Diana Palmer Collected 1-6: Soldier of Fortune / Tender Stranger / Enamored / Mystery Man / Rawhide and Lace / Unlikely Lover

She managed a smile for him. “Like my big brother. I knew you’d come, I knew you would. Thank God for your Special Forces training.” Martina added with a laugh, “But however did you find these other men?”

J.D. and Gabby exchanged a quiet look. “I hired them,” he said blandly. “Roberto can reimburse me.”

“My poor darling.” Martina sighed. “He’ll be so frantic.”

“How are we going to get out of here?” Gabby asked J.D.

“Wait and see.” He glanced toward Apollo. “Ready?” he called.

“Ready!”

“I’m going to draw them out for you. Don’t let me down!”

“J.D., no!” Gabby burst out as he leaped out of the brush and started firing toward rustling noises in the undergrowth ahead.

She lost her mind. Afterward it was the only explanation she could come up with. The enemy came forward in a rush, and suddenly Gabby was on her feet. She saw a sniper taking dead aim at J.D.; she turned and lifted the heavy weapon and sighted it and pulled the trigger.

It was a miracle that she even hit the man’s shoulder, her aim was so wide. But she did, and with terror she realized that he had taken aim at her and was about to fire.

“Gabby!” J.D. yelled wildly.

Simultaneously she pulled the trigger again, forgetting to brace the gun in her terror. She was knocked to the ground when she fired. There was a burst of gunfire and, suddenly, a huge, horrible explosion that rocked the ground.

“All right, let’s hit it!” First Shirt yelled out.

J.D. dragged Gabby to her feet, and his face showed such terrible fury that she closed her eyes. He didn’t even speak. He jerked the gun out of her hands and pushed her ahead of him as he bent to lift Martina to her feet.

“Are you all right, señorita?” Laremos asked gently as he joined Gabby.

“My shoulder hurts a little, but I’m…I’m fine,” she whispered. She started to turn around, to look behind them, but J.D. was suddenly there.

“Don’t look,” he said in a tone that dared her to argue. “Get moving.”

He was a stranger now, a man she’d never known. His face was like stone, and there was something wild and dangerous in his eyes and in the set of his big body. She didn’t say another word. She kept quiet all the long way through the jungle.

“Where are we going?” she finally asked Laremos as they kept moving through the endless jungle.

“In a circle, around my finca,” he told her. “We have hopes that by now the government troops have rounded up the smugglers. Apollo has gone in to check.”

“So quickly?” she asked, brushing back a strand of matted hair from her sweaty face.

“So quickly,” he confirmed. “Your shoulder, it is better?”

“A little bruised, that’s all,” she said. She felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted was to lie down and forget the past two days altogether.

“I’m so tired,” Martina murmured. “Can’t we rest?”

“Soon,” J.D. said, gently now. “Just a little longer, honey.”

“Okay, big brother. I’ll trudge along. Gabby, are you holding up okay?”

“Yes, thanks, Martina.”

There was a sudden crackling sound and J.D. and the others whirled with their guns leveled as Apollo came leaping through the growth, grinning.

“We’re clear!” he shouted.

“What about the men in the terrorist camp?” Gabby asked.

“They scattered,” First Shirt replied. “The government troops would have shot them if they’d found them.”

“How sad for them,” Martina said, but her eyes flashed. “I do not pity them, not after the ordeal they put me through. Oh, I want my Roberto!”

“We’ll send for him the minute we get to my finca,” Laremos promised her. “The very minute.”

Gabby dropped back to put a comforting arm around the smaller, older woman and smiled reassuringly. “It won’t be long,” she said.

“Absolutely,” Laremos agreed. “There. We are home.”

The finca looked so good that Gabby wanted to kiss it. The outside bore no marks of violence, but inside it was a different story. The furniture was wrecked, the floors scarred. Laremos’s dark eyes glittered as he saw the evidence of the brief occupation.

“I’m sorry about your house, señor,ȁ Martina said gently.

“Señora, that you are safe is the most important thing,” Laremos said with pride, turning to bow in her direction. “My poor house can be repaired. But your life, once lost, would not have been restored.”

“I owe you a great debt,” Martina said. Her clothes were torn and her hair hung in wild strands. But she looked spunky for all that. She reached up and kissed Laremos on his tan cheek. “Muchas gracias.”

Laremos looked embarrassed. “My pleasure, señora. I regret that I could not have done more.”

“Is everybody all right?” Gabby asked, looking around at the battle-scarred little group with concerned eyes.

“Gabby, you’ll spoil us if you worry about us,” Apollo said, chuckling.

“Not me.” First Shirt glowered at Apollo. “Worry all you want, Gabby. I’ll just sit here like a sponge and soak it up.”

The others joined in, all except J.D. He kept to himself, looking dangerous and unapproachable until Martina and Gabby left to go up to the room Gabby had shared with him.

“A bath.” Martina sighed, taking advantage of the facilities. “I feel so dirty!”

“It must have been horrible,” Gabby said, digging out fresh clothes.

“Not as horrible as it could have been. I wasn’t abused, at least. That surprised me.” She came out of the shower minutes later, toweling her long hair dry. “Your turn. I imagine you feel as mucky as I did.”

“Yes, I do.” Gabby laughed. “My shoulder hurts and I feel shaky all over.”

“You saved J.D.’s life,” was Martina’s quiet comment. “I can never thank you enough for that. But don’t expect him to,” she added dryly. “I think his pride’s dented. He’s very quiet.”

“He’s been through a lot. They all have. What a great bunch of guys,” she said fervently.

“Tell me!” Martina laughed, and despite the weariness in her drawn face, there was joy. “I’d like to kiss every one of them twice. I can’t tell you how I felt when I saw J.D. come breaking in that door! Wasn’t it lucky that he had that military training?”

Obviously Martina didn’t know everything about J.D.’s past, and Gabby wasn’t about to betray him. “It sure was,” she agreed and disappeared into the bathroom.

Her shoulder was turning blue, but she was grateful to be alive. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done. It had been pure instinct when she saw the weapon pointing at J.D. Let him be angry at her—she couldn’t be sorry about what she’d done. Even if the man had shot her, it would have been worth it to deflect his aim. If anything had happened to J.D., she might as well have died. She loved him—so much!

The next day, Roberto drove in from the airport and there was a wildly emotional reunion. Gabby, watching, couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy she felt. Roberto was crying as he embraced his wife, and unashamedly at that. Gabby’s eyes darted to J.D., who hadn’t said a single word to her since they’d come out of the jungle. They’d all had a good night’s sleep, Martina and Gabby sharing the big double bed this time, but his dark mood hadn’t lifted. He wouldn’t even look at Gabby, and that hurt most of all. She’d only wanted to save him, but it seemed that she’d committed some unforgivable sin.

Chapter Six

Roberto was very Italian, if someone who lived in Sicily could be called Italian, Gabby mused. He was of medium height and thin, with a charm that was immediately apparent when he bent over Gabby’s hand.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said. He grinned, glancing at J.D., who was talking quietly with Apollo in the living room. “Martina’s brother mentions you often.”

“Does he?” Gabby asked conversationally, privately wondering whether she even had a job to go back to, now that it was all over. J.D. still hadn’t looked in her direction.

“It was bad, Gabby,” Martina said from her husband’s side, her dark eyes meeting the other girl’s green ones warmly. “Jacob and the others…well, it was a miracle that any of us got out. He’ll get over it. It has been a long time since he was in the service, you know. It had to affect him.”

“Yes, of course,” Gabby said, smiling faintly. She couldn’t let Martina know the truth. “You look awfully good for somebody who went through what you did.”

Martina clung to her husband’s arm and smiled. “I have my whole world back again. I feel good. Just a little shaken and homesick.” She glanced up at Roberto. “Can we go back today?”

He inclined his head. “As soon as our pilot finishes the meal Laremos was kind enough to provide.”

“It will be good to have familiar things around me.” Martina sighed. “But I do not think I ever want to go shopping alone again.” She shuddered. “From now on, my husband, I will listen when you warn me against such things.”

“I had feared that it would happen,” Roberto confessed, with a glance at the men scattered around the living room. “Thank God your brother and his friends knew so well what to do. I am sure that the kidnappers would never have let you live.” He pulled her into his arms and held her convulsively, his eyes closed, his face contorted. “Dio, I could not have lived myself!” he whispered hoarsely.

“Shh,” Martina said, comforting him and smiling. She clung to him, and Gabby could only imagine how it felt to be loved so possessively. She experienced a twinge of envy, because nobody had ever cared for her that way. J.D. surely hadn’t. He looked as if he were frankly sick of the whole thing, especially Gabby.

“You had better spend a little time with Jacob while you can,” Roberto said, releasing Martina. “It may be another year before we see him again.” He smiled. “Hopefully, the next time will be under happier circumstances.”

“Oh, yes,” Martina said wholeheartedly. “Gabby, you must come to Palermo with him next time and visit. Our villa overlooks the sea, and it is so beautiful.”

“I’d like that,” Gabby said noncommittally. She was thinking that J.D. would probably never take her as far as the corner again, but she didn’t say it.

Martina approached her brother, and as J.D. stood up Gabby got a glimpse of his face. It softened magically for his sister. When he smiled at her it was like the sun coming out. Gabby couldn’t bear the contrast between the way he’d looked at her in the jungle and the way he looked at his sister. She turned and went toward the bedroom to finish packing.

Later, as she was folding clothes, Martina tapped at the door and entered the room quietly, smiling sheepishly.

“I hate to ask, but do you have some makeup I could borrow?” J.D.’s sister asked. “I feel like a hag.”

“Yes, of course, I do,” Gabby said quickly, taking her cosmetic case from the dresser. “I didn’t bring much, though,” she said apologetically as she handed it over, along with a brush. “I kind of figured that we weren’t going to be going places that I’d need to dress for.”

“Thank you,” Martina said and seated herself in front of the mirror. “There!” she exclaimed, smiling ruefully at her face. “Such pleasure, from such a mundane thing,” she murmured. “Gabby, there were times when I thought I’d never live long enough to do this again.”

“It must have been awful,” the taller girl said quietly. “I’m so sorry, Martina.”

“My own stupidity,” came the reply. “Roberto warned me, but I take after Jacob, I’m afraid. I’m bullheaded and I like my own way.” She sat down on the bed and studied Gabby for a long moment. “He will not speak to you, and that hurts, doesn’t it?”

Gabby shrugged, taking a long time to fold a T-shirt. “A little.”

“If you could only have seen his face in that split second before the recoil threw you to the ground,” Martina said solemnly. “It would have been a revelation to you. In all the years of my life, I can only recall once or twice when I’ve seen that expression in his eyes. Once,” she added quietly, “was just after our mother died.”

Gabby stared at the pale garment in her hand. “I was so afraid for him,” she confided. “I saw that man level his rifle at Jacob, and…” She shivered. “It all happened so quickly.”

“Yes, I know.” Martina stood up. “Gabby, he isn’t an easy man. And he’s been very restless the past few years. But I think perhaps in you he has found his future. Did you know,” she added with a wicked grin, “that you’re all I hear about when he calls me these days?”

Gabby laughed nervously, desperate even for crumbs. Her green eyes glowed softly as she looked at Martina. “I’d give anything to be his future,” she said quietly. “But he’s already said he doesn’t want ties or commitment. And I’m dreadfully old-fashioned. Everybody else sleeps around and thinks nothing of it, but I’m just not built for loose affairs.”

Martina pursed her lips and then grinned. “Well, well. Poor Jacob.”

“Anyway,” Gabby said, sighing, “it’s probably just a flash in the pan. I’ve worked for him over two years and he’s never looked twice at me until this came up.” She glanced at Martina and smiled. “I’m just so glad that you came out of it all right. We were all worried about you, not just J.D.”

“Roberto and I must go home today,” Martina said. “But you will come and visit us one day. I believe that, even if you don’t.” Impulsively, she hugged Gabby. “Take care of Jacob for me. He doesn’t know that he needs taking care of, so we mustn’t let on. But he’s so alone, Gabby.”

Gabby felt as if she were choking. “Yes,” she said. “I know.” And it hurt to think just how alone he was, and how much it affected her.

Later, as she wandered around the house restlessly, she met First Shirt coming down the hall, and he stopped to talk to her. “Why the long face, little lady?” he asked with an affectionate smile.

“Work is going to seem like peeling onions from now on,” she lied, smiling impishly at him.

He laughed heartily. “Now you know why the guys and I don’t retire. Hell, I’d rather die on my feet than deteriorate behind a desk.” He shrugged. “But it seems to suit Archer.”

Her eyes fell. “Yes, I suppose so.”

“Hey.”

She looked up, and he smiled at her.

“He doesn’t like being helped out,” he said knowingly. “I ought to know. He threw a punch at me one time when I spotted a guy with a grenade and got to him first. He doesn’t like making mistakes. He’ll get over what happened out there.”

“Will he?” she asked, her eyes wide and sad. “He won’t even talk to me.”

“Reaction. You have to remember, Gabby, he’s been out of action for a while. This sort of thing—” he waved his hand “—you don’t forget, but sometimes it brings back bad memories. He got shot up pretty bad once.”

“He told me,” she said absently.

His eyes narrowed. “Now, that’s interesting.”

“Just to satisfy my curiosity,” she added.

“I used to wonder if he was ever going to settle down,” he said enigmatically. “But there was never a special woman.”

“I suppose he liked leaving his doors open,” she murmured, “in case he couldn’t adjust to a desk job.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought,” First Shirt said. His chest rose and fell on a deep breath. “None of us have ties. They’re too much of a luxury in this kind of work.” He searched her wide eyes. “I’m glad our paths crossed. Take care of Archer. He’s gone too far to come back to us, but maybe he doesn’t realize it yet.”

“I wish you were right, First Shirt,” she said with a sad smile.

“My name—my given name—is Matthew.”

She smiled. “Matthew.”

“Keep in touch once in a while, will you?” he asked as he turned. “Archer’s a damned bad correspondent.”

“I’ll do that,” she promised, flattered.

Her eyes followed his lean figure down the hall. She was already thinking about Christmas. Socks, she decided. Lots of socks and gloves. She started back toward the bedroom.

It was deathly quiet after Martina and Roberto left, and one by one the men seemed to vanish. Later she learned that everybody except First Shirt had already left the country for other places, just as secretively as they’d come. She’d grown attached to them in that short space of time. Of course, the circumstances were unusual, to say the least.

Laremos was his charming self at the evening meal, but J.D. was still brooding and he wouldn’t look at Gabby.

“When are we going back?” she asked J.D. finally, in desperation.

“Tonight.” He bit the words off.

“I’ll double-check to make sure I’ve packed everything.” She stood up. “Señor Laremos, thank you for your hospitality. Under different circumstances, it would have been lovely. I’m sorry we didn’t get to see the Mayan ruins.”

“So am I, Gabby,” he said sincerely. “Perhaps you may return someday, and it will be my pleasure to show them to you.” He made her a handsome bow and she smiled at him as she left the room.

Minutes later, J.D. joined her, presumably to get his own things packed. He had slept downstairs with the men the night before, but his case was still in the bedroom. Gabby had considered packing for him, but she was nervous about antagonizing him any more.

She looked up from her suitcase when he closed the door. His face was still hard as granite, and his eyes glanced off hers coldly. He didn’t say a word as he began to fill the small bag on the chair across from the bed.

“Are you all right?’ she asked finally, when the silence became uncomfortable.

“Yes, I’m all right,” he said gruffly. “Are you?”

She shrugged and smiled wanly. “It was the experience of a lifetime.”

“Wasn’t it, though?” he asked curtly. His eyes blazed as he studied her flushed face.

“Why are you so angry?” she asked.

He dropped his eyes to the bag and shoved his combat fatigues into it. “What makes you think I am?”

“You’ve barely spoken to me since we came back.” She moved around the bed to stand beside him, her emotions in turmoil, her mind confused. She looked at his big body and remembered with staggering clarity how it looked without clothing, how it felt to be held by those hard arms and kissed by that mouth.

“Jacob, what have I done?” she asked softly, and touched his arm.

His hard muscles tensed beneath her touch, and when he looked down at her she had to fight the urge to back away.

“What the hell did you think you were playing at out there?” he asked coldly. “Didn’t you realize that the bullets weren’t blanks, that we weren’t acting out some scenario from a television show? You’re a dull little secretary, not a professional soldier, and if the force of the recoil hadn’t knocked you down, you’d have been killed, you stupid child!”

So that was it. Shirt had been right, his pride was hurt because Gabby had seen a threat and he hadn’t. “J.D., if I hadn’t shot him, he’d have killed you,” she said, trying to reason with him.

He slammed the bag back down. “Am I supposed to thank you?”

Her temper was blazing now, too. “Don’t strain yourself,” she told him icily. “And I am not a dull little secretary!”

“Don’t kid yourself,” he said, staring at her. “You aren’t Calamity Jane and you’re never likely to be. You’ll get married to some desk jockey and have a dozen kids.”

Her face paled and his eyes narrowed when he saw it. “What’s wrong, honey?” he taunted. “Were you expecting a proposal from me?”

She turned away. “I expect nothing from you.”

“Liar.” He caught her arm and swung her around. Seconds later, she was flat on her back on the bed and he was looming over her, holding her down.

“Let me up, Jacob!” she burst out, struggling.

He threw a long, powerful leg across hers and pinned her, his hands on her wrists. “Now fight,” he said coldly, “and see how far you get.”

She gave up finally and lay breathing heavily, glaring up at him. “What’s this supposed to prove, that you’re stronger than I am? Okay, I’m not arguing.”

His dark eyes wandered slowly over her body, lingering on the curves outlined by her tight jeans and the expanse of bare skin where her shirt had ridden up during the struggle. Her breath caught, because she wasn’t wearing a bra, and the hem of the garment was just below the curve of her breasts.

“I wanted you yesterday morning,” he said bluntly. “And if you hadn’t been a virgin, I’d have taken you. But you were just a body to me, so if you’ve been weaving me into your future, forget it.”

Her heart leaped in her chest. It was true, she had, but she couldn’t let him see just how involved she was emotionally. Very obviously, that wasn’t what he wanted from her.

“I haven’t asked you for any promises, have I?” she asked quietly, searching his dark eyes. “You’re safe, Jacob. I’m not trying to tie you down.”

His fingers contracted. “For your sake I hope that’s true,” he said in a menacing tone. “Make damned sure that you don’t ever try.”

Her lips parted to ask a question, but he moved suddenly. One hand imprisoned both of hers above her head. The other pulled up the shirt, baring her taut breasts to his eyes.

“Now, Gabby, let me show you how a real mercenary treats women.”

She lay still, feeling half-afraid of him as he covered her with his own taut body. His hands touched and gripped and his body moved suggestively, making a travesty of everything she felt for him.

Then his hands moved lower on her body and contracted, grinding her hips against his. “I’m not a soft man. This is how it would be between us, quick and rough. And if you’re remembering yesterday morning, don’t,” he added. “Because that was a flash in the pan. This is the reality.”

The crush of his mouth was as suggestive as the motion of his hard body. She tried to make her own body move—whether to push him away or pull him closer—but his assault on her senses paralyzed her.

“Are you shocked? Come on, honey.” And he kissed her again, oblivious to the confusion and growing panic in her eyes.

She must have tensed because he stopped and looked at her. He cursed and rolled away, but she couldn’t move. She lay there, her face pale, her eyes closed. The fear subsided, but it left her sick and empty. Tears ran in a flood down her cheeks and her body shook with sobs.

“Damn you, J.D.,” she wept, flushed with fury. “Damn you!”

“That’s how I am with a woman,” he said coldly, ignoring the trembling of her body, the terrible hurt in her eyes. “That’s how it would have been yesterday. I wanted you. But I wanted you because I needed to forget what was ahead, the same way I’ve forgotten it a hundred times before with a hundred other women.” His voice was bitter and he turned away. “So set your sights on some other man, and don’t weave romantic daydreams around me. I’ve just shown you the reality. Remember it.”

She didn’t move. She couldn’t. She was trembling too much. Her eyes looked up into his, bright with furious anger. Something of her pain must have shown in them, because he turned away and, grabbing up his suitcase, went to the door without another glance.

“Bring your bag and let’s go,” he said in a harsh tone.

She watched him close the door and then she managed to get to her feet. His taunting voice would haunt her as long as she lived. She would resign, of course, but she didn’t know how she was going to manage to look at him while she worked out a two-week notice. Maybe he’d let her go immediately. The only problem was that she didn’t have another job to go to. Her rent and car payments wouldn’t wait while she went without work.

Minutes later, wearing a fresh green pullover blouse with a matching sweater and the same jeans, and with her hair carefully pulled back in a bun, she left the bedroom, her suitcase in hand. She was still pale, but makeup helped conceal the shock of what J.D. had done to her.

He didn’t even glance in her direction as she came back into the living room. Apparently, he’d shut her out of his mind already, and she wished she had the ability to do the same with him. The scars he had left on her emotions would be a long time healing. She’d loved him. How could he hurt her that way? How could he?