The elevator dinged and she hesitated as he stepped in. Good girl. “Change your mind?”
With a quick breath, she shook her head and practically jumped into the elevator. She turned her back to him and held her hands in front of her. Classic defensive move. Good. She already displayed her anxiety with her decision. “I used to love riding in elevators as a kid.”
Odd conversation starter, but he went with it. “I think we all did.”
“It was the feeling of the butterflies in your tummy, the absolute weightlessness. It makes me dizzy, even now. How about you?”
“No.”
The elevator barely moved, let alone had the ability to cause dizziness or weightlessness. Most of those who’d been at the resort for more than a few days chose to take the stairs. She must have had one too many glasses of wine.
“Did you ever see that one cartoon?”
“No.”
She tossed a look at him over her shoulder. When she smiled, he sucked in a breath. Talk about butterflies. “Quite the conversationalist, aren’t we?”
“I don’t watch cartoons.” That was the best he could come up with? Jesus Christ, he was pathetic.
A final smile in his direction and, with a shake of her head, she watched the numbers just as the seven finally lit up. The silence deafened the small elevator. He couldn’t think of anything else to say, so he let it take over.
The doors whooshed open and he led her down the hall to his room. She walked in after he opened the door, looking in all directions. Except at him. The poor woman was nervous as hell. Why would she want this if it scared her? Did he scare her?
She kept her hands in front of her, tightly wringing them over and over. “This is nice.”
He wouldn’t go that far. “It’s home, at least when I’m not out doing a job.”
She lost her expression as she studied his face. “Been freebasing?”
He coughed on a laugh. “Do you mean freelancing?”
“That’s what I said,” she defended without missing a beat. “And you know freelancing is against the rules.”
Fuck the rules. “I’m not TREX, so the rules no longer apply.”
“Don’t worry, David. Your secret is safe with me.” She traced the walls with her gaze, taking in every detail. He’d already memorized the entire room within minutes the first time he’d set foot inside, all the way down to the five-inch crack in the sheetrock by the entry door. He’d had the cheap prints of sunset paintings removed from his walls, instead choosing simple black and white Miles Anthony’s. Each had a single item in the picture filtered with color. He’d never seen any photographer capture a landscape the same way. “These are beautiful.”
He moved behind her and looked up at the pictures. She focused on one in particular, which just so happened to be his favorite. As a test, he brought his hands to her shoulders and gently caressed her arms. “They are—”
“Miles Anthony,” she answered for him. “I know. I have three of them myself.”
Holy shit. He’d never met another person who even knew a Miles Anthony from a hole in their head, let alone someone else who owned his work. They weren’t cheap.
“This one is my favorite.” She pointed up at the picture of a rolling meadow, a single pink Oleander standing in perfection in the middle of the largest hill.
“Mine, too.” He leaned forward and drew in a deep breath, immediately intoxicated by her scent. She smelled of a vanilla perfume, of a deep muskiness that stemmed from the moist heat between her legs. Nuzzling closer, he lightly brushed his lips up and down her exposed neck. The goose bumps jumped out on her skin, tickling his lips.
He let out a breath, sure to tickle her neck with warmth. She quickened her breathing. When he lowered his hands down and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him, she stopped breathing altogether. She had to feel his cock pushing into the small of her back, had to feel how much he wanted her. Just to make sure, he rolled his hips, letting out a heavy breath as the curve of her ass rolled against his hard-on.
He caught himself before getting lost in her. His dick jumped and he stopped right before pushing his erection against her once more. As much as he wanted it to happen—and he really wanted it to happen—he couldn’t let it.
Sometimes he really hated having a conscience.
SIX
“Nervous?” he asked her while still feasting on her neck.
“Oh my God, yes.”
With a deep-seated hesitation, he pulled back, offering her a final kiss on the back of the neck as he chuckled. Leave it to this woman to answer him honestly. He expected no less.
Moving over to the table, he paused and eyed the champagne. He popped the cork and poured them each a drink. What was one little drink? She thanked him as he handed her a glass. If she gripped it any tighter she’d shatter it into a thousand pieces.
“How about a toast?” she asked.
He stopped, the glass poised at his lips. Pulling it back, he held it up to match hers. “Okay. What should we drink to?”
The way her eyes danced mischievously had him in so much pain he wanted to cry. “To love.”
That comment made him want to dump his drink down the nearest drain. “Why love?”
“I’ve never been in love, at least real love. Well, I don’t think I have. I would know, right?”
When she continued to stare at him, waiting for an answer, he realized it wasn’t a hypothetical question. “If you’ve ever been in love, you’d know.”
“How? What does it feel like?” she urged.
“Come on, Charis.” He hated this. Shifting uneasily, he cleared his throat. He didn’t want to talk about love, didn’t even want to think about it.
“Please?”
Her gaze, so blue in its bottomless depth, pulled him in. All at once, the words flowed easily. “Love is real.” He didn’t say more, and by the way she narrowed her eyes before nodding at him, he didn’t need to. She accepted his explanation, just like that.
His assessment of the agent just jumped through the stratosphere.
Color splashed her cheeks. “I thought you said you weren’t capable of love.”
“Not anymore. But that doesn’t mean I’ve never experienced it.”
She licked her lips, parted them ever so slightly as she watched him. Bringing her attention to his eyes, she smiled. Her eyes had a new twinkle in them, one he couldn’t quite read. Whatever shined there made him uncomfortable, as if she somehow opened a page and read from a diary he didn’t even keep. “Then here’s to choosing to give up.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I think you know.”
“Enlighten me.”
“You’d rather give up on love than fight and find true happiness. Congratulations on your life of loneliness.”
David didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent and took a long drink of his champagne. Jesus, her words shot straight through his defenses and right into his heart. An awkward silence settled between them.
Apparently bringing her up to his room didn’t scare her enough. Time to move in for round two. He took her hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
“But we just got here. Don’t you want to, you know...?” She pointed toward the door that led to his tiny excuse of a bedroom. She was so damn cute in her honesty. He’d love to pull her into his arms, to possess her mouth with his, to have her whimper in surrender to his kiss. He shook the thought. This was not a social call. He brought her up here to scare her, not fuck her. Unfortunately.
“Sweetheart, this is Maui. No one stays inside. Let’s take a walk together. I’ll even hold your hand.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why would you want to do that?”
Her question threw him off. Again. With every other woman he’d ever had contact with, it was exactly what they wanted to hear. Sort of the “I’ll respect you in the morning” comment. Why didn’t it work on her?
He knew the answer before his mind even asked
. Because she wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever wanted. And he’d never wanted any other woman more than he wanted Charis McKoy. He wanted her like a starving man at an all-you-can-eat buffet. His meal stood right in front of him, and he couldn’t eat her. Oh God, how he wanted to taste her, to take her into his arms and lose himself in her scent, her body.
His rigid cock pushed against his shorts, urging to be released. He had to close his eyes and think of something else. Christ. Nothing else but the image of Charis McKoy, naked in his bed, in his arms, flashed in his mind. He opened his eyes to bare slits, causing her to blur. It helped. Not much, but it helped.
They needed to get out of his room. If he spent much more time alone with her, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. All she would have to do is smile at him. Wink at him again. Anything to give him permission to follow through with his earlier promise.
“Are we going to go for a walk or not?”
Charis took a nice long drink before nodding. “Okay, but you have to promise to be a perfect gentleman.”
You’ve got to be kidding me. “Tonight isn’t about promises.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Memories, like you said.” He threw back the champagne and took her glass, set them down on a nearby table. He’d have a little chat with Weber about the caliber of agents he sent into the field. It wouldn’t take much to push her beyond all sanity. He’d push her, but not that far. Just far enough for her to know this wasn’t a game. She lucked out having a mark with such a big heart.
He doubted any of the lowlife scum he’d been sent to find and eliminate over the years would have been so kind. Oh, they’d teach her a lesson, all right. One she’d never forget. And after they raped and tortured her for their own pleasure, they’d kill her and throw the body out like yesterday’s shit bucket.
He led her out of his room and over to the elevator. As they waited for the doors to open, he leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. He didn’t want to take his eyes off her in that little blue number. Very appetizing, he had to admit. She definitely tested his will to the extreme and made him question leaving. He could have taken a temporary transfer and convinced Weber to put him back in the field. He would have gotten to work side-by-side with her. That alone had him ready to go back.
David’s insides stilled as the epiphany hit him like a fucking mortar. That son of a bitch. That’s why Weber sent her. He knew David would tell him to take a hike if he came to Hawaii. Instead, he sent an angel. His angel. It was no secret how he’d reacted to Charis back at the hospital.
No doubt JT had a hand in this, too. She’d tried to fix him up on more than one occasion. It never went beyond the first awkward meeting. He’d smile when prompted, laugh at his date’s little jokes. And when the night ended, he would politely thank her and tell her he’d call her.
Then lose her number.
Dating was nothing more than a job interview. If you passed through the first round, you moved up a notch on the marriage material ladder. And the one thing he found in common with all the women he’d come across, they all wanted one thing.
A husband.
Been there, done that. Never doing it again. David had spent his time in purgatory with that goddamn ring on his finger like a chokehold. He’d served his prison term and would rather chew off his own hand than be forced to wear another wedding ring.
The doors opened and Charis raced into the elevator, resting against the corner in the back. The come-and-get-me-grin took him completely by surprise. Just when he thought he had her figured out. He took a step toward her, testing the waters.
Without warning, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into her, capturing his mouth with hers. He didn’t try to retreat, instead burying himself deep into her lips and taking in the taste of her mouth.
Holy Jesus. She tasted even better than she looked. And the woman knew how to kiss. Another surprise. He traced her lips, nibbling, nipping with his teeth, willing himself to stop, knowing there wasn’t a chance in hell he would. She gave as well as she received, the motions of her mouth mimicking his.
He took command of the kiss and parted her lips with his tongue. She threw him off again when she eagerly met his tongue with her own. The slight whimper that escaped her made him forget where he was, and why.
Deepening their connection, he pulled her into his arms and gently caressed the small of her back, moving his way down to her round, firm ass. She fit so perfectly to him as he held her tight. The pucker of her nipples strained against the thin material of her dress, pressing into his chest. The way she moved with him made his cock instantly, and painfully, hard all over again.
The doors dinged open and broke them of their contact. He glanced up, panting from his lust-filled delirium, to see they’d reached the ground floor. Seven floors had never gone so fast, especially in the world’s slowest elevator. He grinned when Charis eyed him. God how he loved the way she looked at him like he was the only man in the universe, the only man who held her attention. “Let’s take this outside.”
He led her out of the resort, not really sure what to think. He wanted her. Judging by the way she eyed the bulge in his shorts, she knew that as well. Thank God the tiki torches were the only glow or the entire resort would have been able to see his hard-on for her. He didn’t want to take this too far. Well, he did want to have sex with her, but not like this. Not as a weapon, a scare tactic.
“Yo, David! What happened to you?” Tony called out from behind the bar, lifting his palms to the sky as he shrugged.
David nodded toward Charis and grinned.
Tony nodded in return. “Understood. I’ll keep the twins occupied for you.”
“The twins?” Charis inquired, a wry smile glimmering up her eyes.
“Never mind,” he answered and made a mental note to talk to Tony about his timing. He dragged her through the forming crowd at the outside bar and down toward the surf.
Chills washed over him. She didn’t seem to mind the cool winds, however, as she ran past him and out to the surf, slipping her shoes off, stopping just short of getting her feet wet. She turned back to him, a grin from ear-to-ear lighting up her face in the darkness. He smiled at the warmth it brought him.
“What are you doing?”
“Can you believe this is the first time I’ve actually been on the beach since I got here? Well, except for a little burial.”
“Burial?”
“Nothing serious.”
“What’d you bury?”
She flipped her hand at his comment. “Some postage stamps connected by fishing line.”
He recalled a story JT told him on one of their ops. The head of the Mercado cartel forced her to wear a bikini she described the same way. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to see it.” She visibly swallowed as she fell silent, triggering his guard. She was rarely silent. “Charis?”
Crazy Charis popped back in an instant, smiling and dancing in the water. “Look at these waves. It’s like they’re reaching out for me.” She yelled over the roar of the crashing waves. The water slammed down on the shore, frothing like a mad dog. Must be a storm brewing.
Pulling the clip out of her hair, she let her curls fall and flow in the wind. She looked so damn delicious as she giggled and danced in the water. The sound shot straight to his cock. It twitched, reminding him he was man, and Charis McKoy was all woman.
Agent. Teaching her a lesson. Sleeping with her would be bad. Bad. Got it? Got it.
Not.
Was he arguing with his penis? Shit, she’d already driven him insane.
“Living in Montana, I never get to see the beach.”
“Living in Maui, I never get to see the snow.”
“Always wanting something we can’t have.”
David thought about the comment Weber made to him back at the mission in Sri Lanka that changed his life. “A bird in the hand,” he started.
“Is worthless if stuck in a bush,” she finished wi
th a definitive nod.
He burst into a fit of laughter. It felt so good to laugh like that. It’d been over a year since he’d even felt the want, and now this woman had him laughing again. A lot. “That isn’t quite how it goes.”
She looked at him, her pretty brow crinkled. “Really?”
“A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. It means make the best of what you have instead of going after the bigger, better deal.”
Digging her toes into the sand and drawing lines, she shrugged. “Then why not just say that? All these clichés drive me nuts. My mom says them every other sentence.” She paused. “I get them wrong all the time.”
He loved the sound of her voice. She fascinated him. Intrigued him. Irritated him. Why did she have to talk so much? And why, then, couldn’t he get enough of what she had to say? When she stopped talking, silence rang in his ears. He didn’t like it. Wanting, needing to hear her voice again, he urged, “What else.”
“I have four brothers. They call themselves—”
“The four musketeers?”
“Nope. Everyone always thinks that. Funny.” She paused and watched her toe disappear under the wet sand. After kicking her foot up and sending sand into the air, she started walking along the surf. “This sand is cold. I figured Maui would have warmer sand.”
“It is when the sun is on it. When I first moved here I couldn’t even stand on the beach without shoes. You can pick out the tourists based on whether they wear shoes on the beach or not.”
She laughed and the sound floated through the air, slammed down into his heart. “I’m not wearing any shoes. What does that make me?”
The way she looked at him just then made him suck in a breath. The slight glow from the moon glowed around her frame, giving her an angelic appearance. He licked his lips as his erection pulsed. “It’s nighttime.”
Seek and Destroy (TREX, #5) Page 7
