Unfinished Business Part 1

Unfinished Business.

by Amy Fetzer.

Chapter One.

South America Night.

The Southern Hemisphere was the pits.

The jungle air reeked of rotting vegetation, thick enough to see. Wet enough to taste. That Rick was here, steaming like broccoli, searching for a woman he never wanted to see again, said something about his character.He just wasn't sure if it was heroic or just m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.tic.Crouched in the shadows behind a drape of vines, Rick Callahan held his breath as a guard wearing bandoleers and carrying an AK-47 moved past and headed toward the front of the building. Didn't these guys sleep? He reminded himself to sit tight, he was being paid to rescue Megan O'Toole. Paid a lot. It was the only reason he was in this h.e.l.lhole willing to face guerillas armed better than he was to get her back to her cushy lifestyle.Rick ducked out, hurrying to the edge of the slanting building. Crouching, he spotted her through the shack's only window and feelings he couldn't name shot through his chest like a blade. He wasn't going to pick them apart. He had a job to do. Now.Before they both got waxed.Weapon out, with his back to the wall, he peered over the sill. Megan O'Toole, daughter of a billionaire, was in the center of the room, blindfolded, gagged - a smart move on their part - and tied to a wooden chair. Her head was slumped forward, shoulders limp, and for a second he thought she was dead.And inside, he hurt. Sharp, angry.Then she stirred, lifting her head. He could hear her captors in the front yard, boozing it up and getting comfortable. They should; they'd just made their last demand on Cameron O'Toole, Megan's father. Rick had negotiated it himself. Part of the service, he thought, and slid over the sill, dropping silently to the floor. He scanned the darkened room, the only light coming from a kerosene lamp on the dirt floor. Slumming for Megan, he thought. She was used to luxury, servants. A doting father who protected her like a dragon protecting its young.Doting enough to dismiss Rick as her bodyguard for falling under her spell. And getting shot. It was a humiliation he was still trying to live down.Holstering his weapon, he moved to her, closing his hand over her gagged mouth and pulling her head back against his shoulder. She fought him, and he tightened his grip to near punishing."Be quiet or we're both dead. Understand?"She nodded, but the tension didn't ease from her body. Letting her go, he cut her gag and ropes, ignoring her raw bleeding wrists and pulling her from the chair to the floor.Megan ripped off the blindfold, blinking. "If this isn't for real, I'll make you sorry," she whispered in a gravelly voice and Callahan's brows shot up. That didn't sound like the Megan he remembered."I'm as real as it gets. Can you walk?" he whispered, and she met his gaze, nodding, looking more angry than scared. He'd give up a lung to know what she was thinking right now.On her hands and knees, nearly nose to nose, Megan searched beyond the green and black clothing, the camouflage face paint that would give a child nightmares, and stared into dark unforgiving eyes. Familiar eyes. And a flood of memories coated her in slick greedy waves.Richard.The last time she'd been this close to him he'd been kissing her into mindless desire. For a second, she could almost feel the heavy warmth of his hands roaming beneath her clothes again, stroking her in places that called to only him, hear his soft erotic words while he was melting her bones with hot wet kisses. Yet with the steamy memories came the trouble she'd caused him. The bullet he'd taken to save her. And while she thought she'd actually meant something to her former bodyguard, he'd discarded her like day-old caviar and never looked back."Daddy must be paying you a lot of money to do this.""More than he first offered."The insult stung, bruising her heart more than her ego. Just how much had it taken for Callahan to come all this way for her? And why had her father asked the one man forbidden to her?"You okay?" he whispered close to her ear, his irritation precise, biting."Yes, peachy, but the service here is awful," she snapped. "I shan't recommend them again." She could have sworn his lips actually curved in a smile. No. Not Callahan. Smiles would crack his chiseled face.Barely able to see him in the dark, she followed him across the dirt floor to the window. He slithered over the edge like a long black snake, pulling her after him. The sill cut into her hip and she bit down on her tongue to keep from groaning. And alerting her captors. They'd taken sick pleasure in smacking her around when the troglodyte they called a boss wasn't around.Once outside, Rick grabbed her hand, yanking her ruthlessly into the jungle and running.After a few yards, her legs screamed in protest. "Callahan! Good grief, I've been sitting in that chair for nearly a week!"Without missing a beat, Callahan picked her up and like a caveman, tossed her over his shoulder. He ran. The air punched out of her lungs so hard she barely noticed his arm wrapped around her thigh, his hand shoved between her legs. She wasn't going to complain, not that she could with her thoughts draining out of her head with her blood. He ran for what felt like a mile before she heard gun shots."You just had to be a popular hostage?" he muttered accusingly, running a hundred yards before swinging her down, and setting her to her feet so hard Megan's teeth clicked together.She shoved her hair out of her face. "Now what?" He was barely winded, d.a.m.n him."We run.""Weren't we just doing that?""Not fast enough carrying you." He forced her round and pushed her ahead. "Go, I don't get paid for dead."Good, she thought, that would keep her alive, and she obeyed, ignoring her burning muscles and pumping her legs like mad. Fear pushed her, fear of being hauled back again. Of being terrorized without sleep and food or water. They'd toyed with her.They would torture him.Leaves the size of small animals slapped her face, branches catching her clothing. She tripped and he grasped her elbow."Keep going, dammit, move!""I'm doing my best!""Your best will get us killed."They'd gone another fifty yards when the explosion came.

Chapter Two.

The explosion shook the earth, and he threw himself at her back. Together, they hit ground, the air leaving her in a hard punch.She spat dirt and said, "You set explosions?""C-4."."And warning me didn't occur to you?""Nope. Not in the Rescue the Princess Manual."Callahan flinched as debris. .h.i.t his back, then he grabbed the waistband of her pants, dragging her to her feet as he stood. "There'll be more," he said and pushed her onward. The explosions would give them time, Rick thought. Exactly how much was an art form."I see your Neanderthal style hasn't improved."The remark reminded him of what he didn't want crowding his mind. "That didn't stop you from indulging in the seedier side before, eh, princess?"She wished he'd stop calling her that. "That was then. My tastes have improved.""I can die a happy man now," he muttered dryly. "Because I don't need another bullet hole, and the sooner we part company the longer I'll live."Stung, Megan gathered her composure before facing him. "Not if you want your precious money, Callahan. You're stuck with me."He loomed over her like the devil come to collect her soul. "I'm your only way out of here, so for the next three days, you're stuck with me."She swallowed. "Days?"Her horrified look didn't give him the satisfaction he needed. "We're farther from the nearest city than you think. If you can keep up, we might not miss the first rendezvous point."Then he smiled.It was an evil grin, Rick knew. He'd saved it just for her.But in the dark, Megan saw only the bar of white teeth. Like fangs. He's going to like this, she thought. That she was at his mercy. That she couldn't survive out here without him."Perhaps we should continue then?" Woodenly Megan swept her hand for him to lead the way.Rick trotted off and Megan stayed right behind him. She knew she had to, even if it killed her. And she was just about there. She wasn't going to give him a reason to regret coming for her. He must have wanted the money badly to do this. He'd lost his job and a lot of blood because of her, hadn't he? He'd never contacted her, and if he wanted to, he could have. Rules didn't apply to Callahan.He stopped so suddenly she almost smacked into him. "Wait here." He took a few steps away.She grabbed his arm. "Oh, I don't think so. Do you know the kind of animals that lurk in this jungle?""Yeah, I do." Rick pushed her hand off. "Be still, don't scream."Without another word, he moved farther into the forest. Just as cries of midnight creatures threatened her composure, he returned, wearing a backpack and holding a machete."Let's move. We have to get far enough away before sunrise.""Would you happen to have any food in there?"He stared hard, then nodded, removing the pack and handing her some freeze-dried thing in a silver packet. She tore it open.Rick watched her shove the food into her mouth and guilt smacked him. "Good G.o.d, Meg. When's the last time you ate?"Shrugging, she held up a finger, chewing the dry nutrition bar and forcing it down.He handed her a small bottle of water. "Swish it in your mouth first, spit, then drink."She frowned, about to drink, then did as he said. Spitting was such a vulgar thing to do in front of a man, she thought, but didn't care. She didn't care about a lot of things anymore. And that scared her.She handed him back the bottle."Do you need to rest?" he asked, and the words came out harsher than he'd intended.She lifted her chin. "I can keep up. G.o.d forbid we miss that rendezvous."Rick eyed her, wondering what else had changed about her. The Megan O'Toole he knew two years ago was kind, considerate, and funny, but let's face it, spoiled. He didn't blame her or her father for that. If he'd had family, he'd have given them the world. But had a week in the hands of kidnappers really changed her that much?"Earth to Callahan? Rendezvous?" She waved in his face. "No more Meg? Big payoff?"He blinked, then scowling at her smug expression, he turned and hacked at the undergrowth, praying the kidnappers hadn't survived the explosions.After a couple more hours of chewing bugs and sweating, dawn finally broke above them, yet the sunlight barely made it down between the trees."Just exactly where are we going?""Exactly? Twelve degree southwest."Megan smirked at his back. Know-it-all. "Wouldn't we be better off up there?" She pointed to the mountains. "We could see better.""They grow poppy up there and unless you want to fight off drug lords too..." He let that hang for a second."Do they have a bathroom? That might change my opinion."He glanced back, the machete raised to chop. Then he let out a long-suffering breath and hacked through another spot and pointed. "Go in there."She stared at the cut in the jungle. "My own boudoir. How lovely." Then with a regal tip of her head, Meg walked into the forest.Rick sipped water, waiting. "There isn't a mirror and perfume in there, come on, O'Toole."She appeared minutes later, her red hair finger-combed back, her dirty clothing righted and smoothed. Fractures of morning light skipped over her face. d.a.m.n, she was still beautiful, he thought, his insides clawing with a sudden sharp need to kiss her. She was under his skin and he didn't want her there. Not now, not when her life depended on him being objective. He'd paid dearly for falling for her once. He wasn't stupid enough to let it happen again. "You ready?" he said impatiently."Yes, but the towel attendant needs a tip and I forgot my purse."He smirked, shaking his head.* * *His energy was unshakable. He moved with quiet power, his long strides eating up the distance. Her legs were no match for his six-feet-something, yet she followed, trusting him. He fit into the jungle easily, his clothes, his dark hair melting into his black bandana and the camouflage paint concealing his skin. He'd been Marine Force Recon before he'd been her bodyguard. And he'd been her friend then, too. That he wasn't now left her bleeding inside with a cut that wouldn't heal. Still, she'd missed him. How she could miss cool black eyes and a lack of humor she didn't know, yet there it was.She didn't kid herself in thinking that if they'd made love that last night it would have mattered to him. He was dangerously handsome, and more than one of her friends had tried to draw him into her bed. The night she'd been in his, there'd been an attempt on her life. Almost nightly, she remembered him shielding her, the bullet that pierced through him and into her. Wounded, he'd disarmed the attackers and while she was in the hospital, Richard had disappeared.And she'd never felt so alone in her life.

Chapter Three.

Suddenly he was hauling her up by her arms. "I called you twice. Where the h.e.l.l were you?"She blinked, hoping he couldn't see her tears. "Off shopping at Saks, where else? It's sale day."Rick's expression soured. "Stay more alert, O'Toole. Your kidnappers could come up on us easy.""Then I guess you'll just have to fight them off if you want your payment, huh?" She shrugged off his touch."G.o.d, you're mouthy.""Forgive me, my debutante behavior got left behind when I was stolen from my bed at gunpoint."Not for the first time, Rick considered what she'd been through in the past week. He didn't like the images snapping through his mind. "We'll bunk here for a while.""Bunk?""Sleep, rest, drink water."Glancing around, Megan saw only thick vines and tree roots. Then Richard pushed back tall ferns, revealing a spot where trees bending to reach the chips of sunlight had cupped the earth. It looked like the Ritz to her."It's cooler in there and we're hidden enough if someone comes along.""Do you think they will?" Fear clouded her voice and she looked around."Oh yeah, this is their backyard. And these guys are out their five milliondollar package. They'll want it back."It. Megan felt suddenly very empty and alone. "Gee, nice to be so... necessary."The hurt on her face devastated his senses. When had he grown so cruel? "Megan..."She cut him off before he could say more. "I'm a commodity. Like pork bellies or crude oil.""That's not true. Not to your father.""Let's not dissect this, please. I'm the p.a.w.n." She raked her fingers through her hair and they snagged. "But if the kidnappers knew anything about my father, they'd know he would string them along till he got the upper hand." She met his gaze, her eyes flat. "Which in this case was you." She ducked inside the enclosure.Rick remained outside for a moment, then followed her. She was seated on the ground, removing her boots."I didn't mean it like that.""Sure you did. You don't get paid for a dead hostage. I'm a means to the end for everyone. For your money, their money, my father's satisfaction that absolutely no one will take anything he considers his."Megan adored her father, but she was twenty-seven and chief executive of South American Operations, yet with regard to her personal life, Dad often treated her like a hormonally challenged teenager. Dad thought he knew best. He didn't. Or he'd never have fired Richard."Your father loves you. Or he wouldn't have hired me.""Why did he ask you, Richard?"Hearing his name tugged somewhere deep inside him. She was the only one who called him that. It left an intimate calling card, a reminder of the last time he'd touched her. And how much he wanted to do it again. Now. "I'm good.""Obviously." She stared up at him for a second, thoughtful. "You're a mercenary, a gun for hire, aren't you?""Sounds illegal when you put it like that.""But it's true?"He lowered himself to the ground. "I'm a hostage negotiator and retrieval expert."That didn't confirm her suspicions. "Amongst other things, I'll bet.""If the pay is good enough, I'm open."Megan felt struck across the face. No matter how much she wished otherwise, to Richard Callahan, she was an opportunity. She really should be more judicious when she fell in love."So what did it take for you to come for me, Callahan?" she said quietly, looking down at her hands, at the blood crusting on her wrists. "One million, two? Five?"Fresh blood dripped down her skin like a web and Rick realized when he'd pulled her along, he'd reopened the wounds. "We need to see to those." He dug inside his pack for a medical kit."It can wait and I'm tired." She curled down on her side, using her boots for a pillow. His price must have been huge, she thought, and deep in her soul she wished he'd come on his own, for a dollar."Meg. Those will get infected.""They can wait," she said on a yawn.She was asleep in an instant.Rick shoved his fingers into his hair, pulling off the bandanna and angrily snapping it aside. He had the social graces of a rhino in heat. Had he taken this job just for the chance to wound her? Or to show her that he wasn't good enough for her then and wasn't now? He was out of her league, and that he'd crossed the line with his charge was unacceptable to him. Her father had trusted him with her. Meg had trusted him and though she was more than willing to play with him two years ago, he should never have broken the cardinal rule. Never get involved with the targets. It would hurt too much when you failed. And he had, he thought, rubbing the old wound. He'd lost more than a job and a little blood that night. A part of his soul went missing, too.Carrying his backpack, Rick left the natural hut and set a couple nasty little surprises for anyone who tried to get past them. He wanted to get far away right now, but Megan needed rest and though he had no choice but to push her hard, it didn't make him feel any better that she was hungry, bleeding, and he still didn't know what they'd done to her. The way he found her said they hadn't given her a single luxury and though most hostages had it worse, her situation had been pretty bad.Traps set, he reentered the enclosure, placing the main sensor before their makeshift entrance. The tiny red light blinked slowly and would hum when the sensor was tripped. While she slept, Rick cut an escape route in the underbrush surrounding them. This country didn't have too many friendlies; it paid to have a couple of options.He settled down beside her, drinking some water and watching her. The bleeding had stopped, and when she rolled toward him, curling into a tight frightened ball, Rick's reserve caved. He slid down to the ground, his back braced on the pack and pulled her into his arms.She whimpered, and struggled against him, and he whispered, "It's all right, Irish, you're safe."She relaxed a bit, her fingers gripping his shirt as if he were the last thread in her life. Rick rubbed her back in slow circles, and crushed down memories of her willing in his arms, concentrating on getting them out of here when he knew in a couple hours the jungle could be crawling with guerillas. Men who wanted her for a money trade.Rick wasn't much different. He might be saving her, but he was exchanging her rescue for cash so he could stop this life.And then what? Be alone? a voice asked and he looked down at Megan tucked in his arms. Gently he pushed her hair off her face. He could keep telling himself that it was for the pay, but deep inside, where he kept his secrets of loneliness and the need to end it, he knew he hadn't come a thousand miles into the Amazon jungle for cash.

Chapter Four.

A couple hours later, Megan stirred, feeling the solid warmth of a man against her. A second later, comprehension gelled and she jerked away, scrambling back on her behind."It's okay, its just me," Rick said, her wide-eyed fear softening to wariness."Don't touch me."Rick leaned on the pack, his arms folded across his chest. "You're the one crawling onto my lap, princess."Her face flamed and she rubbed her fist under her nose. "People can't be held accountable for what they do in their sleep. It's the subconscious at work.""So subconsciously you wanted to be clinging to me like a vine?"A really luscious vine, but Rick knew better. He'd heard the whimpers, the pleas for water and rest to her captors. He didn't doubt they'd kept her awake for days. It was a tactic to wear her down, though she had nothing to do with her release. It had been in her father's hands and he'd tried to move mountains."No, I did not. For pity's sake, stop reading into every little thing." She started putting on her boots. "You sound like a jilted lover.""We never quite got to that stage, did we, Irish?"Irish. The old endearment stung and hot piercing eyes glared at him through a curtain of tangled red hair. "Go to h.e.l.l, Callahan.""Been there, got the scars to prove it.""Want to compare a few? You're the one who disappeared.""I got fired, Meg." He stood, gathering his things."And you let that stop you?""Your father has a way of making a lasting impression.""What did he do?" Righteous fury lit her pretty face."Nothing that I couldn't handle.""I'm sure." Meg could only imagine what her father had done. Money meant power and her father had plenty of both. "I didn't know, Rick."He looked down at her as she yanked on her laces. "So you thought I just played house with the boss's daughter, let her get shot, then left without another thought?""Didn't you?" He withdrew his weapon and peered between the ferns and vines. "Well, didn't you?" she persisted and when he didn't respond, she yanked him around to face her."Of course I thought of you. You were wounded because of me.""I was alive because of you. You took the bullet.""And you wouldn't have been hurt at all if I'd been doing my job instead of getting you naked."A smile tugged. "You were doing a fine job of that, too, as I recall."Rick ground his teeth, fighting the steamy memory clouding his brain. They flooded in just the same, like they did every time he thought of her. "Forget it. It doesn't matter anyway. I broke a rule, paid the price, end of story."It wasn't over or they wouldn't both be feeling like this, she thought, staring up at him. "We both paid, and you weren't exactly alone in that rule breaking."Rick winced, knowing she probably caught holy h.e.l.l for being with her bodyguard. "My job was based on my reputation and I lost it," he said, then stepped onto the path, motioning her to remain there.And because of that, she thought, she lost Rick.As Rick retrieved his sensors and traps, the truth bit him again. He hadn't been worried about himself. Taking a bullet for her had been his duty, his job. But getting fired from the cushiest gig on the planet because it happened while they were in bed, and he'd been too hot for her to hear the intruders was disgraceful. Top that with the bullet grazing her, and he'd failed even more. Her father had been furious that his daughter actually wanted a man like him, but what happened to Meg afterward was a mystery. He'd spent a small fortune hunting her down, only to get close, and then she'd disappear again. After the third try, he'd given up, figuring she didn't want to be found.What if she had wanted him to find her? he wondered as he returned.She was pacing the small confines."Let's go.""We need to talk," she said, meeting his gaze."Not now." He ushered her toward the second exit he'd made.She could feel Rick close behind, and when the thicket was too dense, he handed her the machete and told her to start hacking. She didn't know where they were going, but chopping through huge leaves and brush made her feel as if she had some control in a day that was twisting wildly in the wind. She was drenched with sweat in seconds. Anger at her father manifested, and at Rick for bending to the ornery Irishman, though in her heart, she knew if Rick wanted, he took, regardless of the consequences. She supposed she wasn't worth it, unless, of course, it came with a hefty payoff.Rick glanced behind himself, walking backward a pace, then focusing ahead as Meg slashed through the heavy jungle. When she stumbled for the third time, he knew she'd expended her energy. He tried not to care, but he did. She was doing better than he ever expected. And he was proud as h.e.l.l of her."Let me have that." Rick reached for the machete. She gave it up, flexing her fingers and Rick saw the blisters there. He grabbed her hand, examining the wounds. G.o.d, she was a mess. "Dammit, why didn't you say something?""The manicurist was off, so why bother?" she said dully and shoved her hands into her pockets."I have gloves. I should have given them - G.o.d, I wasn't thinking.""Was that an actual apology?""Do you actually need one?" His lips curved and from his pack he took out the canteen, and poured water over the blisters. She hissed and tried to pull away, but he held tight, blowing on the wounds. "I'll take care of this when we're far enough away."He wrapped her palm with a green military bandage, taking great care and time they didn't have."What did they do to you, Meg?" he asked softly, suddenly.His tone was so genuinely tender, it made her heart drop a beat, and she tried to look under his bent head. Why was he asking? "Does it matter?""It does to me."He sounded almost frightened at what she'd say. "They blindfolded and starved me, kept me awake for the first five or six days." She shrugged. "I lost count.""Did they do anything else?"She knew what he was asking, and the tension in him had a taste all its own.

Chapter Five.

Rick's question hung in the air between them for a moment before Meg answered."No, they didn't do anything but withhold food and sleep. I put a curse on them and they were too superst.i.tious to come near me."His lips curved and she thought she saw admiration in his smile."But the threat of rape was bad enough. It doesn't matter. Been there, have the scars. Now it's done." She took a step in the direction they'd been heading and he grabbed her elbow. She twisted, meeting his gaze. "What?"Rick searched her features. "You've changed.""I told you I -""Not your tastes in men," he said sourly. "You've changed."That's because I've lost too much and had to get over it, she thought, but didn't say it. "I'd ask if that was good or bad, but frankly I don't care." She didn't have the strength to battle with Rick Callahan right now."That's it. You used to care.""Yeah, sure, I cared about appearances, and what others thought. I learned the hard way that only a couple people in my life really mattered." And Rick had been one of them.Rick pulled her closer. "Who's on that list? Not me, I know."She laid her hands on his chest and Rick felt the familiar bolt of heat shoot down to his boot heels. He could barely stand the sweet pulse of it through his blood and not do something about it."Once upon a time you were the only one who mattered.""Except maybe Daddy and his money." Rick knew the instant the words left his mouth that he'd screwed up. Her expression said so."Is that what you believe?" She shoved out of his arms."Any reason I shouldn't?""No one paid me to crawl into your bed, Callahan. But then again, you were being paid to be my shadow.""Shadow, yes - lover, no!""Any reason I should believe you?" She turned on her heels, thrashing deeper into the jungle.Rick stared after her, wondering how this got turned on him, when he heard a sound that wasn't part of the jungle noises. He raced to catch her, grabbing her by the waist and dropping to the ground with her."We really have to work on your social -"He covered her mouth, and with her locked in his arms, rolled into the jungle and into a gully. Tucking her to his side, he lay on his stomach, his weapon out and aimed toward where they'd come."I didn't hear -"He glared and she shut up. Hidden below the ridge of dirt, Rick listened, his hearing tuned to beyond the screech of birds and creatures.Meg heard it and inhaled sharply. Footsteps. Thrashing."Stay right here. Take this." He pressed his weapon into her hands, folding her fingers around it. "Shoot anything that isn't me."Meg looked at the weapon, exhaled, then c.o.c.ked the 9mm like a pro.Rick arched an eyebrow."I'll pretend it's a hair dryer," she said, then shifted to her elbows and focused on the path. He was still looking at her strangely when she said, "What are you going to use?"He rolled to his back. From his boot, he pulled out a wickedly long knife with a serrated base. It had U.S. Marines engraved on the black blade. Megan swallowed. That meant he had to get close enough to them to inflict damage, and worry skipped through her.Rick crawled to the path, then rose to a crouch, praying she wouldn't have to shoot. If she did, then he'd already be dead.Bugs buzzed around her head as Megan waited, her skin itching with sweat. She didn't dare put the weapon down and squinted down the sight, wondering if she could actually shoot another human being. She heard a gun shot and flinched, praying it wasn't at Rick, praying they'd missed. Her mind tortured her with images of him bleeding somewhere out there. Bleeding to save her. Again.Seconds stretched to minutes.She flinched when she heard a rustling in the bushes, but couldn't see anything. The noise grew clearer, then suddenly slow and soft till the sound vanished beneath the blood pounding in her ears.She imagined her captors: smelly losers with nasty guns - and they liked using them. She remembered the blows, the knife poised at her eye until she said what they wanted into the tape for her father. Then she thought of what they'd do to Rick and she bit her lip to keep from crying out.A twig snapped. If it was Rick, he'd say so.Her heart breaking that he was dead, she raised the weapon, shifting back on her knees. A figure appeared, looming over her, and she pulled the trigger. Nothing. She leapt to her feet and ran.Rick chased her, s.n.a.t.c.hing her around the waist and lifting her off her feet as he yanked the gun from her grasp."Meg!"She fought like a wildcat, clawing at his arm, kicking her feet against his calves.A string of curses he never imagined she knew spilled from her mouth."Stop, stop, it's me!"She stilled, twisting in his arms as he set her to her feet. He gripped her arms. "It's me, baby."She stared up at him, breathing hard, tears in her eyes. Then she batted his hands off. "I thought they'd killed you and they were coming for me. Don't do that again, d.a.m.n you!" She punched his chest. "I hate you for that. I was so scared!" She shoved him with every word. "I thought they'd killed you!"The last came in a long painful wail.He grabbed her against him. "Shut up, Meg."She blinked.Tears trailed down her cheeks and he'd bet she didn't know it. To see her come apart made his knees weak. He didn't get that way often. Except with her."Shut up? You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I'm terrified for you and that's -"Grinning all the way down, he slashed his mouth across hers, stealing her words, her temper. Her breath. He loved that she was afraid for him. Loved that he couldn't think clearly, and sometimes with Meg that was a good state to be in. She was sharp and smart, and so much better than he was, but he was tired of lines in the sand and denying himself this woman.G.o.d, she tasted like home, like he'd been lost in this jungle and finally found his way to freedom.His tongue slid over her lips, prying them apart and pushing between. And she crumbled in his arms.

Chapter Six.

Megan melted.Right there in the Amazon jungle, she fell apart and came together in one soul ripping kiss. Her moans echoed into the trees, her hands crawled up his chest and wrapped around his neck. She hung on. Because the ground was disappearing beneath her feet. Because when Richard kissed, there wasn't anything left to do but be absorbed in the thrall of it."Oh, Richard, I missed you," Megan sobbed against his mouth, opening herself to the slaughter of feelings pulsing through her, her heart spreading its wings and riding the current with him."I missed you, too, Irish, d.a.m.ned if I didn't." Rick devoured her, his hands fisting in her shirt, pushing her into him, filling the length of his body with her incredible softness.Behind her back he still gripped the b.l.o.o.d.y knife."More, more," she whispered and he took her mouth again, hot and quick, not wanting their surroundings to intrude. He wanted to stay locked in the jungle with her.The squawk of birds pushed good sense back into his foggy mind. They weren't alone in this territory.He drew back, loving that it took her a second to open her eyes."What was behind that kiss?"Everything, he thought. "Seemed like a good way to cut through the hysterics."She was smart enough not to argue that point. "Is that the only reason?"Her voice held a vulnerability he'd never heard before and he knew what he said in the next moment would make the difference between having her in his life again and feeling the biting loneliness again.The decision was so easy. He pressed his forehead to hers, his body humming to her tune. "No, Irish, I needed to kiss you, to feel you in my arms again... Two years is a very long time."Her gaze brushed over his face as if committing it to memory. "I can accept that."He smiled, an honest grin. "Good, because I don't usually kiss people who shoot at me." Thank G.o.d for a safety, he thought."It was a hair dryer. I was trying to blow you away."He grinned. "Come on." He patted her behind. "We have to keep moving."She nodded, sliding her arms from his neck. She staggered and he flashed her a soft smile, caught her, then rolled his mouth over hers in a thick kiss before he bent and shoved his knife into his boot.Megan saw the blood. Her gaze jerked to his. His expression was unreadable, moments of tenderness wiped clean. It made her see that Richard Callahan was capable of more than she first thought. It didn't scare her; it made her feel incredibly safe. Her gaze moved over him as if checking for wounds."I'm fine."She nodded, knowing it was either the kidnappers or them. "Are we safe?""Yeah, for now."Meg let out a heavy breath, and they pushed on.* * *The heat of the day bore down on them like the press of iron. Meg stumbled and Rick pushed food into her hand and pushed her onward."Richard," she said tiredly."Not yet, Meg. I know you're tired. Just a bit farther and we'll have a place to hide for the night.""I hope they have a bath.""I'll see if the management will accommodate."She chose not to respond and concentrated on picking up one leg and setting it down. It was afternoon when the mist of the jungle grew lighter and cooler. She stopped and Rick pa.s.sed her, chopping through undergrowth.Then she saw it."Oh my G.o.d."Rick watched the smile bloom on her face and cherished it.Megan looked up and up to the top of the cliff and the glorious waterfall spilling a thousand feet into the river below. Water rushed over rocks with a deceptive power, then calmed to flat gla.s.s near the edge where she stood. Eagerly, she walked toward it, but Rick grabbed her arm."No, not there, the water is too still."Anaconda, she realized, stepping back."We head up there." He pointed to a plateau of rock to the right of the fall. "It's going to take us another hour to get around that." He gestured to the heavy vegetation between them and the fall.Vines dipped into the water, strung like lace over twisting trees. "It'll be worth it. Lead on."Megan followed, and just the sight of water made her skin scream for moisture and a good scrubbing. Her energy returned and when they had to crawl over tree roots the size of a car, Meg grasped a vine to swing down."Meg, no!"She swung anyway, and Rick caught her, the force slamming her into him. "That was not smart.""I was feeling very Jane-ish. You really need to lighten up."His gaze moved over the terrain, alert. "When we're out of here, I'll wear a loin cloth and beat my chest for you.""My personal savage, I can't wait." She smiled up at him. "But then what?""Huh?" He was staring at her mouth, the rest of his body gearing up for action."When we're in civilization with running water and room service, then what, Richard?""Then you're safe.""And you get paid." She nodded more to herself. "I forgot, coming here had a price.""Sure it did." He tipped her head back, gazing into her green eyes. "It was opening an old wound, Irish. It was seeing you again after I'd tried my d.a.m.nedest to find you and got shot out of the water at every turn."Her father, she knew without asking. "I'm going to kill Daddy.""No, you won't. If my daughter had been caught in bed with her bodyguard and wounded to boot, I'd have done more than send a couple of thugs after me.""I'm sorry, Richard. No wonder you had to be paid to come here." She pushed ahead of him, her heart feeling scored down the middle. d.a.m.n her father. "If it were me, I wouldn't have come for anything less than five million."Hurt painted her voice and Richard raked his fingers through his hair. "I don't give a d.a.m.n about the money!" He followed her as she thrashed through the forest. "What do you want me to say, Meg? That I should have tried harder to get to you? Yeah, mistake one. That I regret you got hurt when I should have been doing my job? I do, mistake number two.""That's an excellent start. Want to try for mistake number three?""Such as?" What was it? Open season on Callahan?"How about you believing I was on some hero worship trip when I came to your bed?""You were."She rounded and slapped him.He blinked, rubbing his cheek. "Feel better?""No. Actually I'd like to beat the stuffing out of you for being a jerk, but clearly I'm outcla.s.sed in my weight division.""I'd never hurt you, Meg.""Like you aren't now?" His expression hardened. "Why are you being like this?" she shouted."Because I'm not the right man for you!"Her heart crumbled.

Chapter Seven.

"Only a fool would presume he wasn't the right man for me."Rick sighed deeply."You're thinking foolishly, Meg. I can't give you the life you've led till now.""Mistake number four. Who said I wanted it?""Dammit, you know what I mean." He swallowed, feeling like everything in his life was suddenly on the line. "I want more and you just can't give it without giving up your father's money."Meg gave him a dirty look. "Thanks for the vote on my character, Callahan. I haven't lived off my father's money since I was twenty-one. I do have a job. Just because it's in my dad's company doesn't mean I didn't earn it. You know him. Would he give me control if I didn't deserve it?"His eyes narrowed. She had him there."Now, Callahan," she advanced, fury in her bones. "You admit that the only reason you wanted to be with me was because I was forbidden fruit.""Now who's insulting who?" he groused, climbing the rocks to the fall. He tossed down his pack and machete, pacing like a caged animal. Overhead, warm sunlight ribboned down over the trees and vines growing out of the rock. Bright colored birds soared and dipped. "If it was just an off-limits thing, I wouldn't have searched. Or come here. Or be arguing with you now, would I?"Meg kicked off her boots, toed off her socks, then stripped out of her shirt. "You gave up on us.""And you tried? I don't have to get kicked in the teeth to know it hurts, Meg."She met his gaze. "If you'd called me a week ago, Richard, I would have come running."She let her pants fall to the rocks and Rick's jaw tightened, all that lush skin turning him inside out. His gaze locked on her like a homing device, the sun dancing over her round behind in a skimpy thong. She was sunburned in spots, had a fingerprint bruise on her shoulder, but the rest of her was as perfect as he remembered."If that's supposed to make me stupid, it's working.""Good, don't want to ruin a pattern, do we? Do you have any soap in there?" She pointed to the pack.Numbly, he dug and slapped the bar into her outstretched hand."Stop looking at me like you've never seen me naked, Callahan."Callahan. She was really mad, he thought. "I haven't, not like that."She peeled off her stretch camisole, flinging it aside. Thong panties followed, and his heartbeat rocketed to somewhere near his eyes."Well, my Nubian slaves didn't have time to oil my skin this trip." The intensity of his gaze ripped through her. He stood still, his shirt open and baring carved muscles tanned dark from the sun."You're making me crazy.""Join the club." With that she dived into the water.Richard watched her swim under the clear water, popping up where the fall spilled into the pool. For a moment she just stood under the hard spray and with a clarity that gripped him in the gut, he knew why he'd come for her.He'd known it the instant he heard her father's voice on the other end of the satellite com link while he was in another jungle a thousand miles away. When he'd dropped everything and raced to find her. He wondered if he had the guts to tell her.He stripped off his shirt and boots, angry with himself and glaring at the source.Her back to him, she washed her hair, his gaze following the ripples of soapy water sliding over her curves and foaming around her. She looked back over her shoulder and met his gaze. She hid nothing from him and they both knew it. d.a.m.n her. His groin thickened, blood throbbing in every cell of his body and Rick folded to the ground. Hunger and temptation burned inside every fiber of his being. Squatting at the water's edge, he washed the camo paint off his face, then dunked his head, shaking like a dog. It didn't do a d.a.m.n thing for the fire crackling through his blood.Raking his hair back, he stood and stormed to the sh.o.r.e, yet his gaze moved back to her. Soap rinsed off her in slick waves, and like a bomb detonating, Rick felt his control snap."I just know I'm going to h.e.l.l for this," he muttered, stripping down to his skin and walking into the water."Stop right there," she ordered.He didn't, his body revealed and hidden beneath the crystal depths. Blood boiled under Meg's skin, softening her knees, making her insides go liquid and hot. He advanced, bronze and dark and hard. The water deepened around him, his dark eyes skimming her with the power of touch.Already her body was coming apart for him. If she were smart she'd just give up and throw herself at him. But she wanted more.Sunlight gleamed off the scarred bullet hole in his shoulder and the last two years rushed back like a blast of cold air. Her gaze locked with his."Do you want me in your life or not, Richard?"He hesitated. "Meg.""I see." She turned her back on him.It was like a door slamming in his face. Rick reached, forcing her around. "Don't do this, Meg. You don't know what you're asking.""I know I want more than this day. I have for the past two years."Grains of hope spilled through him. "Be careful," he warned. "If you're with me, Megan, you're with me completely, forever, got that?"Her heartbeat skipped. "What do you mean?""There is no halfway between us. There never was.""So it's all or nothing?"He nodded."It works both ways, Richard."Megan stepped closer, and Richard wondered if his world was about to cave or be resurrected. "I'm not as stupid as I look."Her smile was tender. "I can't be with a man who doesn't love me."His eyes flared, darkened. "Mistake number five. Why the h.e.l.l do you think I came here?"Meg reined in her galloping heart. "For money and to exact a little revenge.""Yeah, even I thought that at first, but it was a d.a.m.n good excuse to get my hands on you.""Why?"It was a gauntlet thrown down. He gripped her arms, drawing her closer, and Megan felt her world tilt at the darkly intense gaze locked on her."Because I couldn't take a breath without thinking about you. I couldn't stand another day of wondering if we could have made it." He plowed his fingers into her hair, tipping her head back and opened his heart "I'm in love with you, Megan O'Toole. Deeply, wildly, so-much-that-I-act-stupid in love with you."Her eyes teared.Rick thought he'd shatter inside waiting. "Irish?" He swallowed. "Silence is not a good thing right now."

Chapter Eight.

Megan smiled and a tear fell. "I'm absorbing the moment."He made a frustrated sound, his gaze scoring her beautiful face."I'm in love with you, Richard.""Yeah?""Oh don't make another mistake and doubt me now."He grinned, and his mouth crushed over hers, the force of his kiss bending her back over his arm. She gripped his bare shoulders."Richard," she whispered when she came up for air and he took her mouth again and again."It's been too long." He lifted her from the water, and she wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck. Smiling into each other's eyes, Rick kissed her, his hands slicking over her wet body. He cupped her round breast, his thumbs circling her nipples."We never got this far before," he said, and antic.i.p.ation spilled over her skin."Unforeseen circ.u.mstances." She kissed the bullet scar on his shoulder. Rick's tongue slicked over the graze on her arm.Suddenly, he couldn't taste enough, get close enough. He touched her and felt clean, washed of his sins, his loneliness. His hand sculpted her body, dipping, stroking and when she was breathless and whimpering he lifted her higher and closed his lips over her nipple, drawing it into his mouth. Her cry scattered a covey of birds. Cool water and the heat of his mouth spread like an erotic whisper over her skin.Trapped in her limbs, he carried her the few feet to the rocks. His hardness pressed and Meg wanted him inside her, wanted to erase the past two years of missing him and feel alive again. And when he lifted her to the edge of the rocks, Megan knew he meant business.And meant to take care of it now.His mouth trailed over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his tongue rasping as he dipped and laved. He palmed her body as he moved lower, loving the sounds she made, that she couldn't keep still. He nipped the join of her thigh, her belly, then he met her gaze as he spread her wider.His expression was predatory, and he'd found his prey. Then he tasted her.Meg burned, her insides fighting their way out, to chase the fire and slick power. He toyed and soothed, pulling her to the edge of rapture till she was pounding his shoulders to take her to the summit. But he wouldn't, and she arched on the barren rock, pleasures abundant as savage luxury ripped and rode through her body in tremendous climax. She screamed his name and went boneless as her world softened.It wasn't enough.She clawed at him, reaching. "Come to me now."Kissing her, he carried her to the bank and laid her on the mossy earth. Water lapped at their bodies. She reached, pulling him between her thighs. His erection pressed to her softness, yet he didn't move, gazing into her eyes.Meg saw more than she expected in Rick's gaze - saw everything she wanted.Megan knew those eyes were warning her. Not that coming together would be good, that it would be forever. He didn't say it, but at this moment, she'd give herself to him and go willingly into the fire.And he knew it, trembled with it. He pushed slightly, letting her feel the thickness of him.Her eyes flared wickedly. "You're torturing me," she said, lifting her hips."You've been doing that to me for two years."She stroked his jaw and he turned his face into her palm. "I love you, Richard. You belong to me. Come home."He pushed into her, filling her in one hard stroke. Her gasp tumbled into his mouth and he drank it, lacing his fingers with her as he withdrew and pushed deeply. Again and again. His blood boiled, pleasure overflowing, and Rick went with it. There was no use restraining himself, Megan was all over him, her mouth, her hands. Driving him crazy. Then she rolled him to his back, straddling him.She laughed and rode him, never taking her gaze from his, never. The spray from the fall coated her in crystal beauty, her body undulating in the sun, and Rick was enthralled just watching her take him like an Amazon princess claiming her prize. The pulse of her climax clawed through him, gripping, demanding he join her now, and Rick thrust into her and let the wet ride take him over the edge.She leaned back, fused to him and in the South American sun, Rick's heart shattered and he let it open. And like a fair wind, she swept inside and stole his soul."I love you, Irish.""And I love you, Callahan."Callahan. He gazed into her hazel-green eyes. "Am I in trouble?""If you stop doing that to me, you will be.""Next sixty years sound good?"For a second her breath caught and he rolled her to her back, their bodies still locked.She stammered, but no words came out.He laughed softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I've left you speechless. It's a good look for you."When she only stared, he said, "Did you think I was going to let you get away this time?" He brought her hand to his mouth, laying a kiss there. "Marry me, Irish."She searched his eyes, his face.He tightened his hold, his heart dangling by a string. "One word, Meg, that's all it takes."She blinked back tears. "Yes!" she said and he kissed her. With each pa.s.s of his mouth over hers, loneliness fled, and roots took hold in their love.* * *Seventy-two hours later, give or take a time zone, Rick leaned against the window frame, staring out at the Brazilian skyline. From the adjacent office Rick heard voices. He and Cameron O'Toole had already cleared the air, but apparently Megan wasn't finished.Rick turned as Cameron O'Toole, silver-haired with a barrel chest like a prize fighter, came in, looking sh.e.l.l-shocked. "Feeling singed?""By G.o.d, the la.s.s has a temper like her mother."Rick grinned. "Great, isn't it?"Cameron laughed. "You're twisted, lad. But if you love her..."Richard's expression darkened to menacing. "Never doubt that, O'Toole.""Daddy!" Megan said from the doorway, glaring at her father, then walked toward Rick. His ring glittered on her finger and despite the tailored blue suit, all he could think of was how good she'd looked earlier this morning naked and draped over him."That's a dangerous smile, darlin'," she said softly, moving into his arms."Make you want to go native in the jungle again?" he said before he kissed her deeply.Her father cleared his throat.Meg looked at Rick. "The money is yours, Richard.""Got a dollar, Cameron?" Rick asked.Frowning, her father produced one.Rick crossed to him, taking it and shoving it into his pocket. He looked back at Meg. "I'd say we're square."Megan smiled brightly."I pay my debts, Callahan," her father said gruffly.Rick crossed to Meg, and felt a power like he'd never known in her arms. "Megan took care of that."She blushed. "You're so bad.""Just some unfinished business we needed to conclude.""Oh, we're not done," she said, pulling him toward the door and the priest waiting to marry them.He grinned. "Oh, Irish. I hope not."

The End