Tall, Dark & Reckless

by Heather MacAllister

  Piper stared at him, and then she sagged. “Listen to me! I sound like an escapee from a reality TV show!”

  He nodded. “Little bit.”

  She inhaled and exhaled, looking off to the side, struggling to regain her composure. There wasn’t much left to regain. “I can’t believe you propositioned that woman. Not only is it illegal, it’s tacky.”

  She sounded more like herself, so Mark figured it was safe to explain. “Come with me.” Uncurling her fist, he laced their fingers together and drew her into his bedroom.

  “You are kidding,” Piper protested. “Even your ego can’t be so big that you think I’d… Why is there a tent in your bedroom?”

  * * *

  PIPER WASN’T TALKING about a romantic, white canopy enveloping the bed in gauzy fabric, either. This was a small, mud-colored tent. On the floor.

  “If I know I’m going on assignment into a remote area, I acclimate myself by sleeping on the floor in the sleeping bag I plan to take with me,” Mark told her. “I also go backpacking, especially when I need to check out new equipment. This is all new, since my old stuff didn’t make it out of Mexico with me.”

  “Oh.” That was all Piper could manage. She was emotionally drained, and really, what else was there to say to Mark’s perfectly reasonable explanation for pitching a tent in his bedroom?

  “I’ve followed stories into some remote areas and it’s only possible because I’ve prepared for it. Even in towns, there are times I end up sleeping outside in someone’s yard or barn, or a bombed-out building. Sometimes I sleep with my contacts on the floor of their house.” He spoke matter-of-factly. Calmly. As though he were speaking to a hysterical person who was about to realize she’d made a huge error in coming to his house and yelling at him.

  “And it’s rare,” he continued, “but it happens that I also get to sleep on silk sheets in palaces.”

  “That would be my first choice.”

  Mark raised his eyebrows. “Believe it or not, I actually feel safer sleeping on someone’s floor.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s easier to avoid political intrigue.”

  He sounded as though he was giving a tour of his home to a casual acquaintance and not someone he’d taken motorcycle riding and then kissed until her lips were numb. Someone who then appeared on his doorstep the next evening accusing him of propositioning another woman.

  She had lost it. Completely lost it. He was the one who’d remained calm and detached and was now allowing her to get ahold of herself. How utterly embarrassing.

  “So would you say you spend as much time roughing it as you do in hotels?” Oh, listen to her, all calm and professional, and not like someone who had recently accused him of sexual harassment and emotional manipulation.

  Laughing, he said, “Some of the hotels where I’ve stayed would be considered ‘roughing it’ by our standards. But I know what you’re asking. Honestly, I prefer getting close to my subjects, so I end up staying in hotels only about a quarter to a third of the time.”

  “Really?” This was information she should have known.

  He nodded. “When you get out of that Western bubble and get to know the people, see how they live, and eat their food, you can’t help but learn more.”

  “Like method acting,” she said. “You’re a method journalist.”

  “Method journalist. I like that.” He smiled down at her and rubbed his thumb across hers.

  Yeah, he still held her hand. Piper managed a sickly smile back as she recalled telling him she’d fallen for him.

  This was excruciating. He was being nice about it and nice wasn’t a word associated with Mark, which made her embarrassment worse.

  He gestured to the items propped against the wall. “That’s my travel gear. I carry everything with me so I don’t have to go back for luggage. That includes this two-man pup tent.” Mark nudged it with his foot. “Because I’ve never traveled with anyone, I don’t know if it will actually be practical for two people and their gear, or if we’ll need a second tent. And there’s only one way to find out.”

  “Oh, I know where this is going.” Piper sighed as she realized what had happened with Shelley. “You need two people to test it.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Why not just assume your partner will need her own tent?”

  “It’ll be extra weight for her to carry around. But even then, there will be times when I won’t want her out of sight. It’s never a good situation when a lone woman is around men who’ve been away from their families for a very long time.”

  “I see.” Piper wished they’d had this conversation before she started screening candidates. And they would have if she hadn’t canceled it because she was so unnerved after practically attacking him the day they’d walked back from Friezen’s. “BT can’t fully understand what the circumstances are like or he wouldn’t insist that you take a woman with you. It would be asking a lot of anyone, man or woman.”

  “We’ll be living with each other day and night. I could never hire anyone without first going on a dry run to see how she handles it,” Mark said.

  “Maybe you should take BT backpacking.”

  “Not a bad idea.” He smiled down at her.

  Her heart caught. He wasn’t even trying and she could feel herself go all mushy. “Why didn’t you tell Shelley this?”

  “I did. Almost verbatim. But she had a preconception about me and couldn’t get past it.”

  “Are we talking about the Mark Banning reputation with the ladies?”

  The smile disappeared. “We’re talking about a journalist who based her assumptions on hearsay, not fact. That’s unacceptable.”

  “I’ll explain everything to her.” Piper wished she felt better now that she knew Mark didn’t have a journalist’s version of the casting couch, except she’d done a little conclusion jumping, herself.

  “I’d appreciate it.” He rubbed the back of his head. “She’s not taking my calls and I don’t want to get sued. But she’s definitely out of the running.”

  Piper nodded. And as long as they were clearing things up… “Mary Wade? Is it true that you rejected her because she has kids?”

  “Yes.” His expression became grim and implacable. “We’ll be gone for weeks at a time. I’m not going to be responsible for separating a mother from her children.”

  “One is in college and the other two are teenagers,” she agreed.

  “Young teens. I lived through that and I won’t do it to other kids.” There was more anger in his voice now than when she’d been ranting.

  “It’s not the same as your situation,” Piper said gently. “Their father—”

  “It’s not negotiable.”

  “Okay.” Piper backed off. “But I really hoped it would be a way for her to get back into journalism.”

  “You don’t have to worry about her,” Mark said. “She’s very talented. There’s a guy I owe in Arizona—Wally—who runs a regional bureau. I recommended Mary to him.”

  “You did? That was so…nice of you!” And unexpected. Almost saintly.

  Piper felt really horrible now.

  “Eh.” He shrugged it off. “Now and then I do the odd good deed.”

  “This good deed leaves you without a partner. We have to start all over. That’s assuming you still want me to work with you after the way I’ve acted.” Battling past the embarrassment, Piper forced herself to meet his eyes. There was no anger, no disgust. He looked…happy?

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because! I got all upset and barged into your home—”

  “You called it a ‘lair.’” His mouth twitched. The man was laughing at her.

  “I am so sorry. I have no excuse. I knew there had to be a reasonable explanation for what you said, but I…I just snapped.”

  “You were jealous.” Mark turned to face her and pulled her hand around his waist.

  “I was not! I was incensed on behalf of a client.”

  He looped his arms
around her. “You were hair-pulling, face-scratching, cat-fighting jealous.”

  It was true. Horribly true. She’d never felt that way in her entire life. Until a second ago, he’d been holding the hand she’d raised to hit him. Truly, there was no apology that would ever negate that, but she had to try. “I—”

  Mark swooped down and captured her mouth with his.

  And that was pretty much it for Piper. She let go of everything—caution, self-preservation, common sense. Her heart. She let it all go and felt an overwhelming relief now that she wasn’t struggling to hold back. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but her mouth was busy being kissed three ways to Sunday.

  From the way she was kissing him back, he probably knew, anyway.

  Mark tugged them closer until their bodies were pressed tightly together and it still wasn’t close enough.

  She wanted touching. Lots and lots of touching. She needed skin. Piper jerked his shirt from the waistband of his jeans and ran her hands over his back. When he held her tighter, she felt the muscles move beneath the taut skin. He was such a man. A take-charge, no-holds-barred man. Way higher up the testosterone scale than the perfect man she wanted. But Mark was exactly the man she needed.

  Lifting his mouth a whisper away from hers, he said, “I’m falling for you, you’re falling for me—don’t you think it’s time we catch each other?”

  She smiled, lips tingling. “Still with the cheesy lines.”

  He bent and before Piper realized what he was doing, he’d caught her behind the knees and picked her up. “I’ve got cheesy moves, too.”

  Piper laughed. “Wanna know a secret?”

  “I want to know all your secrets.”

  “I kind of like your cheesy lines.”

  “What about my move, here?”

  Piper had to admit that there was a lot of appeal being held in a man’s strong arms. She settled her head against his chest where his heart thumped against her cheek. “I like it, too.”

  She felt a quiver and he swayed as he shifted weight. He took a step that felt more like necessity than design.

  “Your leg?”

  “Not yet, but in attempting to sweep you off your feet, I failed to consider the dismount. Might be a tough landing.”

  “Where were you sweeping me to?”

  “My tent.”

  “Why? Were you thinking Lawrence of Arabia?” Piper stared at the small tent, and the hard floor beneath the small tent.

  “I was thinking prone and naked. I figured I’d work out the details as I went along.”

  “Typical.”

  He shifted her in his arms and took another step.

  “You said the tent was for sleeping.”

  “I did.”

  She nipped the corner of his mouth. “But I’m not sleepy.”

  “Neither am I.”

  Mark swept her around the tent to the bed he’d shoved into the corner. And, yes, the sweeping was more of a lurching and the dismount was a little bouncy, but Mark displayed an impressive talent with zippers and buttons. Piper had more motivation than talent, and after pulling Mark’s shirt over his head, she was highly motivated.

  “I’ve… I’ve never actually seen a six-pack in person before.” Pretty intimidating for someone who’d been hitting the carbs lately. She sucked in her stomach as Mark worked her skirt over her hips.

  “Physical therapy—it’s not just for legs,” he said, and his breath tickled her stomach.

  She gave a short gasp and he paused, eyebrow raised. She read the intent in his eyes and distracted him by reaching for his zipper. And then she became distracted by the bulge behind the zipper.

  Mark had been on his knees and straightened, so she was now eye to eye, or more accurately, eye to bulge.

  Here was the thing: Piper hadn’t encountered all that many bulges in her life and she didn’t remember them being quite so…bulgy. She did remember that men were wary of zippers in that area. Before she did any unzipping, she needed to get the lay of the land, so to speak. A little topographical exploration.

  Her fingers lightly stroked the firm mound beneath the zipper and were tracing down his thigh when Mark’s hand clamped over her wrist and he moved her fingers away.

  She looked to his face to see what was wrong and saw his chest heave as he breathed deeply. “You—you better let me.” He released her wrist.

  “I was going to be careful.”

  He gave a short laugh. “It’s not that.” He focused on a place over her head and swallowed. “It’s been a long time. A really long time.” Looking back at her, he grinned crookedly. “And I really want you.”

  She understood. “Same here.” Although his idea of a long time was probably not the same as hers. “I’ve been waiting and waiting to just feel something for a man again, and now that I do, I’m done with waiting.” Piper let her breath out in a whoosh. “So please, please tell me you’ve got a condom.”

  “I do.” He hesitated. “Somewhere.”

  “I’ve never known a man who didn’t know exactly where the condoms were.”

  He glanced over his shoulder at the equipment lining the wall next to the tent. “Like I said, long time.”

  Piper shimmied her skirt the rest of the way off. “Maybe this will jog your memory.” She tossed it on the floor next to her top.

  Mark stared down at her, his eyes darkening. “I’ve had dreams about your skin. The wig made it look so white that day. All I could see was your face, your neck and your hands, but I dreamed about your body.” His voice deepened. “I drove myself crazy wondering if your nipples would be brown or pink.”

  Piper’s brownish-pink nipples tightened inside her bra. “If you ever want to know, you’d better find those condoms.”

  He stood and started unbuckling his belt. When the zipper rasped, Piper closed her eyes before she did something truly reckless, like telling him to forget the condoms. Leaving her was one thing, leaving her with a child to raise, to remind her of him every day for the rest of her life, was unthinkable.

  There was a clang as his jeans and belt hit the floor. Piper felt the side of the bed sink as he sat. When he didn’t move, she opened her eyes and was greeted with a broad expanse of back as he leaned over and searched beneath the bed.

  Then he sat up, flashed her a victory grin and showed her the box before dropping it beside the bed.

  “Maybe you should keep that a little closer,” she told him as he reached for her.

  He deftly removed her bra. “Perfect.” He smiled. “Absolutely perfect.” His smile dazzled her and Piper didn’t even care because her brain and her hormones were finally in sync. And when they synced, they really synced.

  There was a gorgeous, naked man sitting next to her. And from what she could see, he wanted her. However, the gorgeous, naked man was not moving.

  She arched her back inviting him to touch her already and felt a whisper of coolness. While she’d been dazzled, he’d removed her panties. But not her boots.

  This wasn’t actually Piper’s style, but judging from the way Mark was looking at her, she was going to make it her style. She lifted her arms above her head and stretched, giving him a sultry look.

  His hot gaze traveled over her body, warming her wherever it touched. When she actually felt his hands on her, she’d probably explode.

  Her nipples—the same nipples he’d been so anxious to see—were hard and needed his caress.

  What was he waiting for? She lowered her arms and slid her hands down her body. As her palms passed over her nipples, a tiny moan escaped.

  He inhaled sharply and retrieved the box of condoms. “You’re right. We’ll need these soon.”

  He stretched out beside her and Piper’s mouth went a little dry. This is the man, she thought. My perfect man.

  “Let me,” he murmured, and nudged her arms aside. When she finally felt the warmth of his hands as they held her breasts, she actually shuddered.

  His thumbs passed over her nipples and Piper’s arms
flailed before clutching at his shoulders. Was it too soon to beg?

  Mark leaned toward her and took one of her nipples into his mouth. It felt like fireworks going off in her body. Her hips bucked and Piper went mindless with need.

  She ran her hands over his back and squirmed beneath him. He flinched and she dragged his head from her breast. “Are you holding back?” She panted between the words.

  “Trying to.”

  “Don’t.”

  His gaze locked on hers and she saw the banked desire. “Don’t,” she repeated. Then she placed a hand on either side of his face and kissed him.

  She made it a demanding kiss and what she was demanding was immediate satisfaction. Right now, she wanted to forget the fancy stuff and not worry about technique. Just the basics. Slow and sensual could wait. She couldn’t.

  Mark got the message and stopped holding back. He possessed her mouth in a way no man ever had. Mark had an exquisite command of the basics.

  His naked desire fed hers and Piper responded on a level she didn’t know existed. And couldn’t control.

  His hands and mouth were everywhere, but it wasn’t enough. Her movements grew frantic as she tried to get closer. Something elemental was driving her beyond the pleasure. She wrapped her legs around him, heedless of whether the heels of the boots dug into his back or not.

  She felt his muscles bunch and he raised his head, eyes glazed with passion.

  “Piper.”

  She saw his lips move, but heard nothing as she concentrated on the sensation as he slid into her. For a moment, she savored feeling full and complete. Mated. And then he began to move. She spasmed around him almost instantly, gasping his name in surprise. But instead of feeling relief and enjoying waning ripples of pleasure, as Mark drove harder and faster, the ripples gathered into a wave that crashed as he thrust a final time.

  They lay there, trying to drag enough air into their lungs. For a while, Piper was conscious of nothing but the sound of their breathing. Then she became aware that they were breathing in the same rhythm. Turning her head, she opened her eyes and saw Mark’s face next to hers. He was watching her and she knew he heard it, too.