Fire and Desire (Arabesque) (12 page)

A deep, penetrating heat seeped through Corinthians’s body as she continued to gaze into Trevor’s eyes. “No.”

Slowly, Trevor leaned closer to her. He reached out and took her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look even deeper into his eyes. “Because we’re attracted to each other. You might be in love with someone else, but you’re attracted to me. Just like I’m attracted to you. That kind of attraction can only lead to one thing. And I think you’ll agree that we have a score to settle.”

An unexpected tormenting pain swept through Corinthians at the thought that Trevor felt what was happening between them amounted to nothing more than a score to settle. “You think a woman can be that fickle and love one man yet be deeply attracted to another?” she asked quietly. Her lashes flickered downward, shielding her gaze from his.

“I wouldn’t call it being fickle. I think of it as having shaky and unsteady emotions. Few things are solid as a rock, especially love.”

Corinthians wondered what had happened during his lifetime to make him feel that way. But with Trevor’s mouth leaning closer to hers, she didn’t want to dwell on the things they were talking about any longer.

“I want you, Corinthians, so I guess my attraction to you is pretty solid since it has lasted nearly two years,” he said in a deep voice, leaning even closer to her.

Corinthians didn’t want to admit it, but her want of him seemed pretty solid, too.

“Somehow and someway you’ve gotten into my system, and I refuse to let you stay there. I know of only one way to get you out, and that’s by making love to you,” Trevor added hoarsely.

“To settle a score?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, he just gazed at her. The only sounds were those of the birds flying overhead and other distant sounds of the forest. It seemed that suddenly everything else got quiet. Desire clouded Corinthians’s eyes.

Her grip on reality wavered when Trevor leaned even closer to her, and the first thing she thought was that even after just washing off in the stream, he smelled tantalizingly male. She held his gaze and wished her mind wasn’t so quick to remember the way his mouth tasted the last time they’d kissed, all hot and spicy. And she wished, with all the strength she possessed, that she didn’t reciprocate the hot, fiery look of fire and desire in his eyes.

A shudder of unleashed passion tore through her the moment Trevor touched his mouth to hers. He tilted her head up to have full access to her mouth as his warm and tender lips took total control of hers. It moved gently back and forth slowly. The gentleness in his kiss was so different from the last one they had shared that night after returning from São Paulo. Then, his kiss had been hot, urgent and intense.

Corinthians let herself go, holding nothing back as she willingly returned it, accepting his tongue when he flicked it inside her mouth. She held on to it as sensation after sensation began at the top of her head and rapidly spread down to her toes.

She didn’t know Trevor had pulled her to her feet until she felt the roughness of the tree against her back. But the slight discomfort didn’t matter. At the moment, nothing mattered. She was in too deep a state of sensual bliss. Her mind and her body were consumed with the taste of Trevor in her mouth and the feel of his hard body pressing against her.

Deep inside her, nerve ending pleasure threatened to explode to the point that she felt her knees buckle. But Trevor’s firm hands held her as he continued to kiss her. Then, suddenly, the tempo of the kiss changed and his mouth became firmer and demanding.

It became solid.

Instinctively, she pressed her body closer to his, mindless of the fact that his wet clothing was soaking through to the T-shirt she wore. She returned his kiss, stroke for stroke, caress for caress, the action making heated and unsaturated desire flow through her entire body.

And when she felt the light touch of his finger on her thigh, the part of her not covered by his T-shirt, she nearly lost it and released a deep, throaty moan. She wound her arms around his neck, as the fire he had started within her became an all-consuming flame.

A sudden sound of rustling leaves brought Trevor to full awareness. He broke off their kiss. His senses were instantly put on alert and he quickly turned around. “Shh,” he whispered. “I think we have company.”

No sooner had Trevor whispered those words than a huge man appeared from behind a thicket of trees.

And he was holding a gun on them.

T
he man began speaking in rapid Portuguese. From the tone of his voice and the look on his face, Corinthians knew that whatever orders he was giving them, he wanted them followed. She also knew from the defiant stiffening of Trevor’s body that he did not intend to be obedient.

A lump of fear formed in her throat and terror ripped through her heart. She tightened her grip on Trevor when the man barked another order at them. “Who is he and what does he want?” she whispered in Trevor’s ear, looking past him to the man. Deep down she knew the answer to both questions, but asked anyway on the slight chance she was wrong.

“He’s one of the terrorists, and he wants you,” Trevor said quietly. “But don’t worry, to get you he’ll have to kill me first.” He chuckled lightly. “Although from the looks of things, he may be planning to do that anyway.”

Corinthians’s heart thumped against her rib cage. She wondered how Trevor could make light of their situation when every fiber of her body was quaking with fear. She tensed even more when the man barked yet another order at them.

“He wants you to move away from me,” Trevor said steadily. “And I advise you to do what he says. I doubt he’ll harm you since he’s gone to a lot of trouble to find you.”

Corinthians wasn’t so sure of that. A vicious glint shone in the man’s eyes, and his cheek muscles stood out when he clenched his jaw. Realization struck her. The man may not intend to hurt her, but from the cold, hard look he was giving Trevor, there was no doubt in her mind he intended to hurt Trevor once she got out of the way. And she wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I won’t move, and you can tell him that for me.” She tried to make her voice sound forceful and commanding, but knew she had failed. Even to her own ears, it sounded weak and shaky. She moved closer to Trevor, pressing her chest against his solid back. Then in an act of defiance, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Trevor swore and his muscles tightened. “Do what he says, Corinthians.”

“No!”

“Do it!”

“I won’t! If I move out of the way, he’ll hurt you.”

Trevor knew there was a strong possibility what she’d just said was true. But he didn’t have time to dwell on that fact now. What he had to do was concentrate on the man. He wanted to be ready to take advantage of any mistake the man made that could be used against him.

It appeared he was a South American. His face was like a hard mask. He had a mustache that looked like it had been marked by a felt tip pen and a nose so sharp it could probably slice cheese. The hand that held the gun was steady…too steady, Trevor thought. The man apparently wasn’t nervous, which meant he evidently felt he had everything under his complete control. It was then that Trevor noticed the gun was not an automatic.

Trevor’s eyes narrowed when the overconfident man took a few steps forward. The look on his face indicated he wasn’t happy that Corinthians had not followed his order. “Do what he says, Corinthians,” Trevor said curtly, prying her arms from around him. “Now.”

“But—”

“Just do it and move away slowly. We don’t want to agitate him any more than we already have. I’ll get us out of this mess, trust me.”

Cold chills touched Corinthians’s body. Fear knotted even more inside of her. Slowly, reluctantly, she eased from behind Trevor and moved away from him. And as she did so, the man kept his gun carefully aimed on Trevor. But the terrorist made the mistake, just for a split second, of shifting his eyes from Trevor to Corinthians, clearly interested in how the wet T-shirt clung to her curvaceous body.

Unknown to Corinthians, that distraction was the man’s mistake, and the one Trevor had been waiting for and immediately took advantage of.

She watched in utter amazement as Trevor’s body twirled in quick, rapid, fluent motion. His movement was so sudden and so swift, she didn’t have time to blink. He was using some type of martial arts she’d never seen before. He swung his right foot up in the air to knock the gun from the terrorist’s hands, making the blow connect with the lower part of the man’s body. Then Trevor’s left foot immediately followed with a sharp kick to the man’s face. In pain, the man doubled over and dropped to his knees, then fell flat on his face.

Moving quickly, Trevor picked up the gun and stuffed it in the waist of his pants. “Bring me the thick cord from my bag,” he called over his shoulder to Corinthians. “We need to tie him up before he comes to. Then we need to pack up our things and leave here as soon as possible. There are two others out there somewhere, and I don’t plan to get caught off guard again. We have to put a lot of distance between us and them.”

When Corinthians handed him the cord he’d asked for, he looked up at her. He could tell she was trying desperately to hold herself together. It should never have come down to this. If he hadn’t been so intent on finding pleasure in her arms, he would have been on his guard. But he hadn’t been, and because of it, he had placed them both in inexcusable danger. Her safety hinged on him being alert and on guard at all times. He didn’t need any distractions. It wasn’t her fault that she was the most desirable woman he’d ever met. Nor was it her fault that he wanted her in a way he’d never wanted a woman before. And it certainly wasn’t her fault that he was falling for her…and hard. He remembered how she had refused to move from behind him when she thought that his life was in danger. She had put her arms around him to protect him. The thought of her doing that touched him.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the cord from her and using it to tie up the man. “Do you think you’re up to doing some more walking?”

“Yes, but we won’t have much daylight left.”

“I know, but it’s something we have to do, even if we have to travel during the night.”

Trevor looked down at the unconscious man. When he had feasted his beady eyes on Corinthians, and Trevor had seen the sudden lustful look in them, something inside him had snapped. As far as he was concerned, the man was lucky he was still alive. If he had touched his woman…

His woman?
Now where did that thought come from? Corinthians Avery was not his woman. It had been years since he had thought of any woman as being his. He had always preferred being noncommittal in any relationship, since he never liked being tied down to any one woman. He couldn’t boast of having the player-player reputation Clayton Madaris used to have, but he had never gone lacking for female companionship, with no strings attached, whenever he’d wanted it.

“Corinthians?”

When she didn’t answer him right away, he turned his attention to her. He noticed her eyes were glued to the unconscious man tied up tight on the ground.

He sighed. The last thing he needed was for her to start freaking out on him, getting nervous, scared and jumpy. “Corinthians, how about gathering up our things so we can leave as soon as I finish up here.”

She managed a nod.

His hand shot out and stopped her when she turned to walk away. Startled, she looked up at him. “Everything’s going to be all right. We’re in this together, and we’ll make it back home. Trust me.”

A faint, nervous smile wobbled on her mouth. “I do trust you, Trevor.” Then she turned and walked away.

Rasheed Valdemon checked his watch. He had hoped to receive a call from Santini more than an hour ago. He walked over to the window and looked out. It was a beautiful night. The stars were as bright as he had seen them one night in his homeland. He was touched with a sense of loneliness and compassion for Mowaiti and his people. They needed so much and he wanted to give them so much.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a movement. Without turning around, he said, “What is it, Swalar?”

“I’m not Swalar. I told him that I would announce myself.”

Rasheed swung around. “Why are you here, Yasir?”

The older man closed the door before walking farther into the room. The expression he wore was furious. “How dare you do the very thing that I warned you not to do?”

Rasheed shrugged. “I have no idea what you are talking about, Yasir.”

Yasir’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying that you know nothing about the terrorist attack in Rio? And the fact that a number of Americans were taken as hostages? There is a possibility that Senator Joshua Avery’s sister was among them?”

Rasheed’s expression showed no emotion. “That is unfortunate.”

Yasir’s gaze darkened. “Yes, it is, and I think you are taking it extremely well for a man who was hot on her heels just a few weeks ago.”

Rasheed frowned. “You evidently misread my interest.”

“No, Rasheed, I do not think so. And I hope you had nothing to do with what happened in Rio. Because if you did—”

“I had nothing to do with what happened in Rio, Yasir.”

Yasir gazed at him with deadly concentration. A muscle flicked angrily at his jaw. “I hope you are being honest with me. If I find out you are lying, and that you have risked the peace and tranquility we have shared with this country for a number of years, I’ll have your father place you in exile.”

Rasheed’s anger flared. He knew it was not a threat to be taken lightly. Yasir had great influence over his father. “You have no right to threaten me, Yasir.”

“I have every right. Just remember you are the prince and not the king. Your father will do as I advise him. He will not let you cause him embarrassment in this country. So for your sake, Rasheed, I hope you have told me the truth and you were not involved.”

Yasir turned and, after opening the door, walked out of the room.

The two men exchanged salutes.

“Good evening, sir. Welcome back.”

“Good evening, Snow. I understand there was quite a bit of action around here while I was away. Who’s handling the investigation on that terrorist attack in Rio?”

“Captain Richards of the Army Green Beret is heading that, sir. And I understand he’s narrowed down the list of people who were registered at the hotel but not yet accounted for.”

Colonel Ashton Sinclair nodded gravely. Things were always touchy in any type of terrorist attack. He was glad Richards was working on identifying those taken as hostages. It was of the utmost importance that the State Department officially notified their families. “Let Richards know I’ve returned and that the Marines will assist with the investigation in any way we can. The Pentagon is antsy about this one, especially with the number of Americans involved.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Snow, I have quite a lot of paperwork to go through this evening. Make sure I’m not disturbed unless it’s of grave importance.”

“Yes, sir.”

Colonel Ashton Sinclair walked into his office and closed the door behind him.