LITMIR.BIZ

       3

      CHASE SWEPT HIS GAZE over the woman, trying not to let his surprise show, trying not to let her see how much he wanted to accept her offer. She’d caught his attention the moment she’d walked through the door, alone and looking a little apprehensive. He was certain she didn’t work at the embassy; she lacked the self-important swagger so common among the State Department personnel. That meant she was a Department of Defense civilian or a contractor, either just coming into the Middle Eastern theater or leaving it. He hoped like hell it was the latter.

      She appealed to him on a primal level, from her lustrous dark hair and suggestive smile, to her full breasts and shapely ass. He wanted to do things with her that he had no business doing, not when he was leaving for a yearlong deployment. What could he offer her, or any woman for that matter, beyond a single night? Then again, if he were to take her proposition seriously, it seemed that was all she was interested in. A single night.

      The prospect was tempting. More than tempting, especially considering he was looking down the loaded gun barrel of enforced celibacy. Twelve long months of it. Even if the military lifted the ban on sex during deployments, he wouldn’t be doing the horizontal tango with anyone. Females in uniform were off-limits, end of discussion.

      But this particular female was something altogether different. He’d stake his life on the fact that she wasn’t in the military, so technically he wasn’t prohibited from getting involved with her. Besides, he was more or less off duty until dawn, when he’d board an Apache helicopter and fly to the forward operating base that he’d call home for the next twelve months.

      “Dance with me,” he commanded softly and caught her hand, pulling her toward him.

      She came willingly into his arms, and he slid one hand to the small of her back, holding her just close enough that he could feel the heat emanating from her body and smell the fragrance of her hair. There was no dance floor, so he simply swayed with her where they stood, enjoying the sensation of just holding a woman in his arms. Of holding this woman. Her breath fanned his neck, and he had to resist the urge to pull her even closer. Her scent filled his head and made him want to bend her over his arm and bury his face against her skin.

      “Well, this is nice,” she drawled, tipping her head back to smile at him, “but not quite what I had in mind.” Her voice was rich with suggestion. As if to emphasize her meaning, she sidled closer, so that her breasts pressed against his chest.

      Chase’s body responded instantly to her nearness, tightening until he was uncomfortably aware of his own arousal pressing against the zipper of his jeans. He laughed. He couldn’t help himself. It was just too freaking unbelievable that he should meet this gorgeous woman in the middle of Kuwait, the night before he was due to deploy. Didn’t it figure?

      “What’s so funny?” she asked. Her eyes were liquid dark pools in the dim light.

      “Nothing,” he answered. “So tell me something, Elena de la Vega. What the hell are you doing here?”

      She shrugged. “I heard there was a party, so I decided to check it out. Now I’m glad I did.” She swayed unevenly and did a quick shuffle to steady herself, leaning heavily into him. “Whoa,” she laughed. “I’m feeling a little dizzy.”

      “That would be the absinthe,” he remarked drily, holding her secure. “It has a way of sneaking up on you, especially when you guzzle it by the glassful.”

      “Mmm, but it feels so nice,” she said, sliding one hand over his chest, ostensibly to support herself.

      Chase had to agree. Everything about her felt nice, but he hadn’t yet reached the point where he’d take advantage of an intoxicated woman, even as his lower body urged otherwise. He had three younger sisters, and he’d kill any guy who tried to do with them what he was contemplating doing with this woman. Even if he hadn’t been outnumbered by females growing up, his parents had raised him to treat them with respect. His father, a career military man, had drilled one adage into his young head: women were weak and it was a man’s job to protect them. Mostly, though, Chase just avoided them whenever possible. Women were a complication he didn’t need at this point in his life. Maybe one day, when his combat days were over, he’d allow himself to get serious about a woman. But not now.

      He shouldn’t let this woman affect him, shouldn’t let himself feel such a primitive desire to possess her. He knew enough about the human psyche to realize it was perfectly normal to crave sex on the eve of battle, so to speak. It was a way to reaffirm life. But Chase had no intention of dying, and as much as his body desired release, he wasn’t interested in a one-night stand.

      “How long are you staying here in Kuwait?” he asked. Except for the embassy personnel, the hotel usually served as a temporary staging area for Americans while they waited for transportation to their final destination. Most people only stayed for a night or two before they moved on.

      “Hmm?” She was leaning against him, and now she tipped her face back to gaze dreamily at him. “Oh, I leave tomorrow.”

      “Are you heading back to the States?”

      She smiled. “I’m going to Shangri-la.”

      Chase frowned. Shangri-la?

      “Paradise on Earth,” she continued. “I can hardly wait.”

      “Okay, you know what?” Chase tucked her against his side and steered her through the crowd toward the door. “I think you need to go to bed.”

      “Ooh, I like that idea.” She giggled and would have tripped if he hadn’t been holding her. “Are you going to tuck me in?”

      Chase gritted his teeth against the erotic images that swam through his head. “I meant that you need to get some sleep,” he clarified. “But yes, I’ll walk you back to your room.”

      “So what do you do for a living, Mr. McCormick?” she asked, as he led her into the hallway. “You’re not an accountant by any chance, are you?”

      He glanced down at her with an arched eyebrow, but couldn’t suppress a grin. “Sorry, no. Er, what floor are you on?”

      She stopped, pulling him to a halt beside her. The lights were brighter in the corridor, allowing Chase to get a good look at her. Her Spanish heritage was evident in her fine bone structure and flawless skin, and he saw that her eyes weren’t dark as he’d originally thought, but a light shade of brown that reminded him of caramel, the irises thickly ringed in black. She was striking.

      She pushed a hand into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a room key. “Aha, here it is,” she exclaimed in triumph, holding up the key. She pushed her hair back and peered at it. “Room number six.”

      Chase took the key from her fingers and turned it upright. “That would be room number nine,” he corrected. “C’mon, the elevator’s this way.”

      “So, you’re a soldier,” Elena mused when they reached the elevator, leaning against the wall as she considered him.

      “How could you tell?”

      “You have that look.” Her gaze drifted over him, lingering on his shoulders and chest before meeting his eyes. “Tough and serious. Your motto is probably something like Duty, Honor, Country.”

      The elevator doors slid open and Chase indicated Elena should precede him into the small compartment. “Actually,” he said wryly, “my command motto is Always Faithful, Always Forward.”

      “I like that motto,” Elena said with a smile, as the doors closed. “Especially the faithful part.” She shook her head in mock sadness. “So many men don’t understand the importance of that particular trait.”

      The significance of her words wasn’t lost on Chase. So

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