Paladin's Woman Part 17

Days pa.s.sed in a sensual blur of pleasure and happiness, unlike anything Addy had ever known. She didn't want her private time with Nick to ever end. Daytime melted into nighttime, each twenty-four-hour period losing its distinction as one week ended and another began. Life took on new meaning, each moment a joy to be shared. They learned to use the old wood stove together, preparing basic meals, not once sharing another feast with Elizabeth, although they visited her daily so Nick could check in with Sam Dundee.

They swam in the creek and played under the waterfall. They took long walks in the woods and spent endless hours talking, each totally fascinated by the other, yearning to learn every little detail. At night they sat on the porch, watching the fireflies and listening to the woodland creatures' nocturnal songs.

And they made lovea"morning, noon and night.

The only reminder of the outside world came when they visited with Elizabeth and made their mandatory phone call. All was well in Huntsville. Rusty's doctor had given him a thorough checkup, proclaiming him as fit as he could be for a man of seventy with a bad heart and high blood pressure. In four days the NASP contract would be awarded. Nick and Addy would leave Sequana Falls. And, hopefully, all danger would have pa.s.sed.

A pleasant evening breeze rustled through the trees. Addy sat in the small porch swing; Nick sat on the floor, bracing his back against the banister. Twilight descended, painting the sky in various shades of purples, pinks and oranges. As far as the eye could see, vast woodland spread across the mountain, the smell of pine heavy in the air.

"Okay, you left the SEALs after ten years and started back to school." Sitting on one leg, Addy used the toe of her other foot to put the swing in motion.

"Yeah, I was a twenty-eight-year-old college kid." Nick propped his hands behind his head. "I'd decided I wanted to be a DEA agent and I needed more education. That's how I met Sam. He'd done a stint in the marines."

"So you and Sam went to school together, became friends and joined the DEA."

"That's about it. We both fit the bill, had most of the qualifications. Except Sam didn't speak a second language, so I taught him Spanish. Knowing a second language, especially Spanish, is a plus. And we'd both been in the service and already had some combat training, some knowledge of weapons. That sort of thing."

"Do you miss being an agent?" Addy wondered if Nick was the kind of man who simply couldn't settle down, who would always need danger and excitement in his life.

"Sometimes. It's a demanding, stressful job." He edged his way closer to the swing, s.h.i.+fting himself slowly across the porch. "They weed out the guys who haven't got what it takes in a fifteen-week training program at Quantico, Virginia."

"You had what it took, didn't you, Nick? You were physically and mentally a tough guy."

Rubbing his bad leg, Nick stared at Addy. "Well, that Uzi proved I wasn't as physically tough as I thought I was."

"Having a crippled leg doesn't make you any less of a man," Addy said, tempted to throw her arms around him and kiss away the pain she saw in his eyes. "I've never known anyone who's more a man than you."

Reaching out, he tickled the bottom of her bare foot. "You're prejudiced, Red. You're only saying that because I'm such a fantastic lover."

She giggled. "You are so conceited."

Holding her heel with one hand, he traced the veins atop her foot with his fingers. "You've made me conceited, panting after me all the time, dragging me off to bed all hours of the day and night, groaning and moaning and crying out when you come. What's a man to think, other than that he's a stud?"

Addy twisted her leg when Nick ran his fingers higher, caressing her calf. "All right, I'll grant that you're a studa"buta"

"But what?" He kissed her ankle, then ran his tongue all the way up her leg to her knee. Brus.h.i.+ng aside her billowy cotton skirt, he slid his hand up her inner thigh.

"But you should give me some of the credit. After all, not just any woman could keep a forty-three-year-old man primed and ready all the time."

With both of them laughing, Nick pulled Addy out of the swing and down onto the floor and into his arms. "I think I've created a beautiful, insatiable monster."

"Am I your creation, Nick?" She unb.u.t.toned his s.h.i.+rt and placed her lips on his chest.

Yes, by G.o.d, she was his creation. With his patience and tenderness and loving administrations, he'd given Addy the confidence in her own s.e.xuality that she needed to become the woman who'd been buried inside her all her life. With each word of encouragement, with each rea.s.suring, inspiring touch, he'd brought her out of the darkness to which her ex-husband had doomed her. She was his now. His woman a his heart, his soul a his very life.

When the time came, how the h.e.l.l was he going to be able to take her back to Huntsville and leave her? He'd never been a man for commitments, always moving on when things got too serious. He wasn't the marrying kind, and Addy deserved no less. She'd want marriage and kids, if she could have them, and the kind of love that lasted forever. He didn't know if he was capable of that kind of love, of that kind of lifetime pledge. There was one thing she knew for surea"he hadn't had his fill of Addy, not by a long shot. He was nowhere near ready to give up what they'd found together. Nothing in his life had ever been this good.

"Nick? Nick, what's wrong?" She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Nothing's wrong, Red. Not a d.a.m.ned thing." He buried his face against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, nuzzling her nipples with his nose. "You're my woman, you know that, don't you?"

She sighed, clinging to him, savoring the sheer physical pleasure of being so near the man she loved. "I remember the morning after you rescued me from my kidnapper, you told me that someday I'd become one of your women. Looks like you were right."

"I was wrong," he said, then covered her face with a dozen tiny kisses. "There's never been another woman like you, and there never will be again. You're unique. What I feel for you is different. You're minea"my womana"and I never want you to belong to anyone else."

"Oh, Nicka"I love you so much. You must know that. Surely you've guessed." She could feel the rat-a-tat-tat of her heart drumming within her chest. She longed to hear him repeat the words, to vow his undying love for her, but she knew he wasn't ready, that she'd confessed her love too soon.

"Ah, Red. You mean the world to me. Ia""

She covered his lips with her index finger, silencing him. "I'm not asking for anything you can't give. You've been honest with me. That's all I ask now and in the future. Don't ever lie to me, don't ever pretend something you don't feel."

"When I'm with you, I don't have to pretend anything. What I feel for you is real. I just don't know if it's love or not because I've never been in love." He kissed the tip of her finger, then drew it into his mouth.

"What about Dina?" Addy hadn't given Dina a thought in days, but she couldn't forget what the woman had once meant to Nick.

"I didn't love Dina, not the way you mean. My teenage male hormones loved her lush, little body."

"I've learned just how powerful s.e.xual attraction can be. Do you thinka" I mean, is that what you feel for me?"

He pulled her close, pressing her head to his chest. "I've never felt such a strong physical attraction to a woman, buta"there's more. A lot more. I enjoy being with you, Red. In and out of bed. I like you. I admire you. And I trust you more than I've ever trusted a woman,"

Lying in his arms, Addy smiled. Even if he didn't know it, even if he couldn't bring himself to consider the possibility, Nick Romero was falling in love with her. "I trust you, too. Not only with my life, but with my heart."

"If I could ever love a woman, it would be you."

"Is that a promise?"

"That's a fact, Red."

Tender touches and sweet kisses gradually turned to frantic groping and wild, tongue-thrusting lunges. Clothes disappeared and naked bodies appeared. Entangled limbs and damp, moist flesh mated in a savage, mindless dance of pleasure. Man and woman joined. Giving and taking. Finding release. Claiming owners.h.i.+p. Silently professing love in its most elemental form.

Nick heard the loud rapping on the door. Before Addy became fully awake, he'd already leapt out of bed and was feeling around on the floor for his jeans.

"What is it?" Addy asked.

"Somebody's at the front door."

They both heard the voice. "Nick? Addy? It's Elizabeth." Then a mournful wolf howl erupted from MacDatho.

"Oh, Nick, something's wrong!" Addy slid out of bed and pulled on her satin robe.

He wrangled with his rumpled jeans, finally getting them zipped. Picking up his cane, he walked over to the door, Addy right behind him. When he opened the door, Elizabeth ordered MacDatho to stay, then stepped inside, her flashlight casting a steady stream of light into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry to disturb you so late, but Sam called. He said to call him back immediately. It's urgent."

"Did he say what's wrong?" Addy asked.

"No, he didn't say." Elizabeth reached out, touching Addy's arm, giving her a rea.s.suring squeeze.

"We'll get dressed and come on up to the cabin." Nick held the door for Elizabeth, who stepped back out onto the porch.

"Wait!" Addy cried. Elizabeth stopped. "Do you know what's wrong? Have you felt anything?"

"Your father needs you. That's all I know." Elizabeth turned and left, disappearing back into the woods, the ever-faithful MacDatho at her side.

In frenzied haste, Addy dressed in black slacks and a turquoise cotton sweater. She waited while Nick laced his shoes. "Elizabeth told me the day we arrived that we wouldn't stay here the full two weeks. She said then that Daddy would need me. Oh, Nick, do you suppose Daddy's had a heart attack or a stroke?"

"Don't jump to conclusions. We'll know what's going on as soon as I talk to Sam." Holding his cane in one hand, he offered her the other. "Ready?"

Fifteen minutes later, Addy clutched the cup of hot tea that Elizabeth had handed her the moment she and Nick entered her cabin. Nick had just gotten through to Sam. Three people and one half-wolf dog stood in Elizabeth's living room, waiting for news.

Elizabeth placed her arm around Addy's shoulder. "Drink your tea. It will help soothe your nerves."

"Did you put something in it?"

"It's herbal tea, that's all."

With trembling fingers, Addy put the cup to her lips, sipping slowly. The tea was hot and sweet and soothing.

"Yeah, I understand. When did it happen?" Nick asked Sam Dundee.

Addy handed her cup to Elizabeth, then approached Nick, tugging on his s.h.i.+rtsleeve. "Tell me, what happened?"

Nick slipped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her to his side. "There's no way I'll be able to keep her here," he told Sam Dundee. "We'll head back to Huntsville tonight."

"Nick?" Fear shook her like the impact of a high-powered rifle.

He held her tightly as he continued his conversation. "How's Hester?"

"Is something wrong with Jim?" Addy squeezed Nick's arm.

"I suppose Johnson is at the hospital," Nick said.

"Nick!"

"I'll be in touch as soon as we get there." Nick hung up the phone, turned to Addy, and pulled her completely into his arms. Tilting her chin, she stared up at him. "It's bad, Red. You're going to have to be strong for me and for yourself, but mostly for Rusty."

"Tell me, dammit, just tell me!"

"Your father and Jim Hester had a late dinner meeting tonight. When they returned to the M.A.C. executive offices, they were ambushed."

"Ambushed?"

"Your father's chauffeur-bodyguard was shot. He's dead."

"Alton's dead? My G.o.d, he's been with Daddy for years!"

"Jim Hester was shot, too." Addy tensed in his arms. "He's still alive. He's in surgery."

"What about Tiffany? Who's taking care of her?"

"Hester's sister-in-law has Hester's little girl with her."

Addy swayed, her legs buckling under her. Nick steadied her, then helped her to a nearby chair. Bending down on his knees in front of her, Nick prayed she was strong enough to handle the worst news. "The person or persons who shot Alton and Hester kidnapped your father."

"No! Oh, Daddy!" Slouching over, her shoulders drooping, Addy covered her face with her hands. "I was the target! They threatened me, not Daddy! I don't understand this. Why kidnap Daddy?"

"Dina received a call from the kidnapper," Nick said, pulling Addy's clenched fists into his hands, stroking her knuckles, trying to soothe her. "He wants you to withdraw the NASP bid."

"The NASP bid really is what he's after, isn't it? It's not a red herring like you thought." Addy stared at Nick, her eyes overly bright, glazed with anxiety. "It's Gerald. It has to be. Buta"but he'd knowa"he'd know I don't have the authority to withdraw the bid."

"Calm down, Red. If Carlton is behind Rusty's kidnapping, we'll nail him. I promise you." Nick couldn't bring himself to tell her that he still doubted the validity of the NASP bid threat, that his gut instincts told him that Rusty's kidnapping had another motive. Someone wanted Addy McConnell back in Huntsville, and they'd used the only conceivable method to ensure her return.

"What if he's already killed Daddy? They killed Donnie. Daddy paid the ransom and they still killed him."

Nick felt her panic. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he shook her soundly. "Don't do this, Red! Don't fall apart on me now."

Elizabeth stepped forward, her clear blue eyes focusing on Addy. "Your father isn't dead." Standing beside Addy's chair, Elizabeth touched her cheek. "Your father won't be killed. You will return to Huntsville and save him."

Nick swung around, glaring at Elizabeth. "She doesn't need to hear this."

"Yes, I do." Shoving Nick aside, Addy stood. "I've got to go back. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Grasping his cane, Nick followed her to the door, but couldn't keep up with her when she broke into a run once she'd entered the yard.

"Addy, stop!" Nick flung open the front door. "Dammit, woman, will you slow down!"

Elizabeth caught Nick by the wrist, halting him. "Keep her guarded, every moment. She's in danger."

"Don't you think I know that!"

"Her enemy is someone she knows."

Nick could hear the deafening roar of his heartbeat throbbing in his ears. "What else? You know more, don't you?"

"He means to kill her." Elizabeth's grip on Nick's arm tightened. "A woman has been helping him, but she doesn't want Addy harmed."

Elizabeth released Nick. They stood for several long moments, staring at each other, Nick uncertain whether or not to believe this woman's soothsaying abilities. Sam had once told him that she possessed unearthly powers, that he'd seen Elizabeth Mallory turn barren soil into flowering life and call the animals out of the forest to come to her and they obeyed. Sam had said that his ward, his brother's stepchild had the ability to see inside a person and predict their future. Sam Dundee had never lied to Nick.

"That's all I know," Elizabeth said. "Hurry and go after her. Now, more than ever, Addy will need her paladin."

"Her what?"

"You, Nick, she will need you, her knight in s.h.i.+ning armor. No one else can save her. Only you."