Seized (Hostage Rescue Team Series, #7) (16 page)

Then with a groan of relief she sat on the foot of her bed and slipped her high heels off. “Oh, God, that feels good,” she groaned into the empty cabin, flexing and arching her toes.

She loved sexy shoes, and these ones in particular were downright hot, but man they were a pain. Literally. She’d only been in them for the past three hours because it was a formal night on the ship, and even that was too long.

She and her mom had dined at the ship’s fanciest restaurant before taking in a comedy show in the large theater and now she had the cabin to herself for a few blissful hours of quiet. Maybe she’d indulge in a hot bubble bath, or bundle up in the plaid blanket next to the sliding door and sit out on the private balcony for a while, watching the scenery pass by. It was gorgeous out, if a bit rocky on the water, the full moon frosting the mountains and forests on the shoreline with a dusting of silver.

But before enjoying all that, she had an important call to make.

She leaned over to grab her laptop from the bedside table and fired it up, her heart beating faster as nerves took root. Only five minutes until the Skype session she’d arranged previously with Sawyer. Internet on the ship was insanely slow so she wasn’t even sure the call would connect, but it was worth a shot. They’d texted back and forth several times over the past five days but that was it.

Not about anything serious, just friendly chitchat like old times, minus the flirtatious tone she’d been using these past few months. It was hard not to press him for answers about where they stood, but she was doing her best to keep her impatience in check.

Keeping in touch with him during her trip wasn’t easy though. Most of the time she didn’t get his texts until hours later because they’d been out at sea when he texted, and he’d missed a lot of hers due to work. She didn’t know exactly what his team had been up to the past few days but they were still in Seattle as far as she knew, so they must be keeping busy there. That could be good or bad.

When it was time she settled herself against the pillows she’d stacked against he headboard and logged in to her Skype account. Her feelings for him had nervous butterflies swarming in her stomach as she waited for the call to connect. She was so deep into him, had been intimate with him and she was on pins-and-needles hoping that he’d decide he wanted to be with her. It was giving her a complex, all her buried insecurities waiting to pounce on her if he pulled back now.

She pulled in a calming breath. She had to keep things light, not say anything that might be construed as pressuring him for an answer about their status, just like when she’d texted him. And she’d been careful to text Ethan just as often, so as not to rouse her mother’s suspicions that anything was going on between them.

Although Carmela was almost certain from the little comments she’d made now and again that her mother knew exactly what was going on between them, and not only that,
approved
. Carmela still wasn’t going to mention anything to her though. If she did, her mom would never let it go.

To her relief, the call went through. Sawyer accepted it and a moment later he appeared on her screen, so handsome he took her breath away. “Hey,” he said softly, his deep voice reverberating in the quiet cabin.

“Hey.” Maybe it should have embarrassed her that her voice sounded a little breathless, but he always made her feel that way, and without even trying. And now that she’d gotten a taste of him, oh, man. “We finally connected.”

He grinned, his teeth bright white against his deep brown skin. “Yeah. So how are things?”

“Great. I’m enjoying myself way more than I thought I would. The water’s been pretty calm too, for the most part. The ship’s rocking a bit now, but not so much that I want to run down and climb in my life boat.”

He chuckled. “That’s good. What about your mom?”

“She’s loving it. I left her down at the casino, where she’ll stay until they close. She’s having the time of her life on the ship. Pretty sure we’ve both gained a few pounds each. The food’s been awesome, although mom said she’s really missing her beans and rice.” Being able to eat whenever you want and however much you wanted was pretty great. She could get used to that.

“Glad to hear it. What did you guys get up to today?”

“We were in Skagway. Learned a lot about the Yukon gold rush, walked through the town, had some lunch then took a train up the White Pass just over the border into B.C. before coming back down. The route the miners took was insane. They had to carry a thousand pounds of supplies up to the top, where the Northwest Mounted Police were waiting to check everything and weigh the supplies. If you were short, they sent you back down. And they treated the horses and other pack animals like crap. There’s a huge ravine up here called Dead Horse Gulch, where they shoved sick or injured animals off the side of the trail and down the side of the mountain.” She was babbling, she knew she was, but it helped ease the nervous energy inside her.

Sawyer was quiet while she detailed the highlights of the rest of the history lesson she’d found so fascinating. That by the time many of the miners who made it to Bennet Lake and actually managed to build some kind of boat or raft to take them to Dawson City, all the claims were gone. Many had gone to all that trouble and suffering for nothing.

When she finished and finally fell silent she could see Sawyer’s mouth twitching. “What?” she asked.

He laughed now, the sound doing funny things to her insides. “I love how you get all animated when you tell a story. How you talk with your hands.”

She felt herself flush, but didn’t try to deny it. The hand thing was something she’d picked up from her mother, she was sure. “Well, isn’t that crazy though? Putting your life at risk and half killing yourself to get to a dangerous place in the middle of nowhere, then find out there are no more claims to be had?”

“Crazy,” he agreed, his eyes twinkling as he smiled. “And yesterday you went whale watching?”

“In Juneau. Oh, it was amazing. We started with a lunch of king crab legs right on the dock—best crab I’ve ever eaten. And we managed to get a sunny afternoon so when we went out on the tour boat it was just gorgeous. We even saw some humpbacks bubble net-lunge feeding. Incredible. I’ll send you the video.”

“I look forward to it,” he said in a tone that held a teasing note.

She shot him a playful scowl and put on a pout. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No. Seriously, I think it’s so damn cute the way you get all excited about stuff.”

She shrugged. “Can’t help it, I’m Puerto Rican. Passion’s in the genes, baby.” It was freaking killing her not to express the passion she felt for him.

“Don’t I know it,” he said in a wry voice. He sat up taller and craned his neck, trying to get a better look at her. “What are you wearing right now, anyway?”

She blinked at the question, then narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Are you alone?” He had to be, because there was no way in hell he would ever ask such a thing if her brother was around.

“’Course I’m alone. So? What have you got on?”

“It’s a dress.”

He gave her a bland look. “I can see it’s a dress. I want to see the whole thing. Stand up and model it for me.”

Not the words of a man who was trying to distance himself from her, yet she told herself not to read too much into it.
Okay then.
She set the laptop on the foot of the bed and climbed to her feet, then proceeded to do a slow twirl in front of the screen.

Sawyer inhaled audibly, the sound incredibly gratifying and a much needed boost to her ego. “Holy hell.”

She stopped and looked back at the screen over her shoulder, arching her back a little to stick her ass out as she raised an eyebrow. If he was okay with flirting, then she was on board too.

“You like?” The black-sequin cocktail dress stopped at mid-thigh and had a plunging V neckline that showed off her figure. She’d bought it on a whim prior to leaving Miami because it made her feel sexy. From the look in Sawyer’s eyes, it looked as good to him as it made her feel.

“Sweet baby Jesus, yeah.”

Even through the monitor she could feel his gaze raking over the length of her body, sending tendrils of heat flowing across her skin. She faced him with a sultry little smile and tossed her hair back over her shoulders. “You should see what I’ve got on underneath this baby.”

He groaned and dragged a hand over his face. “Don’t say things like that when I’m stuck here hundreds of miles away from you. It’s not fair.”

She made a sympathetic face. “Poor baby.” She crawled back onto the bed, noting the way his gaze drank in every movement. “How are things there, by the way? I’ve been keeping tabs on the news and haven’t heard about anything bad happening yet.” Although she hadn’t checked the news since this morning. “The West Coast is still in one piece, I presume?”

“Yeah, it’s all good.”

His expression was neutral, his tone the same, giving away nothing. He couldn’t tell her classified information even if he’d wanted to, so she left it at that. “And what about you? How’s your shoulder?”

“Stitches are almost healed up. Doc’s gonna take them out in a couple days.” He hesitated a moment before adding, “My right shoulder’s been bugging me though.”

Uh oh. “You mean the rotator cuff issue you were having before?”

He nodded. “Aggravated it, is all. We’ve been busy around here.”

His words erased all traces of teasing and she sobered. “And have you...made any headway in whatever it was you guys were doing?”

“Some. Not as much as we’d like. But enough about that. Tell me more about what you’re wearing under that sexy excuse for a dress.”

He’d only brought that back up again to distract her. She smiled, her heart warming. Worrying about the security situation and his team’s safety was pointless, as there was nothing she could do about either of those things. She’d much rather enjoy Sawyer’s appreciative reactions to what she was wearing. “Sure you want me to show you?”

His eyes turned heavy-lidded and his voice dropped an octave. “Not sure I can handle it, actually.”

She was about to pull the strap on her left shoulder down when she heard the sound of a door opening and Sawyer’s gaze jerked sharply to the left. His face was uncharacteristically stiff as he spoke to whoever had just come in. “Hey, man.”

Before she could say anything, another voice came through in the background. “Who you talking to?”

Carmela recognized her brother’s voice and withheld a groan. They’d set up this time purposely so they both could do it in secret.
Perfect timing as usual, Ethan.

“It’s Carm.”

“Carm’s on?” Ethan’s face appeared in front of Sawyer’s a moment later, close to the screen. His expression of surprise melted away into a grin. “Hey, sis. How’s it going?”

“Great.”
Nothing to see here, Ethan. It’s totally normal for a girl to Skype with her guy
friend
at this time of night while on vacation
.

Not.

“Mom’s loving it too and is currently losing the hundred bucks she took with her to the casino.”

“No surprise there.” His smile vanished. “Glad you’re having fun, but this chat’s gonna have to be cut short because Sawyer and I need to get to a meeting.”

Worry squeezed her stomach at his grave expression. Whatever it was, it was serious and likely something to do with the terror threat. “O-okay. You guys take care of each other. Love you.”

“We always do, and love you too,” Ethan said, then disappeared out of camera range.

Sawyer’s dark eyes stared back at her. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be silly.” She felt cold suddenly, reached for the edge of the quilt to drag it over her. “Just take care of you both.”

He nodded. “I will.” His gaze flashed left as the sound of a door shutting reached her, then he looked back at her. Ethan had either left the room or gone into the bathroom, she wasn’t sure which. “Listen, I—”

He sighed and when he spoke again he dropped his voice to a deep murmur. “I don’t have time to say everything I want to, but I just wanted you to know that I’ve been thinking about us a lot the past few days.”

It was exactly what she’d been hoping he’d say, and yet more than she’d expected. Still, she wanted more. She deserved a man who wanted her enough to overcome his own bullshit. “You have?”

“Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Elation thrummed through her and a wide smile spread across her face. “Hmmm. And what have you been thinking?” Because they both knew where she stood on the matter. She didn’t know how much time they had until Ethan came back, and she needed to know where they stood before she exploded.

He darted another glance toward wherever Ethan had gone before looking back at her and continuing. “I want to be with you,” he blurted. “You and no one else.”

Carmela barely kept her mouth from falling open. That was a huge step, and one she didn’t want to take unless he truly meant it, was truly ready for it. Even while she was doing the happy dance on the inside, part of her was still skeptical. “What about Ethan?”

“I’m going to talk to him.”

Holy crap, if he was willing to face Ethan over this, then he really did mean it. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. “What changed your mind?”

“You. Well, that and I’ve finally pulled my head out of my ass.”

She laughed lightly. “It’s a damn fine ass, Sawyer, but I’m glad you did.” The pleased but slightly embarrassed smile he gave her was too adorable. “You want me to talk to Ethan?”

“No, I’ll do it. Has to come from me. First chance I get, I’ll tell him about us.”

“
No
.” He blinked in surprise at the vehemence in her tone, but she continued. “I mean, don’t you dare tell him what happened the other night.”

Sawyer snorted. “You think I’m insane?”

She laughed. “No. Okay, I was worried that’s what you meant. And for the record, I don’t want to see anyone but you. In case you were wondering.”

The smile he shot her was pure relief and it went straight to her heart. “Good.”

Oh, she loved the possessive vibe he was giving off. Just the way he said it in that low, throaty growl got her blood pumping.