Saints and Assassins (The Sentinels) (9 page)

****

Adam drove the car away from the hotel and down
the highway just to put some distance between himself and Eve. If the valet hadn’t opened the car door when he did, Adam would have ravaged her.

The space between them was too little and he could sense that her body buzzed with need, but he
could not
touch her. She was under his protection. Before Adam had even realized it he had driven all the way back toward the airport and knew he was
too
far from Eve.

It was stupid of him to have strayed so far from her. Even though there
had not
been a direct threat to her
,
didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Adam raced back toward the hotel all the while trying to keep his brain from thinking of his time with her today.

It didn’t work.

He could only replay the days’ events
repeatedly
. The excitement
she had
expressed when she saw an octopus in the ocean thrilled him.
The moments that they had touch
ed
enthralled him and made his cock ache.

He growled with frustration from the pain and i
t was clear to
him
that she’d been suppressed from living a no
rmal life during the past year.

Finally reaching the hotel Adam turned his car over to the valet and headed toward his room. H
e hesitated before going to his suite.

Maybe she would go to dinner with him. Adam smiled to himself a
nd decided to go ask her. He went up to her room and knocked on the door.

No answer. She was probably taking a nap, he thought. With a sullen feeling Adam went to his room. He had hoped to see her face again, but he would have to wait. Pushing the curtains back he looked out across the ocean. It was raining again and harder than earlier.
The weather had turned into more of a storm as he watched the rain blow sideways and pound against the door.
It would be the pe
rfect time to be in bed
with a woman in his arms. But only one woman came to mind.

Adam sighed and knew he needed a shower. A cold one.

The hot water stung his back, but he didn’t mind. Adam quickly washed away the saltwater residue that coated his skin and got out. Wrapping a towel around his
waist,
he went back to the main room and turned on the television. Flipping through the channels without even paying attention as to what was
,
on he decided t
o order food in from room service.

While he
waited,
he wondered if Eve might be up yet. Adam slipped on a pair of shorts
and shirt
and
went to her room again.
Knocking on the door again, he waited.

No answer. He knocked harder.

Surely, his pounding would have woken her. Waiting one
more minute for her to
open the doo
r
sent his mind into act
ion. He had left her about forty
minutes earlier. If she had gone straight to her
room,
she would have prob
ably showered and fallen asleep or possibly
she
had gone
to get something to eat
.

Quickly, Adam darted back to his room and grabbed his phone to check the tracking application he had made for it. He had attached a GPS locator to her car once she had checked in at the hotel, just in case.

Before he could check the app though, he saw he had a text message from Koa.

Ms. Nash left her bag on the boat.

“Oh fuck!” Adam could spit nails. That meant that Eve didn’t have her room key or
whatever else she might need. Bolting from his room, he
darted back
toward the front desk.

“Hello, Miss. Did Ms. Nash come to get a second room key?” Adam waited for her
reply, which
wasn’t quick enough.

“Well, there was one person yes, but she didn’t have I.D. so I couldn’t give her a key.” The woman rambled on, but Adam had already tuned her bullshit out.

“Do you know where she went?” Adam hissed.

“No sir. I asked if she could get
in from another member of her party, maybe her husband, but she just walked away.”

Adam wanted to tell the woman
what he thought of that
, but he didn’t have time. He had to find Eve. She wasn’t safe if she wasn’t with him or in her room.

“I need your manager, now!” he growled. He could see the fear in her eyes and he
did not
care. She turned and hastily walked toward a line of doors behind the counter. What would she have done if it had been a child locked out of their room? The rage inside him boiled as he waited.

After a very long
moment,
a woman emerged.

“Sir, is there something I can help you with?” she asked cordially.

Adam briefly and directly demanded access to Eve’s room. The woman started to rebuttal, but Adam cut her off.

“You don’t understand the situation at hand and I don’t have time to explain,
but if anything happens to her—
” Adam dropped the rest of his sentence.

She glared at him and
then spoke. “Follow me please.”

Shortly, they were at the room door and the woman opened it. Adam pushed past her.

“Eve
!” he shouted. As if the room were
so big that she wouldn’t be able to hear him in a normal tone.

The room was empty.

He turned back toward the manager ready to verbally attack her, but he stopped
himself,
as
he knew
it wouldn’t do any good.

“Maybe she went somewhere?” the woman asked.

Adam already knew she hadn’t left, at least not in her
own
vehicle.

“No, her keys are there. If you see her, call me. My cell is on file in your computer and that is not a request.” Adam stormed past her and went back to his room to get his cell phone without waiting for her reply. A feeling of helplessness blanketed him and he
could not
believe how stupid he had been to leave her alone.

Grabbing his phone, he started to dial Koa as he thought of all the things she might have done since she couldn’t get into her room.

Food. He
thought she might be hungry
.

Adam told Koa that Eve was MIA while he walked to the restaurant.

He looked around and didn’t see her anywhere. She wasn’t at the bar either. Adam stepped out of the restaurant baffled. Where would she have gone? She was alone and he assumed upset.
He had seen enough of her emotions to know that she might even be hysterical.

Adam went back to his room to get shoes and his car keys. He felt that his actions were chaotic and he couldn’t think straight, but as he entered his room he felt the warm sun beaming through the lanai door.

Quickly, he ran to the door and slid it open. Looking toward
the pool and back, he saw nothing
. He turned to go back in and froze.
She
was huddled in the corner of his
lanai with her head wrapped in her arms as she sat on the ground. She was soaked.

Adam let out a sigh of relief, but hated the sight of her like that. Quickly, he stepped over to her.

“Eve,” he said softly.

She looked up at him
with eyes wide and full of pain.
The
sight
of her like that floored him.
Instead of a response, she burst into a hysterical cry and covered her face with her hands.

Adam didn’t hesitate as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into his room. There he sat on the side of the bed and held her. Much to his relief she didn’t fight him.
He held her tight as she sobbed.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m so sorry for leaving you alone.” Adam hated that he had brought this on. It
was not
fair to her.
He had only wanted to protect her, even if it were only his hormones that she needed protecting from.

She shivered in his arms.

“Let’s get you dry.” Adam started to set her on the bed, but Eve threw her arms around his neck. With her face nuzzled against his throat, Adam froze. He had wanted to hold her for so long, but this was so unexpected.

“Please
hold me
,” she whispered.

Adam’s anger melted. He wasn’t mad at the hotel staff or himself anymore
. He had Eve in his arms
like he had dreamed
and yet didn’t know what to do with
her.

If she only knew.

Nonetheless it
meant the world to him.

“I’m not going to leave you, but you’re
cold and we need to get you warm
. Eve looked into his eyes and his body hardened. He imagined taking her wet clothes off and
using his tongue to lap up the beads of water on her skin.

“Okay,” she replied softly.

Adam slid her onto the bed and went to get some towels. He returned and wrapped one around her back and handed her the other so she could dry her face.

“Why did you sit out there in the rain?” Adam tried to re
main calm with his tone, but his frustrations returned, as he
was a little upset with her decision to sit in a storm and sulk.

Eve looked up at him and just as quick, she looked away without an answer.
He took that as his answer and decided not to waste the energ
y on something that might further upset her.

“
You should sleep here tonight, so why don’t you go shower and I’ll order some food
.”
He knew he could make the manager give Eve a new key, but he didn’t want to.

“I don’t want to impose
. Y
ou’ve bee
n so kind already.
” She tried to sound formal, y
et
she h
ad
fear
and hesitation
written all over her face. Adam grew irritated instantly.

“Well, where else are you going to sleep, in the hall?
” he snapped. Her eyes widened and he knew the fury that swept over him wasn’t her fault. The temptation of her being so close for the night might break him.
He took a deep breath and sl
owly let it out
.

“Look
, it won’t be a problem.
I’ll sleep on the fold out couch
.
”
Tha
nk goodness
for that couch
too
,
or
he
would have slept in the hall. This job hadn’t been easy, and it became
more challenging by the minute, but it wasn’t really a job anymore. This had turned into an obsession months ago.

None of this would have happened if she had gotten a condo
,
or a hut or hell, she could have just stayed home.
Eve opened her mouth as if to speak, but she quickly closed it,
apparently
changing her mind.

****

“Here you can wear these. S
orry I don’t have anything in the undergarment department for you though
.
”
H
e handed her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “Go ahead an
d shower if you want.” He nodded toward the bathroom door.

Eve undressed while the water warmed up and she replayed the days’ events.
First,
she had strangely decided to
have breakfast with Adam and before she even realized
it,
she had agreed to spend the day with him on his
boat
. She had come to Hawaii to get away from her l
ife, but it had followed her.

As the temperature of the water
rose,
the mirror steamed up. She got in and let the water beat on her back. It felt good
,
but it was almost too
hot,
which made
her skin
burn slightly. The sun and events of the day had their effect on her too. The swimming and rain had left her hair in knots and s
he tried to untangle it but wasn’t having much luck. While massaging the conditioner through her hai
r she relaxed and her anxiety melted away.

The white t-shirt that Adam had given her was definitely big, but she liked how it felt. When she lifted it to her nose and sniffed it, it smelled so good. There was a hint of cologne
or something
that lingered on it making it absolutely desirable.  She put on the shorts, but they fell
off
her.  She would just have to settle for the shirt. It was long enough that she could get into bed without flashing him.  She smiled at the thought of flaunting herself. It would be embarrassing for her, but funny. If she had been
younger,
she might be a bit more concerned. Shyness really had left her personality a long time ago. Eve towel dried her hair and slowly stepped out of the bathroom to find Adam
standing in front of the TV.