The Unseen (20 page)

Bunny sat up in bed and stretched her arms over her head. Her breasts bounced temptingly as she lowered them. Winston licked his lips, wishing they were alone so he could savor every inch of her body again. The knock grew louder and more persistent.

Bunny slid her shapely legs over the edge of the bed and tossed her tousled reddish brown locks over one shoulder. “Whoever’s out there probably wants to kill us. I’m not letting you go down those stairs alone. Maybe if we stay here, they’ll leave.”

I wish.
Blood rushed to Winston’s groin. His body had a different agenda in mind, one much more tantalizing than opening doors to thugs. “It’s obvious we’re here. There’s a body out in the yard and my truck’s parked outside. Don’t worry—I’ll be right back.”

Bunny stood up, planting her hands on her hips and giving him her signature pout. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

“Fine. But stay behind me.” Winston strode toward the door, only slowing when Bunny burst out laughing.

“What’s so damn funny?” Winston jerked his head around and frowned.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Heat rushed to Winston’s face and then he bit his lip to mask a grin. He’d darn near walked down the stairs in the nude. “Oh, yes, clothes.” Winston ruffled his blond curls and reached for his shorts.

“Yeah, we used to wear those before we met.” Bunny batted her eyelashes at him as she pulled on her clothes.

He walked over and held her face in his hands, giving her a full kiss on the lips. “You look more gorgeous than ever this morning, by the way.”

“Really?” Bunny held up locks of tangled hair and gave him a questioning look.

He grasped her hand, leading her out the door and down the stairs. “Really. Every time I think you could never look more beautiful than you do one minute, another situation comes up that proves me wrong.” He meant every word he said and cared for her more than he felt ready to say out loud. He hoped his level-sounding voice masked the fear he felt for her safety. He knew he couldn’t lose her, not now, not ever. Beautiful, sexy Bunny was his.

As they neared the front door, Bunny nudged him with her shoulder. She wet her lips with her pink tongue the instant he looked her way. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Actually, I don’t. You’re the only one I’ve ever said it to, if you want to know the truth. Now I better open the door before they bloody break it.” Winston released the safety latch on his gun and pulled open the door.

Two towering men with muscular bodies and military-serious faces gazed at him. “Put the gun down, please,” said one of the men.

Winston felt Bunny’s fingernails digging into his arms as she clung to him. “Who the hell are you? Another party hired to murder us?”

“No, as a matter of fact we’re here to help. I’m Seth Anderson,” said the man with a large white scar on his neck. “Don and I are members of Rich Cooke’s team, sent here to protect Kent Dunbar on his caving expedition.”

Bunny perched her hands on Winston’s shoulders, rose up on her toes, and leaned over him. “Oh, you’re one of the guys we saw at the airport.”

Bunny’s tangled hair tickled Winston’s neck. One side of Seth’s thin lips turned up in a smile. Winston wasn’t sure if it was related to Bunny’s statement, their disheveled appearance or both.

“Yes, that was us. Anyway, when you spoke to Rich, you mentioned people chasing you. Rich sent us here to check on things because he thought you might be in trouble. Can you tell us what happened?”

“Sure. Why don’t you come in and sit down?” Winston motioned for the men to enter and ushered them into the living room. Once they were seated, he told them the whole story.

When Winston mentioned Bunny taking off in the truck, Don scratched his chin and frowned. “Why did you let her leave here alone?”

“It’s a bit complicated, so I’d rather not go into that now. Anyway, she managed to ditch her attacker and then even though we locked the doors, someone ended up in the house. We couldn’t even see him. He was using some kind of blue powder that made him turn invisible.” Winston paused, waiting for the men to appear stunned or interrupt him. “Oh, so you know about it then?”

The men nodded.

“Anyway, he killed the lights, and when he tried to shoot me, Bunny smashed his head with a wine bottle, and now I’ve got a dead body outside.”

“So you’re telling me Bunny took this guy out?” One of Seth’s dark eyebrows rose. “We’d heard . . . oh never mind.”

“Go ahead and say it.” Bunny nearly shouted, jumping up from the sofa and perching her hands on her hips. “You heard that I was a helpless whiner who couldn’t take care of herself.”

Seth’s mouth fell open. “I didn’t say—”

Bunny’s lips quivered when she spoke. “You didn’t have to. Because I know it’s what you were going to say. You want to know why?”

“Not really, B—”

“I know you were going to say that because that’s how I acted before—like a selfish, high maintenance whiner. But I’m not that person anymore and that’s why I have to go back and help my friends.”

The two men looked at each other and shrugged. Clearly, they hadn’t anticipated this scenario playing out. “Ma’am, we can stay here with you and make sure you’re safe until this whole situation settles down, but we can’t take you back to the cave.”

Winston could tell from Bunny’s demeanor that helping her friends could be just what she needed to move forward. He didn’t like the idea of her putting herself in danger, but still . . . If she made amends for her previous behavior, maybe it would help reconcile her guilt. “I don’t see why you can’t take her with you. She’s handled herself amazingly well during this crisis. That guy who was in this house was invisible and she still took him out. You should have seen the shape of his head when she was finished. I can show you, if you want.”

Seth frowned and plucked at his nose. “It’s a hundred frigging degrees outside and that body’s been out there cooking since last night. I think I’ll take your word for it.”

Winston hoped he’d gotten his point across. But he didn’t like the idea of Bunny going anywhere without him. He wanted to keep her safe and out of the arms of these testosterone-oozing men. She was his woman now—no one else’s. He clenched his fists and cleared his throat. “So does that mean we can go?”

Don pressed his lips tightly together and cocked his head, clearly irritated. “What do you mean we?”

“We’re a team, Bunny and I. We need to go do this together.”

Sitting a little taller on the couch, Bunny reached over and squeezed Winston’s hand. “That’s right.”

Don rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll contact Kent and see what he says. Right now we’re going to drop that stewed body off at the police station, and then we’ll come back to talk more. In the meantime, keep the doors and windows locked and don’t set foot outside the house. Is that clear?”

Winston sensed the man’s patience with them was waning rapidly. “Sounds hunky-dory to me.”

When the men left, Winston closed the door and pulled Bunny into his arms. Her warm soft curves fit so neatly against his body. He didn’t know how long they’d have alone together before the two men returned. In the meantime, he intended to savor every moment with her. He traced a finger across her cheek and gazed at her. “So would my love care for a shower or a cup of tea?”

Bunny touched his mouth with her finger and then drew it toward her moist pink lips. “I think I’ll go for the tea. My brain feels like it’s still in a fog.”

Winston leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Let’s go put the kettle on. I’ve got about every kind of tea imaginable. Did you have something special in mind?”

She gazed at him through her long lashes, her big brown eyes flirting mercilessly with him. “Mmm. I did have something very special in mind. But I think it’s going to have to wait.”

When his cock twitched, he ordered it to settle down. He linked arms with Bunny and walked with her into the kitchen.

Rich clenched his jaw as the helicopter made its slow descent into a patch of elephant grass. His men had their weapons readied in case any invisible men burst out from the bushes.
They won’t get away. Not on my watch anyway.

The helicopter propellers whined to a halt. “Men, I want you to position yourselves around the perimeter of the helicopter just in case someone’s planning an ambush.”

The door to the helicopter opened and a tall, leanly muscled woman hopped down onto the grass dressed in cargo pants and a yellow blouse. Her face was slightly weathered from the sun, smile lines wrinkled the corners of her eyes and lips. She’s only mildly attractive, Rich told himself, as his heart rate steadily escalated.

As his gaze wandered over every inch of her long, lean physique, his male hormones kicked into overdrive. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking away from her to refocus. But his eyes refused to cooperate. He watched as she strode toward them with a confident, erect stride, intelligence shining in her blue eyes. She extended her hand toward him first. “Hello. I’m Roberta Lawson.”

The way she said
Lawson
, he figured the woman must be from Jersey. “Rich Cooke. It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” His face flushed when their hands met. The high voltage electricity the touch incited jumped straight to his cock.
This isn’t good.
He cleared his throat and did his best to don a stern expression.

“Oh, I have to say, the pleasure’s all mine. Any man who served our country is someone I’d like to meet. But I must say, you look a bit out of sorts.” She leaned in toward his ear and whispered, “If you’re all stopped up if you know what I mean, I’ve got a little pill here that will do the trick in a hurry.”

Rich frowned and stepped back, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m just fine, thank you very much. Now let me introduce you to the others.”

“Oh, yes them,” she said, flapping her arms awkwardly at her sides. She turned her back to him to greet the crowd she seemed not to have noticed before.

After introductions, Kent brought Roberta up to speed on their plans. “This cave where the smugglers stashed the gems is a couple of miles from here. We think the hieroglyphics are in that cave as well. You might want to soak your boots with DEET before we get started.” Kent handed her a bottle from his backpack.

“I’m way ahead of you, big guy. I’ve been out in these jungles once or twice myself. I soaked myself just a minute ago before getting off the copter.”

The woman’s a real piece of work, thought Rich.
She’s even sassier than Rebecca.

“Okay, great,” said Kent, stowing the repellent back in his pack. “I guess we’re ready, then.”

The group traipsed through the jungle until they reached the enormous hill of limestone that marked the cave entrance. Water rushed down its front face, splashing down into a cobalt blue pool, which flowed into a gaping cave mouth.

Jagged stalactites hung from the cave ceiling like giant dinosaur teeth. Rich found the entire Phong Nha-Ke Bang area amazing, especially the caves.
A jet plane would fit in some of those rooms.

Rich wasn’t fooled by the alluring blue color of the water—he stepped in knowing it would be icy cold. As he waded deeper, he carefully stepped around the brown and gold-colored limestone projections, visible in the crystal-clear water. Although some of them were round and smooth, others appeared to be razor sharp.
One of those in the wrong place could change my gender in hurry.
Rich heard a splash as Roberta waded up beside him. “You’re not much of a conversationalist are you?”

Rich pushed his way through the water faster, hoping if she got out of breath enough, she’d shut up. “We’ve got a job to do, that’s all, and I don’t see any reason to talk.”

“It makes the walk through the ice cold water more tolerable, don’t you think?” As she struggled to stride through the water at his pace, her shoulder bumped against his.

The physical contact shot his libido up to Defcon One. There’s no time for this shit, he told himself, fighting off the wanton thoughts attacking his brain. “Is the water cold? I didn’t notice.”

“Ha. You really expect me to believe that?” She punched his arm with enough force it hurt.

Apparently, her sun-bronzed, lean arm muscles pumped some serious iron in the weight room. He’d definitely be seeing a bruise later. He ground his teeth together instead of muttering the
ouch
threatening to burst from his lips. “Why wouldn’t you?”

She burst into loud, snorting laughter that brought wild pigs to mind. “I bet your dick is shriveled to a size of a peanut right now, and you’re going to tell me you haven’t noticed?”

He stopped walking and stared at her, mustering up his best
I-hope-you-drop-dead
stare. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” She faced him, planting her hands on her hips, which cut in toward a shapely waist. One side of her lips curled up in a smirk and her brilliant blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

“No, you look like you’re fucking out of your mind.” Despite the fifty-degree water, Rich’s frozen penis fought its way upward. He silently groaned in agony.
That felt a whole lot worse than root canal.
He had to beat down these hedonistic feelings for this wench and fast.

“Do you always swear like that in female company?”

“I make it a point to never hang around with women.” He stepped from the water onto a shelf of rock inside the cave and looked around the enormous room. I have a disciplined mind, he told himself.
Just focus on the rocks.

The sun illuminated the cave room enough that he saw the basic outline of the room’s interior. Wavy curtains of limestone hung from the ceiling and hulking shapes lurked around the perimeter of the water. He’d never realized limestone came in so many shapes. The place looked like a museum.

“That’s pretty obvious. You’re a real charmer. Well, suit yourself.”

Rich heard the echo of her boots grow more distant. Unable to stop himself, he gazed after her. He watched her strike up a conversation with the two women. For some reason, he felt irritated that she’d given up on talking to him.
Why the hell do I care?
She’s a big time pain in the ass anyway.
But he did care. He wanted to slide his hands over every erogenous inch of that feisty and irritating woman who could get his dick hard in fifty-degree water.