In Enemy Hands (25 page)

She sensed Dante move away from her and dared a peek as she massaged the dirt from her scalp. Nadia froze and simply stared when Dante tugged off his boots and socks.

His brown eyes met hers, and he unbelted his jeans and slid them over his narrow hips. Nadia’s breath caught in her throat as her gaze raked over the tan, chiseled body that was now clothed only in a pair of tight black boxers.

Just looking at him made her weak with sexual hunger.

Dante scooped up their clothes and tossed them underneath the old roof. Not an ounce of fat betrayed that body. He was magnificent. He was perfect.

And he was headed straight for her.

“Here,” he said huskily. “Let me help you with that.”

He ran his big hands into her hair and worked the strands between his fingers. Nadia found herself staring at his chest, at the sunburst tattoo that surrounded one nipple.

Impulsively, she raked her tongue across it.

Dante groaned and tugged at her hair, pulling her face up to meet his. She expected a violent kiss, a demanding thrust of his tongue, but he fooled her. His lips were gentle on hers, tasting, exploring, as the rain streamed off their faces. The hardness of his arousal pressed against her stomach.

Reaching behind her, he unhooked her bra. Nadia watched it fall to the ground, watched his hands cup her breasts. The sight of his rough, tan fingers against her flesh made her breath quicken.

Then one of his hands dropped lower. It caressed her hip, and then stole inside the edge of her lacy panties. Nadia gasped, staring up into his dark eyes. Those eyes widened and his hand faltered when he found her hot and wet. Ready.

“I’ve been ready for this since the day I met you,” she whispered.

Dante dropped to his knees in front of her, as if her words robbed him of his power. Cupping her buttocks in his hands, he pulled her closer and kissed her abdomen. His fingers found the edge of her panties and tugged them an inch lower. His tongue traced the streak of white skin just below her tan line.

Dante pressed his face against the lacy material. Nadia groaned and ran her hands over his head. Two days’ worth of dark stubble tickled her palms, scratched the soft skin on her thigh. It made him look dangerous, even sexier.

Hooking his thumbs underneath the edge of the panties, Dante slid them off her hips, down her legs. Her thoughts were a jumble and Nadia didn’t even remember stepping out of them, but there she was, naked in front of him. He nudged her feet apart and pressed his face between her thighs.

A strange, throaty voice crying out in the rain.

It’s me
, Nadia realized, but she didn’t even know what she was saying.

His tongue moved faster and faster, driving her to the brink of madness. Her legs quivered, threatened to give out on her, and Nadia clutched at his shoulder to keep from falling. Heat built within her, seared her. Nadia found herself thinking crazily about a term paper she’d once done on spontaneous combustion.

Was this what it was like, she wondered, to burn from the inside?

Like a crazed woman, she shoved him backward onto the desert floor. Dante looked at her in surprise, but she didn’t care. She was beyond caring. She straddled him, heedless of the rain, heedless of the rocks that bit into her knees.

Nadia yanked down his briefs and lowered herself onto his shaft. Dante cried out as she took him inside her.

He was so big that Nadia was almost afraid she couldn’t handle him, but the fit was perfect. Tight. He filled her and Nadia shrieked when he began to move.

He clutched her hips, pushing himself deeper, urging her faster. Faster. Nadia rode him hard as sheets of warm, gray rain beat against her back.

Lightning streaked the sky and thunder shook the ground, but Nadia scarcely noticed. Their coupling was as wild and passionate as the storm that swirled around them.

Nadia screamed when the climax rocked through her body. Spots danced before her eyes and she was sure she was going to pass out. Her muscles tightened helplessly around him and Dante roared. His fingers dug into her hips, and he gave one last powerful thrust.

Neither moved. Neither tried to talk. Suddenly, everything was quiet around them except for the rain pounding on the hoist roof and the sound of their own breathing.

A little shocked by her ragged gasps, Nadia stared down at Dante. He looked as shell-shocked as she felt. Pushing a handful of dripping hair out of her face, she laughed.

Dante smiled and cupped her face in his hand. She pressed her mouth against his palm.

“That was …” Nadia shook her head, unable to find a word that seemed adequate. “That was …”

“Not bad,” Dante said blandly, then held up his hands to ward off Nadia’s blows. He caught her wrists and pulled her face to his.

“That was …” He paused, kissing her. “… the most amazing experience …” Another kiss. “… of my entire life.”

There was so much she wanted to say to him—I love you, I need you-but somehow the words wouldn’t come. She’d never said them to anyone. Had never felt them before now. It scared her to death.

Laughing, the lovers stood and tried to clean the mud from their bodies before they ran for the shelter of the hoist house. Dante removed a thin blanket from his backpack and spread it out in the narrow space. They made love again while the rain beat against the aging tin roof.

“We’d better put on our clothes,” Dante said reluctantly. “Your old man could be here any time, and he’ll shoot me for sure if he catches us like this.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Nadia sat up and reached for her shirt. “And
he
carries a .44.”

“I know. I’ve already been on the business end of his .44.”

She frowned. “What?”

He told her about the climb out of the river and what he’d found waiting for him at the top.

Nadia laughed and covered her face in her hands.

“Sorry,” she said. “They’re a little … protective.”

“Hey, I deserved it. But they did give me a chance to explain. Ronnie even fixed up my shoulder for me.”

She fingered the rolling tape on his shoulder. “Speaking of which, I have to fix your bandage again, and I’d better check out that side too. You’re covered in scratches. You look like you’ve been tangling with a wildcat.”

“I have.” Dante grinned at her and gently slapped her behind when she reached over him for the backpack.

Nadia doctored his scrapes, then rubbed the dark stubble on his head.

“I like that. Stubble on your head, stubble on your face. You look downright
dangerous.”

“Baby, I
am
dangerous.”

She giggled when he pushed her back on the blanket. He raked his face against her bare stomach.

“Ow, ow! Stop it! That hurts.”

Dante took the antibiotic salve from her hand and began dotting it on her various injuries. “Maybe if you’re nice, I’ll let you shave my head when we get back home.”

Nadia snorted. “Ha! Maybe if you’re nice, I’ll let you shave my legs.”

He smoothed his big palm down her bare thigh, making her shiver. “I think I can handle it.”

“Oh, really?”

“Quit looking at me like that,” he admonished, his brown eyes wary.

“Like what?” Nadia took his hand and pulled it to her mouth. Dante groaned when she traced his finger over her bottom lip and started sucking on it.

“You insatiable brat. You’ve nearly killed me already. I’m just a fragile shell of the man I was before I met you,” Dante said, closing his eyes. He leaned his head back and Nadia crawled into his lap.

“I bet Superman would be up for it,” she whispered, then caught his earlobe between her teeth. He groaned again.

“Superman wears his underwear on the outside of his pants. Besides, he never had to deal with the likes of you.”

It was nearly an hour before they got back into their clothes. Nadia rested her head on Dante’s chest and drifted into a deep, dreamless slumber.

Whup-whup-whup The sound invaded her sleep. What was that?

Nadia stirred against Dante. Even in sleep, his arm tightened around her and pulled her up close. Whup-whup-whup Nadia blinked and tried to make her bleary eyes focus. It was dark outside. Really dark. Nighttime. How long had they been asleep?

Whup-whup-whup “Dante!”

He sat up immediately, his eyes wild in the moonlight. He didn’t have the same trouble she did shaking off his sleep. His revolver was already in his hand.

“You’ve got to hide. You see that ore bin over there?” He pointed at the boxy wooden structure across from them. “Get over there when I tell you and don’t come out until I come get you.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to. I’m hiding too, but there’s not room in that thing for the both of us.”

“Dante-”

“Please.” He kissed her forehead. “Trust me.”

“But-”

“Please.”

“Okay.” She crouched at the edge of the shelter and waited on his signal.

“Go!” He slapped her bottom and she took off, scrambling into the tiny wooden box, praying the whole thing didn’t collapse with her.

Praying she wouldn’t disturb any resting creatures.

The whup-whup-whup sound was getting louder. The helicopter was close now. A spotlight danced across the ground in front of her, illuminating the motorcycle they’d had no way to conceal.

A sick feeling rolled through her stomach as she scanned for Dante. He had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide.

Peering through the cracks in the weathered old boards, Nadia watched the helicopter land. Three men emptied out of it. She recognized one of them.

Peterson.

Then she saw the cold blue eyes of the devil himself. Vandergriff had come out to settle this one personally.

Watching in horror, she saw the men storm toward the hoist house. Dante walked out, holding his hands high.

The helicopter blades stopped turning and Nadia could hear Vandergriff’s voice raised in anger.

“Where is she?”

“She’s gone!” Dante shouted. “She’s probably halfway out of the state by now. I’m a decoy and you were stupid enough to fall for it.”

She winced when Vandergriff struck Dante across the face with the butt of his gun. Dante sank to his knees.

“Check it out!” Vandergriff yelled to his men. “Find that girl.”

“I’ll check over here,” Peterson said, and Nadia ducked back, afraid he would see her in the darkness. She wondered if she could reason with him. If—

Peterson stuck his head in the opening and stared at her.

“Your father’s on his way,” he whispered, then yanked his head back outside.

“Nothing in there,” he called out, and proceeded to walk around the ore bin, making a show of checking underneath it.

Nadia sat in stunned silence.

Vandergriff screamed, an incoherent cry of rage.

He jerked his rifle up and pressed the barrel against Dante’s forehead. Nadia squeezed her eyes shut, terrified she was about to witness her lover’s execution.

“Wait!”

Dante jerked his gaze to Vandergriff’s hit man.

“Mr. Vandergriff … if I might say something.”

“Go ahead, Peterson.”

“Sir, the Andreakos girl is in love with this guy. She told me herself. I think we can use him, maybe get another shot at her.”

What was this? And where was Nadia?

Dante had to force his gaze back to the ground, not wanting to tip them off. When the man had checked the ore bin, he had been holding his breath.

Stay back, babe
, he thought fervently.
Stay hidden
.

“What do you suggest?”

“I think we should take him back to Tennessee. Get word to Andreakos that we have his daughter’s boyfriend. We can set them up. They come after him, we attack the home front while they’re chasing their tails. If we’re lucky, you might score more than one Andreakos from the deal.”

Vandergriff was silent for a long moment, then he lowered the barrel of the gun.

“I like it.” He grinned and slapped Peterson on the back. “But I say we just kill him now. They’ll never know the difference.”

Peterson shook his head. “Andreakos is too smart for that. He’ll demand proof. What harm is there in carrying this guy back to Tennessee? Once the plan is in motion, you can kill him then.”