Heartbreak Hero

by Frances Housden

  “Low blow, Kel. You know darn well I’m talking about you pretending to be someone you’re not. Still pretending even after…even after all of that other stuff—”

  “The word is sex, doll. But I’ll tell you why. I didn’t think it mattered.” His chest rose, nostrils flaring on a deep breath. “What has it been? A little more than a week? Hardly long enough to delve into personal histories. I saw you and wanted you, nothing more, nothing less.”

  He stared past her at the mountains, eyes half shut, crinkling at the corners as if he’d already said a mouthful. The shutters were up and he had no intention of letting her inside his head.

  And when he finally looked at her again, all his eyes held were the twin reflections of cold snowcapped peaks.

  They said attack was the best form of defense. But Kel knew he’d come across as a sullen bastard. Self-preservation could take some of the blame. He had feelings for Ngaire. Feelings he should have stifled the moment they surfaced. Instead he’d allowed them to grow. And to get them back on the same footing as last night, he was going to have to lie like he’d never lied before, lies on top of more lies. They weighed on him. He didn’t like it one iota. “It’s pretty hard on the ego having a famous brother. Especially one who’s an identical twin. This trip was booked under another name because I’m sick of people’s reaction. They read K. Jellic and immediately assume I’m Kurt.”

  He shoved his fists deeper in his pockets and told the truth, nothing like it for adding a pinch of authenticity to the lie. “Everyone wants to know what it was like hanging off the end of a rope for hours on end, not knowing if you’re going to live or die. Once the media gets in your face they’re harder to shake than flies in the outback. What they really want to know, but won’t come right out and ask, is did he kill them?”

  The moment she laid her hand on his arm, he knew he’d won, but as victories went, this last one was cheap, more likely to give him ulcers than bring him out in a rash of high-fives.

  Her expression softened, eyes, blue as a Tahitian lagoon, stared into his, washing over him in a wave of empathy that played hell on his conscience as she confided, “I’ve had my own fifteen minutes of fame. All I got from it was the need to be on my guard.”

  “I suppose your quiz show win made you a celebrity in Chinatown. Did everyone keep touching you for luck the way the other passengers did after you made it back on that cliff?”

  “Do you think that’s what they were doing? It hadn’t occurred to me.” Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, and when she opened them again her eyes were clear and uncalculating. “Guess I owe you an apology for going for the throat.”

  He shrugged, still acting, blunting the cutting edge of the words he’d used to hurt her, when given half the chance he’d rather kiss her better. “I took the bigger bite. Put it down to the human condition, none of us likes to be caught out.”

  He tasted bile in the back of his throat as she said, “No, I’m sorry—” conceding blame, then “—I should have come right out and said I’d met your brother. Instead I let my hurts stew. I thought we’d become close and gave too much weight to a holiday affair.”

  “Don’t. It’s my fault. I meant what I said before. One look at you and I wondered how it would feel to be inside you. Now I know, and it’s better than anything I could have imagined. But our relationship has nowhere to go. You know it. I know it. We’ve both kept secrets from the other….”

  She shook her head.

  Pulling his hands from his pockets, he gripped Ngaire loosely above the elbow and tried to ignore the softness of her skin and the memory of touching every satin inch. Would he ever get over wanting her? Never. He pushed aside the thought of needing a lifetime to erase her from his mind, to tell her, “You’re still denying it, but I know those guys who tried to beat us to a pulp weren’t after me. You’re the one they’re interested in.”

  A sigh rippled through her. He felt its passing in the outside curve of her breasts, the undulating shivers caressing the sides of his hands. “You’re right. I know who sent them. There’s this guy back in San Francisco, Paul Savage. Rich dude, well connected, borderline Mafia. I have something he wants me to sell and since I refuse he’s decided to steal it instead.”

  Savage? Mafia? Why hadn’t Chaly warned him of the new player in the game? He gritted his teeth to ask, “What have you got that he wants?” His question came out sounding the worse for wear and slightly anxious round the edges, so he looked down at her breasts, rubbing his thumbs against them, and added, “Apart from the obvious.”

  She gave a self-deprecating snort, like ones he remembered her making while she slept. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, and the less you know the better. I’m sorry for getting you into this. Maybe it would be safer for you not to have anything more to do with me. Last night wasn’t the first attempt, that’s why I was surprised you thought the guys wearing the ski masks were Chinese.”

  Damn. It seemed Ngaire thought the Mafia were involved. He’d have to make time to call Chaly, if his cell phone would work surrounded by all these mountains. “So, they’ve gone after you before. When and where?”

  “You know about the one in Tahiti, well I saw him again in Auckland. I banged into him as I was running for the ferry and winded him, but Schmidt took care of it for me.”

  “Schmidt?”

  “Yeah, he was right behind me. The other attempts happened in the caves at Waitomo and that time I got lost in the mist at Rotorua.”

  “God, doll, you’re not safe to be let out on your own.” He cupped her face in his hands, knowing it was the lover speaking, not the undercover agent. “You know I can handle myself. From now on I won’t let you out of my sight. Day or night.”

  He kissed her then. Right out in the sight of God and everyone around them. Not caring a damn who saw, he deepened the kiss and held her close as she answered him with an equally impassioned response. After one last, slow brush of his mouth over her lips, he let her go and felt her sigh stretch between them.

  “It’s too much to ask of you, Kel. I should have realized the danger and not let myself become involved. But stop worrying about me. It will all be over soon.”

  “When?” All his senses snapped to attention as Ngaire ran her hand up and down the strap of her day pack. He knew he’d been correct. The formula was definitely hidden inside. The pack was looking worn around the edges, probably the weight of the million or so lives it held inside its scuffed navy canvas. The problem was figuring out where she’d stashed it that Chaly hadn’t already searched.

  “Tomorrow…” She hesitated.

  Every particle of concentration focused on Ngaire, as if to extract the information through sheer strength of mind, as she finished, “Somewhere near Christchurch. That’s when I hand it into someone else’s care.”

  “Don’t be sighing your relief too quickly, and don’t even think of relaxing your guard, tomorrow’s not here yet. And you can be sure I’m going to be closer than your shadow.”

  Ngaire looked over her shoulder. He followed her gaze. A few passengers had begun filing into the tour bus. “Somehow I think you’ll have second thoughts about following me into the rest room. That’s my next port of call.”

  “No problem, I can wait outside.”

  Together, they walked back into the Hermitage, their paths on an angle that crossed Jimmy Chen’s and a few of his cronies.

  Chen barred their way. “Bus leaving now. You come quickly.”

  Ngaire answered for them both. “We’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” After they cleared the doors, she grabbed Kel’s arm, looking back at the men they’d just passed. “You don’t think…”

  “Let’s not discount anyone.”

  “But they’ve been so nice.”

  “Could be it’s the smirk on the face of the tiger, best not to trust anyone.” She smiled, when realistically his warning included himself. As soon as she’d gone inside, he’d call Chaly with the news of the handover. Knowing his b
oss, he’d want to be in at the kill. A cold lump of lead settled in the pit of his stomach as he wondered what tomorrow might bring, for him, for Ngaire. From whichever angle he looked, none of them had a hope in hell of coming up smelling of roses.

  Outside the rest rooms, keeping up the pretence, he said, “Look, we have two nights before we fly out of Christchurch in different directions, let’s make the best of them.” She nodded, and now that was settled he asked, “My brother say anything?”

  “Only to tell you he approved.” Then she disappeared into the rest room.

  He should never have asked. That was the trouble with being Kurt’s twin. The knowing went both ways.

  His thoughts were still with Kurt as he hung up on Chaly and Schmidt arrived. Hardly a surprise. The man always seemed to be there, like last night. There was more to that than met the eye. His answer wasn’t long coming. Schmidt strode straight up to him. “We need to talk.” The German nodded to the other door. “In there.”

  Wondering what had happened to the guy’s heavy accent, Kel told him, “No thanks, I’ve been.”

  Schmidt reached inside his jacket, saying, “Maybe this will change your mind.”

  Kel locked his fingers around Schmidt’s wrist. “No you don’t.” He quickly patted down the guy’s perennially brown jacket.

  “I’m not armed. Take a look for yourself, inside pocket.”

  He flicked back the brown lining. “You take it out, Schmidt, if that’s your real name. Be quick about it. I’m expecting company.”

  Seemed his name really was Schmidt, at least according to the Interpol ID in his pocket. Kel handed it back. “You don’t half pick your moments. We can’t talk now. She’ll be here any second.”

  “At the next stop, then.”

  “That’s Lake Tekapo. She’ll want to go into the Church of the Good Shepherd overlooking the lake. It’s small, so it’ll be pretty crowded. I’ll wait outside. We can talk then.”

  On the walk back to the bus, Kel wondered who in the hell next was gonna join their game of follow the leader?

  Did Ngaire have any idea of the high stakes most of the players hoped to win?

  Chapter 16

  T he Christchurch hotel room was standard city fare, the bed a little harder than Kel would have chosen, which was no reason for feeling he’d spent the night on a knife’s edge, holding Ngaire close, so neither of them fell off.

  Kel always said he could sleep anywhere, knowing the slightest sound out of sync with his surroundings would have him instantly awake, and though it was almost light when Ngaire began to rouse in his arms, he’d hardly closed his eyes. All night long, his mind had calculated the odds against untangling her from the crisscross of intrigue centered around her.

  He knew the way things worked. Once her usefulness was over, the drug cartel would have no compunction about taking her out as casually as they would squash a mosquito that irritated them.

  He and Schmidt were on the same side, but then Schmidt’s only interest was in nixing the formula for kiss-and-tell, and Ngaire was simply a byproduct of the deal, only important because of what she carried, while she carried it. Once that was gone all bets were off, and she’d be fair game for anyone carrying a grievance over missing out on the profits from the new drug.

  Profits that would never eventuate if he had his way.

  He wished he could be like Schmidt, but he had feelings for Ngaire, feelings that had snuck up and planted themselves under his skin without his knowing. It was all right pretending he’d only been following orders, doing his duty.

  His heart knew otherwise.

  Inside his head he’d done an equation with her on one side and all the people who would suffer if kiss-and-tell got onto the streets. Ngaire lost out big time. But when he did the same experiment with his heart, she was the clear winner.

  “What time is it?” Her voice vibrated across the skin of his shoulder where her head had lodged as she slept.

  He rolled with her in his arms, covering her with his oh-so-eager body, and felt the jolt that shot through her as he fit his hardening flesh to the apex of her thighs, taking most of his weight on one elbow. “Too early to do anything except make love.”

  She didn’t say “again,” though she could have; he’d lost count of the times he’d taken her in the night. But morning would be on them with a rush, and after that nothing would ever be the same.

  “Good thing I went out and bought those condoms.” Her voice was husky, breathless, sending spikes of desire shooting through him. He ducked his head to capture her lips and her essence. He wanted to breathe it down inside him and hold it there forever.

  A latent hunger prowled the back of his mind. He cupped her breasts and lavished her nipples with kisses. “Man, you taste good, I’ll never get enough of you to satisfy me. I need to taste you all over.”

  Ngaire laughed. It was the truly sexual sound of a woman who knows what is going to happen next. “Be my guest. Don’t let anything stand in your way.”

  “I don’t intend to.”

  He dipped lower, his tongue circling her navel. Ngaire’s heart pounded. What a way to waken up. Her hips squirmed under his weight, anticipating what was to come. Kel was such a wonderful lover, the thought of losing him was almost too much to bear. It was as if they truly had thrown their hearts ahead of them when they’d jumped off that bridge, and each gotten theirs back, implanted with a piece of the other’s.

  Mesmerized by the rhythmic feel of his palms flowing from her hip to her knee, from somewhere outside herself she felt him part her legs. Felt his mouth, his hot, wet mouth, kiss the ache his touch had wrought in her womb. Felt his tongue tighten the knot on the sensation of pleasure and pain he’d tied her up in, until she splintered into a thousand tiny pieces.

  Ngaire’s moans were a clarion call to his hunger, and before the aftermath of her climax subsided Kel thrust inside her and let her heat ripple over him. Her pretty little rounded buttocks filled his hand as he held her still, unmoving, breasts crushed to his chest and hair spilling over her pillow. He twisted a hank of black silk round his fist and pulled her face closer.

  Slowly they tormented each other’s lips, nipping and licking and let the conflagration build in strength where they joined. She wriggled her hips under him; he refused to move until finally the desperation, the striving to get back where he’d taken her before, drove her to beg him. “Now, Kel. Now.”

  “I’m not wearing anything.” It felt so good being inside her, flesh to flesh with nothing to dull the sensation. He was drowning in it, frightened to move in case he climaxed too soon and lost this feeling of being one with her.

  “Neither am I.”

  He felt her tighten around him, a sensation tempting him to let go, lose control. “I mean you’re not protected.”

  “I always feel protected when I’m with you.” She grabbed his face between her hands and began covering it with kisses, whispering between each brush of her lips. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it, I’m safe…” She rocked her hips against him. “This is how it was the first time, only better.”

  Ngaire handed over her heart in her kiss, pouring all her feeling for him from her mouth to his, loving him. Small ripples of fire caressed her insides as he returned it. His hips flexed as he stroked her, slowly, slowly setting her aflame. “Yeah, this is much better. Last time you kept your distance and it hurt. Do you know how painful it was not being able to touch you like this?”

  Her hands danced across his back in swift, teasing nips, taking her pleasure from the jolt of his heart against his sternum as she stung little love nips across his tight butt.

  It wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted it all, to be dominated by the power of his thrusts, not to be treated like the fragile doll he’d nicknamed her. “What would make it better still,” she said, wrapping her legs round his waist, pulling him closer, “would be for you to lose some of that control.”

  He did a long, slow glide out and in, gritting
his teeth all the way, a demonstration of what control meant. “Be careful what you ask for, doll. You might just get it.”

  “And I might just like it.” Ngaire’s nails traced the nodules on his spine, touched the nerve guaranteed to make his body thrust involuntarily.

  It felt fantastic. He bit back a groan and through gritted teeth, he shredded a challenge. “So it’s war, is it?”

  “You betcha!” Her teeth fastened on the cord of his neck and nipped, short and sharp, with no allowances for kissing it better. “Let the good times roll.”

  It occurred to Kel that he’d never known what good times were before Ngaire. She was saint and sinner all wrapped in one, a temptress, a teaser, and since Gordie was gone, the person he’d most prefer to have by his side in a fight.

  Talk about teasing and tempting, she squeezed her internal muscles in a way designed to make him yell “Uncle!” Well, he would see who yelled surrender first.

  From the moment the decision was made, he felt a weight lift from his shoulders, and for the only time since he’d first bedded a woman, Kel Jellic lost hold of his famous control and took Ngaire with him to a place above and beyond the call of duty.

  From the safe haven of Kel’s arms Ngaire said, “I need to get up.” His arms tightened round her, but the thrill that shot through her had more to do with fear than sex. What happened today would shape her future. Life or death—which would it be?

  Anxiety left her mouth in a long drawn-out sigh, knowing she had Kel only for today and tomorrow, especially tonight. If only all her problems could be solved so easily.

  “I have to move, they’re delivering a rental car for me at eight. Don’t want to be late today of all days.”

  She felt Kel tense. “When did you arrange for a car?”

  “It was arranged for me. All I have to do is drive the route marked on the map and get rid of my passenger.” Oh, ho, was Te Ruahiki listening? She wouldn’t like him to take offence at this late stage of her trip.