“Like what?”
“Like … everything!”
“Nah, no doing, girl. If you want to know the lowdown on Kiel Fortune, you’ll have to get it straight from him! I’m not one for telling tales.”
“You are. You’re afraid of him, that’s all.”
“Maybe I am.”
She was frowning at him when Kiel came into the galley. Her heart began to flap wildly in her chest as she stared at him. Ever shirtless, sweat beading on his sexy muscled arms and midriff; he snitched a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee, headed for the living room.
“Too good to eat with us?” Tierney hissed.
“No, I just came in here to check on the news. Everybody thinks you’re dead. Someone saw you leave with Travers. Then the report came in about his yacht blowing up.”
She jumped up, hurried to the satellite TV. “I’m dead? Wow. That means I could restart my whole existence, doesn’t it?”
“Would you want to?”
“Hell, yes! I’d like to live a life where nobody wants to kill me!”
Travers joined them as they listened to a pert newswoman with faked concern in her voice. “Yes, it appears that reality star Tierney Evans is dead, killed in a horrible explosion on a yacht at sea, though no bodies have been found. Why she was on the yacht, and the cause of the explosion, are not clear. But recently the billionaire heiress just missed being killed by a bomb planted on her car. Join us later this evening when our ace reporter, Hawk Greeley, speculates on these matters in his special report: Who Wanted Tierney Evans Dead?”
Tierney sighed as Kiel clicked off the TV. “Maybe I should watch Hawk’s special. I’d like to know who wants me dead, too. I dated him once, back when he was still pretending to be straight.”
“Who haven’t you dated?”
“There’s no call for that, Kiel. The child is shaking so bad I can hear her knees knocking. Be nice.”
“I didn’t mean anything.” He stood, she squinted her eyes as she followed him up. “I’m sorry, Tierney. We all have a lot of baggage. I have no right putting you down.”
“No, you don’t!” she spat and walked back to the galley. She was wearing the pink polka dot bikini and shorts. Kiel tagged along behind her; she turned, almost bumped into him. She noticed he was moving his gazes along the crest of her cleavage. He licked his lips, she tingled. It was really going to be hard to keep her hands off of him.
“Did you say we were going to your … hacienda?”
“Yeah, it’s in Baja, near the sea. My folks had it built there forty years ago.”
“Your … oh, Travers told me about them. They died in an earthquake?”
He threw Travers a fierce glance. “Yeah, they did. They were explorers and philanthropists. They were down in Chile doing some work for Unicef in the 90s when a big quake hit.”
“I’m sorry. You were just a kid, right?”
“Sure, but I survived. A person can survive anything if they try.”
“Oh, Travers, what about your family? Won’t they believe you’re dead, too?”
He entered the galley. “I called them last night, made sure they knew I was okay, and that they needed to pretend I wasn’t … for awhile. The cops had already been to see them once. They probably will again.”
“I hate that you two were dragged into this mess! Maybe I should go home and try to straighten it all out.”
“No, I don’t want you stepping into any more booby traps. We’ll all be safer at my house.”
He went on deck without explaining.
“What’s he mean? Is someone after him, too?”
“I’m afraid we’ve all stepped on some booby traps, Tierney. Do you think you can handle it if things get rough?”
“What choice do I have?”
“Good girl. Have another donut?”
She shook her head, wondering what sort of danger she was in now.
Kiel’s hacienda was more like a palatial fortress; made of concrete with white, hand-veneered plaster, a red tile roof, brightly colored tile floors throughout, sturdy, comfortable furnishings, with a secure wall surrounding the property. The interior of the grounds was lush and cool, thanks to a mango orchard, a stone fountain and long, lazy palm trees. There was even a freshwater pond full of fat, happy koi.
“I thought you were kind of a …”
“What, a drifter?”
“Well, yeah, you seemed down on your luck, anyway. How can you afford this place?”
“It was built by my parents. I told you that. My great granddaddy got rich in South American oil.”
“Oh. Kiel, did your parents love you?”
“They said they did. Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
He led her and Travers through the enormous foyer and up a winding staircase to their rooms.
“I think I’ll take a nap Kiel. It’s been a hard week.”
“Sure, bud, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
Kiel opened a door near the back of the house and ushered Tierney in. “How do you like it?”
She walked in, examined the giant carved wooden bed and elaborate furniture then she tested the veranda, smiled at its seaview.
“It’ll do, I suppose.”
“You know you like it.”
She smiled again. “I do. I can’t understand why you’d leave it. If it was mine, I don’t think I ever would!”
“I thought that way, a long time ago. But then I made some bad mistakes …”
“What mistakes? Tell me, please? I’d like to help you if I could.”
He watched her mouth as she talked; his gaze intense, hungry. If he could let his guard down long enough she knew she could make him love her.
“No one can help me now. I’ve put off facing my demons for too long. I only hope they didn’t track us here. I’ll send my housekeeper up with some fresh clothes. I know you’re probably sick of wearing that bikini.”
“Don’t you like the way it looks on me?”
“Don’t flirt, Tierney. It’s useless.”
He left her on the veranda, smarting. How a man could turn it off and on like a faucet, she did not know. Then she felt a bit guilty, realizing how often she’d done the same thing in her own life.
After an early dinner of roast chicken with mango salsa and a cinnamon rice dessert, Travers and Kiel retired to the study, to check the news reports. Tierney, wearing a crisp blue sundress and espadrilles, explored the grounds, enjoying a tiny bit of freedom in Kiel’s lush, protected world. She fed the koi, freeing the gardener to attend to other chores then she watched a perfect sunset in miserable solitude.
“He should be here with me,” she sighed. Then she decided to search out the study.
***
Kiel was alone with his eyes closed, sipping a beer as he listened to some smooth jazz on a radio. He was sitting on an upholstered chair, one leg swung over the arm of it. His thoughts were on Tierney again. He kept going over their lovemaking in his mind, seeing it happen in a delicious slow motion. He couldn’t get over how good she was; how every move she made suited him perfectly. She’d given him the best damn orgasm of his life. Even better, he sadly admitted, than any he’d had with Jeri, though it seemed somehow sacrilegious to think it.
He wondered if he was doing the right thing in keeping her there. Joe and the others were bound to catch up with him. They would probably feel safe in making a full-on attack in Mexico, since they had connections with some high ups in the military. He’d made a bad move, going down there, he was certain of it now.
***
Tierney entered the study without a sound, stood staring at Kiel who was still engulfed in the rhythm of the music, his eyes shut tight, his leg still thrown over the chair arm. She gulped as she made out the line of him going down long next to the seam of his crotch.
“Is he thinking about me?” she grinned, knowing what she had to do.
She quietly pushed the door to and locked it. Then she walked about the paneled r
oom, closing the shutters. She accidentally knocked a silver lighter off its perch on a side table. Kiel stirred, cleared his eyes. She was standing right in front of him. Their gazes met; Tierney breathed deeply, kicked off her espadrilles and dropped the dress to the tile floor.
Kiel took more than a moment to admire the vision before him. Her nipples hardened under his stare. She moved towards him, eased his leg off of the chair arm and unzipped him. Then she took him in her luscious mouth and tasted him like candy. He groaned, grasped her shoulders with firm hands, holding her there until he was on the edge of imploding. Then he lifted her hips, sat her on him and slid her up and down as his kisses smothered her sighs. His fingers delved deep into her, manipulated her with a deft touch. She couldn’t take it – began to wail and twitch. Her movements sent him over the edge; he grunted hard and loud, banging her bottom against his thighs until they came together in a hot, sweaty song of passion.
“Did I drive you insane yet?” he asked as his eyes searched her face.
“Not yet,” she breathed. “I guess you’ll have to try again.”
“Maybe later. Can I sleep with you tonight?”
“I’d like that. I feel safe with you. I’ve never felt safe with anybody till you.”
He pulled her up off of him, stood to stretch his legs.
“I don’t think you are safe with me, Tierney. I’ve got a couple of hound dogs on my tail. They might show up here.”
“Who are they?”
He zipped his pants, finished his beer. “Well, they used to be friends, until I decided to leave their organization. Now … they’re more like enemies.”
“Are they dangerous?”
“Could be.”
She wrapped his arms about her naked body. “And I thought I was putting you in danger by being here. Tell me about them, Kiel. I want to know everything.”
“Come to bed, and I will.”
She nodded, slipped on her dress and picked up the espadrilles.
***
The night lit up like fireworks, rousing Tierney from Kiel’s cozy arms. She screamed.
“Hush!” he ordered as he scooted away from her and peered out the window.
“What’s going on?”
He removed a pistol from a drawer, checked its ammo and headed for the door.
“Stay here! And keep quiet!”
He disappeared down the hallway. Tierney ventured towards the window. She could see the silhouettes of men in the bushes outside the fence wall. Their guns blazed like fire as they bombarded the fence with shattering blasts.
“Kiel! Don’t leave me!” she whined, donning a lacy black nightgown from the dresser and taking off after him.
The ground level of the house was etched in chaos – servants running around, frantic and afraid, Travers loaded down with two automatic rifles, searching for Kiel.
“Where is he?” Tierney cried.
“I don’t know! A man sure gets excitement in Kiel Fortune’s company! I ain’t had nerves this bad since I was in ‘Nam!”
“Please, calm down! I don’t want to have to tell your grandkids that you really are dead!”
“Don’t worry about me, girl! Just because I’m nervous doesn’t mean I can’t handle a fight!”
He entered the study, flung open a shutter and began shooting.
“Oh, God! It’s like a damned Stallone movie!” Tierney shouted, lost in the din of bullets. One flew past her shoulder; she ducked. Another nearly caught her in the side but a strong hand yanked her to the floor before it hit.
“Didn’t I tell you to stay upstairs?” Kiel was glaring at her with moist eyes. She could just barely see him in the strobe light streaks of the gunfire.
“I couldn’t! I had to be near you!”
“Well, stay down then! These bastards mean business!”
“They couldn’t think they’d get away with murdering us!”
“Oh, no? The news boys could spin this as just another drug war battle. They’re in the military’s pocket, too.”
“We’ve got to get out of here, Kiel! Could we make it to your boat?”
“There is a second exit that leads down to the dock. But if we’re not shooting back they’ll get suspicious and come looking for us.”
“Is there some way to rig up a gun or two, to keep shooting until we are safe?”
“I’ve got a simulator, made it for an operation in the Middle East. If I can set it up, it might give us some time. Round up Travers and the servants, head them out that way. I’ll hook things up and join you when I can!”
“I don’t want to go without you, Kiel!”
He put firm hands on her arms, kissed her. “You won’t! I’m not about to die now when I’ve got so much to live for! Get going!”
She kissed him in return, reluctantly left his grasp and headed for Travers.
“Help me talk the servants into taking us through the back exit to the boat! Kiel has a plan to trick the creeps outside!”
Travers nodded, began to speak in Spanish to the two men and three women. They eagerly led the way to the exit then all seven of them crept like burglars down to the dock and readied the boat for sailing.
Tierney watched the action from the safe haven of the boat deck. The gunmen kept firing; seemingly determined to crumble the house down to its foundation. They stopped suddenly; the night grew quiet. Voices flew back and forth. She thought she heard someone call for storming the boat.
“Travers!” she whispered. “I think they’re coming this way!”
He stood, listening. “You’re right. I guess Kiel couldn’t get his trick to work.”
“But we can’t leave him! What’ll we do?”
“We can’t stay. They’ll take us all out if we do! I’m starting the engine!”
“No, wait, please!”
“He can jump in and swim to us. You know he’d want us to go!”
Tierney was near hysteria; but she knew he was right.
“Start the engine.”
He hopped over to the bridge, switched on the engine and steered them away from the dock. Tierney stood crying as she stared at the hacienda. It could have been heaven there, with Kiel. But now it would be just another number on a long list of nightmares.
“Oh, Kiel, I don’t care about the house! We can live anywhere! Please come to me. You’re all that matters!”
She hurried the servants below, waited on the deck for any sign of Kiel. The gunmen were heading towards the dock, their weapons raised.
“They’re going to start shooting, girl!” Travers said in a low, desperate voice. “Get into the hull!”
“Wait, what’s that?” Tierney said. She could hear a faint but growing clatter from the house. Lights began flashing, bullet sounds whizzing. The gunmen turned back to the house, ducking and shooting.
“He’s done it, by God!” Travers laughed. “Look at those idiots squirm!”
Tierney was still trembling. Sure, the gunmen were distracted but only temporarily.
“Where is Kiel?” she whimpered.
“Here!”
She was answered by a running shadow that leaped into the inky ocean and splashed its way to the boat. Tierney’s heart choked her throat as she tried to help him onto the deck. He finally had to discard her shaky assistance, eased his big frame up and surrounded her with cold, wet, wonderful arms.
“You made it!” she sobbed.
“Damn right I did! Get us out of here, Travers, before they realize we’re not there!”
The boat careened out into the black night, leaving Baja behind.
CHAPTER FOUR
“They won’t stop, you know,” Kiel warned as he and Tierney lounged in his bunk, naked to the air and goose pimpled from the coolness of it. “I told them their secrets would be released if I died. But I guess they think maybe they can figure out my security system and keep the emails from being sent.”
“Can they?”
“It’s possible … anything is possible. But it’s highly unlikely.
”
She rubbed the soft hair on his chest, played with his hard nipple. “They think they’ve won because everything is so under the radar. If you could be out in the open, watched constantly … like I was on my TV show … well, they couldn’t hurt you, could they?”
“What are you getting at?”
“I think I’m going home, Kiel. I’ll step out and show everyone I’m still alive! Then I’ll restart my reality show … with my new fiancé, Kiel Fortune!”
He sat up on his elbow, examined her with wary eyes.
“I can’t let you do that, Tierney. Have you forgotten that somebody wants you dead?”
“No, but I’m going to be brave from now on. I want to be worthy of a man like you. And I want to find out who’s been trying so hard to kill me!”
“You don’t have to put on a brave act for me. I love you. I’ll admit that. I felt it right off, though I tried to ignore it, and smother it, and kill it. Be who you are, Tierney. That’s good enough for any man. Or it should be. And what’s this about your ‘new fiancé’? I don’t recall asking …”
“I know. I always assume these things. But if somebody has to actually do the deed …” she got down on one knee, “will you marry me, Kiel?”
He laughed, raised her nude body up and sat her on his chest. “Only if you keep me satisfied. Think you can?”
“Honey, just watch me!” she giggled.
***
Once back at the marina in Pierpont Bay they made a hasty but affectionate goodbye to Travers.
“Call me if you need an extra gun, Kiel. I’m ready and able.”
“I know you are, man! Thanks for all you’ve done.”
He hugged him. Then Tierney did the same.
“Will you be safe here?”
“Sure. I’ve got a sweet little cabin in the Malibu hills, bought it in the Sixties before the prices went through the roof! I’ll hole up there until all this dies down. You take care of Kiel, now. Keep him on the straight and narrow …”
Kissing Fortune (Man Season) Page 4