Into the Flames (Perilous Connections: Book Two) (16 page)

But that doesn’t s
top me from savoring the way
her amber eyes smolder, a look that I know is mirrored in my own as we recall
last night’s lovemaking. We had been as quiet as possible given that our nine hundred square foot home contained three other people but it had been no less intense or pleasurable.

I’d a
woken her from a dead sleep when I’d
drawn her to the middle of the bed where I was k
neeling. S
he’d come awake almost instantly and
climbed atop my
thighs, straddling me. Our mouths had been locked in a deep kiss as we’
d rocked up and down
, moving
tightly in each other’s arms.

Now
I draw her into my arms, she sighs and rest
s
her head agains
t my chest.
I can’t stop myself and I tip her
head back to
capture her lips. W
e are starving for air when
I reluctantly release her lips.

I close my eyes and savor t
he rich cocoa smell
of the
skin in the valley between
her neck and jaw.
“I need to go into
town to get some more groceri
es before the afternoon is done,
” I whisper against
her soft hair.

She looks up at
me, her eyes golden and melting
,
my
body lurches with desire.
I frown to cover up my lecherous thought
s
.

“Isn’t that dangerous?
”
She stops, and I watch the adorable scrunching of her brow as she searches for the right tone to convince me, she looks at me anxiously, “what if the volcano starts to spit lava and you become trapped somewhere?”

I’m not a ro
mantic and until Daphne I didn’
t really see the need for any one woman but I cannot stop the warm feeling which fills
me at her concern.
I brush a thumb across her dainty,
little
nose.
“I suppose anything is possible,” I draw breath to ask how she’d feel if something did happen to me but I s
tifle it.
I
t’s
too soon.
“I’ll be back before you can pry Stacy from that couch.”

She smiles and something foreign flashes in her eyes. I hold her
arm
“Is anything wrong?”

She smiles widely up at me, places her hands over mine. “
It’s
nothing. Just stay safe.”

I
gather her roughly to me, and
place
a feathery kiss on her forehead. “Don’t
worry about Emmanuel.
I will take care of him
as soon as
I
can get you and the others safe away from here.”

She steps back from the circle of my arms.
This was a fight we’ve been having for the last day since I came up with the idea.
“Nate I don’t want to go to Jamaica. I can’
t even understand their dialect!
”

I st
are firmly at her. Jamaica is
a hundred times larger than
Montserrat, take
n
with its dense population,
there were innumerable places whe
re she
could hide and be safe.

I
f I return from my meeting
with Emmanuel.

I
f I don’t
,
I’ve already given her the two hundred thousand dollars that I had on my
person along with access to
much more in safety deposit boxes scattered across the world. She would be safe.

“We’ll talk about this when I get back. Hopefully I won’t have to hike far to get a taxi.”

Out of nowhere she launches herself into my arms.
I
grip her tightly
,
inhale her wonderful scent
and driven by my need to show her what I feel, I
bend
down to her ear.
“I love you.” I don’t wait for her reply, avoiding her eyes I barrel from the room and out into the stifling
air filled with
ash.

Chapter Seven

Daphne

I sho
uld be rushing from the room as soon as Nate leaves. I
nstead
I’
m slumped over
the
side of the
bed, my bo
dy wracked with sobs that I struggle
to muffle for fear of someone barging in now that Nate’s gone.

He loves me? I cry harder as those words condemn me as nothing else could have.

I wis
h I could take back that moment. T
ell him how I feel
. B
ut now it’s too late and worse when he d
oes find out what I’ve done his
love will disappear along with me.

My nose is streaming as I grab my measly bundle of clothing from the drawers. Elaine would have al
ready done the same for Aubrey. W
e’d both known that Nate would have to go for groceries soon and when he did we would leave
and trek the ten or so miles to the ferry
.

Wet towels to help us breathe through the still falling ash were hidden in Elaine’s bedroom.

And Stacy, my nostrils flare wit
h fury as I recall Stacy and our
little c
onversation yesterday evening after
Nate had gone out to search the property for any signs of Emmanuel.

“Elaine and I are going to be leaving the moment Nate leaves for groceries.”
I had said
from the table looking out over the sea which
had been
invisible because of the thick ash which had hung in the clouds
. I
had
turn
ed
to look at St
acy lounging on the couch, not
a book in sight, though we’d found a little nook with several novels and old, interesting editions of National Geographic.

Stacy had blinked awake.
“What did you
say?” She
scrambled
up from the couch,
her ebony locks
,
though squished had
unfurl
ed
sensuously
down her arm
.

That
had
anger
ed
me.
T
hat sh
e should be so beautiful, or had
it
been
because when I leave
and crush the feelings I have glimpsed in Nate’s eyes, it will be easy for him to assuage his broken heart by tur
ning back to a woman who will stay with him?

I grit
ted
my teeth as I watch
ed
her
swing her long perfect legs off the co
uch, the short-shorts which had
not disappeared since we’ve been here though I’ve given her some of my meag
er clothing.

I eye
d
her remorselessly.
“
I said w
e
’re
going to leave when Nate goes into town to pick up groceries, probably in a day or two.”

Delight, swift and bright, passed
across her f
ace and then she noticed
my hard frown a
nd she tapped
it down
. H
e
r eyes drop
ped
from my face to my chest
and beyond down
to
my legs clad
in a knee length cotton shirt.

H
er mouth
had
quirk
ed
in a secret smile.
“Has he already grown tired of his walk on the dark side?”

I j
erk
ed to my feet, my chest heaved
with fury. Her
eyes
had
widen
ed
but then she
’d calmed down and I kne
w she
had wanted
me to hit her. She would love to have anything
to say
against me.
Because
she wanted
Nate
back.
Had
all along.

I
had
seriously
begun to question
her story
about being afraid of Emmanuel. W
hat if she had just been looking for Nate all along to get back toge
ther with him? The thought made
my
insides sizzle but I remind
ed
myself to relax
. I
shrug
ged
carelessly
. “Perhaps he has. But you’re talking from experience. Whatever you’ve got he doesn’t want anymore.”

She leapt up and stood
quaking just inches from me, her
green
eyes ugly with hate. I smile
d
taunting
ly
at her.

Hit me. Oh
please
hit me.
I could
take her
. I’d
giv
e her a taste of the dark side.

Her mouth had twisted in a derisive snarl. “Y
ou’re not even that pretty. I think Nate must have felt sorry for you. Your p
eople are always begging, always
with a hand out. Nate
’s always
been such a
sucker
.”

My
hand
had
shot
out and
grabbed
a chunk
of her glossy
hai
r. She’d
squaw
ked
like
a
fri
ghtened chicken and her eyes swu
ng wildly around the room. P
robably hoping for Elaine to emerge
and save her.

Not likely. I grin
ned with
deep satisfaction
.
“Ela
ine and Aubrey are taking a nap.
”

She
struggle
d
to disen
gage my grip and I was
surpris
ed at how easily I could
hold her, just as I
had t
hough
t. She was weak and would
give
up
easily.

I shook
her for emphasis.
“Not that you would know but women who work, maids especially
,
have strong hands.”

Disdain crept
ove
r her face but she just tightened
her lip
s and glared murderously at me. But I’d
had enough of this stupid interlude.
“Now listen up
you pea brained
idi
ot, my face and my debatable
financi
al means
is no concern of yours,” I shook
her to underscore my point,
she winc
ed but didn’t
speak,
“a
ll I want from you is to keep your mouth shut so that we can prepare for our tri
p home without Nate stopping us. D
o you understand
or must I scribble it on a blackboard for you
?”

Her face had flamed
with mortification and anger but she
’d nodded weakly.

Needless to say she’s avoided me since yesterday
’s little chat
.
I
move around the room and
stuff the last pieces of clothing into the backpack
. Then I freez
e
at the sight of our made
bed, all traces of
last night’
s lovemaking
now
tidied away. T
ears threaten to spill over my lids again as I relieve the intensity of our joining, the way he’d clasped me to him
afterwards
. He loves
me
but I cannot stay with him an
d risk getting caught up in
the dangerous life he proposes.
I had gotten what I
wanted, his
tru
st
. H
e is gone and we are alone
and
now I
need to
take this opportunity
to
get
Aubrey to safety away
from
Nate
and
the killer
who stalks
him.