The Promise of Love (24 page)

“And days.” She wrapped her slim legs around his hips.

“Yeah,” he whispered, just to see her dazzling smile. “And every second in between.”

Chapter Fourteen

Paris woke to the sound of a man in pain. She immediately reached for David. His arms were wrapped around her, and every inch of his body against hers was hot and hard with smooth, supple muscles—muscles that were tensed because he was having a nightmare.

“David,” she murmured, trying to turn in his arms.

A fine sheen of moisture slipped along her skin, making them as slippery as when they were having sex. Only David wasn’t enjoying whatever it was that had him sweating.

“David,” she said a little louder, and moved one arm off her.

“Paris.” He tightened his arms almost painfully. “What is it?” he asked, and released her to sit up. She heard something, and in the moonlight saw he’d pulled a gun out of somewhere.

“No, David, I…” She stopped and worried over telling him he’d had a nightmare. “I have to pee,” she modified. “And you were dreaming, I think.”

“Yeah.” He lowered the gun out of sight. “I was. Go on, I won’t peek,” he teased when she didn’t move.

Peek? It hit what he meant a second before he leaned over and pushed her hair off her face.

“Peek, follow you. You know where the bathroom is.”

“Yes, thank you, I do.” Paris suddenly turned shy all over again. Bizarre really, since the man had seen every inch of her and then some.

Still, she got up and headed to the bathroom, knowing he was watching her. It didn’t bother her now. He loved her.
Loves. Me
. She did a happy little dance in the bathroom and froze at the grin on her face then glanced lower. The breath left her on a gasp at the love bites he’d given her. She vaguely remembered the feel of his mouth tugging and the sting she’d known would leave a mark. She’d left a few herself, but hers were much, much lower.

“Paris, stop admiring your body and pee, the bed’s getting cold.”

“Brat,” she whispered, then covered her mouth. He was, but he was hers. She quickly took care of business and washed and dried her hands before racing back to bed. “It’s cold. Did you turn the air on high?”

“I did. That way you’d curl up against me,” he admitted without an ounce of shame. “You like the white noise, so I thought it would help you get comfortable, too.”

“Oh, David,” she said, and hugged him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sorry I woke you,” he added.

“You—”

“Rule number five, no lies—”

“I wasn’t lying! You were—”

David tugged her hair and laughed when she hit his stomach. “I have nightmares, sometimes, I guess.”

“I’m sorry. Do you want to talk about it? I’m a good listener,” she coaxed. “Besides, I’ve had a few myself.”

“You?” he said, adjusting her the way he wanted her on the bed. “Why do you have nightmares?”

She laughed and snuggled closer. “Why does anyone? Why do you?”

“War. I have nightmares from things I’ve seen,” he said and shrugged. “And snakes. I hate snakes.”

“I know, me, too.” She stroked his chest and, after a deep breath said, “I have nightmares from when I was hurt. Skating.”

“You were hurt?” he asked, then tipped her head up. “I read about you. You almost went to the Olympics, then something happened. No one wrote about it, but you and your partner disappeared.”

“You read about me?”

“Yeah,” he said and shrugged again, something she knew he did when he was uncomfortable. “I did. When I found out your last name, I did my research.”

“On me?” She was oddly flattered, but also worried. “What else did you learn?”

“Not much, but I know something happened, Paris. Why not tell me, since you woke me up anyhow. Was it your partner? Did he do something?”

He sounded so rough, she soothed him with a hand on his chest. “It was a long time ago now, and forgotten.”

“No, I don’t think so. Do you still skate?”

She thought he was asking because he was trying to change the subject then circle back around to the tougher one, so she kissed him. “I’ll tell you, okay? But no, well, getting all upset.”

He frowned at that, not something he normally did, so she worried a little more about telling him. “I won’t tell you unless—”

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a bind,” he grumbled. “If you were wearing any. I like that you’re not, now, go on.”

“Okay, but then you share, too, David,” she said, then added, “if you can.”

As expected, his chest hardened and he gave her a long, intense look that, even in the shadows of the moonlight, she could see. “Deal. Then we gotta get up and get dressed, unfortunately. I’ll let you sleep on the jet, okay?”

“Jet?”

“Paris,” he grumbled.

“Right, my sad life story. So, yeah.” She gathered her thoughts and realized she could tell him. She was certain he’d had worse things happen to him. He was a soldier, after all.

“I was always good at skating. Even as a kid, I was on skates more than off. My mom wanted me to be a figure skater, so I worked hard, and we got a coach when I was old enough,” she said, simplifying all the side jobs she’d done to get the money to pay for a coach herself.

Her mom had been too busy with her life, and the men who trailed in and out of it.

“I was good, so I was partnered up with a guy, Alexander. We started dating, it happens, then he and I didn’t fit any longer. My coach wanted a different partner for me and it didn’t go over too well. Alexander came by the rink one day, just talking, and I was practicing.” She paused and checked on David.

He was silent, and watched with a frown she’d only seen him wear when he’d talked to those MPs.

“Anyway, I was stupid to skate with him. I thought he’d gotten over the partner switch and all that. He acted so nice, and well, he wasn’t. Not at all. Worse, I kinda think I knew, like, deep down, I knew he wasn’t over it and he was still angry, but…well…”

“You trusted him. And this is why you took us up on that offer. Or one of the reasons you let me drag you off to bed. You went with us with your eyes wide open, but not with this guy.”

“I went with you, and I still have my eyes wide open, too,” she added, all warm inside that he remembered their hike and the talk they’d had.

He brushed her hair over her shoulder. “What did he do, Paris?”

She cleared her throat at David’s tone. He sounded harsh. “David, it was long ago.”

“Yeah, about the time you were supposed to go to the Olympics, right?”

She huddled deeper in the covers and shivered.

Almost instantly, David grumbled and pulled her closer. “I’m sorry, Paris, it’s okay. I guess I don’t like where I know this is going. He hurt you, didn’t he? That scar on your leg, is that from him?”

She wasn’t sure whether she should answer him or not. But when she didn’t, he tightened his arms around her and pressed his head to her neck. “I wouldn’t kill him, I’d just maim him, a man can still walk and all, just be missing parts. It works. The Russians do it all the time.”

“David,” she whispered, more touched by his savagery than she should’ve been. “He’s dead. He committed suicide while I was in the hospital.”

“Holy hell,” David murmured, tightening his arms around her.

“He was sick, he needed help. He didn’t know what he’d done, I’m sure—”

“The hell he didn’t.” David dragged her to sit up. “He was older than you, wasn’t he?”

“A few years, yes.”

“He knew better. He hurt you on purpose.”

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded hesitantly, knowing deep inside he was right. “He did. I broke my leg in three places, and he gave me a concussion that damaged my balance for a few months after the casts came off.”

“Casts?”

“The thing is, David, I let him. If I’d stopped and thought, really thought, and
seen
him, I would have known he was no good. I don’t do that anymore. I see you, I know you’re good, that’s…” She paused and caught her breath. “That’s one reason I know I love you, and maybe the reason it hurt so badly when you broke your promise.”

David grimaced and reached up to tenderly hold her face in his hands. “Paris, I didn’t break it, I was just late in my delivery. I have you now, and I don’t plan on leaving your side again.”

She nodded, too emotional to do much more. David took care of it. He pulled her tight to his chest and hugged her. “Good, I’m glad we’re good with that plan, princess, because I also bought some rope and a gag. You know, in case I had to kidnap you.”

“David Jansen,” she cried, hugging him tighter.

He laughed and pressed her back to the bed. “Just once more, before we have to go?”

“Yes, once more,” she whispered against his lips, and spread her legs for him.

If she had her way, they’d never go anywhere, so they’d always, always have one more, and then one more, and one more.

Chapter Fifteen

“I need to call my uncle. He’s gotta be out of his mind with worry.”

David nodded, trying hard to keep his face clear of his thoughts. Which were amused. She was in a dressing room, trying on a few new things he’d practically had to force on her, but she peeked out a few times to see him.

She walked out in jeans that hung down way too low on her sexy hips and a tiny tank top with a pink and blue checkered shirt over the top. It made her breasts look way too big. She’d left the shirt unbuttoned so anyone who glanced at her would see, too. She looked like a sexy cowgirl.

“We can get those. But button up that shirt.”

“In your dreams,” she murmured, opening it wider by plunking her hand on her hip. “I got two more shirts like this and another pair of jeans.”

“How about a few sweaters? It’s cold in Vermont.”

“Not in July it’s not,” she assured him. She’d also gotten a few sundresses, not that she knew. He’d already stuffed them in the bag the store gave him to lug around. He’d picked out a few boy shorts and tank tops that she would wear, he hoped, just to walk around in. He knew for a fact she wasn’t wearing them to sleep in. He’d also gotten her shoes, and some cute shorts. She’d tried the shorts on and he’d sworn she wasn’t wearing them out of the house. She’d laughed. He hadn’t.

“I got you some skating clothes.”

“You did?” she asked, turning to scan his face. He now knew, or thought he knew, why she did that. She’d only shared part of her story, and nothing about a man named Greg who’d been a first-class sleaze. Greg was two years ago. Two years she’d been alone. He wasn’t ever leaving her alone again.

“Yeah, and I already talked to your Uncle Troy. He’s a funny guy.”

She froze and blinked. It was cute as heck. She’d done that when he’d pulled the SUV over and into the mall parking lot, for a quickie, he’d said. He knew she would have been on board for a quick lovemaking session, but she’d given the mall a horrified glance. He’d busted up and earned a few soft thumps on the stomach until he’d explained what he really wanted was to stop for a quick
shopping
trip.

“He said that if I screwed around and left you crying again, he’d fill my ass with lead. I assume that means bullets, although I’m not sure we use lead any longer for—”

“You talked to Uncle Troy?”

“Keep up, princess, come on. We gotta catch that flight, so we need to get these and go before you want anything else.”

“David Jansen! I can buy my own clothes!

“Not a chance. I already got you taken care of.”

“David—”

He stared at her and, amazing him, she snapped her mouth closed, then smiled and tossed a pair of pretty pink panties onto the stack of clothes he already had in his arms. A guy next to them stared, but that was cool. He was completely aware of how gorgeous Paris was.

“Fine. So, Vermont. Why there?”

“That’s where we’re getting married and I’m getting surgery.”

She was just about to take a sip of her iced coffee but stopped with her lips around the straw. Her eyes grew wider by the second. If they weren’t waiting in a line to purchase her clothes, he was fairly certain he’d be flat on his back again, and this time not with the happy ending he’d gotten last time. He altered his approach.

“I need you to pretend, but as long as we’re pretending, I thought, why not? We could stop up at Vegas—”

“Vegas is not
up
from here.”

“And do the jumping over the broom handle there.”

“People don’t do that.”

“I know, so maybe we could exchange vows and jump over the—”

“David, do you think because we are out in a public mall I won’t give you hell?”

He squinted at her, assessing her flushed face and the cold chips of gray ice in her eyes, and thought better of shrugging. “I am completely serious. I would like to marry you, but if you want to wait and just pretend, that’s cool, too.”

She stalked away a few steps, stopped, turned, and loaded him up with more of the clothes she’d been carrying, then walked right through the store until she hit the mall. He watched her reach a bench, turn and plunk her butt down. She rested her elbows on her knees and her head on her hands and glared in his direction. Thankfully, he’d already bought the clothes she’d left wearing, otherwise he’d have had to go haul her out of the mall jail or something.

At least she hadn’t run in fear.

That had to mean something.

He was next, so he went through the process of paying, then spotted a little chain with a ballet dancer, he thought, on it, until he looked closer and noticed tiny ice skates on the girl’s feet. “Is this an ice skater, or ballet dancer?” he asked the older sales clerk lady, handing her the charm and necklace.

“I think it’s a figure skater, see the hands up like that, I think that’s a figure skater’s move, but figure skating is a lot like ballet,” she offered.

“Ah, right, it is. But those are skates, right?”

She examined the piece through her reading glasses, then smiled. “Good eyes, those are. It’s adorable, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “I’ll take it, thanks.”

“No problem.” She rang him up and folded all the tiny clothes in two neat bags. Hell, was this enough? Well, there’d be malls in Vermont. He managed the two bags and his crutch and made it out of the store. He found Paris still contemplating him, with her hands still holding her head up.