Harlequin Intrigue, Box Set 1 of 2 (47 page)

Kino's shower was running until she rounded his bed. Then it switched off. She could see into the bathroom, because he'd left the door open. His clothing was on the floor. On the sink sat a razor and can of shaving cream, the nozzle still holding a blob of foam. On the opposite side of the sink on the countertop lay his holster and pistol. Here was the evidence of his profession. Her vision danced over the objects, fixing on the gun he used to kill. She looked away. Time enough for that later.

Next came the scraping of the metal rings on the metal bar. She turned to see Kino step from the shower, naked, heavily muscled and dripping wet. He gripped a white towel in one strong hand. He spotted her. His fist tightened on the towel and his eyes widened.

“Lea?”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Lea stood naked in front of Kino like every fantasy he'd ever had of her. No, better. In his mind she hadn't been wet. Kino adjusted the towel to cover his rising reaction to her.

“You shouldn't be here,” he said. His voice had turned to gravel. He glanced past her, calculating the number of steps to the bed.

When he glanced back it was to find her gaze slipping down his body.

“I couldn't stay away,” she said.

It's a mistake
, he thought. “I'm glad,” he said.

“Kiss me.”

Oh, he'd do a sight better than that.

He dropped the towel, stepped from the bathroom and swept her up in his arms, propelling them to the large bed.

She landed on the spotless coverlet with a bounce and he landed on top of her, kissing her mouth as his body covered hers, bringing him in contact with all the soft, wonderful places he had no right to feel. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, he thought that nothing in his life would ever be this right and this wrong all at once.

She threaded her hands into his hair, tugging and making the most adorable growl of need as he deepened the kiss. Only when she was breathless, and he on fire, did he pull back. She tried to stop his retreat, but he needed to make sure there was no mistake.

“You sure?” he asked.

She nodded.

He opened the bedside table, finding unopened lip balm, an iPod on a charger, an uncapped bottle of water, an eye mask and...condoms.

Still protecting me
, he thought to himself, thinking of his uncle.

She plucked the bright packet from his fingers and tore it open with her teeth. He thought his heart would stop at the sight of those strong white teeth and soft sensual mouth.

He rolled to his side and dragged his knuckles down the curve of her breast and watched her nipples peak. He dipped to tongue the hard nubs and then sucked as his hand caressed her other breast.

Lea trembled as she arched, offering herself to him. Her fingers raked his back and then threaded into his loose, wet hair. She dragged him closer to the soft pillow of her aroused flesh. His hand swept down her back, caressing the soft curve of her hip, her muscular thighs and the warm, wet folds between her legs. Lea moaned and rocked, the condom momentarily forgotten as she stroked his chest, becoming familiar with the broad planes and enticing hollows.

Lea spread her legs and tugged insistently, making her desires known. He handed her the rolled condom and sighed in pleasure as she slipped the sheath into place, her fingers lingering on his sex. He knew that he'd always remember the feel of her fingers on his flesh, nimble and needy. When she finished she glanced up at him, her desire shining in her dark eyes. He smiled and stroked the long hair from her face.

He might not be able to give her much, but he could give her this. He was jaded and she was sweet. Now he saw that he needed that sweetness and optimism more than he needed the air in his lungs. He lowered himself onto her, his face pressed into her wet, fragrant hair as he kissed the slender column of her throat.

He made love to her, urged on by her soft mewing cries of pleasure and the eager, needy way she matched him stroke for stroke.

The next time was slower, more thorough and intimate, as she stared up at him until her eyes widened and her cry of pleasure broke from her open mouth. Her fulfillment triggered his own, leaving them both panting as they lay entangled in the soft bedding and each other. They rested there, flesh to flesh, safe and sated and full of lethargy. Her breathing changed first as Lea drifted off to slumber in his arms, one hand thrown casually across his chest.

He held her tight and wondered what it might be like to keep her, feeling the loss already as he knew he never would. Lea was like a light in a cavern, showing him a way out of the darkness and hatred he wore around him like body armor. If he let it go, what would be left?

Kino was not so exhausted that he didn't have time to realize what he'd just done.
Never get personal with a witness.
It was the second rule of law enforcement, behind
Finish your shift alive
.

He clasped Lea to his side and she curled against him like a cat. Then Kino broke the third rule of the night, a personal one.
Never spend the entire night with a woman.

Kino dragged the coverlet over them both. Then he closed his eyes and held tight to this little clanless woman who really thought she could save the world.

She might just do it, too, he thought.

* * *

L
EA
WOKE
TO
the feel of Kino holding her against the chiseled perfection of his body. Clearly he did not spend most of his time riding in a police car, judging from all the smooth, hard muscle she found herself pressed beside. Just the weight of his arm across her back felt heavy and warm. She opened her eyes but didn't move. Somehow she sensed the man had an extraordinary ability to detect small changes in his surroundings.

The only light came from the bathroom and streamed out, making a rectangle on the carpeted floor. She glanced toward the curtains, trying to judge the hour, but there was no light, no reference to tell if it was still evening or the middle of the night. There was a clock on the bedside table, but she would have to rise up on an elbow to see it over his chest.

Lea waited a moment, savoring his steady, even breathing and the quiet of the room. She felt safe with him. It was a feeling she didn't take for granted. Not anymore. But how many were out there tonight, in the desert, trying to reach the blue flags that meant their survival?

Kino was a police officer. He upheld the law. But did he ever find a law that was wrong or that he didn't agree with? What did he do then? Somehow she already knew—he enforced it. That was his job, but more than that, it was who he was. While she felt a moral imperative to break this restriction against setting up water stations on federal land. She'd set up more than one, and if they caught her, she'd pay whatever consequences.

She sighed. She and Kino were perfect in bed, but outside of this room, they were still adversaries. Nothing had changed.

His hold upon her strengthened and he opened his eyes.

“What's wrong?” he asked.

“What time is it?” she asked.

He turned his head. “Midnight.”

She slipped from his embrace. His grip tightened and she met his gaze.

“Time to let me go,” she whispered.

His mouth tightened as if he disagreed. But then he released her.

Lea padded silently from the room on bare feet, returning to her own bed. They were now separated by a few yards and a gulf of ideological differences. How could she sleep with a man who didn't believe in the sanctity of human life? Who thought that killing was ever a justifiable choice?

She closed her eyes and remembered the feel of his mouth on her breasts. Lea let out a little moan of need, wanting to return to him again. But why? They had no future together.

Lea walked to the window to look out at the night, but when she parted the curtain she found a metal gate covering the opening. Suddenly her little peaceful retreat turned into what it was: an FBI safe house only used when the occupants were in terrible danger.

She pressed a hand to the cold metal, knowing the Viper was out there, with the migrants, hunting her. Lea crawled into the clean bed, the scent of Kino and their lovemaking still clinging to her skin. Despite her fatigue, it took her some time to finally doze off because, although her body was replete, her mind spun like the devil winds in the desert.

Her dreams were as troubled as her thoughts. She woke groggy and more exhausted than when she'd tumbled into slumber. What had awoken her? She glanced around the dark, unfamiliar room, which was illuminated only by the bluish glow of the clock radio. She realized it was 7:00 a.m. Morning, though she could not tell in this cage of a room.

Groping, she found the nightstand and lamp. A moment later she sat up and inhaled. The aroma of bacon and coffee helped her rally. She showered and dressed quickly, the lure of food more powerful than her embarrassment about last night. Why had she walked right into his room like that? Apache women were supposed to be modest, strong and stoic. She'd learned that and more from her Sunrise Ceremony. She'd also learned that although the tribe recognized her as Apache, many in the community did not. Certainly her classmates never had. Was Kino like them?

Why did it matter what he thought? When this was over, he'd go back to his tribe and she'd go back to trying to prove herself worthy of membership in hers and trying to keep the women and children crossing this desert from dying of thirst.

Lea padded down the hallway, dressed in jeans and her Oasis T-shirt. Kino's smile vanished when he saw what she was wearing.

He offered her coffee and an omelet so overstuffed she nearly dropped the plate when it landed upon it. But she ate every bite. Nothing had ever tasted so good.

“Told you I could cook.”

“And the coffee is great, too,” she said.

His smile wavered and died. “Lea, why did you do that—last night?”

She lowered her gaze and sipped her coffee. “I messed up,” she admitted. “Tired and lonely and...it never should have happened.” She met his stern expression. “Have I ruined your investigation?”

“Normally, yes. But I'm not planning to bring this particular suspect to trial.”

Her stomach dropped at the thought. “What does that mean?”

“It means I'm going to find him and kill him.”

“But you're an officer of the law.”

“I'm an Apache and he killed my father.”

“So you just get to press Pause and do what you like?”

“It won't be murder, if that's what you mean. I'll give him fair warning. But he won't take it. I know him well enough to know that.”

“What if he kills you instead?” she asked, still hardly believing she was having this conversation.

“Well, then I guess I'll have a rattle shoved in my guts. Which reminds me—you need your body armor and the tan shirt today.”

Lea knew they couldn't stay here forever, but she had somehow hoped that they could.

“Where are we going?”

“First, I want to see that third water station. The one on your GPS.”

“My phone is dead.”

He pointed to the charging station in the dining room.

Lea retrieved her phone, found the appropriate charger and then returned to her coffee.

“Where do we go after the water station?” she asked.

“My uncle forwarded information on Moody, DeClay and Scott. They're on the dining room table.”

Lea hesitated and rose, abandoning her coffee to go look. She recognized the photos of Moody and another of Anthony DeClay and one of the tribal chief, Charlie Scott.

“Still not him,” she said, lowering the last of the three images to the table.

Kino slid her a third sheet. The document at first looked like a résumé for Anthony DeClay. Then she realized it was a list of criminal offenses. Was this what they called a rap sheet?

“He's got drug arrests,” said Kino.

“What, did he smoke a joint in college?”

“Dealing on campus. He was eighteen and his father got him a very good attorney. He got off with community service. Care to guess what service he selected?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. Kino was entirely too suspicious.

“Isn't it possible that he saw the error of his ways and turned his life around?”

“Isn't it equally possible that he found the perfect vehicle for transporting drugs and moved right up the chain of command? He's not dealing anymore. He's smuggling.”

“You don't know that.” But now she wasn't sure. She didn't know her boss personally and she didn't know his business. She did know that he was responsible for all regional programs in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.

“I don't, but I do know these killings have put him on the FBI's interest list.”

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Go get changed so we can check that third station.”

Lea retreated down the hallway. If anything, she now felt worse than before she'd decided to tiptoe across the hall to Kino's bedroom. How had she thought that sleeping with a Shadow Wolf would be anything but trouble?

Thirty-five minutes later, they rode to the third station. Lea again wore Kino's extra vest and now-familiar shirt. Kino pulled into the site and they saw that this one had not yet been removed, either. He asked her to remain in the vehicle until he cut for sign. She watched him walk this way and that, squatting to check the ground and then standing to retrace his steps.

Finally he came back for her.

“Okay, I still need to run some tracks, but I have all I can get from this spot. I'd like you to come with me while I check the trail.”

For a moment she felt useful, but then he added, “It's not safe to leave you here alone.”

So she trailed after him wondering what he saw.

When they reached a patch of thornbush, he paused to examine a branch. Lea glanced around and caught a flash of pink fabric beneath an ironwood. It was common for immigrants to discard clothing, empty bottles—anything, really, that would lighten their loads. As she moved closer she noted the fabric was not rubbish but the garment covering the body of a girl, reclining in death, her head upon the root of the tree. The corpse had already begun to swell in the heat.

Lea gave a cry and staggered back.

* * *

K
INO
CAUGHT
L
EA
as she scuttled away from the body and set her outside the circle of brush.

“Wait here,” he said.

But she didn't. Couldn't. She recovered and followed him right through the thornbushes. The girl could not have been more than twelve or thirteen, judging from her size.