Raven’s Prey(47)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“I’ve lived here for years and I hardly ever get down here,” he remarked as they strolled through the shops and galleries of the restored area of the city. Albuquerque had been founded in 1706, and this part of town had been redone [_to _]recreate that early era. The Spanish colonial influence was rich and lasting.

“When did you move to Albuquerque?” Honor asked idly, stopping to examine a pottery vase filled with huge dried flowers.

Judd frowned behind her. Should he buy the vase and flowers for her? Did she really want them? Perhaps they were only a passing interest. “I came here about five years ago after I decided to set up the ferrying business.”

“Where did you live before that?” she asked, going on to explore a row of kachina dolls.

Finally! She was starting to talk. Now all he had to do was keep up his end of the conversation. Should he offer to buy one of the kachina dolls? “Here and there.” Hell, what kind of an answer was that? Desperately he tried to think of a more informative response. “I, uh, spent a lot of my time in South America before that. Technically I guess you could say I lived in Tucson. I used to keep an apartment there, at any rate.” What now?

“Why did you spend so much time south of the border?” Honor picked up a small, carved wooden horse.

“I know my way around that part of the world and people used to hire me to fly stuff there….” Judd’s voice trailed off lamely as he tried to think of a way to explain the nomadic, rough-and-ready existence he’d led for so many years.

“What sort of stuff?”

He tried to think. Maybe she’d like the toy horse as a souvenir. Did women want souvenirs of a kidnapping? he asked himself wryly. “Medicine, supplies, food. Whatever. If the money was right, I’d fly it.”

“Have you always been for sale, Judd?” she asked softly, lifting her eyes to meet his.

Sudden rage overwhelmed his good intentions. This[_ _]woman could send him over the edge faster than anyone he had ever met in his life. “It’s called working for a living, damn it!”

“You just made it a policy not to ask too many questions when you accepted a job, right?”

He fought down the tide of anger. If he exploded now[_ ]he’d lose her. There would be nothing he could do to catch her here and carry her home. There was a cop not twenty[ _]feet away. All she had to do was start screaming….

Judd reached out and yanked the toy horse out of her hand. As she stared at him in astonishment he turned on his heel and walked toward the nearest cashier. Wordlessly he paid for the toy and then he thrust the paper bag which now contained it into Honor’s fingers. “Here. A souvenir. Let’s go”

She trailed obediently after him as he led the way back to where he had parked the jeep. She walked right past the cop without so much as a murmur, but there was no more conversation to be had from her until they reached his home. Then all she said was, “What time are we going out tonight?”

“Six.” He watched unhappily as she nodded and went to her room. It was two hours until six. Was she going to stay in there the whole time? At least down in Mexico that shack of hers had been too small to provide her[_ _]any privacy. She had been forced to stay in the same room with him nearly all the time. With a sigh Judd went into his own bedroom and pulled open the closet door. Somewhere, probably buried way in the back, he had a jacket and tie. Not a three-piece suit, but a jacket and tie that sort of went together after a fashion. Gloomily he began searching for them.

In her own room Honor stretched out the process of getting ready for the big date as long as possible. She took an extended bath instead of a shower, brushed her hair until it shone, and then she slowly put on the yellow dress she had been wearing the night Judd had abducted her. After trying a variety of knots and twists she elected to leave her hair loose around her shoulders. When she had finished she still had nearly forty-five minutes to kill until six o’clock.

It was no use. Unless she intended to spend the time sitting alone in her room, she was going to have to emerge and deal with Judd. Her eyes went to the paper bag containing the toy horse, and in spite of herself she smiled. Poor Judd. He wasn’t accustomed to giving presents. Impulsively she opened the door and walked out into the living room.

He was standing at the window, staring out at the surrounding desert, a drink in his hand. For a long moment Honor just stared and then she smiled slowly. “I hardly recognized you.”

He swung around, dark gaze taking in the picture she made in her vivid yellow-and-purple dress. She felt the heat of his eyes as if it were a palpable sensation, and a small, expectant shiver ran through her nerve endings. All this man had to do to kindle the longing was to look at her. She loved him. She had fallen for a ruthless mercenary who knew nothing of the gentle, sensitive side of life, a man who didn’t know the meaning of unequivocal trust, who didn’t believe in romanticizing the basic relationship between men and women. A man who didn’t understand love. How could she have been so foolish?

How could she have prevented the inevitable,[_ ]though? There were some things in life, Honor had learned during the past few weeks, over which a woman had little control. It was fate that had sent her to Garrison and Prager’s office that night in Hong Kong and it was fate that had brought Judd Raven into Mexico searching for her. The whole chain of events was far too complex to unravel now. She was enmeshed in[ _]the net they had created, tied to the kind of man she would never even have met in the normal course of events.

She realized that this was the first time she had ever,~; ~seen him dressed in anything besides black denims and[_ _]dark shirts. This evening he actually had on a pair of slacks, a well-cut tan jacket and a muted tie. His dark hair was still damp from the shower and brushed back off his forehead. Honor experienced a strong urge to run her fingers through the carefully combed hair. Perhaps it was simply a strong urge to touch him, period.

“You’re ready early,” he said quietly, his eyes still resting on her slender figure.

“Yes.”

He seemed vaguely uncertain for a moment and then he set down his drink with a restless movement. “Well, then, why don’t we be on our way? We can have a sun-downer drink at the restaurant before dinner.”

Honor nodded, gaining the distinct impression he was anxious to get her out of the house. It was as if he didn’t know quite what to do with her.

“I’ve put the top up on the jeep,” he said as they walked outside, “so your hair won’t get mussed.”