Chase awoke slowly, surrounded by Andi’s scent. His body ached for her so badly that he imagined she filled his arms. His hands tightened on her. He wanted to hold on to the dream for as long as possible.
A tiny sound, almost like a moan, cut through the haze of sleep. There was a hand pressed to his chest, and he knew it was only a dream, but he kept his eyes closed. He didn’t want to wake up, didn’t want to face the world just yet. He wanted to savor the fantasy of Andi touching him for just a while longer.
Then someone moaned again, and the hand moved on his chest. He opened his eyes to find that Andi was curled into him, sound asleep. She’d fisted her hands in the material of his shirt and wedged her leg between his thighs.
And his body had noticed. He was fully and painfully aroused. For a moment he allowed himself to lie still and watch her sleep. Her hands clenched and unclenched on his shirt, and he felt the imprint of each of her fingers on his chest. Her leg twitched between his, and he had to grab the grass next to him to keep from wrapping his arms around her. When she moaned once more, it was all he could do to keep himself from covering her mouth with his.
She was asleep, for God’s sake! He told himself to move away, but he didn’t move. His excuse was that he didn’t want to wake her up.
He closed his eyes and tried to forget everything that had happened between them. He tried to imagine that he had just met Andi McGinnis, and that they had nothing standing between them, no bitter memories, no deaths.
He opened his eyes again, determined to move. Even if they had no past, they couldn’t forget the present and their responsibilities.
Andi’s eyes fluttered open, and she looked directly into his. For just a moment he saw pleasure and desire. Her mouth relaxed and her eyes heated to a brilliant blue. For just a moment she saw only him, and wanted him.
The need and desire he’d kept leashed burst forth from deep inside him, and everything faded except for Andi. He kissed her mouth, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer. Her lips clung to his, tasting and taking, and her eyes fluttered closed. She made a small sound in the back of her throat and struggled to free her hands so she could throw them around his neck.
He groaned once as he buried his face in her neck. When he raked his teeth over her ear, she shuddered against him. Then her hands snaked beneath his shirt and clung to his hot skin.
He drew in his breath sharply when she raked her nails over him. When she touched his nipples with a tentative finger, he felt a hot punch of need. He rose over her and shoved her shirt up to her neck, staring down at the plain white cotton bra she wore and the dark outline of her nipples beneath it.
His muscles trembled with the need to touch her, to taste her. Finally she opened her eyes and looked at him. When he saw the uncertainty in her gaze, the hesitation, he realized she was unsure of herself. The thought sent another punch of need through him.
Andi McGinnis was never unsure of anything.
He never imagined he would be able to put her off balance.
He reached out a hand and unsnapped the clasp of her bra. She gave an instinctive start, grabbing for her shirt, until he caught her gaze with his own.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice a harsh guttural sound in the silence. “I need to touch you.”
As she held his gaze, her hand dropped back to the ground. He saw her swallow once, saw the brief flash of apprehension in her eyes. Then she grasped his shirt and pulled it slowly over his head.
His blood thrummed through his veins, shouting in triumph at her surrender. Her hesitation, her trembling hands, told him that she wasn’t an experienced woman. He’d seen the brief telling moment of fear in her eyes. But she’d touched him, anyway. She wanted him. And he wanted her like he’d never wanted anyone in his life.
He ignored the need clawing at him, demanding release. Instead, he raised himself up on one elbow, then bent down and kissed her again. When he felt her relax, felt the softening of her muscles, he moved down and brushed the opened bra away from her breasts.
“You’re beautiful, Andi,” he whispered, touching one nipple, feeling himself get even harder as he watched it tighten. “More beautiful than I imagined, and I’ve imagined a lot.”
She swallowed again and closed her eyes as he bent to take the nipple into his mouth. He felt her tense around him and he slid one hand beneath the waist of her pants. She was hot and wet, and she bucked against him when he touched her.
Slowly he teased her nipple with his tongue, then drew his finger along the dampness between her legs. Her head fell back, and she moaned. He touched her again—and felt her come apart in his hands.
He gathered her close and held her as the shudders racked her body. After a long time she pulled her head back so she could look at him.
“What was that all about, Chase?”
Her voice was low and still husky with passion, and hearing her say his name sent a curl of pleasure through him. He slid his hand down her back and pressed her closer.
“If you don’t know, then maybe we ought to try it again. Clearly you’ve had a major gap in your education.”
Hot color flooded her face. “That’s not what I meant. I meant how did this happen?”
She looked bewildered and vulnerable and soft, and need for her coiled inside him, far too urgent to ignore. It made him feel exposed and vulnerable. Because his emotions were painfully raw and far too close to the surface, he gave her a lazy grin.
“I think it started when we kissed. Then I touched your breast, and you touched me. Then—”
She jerked away from him and sat up. “That’s not what I meant. I meant, how could I forget what we’re supposed to be doing? How could you?”
He wanted to tell her it was far too easy. He wanted to tell her it was so easy to forget everything but her that it frightened him to death. But he sat up, instead.
“Chalk it up to tension, McGinnis. It’s a great tension reliever.”
He saw her flush again. “You make it sound so crude,” she muttered.
It hadn’t been crude. It had been wonderful. He wouldn’t soon forget how she’d looked and sounded. Her taste was a part of him now. He would dream about her every time he closed his eyes.
“It’s no big deal,” he said, praying his voice sounded casual. “But we should probably get going again.”
She stared at him for a moment, and he could tell she wanted to say something. He held his breath, hoping she would just turn away and pick up her things. One bit of tenderness, one endearment, and he would be on his knees in front of her, begging her to touch him again.
But she didn’t say a thing. She turned to pick up her pack and the still-sleeping baby, then turned back to him. There were flags of color in her cheeks, but she avoided meeting his eyes.
That was what he wanted, he told himself. He didn’t want any complications on this trip. And making love with Andi McGinnis would definitely be a complication. It was far better that she think he was a jerk. It would prevent problems down the line.
“I’ll paddle the canoe again,” he said. “You can hold the kid.”
“Fine.” Her voice sounded stiff and cold, and he told himself that was exactly what he wanted. “Are we going to leave now?”
“We need to eat something first.”
She looked as if she wanted to deny it, but he knew she must be hungry. He waited until she’d pulled a freeze-dried meal out of her pack, then he took one out of his own pack. It took only a few minutes to heat some water, and in another few minutes they were both eating.
After they’d finished and cleaned up, she hoisted her pack onto her shoulders and stood looking down at Paolo, who was still sleeping. She continued to avoid his gaze, and finally it hit him.
“Are you embarrassed by what happened between us?” he asked.
Color shot into her face again. “Why would I be embarrassed?”
He studied her for a moment. “I think you are,” he said quietly. “I can see it in your face.�
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“I had no idea you were a mind reader,” she snapped at him. “If I’m embarrassed, it’s because what happened was so one-sided.”
His heart crumbled as he looked at her. It was the last thing he’d expected her to say, the last thing he’d thought about. He stepped closer and put his arms around her before she could move away. Andi looked and felt innocent right now, and he was moved by her vulnerability. She fit perfectly against him, but he pushed the thought from his mind.
“It doesn’t matter that it was one-sided. I loved what happened between us,” he said into her hair. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I love knowing how much you want me. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
At that she reared back and glared at him, her eyes flashing. “I’m not ashamed of anything.”
He bent down and kissed her once, his body tightening again when he felt her soften against him. Then he pushed his emotions into the box where he always kept them hidden and stepped away from her. “As long as we’re clear on that. Now let’s get going.”
He made himself sound brisk and businesslike, and after a moment the naked bruised look faded from her eyes and she nodded at him. It only took a few mo ments to get the canoe back into the water. He helped her into the boat, then handed her the sleeping Paolo. Then, climbing in himself, he shoved the canoe away from the shore and started paddling.
Andi watched Chase pull the paddle rhythmically through the water and allowed her gaze to linger on him. He couldn’t see her staring, she told herself, so she might as well get it out of her system.
Her body still hummed with arousal, and the memory of Chase’s touch, his kisses, made her squirm with need. Her face flamed again when she thought about what had happened between them. He must think she was a pitiful needy woman.
She wouldn’t think about it, she told herself. It had happened and she would have to ignore it. She had too much at stake to allow herself to be distracted by Chase Remington. It was just hormones and adrenaline.
But she knew, deep in her heart, that it was more than that. She had always been physically attracted to Chase, from the first time she’d met him. She could chalk that up to hormones and chemistry and force herself to ignore it. But now she knew what kind of person he was. And that made him much more difficult to resist.
Chase appeared to be a cynical, bitter man, hardened by his experiences with the agency. And hardened by life, too, she suspected. But underneath the surface, she was discovering, was an entirely different man.
He was a good man, an honorable man. Chase would deny it. He would tell her that she was looking at him through rose-colored glasses, that she was only seeing what she wanted to see. But she had discovered the truth in these past two days. Chase would not allow anything to happen to either her or Paolo. He would get them safely to Monterez or die trying.
And she’d seen him with Paolo. He was gentle and tender with the baby. Chase was a far different man than the person he presented to the world.
And that was a problem. She would have no trouble resisting the surface Chase. She would still be physically attracted to him, but that was as far as it would go. She would never begin to like him.
She actually liked Chase Remington.
Chase would be horrified if she told him. Her mouth curled into a smile and she almost laughed out loud. That was the one thing that was guaranteed to keep him at a distance.
Feeling much more cheerful, she rearranged Paolo on her lap and looked around. The sun was high overhead. They had only slept for a few hours, although it felt like a lifetime had passed since they’d lain down on the bank of the river.
“So what’s our plan?” she asked Chase.
He glanced at her, and she saw the wariness in his eyes. She swallowed once, then met his gaze. If he thought she was going to brood about what had happened, he was wrong. She had to focus on their mission. Neither of them could afford to be distracted by this attraction that simmered between them.
Something in his eyes shifted, and she thought she saw a reluctant respect behind his frown. “You’re pretty single-minded, McGinnis,” he said.
So they were back to McGinnis and Remington. Suppressing her disappointment, she told herself it was the way it had to be. “I didn’t think we had a choice in the matter,” she said coolly.
“You’re right. We don’t.” He paddled for another few minutes, then let the canoe drift while he turned his attention to her. “I’m getting a bad feeling here,” he said abruptly.
“About what? I thought we were doing pretty well. We haven’t come across a soul all day.”
“That’s the problem.” He set the paddle across his legs. “What were our choices for getting away from Chipultipe?”
She frowned, puzzled by his question. “I suppose we could have gone by car or taken this river or gone through the jungle on foot. Or we could have been picked up by a helicopter or small plane.”
“Right. And El Diablo must know we didn’t drive, because you can bet he’s found my truck, which I hid in the bush outside of Chipultipe. You can also bet he’s been keeping close track of any planes or choppers in the area, so he knows we weren’t picked up.”
“What are you getting at?”
He waved his hand at the dense curtain of trees and bushes that lined the riverbank. The buzzing of insects was a constant drone in the background. “That leaves the jungle or the river. You remember how tough it was to get through the jungle at the beginning of the trip? He knew how hard we would have to battle the insects and the heat and humidity. We would never have made it to Monterez if we’d tried to walk there. The river was the only logical way for us to go. But we haven’t seen a soul. There hasn’t been one airplane or helicopter searching for us over the river. El Diablo is too smart not to know this is where we would be.”
He stared out at the jungle gliding past the canoe. “So why isn’t he looking for us?”
A frisson of fear ran through her. “Maybe he’s waiting at the other end of the river.”
“Where? He has no way of knowing where we’ll leave the river. We could pick anyplace between here and Monterez.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “What do you think?”
“I think we’re going to have to be real careful. And we’re not going to run the river when it’s dark. We’re making good progress,” he said gently. “We still can reach Monterez in time to catch El Diablo. There’s no reason we can’t.”
“Assuming nothing else goes wrong.”
To her surprise, he grinned. “We know something else is going to go wrong. It’s one of the rules of every undercover job. Nothing ever goes smoothly or the way it was planned.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for my next job,” she answered tartly.
His grin faded. “You do that.”
He began paddling again, pulling through the water viciously. The canoe shot forward, cutting cleanly through the muddy water.
A couple of hours later, Andi heard the low rumble of thunder in the distance. She looked above her, puzzled. The sky was a bright cloudless blue. As she cocked her head to listen, Chase froze for a moment, then with a powerful sweep of the paddle turned the canoe toward the shore.
“Did you hear that thunder?” she asked Chase. “It’s not supposed to rain. The rainy season isn’t due for a month yet.”
“That’s not thunder,” he said, his voice grim. “We’re heading for a falls. And from the sound of it, it’s a big one.”
The water was moving faster now, and Chase’s efforts to reach the riverbank were increasingly labored. The speed of the water was pulling them downstream.
“Put Paolo in his sling,” Chase said. “Tie the sling to your body and make sure your hands are free.”
Her hands shook as she slipped the sleeping baby into his sling, then tied the ends of the sling around her waist. Every second the thundering of the falls grew louder and the water swirled faster. Chase was making excruciatingly slow progress getting t
hem to the shore.
“Okay,” she yelled above the almost overpowering rumble of the falls. “Give me the other paddle.”
Chase handed it to her. “Pull hard, Andi,” he shouted.
She dug in and pulled with all her strength. After a few minutes her shoulders burned and the muscles in her back cramped, but she didn’t slow down. They were making progress. Ahead of her the water had begun to boil wildly, crashing around sharp boulders of black rock that rose out of the water like jagged teeth.
“Harder, Andi!” Chase shouted, and she reached down deep for more strength. Paolo was struggling against her chest, but she could barely hear his cries over the thunder of the falls. She didn’t want to know how close they were to the edge.
A swirl of water spun the canoe around and almost snatched the paddle out of her hand. Then the canoe crashed into one of the rocks that rose from the river, and her head snapped back with the impact.
“Are you all right?” Chase cried.
She shook off the dizziness and ignored the pain. “I’m fine.”
“We’re almost there. Keep paddling.”
She closed her eyes to block out the trees spinning sickeningly in front of her. Clenching her teeth, she concentrated on plunging her paddle into the water and pulling it back. The canoe spun again, and she heard Chase curse.
She opened her eyes and saw the edge of the falls, far too close. Chase was trying to reach a tree that hung out over the water. Gritting her teeth, she marshaled her strength and kept paddling. The canoe inched toward the tree. Ignoring the screaming pain in her arms and shoulders, she coordinated her strokes with Chase’s and with each one the canoe moved slightly closer to the tree.
They were so close to the edge that the mist from the falls enveloped them. The water was a churning cauldron, water coming over one side of the canoe and threatening to swamp them. They were completely soaked, and Paolo was wailing in fear. The thunder of the falls was almost overwhelming now. It filled the universe, leaving no room for anything else. Her arms said they could pull no more, but Andi pulled harder. If they didn’t make it to the riverbank, the thundering was the last sound they would hear.
Family on the Run Page 8
