“Where are you from?” Might as well start there.
“Kansas.”
Coco chuckled. “Like Dorothy?”
“Yup.” He shook his head.
“How’d you get involved with this?” She nodded at the milling bodies.
“Not so fast.” His gaze narrowed. “Don’t I get a question?”
“I suppose,” she said slowly, not so certain she wanted to divulge her past.
“You get your arm looked at?” He reached over and held out his hand.
Caught off guard by the question, she didn’t think twice about putting her hand in his. “Yes.”
He turned her arm this way and that, examining the bandages.
She’d had some idea that he could be gentle. Watching Paxton with Sushi Roll had told her as much, but it was a completely different thing to feel that touch on her own skin. His fingers were rough from use and he cradled her forearm like a man who knew his way around a body.
They were just scratches, but he took his time looking her over. And she let him.
When was the last time she allowed a man to touch her like this?
Most of her contact was with animals.
Maybe Lacey was right and what Coco needed was a man. Even for a few nights. It didn’t have to be anything serious. Just someone to hold her and remind her that she was a woman.
Coco licked her lips. She wasn’t exactly good at this sort of thing, but she’d never been one to back down from a challenge.
“Paxton?”
“Hm? Sorry.” He let go of her arm and perched one elbow on the table, the other on the back of his chair. His eyes were so blue she almost couldn’t believe they were real.
“I was thinking about heading over to my place.” She gathered her meager courage. “You want to take a walk with me?”
Was that too subtle? Too forward?
The feel-good vibes fizzled out, leaving him staring at her with an intensity that left her confused. Did she run from him? Or clench her thighs? Because hot damn that was a powerful stare.
“Coco...that’s not a good idea,” he said.
His rejection stung, but this time she felt it deeper. This wasn’t the first or last time a man had turned her down, but she’d thought there was a tiny spark between them.
“Oh. Well, I guess have fun tonight.”
“Coco.”
She picked up her plate and stood, too dazed to properly wrap her head around his reply. He kept talking, but she tuned him out. She’d heard all she needed to hear.
Not a good idea?
It wasn’t as though she’d said point blank what she was thinking, but maybe he’d realized where her head was. Whatever his reasons, she didn’t need to know them. She had enough going on without the complications of a man, anyway.
What was she thinking?
3.
Wednesday. Mlilo Animal Reserve, South Africa.
God damn it.
Paxton’s head was too fuzzy and his mouth wouldn’t work properly to get his thoughts out before Coco bolted from the table. He pushed to his feet then had to wait for the ground to stop spinning.
He really should have eaten before that first round of drinks. Or the second.
One foot got tangled in his chair and he tripped, barely regaining his balance before he face planted on the lawn. In that short amount of time Coco was gone.
“Shit,” he muttered and looked around the party.
Except she’d said she was leaving.
He turned toward the west. He caught a glimpse of a shadow that looked an awful lot like a curvy woman passing under the boughs of a large tree.
Paxton took off, keeping to the level ground until he found the path Coco had taken. She easily outdistanced him, but he was determined. At least he hadn’t finished that last drink.
The lights grew farther apart, and the music faded. The resort sat inside a sizeable portion of fenced-in land. It was cultivated and kept lush in contrast with the wild growing landscape beyond. Trees and bushes lined the paths, giving Coco plenty of cover to hide from him.
The footpath turned onto a concrete drive wide enough for a vehicle and that was barred by a wide gate with a key code pad. Out there, on the other side of the hill, was the research facility where they’d taken the baby pangolin.
Was that where Coco was heading?
Only one way to find out.
It took Paxton a minute to scale the fence. His limbs didn’t quite want to work as they should, but he made it over without incident. He jogged down the steep incline, vaguely remembering the bus ride back over following his pangolin adventure. He didn’t yet know how he’d find her once he got to the other site, but he’d figure it out and make up for his liquored up tongue.
“What are you doing outside the fence?” A figure moved in the shadows, separating itself into Coco’s form at the base of the hill.
That was unexpected.
“Looking for you.” He stared at her.
She waved her motorcycle helmet at him. “You can’t be out here on your own.”
“You are.”
“Because I’m going home.” She gestured at the path.
Alone.
Paxton had rules when it came to drinking. Very strict ones, which had unintentionally hurt her. He’d seen the sting on her face. She was too expressive to hold it all in and his brain wasn’t working fast enough to stop the train wreck. If he were sober things would be different, this conversation wouldn’t be necessary. But it was.
Coco remained standing there, lit only by the moon and stars. He closed the distance between them, losing himself in her eyes. When he’d touched her earlier, he’d known he was pushing a rule, but now he’d break it entirely.
He lifted his hands and cupped her face letting his fingers stroke her skin, revel in the soft beauty of her.
“I’ve drunk too much,” he whispered.
She kept staring at him, those walls of hers up. He didn’t like that look, not when she’d been open with him before.
“I don’t do drinking and sex. It’s a bad combination. What I want to do...” His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Yeah, he’d like to kiss her, to follow up on that invitation, but he’d only go so far. This was his new line. One he’d make an exception for just her.
“Who said anything about sex?” She stared up at him, all defiant and sensual.
“Me.” He should take his hands back. She was giving him clear fuck off vibes, and yet he didn’t want to.
This was why rules were important.
Paxton had seen firsthand the destruction men could do. He’d always promised himself he wouldn’t be anything like those men. Nothing like his father. But his adherence to those rules had hurt her, and that had to be fixed.
That solemn vow was enough for Paxton to force himself to take a step away from her. “You’re a beautiful woman, Coco.”
“Why does it always have to be sex?” She turned toward the motorcycle he hadn’t seen before. “What if I just wanted to make out? Or what if I needed you to lift something heavy?”
“I know me.” He backed up the road. “I know what I like. And I know what I want.”
Coco pivoted and glanced over her shoulder at him. Once more their eyes locked. Was it wishful thinking or did he see a spark of interest? Answering desire?
“So you’re saying it’s all about you here?” she asked.
He stopped. “No. But if you invite me back to your place, I know where my head’s going to go. After as many drinks as I’ve had that’s a line I’m not crossing.”
Coco leaned against her bike. “Why not?”
“Because...” The answer beat at the mental doors he kept it locked up behind.
“Because?”
“It’s not a nice story.”
She stood there, examining him. He knew withholding the truth only brought up more questions, but telling her—anyone—always changed how they looked at him. So he’d stopped telling people. They didn’t n
eed to know.
“Try me.” Those two words rolling off her lips sounded like a challenge.
“Coco.” He took a few steps toward her before he stopped himself.
“Now I have to know.” She folded her arms over her chest.
Either he kept this secret, and she continued to distrust him. Or he told her the truth, and she came to whatever conclusion she wanted to.
“I think people make mistakes when they’re drunk.” He shied away from the deeper truths. “Makes any decent human being really think about things.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t want to be that guy who goes too far because I had one too many.”
“You are not that kind of guy.”
“You don’t really know me.”
“No, but I’ve met that guy and you aren’t him. There’s something you aren’t telling me.” She kept staring at him with those hard eyes.
Paxton hooked his thumbs in his pockets. He sure as hell hadn’t seen tonight taking this path.
“I was going to go check on Sushi, then do my evening rounds. Want to come?” She tilted her head down the road.
Did he?
“You trust me enough to let me tag along?” he asked.
“I’m curious about you. Come on before I change my mind.” Coco turned the bike around and pointed it down the hill.
She swung one leg over the seat and cranked the engine.
Was this a good idea?
He wasn’t interested in going back to the party. If he didn’t go with her, he’d crash, and it seemed a wasted opportunity if he didn’t seize every moment he could here. Hanging with her would get him the backstage view on all the parks current patients.
Paxton settled himself on the back seat of the bike.
“You sober enough to do this?” she asked over her shoulder.
“Yeah.”
“But not sober enough to kiss a girl. Got it.” She chuckled.
Before he could answer the bike zipped forward. He found the pegs for his feet and held onto the underside of his seat as Coco pushed the bike faster, only pausing to enter the code to admit them to their destination.
The conservation part of the park was located in the old resort area. What he’d read online had impressed him. The operations side of the resort had moved into the old, main building. They’d opened up research facilities for different teams on the grounds, allowing several studies to be conducted at once. Most animals inhabiting this part were temporary patients on the road to recovery and re-release. Those animals that couldn’t be released were kept until a suitable new home could be lined up. It was all rather impressive.
Here lights chased away the shadows. There weren’t any people around, unlike earlier when it had been bustling with activity.
Coco steered them toward a cinderblock building with a corrugated metal roof just like any other set of buildings. The bike slowed to a stop, and he got off first, only a little unsteady on his feet.
She spared him a glance before unlocking the building, allowing them entry.
The pangolin building smelled a lot like damp earth. Probably because its inhabitants were always digging around in their enclosures. Coco had explained earlier that these were all wild animals here for one form of care or another as part of an ongoing research project. They would be released back into their habitat chipped and monitored.
He followed her to the corner enclosure and together they leaned over to peer down at the littlest pangolin.
Sushi stood on her back two legs, tail extended for balance and looked up at them, her two front paws folded together like some sort of well-mannered child. She walked to stand on the other side and stretch her little arms up toward Coco.
“Don’t do that.” She groaned.
“Why not?”
She sighed and turned toward him. “At this rate Sushi won’t be able to be released. She’s just too used to humans. In the wild a poacher could just walk up to her and pick her up. She wouldn’t know to be afraid.”
“What will you do with her?”
“It’s not up to me. Maybe find a place that focuses on pangolins? There’s a few. She could have a happy life, have babies.” Coco sighed. “In a perfect world she would be released. But I knew when we took on an infant that wasn’t a real possibility anymore. At least she’s safe and healthy. Her water’s good. I’ll check the others and we can move on.”
She spent a moment topping off water dishes then they were on to the next building and the next after that. They didn’t talk much, and he was okay with that. It was a lot to take in from the pangolins to an injured rhino and even a lioness.
He mostly stood back, watching Coco or helping when she gave direction. She spoke softly to the animals and moved with confidence. This was what she was good at, it was her world, and she was in it.
Paxton had never belonged anywhere like that. Even with Aegis or Silas, he was always a bit off. Different. It had taken Paxton a long time to come to terms with who he was and he owed that self-discovery to the years spent in the Marines. He’d gone in as a lost teenager, looking for direction and found it.
Eventually her rounds came to an end. They stood near the resort building on a path shaded by trees. The lights were off, which made seeing Coco’s face near impossible.
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” he said.
“It was nice to have company.”
“You stay in the old resort?”
“One of the villas.” She waved past him where the path curved out of sight.
They lapsed into silence.
He didn’t want to leave her, and though he’d sobered up quite a bit, he wasn’t ready to circle back to her offer.
“Why the rules? What’s the real story?” she asked.
Paxton grimaced and turned to stare off over the fence at the wilderness beyond. “Back to this?”
“Yup.”
“My dad’s not a good person. He did things when he drank. To my mom mostly. You know what Stockholm syndrome is?” He hadn’t until he’d seen another documentary. He’d been a pre-teen at the time, riveted to the screen, ticking off the points that portrayed his mother so accurately.
“Your dad kidnapped your mom?”
“Not exactly.” He sighed. Might as well get it out there. He’d never share some of his theories. Reality was cruel enough as it were. “As a kid you hear how your parents met. Mom always told this story that was generally the same. She was twenty, got a job in a bar, then this older guy buys her drinks and they fall in love. Except the details, little things always changed. It took me a while to piece together what I think is the truth. My dad got my mom drunk, among other things, and she was too young and naïve to know better. Now she survives by living in a fantasy version of reality where dad is her prince charming.”
What he wouldn’t voice was that the words Mom used, how her face got when she recounted those stories, they weren’t good. There was always a bit of fear in her eyes, as if deep down she knew it wasn’t right.
Coco was quiet a moment. “That must have been hard.”
Paxton shrugged. It was the past.
“I’ve seen a lot of men like that. They think they need to beat their wives. My twin called the cops on our neighbor once. The police came and laughed it off. Nothing happened.” She paused for a moment. “Your father sounds like a terrible person, but he isn’t you.”
She took two steps, closing the distance between them. Her smooth hands cupped his face, much like he’d held hers. Then she lifted up on tip-toe and everything slowed. His gut tightened. He grasped her by the hips, but couldn’t convince himself to keep space between them before her lips found his.
The first kiss was chaste enough. Skin to skin. Then her lips parted and rational thought ceased. She suckled his lower lip between hers. He felt the suction all the way to his balls. He groaned and pulled her up against him. It was the first time he’d truly felt her, all the curves and toned muscle. She leaned into him and wound a
n arm around his shoulders. He parted his lips and teased her with his tongue. The world spun faster as all the blood left his head to go south.
Something rustled in the bushes not three feet from where they stood.
Paxton broke the kiss and glanced toward the noise while Coco clung to him, kissing his neck.
“Ignore it,” she mumbled.
He kissed her cheek, keeping it sweet despite his now raging hard-on wanting far more carnal things.
She sighed and peered up at him. By now his sight had adjusted enough he could see her, though not as well as he wanted. “I can’t do anything to convince you to stay awhile?”
“Didn’t you say you had something heavy to lift?”
She chuckled and slapped his shoulder. They both knew that was a lie, but right about now he’d let her fleece him.
He lowered his head and found her mouth, sinking into the deeper kiss, her hands holding him tight. This time she broke the kiss.
“You’re a good man,” she whispered.
Paxton knew a few people who’d argue that point. He liked hearing that statement from her though, so he didn’t refute it.
“I’m not going to lie to get you to my place. If you want to come over, you’re going to have to go in knowing I want you.”
“Fuck,” he muttered and squeezed his eyes shut.
She chuckled again. “And then that.”
Could she be any clearer?
They wanted each other. She’d been more than clear about that and he didn’t know if he had it in him to turn her down a second time. He wasn’t that good of a person.
He squeezed her to him and bent his head so he could whisper into her ear. “Show me your place?”
4.
Wednesday. Mlilo Animal Reserve, South Africa.
Coco hadn’t expected deep and meaningful from Paxton. The only thing they could have was a hot fling. Knowing more about him, that he was a genuinely good guy under the good looks and rough edges, had her liking him more. If only it did anything for her nerves.
Her hands were sweating as she led him up the walk to her home. The red brick villa lacked the sophistication of the new resort. It was just a couple of rectangles fitted together, but this was her home.
Dangerous Heat (Aegis Group, #8) Page 3