Army Ranger Redemption (14 page)

“Peace? What’s that?”

“I’d do it, except I don’t think you should be alone in that cabin—not with everything that’s going on right now.”

“I don’t want to be alone, Jim.” She turned to him and traced a finger along the seam of his jeans running along his thigh. “I have an idea.”

She’d lowered her voice to almost a whisper, and he dipped his head to the side to catch her words. “Tell me.”

“There’s a nice, shiny hotel in the new area of town near Evergreen. It has a hot tub, a bar—for me—king-size beds, and the best thing of all? No dead bodies outside and no fire circling the building.”

He paused at the intersection, the
tick-tick
of the turn signal breaking the silence. “Would you feel safe at this hotel?”

“With you, yes.”

He bumped the indicator down with his fist and made the left turn instead of the right. “Take me there.”

She called out directions to the hotel until he pulled into the parking lot.

“Looks nice.”

“It’s a little pricey, but much better than the dumps near the center of town.”

Jim used his credit card to check in and, after Scarlett made sure the hot tub was still open and the bar was still serving, they made their way to their room on the third floor.

Jim shrugged out of his jacket and hooked his thumb through his belt loop. “You keep mentioning this hot tub, but as far as I can tell neither one of us has a swim suit.”

“Shh.” She put her finger to her lips. “I think we can sneak down there and wear our underwear. There won’t be anyone there at this time of night.”

“I always knew you were a rebel.” He sat on the edge of the bed and wasted no time pulling off his boots.

Scarlett grabbed two thick towels from the bathroom, slung one over her shoulder and tossed the other to Jim. “Just in case there aren’t any at the pool.”

Barefoot, in their jeans and T-shirts, they made their way to the lobby on the first floor and turned the corner for the gym and indoor pool, and for the first time in a long time, Scarlett really did feel like a rebel.

She cupped her hand above her eyes and pressed her nose to the glass, peering into the pool area. “Empty—just the way I like it.”

Jim swiped his card key at the door and pushed it open when the green light blinked at them.

The moist air settled on Scarlett’s skin, and she dipped a toe in the pool as she walked along its edge. “The water’s warm.”

“That water’s warmer.” Jim pointed to the hot tub, in the corner, steam rising from its surface.

Scarlett rested her hand on the tile and poked her head inside the hot tub enclosure. “Nice and private, too.”

“Let’s keep the towels close by, just in case.” He dropped his towel on the edge of the hot tub and glanced over his shoulder before peeling off his T-shirt.

The steam from the hot tub warmed her cheeks, or maybe it was just the sight of Jim’s muscled torso—battered and scarred, but still beautiful.

“Let’s get this party started.” He twisted a dial on the wall and the jets churned the water in the tub.

Jim yanked off his jeans and slid onto the top step in one fluid motion, his boxers floating above his thighs.

“You’re fast.” She slipped her arms from the sleeves of her T-shirt and then tugged it over her head. Her bra, nothing fancy, actually covered more than a bikini top would. So why did she feel so bare beneath Jim’s hungry gaze?

“Here goes nothin’.” She pulled off her jeans and stepped into the hot tub, the thin material of her underwear clinging and molding to her body as she submerged herself in the water.

Her knees bobbed against his, and he reached for her hands. “Join me on this side. This way we can both keep an eye on the door.”

Her body floated in the bubbling water as he pulled her to the other side. She settled on the step beside him, resting the back of her head against the edge of the hot tub.

The jets pummeled her lower back and she stretched her legs and wiggled her toes against the bubbles across the tub.

“This feels heavenly. I can almost forget everything that’s happened the past few days.”

“Everything?” He draped an arm across her shoulders, the tips of his fingers dabbling a pattern on her arm. “Even this...electricity between us?”

“If we give in to this—” she flicked some water at his chest “—thing between us, how’s it going to end?”

“It’s gonna end with me making mad, passionate love to you.”

The hot water got hotter and she wriggled in closer to him on the step, her thigh brushing his. “Not that I have any objection at all to making love—especially the mad, passionate kind—but what happens when you get your answers? When you sell your dad’s place? When you go to school somewhere?”

“When you take off for your next art show?”

She nodded and then wedged her chin on his shoulder, the steam rising from his skin making her blink—it couldn’t be tears.

“I don’t know. I can only give you the here and now. I don’t even know what’s going to happen in a day or two, but I do know that I want you.” He growled softly in her ear. “I know that I want to be inside you.”

She gave a little shiver and slipped farther beneath the water, her fingers digging into his thigh for leverage.

“But I understand if you don’t want to go there with me if I can’t promise you anything more. Hell, maybe that’s the answer you’re looking for. Maybe you don’t want to be saddled with a beat-up vet like me for the long haul, anyway.”

With a quick glance at the door to the pool area, she swung around to face him, straddling his lap with her legs. She put a finger to his lips and then replaced it with a wet kiss.

“You couldn’t be more wrong, and it makes me wonder how you can possibly make mad, passionate love to me when you don’t seem to understand the first thing about me or what I want.”

He cinched her waist with his hands. “So, you’re looking for something long-term, or you don’t care if this is a fling?”

“For a guy, you’re analyzing this way too much.” She scooted against him and felt his erection swell against her inner thigh. “Or maybe not.”

Slipping his hands beneath the elastic waistband of her panties, he smoothed his palms across her bottom, his fingers kneading her flesh.

She dipped her head to his chest and ran the tip of her tongue along the jagged scar that marred his smooth skin, as she rocked her hips against him.

He groaned and dragged his fingers over her hip to pull aside the skimpy material of her underwear. Sighing, she fell forward and lodged her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

Closing her eyes, she held her breath as the warm, bubbling water coursed over her sensitive flesh now laid bare. Then he took two fingers and drew them across her skin, leaving a trail of fire that she felt even under the hot water.

She took a quick peak over her right shoulder. “Do you think it’s safe?”

“I’ll keep my eyes on the door and my hands on your body. How’s that?” He caressed her again and then slipped his fingers inside her.

She collapsed against him again, curling her arms around his neck. Jim really was a bad boy. This was exactly the sort of behavior all the girls’ parents had been worried about—and rightly so.

As his fingers explored her, his thumb swept back and forth across her throbbing flesh, stoking the flame in her belly. She pressed her lips against his throat, where a pulse hammered wildly.

She dropped her hand between their bodies to where his fingers were toying with her, teasing her, driving her mad.

He captured her fingers. “Do you want to feel how hot you are?”

Before she could peel her tongue from the roof of her mouth to answer, he replaced his fingers with hers and she could feel her own burgeoning desire. With his hand driving her own, she stroked herself. Then he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her palm.

He continued to wind her up as she trailed her fingers along the length of his erection. He might be a broken-down vet as he liked to call himself, but he had a lot of full-functioning parts.

Her muscles tensed, she gripped his hips with her thighs and then the wave of passion cresting in her body broke and she fell apart. As she rocked against him, riding out her orgasm, the water lapped between their bodies.

Cupping her face with his hands, he kissed the tremulous sighs from her lips. When the last spasm of pleasure slipped away and melted in the water, she dragged her fingernails lightly across the tight flesh of his erection.

He wrapped his fingers around her wrist. “Let’s finish this party on the bed, in the room, behind a locked door. Once I start with you, I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop—interruption, or no interruption.”

With the tip of her tongue, she caught a droplet of water meandering down his chest. “Is what we just did illegal?”

“If there had been anyone in the pool area, I’m sure it would’ve been, but if you don’t tell, I won’t.” He ran his hands across the silky material of her underwear, smoothing it into place. Then he flicked up the straps of her bra.

“Don’t bother.” She stilled his hands with her own. “I’m not going to put my nice, dry clothes on over these sopping wet undergarments.”

He lifted one eyebrow. “You plan to wear those sopping wet undergarments through the lobby, or pull off another Lady Godiva?”

“We’ll take them off, dry off and put on our dry clothes.” She brushed her thumb across his lower lip. “We’ll wrap up our undies in the towels and nobody will notice a thing.”

“You’ve done this before?” Lifting his backside from the step, he peeled off his boxers and balled them in his fist.

She coughed as her gaze swept over his nakedness beneath the water. “Have you?”

“You seem to be the expert.”

“Just using my common sense.” She tapped the side of her head.

“Might as well get it over with.” Hunching forward, he reached for his towel, steam rising from his back and buttocks, water coursing over the intricate design of his tattoo and his hardened muscles.

Scarlett’s lashes fluttered and butterflies claimed her belly. However things turned out with his man, she’d have no regrets about this night.

Jim toweled off his upper torso and then stepped from the hot tub to finish the job. He wrapped the towel around his waist and pulled on his jeans beneath the towel.

“You’re right.” He dropped the towel and shook out his T-shirt. “This feels a lot better than wearing wet boxers.”

“Looks a lot better, too.” She winked.

He held out her towel. “You going to float in there all night ogling me, or are you going to get dressed?”

“I could do just that, Jim Kennedy, but I’m going to do more than ogle when we get up to the room.” She shimmied out of her underwear and stood up on the top step.

Jim stepped between her and the door to the pool area. “Just in case someone decides on a late-night swim.”

“Oh, is that what people do in here?” She snorted and dried off her body.

Jim came up behind her and yanked her T-shirt over her head.

She copied him by wrapping the towel around her waist and putting on her jeans. She squeezed out her wet underclothes and rolled them up in the towel. “There. Now we won’t have our wet stuff seeping into our dry stuff.”

“It won’t take us long to get back to the room, anyway.”

“I’m going to make a stop at the bar for a glass of wine, if that’s okay with you.”

“As long as you get it to go.” He flipped the ends of her damp hair over her shoulder. “Because I’m not waiting another minute for you, Scarlett Easton.”

Leaning forward on her tiptoes, she pressed her damp bundle into his arms and kissed his lips. “Do you mind taking my clothes to the room? I’d hate to have them fall out of the towel in the middle of the bar.”

“That could definitely be awkward.”

When they stepped into the hallway, leaving the humid atmosphere of the indoor pool, Scarlett shivered. She’d felt safe and protected in the hot tub with Jim, and the cool air in the hallway was like a cold dose of reality. She hugged herself. Soon they’d be wrapped in each other’s arms making love...and she’d feel safe again.

They paused at the elevator bank and Jim stabbed the button. “Do you have money?”

“I’m going to put it on the room—three eighty-two, right?”

“That’s the one. Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you or wait here? You know I can be in a bar and not go crazy?”

“I know that. You can lay out our clothes so they’ll be dry by tomorrow morning, and maybe get a hot shower going.” The elevator dinged as it settled at the lobby level. “I’ll be right up.”

She waved to him as the doors closed and then spun around toward the lobby. She crossed the room, making a beeline for the dark bar in the corner, which was emitting live folk music.

Who knew Timberline had an actual nightlife? Evergreen Software really had changed the town.

She walked to the entrance of the bar, her bare feet sinking into the carpet. A couple deep in conversation didn’t even look up when she entered. The lone guy at the bar gave her a quick glance before turning his attention back to the silent TV screen, and a woman seated in front of the musician gave Scarlett a dirty look and put her finger to her lips—must be the folk singer’s girlfriend. So much for Timberline nightlife.

Scarlett ordered a glass of red wine from the bartender and then stuffed a pretzel in her mouth while tapping her foot to the beat of the song.

The bartender delivered her wine. “Do you want me to open a tab?”

“No, I’m taking this to my room. You can give me the check now.”

Once he delivered the bill, she scribbled her signature on it and then raised her glass. “Thanks.”

As she left the bar, a group of people in front of the elevator exploded in laughter. Suddenly self-conscious about her lack of underwear, her bare feet and the glass of wine in her hand, Scarlett pivoted toward the stairwell. She could handle three flights.

She slipped through the fire door and had started climbing the first set of stairs when the fire door behind her swung open. Looked like she couldn’t avoid people even if she wanted to.

A whisper floated through the stairwell, and she slowed her steps. Had she stumbled upon another couple looking for a private spot for an intimate encounter?