THE MARRIAGE PROTECTION PROGRAM

by Margaret Watson

  * * *

  Chapter 12

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  "I don't want to say no," she said, aching for his touch. "Love me, Ben."

  He groaned and gathered her against him. His kiss was deep and hard and hot, possessing and claiming her. It was the kiss of a man denied for too long, the kiss of a man who wouldn't be denied any longer.

  As he kissed her, he touched her everywhere, his hands lingering and caressing. When he reached her waist, he hesitated, then slowly slid his hand between her legs.

  She cried out in surprise at the shock of pleasure that possessed her. And when he touched her again, a spasm of release speared through her, leaving her limp and trembling in his arms.

  "I need you, Ben. Now," she whispered.

  He didn't take his eyes or his mouth off of her while he unbuttoned his jeans and slid them down his legs. His white briefs followed. The muscles in his legs rippled beneath his olive skin, and she saw that he was fully, heavily aroused. She needed to touch him, and he trembled beneath her hand. His muscles were rock-hard with tension, and he closed his eyes as she caressed him.

  Suddenly he jerked away from her. "I have to get protection from my backpack."

  "It's all right. It's not the right time of month."

  He was reaching for the pack, but he stopped and looked at her. "What if you're wrong?"

  "Then we'll have another child to raise besides Rafael." He grabbed the pack and unzipped a front pocket. "I can't take that chance. And now isn't the time to make a decision like that, anyway."

  In another moment he was back beside her. "I can't wait another moment, Janie."

  She reached up and pulled him down to her. "Neither can I."

  When he moved inside of her, she wrapped her legs and arms around him and closed her eyes. He moved slowly at first, whispering her name. She arched up to meet him as the tension spiraled higher and higher, then clutched him tightly as they flew over the edge together.

  She floated for a long time, reveling in the weight of Ben's body on top of hers, the smell of his skin, the feel of his hair against her face, the smoothness of his skin. Finally he shifted and tried to move, and involuntarily she held on more tightly. "Don't move."

  "I'm afraid I'm crushing you."

  "You're not."

  He rolled over so that she was lying on top of him. "The ground isn't soft enough for you," he said, his hand drifting down her back and lingering on her hip. "I don't want any stones to bruise that magnificent fanny of yours."

  She snuggled closer. "Could we stay here forever?"

  "Mmm, that's all right with me. It might get kind of chilly in a couple of months, though."

  "You'll keep me warm," she said, shifting so that every part of her was touching him.

  "You keep moving like that and you're going to be warm a lot more quickly than you think." He gripped her hips more tightly, and she could feel the unmistakable evidence of his arousal.

  Desire flashed through her again, shocking her with its fierceness. And its speed. "Maybe we'd better practice, then," she said, and couldn't believe the low, throaty voice belonged to her. It belonged to a seductress, not Janie Murphy. "We want to be prepared."

  "Preparation is everything," he agreed gravely. When he pulled her down to kiss her, everything else but Ben disappeared from her mind. Need swelled inside her again, and nothing existed but the man in her arms.

  * * *

  Ben opened his eyes to see the sun sinking below the mountains. Janie lay sprawled on top of him, her red hair in glorious disarray, her breathing slow and even.

  He allowed himself to watch her sleep as he treasured the feel of her slight weight pressing down on him. They had made love all afternoon until they'd both fallen asleep, exhausted.

  They needed to get back to the cabin, he told himself, but he couldn't force himself to move. Once they were back at the cabin, the world would press in on them again. Once they left this magical place, he would have to stop pretending that they had any kind of a future together.

  But it couldn't be helped. Night was closing in, and the darkness on the mountain hid too many things. He wanted to be safely inside the cabin before the light disappeared completely.

  He nuzzled Janie's neck, drinking in her scent, memorizing the way she tasted. She stirred and shifted so she was closer to him, and her arms tightened around him. He closed his eyes until he could control his reaction to her.

  "It's time to wake up," he said, and he heard the desperation in his voice. "Come on, Janie. It's getting dark."

  She opened her eyes, and her dark blue gaze was sleepy and satisfied. "I don't think I can move."

  Her mouth curled into an intimate smile, and all he wanted to do was kiss her. Instead he eased her away from him. "You're going to have to move, or you're going to get mighty cold." He didn't want to mention what he feared more than the cold—the predators that might be on the loose in the mountains under cover of darkness. Both the four-legged and two-legged varieties.

  She reached over and kissed him, and the fragrant cloud of her hair drifted over his face. "You promised to keep me warm," she said, and her low, husky voice reached inside of him, settling in a place he didn't know still existed.

  Janie trusted him. She trusted him to keep her not only warm, but safe. For a moment his arms tightened around her, and he didn't want to move, either. Then he lifted her off of him and sat up. "I'd rather keep you warm in a bed, inside the cabin."

  She grinned at him in the receding light as she reached for her blouse. "Now that you mention it, that sounds pretty good to me, too. And I'm starving."

  "I've got the solution to that dilemma," he said lightly. "I'll cook the fish when we get back to the cabin."

  They both dressed, then looked around to find anything they might have left behind. Ben tucked the blanket back into his pack, then closed it.

  "That backpack is amazing," Janie said, equally lightly. "You must have been a Boy Scout, because you're certainly prepared for anything. What else do you have in there?"

  His hands tightened around the pack, then he set it on the ground. "There's everything I might need for a couple of days in the mountains in this pack. I get called out on emergency tracking jobs occasionally, and I don't want to take the time to put everything in my backpack. So I just leave it in the back of the truck, ready to go."

  She raised her eyebrows. "You have a lot of calls for condoms when you're tracking a missing person?"

  He felt himself flush. "That's different," he muttered. "I put those in the pack after we got married."

  Her delighted smile brought heat to other parts of his body. "I didn't know you were such a romantic, Ben."

  "I just thought we needed to be prepared."

  "And it's a good thing we were." Her smile faded for a moment. "But what did you mean when you said you couldn't take a chance on having another child?"

  "Let's not discuss that here." He glanced at the sun, sinking quickly below the mountains now, and urged her along with a hand at the small of her back. "We can talk later."

  And they would have to discuss it. He owed it to Janie to tell her the truth—the complete truth. She deserved to know why he couldn't ever give her what she so obviously needed. And wanted, if this afternoon was any indication.

  His heart ached for her, ached to gather her close and never let her go. But he stepped away from her and shouldered his pack. "Let's get moving. I don't want to be out here after dark."

  "Don't you have a flashlight in that pack of yours?"

  "I do, and we'll use it if we have to. Right now, there's enough light to see where we're going."

  They didn't speak for a while. He pushed himself to hurry, and he knew that Janie was struggling to keep up with him. He heard her panting slightly behind him, but she never complained. When he heard her stumble, he stopped and waited for her to catch up to him.

  "Walk next to me," he said gruffly. "It'll be easier if we're together."

  "We'll go more
slowly that way," she retorted. "You don't have to baby me, Ben. I can make it on my own."

  "I know you can, Janie." In spite of himself, he felt his heart softening. How could he resist this woman? She was everything he'd ever wanted. And more. But he had to resist her. It wouldn't be fair to her to lead her on, to make her believe they could have any kind of future together.

  "We're almost there, aren't we?"

  He could feel her peering through the gathering darkness, straining to see the cabin. "Yeah, we're getting close."

  Suddenly he stopped. "Wait."

  "What's wrong?" she said.

  "Shhh." He held up one hand to silence her, and she stopped next to him.

  It was too quiet. All day long, there had been a background chorus of noise filling the air around them. Small animals had rustled in the bushes and plants, insects had clicked and hummed, and birds had whistled and trilled. Louder animal cries had occasionally echoed from a distance.

  As dusk fell, the animal sounds had lessened, then picked up again as the night-dwelling creatures had emerged. Now the air was heavy with silence.

  The quiet filled his head, sending adrenaline coursing through his veins. Something was wrong. They weren't alone in the night.

  "Back up. Slowly." There had been several large boulders off to the side of the lake a few yards back. That would work as cover for Janie while he checked out the cabin.

  She didn't say anything as she began backing up, and Ben wanted to kiss her. Later, he told himself. He couldn't let himself be distracted. He had to concentrate on the possible threat that waited ahead of them.

  When they reached the bounders, he drew Janie down into a crevice in the middle of the rocks, then squatted next to her. Gripping her forearms, he stared into her eyes. "I didn't see anything or hear anything," he whispered. "But it was suddenly much too quiet. I don't like it. I'm going to take a look around the cabin, make sure that everything is all right. You stay right here. No one can see you without coming right up to the rocks, and in a few minutes it will be too dark to see anything."

  He slung his pack off his back and set it down next to her. "Don't come out, no matter what. Stay put. I don't care what you see or hear. If I don't come back in thirty minutes, call Dev on the cell phone in the pack. Tell him where you are, and he'll come get you."

  She reached out and gripped his hand. "What do you mean, if you don't come back? What's out there, Ben?"

  He clasped her hand and felt the connection arcing between them. He could allow himself that much, at least. "I don't know what's out there. If we're lucky, it's just a mountain lion looking for diner. But I have to assume the worst. I have to think and act as though it's your murderer, and he's found the cabin."

  "Why don't you just stay here with me? Why do you have to go and check? You said no one could see me here." Her voice sounded frantic in the gathering darkness, and he wedged himself between the rocks and pulled her close.

  "I don't want anyone sneaking up on us. I'd rather know what's out there. Then we can decide what to do." He felt her heart pounding next to his chest, and he smoothed his hand over her hair. "It's probably an animal, and we'll have to sit here and wait for him to leave. Don't worry, Janie."

  "Don't worry? You're sneaking off into the night to stalk what might be a cold-blooded murderer, and you're telling me not to worry?"

  Even though she was whispering, he could hear the panic rising in her voice. "This is what I do, and I'm good at my job." Her hair slipped through his fingers like strands of silk. "I'm very good, Janie. I can disappear into the shadows, and no one knows I'm there." He smiled against her hair. "Believe me, if it is the guy who's after you, he won't have any idea that I'm close. I won't take any stupid chances. I'll come back here for you."

  She held him close, her arms trembling. "I'll be waiting for you."

  He wanted Janie always to be waiting for him. It was a dangerous, seductive thought, and one he should squash immediately. Instead, he hugged it close for a moment, indulging himself in its warmth. Then he let her go and wriggled out of the crevice between the boulders.

  "Stay here, and be completely quiet. Remember, don't come out until you see either me or Devlin."

  He couldn't resist one last, fierce kiss. Her lips clung to his, and he allowed himself to drown in her sweetness for a long moment. Then he set her away from him, and moved away into the darkness without looking back.

  * * *

  Janie watched Ben melt into the darkness that surrounded them, disappearing before her eyes. He had been right, she told herself with shaky confidence. He was good at what he did. She couldn't hear him at all. She had no idea where he'd gone. All she could do was sit and wait for him to come back.

  Or not come back.

  Stop it, she told herself fiercely. Ben was coming back soon. He'd figure out that there was nothing wrong, nothing waiting out there in the darkness for them, and they'd return to the cabin, laughing at themselves for their worry. They'd cook the fish he caught, and watch the moon rise over the lake. Then they'd go to bed and make love again. That was what she needed to concentrate on. Their future. Raising Rafael together, and the other children she hoped they would have. The stillness Ben had felt had nothing to do with another person up here on the mountain. It was an animal, she told herself, on the prowl.

  She felt the tension in the air ease, felt the night return to normal. Everything that had been waiting let out its breath, rustling the leaves of the bushes and the scrubby plants. The slight breeze caressed her cheek, as if reassuring her.

  But Ben didn't return.

  After what seemed like a long time she allowed herself to move, stretching her legs out in front of her and shifting on the ground to find a more comfortable position against the rock. As she listened intently, she told herself that Ben was just being cautious. He wanted to make sure that whatever had been lurking in the darkness was gone.

  Suddenly a dark shape materialized in front of her, gliding silently between the rocks. She stifled a scream when she realized it was Ben.

  "Are you all right?" she whispered, reaching for him. His hand closed around hers. "I'm fine. But we can't go beck to the cabin." His voice was barely more than a breath of air in the darkness.

  She gripped his hand more tightly as her heart began to pound. "Why not?"

  "There's a man hidden in the rocks and scrub about a hundred feet from the cabin. I watched him for a long time, and he hasn't moved. He's got a rifle aimed at the front door."

  She could only stare at him as her heart shriveled with fear. "What?"

  "It looks like he's found you, Janie. Now we have to catch him before he catches us."

  "How could he have found us at the cabin? And so quickly?"

  "When I get a chance, I'll check the car. He probably put some kind of tracking device on your car and my truck before he even broke into the restaurant. That way, if we took off, all he would have to do would be to follow the device." His voice filled with disgust. "I can't believe I didn't think to check the truck before we left."

  "It's not your fault, Ben," she said, and she moved closer to him. "I wouldn't have thought of that, either."

  "It's not your job to think like a criminal. But it is mine. And I should have thought of a tracking device." Even in the dim light, she could see the granite-like contours of his face. "Deep down, I guess I didn't take the threat to you as seriously as I should have."

  "Don't blame yourself. I thought we were safe up here, too." She tightened her grip on his hand. "What are we going to do now?"

  "We're going to make our way to somewhere we can spend the night. We have the advantage right now, because I know where he is, and he doesn't know where we are. But it would be too dangerous to try and take him down in the darkness. By daylight, we should have the advantage. He'll have been waiting for us all night, and he'll be tired. Maybe I can take him by surprise."

  "You're not going after him by yourself." Janie heard the rising fear in her voice,
but she didn't try to disguise it. "Promise me you'll call the sheriff for help."

  He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I'm not stupid. Of course I'll call for backup. Devlin will come up with a few of the other deputies, and we'll catch this guy. But it's not going to happen tonight."

  "Don't we need to stay and watch him?" she asked, reluctant to move from the relative safety of the boulders.

  "I don't think so. He's focused on the cabin. He doesn't know I've seen him, and he'll be waiting for us to return. I'm sure he's been inside and knows we're staying there. So he won't go far."

  "Where are we going?"

  "The cliffs behind us are full of caves. We'll find one and stay there for the night. I have enough food and water for both of us, and some extra clothes and emergency blankets. We won't have all the comforts of home, but we won't starve or freeze, either."

  Janie looked out into the darkness that was now complete. The moon hadn't yet risen, and she could barely see the lake, several yards away. Fear tried to suffocate her again, but she turned to Ben. "Tell me what you want me to do."

  His hand tightened on hers. He leaned closer and brushed her cheek with his mouth. "You're something, Janie. Do you know that?"

  "I'm just stiff from sitting here for so long," she retorted. "I need to move around."

  "Let's get moving, then." He tried to make his voice light, but she heard something humming beneath his casual words. Something that felt important. But he had already turned away and was wriggling out from between the boulders.

  She followed him, flexing her cramped legs and arms. When they reached the path, he motioned for her to stay down while he silently disappeared into the shadows once again.

  In moments he was back, reappearing as mysteriously as he had vanished. "Let's go. I want to head away from the cabin. We'll intersect the cliffs before too long. I doubt that's what he's expecting us to do."

  He started walking, and she was surprised and uneasy to hear pebbles tumbling along the path. Ben had moved so silently earlier. It was almost as if he didn't care if he alerted the man waiting for them.