Prey (33 page)

When she had nothing else to do, she unwrapped the elastic bandage around her ankle. Some of the swelling was definitely gone. Another day of sitting on her butt should make a big difference in the ankle’s condition. If she could get her boot on, and if the weather cooperated, with the aid of a walking stick she might be able to walk out of here. The weather was the big thing. Even after the rain stopped, it would take a while for the flash floods to stop. Until then, they weren’t going anywhere.

She pulled a clean sock on her left foot, and tried working one onto her right foot, but her ankle was still too swollen for the sock to be comfortable, so she put the sock aside and rewrapped her ankle. Her toes got cold unless she kept her foot covered by the sleeping bag; she’d either have to sit on the mattress all day or deal with cold toes.

Down below, the door opened and closed again. Dare would be setting the bucket out again, to catch more water.

Even though he wasn’t spending a lot of time out in the rain, the air was chilly and the water was cold, so he might appreciate another cup of coffee when he came up again. Angie checked the coffeepot: enough in there for another two cups, at least, but it might be tasting bitter by now. She freshened it up by adding a little water, then put the pot on the camp stove and turned on the flame.

When she heard him reenter below, she pulled back the privacy curtain and called down, “I reheated the coffee, if you want a cup.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be up in a minute, after I get these clothes wrung out and hung up to dry.”

She gave him a minute, then dumped enough sugar into the cup to choke a horse, estimating that was how much he’d used before, and poured the hot coffee on top of it to dissolve it. She’d just poured herself a cup when his dark head appeared at the top of the ladder. Her heartbeat gave its normal jump and the butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “I’ve already sugared it,” she said as she handed his cup to him, ignoring both her heart and the butterflies.

“Thanks.” He took a long swallow. “Damn, that’s good. You can make the coffee from now on.”

“I’d planned on it,” she said drily. “How’s it looking out there?” The only view she’d had was a brief look at some trees while Dare carried her to the portable toilet, as the cabin was built in a protected spot with limited straight-line visibility.

“The only way I’d try to go anywhere in that mess would be if it were a matter of life and death. It’s bad. On the good side, it isn’t raining as hard now. If the weather service was anywhere close to accurate, it should start tapering off late this afternoon.”

“The amount of rain was kind of underestimated.”

“Tell me about it.” He sat down on the mattress and pulled off his boots, wiping them down with a remnant of towel before setting them aside. Then he picked up his coffee cup and scooted back to lean against the wall. She would have liked to face him, but she couldn’t fold her legs under her without hurting her ankle, so she shifted into position beside him, her legs stretched out alongside his, but with maybe ten inches separating them.

“I was going to get Harlan to lay this out for you,” he muttered.

“That bad, huh?”

“I actually think it would work for both of us. I want to expand the business, be able to bring in more clients, a wider variety, but I’m spread so thin I can’t handle it on my own.”

Angie’s lips thinned. He was spread so thin because he had most of her former clients. “Not scoring points here, Callahan,” she warned.

“I’m not trying to score points, Powell, I’m trying to offer you a fu—a … damn it, I can’t talk if I can’t cuss. I was in the army too long. I’m fucking offering you a deal, got it?”

Warily she eyed him. “Not yet.”

“I want to hire you,” he said impatiently. “With your place I’ll have more room for clients to stay, but I’m still just one person, so having more room won’t do me any good unless it’s one big party. It doesn’t make sense to expand my space but not my capability, right? I need someone else who can take out the additional hunting parties, someone I trust, who knows the area. You won’t have to leave, or even move, because I’ll need someone to look after the place.”

“Hire me.” Her tone was blank. She was so astonished she didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted, upset or happy.
She’d lose her home, but she wouldn’t lose it. She’d lose her business, but she’d still be doing what she loved. She wouldn’t be autonomous, but that wasn’t all it was cracked up to be anyway, because she was autonomous only as far as the constraints of responsibility would allow.

“I also need someone to take over the paperwork.”

“Ah, now we get to the
real
reason.” She said it with light sarcasm, but the truth was, now that her shock was fading she was a little grateful and a lot touched by the offer. After she had time to really think things over, she might be a lot grateful, but right now she was still trying to absorb the possibility of not being her own boss. She’d worked for others before, for longer than she’d had her own business, so it wasn’t as if she couldn’t do it. But she
liked
having her own business,
liked
doing the planning and preparation, liked answering to no one other than herself.

Right away she could see both pros and cons. One big pro was that she’d have the money from selling her place, money that she could invest for her future. She’d be out from under a mortgage—that would become Dare’s headache. The most immediate con would be giving up control of her working life. She liked doing things her way.

But if she took the job, she’d be
home
. And she’d be near Dare … but he’d be her boss. And that was a very, very big con. If he thought he’d get something going with her and employ her at the same time … no. Wasn’t going to happen. The bottom dropped out of her stomach in dismay.

She struggled to get her thoughts in better order. Why would that bother her, unless she’d already subconsciously decided to sleep with him?

Oh, God. He’d taken an already complicated situation and made it worse.

“I have to think about it,” she finally said.

“Why? You either want to stay, or you don’t.”

Wasn’t that just like a man? Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead. The situation was simple to him: He was offering her a deal, and she either liked it or didn’t. But she saw the torpedoes, and she didn’t want to blow herself out of the water. What she wanted … she didn’t know exactly what she wanted, because she hadn’t thought about all the nuances and possibilities yet.

She couldn’t just say,
Because I won’t sleep with my boss
because she was still at sea regarding their possible relationship, period. Everything except her brain seemed to be pulling her toward him, but until her brain got onboard with the idea, she wasn’t making that move. How could she make a definite decision about something that wasn’t definite? It didn’t make sense to decide to try having a relationship with him, both emotional and physical, and at the same time decide on a business deal that, if she refused it, would take her away from him, but if she took the deal it would make it impossible to have a relationship … she was confusing
herself trying to think about it. The two couldn’t mix, but neither could they be separated.

“Well?” he demanded. “Do you want to stay?”

“Don’t rush me, okay? It isn’t as if you know for certain you’ll be able to get a bank loan, and”—she waved her hand around, indicating the cabin—“there’s nothing we can do right now, anyway. We’re stuck here, so there’s no rush.”

“But if you decide, then we could start working out details.”

“I don’t want to start working out details, I want to take my time so I don’t make any mistakes!” she said impatiently. “God, what rank did you have in the army, chief nagger?”

“The army doesn’t have chiefs. That’s the navy.” But his mouth quirked in a little smile, and he settled his shoulders more comfortably against the wall. “And I was an E-seven.”

“Which translates into English as …?”

“Sergeant first class.”

She didn’t know anything about military rank, beyond the basic enlisted and officer ranks. “Am I impressed?” she asked warily.

He gave his stifled, sand-papery laugh. “Not really. A sergeant is like an office manager who makes the vice president look good, but catches all the shit when things go wrong. The only difference is, in the army there are weapons and explosives and other interesting shit to help make up for the paperwork. My main job was training lieutenants.”

She had the feeling he was understating what he’d done, otherwise he wouldn’t have those shrapnel wounds. “You have to train an officer?”

“Like any other newbie in any other job. They come in, they’re young, they don’t have any experience, haven’t seen combat, and they make stupid decisions. The smart ones listen to the sergeants. If we’re lucky, the stupid-ass ones decide they don’t really want a career in the military and get out, before they either end up dead or cause a lot of other people to die.”

Angie had gone her entire life without thinking about life in the military, but abruptly she found herself trying to imagine what it was like. She wanted to know what he’d done, how he’d filled his days, the friends he’d made. She wanted to know how he’d been hurt, but didn’t want to ask. The sharp turnabout in their relationship wasn’t even thirty-six hours old yet. Granted, a lot had been packed into those hours, but some things, such as personal questions, still took time.

“Did you like it? Being in the army, I mean.”

“I had a lot of fun. Good times, bad times.” He tilted his head back, his eyes half-closed as he revisited memories. “There are guys I served with who’ll be my friends until the day I die. But I never meant to make a fucking career of it. When I enlisted, I thought ten years max. I’d get a college degree, see something of the world.” He gave his rough, stifled chuckle. “I did that, all right. But after my last encounter with sharp metallic objects, I reassessed my position. I’d already been in five years longer than I’d planned. So I got out.”

He’d brought the subject up, so Angie felt perfectly justified in pursuing it. “Is that when you got the wound on your throat?”

“Yeah. For the first couple of weeks I couldn’t talk, but that was because of swelling. The docs had told me I’d be okay, so I didn’t sweat it. It was frustrating as hell, though. After I got my voice back, it was hoarse, but shit, if that’s the worst thing that ever happens to me in my life, I’m one lucky son of a bitch.”

She rolled her head sideways to smile at him. “I bet it was a real strain on your nervous system, not being able to swear.”

“Damn near drove me nucking futs.” He looked completely raffish and so masculine he made her hurt inside, with that black stubble on his face and those wicked blue eyes glinting at her, his mouth curled in a smirk.

She burst out laughing. She’d thought he was so dour and grumpy, but he was proving to have a side to him that really appealed to her own sense of humor. He considered her for a moment,
then looped his arm around her neck and pulled her in, his mouth closing over hers, stopping the laughter.

Angie couldn’t help it. She kissed him back. Kissing was like anything else; after you’ve done it once, doing it again became easier. She put her hand on his bristly jaw and let herself savor the taste of him, the pressure of those firm lips, the undeniable surge of excitement when he made a low, rough sound in the back of his throat and abruptly deepened the kiss, changing the angle of his head so that she found herself giving way, sinking back. His arms cradled her, supported her, then his heavy weight settled in place on top of her and all she could do was cradle him in turn, her arms and legs opening to accept and hold him.

The weight of a man on her … she had enjoyed that, missed it. She slid her hand up the back of his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair as she clasped the back of his skull. Still, she felt compelled to free her lips long enough to warn, “Just because I’m kissing you doesn’t mean I’m going to have sex with you.”

He lifted his head a little. Blue eyes glinted down at her, heavy-lidded with sexual intent. “Yet,” he replied, and she let the word stand unchallenged.

He gripped her hip, his fingers tightening, then relaxing and gently massaging before sliding up her side, under her shirt. Almost before she knew it his big warm hand was closing over her breast, his palm rough against the exquisite sensitivity of her nipple. She felt a moment of anxiety because her boobs were so small, but then his eyelids lowered even more and he made that rough humming sound again, the one she was coming to associate with pure pleasure, and with one swift motion he jerked her shirt up and dipped his head to her breasts.

There was a dizzying split-second of combined surprise and anticipation, then his mouth, hot and wet, closed over her nipple. His tongue swirled around the nub, lightly, gently, making it harden and extend. Pleasure spread through her, pleasure that made her abdominal muscles contract, made her skin feel electrified.
With his lips and tongue and teeth he played with her, moving his attention to the other nipple while his fingers gently kneaded. Then he pressed her nipple against the roof of his mouth and sucked hard; she clutched at him, bucking under the lash of excitement and desire. He bore down on her, controlling her with his weight; she could feel his tongue rhythmically working the extended bud, the suction of his mouth pulling at her and sparking an echo of the same sensation between her legs, deep inside her.

He lifted his head, the expression in his eyes fierce, hot, his mouth set in a sensually ruthless line. “More?” he asked hoarsely.

Instantly she realized what he was doing. Making love was like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining speed and momentum and inevitability. If he hadn’t stopped right now, this very minute, likely they wouldn’t. He could have continued, seducing her with pleasure, and made love to her without a single word of protest from her, which embarrassed her considering how firmly she’d told him she wasn’t going to have sex. But he wasn’t going to allow her to get cold feet afterward and claim he’d rushed her, not given her time to think. He was forcing her to be with him every step of the way. She didn’t know whether to be pissed that he thought she might be such a coward as that, or grateful that he was giving her this chance to slow things down.