Merry took out her camera and snapped a photo. "How far away is it, do y'all know?"
"Maybe another hour," Rollo estimated. "Let's set up camp and hike the rest of the way in the morning.
She eased off her bag and dropped it to the ground. "Or—some of us could stay here and set up the tents, and some of us could check it out at sunset."
Finn slung off his pack and flexed his shoulders. "Let's go, Lois Lane."
No. Finn had completely misunderstood. Rollo opened his mouth to object, to say that he ought to be the one to take Merry to the top. That way Finn and Brianna could spend time together. But Merry was already smiling and zipping up her jacket against the evening breeze. It would look awkward to switch things up now.
"Take flashlights," he said instead, and crouched down to extract the tent bags from his pack.
Finn and Merry took off down the trail, already talking a mile a minute.
After a moment, Brianna knelt next to him. "I can handle this on my own," he told her. "You can go with them if you want."
"So I can bore Finn to death again? No, thank you." She reached for the tent he'd just pulled from his pack. "I'll set this one up."
She sounded so discouraged, so unlike her usual upbeat self. "It wasn't that bad," he told her. The lack of conviction in his own voice made him wince. "Here, we'll do it together."
He stood and searched for the most level spot for the tent, kicking stones and fallen branches aside.
"Not that bad?" Brianna wailed. "I told him about the reproductive cycle of the Bronze Birch Borer. In detail. He could probably write a thesis on it now."
"Well, birch beetles are a fascinating species." He shook out a piece of tarp he'd brought as a ground cover and settled it over the pine needles. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
"Birch beetles are only fascinating to geeks like me. He must have been laughing his ass off. You know, the ass I threw a Thermos at."
Rollo swallowed hard, trying to hold back his laugh. But she heard it and ducked her head.
"I'm such a disaster. You know what this is? This is nature's way of telling me that my genetic line should end here. I will never reproduce because I will never be able to talk to a man I'm attracted to. I'm an evolutionary dead end, that's what I am. Too awkward to duplicate. That's me." She flopped onto the ground and buried her head on her folded arms.
"Honey." He strode toward her and sat next to her, scooping her into his lap. She settled there as perfectly as a cat curled up in an armchair. "That's absurd. And I can prove it." Something glistened on the curve of her cheek, the only part of her face he could see. A tear?
He brushed it away, but she turned even farther away from him.
"How?" she muttered.
"Easy. Are you a virgin?"
She snapped her head up in astonishment. "That's kind of a personal question!"
"Yes. It is. Well, are you?" Their faces were so close that he could make out the faint trace of freckles on the delicate skin above her cheekbones. The fragrance of her shampoo—pear, maybe—rose to his nostrils.
"No, I'm not a virgin. Not since I took AP chemistry my senior year in high school."
"Uh…what?"
"Singh Dal, my lab partner. We liked each other and worked really well together. We decided to find out what all the fuss was about. I guess you could say it was kind of an experiment."
Rollo felt another laugh threaten, but he knew she'd take it the wrong way. So he kept his tone completely serious. "And? What were the results of the experiment?"
She cocked her head. "Some awkward moments, but overall, great. Sex is good, I like it. Touching, kissing, it's nice. And orgasms are the most amazing thing nature ever invented."
Oh God. Maybe this was a bad idea. She was cuddled in his lap talking about orgasms. No way his body was going to ignore that. His cock twitched hard. She smelled so good, like spicy pear tart and vanilla ice cream. "There you go." He hoped his voice sounded halfway normal. "If you can have sex and everything's working, you can reproduce. You're not an evolutionary dead end."
"That's not what I mean! I want to fall in love. I want my children to grow up in a happy family the way I did. My parents are still crazy about each other. My dad makes my mom banana pancakes every Sunday, my mom knits him socks. They're like a Hallmark movie."
That sounded so far from his family that he had to laugh. "I'm sure they have problems like anyone else."
"You don't know them," she said stubbornly. "I never saw any fights or conflict. I want that for my kids. I want them to grown up in a nice little nest of happiness the way I did."
He shifted her on his lap, surprised she hadn't climbed off yet. Pretty soon she was going to figure out that he was getting turned on by holding a warm bundle of sexy woman. Because Brianna was sexy. Cuddly and curvy and firm and fragrant. "Maybe your expectations are unrealistic, Bri. What's a relationship without conflict?"
She craned her neck to look up at him. "You're saying I should settle? Just be content with any old guy who wants to sleep with me? Call up Singh Dal?"
"God no." His arms tightened around her. Singh Dal could go fly a kite as far as he was concerned. "That's not what I mean at all. You deserve the man of your dreams."
He was just questioning her dreams, that was all. Finn wasn't a “nest of happiness” kind of guy. He had just as many demons as Rollo had, even though he didn't talk about them.
Brianna was scanning his face with those pretty moss-green eyes. "What about you? Don't you deserve the woman of your dreams?"
Ouch. She'd put her finger on his most sensitive sore spot without even realizing it. He'd never talked to her about the demands of his family. Would she even understand? "I'm a Wareham. I'll have to marry someone from a certain social circle. It's not about dreams, it's about duty."
"Really?" Her forehead wrinkled in a frown. "I never thought of you as a snob."
"I'm not. This is coming from my family. I have an obligation to them and that's just the way it is. Besides, I'd never inflict the coldhearted, backstabbing Wareham clan on someone who wasn't used to it. It wouldn't be fair to the poor woman. My mother would eat her alive."
"So…what about Merry? Do you think she could handle your family?"
He tilted his head and squinted, trying to picture Merry taking on his mother. Fact was—Merry wouldn't ever care about him enough to bother. "Luckily, that never has to happen because she thinks I'm just a big oaf."
"Don't worry, I set her straight. I told her you definitely weren't just an oaf." She gave him a mischievous wink.
"Just an oaf? You're living dangerously, girl." He bared his teeth at her. "You're playing with fire. Or the big bad wolf. Or both."
She raised one hand and curled her fingers into a claw. "Are you forgetting my secret weapon?"
"Like I could ever forget that." He gave a full-body shudder at the visceral memory. "And that's the difference between me and Finn. I get the claw. He gets an offer to massage his ass with your strong man-hands."
Brianna covered her mouth with both hands, eyes brimming with amusement. "I did that, didn't I?"
"Oh yes. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't witness it." They were both laughing now, Brianna's charming little face lit up with joy. Her deep chortling snort rolled out of her, twining around his heart, brightening the fog inside. And without conscious thought, without any hesitation, he bent his head and brushed his lips against hers.
It wasn't necessarily a kiss; it was more of a sampling. He wanted to know what joy tasted like on his tongue.
Her lips were so soft, they sent shockwaves through him. Soft and warm and sweet, tasting of hazelnut and the raisins from the trail mix they'd shared.
She let out a gasp, her eyes opening wide. "You kissed me!"
"Yeah. I noticed." He did it again, more slowly, savoring the sweet drag of her slightly chapped lips. He pulled the lower one between his teeth, gently, just until he heard her release a soft sigh. Then he ran his tongue around
the inside of her upper lip, tugging at it sweetly, deliberately, taking his time, feeling her melt in his arms. He still didn't allow himself to think about what he was doing and why. He was following an imperative that came from some risk-hungry, determined part of him.
He felt her heart rate speed up, but that could also have been the pounding of blood in his own veins. His ears rang with it. He ran his right hand along her torso, from her shoulder to her waist, then wrapped his hand around her hipbone. She was so small—and his hands so big—that his thumb was on her belly and his middle finger somewhere on her lower back. But she felt perfectly right in his grasp. As if everything made sense now, in a way it never had before.
"Rollo, what are we doing?" he heard her whisper against his mouth. "This is crazy."
"Want me to stop?" he growled in return.
When she shook her head quickly, he deepened the kiss, urging her mouth open with his tongue. She squirmed in his lap, nestling her rounded ass against his cock, which was about as hard as the tree trunk behind them.
And then a shriek pierced the air.
He pulled away, lifting his head to listen. The sound came from the trail that led to the lookout tower—the direction that Finn and Merry had gone.
He dumped Brianna on the ground and bolted to his feet. "Stay here," he commanded her, and took off down the trail.
11
Brianna scrambled to her knees, rubbing her butt, which a branch had poked as she'd tumbled to the ground, a graceful move courtesy of the incredibly confusing Rollo Wareham.
First he'd kissed her with more passion than anyone ever had before, then he'd ditched her and started bossing her around. What the heck was wrong with him?
Or right with him?
She pressed her fingers against her lips, which still tingled and burned. She felt as if she’d been woken up from a trance. As if she'd suddenly been shown a new dimension. Hey, have you heard about this crazy 3D thing? Isn't it amazing that you can see depth as well as flatness?
Yup, that was what it felt like. Holy wow. She had no idea Rollo knew how to kiss like that. Or that he would want to kiss her. Where had that come from? What did it mean? What about Merry? And most of all, would they get a chance to do it again? Because she'd be counting the minutes until that happened.
Kissing Rollo…wow, that kiss changed things. Or did it?
This was extremely confusing.
But one thing was for sure. No matter how well he kissed, she had no intention of waiting for him to come back. Screw that. It sounded as if something bad had happened down the trail, and if Merry or Finn was in trouble, she couldn't just stay here and hope for the best.
She grabbed a tent stake and her Thermos. Both seemed like reasonable weapons, in case any were needed. Then she rose to her feet and set off down the path at a slow jog. When she heard tense voices up ahead, she sped up to a run. It was a male voice that didn't sound like either Finn or Rollo. And it sounded scary.
She slowed when she got closer, not wanting to reveal her presence. She tiptoed the last stretch, until she turned around a bend—and found a scene that made her draw in a gasp of horror.
A man was aiming a gun at Merry and Rollo. Finn was lying on the ground, on his side. Rollo had his hands in the air in a defensive gesture. The man wore a baseball cap from an Arco gas station and a greasy-looking denim jacket. His face showed several days' growth of beard. He looked young, probably about their age, and twitchy.
Too twitchy.
Brianna swallowed back her fear and tried to think of what to do. The guy was keeping Merry close with a hand on the shoulder of her down vest. Merry looked both freaked out and furious, as if she might kick the guy in the balls any second now. Which would not be good, even Brianna could see that. A user with a gun was much too unpredictable. Better to stay calm. Like Rollo.
Rollo was talking to him in his deep, rumbling voice, keeping his tone level and calm. Brianna couldn't make out what he was saying, but whatever it was, it seemed to be working. The guy hadn't shot anyone yet. She peered through the trees at Finn, her heart clenching. She saw no blood, and she hadn't heard a gunshot.
Since Merry looked more furious than terrified, hopefully nothing too dire had happened to Finn.
Brandishing her tent stake and Thermos, she crept closer. Should she go back to the campsite and call 9-1-1? The last time she'd checked, her phone had said "no service." And they were so far from the road, it would take forever for help to get here even if she could get through.
No. Best to stay and see if she could help.
The closer she got, the better she could hear what Rollo was saying. Incredibly, he didn't sound frightened by the gun being waved in his direction.
"Let her go, man. We're just out for a hike. Not looking for trouble."
"I'm supposed to get the girl," the man said. He looked at Merry and frowned. "They didn't say she was black, though."
"You must have the wrong girl, then. Let her go."
"Can't do that. Better make sure."
He tried to drag Merry down the trail, but she dug in her heels and didn't budge. "I'm not the one you're after, so let me go."
Merry flinched as the guy swung the gun toward her.
"Hey. Hey," Rollo said quickly. "Take it easy. We can figure this out. Is someone paying you to find someone? You won't get paid if it's the wrong girl. Look at me, dude. Look at me."
Brianna's heart was in her mouth, but slowly the man obeyed. The gun careened back toward Rollo. "What else did they say about this girl? Hair color? Eye color?"
"Dark hair, dark eyes. Supposed to be at the tower."
"I've never even been to the tower!" Merry snapped.
The attacker turned back to her, scowling. "I don't like your attitude. Hand me your pack. Might as well get something for my time."
Merry, looking absolutely furious, took off her backpack and handed it to the man. With his gun trained on Rollo, he rummaged through it.
Ah-ha. This was the perfect opportunity, when the jerk's attention was divided between Rollo and the backpack. Brianna crept through the trees until she stood in Rollo's line of sight. His eyes went wide, then he scowled and shook his head.
The attacker noticed, and swung around to scan the woods. Brianna froze. Would the cluster of bristle-brush pines be enough to hide her?
After a long, agonizing moment, the gunman went back to searching through Merry's backpack.
Brianna lifted up her Thermos and tent stake and waved them at Rollo. She had a plan, but no clue how to communicate it to him, especially when he couldn't react without tipping off the gunman. His eyes burned with fury. Was he angry at her or the gunman? She wasn’t sure.
She shrugged it off. Time to take action. Her plan was to create a distraction with her Thermos. That would give Rollo a chance to disarm the gunman. It was a good plan, right? Sure it was.
She took a deep breath. Narrowing her eyes, she focused on the spot where she wanted the Thermos to land. In the woods, about thirty yards behind the gunman. Behind his back, so he'd have to turn around to check it out. But not too close, where it might freak him out. When she had the location firmly in her mind's eye, she hauled back and used all her strength to fling the Thermos that direction.
But this just wasn't her day, or maybe that Thermos was cursed. It went off-course, struck a tree trunk, and bounced back, right toward her.
She jumped out of the way and stumbled over a rock. The gunman spun in her direction, gun held straight out before him. The gun looked huge and black in his hand. She saw the exact moment he spotted her and decided to fire.
She dove behind the closest boulder. Covering her head with her hands, hoping her butt wasn't sticking out too far, she squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself.
No gunshot came. Instead she heard a series of thuds and grunts, a shout from Merry, then footsteps running her way.
When she opened her eyes, Rollo was crouching in front of her. His gray-blue eyes blazed with unholy
fury. And she usually thought of them as so kind.
"What the fuck was that? Didn't I tell you to stay out of it?"
"What…what happened?"
He hauled her to her feet. "Are you okay?" Still holding her hand in his, he scanned her up and down, a quick, scorching survey that had her tingling.
"Yes, of course. What about Merry? And the man with the gun?"
"Out." He dropped her hand and folded his arms over his chest. "Damn it, Bri. When he pointed that gun at you…" He shook his head, fury tightening his expression again. Wheeling around, he stalked toward the others.
Brianna hauled a long breath into her lungs and followed after the large, angry man who vaguely resembled her gentle bear of a friend.
Rollo slung the unconscious gunman over his shoulder and headed for the lookout tower. Finn was still unconscious. Rollo instructed Merry and Brianna to keep him warm while he called dispatch from the tower.
She and Merry took off their jackets and tucked them around Finn, while Merry told her everything that had happened in a tone of pure awe. "I've never seen anything like it. When it looked like the bad guy was going to shoot at you, Rollo came charging forward. First he kicked the gun out of the dude's hand, then he just started punching him. I had no idea he could fight like that. It was just wham, bam, again, again, until he was just lying there on the ground. Not moving. Bleeding. I thought he killed him for a second there. Then he goes running into the woods to find you. My heart was racing so fast I thought it might jump out of my skin!"
"Wow." Brianna wished she'd seen it all go down. "All I saw was a bunch of pine needles in my face. And then Rollo glaring at me. I don't know why he's so mad. If I hadn't thrown my Thermos, the guy wouldn't have gotten distracted. I thought he was going to hurt you."
"Nah, it was more like he'd been hired to find someone. We need to tell the police. I wonder if it's a real gun."
"It's real, all right." Brianna sat on a pile of pine needles and hugged her arms around her knees. The aftermath of the adrenaline rush was making her shaky. The sun was behind the trees now, and the air was chilling quickly.
Into the Flames (Jupiter Point Book 3) Page 7
