Midnight Rainbow

by Linda Howard

  When he hung up, he turned to find Jane surveying him with pursed lips. “How did we get here without being checked for passports?”

  “A few people turned their heads, that’s all. They knew we were coming through. I’ll report our passports as being lost, and get duplicates from the American Embassy. No big deal.”

  “How did you manage to set all that up so quickly? I know this wasn’t the original plan.”

  “No, but we had some inside help.” Sabin had been as good as his word, Grant reflected. All the old contacts had been there, and they had all been notified to give him whatever he needed.

  “Your…former business associates?” Jane hazarded a guess.

  “The less you know, the better. You pick up on this too damned quickly. Like hot-wiring that truck. Had you ever done it before?”

  “No, but I watched you do it the first time,” she explained, her eyes full of innocence.

  He grunted. “Don’t waste your time giving me that wide-eyed look.”

  A tap on the door and a singsong voice announced that room service had arrived in record time. Grant checked through the fish-eye viewer, then unbolted the door and let the young boy in. The aroma of hot coffee filled the room, and Jane’s mouth started watering. She hovered over the boy as he set the food out on the table.

  “Look at this,” she crooned. “Fresh oranges and melon. Toast. Apricot Danish. Eggs. Butter. Real coffee!”

  “You’re drooling,” Grant teased, giving the boy a generous tip, but he was just as ravenous, and between them they destroyed the array of food. Every crumb was gone and the pot of coffee was empty before they looked at each other and smiled.

  “I feel almost human again,” Jane sighed. “Now for a hot shower!”

  She began unlacing her boots, pulling them off and sighing in relief as she wiggled her toes. Glancing at him, she saw that he was watching her with that lopsided smile that she loved so much. Her heart kicked into time-and-a-half rhythm. “Aren’t you going to shower with me?” she asked innocently, sauntering into the bathroom.

  She was already under the deliciously warm spray of water, her head tilted up so it hit her directly in the face, when the shower door slid open and he joined her. She turned, wiping the moisture from her eyes, a smile ready on her lips, but the smile faded when she saw the mottled bruises on his ribcage and abdomen. “Oh, Grant,” she whispered, reaching out to run her fingers lightly over the dark, ugly splotches. “I’m so sorry.”

  He gave her a quizzical look. He was sore and stiff, but nothing was broken and the bruises would fade. He’d suffered much worse than this, many times. Of course, if Turego had been able to carry the beating as far as he’d wanted, Grant knew that he probably would have died of internal injuries. But it hadn’t happened, so he didn’t worry about it. He caught her chin, turning her face up to him. “We’re both covered with bruises, honey, in case you haven’t noticed. I’m okay.” He covered her mouth with his, tasting her sweetness with his tongue, easing her against him.

  Their wet, naked bodies created a marvelous friction against each other, heating them, tightening the coil of desire. The rather boring process of soaping and rinsing became a lingering series of strokes, her hands slipping over the muscles and intriguing hardness of his body, his finding the soft curves and slopes of hers, the enticing depths. He lifted her off her feet and bent her back over his arm, kissing her breasts and sucking at her nipples until they were hard and reddened, tasting the freshness of newly soaped skin and the sweetness of her flesh that no soap could ever disguise. Jane writhed against him, her legs twining with his, and heat fogged his mind as he thrust himself against the juncture of her thighs.

  She wanted him, wanted him, wanted him. Her body ached and burned. The bed was suddenly too far away. Her legs parted, lifting to wrap around his waist, and with a hoarse cry he pinned her to the wall. She shuddered as he drove into her, going as deep as he could with a single, powerful thrust, as if any distance at all between them was far too much. Digging his fingers into her hair, he pulled her head back and kissed her, his mouth wild and rough, the kiss deep, his tongue twining with hers, the water beating down on them. The power of his thrusts made her consciousness dim, but she clung to him, whimpering, begging him not to stop. He couldn’t have stopped, couldn’t even have slowed, his body demanding release inside her. The red mists that clouded his mind blocked out everything but the hot ecstasy of the way her body sheathed him, so softly, so tightly.

  She cried out again and again as the almost unbearable waves of pleasure crashed over her. She clung tightly to his shoulders, trembling and shivering, the velvet clasp of her body driving him to the edge. He poured himself into her, heaving against her, feeling that he was dying a little, and yet so intensely alive that he almost screamed from the conflict.

  They barely made it to the bed. Drying off had taken all their energy, and Jane was so weak she could barely walk. Grant was shaking in every muscle of his big body. They tumbled onto the bed, not caring that their wet hair soaked the pillows.

  Grant reached out for her. “Crawl up here,” he rumbled, hauling her on top of him. Blissfully, her eyes closing, she made herself comfortable on the hard expanse of his chest. He adjusted her legs, parting them, and her lashes fluttered open as he eased into her. A purr of pleasure escaped her lips, but she was so sleepy, so tired… “Now we can sleep,” he said, his lips moving on her hair.

  * * *

  THE ROOM WAS HOT when they awoke, the Mexican sun broiling through the closed curtains. Their skin was stuck together with perspiration and made a wet, sucking noise as Grant lifted her off him. He got up and turned the air-conditioning on full blast, and stood for a moment with the cold air hitting his naked body. Then he came back to the bed and turned her onto her back.

  They scarcely left the bed that day. They made love, napped and woke to make love again. She couldn’t get enough of him, nor he, it seemed, of her. There was no sense of urgency now to their lovemaking, only a deep reluctance to be parted from each other. He taught her the unlimited reaches of her own sensuality, tasting her all over, making love to her with his mouth until she was shivering and shuddering with pleasure, mindless, helpless. She told him that she loved him. She couldn’t keep the words unsaid, not now, when she’d already told him anyway and soon the world would intrude on them again.

  Night came, and finally they left the room. Walking hand in hand in the warm Mexican night, they sought out some shops that were open late. Jane bought a pink sundress that made her tanned skin look like honey, a pair of sandals and new underwear. Grant wasn’t much on shopping, so she blithely picked out jeans, loafers and a white polo shirt for him. “You might as well change,” she instructed, pushing him toward the dressing room. “We’re going out to eat tonight.”

  There wasn’t any talking her out of it, either. It wasn’t until he was seated across from her in a dimly lit restaurant with a bottle of wine between them that he realized this was the first time in years that he’d been with a woman in a strictly social setting. They had nothing to do but eat and talk, sip the wine, and think about what they were going to do when they got back to the hotel. Even after he’d retired, he’d kept to himself on the farm, sometimes going for weeks without seeing another human being. When the need for supplies had forced him to go into town, he’d gone straight there and back, a lot of times without speaking to anyone. He hadn’t been able to stand anyone else around him. But now he was relaxed, not even thinking about the strangers surrounding him, accepting their presence but not noticing them, because his mind and his senses were on Jane.

  She was radiant, incandescent with energy. Her dark eyes shone; her tanned skin glowed; her laughter sparkled. Her breasts thrust against the bodice of the sundress, her nipples puckered by the coolness of the restaurant, and desire began to stir inside him again. They didn’t have much more time together; soon they would be back in the States, and his job would be finished. It was too soon, far too soon. He had
n’t had his fill yet of the taste of her, the wild sweetness of her body beneath him, or the way her laughter somehow eased all the knots of tension inside him.

  They went back to the hotel, and back to bed. He made love to her furiously, trying to sate himself, trying to hoard enough memories to hold him during the long, empty years ahead. Being alone was a habit deeply ingrained in him; he wanted her, but couldn’t see taking her back to the farm with him, and there was no way he could fit into her world. She liked having people around her, while he was more comfortable with a wall at his back. She was outgoing, while he was controlled, secretive.

  She knew, too, that it was almost over. Lying on his chest, with the darkness wrapped around them like a blanket, she talked. It was a gift that she gave him, the tales of her childhood, where she’d gone to school, her food and music preferences, what she liked to read. Because she talked, he found it easier to return the favor, his voice low and rusty as he told her about the white-haired young boy he’d been, his skin burned dark by the hot, south Georgia summers, running wild in the swamp. He’d learned to hunt and fish almost as soon as he’d learned how to walk. He told her about playing football during high school, chasing after the cheerleaders, getting drunk and raising hell, then trying to sneak into the house so his mother wouldn’t catch him.

  Her fingers played in the hair on his chest, aware that silence had fallen because he’d reached the point in his story where his life had changed. There were no more easy tales of growing up.

  “Then what happened?” she whispered.

  His chest rose and fell. “Vietnam happened. I was drafted when I was eighteen. I was too damned good at sneaking through jungles, so that’s where they put me. I went home, once, for R & R, but the folks were just the same as always, while I was nothing like what I had been. We couldn’t even talk to each other. So I went back.”

  “And stayed?”

  “Yeah. I stayed.” His voice was flat.

  “How did you get into the secret-agent business, or whatever you call it?”

  “Covert activities. High-risk missions. The war ended, and I came home, but there was nothing for me to do. What was I going to do, work in a grocery store, when I’d been trained to such an edge that people would be taking their lives in their hands to walk up to me and ask the price of eggs? I guess I’d have settled down eventually, but I didn’t want to hang around to find out. I was embarrassing the folks, and I was a stranger to them anyway. When an old colleague contacted me, I took him up on his offer.”

  “But you’re retired now. Did you go back to Georgia?”

  “Just for a few days, to let them know where I’d be. I couldn’t settle there; too many people knew me, and I wanted to be left alone. So I bought a farm close to the mountains in Tennessee, and I’ve been hibernating there ever since. Until your dad hired me to fetch you home.”

  “Have you ever married? Been engaged?”

  “No,” he said, and kissed her. “That’s enough questions. Go to sleep.”

  “Grant?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Do you think he’s really given up?”

  “Who?”

  “Turego.”

  Amusement laced his voice. “Honey, I promise you, he’ll be taken care of. Don’t worry about it. Now that you’re safe and sound, steps can be taken to neutralize him.”

  “You’re using some ominous-sounding phrases. What do ‘taken care of’ and ‘neutralize’ mean?”

  “That he’s going to be spending some time in those gracious Central American jails that everyone hears so much about. Go to sleep.”

  She obeyed, her lips curved in a contented smile, his arms securely around her.

  * * *

  SOMEONE HAD PULLED strings again. It could have been her father, or the mysterious “friend” of Grant’s who kept arranging things, or possibly Grant had intimidated someone at the embassy. However it happened, the next afternoon they had passports. They could have taken the next flight to Dallas, but instead they spent another night together, making love in that king-size bed, the door securely bolted. She didn’t want to leave. As long as they were still in Mexico City, she could pretend that it wasn’t over, that the job wasn’t finished. But her parents were waiting for her, and Grant had his own life to go back to. She had to find another job, as well as take care of the little chore that had gotten her into so much trouble to begin with. There was no way they could stay in Mexico.

  Still, tears burned the back of her eyes when they boarded the jet that would take them to Dallas. She knew that Grant had booked separate flights for them from Dallas; she was going on to New York, and he was flying to Knoxville. Their goodbyes would be said in the vast, busy Dallas/Ft. Worth airport, and she couldn’t stand it. If she didn’t get a tight hold on herself she’d be squalling like a baby, and he wouldn’t want that. If he wanted more of her than what he’d already had, he’d have asked her, because she’d made it more than obvious that she was willing to give him whatever he wanted. But he hadn’t asked, so he didn’t want her. She’d known that this time would come, and she’d accepted it, taken the risk, grabbed for what happiness she could get. Pay-up time had come.

  She controlled her tears. She read the airline magazine; and was even able to comprehend what she was reading. For a while she held his hand, but she released it when the in-flight meal was served. She ordered a gin and tonic, gulped it down, then ordered another.

  Grant eyed her narrowly, but she gave him a bright, glittering smile, determined not to let him see that she was shattering on the inside.

  Too soon, far too soon, they landed at Dallas and filed out of the plane through the portable tunnel. Jane clutched the dirty, battered backpack, for the first time realizing that his boots and fatigues were in it along with her clothing. “I need your address,” she chattered brightly, nervously. “To mail your clothes to you. Unless you want to buy a bag in the airport shop, that is. We have plenty of time before our flights.”

  He checked his watch. “You have twenty-eight minutes, so we’d better find your gate. Do you have your ticket?”

  “Yes, it’s right here. What about your clothes?”

  “I’ll be in touch with your father. Don’t worry about it.”

  Yes, of course; there was the matter of payment for dragging her out of Costa Rica. His face was hard and expressionless, his amber eyes cool. She held out her hand, not noticing how it was shaking. “Well, goodbye, then. It’s—” She broke off. What could she say? It’s been nice meeting you? She swallowed. “It’s been fun.”

  He looked down at her extended hand, then back up at her, disbelief edging into the coolness of his eyes. He said slowly, “The hell you say,” caught her hand, and jerked her into his arms. His mouth was hot, covering hers, his tongue curling slowly into her mouth as if they weren’t surrounded by curiously gawking people. She clung to him, shaking.

  He set her away from him. His jaw was clenched. “Go on. Your folks are waiting for you. I’ll be in touch in a few days.” The last slipped out; he’d intended this to be the final break, but her dark eyes were so lost and full of pain, and she’d kissed him so hungrily, that he couldn’t stop the words. One more time, then. He’d give himself one more time with her.

  She nodded, drawing herself up. She wasn’t going to break down and cry all over him. He almost wished she would cry, because then he’d have an excuse to hold her again. But she was stronger than that. “Goodbye,” she said, then turned and walked away from him.

  She barely saw where she was going; people blurred in her vision, and she stubbornly blinked her eyes to keep the tears back. Well, she was alone again. He’d said he’d be in touch, but she knew he wouldn’t. It was over. She had to accept that and be grateful for the time she’d had. It had been obvious from the first that Grant Sullivan wasn’t a man to be tied down.

  Someone touched her arm, the touch warm and strong, a man’s touch. She stopped, wild hope springing into her breast, but when she turned she foun
d that it wasn’t Grant who had stopped her. The man had dark hair and eyes, and his skin was dark, his features strongly Latin. “Jane Greer?” he asked politely.

  She nodded, wondering how he’d known her name and recognized her. His grip tightened on her arm. “Would you please come with me,” he said, and though his voice remained polite, it was an order, not a question.

  Alarm skittered through her, jerking her out of her misery. She smiled at the man and swung the backpack by its straps, catching him on the side of the head with it and sending him staggering. From the solid ‘thunk’ it made, she knew Grant’s boots had hit him.

  “Grant!” she screamed, her voice slicing through the bustle of thousands of people. “Grant!”

  The man caught himself and lunged for her. Jane began running back in the direction she’d come from, dodging around people. Up ahead she saw Grant coming through the crowd like a running back, shoving people out of his path. The man caught up with her, catching her arm; then Grant was there. People were screaming and scattering, and the airport guards were running toward them. Grant sent the man sprawling, then grabbed Jane’s arm and ran for the nearest exit, ducking past the milling crowds and ignoring the shouts to stop.

  “What the hell’s going on?” he roared, jerking her out into the bright Texas sunlight. The humid heat settled over them.

  “I don’t know! That man just came up to me and asked if my name was Jane Greer; then he caught my arm and told me to come with him, so I hit him in the head with the backpack and started screaming.”

  “Makes perfect sense to me,” he muttered, flagging a cab and putting her in it, then crawling in beside her.

  “Where to, folks?” the cab driver asked.

  “Downtown.”

  “Any particular place downtown?”