by Cate Noble
A short time later, he carried their stuff to a second-floor room at the Holiday Inn.
“You can have the bathroom first,” he said. “I’ll get ice and some sodas. It’s just two doors down.”
While out of the room, he checked the selection of snacks in the vending machine, just in case he could tempt her to eat more.
A7. Ding Dongs. His current favorite.
B1. Creme-filled chocolate cupcakes. His childhood favorite.
C3. Twinkies. Not.
He scanned the lower rows for something healthy. Granola-fied. Gena had read the list of ingredients off his box of Ding Dongs once.
“What language is this?” she’d teased. “Do you know what this stuff does to you?”
“Yeah. Chocolate makes me horny,” he’d defended.
His eyes locked onto G9. Chocolate M&M’s. He had a flashback. “Does this make you horny?” He and Gena had been in a movie theater. Gena had held up the box of M&M’s he’d bought her and proceeded to drop them down her shirt. They’d left before the previews had finished.
Rocco sighed and got pretzels and oatmeal cookies.
Back in the room, he emptied the Walmart bags on the bed and began cutting tags off her clothing. Gena poked her head out of the bathroom.
“Oh, you’re back,” she said.
“Gee, try to contain your enthusiasm.”
“I mean, I need clothes. Would you hand me a pair of jeans and a shirt?”
“Uh, oh. We forgot to get pajamas, didn’t we?”
“We? Um, I forgot to buy them, yes.”
And I don’t own any, Rocco thought. He picked up a pair of the stiff denim jeans they’d just purchased.
“You’ll be miserable sleeping in these. How about I lend you a shirt to sleep in? It’ll fit you like a knee-length tent.”
For a moment, she didn’t respond. “Fine. But I want to get PJs tomorrow.”
He rifled through his rucksack, pulled out a black T-shirt, and handed it to her.
She grimaced as she took it from him. As if the thought of wearing something of his revolted her. If it bothers you that much, sleep naked, he thought.
But when she came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, he did a double take. Couldn’t help himself. What should have been a big, baggy turnoff had never looked hotter. His shirt dwarfed her frame, making her look even tinier. Except for her breasts, which were anything but tiny and made an indentation that shirt had never known.
He turned away, in part to hide his erection. Couldn’t help that either. He grabbed a pair of his own jeans and his shave kit. “I’ve got dibs on the bed closest to the door. There’s soda, ice, and some snacks. Help yourself.”
“You said you wanted to be on the road early. Do we need a wake-up call?” She had moved to her bed and was flipping back the spread.
Rocco’s internal clock would wake him, but Gena had never been one to spring out of bed without smacking the SNOOZE button a couple of times. “Suit yourself.”
“Where’s the remote for the TV?” she asked.
“Check in the nightstand drawer.” At the bathroom door, he hesitated, concerned about leaving her alone.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said when he peeked around the corner.
She was already under the covers, and looked— Don’t go there. He moved away. “I won’t be long.”
In the bathroom, Rocco eased his jeans down over his erection. Seeing Gena wearing his shirt hadn’t helped. Thinking of her naked beneath it hadn’t helped either.
He climbed in and turned the shower on. The blast of cold water did the trick. Until he picked up her bottle of shampoo and flipped the lid. “Night Jasmine,” the label read. That it smelled like her had his cock hardening again.
He set the shampoo aside. “Hope I don’t run out of cold water.”
When Rocco came out of the bathroom, he found Gena sound asleep, the remote clenched in her hand, the television tuned to a twenty-four-hour news channel.
Moving without sound, he checked the door locks and turned off all the lights except the one in the bathroom, which sent out a sliver of light. Then he slipped the remote free of her grasp and lowered the volume slightly. He left the news on, not wanting to disrupt her sleep if he switched channels or turned off the TV.
He felt tired. Though he hadn’t been through the same ordeal as Gena, he was going on seventy-two hours with minimal sleep. If he didn’t get some decent rest, he’d be no good protecting anyone.
Shirtless, he left his jeans on and climbed into bed. While he preferred to sleep nude, he had slept in his clothes plenty of times, under much worse circumstances. He watched the news through slitted eyes and was just about to roll over when he became aware that Gena’s breathing pattern had changed.
In the time it took him to toss back covers it changed again. She started writhing as if in physical pain, alternately crying and then sobbing.
Rocco knew she wasn’t having an ordinary nightmare. Night terrors were a thousand times worse. They sucked you down, into the darkest abyss of hell. Made you aware of feeling trapped but unable to escape or awaken.
During his first deployment to the Middle East, Rocco had been plagued with night terrors. He recognized Gena’s pain. Watching another person perish while you’re helpless to stop it was agonizing.
“No! No!” She screamed now, thrashing violently.
Rocco leaned over her bed and grasped her shoulders. “Gena! You’re dreaming.”
When she didn’t respond, he shook her more firmly. “Wake up, sweetheart!”
Her eyes opened wide and unfocused. Disoriented, she sucked in a sharp breath of air.
“It’s me,” Rocco soothed. “You’re safe. We’re in a motel. You were dreaming.”
“You mean, Lupe’s not …”
“Lupe’s dead. The fire did happen. But you’re safe.”
She pressed a hand to her mouth. “Oh, God, I remember. It’s all my fault.” Gena tried to climb out of bed. “I have to go, to find her grandmother.”
Rocco gently caught her hands. She was trembling, from grief, from lack of sleep, from trauma.
“None of this is your fault. And it’s too late to go anywhere,” he said.
“But—”
“Shhh.”
Her misery tore at him. Shifting closer, Rocco wrapped her in his arms. She collapsed against him, as if desperate for comfort, and started to sob.
Rocco stroked her hair and let her cry. The urge to charge in, take over, and fix it—anything to make her happy again—rose strong. Except there was no fixing what had been done to her friend Lupe.
When she quieted, he tried to ease her back down to her pillow.
“No!” She struggled to push back up. “The dreams. They’ll start again.”
“Scoot over then.”
“Huh?”
“Scoot over. We’ll lie here and watch television.”
“Together?”
“Sheesh. We’re both adults. And we’re both dressed.” He shook his head. “You know what? Never mind.”
“Wait.” To his surprise, Gena moved to the middle of the bed and began patting the covers. “Where’s the remote?”
“It’s here.” Rocco grabbed it from the nightstand before climbing into her bed. He adjusted the pillow behind his back and began to surf channels. “Good-bye CNN.” Stations flew by, until … “Hello, Homer Simpson.”
“D’oh! Bart!” one of the animated characters screamed.
Gena sat forward, hugging her pillow as she stared at the television screen. The Simpsons was one of those zany shows they’d both liked, but right now Rocco wondered if she was even seeing the on-screen antics.
He pretended to watch the show, but when he glanced at her again, she had her eyes closed. Until her head toppled to one side, causing her to jerk and awaken. Then she looked ready to cry again.
“Come here.” Rocco opened his arms and Gena literally fell onto his chest.
He lay still, letting
her fidget, half expecting her to pop back up and flee to her own side of the bed. But within seconds she relaxed. The next time he checked, her eyes were closed, her breathing soft and even.
Unbidden, memories from their past came forth. In sleep, Gena looked innocent. Trusting.
Exactly the way Rocco remembered her. Back when things between them had been perfect …
Chapter Seventeen
Seven Years Earlier
A Private Caribbean Island
The island and the cabana were just as Rocco’s friend Dante had promised. Comfortable and private. No phone. No Internet. No distractions.
Solar panels provided basic electricity and a cistern collected rainwater, and this time of year rain was plentiful. The hot tub out on the back deck ran on bottled gas, which, like food and drink, had to be brought in.
But once here … God! What a paradise! The distant relative of Dante’s who owned the place was putting it on the market, and if it weren’t for the multimillion-dollar price tag, Rocco would have to seriously consider buying it.
Gena had been as eager as Rocco to explore the island. After changing into swimsuits, they’d spent the day in the ocean, swimming, snorkeling. Touching , feeling. Moving real close, then apart, like it was an extended pre-foreplay session.
Just before sunset, he’d grilled steaks and made the salad while Gena sipped wine and made him laugh with her tales of growing up on her father’s ranch in the Rio Grande valley of Texas. She’d been an only child, born to the solitude of wealth and privilege, but raised by a loving nanny. Her late mother sounded like a nut job, but hey, Rocco’s mom was no prize.
He’d kept his own childhood stories light, making jokes about growing up poor, in a Kentucky trailer park. He’d never known his biological father, but the presence of a caring grandfather had kept misery at bay for Rocco and his sister.
After a leisurely supper, he’d taken Gena for a moonlight stroll along the beach. When the night breeze picked up, they’d hurried back to the cabana and built a fire in the living room while waiting for the hot tub to heat. Rocco had gotten up to refill their wineglasses only to discover they’d emptied the bottle.
“Red or white?” he had called out from the kitchen.
When Gena didn’t respond, he’d retraced his steps and found her zonked. Sound asleep atop a nest of pillows in front of the fireplace.
Seeing her lying there nearly naked, wearing only a tiny bikini, had been torturous. Deliciously torturous. He decided to take advantage of her snooze and slipped into the bathroom, where he’d promptly jerked off in the shower.
What he’d told himself was the chivalrous thing to do, to not scare the bejesus out of her by waking her up with a giant woodie, now made him feel lecherous.
It didn’t help that, asleep, she looked way too young. Not twenty-three, but more like a seventeen-year-old who’d donned make-up and styled her hair to look more mature.
Rocco didn’t feel especially old, until he thought about Gena being twenty-three going on twenty-four, which meant he was twenty-nine going on thirty. Thirty felt ancient.
She was just starting out in life. And him? He’d lived three lifetimes.
She was living alone for the very first time. He’d lived alone forever. She was working her first full-time job. He’d had a lawn-mowing business at eight.
And while Gena had a trust fund that afforded her a different standard of living, she didn’t act spoiled or haughty. In fact, he’d seen glimpses of her tomboy side that she tried to keep hidden. He’d heard her infectious belly laugh, the one that wasn’t ladylike.
It was one of the things he adored about her. Her joie de vivre. Gena always smiled. She always made him smile.
When they were apart—which was too often these days—he thought of nothing but getting back to her. Hell, he hadn’t even thought of another woman since first laying eyes on Gena Armstrong.
Rocco had been hot for her since day one, six months ago, when she’d shown up as the replacement linguist on a job in Mexico. An all-male job, in an area known to be hazardous. What numskull had sent a woman there? While anyone who’d racked up three beauty queen titles had to be aware of her own looks, Gena still underestimated her impact on the opposite sex.
Rocco had privately appointed himself her bodyguard, not just to protect her from the local riffraff, but from the Agency horndogs as well.
And though she had done an exceptional job translating original material and confirming his suspicion that the Mexican government’s translator had held back mission-critical data, Rocco had had her replaced before anyone could say “distraction.”
But the moment that job wrapped, Rocco had requested a hometown assignment, something that put him in D.C., closer to Gena. Then he’d actively pursued her. Though they both worked for the State Department, they were in separate divisions, so no conflict of interest.
Gena rebuffed his attempts at first. When she finally gave in and agreed to meet him for lunch, he’d known he’d never be the same. She beguiled him but kept him at arm’s length. They’d dated five times before she let him kiss her. But, Holy Moses, what a kiss!
After that things seemed to heat up, to a point, before Gena called time out. He’d guessed she was a virgin before she admitted it. True innocence couldn’t be faked.
He’d tried to assure her he was fine with waiting, even though he wanted her with a desperation that scared him. Mr. Afraid of Commitment suddenly found himself interested in engagement rings.
Then a black ops mission came up. Rocco had been sent off to Afghanistan without being able to contact anyone. Typically he welcomed those types of assignments; he thrived on danger. That time, though, he hadn’t wanted to leave Gena. Rocco had sworn Harry Gambrel had done it on purpose, assigned Rocco to lead the mission, knowing damn well Rocco wanted a few more weeks stateside.
That’s where relationships got dicey in his profession. He and Gena had talked about that today. Kind of. She’d admitted feeling insecure when Rocco was gone for extended periods.
“It’s part of my job,” he’d tried to explain.
“And I respect that. I just need to know I have a special place in your heart.”
A special place?
Didn’t she know she had his whole heart?
He padded barefoot to the dining room table and picked up the wineglasses, carried them to the kitchen. He checked on Gena as he made his way to the back deck. She must have gotten chilled because she’d rolled up in one of the blankets.
Outside, Rocco cut off the hot tub heater before extinguishing the two Tiki oil lamps. With the full moon the lights were overkill. The breeze had calmed and came in from the west.
“Rocco?”
He turned and saw Gena silhouetted in the open doorway. She’d cast off the blanket but still had her arms wrapped around herself.
Rocco had purposely bought the tiniest bikinis he could find without going to the extreme of a thong. The one she’d put on today screamed “mission accomplished.”
“I’m right here.” He stepped out of the shadows to where she could see him.
“How long have I been out?” she asked.
“Not too long.”
She crossed the deck, pausing to dip her toe in the steaming hot tub. “Ah! Perfect. Bet you wish you’d brought a real date.”
He laughed and closed the distance between them. “Actually I’ve got this thing for Sleeping Beauty.”
Gena’s arms encircled his waist as she laid her head against his shoulder. He didn’t have a shirt on and her long hair felt like silk against his skin.
“Mmmm,” she said. “You took a shower, didn’t you? And cleared the dinner dishes.”
“Guilty on both counts.” He felt her shiver and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “You’re cold. Let’s go in.”
“I’ve got a better idea. Can I have a do over?”
“And what would you do over?”
She leaned back, met his gaze. “For starters, we’d
climb in the hot tub. Maybe look at the stars.”
Rocco felt a grin split his face. “Your wish is my command, princess.”
He picked her up, then carried her to the hot tub and stepped in. Still holding her, he sank slowly into the water.
“Feels divine.” Gena wiggled, sitting sideways across his lap. “So, how much do you know about astronomy?”
“I know the moon is too bright to see much in the east, but if you look back here”—he turned, facing them both west—“there’s Ursa Major.”
“Great bear.”
“You can use the Big Dipper to locate Polaris, the North Star. If you ever get lost at night, face Polaris and you’ll be facing north. Unless, of course, you’re in the Southern Hemisphere. Are you familiar with the Southern Cross?”
She giggled. “Actually, I was talking less about orienteering and more about folklore.”
“Folklore?” Rocco repeated. “I must have been absent that day.”
“Luckily I wasn’t.” She pointed to the sky. “See the Little Dipper? Legend has it that Mother Sky uses it to dole out her love potions. A couple seeking her blessing would stand together beneath the constellation and recite a special poem.” Gena pressed a line of kisses along his shoulder. “In hopes it would win Mother Sky’s favor.”
“I was definitely absent that day,” Rocco said. “What happened if they received this love potion?”
She turned, facing him. Then she untied the straps of her bikini top. “The effects usually showed up in the woman first.”
Her top fell away as she lifted her hair, giving Rocco his first glimpse of her naked breasts. Her nipples were pale pink, her areolas tiny on such large globes.
He whistled softly. “Oh, yeah. We got the potion.” He reached up and touched her nipple with his index finger, watched it respond by hardening. Rocco’s cock responded in the same fashion. He’d been aroused before, but now his erection was full bore. “Tell me more.”
“I made that up, but it worked.” Gena rubbed against him, moaning slightly.
“It worked very well.” He placed a hand on her hip, guiding her motion so they both felt it.
