“I’m not staying here.”
Chase’s dark eyes met hers. There was something in them she couldn’t read. Resigned, he reached for her bag, but Harper shook her head. “I’ve got it.” From now on, she needed to carry her own weight in every way, and all of them knew it.
Hauling her carry-on up the stairs, she went into her room to repack what she would need for their trek into the mountains. Tossing the suitcase up onto the bed, she began to go through the items she had brought. From the start, she’d believed that Michael was in very serious trouble. She’d packed accordingly.
Setting the slinky little black dress she had worn to the casino aside, ignoring the silver heeled sandals, she took out a canvas backpack and a pair of comfortable hiking boots. Socks and underwear followed, a medium-weight jacket, lightweight waterproof poncho, long-sleeved T-shirts, a pair of khaki cargo pants, black jeans, bug spray and a first-aid kit.
Separating the clothes she’d be wearing tomorrow, she tossed a few more personal items into the pack and zipped it shut. In the morning, before they set off on their trek, she’d add the pistol, Kil’s bottled water and energy bars.
When she finished, she went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, climbed under the warm spray, probably the last time for a while.
She quickly washed her hair but, afraid she’d use up all the hot water in the run-down motel, she didn’t stay in as long as she would have liked. She blow-dried her hair and pulled on a sleep T-shirt that came to midthigh and had an orange-and-green parrot on the front.
Satisfied she was ready for their trip in the morning, she flopped down on the saggy full-size bed. After another exhausting day, she was tired. The hum of the window air conditioner should have been relaxing, but instead it set her nerves on edge.
In the room next door, she could hear Chase moving around, checking his gear, same as she had done. For a while she lay there listening to his movements, remembering the way she had seen him earlier that day, dressed in camo pants and military gear, armed to the teeth.
Her stomach clenched the way it had then, and she found herself swinging her legs to the side of the bed, moving toward the door between the rooms and knocking lightly.
The door immediately swung open. Harper gasped at the sight of Chase in only a pair of jeans, the top button undone, his T-shirt gone, a fine spray of dark gold covering his bare chest. Still damp from the shower, strands of dark gold curled against the nape of his neck.
She stared at him and couldn’t seem to look away, and suddenly she felt like a fool. “I’m... I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother you. I just... I thought I’d check, see if there was anything last-minute you needed me to do.”
Chase’s intense gaze swept her from head to foot, and though the long T-shirt protected her modesty, the gleam she saw in his eyes was hotter and fiercer than ever before.
He looked as if he were trying to decide whether or not to haul her into the room and ravish her, and in a moment of clarity, she realized exactly how much she wanted him to.
“Come on in,” he finally said, though his mask of control had fallen back into place. “We’ll go over what you’ve got, see if there’s anything else you need.”
With all those beautiful muscles on display, her mouth went dry. “Okay.” He must have noticed her staring because he grabbed a short-sleeved shirt and slipped it on, but didn’t bother with the buttons.
Those hot, dark eyes settled on her breasts, braless under the T-shirt, her nipples peaked beneath the cotton fabric. Chase glanced away.
“Let’s make a quick run-through,” he said a little gruffly. “Then we both need to get some sleep. Tell me what you’re planning to take.”
She tried not to notice the bed, which suddenly seemed to dominate the room, and forced herself to concentrate. She did a quick rundown, listing everything in her pack, finishing with the first-aid kit.
“Sounds like you’ve done this before.”
She hadn’t done anything remotely like it, never even camped overnight. Her dad was a businessman. He was gone a lot, and the great outdoors weren’t high on his list of priorities. She’d day hiked, though, seen some spectacular scenery in Ecuador and also in Europe.
And having lived in a jungle village with no indoor plumbing or running water, she at least understood the conditions she would be facing.
“I already had most of what I needed. I did some research on the internet before we left Dallas to see what else I should take. I wanted to be ready for whatever might come up.”
“Smart girl.” His gaze came to rest on the peaks of her breasts. The gold in his eyes seemed to glitter, and she felt her cheeks flush. She could swear both of them were thinking about the bed just a few feet away, wondering what it would be like to be lying there together, wearing nothing at all.
She didn’t realize she had taken a step closer until she felt his hand at her waist, drawing her the last few inches to where their bodies touched.
Insanity struck. Harper went up on her toes and lightly pressed her lips to his. For a moment she was actually surprised when Chase gently returned the kiss. Then her lips softened, parted, and she opened for him, inviting him in.
Chase groaned. The next thing she knew he was roughly backing her up against the wall, his tongue in her mouth, hers in his, the kiss deep and erotic, the sexiest kiss she had ever known.
“Harper...”
“Oh, God, Chase...” She felt his mouth at the side of her neck and tipped her head back to give him better access. Hot, damp kisses trailed over her throat and shoulders. One of his big hands palmed her breast, rubbed her nipple through the cotton fabric, and the feeling was so erotic she moaned.
“We can’t do this,” he whispered, kissing her again. He nibbled her bottom lip and sank in, his lips melding perfectly with hers. He returned to her throat, nipped the side of her neck.
