A Question of Honor

by Lindsay McKenna

  Every stroke of his fingers on her back took a little more of the pain away from her. Kit surrendered her trust to him, something she’d never done with a man before. She felt Noah move slightly, his strong, sensual mouth pressed against her temple in a soothing kiss. Kit instinctively nuzzled upward, finding refuge in the feathery touch of his mouth. A soft moan of surrender slid from her as he barely grazed her mouth.

  Giving free rein to his feelings for Kit, Noah cradled her chin, imprisoning her. He leaned down to kiss those full, glistening lips, and tasted the bitterness of salt on her flesh. A fire lit explosively within him. She was soft and inviting…. He grazed her lips with his tongue, and his body tightened with desire as he molded his mouth hungrily to hers. At first there was no response from Kit, but he continued his gentle seduction. And then her lips moved shyly against his, sending a soaring sheet of flame through him. He felt the hunger of wanting to love her physically gnaw at him. But his heart instructed him differently.

  Body hard and throbbing, Noah tore his mouth from hers. Kit was breathing raggedly. He saw wonder and some unknown feeling in her wide, gray eyes. She was just as shocked by his kiss as he was.

  The silence eddied around them. Kit drowned in Noah’s turbulent green gaze. She read so much in his eyes, a richness of feelings that flowed through her like a gentle wind in the wake of a destructive storm. Kit swallowed hard, unwilling to leave Noah’s embrace. The unsure smile that tipped the corners of his mouth endeared him to her even more.

  “All right now?” he asked, his voice little more than a rasp. His senses were vibrantly alive because of her, because of everything she was and was not. She had been so sweet and feminine in his arms. Noah knew his kiss had not been out of pity for her condition. Just the lustrous quality in her eyes sent him reeling. He had to get up and leave. He had to staunch the flow of this molten ribbon that so powerfully connected them.

  “Y-yes, fine…” Kit whispered. She tried to wipe her cheeks dry but didn’t succeed very well. “I feel so stupid, breaking down like that for no reason.”

  “Don’t you think it was good to cry and get rid of all that poison inside you?”

  Sniffing, Kit couldn’t meet his gaze. But his deep voice was a balm to her ravaged state. “I guess so, Noah.”

  “Maybe you’ll be able to sleep better at night from now on.”

  Stunned that he knew of her nightly wakenings, Kit stared up at him. His eyes were gentle with understanding.

  “I haven’t met too many agents who didn’t have some sleepless nights,” Noah said soothingly. “From now on, if you need a shoulder to cry on, look me up.”

  Taking a deep breath, Kit nodded. “I will.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  Noah rose—the last thing he wanted to do. Keeping a hand on her shoulder, he said, “Stay here awhile and work through the rest of it, Kit. Okay?”

  She lowered her lashes, her heart squeezing with fresh pain. Noah was retreating rapidly. His voice had taken on that familiar authoritative quality. “I’ll be fine,” she promised in a rasp. “Go ahead, I know you have things to attend to.”

  The disappointment in her tone was very real. Noah wondered why, but didn’t ask. Reluctantly he allowed his hand to slide from her shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

  The door shut quietly, and Kit looked up. All her senses focused on the wonderful kiss they had shared. It had been so unexpected, but so right. Getting up, Kit ran some water in the small basin and washed her flushed face, hoping to get rid of the signs of crying. What she couldn’t wash away was Noah’s tenderness or her physical need to love him.

  As she dried her face with a towel, she tried to understand what had happened. Ever since she’d met Noah, some undefinable tension had simmered hotly between them. And every day it seemed to heighten, making her excruciatingly aware of being a woman. All these feelings were new and disturbing.

  Placing the towel on the bracket, Kit took in a deep breath, trying to steady her roiling emotions. Nothing worked. She sat back down, burying her face in her hands. A young Haitian child had broken through the barriers behind which she had hidden so many old hurts and griefs from past wounds. Somehow Noah had known what was happening and taken her aside so that he could hold her while she worked through that terrible storm of feelings. But he didn’t have to kiss her. And she didn’t have to respond, either. Kit’s eyes grew troubled with the implications. They had to work together, and this shouldn’t be happening.

  If she was any judge of the situation, Noah was just as surprised by the kiss as she was. But both of them had wanted it, needed it. Kit tried to tell herself that Noah had kissed her out of compassion, nothing else. There could be nothing else between them right now. Her entire life was focused on trying to collar Garcia.

  Rising, Kit studied herself in the mirror. Her eyes were a soft gray color, her mouth still tingling in the aftermath of Noah’s kiss. She saw none of the old Kit Anderson left as she searched the face in front of her. In the past month Noah had brought out her vulnerability. And as the tides of the ocean ebbed and flowed because of the moon’s pull, she was responding in kind to him.

  “You’ve got to get a hold on yourself,” she whispered. It was Friday. Thank God Alyssa Trayhern would be visiting this weekend. Kit felt incredibly susceptible after Noah’s kiss. She had no idea how she would behave if they had to spend this weekend alone together. Yes, Aly’s presence was essential.

  “Aly!” Noah grinned and threw his arms around his tall, slender sister. He hugged her fiercely, laughing as she wrapped her arms around him.

  “Oh, Noah.” Aly sighed, standing back and looking up at him. “It’s so good to see a friendly face. I’m sorry I’m early, but I had to escape from Pensacola for a while or lose what little’s left of my mind.”

  “Friendly and glad that you’re here. Come on in.” Noah ushered his younger sister inside. It was eight in the morning, and Aly was right on time. She was dressed in a short-sleeved bright green blouse that emphasized her auburn hair, and a pair of khaki-colored slacks. And she looked very tired. Almost as tired as Kit.

  Aly leaned down to pet Tripoli, then gave each of the cats a ruffle on the head before following Noah from the foyer.

  “You’re just in time for breakfast, sis. I was fixing some of my world-famous Trayhern omelets.”

  Chuckling, Aly followed her brother into the kitchen. “Noah, my stomach isn’t up to a wild omelet today.”

  “I’ll make you a tame one, then. Fair enough? Sit down. Coffee?”

  Placing her purse on another chair, Aly nodded. “A stiff drink would be more like it.”

  “That bad at Pensacola, huh?” Noah handed her the cup and returned to his cooking.

  “That bad.” Aly looked around. “Hey, you said you had a roommate. Where is she?”

  With a grimace Noah turned and faced his sister. “I couldn’t say much on the phone when you called last week, Aly. She isn’t exactly a roommate.”

  Aly raised an eyebrow, her eyes sparkling. “Been a long time since you had a serious relationship, if my memory serves me correctly.”

  Stirring the egg mixture, Noah muttered, “It’s not what you think.”

  Aly tittered delightfully, and sat back in the chair, enjoying Noah’s sudden discomfort. “Oh…okay. Tell me all about her.”

  “There’s not much to tell. Detective Kit Anderson is here on police business I can’t talk too much about. This is a safe house for her.”

  Aly frowned. “A safe house?”

  Noah set the bowl on the drain board and added a number of vegetables, then some shredded cheese to the mixture. “Yeah. There’s a Mob contract out on her, and everyone concerned felt she’d be better off here.”

  “My God, Noah, that’s dangerous! This is something new. I mean, I’ve heard of taking work home with you, but isn’t this going too far?”

  Chuckling, Noah said, “Don’t overreact. Being a safe house isn’t really all that d
angerous.”

  “What’s she like?”

  “Kit is…” Noah struggled with adjectives. If he allowed his heart to talk, he’d say that she was incredibly beautiful, with eyes that shone like the ocean touched with moonlight. That ever since the kiss yesterday, there had been a new unsureness between them.

  “Yes?” Aly goaded, watching her brother’s face closely.

  “She’s been an undercover agent for the narc division for five years.” There, that was a safe, impersonal comment. “Kit should be joining us shortly for breakfast.”

  “Great. Frankly, I need a family situation to unwind from that murderous flight school.”

  He gave her a dark look as he poured the first omelet into the skillet. “It’s not a family situation between me and Kit, Aly.”

  She grinned at his defensiveness. “Okay, big brother, anything you say. But I see that look in your eye, and I hear it in your voice.”

  Heat flowed into Noah’s cheeks, and he was acutely aware of Aly’s appraisal. She sat there with a silly know-it-all grin on her face. He had never been able to hide much from his sister. “You’re barking up the wrong tree,” he growled unhappily.

  Kit entered the kitchen, dressed in a pale pink blouse and a pair of threadbare jeans. She halted, seeing a red-headed woman at the table. It had to be Alyssa. Grateful for her presence even though she really didn’t know her, Kit gave her a warm smile. “You must be Alyssa,” she said, moving to the table and extending her hand.

  Aly rose, shaking her hand. “And you’re Kit Anderson. Call me Aly. It’s good to meet you.” She shot a glance over at Noah, who had his back to them. “My brother has been telling me all about you,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

  Uncomfortable, Noah turned and gave his sister a warning look. “You’d better explain yourself, Aly. And in a hurry.”

  Aly sat there, a pleased look on her face, deliberately ignoring Noah’s remarks.

  Kit poured herself a cup of coffee, vibrantly aware of Noah only a few feet away from where she stood. He looked magnificent in a forest green polo shirt and faded jeans. And when he glanced in her direction to mutter “Good morning,” her heart squeezed, then began to pound.

  “Good morning,” she murmured in return, retreating hastily to the table, where Aly sat.

  “I understand you’re in navy flight school,” Kit began, trying to move to a safe topic of conversation, aware that Aly had a special look of alertness in her startling blue eyes. She was very pretty, Kit thought, taking in the cute pixie-style cut of Aly’s auburn hair that emphasized the fine qualities of her facial features. Kit liked her immediately. There was a tension to Aly, as if she were a clock that had been wound too tightly. Her movements were quick, concise and sure, shouting her obvious confidence.

  “Yes, I’m battling my way through Pensacola,” she griped good-naturedly.

  Noah placed a plate in front of Kit. “This one’s for you,” he said.

  Kit looked down at the omelet, hash browns and toast, distraught at the quantity of food. “Noah—”

  “Looks like he’s trying to fatten you up,” Aly noted wryly, then added, “Noah has this thing about always helping out the underdogs of the world. If you’re too skinny, he wants to fatten you up. If you’ve got a problem, he’ll loan you his shoulder to cry on. If you need a place to hide, he’ll throw open the doors to his home.” She smiled warmly over at Kit. “He takes in stray animals, too, as you can see.” She gestured at the two cats and dog sitting patiently around the table, waiting for scraps.

  Kit lowered her lashes, unable to stop a smile. “Yes, Noah helps people and animals in many ways.”

  “Here, eat this and quit talking,” Noah muttered to his sister, putting a plate in front of her.

  “You must think I’m skinny, too,” Aly teased, picking up the fork.

  “You both are.”

  “Uh-oh, watch it, Kit. My brother is stalking us. If we keep eating like this, we’ll balloon to a hundred and thirty in no time.”

  Laughter spilled from Kit. She was delighted with Aly’s quick retorts. Noah was terribly uncomfortable, and if she wasn’t mistaken, that dull red color on his cheeks meant he was blushing. Suddenly, with Alyssa’s effervescent presence, the weekend was taking on a wonderful new quality.

  “So, what’s on the agenda for the rest of the day?” Aly wanted to know after breakfast.

  Noah didn’t like the way Aly was watching him—especially whenever he talked with Kit. It was only polite table conversation, but she was far too interested to suit him. She obviously thought there was something between them, when there wasn’t. He was about ready to throttle her. “I was going to work in the garage on that bureau I started building three months ago. I’ve got some sanding to do on it before I start rubbing it down to bring out the highlights in the wood.”

  “And I was going to weed the flower beds,” Kit said, rising to clear the plates from the table.

  “What a homey twosome you are.”

  Noah glared at Aly, but said nothing.

  “Tell you what, Kit,” Aly began with enthusiasm, “I want to catch up on what my handsome brother has been doing, and later I’ll help you weed. It’s about time I did penance in the form of ground duty.”

  Kit grinned. “Sounds good. There are enough weeds for both of us.”

  Chuckling, Aly followed Noah out of the house to the garage. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “She’s really beautiful, Noah.”

  He opened the garage door, and sunlight spilled into the gloomy depths. “Just what the hell were you trying to do in there, Aly?” he demanded, walking over to the chest of drawers he’d fashioned out of cherry wood.

  “What?”

  He sized up his spunky sister. “You know damn well what.”

  Aly picked up some sandpaper and handed it to Noah. “Come on, Noah! I’d have to be blind not to see you like her.”

  He snorted and sat down to begin sanding the wood. “You’re way off base.”

  Kneeling and starting to sand the other side of the bureau, Aly muttered, “Noah, you never could hide a thing from me. So don’t sit there and tell me you don’t like Kit Anderson! I can see it in your eyes and the way you talk to her.”

  “You’re nuts.”

  Tittering, Aly caught his glance. “Your voice gets soft when you speak to her, Noah.”

  “Why don’t you just sand, and we’ll talk about something else.”

  “How long have you known Kit?”

  “A month.”

  “She married?”

  “No.”

  “A boyfriend?”

  “Dammit, no! Can we get on another topic?”

  “No. Hey, I like Kit! She may be a cop, but there’s a special quality about her.”

  He sanded with more intensity, refusing to look over at his sister. “Yeah, she is special,” he grumbled.

  “See?”

  “Shut up and keep working.”

  Laughing delightedly, Aly did as she was told for about five minutes. Breaking the pleasant silence, she asked, “How can Kit take that kind of dangerous pressure?”

  The scowl on Noah’s forehead deepened. “That’s what I’ve been wanting to know myself. Frankly, I thing she took up police work because her family’s like ours—bound by tradition.”

  “Oh, I see. Several generations of cops, huh?”

  “Yeah.” Noah wiped off the sweat gathering above his upper lip and concentrated with renewed vigor on the bureau. He wished with all his might that his eternally nosy sister would drop the subject. “Kit isn’t cut out for police work. Never has been. Yesterday she broke—” Noah caught himself. Dammit, he never meant to talk to anyone about that! He saw Aly’s eyes grow gentle.

  “What do mean, ‘broke’?”

  “Forget I said it.”

  “No.” Aly reached out and gripped his arm. “Noah, it’s obvious to me you care an awful lot for Kit. Come on, I’m your sister. If you can’t talk to me, who can you talk to?�
�

  Noah sat back, staring down at the sandpaper in his dusty hands. “Kit has been carrying a lot of past grief and terror in her from her years as an undercover agent,” he said finally. “Yesterday we picked up a bunch of Haitian refugees, and it got to her.” He sighed, staring out the opened door of the garage. “There was one little girl who absolutely adored Kit. When I went below to check on everyone, she had the girl in her arms. Kit was acting as interpreter, and I told her to tell the group they would be going to Miami.”

  “And then?” Aly stopped sanding and watched her brother’s face intently.

  “Once they understood they would be going to the U.S., the people started to cry and thank Kit. She started crying with them. And then she couldn’t stop, so I took her to my cabin for some privacy.”

  “She was finally letting go? Getting it out of her system?” Aly guessed.

  Noah nodded, exhaling. “Yeah…”

  “Something else happened?” Aly pressed gently.

  He folded the sandpaper methodically in his hand. “Something happened,” Noah admitted heavily. “She felt so good in my arms. It was like a shock to me, Aly.”

  “What was a shock?”

  Noah compressed his mouth into a thin line, looking over at his sister. “I kissed her.”

  Brows arching, Aly grinned. “What’s so shocking about that? Kissing’s pretty natural and normal between a man and a woman.”

  “Smart ass.”

  Swallowing her smile, Aly asked, “Did you do it out of pity, because she needed help?”

  “No. I don’t know…” He snorted. “I don’t know much of anything right now with Kit around. I’ve got a job to do, and I’m supposed to be professional about all this. Kit’s on the Osprey with me five days a week. And then she lives here.”

  “Kinda close quarters with each other all the time, huh?”