This was it, the key to her father’s freedom. She tipped the lid carefully back on its tiny hinges, and the room exploded in a sparkling display of dancing lights, reflections off hundreds of facets of the brilliantly cut ruby, 19.25 carats of pure perfection. Breathtaking.
Her eyes closed, and a deep inhale filled her lungs with the sweet breath of conquest. She had done it.
Arms reached out of the darkness and grabbed her from behind. She screamed, and the tiny ray of light fell to the floor, rolling beneath the desk. Maggie erupted in a fury of movement, struggling against the unknown captor until a well-aimed kick made satisfying contact with bone. Only a grunt indicated she had landed the blow. The grip hadn’t loosened a fraction.
“Stop,” a masculine voice commanded. “Settle down. You aren’t going anywhere.”
Maggie froze at the familiar voice. Her heart stopped beating.
No, it couldn’t be.
“That’s better.” His hot breath washed against her ear, and uncontrollable flames licked along her spine. Oh God, it was him.
Her ragged breathing cut through the silence.
He forced her forward, his body electrifying against her back, and laid her across the large desk. He yanked her arms painfully behind her back, and the cold grip of handcuffs surrounded her wrists, snapping into place.
“Now that you can’t go anywhere, let’s talk.” He jerked her roughly to her feet, only to release her immediately and walk across the room.
She blinked against the sudden intrusion of brilliant white light, blinding after the darkness.
She heard his abrupt intake of breath. “Christ. Maggie?”
His face came into focus, and the shock and disbelief in his eyes made her shoulders sag. “Hello, Trevor.”
He quickly recovered, his gaze narrowing on her.
“Damn it. What the hell are you doing here?” His voice turned harsh, accusing. “I thought you were done with this.”
Her mouth opened and closed, but no explanation came. She knew how the current situation looked, and rather than incriminate herself, chose instead to remain mute.
“Or are you?”
A few long strides carried him across the room in a flash. He gripped her chin between his fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Are you?” he demanded.
The scathing speech she had been rehearsing for five long years deserted her without a backwards glance. He was here, her Trevor.
God, even angry he was still incredibly handsome, maybe even more so. The years had been good to him. His dark hair now curled around his ears a little longer than she remembered. A well-groomed goatee gave him that reckless, bad-boy look she’d always found impossible to resist.
Her gaze devoured the way his t-shirt clung to his upper body. His muscles strained against the tight cotton, accentuating the strength lurking beneath. He had taken good care of himself. Not an ounce of fat marred his lean frame.
An image of him naked flashed through her mind, and her face heated with sudden fire. She should be raging at him for his past betrayal, but her body remembered only the pleasure and rebelled against her mind. She nervously wet her dry lips, and her breath hitched when his gaze dropped to her mouth, watching the motion of her tongue.
“Maggie…” he said, the one word a warning. Though whether he was warning her or himself, she wasn’t sure. His eyes darkened until they were almost as black as the battle unmistakably waging within him. She prayed feverishly his common sense would lose out.
Her heart raced, threatening to burst from her chest. Though the warning in his voice had been clear, she refused to listen. Her gaze settled on his lips. His sensuous and wonderfully talented lips.
The fact that she had broken into someone’s home, attempted to steal a valuable gem, and been caught, instigated a fierce war against her need to touch him again … just once. The bite of steel at her wrists reminded her of the precariousness of her situation. Would he arrest her?
Trevor. Did she whisper the plea out loud? At this moment she couldn’t stop herself anymore than she could cease breathing.
He cursed a second before his lips took possession of her mouth. She met his fervor with her own, desire exploding in her, their tongues battling for control. His fingers tightened in her hair and held her head immobile against his plundering kiss.
His groan became lost in the hot recesses of her mouth. “God, Maggie, you still taste so sweet.”