Unwritten Rules (Phoenix, Ltd. Book 1) Page 22

  ****

  Carter checked his watch. Madelyn had been gone at least fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. She should be back by now. It wouldn’t matter that he was armed. She would never willingly leave her post this long.

  Where the hell was she?

  He made a polite excuse to the two local journalists he’d been talking to and headed in search of Madelyn. When he didn’t find her among the groups of chatting guests on the main deck or near the bar, he went below. Maybe she’d stopped by the galley. No luck.

  He knocked on the door of the ladies’ room and called her name but got no response. What if she were ill or hurt? His chest tightened as he opened the door.

  The room was empty. As his apprehension morphed into cold dread, he swore viciously. Something had happened to her. He knew it in his gut. The captain had to stop the boat. Carter raced out of the room, down the corridor, and out onto the narrow side deck. As he headed toward the steep metal stairs leading up to the bridge, he saw it.

  A single black satin shoe.

  Glancing around frantically, he spotted its mate lying next to a black satin purse against the side of the cabin. He grabbed them and bounded up the steps two at a time. When he reached the door to the bridge, he shoved it open. “A woman’s missing.”

  The captain turned his head, but kept his hands on the wheel. “Are you sure, sir?”

  “Of course, I’m sure!”

  The captain signaled the first officer. “Take command.” He turned to Carter. “We’ll search the ship.”

  “I’ve already done that.”

  “There are several areas inaccessible to passengers. Follow me.”

  The captain led him on a quick, but thorough, search of the engine room, crew’s quarters, and supply room. They made one last pass through the main salon and deck areas. With each failure his agitation grew until it exploded. “She’s not on board, damn it!”

  “When did you last see her, sir?”

  He checked his watch. “About thirty minutes ago. She must have fallen overboard somehow. You’ve got to turn the ship around. The water’s got to be freezing, and she’s already been out there more than half an hour. Who knows how long it will take to find her.”

  “We’ll deploy the searchlight on the bow immediately and call the Coast Guard to institute an air search.”

  As the captain headed back to the bridge, Carter raced across the deck, past groups of curious guests, to the powerful light mounted near the bow. His heart raced, and his breath came in sharp bursts. As soon as the crewman activated the searchlight, the ship began to turn in a wide arc until it was headed back toward shore.

  Pressing forward with both hands on the rail, he scanned the sea where the bright beam hit the choppy surface of the water. He strained his eyes following the path of the light as it roamed back and forth across the frothy waves, trying to pick out one small, dark head against the black backdrop of the ocean. Cold sweat trickled down his chest before being sucked into the fabric of his shirt.

  He pounded a fist into the rail. We have to find her in time. We have to.

  “What’s going on? What are you looking for?” Herman had joined him at the rail and was peering out at the water.

  “It’s Madelyn. She’s gone overboard.”

  Herman’s brows shot up. “What?”

  “Something happened. I don’t know. She’s not on board.”

  “And you think she’s out there?”

  “She has to be.”

  “What can we do? We have to find her. I’ll never forgive myself if something happens to her. This was all my idea.” Herman’s voice held a sharp edge of impending hysteria.

  Carter jerked his head around. “What was your idea?”

  “The tour. Hiring her. This cruise. Everything. We have to find her!”

  He had no time or attention to spare for the publicist’s histrionics. “Here, take these.” He thrust Madelyn’s purse and shoes into Herman’s hands. “Go see the captain. Find out how soon the Coast Guard helicopter will be here.”

  Herman scurried off.

  Carter gripped the rail as if he could crush it to splinters with his bare hands. Madelyn was out there…alone. He had to find her. She stirred a part of him he thought had died in the desert with Selima. She made him laugh, made him feel alive again. She was special. If he lost her now, he might as well jump in the ocean too.

  Overhead, the thwup, thwup, thwup, thwup of the Coast Guard chopper blades sounded, but he didn’t look up. He was afraid to blink in case he missed her. The light skimmed over something bobbing in the waves before it moved on, a flash of something pale against the deep indigo of the water.

  “Go back!” he shouted and pointed. “There!”

  The crewman swung the light back and held it steady on the object Carter had spotted seconds before.

  He ripped off his jacket and holster, kicked off his shoes, and dove over the side.

  ****

  Madelyn blinked against the blinding light and stopped swimming. She lifted a hand to dash the water from her eyes, but a powerful wave broke over her head, pushing her down. She bobbed back up, gasping and choking as she tried to force the brine from her lungs. She should swim toward the light, but exhaustion had drained every ounce of her strength. Her limbs had lost all feeling.

  Another wave hit, and her head dipped below the surface.

  Suddenly, twin vises clamped on her shoulders and jerked her upward with such force she cried out with the last breath in her lungs. Her head broke the surface, and a voice roared in her ear.

  “Madelyn, listen to me. You’d better not be dead!”

  She coughed violently and opened her eyes. Carter’s face was inches from hers.

  “Don’t you dare die. Do you hear me?”

  She coughed again, unable to speak. He released her shoulders and snaked one long arm around her ribs under her breasts, holding her head above the water. With his other hand he waved and shouted, “Over here!” while keeping them afloat with strong scissor kicks.

  The lights grew brighter as the yacht bore down on them. On deck, people scurried around, but they seemed to be on another plane, in another universe.

  Strong hands hoisted them aboard. Confused shouts bombarded her ears. She stumbled, barely aware of the deck beneath her feet. The next thing she knew, she and Carter sat huddled side by side, wrapped in blankets, on a sofa in the salon while a strange woman in a beaded cocktail dress rubbed her arms and legs.

  “You’re cold as ice, dear.”

  The captain loomed overhead. “Get them something hot to drink.”

  Someone thrust a mug of coffee into her hands, and the heat forced prickles of sensation back into her fingers. When the woman helped raise the mug to her lips, the ceramic edge clanked against her teeth, sending hot coffee splashing down her chin. The woman blotted the coffee with a napkin and tried again.

  After several sips, Madelyn’s tongue and throat began to work. She held the mug close to her mouth, and each breath forced a cloud of steam into her face to warm her from the outside as the hot brew warmed her from within.

  As life returned to her body, the first violent shiver struck, and coffee sloshed over the side of the cup, soaking the blanket. Someone wrapped her in a clean blanket. Chills wracked her body.

  “Give her to me.”

  Carter’s arms came around her and lifted her onto his lap. She tried to speak, but chattering teeth foiled her efforts.

  “Shh. Don’t try to talk.”

  Her body gave her no choice. Rigid muscles quaked in his tight embrace. He pressed her head to his chest with one hand and held her legs with the other arm. Even wet, he radiated heat like a stone in a sauna. Gradually the rigor eased, and she relaxed against him.

  The captain squatted beside them. “We have an ambulance waiting at the dock, sir. We’re almost there.”

  “N-n-no. N-no ambulance,” she whispered, burrowing deeper, burying her face against Carter’s warm throat. She couldn’t thin
k about what had happened. She only knew she couldn’t bear to be separated from him.

  He stroked her wet hair. “It’s all right. We’ll just have them check you out. If you’re okay, we’ll go back to the hotel.”

  Hotel. Bed. Soft. Warm. She nodded and snuggled closer.

  The captain must have turned the engines to full speed because they reached the dock a short time later. At least it seemed like a short time to Madelyn. She might have dozed. The fog in her brain had mostly dissipated, and she was content to stay where she was, wrapped in Carter’s arms. There would be time for questions later.

  The captain reappeared and spoke to Carter. “How’s she doing? Shall I have the paramedics come aboard?”

  Carter shifted Madelyn until he could see her face. “Can you walk, or should I carry you?”

  For the first time, she noticed the red stain on his white shirt, and memory stabbed her. “Your shoulder.”

  He’d jumped into the bay, swum to her, and held her head above water with a two-inch-deep hole in his shoulder that had only begun to heal. He’d probably torn the newly knitted flesh and gotten who-knew-what bacteria in the wound. The impact of what he’d done cleared her head in an instant.

  “Huh?” He twisted his head to follow her gaze. “It’s fine.”

  “I doubt that, but the paramedics can look at it.” She swiveled until her feet touched the deck and stood.

  He grabbed her hand. “Slow down. Are you sure you can walk?”

  “We’re going to find out.” She held tight and took a tentative step. The nerves in her bare foot stung, but the numbness had gone. She put the other foot down. It bore her weight, but not without complaint. If she walked carefully, she should be able to make it to the car. She released Carter’s hand and wrapped the blanket tighter. “Let’s go.”

  The paramedics examined them both in the ambulance, and after checking Madelyn’s vital signs and listening to her lungs and redressing Carter’s shoulder, released them to return to the hotel.

  She limped across the parking lot holding his arm. Herman insisted on carrying her purse and shoes and Carter’s holstered gun in spite of his cast. She tuned out his nervous chatter about the accident, and didn’t even protest when Carter helped her into the passenger seat, tucked the blanket around her legs, and drove to the hotel.

  “I’m so sorry about this,” Herman said, handing them their possessions before opening the door to his room. “I still can’t believe it happened. Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

  “I’m sure.” And she would be, but at the moment she was barefoot, bedraggled, and still wrapped in the blanket from the ship.

  “She’s going to be fine,” Carter said, closing Herman’s door. He turned with a gaze that bored into her soul. “I guarantee it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Carter guided Madelyn toward the door to his room. “Come with me.”

  She knew they would have to dissect the incident, but not yet. She wasn’t ready—the experience was still too raw. Besides, after nearly drowning, her analytical skills were not at their peak. Talking could wait.

  A hard chill shook her body. “I know it’s hard to believe after spending so much time in the water, but all I really want right now is a hot bath.”

  He opened the door and ushered her in. “My thoughts exactly. The hotter, the better.”

  She stopped inside the door. “I’m not taking one in here.”

  He dropped her shoes and purse on a chair. Then he framed her face with his hands. “Yes, you are.”

  She started to protest, but he stifled her words with a searing kiss. His hands were gentle, but the ferocity of his mouth held her captive, unable to move. Nothing in her life had prepared her for this. No flesh and blood lover. No fantasy. Nothing.

  Her world went dark and spun into focus at the point where their mouths joined. She was conscious of nothing but him.

  When her knees threatened to buckle, his kiss shattered into a constellation of brief kisses pressed against her cheeks and jaw, nose and eyelids. Finally, he released her.

  “You’re not leaving my sight.” His voice was low but shook with a subtle tremor of emotion. “Do you have any idea how much you scared me tonight?”

  She stared into the sea-blue depths of his eyes, trying to decipher what she saw there, unable to answer.

  “I thought I might never see you again.” His hands tightened on the sides of her head. “I almost lost you.”

  He dropped his hands and slid his arms around her back to crush her against his chest. She shivered again.

  “You’re cold. Come on.” He released her and took her hand, leading her to the bathroom.

  With the lights dimmed low, the room glowed like a sleek modern grotto. She perched on the edge of the huge whirlpool tub, watching him test the water temperature. When he was satisfied, he left it to fill and drew her to her feet.

  “Let’s get you out of these clothes.” He reached behind her and slid the zipper of her dress down. “I’m afraid you won’t be able to wear this again.”

  She stared at the puddle of ruined red silk at her feet. The dress had been so beautiful. She’d felt sexy and desirable and strong. Now those feelings lay discarded with the dress.

  He tipped her chin up. “The dress was spectacular, but it was only a showcase for the woman inside.”

  He kissed her again, deeply, tenderly. A flame flickered and grew until her insides melted.

  While his mouth worked its magic, his hands made short work of her remaining garments. As the last piece dropped to the polished marble floor, she fought the urge to cover herself. She wasn’t ashamed of her body, but she wasn’t used to standing naked in front of a fully dressed man either. Especially one she’d only known a few weeks. But as his warm hands slid over her chilled flesh, and his deep voice murmured encouragement, her inhibitions melted away.

  Carter turned off the taps. “Get in.”

  She complied, expressing an audible sigh as she sank into the steaming water. He’d added a splash of the hotel’s ginger-scented bath oil, and the fragrance drifted up, seducing her senses. She eased back against the tub, closed her eyes, and allowed the heat to seep through her.

  “Do you want the jets on?”

  She opened her eyes to find him standing magnificently naked in front of her. His body was strong and lean, as she’d known it would be, with scars testifying to the dangers of a life lived in service to his country. Many were white with age, but the last scar, the one on his thigh, was still an angry red gouge.

  “Do you want the jets?” he repeated.

  She shook her head. “Not now. I need quiet.”

  “Then I promise not to make too much noise.”

  Before she could question his intent, he stepped into the tub and slid down behind her, straddling her body with his long legs and wrapping his arms around her. He snuggled her against his chest, encasing her in warmth.

  Her body tensed. He was everywhere, surrounding her completely.

  “Shh.” He kissed the top of her head. “I just need to hold you.”

  She needed it too. She relaxed and the tension dissolved as she floated against his hard body, secured by the strength of his arms. It had been years since someone had simply held her. Carter’s embrace made her feel safe and protected, something else she hadn’t experienced in a long time. She’d spent so many years striving for control and independence she’d forgotten what a relief it could be to let someone else take over, even if only for a short time.

  “Warm?” His mouth moved against her hair.

  “Um-hmm.”

  “Good. Let’s wash away what’s left of the sea.”

  He reached for the tiny bottle of bath gel and poured a palmful of golden liquid. More heavenly ginger fragrance filled the air. He sleeked it down her arms, up her neck, and across her chest. When he reached her small breasts, he stopped and let them fill his hands, squeezing gently.

  Madelyn froze.

  “You
’re perfect.”

  He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t. A man like Carter could have any woman he wanted and probably had. She was realistic enough to accept her own attributes, or lack thereof. “Don’t say that.”

  “I mean it. Everything about you is perfectly you.”

  Her throat tightened.

  “Here, let me show you.” He reached for her leg and lifted it from the water. “Look at that—slim, graceful, and perfectly toned. Your skin is like molten honey.”

  She flushed. No one had ever said anything like that to her. If she wasn’t careful, she might start believing him. “Stop it. Enough of your Irish blarney.”

  Laughter rumbled in his chest.

  She twisted to face him. “I know a line when I hear one.”

  His expression sobered. “No line. I swear. Now come here. I want to finish what I started before the water gets cold.”

  Pulling her towards him, he turned her slippery body until they lay chest to chest. He held her close with one hand and drizzled gel down her back with the other. When that hand smoothed down her back and traced the curve of her waist, she closed her eyes. When it slid lower to investigate the fullness of her hips, she gasped. The hand stopped, and she opened her eyes.

  “Will you let me?” he asked in a rough voice.

  What was he asking? She couldn’t think straight.

  “I want to make love to you. Please.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I almost lost you tonight.”

  His voice resonated with anger and passion. Why was he angry?

  “You don’t get it, do you? Let me show you.” He dragged her up until their mouths met again in a bruising kiss. His chest rose and fell with each breath.

  When he broke the kiss, she stared into the storm raging in his eyes and accepted what she saw. In the end, her choice was simple. “Yes.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He stood, pulling her with him, and wrapped her in a huge, fluffy towel. Her eyes caressed him as he dried off. She had agreed, stepped over the line, and there was no going back. Nothing would ever be the same.