Walker (In the Company of Snipers #21) - Irish Winters Page 0,87
him step between the woman and little boy he loves, so they didn’t have to watch Zapata die.”
“I know. You told me that back in Florida.”
“I made pancakes…”
“Blueberry pancakes…”
“You wanted peaches…”
Something sizzling hot arced between them. He let his gaze drop to the black polo that did nothing to hide her lovely assets. “I’ll always want peaches.” And the rest of you.
“But not now,” she told him firmly, her pretty cheeks blushing like the skin of a succulent, sun-kissed peach.
Sending a wave of water splashing over the side, Walker rolled to one hip. “What else do you need to know? Oh, yeah. How I ended up here. It’s been a long journey. Before I found the yacht, sometimes I swam. Sometimes I walked.”
“Why’d you swim from Cuba?”
“Believe it or not, I love my country. I… I just wanted to go home one last time.”
A different kind of light flickered in her eyes. “I saw you kiss the beach.”
“I didn’t murder those people.”
“People?” Her head canted as if she didn’t know what he was talking about. “There are others besides your commanding officer?”
Damn it to hell. She hadn’t known about the other charges. But she did now.
“Never mind,” he growled, closing his eyes against the inevitable. Christ, he’d had it. How could he stand against additional, bogus murder charges, when he couldn’t even defend himself against the original charge? It seemed pointless to try anymore, and running for his life hadn’t worked. Goff’s ghost certainly had a long reach.
“I said I believe you, Walker Judge. Do you hear me? I do, but we’re going to have to prove your innocence, aren’t we? And to do that, we need to uncover the lies and find the real killer.”
There went that trusting ‘we’ again.
He opened his eyes to the light touch of Persia’s sweet kiss in the middle of his forehead.
“I honestly don’t know how.” He lifted a hand and ticked his crimes off his fingers. “The FBI wants me for murdering Wallace Goff. After I serve that sentence in Leavenworth, Britain will extradite me for a terrorist threat against their queen. Then, the US Army wants my ass for the deaths of the thirteen Green Berets I allegedly killed during that same event at Buckingham Palace. And now…”
Walker couldn’t bring himself tell her about all those deaths at the wedding in Jordan. Enough already! “Get away from me! Just go. Leave. I’m bad luck.”
He would’ve pushed her out of his arms, but Persia pushed him first. Flat to his back, his head darned near going under water. Not breaking eye contact, she climbed out of her black jeans, ripped the black polo over her head, and tossed it onto the chair. Bending forward, she gave him an eyeful when she shimmied out of her bra and panties, her hot gaze still on his.
His heart stopped beating. “What are you doing?”
“Sealing the deal,” she replied with a shy glance over his long, naked body. “Move over, Hotrod. I’m coming back in.”
Walker couldn’t move quickly enough. Extending a hand to make sure she didn’t slip, he held her tiny fingers while she stepped into the tub. As if that wasn’t tantalizing enough, she spread those long legs over him, bent her knees, and sat on his thighs. Which gave him a bird’s eye view that stopped his lungs.
“I… I…” Damn, he couldn’t speak! “I don’t understand you.”
“That’s the point, isn’t it? You think you know everything, but you don’t, do you? And because you don’t, you feel out of control and unbalanced. You’ve always got to be the top dog in charge. But this time, you’re not.”
No kidding.
Lifting one arm over her head, she closed her eyes and ran a hand over her sleek black ponytail, loosened the tie and—
Walker damned near swallowed his tongue. He’d forgotten how long her hair was. How luxurious it had felt slipping through his fingers. How much it had soothed him when it brushed over his belly and chest. How much he loved the shine and shimmer. The flowery scent of her…
Tipping forward, Persia aligned her core over his rigid cock, which, like the brainless idiot it was, still pointed at him, when it really wanted her. He couldn’t make his eyes not watch the way the lush mauve tips of her breasts bobbed into the water.
“This might not be the best time to… you know. Do this,” he reminded her even as his palms cupped those warm, swaying, seductive globes. “I wasn’t much good in bed last