Ghostwalker 03 - Night Game

he’d be sitting on the river smoking his pipe and laughing with his friends. Instead he’s Saunders’s lesson to others not to cross him.”

    “If Saunders had him killed, cher , you had nothing to do with that decision.”

    “I recognized one of Saunders’s men in the swamp before the others came. I’d seen him at the back of Saunders’s property. He brings in the women for Saunders.”

    Raoul retrieved the discs from the duffel bag as she swept up the photographs and stuffed them back in the envelope.

    “Let’s go.”

    Flame’s breath caught in her throat as she observed the stark, grim lines etched in his face. There were times looking at him, like now, that he was intimidating. She followed him out to the airboat, placing her feet carefully on the undulating boards of the pier. She reached out to rub his arm in a soothing gesture.

    “Remember when you told me about losing control. You didn’t tell me everything, did you?”

    “Why would you suddenly think that?”

    “Because the pier nearly shook apart just now. What else happened, Raoul?”

    He glanced at her as he helped her on board. “You don’t want to know.” As she brushed up against him he felt the knife concealed along her rib cage. Instant heat spread through him. He caught her arm on the pretense of steadying her and inhaled her scent.

    “Of course I want to know. It’s what’s made you who you are.”

    “Well I’m not telling you. I can’t afford to lose you. Maybe when you’re eighty, so if you want to find out. you’ll have to stick with me that long.”

    “I made a few mistakes.”

    “Drop it, Flame. Ask me anything else, but leave that alone.”

    She leaned into him, her hand cupping the side of his face, her eyes staring into his.
    “You’re a good man, Raoul. Whatever happened, you’re a good man. I’ve seen evil and I know the difference.”

    He kissed her because he had to. It was a need. An obsession. It was a claim. His mouth descended on hers, his tongue demanding entrance and the moment she opened for him, he swept inside, taking control. He loved the taste of her and he loved the feel of her soft, silky skin. Her mouth was hot and addicting, so that he didn’t, couldn’t stop. His arm swept around her waist and dragged her closer. Her arm bumped his chest and she flinched, Gator pulled back with a sigh of regret.

    “I love your mouth.”

    She smiled at him. “I would never have noticed. I take it you’re driving.”

    “I have two hands.”

    The airboat skimmed over the water for several minutes, birds rising into the air, shrieking in annoyance. He deliberately maneuvered the boat close to the shore so she could see the alligators sliding into the water and the turtles sunning themselves This was his home, had been a good portion of his life. “When I was a young boy, we lived in the cabin. All of us. Grand-mere and my three brothers. We fished mostly and Nonny did quiltin’ and the like to get by. We were happy, cher . We didn’t know were poor. And at school, if any of the kids teased us about our raggedy clothes, we’d just beat ‘em up. It was a good time.”

    “How’d you manage to get so much property and that beautiful house your grandmother lives in?”

    “My brothers and I worked. I joined the service and I still send most of my pay home.
    My brothers send a good portion of their paychecks as well. She raised us and loved us when she could have said it was too much for her. We were wild, Flame. She’s a good woman.”

    “I know that, Raoul. It was a wonderful thing that you and your brothers did.”

    He shook his head. “Naw, it was wonderful what she did for us.” He took the boat out into the open water so he could go much faster.

    She looked around her at the beauty of the bayou and laughed with sheer joy. “I love it here.”

    Gator expertly swung the boat into a narrow slough, one the boat barely fit through. “Me too. I’m not much for the city, cher .”

    Her eyebrow shot up. “You think you’re shocking me with that admission? I had you pegged as a country boy. through and through.” She frowned, wishing he’d slow down as they rounded a corner and nearly hit the stump of an old cypress tree rising out of the shallow water. He zigzagged, scooting around the obstacle and shot back into the open channel.

    “You having fun? I like this boat. You already tore up my motorcycle.”

    “ You tore up that bike,” he reminded.

    “But it was