The genuine caring reflecting in his striking blue eyes was nearly her undoing. "We'll find her."

She needed to believe him, and the evidence he'd uncovered and followed up on so far backed up his reassuring claim. "It's as simple as a phone call from Valerie if she's off somewhere having a good time with his Rob person, but Val isn't known for being courteous. The part of me that's frustrated just wants to say to hell with all this crap, but then I think of my aunt and uncle, and I just have to know that she's okay. They're the only family I have."

"I know," he said simply and with understanding. "As soon as we get Rob's last name, I can put a trace on him, and I'm sure, wherever he is, we'll find Valerie with him."

"I hope so." Her voice trembled, another show of emotion that slipped past her barriers.

He stared at her for a long moment, then cradled the back of her head in his hand and brought her mouth to his for a slow, soft kiss, as if that physical contact was the best way he knew how to comfort her.

His method worked like a charm, because he made her forget everything but the glorious, desirable way he made her feel. She opened to him, clung to him, and when his warm, damp tongue slid into her mouth, she greedily accepted it.

Her heart beat so erratically beneath her breast, she was certain he'd be able to feel the wild tempo against his chest. Thick, hot steam built around them, and the moisture from the shower made their skin slippery, erotically so. His breathing roughened, and the kisses deepened, grew more urgent and evocative. He backed her up against the warm tiled wall, ruthlessly pinning her there with his hard, muscled body. His palms slid down her sides, and he grasped her bottom in his hands and ground his hips against hers, his solid, unmistakable erection causing a wet, silken friction along the lips of her sex.

She shuddered and held on to his shoulders, her need for him becoming a tangible thing, strong and powerful and nearly overwhelming in its intensity. She wrenched her mouth from his, panting. "Steve… I need you inside me."

"I need to be there, too," he uttered in a low, gruff timbre, and his words thrilled her.

Shutting off the water, he grabbed her hand, pushed opened the stall door, and pulled her out with him. Water dripped from their bodies onto the floor mat, and he reached for the towel hanging over the brass rack. But instead of drying them off as she expected him to do, he laid the fluffy towel on the vanity and hefted her onto it, cushioning her bottom from the cold, hard surface.

He pushed her knees wide apart and moved in between, the hands splayed on her thighs branding her. His eyes were dark and hot as they took in her wanton position and her dewy, quivering breasts. He lowered his head, his lips parting for a nipple, and he sucked her deep inside, his mouth hungry, his teeth nipping, his tongue soothing.

She threaded her fingers through the soft, damp strands of his hair and groaned as his lips burned a path across her jaw, along her throat. "Steve, no more teasing."

He let her go just long enough to reach across the vanity for the condom he'd brought into the bathroom with them and quickly sheathed himself. "Lean back and brace your hands on the counter behind you," he ordered.

She did as he asked, and realized the position tilted her hips and gave him better leverage. He caught her knees in the crease of his elbows, spreading her legs wide for his possession. She was primed and ready for him, and the tip of his shaft unerringly found the entrance to her body, pressing in a teasing, tantalizing inch when she knew there was at least six more to go. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she urged him forward, and with a low, guttural growl he buried his face in the crook of her neck. Buried his cock into her tight warmth with one long, purposeful stroke that stole her breath.

He didn't give her much time to recover.

"God, you feel so damn good," he muttered, and began to move within her, withdrawing and plunging in hard, fast, rhythmic thrusts that had her instantly unraveling.

A wave of uncontrollable passion rolled over her, demanding her surrender to this man who was such an intimate part of her. Her thighs trembled, and her inner muscles clamped around him as her climax hit. Ecstasy, pure and sweet and so seductive, swept over her, through her, and in a sensual rush of sensation she came, shuddering and moaning his name.

"Yes," he hissed, and tossed his head back, his jaw clenching. The muscles in his arms flexed, the ones in his abdomen rippled, and with one last deep surge his entire body shook as he gave himself over to his own scorching orgasm.


***

"I think Steve has a new girlfriend."

Steve had just taken a bite out of his meatball sandwich when his brother Eric decided to toss out that casual comment, making it fodder for discussion as they ate lunch at their favorite pub before heading off to the golf shop to pick out their father's birthday present. Since his mouth was full, all he could do was glare at Eric for bringing up Liz in Adrian's presence.

"A new girlfriend? Really?" Always interested when it came to the subject of women, Adrian, the youngest of the Wilde clan, jumped on the bit of gossip with the same enthusiasm that compelled him to skydive out of airplanes at fourteen thousand feet in the air. "Spill the details, Stevie."

He swallowed and washed down the bite with a drink of cold beer. He figured the best way to handle the situation was to give as little information as possible. "There's nothing to spill."

"Oh, come on, don't be so uptight," Adrian drawled, riling Steve the best way he knew how. "Is she hot?"

"Definitely hot," Eric said, looking much too smug as he shared his opinion with his brother.

Finished with his sandwich, Steve wiped spaghetti sauce from his fingers as he lifted a brow Eric's way. "What are you doing checking out Liz when you've got Jill?"

Eric shrugged unrepentantly. "It's hard not to notice that Liz has a great set of-"

"Don't say it," Steve said, cutting off his brother's remark with a deep, feral kind of growl.

Adrian snickered as he ate a forkful of potato salad, enjoying the exchange.

"Eyes!" Eric clarified, feigning such an appalled look that anyone would think he meant differently. "I was going to say she has a great set of eyes. They're a fascinating shade of green. Geez, what did you think I was going to say?"

Steve wasn't even going to go there, and he shot Adrian a look that told him not to share his own colorful answers to Eric's question, either, or he'd be dead meat.

"So, Eric's met this woman of yours," Adrian said, his tone thoughtful and curious. "Is it serious between the two of you?"

"Is it ever?" Steve snapped, feeling uncomfortable under his brother's scrutiny when he was beginning to recognize that his affair with Liz was turning into something more for him than a superficial fling to get her out of his system. And that realization came with a whole slew of emotional complications he wasn't sure how to deal with, since he truly wasn't looking for a long-term commitment with any woman. At least not the kind that led to marriage. And eventually, every woman wanted marriage.

"Hey, no need to get defensive about it." Adrian held his hands out in a placating gesture, his deep-blue eyes reflecting a hint of contrition for pushing what seemed to be a sensitive issue. "I'm just making sure that since Eric here has been bitten by the love bug, that it's not contagious."

Eric didn't deny being bitten, and the besotted grin on his face backed it up. "Be careful," he said to Adrian. "It might just sneak up on you and bite you in the ass when you least expect it."

Adrian shuddered dramatically. "Not likely. Been there, done that, and while I'll admit that you got lucky with Jill, I like my life the way it is, free of emotional commitments and demands. I come and go when I please and answer to no one but myself. It works for me." He dragged a french fry through the pool of ketchup on his plate and returned his attention back to Steve. "So, back to lover boy here and his girlfriend, Liz…"

"She's a client, and I'm working on a case for her," he said, hoping to dispel any further debate on his love life.

"Mixing business with pleasure, huh?" Adrian tipped his beer toward Steve in a masculine salute and waggled his brows.

Steve pushed his lunch plate aside and leaned back against the upholstered booth. "The last thing I want to do is discuss my relationship with Liz with the two of you." He felt very protective of her and wasn't about to taint what they'd shared so far. And he wasn't the type to kiss and tell. They weren't talking forever, but he respected Liz and wasn't about to let anyone think otherwise. Not even his womanizing brother Adrian, appropriately nicknamed the Wilde One.

"She's a nice woman," Eric said sincerely in a show of support. "She's the owner of The Daily Grind."

"I've heard of the place but haven't been there." Adrian reached across the table and filched the extra french fries Steve had left on his plate. "If the scenery is that good, I'll have to stop in there sometime."

"Stick to your sports groupies, Adrian," Steve said, knowing those wild, willing women were more his style. And he had a slew of them who were eager to please-in bed and out.

"You know I like a good challenge, and those women are too… well, easy-if you know what I mean."

Steve understood more than Adrian realized. His brother was finally becoming selective and discriminating, and gratuitous sex obviously no longer had an appeal for him. Steve was glad to see it happen, since Adrian had spent much too long using other nameless females to make up for the hurtful rejection of the one woman he'd fallen hard for.