Wanted (5 page)

“He can hear
anything you might want to say.”

“Are you sure?
Do you really want your friend to know what a jerk you are?”

“I’ll step down
to my room,” Travers said, “I need to check the news anyway.”

He left,
patting Tierney’s shoulder like a concerned father as he passed her.

“What’s your
problem?” Kiel asked with a snarl, his perfect profile pointed towards the
heavens. Even in the dim moonlight he took her breath away; made it hard to
keep up the angry stance.

“You don’t
know? Are you clueless, or just brain dead?”

“So you wanted
me. I obliged.”

“And that’s it?
Did you even consider using protection?”

“I figured a
girl like you would be using something. You are living with that piano player.”

“He’s a world
class pianist!” she huffed.

“Whatever. I
watched some clips from your show online. He seems like a world class ass to
me.”

“You watched
it? Why?”

“I wanted to
see who you are.”

“The diva on
that show isn’t me. It’s edited to look a certain way. I get the worst of the
cuts, to make me seem selfish and shallow.”

“And you’re
not?”

“No, well,
maybe I am a little too used to getting my own way. I had a bad childhood …”

“So who
didn’t?”

“Right. But I
thought I’d make up for it by having everything I wanted.”

“Did it work?”

“No.” She
scooted closer to him, breathing in the sea air and the wonderful dusky scent
of his body. “Why did you leave me, Kiel? Was I awful at it?”

He dared to
look down into her green, glistening eyes. He sighed, deeply, giving her hope
that there was some feeling in him for her.

“You were good.
But you know that. Girls like you bank on that.”

“I don’t know
what you mean.”

“You learn all
the tricks to pleasing a man, so you can really hit him hard; leave him begging
for more, caught in your snare like a starving dog after your bones. But I
can’t play that game, Tierney. I’m sorry it looked like I was using you. I
wasn’t. I wanted you too, since the second I laid eyes on you. But lust is easy
to satisfy …”

“It was more
than lust for me.”

“How could it
be? You don’t know me.”

“I knew all I
needed to know the minute I saw your eyes.”

“Real life
doesn’t work that way.”

“Maybe for some
it does. It hasn’t for me before. But this time I’m certain of my feelings. And
I know they won’t change no matter what you do or say. I love you, Kiel. And if
that makes me stupid, fine. But it’s just the way it is.”

“I can’t accept
that. I …” he paused, his chest shaking with a sudden, tangible pain, “I can’t
let you into my world, Tierney. It’s a lonely, ugly place.”

“It couldn’t be
any worse than what I’m going through now. Somebody wants me dead, Kiel. I’m
scared. And I don’t know who I can trust.”

“You can’t
trust me. And you can’t love me. Go on down to your room. It’ll be daylight
soon.”

He moved past
her, disappeared into the hull. Tierney glanced round, wet-eyed, at the smiling
moon and dancing stars. The hint of a sun was rising in the east. She felt
utterly, miserably alone.

Late morning
found Tierney sitting at a table in the boat’s galley, sipping good coffee and
munching on chocolate donuts fried by Travers.

“Like them?”

“Um hum, they’re
great! You could spoil a girl with this kind of food. I’ll bet I’ve gained five
pounds since I met you.”

“Wouldn’t hurt
you to gain five more! You rich girls are too skinny. You know, in my youth,
there were ads in the backs of comic books, selling stuff that made you gain
weight so you’d attract more fellas? Man, have times changed!”

“Blame it on
the fashion mags. And
Hollywood
. I actually had anorexia when I
was thirteen. My parents were trying to turn me into the next Margot Fonteyn …
you know, the ballerina? And I starved myself sick hoping it would make me
lighter on my feet; which it didn’t! It only made me so weak I couldn’t stand,
much less dance!” She made sure Kiel wasn’t near then she whispered: “Tell me
more about him, Travers.”

“Like what?”

“Like …
everything!”

“Nah, no doing,
girl. If you want to know the lowdown on
Kiel
Fortune, you’ll
have to get it straight from him! I’m not one for telling tales.”

“You are.
You’re afraid of him, that’s all.”

“Maybe I am.”

She was
frowning at him when
Kiel
came into the galley. Her heart began
to flap wildly in her chest as she stared at him. Ever shirtless, sweat beading
on his sexy muscled arms and midriff; he snitched a couple of donuts and a cup
of coffee, headed for the living room.

“Too good to
eat with us?” Tierney hissed.

“No, I just
came in here to check on the news. Everybody thinks you’re dead. Someone saw
you leave with Travers. Then the report came in about his yacht blowing up.”

She jumped up,
hurried to the satellite TV. “I’m dead? Wow. That means I could restart my
whole existence, doesn’t it?”

“Would you want
to?”

“Hell, yes! I’d
like to live a life where nobody wants to kill me!”

Travers joined
them as they listened to a pert newswoman with faked concern in her voice.
“Yes, it appears that reality star Tierney Evans is dead, killed in a horrible
explosion on a yacht at sea, though no bodies have been found. Why she was on
the yacht, and the cause of the explosion, are not clear. But recently the
billionaire heiress just missed being killed by a bomb planted on her car. Join
us later this evening when our ace reporter, Hawk Greeley, speculates on these
matters in his special report: Who Wanted Tierney Evans Dead?”

Tierney sighed
as
Kiel
clicked off the TV. “Maybe I should watch Hawk’s special.
I’d like to know who wants me dead, too. I dated him once, back when he was
still pretending to be straight.”

“Who haven’t
you dated?”

“There’s no
call for that,
Kiel
. The child is shaking so bad I can hear her
knees knocking. Be nice.”

“I didn’t mean
anything.” He stood, she squinted her eyes as she followed him up. “I’m sorry,
Tierney. We all have a lot of baggage. I have no right putting you down.”

“No, you
don’t!” she spat and walked back to the galley. She was wearing the pink polka
dot bikini and shorts.
Kiel
tagged along behind her; she turned,
almost bumped into him. She noticed he was moving his gazes along the crest of
her cleavage. He licked his lips, she tingled. It was really going to be hard
to keep her hands off of him.

“Did you say we
were going to your … hacienda?”

“Yeah, it’s in
Baja, near the sea. My folks had it built there forty years ago.”

“Your … oh,
Travers told me about them. They died in an earthquake?”

He threw
Travers a fierce glance. “Yeah, they did. They were explorers and philanthropists.
They were down in
Chile
doing some work for Unicef in the 90s
when a big quake hit.”

“I’m sorry. You
were just a kid, right?”

“Sure, but I
survived. A person can survive anything if they try.”

“Oh, Travers,
what about your family? Won’t they believe you’re dead, too?”

He entered the
galley. “I called them last night, made sure they knew I was okay, and that
they needed to pretend I wasn’t … for awhile. The cops had already been to see
them once. They probably will again.”

“I hate that
you two were dragged into this mess! Maybe I should go home and try to
straighten it all out.”

“No, I don’t
want you stepping into any more booby traps. We’ll all be safer at my house.”

He went on deck
without explaining.

“What’s he
mean? Is someone after him, too?”

“I’m afraid
we’ve all stepped on some booby traps, Tierney. Do you think you can handle it
if things get rough?”

“What choice do
I have?”

“Good girl.
Have another donut?”

She shook her
head, wondering what sort of danger she was in now.

Kiel’s hacienda
was more like a palatial fortress; made of concrete with white, hand-veneered
plaster, a red tile roof, brightly colored tile floors throughout, sturdy,
comfortable furnishings, with a secure wall surrounding the property. The
interior of the grounds was lush and cool, thanks to a mango orchard, a stone
fountain and long, lazy palm trees. There was even a freshwater pond full of
fat, happy koi.

“I thought you
were kind of a …”

“What, a
drifter?”

“Well, yeah,
you seemed down on your luck, anyway. How can you afford this place?”

“It was built
by my parents. I told you that. My great granddaddy got rich in South American
oil.”

“Oh.
Kiel
,
did your parents love you?”

“They said they
did. Why?”

“I was just
wondering.”

He led her and
Travers through the enormous foyer and up a winding staircase to their rooms.

“I think I’ll
take a nap
Kiel
. It’s been a hard week.”

“Sure, bud,
I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”

Kiel
opened a door near the back of the house and ushered Tierney in. “How do you
like it?”

She walked in,
examined the giant carved wooden bed and elaborate furniture then she tested
the veranda, smiled at its seaview.

“It’ll do, I
suppose.”

“You know you
like it.”

She smiled
again. “I do. I can’t understand why you’d leave it. If it was mine, I don’t
think I ever would!”

“I thought that
way, a long time ago. But then I made some bad mistakes …”

“What mistakes?
Tell me, please? I’d like to help you if I could.”

He watched her
mouth as she talked; his gaze intense, hungry. If he could let his guard down
long enough she knew she could make him love her.

“No one can
help me now. I’ve put off facing my demons for too long. I only hope they
didn’t track us here. I’ll send my housekeeper up with some fresh clothes. I
know you’re probably sick of wearing that bikini.”

“Don’t you like
the way it looks on me?”

“Don’t flirt,
Tierney. It’s useless.”

He left her on
the veranda, smarting. How a man could turn it off and on like a faucet, she
did not know. Then she felt a bit guilty, realizing how often she’d done the
same thing in her own life.

After an early
dinner of roast chicken with mango salsa and a cinnamon rice dessert, Travers
and
Kiel
retired to the study, to check the news reports.
Tierney, wearing a crisp blue sundress and espadrilles, explored the grounds,
enjoying a tiny bit of freedom in Kiel’s lush, protected world. She fed the koi,
freeing the gardener to attend to other chores then she watched a perfect
sunset in miserable solitude.

“He should be
here with me,” she sighed. Then she decided to search out the study.

***

Kiel
was
alone with his eyes closed, sipping a beer as he listened to some smooth jazz
on a radio. He was sitting on an upholstered chair, one leg swung over the arm
of it. His thoughts were on Tierney again. He kept going over their lovemaking
in his mind, seeing it happen in a delicious slow motion. He couldn’t get over
how good she was; how every move she made suited him perfectly. She’d given him
the best damn orgasm of his life. Even better, he sadly admitted, than any he’d
had with Jeri, though it seemed somehow sacrilegious to think it.

He wondered if
he was doing the right thing in keeping her there. Joe and the others were
bound to catch up with him. They would probably feel safe in making a full-on
attack in
Mexico
, since they had connections with some high ups
in the military. He’d made a bad move, going down there, he was certain of it
now.

***

Tierney entered
the study without a sound, stood staring at Kiel who was still engulfed in the
rhythm of the music, his eyes shut tight, his leg still thrown over the chair
arm. She gulped as she made out the line of him going down long next to the
seam of his crotch.

“Is he thinking
about me?” she grinned, knowing what she had to do.

She quietly
pushed the door to and locked it. Then she walked about the paneled room,
closing the shutters. She accidentally knocked a silver lighter off its perch
on a side table.
Kiel
stirred, cleared his eyes. She was standing
right in front of him. Their gazes met; Tierney breathed deeply, kicked off her
espadrilles and dropped the dress to the tile floor.

Kiel
took more than a moment to admire the vision before him. Her nipples hardened
under his stare. She moved towards him, eased his leg off of the chair arm and
unzipped him. Then she took him in her luscious mouth and tasted him like
candy. He groaned, grasped her shoulders with firm hands, holding her there
until he was on the edge of imploding. Then he lifted her hips, sat her on him
and slid her up and down as his kisses smothered her sighs. His fingers delved
deep into her, manipulated her with a deft touch. She couldn’t take it – began
to wail and twitch. Her movements sent him over the edge; he grunted hard and
loud, banging her bottom against his thighs until they came together in a hot,
sweaty song of passion.