Daughter of Destiny (27 page)

Jake waited. He was scared in so many ways. Funny, how he'd ached to hear her say that she needed him, and now that the words were spoken, his heart hammered violently in his chest. Did dreams really come true? Was this all a fantasy of his?

“Okay,” Kai muttered defiantly, “here's the bottom line, Jake. Mike asked me who I wanted as a partner when I joined Perseus.” She gave him a flat stare across the table. “I told him I wanted you.”

Jake could hear the growl in her tone. He saw the struggle in her eyes. “You could have chosen someone else.”

“Yeah, I could have…but no one has the background you have. Between you and Ooranye, I learned so much out there about our Native American cultural legacy. Growing up, you learned a lot from your mother, a practicing
medicine woman, and you remember a lot of things that helped that mission in Australia move forward. Without your knowledge, I'd have been dead in the water.”

“Thank you….”

“Don't sit there looking so pleased, Carter. This is a tough thing for me to admit….”

Jake said, “I appreciate your honesty, Kai. It becomes you, and it makes me feel like I wasn't just dead wood on that mission.”

Eyes wide, she stared at him, her mouth dropping open for a moment. “Dead wood? You? Hell, Jake, we'd have been toast several times over if you hadn't been there. I didn't know a thing about camels, or rock climbing, or helicopters….”

Chuckling, Jake said, “Some of that was pure coincidence, Kai.”

“Maybe,” she muttered defiantly, giving him a stern look. Seeing the little-boy smile lurking at the corners of his mouth sent her heart skittering as it always did.

“I know I'm asking a lot of you, out of the blue. Is it too much? Are you set on doing twenty years in the Army? Maybe you don't…want to be around me again….” That hurt to say, but Kai had to be ruthlessly honest. She was asking Jake to leave his way of life for hers. Holding her breath, she waited.

Jake's face thawed of all the tension he'd been holding. He squeezed her fingers gently. “Somewhere along the way, Kai, I lost the dream I had for us. When we were kids…well, all I did was hope that someday we'd be together.” He shook his head and held her gaze. “When you
were ripped out of my life, the dream cracked and shattered. So did my heart. You were the other half of me. It took me ten years to get over feeling like I was only partly there. Like I was missing half of myself.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her skin. “And now I can't imagine life without you again. Yes, I'll finish off my two months with the Army. I'll come to work for Perseus, to be your partner on other missions.”

Warmth flooded her. Jake really wanted to be with her! “I'm cranky sometimes, Jake,” she warned.

“We all have our moments,” he told her mildly.

“And I don't trust very much…. I know it's a weakness in me.”

“I'll work hard to gain your trust, Kai.”

She muttered, “You make it so easy, Jake. You did when I was a kid. You're doing it now.”

He got up and pulled her to her feet. “Come on,” he urged her quietly, “let's go to one of our rooms and finish this talk.”

Kai nodded, so Jake paid the bill and they left. The day was cold and breezy, the last of the leaves blowing off the trees surrounding the hotel. Heart beating with joy and fear, she unlocked her room and they went in together.

Putting the key on the dresser, Kai turned and saw Jake shut the door behind him. Looking into his eyes, she watched him walk toward her. Swallowing hard, she felt some of her fear and trepidation dissolving with each step he took. This was the little boy who had given her a haven so long ago. This was the man who loved her.

Kai realized it was true. Jake had never stopped loving her. Had she ever not loved him?

Jake halted in front of her and placed his hands on her proud shoulders. Giving him a quizzical look, she whispered, “You love me, don't you?”

Smiling, Jake gazed into her wide blue eyes. “I never stopped loving you, Kai.”

“What a fool I've been,” she muttered, and slid her arms around his neck.

“You're still raw, Kai. I can see it in your eyes. I hear it in your voice.” Lifting one hand, Jake brushed her cheek with his fingers. Her lashes closed partially in reaction, her lips parting slightly. “I don't want to rush you. If you want a partner to work with, then I'm the man for you. I don't mix and match here. You said you wanted a partner for missions.” How close she was. How proud and beautiful and strong. Jake ached to take her, to love her. His body was hard and screaming. He was old enough to know not to get selfish with her because of his own needs right now. If he did, Kai would retreat. Possibly walk out of his life—for good. That threat was enough to make him walk a fine line. She had to want
him,
not just the other way around. It wouldn't work if she didn't come to him first—just as she had crawled into his arms that day in Australia. That had been the sweetest moment he'd experienced since she'd been taken from him.

“I'm scared, Jake. Scared and happy. I feel like yelling at the world and jumping up and down for joy at the same time. I also feel like this is a dream and I'll get ripped out of it at any moment.”

As he slid his fingers across her cheek, she pressed against his open palm and closed her eyes. Such trust. Yes,
she was trusting him. “I feel the same way. We're reacting to what happened when we were young, Kai. But we've grown up. We're adults now, and in control of our own lives.” A smile hitched one corner of his mouth as she opened her eyes, turned her head and pressed her lips into his palm. His flesh tingled wildly. His heart began hammering.

“You're right,” she murmured, burning beneath his hooded look. Jake wanted her. Kai felt her entire body, every single cell, respond to his scalding gaze.

Jake stood there, frozen. She had kissed his palm. Kai was such a surprise. He'd never thought she'd do that. Feeling overwhelmed, yet not wanting to let her go, he leaned his head forward and whispered, “Kai, I want to kiss you in the worst damn way…but this has to be mutual….”

Laughing softly, Kai lifted her head and melted beneath his gaze. “Then kiss me, Jake Stands Alone Carter. Kiss me and join our past with our present….” And she stepped forward and pressed her body against his.

Closing her eyes, Kai relaxed fully against Jake as his arms folded tightly around her. The breath exploded from her as she melted into him. Turning her head slightly, she met his descending mouth, her world coming to a halt.

As his mouth slid across her smiling lips, Kai moaned with desire. She moved her arms around his neck, holding him as tightly as she could, drinking and sipping from his strong male lips. As she did, she had a flash of memory—of that one shy kiss he'd shared with her once beneath the old beech tree. Now he was a man, strong, capable and filled with incredible confidence.

Lips parting, she moved her tongue in a slow, delicious
arc against his. Jake groaned. His arms tightened around her. So many flashes of the past arced through her mind's eye as his mouth kissed hers with tenderness, coaxing, then a fierce intensity. Her mind was turning to mush, her thoughts shorting out. Kai was aware of his hand cradling her head, his fingers tangled in the strands of her hair. His other arm held her close, a willing captive who wanted more and more of him.

Their breathing became chaotic, their mouths wet as they slid against one another, taking and giving. Kai felt an insatiable hunger for Jake, so powerful that it caught her completely off guard. Breaking contact with his mouth, she breathed heavily. The need she felt was dizzying. It scared the living hell out of her.

Jake eased away. Kai's eyes were a soft blue now, the pupils huge and black as she stared wordlessly at him. Giving her a boyish smile, he said, “That was some kiss! It almost makes up for all the ones we never got before this….”

Giving him a rueful look, Kai reached up and slid her hand against his cheek. “One kiss…” He'd shaved recently and she could feel the sandpapery quality of his beard beneath her fingertips.

Jake closed his eyes and absorbed Kai's touch. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might explode out of his body. Aching to take her, but knowing it wasn't the right time, he opened his eyes and stared into hers. “I can see you're shaken, Kai.”

“Yeah…a lot…” She felt heat flood her face as she eased a few inches away from him. Jake's arms settled
around her waist, and she was glad that he'd given her that freedom. “I don't know what it is about you, but you always seem to read my mind about what I need and when I need it.”

Jake shrugged. “Just lucky, I guess.” He saw that she didn't believe him, and gave her a rueful smile. “Maybe it's because I love you, Kai. When you love someone it's easy to read them, to know where they're at, what their needs are.”

Nodding, Kai whispered, “I know you love me….”

Jake knew she wasn't ready to say that to him. “It's a love that's been there from the day we met, Kai. It never went away. It's always been in me.”

“You're the most patient person in the world, Carter. Either that or a glutton for punishment, wanting to love someone like me.”

He understood why she'd said that. It came out of her haunting past, when her father had told her she was ugly and would never amount to anything. Threading his fingers through her hair, Jake said, “Listen, you're easy to love. But you need to believe it, Kai. I could tell you forever, but until you realize it, what I tell you will fall on deaf ears.”

“Are you okay with our relationship as it is? I need time….”

“You've got all the time in the world, Kai.” Jake released her and touched his heart. “I've waited this long. Waiting some more with you at my side isn't going to be a stress, believe me.”

Kai smiled tremulously. “Okay…then we need to tell Mike our decision. I know he'll offer you a job.”

“I'm sure he will,” Jake told her. He walked Kai over to the sofa in their suite. Sitting down with her, he opened the cell phone he'd taken from his pocket.

“I'm still in charge of our team,” she said, a warning in her voice.

“Of course you are. I'll be your shadow, Kai. I'll be there when you need me, and when you don't, I'll stand back. Listen to me, will you?” Jake leaned forward, his voice rough with emotion. “Remember, we're a matriarchal nation, and my mother raised me to know that women were just as strong—even more so, in some respects—as men. She never made me feel less than worthy, either. We just bring different skills and abilities to the table, that's all. I really respect what you have and I want to support you any way I can.”

His impassioned words moved through her and touched her heart as nothing else could have done. Leaning back on the couch, her hands resting in her lap, Kai asked, “Do you always say the right thing, Carter?”

“On some days, I get lucky.” And Jake chuckled as he saw her mouth curve into a smile.