Reckless Pleasures (6 page)

He held the card up. “You’re actually the only one I’ve talked to.”

“Well, thank you, then.”

She turned, sliding her cell from her holder at the same time. Two missed calls. Neither one of them from Dari. Or from Jason.

She sighed and put her phone back before heading for the car.

“Where to next, boss?” Dominic said, opening the passenger door for her.

“The first of three babysitters’.”

8

LATER THAT AFTERNOON, Megan sat alone at the command center going over her notes. She’d been so distracted throughout the day, she hadn’t given a lot of thought to the conversations she’d had or tried to take the precious little additional information she had received to the next level. Even her notes registered as chicken scratches in desperate need of an interpreter.

Unfortunately she didn’t know of any hens around up for the job.

Cocks, on the other hand…

Her throat tightened and she closed her eyes.

She’d managed to meet up with only one of the three babysitters, and the girl had been as much help as rain on picnic day. Which was understandable, because just as she and the team were investigating different angles, so too were the sheriff’s office and the FBI—which meant they were circling back to those with whom they’d already spoken and probing further. From what she could gather from this particular babysitter, they’d pushed her until she’d pushed them out.

Megan’s patience with the girl had yielded her a few extra minutes, during which she’d gotten a couple of other park locations she’d once taken Finley that weren’t already on the sheriff’s or Lazarus’s list.

Still, a check of the map showed them outside bike range for an adult, much less a seven-year-old girl.

“Don’t move…”

Her pulse leaped at the familiar voice even as she felt hands lightly touch her shoulders, moving down over her arms and then back up again, pulling her with them.

Dari…

She turned and melted into his embrace, both glad to have him back—and relieved that she felt that way.

She stayed like that for a long moment, not moving, merely reveling in the feel of him against her again, sensing the thrum of his heartbeat, breathing in the soapy scent of his skin.

She released a breath she feared she’d been holding for over four months.

“Hey, you okay?” he whispered into her ear, smoothing her hair back.

She leaned back to gaze into his all-too-handsome face, but found her throat wouldn’t allow her words.

So she nodded instead.

“Wow,” he said, grinning at her. “You did miss me, didn’t you?”

You have no idea how much,
she said silently.

She accepted his leisurely kiss, groaning at the welcome pressure of his mouth against hers. She shifted her feet for a closer meeting…and her knee hit something unexpected and hard.

She broke the kiss and looked down, finding a cast on the bottom half of his leg.

“What happened?”

His chuckle soothed her jangled nerves, but only slightly. “What, you didn’t think they’d just let me come back on leave, did you?”

She’d been so overwhelmed she hadn’t even stopped to think of why he was coming back. Only that he was.

“What happened? I mean, is it serious? Did you take a direct shot?”

A third voice sounded from the doorway. “Dumbass stepped on an IED.”

Improvised explosive devise. They peppered any area where enemy combatants were rumored to be. Megan herself had watched two of her fellow Marines lose limbs to the crude weapons. Another lost his life.

“I didn’t step on one,” Dari said, his frown bone deep. “The interpreter traveling with us did. I was right behind him.”

She didn’t ask what happened to the interpreter as she searched his face.

“Metal where my femur used to be and significant muscle loss,” he explained. “Trust me, it don’t look pretty.”

“But you have full use of your leg?”

He grinned. “I have full use of my leg.”

Jason dropped the duffel he was hauling next to them. “Good. That means you can take care of your own business from here on in.”

Megan averted her gaze, not wanting to read anything into his words, but failing.

Was she as much Dari’s business as his duffel?

“I’m starved,” Dari said, looking her over. “What’s there to eat around here?”

She got the distinct impression he wasn’t talking about food.

Jason cleared his throat. “Are we done?”

Dari looked over his shoulder. “Thanks for picking me up, Savage.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He grimaced and gave his friend a two-finger salute. “I’ll leave you two alone so you can catch up.”

Megan held her breath until they were, indeed, alone. Then she released it.

“About that food…” Dari reminded her.

“Let’s go back to my room,” she said, hooking her finger into the waist of his khakis. “I’m sure I can find somebody who’ll deliver…”

DARI LAID BACK IN BED, taking some comfort in having Megan’s body curved against him while she slept, but not much. His leg was throbbing and his head wasn’t doing much better. He’d been home for a little over six hours. Although he recognized that “home” was a relative term, because he was in Florida, not Colorado Springs.

Still, it was worlds away from the desolate, remote mountains of Waziristan, and much closer to home than he’d been two days ago.

If only he didn’t find himself back there every time he blinked.

He absently rubbed the grit from his eyes. At least a week had passed since he’d gotten more than a couple hours of sleep at a stretch. Every time he closed his eyes, he found himself walking on that remote mountain pass, his M-16 gripped tightly in his hands, sweat running down the back of his camouflage shirt. The temps ranged somewhere near a hundred and ten degrees in the shade. Not that there had been much shade to be had where they were traveling. Which made it doubly important to keep aware of every step.

Only that was hard to do when your body was screaming and there didn’t seem to be enough water in the world to quench your thirst. It had been two days since they’d stumbled across anything that remotely looked like civilized society. As you listened to the heavy breathing of those around you, as well as your own, it was all too easy to believe you were alone in the world. That nothing else existed.

Except for Megan…

He turned his head and watched her face as she slept. So beautiful.

Thoughts of her had kept him alive but hadn’t staved off the memory of the interpreter half turning just ahead of him to let everyone know that they were still five klicks away from their first stopping point, when the sun glinted off something at his feet.

Darius had shouted for him to watch out. But it was too late. His foot landed and the IED exploded…

Now he ran his hand over his face, realizing it was drenched in sweat. Although for a moment, he remembered being drenched in something else entirely.

Megan shifted against him.

“Are you okay?” she whispered, her hand shifting to lie on his chest.

“Me? Sure. What makes you ask?”

“You made a strange sound.”

“I did?”

Great.

He’d heard about flashbacks and had met with a psychologist in Germany where he’d been sent for the medical attention he required following the explosion. He’d been given a set of signs to look for indicating post-traumatic stress disorder.

Of course, he’d denied displaying any of the signs for fear that they’d keep him there longer.

At that point, all he could think about was making it back home.

Seeing Megan.

“I must have been dreaming,” he said.

“Funny, I didn’t think you were asleep.”

He smiled at her in the dark. “Funny, I thought you were.”

A twinge of pain in his leg made him wince. He considered getting the pain pills out of his bag and throwing back a couple, but decided against it. He was all too aware of how quickly someone could become addicted to those, as well, and wasn’t about to go down that road.

“You hurt?”

“A little. Nothing I can’t handle.”

The dim neon light that filtered from the bathroom window bathed her in a red glow, highlighting the sweep of her dark hair, the pointy tips of her breasts, the curve of her hip.

He swallowed hard, wanting her all over again, no matter the price he would pay when he was done.

“Do you want a couple of ibuprofen?”

Funny, he hadn’t thought of taking something a little less addictive. “That’s a good idea.”

He began to get up. She stayed him with a hand against his chest. “I’ll get them.”

He enjoyed watching her walk to the bathroom, her bare ass tight and perfect and her front just as enticing when she returned.

She handed him the two pills and a glass of water.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

She rounded the bed and climbed back into the other side, curving against him again. He put the glass down on the nightstand and then rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Having trouble sleeping?” she asked.

“Nah.”

She tilted her face to look at him.

“Okay, maybe a little. It’s been a long couple of days.”

“I bet. When’s the last time you got a good eight hours, uninterrupted?”

He recognized the question. It was one Marines asked other Marines when their capabilities were in doubt.

Of course, he and Megan weren’t on patrol, but in a Florida motel room.

Still, he was hesitant to tell her. So rather than answering directly, he said, “I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just need a little time to let my head catch up to my body.”

Since no one’s life was in his hands, he didn’t think the white lie was that big a deal. While he’d like nothing better than to go out in a few hours and find that little girl, the search couldn’t be in better hands than Megan and Jason’s.

Speaking of which…

“So how have things been working out between you and Savage since I’ve been gone?” he asked.

She didn’t answer for a long moment and the fingers she moved across his chest stilled.

“That bad, huh?”

“What?” She blinked.

“You and Savage.”

“Oh. No. Actually, we’ve gotten along better than I would have ever thought.”

He waited for her to continue. She didn’t.

“I figured you guys would have been butting heads within five minutes.”

“Me, too.”

Her hand dipped a little lower on his abdomen. The air hissed between his teeth.

She smiled. “Now, my question is—do you really want to talk about business? Or shall we, um, continue catching up on pleasure?”

He grinned at her. “I don’t know. Why don’t you help me decide.”

She curved her fingers around him, causing his semi-erect cock to instantly go fully rigid. She moved her hand slowly up, then down again, rubbing the pad of her thumb over the head.

Dari clenched his back teeth together, need for this one woman overwhelming every other thought in his head and pain in his body.

She leaned up and kissed him.

“Enough persuasion?” She squeezed him. “Or do you need more?”

“Depends.”

She raised a brow. “Oh? On what?”

“On what else you’re offering…”

He made out her half smile in the dim light. Then she ran her tongue along the width of his chest, trailing a path down to where he already wanted her more than a man should want any woman.

At the warm, wet feel of her mouth on him, he let out a low groan, wishing the moment could last forever….