Chapter1 (33 page)
Authors: Ribbon of Rain
The door creaked open.
She slid under the water until the bubbles were around her chin.
Red lifted his head and thumped his tail on the bath mat as Jude stepped into the steamy bathroom.
“How do you feel?”
Kat noticed the uncertain look on his face, but he continued forward until he stood next to the tub.
Was he uncertain of his reception or uncertain if she was well?
What did it matter?
The raw male power emanating from him still curled her toes.
He smelled of spicy soap, different from the one she’d used.
Her fingers itched to touch his still-damp hair.
Just looking at him brought a deep tingle between her legs.
“I’m fine,” she answered in a calm voice, hoping he wouldn’t suspect the emotions running haywire inside her.
“Good.
The medic gave me some ointment to treat your feet.”
The magnetism of his smile almost weakened her resolve.
“Leave it in the bedroom.
I’ll put it on when I’m through with my bath.”
To her horror, instead of leaving, he picked up a bottle of shampoo and knelt on the floor by the tub.
“What are you doing?” she meant to sound harsh.
Instead she squeaked.
“Washing your hair,” he answered, gently loosening a tendril of hair clinging to her wet cheek.
“I can do that.”
Ignoring her, he squeezed a generous amount of shampoo in his palm and methodically worked it into her scalp.
Oh those magic hands.
His fingers massaged as he lathered the shampoo into thick suds.
All thoughts of arguing vanished.
She lived for the moment and allowed her sexual fantasies to run rampant.
Her nipples puckered and hardened, her legs parted of their own accord.
Quick as a bolt of lightning, reality hit her.
What was she doing?
How many times did she need to be sucker-punched before she learned?
She swallowed hard, lifted her chin and boldly met his eyes…eyes warm enough to melt chocolate.
“Thank you.
I’ll finish it.”
Jude’s mouth turned down, and she thought a glimmer of sadness entered in his eyes before he lowered his lashes, hiding all emotion.
Without a word, he nodded, wiped his hands on a towel and left the room, closing the door behind him.
Like a pressure cooker, Kat needed a release.
She opened an internal valve and let her tears run.
Christ.
She’d cried more in the last five days than in the past five years.
She’d been battered from an emotional roller coaster ever since she got the call to come home.
Crying helped.
She actually felt better when the flood stopped.
She rinsed her hair and let the water out of the tub.
The huge fluffy towel was as comforting as a friend.
After she dried herself, she wrapped it around her body sarong style.
She walked into the bedroom and stopped short.
Jude reclined on the bed, his hands behind his head.
“Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?
Why are you still here?”
He held up the tube of ointment.
“Oh.
I told you I’d take care of it.”
“Humor me.
I want to make sure there’s no infection.”
Kat rolled her eyes and sat on the end of the bed.
Anything to get him out of her room.
He rose and then knelt at her feet.
Kat held her breath when he reached out and picked up her foot.
His fingers explored the scratches and abrasions.
“You’ll have stone bruises.”
“Yeah, well that’s what happens when you run on pebbles and rocks.”
She wished he’d stop touching her.
Even his fingers on her feet turned her on.
“I have a confession to make.”
Kat frowned at the lack of emotion in his voice and the deep lines of tension on his face.
“What do you mean?”
He cupped her foot and pulled it against his stomach.
His fingers tightened while his eyes focused on her foot.
“For a short time, back at
She was stunned.
What had happened to ever make him think that?
“I don’t understand.”
Lowering her foot, he gathered the second one and applied the ointment.
“For a short time, I thought you and Brian were partners.”
Kat was puzzled.
“Partners?
In what?”
He released a sharp breath and dropped her foot.
He walked into the bathroom and returned, wiping his hands on a towel.
“Do I need to spell it out?”
He paced the room.
“The night you disappeared, I thought you’d arranged to meet Brian and give him the gems.”
“I’d told you I didn’t know where they were.”
“I know.
But that night an inner voice asked me how you knew where to find them.”
“I see,” she answered, holding his gaze.
“So without waiting for an explanation, you decided I was guilty.”
“At first, yes, but I soon realized I was wrong…that you wouldn’t have done that.
I came to my senses, remembered what we meant to each other.
I love you, Kat.”
Kat forced herself to look away from the desperation she saw in his eyes.
At a loss for words, she said nothing.
She’d known something was wrong, but never imagined it was something like this.
Two days ago, she would have stormed at him, ranted and raved, giving him a large chunk of her mind, perhaps even a punch or two.
But not today.
Too much had happened.
Too much death…too much deceit.
*****
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
Minutes had passed.
Nervous at her silence, he pressed her.
“Yell at me?
Swear at me?”
Kat still sat on the edge of the bed.
She made no attempt to hide the hurt on her face.
This was worse than he’d imagined.
No yelling, no calling him a dickhead.
“Thanks for being honest with me.
Is that the reason there’s tension between you and Cody?”
“He called me an asshole.
Said I didn’t deserve you.
He was right on both counts.”
“Don’t be hard on yourself.
You’d only known me for a few days.”
Jesus.
Had she been taken over by aliens?
No way would his Kat sit there and calmly tell him she understood why he’d thought she was a thief.
He reached out and touched her shoulder, ignoring the tensing of her muscles.
“I’m in love with you.
I should have trusted you.”
She raised her head.
The heartrending look in her eyes told him it was over.
The green eyes no longer sparkled.
Instead, they reminded him of
Anger would’ve given him hope, but he saw none.
“Don’t you get it, Jude?
If you truly loved me, you would’ve known I’d never betray you.
We shared lust, not love.
How can you love someone you can’t trust?”
“That’s not true.”
Panic rose in his chest and threatened to riot.
“We do love each other.”
She hitched herself further up on the bed and curled into a ball.
“Please go.”
“I’m not giving up, Kat.
I’ll let you rest now, but we’ll talk later.”
He leaned down and kissed her cheek before he left.
*****
Robot-like, Kat dressed in the fatigues she found on the chair in the corner.
Combat boots completed the outfit.
As soon as she reached D.C., she’d make arrangements to get to
On a positive note, the past few days had helped her make the decision to leave the military.
At
Then she’d go home to
“Hey, Half-Pint, you look more like yourself than the last time I saw you.”
Cody joked as Kat arrived at the designated departure gate.
Her lips twitched into a half smile.
“I feel more like it, too.
Can’t wait to get home.”
“Hope you’re not in too much of a hurry,” Jude spoke, putting a damper on her new-found peace.
“I just talked with Frank.
He needs to talk to you, file formal reports.
Also, the owner of the gems, Van Nam Nguyen, is flying to
He wants to thank you in person.”
“I’ll stay to answer Frank’s questions, but waiting for Mr. Nguyen is out of the question.
I’ve got things to do.”
Kat turned her back, refusing to acknowledge the unasked question she saw in his eyes.
She owed him no explanations.
Cody shifted in his chair, visibly uncomfortable with the tension zinging around the room.
“Think I’ll hit the men’s room before we board.”
Moving at warp speed, Jude appeared next to Kat.
“I know you’re angry, but don’t give up on us.
We can work through this, Kat.
That’s what people in relationships do…work out their differences.”
Kat’s eyes widened.
“You thought I was a jewel thief conspiring behind your back to run off with a gem heist.
That’s what you call a little problem we can work out?”
She laughed harshly.
“Get real.
I thought you’d overcome your attitude of not trusting women.
Or maybe you have, and it’s just me that you don’t trust?
Whatever.
It doesn’t matter, because from now on, you’re no longer a part of my world.”
A pulse throbbed on the side of Jude’s forehead.
He kept his calm, but she didn’t miss the pain in his eyes.
“You don’t mean that.
You’re angry.
We’ll talk later.”
Turning, he strode away.
Kat wanted to run after him and pummel on his back until he believed what she said.
But any show of emotion on her part would convince him he was right.
Damn it.
Why did she let him get to her?
“Well, did you two talk it all out?”
Cody’s voice came from behind.
“There’s nothing to talk out.
He thought I was a crook.”
“Yeah, I know.
I told him he was an asshole before I left him in the woods.”
“You left him in the woods?”
A real smile touched her lips.
“I did, but your faithful dog went back and got him.”
Cody took her hand.
“To his credit, Kat, when he returned with Red, he told me I was right… admitted he was an asshole.
He hasn’t doubted you since, and he’s constantly beating up on himself over the whole thing.”
Cody’s defense of Jude met with stony silence.
She figured he’d taken the hint because he sat in a chair and didn’t pursue the conversation.
Chapter 18
Kat’s head slipped sideways as she slept.
Jude reached into the overhead compartment and grabbed a blanket.
The past few days must have taken their toll; she never stirred when he tucked the wool around her shoulders.
The temptation to sit beside her tugged at him.
He wrestled with it, then returned to his seat across the aisle and indulged himself by watching her sleep.
Had he actually expected this proud woman to laugh off his digression?
Of all the wrongs to commit against her, not trusting had to be the worst.
Kat valued honesty more than anyone he knew.
Hell, how would he feel if the tables were turned?
The answer wasn’t reassuring.
