She looked back into his eyes and saw him responding to waking with her like this. Drawn to him, she rolled onto her stomach and inched higher up his chest. Her pelvis dragged along his, over the hard ridge in his jeans. Still enveloped in a sleepy daze made sultry by lying on top of him, she didn’t let any further thought ruin the lovely glow building in her.
Moving his arm from behind his head, Travis cupped her cheek and traced her lips with his thumb. She watched his eyes smolder and knew hers were doing the same. Instant flames. He slid his hand into her hair, curving his palm over the back of her head. Then he pulled her down and pressed her mouth to his.
Raeleen sucked a breath of air with the shock of the touch, so sudden. Giving her no time to recover, he angled his head and she fell with him into deeper intimacy. Tingles radiated through her and made her yearn for more. All reason fled.
He kept kissing her, slow and searching. The sound of their breathing broke the quiet. He moved his hand down her body, and now both hands slid to her rear. Pressing her harder against him, he deepened the kiss, sending shivers of sensation rippling through her. He groaned into her mouth and slid his lips from hers. She kissed the corner of his mouth, seeking more of this unexpected passion. An animal part of her knew it would be good, and temptation clamored for satisfaction. Rising up, she was about to remove her top when her mind awakened from the dregs of sleep.
He worked for TES! He was the epitome of everything she strove to avoid in a man. How could she want him this much?
She propped herself up with her hands on his chest. His eyes were hot with desire, causing a flash of the same reaction in her. “What the hell?” She climbed up off the sofa, fishing around for the flashlight. Finding it, she turned it on and saw him stand up, too.
“Sorry, I thought you...” He let the sentence trail off.
She had, but...
“It was just...waking up like that...”
She held up her hand. “You don’t have to explain. I get it.” Men had morning erections. They’d survived a really bad storm. Nothing to worry about. Right?
She went to the front door. It was still overcast and breezy outside, but the hurricane had abated considerably. Destruction was everywhere. Across the street, her cottage was in ruins. Her heart fell with anguish. They’d have been killed if they’d have stayed there. A few of the other cottages on that side of the street were in similar shape. Not only that, but they were flooded with water.
Travis appeared beside her.
She started to move again, stopping at the edge of her yard. The extent of the damage was nearly incomprehensible. Although many of her memories of this place would involve Deet, her cottage had meant something to her. She’d never owned an island retreat. A cottage with an ocean view had grown into her prized possession, a symbol of all her hard work and success. Now she looked upon a ravaged shell of a once-treasured sanctuary and just felt empty.
Only three walls remained standing. Dirt and debris filled the open spaces, making what once had been nearly unrecognizable.
Tears rushed into her eyes, and she struggled to stop the tide of emotion. She had insurance. She could rebuild. But it would never be the same.
The irony was inescapable. She’d bought the cottage when she’d begun her relationship with Deet. Now it only mirrored the destruction of her personal life. Gone was the enchantment.
* * *
Travis hadn’t bothered Raeleen when she’d stared at her demolished cottage, thick blond hair waving in the breeze above her shoulders. Beautiful. Sad. A picture worth documenting. Maybe not to her, but he’d seen how much losing her cottage meant. He couldn’t tell if she hurt more from the symbolism of her lover’s deceit or from the loss of precious property, but seeing the damage couldn’t have been easy. Memories and loss all melding into one.
He walked beside her toward The Valley, maneuvering around debris as they followed the street. Now that the storm was no longer a threat, he was acutely aware of Raeleen. Kissing her had been explosive. Just as he’d suspected, she was different than Haley. There was nothing fragile about Raeleen. It surprised him how much he liked that about her. How long had he been looking for a woman like her? Long enough. Just his luck, she had an aversion to military men, men who worked for her father. She’d already made it clear she wasn’t interested in him. No point in lining himself up for heartache.
Brief affairs had never bothered him before now. He’d always enjoyed women, whether on assignment or off duty. As long as they had mutual desires, brief was exciting, and he was always open to more meaningful relationships. If it was right, he’d know it, and until now he’d never felt that way. Why did it have to be the colonel’s daughter?
“Why do you dislike your father so much?” The question came with his frustration.
Her head jerked to see him. “I don’t dislike him. I love my father.”
“Do you?” She had a strange way of showing it.
“He was just never around when I was a kid.”
“But he is now?”
“He...” She didn’t finish.
No, he was still never around. He could read the answer in her body language the same as if she’d spoken to him. She rarely ever saw her father. And that made her mad as hell. “How often do you see him?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions about my father?” she shot back.
He ignored her defensiveness because it only confirmed what he already knew. “You keep reminding me that I’m just like him.”
“I see him on holidays,” she relented, turning forward.
She had a really great profile, blond hair bobbing as she walked, graceful slope of her nose, soft skin. “What about your mother?”
“I see her, too.”
“So they’re still married?”
She eyed him as though wondering where he was going with this. He was a little leery about it, too, but he was curious.
“She must have loved him enough to let him do what his passion called him to do,” he said.
He watched her catch his carefully placed barb, blinking fast a couple of times and averting her gaze. She’d accused him of being like her father when it was she who bore the resemblance. Travis’s only affiliation was through his work. She not only pushed away men who tried to control her, she was just as driven as her father in her career. She had passion for what she did, something she condemned in Travis, even though she didn’t see the correlation. Yes, they both wanted partners who accepted and loved them despite their demanding lifestyles, but for Raeleen, a man’s lifestyle could never be military. Or so she’d managed to convince herself.
Travis wasn’t going to be the one to enlighten her. He had a mission to do. That had to come first. Especially now that he knew where he stood with her.
Stepping over a fallen tree, he reached to help Raeleen. She swatted his hand away and stepped over it herself.
He watched her butt move as she marched ahead of him, enjoying the view.
A Jeep emerged over a hill in the littered landscape. It weaved slowly around obstacles on and off the narrow paved road. The vehicle wasn’t marked. Travis adjusted his duffel so his gun was more accessible.
The Jeep stopped next to them. Three men were inside.
“We are volunteers with Anguilla’s Disaster Management,” one of the men said in a rolling island accent. “Are you all right?”
“We could use a ride into town,” Travis said, slipping his hand away from the side pouch on his duffel.
“Are there others you have seen?” the driver asked.
“We haven’t seen anyone,” Travis said.
“We will check to be sure.” The man pointed behind him. “There is another Jeep. They will take you.”
“When will the airport open?” Raeleen asked. “Do you know?”
; Travis wasn’t sure if she’d asked to know how soon she could be on a flight home and away from him or if she wanted to know how much time she had to track down Deet.
“They have had damage to the radio tower. It will be a few days before the repairs are complete,” the man answered.
Travis could probably find an undamaged boat to sail to another island with an operating airport, but something made him decide not to, and he was afraid that something was Raeleen. The sooner he brought her home, the sooner he’d never see her again. He couldn’t tame the desire to crack her shallow opinion of him. He’d bring her home, but not before he tested her resolve a bit more. He’d just have to be careful not to get too attached.
As they neared the second Jeep, a third approached. He stopped. Raeleen grunted when she walked right into him.
“Hey,” she complained, moving around his side to stand next to him. Then she saw the third Jeep. The driver was visible from here.
“Is that who I think it is?” he asked.
“Deet,” she breathed.
Together they watched him stare back at them. Travis didn’t miss how he stared the longest at him. Why had he come here the morning after the hurricane?
Deet began to turn the Jeep he was driving around. Had he come here searching for Raeleen? He could have gone to the lighthouse first. What was the urgency?
Raeleen started forward and Travis grabbed her arm to stop her.
She tugged at the restraint. “Let go!”
“He’s already driving away.”
She tugged harder. “We need to talk to him!”
The Jeep that would take them to the hotel stopped beside them.
“Let’s go.” Once she was home and safely out of the way, he’d have a moment or two with Deet. Without her.
Reluctantly, she climbed into the Jeep.
* * *
“The first thing I want is a cheeseburger.”
Wearing new clothes purchased from a street vendor monopolizing on the aftermath of the storm, Raeleen walked next to Travis into the hotel. The Valley hadn’t suffered much damage. Vegetation seemed to be the worst hit. Hotel workers busily clipped bushes and trees and pruned flowering plants that had lost their petals. Even the main roads were clear already.
“Cheeseburger, yes. Deet, no.” Travis stepped up to the check-in counter. “Reservation for Todd.”
Both his first and second command abraded her like being washed over coral. “I need a room, too.”
“One is all we need.” Travis sent her a warning look while the hotel clerk’s eyes shifted back and forth between them.
“I want two.”
“One. I’m paying.” He handed the woman his card, but she didn’t take it yet.
“I can pay for my own room.”
Agitated, Travis turned from the counter to face her. “I can’t protect you if you’re separated from me by a cement wall.”
“Get an adjoining room.”
“I am sorry, we have no availability. Only single rooms with two queen beds,” the clerk said.
“Then two rooms.” Raeleen began to dig into her purse. Travis’s big hand clamped around her wrist. She looked up at his stern expression, unbending.
“I’m not trying to boss you around.”
“I barely know you. We should have separate rooms.”
“You woke up on top of me this morning. I think you can manage a separate bed.”
Raeleen slid her gaze to see the clerk’s smothered amusement.
Still facing her, he once again extended his card to the clerk, who took it and processed the room.
The ding of her cell phone told her that service was back up. She found it in her purse and faltered. It was a text from Deet.
Can you meet me at the Valley Grill? We need to talk.
Yes, she texted back.
Come alone.
The Valley Grill was a public place and it was the middle of the day. It was also right up the street from here. If she could sneak away...
“I’ll bet they’ll have a cheeseburger,” he said, finished getting the room.
She followed his forefinger to the hotel restaurant. “You have no imagination.” She started toward there.
“It’s a cheeseburger.”
“In a hotel restaurant.” She played along with him, but as soon as she could break away, she would.
Reaching the restaurant, she spotted the restrooms near the front.
“Two?”
“Yes,” Travis answered the hostess.
She began to lead them.
“I’ll be right there,” Raeleen said. “I need to use the bathroom.” She pointed lazily to the facilities.
Travis saw them and spent a second too long contemplating her and then nodded. Did he suspect she was about to bolt?
She turned and walked to the bathrooms, certain he was watching her. After going around the corner, she inched her way back to peer into the dining area. He was looking at a menu.
She hurried from the restaurant and ran out the front door. Still jogging down the street, she slowed as she approached the Valley Grill. It was a newly renovated building designed with gingerbread-house style.
Deet sat on the open patio. Seeing her, he stood. As she approached the table, he moved toward her.
Raeleen stopped. She felt completely different about him now, and if he tried to touch her, she might throw up.
He stopped, too, looking wary of how she’d react to him. “I’m glad you made it through the storm all right.”
“Why was I kidnapped, Deet?” She wasn’t in the mood for small talk.
He started to pull out a chair for her when something out on the sidewalk caught his attention. “I asked you to come alone.”
“I did...” Twisting her neck, she saw Travis striding toward them on the sidewalk, brow low and shadowing angry eyes. He reached the edge of the patio.
Turning to Deet, she saw that he was gone. She caught sight of him running to the back of the patio and a gravel parking area where he’d left a motorcycle.
Raeleen ran after him. “Wait! It’s okay!” She reached the parking area but Deet had already fired up his motorcycle and sprayed gravel as he raced away.
“Deet!” She jumped up and down waving.
There was no way she could catch him on foot. Crestfallen, she turned to go back to the patio and bumped into Travis. His brow creased between his fiery blue eyes. Not happy with her. Not at all.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
Taking offense to his drill-sergeant command, she retorted, “Or what?”
“Or I’ll cuff you to something stationary in the room and feed you hotel food until we can leave the island.”
Oh...the torture...
The smell of grilled food made its way to the parking area. Her stomach growled.
“I was this close to finding out why I was kidnapped.” She held her thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart, right in front of his nose.
“Bring me along next time.”
“Apparently he won’t talk with you around. He ran off when he saw you.” She gave his big body an up and down. “I can’t say I blame him.”
“You either bring me or you don’t go.”
There he went again. “Don’t be such a commando.” Brushing past him, she returned to the table Deet had gotten and sat down.
Travis joined her, sitting across from her. “I take it we’re eating here instead.”
“This is better than your choice.” She lifted one of two menus that were already on the table and had her cheeseburger picked out an instant later.
Leaning back in her chair, she removed her cell phone and sent Deet a text.
You don’t have to worry. You
can talk to Travis, too.
Travis yanked her phone from her, read her message and then entered one of his own.
“Hey.” She grabbed for her phone but couldn’t wrestle it from him.
Finally, he let her have it back and she read what he’d sent.
Come near her again and I’ll kill you.
“Great. That’s just great. Superb. Wonderful. Now he’ll never talk to me and I’ll never know why I was drugged and kidnapped and forced to endure a hurricane with Mr. Mission First over here.”
“What can I get you?” the waiter asked with an impish grin.
“A knuckle sandwich for him. I’ll have your triple-decker.”
The waiter wrote the order.
“I’ll have a triple-decker, too,” Travis said.
“There really is a knuckle sandwich on the menu,” Raeleen said after the waiter left.
“Running off like that isn’t very smart, Raeleen.”
“It’s the middle of the day and there are people everywhere.” She glanced around at the sparse patio and even sparser sidewalks and recalled the vacant parking lot where she’d been kidnapped. It had been daylight then.
“Don’t do it again. I mean it.” Sitting back, dwarfing the table and chair, he had a commanding presence. Commanding presence never worked on her. He might intimidate most people when he talked like that, but not her.
“Fine. Let’s go see him at his house after lunch,” she said.
“No.”
“Excuse me? Then I’m going alone.”
“Go ahead and try.”
While she envisioned being handcuffed and fed hotel food, the waiter returned with waters.
“He can tell us what we need to know,” she said, trying to reason with him after the waiter left.
“He can tell me, after I get you home.”
Oh, no. Was he really going to stick to that? “It might be too late by then.”
“He sought you out. It can wait.”
“Not if you keep scaring him away.”
Seducing the Colonel's Daughter: Seducing the Colonel's DaughterThe Secret Soldier Page 5
