The Complete Mackenzie Collection

by Linda Howard

  He had needed to shave that day in Benghazi, too. In a flash of memory she felt again the scrape of his rough chin against her naked breasts, and a wave of heat washed over her, leaving her weak and flushed. The cool air blowing from the tiny vent overhead was suddenly not cool enough.

  She hoped he wouldn’t notice, but it was a faint hope, because he was trained to take note of every detail around him. She imagined he could describe every passenger within ten rows of them in either direction, and when she’d been awake she had noticed that he’d shown an uncanny awareness of anyone approaching them from the rear on the way to the lavatories.

  “Are you feeling sick?” he asked, eyeing the color in her cheeks.

  “No, I’m just a little warm,” she said with perfect truth, while her blush deepened.

  He continued to watch her, and the concern in his eyes changed to a heated awareness. She couldn’t even hide that from him, damn it. From the beginning it had been as if he could see beneath her skin; he sensed her reactions almost as soon as she felt them.

  Slowly his heavy-lidded gaze moved down to her breasts, studying the slope and thrust of them. She inhaled sharply as her nipples tightened in response to his blatant interest, a response that shot all the way to her loins.

  “Are they more sensitive?” he murmured.

  Oh, God, he shouldn’t do this to her, she thought wildly. They were in the middle of a plane full of people, taxiing toward an empty gate, and he was asking questions about her breasts and looking as if he would start undressing her any minute now.

  “Are they?”

  “Yes,” she whispered. Her entire body felt more sensitive, from both her pregnancy and her acute awareness of him. Soon he would be her husband, and once again she would be lying in his arms.

  “Ceremony first,” he said, his thoughts echoing hers in that eerie way he had. “Otherwise we won’t get out of the hotel until tomorrow.”

  “Are you psychic?” she accused under her breath.

  A slow smile curved his beautiful mouth. “It doesn’t take a psychic to know what those puckered nipples mean.”

  She glanced down and saw her nipples plainly beaded under the lace and silk of her bra and blouse. Her face red, she hastily drew her shirt over the betraying little nubs, and he gave a low laugh. At least no one else was likely to have heard him, she thought with scant comfort. He’d pitched his voice low, and the noise on board made it difficult to overhear conversations, anyway.

  The flight attendants were telling them to remain in their seats until the plane was secured and the doors opened, and as usual the instructions were ignored as passengers surged into the aisles, opening the overhead bins and dragging down their carry-on luggage or hauling it out from under the seats. Zane stepped deftly into the aisle, and the movement briefly pulled his jacket open. She saw the holster under his left arm and the polished metal butt of the pistol tucked snugly inside it. Then he automatically shrugged one shoulder, and the jacket fell into place, a movement he’d performed so many times he didn’t have to think about it.

  She’d known he was armed, of course, because he’d informed the airport and airline security before they’d boarded the plane. During the boredom and enforced inactivity of the flight, however, she had managed to push the recent events from her mind, but the sight of that big automatic brought them all back.

  He extended his hand to steady her as she stepped into the aisle ahead of him. Standing pressed like sardines in the line, she felt him like a warm and solid wall at her back, his arms slightly extended so that his hands rested on the seat backs, enveloping her in security. His breath stirred the hair on top of her head, making her realize anew exactly how big he was. She was of average height, but if she leaned back, her head would fit perfectly into the curve of his shoulder.

  The man in front of her shifted, forcing her backward, and Zane curved one arm around her as he gathered her against his body, his big hand settling protectively over her lower belly. Barrie bit her lip as her mind bounced from worry to the pleasure of his touch. This couldn’t goon much longer—either this exquisite frustration or the sharp darts of terror—or she would lose her mind.

  The line of passengers began to shuffle forward as the doors were opened and they were released from the plane. Zane’s hand dropped from her belly. As she began to move forward, Barrie caught the eye of an older woman who had chosen to remain in her seat until the stampede was over, and the woman gave her a knowing smile, her gaze flicking to Zane.

  “Ma’am,” Zane said smoothly in acknowledgment, and Barrie knew he’d caught the little byplay. His acute awareness of his surroundings was beginning to spook her. What if she didn’t want him to notice everything? Most women would be thrilled to death with a husband who actually took note of details, but probably not to the extent that Zane Mackenzie did.

  On the other hand, if the alternative was living without him, she would learn how to cope, she thought wryly. She’d spent over two months pining for him, and now that she had him, she wasn’t about to get cold feet because he was alert. He was a trained warrior—an assassin, her father had called him. He wouldn’t have survived if he hadn’t been aware of everything going on around him, and neither would she.

  That alertness was evident as they followed the signs to the baggage claim area. The airport was a shifting, flowing beehive, and Zane’s cool gaze was constantly assessing the people around them. As he had more than once before, he kept himself between her and everybody else, steering her close to the wall and protecting her other side with his body. He’d already taken one bullet while doing that, she thought, and had to fight the sudden terrified impulse to grab him and shove him against the wall.

  Before they reached the baggage claim, however, he pulled her to a halt. “Let’s wait here a minute,” he said.

  She strove for calm, for mastery over the butterflies that suddenly took flight in her stomach. “Did you see anything suspicious?” she asked.

  “No, we’re waiting for someone.” He looked at her, his cool gaze warming as he studied her face. “You’re a gutsy little broad, Miss Lovejoy. No matter what, you hold it together and try to do the best you can. Not bad for a pampered society babe.”

  Barrie was taken aback. She’d never been called a broad before, or a society babe. If it hadn’t been for the teasing glint in his eyes, she might have taken exception to the terms. Instead, she considered them for a moment, then gave a brief nod of agreement. “You’re right,” she said serenely. “I am gutsy for a pampered society babe.”

  He was surprised into a chuckle, a deliciously rich sound that was cut short when they were approached by a middle-aged man who wore a suit and carried a radio set in his hand. “Sheriff Mackenzie?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Travis Hulsey, airport security.” Mr. Hulsey flashed his identification. “We have your luggage waiting for you in a secure area, as requested. This way, please.”

  So he’d even thought of that, Barrie marveled as they followed Mr. Hulsey through an unmarked door. An attempt to grab her inside the airport would be tricky, given the security, so the most logical thing to do would be to wait at the ground transportation area, where everyone went after collecting luggage, then follow them to their destination and wait for a better opportunity. Zane had thwarted that; he must have made the arrangements when he’d gone forward to the lavatory.

  The dry desert heat slapped them in the face as soon as they stepped through the door. Her three suitcases and his one garment bag, which he had collected from a locker at National, were waiting for them at a discreet entrance well away from the main ground transportation area. Also waiting for them was a car, beside which stood a young man with the distinctive austere military haircut, even though he wore civilian clothes.

  The young man all but snapped to attention. “Sir,” he said. “Airman Zaharias at your service, sir.”

  Zane’s dark face lit with amusement. “At ease,” he said. “I’m not my brother.”<
br />
  Airman Zaharias relaxed with a grin. “When I first saw you, sir, I wasn’t sure.”

  “If he pulled rank and this is messing up your leave time, I’ll get other transport.”

  “I volunteered, sir. The general did me a personal favor when I was fresh out of basic. Giving his brother a ride downtown is the least I can do.”

  Brother? General? Barrie raised some mental eyebrows. First horses, now this. She realized she didn’t know anything about her soon-to-be husband’s background, but the details she’d gleaned so far were startling, to say the least.

  Zane introduced her with grave courtesy. “Barrie, Airman Zaharias is our safe transport, and he has donated his personal vehicle and time off for the service. Airman Zaharias, my fiancée, Barrie Lovejoy.”

  She solemnly shook hands with the young airman, who was almost beside himself in his eagerness to please.

  “Glad to meet you, ma’am.” He unlocked the trunk and swiftly began loading their luggage, protesting when Zane lifted two of the bags and stowed them himself. “Let me do that, sir!”

  “I’m a civilian now,” Zane said, amusement still bright in his eyes. “And I was Navy, anyway.”

  Airman Zaharias shrugged. “Yes, sir, but you’re still the general’s brother.” He paused, then asked, “Were you really a SEAL?”

  “Guilty.”

  “Damn,” Airman Zaharias breathed.

  They climbed into the air-conditioned relief of the airman’s Chevrolet and were off. Their young driver evidently knew Las Vegas well, and without asking for instructions he ignored the main routes. Instead he circled around and took Paradise Road north out of the airport. He chattered cheerfully the entire time, but Barrie noticed that he didn’t mention the exact nature of the favor Zane’s general brother had done for him, nor did he venture into personal realms. He talked about the weather, the traffic, the tourists, the hotels. Zane directed him to a hotel off the main drag, and soon Airman Zaharias was on his way and they were checking in to the hotel.

  Barrie bided her time, standing quietly to one side while Zane arranged for them to be listed in the hotel’s computer as Glen and Alice Temple—how he arrived at those names she had no idea—and ignoring the clerk’s knowing smirk. He probably thought they were adulterous lovers on a tryst, which suited her just fine; it would keep him from being curious about them.

  They weren’t alone in the elevator, so she held her tongue then, too. She held it until they were in the suite Zane had booked, and the bellman had been properly tipped and dismissed. The suite was as luxurious as any she had stayed in in Europe. A few hours before, she might have worried that the cost was more than Zane could afford, that he’d chosen it because he thought she would expect it. Now, however, she had no such illusion. As soon as he had closed and locked the door behind the bellman, she crossed her arms and stared levelly at him. “Horses?” she inquired politely. “Family business? A brother who happens to be an Air Force general?”

  He shrugged out of his jacket, then his shoulder holster. “All of that,” he said.

  “I don’t know you at all, do I?” She was calm, even a little bemused, as she watched him wrap the straps around the holster and deposit the weapon on the bedside table.

  He unzipped his garment bag and removed a suit from it, then began unpacking other items. His pale glance flashed briefly at her. “You know me,” he said. “You just don’t know all the details of my family yet, but we haven’t had much time for casual chatting. I’m not deliberately hiding anything from you. Ask any question you want.”

  “I don’t want to conduct a catechism,” she said, though she needed to do exactly that. “It’s just…” She spread her hands in frustration, because she was marrying him and she didn’t already know all this.

  He began unbuttoning his shirt. “I promise I’ll give you a complete briefing when we have time. Right now, sweetheart, I’d rather you got your sweet little butt in one shower while I get in the other, so we can get married and into this bed as fast as possible. About an hour after that, we’ll talk.”

  She looked at the bed, a bigger-than-king-size. Priorities, priorities, she mused. “Are we safe here?”

  “Safe enough for me to concentrate on other things.”

  She didn’t have to ask what those other things were. She looked at the bed again and took a deep breath. “We could rearrange the order of these things,” she proposed. “What do you think about bed, talk and then wedding? Say, tomorrow morning?”

  He froze in the act of removing his shirt. She saw his eyes darken, saw the sexual tension harden his face. After a moment he pulled the garment free and dropped it to the floor, his movements deliberate. “I haven’t kissed you yet,” he said.

  She swallowed. “I noticed. I’ve wondered—”

  “Don’t,” he said harshly. “Don’t wonder. The reason I haven’t kissed you is that, once I start, I won’t stop. I know we’re doing things out of order—hell, everything’s been out of order from the beginning, when you were naked the first time I saw you. I wanted you then, sweetheart, and I want you now, so damn bad I’m aching with it. But trouble is still following you around, and my job is to make damn sure it doesn’t get close to you and our baby. I might get killed—”

  She made a choked sound of protest, but he cut her off. “It’s a possibility, one I accept. I’ve accepted it for years. I want us married as soon as possible, because I don’t know what might happen tomorrow. In case I miscalculate or get unlucky, I want our baby to be legitimate, to be born with the Mackenzie name. A certain amount of protection goes with that name, and I want you to have it. Now.”

  Tears swam in her eyes as she stared at him, at this man who had already taken one bullet for her and was prepared to take another. He was right—she knew him, knew the man he was, even if she didn’t know what his favorite color was or what kind of grades he’d made in school. She knew the basics, and it was the basics she had so swiftly and fiercely learned to love. So he wasn’t as forthcoming as she might have wished; she would deal with it. So what if he was so controlled it was scary, and so what if those uncanny eyes noticed everything, which would make it difficult to surprise him on Christmas and his birthday? She would deal with that, too, very happily.

  If he was willing to die for her, the least she could do was be completely honest with him.

  “There’s another reason I agreed to marry you,” she said.

  His dark brows lifted in silent question.

  “I love you.”

  Chapter 11

  He wore a dark gray suit with black boots and a black hat. Barrie wore white. It was a simple dress, ankle length and sleeveless, classic in its lines and lack of adornment. She loosely twisted up her dark auburn hair, leaving a few wisps hanging about her face to soften the effect. Her only jewelry was a pair of pearl studs in her ears. She got ready in the bath off the bedroom, he showered in the bath off the parlor. They met at the door between the two rooms, ready to take the step that would make them husband and wife.

  At her blunt declaration of love, an equally blunt expression of satisfaction had crossed his face, and for once he didn’t hide anything he was feeling. “I don’t know about love,” he’d said, his voice so even she wanted to shake him. “But I do know I’ve never wanted another woman the way I want you. I know this marriage is forever. I’ll take care of you and our children, I’ll come home to you every night, and I’ll try my damnedest to make you happy.”

  It wasn’t a declaration of love, but it was certainly one of devotion, and the tears that came so easily to her these days swam in her eyes. Her self-contained warrior would love her, when he lowered his guard enough to let himself. He had spent years with his emotions locked down, while he operated in tense, life-and-death situations that demanded cool, precise thoughts and decisions. Love was neither cool nor concise; it was turbulent, unpredictable, and it left one vulnerable. He would approach love as cautiously as if it was a bomb.

  “Don’t cry
,” he said softly. “I swear I’ll be a good husband.”

  “I know,” she replied, and then they had both gone to their separate bathrooms to prepare for their wedding.

  They took a taxi to a chapel, one of the smaller ones that didn’t get as much business and didn’t have a drive-through service. Getting married in Las Vegas didn’t take a great deal of effort, though Zane took steps to make it special. He bought her a small bouquet of flowers and gave her a bracelet of dainty gold links, which he fastened around her right wrist. Her heart beat heavily as they stood before the justice of the peace, and the bracelet seemed to burn around her wrist. Zane held her left hand securely in his right, his grip warm and gentle, but unbreakable.

  Outwardly it was all very civilized, but from the first moment they’d met, Barrie had been acutely attuned to him, and she sensed the primal possessiveness of his actions. He had already claimed her physically, and now he was doing it legally. She already carried his child inside her. His air of masculine satisfaction was almost visible, it was so strong. She felt it, too, as she calmly spoke her vows, this linkage of their lives. During a long, hot day in Benghazi they had forged a bond that still held, despite the events that had forced them apart.

  He had one more surprise for her. She hadn’t expected a ring, not on such short notice, but at the proper moment he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and produced two plain gold bands, one for her and one for him. Hers was a little loose when he slipped it over her knuckle, but their eyes met in a moment of perfect understanding. She would be gaining weight, and soon the ring would fit. She took the bigger, wider band and slid it onto the ring finger of his left hand, and she felt her own thrill of primal satisfaction. He was hers, by God!

  Their marriage duly registered, the certificate signed and witnessed, they took another taxi to the hotel. “Supper,” he said, steering her toward one of the hotel’s dining rooms. “You didn’t eat anything on the plane, and it’s after midnight eastern time.”