Stowaway (12 page)

“That’s fine for now. You just have to start using it more,” she said. “The skin has healed, but the muscle tissue needs to be flexed.”

They held each other as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Lamanto dropped his head onto hers and nuzzled her hair. He inhaled her scent just as she’d done with him.

“I owe the quick recovery to
la
mia infermiera d’angelo
.”

Keri lifted her head and looked at him. Between the two of them, she had the more pronounced accent with her strong Southern drawl. But whatever he’d called her sounded beautifully smooth and seductive. “You speak Italian?”

“Fluently. My parents insisted.”

“Translation?”

“Angel nurse.” His eyes lit with amusement. “When you sang in the car on the way up here, I mistook you for an angel.”

“You thought you’d died?”

“Until you woke me with a gun. A really rude awakening, I might add. Then I decided a nurse might be more helpful than an angel.”

“Thus the angel nurse?”

He nodded, locking gazes with her. They stared into each other’s eyes for another long, searching moment.

“I’d like to kiss
la mia infermiera d’angelo
.”

Without waiting for her response, he dropped his mouth to hers. Keri closed her eyes as their lips met for the first time in a long, slow, searching kiss. They took their time nibbling, licking, exploring, savoring. She welcomed his tongue with hers and softly sucked at the offering.

He made a rough sound, shifting her in his arms to mold her closer to his body. She tightened her grip and kissed him without reservation, opening herself to deeper exploration of her mouth, cheeks and tongue.

They eventually broke off the kiss to drag in air, but he used the time peppering kisses on her cheeks, chin and neck. She shivered when he nibbled the pulse beating wildly there and returned the favor, spreading kisses over his face and neck.

Her unbound breasts plumped against the fabric of her sweatshirt, her nipples tingling as they tightened with arousal. Nick slipped a hand under her shirt, first caressing the skin over her ribs and then cupping a breast in his hand. Keri gasped as pleasure spiraled through her entire body. Days of involuntary yearning sneaked up on her and had her moving against him with catlike sensuality.

He made a needy sound as she pressed closer and captured her lips again. She teased him with her tongue, and he welcomed it into his mouth. When he sucked on it, she felt the pull deep into the pit of her stomach. He rocked his hips, pressing his erection near the throbbing ache between her thighs. The hard evidence of his desire felt wonderful, and she moved against him with matching need.

They moaned in unison, but the proof of their escalating hunger reminded her why she couldn’t let nature take its course. Why she had to put an end to it.

Pulling her lips from his, she slowly eased back in his arms and looked into his eyes. The dark, swirling passion she saw made her both reluctant to end the embrace and more determined it needed to be done.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his tone low and deep. He didn’t try to hold her when she stepped out of his arms and dropped hers to her sides. “I hurt you? Scared you?”

She shook her head and started to speak, but had to clear the huskiness from her throat. “No. Neither. I’m sorry. I just shouldn’t have let things go so far when I have no intention of having sex with you. I’m not a tease.”

He studied her for a long moment, his gaze gradually clearing. “Fair enough,” he said, “but for the record, I’m not the type of guy who expects sex every time he gets aroused.”

His words eased her mind and boosted her respect for him another notch. It edged higher each day spent with him. Her face lit with a relieved smile. “Fair enough,” she repeated his husky phrase and searched for a way to dispel the tension.

“I’ll help you get into your shirt.”

She picked it up from the back of the sofa and eased it over his bad arm. He shrugged into the other arm and she fastened the buttons.

“I need to do laundry tomorrow since you only have two sets of clothes. I’ll wash your jeans again and maybe get rid of the rest of the blood stains.”

Lamanto nodded and moved around the sofa to toss a log on the fire. She followed him, taking her usual seat on the sofa with her legs curled under her. Some evenings they read and sometimes they spent the evening talking.

They shared a lot of the same views on politics and religion, but had varying opinions on other important issues like healthcare reform and immigration. Not surprising since they lived in two different worlds. Even though they sometimes disagreed and shared some heated debates, they respected each other’s right to a differing viewpoint.

Using the poker to stir the ashes of the fire, Lamanto started the conversation by mentioning her vacation status. “Your dad must have decided to give you some space,” he said. “We haven’t had any unexpected visitors for a couple days.”

“I’m sure Russ let him know I’m okay and baking pies. I hadn’t done that since Mom died.”

“So, he’d consider it a good thing? A healing, of sorts?”

“Yes. I’m sure he would. I know Dad didn’t want me to come up here alone, but I think he understands.”

“You think Russ went back to town and reported to your dad? I thought he told you he’s living at the camp?”

“I doubt if he actually went to town. They’d have communicated by CB radio.”

“Citizen band? I don’t know much about ’em. Are the signals strong here in the mountains?” he asked, taking a seat in the recliner.

“I guess it depends on the height of the antennas or towers or whatever. I don’t understand the technology. I just know there’s a huge new tower at Russ’s camp. It’s taller than the highest trees, and I imagine he can send signals across several States.”

“Really high frequency, you think? Is there any way to send private signals?”

“I have no idea. I’d think anybody with the right equipment could hear any message, but I could be wrong.”

“If we turn your radio on, can we listen to what others are saying?”

“Sometimes, but it depends on a lot of factors. Our antenna is old and rusty. The radio equipment isn’t in great repair. Weather is an issue too, especially if the winds are high.”

“Maybe I’ll play with it tomorrow. Will anyone know if we have an open frequency?”

Keri shrugged. “I don’t know, but I don’t want anyone to think I’m in trouble or calling for help. I have my own plans for tomorrow.”

“What’s up?”

“I want to go back to the ravine where Mom and I had the wreck. I need to see it.” She both dreaded and welcomed the chance to revisit the ravine.

“More of the healing process?”

Keri turned her head, avoiding his probing stare. As she watched the fire dancing in the fireplace, she acknowledged the truth to both of them. “I didn’t realize I needed to heal more, but I guess I do.”

“And getting some answers is part of the process?”

She nodded. “I hope it jolts my memory. If I go there, maybe I’ll remember who she spoke to that night. Whoever it was, she trusted him, and he or someone with him that night didn’t hesitate to push her to her death.”

“I’ve dealt with fanatics in the past,” he offered tentatively. “They honestly believe anything, including murder, is justifiable when the cause is important enough.”

“You’re defending my mother’s killer?”

“Hell no, I’m just trying to help you make sense of a senseless murder. Considering the violence of the crime, I’m guessing it’s someone maniacally devoted to a cause.”

“What kind of cause justifies killing a friend?”

“I wish the hell I knew.”

“How far is the ravine? Are you walking or driving?” Nick asked the next morning. The sun shone brightly and the temps had risen steadily over the last twenty-four hours. Keri declared the weather back to normal September standards.

“I think I’ll walk,” she said, pushing her feet into sneakers.

She’d shed her heavy sweats for jeans and a pale yellow T-shirt. The front said
ER Nurse
. On the back, it said
Here to save your ass, not kiss it
. He loved it. The phrase suited his
infermiera d’angelo
, a strong, smart, confident woman who didn’t abide fools. She didn’t have a pretentious cell in her body. The tough exterior might protect a wounded heart, but she didn’t welcome anyone’s pity.

Nick really liked the way her jeans and shirt hugged her nicely rounded figure. He’d enjoyed watching her move around the kitchen while she cooked them a mushroom and cheese omelet. Every movement of her compact body enticed him a little more.

He hadn’t joined her in bed last night as he had every other night they’d spent at the cabin. After the evening’s heated embrace, he hadn’t trusted himself to cuddle all night. He wanted her badly but wanted to respect her desire to keep it platonic. He would. Even if it killed him. And the way he felt right now, it damned well might.

“I’ll have to do some grocery shopping soon too. We’re running out of everything.”

“How far is the closest grocery?”

“I can pick up necessities at the truck stop and gas station on the main highway. It’s less than ten miles. It’s a good half-hour to a supermarket.”

“How far is the ravine?”

“It’s about a half mile down this road and then another half mile up the opposite road. The fork is narrow, and it’s easy to make a wrong turn, especially when the foliage is overgrown at the intersection. I’ve done it myself a couple times when I wasn’t paying close enough attention.”

“So no one questioned the fact that your mom took the wrong road?”

“No. The road to this cabin is more of an offshoot of the main one. Nearly everyone has overshot it at some point.”

Nick heard the tension in her voice and knew how hard it must be to face the scene of the crime. Her mood had been subdued this morning, and he wanted to ease the strain.

“I’ll go with you. I need some exercise anyway. One more day of confinement, and I’ll be climbing the walls.”

Their gazes met, and she stared at him for a long time. “You can’t risk being seen.”

“I’ll stay out of sight or just hide if we hear a vehicle approaching.”

“What if we run into Russ and his warriors?”

He hadn’t thought about the militia men. “Think they’ll be patrolling their perimeters?”

She shrugged. “Who knows? They didn’t look like hunters or fisherman. What else would they do day after day, night after night, holed up on this mountain?”

Good question. Another one he wanted answered as soon as possible. Deciding to drop the subject, he watched her get ready to leave. She pulled on a light jacket. The action stretched her breasts taut against her shirt, reminding him of having the firm fullness pressed against his bare chest. He closed his fist, remembering the satiny feel of her skin with its diamond-hard nipple. His pulse hitched and blood heated. Every move she made had him wanting her more.

Keri shot him a strange look. “I won’t be long.”

“Okay.”

As soon as the front door closed, he grabbed his jeans from the back porch where she’d hung them to dry. He tugged off the sweat pants, struggled into the stiff denim, and shoved his feet into tight leather loafers. His high-dollar shoes hadn’t faired too well in mud and water. The hooded sweatshirt went on easier. Then he collected her dad’s gun from the first-aid kit and tucked it into the waistband at the small of his back.

When he finally moved to the front room window, he saw Keri disappearing behind a cluster of trees at the end of the clearing. She carried a large stick and prodded the ground ahead of her. Probably watching out for snakes, he thought. He hoped she scared them away because he sure as hell didn’t want to encounter any of ’em. He had a gun but strictly for emergency. Using it would bring the whole militia down from their mountain lair.

He followed her quickly, relieved she never looked back. The foliage grew so thick along the road he didn’t have trouble staying hidden. She didn’t move nearly as fast as she had when she’d gone to collect apples. He wondered how badly she dreaded going back to the ravine.

The accident haunted her. That much he knew. He’d heard rumors of the weeks she’d spent in the hospital and months of physical therapy after the wreck. It took courage to face that kind of nightmare head-on.

It made him proud to know her. And that made him frown. He had no right to feel proud of her, yet he did. He felt a whole lot more than he should for his
infermiera d’angelo
. Complications. He’d always avoided emotional complications in his work. Now duty and desire had gotten all tangled.

In addition to being seriously hot for her body, he enjoyed every minute they spent together. He liked her independent spirit and her sharp mind. She challenged him with the mental sparring, and he never got tired of listening to her soft, sexy drawl.

She’d advised him against following her, so he kept his distance. Vegetation encroached over most of the road, but Keri had trampled a path. When he reached the fork, he caught sight of her again. She reversed directions and headed north. He waited, listening carefully for traffic, and then made the turn himself.

Despite the mud and gravel on the new fork, Nick soon felt the change in pavement under his feet. This section had an extra layer of blacktop, more recently poured. To support heavy-duty trucks? Could Keri and her mom have happened on a work crew the night of the wreck? Or maybe even an arms shipment?

They’d gone a few hundred feet when her pace slowed even more. He stayed hidden on the left side of the road and watched her approach the guard rail on the right side. The ravine couldn’t be seen from his vantage point, only the repaired and reinforced railing.

As he watched, hoping he hadn’t buried himself in a cluster of some kind of poison, she stiffened her spine and walked to the center of the guardrail. It came to her waist, and she grasped it with both hands. Her head slowly moved back and forth as she surveyed the overgrown, boulder-lined ravine.

He saw her shudder and ached to hold her, to offer support while she faced her demons. It had crushed him earlier in the week when she’d shared her pain over her mom’s death. He didn’t like to see her hurting and didn’t want her dealing with the trauma alone. He started to go to her when he heard the rumble of an oncoming vehicle.