by Diana Palmer
She blushed, because it was blatant.
But he didn’t smile. “I knew you were going to be trouble six years ago,” he said through his teeth. He bent and kissed her again, fiercely, before he put her away from him and stood trying to get his breath.
She was shivering a little in the aftermath of the most explosive sensuality she’d ever felt. She searched his face quietly, despite the turmoil inside her awakened body.
“You’ve never felt like that before, have you?” he asked in a hushed tone.
She shook her head, still too shaken for words.
“If it’s any consolation, it gets steadily worse,” he continued. “Think about that.”
He turned and went out into the hall with her puzzled eyes following him. She touched her swollen lips gingerly and wondered what he meant.
* * *
THE SHERIFF, BILL ELLIOTT, and two deputies pulled up in the yard, took statements and looked around with Eb and the other men. Sally was questioned briefly, and when the house was secure, Eb drove her back to his house with the rest of his men remaining in the woods.
“I don’t think Lopez has any idea of trying again tonight,” he said, “but I’m not taking any chances. I’ve already underestimated him once.”
“He does keep his word,” she said huskily.
“Yes.”
“What do we do now?”
“I take you and Stevie to school and Jess stays at my house. In fact, you all stay at my house,” he said curtly. “I’m not putting you at risk a second time.”
She was stunned at the emotion in his voice. He was really concerned about her. She felt a warm glow all the way to her toes.
He glanced at her with slow, sensuous eyes. “At least at my own house, I can find one room with no bugs.” His eyes went to her breasts and back to her face. “I’m starving.”
She knew he wasn’t talking about food, and her heart began racing madly.
He caught her hand in his free one and worked his fingers slowly between hers, pressing her palm to his. “Don’t worry. I won’t let things go too far, Sally.”
She wasn’t worried about that. She was wondering how she was going to go on living if he made love to her and then walked away.
* * *
WHEN THEY GOT to the house, Jessica and Dallas were in the small bedroom Eb’s male housekeeper had given Stevie, tucking him in.
Eb had his housekeeper show the others to their rooms and he excused himself, tugging Sally along with him, to Dallas’s obvious amusement.
“Where are we going?” Sally asked.
“To bed. I’m tired. Aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
She supposed he was giving her a room further down the hall, but he didn’t stop at any of the closed doors. He led her around a corner and through two double doors into a huge room with Mediterranean furnishings and green and gold and brown accessories. He closed the double doors, locking them, before he turned to the dresser and pulled out a pair of blue silk pajamas.
“You can wear the pajama top and I’ll wear the bottoms,” he said matter-of-factly.
Her breath escaped in a rush. “Eb...”
He drew her into his arms and kissed her slowly, with deliberate sensuality, making nonsense of her protests with his hands as they skimmed under the sweatshirt and up to find her taut breasts.
She moaned, feeling the fever rise in her as he unfastened the bra and touched her hungrily. Her body arched, helping him, inviting him. Her hands gripped hard against the powerful muscles of his upper arms, drowning in waves of pleasure.
His mouth lifted fractionally. “I won’t hurt you,” he breathed. “Not in any way. But you’re sleeping in my arms tonight.”
She started to protest, but his mouth was already covering hers, muffling the words, muffling her brain.
His hands removed the sweatshirt and the bra and he looked at her with quiet, possessive eyes, drinking in the soft textures, the smooth skin, the beauty of her. He touched her gently, smiling as her body reacted to his skilled hands.
His mouth slid down to her breasts and kissed them slowly, each caress more ardent than the one before. He had her out of her jeans and sneakers and down to her briefs before she realized what was happening.
He moved away just long enough to pick up the pajama top and slip it over her head, still buttoned. He lifted her, dazed, in his arms and paused, balancing her on one knee, to pull the covers back so that he could tuck her into bed. He leaned over her, balancing on his hands, and searched her flushed, fascinated face.
“I’ll be in after I’ve talked to Dallas and reset the monitors.”
She didn’t bother to protest. Her gray eyes searched his and she sighed a little unsteadily. “All right.”
His eyes kindled with pleasure. He smiled, because he knew she was accepting anything he proposed. It was humbling. He kissed her eyelids closed. “Sleep well.”
She watched him go, uncertain if that meant he was sleeping elsewhere. She was so tired that she fell asleep almost as soon as the doors closed behind him, wrapped in sensuous dreams.
CHAPTER TEN
SALLY HAD VIOLENT, passionate dreams that night. She moved helplessly under invisible caressing hands, moaning, arching up to prolong their warm, sweet contact. Her body burned, swelled, ached. She whispered to some faceless phantom, pleading with it not to stop.
There was soft, deep laughter at her ear and the rough warmth of an unshaven face moving against her skin, where her heart beat frantically. Slowly it occurred to her that it felt just a little too vivid to be a dream...
Her eyes flew open and blond-streaked brown hair came into focus under them in the pale dawn light filtering in through the window curtains. Her hands were enmeshed in its thick, cool strands and when she looked down, she realized that her pajama top was open, baring her to a marauding mouth.
“Eb!” she exclaimed huskily.
“It’s all right. You’re only dreaming,” he whispered, and his mouth slid up to cover her lips as the hair-roughened skin of his muscular chest slid over her bare breasts. She felt his legs entwining with her own, felt the throb of his body, the tenderness of his hands, his mouth, as he learned her by touch and taste.
“Dreaming?”
“That’s right.” He lifted his lips from hers and looked down into misty gray eyes. He smiled. “And a lovely dream it is,” he added in a whisper as he lifted away enough to give his eyes a stark view of everything the pajama top no longer covered. “Lovelier than I ever imagined.”
“What time is it?” she asked, dazed.
“Dawn,” he told her, smoothing her long hair back away from her flushed face. “Everyone else is still asleep. And there are no bugs, of any sort, in here with us,” he added meaningfully.
She touched his rough cheek gently, studying him as he’d studied her. He was still wearing the pajama trousers, but his broad chest was bare. Like her own.
He rolled over onto his back, taking her with him. He guided her hands to his chest with a quiet smile. “I was going to let you wake up alone,” he murmured. “But I didn’t have enough willpower. There you lay, blond hair scattered over my pillows, the pajama top half off.” He shook his head. “You can’t imagine how lovely you look in the dawn light. Like a fairy, all creamy and gold. Irresistible,” he added, “to a man who’s abstained as long as I have.”
She traced the pattern of hair over his breastbone. “How long have you abstained?”
“Years too long,” he whispered, searching her eyes. “And that’s why I set the alarm in Dallas’s room to go off five minutes from now. It will wake him and he’ll wake Jess and Stevie. Stevie will come looking for you.” He grinned. “See how carefully I look after your virtue, Miss Johnson?”
She gave her own bare torso a poignant glance and met his eyes again.
He lifte
d an eyebrow. “Virtue,” he emphasized, “not modesty. I don’t seduce virgins, in case you forgot.”
She couldn’t quite decide whether he was playing or serious.
He saw that in her face and smiled gently. “Sally, the hardest thing I ever did in my life was to push you away one spring afternoon six years ago,” he said softly. “I had passionate, vivid dreams about you in some of the wildest places on earth. I’m still having them.” His hand swept slowly down her body, watching it lift helplessly to his touch. “So are you, judging by the sounds you were making in your sleep when I came to bed about ten minutes ago. I crawled in beside you and you came right up against me and touched me in a way I won’t tell you about.”
She searched his eyes blankly. “I did what?”
“Want to know?” he asked with an outrageous grin. “Okay.” He leaned close and whispered it in her ear and she cried out, horrified.
“No need to feel embarrassed,” he chided. “I loved it.”
She knew her face was scarlet, but he looked far more pleased than teasing.
He traced her lower lip lazily. “For a few tempestuous seconds I forgot Lopez and last night, and just about everything else of any immediate importance.” His eyes darkened as he held her poised above him. “I’ve lived on dreams for a long time. The reality is pretty shattering.”
“Dreams?”
He nodded. He wasn’t smiling. “I wanted you six years ago. I still do, more than ever.” He brushed back her disheveled hair and looked at her with eyes that were tender and possessive. “I’m your home. Wherever I go, you go.”
She didn’t understand what he meant. Her face was troubled.
He rolled her over onto her back and propped himself above her. “From what I know of you, my lifestyle isn’t going to break you. You’ve got spirit and courage, and you’re not afraid to speak your mind. I think you’ll adjust very well, especially if I give up any work that takes me out of the country. I can still teach tactics, although I’ll cut down my contract jobs when the babies start coming along.”
“Babies?” She looked completely blank.
“Listen, kid,” he murmured dryly, “what we’re doing causes them.” He frowned. “Well, not exactly what we’re doing. But if we were wearing less, and doing a little more than we’re doing, we’d be causing them.”
Her whole body tingled. She searched his eyes with a feeling of unreality. “You want to have a child with me?” she asked, awed.
“Oh, yes. I want to have a lot of children with you,” he whispered solemnly.
She laid her hands flat on his broad chest, savoring its muscular warmth as she considered what he was saying. She frowned, because he hadn’t mentioned love or marriage.
“What’s missing?” he asked.
“I teach school,” she said worriedly. “My reputation...”
Now he was frowning. “God Almighty, do you think I’m asking you to live in sin with me, in Jacobsville, Texas?” he asked, with exaggerated horror.
“You didn’t say anything about marriage,” she began defensively.
He grinned wickedly. “Do you really think I spent so much time on you just to give you karate lessons?” he drawled. “Darlin’, it would take years of them to make you proficient enough to protect yourself from even a weak adversary. I brought you over here for practice so that I could get my arms around you.”
Her eyes brightened. “Did you, really?”
He chuckled. “See what depths I’ve sunk to?” he murmured. He shook his head. “I had to give you enough time to grow up. I didn’t want a teenager who was hero worshipping me. I wanted a woman, a strong woman, who could stand up to me.”
She smoothed her hands up to his broad shoulders. “I think I can do that,” she mused.
He nodded. “I think you can, too. Can you live with what I do?”
She smiled. “Of course.”
He drew in a slow breath and his eyes were more possessive than ever. “Then we’ll get Jess out of harm’s way and then we’ll get married.”
She pulled him down to her. “Yes,” she whispered against his hard mouth.
Seconds later, they were so close that she wasn’t certain he’d be able to draw back at all, when there was a loud knock at the door and the knob rattled.
“Aunt Sally!” came a plaintive little voice. “I want some cereal and they haven’t got any that’s in shapes and colors. It’s such boring cereal!”
Sally laughed even as Eb managed to drag himself away from the tangle of their legs with a groan that was half amusement and half agony.
“I’ll be right there, Stevie!”
“Why’s the door locked?” he called loudly.
“Come on here, youngster, and let’s see if we can find something you’d like to eat,” came a deep, amused adult voice.
“Okay, Dallas!”
The voices retreated. Eb lay shivering a little with reaction, but he grinned when Sally sat up and looked down at him with love glowing in her eyes.
“Close call,” he whispered.
“Very,” she agreed.
He took a long, hungry last look at her breasts and resolutely sat up and fastened her buttons again with a rueful smile. “Maybe food is a bearable substitute for what I really want,” he mused.
She leaned forward and kissed him gently. “I’ll make you glad we waited,” she whispered against his mouth.
Several heated minutes later, they joined the others at the breakfast table, but Eb didn’t mention future plans. He was laying down ground rules for the following week, starting with the very necessary trip Sally and Stevie must take to school the next day.
“We could keep him out of school until this is over,” Dallas said tersely, glancing at the child who was sitting between himself and Jessica. “I don’t like having him at risk.”
“Neither do I,” Jessica said heavily. “But it’s possible that he won’t be. Lopez has a weakness for children,” she said. “It’s the only virtue he possesses, but he’s a maniac about abusive adults. He’d never hurt Stevie, no matter what.”
“I’d have to agree with that,” Eb said surprisingly.
“Then life goes on as usual,” Jessica said. “And maybe Lopez will make a mistake and we’ll have him. Or at least,” she added, “a way of getting at him.”
“What about Rodrigo?” Dallas asked abruptly.
“He phoned me late last night,” Eb told him. “He’s already in town, in place. Fast worker. It seems he has a relative, a ‘mule’ who works for Lopez in Houston, a distant relative who doesn’t know what Rodrigo really does for a living. He got Rodrigo a job driving a truck for the new operation here.” He let out a breath through his teeth. “Once we get Lopez’s attention away from Jess,” he added, “that operation is going to be our next priority.”
“Can’t you just send the sheriff over there to arrest them?” Sally asked.
“It’s inside the city limits. Chief Chet Blake has jurisdiction there, and, of course, he’d help if he could,” Eb told her. “But so far, all we have on Lopez’s employees is a distant connection to a drug lord. Unless we can catch them in the act of receiving or shipping cocaine, what would we charge them with? Building a warehouse is legal, especially when you have all the easements and permission from the planning commission.”
“That’s why we’re going to stake out the place, once this is over,” Dallas added. He glanced from Jessica to Stevie with worried eyes. “But first we have to solve the more immediate problem.”
Jess felt for his hand on the table beside her and tangled her fingers into it. “We’ll get through this,” she said in a soft tone. “I can’t cold-bloodedly give a human being’s life up to Lopez, no matter what the cost. The person involved risked everything to put him away. And even then, his attorneys found a loophole.”
“Don’t forget that it
took them a couple of years to do that,” Eb reminded her. “He won’t be easy to catch a second time. He has enough pull with the Mexican government to keep them from extraditing him back here for trial.”
“I hear DEA’s going to put him on their top ten Most Wanted list,” Dallas said. “That will turn up the heat a little, especially with a fifty-thousand dollar reward to sweeten the deal.”
“Lopez would double their bounty out of his pocket change to get them off his tail, even if we could find someone crazy enough to go down to Cancún after him,” Eb said.
“Micah Steele would, in a second,” Dallas replied.
Eb chuckled. “I imagine he would. But he’s been working on a case overseas with Cord Romero and Bojo Luciene.”
“Bojo, the Moroccan,” Dallas recalled. “Now there’s a character.”
Eb was immediately somber. “Okay, tomorrow morning I’ll follow Sally and Stevie in to school. Dallas can tail them on the way home. We’ll stay in constant contact and hope for the best.”
“The best,” Dallas replied, “would be that Lopez would give up.”
“It won’t happen,” Eb assured him.
“Have you considered contacting your informant?” Dallas asked Jessica. “If we could get him back to the States, we could arrange around-the-clock protection and get him into the witness protection program, where even Lopez couldn’t find him.”
She grimaced. “I thought of that, but I honestly don’t know how to locate my informant,” she said sadly. “The people who could have helped me do it are dead.”
Eb scowled. “All of them?”
Jessica nodded with a sigh. “All of them. About six months ago. Just before my accident.”
“Rodrigo might be able to dig something up,” Dallas said.
“That’s very possible,” Eb agreed. “Jessica, you could trust him with the name. I know, you don’t want to put your informant in danger. But if we can’t find him, how can we protect him?”
