Mission: Seduction

by Candace Havens

  “Hey, I’m the last one to knock therapy. As I said before, I’ve got my own issues. But tell me more about the beginning of all this. You said your dad couldn’t find anything. Why didn’t it end back then?”

  That had happened the first year after Kelly started competing. It all tumbled into place. Why she stopped caring if her dad was there. Tears clogged her voice. “Mom wasn’t having an affair, but she wouldn’t tell Dad that. She liked that he was jealous. She thought it was good for him because he did have a surgeon’s ego, but never when it came to her. She didn’t figure it out that it was because he thought he couldn’t cut it when it came to her glamour and expectations and—”

  “They obviously made it through that rough patch.” The simple words were an affirmation of the fact that her parents were still together.

  “Yeah. Until Mom pushed for another party or another event or something more. When Mimi’s star rose, Mom’s was in decline. But she didn’t let it go. Mom never met a charity function, a political fund-raiser, a movie premier she wouldn’t attend. I’m sure it has something to do with the adulation she receives when she’s in the public eye. Even today—when her modeling career has been over for decades—it’s true.”

  “I gather your dad isn’t crazy about the publicity.”

  She shrugged. “He used to be. He traveled as much as Mom did. He’s a specialist and a rare one, so he gets flown all around the world to consult on patients. That’s how he and Mom met. The jet-setters. He’s retired now. In fact, she was the one who insisted they both slow down.” She smiled a little then.

  “But Mom refuses to settle down. When she pushes too hard, he’ll take off for a few days. Sometimes he hangs out with friends. Most of the time he goes to this little apartment down near the Santa Monica pier and drinks beer on his balcony, plays music. I saw him there once. Lots of peace and quiet.”

  But wasn’t that what Last Resort was for her? A sanctuary away from the hectic pace of the pro surfing circuit, no Greg and no drama from her parents? Only she didn’t have to worry about a wife to go home to or daughters that needed her.

  She didn’t have to go back ever.

  “It sounds to me like your parents have to work this out on their own,” he said as he hugged her gently. “I’d kick them out for you, but there’s a storm coming.”

  She laughed at the rueful note in his voice. “I shouldn’t have blown up like that.”

  “Families need to fight sometimes. It’s better to get it out in the open, and then you can start on healing. You’ve been running away from your family for a long time. They deserve to know why, and you deserve some peace and quiet. You’ll have that now—no more resentment because they know exactly how you feel.”

  His simple words melted her heart. She barely understood it, but he summed it up so perfectly.

  “It’s so much easier to love them from a distance.”

  “Than it is to be disappointed up close. I get that.” He kissed her hair again. “I thought the same thing about my parents when I was younger. And in her own way, that’s probably what happened with Mimi.”

  She went still at the mention of her sister.

  “Shh.” He gave her a squeeze. “I don’t have feelings for your sister. I was surprised when she finally answered my letters, especially when I learned who she was. When we met, to me, she was just another model who had helped out with my friend’s fashion show.

  “I realize now that she never actually told me anything about herself, or her family. After what I saw today it makes sense. But she invited me here, and for that I will be forever grateful.”

  Kelly kept her face tight against his chest. She wasn’t sure she had the strength to tell him the truth tonight, but he was her lifeline and she had to do it.

  “Rafe, there’s something you should know.”

  He chuckled. “I wanted to say it first.”

  “What?”

  She lifted her head and stared at him, confused.

  Lightning flashed in the distance. She began counting. At the fifteenth one-thousand the thunder cracked. The storm was still miles offshore.

  “Without Mimi’s support—even at a distance—I wouldn’t have met you,” he said.

  “I don’t know what I would have done tonight if you weren’t here.” Absolute truth. Rafe was her safe harbor.

  “You don’t have to find out, because I’m right here.”

  His mouth closed over hers. Tears salted the kiss, but his mouth moved gently, stealing her breath, her sadness and her loneliness.

  She clung to him, the wind pushing them together. Another roll of thunder echoed across the sky and his hands glided down her hips. He lifted her and the wind pushed her skirt wide until his hands skimmed over bare skin and cupped her bottom.

  His fingers caressed the softness and the lightning illuminated his positively wicked grin.

  Her body was on fire, throbbing from his kiss and his hands. He listened to her, he comforted her, and now he pleasured her.

  She would tell him the truth, but she needed this. One more time with him. Moments she would treasure for the rest of her life.

  “Make love to me,” she whispered. “Right here. Right now.”

  “There’s a storm, honey.” He glanced into the distance, frowning, but she caught his face in her hands. Everything had spiraled out of control. Little lies piled on top of big ones.

  She didn’t want that for them. She wanted to be as close to him as two people could be. “I need you, Rafe. I need to feel you filling me, touching me....”

  A low groan vibrated in his throat and he caught her mouth in another slow, sweet, torturous kiss.

  “Not here,” he growled. “I don’t want someone interrupting us.”

  Kelly knew exactly where to go. She ran back up the beach for the sliding glass doors to her bedroom. Just as they reached the doors, a torrential rain began soaking them. Somewhere between one stroke of his mouth and the next, her dress slid down and his shirt was open. Her naked back was against the glass.

  Smoothing her hand across the hard muscle of his chest, she found all of his scars and traced them. He buried his face against her throat and used his fingers between her legs to tease her unmercifully. She gasped at the feel of him pushing inside, but he retreated too quickly.

  “You’re the most extraordinary woman I’ve ever met,” he murmured against her ear as he drew her arms above her head. The rain pelted down and Rafe’s demanding mouth claimed hers. Consuming and filling her at the same time. No one had ever kissed her like this, wanting her to feel his passion for her.

  She did.

  When he pulled back, she mewed with disappointment.

  “Don’t we need to do something about this?” He knocked lightly on the glass doors behind her.

  “Hurricane proof,” she explained. “Wait here. Give me thirty seconds.” Then she slipped into her bedroom and dashed over to lock the suite’s door that led to the main part of the house. She was determined no one would interrupt them tonight. On her way back she grabbed a condom from the table beside her bed. But when she returned to Rafe outside, he wasn’t there. “Rafe?”

  Picking up her dress, she slipped it on. Where had he gone?

  Stepping farther out onto the adjoining deck, she scanned the beach. She spotted him thirty yards away trying to shield something from the rain. She ran to him.

  “Who is that?” she gasped.

  “Your father.”

  “He’s passed out?”

  The wind and rain whipped around them.

  Rafe nodded and made for the closest door to the main house. She followed.

  In mere seconds, they were safely inside the resort’s large kitchen.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Rafe had set her father in a chair and
was rousing him out of his stupor. “I heard him calling for you, saw him weaving, heading out to the ocean.” Rafe’s voice was gruff from the effort. “I wanted to get to him before you saw, before you were hurt even more, but you were too quick.” He wiped away the droplets in his hair and eyes and stared at her. “You need to know...I wanted you so bad it hurts.”

  She stood there, stunned by the emotions overwhelming her.

  The silence was only broken by her father coughing and muttering something. They transferred him carefully to a couch in the living room.

  Rafe grimaced as he sat down on the edge of the sofa.

  “What could he have been doing out there?”

  Rafe shrugged, closing his eyes momentarily, his face taut with pain.

  She’d noticed all this when he had hurt himself before. “Your leg,” she whispered. “What did you do?”

  “I ran after him, since he was right at the water, think he was crazily searching for you. Then a giant wave came up and pulled him under. I got there just in time to grab him, but the force and momentum were so strong.”

  The undertow could have killed them.

  What had her father been thinking?

  “I had to get us out of there before we both drowned. My leg wasn’t going to hold up much longer. I hauled him over my shoulder, but when I got him back on the sand he wasn’t exactly steady.” He looked apologetic. “He slipped and I—couldn’t lift him, so I had to drag him a short distance to make sure we were safe. Sorry.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m so grateful to you, and I’m the one who’s sorry that you’re in pain now. This isn’t like my dad. He’s usually so levelheaded, except when it comes to my mother.”

  “I heard that,” her mother chimed in.

  She strode into the living room and picked up a throw blanket from the back of an overstuffed chair. She carefully wrapped the blanket around her husband and sat down next to him.

  “You should have let him drown.” Her mother smiled and shook her head as she wiped the sand from her husband’s face. “He deserved it, but thank you, Rafe, for saving him. He might be an idiot, but he’s my idiot.” She leaned down and affectionately put her head on her husband’s chest. “Stupid man.”

  Kelly’s eyes watered.

  Rafe stood and hugged her. He could be so tender. She smiled at the thought of him helping her dad, all boozy and absurd, out in this weather.

  Then she started to giggle and she couldn’t stop.

  It must have been infectious, since her mother laughed as well.

  Rafe watched them as if they were all certifiable. Weren’t they?

  “What’s sooo funnny?” Her dad’s question sent them into hysterics.

  Rafe let go of her, but she caught the smile he tried to hide as he ducked his head.

  “Can’t breeeve,” her father complained.

  The two women laughed harder.

  It was several minutes before Kelly felt as though she could catch her breath.

  When she glanced over at Rafe, he gave her a tight smile, then winced.

  His leg. What if he’d damaged it more? She’d never forgive herself. She remembered what he said about the doctors telling him he had to take it easy or he could cause permanent damage.

  Her smile instantly disappeared, as did the hilarity that went with it.

  “Dad, how sober are you?”

  At the serious change in her tone, her parents stared up at her.

  Her mother zeroed in on Rafe’s tight shoulders.

  Kelly nodded.

  “Carter, Rafe saved your life, now it’s time for you to help him,” her mother said. “He’s in a lot of pain.”

  Rafe remained still where he was. “I’ll head back to my bungalow. Don’t worry about me,” Rafe said, but his low voice indicated he was anything but fine.

  Her father sat up and blinked several times to focus on his wife, then Kelly and Rafe.

  Her mother raised an eyebrow.

  “Raina, run upstairs and get my bag, please. It’s in the closet.” Her father took the bag everywhere he went just in case of emergencies. “Kelly, what’s the storm doing?” her father asked.

  “More a thunderstorm than anything. It stalled out about a hundred miles in. The winds are wicked, though.”

  “Good, we don’t have to move him to the second floor, at least not yet. You go run a hot bath in that hot tub of yours. Do you have Epsom salts?”

  “Yes.” The salts and a hot bath were the best thing for tired muscles, which she always had when she was training.

  “Put a lot in.” He turned to Rafe. “Son, I owe you an apology.” Kelly stifled a laugh, because it sounded like “apwowgie.” But Rafe’s color, which was now paler than she’d ever seen him, was enough to squash any humor.

  “It’s fine, sir.”

  “No, it isn’t, but I’m sober enough now to see that you do need my help. Do yourself a favor and lie down on the couch so I can examine your leg.”

  Rafe shook his head.

  Kelly was worried. Her dad had on his somber doctor’s face, which meant he knew something merely from the way Rafe was standing.

  Her hands went to his. “Rafe McCawley, you do what my dad says, or I will give you a taste of what I gave them earlier. Now,” she demanded and she pointed her finger at the couch.

  Rafe watched her warily as he complied.

  “Dad, I’ll prepare the bath and help you get him in there when it’s time. You two behave.”

  She took a few steps and stopped.

  “Dad, I swear, I’ll never speak to you again if you’ve caused him permanent harm. I care about him more than I’ve ever cared about any man.” It didn’t matter what Rafe might think of her for making such a declaration. She wanted him to know how important he was to her. “Keep that in mind while you’re taking care of him.”

  Turning the corner, she paused to listen.

  “Is she always like this?” Rafe asked.

  “Marine, if she’s anything like her mother, you’re in for one of hell of a ride.”

  Rafe chuckled, and she let go of the breath she’d been holding.

  “I can take it, sir. I’ve been through worse.”

  “That you have, my boy. That you have.”

  Kelly chewed on her lip as she found the salts and poured them into the bath. While the water ran, she found him some fluffy towels.

  She knew the answer to her own question before she asked it. But that was all about to change.

  Rafe was her priority, plain and simple. In her heart, he even came before the resort.

  Oh, hell. She’d fallen even harder than she’d thought.

  Her mind drifted to the secret she kept from him. Once he healed she would tell him the truth. But until then, she would look after him. He had a brother, but for the most part, like he said, he was alone in the world. Not any longer. She recalled his words to her.

  They both had an anchor to get them through the storm.

  She only hoped it would be enough once he knew the truth.

  15

  KELLY CARED ABOUT him. As Rafe soaked in the warm water of the hot tub, his hip and leg positioned in front of the pounding jets, a grin spread across his face. She’d said that her feelings for him were stronger than she’d ever had for any other man.

  Relief flooded his chest. While he’d known they desired each other, this was entirely different. She was as invested in their budding relationship as he was. It was frightening and crazy good—as she liked to say—at the same time. Rafe’s main goal the past few months had been to recover, physically and mentally. Though the shrinks thought otherwise, he knew his mind was on the mend now, since he had met Kelly.

  And he had hope for the first ti
me in a long time. Many in the military suffered depression after they’d gone through the kind of trauma he had. When he came to the realization that his leg might never be 100 percent, it hit him hard. Though he had many options beyond the Marines, the corps was his life. But if he couldn’t go back to active duty...

  That led to thoughts about Kelly and what if their relationship progressed. But how would it? With her traveling so frequently and him, if he stayed in the corps, never knowing where he might end up. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them to make promises or some kind of commitment, although the idea of never seeing her after this trip was one he couldn’t accept.

  Rafe had watched his friend Will leave the corps to be with the woman he loved. When it happened, Rafe believed he was a fool. Yet after meeting Kelly, he understood. There wasn’t a person in the world he wanted to be with more than her. And he’d do anything for her.

  Man, you got it bad.

  “Hey, Marine, no sleeping in the tub....” Her sweet voice interrupted his thoughts.

  He opened his eyes to find her kneeling beside the tub with a pile of towels.

  “You almost drowned once tonight, I’d rather not have a repeat.” She dipped a finger in the water. “It’s cooling down—do you want me to add more hot water?” She reached for the tap, but he gently pulled her hand away.

  “I’m fine, Kelly. I mean it. Your dad gave me that steroid shot and I’m not in much pain.”

  “Okay, but you still have to take it easy,” she said anxiously. “Dad said you were lucky tonight. You could have ripped those tendons that had only just healed. And I agree with him about getting new scans to make sure there aren’t any tears.”

  Rafe kissed her hand. “I’m lucky, that’s for sure.”

  “That’s what—”

  “No. I mean, I’m lucky the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met cares about me enough to boss me around and threaten her father.”

  She smiled as she let go of his hand and then brushed his cheek.

  “I keep telling you guys not to mess with surfer chicks. We’re all hang-ten and livin’ life, dude. That is, until someone we care about gets hurt.” She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips.