Santerra's Sin: A Loveswept Classic Romance Page 10

  “Glad to hear someone is finding something amusing in all this.”

  She turned to look at her new captor. Although she wasn’t exactly being held captive, her only other option at the moment was to dive out the open door of a moving Jeep.

  “I just thought it was funny to worry about highway safety when in all likelihood you plan on leaving my body out in the desert somewhere.”

  He shot her a look then turned his attention back to the highway. “Why would you think that? I just rescued you.”

  “Well, it seems to me I’ve just traded one captor for another.”

  “You’re not a captive.”

  “Fine, then. Thank you for your help. You can stop the Jeep and let me out.”

  He glanced at her again, but didn’t say anything.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Blue studied him in the dim light. He was tall, rangy. His hair looked light, but not true blond. It was hard to tell. She looked back at the road, berating herself for not paying attention to her surroundings.

  “You’re not a captive. You’re in protective custody.”

  “Whose providing the protection?”

  “Uncle Sam.”

  “You said that before. Who exactly do you work for?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say. But until it’s safe to go back to Villa Roja, you’ll be under protection.”

  Villa Roja. Tejo! In all the turmoil she’d forgotten her uncle. “I need to contact my uncle, let him know I’m okay.”

  “He’s been contacted. He knows you’re safe.”

  She snorted. “Then he knows more than I do.”

  “You’re under our protection,” he repeated.

  “What if I don’t want it? And who does have the liberty to say? I’m not entirely sure, but I have some basic civil rights in this, don’t I?”

  She barely registered that they had left the highway and were climbing into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

  “You have the right to get out now and get yourself killed, or stay with me and live. It will all be explained to you eventually.”

  Blue crossed her arms and stared out the window. They wound around the narrow roads, moving higher and deeper into the range. Several minutes later McShane turned the Jeep onto a long gravel driveway. Tucked high in hills, the road ended in a clearing. A small cabin was nestled at the far side of it, backing up into the tall trees. He parked in front.

  “Don’t get any ideas of running off. This is your best chance of survival.”

  “From what?” Blue finally caved under the pressure. “What exactly is going on? Why are people abducting me? Who wants to kill me? I demand some answers!”

  “Or what?”

  The deep voice came from behind her. Blue whirled around to find Diego standing several feet away, just off the small front porch. The sling on his arm glowed white in the moonlight.

  “What happened to you?” Her head was throbbing. This was too much to assimilate. “Hurt your arm jumping off my bike?”

  “He got shot trying to protect your ass,” came McShane’s sharp retort. With a weary sigh, John walked past Diego. “And while it’s a nice one, amigo, it’s most definitely all yours. I’m done playing white knight. I’m going on first rotation. I’ll be back in three hours.”

  He disappeared around the side of the house, not waiting for a response.

  “Come on, let’s get inside.” Diego sounded weary too.

  Blue wasn’t inclined to feel sorry for either of them at the moment. “You got shot? Why? By who?”

  “Whom. Let’s get inside,” he repeated, turning back, but waiting for her to precede him.

  Blue didn’t budge. “Will you explain to me what is going on?”

  Diego sighed.

  “I’m sorry if my questions are so damn bothersome, but I’m just a little confused. I’ve been abducted, tied up, rescued, reabducted. I have an old employee telling me I’m going to be killed, a new employee getting shot over it. And whatever is going on is important enough, apparently, for the government to get involved. So you’ll just have to excuse me if I’m a little curious.”

  Diego walked over to her. He was limping. “I’m sorry.”

  Blue didn’t like how his soft declaration made her feel. “Sorry won’t cut it,” she said, but the sting in her words didn’t hold up. She looked up at him. “I just want an explanation. Is that so unreasonable?”

  He shook his head. “No. But there are things involved here that you are better off not knowing and that I’m not at—”

  “Liberty to discuss,” she finished, and sighed in disgust. “Listen, I’m really getting—”

  He cut her off. “I promise to tell you what I can. But I’d rather do it inside.”

  “I thought you didn’t make promises.” She couldn’t stop the memory of his kiss from invading her mind. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. His sharp inhalation brought it quickly back to his eyes.

  “Only the ones I can keep.”

  Blue looked at him for several seconds, then let out a deep breath. “Fine, okay. Let’s go inside.” She started to walk past him, but he stopped her with a hand on her upper arm.

  As soon as she stopped, he let her go. She wasn’t sure why the loss of contact bothered her. And she definitely didn’t examine the sudden overwhelming need she had to turn to him. To ask him to hold her.

  “Are you okay? Did they hurt you, Blue?”

  The quiet concern in his voice made her knees soften. She almost gave in to the urge to lean against him.

  “I’m okay, all things considered.” She nodded at his arm. “You’re the one who took the beating.”

  He said nothing, but neither of them moved. She stood there listening to his level breathing, feeling the sheer strength of him. How could cold, rational doubt fill her mind at the same time determined trust grew inside her heart? Hadn’t she learned that lesson?

  But then Diego Santerra wasn’t Anthony. Far from it. And her response to him couldn’t be easily categorized or explained, much less compared with anything she’d ever felt before.

  The air between them filled with an energy that was palpable.

  He raised his good hand, but let it drop without touching her. She swallowed her disappointment.

  “Come on. I need to get off this leg.”

  She looked down at his legs. He was wearing jeans, and there was no outward sign of injury. But the limp had been obvious.

  “From the fall?”

  “Sort of.” He motioned her ahead of him. She noticed how his gaze swept the area, realizing he’d done that before when they’d been on the mountain. Her step faltered. Had that been only the previous morning? At least a lifetime had transpired since then.

  She dropped back to his side. “Do you need help?”

  “I’m fine.”

  She purposely matched his pace. He tried to keep her angled in front of him, but eventually gave up and quickened their pace until they were at the door to the cabin.

  She turned just as he reached past her for the door.

  “Will they find us up here?” she asked. A small smile surfaced. “Whoever the hell ‘they’ is.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “A strong no would make me feel better.”

  “I’m trying to keep you alive, but I won’t lie to you.” He turned the handle and pushed the door open a crack. This time she stopped him with a hand on his arm. He felt warm, solid, strong. And it made her feel protected.

  “Thank you for that. Honesty means more to me than just about anything else. And thank you for getting me out of there.”

  “Don’t thank me, thank McShane.”

  “I don’t think he wants to hear from me at this point.”

  Concern etched his face, but his voice held some warmth. “What did you do to him anyway? Boss him around? He usually enjoys getting beautiful damsels out of distress.”

  Blue knew she more closely resembled a desert rat at this point than a fai
ry-tale damsel, so she ignored the obvious compliment. “I was only trying to get some answers. He’s about as chatty as you are. And I didn’t boss him around. But then, he doesn’t work for me.”

  “Does that mean I’m not fired?”

  She smiled. “I don’t know. I do know you’re not exactly ‘just a cook.’ ” She sobered. “What are you? Who are you, Diego Santerra?”

  Diego looked into her eyes and had no idea how to answer her. Such a simple question, without one easy answer. “I’m just a man doing his job.” Which pretty much summed it up. A man doing his job. No less.

  And no more.

  He watched Blue sigh, push the door open, and enter the cabin he was going to have to convince her to stay in for the next two weeks without explaining why. Yep. Just doing his job.

  The radio gear was gone. McShane must have come in through the back door and taken it with him. Good, thought Diego, locking the front door and double-checking the one on the rear door. Let John deal with the rest of the team. Diego had a feeling his hands would be quite full this evening.

  Blue turned around once, took in the small living area, stone fireplace, open kitchen, stairs to the loft bedroom, and the closed door to the lower one, then faced him again.

  “Okay, explain.”

  “A shame you can’t get to the point once in a while.”

  “I know. People love that about me. Why am I here, Diego, and who are you working for?” She held up her hand. “And don’t feed me that lame Uncle Sam stuff. It’s my life in jeopardy and I think I at least have a right to know who wants me dead and who wants to protect me and why.”

  “You want something to drink?”

  She sighed heavily. “I want some answers.”

  Stalling was not one of Diego’s finer points either. Keeping his mouth shut was.

  He gestured to the simple plaid couch that fronted the fireplace. “Why don’t you sit down. I’m going to get some coffee. You want some?”

  “Sure, fine. I can’t drag it out of you. Do whatever you need to do.” She sat down, crossed her legs, and folded her arms.

  Diego made his way slowly to the kitchen. His thigh was throbbing. His own stupid fault. He’d been pacing the cabin like a wild animal waiting for McShane to get back with Blue. He and McShane had almost come to blows over his insistence on going along to rescue Blue. McShane had cut that off by threatening to tell Del the one or two minor details on the desert incident that Diego had purposely omitted. Like getting shot. They both knew that Del would pull him off the case. If Diego felt he couldn’t do the job, he would have withdrawn anyway. But he and John had discussed it, rather loudly at times, and by the end they had agreed. John would get Blue. Diego would contact Tejo and explain what was going on.

  He wasn’t looking forward to telling Blue about that either.

  He popped a few ibuprofens—the other painkillers dulled his reaction time too much—made two mugs of coffee, and returned to the living room. To her credit, Blue didn’t pounce until he was seated with his foot propped up.

  “Who is trying to kill me?” She made a short, helpless gesture with her hands. “I can’t believe I’m even sitting here, up in the mountains in some godforsaken cabin, talking about murderers and people testifying and—”

  “What do you know about testifying?” His sharp question grabbed her full attention. “What, Blue? What did they say to you?”

  “They, meaning my abductors?”

  He nodded.

  “Nothing to me directly. I overheard them talking. I also saw several of them. I can describe them. In great detail.”

  “That’s not important right now.” Diego knew that as soon as Jacounda discovered he’d failed again, those faces would cease to exist, so trying to match names to faces would be a waste of time.

  “I can identify the men who abducted me, but that’s not important?”

  “What did they say, Blue? What did you hear?” He had to know what information she had before he offered up any of his own.

  She swore under her breath, but thankfully didn’t push the argument further. “I was tied up and put in a dark room. I was inching around the walls, trying to determine how big the room was and if there were any other doors or windows. When I got by the door I heard them talking. Arguing, actually. Over the picture.”

  “What picture?” Diego raised his hand. “Wait, wait. Why don’t you tell me, one step at a time, what happened.”

  “I thought you were supposed to answer my questions.”

  Diego reined in his frustration. Didn’t she know how badly it was killing him to do nothing while Jacounda was out there with unlimited resources and men, scheming up another attempt to snatch her?

  “I want to keep you safe. I need to know what was said. What you heard.”

  She shot off the couch. “Why?” she demanded, her voice rising. “Just answer me that one simple question, Diego. Why do you want to keep me safe?”

  Diego pushed to a stand, ignoring the dagger of pain shooting up his thigh. “Because that’s what I’m paid to do.” He leaned forward intending to shift his weight to his good leg, but his thigh cramped, causing him to pitch forward. Blue caught him by the upper arms, but she was off balance as well and the momentum of his weight sent them back onto the couch.

  He landed heavily on top of her. He groaned when his shoulder connected with the arm of the couch. She swore.

  He tried to roll off of her at the same time she tried to move him.

  He groaned again and she stilled. “Wait, wait,” she said, the words forced out on a short breath. He was crushing her. “Don’t hurt yourself.” She grunted and tried to shift her hand out from between them. “Just move your leg and—”

  Diego lifted his head and her words died. His face was less than two inches from hers. He managed to drag his good arm free and lever most of his weight off of her, which pressed his lower body intimately between Blue’s legs. A fact her suddenly dilating pupils told him she hadn’t missed.

  “Diego,” she whispered.

  “I don’t want you hurt, Blue.” Her lips parted and he swallowed hard against the desire to taste her just one more time.

  “It’s not just about the job,” he heard himself admit. “I don’t want to hurt you either. What happened up on Red Rock—”

  She lifted a hand to his face and his voice disappeared. Why was it that something as simple as her touch made him feel whole?

  “I’m okay,” she said softly. “I trust you. Or at least I want to, but I need to know what’s going on. I need the truth.”

  His instincts screamed at him to tell her everything. About her father, about himself. About how he was falling in love with her.

  He stared into Blue’s eyes, fighting an internal battle he had no idea how to win.

  “I won’t lie to you.” He had nothing else to offer, except the one thing he wanted to and never could. Himself. He couldn’t even protect her properly. He knew that now. He was way too involved personally.

  He couldn’t tell her the whole truth. But he could do his best to keep her alive.

  He’d have himself pulled from the case first thing in the morning.

  But he had to taste her one last time.

  EIGHT

  Diego lowered his mouth, giving her time to pull away, praying she wouldn’t.

  Her lips parted further and he sighed into her mouth as he covered hers with his own.

  Her hand cupped his face, then slid slowly around his neck, her fingers weaving into his hair. She touched him like … a lover. Not a sex partner. A lover.

  He’d never known there could be a difference.

  He moved his mouth to the corner of hers, then trailed small, gentle kisses to her jaw. He’d never once in his life felt gentle.

  “What are you doing to me, Blue?” he whispered against her smooth cheek.

  She arched her neck, and his lips followed the sweet curve from her ear to the curve at the base.

  “I don’t know. Why do I
want this?” she answered. “Why do I trust you?”

  He lifted his head. “Because you can.”

  “I have been betrayed one too many times before, Diego.”

  “I know.”

  She lifted one brow in question.

  “I was sent here to protect you. I know a lot about you.”

  She dropped her hand and began to struggle to get out from under him. “Move off of me,” she demanded.

  His sharp grunt when her knee connected with his taped thigh stopped her. “Blue—”

  She was breathing rapidly, her dark eyes glittering. “I want up, now.”

  Diego knew he should back off, give them both some space. Instead he levered his bad thigh over hers, ignoring the pain, trapping her against the couch. “There are things we both want and can’t have, Blue. Just like there are things I want to tell you and can’t.” He shook his head sharply when she opened her mouth to retort. “I want to. But I owe loyalty to others besides you. I gave my word to them first.”

  “Apparently you don’t owe loyalty to anyone but yourself. Or your job. And I’m not referring to the one you have with me. By the way, you’re fired.”

  “I do owe you loyalty, but you have no idea of the constraints I’m working within.”

  “Why? Why do you care what I think?” They were almost shouting now.

  He pushed his face into hers, his voice lowering to a raw whisper. “Because I have never cared about anything or anyone in my life. I do my job. That is the most I ever allow anyone to expect from me and it’s the most I’ve ever expected from myself. And that has always been enough.” He broke off, breathing unevenly. “Until now,” he said hoarsely.

  “What changed?”

  “You.” She shifted slightly under him, making him swallow hard. “You made me care.”

  “I didn’t do anything. I don’t need to be cared for.”

  He took her mouth in a hard kiss. She stiffened in surprise, but in seconds her mouth softened, her lips parted. He gentled the kiss, needing to feel it returned as much as to know he was capable of giving it.