Morgan's Mercenaries: Heart of Stone (22 page)

Opening one eye, he angled his head and looked down into her smiling face. Her emerald eyes were wide and drowsy looking. “Like mold?” he teased.

Hitting him playfully on the shoulder, Maya said, “No, not mold.”

Catching her hand, Dane placed a warm kiss on it. “What then? Am I like a lousy head cold that just won’t go away? Comes back again and again?”

“You certainly have a low opinion of yourself, Major. Mold. A cold. Why couldn’t you see yourself as sunshine for an orchid? Rain for Pachamama, Mother Earth?”

He kept her hand and pressed it against his heart. “Very sensual. I like that.”

Quirking her lips, she retorted, “Just like a man to pick a disease, or something else yucky.”

“I’d rather be rain for the orchid,” Dane decided nonchalantly, a smile playing across his mouth.

“Well,” Maya grumped, “we sure got the rain.” And she pointed at the cockpit windows.

Dane eased her onto her back against the thick blankets spread across the deck. There was plenty of room for two people to stretch out and be comfortable in the Cobra. He saw surprise and then pleasure flare in Maya’s gaze as he lay beside her, his arm beneath her neck.

“You’re like an orchid, you know,” he whispered as he leaned down. “Mysterious, beautiful, exotic…” And he captured her lips beneath his.

Maya’s world melted instantly. How much she’d looked forward to kissing Dane once again. Sliding her hands up his shoulders, she pulled him toward her. Wanting to feel the strength of his body against her own, she savored his hot, exploratory kiss. As he eased away from her mouth, she saw his stormy blue eyes watch her intently. Moving her fingertips upward to caress his hard jawline, she whispered, “I want you. All of you…”

Nodding, Dane eased himself into a sitting position. “I know…” And he began to undress.

Maya heard the boom of thunder. The Cobra shook slightly. More wind pounded against its sides. There might be a storm surrounding them, but the storm inside her was building, making her needy and bold. She saw the lazy smile, the confidence burning in Dane’s eyes. This time, there was no uncertainty in his expression. Only the look of a man who was going to claim his woman—her. Excitement thrummed through Maya as she eased out of her black uniform. She never wore a bra with it, so as she slid the fabric off her shoulders, she saw his gaze narrow upon her.

Thick strands of hair fell across her exposed breasts. Dane quickly took his uniform off and pushed it aside. He was naked as he got to his knees and helped Maya
slide her feet out of the legs of her flight suit. She wore nothing at all beneath the uniform. Smiling a little, he met and held her bold, heated look. How long he’d waited for this—for her. Everything was right as he lay down at her side and she languidly stretched out before him. Maya was more catlike grace than human to his mind and senses. Her eyes were slightly tilted, sultry looking as she moved toward him to make full contact.

The moment her breasts grazed his darkly haired chest, he groaned. Dane took her deeply into his arms, crushing his hips against hers. Maya was soft, yet strong in womanly ways. Her mouth was hot, searching and hungry against his. Breath shallow, he drank of her offering, and tasted the sweet tartness of the wine on her lips. His heart sang. It opened wide like an orchid blooming. Never had he wanted to please anyone more than her. Her leg wrapped around his and locked him tightly against her. Smiling against her lips, he decided he liked Maya’s boldness.

As his hand skimmed her left shoulder, it passed across the crescent moon symbol of her clan. Sliding his fingers down the deep curve of her spine, Dane felt himself spiraling like a hawk on a column of heat and need, eager to fulfill himself within her, to join her and connect with her on the deepest, most intimate levels that a man could with a woman. Maya was just as courageous in loving him as she was in flying her gunship against great odds and danger. She was risking herself once more, not in battle, but on the human frontier of intimacy with him. As he met her searching mouth, he kissed her hard and pressed her against the blankets. With his knee, he gently nudged open her long, firm thighs. His heart was thudding like thunder in his chest. The soft moan that rose in her slender
throat as he leaned down and captured the hardened peak of her nipple made him sing with joy. The growling sound, the way her fingers dug frantically into his shoulders as he suckled her, made him soar on wings of happiness. More than anything, he wanted to give Maya pleasure.

Breath hitching momentarily, Maya waited impatiently as Dane moved across her. The feral gleam in his eyes made her raw with need. As his hips moved downward, she lifted hers to meet him. The moment he slid into her slick, heated confines, Maya’s eyelids shuttered closed. Something primal, so necessary to her life and heart, rolled rhythmically through her. She gripped his shoulders as he thrust deeply into her. A moan of raw hunger tore from her lips. Arching upward, she invited him into her.

Their bodies were slick and moved with an ageless rhythm. As his mouth captured hers, Maya drowned in the sensations, the taste of him as a man, and dug her fingers more deeply into his tense shoulders. Every movement was escalating her pleasure. She saw his lips draw away from his teeth, and felt an explosion deep within her at that moment.

The heat was lavalike, hurling her into a dark oblivion of incredible pleasure and wavelike rhythm. Lost in his arms, the strength of him as a male, his touch and taste, Maya surrendered herself to him in every way possible. An arcing heat raced through her. It made her freeze momentarily, her pleasure so sharp and deep that she gasped with surprise and joy. Hearing him groan, his head pressed against hers, she moved her hips to increase the pleasure for him as well.

Moments strung together like heartbeats. As the tidal wave of heat receded within her, Maya felt Dane sink
heavily against her. Smiling softly, she slid her arms around his back and kissed his cheek. They were both panting raggedly. Dane eased himself off her, onto his elbows, and looked down at her. His eyes were a stormy blue, the pupils huge and black with satisfaction. She shared a tremulous smile with him and slid her fingers up across his face and into his damp hair, her body glowing hotly in the aftermath. Words were useless. When he moved in her, she moaned a little and arched in response.

“You are so beautiful,” Dane rasped as he leaned down and grazed her parted lips with his own. “Bold, beautiful and courageous.”

His words made her feel good. His face was damp, and Maya wiped the perspiration away with her fingers. “You were wonderful,” she managed to murmur.

Dane absorbed her trembling words. Maya’s voice was husky with satiation. He saw she was fulfilled. So was he. Moving several damp strands of hair away from her temple, he said, “If I’d only known then what I know now about you…”

Maya shook her head, her dark hair spilling away from her shoulders. “Don’t go there, Dane.”

It was chilly in the cabin, and Dane eased off of her and then leaned down and pulled one of the blankets up and over them. Bringing Maya into his arms, he welcomed her warmth against him, her hand sliding around his torso to draw them even closer.

Lying with her head in the crook of his arm, Maya closed her eyes, a smile lingering on her well-kissed lips. Gazing down at her, Dane ran his fingers slowly through her hair. “I don’t know how I could have been so stupid,” he murmured. “I really blew it with you back at Fort Rucker.”

Barely opening her eyes, Maya looked up at him. She saw the pain in his gaze and the way his mouth was set. “The time wasn’t right, Dane, that’s all.”

The rain was lessening dramatically now. Dane could see slats of sunlight filtering weakly through the storm clouds, which were now moving away from them. “I guess not,” he admitted gravely. Combing his fingers through the thick silk of Maya’s hair, he held her drowsy green gaze, which was filled with flecks of gold. “Do you know how happy it makes me to see you smile? To kiss you and know that everything’s right in the world again? To touch you and be in heaven on earth?”

She nodded and slid her hand up across his arm and shoulder. “Ever since I first kissed you, my world has been a lot better than it used to be, too.” Maya saw male pride gleaming in his eyes and liked the way his mouth curved upward. Dane deserved to know how much happiness he brought to her.

Moving his finger along her hairline near her temple, he followed the sweet curve of her jaw. “I’ve only got one more month down here.” His brows moved downward as he studied the slender line of her neck and how it fit beautifully in her shoulder. “Before our truce, I could hardly wait to leave. Now…every day is going to be like a gift. You’re a gift to me, Maya…Do you realize that?” He moved his gaze to her emerald eyes, which widened in response to his honesty. “I’ve never met a woman like you before. And I find myself being very selfish, wanting you all to myself, though I know that can’t be.”

“Would it help you to know that I’m feeling very frustrated that I don’t have the time alone that I want with you?”

Giving her a tender smile, Dane whispered, “I don’t know what to do, sweet woman of mine. I want to stretch thirty days into years.”

Nodding, Maya said, “I know what you mean….” Did she have the courage to tell Dane how much she liked him? Maya was afraid to say “love” because that word scared her. If she loved Dane, that would change her life. She had her mission; that came first. All other things must come second…or third….

Grazing her lips with his mouth, Dane rasped, “I’m going to make every minute count with you when we get back. I know we can’t show any affection for one another out in public, but I’m going to start closing that office door of yours every now and again…for just a few minutes….”

Maya drowned in the promise of his mouth. His lips were searching, tender and exploratory. Maya moved her arms around his shoulders, realizing she’d never felt happier—and never more afraid. Did Dane love her? What was that look in his eyes? Maya had been unable to decipher it. Or was it her imagination? No. Because she was extraordinarily sensitive, she could feel Dane on all levels.

And if he did love her, did she love him? The answer came as a resounding warmth that flowed through her opened heart when he molded his mouth against hers. His breath was moist, his kiss capturing.

Maya felt his other hand range down along her shoulder and gently cup her breast. She leaned into him, wanting him to touch her even more. They were so well matched to one another. Her mind was shorting out. Her body was singing as he grazed her nipple with his lips. What if she did love Dane? The thought scared Maya. The only other time she had loved, the man had
backed off because of her secret life. Well, her other life didn’t bother Dane at all. He accepted her at face value. It mattered not one whit about her Black Jaguar heritage. Dane was brave and accepting in ways Maya knew would never happen again in her life. Why had this happened now? How could she split herself between her mission and her need for him? In turmoil, she shoved all her doubts and needs aside and concentrated on Dane, on him touching her and making her moan with pleasure once again.

The world, the pressures, the responsibilities all melted away from Maya. When Dane eased her on top of him so that she straddled his hips, she smiled down at him and placed her hands upon his massive, darkly haired chest. He met her catlike smile with a primal look of his own. She arched as he moved into her. More than anything, Maya realized in that moment that they were made for one another. He was her equal, and she was his. And the respect they had for one another was as solid as Mother Earth herself. Dane owned her heart. He touched her soul. And he completed her as no one had ever done in her life.

M
aya jerked awake, a scream jammed in her throat. She sat up, her breath choppy and ragged.
No! Oh, no!
Closing her eyes, she leaned forward, rubbing her hands roughly across her face to help her wake up. It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare…or was it? The sounds of the cave complex filtered into her office, where she sat on the cot. She’d fallen asleep around 0300, after Dane had come in and forced her to leave her desk and the mission plans she was working on.

Sitting there trembling, Maya felt a trickle of sweat between her breasts. Running her hands through her thick hair to tame it into place, Maya looked around the quiet office. Glancing down at her watch, she saw it was 0600. Time to get up. She had a mission scheduled with Cam Anderson in the Cobra at 0630. A new trail had been spotted fifty miles to the north, and they had to go in and look at it closely this morning.

The nightmare still hung darkly around her. Making
herself some coffee, Maya heard booted feet in the hallway outside. Turning, she saw Dane open the door to her office. He had recently shaved, but she saw telltale gray shadows beneath his blue eyes. As he met and held her gaze, Maya nodded.

“I’m up. I’m not coherent yet…but I’m up.”

Dane saw the puffiness beneath her glorious emerald eyes. Her hair was still in mild disarray around her shoulders as she made her very necessary coffee.

“You look shaken,” he observed as he came in and shut the door quietly behind him. “What’s wrong?” Indeed, she looked pale as hell. He saw fear lurking in Maya’s eyes as she turned away, her lips compressing into a line that he’d come to recognize as irritation.

“Oh,” Maya muttered defensively, “I had a nightmare, was all….” She felt Dane come to a halt nearher, and she absorbed his quiet, strong masculine energy. Somehow, just having Dane nearby always steadied Maya when she got into emotional maelstroms like this one. She flipped the switch on the coffeemaker. “There…coffee in three minutes.”

Dane pulled out the chair for her to sit on. “Need a brush?”

She gave him a disgruntled look. “That bad, huh?”

Chuckling, he went to the locker near the cot and opened it. Maya kept her cosmetic kit in there, and he pulled it out for her. The past month, this had become an anticipated routine between them. Dane tried to keep the anguish he felt in his heart at bay as he brought the colorful cloth bag containing her toiletries over to her desk. In two days, he and his crew were scheduled to fly back to Fort Rucker, Alabama. It was the
last
thing he wanted to do.

Reaching for the brush, Maya quickly pulled it
through her tangled hair. She saw that cockeyed smile on Dane’s mouth as he stood in front of the desk observing her with that warm look in his blue eyes. “Thanks…” she murmured grumpily.

Dane sat on the edge of the desk. “You don’t normally have nightmares,” he stated as he took pleasure in her running the brush through her dark, glinting hair. “What was it about?”

Shrugging, she said, “Oh…nothing…”

“Don’t pull that on me, Maya.”

She glared at him and then put the brush down and picked up the comb. “It was my guardian.”

“Your guardian?”

“Yes, every clan member has a spirit guardian.” She saw the puzzlement in his eyes and explained, “They’re like a guardian angel. Does that compute a little better for you and your reality?”

His brows raised. “Yeah, I get it now.”

“Only,” Maya said in a husky tone, “our spirit guides aren’t just ethereal, as most people think of guardian angels. They can literally appear into our third dimension.” She pointed to the desk. “And if they materialize, they are
real
—as solid as this is. They aren’t a figment of anyone’s imagination.”

“What’s the purpose in their materializing?”

Maya looked at him for a moment. In the last month, she’d told him more and more about her secret life. Dane was always fascinated by it, never put off, and certainly never afraid of it or her. He was an amazing person. And she loved him. How badly Maya wanted to say those words to him, but he was leaving shortly. And they hadn’t talked about that, either. Both were putting it off. She knew why: she was afraid to admit she’d fallen in love with him, and was unsure how that
would upset the well-ordered worlds they revolved within. Maya knew she would not leave her base or her mission. And she knew how much Dane’s army career meant to him. She would never expect him to resign his commission and come back down here to live with her.

“They can materialize for a lot of reasons,” she murmured as she combed her hair into place. “Sometimes my guardian comes in on his own, without me asking for him. A priestess always gets a male jaguar, and a priest, a female one. That way, the energy is balanced.” She put the comb down and saw to her relief that the coffee was ready. Picking up the pot, she poured two cups. “I don’t allow my guardian to materialize around here. It would scare the living hell out of my people. Sometimes, when I go into Agua Caliente on a flight, I’ll go down to the Urubamba River and let him materialize there, out of sight of everyone. He loves the water, so I’ll walk along the shore while he wades and tries to catch trout.” Maya smiled softly and, turning, handed Dane the cup.

“And what are they for?” Dane asked, sipping the coffee. He watched as Maya sat down, placed her hands around the mug and slowly drank, pleasure in her expression.

“Protection, help, support and guidance.”

“Like—” he searched his mind “—a big guard dog?”

She grinned slightly. “If I was in serious trouble, yeah, my jag would appear. He’d kill to protect me.”

“That’s good to know,” Dane murmured. “I guess he doesn’t consider me a threat or I’d have been so much dog meat a long time ago.”

Maya chuckled. “Our guides sense a person’s intent. And no, he’s not going to bother you.”

“Good to know.” Dane met her smile. “So, what about this nightmare of yours? What was it about?”

Maya hesitated. She didn’t want to worry Dane. “Oh…it was nothing….”

“Want me to repeat the question?” Dane nailed her with a direct look that told Maya he truly wanted to know.

Pursing her lips, she sat back in the squeaky chair, the mug between her hands, and looked up at the wall. “My black jag was fighting darkness. Not the kind of night darkness you know. This darkness…well, it was evil. It’s the heavy energy that some people accumulate around themselves, like Faro Valentino has around him.
That
kind of energy.”

“Okay…” Dane murmured. “What happened?”

Shrugging, Maya muttered, “My jag got overwhelmed with fire, explosions, gunfire and thick, black smoke. That’s when I woke up. It scared me a little.”

Dane studied her. Maya was clearly more than a little upset by the nightmare. “Do your dreams come true?”

“Yes.”

“That’s great,” he said in a worried voice. “Do you know what it was about? Where it happened?”

“No, nothing…just an explosion, fire, and a lot of thick, choking black smoke. I saw my black jag appear and I saw him fighting the smoke. Our guides are very powerful, Dane, but even they have limits on what they can and cannot do, just like us.” Maya slanted a glance at him. “Well, I gotta get going. I have to meet Cam down on the lip in about fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, that trail recon mission?” he asked, easing off the desk.

“Yeah. By the book. It will be an easy flight, thank Goddess. I’m not up for a demanding mission in a D model today.”

Dane grinned and set his empty mug on her desk as she rose. “Well, you’re all now official graduates of the new Apaches. Your pilots were the easiest we’ve ever trained in on it.”

Maya rummaged around in the locker for a fresh, clean uniform. She’d take a quick shower and then get down to the lip. “Thanks…I think it’s because we’re in combat mode already.”

“No argument from me. I’ll see you down there,” Dane said. He wanted to go over and kiss Maya, but he saw she was already into the mission. He saw it in her darkened eyes.

“Fine…see you there….”

“Let’s go down for a closer look,” Maya ordered Cam, who was flying the Cobra. Below them stretched the green jungle for as far as the eye could see. Clouds were swirling just above the trees with sunlight poking through in splotchy patterns.

Out of the cockpit window, Maya sighted the new trail. It looked like it was being hacked out at a good rate of speed, judging by how far they’d penetrated the area. The Cobra banked, and Maya held on to the map across her lap, the grease pencil poised in her right hand. Slats of sunlight shot through the broken cloud layer, temporarily blinding her. She pulled down the dark visor that fitted over the upper half of her face.

Cam craned her neck. “You want treetop level, Maya?”

Grinning, Maya said, “Not quite. Let’s keep the skids clean on this trip, shall we?” She saw Cam grin broadly. A wisp of red hair stuck out from beneath her helmet near her shoulder. Her forest-green eyes were alive with mirth. Cam had once put a skid into a tree on another such trip, and she’d garnered the nickname Tree Trimmer as a result of the near accident.

Maya looked down at the trail. She could see newly hacked trees and brush pushed aside. There was no one around that she could spot, but that didn’t mean there weren’t people down there. They would be hiding from them. Faro would often threaten the Quechua men of a nearby village to work on a new trail or else he would start shooting the women and children.

“Look out!”

Cam’s cry filled her ears. Maya jerked her head up. She saw a Kamov come barreling through the clouds, its 30 mm cannon blasting away—right at them.
Damn!

Maya felt the Cobra lurch. Cam had no room to bank or escape. If she tried, she’d slam the helicopter into the trees. Maya opened her mouth to cry out a warning. She saw the tracers from the cannon moving upward. They were going to be hit!

The first explosion came above and behind them—right into the rotor assembly cuff. Maya automatically winced. Her hands went for her collective and cyclic. Cam tried to steady the wounded helicopter. Impossible!

Smoke poured into the cockpit. Coughing violently, Maya felt the entire gunship groan and began to sink. They were going to crash! Hanging on, unable to see because of the thick, greasy smoke in the cabin, Maya shoved the window open. Air! They had to have air or
they’d die! Only briefly did she recall her nightmare. This was it.

The screech of treetops digging into the sinking Cobra’s skin began. Everything tipped upside down for Maya. She heard the engine scream and begin to race wildly out of control. The blades began snapping like sheet metal being ripped apart. Automatically, she raised her arms over her face. Above them, she heard the heavy, punctuating rotor blades of the Kamov, gloating over its kill.

The last thing Maya saw was a huge tree limb slamming into the side of the cockpit, lunging at them like a spear as the Cobra tumbled in slow motion toward the jungle floor.

“Well, well…” Faro Valentino leaned over and tapped the shoulder of the woman in the black uniform. “Wake up! Wake up, bitch!”

Maya heard a man’s voice, very far away, echoing in her hurting head. She heard laughter. Male laughter. Struggling to come out to consciousness, she dragged her eyes open. The man who met her gaze made her recoil. Faro Valentino, his face narrow, his dark brown eyes alight with triumph, stared back at her from close range. The smile on his thin lips increased.

“Ahh, she’s awake,
hombres,
” he crowed. His lips lifted away from his even white teeth. “And if I’m not mistaken, you are the very infamous Capitano Maya Stevenson. No?”

Maya listened to him berate her in Spanish. She was lying on the ground, on her back. Her head ached. Nearby she saw what was left of the Cobra, partly on the ground and partly suspended from some trees, still burning. The billowing black smoke was rising sky
ward in a dark, ugly column. Where was Cam? Maya struggled to a sitting position. Faro backed away from her and stood looking her over. He was dressed in a short-sleeved, white silk shirt and tan pants, and had a smug smile on his face. Three men, armed with weapons, moved in, the barrels aimed down at her.

“Where’s my—”

“Gone,” Faro snarled. “Before we could get here, she took off. I have my men looking for her right now.” He shrugged elegantly. “We’ll find her.” His eyes gleamed. “But we have you, Captain. You know, you’re very infamous around here. You’ve really hurt my cocaine trade. I’m not a happy man,
señorita.
”

Glaring up at him, Maya tried to divide her awareness between Faro and her own condition. Was she hurt? Her head ached abominably. Looking down, she saw that there was a rip in her flight suit on her left leg, but that was all. Feeling bruised and shaken, Maya realized she hadn’t been seriously hurt. What about Cam? What had happened to her? Maya narrowed her gaze on Faro, who was smiling like the jackal he was. The delight on his face made her nauseous.

“My pilot got away?” she demanded, her voice hoarse.

“
Sí, señorita.
Unfortunately, we got here about five minutes after the crash. My Russian pilot, Sasha Karlov, called me on the radio of my sport-utility vehicle.” He pointed to a black SUV nearby. “We got here as soon as we could. We found you here, lying on the ground. Your pilot was nowhere to be seen, but we spotted her tracks.” His smile increased. “We’ll find her. She won’t be able to get through that wall of jungle by herself.”

Maybe, maybe not, Maya thought. She eyed the
heavily armed drug soldiers. They came from a number of countries, judging by the various shades of their skin. All wore military tiger fatigues of gray and black. Their eyes were merciless, as if they’d just as soon shoot her than look at her. Some of the guards wore bandoleers of ammunition across their chests. All had machetes at their sides, as well as pistols. Any thought of her trying to escape dissolved—at least for now.

They were watching her closely. The pistol she carried under her left arm had been removed from its holster. She was alone. And she was at Faro’s mercy.