Read Online Midnight Rainbow by Linda Howard - Free Book Online Page A

position, and possibly his freedom.
                  It was Grant's responsibility to get her out,
but it was no longer the simple in-and-out situation he'd planned. From the
moment he'd seen Pablo leaning so negligently against the helicopter, waiting
for them, he'd known that the deal had gone sour. Pablo wasn't the type to be
waiting for them so casually; in all the time Grant had know him, Pablo had
been tense, ready to move, always staying in the helicopter with the rotors
turning. The elaborate pose of relaxation had tipped Grant off as clearly as if
Pablo had hung a sign around his neck. Perhaps Pablo had been trying to warn
him. There was no way he'd ever know for certain.
                  Now he had to get her through the jungle, out
of the mountains, and south through a swamp, with Turego in hot pursuit. With luck, in a day or so, they'd find a village and be able to
hitch a ride, but even that depended on how close behind Turego was.
                  And on top of that, he couldn't trust her.
She'd disarmed that soldier far too casually, and hadn't turned a hair at
anything that had happened. She was far too matter-of-fact about the whole
situation. She wasn't what she seemed, and that made her dangerous.
                  He was wary of her, but at the same time he
found that he was unable to stop watching her. She was too damned sexy, as lush
and exotic as a jungle orchid. What would it be like to lie with her? Did she
use the rich curves of her body to make a man forget who he was? How many men
had been taken in by that fresh, open expression? Had Turego found himself off balance with her, wanting her, knowing that he could force
her at any time—but being eaten alive by the challenge of trying to win her, of
making her give herself freely? How else had she managed to control him? None
of it added up to what she should have been, unless she played with men as some
sort of ego trip, where the more dangerous the man, the greater the thrill at
controlling him.
                  Grant didn't want her to have that much
influence over him; she wasn't worth it. No matter how beguiling the expression
in her dark, slanted eyes, she simply wasn't worth it. He didn't need the sort
of complication she offered; he just wanted to get her out, collect his money
from her father, and get back to the solitude of the farm. Already he'd felt
the jungle pulling at him, the heated, almost sexual excitement of danger. The
rifle felt like an extension of his body, and the knife fit his palm as if he'd
never put it down. All the old moves, the old instincts, were still there, and
blackness rose in him as he wondered bitterly if he'd ever really be able to
put this life behind him. The blood lust had been there in him, and perhaps
he'd have killed that soldier if she hadn't kicked the rifle up when she had.
Was it part of the intoxication of battle that made him want to pull her
beneath him and drive himself into her body, until he was mindless with
intolerable pleasure? Part of it was, and yet part of it had been born hours
ago, on the floor of her bedroom, when he'd felt the soft, velvety roundness of
her breasts in his hands. Remembering that, he wanted to know what her breasts
looked like, if they thrust out conically or had a full lower slope, if her
nipples were small or large, pink or brown. Desire made him harden, and he
reminded himself caustically that it had been a while since he'd had a woman,
so it was only natural that he would be turned on. If nothing else, he should
be glad of the evidence that he could still function!
                  She yawned, and blinked her dark eyes at him
like a sleepy cat. "I'm going to take a nap," she announced, and
curled up on the ground. She rested her head on her arm, closed her eyes and yawned
again. He watched her, his eyes narrowed. This utter adaptability she displayed
was another piece of the puzzle that didn't fit. She should