THE MARINE & THE DEBUTANTE

by Maureen Child

  Lisa frowned at that bitter pill and some of the soft glow she'd been feeling faded away. Naturally she was nothing special to him. She'd never been special to anyone. Why would he be any different?

  "I can hear you thinkin'," he said, his deep voice rumbling through the cave and dancing along her spine.

  "Geezz!" She jumped, slapped one hand to her chest to keep her heart from flying out of her chest and pushed away from him to sit up straight. She felt a flush of heat rush to her cheeks and was grateful for the darkness. Served her right, she thought. Indulge in a little self-pity party—think some warm, fuzzy thoughts, and get caught at it. That would teach her.

  Thank heaven he couldn't read minds. She cringed and, to cover her own discomfort, she retreated into arguing with him again.

  "So since you couldn't run me to death, you've decided to scare the life out of me?"

  His gaze shot straight to hers. Even in the shadowy darkness, she felt the power of that gaze, and something inside her did a slow flip.

  Oh, boy.

  "Not till we get where we're goin'," he said.

  Figures that Captain America would come out of a deep sleep ready to march. "I take it we're leaving?"

  "If it's dark enough," he told her, and got to his feet quickly. Looking down at her, he said, "Have another drink of water. I'm going to check things out."

  She watched him walk away and marveled at how quietly such a big man could move. In seconds he was back. "Sun's gone down. Time to head out."

  Lisa smothered a groan as he packed up the few things he'd carried with him. He gave her another drink of water, took one himself, then helped her to her feet.

  "Better put my shirt back on," he said, snatching it up off the ground to hand to her. "Gonna be cold again in no time."

  She slipped it on, then paused for a long look at the man standing within an arm's reach of her. His chest looked impossibly broad. His square jaw screamed defiance. The weapon he held was deadly. But the look in his eyes as he stared at her told Lisa that nothing and no one would hurt her.

  And her bruised heart felt warm and full.

  * * *

  "Come on, princess, you're doin' fine."

  She huffed out a breath that ruffled the bangs drooping over her forehead, but the glare she shot him let Travis know exactly what she was thinking. And he figured if she was carrying a gun, he'd have been a dead man a couple hours ago.

  "How … far … have … we … come?" she asked, every breath interrupted with a gasp or a moan.

  He took the hint and stopped. "A couple of miles."

  "It feels like more," she said, and dropped to the ground. Staring up at him, she continued, "I hate to sound like a three-year-old in the back of a station-wagon, but—how much longer?"

  A brief smile crossed his face as he reached into his breast pocket for the map he'd already consulted several times. Going down on one knee beside her, he unfolded the thing, angled it to catch the moonlight and did some fast figuring. "The city's still a ways, but we're almost in El Baharian territory."

  "That's good, right?"

  "Right. Once we're safely on their side of the border, we can relax."

  "Relax. God, what a wonderful word." She sighed, pushed her hair back from her face, then rubbed at her calf.

  Travis frowned and found himself wishing there were some other way. If he could contact his team, they'd be able to call in another chopper. But the throat mikes they wore on the mission were too short range to be of any use. Nope. They were on their own and that meant walking out. Whether it beat the princess into the ground or not.

  "You're doin' great," he said, knowing she probably wouldn't care what he thought, but he had to at least give her this. He had to tell her that she'd done a better job of keeping up than a lot of boot Marines might have.

  She slowly lifted her head and looked at him. "Was that a compliment?"

  He cleared his throat, scraped one hand across his face and when he'd stalled as long as possible, he muttered, "Yeah. I guess it was."

  She stared up into his eyes and in the moonlight she looked too damn good. That pale-yellow dress of hers looked like spun gold in the silvery light. Her blond hair was messy and tumbled around her face in the kind of waves that made a man want to comb his fingers through them.

  His mouth dried up, and it had nothing to do with the lack of water. Travis's insides were twisted into knots, and a hard ball of need settled down low in his gut. He wanted to pretend nothing was happening, but he was a man unused to lying. Even to himself.

  And the truth of the matter was the princess was getting to him. Oh, she complained and argued, but hell, that only made the trip interesting. Beneath that spoiled-rich-girl exterior, there was a thread of steel. And that thread kept her moving despite her fear, her exhaustion. Hell, despite him.

  "Thank you, Travis," she said and her voice came soft and quiet. "Strangely enough, coming from you, that actually means a lot to me."

  He could see she meant that, and it pleased him. "You earned it."

  "I know," she said, and gave him a smile that slammed into him with the force of mortar fire. But he shook the feeling off to listen to her. "I'm dirty and tired and sore, but I'm doing it. And I'm going to make it the rest of the way, too."

  "Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "You will."

  He handed her the canteen and offered her a drink. She took it gratefully, and after she'd handed it back, he took a swallow himself, letting the water soak into his dry mouth before allowing it to slide down his throat. It took care of his thirst, now all he could hope was it would cool the fire building inside him.

  But the way he was feeling, he suspected that would take a lot more water. Say, a lakeful.

  "Those shoes working better for you now?" He shifted the conversation, hoping to get his mind off his hormones as he carefully stowed the canteen.

  "Yes." She drew one foot up and examined what was left of her expensive but useless footwear. "Although Ferragamo would have been highly insulted to see you using that knife of yours to whack at his creation."

  Not as insulted as she had been, he was willing to wager. He could still see the look on her face when he'd sat her down and broken off the spindly heels. Personally, he was a fan of high heels. They did amazing things for women's legs—especially, he admitted silently, hers. But they weren't exactly made for trooping through the desert.

  Along the horizon a sliver of pale blue edged the night. Sunrise was coming. Already the stars looked a bit less bright. Squinting, he narrowed his gaze and took in the surrounding area. For miles in every direction, there was simply nothing. They'd long ago left the rocky terrain behind and had entered the real desert. Sand dunes stretched out forever, and Travis knew they'd need to find some kind of shelter before morning. To be trapped on the sand during the day would be asking for trouble.

  Not only would they be out in the open, they'd also be at the mercy of the sun. No caves around here, he thought, but there was something she'd probably like a hell of a lot better. Plus, it was in El Baharian territory. They'd be safe. And with any luck, they could make it there in just under a couple of hours.

  Standing up again, he held out a hand toward her. "Time to go."

  Obviously tired, she didn't even argue. She slapped her hand into his and moaned quietly when he pulled her to her feet. For one long moment she stood there, her hand in his. His thumb scraped across the tops of her knuckles, and he watched her shiver. Damn. He didn't know if it was good or bad that she was just as affected by a simple touch as he was.

  Finally, though, she pulled her hand free, and Travis didn't even want to admit to himself just how empty his felt without hers in it.

  Then she swayed unsteadily and fell into him. His arms came around her in am instinctive move and he heard her breath catch as her breasts pressed against his chest. Heat—pure, undiluted, hot-as-the-halls-of-hell heat—swamped him and he was pretty sure she felt it, too.

  Their gazes locked for one lon
g minute before she slowly … reluctantly, stepped back and away.

  Damn.

  "Okay," she said, her voice over-bright in a futile attempt to cover up the awkwardness of the moment. "Let's get this over with."

  Travis nodded. Good idea, he thought, but knew he wouldn't forget the feel of her in his arms. "Right. If we set out at a good clip, we'll be able to make our next stop in about two hours."

  "'Good clip,' eh?" she repeated with a smile. "Is that Marine-speak?"

  "Close enough."

  She put her hands at the small of her back and stretched, leaning her head back, staring up at the sky.

  Travis, though, couldn't take his gaze off her. Even with his too-big shirt hanging off her slim body, she looked feminine enough to stoke the hunger riding him. Strange, he'd started out on this mission resenting her and now … hell, he didn't know what he thought anymore.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?"

  "What?"

  She turned her head to look at him and waved one hand at the star-studded sky above them. "This. I mean, granted we're not here under the best of circumstances. And I'd probably enjoy this a lot more if I were standing on a balcony of a great hotel, but it really is beautiful here."

  Travis tilted his head back to look at the wide expanse of glittering sky, taking a moment to enjoy the view, something he'd never done before while on a mission.

  "The air's so clear here," she was saying, her voice a soft hush of sound in the night, "the stars look close enough for you to be able to reach out and grab a handful of them."

  Amazing, he thought, watching her as she turned in a slow circle, taking in the spectacular night sky. Even in these conditions, she took the time to admire the night sky. He wouldn't have thought her the type to notice anything outside a department store. But then, she was surprising him a lot, wasn't she?

  "Don't you think it's beautiful?" she asked again.

  Travis looked at the woman beside him for a long moment before saying, "Yeah. Beautiful."

  And he knew for damn sure he wasn't talking about the sky.

  * * *

  Chapter 6

  «^»

  "Water," Lisa said breathlessly, hardly daring to believe her own eyes. "It's water. Lots of it."

  "Looks good, doesn't it?" Travis asked.

  She glanced at him briefly, taking the time to notice the half smile curving his mouth as he watched her. A slow curl of something warm and liquid unwound inside her, and Lisa had to force herself to turn her gaze back on what had to be the most beautiful pool of water she'd ever seen. Standing at the crest of yet another hill made of sand, she stared down at the shallow valley below. And in the heart of that valley lay an honest to goodness oasis.

  For some reason, she'd never considered them real. She'd thought of them as products of Hollywood, created when filmmakers needed a lush spot for the ever popular love scene. Yet there it was, sparkling in the vast expanse of brown, like an emerald tossed into the dirt.

  Pale light kissed the horizon, signaling the rising of the sun, warning of the heat to come. But below, in that blessed valley, tall, slender palms grew in a semicircle around the pool of blue water. The silky fronds rustled merrily in the breeze and sounded to Lisa like applause—as if even the trees were welcoming her. Grass, actual grass, lined the banks leading down to the water's edge, and dozens of bushes and plants thrived here, in the middle of nothingness.

  After days of living in a beige world filled with fear and exhaustion, just the sight of the oasis was enough to make her heart swell with relief.

  "It's wonderful," she said, and heard her voice crack.

  "Even better," Travis told her, "we're officially in El Bahar now."

  She turned her head to look at him again. "You mean…"

  He grinned. "We're safe."

  Safe. They'd actually made it. Escaped her captors. Survived the desert. Tears stung Lisa's eyes, but she blinked them back. Ridiculous to cry now that it was all over. The time for tears would have been in the cave. Or when she was struggling to keep up with him as they crossed the sand. But to get all misty now, when their troubles were behind them made absolutely no sense.

  The last few days crowded together in her mind. Images of Travis, guiding her through the darkness, arguing with her, feeding her, protecting her, rose up in her mind, one after the other. She owed him so much more than she could ever repay. How does a person go about thanking someone for their life?

  Especially, how did she go about it, since she hadn't exactly made his job any easier.

  "I can't believe it."

  "You can check the map if you don't believe me." His voice teasing, he looked at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

  "It's not that," she told him with a smile, letting her gaze slide from his to the desert landscape behind them. It felt as though she'd been born in this desert. And though she'd never admit this out loud to anyone, there had been times when she'd doubted that she would ever leave it. Yet here they were. What was that old saying? "Bloodied, but not beaten?" Lisa smiled to herself and took her first easy breath since the morning she'd been kidnapped.

  They'd come so far, she and Travis. In more ways than one.

  She'd only known him a few short days, but in some ways, Lisa felt closer to this man than to anyone else she'd ever known. Amazing how a few days of intense living could make you feel so … attached to someone. Looking up into that rugged face with its strong lines and sharp planes, Lisa's heart turned over. He'd literally saved her life. He'd pushed her to find her own limits and then helped her surpass them.

  "You did it," she finally said, staring into those chocolate eyes that were now so familiar to her.

  His grin slowly faded as he shook his head. "No, princess, we did it."

  She laughed shortly and heard the irony in the sound. "We, huh? Awfully generous, Captain America." She shifted her gaze back to the cool, green grass below them. Easier to admit this part if she wasn't looking at him. "You practically had to save me in spite of me."

  He took her upper arm in a firm grip and turned her around to face him. Heat pushed through her bloodstream at his touch, quickening her breath, staggering her heartbeat. Her stomach did another slow flip-flop, and Lisa wondered if she would ever feel that sensation again once they'd gone their separate ways.

  His thumb rubbed her skin before he released her, and Lisa didn't even want to think about the immediate loss of warmth.

  "Don't be so hard on yourself," he said. "You stood up to it. Way better than some I've seen."

  She'd like to believe that, Lisa realized. For once in her life she'd like to believe that she'd accomplished something on her own. Strange. Three weeks ago her biggest accomplishment to date had been arranging an impromptu dinner party for seventy-live of her father's closest friends. And she'd been pretty proud of herself for it, too.

  Now, though, she'd been put to the test and she'd passed. She'd survived a kidnapping and a hostile desert. She'd eaten a snake, slept in a cave and managed to keep up with a professional warrior on a forced march. And though heaven knew it hadn't been easy, she'd made it.

  A sense of pride filled her, and Lisa marveled at it. It had been so long since she'd been proud of herself for anything.

  "We'll rest here today," he was saying, and Lisa pushed her thoughts aside to listen. "Head for the city when the sun goes down. If we're lucky, we won't have to walk the whole way in. Might run into one of the El Baharian desert patrols." He slung his weapon over his shoulder and held out a hand to her. As she took it, he folded his fingers around hers and said, "But for now, how about we go on down there and scoop up some of that water?"

  * * *

  An hour later Travis leaned back against a date palm and laid his weapon on the grass beside him. For the first time since this whole thing had started, he felt relaxed. Now that they were in El Bahar, he knew that even if there were pursuers in the desert somewhere behind them, they would never risk crossing the border to cause troub
le.

  Mission accomplished, he thought, and wondered why he didn't feel more relieved about that. He should be quietly celebrating. Hell, they were about to go their separate ways—at last. Two days ago he'd been able to think of nothing else. But now, watching Lisa at the water's edge, only a foot or two away, things were different. In the soft hush of early-morning light, she knelt on the grass, using his water-filled Keviar helmet as a wash basin. Drawing his knees up, he rested his hands on them and watched as she lifted first one arm, then the other, smoothing fresh water along her skin.

  His body tightened and his hands clenched into fists. Yep, it was a good thing the mission was nearly over, he told himself. He was starting to get way too fond of this woman. If someone had told him he'd be feeling like this a few days ago, he would have thought they were nuts.

  But damned if she hadn't gotten under his skin. Her fierce stubbornness. Her dogged determination to not be beaten. Her willingness to argue at the drop of a hat—and the fact that he didn't intimidate her in the slightest. He admired her—and he hadn't expected to.

  Not one of the spoiled rich girls he'd grown up around could have stood up to the past few days. They'd have wilted under the pressure. But Lisa'd only gotten stronger. Like steel tempered under fire, she'd faced the worst and come out better for it.

  His gaze narrowed on her as she cupped her hands and splashed water on her face and neck. Lifting her chin, she stared up into the already brassy sky and let water droplets slide down her throat and beneath the neckline of her dress. She sighed and he felt it.

  Damn it, he felt that sigh right down to his bones. It was the first time he'd really seen her in daylight—and he had to admit, at least silently, that she was made for sunshine. Her blond hair, even as wet as it was now, looked like gold, and her fair skin was—

  Travis frowned as a quick jolt of anger pulsed through him. In a few long strides he was kneeling down beside her.

  She glanced at him, smiled and said, "It feels so good to wash all of this sand off that I…" Her voice trailed off as she looked into his eyes. "What is it? What's wrong?"