“So am I, ma’am.”
She lifted her hand toward him, meaning to push back a lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead, before she realized what she was doing. She picked up her notebook instead.
A muscle twitched in his cheek. “Chief Esposito wants to see you.”
“What about?”
“He has some palace security tapes he’d like you to look through. They’re in our briefing room.” He put his hand under her elbow and guided her to a wooden door in the wall. “We can get there faster this way.”
Though Tyler’s touch was light, she could feel the same tension in his fingers that she’d seen around his mouth. “Don’t you want to rest for a while?” she asked. “Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you look as if you just ran a marathon in your suit?”
“I was only doing my job.”
“Right. It’s all in a day’s work for you. Getting shot at and disarming bombs.”
“I didn’t get shot at today,” he pointed out.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I’m glad you realize that. I hope that means the next time you’re asked to stay put, you’ll do it.” He released her arm to open the door and silently gestured for her to precede him.
A flight of narrow stairs rose in front of them. Evidently, the renovations hadn’t gotten this far. Unlike the wide, airy staircase she’d used to get to and from her room, this one was lit by only a few dim fixtures along the walls and barely had space for two people to pass. It had probably been designed for servants to go about their business invisibly, and hadn’t seen much change since the palace had been built more than two centuries ago.
She placed her palm on the wooden rail that served as a banister and started climbing. “Listen, Sergeant Matheson, I realize you might be annoyed because I ran after you, but—”
“You placed yourself in danger.”
“I was just following the story.” The door swung shut, cutting off the last of the daylight. She blinked to help her eyes adjust and continued upward. “I thought I’d be able to do it better from where the action was.”
“Is this story so important to you that it’s worth risking your life?”
“Is your mission?”
“It’s not the same. I know what I’m getting into. You don’t.”
“You’re just worried that if I got blown up, I wouldn’t be able to identify El Gato.”
“I won’t deny that you’re useful to our mission,” he said. “You know that yourself. But while you’re with us, your safety is my responsibility.”
“I’ll sign a waiver, okay? It’ll release you from any liability.”
“There’s more to it than that. Because of your actions, Sergeant Norton was pulled off his assigned patrol route.”
“What do you want?” she asked. “Another apology? Fine.” She rounded the corner of the landing for the second floor and increased her pace as she started up the next flight. “I’m sorry I interfered, but don’t you think you’re overreacting? I didn’t need you or your friend or anyone else to babysit me. I didn’t mean to go near the bomb. I’d only wanted to stay with you.”
“I didn’t want you with me. If something had gone wrong, you could have been hurt.”
“And you would have been killed.” She halted and turned to face him. He stopped two steps below her, so for once she was looking down at him. Not that she could see much, since the nearest light was on the landing behind him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve scolding me about safety,” she said. “Doesn’t the army have robots or remote control gizmos that can go poke at bombs?”
“I was closer. It was the best course of action. Didn’t Jack explain it to you?”
“He said the bomb was meant to be a diversion.”
“That’s right. El Gato was counting on us evacuating. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have put the bomb where President Gorrell’s men would be sure to find it.”
“Sergeant Norton said it was under a shelf inside a cabinet. I wouldn’t call that easy to spot.”
“The public rooms are swept twice a day by dogs that are trained to sniff out explosives. That’s a fact anyone who took one of the daily tours would know. Even if the bomb hadn’t been found and it had gone off, it would have served the same purpose. We believe El Gato found another vantage point near the palace and was counting on forcing the envoy into the open.”
“It seems like a pretty convoluted plan. Why wouldn’t he try to plant a bomb where the envoy is staying?”
“The security measures in this wing of the palace are tighter.” He blotted his forehead with his arm. “Much of the public areas are overseen by the local police.”
“The police. That’s why you don’t trust them, right?”
He inhaled slowly. “Let’s talk about this some other time.”
She peered at him more closely. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. We should get moving.”
Instead of going upward, she descended a step, bringing her face level with his. “You’re not as cool as you want people to think you are.”
“It was at least a hundred degrees in that reception hall by the time I pulled out the last detonator.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Staying in control all the time and showing everyone how calm you are costs you, doesn’t it?” She touched her fingertips to the side of his jaw. “You’re in knots.”
He caught her wrist. “Forget it.”
“I could tell you were tense when I saw you. I hadn’t meant to argue with you.”
“You could argue about gravity.”
“That’s how I react to stress.”
He rubbed the base of her thumb. “Don’t be stressed. Not over your story. It sounds as if Jack kept you informed. You didn’t miss anything.”
“It wasn’t my story I was concerned about. It was you.”
“You shouldn’t have been.”
“Don’t you think I know that? Believe me, I didn’t want to worry. I didn’t want to dread every second that passed because the next one might bring an explosion. I hate the fact that I care what happens to you.”
He shifted his grip from her wrist to her hand. He threaded his fingers with hers. “You care what happens to me?”
“It was a momentary lapse. I’ll get over it.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re using each other,” she said. “We got that straight days ago. I know what I want from you, just as I know what you want from me. There’s nothing personal between us. I’ve got enough problems. And all of them were caused by a man. I sure as hell don’t need to complicate the mess by imprinting on the first guy who comes along and flexes his muscles at me.”
He pulled her down to the same step he stood on, curled their joined hands behind her waist and brought her hard against the front of his body.
The sudden move left her breathless. For a minute she couldn’t do anything other than stand there and absorb the sensations. She’d felt his body against hers before, and that had been when she’d been naked. But even that couldn’t compare to the connection she felt now.
Tyler was as solid as she remembered. As strong, too. He was supporting most of her weight and his balance never wavered. He dropped his jacket and shifted sideways, placing one foot on the step below as he leaned his shoulders against the wall. “You were saying?”
She moistened her lips. “I don’t need a man. I don’t need anyone.”
“Want to know what I think?”
“No.”
“You’re not as tough as you want people to believe you are.”
He’d thrown her own words back at her, but she couldn’t form a reply. She could hardly breathe. The heat of his body, the familiar smell of his skin and the hush of the narrow stairwell were overwhelming her senses.
“That attitude of yours is just armor,” he said. “And you fire off words to keep people at a safe distance.”
“Works for me.”
“
How’s it working now?” He moved their joined hands higher, arching her back so that her breasts pressed more firmly against his chest.
A fresh wave of pleasure washed over her. She couldn’t suppress her shudder. The smart thing to do would be to pull away now before this embrace went any further. But how could she? If she was honest, she had to admit that this was what she’d wanted for the past three days.
Her notebook dropped from her hand and cartwheeled down the steps with a rustle of paper. It didn’t stop until it had slid to the center of the landing. Instead of going to retrieve it, she slipped her fingers through the opening in Tyler’s shirt.
He drew in a ragged breath. “Say something, Emily.”
“What?”
“Push me away. Argue.”
She felt the thud of his heart against her palm. “Why?”
“Because you’re right. I don’t have as much control as I thought I did.”
“So you want me to push you away?”
“You’d better. The way you’re touching me, I don’t think I can.”
“Well, too bad. If I want to touch you, I will.” She rubbed her fingertips over the thatch of hair in the center of his chest. “You owe me that much, considering what you put me through these past few hours. And do I need to point out that you started all this? And that you’re the one holding me?”
“Emily—”
“I don’t take orders very well, Sergeant.” She clasped her hands behind his neck. “So if anyone around here’s going to do some pushing away, it has to be you.”
Even in the dimness, she could see the gleam of his smile. Without another word, he tilted his head and kissed her.
In some faraway recess of her mind, Emily knew this was crazy. There were a million excellent reasons why she shouldn’t be kissing this man. But oh, he tasted so good. Better than champagne. Better than strawberries with chocolate. And probably just as bad for her.
He kissed her as if he’d known her all his life, as if he understood what she wanted and guessed what she needed. He found the perfect angle so their noses didn’t squish. Just the right pressure to hold the kiss while allowing her to explore the shape of his mouth. And within minutes, he discovered how to run his tongue over the bow of her upper lip in a way that made her knees go weak.
Emily fumbled open the rest of his buttons, yanked his shirt apart and slid her hand down his chest. Muscles contracted under her palm. She hummed in delight as she traced the washboard ripples that hardened his abdomen. His physique was even better than she’d imagined. And she had imagined it. A lot.
Tyler sank his hand into her hair and brought it to his face. His chest rose as he inhaled. “Soft,” he whispered. “Just as I thought.”
She wasn’t sure whether he was talking about her hair or something else. It made no difference. She was listening to his tone more than his words. She rubbed her nose along the side of his neck until she found the hollow at the base of his throat. She closed her eyes, enjoying the sharp tang of his sweat, and the underlying musk that was unique to male skin. “Tyler?”
He curled his fingers around her nape to hold her head in place and closed his teeth around her earlobe. “Mmm?”
She gasped at the teasing bite. “Nothing. I just wanted to say your name.”
“I like that.” He sucked lightly. “Do you like this?”
“Mmm.”
His lips skimmed the shell of her ear, so she was able to feel his smile. He parted the sides of her cardigan and ran his knuckles down the center of her sundress, trailing the tips of his fingers over the curve of her breast before he cupped it in his hand. “Fits perfectly,” he murmured. “I figured this, too.”
For one of the few times in her life, she was incapable of further speech. She twisted more fully into his touch, then shuddered again as he explored her nipple through her clothes. His long, slender fingers were as gentle as she’d once thought, but there was an edge to his caress. An urgency in his body. As if he were fighting to regain his control….
Recklessness seized her. She didn’t want him to regain control yet. She flattened one palm on the wall behind Tyler and straddled his bent leg.
The sound that rumbled through his chest was part laugh, part moan. He braced his back against the wall, pushed her skirt to her hips and helped her wriggle closer.
The intimate position drove away any remaining rational thought she might have had. Her breasts flattened against his bare chest while her thighs rubbed across the fabric of his pants. The heat between her legs suddenly became an ache. Sharp. Imperative. Wonderful.
Kissing him wasn’t anywhere near enough.
She slipped her hand down his stomach and reached for his belt. She had just unfastened the buckle when she felt a sudden breeze puff over her legs. A second later, footsteps sounded at the bottom of the stairwell. She froze.
Faint voices drifted upward. “I’m sure someone must have seen him.”
“Yeah, they were too scared to talk. The Juarez family’s got deep pockets.”
“It’s Lang and Colbert,” Tyler whispered. “Damn.” He gripped her by the waist and slid her off his leg.
Emily’s knees had turned to jelly. She stumbled backward and caught the banister.
Tyler brushed her skirt down to cover her thighs and waited to ensure she had steadied, then did up his belt and snatched his jacket from where he’d dropped it. He squeezed past her to the step below. “Go upstairs,” he whispered.
She strained to catch her breath. Before she could move, two large silhouettes came into view on the landing below them.
“Hold it, Dunk. What’s that on the floor?”
The man in the front stopped, then leaned over to pick up her notebook. “Hey, isn’t that…” His words trailed off as he looked up.
Tyler descended the stairs and held out his hand. “Thanks, Duncan. I was just coming to get that.”
Duncan Colbert handed the notebook to Tyler, then looked straight past him to Emily.
“The lighting’s bad,” Tyler said. “Miss Wright stumbled.”
“And you just happened to be close enough to catch her,” Duncan said.
“Nah, he couldn’t have been close,” Kurt said. “Must have needed to run. Look how hard the boy’s breathing.”
Duncan flicked one side of Tyler’s gaping shirt. “Maybe he ripped off his tie and lassoed her with it.”
“Think it’s time we gave junior that birds and bees talk, Dunk?”
“Did you find any trace of El Gato?” Tyler asked.
There was a brief silence before the men accepted the change of topic and resumed their earlier conversation.
Emily’s brain finally began to function again. She was grateful for the shadows and she hoped they hid her blush. She forced a casual smile, forced an even more casual wave to the men, then turned and ascended the stairs in record time.
What on earth had she done? What was wrong with her? She should be thankful for the timely interruption. Yes, she was exceedingly fortunate that she and Tyler had been stopped before they’d gone any further.
And once her body cooled and this ache in her heart went away, she hoped she would actually believe that.
Chapter 5
The house had been designed to blend into the surrounding landscape so effectively, it had taken a while for Emily to realize that she’d been looking at a man-made structure rather than a hill. Nature was doing its best to add to the camouflage. Broad-leafed vines with red flowers covered the walls and much of the steel roof. Thick hanks of moss dripped from the eaves. No glint of glass remained in the windows, only a deeper darkness. It was hard to tell how long the place had been abandoned. At the rate it was being consumed, it would soon disappear.
She clicked off a few frames, then lowered her camera and rubbed her arms, oddly chilled in spite of the sunlight that filtered through the trees. They were almost the entire breadth of the island from the safety of the Governor’s Palace. The clusters of houses and red-earthed fa
rms that surrounded the capital had grown sparser the farther they’d driven. Apart from this empty house, she hadn’t seen any signs of habitation for hours. Human habitation, that is. The rain forest was teeming with other forms of life. Something that sounded like frogs were making a racket from deep within the brush. Birds screeched from trees that crowded right up to the edges of the road. She hoped there weren’t any snakes.
“Keep to my left, Emily, out of my line of fire,” Tyler said, moving past her along the path that curved around the house. “And stay with us.” He’d spoken without looking at her, his attention completely on their surroundings, as it had been since their convoy had arrived.
Emily understood his concern. Helen Haggerty had decided on a private outing today, without President Gorrell or any of his representatives, so the palace guards hadn’t accompanied them. Tyler and the other commandos had formed a loose diamond around the envoy as soon as she’d stepped out of her car. When she’d started walking, they’d maintained their positions about five yards in front, behind and to the sides. Major Redinger was here, too, walking within the protective diamond a pace in front of the envoy. All the men carried their weapons ready in their hands. Instead of the long rifles or the pistols Emily had previously seen, they had squat, no-nonsense machine guns.
There was no disguising their role today. No civilized suits for them, or waiting around in hallways, either. They wore flack vests with their T-shirts and jeans. Their body language radiated raw, male power. Alert. Intense. Tightly leashed. Every one of these soldiers looked as potentially dangerous as the jungle they watched.
Emily’s pulse gave a little hop, a purely female response to being surrounded by so much ambient testosterone. She steadied her hands and took a few more shots of the commandos in their formation, then swung her camera back toward Tyler. Dapples of sunshine lit his broad shoulders. He looked strong and competent, every inch the trained warrior, yet in her mind she was seeing the man who had kissed her.
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