Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,44

she texted him back. “You didn’t answer. Which took ten years off my life, by the way.”

A surprise ambush at an Iraqi checkpoint hadn’t managed to do that. Of course that was a situation he knew how to handle. Survive, evade, resist, and escape. Always.

Much like the strategy he’d employed with Audra. It wasn’t working. Obviously. He shouldn’t be here. Evasive mode had failed miserably, and resist only worked if they weren’t on the same island. The kiss in the ice machine alcove had proven that.

If she didn’t want sex, he had little idea what he was possibly capable of giving her, though he’d spent the last couple of days imagining a hundred scenarios designed to comply with her wishes.

All of them ended with her naked. So he’d stayed away until he could put some order to the chaos of his thoughts. Escape was the only avenue he could take when she wanted something with no definition around it. When his eyes were constantly on the ground scouting for the best place to step to avoid triggering something explosive, it was time to get the hell out of the minefield.

Only here he was. Full circle.

Guilt flashed through her expression. “I couldn’t sleep. My hip hurts.”

Instantly, everything but Audra drained away. She hurt. He needed to fix it.

“Open the door,” he commanded. “We need to get off the street.”

“This is not Baghdad.” She rolled her eyes. “I was the victim of a drunk driver, not an assassin. I guess it was too much to hope that Evan and Rachel would keep their promise not to mention the incident to you.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Evidence did point to that, but he was too worked up to start listing all the reasons the answer was yes. “If they had, they wouldn’t be people I trust with my life. Door. Now.”

With a slight shake of her head, she complied, pulling a key from her pocket and unlocking the door. He swept her aside and entered first, flicking on all the lights and prowling around until he was satisfied no one lurked in the closet with nefarious intent.

She stood in the center of the living room, arms crossed, wearing a scowl that could have melted the face off an ISIS general. “Satisfied?”

“Not in the slightest.” And he probably never would be when it came to the intense, gaping need for her that nothing eased. He eyed her hip. “Would you at least let me look at your injuries since I’m assuming you didn’t go to the emergency room?”

Her brows lifted. “Have you been to Freeport’s emergency room? It’s full of sick tourists. I’d rather take my chances.”

“Fair enough. I’ve probably got more triage training than the entire medical staff combined. Take off your clothes.”

“Well. Why didn’t you just say so?” At that, she smiled. “If this was all a thinly veiled ploy to get into my panties, you didn’t have go all lieutenant commander on me.”

“Some women think that’s sexy.” Figured she’d be in the small minority of one who didn’t like the idea of being taken care of. “Off.”

She didn’t move a muscle. “What if I’d rather let you undress me?”

The heavy-eyed once-over she dragged down the entire length of his body shifted the vibe in the room so fast he went a little lightheaded. Mostly because all the blood in his brain drained south. “Now we’re talking.”

If she wanted to play games, he could play. Since it got him closer to where he wanted to be, he swept her up in his arms and ignored her squeak of protest as he carried her bodily to the bedroom.

He laid her out on the bed and met her gaze as he unbuttoned her shorts. Then unzipped them. The no-sex moratorium put a good, solid layer of frustration to the motion. “Still think this is a good idea?”

After all, he wasn’t the one who had laid down that law. If it was up to him, they’d have had a wall banger of a time in that ice machine alcove back at the resort. And ten others at strategic intervals.

She didn’t answer but readily lifted her hips to allow him to slide off the tiny shorts that had covered her plain white panties. The white seared his vision worse than an explosion.

Caught in the paradox of his own making, he shut his eyes for a second, but it did nothing to subside his instant hard on. And it was a brutal one. Nothing to be