Think of the keys. Only the keys.
"Did you want something, Macbeth, or are you just going to stand there all night?"
Reese snapped his gaze back to her. How the hell did she do that? How could she stand in front of him, with three feet of blue-black silk shimmering around her, and give him that Serious Lieutenant glare?
Didn't she need her uniform and ball cap to pull that off?
Evidently not. And it was a damn good thing she didn't. Because that icy stare was just what he needed. He welcomed it. He locked on to it and used it to shove the remaining steps of his plan back into place. And then he advanced.
"I came to give you an answer to your offer."
He'd surprised her. That much he could tell when she blinked. "I see. I was under the impression you wanted another running mate. Someone like Lieutenant Dillon?"
He smiled. "That's not the way I remember it. I told you I'd think about it. Well, I've thought."
"And?"
He moved in, until there was less than two feet of air left between them, until he could smell the fresh dewy scent of her bath. "I don't want another running mate." He leaned closer—and tried not to inhale. "I want you."
Reese bit back a groan as his words produced the effect he was after. The precise one he'd planned. Everything Jade was feeling was right there in her eyes. He watched them darken until they nearly matched the fringe of bangs brushing into them.
He had to dig his fingers into his palms. To keep from reaching out to sweep the wisps aside. To plow his fingers into the rest of that glistening hair. What would it feel like?
Silk?
Was it as heavy as it looked?
Heavier?
His palms began to ache as his mind tormented him with the ghostly sensations. No matter what, he must not touch her hair. If he did, he'd be lost for sure.
The keys. Focus on the keys, dammit!
It wasn't working.
The keys disintegrated from his mind as his gaze slid down the damp, dusky column of her neck. Down even farther into the tantalizing vee formed by her robe. He was so close he could see the curve of one breast peeking out, creamy and full where the stark line of her tan ended. And there was something else, too. Something slender and gilded.
A necklace.
Driven by a need he had no desire to examine, he reached for it, burning the tip of his finger on her flesh as he slipped it beneath the chain and slowly tugged it up from the nest between her breasts. A heart. A solid heart carved from a chunk of dark green jade.
"Beautiful." His voice was hoarse. He was not referring to the pendant.
"Thank you." Neither was she.
He wrapped the slender chain around his finger—over and over—pulling her in slowly, inch by agonizing inch. So slowly, they both knew she could stop him at any moment. But she didn't.
And neither did he.
When there was nothing left to wind, he slipped his finger beneath her chin, tilting the stubborn curve up until he was staring deep into her eyes, piercing the cool gray shadows until he plundered the heady truth below.
She wanted him.
Jade stared at Reese as he held her gaze. She refused to look away. Refused to close her eyes for the kiss she knew was coming. She simply waited—determined not to move, not to breathe a word. Certain if even a whisper escaped, she'd shatter the moment. That, she could not allow. Because she wanted it.
Needed it.
She needed it so she wouldn't want it anymore—wouldn't want him anymore. There was no way Reese could possibly live up to the fantasy her mind had created. And the sooner she proved it to herself, the sooner she'd exorcise him from her thoughts and get back on course.
So she simply arched her brow and waited.
Confidence gleamed in his eyes as he accepted her gauntlet. And then he bent his head and delivered his answer in person. He captured her lips, slowly claiming them as his own as he branded her with his tongue. He traced the outer curves over and over, bathing her mouth with long, lazy strokes. Strokes that did nothing to soothe and everything to inflame. He stopped the delicious licking long enough to flay his tongue between her lips. But then he withdrew and resumed the slick, steamy torment at her lips, feeding on them until they were swollen and ripe.
Against her will, her hands took on a life of their own. They crept up his arms to knead the solid muscles of his shoulders. Still not satisfied, they snuck up even farther, threading into his golden hair. She followed, tiptoeing up and inhaling his musky scent, pressing herself against him, trying to deepen the kiss.
He groaned then, low and deep, and something seemed to snap. He shuddered and pulled back slightly as he jerked his fingers from her necklace, winding them into her hair instead. He muttered something about a mantra, and then cursed it just before his mouth came crashing back down. All trace of teasing evaporated as he finally, deeply, thoroughly, plundered her mouth. His tongue collided and tangled with hers, and his kiss turned even harder and more demanding. With each fiery stroke of his tongue, he forged her burning desire into a churning pool of molten need.
And then she tasted him.
All of him.
Her breath caught as he dug his hand deeper into her hair, wrapping the other arm around her waist, sealing her body to his. Shuddering, she memorized his rigid contours through frustrating layers of silk and denim. She shuddered again as he cupped her bottom and anchored her there—right there. His teeth scraped hers as he deepened the kiss, and she surrendered willingly to the taste, sound and feel of Reese—fully aroused.
She was mindless with want by the time his fingers left her hair to sear a path down her neck. They were hot and seeking. She gasped as they slipped into her robe. But instead of cupping her breast, he suddenly yanked his hands up, clamping them onto her shoulders as he tore himself away.
They stood there, stunned—her breath not nearly as loud as his in the stark silence, but just as shallow and just as ragged. The shock in his eyes didn't surprise her at all, for it was mirrored inside her mind. And then it was compounded by sheer panic as the painful, bald truth socked into her.
His kiss wasn't as good as it had been in her fantasy.
It was better.
Reese sucked his breath in slowly, trying to retrain his lungs as he stared down at Jade.
He'd blown it.
For the first time in his career, he'd really blown it. He'd lost control. He'd meant to keep the kiss slow, soft and light. Everything depended on it—on luring her in gently, establishing her trust, making her feel safe. But there was nothing safe about that kiss. Nothing at all.
Not for her and certainly not for him.
He needed a plan—a new one. Now. Before she kicked him out of her room and out of her division. He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were drowned out by a series of heavy thumps on her door.
Her inky lashes flew wide and her knuckles turned white as she clenched the edges of her robe. "Oh, my God, that's my chief."
And right then, he knew he had her.
He smiled. "So?"
Her gaze turned frantic as she cased the room. Finally, she snatched up the manila file from the edge of her desk and tugged him over to the sink while hissing, "Stay behind the door."
"Why are we whispering?"
"Move!"
He covered her taut hands as she tried to shove him back against the bulkhead. "Does this mean we have a truce?"
She froze, her short nails driving into his chest as her gaze narrowed. "You wouldn't."
No. But she didn't know that. He cupped her chin and stared into her eyes. "Does it?"
Lightning flashed in her eyes. "You're despicable!"
Her chief knocked on the door again.
"Does it?"
"Okay!"
He smiled as she tried to jerk her chin away. "And you'll take me everywhere and teach me everything you know?"
"Yes."
"And you'll be friendly?"
One more knock, louder this
time. "You awake in there, DCA?"
She closed her eyes. "Yes, yes, yes!" And then opened them. "Now, will you please hide?"
He nodded, grinning as he released her chin and slipped behind the door. "Of course. Anything for a friend."
* * *
Chapter 5
« ^ »
"Relax, this won't hurt a bit."
Reese eyed the needle as Karin plunged it into the vial of anesthetic. "You know, Doc, that's probably the worst lie known to man."
Laughing, she pulled the needle out and recapped it before laying the syringe on the stainless steel tray attached to his chair. "No, I think 'I'll call you sometime' holds that spot."
He wasn't about to argue. It violated the first rule of his gut. Never argue with a woman while you were at her mercy. Especially when she needed to concentrate on compensating for the pitch and roll of a twenty-thousand-ton ship while stitching your forearm back together.
She rounded the examination table and pulled a pair of rubber gloves from a box near the head. "So how'd you manage to slice yourself open?"
She didn't know? Surely Jade had confided something to her best friend. Maybe not the kiss, but something. He studied the calm blue eyes staring back at him as she snapped on the gloves. Nope. Not a flicker. Karin had no clue what had happened.
Fascinating.
He shrugged. "Apparently the DCA's had a change of heart. I've been working alongside her leading Petty Officer since the ship got underway this morning." He glanced down at his three-inch jagged cut as he finished rolling up the sleeve to his coveralls. "Got this down in Engineering helping one of the guys repair a steam line."
Ah, there it was. The flicker was there now. Except it was more a full-blown blast of shock. "What? Jade let you work with her welders? Right. Next you'll be telling me she wants you to tag along when she stands bridge watch."
He grinned. "As a matter of fact, she did mention something about driving the ship later tonight."
Karin's eyes grew even wider as she ripped open an antiseptic towelette and swiped it around his cut. "That must have been some drink at the Officer's Club the other night. Guess you didn't need my advice after all."
He wasn't so sure about that.
She injected the Novocain around the cut on the top of his forearm. "But as long as we're on the subject, what happened after I left?"
Reese suppressed a smile. This was getting more interesting by the minute. Jade was as good as he was about keeping her mouth shut. But apparently Karin wasn't. Maybe it was time to see just how much information she was willing to part with. "That's an—"
The door to the exam room slammed open. Reese glanced up as the topic of discussion stalked in, her ball cap pulled low on her forehead, the corners of her mouth drawn just as low. That couldn't possibly be worry, could it?
About him?
No way.
Karin glanced up from her stitching. "Hello, Jade. Yet another customer from your division. What a surprise, huh?"
"Very funny, Doc. How's the patient?"
She took another stitch. "Fine. Just practicing my sewing. Have a seat, be done in a minute."
Reese noted the relief in Jade's eyes as she crossed the deck and stared down at his ann. He tried to stifle the spurt of pleasure—and failed.
"I never should have agreed to this." The mutter was so low, he almost missed it.
He grinned up at her. "Aw, sweetheart, I didn't know you cared."
Her answering smile dripped with saccharine. "Don't get your hopes up, Macbeth. Just covering my rear. I'd hate to have you sue the Navy for ruining that pretty face of yours."
He felt his grin deepen. "Make you a deal. You keep focusing on my pretty face and I'll cover your hind end."
Her smile didn't budge, but he knew he'd gotten her back. The proof was in the pink splotches darkening her cheeks.
Karin tied off a stitch and glanced up. "Knock it off, you two. You're not allowed to bring the battle into Medical—we settled that one back at the Geneva Convention."
"DCA, you there?" The raspy, disembodied voice hinted at a solid nicotine addiction—her chief's voice.
Jade tugged the walkie-talkie off her khaki belt. "What's up, Chief?"
"Finished that scenario for tonight's fire drill. Got a minute?"
Jade glanced back at Karin as she headed across the tilting deck. "Mind if I use the phone in your office?"
Karin nodded as she clipped off the ends of the last stitch. "No problem."
Caving into temptation, Reese tracked the tight rear in question as it taunted him all the way across the tilting deck. He turned back as the exam room door snapped shut.
Karin laughed as she peeled the backing off an oversize bandage and sealed it over his stitches. "Taking your offer seriously, huh?"
He smiled. "It'd be a shame to leave that rear end uncovered for a second."
"Uh-huh. Which reminds me. You never did answer my question about the club."
Reese leaned back in his chair, rolling down the sleeve to his coveralls as she pitched the scraps from her surgical tray. "How about a trade? I'll tell you what happened after you left the club and you tell me who gave Jade that necklace she wears."
Karin's hand jerked and she dropped the vial of anesthetic, wincing as it hit the deck. She scooped it up and carefully laid it back on the tray. "Which—oh, that necklace. I'm not sure. I think it was a gift."
She snatched the anesthetic off the tray and made a beeline for the door. "Reese, would you excuse me for a minute? I need to return this to the drug locker." She was gone before he could answer.
What the heck was that all about? He'd just been making conversation—trying to establish a rapport. Okay, so he did want to know who'd given Jade something she cared enough about to wear even in uniform. All right, so he was more than curious. He was becoming downright obsessed.
After he'd torn himself away from the hottest kiss in his life—with barely enough wits to salvage his plan—he'd stumbled back to his own stateroom and fallen into his painfully narrow rack. And there he'd lain.
Trying to ignore the sensation of silky blue-black hair twined around his fingers. Trying not to picture a pair of white lace panties sliding slowly up that pair of dusky legs. Trying not to envy a chunk of cold, green stone. And most of all, desperately trying to forget the sight of it nestled between those perfect creamy breasts.
All night long.
* * *
Jade hung up the phone as the door to Karin's office smacked open. She stepped back from the desk as the doctor plowed around it, slapping a vial on the desk before plunking down into her chair.
"All right, woman, start at the beginning, don't quit till the end—and you'd better not leave anything out."
She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
Karin leaned back in her chair and stared up at her. "I asked you about Reese this morning and you told me nothing happened."
Damn. She glanced at the door, then back at Karin before demanding, "Just what did he tell you?"
"Not a darn thing—all he did was ask me about your lovely necklace." Hurt flooded her face. "You know, I thought we were friends. You didn't have to lie, all you had to do was tell me to butt out."
Jade slumped down into the chair next to the desk, regret stabbing into her. "I didn't lie—exactly. I just left a few things out." She met Karin's steady gaze slowly, latching on to the thread of compassion in it. Even though she didn't deserve it. "It was just a kiss."
"Just a kiss?" Disbelief took over. "The man saw a necklace that up until that moment three people on this earth have seen you wear, and you want me to believe it was just a kiss? Honey, I got an island off the Florida Keys I'd like to sell you."
Jade glared at her. "Cute."
"No, I'm adorable." Karin cocked her head toward the door. "He's cute. Now, you'd better start spilling your guts, or tell me to butt the hell out, before I strangle you."
She stared back at her best friend, wanting more than an
ything to tell Karin the truth—if she only knew what it was. She wavered for a full minute before her resolve cracked on a ragged breath. "Remember when I told you about my apology to Reese?"
"Yeah, you said he'd let you know this morning."
"Well, he decided to accept my offer early. He showed up in my stateroom last Friday night after I'd showered and—"
"Wait a minute—shower? As in, you were wearing that silk kimono I bought you last time we were in Japan?"
Jade sighed. "I knew I should have left that thing at home."
Karin clapped her hands together and grinned. Jade was half-afraid she was going to hug her. "Are you kidding? That's the best decision you've made all week!" She leaned forward and propped her chin onto her hands. "So?"
"So what?"
"The kiss, you idiot! How does the man kiss? Scale of one to ten—and you'd better spot him a few points since you're out of practice."
Jade lowered her voice to a near whisper. "Twenty."
She needn't have bothered, they'd probably heard Karin's squeal all the way down in after-steering. "Twenty? Good God, woman, grab on to the man and do not let go."
"Will you please quiet down!" Jade slumped back into the chair and stared up at the pipes, vents and cables crisscrossing along the overhead, using the slow, steady rock of the ship to soothe her nerves and calm her stomach. For once it didn't work. Her breath came out in one long, depressed hiss.
"What?"
She ignored Karin as she picked out an electrical cable and traced the line across the space.
"He's not Jeff, you know."
Jade glanced down long enough to glare at her.
"Well, he's not, so relax. Reese isn't going to—"
She jackknifed up in the chair, cutting Karin off with a scowl. "You're right. He's not—because I'm not going to give him the chance."
* * *
"May I help you, Mr. Reese?"
Reese clamped down on his instincts, shifting his attention from Karin's door to the young hospital corpsman staring at him earnestly. She couldn't be more than nineteen.
He conjured up his most distracting smile and casually pushed off the edge of the door frame. "Nope. Just waiting for the doc. I'll stop in and catch her later. Bye."
FOR HIS EYES ONLY Page 6