by Janice Lynn
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” she asked incredulously.
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” he retorted, arching a brow at her. “I’m not going away, Amelia. Neither am I leaving you. We’ve tried that, and guess what? Nothing’s changed. We need to resolve the unfinished business between us.”
“Unfinished business?” she scoffed, knowing she’d lost any offensive hold she’d had. “You mean sex?”
“More than just that but, yes, sex, too.” He moved toward her and she got the distinct urge to take a step back. Defensively. “But you can rest assured, for the sake of our careers, I can wait until we’re at port call.” He flashed a smile that couldn’t be called anything except bad. “For both our sakes, let’s hope you’re as disciplined.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re a pig.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Why did he keep smiling? Acting as if this was all one big joke? She wanted to hit him!
“Quit being so obtuse!” she chided, frustrated with his lackadaisical smile and attitude.
His lips twitched. “You want to grab a jacket before going up deck?”
Seething, she marched past him and headed up deck before she even realized that’s where she was going.
Behind her Cole just laughed. A rich, deep-timbred sound that rocked through her soul.
She should have turned around, gone anywhere other than with him. But maybe fresh air would clear her befuddled brain.
Then again, perhaps only Cole could clear out the confusion he caused.
Thirty minutes later, Amelia and Cole looked out at the dark blue sea. Smoky gray clouds covered the sky and it looked as if it might rain later. They stood opposite an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet, providing them with a shield from prying eyes.
Somehow, he’d gotten her talking about her father. She was never quite sure how Cole did that, got her to talking about herself and her family when she’d had no intention of telling him a thing. He’d even gotten her to discussing her siblings’ names.
“Your father is a great man, Amelia Earhart Stockton.”
“I don’t need you to know that about my father, but thanks.” She rolled her eyes at her full name. Her parents had named all their children after individuals they’d admired from history. Well, except Josie. None of the Stockton siblings had ever quite understood why her parents had named their youngest after the lead singer of an all-girl band.
“Growing up with him as a father couldn’t have been easy. I remember Clara saying he…” Cole’s voice trailed off.
All righty, then, Amelia thought awkwardly.
“You told her I’m here?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
She couldn’t tell him that she’d only told her sister earlier that very day in the e-mail she’d sent as he’d entered the room. Besides, why did he want to know what Clara had said? Why did he look so concerned?
She stared out over the horizon. “I’d rather not discuss my sister.”
“Don’t you think we should?”
She turned to him. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Your sister is a wonderful woman.”
La la la. Amelia mentally stuck her fingers in her ears. She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want to hear Cole extol Clara’s virtues.
“But I should never have asked her to marry me,” he continued.
La la la. She focused on where the sky met the sea, on the wind whipping at her clothes, her face, her hair, on the scent of the ocean.
“Clara was my closest friend, and I mixed that up with other feelings.”
“It took you long enough to figure that out. You walked away on the night before your wedding,” she pointed out, wincing inside. She hadn’t meant to let him draw her into this conversation. She didn’t want to have this conversation.
“I’m not going to make excuses for myself, Amelia. What I did was wrong.”
“Oh, you’re so sanctimonious. Do you want me to get on my knees and bow to your goodness?”
A tic jumped at his jaw. “Tell me you wanted me to marry your sister,” he challenged, placing his hands on her upper arms, forcing her to face him. “Tell me you think I should have married her when kissing you that night far exceeded anything I’d ever felt.”
“Don’t say that.”
He stared at her so intently she thrust her chin up.
“I couldn’t marry Clara. Marrying Clara would have been the worst thing I could have done to her when I didn’t love her the way she deserved to be loved.”
“Do you want me to say you’re forgiven? That you were a saint to walk away and break her heart?” She glared. “I’m not going to absolve you that way.”
“I don’t need your absolution,” he informed her point-blank, his expression tight. “Clara forgave me years ago.”
“Ha,” she scoffed. “If you believe that you’re a bigger fool than I thought.”
He was close. So close. Despite the breeze she could feel the heat coming off him, could feel its pull, could feel the scorch of his fingers on her arms as if he branded her.
“Has anyone ever told you that you are the most stubborn female?”
She lifted her chin another notch, but focused on the slightly crooked slant of his nose rather than meet his eyes. “I’m not stubborn.”
“And infuriating,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “And beautiful. So damned beautiful you make me breathless. I want you, Amelia. More than I’ve ever wanted anything or anyone, I want you.”
Shocked out of her anger, her gaze met his and she instantly realized she’d made a horrible tactical error.
Because the eyes truly were the windows to the soul and Cole had just seen how his words affected her.
His lips came down on hers. Hard.
Automatically, she bit him. Hard.
He swore against her mouth, but didn’t step back, just kept on kissing her, willing to take whatever punishment she doled out. Only he gentled his lips against hers, swept his tongue into her mouth with slow thrusts, leaving himself vulnerable to any retribution she opted to wield against him.
She should bite him again.
She really should.
But he tasted so good, felt so good. She’d waited two long years to feel this good again. She leaned against him, her palms flattening against the width of his chest, and relaxed, giving free access to her mouth.
He held her, his hands pressing her tightly to him, his body hard against hers. But his kisses remained gentle, exploring, a mating dance meant to seduce her into bowing to his whims.
She hated him. And yet…she didn’t.
He lifted his head, breathed raggedly against her mouth, stared into her eyes with a wildness in his she’d never witnessed. “You make me crazy, Amelia. Certifiably crazy.”
Breathless, she strove for her usual cool. “You don’t exactly do much for my intelligence either, Einstein.”
He laughed softly, resting his forehead against hers. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
Something inside her plummeted at his words.
“Not here.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Not where someone could have seen us.”
She bit the inside of her lower lip in relief, and frustration. He was right, but…
“Don’t look at me like that, Amelia. I want you too much. At the moment I want to carry you off to the closest bunk and our careers be damned if it means I can have you.”
“Oh.” Was that pleasure curling in her belly? Why did his admission make her feel so…desirable? Wan ton? Sexy?
“Yes, ‘Oh,’” he mimicked, and gave her a look so intense she had to take a steadying breath. A look so full of desire and passion and pure unadulterated lust that she could only stare at him in wonder. “You’re safe for now but, come port call, you’re mine. No more games, no more pretenses, you are mine.”
CHAPTER NINE
A TOTAL of three months had passed since Cole’s arriva
l aboard the USS Benjamin Franklin. Currently, the aircraft carrier was docked at the Changi naval base in Singapore. Cole had spent the morning working with one of the ship’s chaplains in humanitarian efforts in the city. He suspected Amelia had, too, but he hadn’t seen her. Probably intentionally.
Since their kiss, she’d become wary, watching, studying him. The looks she’d stolen weren’t hostile, more resigned. As if she’d accepted that eventually the sparks between them would ignite and burn them both.
You are mine. Where had that he-man statement come from? He wasn’t the knock-them-out-drag-them-by-their-hair kind of man. Never had been. Then again, no woman had ever affected him the way Amelia did.
She really did make him a little crazy. Very crazy.
But all of that would change. Soon. Tonight?
Several of the crew had planned to meet up at a bar that was a regular hangout of military personnel in Singapore. The bar was just a few streets from the port and one of many that catered to the thousands of soldiers that made port call at the only Asian port deep channeled enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier. Cole and a couple of the other medical crew who’d volunteered with the chaplain walked together at the end of their charity stint.
The streets were crowded, filled with exotic noises and smells. Fish markets, delicacies from street vendors, and Chinese, Malaysian and various ethnic restaurants tempted his nostrils. Modern skyscrapers gleamed high above the streets, glistening against the setting sun and providing a spectacular high-tech backdrop that spoke well of Singapore’s prosperous world-class port.
Even without the upbeat rhythm of the city, an excitement filled the air. Physical excitement. Cole and Peyton had signed out as liberty buddies that morning and were checked into a hotel the ship had arranged. In separate rooms.
Inland, physical release was fair game and happened in excess. Thousands of young soldiers with money burning holes in their pockets and a few days to drink, party and be merry before returning to their life aboard ship.
With sexual relations forbidden on ship, port call often served as a sexual smorgasbord either between crew members or with locals.
Cole had never indulged in that particular aspect of port call. Drinking to excess and deafening his pals with poorly sung karaoke renditions, yes. Meaningless sex just didn’t do it for him. Even before his assignment aboard the USS Benjamin Franklin, a long, long time had passed since he’d last been with a woman.
He’d been okay with that. Then. Now he could honestly say he was more sexually wound up than at any point during his life. But he had no plans to pick up a strange woman in a bar. Meaningless sex still didn’t appeal. He planned to find Amelia and finally make good on his promise.
You are mine.
Amelia was going to be his.
If she wasn’t at the bar, he wouldn’t stay long, would go in search of her and he’d find her. She was checked into the same hotel as he was. All the medical staff were. Suzie was her liberty buddy and had no qualms in letting Cole know that their room was on the same floor as his, only a few doors down.
His sole purpose for the next two days was to spend as much time with Amelia as possible. Preferably in his bed.
When he and the group he was with entered the low-lit bar, Cole skimmed the crowd, taking in soldiers mixed in with locals. He recognized numerous USS Benjamin Franklin crew and nodded acknowledgment to several who called out to him, but he declined their offers to join them. He was on a mission.
“Who are you looking for?” Peyton asked, casting a sly glance Cole’s way. “A particular female doctor perhaps?”
Cole didn’t answer his colleague.
“It’s no secret you’ve got the hots for her. You planning a little port call party for two?”
He scowled at his liberty buddy. “Watch what you say.”
Peyton held up his hands. “No offense meant, man. I just figured she was who you were looking for. It’s obvious there’s something between the two of you.”
Then Cole saw her. Every corpuscle in his body contracted into a tight ball.
She was his.
Her hair was down. Lying softly across her bare shoulders, the tips trailed between her shoulder blades. She wore an exotic sundress of reds, greens and golds that made her eyes shimmer like molten liquid. Never had her eyes seemed so erotic, so luminous. Possibly because of the makeup brushed across her lids, her cheeks, the gloss puckering her all too kissable lips, but he suspected the look had more to do with an internal beacon she emitted. One every ounce of testosterone within him responded to.
Sitting with a group of nurses, corpsman, Suzie and the ship’s other medical officer, she had a brightly colored drink in front of her and a happy look on her face.
A little too happy a look.
She laughed at something someone said, leaned over and laid her head on Suzie’s shoulder for a brief second in a very non-Amelia type gesture. Way too relaxed, way too touchy.
Cole frowned. How long had she been at the bar?
Her gaze lifted, clashed with his, sent conflicting signals that said Come and get me if you think you’re man enough and Go away, you’re not wanted at the exact same time. No woman had ever sent stronger mixed signals.
Cole chose to go with the first option. He was definitely man enough and he definitely wanted to come and get her. Still, he wouldn’t rush. He’d found her. He’d take his time, savor the building sexual momentum and make his move when he was ready.
Of that, neither of them had any doubt. Was that why she drank? To lower her desperately clung-to guard? To have something to blame come morning light?
He didn’t like the idea, but there was nothing he could do about it other than make sure she was sober by the time they got back to the hotel. No way would their first time be with her drunk. She’d come to him of her own free will.
Peyton and the others Cole had entered with joined Amelia’s group, pushing up another table and chairs.
Amelia’s lips parted and her gaze dared him to join them.
Shooting her a smile that revealed nothing and yet promised everything, he crossed to the bar, was greeted by more colleagues and ordered a beer.
He swapped stories with a friend he hadn’t seen in over a year that was serving on a battleship in their battle group. He bought a beer for a crew member, turned down three offers to dance from women he didn’t know and only occasionally glanced toward Amelia.
Each time he did, he found her watching him. And tonight, for the first time, she didn’t bother to look away when he caught her.
Her big brown eyes boring into him, tracing over each feature as if trying to figure him out, to figure out why he hadn’t tossed her over his shoulders and carried her back to his hotel room. If only she knew how desperately he wanted to do that, yet that same desperation was what held him back. He wouldn’t lose control. To do that would just be foolish.
A captain, full of himself, presented himself to her, strutting like an inebriated peacock.
“Dance with me, pretty lady,” he slurred, bowing in grand gesture and drawing a couple of chuckles from others at the table.
Amelia’s gaze slid from Cole to the man. Slowly, she shook her head back and forth, declining his request.
He didn’t leave, though, instead cajoling her to change her mind, flashing smiles and phony compliments. The room was too noisy for Cole to make out exactly what he said, but he’d have to be blind to miss Amelia’s reaction to the flirting and her subsequent reconsideration of the man’s request.
No.
Cole left his bar stool, cleared a straight path to Amelia’s table, his gaze never leaving his quarry.
Distracted by the man, she hadn’t noticed his approach, but her tablemates had. Suzie smiled, giving him a “what took you so long” look. Sitting to Amelia’s right, Tracy elbowed her.
“Hey!” Amelia protested, glancing away from the captain to the nurse. “What was that for?”
Her brows lifted expressively, the
woman gestured toward Cole. He didn’t move, just stood, feet spread wide, arms at his sides, ready for whatever she threw at him.
“Oh.” Her full lips rounded in surprise.
Or feigned surprise at any rate.
He’d just been had. She’d had no intention of dancing with the man, just of making him jealous, making him come to her. She’d played him.
“Cole,” she purred, her eyes full of wicked delight.
“Yes. Cole.” Don’t play games with me, Amelia. Not tonight. Not ever. “Sorry I took so long,” he said for the benefit of the captain unhappily observing his interruption and looking imbibed enough to mistakenly think he could stake a claim despite Cole’s arrival. He shot the man a “she’s mine, back off” glare, then returned his attention to Amelia. “I got caught up talking to an old friend, but I’m here now.” He held out his hand to her. “Let’s dance.”
Amelia melted into Cole’s arms, laying her cheek against the soft material of his cotton-blend shirt. He wore some funky button-down with jeans. Seeing him in civilian clothes should make her think of when they’d been in school. Perhaps it did. But rather than remember, she was assailed with new thoughts.
For years she’d blamed him for what had happened, never considering that perhaps Cole hadn’t wanted the attraction between them any more than she had.
Perhaps he still didn’t.
Maybe he was as trapped by the chemistry between them as she was. Not wanting the attraction, but unable to resist it. That she understood all too well. Hadn’t she barely slept the past several nights, guilty with the knowledge she’d soon be at port call, would soon embrace her feelings for Cole?
Her arms draped loosely around his neck, toying at his nape. He’d had his hair cut at some point during the day, but the sun-streaked locks were just as soft as she remembered.
He smelled so good. Spice and soap and musky male. The scent of him intoxicated her more than the cocktails she’d been drinking in the hope of drowning out her guilt.
