Chapter 9
It was nearly six when Rio pulled up in front of the castle. After dinner the men had watched a ball game while Mrs. Grayson showed her prized flower garden to the women before they returned inside. He’d been on the small sofa with Brandon, but he’d immediately gotten up and given Skylar his seat.
He wouldn’t have dared look at Mrs. Grayson as the men shifted to make room for their wives. Brandon pulled Faith down in his lap. She squealed, admonished him, then leaned back against his wide shoulders. Rio kept his gaze on the wide screen of the television. Thankfully, Skylar wasn’t in one of her playful moods and kept her hands and lips to herself.
The problem was, she had remained quiet. He glanced at her, but she was already getting out of the car. She hadn’t said one word since they’d left the Graysons. Closing his door, he followed her inside the castle.
Wordlessly, she started toward the stairs. He should let her go. She’d finally stopped hugging, kissing, tempting him. Even as the thought came, he remembered the softness of her touch, the alluring sweetness of her mouth, her scent that he’d remember a lifetime.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. ’Night.”
Rio put his hands on his hips, watching the easy, enticing sway of hers in the black dress that he’d wanted to peel from her trim body ever since his first glimpse of her that morning. The shoes were as wickedly sexy as she’d intended, the one strap taunting him to slip it and the thin black hose off. His body hardened. He cursed under his breath and bounded up the stairs after her.
Her door closed seconds before he reached it. The red light blinked.
He ran his hand through his hair, encountered the silver hair clasp he always wore. He was relatively certain she wasn’t sick. He should just leave well enough alone.
He went to his room, jerked off his jacket and hung it up. No matter how irritated he was, his military training and his own penchant for neatness wouldn’t let him throw his clothes down. His scalp felt tight. He reached for the buttons of his shirt.
Muttering, he yanked open his door and went down the hallway to Skylar’s room. He rapped on the door. Hard.
“Who is it?”
Who did she think it was? “Rio.”
There was a long pause. “I’m resting.”
His eyes narrowed in irritation that just as quickly disappeared as concern took its place. “Skylar, are you sick?”
“No. I—I just want to rest.”
Were there tears in her voice? “Open this door.”
“Rio—”
“I know the code, remember, but I’d rather you open it voluntarily,” he said, aware he was splitting hairs.
Several seconds passed before the light went off. The door opened a fraction. Misery stared back at him. She’d pulled off her shoes, but she still wore the black dress. “I really am tired.”
“I’m coming in.” He didn’t give her a chance to argue. He gently pushed open the door so it wouldn’t hit her. He’d seen her scared, angry, pissed, playful, but only one other time had he seen her miserable. He closed the door behind him, curling his hands into fists to keep from pulling her into his arms.
A tear formed on her lash. He felt panic for the first time in his life. He grabbed her. “Are you sick? Do we need to call a doctor?” He picked her up and put her on the bed, kneeling down and holding her hand. “Why didn’t you—”
“I’m not sick.” She gulped.
His heart slowed from a gallop to a fast walk. “Then why are you crying?”
“Because Mrs. Grayson has some big-chested woman all picked out for you,” she sniffed. “You heard her—someone close to me will have their own story.” She swallowed hard. “And I thought she liked me.”
Rio’s heart finally settled to a normal pace. “So you’re going to hand me over to some big-chested woman who’d bore me in two seconds?”
Skylar’s head came up and with it the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. “No way!” She launched herself at him.
Laughing, he caught her and let himself fall backward, keeping her on top. He stopped laughing when he felt her breasts against his chest, her thighs against his, her hungry mouth on his.
A second later he was lost in the sensation of the kiss, her tongue dancing with his, this woman in his arms, the thrill of her body pressed against his. He felt protective and carnal at the same time. Strange new emotions shook him.
His hands threaded though her thick, silky hair to lift her head. He’d often thought of her hair on his pillow, gliding over his body. “Don’t scare me like that again.”
She frowned down at him, her fingers worrying the button of his shirt. “I’m going back to Tucson next Monday. Blade and Sierra plan to be here, and that means you’ll be here.” Her beautiful hazel eyes flashed. “And that woman, whoever she is!”
“And I’m so gullible, I’ll fall into her and Mrs. Grayson’s plans?”
She finally smiled. “Nope. You’re as slippery as an eel. I should know.” She sighed and rested her head on his chest. “I guess the prospect of losing you before we really got to know each other better scared me so much, I couldn’t think clearly.”
His arms tightened. Yet she’d been followed in her car and had remained calm. No matter what she said about a no-strings affair, he knew that wasn’t all she wanted. He could tell by the way she looked at him, smiled at him, that it went much deeper. So why wasn’t he running? His mind and his feet couldn’t agree.
He wondered if she’d feel better or worse if he told her of his suspicion about Mrs. Grayson trying to match them up. For them, there would be no marriage. “Do you know Felicia Falcon?”
“No.”
He’d been so sure.
Her head lifted. “Not personally, but I’ve met her several times. She’s a sorority sister of my mother’s. Mother and Father went to Daniel and Madelyn’s wedding, and Trent and Dominique’s, too. Why?”
The hairs on the back of Rio’s neck stood up. “It’s a long way from Boston to Tucson. Any particular reason?”
She placed her folded arms on his chest and put her chin on top. “Like I said in the application, I wanted to work for a Fortune 500 company, and I thought I had the experience, connections, and drive to plan the best events in the country.”
“But why Navarone?” he persisted.
She arched a brow. “Is this going anyplace?”
He gently tugged on a curl, glad she was back to her outspoken self. “Yes.”
“Mrs. Falcon was in town for a sorority event and picked up Mother. I’d dropped by. When Mother went to answer the phone, Mrs. Falcon mentioned she’d heard I wasn’t going back to law school, asked about my plans. I told her I was looking for something that might interest me. They left.
“A month later she called and told me about the position at Navarone. Of course I’d heard a lot about Blade, and thought it might be exciting. And it would be far enough away from Mother and Father that I wouldn’t feel guilty about talking to one or the other of them.” She traced his lower lip. “Looks like I was right.”
Two years. Coincidence. Rio didn’t believe in them. Even then Mrs. Grayson had been planning to marry her children off, and Felicia was her willing accomplice.
“So talk.”
If he told her, she’d start thinking about marriage. It wasn’t going to happen. “Just trying to figure out something in my head.” He kissed her, then got to his feet with her in his arms. “You want to go for a walk?”
“If you make it worth my while.” Her head lowered, her mouth teased his, nipping, sucking, until he palmed the back of her head and kept her mouth on his. Then, with his other arm, he slowly let her slide down the front of his body, the friction highly charged and erotic.
He gathered the dress in his hands, the urge to peel it off her body throbbing with every beat of his heart. If he did, if he saw her in her lingerie, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to leave without making her his. Once he took that irrevocable step, he somehow knew it would change everything for him.
His hands unclamped, his mouth nuzzled her neck, kissed her fragrant skin, skin that was softer than velvet. Skylar might be the one thing in his life that made him second-guess himself.
His head lifted. “I’ll be back in an hour.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Resisting the urge to kiss her again, he left. He’d willingly crossed another line. Skylar Dupree pulled at emotions he’d thought long buried. The need to see her happy overruled his own credo of self-preservation. She was important to him. He was in danger of losing something more important than his life … his heart.
* * *
Skylar was waiting on the bottom stair when Rio returned. She’d been too excited to wait in her room. She jumped up and hurried to him. “I promise to be good until we’re out of sight.”
“There are cameras everywhere.”
“And you know exactly where they are to avoid them.” She batted her eyelashes at him. “Don’t you?”
Rio opened the door. “Let’s go.”
Her hands behind her back to keep them out of trouble, she walked through the door and waited for Rio. She practically skipped down the steps, waving and speaking to his men as they passed. None of the men she’d seen was under five foot eleven. Some were broad, some lean, but she knew each was skilled or Rio wouldn’t have had him on his team.
“Everything all right?”
“Yes.” He headed down a paved path past the compound.
She glanced over. “You know you’re tempting me.”
He kept walking. The path widened.
“Oh, my!” Skylar palmed her face, then grabbed Rio’s hand and pulled him toward the small lake. Two swans and their goslings swam on the placid water. She leaned against Rio. “Did you know swans mate for life?” She didn’t expect an answer. “If only people could be that same way.”
His arm went around her. “Your parents?”
She nodded. “I always thought their love was forever. I … I think—” She hesitated.
“What?”
She straightened and gazed up at him. “That they might still love each other, but each is too proud and too stubborn to admit it. They’d rather be miserable than risk being vulnerable.”
“So what makes you so courageous?”
She glanced toward the swans. She wasn’t sure how he’d react.
His finger and thumb turned her face toward his. “I’m waiting.”
And he didn’t like waiting or asking a question twice. “You. It was you.”
Lines she’d never seen before formed across his smooth forehead. His hand lowered. “How?”
He certainly liked answers. She just hoped he liked hers. “I thought you needed me. I saw you with Blade and Shane and their wives. You were walking by yourself. You seemed not to need anyone or anything.”
“You felt sorry for me,” he said, words devoid of warmth.
“Only a fool would feel sorry for you, and I’m not one,” she came back. “Seeing you gave me the courage to finally stop looking and test the waters, so to speak. I had some bad moments because, if you weren’t interested, not only would I make a fool of myself, but you’d have every right to have Blade fire me for sexual harassment. And I really like my job.”
“Yet you went after me anyway,” he said as if trying to understand.
She curved her arms around his neck. “You snapped out Ms. Dupree once too often and it ticked me off. I was determined you’d call me Skylar.”
“You risked a lot.”
“But look what I gained.”
“Skylar.” His mouth took hers. He savored her taste, the swipe of her tongue against his, the little sounds in the back of her throat. Each time they kissed was more exciting than the last. Each time tempting him to strip them both naked and make love to her until time faded away.
His head lifted.
“No,” Skylar protested, trying to pull his mouth back to hers.
He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
She stepped back. “Why?”
“It’s going to rain,” he answered and watched her face light up.
“Really?” She looked up at the clear sky.
“Really. Come on.” He started walking and felt her resistance. She was still looking upward with her free hand cupped as if waiting to catch raindrops. “You’re going to get wet.”
She threw her free arm around his neck and grinned up at him. “Haven’t you ever wanted to walk in the rain with someone special?”
He lifted a brow at the silliness of the question.
She wrinkled her nose. “I forgot. Well, I have, and you can’t tell me that you haven’t seen other couples walking in the rain and enjoying it.”
“They had umbrellas.”
Her eyes narrowed. “We’re really are going to have to work on your romantic side.”
Overhead, blue sky had turned to gray. “You have two more days of deliveries. You don’t want to be sick.”
She looked up at the sky again. “I’m stronger and healthier than that. I’m from Boston, remember, and I know you’ve been in the rain, probably with little more than what you have on now.”
He had. “Why do you say that?”
She sent him a droll look. “Rio.” She said his name with a mixture of annoyance and affection. “You said you were in the army. I’m thinking Army Rangers. Your men are military, too.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance. “You think?”
“I know. It stands to reason Shane and Blade were in the same unit. My uncle said bonds are formed for life in combat.” She briefly scanned the sky. “You’d want men as quick thinking, as skilled, and as resourceful as you. Although I’m not sure that’s possible. There’s only one you. In any case, when you stopped the Jeep the other day, they didn’t hesitate to come out with guns drawn.”
He’d always known she was smart. “You’re going to get soaked. Jeans are a bear to get off when they’re wet.”
She pressed against him. “You could always help.”
His heart pounded. He’d liked the idea more than he wanted to admit of sliding those jeans down her long legs, his lips following. “You’ll track water from the front door to your room.”
“I’ll mop it up.”
“That’s a lot to mop.”
“It will be wor—” She laughed as the first raindrops hit her, then lifted both hands and smiled at him. “It’s raining.”
Skylar embraced life. He realized that at times, he had just gone through the motions.
She caught his hand, then rose onto her tiptoes to kiss him as the rain began to come down harder. “Thank you.”
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“We both know that’s not completely true.” She leaned her head back for a moment. “Kiss me, Rio.”
He pulled her closer with the first word she uttered. By the time Rio came out, his tongue was searching the sweet recesses of her mouth. She wrapped her long legs around him and kissed him until he wasn’t quite steady. With the rain beating down on them, her wrapped around him, his mind was centered only on one thing—pleasing his woman.
His woman. The thought caught him off guard, shocked him, but not enough to release the woman who had come to mean so much to him.
Thunder rumbled again. He lifted his head. Her eyes slowly opened. She looked a little dazed with the rain running over her face. It didn’t seem to matter to her. He knew why—because she was with him. Just as it didn’t matter to him because he was with her. He swung her up in his arms and began to walk slowly back to the castle.
She kissed the side of his neck and snuggled closer. “Nice.”
They hadn’t made it to the cameras yet. Sierra had wanted some privacy for her and Blade. Rio kept walking. The men who had met Skylar liked her even before she started feeding them. In the military, you learned to size people up quickly or you suffered the consequences.
“Please put me down.”
He set her on her feet. As soon as he did, she took his hand and stared up at him, rain drizzling over her face. “How much farther before your men can see us?”
“About ten yards.”
“Since I’m not as good as you, just give my hand a little squeeze and I’ll let it go.” She started walking before he could answer.
Despite the rain, he felt the warmth of her small hand in his, the trust. Walking in the rain wasn’t so bad after all.
* * *
Rio was a resourceful man, Skylar thought as she stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later. When they’d walked in the front door, there had been large bath towels waiting for them to dry off. He’d radioed ahead.
Skylar grinned wickedly as she slipped on her gossamer-thin lingerie. Although he’d declined to help her pull off her jeans, he had agreed to meet her for dinner later on that evening.
Skylar quickly dressed and went to the kitchen, thinking she’d like to nibble on Rio. The refrigerator and freezer were as well stocked as she’d imagined. She decided on shrimp and chicken quesadillas, mini peach trifles, and nonalcoholic sangria. Finished preparing, she placed everything on the cart and rolled it into the great room by the fireplace.
She stared at the rug in front and decided it wouldn’t be right for her and Rio to roll around on Blade and Sierra’s rug or pull the cushions off the sofa. But they could sit on the floor with their backs to the sofa so they faced the fireplace. With the lights dimmed, it would be just as romantic.
She heard the front door open and felt her heart leap. In seconds, Rio was walking in, his intense eyes on her. “If I kiss you, the food will get cold.” Her voice trembled. There was no sense hoping he hadn’t heard it. She just hoped he didn’t guess how deeply she loved him. “I thought we’d sit on the floor with our backs to the sofa and enjoy the fire and each other.”
“The floor?”
“Do you mind?” It had sounded like a good idea to her, but with Rio looking at her she wasn’t sure.
He glanced from the floor to her. “You need a pillow or something?”
She relaxed. He’d been concerned about her. “Told you I’m tough. Have a seat and I’ll fix our plates.”
He sank gracefully to the floor and stretched out his long legs.
Skylar quickly put their food and drinks on a tray and handed it to Rio. She picked up the control to start the fireplace and dimmed the lights. Finished, she sat as close to him as possible, took the tray, and placed it in her lap. “You get everything done?”
“Yes.”
She gave him his glass. “Chicken and shrimp quesadillas, and a surprise dessert.”
He picked up a quesadilla and offered her a bite. “First and last.”
Smiling, she bit into his quesadilla, then picked up her own. He was learning.
“Where did you learn to cook?” he asked once he’d swallowed.
“My mother and my grandmothers.” She sipped her drink. “Being a good hostess meant also being a great cook, knowing how to arrange flowers, proper etiquette, and too many other things to count.”
He placed his food on his plate. “Sounds as if they wanted you to marry in their circle.”
She looked him in the eyes. “They also wanted me to be a lawyer and stay in Boston. I did neither. I’m my own woman and I make my own decisions. You should know that.”
“You can trace your family on both sides to before Lincoln was president,” he persisted.
And he was an orphan. “And some of them we’d rather forget. Like Grandfather Carrington always said, every man or woman has to make his or her own mark, stand on his or her own two feet. Family can be a help or a hindrance.” She nodded toward his plate. “You need me to feed you?”
He picked up his quesadilla. They ate in silence. Skylar sensed there had been a shift in their relationship, but she wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.
She didn’t try to fill the silence as they finished their meal and ate dessert. She placed everything back on the cart. If he was thinking of dumping her, she might as well do something she had longed to do almost from the first.
She sat in his lap, put her arms around his neck, and rested her head against his broad shoulder. A second later his arms closed around her. She was so relieved she trembled.
“You all right?”
She didn’t even think of evading. “You were thinking of dumping me.”
His hand tunneled though her hair. “Most people can’t read me.”
I love you. “I’ve been watching and studying you for two years. Remember.”
“Still.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not all the time,” she admitted truthfully. “You can be pretty intimidating.”
His lips brushed against her hair. “Apparently not intimidating enough.”
“You shouldn’t be so tempting. I’ve seen you send woman after woman running.”
“Not you.”
Her head angled up, she kissed him. “Told you, Boston-tough. Plus, as I said, I was ready to do a little touching.”
“So you did.” His head angled down and their lips met. His phone rang. Quickly he sat her up and answered. “Rio.”
“Intruder. Section four.”
“I’m on my way. Yellow alert. Code Red Sky.” He came to his feet with her. “Someone is coming to stay with you. I need to go.”
She clutched his hand, then released it. “Be careful.”
Touching her face, he was gone.