A shocking compulsion to end all that innocence rolled over him. Most men would call it simple lust. But he knew it to be more.
The girls at his various universities had all been many years older than him, deeply intellectual and far too cool to pay any attention to the skinny kid blowing out all the grade curves in their classes. At the opposite end of the spectrum had been the groupies in the casinos. Hookers, showgirls and hangers-on looking to trade their bodies, and even their souls, for access to his bank account. Not that he particularly held it against them. They were using what tools they had to climb out of lifes cesspool, while he used them to climb into it.
There had been a few older women looking to take on the role of his missing mothersocial workers, counselors, even a professor or twowho tried to mentor him along the way. Their hearts had been in the right place. Hell, they might even have had decent advice for him. But he hadnt been ready to hear it. Not back then. Not before his life imploded and he sent himself to hell.
Some would say hed always been in hell and had just managed to find a stairway down to a deeper circle of it. They were also the ones who tended to declare him a lost cause. Doomed to wallow in his own black pit of despair, forever. He was inclined to agree with that crowd.
A faint rumble rolled down the valley, and Katie looked up sharply, startled.
Its just thunder, he murmured drowsily, pretending to be half-asleep.
No, its not. That was a mortar explosion, she retorted tersely.
And you know this how? he asked with more alert interest.
Three of my brothers are in the military, the other two are in law enforcement and my dads an exGreen Beret. We lived on army bases when I was a kid. Another explosion sounded, closer this time, and she announced with certainty, And that was a rocket-propelled grenade.
Fuck. Supposedly harmless little Katie McCloud kept throwing him monkey wrenches. He needed her to be no factor in this mission. A know-nothing civilian translator whod never been overseas and had no field experience. Naive. A bit of a dingbat. Manageable, dammit. But instead she was a dangerous wild card. What the hell was going on out here around them? Around him?
This job was supposed to be about redemption. About doing something decent with his life at long last. About escaping the clutches of his father, at least for a little while. Was it too much to ask to have one moment in his life to do what he wanted with it? If it wouldnt have been completely paranoid of him, he would half suspect his father was behind the rebels managing to stay on their heels like this.
Katie was so damned quick on the uptake. Hell, he already had her half-trained to be a decent surgical nurse. She was intuitive. Attractive. And she could fricking tell mortars from RPGs. He swore silently and with great fervor. Why hadnt anyone told him that about her?
A patient will come to us tonight, she declared.
Still holding out hope for that ice cream? he asked lightly. Her gaze snapped unwillingly to his. Mmm-hmm. She was thinking hard about what would happen if he won the bet instead of her. Hell, so was he.
Ever since theyd come out here, he had exercised iron will not to let his mind stray to the possibilities between themalone in the wilds, bored, attracted to each other. He didnt know what had come over him when hed suggested the bet this afternoon. Shed broken through his self-discipline somehow, and he didnt have a clue how shed done it. And that worried him.
Hed carefully locked away the darker side of his soul and kept it under tight wraps. But damned if he wasnt dying of curiosity to see how she would react to that other side of him. The dangerous one that corrupted everything and everyone it touched. Hed never dreamed she would actually accept the bet. The odds had been overwhelming that she would run screaming from such a risky wager. Unpredictable, she was. An outlier in his experience with women. It made her damn near irresistible.
She seemed so straightforward on the surface. An all-American girl. Her insistence on washing her hair every other day, even if the water was barely above freezing, spoke of care for her physical appearance. And the way she accessorized her mannish mountain jacket with frilly, fringed scarves and fuzzy earmuffs shouted of her need to demonstrate her femininity. Growing up in the houseful of brothers explained that, he supposed. Ten to one she polished her toenails.
He swore violently at himself. No more odds. No more bets. He was done with all that. Down that path lay damnation and ruin.
She moved to stand in the doorway as darkness fell, gazing down the valley, her arms wrapped around her middle. He watched her become a silhouette against the twilight and then a mysterious shadow blending with the night. A need to consume her, body, mind and soul, burned in his gut like brimstone.
Was she regretting their bet? A gentleman would let her out of it since it seemed to disturb her so much. But then, gentlemen didnt often make it down to his end of hell. And a deal was a deal, even if it was with the devil.
He announced grimly, Im going to get some sleep. You should do the same. We wont get many nights off while were out here.
She turned to glare at him. Are you always so sure of yourself?
If youre asking if Im always right, pretty much, yes.
Thats arrogant.
Just stating the facts. He couldnt resist adding, Odds are you wont get much sleep tomorrow night. Therefore, you should sleep tonight when you can.
Her mouth sagged open. Amused at her burgeoning outrage and disinterested in enduring a lecture from a ruffled female, he lay down on his cot, presenting his back to her.
Someday, Alex Peters, something or someone is going to come along and knock you off that pedestal of yours. I sincerely hope Im there to see it.
He snorted. That had been taken care of a very long time ago. But she had no reason to know it, and he had no reason to tell her. The past was over and done with. Theyd told him to start a new life. To move forward. Too bad no one had told him how.
* * *
KATIE LISTENED TO the quiet sound of Alexs breathing. Every minute or so, it was punctuated by an explosion of one kind or another from outside. She identified ground fire and artillery and heard the change in pitch when attack helicopters rolled in on the distant battle. Even if it was still several miles away, gradually, gradually, it was moving closer to their position.
What if Alex was right? What if this area was overrun by the low-intensity brush war raging across this barren region? Shed heard war stories around her familys kitchen table for long enough to know that no war was low intensity if a guy was on the ground, caught in the middle of it. If only she could call whatever brother of hers was closest to this corner of the world and ask him to find out exactly what was going on. She hated not knowing what was headed their way. But no. Shed been determined to do this on her own. Heck, her cell phone wouldnt work even if she went hundreds of miles in any direction from here.
A new sound outside sent her to the door of the tent. It was a high-pitched scream, like a fighter jet, yet too quiet to be an airplane. Still, it sounded close. Perplexed, she scanned the sky. Her jaw dropped as she spotted a drone. It was bigthe size of a small airplane. More interesting, it had a huge, bulbous protrusion on its belly. That was some sort of radar scanner.
A new sound outside sent her to the door of the tent. It was a high-pitched scream, like a fighter jet, yet too quiet to be an airplane. Still, it sounded close. Perplexed, she scanned the sky. Her jaw dropped as she spotted a drone. It was bigthe size of a small airplane. More interesting, it had a huge, bulbous protrusion on its belly. That was some sort of radar scanner.
She ducked under the tent instinctively. Alex had mentioned something about the tent canvas having metal fibers woven into it that prevented radar and infrared systems from seeing through it. Apparently, the special tents were standard gear for D.U. doctors. It helped them avoid being detected when they were treating patients in a hostile area.
The drone moved on, cruising at a leisurely pace. It pulled a big one-eighty turn at the head of the valley and commenced flying back down it. That looked like some sort of search pattern. What on earth was it looking for? More to the point, who was flying the darned thing? Who had that kind of military resources, and what were they doing in this remote corner of the world?
She was tempted to wake Alex, ask him to pull out the satellite radio and have him get an update from the neutral observers who were tracking the rebels and their movements. Alex hadnt turned the thing on since theyd fled their last cave. Of course, she was also tempted to get down on her knees and pray for a woman in labor to stumble through the door right about now, too.
Sex with Alex Peters? The notion had her tied in so many knots she could hardly see straight. Surely he wouldnt make her go through with it if he won the bet. Thing was, shed been raised to keep promises and honor her word. And he struck her as the kind of man who would demand no less of her.
What in the heck had she been thinking to agree to such a crazy wager? She hadnt been thinking. Her impulsive nature had gotten her into a pickle again. Like it always did. Would she never learn?
Although how bad could sex with the good doctor be? Hed been genuinely shocked when shed chosen ice cream over sex. Did he know something about it that she didnt? He was a doctor. Did they talk about...that stuff...in medical school? Teach students the anatomical secrets of fantastic sex? Lord knew he was attractive. Strike that. He was a hunk. Smexysmart and sexy.
She didnt usually go for the silent, brooding types. But she had to admit, he wasnt so bad to be around. Exuberant guys had a tendency to exhaust her with their drama. Sure, she was the exuberant type herself, but, at the end of the day, drama wasnt her thing. At least Alex was predictable...most of the time...when he wasnt making shockingly inappropriate bets with his coworker. Predictably intellectual. Predictably clueless about women. Predictablyand infuriatinglyenigmatic.
Her brother had been specific in his instructions to her. Earn Alex Peterss trust. Get into his good graces. Find out if he was up to anything besides delivering babies out here in the middle of nowhere. Shed asked Mike what he suspected Alex of, but her brother had fed her a bullshit line about not wanting to taint her impressions of the doctor. What was the deal with Alex? Who was he? And why had she been sent into a war zone to watch him?
She paced the tiny tent until her legs ached. Finally, Alex woke enough to mutter, Lie down, Katie. Youre keeping me awake with all your fretting.
She did as he asked, but she tossed and turned for much of the night. Yet again she checked her watch. God. 4:00 a.m. Good news: the shelling was finally winding down. Bad news: no women had crept to the tent asking for the baby doctor.
She was so frantic not to lose the bet that she was seriously considering heading for the nearest village to go door-to-door looking for women in labor. Okay, she wasnt serious about canvassing the neighborhood for business. But she wanted to do it.
As the first hint of dawn touched the peaks at the opposite rim of the valley, she reluctantly admitted defeat and burrowed deeper into her sleeping bag. What had she done? Why did she have a feeling deep in her gut that she had jumped off a cliff and just didnt know it yet?
* * *
KATIE WOKE WITH a jolt and was stunned to see sunlight inching in the tent flap. What time is it? she demanded, disoriented. She looked around and was alarmed to see that the tent was empty. Where was Alex?
Almost two oclock, he answered from outside.
She leaped out of the sleeping bag, shocked. Her feet hit the cold dirt, and she hopped uncomfortably from foot to foot until she could slip into her unlaced hiking boots. She gathered her hair up in a high ponytail. Today was hair-washing day, and she already dreaded dousing her head in ice water. But it was better than having greasy hair.
Alex ducked inside the tent and handed her a steaming mug of coffee. Their fingertips brushed as they made the handoff, and her pulse leaped wildly. She looked up at him involuntarily. One corner of his mouth turned up in sardonic amusement at her jumpiness. It was official. Shed made a deal with the devil. To have sex. Ho. Lee. Crap.
Freaked out, she stared down at her mug of coffee unseeingly. Slowly, slowly, her pulse returned to normal, leaving behind a low-level background hum of panic. She would figure out a way to dodge the bullet. After her coffee.
She inhaled the bitter aroma with great relish. It wasnt that she was the worlds biggest fan of coffee, but it was the smell of home. Of the civilized world beyond this isolated valley. Of lifes little indulgences.
Thanks, she murmured. As usual, Alex didnt reply as he moved past her to the back of the tent. But today, she followed up with, Why dont you ever say youre welcome or something to that effect?
Its redundant. Ive already done something polite or thoughtful and the recipient has acknowledged it. Theres no need for further exchange.
Are you always so...cold-blooded in your approach to human interactions? she asked curiously.
He moved shockingly fast to stand right behind her. Her pulse leaped at his proximity. Was he going to collect on the bet right now? She started to feel light-headed, and her legs trembled so badly with an urge to bolt that they would barely support her weight.
No, Katie. His voice was barely more than a whisper sliding across her skin. Im not cold-blooded about everything.
Her breath hitched, and she had to force herself to take her next breath.
A single finger touched the nape of her neck right where her hair met bare skin. It drew slowly down her spine to the top of her T-shirt. For the record, Im not going to fall on you and ravish you like some clumsy, horny American boy.
She turned sharply, mostly to escape that disturbingly sensual caress, but also to stare at him in surprise. Youre American, arent you?
I am a citizen, yes.
But?
But I was born abroad. And my father did not raise me particularly American.
What about your mother?
No mother, he bit out.
She replied drily, Last I heard, theres only been one documented case of immaculate conception. She added even more drily, Assuming, of course, that you accept the Bible as valid documentation. And even then, it was the male parent in absentia.
His eyes were the roiling gray of a thundercloud as he stared down at her. What on earth was he thinking to send that turbulence through his eyes? She continued looking back at him expectantly.
After a moment, he muttered, Let me guess. Youre not going to leave the subject of my missing mother alone until I give you an explanation.