Cutter's Lady

by Candace Camp

  They stepped out of the front doors, and Cutter quickly spotted the white car parked across the street. Cutter angled Leslie so they were walking to the left, away from the white car. He’d been so caught up with the change in Leslie and what it all meant and if it was genuine that he’d momentarily forgotten the reasons behind what they were doing. His plan seemed as far off as that first mistaken impression of the woman who was currently leaning seductively into him.

  They walked down the sidewalk like a couple out for an evening stroll. But even though he hadn’t alerted Leslie to the car’s presence, Cutter was painfully aware of other considerations now. Considerations beyond the soft warmth of Leslie’s body against his side and the lingering traces of her perfume wafting up to tease his senses. He was alert for signs of trouble and avenues of escape. Without seeming to, he checked out the side street as they crossed it, noting the location of the hotel’s side door and the fact that it could not be seen from the white car.

  “Look at those flowers,” he told Leslie, turning to face the grassy central median of the boulevard and pointing out a profusion of huge red flowers bursting from the long, curving stems of a bush. From this position he was able to turn his eyes and glance back down the street in the direction of the white car. It was still parked where it had been, but there was a man in a blue shirt now walking along the other side of the street, headed in the same direction Cutter and Leslie were going. Cutter was positive the passenger of the white car had worn a blue shirt. One of the men was following on foot to see what they did while the other remained in the car, no doubt to bring it up quickly if it was needed.

  “What are they?” Leslie gazed at the flowers. “They’re gorgeous.”

  “Poinsettias.”

  “What? Seriously? Growing in clusters on those big bushes like that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go across the street and look at them close up.”

  “Okay.” It would add to the innocuous, aimless look of their walk, and it would also give him a better look at their tail. They crossed the wide street and stepped over the low border hedge.

  Leslie peered closely at the red blooms. “You’re right. They are poinsettias. I’ve never seen them growing wild like this. Aren’t they beautiful?” She turned away from the bush and glanced down the median. “Oh! What are those?”

  She started toward another bush, from which hung long white trumpet-shaped flowers, like ornaments from a Christmas tree. Cutter followed her; she couldn’t have done better if she’d known what he wanted, for she was taking them closer to the tail.

  “That’s an angel’s-trumpet tree,” he told her, coming up behind her and placing his hands lightly on either side of her waist.

  Leslie inhaled deeply. “Umm, smell them.”

  Cutter moved closer and rested his head against hers, but his eyes flickered toward the man on the sidewalk, now only ten feet away. With a trained eye, Cutter took in his features in an instant without even seeming to look at him. “Yeah, they give off a scent only in the evening.”

  The flower’s heavy, exotic scent of musk enveloped them, mingling with the faint perfume clinging to Leslie’s hair, stirring Cutter in a way that had nothing to do with providing a cover for his survey of the area and their tail. Leslie reached out and touched one of the pendulous white flowers, then took one of the large leaves between her fingers. It was thick and velvety, and she rubbed it gently; it was intensely sensual—the velvet feel, the thick, erotic scent. It seemed very natural, very right for Cutter to bend his head and kiss the tender flesh of her neck.

  “The leaves and flowers are poisonous,” he murmured, sliding his lips down her neck, then back up, taking tiny nibbles. “But they’re also highly narcotic. The natives sometimes smoked them.”

  His kisses ignited Leslie’s already heightened senses, sending wild sparks of pleasure spinning throughout her body. She sagged against Cutter, and his arms went around her, molding her against his frame. His mouth sought out the supremely sensitive skin on the back of her neck, and Leslie let out a little moan. She had never been kissed there before. She wondered why not; it seemed the most shivery, sexual spot on her body right now. Her head fell forward, offering up her neck to the wonder of his lips. The gesture sent passion surging up in Cutter, for there was a submissive quality to it that spoke of a strong woman melting with desire.

  Suddenly fire was licking along his veins, making it difficult to recall why he was out here. He tried to remember whether he had seen everything he wanted to. The location of the tail, yes. A closer look at one of them. A glance at the side exit and street. What was left? He tried to pull his mind back from the physical pleasure of his mouth on her satiny skin. He ought to… to approach the hotel from the other side. Yes; he’d meant to do that. There was the man left in the car. It wouldn’t hurt to get a closer look at him, too. And if they could make their watchers believe that once they went inside the hotel they wouldn’t come back out tonight, their tail would probably choose the easiest course and stay in their car, watching only the front exit—and none too carefully.

  Cutter smiled inwardly. He knew precisely the way to make them think he and Leslie wouldn’t be leaving again that night—and it would be pure pleasure doing it. If he and Leslie staged a passionate scene before they went into the hotel, the other men would be sure they wouldn’t leave their room, at least not for an hour or two. He and Leslie could slip out immediately and go to the boat. They’d have to wait a few hours there, but it would be worth it to have an assured escape from their tail.

  Cutter slid his hands up her body, and Leslie made a funny little purring noise. She turned, her hands going to his shoulders. Cutter looked down at her, and it seemed as if everything inside him began to jump and twist and roll. Her eyes were big and dark, her mouth soft, asking for his kiss.

  He bent to kiss her, then pulled back. He recalled their kiss this morning and the powerful effect it had had on him. If he started kissing her here, he wasn’t sure he’d remember to do what he had planned. “Let’s go back,” he said huskily.

  Surprise and disappointment flashed in Leslie’s eyes. “Oh.”

  He squeezed her tightly against him for an instant and dropped a brief, hard kiss on her lips. “There are a couple of other things I want to see.”

  He made himself pull back, loop an arm around her shoulder and start walking. They strolled along the median back toward the hotel. Cutter hoped their change of direction wouldn’t appear suspicious. The way they were walking, leaning together, gave the appearance of a couple interested only in each other. He didn’t know how much the others had been able to see of the scene by the trumpet tree, but he felt sure it was enough to indicate romance. And he doubtless looked infatuated enough to be convincing as a man who didn’t care where he walked, wanting only to feel his woman’s body next to his in the romantic tropical evening.

  They strolled past the white car, and Cutter was able to see the face of the man who sat at the wheel. Their steps slowed, then came to a halt. Cutter drew Leslie into his arms, turning so that he faced the rear of the car. He bent and nuzzled her ear, and Leslie gave a throaty chuckle that vibrated along his spine. He buried his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulders and let his hands roam over her. The curve of her hips was sweet and firm beneath his fingers.

  “Cutter.” Leslie leaned back and looked at him. Her smile was bright and saucy. “Are you trying to seduce me?”

  He chuckled. “Me? Seduce you? Are you sure it isn’t the other way around?”

  Leslie tilted her head in a pretense of thought. “I don’t know. Maybe it is.” She came up on tiptoe, sliding her body up his, and he drew in a sharp breath at the provocative gesture. She pressed her lips against his in a soft, tentative kiss, but when she started to draw back, he did not let her go. Instead, his arms tightened around her, and he moved his mouth over hers, brushing her lips softly, insistently, until they parted. Then his tongue came inside, hot and velvety.
<
br />   A searing ball exploded in Leslie’s chest. The alcohol tonight seemed to have stripped away all her outer layers, leaving her vulnerable, sensitive, alive to every sensual pleasure. Never before had she trembled at a man’s kiss. Never before had she felt such a deep, driving hunger as now pierced her. She wanted Cutter. She wanted him to touch her, to know her, to have her. Something primitive and long hidden within her surged out, yearning and seeking, aching to bring him inside her. She knew instinctively that the same something deep within her had wanted it from the first moment she saw him.

  Leslie moved against him and felt his indrawn breath in her mouth. He backed her up against an empty car parked beside them, pressing his body even more into hers, so that her breasts were crushed against his chest and her abdomen molded to the hard ridge of his desire. He broke off their kiss only to change the slant of his mouth and kiss her again.

  Cutter felt insatiable, almost out of control. He wanted to taste her mouth to the depths of its sweetness; he wanted to touch her everywhere. He hovered on the brink of mindless passion. Then some little spark at the back of his brain reminded him that their tail was watching them. It was his plan; he had wanted them to see him kiss Leslie. It was why he had stopped and hugged her in the full glare of the street light.

  But now resentment seared through him and he turned so that his body blocked Leslie from their view, as if to protect her from the other men’s eyes. As he moved, her leg slipped in between his, and she rubbed her knee up and down, gliding halfway up his thigh and back, slowly. A shudder ran down him and all thoughts of his plan for escape went out of his head. “I want you. Let me take you back to my room.”

  Leslie looked up at him, linking her arms behind his neck. Her face glowed; her eyes were lustrously deep, drawing him in. “Yes,” she murmured. “Oh, yes.”

  Chapter 6

  Cutter’s body objected to being separated from Leslie’s even long enough to cross the street and go to his room. It required all his willpower to break away and take her hand. They walked across the street to the front doors of the hotel, stopping twice to kiss, unable to remain apart longer than a few seconds. The doorman smiled benignly as he held open the door for them. They drifted through the lobby into the elevator and kissed the whole ride up.

  He sank his fingers into her hair, caressing her scalp with roughened fingertips and lifting the silky strands from their captivity. Leslie reach up and took out the elastic and pins that bound her hair, and it fell freely over his hands, gliding and twisting sinuously between his fingers. He crushed it in his hands, loving the feel of it, the texture and thickness. “I like it down,” he said hoarsely, and released her hair, watching it tumble free.

  Leslie shook it out and ran her hands through the thick mass like a comb, smiling up at him. Her mouth was soft and wide with desire, with the moist, faintly swollen look that spoke of being thoroughly kissed. He wanted her so much that it was a physical pain. He moved to kiss her again, but the elevator bounced to a stop, and the doors opened on their floor. He pulled out one of their keys and they walked down the hall, hand in hand, looking for the room number. When they found it, he slipped the key inside and opened the door. Leslie walked through, with Cutter right behind her.

  There was something wrong. Warning zipped electrically through the fog of his passion, and Cutter stopped, tensing. There was a faint smell, and it tickled at his memory. Cologne. He had smelled it often in his years down here. It was a heavy masculine fragrance often worn by San Cristóbalian men, differing in brand but very similar in its thick, pervasive odor.

  Cutter glanced quickly around the room, shoving back the bathroom and closet doors to see if anyone lurked there. His eyes fell on their suitcases sitting at the foot of the bed. Leslie’s case was closed, but on one side a corner of material stuck out between the edges. Cutter’s mind was accustomed to noticing details. He had carried Leslie’s case twice today, and he was certain there had been no bit of clothing emerging from it. And someone as attached to their clothes as Leslie clearly was wouldn’t have risked damaging them by zipping up so carelessly. Somebody had been in their room while they were gone, searching their belongings.

  “Can I use your phone?” Cutter held out his hand. Leslie deposited it without a question; she was too stunned by the sudden change in direction the night had taken. He pulled out a credit card from his wallet and flipped it over.

  Cutter put the phone on speaker and called the number on the back of the card. An automated voice came on with a directory of menu options.

  Leslie started to say something but Cutter held a finger to his lips. He was sweeping the phone up and down as he moved around the entire room slowly in a clockwise direction. After he hung up without choosing any of the options he flicked the lights back off, plunging the room into darkness. Then he pulled a pen light out of his pocket and roamed it around the room as well, concentrating on air vents and the potted plants. Once he’d finished with this exercise, Cutter turned the lights back on to find Leslie watching him as if he’d gone insane. “What are you doing?”

  Cutter looked at her. Her hair tumbled wantonly around her shoulders; her mouth still arousingly evidenced their kisses. He wanted her; his body was throbbing with his need. But his mind was working now, coldly practical, once again in control.

  “Someone’s been in our room. Before I could say anything, I had to make sure it wasn’t bugged. I was using the flashlight to search for a lens reflection in case they planted a camera.”

  Leslie looked absolutely floored. “And the call to the credit card company?”

  “If you make a phone call on a cell phone near a listening device you’ll usually hear a clicking noise. But I didn’t want to alert anyone who might be listening and I don’t call a lot of people—no phone and all—so I just chose something innocuous.”

  “But we’re safe?”

  “Depends how safe you feel knowing someone went through your things.”

  “What?” She looked around in confusion. “How do you know?”

  “Experience.” He nodded toward her bag. “Also, I assumed you didn’t get your clothes caught in the zipper of your bag.”

  “That was the only expensive shirt you let me pack!” Leslie ran over and dropped down beside the bag, freeing the shirt and carefully turning it over like someone checking a victim of a horrific car accident. He smothered a smile. At least she wasn’t completely unpredictable. He’d been fairly certain she’d overreact to that. Once she was apparently satisfied that no lasting damage had been done, she rolled it back up and carefully tucked it away. It was so charmingly Leslie that he couldn’t help but laugh.

  She gave him an appraising gaze. “What? Are you laughing at me?”

  He took her in his arms again and gave her a soft kiss. “Not at. With.”

  “But I’m not laughing.”

  “How about I just tell you that was adorable, and we leave it at that?” He kissed her again, longer this time, before reluctantly pulling away.

  After their scene outside, he couldn’t imaging the guys in the white car thinking it necessary to guard the other exits from the hotel for at least another hour or so. But after that, it was possible they might cover one of the side doors.

  Of course, he and Leslie could sleep together and still leave the hotel soon, but everything in him protested that idea. He didn’t want the sex to be hurried, with them jumping up to leave as soon as they had finished. He thought about the men across the street, waiting in the dark, probably exchanging lewd comments over what was happening right now in Cutter’s hotel room. He felt a stab of revulsion at the idea of their passion being tainted by the knowledge that their tail was outside, aware of what was going on. Much as he wanted her, he knew there was no way he was going to sleep with her in this room tonight.

  “Leslie—” his voice was still husky with desire “—we have to leave now.”

  “What?” She took a step toward him.

  “And who knows how much those
Red Sins are still affecting you,” he continued, sighing. “Hell! Why did I have to start thinking?”

  “I’m not drunk.”

  “Are you going to tell me that those drinks aren’t at all responsible for how tonight has gone? I have the feeling that tomorrow you aren’t going to much like me or what you did tonight—even less so if we have sex.” Leslie gazed at him, frowning. “Not that I’m noble enough to turn you down just because of that. Right now, I’d take you almost any way I could get you. But our escape hinges on us moving fast.”

  “I don’t get you.” Leslie shoved back her hair and sat down on the edge of the bed. The room’s lights seemed too bright, and there was a little ache beginning in the back of her head. Her body hummed from wanting Cutter—and he was saying he wasn’t going to sleep with her.

  Cutter walked over to where she sat and went down on one knee before her. “Listen. Those guys out there, the ones following us, were watching us the whole time we were outside.”

  Leslie’s cheeks turned red. “You mean, they saw us…”

  “Yeah. Kissing like we wanted to devour each other. When we went into the hotel, I’m sure they were convinced we would be safely in our rooms for a while. They probably won’t be watching anything but the front door, which means that now is the best time for us to slip out the side exit. We’ll have to be on the boat a few hours more, and it won’t be as comfortable as sleeping here, but it’ll be safer.”

  Leslie stared at him without speaking for a moment. The sparkling fizz of her earlier mood suddenly deflated, and she returned to reality with a thump. “You planned this. You staged that—that scene out there for their benefit, didn’t you? So they would assume we were coming up here to—to—” She jumped to her feet, swept with rage and humiliation. “Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing! Why did you let me think—”

  “Leslie, wait.” Cutter followed her, reaching out to take her arm.

  She jerked away from him. “Don’t touch me! There’s no need to pretend anymore.”