by Lisa Hughey
Riley groaned, and he lifted his hand from the wheel, slowly, carefully, giving her plenty of time to back away. But Di couldn’t move. She’d been imagining this moment since she’d caught sight of him in Jack Stone’s office over two and a half weeks ago. His large rough palm cupped her cheek, his long fingers threaded through her short curls and a shiver worked its way over her spine.
His callused thumb brushed down her cheekbone and lingered at the corner of her mouth, his gaze firmly glued on her lips.
He gently eased her closer, until their lips were separated by less than a single sheet of paper. They held there suspended, as she waited, he waited, the only sound in the still quiet cab was the erotic sough of their breaths mingling together.
Finally, he pressed his lips to hers, lightly, reverently, tempering the lust that lingered between them. He captured her top lip in his mouth and sucked gently, then he pressed open-mouthed kisses along the outline of her lips, as if he wanted to taste each section, touching searching for the subtle differences between the corners, and the bow, and her fuller bottom lip.
He was barely touching her, only one hand at the nape of her neck, the other still firmly gripped the steering wheel, and still, she was about to go up in flames.
Oh my God.
Riley’s fingers slid through the silky curls along the curve of Di’s head, as he lost himself in the sensual pleasure of tasting her, testing her, searching out the secret caverns of her mouth, the nip of her teeth as she playfully teased him. The earthy scents of coconut, ylang-ylang blossoms, and some unidentifiable sweet aroma that was uniquely Diana. Her perfume wreathed the cab of the truck and wrapped around his senses. With every inhale, her scent surrounded him, intoxicated him, as he lost himself in the sensual eroticism of her kiss.
Only their mouths were touching. Her lips firm and questing against his. Engaging. Participating.
Definitely not pushing him away.
When he’d pictured kissing her, he’d confess, he’d imagined a frantic, wild, out-of-control passion that finally bubbled over and overwhelmed them both. The tension had been rising between them for days. Riley was pretty sure she didn’t even like him but he knew women and her body had responded to his every time they were near each other. He wasn’t sure his self-respect wasn’t going to take a hard hit because with his track record, he could have anyone he wanted, so why was he so drawn to this woman?
She held a deep disdain for him, no matter what he did, and he had stopped trying to change her mind days ago. For some reason, her complete dismissal of his appeal rankled in ways that he couldn’t even figure out. Why did he care if she didn’t find him charming?
She might not like him, but she was in lust with him.
So when he’d thought about them together, frequently, he’d assumed their passion would overpower their reservations and they’d couple frantically in the dark and then both wish they hadn’t almost immediately after.
But when she’d looked at him with those big, compassionate blue eyes, and her smile lit her face, he’d been overcome with the need to caress her, finesse her reaction, to take care, and show her how much he wanted her.
She held her fists tight against her collarbone as if she were afraid to touch him. In a moment, they needed to stop. They were exposed and unprotected, alone in the clearing in front of the empty school. Anyone could come up on them while they were engaged. And Riley refused to put Di in danger.
He eased back from their embrace, and brushed his thumb over her plumped lips. “We need more privacy than this allows,” he said gruffly.
Di stiffened and blinked, as if coming back to herself, then she flushed and pulled away hastily.
Riley opened his mouth to say something, although what he’d pull from his scrambled brain was a mystery, but she held up her palm. “I have the SAT phone. I can call Lailani and tell her about the change of plans.”
He pulled out an old-fashioned map of the terrain then consulted the GPS on his watch to confirm the coordinates.
“Okay.” He triangulated their position, along with the location of the village where her friend’s school was located, and the hotel back in Jolo city. “We rented this truck. If they take the truck and give us a vehicle to take back to the city, we don’t even need to unload the supplies. It can be a quick, even exchange.”
Riley pinpointed three locations that would work. “You got them?”
“Yes.” Di gripped the Satellite phone with tight fingers and made the call.
He listened as Di spoke with her friend. They agreed to the change in locations fairly quickly and chose the location Riley liked best of the three he’d identified. Maybe it would all work out.
There was only one sketchy area on the way to the meeting place that Riley would be happy to get behind them. After that one section, they should be relatively safe.
Di smiled tremulously as she spoke to Lailani. Once she hung up she said, “They are so thankful.”
“Yeah, well, she can thank us after we make the transfer and everything goes okay.” Riley tried to keep his tone neutral.
Di fell silent. Riley started up the truck. A light rain began to fall. Great. If this kept up the roads would disintegrate and slow their progress.
“So how does her husband feel about girls getting schooling?”
“Most of the population are fine with girls going to school. The people are slowly coming around to the idea of the girls getting an education.” She hesitated. “But it’s even harder with kids who suffer from any kind of learning issue.”
“Yeah.” Riley could imagine. It wasn’t always easy in the States, but in a rural area of Jolo Island like her friend’s sitio, he could see how their educational progress could be measured in small increments.
“You want to talk about it?” she asked tentatively.
The gears ground in a squeal as he shifted into third, trying to push the lumbering truck through the worsening rain. “What?”
“Clearly you have first hand experience with dyslexia.”
Riley misdirected. “Hey, I’m a sensitive guy.” He gave her his best smile meant to distract and let his gaze roam over her body, trying to shift her focus to sexual. “I watch Oprah.”
“Stop that.”
He raised a surprised brow. “Stop what?”
“Don’t use that fake charm on me.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he refuted. His charm wasn’t fake. But he didn’t know her well enough to talk about his learning problems from when he was a kid.
“Right.” She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. The move plumped up her small swells until the bit of cleavage created an intriguing shadow in the V of her t-shirt. “Would it kill you to have a meaningful conversation?”
“I can be meaningful.” Riley turned up the wattage on his smile and let suggestion bleed through.
“Forget it.” She rested her forehead on the passenger window and turned away, her gaze focused outside the truck, but he knew that wouldn’t last long, since there was little to see in the falling rain.
The silence in the truck was deafening. Rain drummed down on the metal roof and the windshield wiper blades punctuated the silence with an admonishing thwap-thwap. As if they knew she was mad at him and wanted to add to his chastisement.
Riley shifted in his seat, trying to avoid the uncomfortable topic. He stretched his left leg, shrugged his shoulders beneath his holster, and glanced at her again. But she was still staring out the window in disappointed silence.
And finally, he caved unable to bear her displeasure.
“My mother died when I was about two.” He never talked about this stuff. Avoided like it was an IED clearly labeled in the middle of the road.
She made a soft noise of sympathy but thankfully kept silent.
“My dad was pretty much…not involved.” Riley grimaced. “Jesus, I hate sharing this shit. do we really need to do this?”
“Not at all,” Di replied coolly.
And he was insane. Because even sharing wasn’t going to get her to like him. But whatever. “I had trouble reading from the get-go. And since I had no mother, the school would tell our nanny, who was banging my father hoping to be Mrs. Stone number two. Honestly, I have no idea if she bothered to share with him or not.” With his father, who knew? Maybe the old bastard had known about his learning issues and just didn’t care.
“Bitch,” Di muttered under her breath. “I’d like five minutes in a room with her.”
“She got what she deserved. Which was not Mrs. Stone number two.” Riley smiled fondly as he remembered Connor’s mother dropping him off on the doorstep. “Dad had knocked up my brother’s mom and when Con was about two years old, she decided she’d had enough of motherhood. After Con came to live with us, the nanny figured out she was never going to be Mrs. Stone number two, and decided she didn’t sign on for three wild boys.”
Di made another sound of disgust, but she had straightened away from the truck door and turned so she faced him.
“Anyway. Fast forward to when I’m twelve, three more nannies, none of whom became Mrs. Stone number two, but who didn’t do much in the way of actually taking care of us either. And I had never been tested, or even gotten extra help, because in order to take those steps, you have to have parental approval.”
A genuine smile curved his mouth. “Until Shelley.”
“Who is Shelley?”
“My sister’s mother. They came to live with us when Jess was eight.” Riley recalled the day fondly. “Shelley is still there.”
“Mrs. Stone number two?”
“Nope. She refused to marry the old goat. But she insisted on staying to take care of all four of us.”
“And she got you help.”
It had mostly been too late by the time Shelley marched into the school and demanded they test Riley and get him additional aid. He could read but it was still difficult. Luckily he had the street smarts to get by.
“Yeah.”
“So you can relate to Divina.”
“Yeah.”
“And that’s why you brought the soccer balls?” Di’s voice had softened, which wouldn’t do at all.
Riley might suck at reading. But he was hell on wheels at reading people. And the sweet, soft voice and the relaxing of her body was the picture of surrender.
“And this is where I usually get laid.” Riley shot her his best confident, smug smile. “But I’m thinking this is a bad time.”
She turned away from him in disgust. Just like he’d wanted. Riley Stone did not take pity fucks. Not even from women he wanted more than he wanted his next breath.
“Really? You had to ruin this moment with that?”
“What?” He laughed as if he had no cares in the world. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“So how many girls you really share that story with, hotshot?”
“Enough.” None. Only Jack had any idea exactly how much trouble Riley had with reading. “But I never kiss and tell, sweetheart.”
Di snorted again and turned away from him to stare out the window.
Thankfully, there was no more time to debate his moves. They’d arrived at the exchange destination. Riley shifted the truck into park, and glanced around.
The rain had slowed to a light shower. There was a couple in a car parked at the edge of a long cement pad in front of a small one room municipal building. The little structure was painted a cheery turquoise with white trim and the name of the town painted in black stenciled letters with a four inch band of mosaic tiles trimmed around the front door frame. The sedan in the parking lot had seen better days.
But in the more relaxed culture here, they could switch vehicles with the couple. Then once Di’s friends had delivered the school supplies to the school they could drive the truck back to Jolo and exchange it for their car.
The truck rental place would be fine with the car as collateral until their truck was returned. This was a win-win for both parties.
Once again, Di jumped out of the truck without a care for her safety or the danger that could lurk in the jungle. While she might be correct that most on this island would welcome the free school supplies, there were sure to be people who wanted nothing to do with Westerners bestowing charity on their village.
“Di. Dammit. Wait.” Riley chambered a round in his weapon, and assessed the cement pad and their surroundings in one quick security sweep. He vaulted to the ground and kept his weapon ready, while he searched for threats.
Di, even after all the discussions they’d had over the last four days, was oblivious as she hugged her friend, Lailani, tightly. Fortunately the husband was equally security-minded. Riley nodded.
“You checked out the area?” he asked in rough Tagalog after they exchanged names and brief nods.
Magtanggol nodded again. “We should hurry.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” Riley said grimly. “Trade and go.”
Di started, “Oh, but—”
Magtanggol shook his head fiercely.
Riley handed him the keys to the truck.
The man gripped his hand tightly and shook. “Thank you for coming.” Then he passed over the keys to the ancient sedan to Riley.
“Riley.” Di pleaded. Rain ran in rivulets down her face. Riley wasn’t sure but he thought she might be crying and he thanked Christ he couldn’t tell.
Riley’s danger meter was going crazy. They needed to get out of here. Now. “Your friends need to get in the truck. Now. And we need to get out of here.”
But before she could carry out his orders, from behind him Riley heard the clicks of multiple weapons being cocked.
“Hands up, lace your fingers together and put your hands on the back of your head. Do it slowly.” The shock of it was the command came from Di’s ‘friend’, Magtanggol. And Riley had no bargaining chip because he’d already handed over the keys. There was nothing to stop them from killing Riley and Di and taking it all. Riley had to hope that wasn’t their plan.
“Do it, Di.” Riley swore softly but did as he was told. They were outnumbered and very outgunned.
“We’re going to sit and have a little chat.”
“Magtanggol? Lailani?” Riley couldn’t see her but he could hear the confusion, the upset in Di’s voice.
Another five soldiers melted out of the woods their weapons trained on Riley and Di. They were surrounded. Fuck.
Magtanggol gestured with his weapon, a freaking .357, and as a group they moved toward the little municipal house. Lailani opened the door and gestured for Riley and Di to go inside which Riley took as a good sign. If they were going to kill them they likely would have shot them outside and just dragged their bodies into the jungle.
He still wasn’t quite sure how, or if, they were going to get out of this but he’d die trying to save Diana. “Just follow their orders, “ Riley commanded softly.
The inside of the little one room structure was clearly a meeting room. There was a long wood plank table with a rough uneven surface and ten crudely-carved wood chairs. Magtanggol shoved the chairs out from the table. “Have a seat. Place your palms flat on the tabletop where we can see them at all times.”
“Why don’t you just let Diana drive on out of here?” Riley smiled his most charming, non-threatening smile. “For old times’ sake.”
But no one answered.
The tension in the room slowly tightened as everyone took a seat. Riley absolutely hated the fact that there were six weapons trained on Di.
Lailani had tilted her head and was studying him with a curious expression. She finally said, “We have no quarrel with you.”
“Funny. It doesn’t look that way from the amount of firepower in the room.” Sweat bloomed on his forehead.
“We would be naive and stupid if we didn’t treat you as a threat, with your experience and the
business you are in.”
Riley was more confused than ever but he smiled as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Delivering school supplies?”
“Come Mr. Stone. Ingenuousness does not suit you,” Lailani mocked.
“This is a waste of time,” Magtanggol said abruptly. “Let’s just say we are aware of your other…more covert business.”
Riley continued to smile vacuously but inside he was swearing like the sailor he used to be. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“What are you talking about?” Di asked.
Fuckity fuck fuck. For a moment he’d even forgotten about Di.
“We assume that Mr. Stone is also working for Stone Consulting while he delivers your school supplies.”
Riley kept silent. But Di, dammit, did not. “Stone Consulting?”
“How do you think Global Humanitarian Relief funds all their good deeds?” Magtanggol continued, putting a nail in his coffin with every word. “It is our guess is that the other arm of the company, Stone Consulting, actually paid for our school supplies to be delivered.”
“If you believe that is the case, then why are you holding us at gunpoint?” Riley asked pleasantly.
“One cannot be too careful when dealing with the Stone brothers,” Lailani said grimly.
She was right about that.
“Let Di go.” Riley wanted those guns off Di now.
“We’re going to let both of you go.” Lailani steepled her hands together.
Riley wanted to relax but words weren’t actions and no one had lowered their weapons. “So what is it that you want?”
“When you communicate with your client. I want you to tell them that MNLF is firmly committed to the peace accord,” Magtanggol demanded softly.
“What?” Di queried. “I already know that.”
“Now would be a good time to keep quiet, sweetheart.”
“Di, my name is Di.”
“His other client,” Magtanggol said firmly.
Riley calculated the odds that this was some sort of strange trap, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see what angle they could be working. If he understood correctly, all they wanted was for him to relay information to the U.S. government. If he went on that supposition, the obvious conclusion was that they were not going to harm either him or Di. They needed them. He nodded slowly giving up the pretense of ignorance. “Okay.”