Son of a Gun (19 page)

“I don’t know you well enough to answer that question.”

“That’s not true,” Damien said. “You haven’t known me long, but you know me well. We’ve had more deep conversations than I’ve had with some women I dated for months.”

“Okay.” She might as well be honest. “I see you as a wealthy rancher who jets around the country at the spur of a moment. A man used to being in charge who makes a few phone calls and has everyone jumping to do his bidding. A successful entrepreneur who walks into a mall and buys what he fancies without looking at prices.”

“Wow. If that’s all you see in me, I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I wasn’t finished.”

“Can we jump ahead to some of the good stuff—if there is any good stuff?”

“None of that is bad, Damien. It’s how it is. I also see you as a man with scruples and values and the determination to do what’s right no matter the risk. I see you as a man who loves his family, his home, his land and his livestock. I see you as a man who keeps his promises. A man who protects people who need protecting.”

“And now you’ve just described what it is to be a cowboy. Well, except you left out that we’re smart enough to know not to squat with our spurs on.”

“I also failed to mention that you always know how to defuse a situation and make me smile.”

He stepped closer and trailed a finger down her cheek and all the way to her collarbone. “Did I mention how great you look in that dress?”

“Not more than a half-dozen times.”

His cell phone rang. He ignored it.

“Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” she asked.

“So that’s why I’m hearing bells. If we wait a minute it will stop ringing.”

“You can’t do that. It might be your mother. It might be something to do with Belle.”

He put his hands up in surrender and then checked the ID. “It’s Tague. I’d better take it.”

“You should. And we both should get some sleep. Good night, Damien.”

She hurried away before he could protest and before something got started that would backfire on them. She went to the adjoining room, opened the curtains and stared out the glass doors at the star-studded sky.

In March she’d gone to paradise and found hell. Now she’d gone to Texas and found Damien. The first had ruined her life and left her an emotional wreck. The second was likely going to break her heart.

She was not what the cowboy needed, and he’d realize that as soon as he was through saving her.

She unzipped her travel case and pulled out the Nordstrom bag she’d tucked inside it while they were still on the plane. She retrieved the pajamas and tossed them onto the bed.

Unable to help herself, she reached back inside and tangled her fingers in the silky chemise. She picked it up and held the sexy nightie in front of her as she approached the full-length mirror on her closet door.

She hardly recognized the woman staring back at her. No wonder the chemise had tempted her. It was nothing like the slutty evening wear that Caudillo had made her wear for him.

Instead she saw the Emma she used to be. A woman not afraid of looking smokin’ hot on occasion. A woman who’d been bucking for a promotion with the ATF. A woman who’d gone on vacation alone rather than lose the money she’d already invested.

A woman who’d stupidly boarded a luxurious yacht with a mysterious stranger.

Unexpected tears pooled in her eyes. Now she was a woman afraid to live, because if she did, Caudillo would find her again.

Damien knocked once on the door she’d left ajar. “How about a nightcap to help you sleep?”

She looked up and saw Damien’s face reflected in the mirror, though he was still standing near the door.

She dropped the chemise and it pooled on the floor, leaving her feeling incredibly exposed even though she was still wearing the black dress.

A second later Damien’s arms wrapped around her from behind.

She turned, and with tears she could neither explain nor stop streaming down her face, she lifted her mouth to his and melted in his kiss.

Chapter Ten

Damien only meant to hold Emma, but the second their lips touched, the pent-up frustration and desire erupted inside him. He’d ached to kiss her practically since the moment they’d met.

The thrill of her touch ripped through him, making him rock hard, the passion so hot it felt as if it were singeing his brain. When he came up for air, he kissed her eyelids, the tip of her nose, her earlobe, the soft, sensual column of her neck.

His hands splayed her back, pulling her closer. When she moaned, he lifted her from the floor and held his breath as he let her ride down the length of his erection. His hands found the zipper of her dress and tugged it low enough that her breasts spilled out of the bodice.

“Oh, Emma…”

And then somehow a tiny measure of sense reached his crazed brain. He pulled away, though the need inside him was still ravaging his body.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Me, coming at you like an animal.”

“Is that what that was, just animal magnetism?”

The hurt in her voice was like a fist to the gut. “It’s not all it was, not even close. But I had no right, not after what you’ve been through, not when your emotions are still all over the place. You’re just too damn vulnerable.”

“You’re right, Damien. You’re always right, and that’s starting to annoy me. I am trying to move on. I escaped the monster, but he’s in my head, and the horrors pop up when I least need them to be there.”

“I know. But you’ll get there, Emma. You’re the most determined woman I’ve ever met. And you definitely have the most spunk.”

“For the record, I wasn’t thinking about Caudillo when we were kissing. I wasn’t thinking at all.”

“And I want to kiss you again, Emma. I want to make love with you so bad it’s killing me. But when we make love, I want to be certain you have no regrets. I want you to be as ready for that step as I am.”

“I’ve never had anyone
not
make love to me so sweetly, Damien.”

“I’ll tell myself that all the way through the cold shower I’m about to take. But do me a favor, Emma.”

“Anything.”

“Keep that hot-pink negligee with you at all times, so when the time is right, that’s what you’ll be wearing when we start.”

“That, Damien Lambert, is a promise I will gladly keep.”

He turned and left quickly, not daring to kiss her good-night. He left the door between them ajar just in case she had a nightmare and needed him during the night.

Tonight he could come to her rescue. Tomorrow morning, he’d be flying her back to the war zone.

He wasn’t at all sure that was in the cowboy code.

* * *

EMMA WAS IN THE COCKPIT with Damien when Enmascarado first came into view. She braced herself for an attack of nerves or paralyzing dread and prepared to run in case she got sick. The last thing they needed was for her to throw up all over the controls.

Amazingly, her hands didn’t sweat, her stomach didn’t roll and her chest didn’t cave in. Either her nerves were actually making progress or else being in Damien’s presence made her feel safe.

The vantage point helped, too, and the fact that the yacht was nowhere to be seen, which meant that Caudillo wasn’t there, either. The fortress was less intimidating than she remembered, the island much smaller. At least it was until Damien began dropping altitude.

“I’ll be working the controls so that we can circle the island. You do the talking—anytime you’re ready to start. We’d be able to see all of the island at once were it not for the trees and heavy vegetation. This whole island is barely twice the size of the Bent Pine Ranch.”

“Bear in mind that I only saw a small part of it,” she reminded him. “I arrived at night. And once I was here, I was confined within the walls surrounding the house.”

“Just tell me what you know. The north side of the island is just below us.”

“That’s the house,” Emma said. “The small inlet about a hundred yards down the beach from the house is where he anchors the yacht.”

“That looks more like a commercial marina than a personal boat dock.”

“It is, except that Caudillo is the only customer allowed. There were at least two dozen workers there the night we arrived. I was still woozy, but I remember that they helped us off the boat and, I suppose, cleaned it and got it ready for the next trip. Before I was drugged I remember noting that the yacht was immaculate, more like a posh hotel than a boat.”

“Tell me about the house.”

“Only if you promise you’re not going there to try to deal with Caudillo yourself.”

“We’ve already established that, but you have to admit it would be fun to see the look on his face if you dropped in with a team of Navy SEALs and told him that you were back for your half of the property settlement.”

“Don’t even joke about my going back to the island or about a marriage.”

“Right. No jokes. But you did crack a smile. I’ll circle the north end again in a minute, but what are the buildings to the west?”

“I have no idea. I didn’t know they were there.”

“Could be barracks for his army. Did you ever hear him say how many men worked for him?”

“No, but when he was gone I could hear them outside the house. My guess is there had to be at least fifty in all, counting the guards at the house. There could be more.”

“So it appears no one around here questions a businessman’s need for an army,” Damien said.

“I don’t think anyone questions Caudillo about anything.”

“Then I suspect he pays off the right people. Corruption is always in style.”

“It is his personal island,” Emma reminded him. “He told me it was a gift from some prince I’d never heard of, but he could have been lying.”

“I guess real estate is real estate,” Damien said, “as long as you have the money to pay someone off.” He pointed to his left. “There, just over the guava trees, do you have any idea what that rectangular building is used for?”

“That, I do know. It’s where the men were hauling the crates of weapons from the night I escaped. On the beach just past that is the dock where their boat was.”

“And then there’s another view of the house coming in from the south. I can see why you think it looks like a fortress with that stone fence all the way around it. Nothing is missing but a moat.”

“No moat. You walk through the front doors and into the main part of the house. It’s a big open room with no furniture. I never saw it used for anything other than a giant foyer.”

“Where were you kept?”

“My quarters were to the right.”

“What about the other two women who were there for part of the time you were? Where were their quarters?”

“I’m not sure, but not close enough that I could communicate with them through the walls.”

“So there could be other women still imprisoned there who you never saw.”

“It’s possible.” Suddenly, the light came on. She should have realized it before. The questions. The flyover. The entire trip to the Caribbean.

Damien might not be planning to personally lead his own rescue operation, but he was planning to make sure one was carried out utilizing whatever information he culled from the trip.

“You’re going to the FBI with this information, aren’t you, Damien?”

“Let’s not get into that now.”

“And if Caudillo has connections with the FBI as he said, how long do you think it will take him to find me?”

“He’s never going to find you because I won’t do anything unless I’m positive you’re safe. And face it, Emma, you are never going to feel safe until Caudillo’s either dead or behind bars. And for all we know, Caudillo might already be picking out your replacement. This man has to be stopped.”