone to keep my sister safe," Zach replied in an attempt to deflect the focus off of him and his personal issues.