Promises (27 page)

He took a deep breath, his gaze focused on nothing in particular out the window.
 
“She died saving my life.
 
I was supposed to be protecting her, but as it turned out, she was a plant.
 
Her boss wasn’t happy with the way things were going.
 
When the time came to take me out, she stepped between me and the sniper.”

“You loved her,” she said, unable to hide the quiver in her voice.

He turned his head, and looked deeply into her eyes.
 
“I thought I did.
 
Now, I know it wasn’t love.
 
Not real love.”
 

She returned the warm smile spreading over his lips, then laid her head on his shoulder.

The cab stopped in front of the entrance to Eze, interrupting their few moments of peace.
 
They paid the driver then walked quickly through the village and down the trail to Henri’s house.
 
Her strapless designer shoes and Travis’ limp slowed them down quite a bit, but he said he didn’t believe they’d been followed, although he constantly looked back over his shoulder and into the shadows.

As they came to the last curve in the path before Henri’s, he motioned for her to stop.
 
“Stay here.”
 

She opened her mouth to argue, but he silenced her with a single finger against her lips.
 
“I’m going to check it out.
 
I’ll be right back.”

Crossing her arms firmly beneath her breasts, she let out a puff of air.
 

“I mean it, Bobbi.
 
Stay put.”

He replaced his finger with his lips then was gone.
 

She sank down onto a large rock at the edge of the path as she brushed aside her mild irritation.
 
He was just trying to protect her.
 
Something she didn’t think she ever wanted anyone to do, until now.
 

But what would tomorrow be like?
 
He said he loved her and she loved him, but what next?
 
Live together?
 
Marriage?
 
What?
 
And could she ever get used to his line of work?
 

The air seemed a great deal cooler up on the cliff, but she hadn’t felt the chill until now.
 
Rubbing her arms vigorously, she turned to fully face the sea.
 
Although the view was breathtaking, she couldn’t enjoy it.
 
Even if they lived through the night, if they managed to escape Steele, she and Travis were totally wrong for one another.
 
He was a FBI agent.
 
Someday someone would likely knock on her door and tell her he was missing
—
or dead.

Jason’s handsome smiling face appeared in her mind’s eye.
 
Not knowing.
 
Not being totally certain he was still alive ate away at the delicate hold she had on her sanity.
 

She jumped at the touch of Travis’ hand on her arm.
 

“You okay?”

She couldn’t clearly see the expression on his face, yet she could hear it in his voice.
 
The concern and the love were evident.
 

They would make things work.
 
His chosen profession, a profession he loved as much as her brother did, would not come between them.
 
She refused to let her doubts and fears ruin her one chance at a real happily-ever-after.
 

Standing on shaky legs, she clutched her arms.
  
“I’m just cold.”

“Then let’s get you warmed up.”
 

The sudden change in his voice soothed her frazzled nerves.
 
Pressing her against his side, he half carried her to Henri’s house.
 

Stopping outside the iron gate, he slid his hands from around her waist.
 
“How can Henri afford to live this way?
 
I got the impression he was a struggling artist.”

She laughed softly.
 
“He is.
 
He’s also very popular with the ladies.”

He pulled her back into his arms once they entered the garden.
 
“Not with a certain lady, I hope.”
 

“You know, I thought I liked this jealous streak of yours, now I’m not so sure.”

The backs of his fingers brushed lightly against her cheek as he spoke.
 
“I can’t help it.
 
The thought of anyone else touching you makes me crazy.”
 

Their lips met with a deep, hungry kiss, filled with the promise of passions yet to come.
 
One hand pressed her firmly against his body while the other slid down to the tear in her dress.
 
The heat of his palm against her bare hip, the dexterity of his fingers as they slipped beneath the edge of her thong, splashed fuel on the flame blazing inside her.

Breaking away with a groan, he led her to the door.
 
“Let’s get inside before someone sees us.
 
The moon will be out again soon, and although I love you in that dress those sequins act like a homing beacon.”

She took several deep breaths, steadying herself against the dizzying affect he had on her.
 
“How do you propose we get in?”

“Good question.”

He lifted and shifted potted plants along the front step, until finding a key under a large flowerpot.
 
“Not very bright.”

“I suspect the crime rate here is rather low.”

They silently entered the house and locked the door behind them.
 
As Travis reached for her, she stepped away allowing him to capture only her hand.
 
With a gentle tug, she led her limping dark prince to the guest bedroom.
 

She let him pull her into his arms as they neared the bed, and savored the feel of his lips as they glided down her throat and up to her ear.
 
He intoxicated her with his caresses, but there were other things they needed to do first.
 
His leg needed attention.

“I want to see your leg.”
 

He laughed softly, tickling the sensitive spot behind her ear with his breath.
 
“Always the nurse.”

“Always the protector.”

He kissed his way back toward her lips.
 
“I protect the people I love.”

“We are totally wrong for each other, you know.”

“And yet we are so right.”
 
He kissed her thoroughly, delving into the deepest recesses of her mouth.
 
Much more and she would be lost to him.
 
She could feel her eyelids growing heavy, her legs turning to liquid, but her dark prince needed help.
 

“Take off your pants,” she murmured against his lips.

“That’s what I like.”
 
He nipped at her lips.
 
“A woman who’s not afraid of going after what she wants.”
 

There was no sense hiding the breathiness of her voice.
 
He knew how he affected her, but she was determined to take care of him.
 
“What I want is to look at your leg.”

“My leg is fine.”

She forced herself to push away from him and instantly missed the warmth of his arms, the touch of his lips, but she had to be certain he was all right.
 
“I’ll be the judge of that.
 
Now, strip.”

“I love it when you take charge,” he said with the roguish grin she adored.

“Oh, would you stop?
 
I’m serious.”
 
Although she had a terrible time not falling back into his arms.

“So am I.”

Barely able to withstand the hungry look in his eyes, she went into the bathroom to look for a first-aid kit.
 
The things she needed were easy enough to find, and she returned to the room in a matter of minutes, but upon entering she froze in mid-step.
 

Travis had stripped down to nothing and lounged on the bed.
 
Propped up against a pillow with his arms linked behind his head, all of him was exposed.
 
Every deliciously aroused inch.
 
Her mouth went dry.

His roguish grin widened into a broad smile. “You said strip, so I stripped.”

Now how in the world was she supposed to take care of his leg with him looking like that?
 

Shaking her head, she glanced down at the gauze wrapped neatly around his wound.
 
“You’ve been wearing a bandage all this time?”

“It keeps the stitches from catching in my pants.
 
That way they don’t pull.”

She gingerly sat down on the bed, tossed the corner of the sheet over his mid-section, and began to remove the old bandage.
 

He chuckled, but she ignored it, too occupied with the heat of his skin beneath her fingertips stirring the pool of longing low in her belly.
 

Think medical.
 
Think mechanical
.
 

Her internal mantra stopped at the sight of fresh spots of blood on the gauze.
 
A little blood wasn’t too bad, was it?
 
Tossing the old gauze aside, she could see where the stitches had pulled and was relieved to find it wasn’t serious.
 
What he needed to do was stay off his leg and give it time to heal.
 
He needed rest.

A sigh slipped from her lips as she went about wrapping his wound with a fresh bandage.
 
She would sleep on the couch in the living room.
 
Not exactly what she’d planned or wanted, for that matter, but what she had to do.
 

“There.
 
All done.”
 
Rising to place the first-aid supplies back in the bathroom, he clasped his hand over her wrist before she could take the first step.
 

“You’re not finished, sweetheart.
 
The rest of me needs some of your tender loving care too.”

“You need to rest.”

He took the first-aid things from her hand and tossed them on the nightstand, then pulled her across the bed.
 
Pinning her with his massive chest, all her good intentions were forgotten.

“What I need is you.”
 
He claimed her lips with a searing kiss.

Travis slid his hand down to the teasing tear of her dress.
 
From the moment his eyes caught a glimpse of her beautiful hip in the moonlight he’d thought of nothing but tasting every inch of her skin.
 
His fingers glided up her leg, relishing the soft supple feel of her.
 

“So soft,” he whispered against her lips.

“I should leave.
 
I should sleep on the couch.”
 
She spoke with tiny breaths.

He moved to nuzzle her ear.
 
“You’re not going anywhere without me.”

“And where are we going?”

Stroking her cheek with the tips of his fingers, he said,
 
“Heaven, bright eyes.
 
Heaven.”

After placing a soft kiss against her lips, he sat up, pulling her with him.
 
Her dress hugged her form like a lover’s caress, but the sequins were killing him.
 
She felt like a porcupine.

“You’re overdressed for this trip.”
 
The snap at the base of her neck gave way with little trouble.

She slid to the edge of the bed and stood, letting the dress fall to the floor in a silvery blue puddle.
 
Naked, accept for the royal blue thong and the pebbled peaks of her breasts, both in direct contrast with her creamy skin glistening in the silver light of the moon.
 
She was an angel.
 

He’d seen her before, all of her.
 
He’d felt her before, been inside her and found that inner peace his soul craved for so many years.
 
All this, and yet he felt like it was their first time.

Lifting his hands, he splayed them across her hips and pressed a kiss to her soft smooth stomach.
 
Was love the reason it all felt so new, so extraordinary?

The feel of her hands slipping into his hair, raking his scalp with her fingernails, brought a moan from deep in his chest.
 
Pulling her back down to the bed, his lips began a tour of her body leaving no freckle, no mole unattended.
 
As he reached the taught crests, she arched and moaned, bringing his blood to full boil.
 

Her body writhing beneath his, the scent of her arousal, her moist heat evident through her thong, pressing against his thigh drove him mad.
 
With one swift yank, the swatch of material between them disappeared, and his throbbing sex pressed against her heated center.
 

This wasn’t how he wanted it to be.
 
He wanted to take it slow, to take their time and explore one another over the long silent hours of the night, but he couldn’t wait.
 
He couldn’t bear the need, the painful yearning to be a part of her.
 
He had thought too long about loving her again, letting the images tease and torment him.

Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, her words breathy and faint.
 
“Travis, please.”

Later.
 
They would take it slow later.
 
They had the rest of their lives together with all the time they needed to do all the things he craved.
 

Pressing his face into the curve of her neck, he thrust himself into her fiery core.
 
The ripples of her climax were instantaneous, caressing him, sending him over the edge of the world with her.