Deadly Valentine

by Davis, Justine; Davis, Justine

  Everything and nothing had changed between them after that night. She’d given up on her childhood fantasy of marrying him, having his children and living happily ever after with him anywhere but Sturgeon’s Corners. In some ways, their friendship had strengthened with that one last secret erased between them. Peter had loved her for accepting him as he was—a feat his parents never accomplished. She’d loved him more like a brother after that. But it had also signaled the beginning of Peter’s emotional withdrawal deep into himself, something from which he’d never really emerged.

  “God, I miss Peter,” she whispered aloud, but mostly to herself.

  “I miss him, too.”

  She glanced over at Colt. He seemed an unlikely companion for cynical, sarcastic, out-of-the-closet Peter.

  Colt shrugged. “We went to hell and back together. That’s a bond not too many people ever have to share. He was there for me through some rough times.”

  She had a hard time imagining times rough enough to make this strong, silent warrior that desperate for companionship. Not that Peter had been a bad guy at heart. The two men were just so…different.

  “Did Peter like you?” she asked.

  Colt considered the question thoughtfully. “Yeah. I think he did. He used to hassle me about being smarter than the average marine. I kept trying to explain to him that I’m in the army, and marines are attached to the navy, but he never got it.”

  She smiled reluctantly. “Peter was a smart cookie. He got it. He was just giving you heck.”

  Colt smiled back. “I knew that. It was just a thing we did to make us smile in a place where smiles were hard to come by.”

  They sat in silence for a while and looked down over the small fishing village heading home for dinner after a long day’s work.

  She asked reflectively, “What do you suppose Peter came up with if his big secret is some new scientific breakthrough?”

  “I haven’t the slightest idea. I know he worked on missile defense systems. But that’s about it. He couldn’t risk talking about his work with me in case our prison cells were bugged.”

  She shuddered. “How did you survive that? Paranoia would have made me crazy.”

  Colt’s gaze, suddenly a molten shade of golden brown, speared into her. “I thought about women to distract myself.” His sudden grin flashed white in the dark car interior. “I imagine Peter thought about men.”

  “Did you miss—” She broke off. She’d kissed the guy and felt his reaction to her. Of course he’d missed women.

  “Did I miss sex? I missed decent food and hot showers and real beds. I craved sex. I must be losing my touch with the ladies if you had to ask that after our kiss last night.”

  Jeez, she was a dork. Of course the guy had missed sex. What man—what human—wouldn’t miss the affection and closeness, not to mention the raw pleasure? Memory of the way Colt had all but devoured her with eyes and mouth and hands was vivid in her mind. So, he’d been thinking about that kiss today, too, huh?

  “Your touch is just fine,” she blurted.

  His mouth quirked up into a smile. “Good to know I haven’t completely lost it.”

  He stared outside for a long time. Long enough for the sun to set in a blaze of orange and red and for twilight to settle around them. Long enough for her to get bored and for her mind to drift entirely of its own volition back to their steamy encounter in the hotel room last night. Anticipation of the coming night even had time to build low in her belly. Lord, she was a mess. She was lusting after a stranger now.

  Except he was rapidly becoming something other than a stranger. It had to be hard for him to show her his weakness like this. To talk about his prisoner-of-war experience. He didn’t strike her as the kind of man who relished wallowing in his emotions. But he was forcing himself to do just that as he took her on this trip to her and Peter’s past.

  How much about her did Colt already know? Besides whatever Peter’d told him, he already knew that she didn’t mind long silences in a car, and that she’d hated growing up here, and that she loved to be kissed while he played with more sensitive parts of her anatomy….

  She broke off that train of thought irritably. “Have you got any more intensely unpleasant trips down memory lane to throw at me tonight?” she asked in resignation.

  He glanced sidelong at her. “I really am sorry about bringing you up here. It was nothing personal—” He winced. “Bad choice of words. Sorry.”

  She sighed. “It’s unnerving to realize that you know such private things about me and I know nothing about you.” She left the statement hanging leadingly.

  He threw her a sidelong look that might have been alarm or amusement. Either way he retorted, “What? You want me to tell you about the first time I had sex to even the score or something?”

  It sounded dumb when he said the words aloud. She shrugged and started to turn away, but his large hand landed on her shoulder and dragged her back around to face him.

  He sighed. “Her name was Kristen and she was a cheerleader. She was seventeen and I was fifteen. We did it in a car, too.” He glanced around the interior of the Prius. “It was a tighter fit than this. I think, in here, if I leaned the seat back you could sit on my lap reasonably comfortably—”

  An image of straddling him and riding him to oblivion exploded across her mind. Liquid heat pulsed between her legs, startling her badly. She was not an intensely sexual person, thank you very much.

  He continued, “That girl was insatiable. We went at it for hours before she finally let me take a break. Of course the first several times I didn’t last more than a few minutes—” He broke off. “Sorry. Oversharing.”

  Several? Her mind reeled at the concept. Dang.

  “Are you all right, Layla? You look strange.”

  “Uhh, I’m okay,” she replied breathlessly. Good grief. What was wrong with her voice?

  “Will you let me help erase the painful memories this place holds and replace them with a good one?”

  She nodded mutely and he leaned across the gear shift to hug her. His mouth was so close to hers she couldn’t form a coherent thought.

  “It’s my fault I dredged up the bad stuff by bringing you back here,” he murmured deliciously against her lips. “My job to fix the problem, don’t you think?”

  How her arms wound up around his neck, and she ended up in his lap, her thigh thrown across his hips, the steering wheel jabbing her in the lower back and the gear shift jabbing her left leg, she wasn’t really sure. And then, shockingly, there were no extra elbows or awkward legs. Just the bulging heat of him rubbing against equally hot and throbbing parts of her, and his mouth moving across hers, his tongue laving hers with the most incredible results.

  She arched her back—purely to escape the steering wheel, of course. It had nothing to do with thrusting her aching breasts forward for his attention. His mouth and clever fingers were dragging across her fabric-clad nipples, easing the ache and creating an even more driving need deep within her.

  “If it makes you feel better,” he murmured around the tight pucker of her flesh in his mouth, “Peter never said anything to me about what a great kisser you are. Or about how sexy you are.”

  Laughter bubbled up within her. “I highly doubt he noticed.”

  “Well, honey, I’ve noticed. I like everything I see. And taste. And touch.” And then his hands were sliding up under her skirt, which had bunched around her hips without her noticing it. She gasped as he worked his magic on her, all the while holding her gaze hypnotically and smiling into her eyes.

  A shimmering ball of energy began to wind tighter and tighter within her belly and she struggled to focus on Colt’s gaze. His finger slid across the silky wash of flesh between her thighs. It felt tight and swollen and so sensitive she nearly screamed when he circled it lazily with his fingertip. And then a large, blunt finger intruded into the core of the volcano building within her. Her feminine muscles spasmed and Colt surprised her by groaning along with her. His
finger slid deeper, retreated, and then went deeper still. Her head fell forward to rest upon his solid shoulder as she quivered from head to foot. What was he doing to her?

  “Want me to stop?” he whispered.

  “No,” she groaned.

  His teeth closed on her earlobe and his fingers plunged hard and fast into her wet heat, stretching her and filling her as every bone in her body commenced melting. The heel of his palm rocked against her swollen flesh until she thought she would die with pleasure.

  She hung on to him for dear life and…surrendered. That was the only word for it. For the second time in her life, she gave her body over without reservation to a man. Same place. Same setting. But, oh, how incredibly different the outcome. Replacing bad memories indeed. He’d blown them sky-high.

  The ball of energy finally filled her so brilliantly she couldn’t see, let alone breathe. And then, without warning, it exploded into a million pieces, ripping through her like molten shrapnel. She literally felt shredded by the excess of pleasure that tore through her. She cried out and Colt’s mouth was there to capture her joy, drinking it greedily into himself.

  She collapsed on top of him, and he didn’t seem to mind. His strong arms held her close while she shuddered out the aftermath of the most amazing orgasm—heck, maybe the first true orgasm—she’d ever experienced. After a few minutes, as her pulse finally came back down into the realm of sane, he murmured, “Again?”

  “Really?”

  “Honey, I could watch you do that all night long. And unlike your buddy, Peter, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me to.”

  Abruptly, she realized his fingers were still seated deep within her. And that her swollen flesh, which was suddenly clenched tight around those fingers, was—if possible—even more sensitive than it had been a few minutes ago. Of their own volition, her hips rocked forward. “Oh,” she breathed.

  This time she took the lead, self-consciousness forgotten, impaling herself upon his hand with abandon. “That’s it,” he urged. “Show me what you like.”

  Somewhere en route to driving herself over the edge into oblivion once more, it occurred to her that she would never think of this place again without something wonderful unfurling deep within her. Fixing memories? Heck, he’d fixed something in her soul.

  She came apart at least as violently as before. This time he nudged her chin up with his free hand and insisted she keep her eyes open as the pleasure began to break over her. It was so intimate she could hardly wrap her mind around gazing deep into his eyes as she shattered for him.

  The moment of perfection stretched out, hanging around them both in suspended animation as they went utterly still, staring into each other’s naked souls. And maybe that was why they both heard the twig snap outside.

  Chapter 4

  C olt swore under his breath as he unceremoniously dumped Layla off his lap. He’d heard enough twigs snap in his life to know without a shadow of a doubt that the weight of a human had broken that branch. They’d found him and Layla.

  “Get down,” he ordered. He ducked as well, searching over the edge of the window frame outside for any sign of assailants. Damn. The bastards were too good for him to spot. “We’ve got to go,” he muttered.

  “So start the car and get out of here,” she whispered back frantically.

  A male voice shouted outside, “We’re federal agents. Freeze, McQuade. We have you and your hostage surrounded. Come out of the car with your hands behind your head. Slowly. And don’t even think about using the woman for cover. We have snipers.”

  The sniper thing might be a bluff, but then it might not be, either. Not that it mattered. He would never put Layla in that kind of danger. Colt looked across the car at his terrified companion. Crap. She looked ready to cut and run.

  He ordered her forcefully enough to penetrate her panic, “When I tell you to, open your door and slide out to the ground. Lie flat. I’ll be right behind you. Ready?”

  “No! I’m not ready! What the heck’s going on? Who’s out there? And why do you want me to—”

  “Honey, you ask too many questions.” He reached across her, opened the door and unceremoniously shoved her out. Her rump had no sooner hit the dirt than he rolled out after her, covering her body with his. She stared up at him, shocked.

  “McQuade!” Swearing erupted behind them. “Get him!”

  “Shh,” he whispered to Layla. And then he wrapped his arms around her and started to roll, taking her with him.

  “The cliff—” she started.

  Lord, that woman could talk. He had no free hand to press over her mouth to silence her, so he did the only thing he could. He kissed her. And that was how they rolled off the precipice, mouths and bodies locked together.

  Thankfully, Layla was too stunned by the abrupt drop to fight him as he contorted violently to shift them to a feetfirst position as they slid down the rocky slope. His back scraped and banged across the rocks painfully. But after Khan, pain was an entirely relative thing. Colt gritted his teeth together and took the beating as they bumped and bounced nearly a hundred feet down the steep incline with him acting as a human toboggan for Layla on top of him.

  Their descent ended abruptly as they fetched up hard against a tree trunk. He grunted as his breath was mostly knocked out of him. He did his best to absorb the impact and protect Layla from harm.

  “You okay?” he gasped as soon as he could breathe again.

  “No!” she exclaimed under her breath. “What the—”

  “Shh.”

  Thankfully, she obeyed him this time. He set her on her feet and climbed to his. The slope was still steep, but down here trees provided heavy cover from the men above. He led her by the hand, bracing on tree trunks whenever they threatened to lose control of their descent. They finally reached level ground, breathless and bruised.

  “Well, that was fun,” Layla panted.

  “Can you run?” he asked tersely. They still were far from safe.

  “Do I have a choice?” she retorted.

  He flashed her a grin. “Nope.”

  They took off, heading into town. He spotted exactly what he needed a block ahead. A soft-top Jeep parked in front of a darkened house. Its doors were even unlocked. He ordered Layla to climb in while he ducked under the dashboard and went to work hot-wiring the vehicle. In under a minute the engine roared to life.

  “You’re stealing a car?” Layla squawked.

  “Borrowing it.” When she continued to stare at him accusingly, he added, “I’ll pay for the repairs when I return it, if it’ll make you feel better.”

  That seemed to mollify her. He guided the car north out of town.

  “Are we safe?” she asked as Sturgeon’s Corners retreated quickly into the night behind them. He was too busy watching the rearview mirror to answer her right away. And besides, he didn’t know the answer. It didn’t help that something wasn’t sitting quite right in his gut. Their escape had been too damned easy. He drove a few more miles before the warning feeling got so strong he finally had to pull over.

  “Now what?” Layla demanded.

  At least she was back to asking questions one at a time. He replied, “I dunno. Gimme a sec.”

  He jumped out of the Jeep and moved around it slowly, running his hands up under the wheel wells and behind the bumpers. It wasn’t until he lay on his back and peered up under the chassis that he spotted the tracking device. The Jeep had been a trap. And he’d taken the bait, hook, line and sinker. Swearing, he pulled the magnetically attached radio free. He looked around for somewhere to ditch the thing and heard the sound of running water. Perfect.

  Colt rummaged around in the trash on the back floor of the vehicle and found a zipper-seal plastic bag. He dumped out the moldy sandwich and shoved the radio inside. “Back in a sec,” he murmured to Layla. He jogged into the woods, following the sound of water. The stream was small but fast moving. He blew the bag full of air, sealed it tight and tossed it into the water. It bobbed out of sight
in seconds.

  If he was lucky, that would buy him and Layla enough time to lose their pursuers and figure out what the hell was going on. If they were lucky, they just might outrun whoever was chasing them. But he knew from experience that might be a big if.

  Layla all but cried in relief when he climbed back in the Jeep. “Hey,” he murmured. “I would never ditch you in the middle of a date.”

  She gave him a watery smile as he guided the car back out onto the road.

  “Some Valentine’s Day this is turning into,” she sniffed.

  “Next year. Dinner. On me. I’ll even take you to some vegetarian joint. Some place nice with no bad guys chasing after us.”

  She smiled and dashed the tears off her cheeks. “You’re on.”

  “Is there a boyfriend back in San Francisco I’m going to have to beat up to get my Valentine’s date with you?”

  “Hardly. I’m too square for most of the men there.”

  He laughed. “Then they’re idiots.” He meant it, too. She was every bit as sweet and funny and kind-hearted as Peter had said she was. And on top of it all, she was smoking-hot. Any man would be a fool not to hang on tight to a woman like her.

  She threw him a grateful look.

  He knew from Pete about how her parents had mostly abandoned her and her sisters as kids. And then, of course, there’d been Peter’s abandonment of her when he’d gone away to work for the government. Pete had felt bad about that but had worried that if he didn’t leave Layla she’d never emotionally connect with a man who could make her happy in every way. Apparently, Peter’s fears for her had been well founded.

  Colt drove grimly for close to an hour, wrestling with a decision. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but with Layla’s safety to consider, too, he had no choice. He had to involve his family in this mess. He and Layla needed to go to ground someplace where the team chasing him would have no idea to look for him. And for better or worse, he knew the perfect place.