Desire. He wanted her. Bad. Or rather, oh-so-good.
A trill of feminine power sounded through her. It had been so long since she'd felt attractive. She and Danny may have kissed, but only when either she'd come on to him or when they'd been in a full-body press with her leg nestled between his. Against him.
Oh yeah, she remembered him very well.
"Put your back out? Liar." She sat the rest of the way up and tucked her legs to the side, the gentle glide of the enclosed waves of the water bed undulating against her suddenly sensitive skin. "I think you got a he-man kick out of carrying me in here."
He snagged his survival vest from the floor beside the bed. "Why don't you try to sleep? I should be through before you wake up."
Through? Encroaching panic edged out desire. "Where are you going?"
"To scope the area. Set some warning devices in place."
Warning devices. Her throat closed. She'd just assumed the distant locale and Danny's weaponry would be enough protection, and that she and Danny could use this rustic-haven time to sort through past feelings.
Present feelings.
She wasn't sure whether to be reassured or scared spit-less that he saw the need for more security.
Mary Elise swung her legs off the side of the bed. "Tell me what to do."
"Sleep."
"Get real."
"I mean it." He jerked on the green mesh vest, the knife sheathed in black leather attached to his shoulder a harsh reminder of real-world worries. "Rest. You're no good to me dead on your feet."
"Sleep can come later. I may be a little groggy." Understatement. She wished Kathleen had been less pushy with the muscle relaxants. "But I'm far from passing out. The sooner we have this place secured, the sooner I can get that rest you keep insisting I need. Do you really think I could just kick back now?"
"You did in the car."
"That was different. There was nothing I could do."
He buckled a gear belt around his waist with canteens—a gun holster. He pulled free the 9 mm, tugged out the magazine, checked, clicked it in place again before returning the weapon to the holster with clean efficiency. "How about whip up something to eat."
No way was she playing Betty Crocker to his John Wayne. "Oh, yeah, that's really a pressing survival issue right now after the two Big Macs and order of supersize fries you banged back in the car."
The first signs of a grin creased the corners of his eyes. "Well, I'm still hungry. You know me. Never full, jaws just get tired of chewing."
"Great. If Kent finds us, I'll toss up a smoke screen by burning some fried Spam."
Mary Elise shadowed him around the tiny cabin, staying smack dab in his peripheral line of sight. Danny swung his foot up onto the arm of the brown plaid sofa and tucked a second knife inside his boot.
Suppressing a shiver over just the thought of him having to use it, she stepped closer. "Give me something constructive to do or I'm going to follow you around and be a real pain in the butt. You should know from our growing-up years, I can do it."
"You're already doing it right now," he mumbled without glancing her way.
"Good. Now give me a job that doesn't involve a spatula." Her hand fell to his forearm. Gripped. Held with a determination she infused in her voice as well. "Danny, I won't be relegated to a passive role ever again."
He dropped his foot to hardwood floor, a sigh riding a long trip out his lungs. "Do you know how to shoot?"
"I took lessons after I arrived in Rubistan." Never again would she be caught unprepared. And as much as she wanted to find a peaceful middle ground with Danny, she would battle him to the end for her right to defend herself.
Daniel recognized well the dogged glint in Mary Elise's steady gaze. The woman was in full fighting form.
At least she wasn't gliding those soft hands up his body with a distraction he couldn't afford. Security came first.
And after?