WindSwept Narrows: #13 Charity, Faith & Hope

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “That’s why you wanted her out of San Francisco,” Nico nodded slowly. “What isn’t on her resume?”

  “Volunteer programs…Peace Corp…various other organizations that go places less than friendly,” Dominic shook his head. “First time I met her she was covered in blood and soot and pulling kids from inside a school in a place too damn hot and filled with guys with too many damn weapons.”

  “The public Relations positions?” Nico asked, glancing down at Charity, her lower lip pulled between her teeth in thought.

  “Genuine. Her and a few of her friends became a little over involved in some of them,” Dominic said with a shrug.

  “Now the kickboxing makes sense,” Nico said, a low puff of breath easing from his lips.

  A memory, a scene, actually, filled her mind in abrupt clarity and a little sadness and even frustration. Charity looked up, meeting the dark eyes.

  Chapter Ten

  “She’s working in the computer division in the security section, Dominic.”

  “I know,” he said softly.

  “That’s why you gave up San Francisco,” Charity said, a small smile in place. He had come to his senses, she thought happily. “You’re going to open your own business here, aren’t you?”

  “Like I said…a little sister you want to use duct tape on,” he tipped his wrist over, his head shaking. “Be careful for a few weeks, Charity,” he said firmly, gripping her shoulders and kissing her head. “Take care of her, Nico. I’ll be here and will let you know what’s going on, alright?”

  “Why is it taking so long to sell these hotels?” Nico asked with a sigh.

  “Because…” Dominic glared at Charity. “Being the innovated socially conscious individual that she is…each one is going to a different buyer. She is also selling them for below market value. Each one has to arrange funding and one of them is a bloody non-profit, which is making it all that much more difficult for the attorney’s to come to an agreement. They are being split on purpose, Nico, and…aggravating as it is, it’s being done with American’s wanting to build a community. I’ll be in touch,” he said, going through the door and leaving them alone.

  “I’m sorry, Nico…you had no idea what you were involving yourself with,” Charity tried to move, but the band of arms around her refused to budge.

  “Shove it out of your mind, woman, I’m where I want to be with the person I want to be with,” Nico loosened his arms enough for her to smile up at him, her eyes a little watery. “Let’s go home.”

  Dominic was stretching early the next morning when she came out of the dorm area. She always ignored the cold and the weather, he thought, taking an easier pace behind her, idly watching the long legs of the curving woman. She could run like a cheetah and if she laid on the power, he knew he was too bulky to hope to keep up with her.

  Fortunately, she was unaware that he was there. A very long ponytail of mixed streaks of shimmering red and gold flicked and swayed with her movements. You never knew what color her hair was going to be from one week to the next.

  He listened to the constant recriminations wrecking havoc with his conscience. He’d been a fool and an idiot and somehow managed to do them both at once, a rare feat for him. He’d spent more time in the gym in the last seven months than he had most of his life, trying to work her out of his system. Yet every time he closed his eyes, that teasing gleam was there.

  He wasn’t entirely sure how to make it right.

  She had three piercings in each ear; she had a tattoo of a seagull in flight on the rise of her hip. She could be irreverent and mouthy and constantly moving. Her brain and mouth seemed to go in all directions at once and with little control on either. She wore brilliant colors every day of the year and bopped to music with an ear piece in at least one ear all the time.

  Half the time he wasn’t sure if she was thirteen or thirty-three. He had made a mental list of all the things that went against the social status he felt he had carried himself to. She had a dry sense of humor; she was intelligent, diverse and refused to be politically correct.

  He stopped and leaned over his knees, head down as he dragged in a long breath. So what the hell was he doing trying to get her back? Not that he ever had her in the first place. But he could have. The arrogant side of him knew she’d been mooning over him since they met. And he stupidly threw it in her face by flaunting Angela around her.

  He’d told himself over and over that she was nothing more to him than Charity had been: the daughter of a client. An annoying little sister. He wanted sophisticated and socially mobile. He wanted someone who didn’t annoy people by being honest about her political and social views. He wanted disciplined and elegant.

  All of that was not Faith Morrison.

  Like Charity, she had involved herself in situations and events that were less than something he would have considered either smart or safe. And he told himself as he stood beneath the steaming shower he could understand the desire to volunteer. To help. He had been involved with the military for six years. Maybe some small part of him believed it wasn’t a place women belonged. Not because they weren’t capable. Simply for safety sake. They always seemed more vulnerable than men.

  So then why are you here, he asked himself, guiding his car through the streets to the condo he’d bought on the coast. He now owned the building and stood before it, nodding in silent approval of his decision. He was going to live on the top left and rent the others. Dominic stood for a long time on the third floor, hands clasp in front of him staring into the churning Sound. White caps buckled the surface as rain spattered over the double paned glass of the patio doors.

  He was there because the stark pain and betrayal he saw in her eyes the evening she saw him with Angela was etched into a deeper part of him than he imagined possible. He had spent half a year telling himself he wasn’t the least bit interested in a relationship with an undisciplined girl who showed no interest in growing up.

  He still wasn’t sure it would work but he knew when she pulled away and vanished, something was suddenly not right. The disciplined part of him repeatedly told himself that she’d drive him to drink in a month.

  Chapter Eleven

  Faith Morrison bopped to the music playing in one ear along the underground passage beneath the resort. She was starving and it was another gloriously wet day outside. But her run had been deliciously alive, the fresh scents of ocean and rain a delight each morning she ran. Friday, she thought, mentally plotting what she wanted to explore that weekend.

  Dominic sat in a far corner of the cafeteria with Cade Rollins.

  He wasn’t sure how he knew when the color returned to his mind but a sharp pain struck him dead center when she lightly danced into the large cafeteria. She had the long red gold hair pulled into a high riding ponytail and there wasn’t a doubt in anyone’s mind that she was all girl. She wore a simple peasant type vest and dress that went past her knees and wasn’t at all low cut. The sleeves fit her slim arms and fastened at her wrists and she wore flat ballet type shoes with tiny bells on the ties.

  Faith joined the other computer department guys. Despite being the only female, she considered herself one of the boys. They were cleaning up the table when a shadow fell over one corner. She had been standing, grinning at something one of the guys had said when she looked up.

  Stunned surprise and even a little fear filled her delicate features. Her hands began to shake, her head moving slowly back and forth seconds before everything went blank.

  Dominic moved quickly, catching her before she hit the table or the floor.

  “Do you always get this reaction?” Cade asked, one brow lifted curiously.

  Dominic sighed heavily and lifted her in his arms. She was light and seemed smaller than he remembered. But then he’d never been smart enough to hold her in his arms.

  “No,” he growled testily. “It’s just her…where can we take her?”

  Cade led the way out of the cafeteria, very aware of the eyes of her co-work
ers watching them. He wondered briefly if one of them was carrying a torch for Faith Morrison that never came into daylight. He had a feeling that torch would be very quickly squelched as of today. He used his pass and opened the office adjacent to the cafeteria, holding the door for Dominic.

  “I’ve got work to do. You have the pass Cassidy gave you?” He asked, watching his friend lift the piece of plastic from the breast pocket of his suit after he had laid Faith out on the sofa. “If you need anything, call. The door will lock automatically when you leave, Dominic. I’m glad you’re coming on board with us. That crazy side of you might not agree right now, but it’s a good move. Later,” Cade said, closing the door behind him.

  Dominic pulled a chair from the desk, sitting back and watching her. His suit coat was shoved back, hands in his pockets and one foot raised, an ankle resting on his knee. Seeing her lying there like that felt like a solid blow to his chest.

  “I saw your lashes move, Faith.”

  She listened to that smooth, husky sound that sent a spear of adrenaline through her pliant body, the vibration of his deep voice seeming to resonate in the warm crevasse between her thighs. She had banished him, damn it! To the dark recesses of her imagination that wanted no more pain.

  “You know I can sit here patiently waiting a lot longer than you can lay there pretending to be unconscious,” he told her mockingly. Faith never held still for very long. It was one of the most annoying things that had seemed to always grate on his nerves. Now it worried him that she was quiet.

  Faith let her hands fall to the surface of the sofa before she opened her eyes very slowly. Hands pushed against the surface, her feet moving unconsciously until she was upright and backed into the far corner of the sofa. Distance. Distance was good, she thought. She’d put a lot of distance between them. Yet here he sat.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, Faith,” he said flatly, angry at her reaction.

  “This is a very bad dream,” she whispered fervently, squeezing her eyes closed and counting to five before opening one eye slowly.

  “Still here,” he assured her dryly.

  Faith sighed and held herself stiffly against the corner. She wrapped her arms around her knees, feet tucked closely to her behind. She just stared at him. He was still disgustingly handsome. Still had those dangerously dark eyes that seemed to send ripples through to all those secret girl spots.

  “Why are you here?” She finally asked. He was right. She had a horrible time sitting this still for very long. On top of that, her stomach hurt. Sure would be dignified to barf on the guys fancy shoes. Her eyes shot to the door, her tongue out to bring needed moisture to her lips. She felt like a bunny trapped and waiting to be eaten.

  “You won’t make it to the door, Faith, so please don’t even try. Why have you been ignoring my calls?” Dominic asked politely.

  “Have I? I hadn’t noticed…leave a message…” She told him flippantly.

  “I’m betting your in-box is filled with ignored messages,” came his grating accusation.

  “I didn’t ignore them. You’re extremely persistent and consistent,” her voice lowered in a mock imitation of his dry tone. “This is Dominic, call me, please.”

  “So you think a little imagination and variation was needed?”

  “Oh, sure…something like…call me, or I’ll show up when you’re having breakfast and scare the crap out of you,” she returned sharply. “And you made me look bad in front of the guys,” she mumbled testily, ignoring his laughter. Another frown formed in her mind. She’d never heard him laugh before today. Not like that. Like he sincerely meant it and enjoyed it.

  “You think we might have avoided this if you had returned a call?”

  Her nose wrinkled at him. “Couldn’t think of a thing to say,” she returned casually, too aware of the female in her taking note that he hadn’t changed at all. His eyes were still almost totally dark; his hair smooth and all laying neatly in its perfect style that never dared put a hair where it didn’t belong. He was wearing one of his expensive suits. No rings. Not a thing ever out of place on that man, she thought.

  And every bit of him was solid and large. She wasn’t positive about that last part, though, having no personal knowledge that way. Not that she wouldn’t have been willing. She felt the mental slap. She’d just managed to get him mostly out of her mind, damn it! What she hated more was the searing moisture burning behind her lashes.

  “Faith, we need to talk. You leave at noon today, right?” Dominic asked, swearing at himself when she blinked rapidly to hide the tears.

  “Who told you that?” She demanded, reminding him for all the world like a kitten spitting at him.

  “Cade Rollins. He’s a friend of mine,” Dominic said with a little grin.

  “You and your sources,” she muttered darkly. “Yes, I leave at noon,” she admitted sullenly.

  “Then spend the afternoon with me,” he cajoled softly, dropping his foot to the floor and leaning an elbow on each knee. His hands dangling between them as he watched her.

  “Sorry. Already have plans,” she returned instantly, holding her chin high and defiant.

  “A date?” He asked quietly, his hands tightening. Now that was something missed from his information.

  “I’m not so much a hag that guys don’t want to go out with me, Dominic,” she said indifferently.

  “I have never thought you were a hag, Faith,” he pushed the words between his lips, studying her closely. “You’re lying to me.” He stated abruptly, watching the way her gaze skittered away from his. “Why, Faith? Why do you feel you have to lie to me about having a date?”

  “Did I ever tell you…” She raised one hand from its place around her knees, one finger up as she continued. “That you remind me of a wolf when you get that gleam in your eyes. A big…alpha wolf…” she swallowed hard when he grinned that feral grin. She moved a little further against the corner when he came up out of the chair and moved stealthily forward, showing just enough white enamel to make her nervous.

  Dominic watched her eyes widen and heard her draw in a short, sharp breath as he continued forward until their faces were inches apart. She’d frozen in place, pinned by his stare. He felt his body tighten when he drew in a long breath, drinking in her scent and grinning. His breath drifted over her cheek, the flushed color making the male in him tighten a little more.

  “If I were…the alpha wolf you picture me as…we would both be stripped naked and I would cheerfully rub myself all over you and scent you completely, Faith. Every delicious part of you…until there wasn’t a doubt in the minds of every male in the place who you belonged to and who they would have to challenge to get this close to you.” Dominic knew she was barely breathing and took advantage of the moment to slide his mouth greedily over hers. Something he should have given himself months ago.

  Faith knew she should protest, and weakly tried to draw her head back. Okay, she admitted, real weakly. Dominic let his palms move to her shoulders, and slipped them up her throat to cup the back of her head. This was what her body had been dreaming about for months, and she could feel herself growing aroused.

  Dominic deepened the kiss, lapping at her lower lip until she allowed him access to her mouth. Their tongues met hesitantly. She whimpered, sliding her hands up to grip the front of his suit coat tightly and clutching him tentatively to her.

  She threw common sense into the back of the closet and slammed the door. This was what she’d tormented herself with for months while they worked to transfer her inheritance. This felt a million times better than anything her feeble imagination could conjure up.

  Dominic groaned as she relaxed into the kiss. He had no idea she could taste so good. He had no idea her kiss would affect him so strongly. They drew slowly away from each other, he dropped tender kisses on her lips. He looked deep into her eyes and marveled at the brilliant color in them - they were a true stormy blue sky.

  He felt the way she shakily drew in a breath against him and th
en how her lashes closed, fluttering minutely against him. She stiffened slightly and he drew away from her before she became uncomfortable and lashed out.

  Faith shook her head, peeling her fingers off his suit and pressing it down with a hard swallow.

  “Don’t lie to me, Faith,” Dominic ordered firmly.

  “I have to get to work,” she swallowed hard and eased to the side, carefully keeping herself as far from him as she could manage once he had backed up and sat down. Dark, smoky eyes watched her with the same predatory gleam she could imagine in her alpha wolf.

  “Do you have plans for the afternoon, Faith?” He saw hesitation in her eyes but she shook her head. “I’ll take you to lunch…please?”

  She felt her knees shake. Every bit of common sense ordered her to send him back to San Francisco.

  But she nodded slowly, her hand on the door handle, the cold metal beneath her palm sending a shiver through her. Or was it the scent of the alpha male stalking her? She could feel his gaze boring into her as she went quickly down the long corridor to the computer rooms.

  Faith felt all the eyes on her when she entered the computer lab, going immediately to find either Nate or Mac and apologize for being late. She found them both bent over her computer grumbling darkly. She looked at the screen, nudged them aside and tapped over the keyboard, her head shaking.

  “I’ve told the two of you to keep your grubby, clumsy fingers out of my programs,” dark blue eyes rolled in her head. “It’ll work just fine now. I’m sorry I’m late…I was…unavoidably detained,” she said carefully, her mouth pulled into a tight pucker when they looked up at her and then back at the screen.

  “You ever try and leave the resort and I’m hunting you down and chaining you to the desk,” Mac told her, shaking his head as he stormed off to his office, Nate going off in another direction, both grumbling about security codes and women.