Bare Back (3 page)

Nodding, I plop myself on the ground and hand the med bag over to Dodge. I’ll let her win this battle, it’s not worth fighting. As he pulls items from the bag, I peel off my shirt. Looking up I see something flicker across Kelli’s face. Maybe I have a chance at reconnecting with her. Her eyes are dark and hooded and there’s slight smile on her mouth. I should be focused on this shit storm we’re in, but all I can think of is getting my Kelli back. I’ve wasted too much of my life without her.
“See something you like Kel?” I ask her, she turns her head away, blushing. I can’t help but laugh. Damn she’s grew up nice.

Chapter 4

Kelli

Turning away from Mitch, I try to wipe the drool from my mouth without anyone noticing.
My cheeks burn and I hope he can’t see me blushing. The green button down he is wearing hides a lot. The man has the chiseled body of an Adonis. His shoulders, arms, chest, abs, all of it massive and well defined. He has a stomach you can do your laundry on and it’s covered with tattoos. His left arm and right side are decorated in ink and it just makes me want to jump on his cock right here. I may have a slight weakness for tattoos, and muscles, oh and guns. Yea, I’m not your average woman. He certainly doesn’t look much like the teenager I used to be in love with. Too bad his friend is here. Sex Kel, that’s it, it’s only sex. I say it in my head like a mantra. It’s not love, just a dry libido needing watering. Taking a deep breath, I turn back, and his pale blue eyes are fixed right on me. For real? The man has just been shot and all he can do is stare at me like he wants to eat me. Which, normally, would be absolutely fine with me, except its Mitch. The man who broke my heart. My first love. I’ll never forget that empty feeling, the pain I went through when I realized he didn’t love me. The fact that his brother was right about it, only made it worse. Why him? Why did the rescue team have to include Mitch? I have to remember the pain. That’s the only way I’ll survive this. I can’t let him back in to hurt me again. I made that promise to myself ten years ago. I won’t back down from that. Looking away from him again, I can’t bear to see the bullet wound in his bicep. Blood runs down his skin, and I feel bad that it’s my fault. His arms are like a piece of art and not only is this a man I saw myself marrying when I was young and dumb, but it’s also a law enforcement officer, hurt, because of me. How had I missed the Gessatti connection in Billy Joe’s file? Plus, if there’s crooked Rangers, then maybe that explains how he seemed to have gotten away so easily in the first place. This whole thing should have been an easy pick up. Billy Joe’s not even that smart. But the whole thing is turning into a mess.

“Ok darling, we’re all done here,” I hear Dodge say. Looking back at the two men, they seem so alike. Both attractive, built, strong men who obviously take care of themselves. They are the type that makes women weak in the knees. But Mitch does it for me. When I look at him, my heart flutters and I can’t even remember his partners here. I’m in deep shit. Already I can feel myself falling back into that familiar, comfortable routine with him. I have to fight it, there’s no way I can allow this to happen.
“Ready to go find your dad?” Mitch asks me. Shit. I can’t believe I even forgot about dad. Nodding my head, I run my hand through my hair. I hope he’s ok. Crap, what if those guys find him before we can make our way back there? This is not good.
“I have a map here, can you show us where you left him? We’ll figure out a way to get back there quick, hopefully without running into those guys again,” Dodge says, handing me the map. His boyish grin compliments the green eyes and blonde hair he has. Never have I been happier that I deal with potbellied cops instead of these gorgeous Rangers. I mean, is it a requisite that they’re attractive? Do they have to hand in head shots when they fill out the application?

“Darling? You ok?” Mitch asks me. Snapping out of my thoughts, I kneel down next to the guys, glad that I’m a woman and they can’t see my arousal. Though, the grin Mitch is giving me says he might. Unfolding the
ir map, Dodge shows us about where we are. According to this, we aren’t too far off. We can already hear the water from the creek, and Billy Joe’s campsite was near the water.
“Ok, this is about where dad is,” I point to a clearing on the surface map. “We can follow the water down and get to him pretty quick. Should only take us about twenty minutes.” The guys look at each other and nod. Mitch slowly puts his shirt back on and though part of me is sad to see it covered again, some part of me is filled with relief. I can tell he tries to hide it, but I know better. I see the flicker of pain that flashes across his face as he shoves his arm in the sleeve.

Picking up the med bag, Mitch swings it over his shoulder and heads towards the water. Dodge looks back, waiting for me to move, then follows. The two men silently make their way along the water, carefully watching each step, Dodge behind me, Mitch ahead. We come across a particularly slippery part of rocks and Mitch reaches his hand out to help me across. Hesitating for a moment, I suck it up and grab his hand. Instantly an electrical shock flows through my body. My core heating from just that small contact. As soon as I’m across, I yank my hand out of his. Looking into his face, that cocky grin reappears.
“I won’t bite Kel. Not unless you ask me to.” Ignoring his comment, I continue on.
“Hold up a sec,” Dodge calls out. He opens the map again. Figuring where we are, he points north. “We should be able to head into the woods due north and come right across the clearing.” Following his lead, my heart races. I’m anxious to get back to my father. A few minutes tramping through the trees and I see the clearing. I begin to run until two arms wrap around my waist, stopping me in my tracks.
“What are you doing?” I hiss at Mitch.
“Sugar, I need to make sure it’s safe to rush out there. You need to be patient for a minute.”
“Patient? My father could be dying. Let’s go.” As we bicker, Dodge creeps out to the opening, scanning the area, his gun in his hand.

“Does everything look the way you left it?” he whispers over his shoulder to me.
“With the exception of my convict not being tied to the tree anymore, yes, it does. Can we go now?” Dodge scans one more time then nods, motioning us forward. As we step into the clearing, I take off, running to my father’s side. For fifty, he’s in pretty good shape. We work out four times a week and I’ve seen him run faster than kids half my age. His brown hair makes his face look paler than it is, unless he’s really lost that much blood. Then it’s not good.
 

“Dad, hey, we’re here. I brought some Rangers with me. Dad, can you hear me?
Do you remember Mitch?” His eyes flutter open as he tries to focus on me. Dodge and Mitch get to work tending to his wound. Mitch tries to push me back, but I sit firm and won’t budge.
“If you’re not going to move then you need to help. Here, hold this on there for pressure until we have everything ready,” Mitch growls at me. He hands me a clean gauze bandage and I toss aside the dirty tee. Holding the fabric on my fathers’ shoulder, I look down into his face. Still trying to fully open his eyes, he half smiles.
“Mitch, you broke my girl’s heart. I never thought I’d be able to forgive you, but if you get her out of here alive, I won’t haunt you. I promise. I love you Kel. Always have, and I’m sorry for not being around for so many years. But I’m glad we had this time.”
“Dad, don’t talk like that. You’re going to be fine. It’s ok. These guys are going t-“ A loud boom cuts me off. The air around us feels electrified. The ground shakes, and the fear must show in my eyes. Mitch reaches towards me, again I pull away.

“Shit,” Dodge says under his breath.
“What was that?” I ask.
“That would be our helicopter exploding,” Mitch says, checking my father’s vitals. How are these two so calm? If our ride home just exploded, what the hell are we going to do? Looking up at the sky, I see the start of a black cloud flowing up above the trees. Smoke, not a good sign.
“Please tell me you’re joking? How the hell did your helicopter blow up?” I look at both men. Before they can answer, my father gasps, then goes silent again. Lifting my hand, Mitch looks into the wound.

“He’s lost a lot of blood Kel. If we could get him out of here immediately, he’d be fine, but I don’t know how much we’re going to be able to do right now. And, you know who blew up the copter. Your buddies the Gessatti’s. I mean really Sugar? Didn’t you look into his associates before chasing him into the woods? What if something had happed to you?”
“Um, hello Mitch, my father was shot. What the hell else can happen that’s worse?”
“You could be dead,” he says matter of factly. Dodge pulls a sat phone from his pocket. He steps away to make his call.
“Something did happen to me Mitchell, my father’s been shot. To me that is worse.” Mitch grabs my hand.
“He’s going to be ok Sugar. Alright? I promise, I’m not going to let him die without a fight. I’m gonna get you out of here safely too. Then you and I need to have a little sit down.” I don’t even know what to say. I’m concerned for my father’s safety, I’m cool under fire. But the thought of sitting and having a talk with Mitch scares the crap out of me.
“We don’t need to sit down over nothing. The past is just that, the past. Let it go Mitch. There’s nothing left here.”
“I beg to differ,” he says, then turns back to Jeff.

Dodge returns and he looks serious.
“There’s a news traffic copter heading our way after reports of an explosion. Boss is gonna get them to land here, but there’s only room for two. Also, we have a lot of explaining to do to the boss as to why we no longer have a borrowed bird to come home in.” This last comment raises a slight smile on the man’s face.

“So are they sending anyone else out here? Anyone to help us with these goons?” Mitch asks him.
“No, there was a bomb threat at the court house so all man power has been diverted there. We’re on our own,” Dodge says, his voice remaining calm, but I can see the worry in his eyes.
“Shit. Okay Dodge, you go with him, and I’m going to get Kel out of here. Who knows, we may even find her horses along the way.” He gives me that damn grin again. I wish I could just smack it off his face.
“Why can’t I go with him? He’s my dad.”
“Because Sugar, you don’t have the medical training to help him on the twenty minute flight to the nearest hospital that has a helipad. These are news people, not medics. Dodge has to take care of him. Trust him, he’ll keep your dad alive.”

“Fine, then you go and Dodge can help me out of here.”
“Sugar, just face it, you’re stuck with me. I’m getting you out of here just like your father asked. Stop arguing and help me get your dad ready for transport. I can hear the copter coming now.” Straining, I faintly hear the noise. He’s got to have some amazing hearing for that. Damn. I can’t help but look into his eyes, once again getting caught and held there. Pulling away, I bend down to kiss my dad.
“I’ll see you soon, I promise dad. I love you.”

Chapter 5

Mitch

Surprisingly, Kelli lets me hold onto her shoulder as we watch Dodge and her father fly away. She takes a step away from me and I have no clue what to do. What I want is to hold her, kiss her, make her feel better. But she doesn’t seem to want anything to do with me. Maybe trekking through the woods will give me time to get
her back on my side, make her remember what we had. For ten years I’ve been dreaming of the day I would have this chance. This isn’t how I dreamed it, but I’ll take what I can get. I’ve been given a second chance with her and I won’t let it slap fate in the face. Only now, I’m up against her worrying about her father. The barriers she puts up around her won’t be hard to climb over. I’ve been on the other side of them before and I can get there again. Over the trees I can still see the black smoke of our copter floating into the air. The burning smell of fuel finally reaching us.
“Okay then, it’s going to take us at least a full day of hiking to get back to the Park Service. So let’s see what we can use here and head out,” I say to her. Trying to remain calm and not show her how anxious I am as I glance around the campsite. Her felon was prepared for a damn war. The Gessatti’s must have really had him running scared.
“I need to take the body with me, or I don’t get my fee,” she whispers. I look up at her, shocked. She’s worrying about getting a dead man out of the woods and I’m concerned with getting her out alive. Really?
“Shit Kel, I’ll give you the damn money, I need to get you out of here safe and alive. Especially with those two fuck ups still out there. They blew up our helicopter for Christ sake. They aren’t playing around. Turning her back to me, I see her shoulders shake.

Stepping towards her, I wrap my arms around her. She turns to me, tears threatening to spill down her face. I kiss her forehead like I used to when we were younger. She immediately pushes me away, trying to back away from my embrace. Her defenses go up.
“This is about the reputation of our business Mitch. My father and I have worked hard on it. If I come back empty handed, no one will take me seriously. I’m a woman. It’s already hard for them to think I can handle myself.” Bringing my hand up, I stroke her cheek, and lower my mouth to hers. Ten long years I’ve waited to taste her again. Licking along her lips, she sighs, her mouth opening, inviting me in. Devouring her, I thrust my tongue into her mouth, kissing her, tasting her. My other hand pulls her body tighter against me as I shift my hips. She moans between our mouths and I squeeze her ass, knowing full well she can feel my erection between our bodies. She wraps her arms around my neck, fingers lacing through my hair. I pull back, looking into those beautiful brown eyes and they seem to be losing some of their iciness. As suddenly as the kiss happened, she’s backing away again. Before I can react, her hand flies up, slapping me across the face. Standing there dumbfounded, I hold my jaw.

“What the hell was that for?” I ask her.
“I’m not a god damn toy for you and your brother to play with! I’ve spent ten years trying to forget you. You can’t just waltz in here and kiss me like that. Especially at a time like this. Do your job Mitchell and get me out of here!” Storming away from me, she begins digging through bags near a tree. There is a stab of pain in my chest. I watch as she lays a few guns and grenades down. Shaking my head, I turn towards the boxes of food this guy stored. I lay out some cans of vegetables and beans, a loaf of bread, peanut butter and some jelly. This guy must have planned on being out here a long time. He has a whole house full of things here. Reaching into the large crated box, I dig around in the food. Underneath a pile of cans, I find a large duffel bag. It’s heavy. Opening it, I quickly determine that it needs to go with us. I heft it out of the box and throw it over my shoulder.

A backpack lands on the ground next to me and I look up. Guns strapped to both her legs, and a shoulder holster, Kel looks like one sexy as sin warrior. She has a backpack thrown over her shoulder and looks towards the sky.
“I have two blankets in here, in case we get caught out here tonight. I also have four grenades, these guns and two extras for you. They aren’t like your Sig, but should work if we need them. I say we find these assholes and get them, then worry about getting out of these woods.” She lays down two Ruger SR9’s.
“Hey, how come you got the Glocks and I get these pea shooters?” I ask, trying to joke with her, hoping to lighten the mood. A wise person once told me, ‘You want to get laid, tell a woman she’s hot. You want to fall in love, make her laugh’. It’s true. Kel and I used to laugh all the time and we were in love. I know that the kind of love we had can’t just disappear like she did. It’s got to be in there somewhere and I plan to find it.
“Because I’m more comfortable with Glocks seeing as how that’s what I was carrying. Stop whining like a bitch and let’s get moving. You may want to grab that can opener and rope too, since we’ll need to open the food and we need to tie up these jerks when we find them.” She stalks away, picking up a few bowls, cups and bottles of water on the way. Stuffing them in her pack, she zips it, throwing it over both shoulders and stands there watching me. I hurry to finish packing the join her. She’s determined and I know there’s no fighting her. She wants these assholes and I’m going to help her get them.

“Okay genius, where do we go?” I ask her.

“Seeing as how they blew up the copter, how much you want to bet they are somewhere near there, waiting to ambush us? Like we’re stupid enough to come running?
They had to have seen the news copter.”

“Really? You think that even with seeing the other copter
land that they’re still waiting?” I ask her. They may not be smart, but they aren’t that stupid and there’s no way of them knowing that we weren’t all on it.
“What do you suggest Mr. Ranger man?” Her voice is loaded with sarcasm, but it makes me smile.
“I think they want the money your felon hid, so they’re going to look for his camp site. I say we hide near those rocks over there, and draw them to us.” I point to the pile of rocks between the trees and the creek water. I can see her thinking about it. Grabbing her hand, I leave her no options. I drag her towards the rocks and deposit my bags. Leaving her there, I run back to the clearing and try to restart the fire this guy had going earlier. As it starts to flame, I throw a log and one of the bloody shirts we used on her father over the flames. This causes a thick smoke to billow into the air. I hurry back to her, and hunker down.
“Now what?” she asks quietly, leaning into my ear. I can feel her warm breath on my neck.
“Now we wait Sugar. Got any ideas how we can pass the time? Because if not, I do.” I flash her my grin that Dodge calls the ‘Panty Dropper’. Apparently the effect it has on women is well known but still works. Except Kel is immune to it. She rolls her eyes and leans against her pack, trying to get comfortable.

Two hours into waiting, we’re both getting uncomfortable and stiff. As I’m about to stand and stretch, I hear someone stomping through the trees. These guys are idiots, they can be heard a mile away.
“Papa said we have to find that money before we can head back.”

“But Ricky, I’m tired. We been out here all day, and I’m sweating. My shoes are ruined and I got blood on me
, come on, we got shot. Papa will understand.”
“Paul, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to leave you out here. You almost blew me up with that stupid helicopter. You were supposed to wait to shoot the gas until I got next to you. You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you when we were back there.”
“Why did Billy have to come out here? Why didn’t he run somewhere nice, like Cancun? What if the money isn’t up here.”
“Someone’s up here. Maybe that bounty hunter chick knows where the money is. We saw the fire. She can’t be that smart. Plus that other copter only had four people on it. The pilot, the news chick and two others. Someone’s still up here.” Listening to these two go back and forth, I realize just how wrong I was about Ricky. He’s not completely stupid. I look over at Kel, she’s fuming about what their saying. She moves as if to stand, and I wrap my arm around her waist, dragging her down to my lap. Crushing my lips over her mouth, I kiss her. She stiffens under my touch, then wraps her arms around my neck, kissing me back. Her taste is almost like I remember. Soft satiny lips, sweet little mouth. Her soft moan sounds thunderous to my ears. Pulling away, I let go of her waist, and raise my finger to my lips, signaling her to be silent. She shifts herself on my lap and my dick instantly gets hard. She’s breathing heavy and her breasts are rising and falling in my face. Startled by the noises coming from the campsite, I slowly move her off my lap, leaning over to see around the rocks. The Gessatti boys are looking through what supplies we left down there. Watching, waiting for the time to react, my muscles tense. Like a cat on the prowl, ready to pounce on my prey. Before I can move, a growl erupts from near us.

Kelli’s eyes grow wide as she looks at me in fear. Quickly, my gaze scans the rocks above us, and sure enough, there stands a sleek tan puma. As the feline lowers on its haunches, growling at us, I slowly raise my gun. Before I get a chance to aim, a shot rings out. Pieces of the rock above us rain down on our heads. The cat lets loose one last growl then turns and runs. But, now we have bigger prey heading our way.
“Kel,” I whisper, “Get your bag and be ready to run.” She nods, hitching the pack up over her shoulder. Risking one last peak around the rock, a bullet flies by my ear as I duck back around.
“Now, run!” I shout as I hear the Gessatti’s getting closer to us.
“Stop, come back,” I hear Ricky shouting. His labored breath shows he’s too out of shape to keep up with us. As I launch myself off the rocks that shielded us, I turn back to help Kel only to find her rushing past me. I follow suit and haul ass, heading south, back towards the water. For ten minutes, we run, every now and then I glance back, checking for our enemy.
“Okay Kel, stop a second. They aren’t back there,” I say to her, breathlessly. Placing my hands on my knees, I lean over, as I try to catch my breath. The shot to my arm is messing with my abilities. My adrenaline has drained me. I’m normally faster than this. I must have lost more blood than I thought. This is insane. We have no way to reach anyone. Dodge said that the boss isn’t sending anyone else out here, and these assholes not only blew up our chopper, but are now trying to shoot us. Neither of us thought to leave the sat phone with me and Kelli. I plop down on a log, watching her as she paces back and forth.
“We need to get out of these woods,” she says to me. Her breathing is hard, and I’m entranced by the sight of her chest heaving. What I wouldn’t give to run my fingers over her nipples, watching her shudder as she falls apart at my touch.

“Snap out of it Mitch, what are we going to do?” I slip the map out of my pocket, trying to gauge where we are.
“Okay, it looks like we’re around here. We can follow the creek to here,” I point out. “It’s about a two mile hike, uphill. Then when we reach this rock formation, we can go around it, and start heading north. The park ranger fire tower is only a few miles from there.”
“Let’s go then,” she says, her demanding voice drawing me to jump and follow her.
“You do realize we can’t hike when it’s dark right? It’s going to be dark in about two hours. I say we head out and camp at the rock formation.”

“Are you kidding me?” she says, her voice getting louder. “You know what kind of animals are in here? We don’t even have my tents anymore
! They were on my horse, that are now lost somewhere out here. Not to mention, I want to get away from you. I’m not spending the night with you Mitch.”
“Sure Sugar. You’re not sleeping with me. I get it. Used to be a time it’s all you thought about, though you would never admit it. I remember how your face used to blush at every touch. That shy smile, when we kissed.”
“Knock it off Mitch. The past is that, the past. Let’s worry about getting out of here.” Putting on my serious face, I nod at her.

“There should be some caves in the formation. People are always coming out here to climb through them. We’ll be fine. I’ll take first watch so you can sleep and then you can take the second. We’ll be fine.” I had grabbed one of the sleeping bags from the camp, just in case we needed it. Now it’s looking like a great idea. We’re definitely going to need it. I watch as she pulls a pack of smokes from her pocket, her hand shaking as she tries to light up.
“When did you start smoking Sugar?”

“Mitch, it’s been ten years. I’m sure there’s a lot about me that has changed.”
“Yeah, well you can’t smoke that. It’s too dry here. You could start a forest fire and that’s the last thing we need right now.” With an aggravated sigh, she throws the smoke down, stepping on it, making sure it’s out. She flails her arm out to the side, as if telling me to take the lead, then crosses her arms over her chest. She’s so cute when she pouts. Her blonde hair blowing in the slight breeze, flowing out behind her. My angel. Smiling, I stand and begin the hike to where we’ll be staying overnight.