Raven’s Prey(45)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“I’ll just bet you can’t guarantee it.”

He frowned. “That doesn’t bother you?”

“Not as long as I get a chance to yell back once we’re[_ _]on the ground,” she said, grinning.

“Like you did a few minutes ago? Hell, I’m not sure[_ _]I could take too much of that! Those guys are going to be laughing their fool heads off every time someone mentions this morning’s little fiasco!”

“Keep it in mind when you’re yelling at me in the air.”

“That sounds suspiciously like blackmail to me.”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?”

He paused again and Honor knew he was trying to work something through in his head. “Do you really think the lesson didn’t work out because I’m too close to you?” he finally asked quietly.

“I’m sure of it,” she retorted dryly. And she knew it was the truth. Whatever the status of their relationship there was no way of denying that the relationship, itself, existed. They were not mere acquaintances. They were a man and a woman who had been through several dramatic, emotional days together.

Judd stared at her for a long moment and then drew a deep breath. “In that case, I guess I don’t mind so much that everything went haywire this morning. If you’re feeling that close to me already, maybe we’re making some progress.”

“Progress toward what, Judd?” she asked very soberly.

‘Toward becoming friends.”

“Is that really what you want from me? Friendship?”

“You know damn good and well it’s not all I want, but it’s part of it.” He threw open the door of the jeep again and jumped out. “Come on, I’m going to have to face this sooner or later so I might as well get it over with as fast as possible.” He took her arm and started resolutely back toward the hangar.

“Where are we going now?” she asked in confusion.

“I’m going to introduce you to a few of the guys who have planes here at the field. The audience in front of which you just performed so brilliantly,” he added in a laconic drawl. “I know they’ll be dying of curiosity.”

Honor arched an eyebrow. “Curiosity about me? You don’t often take women flying?”

“No,” he said shortly, “I don’t.”

Honor took pleasure in that information. By the time Judd had drawn her near the hangar and had begun making introductions she was smiling quite brilliantly.

“Pleased to meetcha, ma’am.”

“Take it you had an interesting flight, Miss Knight?”

“We don’t often see Judd, here, so [_excited, _]so to speak. You must have given him a real nice tour of Albuquerque from the air.”

Judd interrupted at this point to note blandly, “She scared the living daylights out of me. But she’s got good instincts. With a little training she’ll make a good pilot.”

“Thought you looked a trifle green when you got out of the plane, Judd,” one of the men noted commiseratingly. “And I know I ain’t never heard you yell at anyone like that before. Especially a female!”

Judd took the ribbing with surprisingly good grace. Honor, who forgot she should have been asking for help in escaping from him instead of wasting time taunting her captor, found herself laughing out loud more than once. It was very obvious Judd wasn’t accustomed to being the center of so much teasing attention. The fact that he was tolerating it now did not go unnoticed by the surrounding men.

“You thinking of giving the little lady any more lessons, Judd?” asked one wearing the overalls of a crop duster.

“I think any more lessons from me would have us at each other’s throats before we could get the plane back on the ground,” Judd admitted blandly, glancing at Honor. “I found out this morning that you can’t give lessons to someone if you’re too close to her, you see.”

“Got a point there,” another man observed. ‘Tried to teach my wife to fly. Nearly drove us to the divorce courts. Farm her out to a professional instructor. Much easier on your nerves, Judd.”

“The funny thing is,” the crop duster said with a glance at Judd, “I never even suspected that Raven [_had _]nerves. Not until I saw him leap out of that plane and start yelling at the little lady here a few minutes ago.”

“He lost his temper,” Honor explained far too kindly. Her eyes were brimming with laughter as she looked at Judd.

“Another first. Never saw Raven lose his temper before, either” the crop duster mused with a wide grin. “You must really have a powerful effect on him, ma’am.”

Judd lifted one dark brow with an air of cool superiority. “Honor and I tend to rile each other on occasion. It’s because we’re so [_close, _]I suppose.”

“Not quite as close as he and the Cessna are, naturally,” Honor interposed dryly. “But, then, I realize that’s a very special sort of relationship.”

Judd’s eyes narrowed as the others chuckled in appreciation, and for an instant Honor wished she’d kept her mouth shut. From the very beginning Judd hadn’t liked her caustic remarks about his relationship with the plane.

Then quite suddenly he was laughing. Honor stood staring in absolute amazement, realizing it was the only time she had ever heard him laugh. It was a deep, warm, vibrant sound that seemed to come from far down in his chest and it did something strange and wonderful to her senses. A moment later, she was joining him, and for the first time since she had met him Honor knew the fundamental pleasure of laughing out loud with the man she loved.

Chapter 10

She loved him. Honor cautiously absorbed the information into her system as if it were a potentially dangerous narcotic. She loved Judd Raven. She’d probably been in love with him ever since that first time they had slept together in Mexico. Perhaps earlier. The knowledge explained so much: why she had been so angry the morning he had announced he was taking her back to the States, her strange sense of vulnerability around him, and the unbelievable gladness she had experienced when he did something as simple as sharing her laughter.

“Honor?” Judd’s questioning voice interrupted her thoughts as they drove back down the road from the airfield.

“Hmmmm?” The warm wind whipped her hair as the jeep swept along the highway. She didn’t look at him.

“What are you thinking? You’ve been awfully quiet for a while,” he complained gruffly. “Are you still upset about the flying lesson?” he added uneasily.