Red on the River - Page 22

Harold murmured his agreement as she inserted her key into the lock and pushed open the door. The moment she was inside and the door had closed, she kicked off her shoes and stripped fast, not willing to be caught helpless in the aftermath of her card-playing fatigue. Pulling on comfortable clothes, she used the restroom, grabbed a bottle of water and the phone to set beside the bed, and caught up her cell phone to call one of her friends. She put the call on speaker so she wouldn’t have to hold the phone. She could feel lethargy overtaking her, but she simply let it this time, lying back on the duvet and pillows.

“Hey, Shabina,” she greeted one of the five women she counted as her family in Knightly.

Shabina Foster owned the Sunrise Café in Knightly, a popular place the locals knew to go to for the best food. Shabina made cooking an art. She didn’t offer a huge menu, and it changed weekly, sometimes daily, depending on Shabina’s mood, but it was always amazing. Her mother was from Saudi Arabia and her father was American. Her father owned one of the largest and most respected companies in the world for putting out oil well fires, which was how he’d met Shabina’s mother.

“I was hoping you’d call. It was all over the news that you were attacked last night. Are you all right? We talked it over and even Sam would come to watch your back if you need us.”

“I’m fine. Charles was drunk and he was a very sore loser. I hit my head on the wall and got a little bruise. I think the hotel saw it as a publicity thing.”

“You sound tired.”

The concern in Shabina’s voice warmed her. She loved her friends and counted herself very lucky. She’d meant what she said to her mother. She was perfectly content with her life. She didn’t need to delve into her past to be happy.

“I’m always exhausted after I play,” Vienna conceded. “Enough about me. Where are we with the plans for Stella’s bridal party, or whatever we’re calling it?”

Shabina laughed. “We’re waiting on you to see if we can fit all the things in she was hoping to do. Have you had time to scout out everything on her wish list? If not, I can get there a day or so early with Raine and we can do it. We know you’re busy.”

“Tomorrow should be the last day of the tournament.” Vienna was hopeful that was the truth. She didn’t know if it was the long hours surrounded by so many people or the intensity of playing publicly after playing alone for so many years, but she felt drained. “I should be able to scout out the bouldering, hiking trails and coffee shops. I did already find us a wonderful kayaking trip. It’s all day, and the river looks so beautiful. I’m excited about that. I know that was one of Stella’s particular wishes.”

“You do sound really tired,” Shabina reiterated. “I can take some of this off you. I don’t mind closing the café if I have to. Stella’s wedding is important, and so is her bridal party. How often does one of our friends get married?”

“That’s true, but I can handle this.” Vienna traced the bruising on her ribs. “Do you remember Sam’s friends? The ones who took us to your house and guarded us until he said it was safe?”

“Yes, of course.”

“After, I took a leave of absence and went off by myself. One of Sam’s friends followed me. To make a long story short, I’ve connected with him again. We’re sort of a thing. He’ll be at the wedding too. I just wanted you to know.”

There was a short silence. “Which one?” There was caution in Shabina’s voice.

“Sam’s best man.” Now that she knew Zale and Rainier had been threatened, she wanted to be cautious. “I’ve got to go. I am tired and need to sleep. I’ll let you know what I find out about the bouldering as soon as I know.”

“If you need me to help, call,” Shabina said.

Vienna managed to hang up and take a long drink of water before the strange lethargy completely overtook her. She glanced at the clock. Zale was supposed to meet her later in the evening. She was becoming concerned about his safety. He had kept his distance from her in front of everyone, allowing Rainier to act his part of the elderly gentleman watching out for her. Zale was worried that an enemy might target her if they thought she was in any way involved with him.

She closed her eyes and drifted off. When she woke up, Zale was sitting on the edge of her bed. In that unguarded moment, before he realized she was awake, he looked tired and worn. He had his phone out and was looking down at the screen, a slight frown on his face, then he was rapidly typing a message.

She lifted her hand to brush the pads of her fingers over the frown, stroking gently, as if she could erase his mood. Immediately, he captured her wrist and pulled her fingers into the heat of his mouth. Her breath hitched in her lungs as his eyes met hers. There was always that intensity about Zale when he focused on her—as if she were the only woman in his world, the only person in his world who truly mattered to him.

He kissed her fingertips. “I miss seeing you when I’m away from you. I never thought that would be possible.”

“I miss you too. I try not to worry,” she admitted.

He gently laid his palm over her belly, spreading his fingers wide so they covered from under her breasts to her ribs. “I’m not the one with a large bruise.”

“I’m not the one with knife wounds,” she countered.

His smile was slow in coming, but gorgeous by the time it hit his eyes. “Snowflake, I would hardly call the scratches I have wounds.”

His fingers slowly began to push up the material of her flimsy top. His gaze didn’t move from hers, only the intensity increased. She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue.

“The blades of knives are notoriously filthy and covered in bacteria.”

“My little nurse. I’m lucky she takes such good care of me.” His tone caressed. His fingers touched bare skin, igniting flames, sending them racing through her bloodstream. It was as if he had already mapped out the large bruise, because he didn’t look away from her eyes, yet he traced the outside edges before skimming the pads of his fingers over the entire interior as if painting it with a healing balm.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re so worried about, Zale? I may be able to help.”

“It isn’t ever good to be involved in my business, Vienna, you know that.”

“I understand, but I am already. It isn’t as if I don’t know you’re working at the hotel undercover. You’ve told me agents have disappeared. You and Rainier were attacked once already. I get that we can’t be seen together and before coming to my room you have to do something to make the security cameras glitch. I’m a nurse, Zale, so I’m used to keeping confidences.”

“You could be killed if anyone connected us and knew I was talking to you.”

“I’m head of Search and Rescue in Inyo County. That means I rappel down a mountainside to a victim in a gorge with rushing water or jagged boulders below me. I could be killed there too, but I do it and would every time. You don’t have to tell me, Zale, but it seems to me I’m already in the know and you may as well bounce ideas off me.”

He leaned over her, so for the first time she lost his eyes as he bent his head to her stomach and the dark bruising there. His hair brushed against the undersides of her breasts, a sensual slide that made her catch her breath. She couldn’t help but bury her fingers in his hair as his lips skimmed over the vicious blue and purple colors spread across her ribs and belly.

She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of him there with her. It was so strange how she wasn’t afraid to hike alone on trails in the wilderness, where the territory belonged to predators such as bears and mountain lions. She was confident climbing steep mountains and rappelling off them, or skiing down slopes others would never consider, but relationships terrified her.

“Zale, are we really doing this?” Vienna was really asking him if he was going to do his best to stay. She knew there were no promises. No one could do that, but she could ask for his best. She needed reassurances.

“We’re really doing this, Vienna.” He turned his head to one side and laid it gently on her lap, circling her hips with his arms. “I don’t want to be alone now that I know what having you is like. I have to have you in my life. I want you to feel the same way about me. We can make it work, even when I’m away, working in the field. I know there’s a way we can make it work.”

Vienna waited until the small moment of panic in her had subsided. She brushed caresses into his hair. He seemed tired and worn when he was always so vibrant. “I told Stella about us right away, but today I told Shabina. Just in case someone might be listening in, I said I was having a thing with Sam’s best man.”

Tags: Christine Feehan Romance
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