Stranded with the SEAL (4 page)

“
O
livia
!” Trevor pounded on the bathroom door, every muscle in his body at the ready. She’d passed out, he was sure of it, and he needed to get in there fast. His mind imagined every hard surface in that bathroom, the hard thunk of bone on porcelain, and blood streaming down Olivia’s face.

He tried the door, finding it locked. He’d have to break it down. “Stand back,” he yelled, just in case she could hear him. “Get away from the door.” There was no response, as he’d expected there wouldn’t be. With a twist of his torso, he kicked in the door. It opened halfway before running into her thigh.

He entered and tapped her cheek repeatedly, calling her name and willing her to wake up.

Her eyes opened and slowly focused on him. “What are you doing?” she mumbled.

“Helping you.”

“I don’t need help. I need hot water so I can take a bath.”

He ran a hand through his hair, sheer frustration bubbling to the surface. “You passed out.”

“No.”

“Yes, you did.”

She bit her lip. “Maybe I just didn’t want to talk to you.”

“You’re joking, right?” His eyes bored into hers, surprised to see they were green, not blue as he’d earlier thought.

“No.” She raised her chin. “I feel like crap, I can’t remember anything, and you’re scaring the hell out of me.”

He raised his eyebrows high. “I’m scaring you? You lock yourself in here with a concussion and a hundred and one things to bang your head on, then you don’t answer me when I try to see if you’re okay.”

She grabbed the sink and got to her feet. “Oh, please. I’m perfectly fine.” She pivoted on her heel and listed dramatically to one side.

Trevor swooped in to catch her. “Oh, you’re fine, all right. Not a damn thing wrong with you.”

She pushed at his chest. “I don’t want you to touch me!”

“I was keeping you from falling over.”

“Let me go.”

He released her and took a step back. “Just don’t lock the door this time.”

Olivia rubbed her arms as if to get rid of his touch. “If it will even close now that you pushed it in. Talk about overkill. What are you, some kind of macho policeman or something like that?”

“Something like that. I’ll go check on your water.”

“Do you want to nail the window shut before you go, just in case I try to escape?”

He crossed his arms. “Olivia, you’re free to leave here anytime you want. I’m not holding you against your will. But there’s a storm raging out there and no shelter for miles — if you can even find it — so I think you’d be better off hanging out with me for the time being.”

Her bottom lip trembled and her voice cracked. “You might want to stop breaking down doors so you don’t scare me to pieces.”

She looked so young, so frightened. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

She held up a hand. “It’s okay.”

Damn it all, she was crying, her face crumpling up and her mouth pulling down hard.

“Oh, sweetheart,” he said, “come here.” He reached for her, but she stayed where she was, eyeing him warily until he dropped his arms. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.

“I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to tell me the truth. Did you drug me last night?”

“Absolutely not.”

She bit her lip. “My head hurts. I can’t remember anything…about last night, and when I woke up, you were…your body was…you were sleeping really close to me.”

When you woke up, I was halfway to a boner from your sweet ass rubbing against my cock.

From the flush on her face, she remembered that part clearly. He’d better stick to the facts. “I did not drug you. We were in an accident and you hit your head. I brought you here and I slept next to you to keep you warm.”

She nodded slowly.

“Olivia, I would never take advantage of a woman.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“I hope that’s true.” She reached for the door, gesturing for him to leave. “Because as of this moment, you’re the only person in the whole wide world I can remember.” She closed the door between them.

H
oly fuck
.

Gallant stared at the smoking, twisted metal at the bottom of the ravine. There was no way anyone could have survived this accident, and he cursed Brooke for taking off on her own and doing this to him.

What had possessed her? Like she didn’t have it good enough already, famous and in demand and about to marry one of the richest men in the world?

And he liked her, damn it. A lot more than he’d liked the others. That was the kicker.

He moved toward the tangle of steel barely recognizable as Brooke’s car, dreading the grisly find that awaited him. Maybe it was good that she was dead, that way Marco wouldn’t kill her for running off before the wedding like she did.

Or make me do it.

The driver’s seat was crushed but clearly empty. He moved around to the other side of the car. “What the hell?” From this angle it was obvious there were two cars in this tangle, not just one. He looked in what was left of the passenger compartments of both vehicles.

They were empty.

His cell phone rang and he sighed when he saw Johnson’s name on the caller ID.

Fuck.

“She was in an accident,” Gallant said. “I tracked her on the GPS through a fucking blizzard to the bottom of Warsaw Mountain. My Hummer barely made it down here, and it’s still snowing. Her car and somebody else’s are all crashed and burned up, but nobody’s here.”

“You really fucked up this time, Gallant.”

He thought of the big blonde intern he’d screwed from SNL. Brooke had set them up, even told him he could use her dressing room, then she’d disappeared. He’d kept the intern out of his version of events when he broke the news to Johnson.

“Hey, I was supposed to keep her safe, not keep her from running off,” he said.

“No, you were supposed to keep her in your sight at all times. If Marco finds out about this…”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“There’s no reason to tell him until we find her.”

“But the wedding…”

“Isn’t for almost two weeks. She couldn’t have gotten far without transportation. Find her.”

The wind blew, making Gallant shiver. Sometimes he hated this job. “What about me? I need transportation, too, you know. There’s four feet of fucking snow on the ground.”

“Fine. I’ll leave a snowmobile outside the compound for you. Keep me posted, but be discreet.”

“I can do that.”

W
hile Olivia bathed
, Hawk took inventory of the house. The snowshoes on the wall seemed to be real and functional. There were cross-country skis, boots, and poles in the bedroom closet. An assortment of household chemicals and alcohol that could be used to make Molotov cocktails, as well as some basic explosive components in the garage. There was also a snowmobile that ran, but it had so little gas it barely registered.

He came inside and sat on the bed, staring at the small pile of clothes in the corner and wondering if he’d made a mistake. Olivia had asked where her clothes were, and that was a perfect time to give them to her, bride T-shirt and all, but he didn’t want to do it, which reminded him of the diamond he had in his pants pocket.

He pulled it out and stuck it on the tip of his index finger. It was too showy, too elaborate for the straightforward woman in the bathtub. He’d gotten her hot water, averting his eyes when he pulled back the curtain to add it to her bath.

It was an oddly intimate act.

Maybe it was because she looked so young, and he was feeling very protective of her after what they’d been through together, but he didn’t want her to find out she was engaged before she could even remember where she lived.

Or at least that’s what he was telling himself.

Something about her had snagged his interest. She was assessing him, considering whether or not he was worthy of her trust. He was a Navy SEAL, for God’s sake, a member of the elite HERO Force. That made him one of the good guys, no matter how black his soul felt under her questioning stare.

Maybe if I hold on to her tightly, she can make me good again.

Where the hell had that thought come from?

She’s engaged to someone else, and you have no business even thinking about this shit right now. You need to get to Steele.

Every step in Trevor’s carefully laid plan had crashed to the ground when his car ran into hers. He’d been prepared for any eventuality — or so he thought — well stocked with weapons, ammunition, explosives, and all the tools he’d need to get in and out of Steele’s compound without being caught. Now all he had taken for granted hung in the balance. He couldn’t let the accident ruin his carefully laid plans.

He pressed his thumb onto the prongs holding the diamond, surprised to find them sharp like thorns. That thing was more than jewelry. It was a weapon, for chrissake. He couldn’t help but wonder about the man who picked it out.

She could be marrying a serial killer. It’s none of your business.

The song on the radio ended and the newscaster came on. “We’re in for it tonight, folks. Snow will be completely changing over to freezing rain by morning, continuing for the next twenty-four hours before changing back to snow. The state’s structural engineers have voiced some concerns about Warsaw Bridge’s ability to handle the excess weight of an ice storm, and the bridge is closed to traffic through Thursday. The bridge is scheduled to be demolished and replaced in early spring.”

Olivia’s voice came from behind him. “The weather doesn’t sound good. Do you think they’ll get the roads cleared before all hell breaks loose?”

“No way.” Hawk folded the ring in the palm of his hand and stood, turning to face her.

She wore the plaid pajama pants and a too-big T-shirt he’d brought her, her hair wet and her nipples standing out against the fabric. He forced his eyes to stay focused on hers. “Did you have a good bath?”

She frowned. “Not really. I couldn’t stop trying to picture my own life, where I live — stuff like that — but no matter how hard I tried, there was nothing there.”

He touched her arm, an electric tingle shooting up his hand, but this time she didn’t pull away. “It will come. Give it time.”

“Not like we’re going anywhere soon.” She brushed by him, the scents of woman, soap, and shampoo crowding him in the small space, and he closed his eyes. He could get lost in that smell if he allowed himself.

“And I wouldn’t know where to go, either,” she said. “Where do you go when you don’t know who you are or where you belong?”

He didn’t have amnesia. He knew where he had to go. He was stuck on this mountain and so was Steele.

So go and get him. Do what you came here to do.

His mind began to race. He needed a coat, some kind of weapon, and a way up the mountain. From the contents of the dresser, he knew there were clothes from a man similar in size to him.

“Trevor, thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” she said, snapping his attention back to the present.

“You don’t think I drugged you anymore?”

“No, but I do want to see my car.”

He imagined it at the bottom of a ravine, its charred steel frame like a skeleton in the snow. “It’s too far away.”

“It can’t be that far if we walked here.”

“You didn’t walk. I carried you.” She met his eyes and he shrugged one shoulder. “You were unconscious.”

She frowned. “But how far…”

“About a mile.”

“You carried me for a mile?”

“Maybe more.”

She blew out air. “I find that hard to believe. No offense.”

“None taken.”

She frowned. “I really want to see my car.”

“You can’t. At least two feet of snow has fallen since then, and with that kind of hike, you’d be putting yourself in danger. Your concussion makes it dangerous for you to push yourself too far.”

“Trevor, I just want to see that you’re telling the truth, that I got here because of a car accident.”

“You got here because of a car accident. You’re just going to have to trust me.”

“And if I don’t like that answer?”

“I guess that’s just too bad, Olivia.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Listen, I need to go out and find some gasoline.”

“What? Where?”

“There’s a snowmobile in the garage, but no gas. I’m going to go look for some.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You think there’s a gas station on the corner?”

“I’ll find another vehicle. A lawn mower. Anything.”

“The snow will be up to your waist.”

“Not quite.” He gestured to the wall above the fireplace. “But those are real snowshoes, so it doesn’t matter.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I’ll make sure you have plenty of wood for the fire before I go. There’s enough food here for several weeks, if not longer.”

“Whoa, wait. You’re just going to leave me here?”

“I have to. I have things I need to do, and you seem like you’re feeling better.”

“But apparently, you’ve lost your freaking mind. We’re stranded in the middle of a blizzard on an all-but-deserted mountaintop, and you’re going to use the snowshoes from the living room wall — which were probably made in China and sold in some home decor store, by the way — to go hiking by yourself in search of gasoline?”

He narrowed his eyes. “‘All-but-deserted mountaintop? How do you know where we are?” He walked toward her.

“I don’t. That’s the point. You can’t leave me here all by myself.” She touched his arm. “Please.”

He took in her sweet, smooth complexion and her damp, curling hair. Not as young as he thought, just unusually beautiful. His gaze slipped lower, trailing along the neckline of the T-shirt, and watched the quickening rise and fall of her chest. His hands ached to touch her skin, to see if she was as soft as she looked. And that smell. The smell of her was so strong here, rising up from her neck with the warmth of her body.

Olivia’s eyes were wide, and he stared into them, mesmerized as they dilated. He clenched his fists to keep from reaching for her, his chest and his hips and his face all sensitized for her touch, waiting. A rosy flush settled across her chest and neck, spreading to her cheeks, an answering excitement brewing in his belly.

Her stare dropped to his mouth, almost begging him to kiss her.

She licked her lips. “Please, Trevor.”

She wasn’t talking about him leaving.

Just one kiss.

It was a bad idea. The worst idea he’d ever had, and even as he acted on it, he knew it was the wrong thing to do. This woman was engaged to someone else and didn’t remember. He pulled back just before their lips connected, sanity stepping in at the last moment, but she reached up and pulled him back down.

Her lips were full and soft and open beneath his, an invitation for more that he couldn’t resist. His tongue moved into her mouth and she pressed herself against his length, her breathy sound of pleasure mixing with his own.

Her fingers were in his hair, her nails lightly scratching his scalp, and the sensation was amazing. Trevor rested his forehead on hers, his breath coming quickly.

“Don’t leave me alone,” she whispered.

He wanted to stay with her. That was the problem. Was he so easily sidetracked from the mission he’d dedicated himself to? He dropped his hands. “Olivia…”

“I’m scared.” She crossed her arms again. “I won’t apologize for that.”

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll have food, clothing, and shelter for as long as you need it.”

She met his eyes and he could see she was about to cry. “You’re the only person I know in the whole world. If you leave…”

I won’t have anyone.

Guilt reached up and pulled him down.

“Forget it,” she said, waving her hands as she moved away. “You’re right. I don’t need you. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”

The war between his two responsibilities wrestled in his stomach like a rotten meal. It wasn’t just her physical well-being he needed to account for, it was her mental health, as well. He had to admit, the idea of being so completely alone as she would be without him here was a frightening prospect indeed.

Damn it all to hell.

“Fine. Just give me a few hours. Let me find fuel.”

She looked worried, and he could feel his plans slipping out of reach. He needed more than a few hours. He needed to be gone for as long as it took. “Maybe more.”

She was trying to pretend she was okay with that, he could see it in her eyes and the way she shrugged one shoulder. “Fine.”

His conscience nagged at him. He moved to the fire, stoking the embers and turning the logs. It was his fault she’d been hurt and was stranded in the woods without her car or cell phone, but damned if he would give up the first chance he’d had to get Steele since Ralph’s death.

Trevor clenched his jaw, his eyes shooting to the window and the raging storm beyond. He’d planned months for this mission, practiced how to accomplish his goal alone. Now he was being sidetracked, and much as he knew he was being an asshole, he resented the diversion.

If he was going to get Steele, he had to do it before the weather cleared and the evidence drove right out from under his nose.

Eleven goddamn miles away, and it might as well be the other side of the world.

He flexed his shoulder and cracked his neck, enough adrenaline coursing through his system to run to Steele’s house and back in record time.

Run? On this knee? Who the fuck are you kidding?

From the location of the pain, he felt certain he’d either broken his patella or pulled a tendon, neither one of which was any good for running anywhere. Just walking on snowshoes in search of gasoline was going to hurt like hell and take ten times the energy it normally would have, but the end result was too important for him to forsake it. Trevor needed that snowmobile to get to Steele’s compound.

But Olivia’s well-being outweighed all that.

Damn it all to hell.

“Maybe I won’t look for gas today. Maybe I’ll just run up the road to the accident scene and see if I can find my jacket.”

Or a gun.

Or any kind of weapon.

She met his eyes. “Thanks, Trevor.”

The melodious sound of his name on her lips made his hand twitch, and he reminded himself she was spoken for.

Tell her. Tell her now.

She had a right to know everything he knew about her, at the very least. He opened his mouth, the bride shirt and engagement ring hanging on the tip of his tongue.

But she was fragile. Unsteady. She needed time to get back on her feet before he told her about those things.

You’re just afraid it will bring her whole memory back.

She cocked her head. “Everything all right?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I shouldn’t be gone too long.”