No Rules (16 page)

“Donovan, you still with us?” Kyle asked.

“Uh, yeah.”

“We’ll be back in a couple hours. I’ll check you then.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, I hate to add more bad news, but we didn’t find anything useful.”

“Okay.”

“I mean, the island can’t be the right place.”

“I understand.”

“Which means we’re shit out of luck unless Mitch finds something.”

“Right.”

“Really, I don’t know where else to look.”

“That’s too bad. I do.”

“What?”

The odd conversation finally registered. Jess stopped admiring her handiwork and looked up.

“See ya later.” Donovan tossed the phone off his chest and grunted painfully as he propped himself up on one elbow. “Hey. I like your bedside manner, Doc.”

His quirky smile finally did it, reminding her that she was still topless. “Oh.” She blushed and crossed her hands over her breasts, instantly annoyed at herself for doing so, but unable to muster the same confidence she’d had when she’d stripped her clothes off. “This is not me.”

“Oh, I think it is.”

“No, I mean I don’t do stuff like this. I was, uh, living in the moment.”

“Uh-huh. I’m still in the moment. And may I say, incredibly appreciative.” He tugged her forward and took her mouth in a deep kiss.

“Mmm,” she hummed, intending it to be a protest. But it turned into pleasure under the delicious feel of his lips on hers, and the even better feel of her breasts flattened against his bare chest. In an instant, heat flashed through her, pebbling her nipples and settling between her thighs with a yearning ache. It happened so quickly her mind spun, aware she shouldn’t be lying across him but unwilling to pull away from something that felt so good. Besides, his hand had moved to the back of her head, holding her in place as he plundered her mouth, and his other hand had slipped between them, caressing her breast and flooding her body with more luscious heat. The kind of heat that made her squirm all over and want to take the rest of her clothes off. To press her naked body against his and imagine that with this man, sex might be everything it was supposed to be. Even injured, Donovan got to her like no one else ever had.

He was injured. This couldn’t be good for him.

“Stop.” She pushed away, then hastily jerked her hands off his chest. “We can’t do this. You’re hurt.”

His finger threaded into her hair possessively, even as he winced in pain. “I’m feeling much better, Doc.”

This time she shoved harder, jumping to her feet. “You’ll reopen your wound.” Snatching her T-shirt off the floor, she clutched it to her chest, hiding what he kept staring at.

“God, you’re gorgeous. Come back here.”

His husky voice sent more hot ripples of excitement through her, dampening her panties. She wanted him. And he obviously wanted her. Desire warred with common sense, telling her the patient said he felt better and he should know, so why was she worried if he wasn’t? He wouldn’t even have to move. She’d done a good job of stitching him up and stopping the bleeding. Her gaze strayed to the clean white bandage at his side for proof.

A small circle of blood colored one end of the bandage. “You’re still bleeding.”

He glanced down. “It’s nothing. Come here.”

With a huff, she turned away from him, fumbling her way into the bra and T-shirt.

He chuckled. “Did you just turn your back to get dressed?”

“Shut up.” She tugged her shirt down and turned around, glaring at him.

“How are you going to take care of me from way over there?”

“You’re fine,” she reminded him. If she truly believed it, she’d be all over him, testing whether he really could break through the inhibitions that had frustrated her for so long. But not at the risk of injuring him further, and not before Kyle checked him out.

Unfortunately, he had a point about taking care of him. He still needed help. “You lost a lot of blood. You need fluids.”

She got a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He sighed in defeat as he accepted it, opening it and guzzling half. She cleaned up as he finished it, repacking the first-aid kit.

He lay back down. “Since I can’t have the best possible medicine, which would be you, can you find any aspirin in there?”

“There’s nothing. I have Motrin in my suitcase. Want one?”

“Two or three sounds better.”

So it did still hurt. She brought two pills, offering them with a sympathetic smile. The circle of blood hadn’t gotten much bigger so she didn’t offer to check it. The less she touched him right now the better. His eyes still watched her with fevered intent, even if his body wouldn’t let him follow up on it. Well, part of his body. Another part was evident beneath his pants, still ready for action.

Their kiss had reopened a door, and she knew that this time he wouldn’t slam it closed. Nor did she want him to. She wouldn’t let it get in the way of the mission and knew without question that Donovan wouldn’t either, but acting on their impulses had become inevitable.

She’d never felt as alive as she was in his arms. The strong sense of danger about him that should have scared her into running the other way had sparked an attraction she couldn’t explain. Somehow she knew she was safe with him. There was control behind everything he did, a sense of danger held in check. That was power, a sexy kind she’d had no experience with in her safe, sheltered life.

It was time to change that.

…

In the stifling heat of the afternoon, with ebbing adrenaline turning into sheer exhaustion, sleep overcame the dull throb in his side. Donovan awoke to a hand caressing his forehead and he reached up to clasp the delicate fingers in his own before opening his eyes. He found himself holding hands with a smiling Avery.

“No fever,” she reported. “Good reflexes.”

He pulled his hand back as Kyle knelt and, without asking, pulled off the gauze dressing. “Good job,” he approved as Donovan gritted his teeth and said nothing. Kyle probed lightly around the wound, then more firmly all around his abdomen. “Seems normal, no internal bleeding. How’s it feel?”

“It’s okay,” he said, sticking to the man code of what didn’t make you cry was merely a scratch. It wasn’t exactly a lie. The knife wound felt exactly as it should, like a painful assault to his body that had missed vital organs and would heal without complications.

Jess apparently didn’t believe him. “It bled a lot,” she told Kyle anxiously.

“Not too much, or he’d be more pale and weak. He’ll be fine. You did a nice job.”

Avery peered over his shoulder as she peeled off her
hijab
and
abaya
, stripping down to jean shorts and a T-shirt that read Property of the U.S. Army. She seconded Kyle’s opinion as he set about applying a new dressing.

Jess wrung her hands. “How badly does this set us back?”

Kyle laughed. “Not at all. In fact, it helps us. Here, I picked this up for you on the way back,” he said, handing Donovan a couple pills as he got to his feet. “One now, one before bed. Give it half an hour to kick in and you’ll be good to go, cowboy.”

“Thanks.” He took his time sitting up, felt a hot pain lance his side, and figured that was enough exertion for now. He’d have to move around soon, though, to ensure his muscles didn’t tighten up and make him stiff.

He wasn’t sure if Jess’s anxious look was because he sat up, or because of what Kyle had said. “How can it possibly help us that someone stabbed Tyler?” she asked.

He noted her use of his first name with a pleasure he couldn’t deny. Her feelings for him had shifted, becoming more personal. So had his; a surge of possessiveness hit him like an electric shock. It was enough to make him mentally pull back, to reassess what he’d thought was simple, healthy lust.

What was he thinking? Lust didn’t involve possession; it was hit and run, the no-strings type of encounter that fit well with his life. Possessiveness implied a relationship, a permanence that was poison for a man in his profession. Wally had taught him that. A man who lived as he did, flying off to different countries on covert missions, risking his life, had no right to include a woman in that life. Especially not the daughter Wally had lost due to those exact same choices.

It was a good thing she’d used his first name like that, making him realize his feelings were getting out of hand. No doubt gratitude played some part in his feelings. She’d stepped far outside the boundaries of her normal life when she whipped her top off and stitched his cut. Anyone would be appreciative. And that was all he had a right to feel.

He could start making that clear by giving her a logical answer to her impassioned question about how stabbing him was helpful.

“The attack tells us they know we’re here,” he explained. “And they’re worried. They must have been watching for us, and knew Hakim was Wally’s friend. Once we showed up, they watched for their best chance and went for you. If they’re that worried about stopping you, it’s more confirmation of what we already knew, that your information could bring them down. We just need to figure out what it means.”

Her mouth opened in surprise. “Stopping me?” He could almost see her replaying the attack in her mind as she stared at him. “That’s why you shoved me aside. He was trying to get
me
, not you.”

He thought she’d known. “I’m sure he would have been happy to take me out, too,” he said, trying to downplay her importance. Judging by her horrified look, it was too late.

“He could have killed you, and it’s all because of me. Because he wants to kill me.”

“Jess, that’s why we won’t let you go out alone. And it’s why you have to wear the
abaya
.”

“But the
abaya
makes me stand out.
Everyone
looks at me, the pale, American woman dressed like a Muslim, shopping with a bodyguard. What kind of disguise is that?”

“The kind that gets you respect. The kind that makes any sudden move against you stand out in time for us to stop it.”

“By intercepting it with your own body?” Pain contorted her features and strangled her voice. “You stepped in front of a knife for me. You could have been killed.”

“I messed up. I could have prevented the attack and had a prisoner to interrogate if I’d been paying more attention,” he said with disgust. “I let that kid distract me. It won’t happen again, Jess, I promise.”

Contemplating the possibility of another attack left her speechless. Avery filled in the silence. “You can believe him. He’s really very good at what he does.”

“At sacrificing himself?” Jess asked. “Gee, I feel so much better.” She stomped off toward the bedrooms.

Avery smiled. “Aww, she likes you. That’s sweet.”

Kyle sat in a chair and looked at him thoughtfully. “Is that going to be a problem?”

That, meaning her liking him. “No.” But it already was a problem and had been even before he’d kissed her. He’d been so amused by the way Jess had deliberately hampered his bargaining with Saja, ensuring he paid more, that he’d nearly missed the attempt on her life. He would have to be more vigilant. “Tell me what you found on the Nile.”

Avery plopped down, too. “Nothing. Small islands with scrubby growth and bugs, and bigger ones with scrubbier growth and more bugs. The big resort island is out—too many people around. Not a friggin’ beaver in sight.”

“I thought this was supposed to be easy.” Kyle sounded as worn-out as Avery now that they were rehashing his day. “You guys find the vase, and we find the beaver lodge, or whatever the hell it represents.”

He’d thought so, too. “We can’t be that far off. There’s only one river. Whatever we’re looking for has to be on the Nile. We’ll go over it again tonight. Maybe Jess will have some new ideas.” It was a slim hope.

“What about you and Jess?” Avery asked. “Did you figure out what vase Wally was talking about?”

He hated saying it. “No. Wally sent Hakim a message that he’d found better merchandise at a different shop and was canceling his order. Of course, there was no order, so Hakim assumed it referred to better information. I still think from Wally’s story that the information we need has to do with a vase. I just don’t know where to look.” He gave them a meaningful glance. “But that doesn’t mean we failed. We’ve barely started. We know Wally would have stopped by this house, so maybe someone nearby knows where he spent his time. He comes here every year, and he knows everyone.”

“But they think he’s just a college professor,” Avery said. “They don’t know anything about his work with Omega.”

“Someone does,” he reminded them grimly. “They know he discovered the hostages, and they were only one step behind him when he left. And now they know we’re looking for them.

“How did they know?” Avery asked.

Good question. He suspected it was because someone inside Omega had told them, but he said, “They must have been watching the airport, knowing someone would come. They followed us, maybe followed others, too. At any rate, they figured out who we were.”

Avery made a disgusted face. “Great. So how do we find them?”

“Something gave them away, and if Wally could find it, we have to, too.”

The unpleasant reminder of Wally’s death hung in the air for several seconds before Kyle asked, “Are we sure the hostages are still alive? Have the kidnappers made any demands yet?”

“No word from Evan.” Which wasn’t a good sign.

“Goddammit,” Kyle grumbled. He frowned at his feet stretched out before him, grinding his teeth over a situation that should have been a straightforward hostage rescue. “What’s so fuckin’ special about two archeology students, anyway? Some guys grab them, and then they don’t ask for a ransom and don’t make demands. That’s just weird. That’s not how it works.” His frustration spilled over into actions as he stood, unbuttoning his shirt impatiently, then tossing it aside, revealing an undershirt and the shoulder holster and gun he wore beneath it. “And it’s not supposed to be our job to figure it out. I rescue hostages, damn it. I don’t play hide-and-seek with them.” Taking a vicious kick at a backpack, he watched it bounce off the wall, then stalked to the kitchen. “We got anything besides water in here?”