She sucked in a deep breath along with courage to tell her most personal life stories. The ones that carved her childhood into one she never wanted her future children to live.
“I’ve never had many people I could trust. Never had one best friend. Never even one serious boyfriend who lasted more than a few dates.
“Sure, there were groups I became part of…in a way. You see, I was always trying to fit in. Find my place in school. Got worse, the older I got. In high school, I partied…not hard, but I did have fun.” She laughed. “Even did a few things I’d never want to share with my own kids.”
He made a noise. “Haven’t we all?”
Made her feel good he was actually listening, not just tuning her out for silence. “Then there got to be times when friends stopped talking when I walked up. Groups set to head some place suddenly didn’t have room for me in the car. Once, a guy I liked told me he couldn’t come around anymore. My dad scared him. And someone I thought of as a close friend turned out not to be.”
“What made you think that?”
Pausing a moment, she swiped a bit of moisture from the corner of her eye. “She stopped inviting me to her house because I wasn’t allowed to have friends over. I never had a birthday party at my house. No sleepovers. No relatives dropping by for the holidays. Just me and my mother…and my dad.”
Bringing back the pain of adolescence had brought up memories she’d locked away once she went off to college. Maybe she needed to concentrate on making new memories. Close-up and personal ones with the sexy man seated in front of her. Her fantasy teased her thoughts. Stoked her what-ifs. Would he like slow or fast? Top or bottom? Lights on or off? Fingers or— Like getting zapped with a small electrical shock, her insides tingled.
Her sensibility yanked her back to the present. The danger. The reality of the situation.
“I guess I can understand why my life was like that. But it doesn’t change the world I had to make for myself growing up.” She nodded and jerked awake again. “A world of listening, more than talking.”
“Makes sense. Being a journalist is a perfect profession for you, though,” Mitch said.
“I guess.” Now she was tired of answering. “Hey, why did you give Keith your tech-band thingy?”
Mitch laughed out loud. “Don’t let Drake hear you call his expensive high-tech gadget a thingy. That tech-band can do about anything a computer can do. And more.”
“Sorry.” Once this was over, she’d call it a thingy just to see Drake’s reaction. “But that gets me back to my question. Why give yours to Keith?”
“His broke during the fight and he needed one to be able to tie into us one-on-one.” He swerved at something on his sonar screen. “I knew where I was headed, because I know the Gulf like the back of my hand. Should have been no problem. But I can’t hang around waiting for him any longer. We’ll be running solo till we hear from OPAQUE.”
“Shouldn’t we have heard from Keith by now?” she asked.
“Yeah, we should have.” Mitch’s words were hesitant. “You really do need to get some rest.”
Rest? How was she supposed to get any rest? What with the holding on, the leaning, the tilting, the chill from the spray in the night air, rest was far from possible even though her body was tired. Plus, the combination of stress and fear had released an overload of endorphins, sending them spiraling straight to her brain and— She sighed. Nope, stress and fear had nothing to do with what she was feeling.
Ever since she’d first encountered Mitch back at the Mariner’s, her hormones had pulsed with his attraction. Totally—totally—unlike her…ever.Now, sitting behind him, brushing against him when waves jostled the Q40, feeling the sides of his hips and legs against her inner thighs, her libido had shifted into overdrive.
She sighed again. Yawned. Tried to shove his aura out of her mind. Impossible. Tried to calculate all the reasons they could never be involved. Somewhere between none and a million. Tried to figure out what about him tripped her switch. Everything. Every. Damn. Thing.
Here she was out in the middle of the Gulf. No life jacket. Riding on the back of a high-powered special-equipped Q40. In the dark. Running from some group called CT as the life she’d always known crumbled around her. And trusting her future to a man she’d met less than five hours ago. Yet all she could think about was tangling naked with him, in soft silky sheets, until they were both covered in sweat and sated. Then cuddling against his back as they both drifted asleep…sleep…sleep…sleep—
Her eyes jerked open wide as she grabbed to get a hold on Mitch’s waist. Dug her nails into his sides. The realization she’d dozed off, nearly fallen in the water, sucked the breath right out of her. Scared her to hell and back all in one second. She clutched him tighter and tighter.
“I’ve got you, Liz. I’ve got you.” He covered her hands with his as he powered down the machine. Looked over his shoulder. Locked his gaze on hers.
She stared into his eyes, pleading for help in the only way she could at the moment. Her heartbeat picked up—faster and faster. Her skin felt clammy. Like a full-body facial mask ready to come off. Shaking uncontrollably, she gasped for the next breath…and the next. She could have died. Could have drowned.
He quickly turned sideways, pushing himself to a stand on one of the footrests. Reaching out, he pulled her up and wrapped his arms around her. Held her close. “You’re okay. Take a breath. In. Out. In. Out. Come on. Steady your breathing for me. I’m right here.”
Shaking uncontrollably, she fought against the panic. This wasn’t a locked room. And the dark was open to the sky. Why couldn’t she get control of herself? She’d been in worse places. Under worse circumstances. Still the panic threatened.
“Shhhhh, I’m…right…here, Liz.” Mitch gently stroked her face. Her hair. Her shoulders. “You’re doing good.”
His words were soothing. Lips right beside her ear. Arms holding her with a promise of not letting anything bad happen to her. She focused on his voice. His arms. Only him.
Slowly, she calmed herself and nodded. Loosened her hold. “I’ll be okay now. Sorry if I hurt you.”
“Anytime. Don’t worry about it.”
