Guarding Gaby

by Jean Brashear

  He stopped at the forward edge of the mesquites, carefully dodging the long, needle-sharp thorns on every branch. Gaby halted, too, still clinging to his belt.

  She wasn’t even breathing hard.

  He withdrew his pistol, thankful yet again that he was left-handed. That wielding it was becoming more natural. Slowly he scanned their surroundings and spotted nothing.

  He turned to her, speaking in her ear again. “Stay here. I’m going around the house to be sure.” He let the pack slide off his shoulder and started to step away.

  Her hand on his arm stopped him. He looked back.

  Her eyes were worried, but she blew him a kiss.

  He nodded and wished for the thousandth time that he hadn’t been wounded. He’d have had her under him by now, and they’d both feel a whole lot better.

  Then he shut off his inner chatter and started walking.

  Gaby waited under the mesquites, the dog by her side, trying not to panic. It seemed as though he’d been gone for hours. How long to wait, how to know if he were in trouble? She slid off her own pack and bent with the notion of finding out if Eli had any weapons in his—

  When she heard an engine approaching.

  She waited a second to see if Eli would round the corner.

  Then she grabbed both packs and took off running. “Buddy, come on!”

  She was nearly to the back door when Eli appeared. She veered toward the cellar door, dropped the bags and began to struggle with it.

  Eli slipped past her and opened one side, then tossed his pack down, followed by hers. “Come—” he ordered the dog.

  Gaby whirled to head for the house, when he grabbed her.

  One quick kiss. “Be careful.” Then he slipped inside and closed the door.

  Damn you, Chad, she thought, as she charged into the house. Just once, couldn’t you drive to work without stopping?

  Eli sank into the darkness and popped the eye cups down to scan for unwelcome visitors. So little light bled through the cellar door that the goggles couldn’t gather much ambient illumination, but he was also counting on the dog’s presence to dislodge any critters.

  When nothing stirred, he flipped up the eye cups, sank against one dirt wall and laid his head back, dismayed at how exhausted he was. He couldn’t afford to get lax. Gaby might need him. He rested a minute, then opened his eyes again—

  And realized that a faint rectangle of light was coming from the back side of the cellar. From within the house.

  With the goggles on, the glow was almost harsh. He crept closer to investigate. Traced his fingers around the seams and felt wood above him. He pressed experimentally—

  The wood lifted with a small squeak. In the gap, he could see across a floor. Over one corner draped what must be a rug. At the edge, he spotted Gaby’s bare feet zipping along.

  A loud knock. “Gabriela! I have to talk to you. Now.”

  Eli lowered the trapdoor slowly, freezing as it squeaked again. Finally, it was closed.

  He settled in to listen.

  One hand on his weapon.

  Gaby hurriedly stripped off her clothes. Dust rose in puffs when they hit the floor. She raced to the mirror and spotted the streaks on her face and in her hair.

  Another knock. “Gabriela, answer the door.”

  She made a split-second decision and turned on the shower. She couldn’t appear in front of him this way. He’d see the kitchen light on and assume she was up, surely. He’d hear the shower running and either wait or go on.

  Personally, she was hoping for the latter. She had nothing to say to Chad and no certainty that the night’s revelations wouldn’t bleed into her reactions.

  And she wanted him as far from Eli as possible.

  She started to step into the tub, then had a moment of terror. If she didn’t answer the door, would Eli show himself because he was worried about her? Could she make it across the hall without Chad spotting her through a window? If he did see her, she’d still be dirt-streaked.

  She gnawed at her lip. This covert stuff was complicated.

  If Chad could hear the shower, Eli could, too. He didn’t want her at risk, and nothing would be more dangerous than Chad finding him with her. She had to prevent him from drawing the wrong conclusion, worrying that she was with Chad and in trouble.

  The solution, when it occurred to her, was so simple she laughed.

  She entered the tub, closed the curtain and started singing.

  Eli thought he was hallucinating at first. Then he shook his head and grinned.

  Damn, he loved this woman. She was never what he expected.

  And she sure wasn’t much of a singer.

  Chad’s footsteps descended the front stairs; her gambit had worked. He could hear Chad’s voice and frowned, then figured out the sheriff was on his cell phone.

  Eli crept closer to the cellar door, hoping to catch some of the conversation. Chad’s truck was parked at the side of the house, and Eli was glad this house was small.

  Now if Gaby would just stop singing.

  “You’re kid—” Chad sounded surprised. Pleased.

  The shower shut off, and so did Gaby.

  “Holy—” Chad swore in rapid-fire Spanish. “Two loads of them? I don’t know, compadre. The more trucks in one shipment, the easier it is for them to be spotted.”

  How Eli wished he could hear the other side of this conversation.

  “Yes, I know we can get a lot of money for these Asian girls, but if anything happens, they will stick out like a sore thumb. Drugs and arms are one thing. I never signed on for the sex trade.” He was silent again. “Don’t you threaten me. Don’t you ever forget I can shut you down cold anytime I want—” Another pause. “I don’t need your money. I have plenty of my own now.”

  So Chad had a few principles, after all.

  “No, she’s not gone yet. You leave her alone. I can handle her. She knows nothing. She’s no danger to us. If she’s still here tomorrow night, I’ll make sure she’s out of the way. You leave her to me.”

  Gaby could so easily get caught as collateral damage. Eli was with Chad on this one thing; Gaby needed to go. Quick.

  “No, I haven’t found him yet. You can’t be sure that’s who shot your guys. You’ve got plenty of enemies, Pablo. Don’t tell me how to do my job. You get those trucks moved and get the hell out of my county.”

  Chad cursed vividly. A squeak—his pickup door? Then the throaty roar of his engine, growing more faint.

  Eli exhaled.

  “Eli?” Gaby’s voice from above. “He’s gone.” Light flared as she opened the trapdoor. “Want to come take a bath? You can’t get that arm wet, I don’t think. And I should probably check the dressing—What?”

  He was staring, he knew it. But she was damp and nearly naked, her hair long black ropes down her back.

  He handed up both packs, then, with difficulty since he had only one hand to use, lifted himself out of the small space. He rose to his feet but couldn’t find his voice.

  “Eli? Are you okay?”

  He was dirty and weak and worried, but somehow, just the sight of her restored him. He traced his forefinger down her cheek. “Yeah. No.” What he wouldn’t give to take her right here, right now.

  He settled for her mouth, the kiss instantly electric. “Yeah.”

  Her fingers clutched at his back. She smelled like glory.

  He forced himself away. “I’ll get you filthy.”

  Her eyes locked on his. “I don’t care.”

  He wasn’t sure he did, either, but he also understood that life was short and uncertain, that anything could happen two nights from now.

  That if he never made love to her, whatever happened to them in the future, something important would be forever missing from his life, even if the circumstances were much less than perfect.

  “I want a shower, but you’re right. Let me bathe, then you can check the dressing. Then—” He let his look speak for him.

  Faint color stained her ch
eeks, but her gaze answered right back. Her smile was slow and beautiful and just a little wicked. “Oh, yeah,” she echoed. Long and low and sultry.

  Eli’s answering groan was heartfelt.

  Gaby started the washer running, putting in Eli’s garments with hers. Such a stupid, sophomoric thing to gain pleasure from, tracing a finger over the collar of his shirt, seeing his jeans mix with hers. She was not Betty Crocker or June Cleaver, hadn’t been remotely domestic in years. If she’d ever had a long-term man in her life, she would have demanded that he share all the housekeeping and cooking chores because she was so wrapped up in her career and had always assumed hers would be as important as that of any man she’d live with.

  Somehow, though, that man had never appeared. She’d dated a lawyer and an artist, a writer and an accountant, one politician and a couple of actors. None of them had stuck, and she’d told herself she was in no hurry.

  She’d been dead wrong. No one had made the cut because none of them were Eli. As simple as that, and as complicated.

  How could their lives mesh now? The man millions knew as Max traveled light; a companion would only slow him down, even if she were the type for hair-raising adventure, for roughing it.

  Which she most definitely was not. But neither could she see him in Manhattan. His reporting was brilliant, and he could bring those same insights to stories on the domestic front or crime reporting or any of a host of possibilities—

  But Eli was a creature of air and space and light. The eagle would die in the zoo that was New York.

  She punched the starter button on the washer and shook off her maudlin thoughts. They were in the same place now, and she was not about to waste a second of their time.

  A little shiver ran through her at the memory of the heat in his eyes. He wanted her, and goodness knows she wanted him. She should be responsible and discourage him until he was better—

  But they were together now. Who could say what tomorrow would bring?

  Eager not to be apart any longer, she approached the bathroom door, realizing that she didn’t hear any splashing sounds. “Eli?”

  No answer. What if the journey had taken too much out of him and he’d passed out again or—

  “Eli, are you all right?”

  Still nothing. She eased the door open, just a fraction.

  His head lay back against the back of the old clawfoot tub. With a pounding heart, she approached, hesitant to violate his privacy, hoping he was only resting—

  His chest rose slowly. Gaby tiptoed closer. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed. Weariness was carved into his features. His injured arm lay propped on a towel at the edge of the tub. She wanted to place a pillow beneath his head to make him more comfortable, but—

  Lord have mercy. What a body he had. She shouldn’t be looking, of course, but she’d have to be made of sterner stuff to resist. The girl she once was had been very curious about what was beneath those t-shirts and jeans, but all she’d been able to gather had come from heavy make-out sessions where Eli would call a halt before things got out of hand.

  The boy had quite definitely become a man, broad, muscled chest now covered with black hair from nipple to nipple, narrowing down in the arrow every woman knew to follow toward—

  Oh, my…

  “Obviously, I’m not dead yet.”

  His voice snapped her back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

  “Feel free. Just loosen the tie of that robe while you’re at it.”

  She heard the smile. The tease.

  She glanced over. And saw the heat. Felt it shimmer inside her. “We should be smart. You’re not well. We should wait.”

  “I disagree.” He rose, and water sluiced down his body, outlining every muscle, every angle.

  She’d never seen anything like him. He had nothing in common with the buffed and toned men of her world or the male models in magazines or on billboards.

  Eli wasn’t pretty. He was man with a capital M. Hard and lean and the best-looking thing she’d ever laid eyes on.

  Then she spotted the scars. “Oh, Eli.” She stepped forward, traced her fingers over the puckered hole at his side, the ridged white line on his thigh. Bent and pressed her lips to each one as if she could heal the old hurts.

  Eli gasped. Dug his fingers into her hair.

  She trailed a line of kisses up to his hip, brushed her hair against the hard evidence of his desire. Turned her face and slicked her tongue over him.

  “Sweet mother of—” Eli jerked away. Grabbed a towel.

  “You don’t like it?” she asked innocently, loving the strain on his face. She rose to her toes and swirled her tongue over one of his nipples.

  “Get away from me, woman.” His voice was low and just the slightest bit unsteady.

  “No.” She slid her hands up his sides. Caught the towel and threw it behind her. Looked up at him and smiled. “This time, you won’t make me stop. Not anymore.”

  Blue eyes blazed. “I don’t want you to. I’d chew my way through razor wire to have you, Gaby.” He bent and kissed her in a manner that left no room for misunderstanding. “But I want to touch you, too. Another three seconds of that, and it would all be over.”

  His body was tense. Quivering. “Are you positive about this, Eli? I refuse to be a part of hurting you.”

  He stepped from the tub, grabbed her wrist and towed her into the bedroom. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “But we have to change the bandage—”

  “Screw the bandage.” Then his mouth was on hers, his hand slipping the belt of her robe open, then sliding the garment from her shoulders.

  With impressive strength, he drew her to him, flesh to flesh from chest to thigh. He inserted one leg between hers, and she writhed against him, moaning softly as she dug her fingers into his hair.

  He tore his mouth from hers and stepped back. “Hold on—”

  “What do you mean, hold on?” She had to stifle a scream.

  She took consolation from the fact that his chest was heaving, too. That his eyes were steel-melting hot.

  “I’ve waited half my life to see you naked. I want to look.” His gaze traveled over her, and she felt burned by every inch of his progress.

  Her nipples tightened, and little shocks spilled through her. “That’s enough.” This time she grabbed him. Rose to her toes and plastered herself to his chest. “Time’s up.” She slanted her lips over his.

  “Damn it.” He closed his eyes. “I’m not carrying any condoms. I don’t have any diseases, but—”

  “Me either. And I’m on the pill.” She clenched her fingers in his hair. “So shut up and kiss me.”

  He laughed against her mouth, the groaned. “I have dreamed of this since I was sixteen.” Then he took her under.

  She gladly drowned in the swell, the waves of emotion swamping her, the sheer miracle of being here with him, their bodies together after so long—

  Somehow they made it to the mattress, though they were never more than a breath apart.

  “Lie back. Let me, so we don’t hurt your arm.” She began with his throat, kissing her way down his body.

  “No—” He hauled her up, had her straddle his chest. Used his mouth to carve a devastating trail up one thigh until he reached the heart of her.

  “Eli—” She arched in bliss, grasped his hair, trying not to tear it from the roots. Her mind flew somewhere beyond the stars—

  She caught herself on the headboard, trembling as she struggled to breathe, to think—

  Rapturous as the sensations were, she needed him, the full communion of body to body. She made her way down the front of him, poised and waiting as his big hand splayed across her hip.

  His face showed the strain of holding himself back.

  “Eli.”

  His eyes opened.

  “It doesn’t matter what happened. All that matters is us. This.”

  “This can only be now.” His hand tightened on her. “I have nothing to offer you. I don’t fit in
your life.”

  “I don’t fit in yours. At the moment, I don’t care.”

  “You should, but—” He guided her lower, brushed against her tender flesh.

  She sucked in a breath. Started to slide onto him.

  He halted her. “I will keep you safe, Gaby, I swear it.”

  “You always did.” She stared into his eyes. “Come inside me, Eli. Make us one. Take that last step.”

  He slipped into her with velvety tenderness, so slow and exquisite that she wanted to weep for all the times he’d cared for her, watched over her.

  “Don’t cry, love.” He brushed at her tears and pulled her head down, but his eyes were damp, too.

  Their lips met, and the kiss was both heat and unbearable sweetness as that final click sounded for them both, the key in the lock, opening the door to a treasure they’d glimpsed but never dared claim.

  Then they began to move, two hearts soaring, flying, souls mating as time ceased to matter. Power and beauty shimmered in the air, wrapping them in the warmth so long denied them. Together at last. United after suffering so long apart.

  Love lifted them up, let them forget. Let them revel. There was ecstasy, there was comfort…there was safety. They drifted to earth, curled together in an oddly innocent slumber.

  And in that sacred space they were, for a precious moment in time, wholly one.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Eli awoke to sunshine. And smiled as memories flooded in.

  Sable hair draped over his chest. Soft breath whispered across his shoulder. Gaby slept, boneless as a child. There were many things they should do, steps they needed to take.

  Not a one of them as compelling as the need to linger in this one, unbearably sweet moment he’d dreamed of but never expected to experience.

  He’d made a terrible mistake. Leaving her this time would definitely kill him. However incredible he’d imagined making love to her would be—

  He hadn’t even begun to guess at the miracle of it. Not once in his life had he ever felt so complete. The closest he’d ever come was all the hours he’d spent with her as kids, talking about everything under the sun. He’d loved her, that he’d never doubted, and she’d loved him.