Assignment: Marriage

by Jackie Merritt

  It shocked him to see the person throw his weapon or parcel, whatever it was, through a window. The splintering of glass shattered the night silence, and then the person ran like hell, rounding the cabin only seconds before an explosion inside the cabin tore a portion of the roof off.

  A second explosion came from the front of the cabin. “Sweet Jesus,” Tuck muttered. The cabin was in flames. Debris from the explosions was falling everywhere, hitting the shed and the car. Panicked, Nicole jumped to her feet and grabbed Tuck’s vest. Twisting around, he took her by the arm and steered her to the door. Opening it, he shoved her outside. “I’ve got to get the car. Start running for the road.”

  “No…no…” she moaned. “You’ll get killed. The car…”

  The car was too close to the flames. She knew it, he knew it. But without the car, they had no chance at all.

  “Go!” He gave her a push, then turned his back on her and ran for the car.

  Crying hysterically, Nicole stumbled up the drive toward the road. She could hear distant voices. The neighbors were already gathering. She was almost to the road when she heard the motor of the car start with a roar. He had made it. Tuck had saved the car.

  Too weak to take another step, she clung to a small tree and watched the car speeding toward her. It screeched to a halt and the passenger door flew open. “Get in!” Tuck shouted.

  Letting go of the tree, she fell into the car and yanked the door shut. Tuck gunned the engine and they took off fast. She turned to look through the rear window. Flames were shooting up higher than the trees. If they hadn’t been outside when the bombs were thrown, they would both be dead.

  Crumpling in the seat, she wept.

  Ten

  Tuck drove with the fiercest expression on his face that Nicole had ever seen on anyone. He’d taken the opposite direction from town, having learned from maps that the road followed the lake and joined up with a highway that had been the main east-west artery until the recent construction of a new freeway.

  He would stay on the old highway, Tuck had previously decided. It would have a slower speed limit than the freeway, but it would also have access roads. One could get trapped on a freeway for many miles before finding an off ramp, and he wasn’t going to be knowingly trapped by anything.

  They still weren’t in the clear. The lake road mostly threaded through the trees, but then, without warning, it would be right next to the water. Those were the miles that worried Tuck; the cruiser could be tracking them. If the people who’d thrown the explosives into the cabin had hung around at all, they’d seen him run for the car and drive it away from the burning building. Even if the cruiser wasn’t tracking them, it would be a simple matter for the boss of those thugs to plant a vehicle at each end of the lake road, and the chase would begin again.

  Tuck’s most ardent hope was that the bomb tossers had been in a hurry to get away from the scene of their crime before the alarmed neighbors got too close, and hadn’t noticed the car leaving. He would know that only when he reached the intersection with the old highway.

  There was some light, oncoming traffic, but no one was behind him that he could detect. Still, he remained tense. Until they were off of this road, he couldn’t relax his guard for a second.

  Nicole’s eyes had dried, but her spirit was so low she sat there like an automaton. The horrifying picture of the burning cabin was etched in her mind. If the explosions hadn’t killed them, the flames would have. The Mathisons’ cabin was destroyed, most of her clothes with it.

  But she was alive and uninjured, thanks to Tuck. She turned her head to look at him and saw the same granitelike profile he had shown her during their long drive from Vegas. He was driving as though unaware of her presence, and she didn’t want to interrupt his concentration by speaking. Sighing silently, she faced front again.

  Tuck finally saw a sign announcing the intersection with the highway. His jaw clenched. This would tell the tale. If no black van, white sports car or some other vehicle was waiting for them, they would be home free. He held his breath while slowing down for the stop sign. As there were no cars coming from the left, he didn’t completely stop but immediately made a right turn and picked up speed.

  Elation zinged through him. No one had been waiting for them! They had made it. At long last he looked at Nicole.

  “Are you all right?”

  “You ran the stop sign.”

  He felt good enough about their escape to laugh a little. “Sure did.” A glance in the rearview mirror surprised him. “Take a look out the back window.”

  She turned. “I can see the glow of the fire!”

  “You can also bet there’s chaos going on over there about now.” A fire in that heavily treed area would draw a horde of fire fighters. If it spread from the cabin to the forest, a true disaster would be in the making. Besides, the neighbors would report the explosions, which would involve the police. Lowicki’s people were still trying to make Nicole’s death look like an accident, a freak explosion in this case, Tuck thought then, but using explosives had been a desperate measure and a dire mistake. The whole area would be crawling with investigators.

  Nicole sighed. “I feel bad about the Mathisons’ cabin.”

  “It wasn’t your doing, Nicole. You didn’t throw those bombs, whatever in hell kind they were.”

  “I know, but it was a nice cabin and it’s not fair that the Mathisons should lose it.”

  “They’ll be reimbursed.” Tuck was keeping close watch on the rearview mirror. Traffic appeared only normal. No one was following them. “So will you, for your clothes,” he added.

  Nicole became thoughtful and spoke quietly. “Did we make it, Tuck? Did we really get away?”

  “Right now I’m thinking yes. But we’re going to play it very safe and stay alert.”

  “You’re always alert,” she murmured. Her head turned toward him. “I owe you so much. How can I thank you?”

  “You owe me nothing. Don’t think that way.”

  “You don’t want my thanks? My gratitude? If I had stayed in Vegas, I wouldn’t be alive, would I? And if you hadn’t been at the cabin with me, I wouldn’t be alive. Don’t tell me I owe you nothing.”

  “I’ll tell you what to be thankful for. Be thankful we still have the car,” he said.

  “Oh, I am. But that was your doing, too. Not only do we have the car, we have food and water. You’re a thorough man, Officer Hannigan.” A smile curved her lips, appearing without forethought. “I know exactly how to thank you.”

  He sent her a curious glance and caught on to her flirtatious mood. Considering how far down in the dumps she’d been only a few minutes ago, her change of attitude was astounding.

  “You do, huh? What’ve you got in mind?” he asked teasingly.

  She liked him like this. “I can’t do it now, so you’ll just have to wait and find out what it is later on.” She suddenly noticed the dirt on her clothes. “Good grief, would you look at this,” she exclaimed while beating the dust from her jeans and sweatshirt. “The floor of that shed was filthy.”

  “Not filthy, Nicole, just dusty.”

  “Well, it’s all over me, whatever it was. I must look terrible.”

  “That’s one thing you never have to worry about,” he said. “You couldn’t look terrible if you tried.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Was that a compliment?”

  “Nope. That was the truth.”

  She wanted to slide across the seat and snuggle up against him. The thought was so strong in her mind, she could actually see herself doing it. She would slip her arm around his waist. He would lift his arm and let her lay her head on his shoulder.

  Her heart skipped a beat. She was falling in love with Tuck Hannigan. He was what every man should be: strong, courageous, smart, and on the right side of the law. He was also a hot, tempestuous lover and incredibly handsome. No question about it, she was falling hard and fast.

  But if she had no questions about her own feelings, there we
re plenty of them in her head about Tuck’s. So he was courageous, strong, smart and incredibly handsome. Those qualities didn’t guarantee that his lovemaking meant more than great sex to him. He could be a guy to take what was offered and even like her for it. But love? Love was a whole other ball game. Love meant commitment and lots of attached strings. One thing Tuck wasn’t, was easy-going. He was hard and tough and cautious. There had to be a reason for him having no wife or girlfriend. Probably not the same reason why she had no husband or boyfriend, but he had a reason, make no mistake.

  The painful truth was that she really didn’t know him, except superficially. What she did know about him, she liked, but everyone had their quirks and own unique layers of personality. Scratch Hannigan’s tough exterior and she might find a heart of gold.

  But she also might find indifference and self-indulgence.

  She closed her eyes, shaken by the thought.

  The car had stopped, waking Nicole with a start. Wherever they were parked, it was so black she could see nothing.

  Tuck realized that she had awakened. Yawning, he reached into the back seat for a blanket. “I’m going to catch an hour’s sleep.”

  “Where are we?”

  “Somewhere in western Montana. I got off the highway. We’re about half a mile down a dirt road in some real heavy timber.” He was bunching the blanket, shaping a pillow to lay against the window for his head. “Go back to sleep. No one followed us. We beat ‘em, Nicole.”

  “I’ve never been in such total darkness before,” she murmured uneasily.

  “Take a look.” He flashed on the headlights. “See? Nothing to be afraid of.”

  They were surrounded by enormous trees seemingly connected to one another by thick underbrush. The headlights went off and Tuck settled his head against the blanket with a weary sigh.

  “I must have slept a long time,” Nicole said.

  “Quite a while,” Tuck replied drowsily. He opened his eyes and tried to see her. Her location was more sensation than sight; she was right about the total blackness, and he remembered that she had never claimed to be brave. “Come over here,” he said quietly.

  “You’re sure? I don’t want to keep you awake.”

  “I’m sure. Come on. Slide over.”

  “Thanks.” Gratefully she slid across the seat and into his arms. She hadn’t expected the embrace, but she melted into him as though she had. His body felt warm and wonderful in the dark, and she nestled as close as she could get.

  “Careful,” he said, sounding not quite as drowsy as he had a moment ago. “Or neither one of us will get any sleep.”

  “Sorry,” she whispered, which was a lie as she wasn’t sorry at all. Her very skin ached for the touch of his hands, and it might be selfish of her to hope he wouldn’t fall asleep right away, but she couldn’t help her thoughts.

  She laid her cheek on his chest and listened to the hard, fast beating of his heart. When he squirmed and tried to get more comfortable, she knew he was becoming aroused. She heard him swallow, then clear his throat. He was trying to stay cool and it wasn’t working. She had to smile.

  “To hell with it,” he muttered, finding her face with his hand to tip her chin up. He had no trouble at all locating her mouth with his, and his kiss was hard and hungry and maybe a little bit angry. Then he mumbled thickly, “This was not what I had in mind while looking for a place to stop for an hour or so.”

  “I know,” she whispered. But at the same time she was opening his jeans.

  “Nicole,” he groaned when she began stroking him.

  In her mind’s eye she could see what she was caressing, and the combination of touch and imagery was so exciting she couldn’t sit still.

  Neither could Tuck. They started groping for each other’s buttons, pulling and tugging clothes around until they were both naked enough. They moved over on the seat, away from the steering wheel, and she straddled his lap, kissing his mouth with feverish desire while gently lowering herself onto his erect and rock-hard manhood. His big hands gripped her buttocks, dictating her movements, while his own hips rose and fell to maintain their perfect rhythm.

  “Damn, we’re good together,” Tuck growled deep in his throat. “Do you know how good?”

  “I know how good it is for me,” she whispered, her lips brushing his while she spoke. In the dark she could be bold. “It’s never been so good with anyone else, not ever.”

  That was a statement to make any dyed-in-the-wool bachelor do a little sweating, and Tuck knew he’d take it out and give it some thought when he had the time. Right now, thinking at all was damned near impossible. Everything was sin and sensation, hot pleasure in a coal black night. He was lost in sensation, drowning in it.

  Breathing raggedly, he felt the beginning of the end for him. “Stay with me, baby,” he said hoarsely..

  They were rocking the car with their frenetic energy, moaning and panting and climbing to the heights together. “I’m with you,” she gasped. She was with him, and she suspected it would always be like this for them, given the chance, that is. How much longer would they have to stay away from Vegas? A day? A week? A month?

  She prayed for at least another week together, though the prayer was brief and almost immediately forgotten. In its place were the words I love you. They were so crisp and delineated in her mind that for a moment she thought she had said them out loud.

  The end was blinding for her, draining her of strength and mobility. She fell forward at the same moment Tuck roared her name. “Nicole!” His hands dropped to the seat, limp as a dishrag. He put his head back and nearly fell asleep on the spot.

  Nicole stirred first, sitting up to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “Nicole,” he said in a barely audible voice. “I’m too tired to move.”

  “Then I will.” She untangled their bodies and slid to the seat. Tuck wasn’t wriggling even a finger, and she straightened his clothes the best she could, then got out of the car to tend to herself. They hadn’t used protection, and it was up to her to do what little she could about that oversight, even if it meant braving the black forest all by herself.

  Tuck opened his eyes to daylight and was immediately irritated with himself, as he’d only intended to sleep for an hour. Feeling cramped, he sat up straighter to relieve his aching body, and to look around. The road contained spots of sunshine, but the dense forest on each side of the car was dim and shadowy, except for the tops of the tall trees, which seemed to be lifting to the sun. It was beautiful country, silent and seemingly separate from the rest of the world.

  Nature called. Realizing that he was covered with a blanket, he pushed it aside so he could get out of the car. He frowned then, because he was only half dressed.

  Memory came rushing in. Without his disheveled clothing as evidence, he would have thought last night’s sexual encounter to be a dream. He turned his head to look at Nicole, who had lowered the back of her seat sometime in the night and was presently wrapped in a blanket. Her eyes were open and watching him.

  “Good morning,” she said softly. “Do you know that you’re even handsome in the morning, with whisker stubble on your face and sleepy eyes?”

  The affection in her expression gave Tuck pause. Things were happening too fast between them. He liked her. Hell, maybe he even loved her. But that was now. They were locked into an unusual situation, and he couldn’t start spouting guarantees about how he would feel about her or anything else when this was over. Surely she must know that for herself.

  “I’m going outside for a few minutes,” he stated tonelessly, completely ignoring her blarney about him looking handsome with whisker stubble and sleepy eyes. Opening the door, he stepped out into the cool morning air..

  Nicole pushed the lever that brought her seat back forward and watched him walk into the trees. Thoughtfully she folded the blankets they had used and got on her knees to lean over the seat to lay them in the back. Opening her suitcase, she took out her cosmetic case, then dug into it for her toothbrush and t
oothpaste. Realizing that her position was too awkward to reach the water jugs, she got out and opened the back door of the car.

  When Tuck returned, she was brushing her teeth, using the water she had poured into a paper cup. “I’d give my right arm for a bath,” she said, merely to make conversation.

  “Me, too,” he said, merely to give her an answer.

  It was Nicole’s turn to disappear into the trees. Tuck brushed his teeth and pondered their next move. He was still feeling out of sorts over sleeping so long and so soundly. Anyone could have come up on them and he wouldn’t have known about it until it was too late.

  Where were they, exactly? Getting out the atlas, he opened it on the hood of the car and studied the map of Montana. Following last night’s route with his forefinger, he decided they were on a road that wasn’t even on the map. It probably wasn’t a road at all, not one for public usage, at any rate.

  Glancing at the tall timber, he nodded to himself. They were on a logging road, one that hadn’t been in use for a good long time by the look of it. Certainly there wasn’t any logging going on in this particular area at the present.

  But he pretty much knew where they were on the map now, and the question was where to go from here. This part of Montana seemed to have quite a few small towns. It didn’t really matter where they ended up, and in fact, staying on the move for another day or two might be best. But he couldn’t avoid towns altogether, nor could they sleep in the car again. He was stiff and sore from just one night, and Nicole had to be, too. Although he’d mentioned camping out, they really weren’t equipped for sleeping under the stars.

  Nicole came strolling back. “This place is really beautiful,” she remarked. “How did you find it?”

  “Followed my nose, I guess.” Tuck found it difficult to look directly at her. There was too much between them for pretense, and yet he didn’t know what it meant or even if it meant anything at all. The one thing he didn’t want was her thinking they were falling in love when he was so uncertain.