by Desiree Holt
He nodded. “Not a smart move to get out of that car, Taylor.”
“Kate?” Her throat was closing up on her again.
“Also shot.” He couldn’t hide the ghost of a grin. He pulled a chair over and folded himself into it, one ankle resting on the opposite thigh. “I’ll give you a two-minute version until you’re well enough to hear it all.”
Noah and Edgar had waited to take out most of the guards at the plant quietly before getting close enough to set the charges and that had taken some time. Paul Hunter, caught in the blast and dying told them Kate had escaped. Jim Haskins had also been killed in the explosion. They had all been headed back to the Hummer when they heard the shots. Taylor had hit Kate in the shoulder, shattering it and Kate’s had fired at the same time. Her bullet had plowed into Taylor’s side and exploded in her body, doing a lot of internal damage and splintering three ribs.
By the time Noah and Edgar had reached her she’d lost a great deal of blood. It took all of Edgar’s political connections to get her into the Mexican hospital and treated by one of the country’s best surgeons and without any questions or paperwork.
Noah’s friend from Homeland Security had arrived with four men to take custody of Kate Belden and one of the HS forensic teams was still sifting through the remains of the factory. Carl Mortensen, chairman of Arroyo’s board, was running the company temporarily and keeping things on an even keel until Taylor could return.
“Not needed,” she tried to joke.
“Don’t kid yourself. They need you now more than ever.” He cleared his throat. “John Martino left everything for you locked in the den safe and said to call him anytime. For anything.”
She tried to nod but everything hurt too much. She could tell the drugs were kicking in again, thankfully. Her eyes closed and she fell back into the soft fluffy embrace of unconsciousness.
When she opened her eyes again Noah was gone and Jocelyn Hart was sitting beside the bed. As soon as Taylor opened her eyes she lifted the ever-present plastic cup and fed her some ice chips.
“They had to do a lot of internal repair work,” she explained, “so they’re keeping you off even liquids long enough to help you heal.”
“How long have I been here?” Her voice sounded marginally better to her ears.
“Eight days.”
“Eight-eight days?” Taylor started to sit up in shock but the pain made her recoil. Even after eight days the pain had barely approached a manageable level.
“Just lie back.” Jocelyn’s hand was cool on her arm. “The ranch is running just fine so you have no worries there. And tomorrow, if your doctor says it’s okay, I’m going to wash your hair. After the nurse bathes you I’ll put you in something a little more decorative then these penal colony gowns they give you.”
“My bandages…” She gestured at the bulky gauze and tape on her body.
“Kate’s bullet did a lot of damage.” She took Taylor’s hand in her own. “You have a lot of healing to do. Just take it one day at a time, okay?”
She had one more question. “Noah?”
Jocelyn took her time answering. “I, um, believe he’s gone on a trip.”
“A trip?” Taylor shut her eyes tightly, squeezing against a lone tear that threatened. Noah wasn’t on any trip. He was gone. Just as he’d told her he’d be. Silent as a thief in the night.
* * * * *
When she was finally released from the hospital, Jocelyn and Tony came to get her with Greg, preferring the helicopter to the bumping of the Expedition. She set her mind to her recovery, knowing she’d accomplish nothing as long a she was a semi-invalid. She exercised lightly, swam in the pool, took walks. She read everything John had left for her and turned over copies to Homeland Security. They were busy following the many threads to terrorist groups.
She finally had the time to tour the ranch with Tony and get a thorough explanation on exactly how it worked. His knowledge and ability impressed her and gave her a comfortable feeling, knowing the ranch would continue to prosper under his direction and guidance.
Little by little she worked herself back into the running of Arroyo. On days she didn’t make it into the office Carmen came to the ranch and they worked. She hired a headhunter to find someone to replace Kate and Paul and asked the board to assist with the interviews.
And she tried to put her life back together. She visited Josiah’s grave, then ordered a new headstone that said beloved husband and father. The picture he had of himself with her mother she had blown up and hung it to replace the one of him alone.
But there was still a gaping hole in her life that no amount of work or activity could fill. Every day she waited to see if he walked into her office or the ranch. Jocelyn had told her he hadn’t left her side at the hospital but as soon as she woke up he left and no one had seen him since then. His house was up for sale, his office had been cleaned out and Arroyo Security had a new vice president.
He’d run. She knew it and she knew why. His story played over and over in her head. She ached for his tragedy and the sting of rejection by someone he loved, especially considering the reason. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what he’d gone through that had robbed him at the end of the will to live. Now she fully understood his loyalty to Josiah. It also gave her a deeper look into Josiah Gaines himself.
At night she lay in bed, her throat so tight from choking back tears she wasn’t sure she’d be able to speak the next day. Tears for herself, for Noah and his lost child, for the father she’d never have the chance to know because of shallow, narrow-minded people.
But I’m not like that, Noah. Why didn’t you at least give me a chance? I don’t know what we have but why couldn’t you stay around to find out?
Her pubic hair had grown back and she wondered with a rueful feeling what the hospital staff had thought of her naked mound. She thought about shaving it herself just to recreate the feeling.
The ache between her legs grew incessantly stronger and when she showered she imagined it was Noah’s hands grasping her nipples. She wanted him almost more than she wanted her next breath and the thought shocked her beyond belief. When had this adversarial relationship based on nothing but an uncontrollable sexual need turned into something else?
But she knew that night in the cabin he’d stolen her soul as well as her body. And he’d taken it with him when he left, wrapping it around the pain he’d carried with him for so very long.
She badgered Tomas who was less than helpful and even haunted the security department in case he happened to drop in.
Finally she had to admit he wasn’t coming back but as far as she was concerned that wasn’t the end of it. She knew where he was and she was going there before another day passed.
Chapter Twelve
The first rays of the morning sun dappled the leaves of the oak trees surrounding the cabin as Noah stood on his porch wearing only a pair of jeans, watching the gray of the night sky fade away. Today, as he’d done every day since leaving San Antonio, he would run his five miles, climb Moffett’s Hill and find other activities to push himself physically. Enough to exhaust him so when he fell into bed at night maybe he wouldn’t dream.
Ha! Fat chance!
He barely closed his eyes each night before the image of that miniature Rubens figure with her fall of auburn hair, ripe breasts with plump nipples and tempting curves slammed into him. Green eyes glittered with passion. And that gorgeous cunt, so naked and glistening after he’d shaved it, the pussy lips swollen with need and glistening with the flow of her juices. How many times had he awoken in the middle of the night with an erection that could drill a hole in the wall.
He couldn’t help but smile every time he remembered the way she’d grabbed the reins at Arroyo and yanked on them. Or feel his body heat when he remembered the grip of her pussy walls around his hard cock as they climbed the rollercoaster together. Fire and steel under that silken exterior. A woman any man would want to claim as his own.
A woman he wa
nted to claim.
When he’d seen her lying in that clearing in Chiapas he thought his own heart would stop beating. There was so much blood and she was whiter than bleached cotton. Beneath the forced exterior calm he’d been a madman until they had her at the hospital in Mexico City. He’d threatened Edgar with everything including castration if he didn’t get the best doctor in the country and make sure Taylor was treated properly.
And the hours spent sitting beside her once they got her back to San Antonio, praying for her to just open her eyes and say something. Anything. Even if it was to tell him to go to hell.
Walking out of her life was one of the hardest things he’d ever done but that was a road he’d never travel again. Once was enough. No matter what Taylor Scott said, before long she’d realize too strongly their difference and begin to turn away from him. White bread women like her didn’t last with ancient warriors, no matter how good the sex.
So he’d cleared out. Left Arroyo, called Jocelyn to put his things at the ranch in storage and put his house up for sale. And retreated to the one place he hoped to find some kind of peace.
He’d just poured himself the first cup of coffee of the day when he heard the familiar whapping sound of the helicopter rotors. He looked out the window and saw Greg landing the Arroyo machine in the clearing, jerked and swore as the hot liquid splashed onto his hand.
Damn son of a bitch. Can’t they leave me alone? I knew it was a mistake to have him pick us up here that day.
If the copter itself bothered him, when he saw the woman jumping down from the cabin he was even more agitated. He started out of the cabin to tell her to get the hell back on the bird but he was too late. She waved at Greg, the copter lifted off and there she was, a goddess in the clearing.
She smiled at him, a tentative smile. “Hello, Noah.”
“Taylor, what in the goddamn hell are you doing here?”
The smile wavered. “Nice to see you too. Is that coffee you’re drinking? I could use a cup myself.” She started forward.
“You shouldn’t have let Greg take off like that and leave you here.” He was such a seething mass of emotions. He wanted to scream at her to get out of his life at the same time he wanted to wrap her tightly in his arms, caress her and fuck the life out of her.
“Too bad. Now you’re stuck with me.”
She walked into the cabin, brushing past him as if he wasn’t even there.
“Listen, Taylor…”
She ignored him. Finding another mug in the cupboard she filled it from the carafe, blew on it, then leaned against the counter. Her emerald green eyes stared at him over the rim. “So how are you, Noah? Enjoying your own company? It was very rude of you to just walk out on me that way.”
“Damn it, Taylor, you know why I left. And why you should never have come here.”
She sipped at the hot liquid. “I got tired of waiting for you to realize what an arrogant ass you are and come to your senses. In Greg’s favor he didn’t want to bring me but I coerced him.”
“You’d better call him on his radio and get him back here because you’re leaving.”
“Not on your life.”
They stared at each other across the small space, the heat between them intense enough to combust on its own.
“Taylor, we have no future together, you know that and you know why. Now call Greg back and get the hell out of here.”
She set her mug down carefully. “I’m insulted as hell that you think so little of me, to even consider that I’d be repulsed by your heritage. I think if Josiah was here he’d kick your ass for even saying it.”
With fingers that trembled just slightly she unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. Noah gritted his teeth, fighting for some kind of control.
“I thought you had more guts than that. We have something special between us and sex is only part of it.” Her laugh was shaky. “Although I have to say the sex is damn good. Damn good.’ The second button opened.
“Stop.” He should grab her hands to stop her and button her back up but he was rooted to the spot, immobile.
“But I sense a real connection between us, a strong one.” Another button. “And I’m positive Josiah would approve. Aren’t you?” The last button was undone and Taylor opened the shirt and shrugged it off her slim shoulders.
Noah felt his mouth go dry as he saw she wore no bra. Her breasts stood proudly, tempting him, the plump rosy nipples just begging to have his mouth around them.
“Put your blouse back on.” But his voice sounded hesitant even to himself.
“I rooted around in his den while I was recovering. Not much to do when you can’t get around.”
Now he saw the scar, running from just under her right breast and disappearing into the waistband of her shorts.
Shit! She was lucky to be alive. Some bodyguard he was.
“He was an interesting man, my father,” she went on. Now she opened the button on her shorts and slowly slid the zipper down. “Courageous. Gutsy. Not afraid to take a chance on life. Even when life stole the woman he loved from him, he went on and built himself an empire.”
The rasp of the zipper was amplified in the silence of the room. She pushed the shorts down over those lush hips and kicked them to the floor.
Noah nearly strangled on his own tongue when he saw that she’d shaved herself. Her naked cunt stared at him from between her firm thighs. His heart rate kicked up a notch and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead. He set his coffee mug down on the little round table before he dropped it.
“I think he’d be very disappointed that you were afraid to take a chance on something that could be so important in your life. That after ten years you still kept the past wrapped around you like a hair shirt.”
Still keeping her eyes on him, she reached behind her and boosted herself up onto the counter. She spread her thighs wide and reached down to her mound, touching herself with the tips of her fingers.
“I haven’t enjoyed life too much without you, Noah. Somehow even being the CEO of a big international conglomerate doesn’t have the same spice.”
She pulled the outer lips back slightly and he could see the pink flesh glistening. His cock was so hard he was sure it would break right through the zipper on his fly and his legs were suddenly unsteady.
Taylor scooted back on the counter, lifted her feet and planted them at the edge so every bit of her cunt was open to his view. His heart was beating so furiously against his ribs he was surprised they hadn’t broken. When she moistened the tip of one finger with her tongue and touched her clitoris he couldn’t stand it anymore. His body finally got the signal and he moved forward.
Thank God!
As Noah began to move toward her Taylor breathed a silent prayer of thanks. It was taking all her courage to put on this performance for him. If he didn’t respond she was sure she’d die of humiliation.
Her body already ached for him, the victim of the long nights in an empty bed. She’d tried to figure out how to break through his self-imposed barricades and this was the only answer she could come up with. When Greg dropped her off he’d winked and wished her luck. She’d need every bit of that.
Now she watched him approach, her bronzed warrior with the dark eyes and the silken fall of black hair loose around his shoulders. She could see every one of his ancestors reflected in his body and his face and at that moment felt sorry for anyone who couldn’t appreciate the value of Noah Cantrell as a man.
As he moved between the vee of her legs she held her breath, waiting for him to make the next move. When his eyes dropped to her gaping sex and he slid one finger along the wet length of her slit she almost shouted with joy. She had him now.
“Noah…”
Anything else was cut off as his mouth came down on hers with bruising intensity. His tongue licked the soft inside of her bottom lip before plunging inside to taste the roof of her mouth, the velvet of her inner cheeks, the roughness of her own tongue. His hands reached up to grip her sho
ulders, his fingers biting into the soft flesh as he drank from her mouth. He left no inch of that hot wet cavern untouched in his effort to absorb it all and suck her dry.
When he lifted his head to look at her at last his eyes glittered with hot flames of desire.
“You kill me, Taylor.” His voice was thick with desire. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
“Then take me,” she cried. “Please stop this nonsense that’s cluttering up your head. I know you loved Teresa but maybe she wasn’t for you. Maybe she couldn’t love you as much as you loved her.” She took a deep steadying breath and let it out. “But I do.“ Her voice shook so much she could hardly get the words out. “I love you, Noah and I think you love me.”
“A nice white bread girl like you wants to mate with a savage?”
“Stop it. Just stop it.” She wanted to pound his chest with her fists. “You are what you are and that’s who I love. Please.” One lone tear rolled down her cheek despite her attempt to contain it. I won’t cry.” I’m not Teresa. I’m Josiah’s daughter and that makes a world of difference. And yes, I want the savage because he’s part of the man.”
Please, please, please.
“We’ll both be damned if this doesn’t work out but I can’t turn away from you. Not again.”
And just like that she saw the shields crack and the walls crumble. His face was alive with naked desire and need and for the first time she saw real emotion in his eyes.
He lifted her from the counter and carried her to the bed. In seconds he had his jeans off and was kneeling between her legs. “I have to taste you. God, I’ve missed your taste so much.”
He separated her folds, allowing himself a moment to glory in the sight of that pink, glistening flesh before lowering his head and sliding his tongue from her anus to her clit. Again he did it and again, his big hands holding her thighs wide apart to give him greater access as he drank his fill. He licked her outer lips slowly, dragging his tongue along the shaved skin, then plunging it into her wet heat, eagerly lapping her juices that were now flowing in rivulets.
