Page 15 of Prisoner of War
Chapter Four
Calli met Nick halfway down the stairs that led up to the third floor, where their bed was tucked behind sheets that quartered the cramped room so others could sleep there, too.
He smiled as he saw her, yet she could see the tiredness in his eyes and in the way he held his shoulders.
“You wear a jacket on a night like this?” he asked.
“There’s a reason for that.” She pickedup his hand and as always, the fact that she was free to reach out and touch him as she pleased sent a small thrill through her. Three months’ worth of nights had passed and still she was not used to it. “Come with me.”
When he didn’t move straight away, she cocked her head. “It’ll be worth it.”
Mischief sparkled in his eyes, banishing the tiredness. “Only if you loosen your hair.”
She pulledthe elastic from the end of the braid and separated the locks until they hung loose. She pushed the mass off her shoulder. “Now will you come with me?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
When she reached the end of the wooden walk that led to the private beach, they both halted when the sentry challenged them quietly in Spanish. Calli’s Spanish was getting better every day, only Nick needed to givethem this order, not her, so she turned to him.
“Ask them to pull back to the inner compound gates and stay there until we come back.”
He considered this for a moment then reached out and patted her ribs. His hand slapped against the pistol nestled under her arm. “I see,” he said. He lifted his voice and gave the order as she had asked and the sentry in front of them called to his two companions.They nodded as they passed Nick, trotting up to the high fence that barricaded the walk from the house proper.
Calli took Nick’s hand once more and led him down to the sandy beach. There was little light. The moon was a thin slice and low in the sky. Yet the waves had a glowing luminescence that guided them to the water’s edge.
“If it doesn’t offend you,” Nick said, “I’ll take the gun.”
“Iwas hoping you’d offer,” Calli said, thankfully stripping the jacket off and slipping out of the harness. The beach was a private one, yet there was nothing to stop Serrano from landing a flotilla of armed men if he wanted to. Nick kept sentries on the beach only to raise an early alarm. He rigidly insisted that no one else use the beach. It was too dangerous.
It made the white, sandy bay oneof the few private locations on the whole estate.
She handed the gun over and Nick slipped the holster off the harness and clipped it over his belt instead.
“I have been practicing,” she told him.
“Which is reassuring. You’ve never shot a live target, though.” Nick checked the load in the gun, then lifted his head. “I hope you never will have to. For now, I will carry the gun. I like you betterwithout that bulky jacket, anyway.”
She was wearing a T-shirt that was too short for her long torso. It ended above her hips. The jeans were low-rise—the same jeans that, four months ago, she had been wearing when she arrived in Vistaria. The night she had met Nick.
She put her hands on her hips. “Youwouldlike it better this way.”
“Is that the silver buckle I gave you?”
“Yes.” She was pleasedhe remembered it.
“You brought that out of Vistaria? You were carrying nothing but a pouch on your hip.”
“All the essentials,” she assured him. “Passport, wallet, papers.”
“And the buckle.”
“And the buckle,” she agreed. “I couldn’t fit the shoes in, but I tried.”
Nick gave a low chuckle. “I think some of Vistaria’s sentimentality is rubbing off on you.”
“Just you, Nicolás,” she said softly.“Just you.”
He reached for her and Calli danced nimbly out of his reach. He looked surprised and lunged for her again. She dodged again and stood just out of his reach, her hands on her hips. She cocked her head at him. “Slow, Nicky. Slow. So much for the vaunted Red Leopard.”
