"Not much farther." He jostled her closer, launching a shower of tingles from his touch all the way to the roots of her windswept hair.
"Good. Because while I appreciate the ride, I'm not overly anxious to be dropped."
"No worries." Hot, muscled strength rippled through his arms, against her skin, confirming his claim of a strength that could carry her for miles. For hours. Long, satisfying hours.
Max started up the outdoor stairs. Stairs? Darcy eyed the sunning deck on the roof over the center section of the cinder-block VOQ. At two in the morning, the cement expanse sprawled blessedly empty but for the call of night creatures and the whisper of salty wind.
Without breaking stride or a sweat, he cleared the steps and kicked wide the metal gate. White plastic lawn chairs and recliners were scattered over the deck, tables interspersed. Max strode toward two recliners nearest the fence and lowered Darcy into one.
His arms slid from beneath her slowly, gently. The night blanketed her with intoxicating heat. Maybe her body only hummed from all the meds or adrenaline rather than arousal. Either way, her skin burned everywhere he touched.
Parking-lot lights and the moon showered a nimbus through the whitened spikes of Max's hair, begging her fingers to explore. Just as she started to surrender and raise her hand, Max settled onto a chair beside her and propped his feet on the rail with his typical negligent ease that dominated any landscape he occupied.
What was it about him that drew her so? Already she knew she wouldn't forget him or their time together on the island. She hated unresolved business, like the way the lingering fears from her kidnapping had been brought too sharply into focus tonight.
Now Max was quickly gaining an importance in her life that wouldn't be easily dismissed. And that worried her.
Time to find out more about him. With any luck he would admit to something majorly piggish in his past, which would launch him into the realms of jerkdom and out of her mind.
Yeah, right. "Thanks for what you did earlier."
"No big deal." He kept his face forward, eyes narrowed and focused on the darkened expanse of island and sea in front of them. "I'm sure you would have finished off the snake on your own."
"I meant later. Checking on me." Darcy tore her gaze from him and stared out into the night. The hazy glow of spotlights illuminated a museum-quality B-52 on static display. "Thank God I didn't bring Crusty or one of the other guys back to my room. They would have razzed the hell out of me for years over finding you there."
Max's jaw flexed. "I knew you wouldn't ask them for help. That's why I stayed."
"Oh." Gulp. Already this guy had her number. So much for being an Alicia-style enigma.
Of course Alicia had told her on the phone earlier to cut herself some slack. A trip to Guam for Darcy had to be as tough as flying combat mission over Cantou from the cockpit of an F-15.
Yeah, right. She wasn't buying it then and wasn't buying it now. She felt compelled to offer Max an explanation for her meltdown so he wouldn't think she was a weak-kneed twit. "When I was a kid here on Guam, I was—" she paused to find a word that worked while still hiding the truth she wasn't ready to share, especially not tonight ''—I got lost in the jungle. I had some bad experiences with those Guam critters before my father, uh, found me a few days later on Lovers' Leap cliff."
Max's eyes shone with quiet empathy as if he somehow understood the rest without her even having to tell him. "That would be tough for a kid. Even for an adult."
"It was. Especially being stuck there with that creepy legend about two doomed lovers jumping to their death rather than let the girl be married off to some Spanish soldier. I mean, damn. Why didn't they both just paddle to another island? Fight back?''
Of course she'd been to Guam since the kidnapping yet hadn't strayed more than a few yards from base. Her leg throbbed. "Of course who am I to talk? I should probably just go confront my fears. Hike through those jungles and even up to the cliff. Conquer my mountain."
Max straightened. "You don't have to face those critters alone, you know. Call me. I'll take that hike with you, be an extra set of eyes to watch out for...more tree snakes."
Her heartbeat tripped over itself. Oh, man. She was in serious trouble.
Darcy looked away before his sea-green eyes had her plunging right into their sympathetic depths and into those strong arms. She stared out over the moon-speckled water to the dim glow from the island of Rhoda. No one in sight. Safe, for now.
Of course she could take care of herself—wouldn't rely on the protection of others ever again. Twelve years ago, she'd been snacking on a plate of roasted poi on the wide-open beach with a hundred partying Air Force warriors around her. Still she'd been snatched.
These days she preferred the metal-encased protection of her aircraft and her own defenses. "Thanks. I'll keep your offer in mind."
Alicia would be proud of her elusive answer. Too bad it had more to do with self-preservation than enticement.
"Don't you feel exposed out here?" Darcy picked at her sweaty T-shirt and tried not to think of how little she'd been wearing earlier.
"I can see anyone coming long before they get anywhere near me. No chance for one of life's ambushes."
Ah, a kindred spirit. "No snakes under your bed, huh?"
"I guess you could say that." Max folded his hands over his washboard stomach. "I like the wide-open space and the quiet. It's almost as good as being underwater."