the house was silent again. loren wandered toward the front windows and looked out at the scorched earth. the metal hull of the panther was still sitting where it had burned. beyond that the blackened skeleton of a bunkhouse marked its final moment.
every inch of ground had been burned. it was shocking how complete the army personnel had been. the house was spared only because it was rourke’s personal residence and the soldiers were never allowed inside.
but it was clear that the house would be torched the second there was any hint of further infection. the harsh sound of a flamethrower hit her ears. they were still burning the earth down the hill.
twenty-four hours of nonstop burning. she should have been more used to it. brushfire season in southern california meant weeks of fires, but the constant smell of burning leaves and fuel still turned her stomach.
loren watched the teams stop their work. it was easy to see them. the hazardous material team had helicoptered in within an hour of cal’s death.
they wore complete environmental suits with their own, clean air contained inside a tank on their backs. it drove home the frightening reality of their contamination.
a helicopter came over the house and the windows shook. the remaining team members made their way toward it. they were slow and clumsy in their inflated and insulated yellow suits. the last man climbed aboard and the aircraft lifted away.
so now they were left to wait it out.
time could move at a snail’s pace when the mind was so full. loren tossed her head and used her fingers to comb her hair back. the sound of toby punching at his keyboard touched her ears and she smiled slightly.
her son had promptly gone into the den and calculated their odds of possible infection. he’d presented his numeric possibilities to her with an adolescent grin.
ah, to be a teenager and invincible!
loren turned and dropped her cup. she jumped back out of sheer shock and
rourke reached for her forearms to keep her from hitting the wall.
“could you breathe heavy if you’re not going make any other sound when you move…” loren snapped her mouth shut. the man in front of her was exhausted. heavy fatigue was carved into his face. it was clear he hadn’t slept.
“dad will appreciate the compliment. he taught me to be light-footed.” rourke let
his words come out slowly. he wanted to just look at her and burn her face into his mind. loren was so alive. her light green eyes glistened and shouted her energy at him.
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reaching forward he gently smoothed his hand over her check. her skin was silky and warm.
“i’m sorry, loren.”
he left on silent feet a second later. loren felt her composure desert her because she just felt him like he was a part of her. there was an urge shouting at her to follow the man and lift some of his guilt away.
she stood in place instead. truth had a way of hitting you right between the eyes when you finally got around to facing it. the truth was she wanted to be with that man.
to yank his clothes off and let him do everything his male instincts told him to do with
her.
facing her own mortality must have emphasized just how precious time really was. she’d been tossing away opportunities. right now, loren was looking at a clock that just might be winding down for her.
but it wasn’t her own death that was really bothering her. it was the idea of rourke’s death. he had always been so strong. he still was. even with fatigue trying to drag him down, the man was still completely virile.
as silent as the house was, loren found herself paying attention to her steps as she followed rourke. every tiny sound she made seemed as loud as thunder. she wasn’t sure why she was following him, but it just felt right.
she came to a sudden halt in the hallway. rourke had left his door open. the master bedroom door had never once been left open. today it was. stepping forward she caught the sight of rourke lying on his bed.
the thing had been huge when she’d been laying in it. but it was the right size for its owner.
rourke had laid down, boots and all. his feet were crossed at the ankles and his arms were over his chest. loren let her eyes slip over him as she looked at the body that he had such complete control over.
she couldn’t remember the last time she’d just looked at a man for the sake of seeing him. heat rose in her cheeks and she enjoyed it.
loren felt other signs of arousal invade her body as she looked at his firm lips. it was very freeing to have the opportunity to just let her curiosity run free without the worry that his emerald eyes would catch her.
there was just something about his direct stare that made things permanent. she could let the small signs of passion move over her skin right now because rourke wouldn’t see them. if he caught her eyes right now, there wouldn’t be any denying her rather basic yearnings.
rourke would peg her dead straight and her body wouldn’t help her conceal the truth.
loren leaned against the doorjamb and let her eyes slide all the way down his chest
to his abdomen. his legs were powerful, just like his arms. her lips went dry and loren
let her tongue run over their surface before she pushed away from the doorway and walked toward her own room.
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her body protested the entire way but she went. loren ran her hand through her hair and sighed.
rourke heard the feminine sound and curled his fingers into fists. he wanted her. even now, as the hard truth was hitting him, he just didn’t care. he could smell her delicate scent coming from the guestroom and all he wanted was to pull her clothing away ‘til he found the source of the scent.
it was basic and primal and all-consuming. rourke let his eyes close again.
it was a damn good thing he was so tired or loren wouldn’t be sleeping down the hall any longer.
* * * * *
her nap wasn’t restful. instead loren tossed around and woke up tired. her head ached but she got out of bed. the sun was setting as she made her way down the hall. right about now she was remembering why men were such trouble. passion made the body unpredictable and loren liked her neat, organized life. keeping tabs on her son was all the excitement she needed.
she stopped and stared at the closed master bedroom door. loren had to really think about the afternoon’s events. had she just dreamed it or had that door really been open? her headache doubled and she shook off her ideas.
“you are truly an addict, loren.”
another mug went toward the kitchen floor. this time it was full to the brim with steaming coffee. loren yelped as it splashed onto her bare feet. she was plucked off them a second later and deposited on the kitchen counter.
rourke muffled a comment before he flipped the faucet on and eased her skin under the cold water. her feet were covered with pink splotches. he looked at the marks and muttered again.
damn it! he was just trouble for her.
“so, where’s the bubble bath, campbell?” loren waited for rourke to look at her before she burst out laughing. in his haste to attend to her burns, he’d managed to soak her to the waist. water was dripping down the cabinets and pooling on the counters because he kept turning her body about to ensure that he didn’t miss a single tiny bit of the burn.
rourke aimed his emerald eyes at her before he looked over the mess he’d made in those thirty seconds. loren continued to laugh as his face took on a devilish look. one hand held her in the sink as rourke lifted a coffee mug from the counter and filled it with cold water.
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loren’s amusement died immediately. rourke aimed the cup toward her head and she thrust her hand out for protection. the water splashed up and out of the cup and onto them both.
“it’s cold, campbell!”
his own laughter joined hers as rourke tried to keep her squirming body on the counter while he also tried to refill the cup. “i noticed. but you needed a good cold bath
a couple of hours ago, lady.”
loren went deathly still. rourke returned her stare and waited.
she was just so shocked to discover her own longings. that reaction was a mystery to him. they were both healthy adults, more than past the age of consent. yet loren faced her desire like a virgin on prom night. so surprised to discover it inside her own body.
“you knew i was there.” loren shook her head. “of course you knew i was there.” loren had just forgotten to consider what her son had told her.
psychic.
now that was a huge idea. in a really weird way, maybe it made things make more sense. rourke had always been dead-on with understanding exactly how she was feeling. the question was, was it pure male instinct or something altogether different.
“only because i heard you moving down the hallway.” loren watched his eyes as he said that. the man was waiting for something.
she wasn’t sure just what. she didn’t doubt his words. rourke just was more in tune with
his sense than any man she’d ever known. besides, dishonesty was a notion she couldn’t apply to him.
it just felt wrong.
“okay.” loren made a grab for the cup and snagged it away from rourke’s distracted hold. she tossed the whole load at his face and laughed as the cold water ran down his chest.
he pressed his lips together as his eyes glowed with the promise of payback.
“hey, mom, the r.o. girls are, like, going nuts trying to find you.”
“i’ll be right there!” loren shouted her reply and prayed her son wouldn’t come looking for her.
“r.o. girls? what’s that? a club?”
“yes.” loren tried to escape his embrace but he held her in place with a single raised eyebrow.
“what does it stand for, loren?”
“you’re nosy, did you know that?”
“i pay attention to details.” he held her in place as his eyes dropped to her lips. loren felt heat snake through her body as his head began to lower.
“it stands for restraining order.”
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rourke’s face reflected his surprise and his grasp eased as he tried to decide if she was joking or not. loren wiggled off the counter and flipped rourke a smirk.
“what in the hell kind of club is that?” loren shrugged before edging toward the kitchen door. “sounded better than
‘men are pigs’.” he growled at her and she hightailed it into the office and her son’s presence before rourke got the chance to cross-examine her.
rourke watched her go and let a frown slip over his face. the impulse to just lay it
all on the line was strong. he wanted to know just what she’d do when faced with the reality of his psychic abilities.
rourke turned around and began cleaning up their mess. exactly what was he thinking of doing anyway? tell loren he was both psychic and permanently in the army?
there was one great idea. toby had already told her that fact but announcing it to her would force her to either accept or shun him.
the little matter of quarantine would make that rather hard to live with.
he’d find himself bunking out on the forest floor with his men, because he sure as hell wouldn’t
let loren toss a sleeping bag down next to a single one of his rangers. if she was
determined to separate herself from him, he wouldn’t put it past her to camp out in the
washington mountains.
but the second possibility was what bothered him the most. it was just possible that
loren would take it in stride.
if that happened, temptation would have him in its claws. loren would be in his bed so fast she wouldn’t have time to protest.
letting her go after that was going to be the worst ordeal he’d ever endured. rourke was certain of it.
so, why in the devil did he keep thinking about it?
* * * * *
her cell phone was missing the next morning. loren stared at the empty bedside table and felt her temper rise. that man moved too silently, too quietly or she was getting old and feeble.
raising toby had taught her to sleep light. one single sound from her son normally brought loren to full attention.
oh lord.
loren dropped her head back onto her pillow. this was rapidly getting beyond any sort of control. she could try and reason it out but there was a plain truth that was getting too large to ignore.
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trust. even faith. rourke campbell made her feel secure.
that scared the absolute hell out of her. how could something like that happen? it was continuing to grow with every little look or word that the man gave her. sure, he was still in the mood to pursue her but even his method made her more at ease with his approach.
loren felt him herding her into place and there wasn’t a single thing she seemed to
be able to do about it. his net was far too effective. but it was more than that. having the man close to her was pleasant. it was even becoming comfortable.
which was why he could walk right up to her bedside without her moving a muscle. pushing her body up from the bed, loren headed for the shower. turning the puzzle around in her head was going to give her a migraine.
she was attracted to the man and her common sense was useless.
her shower took less than four minutes. tension was running her in circles today. loren looked out the window before walking toward the kitchen. it was too quiet this morning.
there wasn’t even the scent of coffee in the air. loren stopped and considered the kitchen counter. the coffee was sitting there and the pot was next to it. both had been abandoned.
her neck knotted into cords because rourke was a detailed man. he’d been called away and the reason might very well be a case of further infection.
loren turned on her heel and left the house.
she wasn’t going to wait. something was happening, she could actually feel it floating on the morning air.
“go to hell, you pup. if i was going to kill you, you’d be dead.” loren recognized the voice instantly. her eyes flew to her father’s face as he argued with two of rourke’s rangers. loren blinked her eyes rapidly and tried to make the sight of her father standing in the front yard dissipate. not here. not right now. her dad just couldn’t be here.
but he was. rourke had taken up his normal stance with arms crossed over his chest as he considered the intruder. two of the rangers held her father under guard and true to his nature, he was amused.
the rangers held their automatic rifles in her father’s face but he was ignoring them. instead he was standing in a rather arrogant stance as he faced off with rourke.
the horrible reality of her father’s presence impacted her a second later.
“dad, you’ve got terrible timing.”
“lavender, that’s no way to talk to your father.” loren bristled and her dad grinned. he hated her name more than she did. he turned that grin toward rourke and eyed the younger man thoughtfully.
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“well, now. i don’t care just who your mama is, young man. it doesn’t give you the right to take off with my family.” her father considered rourke and pointed a firm finger at him. “looks like we got us a real problem here.”
“the problem is yours, old man.” one of the rangers spat that out as he angled his weapon into her father’s face. loren held her ground because she knew her dad just a little too well. that ranger was about to catch hell.
the younger man never saw it coming. her father gave a half-turn away from the man before his boot was thrust into the ranger’s midsection.
he went flying as her father plucked the weapon from the man’s grasp.
he tossed the rifle at rourke before turning toward his victim.
“i had my tabs before you stopped thinking your mama’s tits looked good. your perimeter sucks and maybe you better stop calling me an old man because i walked right through your unit.” and that was her dad. loren felt the slight laugh escape her mouth because she just couldn’t help it. first, sean loren would have to be dead before he ever forgot to tell another ranger that he had his tabs. the ranger patch known as tabs could only be earned by completing an intensive extra training program. it was an elite group and her father was one of them.
rourke turned and caught her amusement. his face was stone-hard but his eyes were sparkling. there was an admiration sitting there for the older man’s skill that all the rules in the army couldn’t dismiss.
“you’ve got tabs?”
“hell, yes.” her dad smirked at his guard as the second man lowered his rifle. “you think i learned how to break your line anywhere else?” the older man gave the two rangers back their pride with that statement. being bested by another ranger was acceptable.
“get over here and give your daddy a hug.” loren propped her hands onto her hips instead. she was going to choke on the testosterone fumes for sure. “dad, we are under quarantine.
the last thing i need is for you to be infected.”
“life’s a real bummer sometimes, my girl.” rourke just couldn’t help laughing. loren was so damn cute when she was frustrated. she raked a hand through her hair in agitation and pressed her lips together.
a solid whack landed on his shoulders and sent him forward a half step.
“oh, pardon me, sir. i’m getting clumsy in my old age. that’s my little girl standing right down there.”
rourke glared at the man as he lifted one gray eyebrow and smirked at him.
the heavy hand of parental authority was sitting on the man’s face. it was aimed right at rourke. loren was right—this guy had to go immediately. getting around loren’s 58
barriers was plenty of trouble. rourke didn’t need her father here critiquing his performance as well.
his border patrol came up the drive and they stepped aside to let the two hummers by. loren’s father took the moment to grab his daughter in a bear hug. she wiggled away and glared at him, but her light green eyes were sparkling.
loren finally gave up and smiled. her dad was…well, her daddy. he gave her a wide smile in return. “now, that’s my girl. where’s my grandson hiding?”
“holy shit!”
loren went flying back as her father shoved her away. chris had jumped down from the hummer and never got another word out of his mouth.
chris hadn’t taken the time to see just who was hugging her, but sean recognized his son-in-law instantly.
her father attacked the man with pure deadly intent. he tossed chris right over the hood of the hummer and dove after the man. loren was powerless to stop her own stumbling fall right into rourke. he lifted her off her feet and set her aside before he launched himself into the fight.
it took rourke and three of his rangers to drag her father off chris. her husband was flat on his back in the dirt and gasping for breath as rourke dragged his opponent away.
“i’ve waited fourteen years to choke the life out of you.” her father’s face was glowing with primal rage. chris struggled to his feet and stepped away from the man.
loren just couldn’t take it anymore. it was her life! she stepped in front of her father and stuck her finger into his face.
“take a number and get in line! if anyone gets to kill my husband, i do. so just back off, dad.” her father went deathly still in response. loren tossed her head before she turned around to look at her husband. maybe being stuck on this mountain was a good thing after all. it was time to deal with her past mistakes.
“you want a divorce, chris? fine. but you’d better be real careful how you word
it.”
chris sneered at her as he tried to recover his pride. “just what the hell are you
going to do about it?”
“touch my son and i’ll kill you myself.” 59