The Christmas Wild Bunch

by Lindsay McKenna

  Chuckling, he said, “Does that mean you’d come over for a post-Christmas gourmet dinner at my place once we get home?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Wow. This is new. What happened?” He reached up and tapped her brow, touching her dark hair in the process. “Are you sure you didn’t hit the windshield and bump your noggin?”

  Dallas caught his hand and squeezed it. “No, Cowboy, I didn’t. I’m not out of my mind, as you’re implying.”

  Holding her hand on her thigh, Mike said, “Maybe this little crash woke you up, then?”

  “Maybe,” she agreed. She liked the way his strong, warm fingers felt wrapped around her own. Their flight suits had dried out hours ago, thanks to a good fire. The temperature was rising now that the cold front had passed through.

  Murdoch set down his plate. “I’m entertaining a thought, Dallas.”

  “Uh-oh, here we go….”

  “Ah, come on. Indulge me and my fantasies.”

  Giggling, she said, “Okay, what’s your idea?”

  He took her hand and rested it on his thigh. “We have two foil space blankets. How about we spread one on the cave floor and huddle beneath the second one? We can stay warmer by sharing our body heat.”

  She met his dark gaze and grinned. “That’s funny, I was thinking the same thing, Cowboy. How about that?”

  “You’re such a tease, Klein.”

  “Me?” She feigned shock.

  “You’re as bad as I am, and you know it.”

  She liked the way his mouth drew into a boyish smile. The gleam in his blue eyes sparked a hot response. “I like the idea.”

  “Good, so do I.”

  If nothing else, the crash had ripped away Dallas’s fear of having a relationship with Mike. Life was too short. One or both of them could be badly injured or even dead right now. And they weren’t. “I don’t know where all this will lead,” she confided to him, dropping her teasing tone. Dallas searched his eyes.

  He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “I don’t either, Dallas. But you know what? I’m open to a future with you. Being around you is like living with a lightning bolt. I never know what will happen next.” His voice lowered. “What I can’t live with is the thought of not having you in my life.”

  “Even if I am the proverbial lightning bolt?”

  He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently. “Some people are catalysts, darlin’, and you’re one of them.” His voice deepened to a growl. “What is important to me is you, Dallas. That’s the bottom line.”

  Her heart opened and a soft sigh issued from her lips. “Do you always say the right thing at the right time?”

  “No. Look at how we crashed into one another on that first day.” Murdoch flashed her a wicked grin.

  “Point taken,” she admitted, returning his smile. “But you changed.”

  “Yes, because you were right, and I was wrong. You’re a fair-minded person. You forgive past mistakes, and you don’t throw salt in a person’s wounds. You forgive, forget and move on. I’ve never met a woman like that. And not that many men, now that I think about it.”

  “It’s not productive, hanging on to the past,” Dallas murmured. Her hand was tingling wildly where he’d pressed that lingering caress. What would it be like to kiss those male lips of his?

  “How about we take this a day at a time?” Mike suggested.

  “Roger that.”

  “Good. You want to make that satellite call to Nogales?” They had checked in by GPS earlier with the C.O. and had promised one last nighttime transmission to let him know they were safe.

  “Yes, I’ll do it this time.” She reluctantly released Mike’s hand.

  “You take care of business, and I’ll take care of our bed.”

  Dallas saw the little-boy smile on his mouth grow. “Sounds perfect, Mike. Go for it.” She went to the pack for the GPS phone. Stepping to the cave entrance, to pick up transmission, Dallas made the call.

  Murdoch had put the finishing touches on their bed when she turned and walked back to him. She was smiling broadly.

  “Good news. Los federales say they’ll be here around 1100 tomorrow morning to pick us up, by helo. They’ll take us to Hermosillo, where Nike and Charlie will meet us and fly us back to Nogales.” She switched off the GPS and tucked it into the pack.

  “We’ll consider this our roughing-it-in-the-wild experience,” he suggested, watching her come toward him. Her flight suit had a zipper and his fingers literally itched to start pulling it downward.

  Dallas’s entire body tingled beneath Murdoch’s dark, animalistic look. In the privacy of a remote canyon, with no one to interrupt them, she could finally consummate with Mike Murdoch all she felt for him. His delicious mouth curved upward at the corners as she slipped her arms around his broad shoulders.

  “Now,” she whispered, taking full advantage of her height and pressing herself wantonly against his male form. “Right now…” His mouth swept down on hers like a hawk upon its prey. Except she was no victim, nor was he her enemy. Predator, yes, but so was she. A soft moan rose in her throat as his mouth moved commandingly against her own. Matching his strength, relishing the warmth of his lips, Dallas felt his hands, long and lean, curve around her rib cage.

  The scent of him, the taste of coffee, the dryness of the cave and the freshness of the rain-washed air combined in a mix of pleasurable sensations. As his tongue swept across her lower lip, she smiled, and his eyes shone with fierce blue fire. Together the two of them sank to the blanket, facing one another. He tore his mouth from hers and pulled the other silver blanket over them.

  Mike had thoughtfully rolled up their nylon jackets into makeshift pillows. As he settled back down, his arm beneath her neck, he reached for the zipper at her throat.

  “You have no idea how long I’ve dreamed about doing this,” he told her huskily, and then captured her mouth with his once more.

  Dallas’s skin burned with need as he slowly, agonizingly slowly, pulled the zipper tab downward. He brushed the skin between her breasts. Threading her fingers through his dark, mussed hair, she inhaled his masculine scent, her nostrils flaring as she drank him in thirstily. When his hand reached her abdomen, Dallas moaned again.

  Without hesitation, Murdoch slid his large, rough palm inside her flight suit, exploring her flesh. His fingers wreaked pleasure everywhere he touched. When he finally grasped her hip and drew her tightly against him she felt the hardness of his arousal and responded instantly. His lips curved, and she smiled with him.

  “Now,” Dallas whispered against his mouth, “it’s my turn.” She found the zipper of his own flight suit and just as slowly opened it. Bit by bit she drew the tab down, the material apart, to explore his hairy chest. His muscles leaped beneath her caresses.

  By the time she’d gotten the zipper down to his crotch, he was groaning. Barely able to think herself, Dallas felt him slide his hand beneath the shoulder of her flight suit and ease it off. She mimicked his actions. In no time, they had kicked the garments off their feet and pushed them aside. Dallas never wore lingerie beneath her flight suit. She hated such constraints.

  “Dreams do come true,” Murdoch murmured, kissing her cheek, her delicate earlobe, and then trailing a series of nips down her slender neck. He delighted in the erratic pulse beneath her smooth, soft skin. Though his own body was hard and aching, he wanted to slow himself down to please her thoroughly. This was about what he held in his heart for this courageous woman warrior.

  She was so incredibly soft in all the right places…. His hand moved to cup one of her luscious, taut breasts, and she sighed in response. Murdoch wouldn’t disappoint her. No, he wanted to continue to hear her moan, hear her gasps of delight and feel her fingers digging convulsively into his tense shoulders.

  As he moved Dallas onto her back, Murdoch looked down into her slitted, golden eyes, framed by those thick lashes. His gaze lingered on her parted lips, which gleamed from his kisses. Satisfaction soared through
him as she slid her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down to her. She was unafraid to meet him as an equal.

  His whole body radiating tension, Murdoch groaned as he thrust deeply into her. A cry escaped her lips and she wrapped him in her arms, keeping him close as they moved together rhythmically. Before Mike knew it, a wild, heated vibration had begun in his lower body, changing to tremors and then a powerful earthquake. As he felt her tense with pleasure, his release began, an explosion of heat. Eyes closed, he felt every cell of her soft, liquid core surrounding him. The sensations were like powerful waves hitting the beach, one after another, rolling through him. The heat was scalding, and he growled with pleasure….

  Gradually, Murdoch became aware he was lying on Dallas, and he rolled off, drawing her into his arms. He wrapped the silver blanket around her exposed shoulders.

  Firelight danced and leaped against the cave walls. Though her face was shadowed, her eyes burned with fierce desire. Dallas threaded her fingers through his damp hair, and then pressed her palm to his cheek.

  “You are something else, Cowboy,” she whispered, sliding her lips across his. Her entire body felt like effervescent champagne. Dallas absorbed the sensation of his hard male planes against her softer, rounded ones as they snuggled together beneath the blanket. She rested her cheek against his shoulder and gazed up into his smoldering blue eyes. There was such warmth radiating from him that she didn’t feel the cold of the cave. Brushing her hand across his perspiring face, his rugged jaw, she whispered, “What a wonderful gift. Thank you….”

  Murdoch smoothed her mussed hair away from her face. He saw the satisfaction in her eyes and heard it in her husky voice. “We’re a gift to one another, darlin’.”

  With a sigh, Dallas relaxed in his arms. The firelight created shadowy flickers against the rock walls of the cave. The snapping and popping of the wood was pleasant and soothing. “It’s nice to be able to fall asleep in your arms,” Dallas whispered, closing her eyes.

  Murdoch cuddled her close, curving his arm over her back and shoulder. For a long time, he lay there, just listening to her breathe. Her hair tickled his chin, and each moist, warm exhalation caressed his flesh. All these things he’d imagined before this, yet the real thing surpassed them all. Mike felt like the richest man in the world. It was one helluva Christmas and Hanukkah, after all.

  CHAPTER 8

  “So, when were you going to tell me you’ll be leaving?” Mike asked. Outside the cave, the dawn sky was gray. The worst weather had passed as they slept in one another’s arms. It had been the best night of his life.

  Dallas had just climbed back into her flight suit, and so had he. She stared at him across the fire, which he was bringing to life with some twigs. Her heart thudded in response to the serious look in his eyes. Pulling the zipper up to her throat, she sat down on the twisted silver blankets, where they’d made love twice. She took one olive-green sock and pulled it onto her right foot.

  “I was trying to think of a way to broach the subject,” she admitted quietly.

  Mike continued to add bits of twigs, which flamed to life on the coals. “I finally found out why you’d been so standoffish for so long.”

  “It was top secret. How did you find out?” She put on the other sock and watched a slight smile crawl across that wonderful mouth of his.

  “I can’t tell. I have my sources, though. Don’t forget I was an Apache helo pilot myself before I left the U.S. Army and joined the Border Patrol. Ten years in the military teaches you a lot.” He snapped a couple more twigs and dropped them on the growing flames. “I still have friends in the Pentagon.”

  “I see. They must be heavyweights, then.”

  “You could say that.”

  “You’re enjoying this too much, Murdoch.”

  “Am I?” He rose lithely and went to the stash of larger limbs he’d gathered the night before.

  Dallas sat there, legs drawn up, arms resting across her knees. She watched him walk back to the fire. Outside, the day was dreary but not rainy. At 0700 it was cool but not freezing. “Yes, you are.”

  “I’m sorry, darlin’. I shouldn’t be teasing you like this.”

  “Especially before I’ve got coffee percolating through my veins.”

  His mouth curved briefly. “You’re going to get orders on January 2 to head up Black Jaguar Squadron 60.” He looked up and held her narrowed eyes. “They’ve given you a number designation. Did you know that?”

  “No.” Frowning, she studied Murdoch in the gathering silence. Only the wood popping, snapping fire broke it. “Okay, wise guy, how come you know so much?”

  He gloated. “Major Dane York is a friend of mine. Has been ever since we flew Apaches together back at flight school.”

  “Oh.” Dallas quickly put the rest together. Dane York had married Maya Stevenson, commanding officer of the Black Jaguar Squadron in Peru. “It appears you and Dane talk often.”

  Mike shrugged. “We do keep in touch. He called me a week ago to let me know that Maya was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and both of them are leaving Peru and heading to the Pentagon for a two-year assignment.” Murdoch held her gaze. “Maya and Dane will be your ops and planning contacts when BJS 60 goes live.”

  Surprised at the information, Dallas digested it a long time before speaking. “Where are they putting the new squadron?”

  “Afghanistan. At a secret base near Mazar-e-Sharif. It will be a jump-off point for you and your women to get to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan in a hurry. That’s the next area the Pentagon thinks terrorists are going to try and destabilize. They will continue to eat away at the edges by fomenting havoc with all the newly formed countries in that region.”

  She shook her head. “Damn good thing you work for our side, Murdoch. This is black ops stuff.”

  “Well,” he hedged, rising and dusting off his hands, “I had to know, Dallas.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to lose you.”

  Her heart bounded, reacting to the sudden emotion in his low tone. It was his eyes, however, that gave him away. Dallas saw the love shining in them—for her. Gulping, she said, “I guess that’s a good reason.”

  “Want me to come along? I’ll even pack your bags—and mine.”

  She grinned belatedly as he smiled. Holding out her hand, she said, “Come and sit with me.”

  “An offer I can’t refuse.” Murdoch ambled over and settled beside her. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he drew Dallas against him. As he kissed her mussed hair, he whispered, “Well? Can I crawl into your luggage and come along? Did you know I speak excellent French? The secret base will be in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I could come in handy, you know, if you need a translator.”

  Chuckling, Dallas eased back enough to catch the glint in his eyes. “You are such a tease, Murdoch.”

  “But you love me anyway?”

  Silence hung between them.

  Dallas moistened her lips, which still held the taste of him. “I don’t know when it happened, Mike. The first day, I really didn’t like you. But now…”

  “The first day was bad,” he agreed, holding her warm gaze. “I love you, Dallas. I don’t know when it happened, either, but you rubbed off on me.” Lifting his hand, he swept a few silky strands of hair off her brow. “And if you say no, I’m coming anyway. Dane said you were going to need a good ops coordinator. You don’t know this, but I have lots of training in that department. So I’m coming along no matter what you say.” He flashed his teeth in a broad smile.

  Laughing lightly, Dallas shook her head. “You really are incorrigible, Murdoch. Yes, I’d love to have you come along. Because I love you.” There, the words were out. Dallas had waited so long to say that to a man. The last time she had, the Peruvian medical doctor had left her. She didn’t think Mike would. And seeing the pleasure in his face, the joy in his eyes, her heart soared with happiness.

  “That sounds right to me,” he growled, and lean
ed down to kiss her smiling mouth. Her lips were wonderfully soft, and hungry once more. Resisting temptation, he eased back and said, “I have a special surprise for you when we get home to my apartment.”

  Groaning, Dallas said, “Don’t tell me. A turkey.”

  “Well, that’s not all.” He gave her a squeeze. Resting his chin on her head, he said, “I guess I can tell you now. It really won’t spoil the surprise. I noticed a while back that you often wear small pink diamond earrings. I got in touch with my friends in Mexico, and they know a jeweler who creates one-of-a-kind wedding rings.”

  Dallas grunted and sat back, amazed. “You didn’t.”

  “Yeah, I did. I had him make a channel setting of small pink diamonds for your engagement ring. I have it in a box back at the apartment. I was going to give it to you for Christmas dinner dessert.”

  She saw the pride in his face. “I’ll bet it’s beautiful. I can hardly wait to see it. I love pink diamonds.”

  “You’re the diamond in my life. In a couple of hours, we’ll be home, darlin’. You’re going to live with me until we get reassigned. The C.O. is going to miss us, but he’ll get replacements. My life is with you—wherever they send you in this world of ours.”

  Reaching up, Dallas kissed Mike tenderly, then framed his face with her hands. “You know what you are to me?”

  “Beside a huge pain in the ass at times?”

  She remained sober. “I love your humor, Mike. But to me, you’re my forever man.”

  He grasped her hands and held them. “Count on it, Dallas. But only if you’ll be my forever woman.”

  She met his warm gaze, her heart melting. “Forever, Mike.”

  * * * * *

  For the perfect blend of romance and suspense with plenty of danger and adrenaline-packed action, don’t miss The Coltons of Shadow Creek series!

  Colton’s Secret Son

  Colton Undercover

  Pregnant by the Colton Cowboy

  Cold Case Colton