Blind Ambition (5 page)

He laid his precious cargo on the slab and she blinked at him, her eyes at half-mast, but still bright with moonlight and intelligence.

As she looked on, he shucked his dripping shirt. He’d warm up faster without it. “Take off those wet clothes. I’ll be right back.”

He picked up the bundle of their tied-together pants and removed his knife from a sheath on the belt. Holding the handle with both hands so he wouldn’t drop it, he hacked several leaves from a nearby banana plant and shook them out to ensure they were bug-free. Then he laid them over the gritty floor of the shelter.

Outside, Alexa had stripped down to her sports bra and panties—both a blessedly opaque black—and shivered against the cliff with her knees pulled to her chest.

“Inside.” He gestured to the cave with his chin.

She crawled through the vines that he’d pulled back, and onto the makeshift bed, where she lay down. In lieu of a blanket, he covered her with more large leaves. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have a fire.”

“What can I do?” she asked, her words thick with fatigue. How had she not passed out yet?

He slicked her wet hair away from her face, his heart twisting like a wrung-out rag. “Just rest.”

She closed her eyes and he slipped through the leafy entrance, all senses on alert for rebels. The men had already searched this area, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t return. Dan chopped down another banana leaf and used it to collect and carry sticks, some small logs, and dry palm fronds. Within minutes he was stacking them against the far wall of their little den.

Kneeling on the floor, he scraped his blade against one of the sticks in quick strokes to produce a nice tinder pile on top of the carefully laid pyre. Then he struck the back edge of the knife across a sharp stone, wincing at the noise as it bounced off the rock walls. With luck, the waves outside were loud enough to cover the sound.

Tiny sparks flew from the steel, landing among the tinder, which began to glow orange like a hot coal. Dan removed his gloves, which had been shredded by the rough rock outcropping, and fanned the embers with his hands. He coaxed them into a flame that quickly spread to the dry palm fronds and smaller sticks, and licked at the logs.

The heat was like heaven radiating across his cool skin. Warm air filled the tiny space, even as smoke escaped through a hole he’d made at the top of the vine curtain over the entrance.

If the rebels were still nearby, he and Alexa were sunk. The smoke and flickering light would be dead giveaways. But hypothermia was a real risk if they didn’t warm up quickly.

Lying on her side, Alexa opened her eyes and watched him, her body still shivering. “Why are you here?”

He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Why me and not someone else?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“I was going to ask
you
that. Your dad hired Steele—the security company I work for now—and he specifically asked for me to take the job.”

“Oh.” She stared over his shoulder, her eyebrows meeting in confusion. “I have no idea why. He didn’t know about…us.” Her gaze snapped back to his face and her cheeks reddened.

So she hadn’t told her old man. Why would she? Dan sure as hell didn’t share his love life with his grandmother. The only girlfriend of his she’d ever met was Mary. Grandma Shue had seen right through her. Unfortunately, Dan hadn’t cared to listen.

“Well, he found me.” Dan’s teammate Mick had been on St. Isidore three years ago too, but Alyssandratos hadn’t asked for him. Which meant he probably knew—or suspected—something about Dan and Alexa’s time together. But still. Why hire someone his daughter had kicked to the curb?

“Why did you agree?”

Good question. “It’s my job.” And for a whole host of other reasons he had no plans to voice.

Something like regret flashed across her face. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For putting you in danger. For being such a burden.”

“You didn’t.” He shook his head. “And you’re not a burden. This is what I do.”

She stared at him in silence, a small frown on her lips.

Looking away from the fire reflected in her beautiful blue eyes, he poked the flames with a stick. Satisfied the blaze wouldn’t burn itself out anytime soon, Dan circled the bed of leaves and lay down behind her. He snuggled up to her back and rearranged the banana palms over both of them, covering as much of her exposed skin as possible.

She didn’t protest. She just eased into his embrace and sighed.

This is what I do for you.

Alexa woke on a hard, scratchy floor, plastered against a hard, warm body. Soft breaths fanned across her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

Fatigue, the muted sounds of the surf, and the comfort of Dan’s arms threatened to pull her under again, but…wait a minute, Dan’s arms? Her fuzzy brain tried to comprehend what her senses were telling her. With Herculean effort, she opened her eyelids and blinked. Dawn had broken, but the world was still mostly dark. All she could see in front of her face was rock and charred wood.

“Morning,” Dan said, his voice low and gravelly.

She thought to sit up, but he had her pinned. Not that her muscles were willing to cooperate anyway. Her neck felt like a toothpick trying to support a bowling ball, so she gave up attempting to lift her head. She rested her head on his outstretched arm, grateful for the support.

“Mmm.” Her lips and tongue were so dry she couldn’t even form a coherent response.
 

The air held a hint of chill, but she was no longer bone-cold or shivering. Dan was like an electric blanket, bringing warmth everywhere his skin touched hers. Warmth, and an awareness that made her tingle.

The last time they’d been together like this was the night before his team was due to leave the island. They’d spent hours in her hut making love. Afterward, he’d spooned his big body around hers and stroked the hair away from her face, kissing her neck in that magical way that never failed to make her stomach flutter.

“Let me know when you get some time off and I’ll try to do the same,” he’d said. “We can meet wherever you want. Or you’re welcome to stay with me. Tucson’s not a bad city.” She could hear the grin in his voice when he said, “Though I might not be able to keep my hands off you long enough to show you the sights.”

The buoyant sensation in her chest had turned to lead, even as he graced her with another searing kiss beneath the ear. Her eyes ached with an acute need to cry. He’d never mentioned extending their relationship beyond his time in St. Isidore. She had begun to think she was home free.

Her heart had broken then with the knowledge of what she had to do.

And now she was back in his arms and his growing erection was pressing into her bottom. Before she could even process how she felt about that, he shifted his hips back.

“Sorry. Just ignore…that,” he said, his voice gruff. “I am.” He gently extricated himself, careful with her head as he sat up, leaving her cold and unprotected before he replaced the banana leaves.

Alexa rolled onto her back while holding the leaves in place. Dan stood facing out, silhouetted in the opening of the small cave, wearing only dark boxers. The faint orange glow of predawn lovingly outlined his lean form from his sculpted shoulders to his narrow waist, and down his muscular legs.

She tried to swallow. He was so beautiful it made her heart hurt. And the man inside was equally as magnificent. Just as he had the first time she’d met him, he made her want. Want him, want more from her life, want things that didn’t fit her plans.

With a deep breath, she pushed aside the unhelpful thoughts. What now? She didn’t even know where to start, and her brain was still full of cobwebs, though it was getting clearer. She needed to get to Flore and Garfield. But first, she needed her clothes.

And it would be nice if her muscles worked.

Dan stepped out onto the shelf of rock that led to the sand, and slipped from her view. She heard nothing but the brush of waves against the shore, and something irrational made her twitch with the fear that he wouldn’t return. She focused on her breath until he reappeared several minutes later. Light was quickly filling the sky in the lead-up to sunrise, and she could already make out more of his features. At some point, he’d washed or rubbed the camo paint from his face.

He was even more handsome than she remembered.

“Our clothes are still damp, so I laid them out to dry,” he said.

She could only nod.

“I’m going to retrieve my gear. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He shucked his boxers and strode toward the sea, giving her a fabulous view of his glutes in the faint, golden light of the rising sun. She could just make out the small pair of green footprints tattooed on his butt. As far as she could tell, the ritual PJ tattoo was still his only body art.

From her vantage point inside the shelter she didn’t have a clear view to the water, so when he hadn’t returned after five minutes, she began to worry. Willing some of her strength back, she chafed her arms and legs to warm her muscles and give her something to do to keep her mind off Dan.

She crawled through the opening and gripped the rough wall. Just as she pushed to her feet, he returned, his oversized backpack held in front of him. Breathing a sigh of relief, she sagged against the rock and watched as he set down the bag, seemingly indifferent to his nakedness. She averted her eyes, keeping them fixed—mostly—on the undulating waves as he used his hands to brush the excess water from his deeply tanned skin, and donned his underwear.

Reaching down, he unhooked something from the back of the bag and held up her dripping wet sneakers. “Here, I rescued these. My boots too,” he said, setting them in the sand. “They probably won’t dry before we need to leave, but it’ll beat walking barefoot.”

If he hadn’t already been her hero, he was now.

Now that she was outside, she could see that he’d spread out their clothes on several fern plants a few feet from the cave, and weighed them down with small stones, presumably so they wouldn’t blow away.

“Any sign of Frederick’s men?” she asked.

“Not so far, but we need to be alert. They know who you are. They think they can get your dad to pay two million for you. They’ll be back.”

She scowled. Her only value was in her dad’s bank accounts. Just like always. “How soon can we leave?” Her anxiety over Flore and Garfield grew with every passing minute.
 

She gripped the wall as a wave of dizziness hit her.

“Hey,” Dan stepped toward her with his arms outstretched.

“I’m fine.” She waved him off and sat on a raised ledge that ran along the cliff. “Just tired.”

He began pulling things from his bag and laying them on the rock. “And probably hungry and dehydrated too,” he said.

“I could use a drink.” She admired the view as his muscles flexed and contracted. Just because she couldn’t have him, didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy watching him.

“Here.” He handed her a canteen that felt at least half full. It was dripping with seawater, but the screw top appeared airtight. “Drink as much as you want, but go slowly.”

She had to smile. Had he forgotten she was a nurse? “Thank you.” She sipped greedily, happy to quench the bone-deep thirst, but careful not to take in too much at once. After drinking a couple of ounces, she set the bottle down and forced herself to wait to make sure her stomach didn’t rebel.

Dan pulled a shiny square from his backpack and used his knife to slit open the clear plastic pouch. Unfurling the Mylar blanket, he draped it over her shoulders. “This should help keep you warm.”

She huddled into the crinkly sheet and watched him.

Once he was done unloading his bag, he began alternating between squats and pushups. Surely he wasn’t trying to show off for her, though she was mesmerized by the sight. “What are you doing?”

“Warming up,” he said, without looking her way. He did a few more sets of each before stopping.

She wished she had the strength to follow his lead. Using her large muscle groups like that would turn her body into a furnace in no time. Instead, the light breeze chased goosebumps across her skin. She brought her knees to her chest so she could wrap the blanket more tightly around herself. With any luck, their clothes would dry quickly, especially once the sun came up. From the looks of the brilliant orange-and-blue sky, it wouldn’t be long.

“You’re still cold,” Dan said, moving toward her, his skin already dry.

She shrugged. “A little.” And tired. Some of it from lack of sleep and the physical and mental exhaustion of her ordeal, some of it probably from dehydration. “The sun will help.”

He looked down at her, his hazel eyes serious. “Let
me
help.”

She hesitated. His touch sparked so many feelings she didn’t know how to handle. “Okay.” Pride—and her heart—be damned, she wouldn’t turn down his much-needed source of warmth.

She handed him the blanket.

Sitting behind her, he scooted forward until his thighs brushed her hips. Her stomach danced as he pressed his solid chest to her back and wrapped his arms and legs around her, then covered them both with the blanket. Magnificent heat radiated from his skin everywhere they touched, and she sighed as her head fell back against his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she whispered, as her muscles relaxed. Her eyes closed as she eased into his embrace, on the verge of sleep.

“Look at that,” he said, his warm breath on her ear.

She opened her eyes. The sun was a fiery sliver on the horizon, shooting rays of pink and orange across the sky as it rose to light a path on the sea. Under different circumstances, this moment would have been one of pure joy. Being held by this man, overlooking the beach on a lovely tropical island as the sun rose over the horizon. It didn’t get any better than that.

Too bad it was nothing but an illusion.

AN HOUR LATER, DAN WAS still trying to shake the feeling of Alexa in his arms—twice in one morning—as he tugged on his pants. Her clothes were lightweight and had dried quickly in the breeze, but his cargo pants were still damp along the seams and pockets.