She shuddered at the memory and Carter had no doubt her experiences had been in many ways more demanding than the one she'd just gone through.
"There were a number of such types in the military." Susanna explained, "and we had to keep on the alert for all of them."
After the change of political power in Argentina, Susanna had come to the United States. "I remember a newspaper story telling of Cardenas's death. This was three years ago. As I read the account, I was filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, the world was better off without such a man, but I remember feeling cheated that he escaped justice before the law."
Carter nodded. Those were his sentiments as well. "So you had every reason to believe him dead. What brought you back to his old haunts, going to the places he went?"
Susanna King watched Carter with care. "Someone close to me reported the unthinkable — the impossible. Hector Cardenas was still alive, brought to this country and given a new identity as some kind of political payoff."
"And you came to investigate by yourself."
Susanna King nodded soberly. Again she began to tremble. "I was very close, wasn't I?" she said.
"You were close to a number of things," Carter said. "You were on a valid lead to some of his associates. You were almost killed. Those men were professionals. One of them died rather than risk being in the position you were in."
Susanna King moved toward him. "This isn't my first brush with death," she said. "You saved me and now I wonder if you'd help me celebrate the fact that I'm still alive."
As she spoke, Carter realized how attracted he'd been to her, with her slim, graceful body, and her large, open eyes, and the incredible openness of her personality. He drew her to him, simply holding her for a long moment, actually feeling her releasing the tensions of the past hour.
Then she sighed agreeably and began to trace parts of his body with her cool, practiced fingertips.
At length they were completely comfortable, Susanna draping her legs over Carter's lap, and beginning to probe at him with tantalizing flickerings of her tongue and with a steady, dramatic use of her fingertips. Carter liked the game and quickly found places to apply alternating caresses and pressures. Deftly, quickly, he found her lips, covered her mouth with his, and found how sensitive she was along the insides of her elbows. He suspected she would be even more sensitive along the insides of her taut narrow thighs.
She was.
In a few short moments, Carter felt her arching, then tensing agreeably against him. "You're good at everything," she whispered with a soft moan. "We need to get out of our clothes and down to serious celebration."
While Susanna was in the shower, Carter did a quick security check on the door and all the windows. They were sealed in and safe for the time being. He found her purse and ran a quick check. Susanna King, if that's who she wanted to call herself, had the usual assortment of ID, and it all looked real enough.
Business could now be put on hold.
Carter began unbuttoning his shirt and removing Hugo's soft chamois sheath. The sound of the spraying water and the image of Susanna being drenched by it, the rivulets of water streaming between her breasts, caused a tremor of anticipation. Carefully removing his last bit of defense, Pierre, the tiny gas bomb taped to his inner thigh, Carter joined Susanna in the shower and offered to scrub her back — or do whatever else she desired.
Four
Carter pulled the towel from Susanna King's hands, tossed it over the door of the stall shower, picked her up, and carried her into the bedroom.
She shifted her weight to accommodate being carried, placed her arms around his neck, and began biting playfully at his shoulders.
"Hey, what are you doing to me?" Carter chuckled.
"Nibbling. I want you to have souvenirs."
They were still partially wet when Carter landed them in a heap on the bed, but neither of them cared. Carter, who had been intrigued by the sight of her in the tight green dress, found her to be even more alluring in a state of nudity. Her body was frankly boyish and articulate with muscles, but the firmness and classic roundness of her breasts and the delicate, inviting sweep of her hips made Carter want to participate energetically in Susanna's celebration.
To his relief, she said nothing about his scars, the true campaign badges of Carter's career with AXE. Her fingers traced his thighs and back and she certainly took recognition of the places where bullets, knives, torture devices, and even shards of broken glass had pierced him and healed. Young as she was, she had a strong sense of herself that Carter liked and he knew that his impression of her, when he'd first seen her, was correct.
A man with Carter's life-style had to be selective and make every moment count. There was the more recreational sex attraction, which was fine for recharging the senses. There was also the creative sexual attraction, which touched deeply and made life seem valuable. Susanna King was certainly the more creative type.
Carter began kissing her damp shoulders and breasts, giving himself over to the creative possibilities.
Susanna set about giving him a more agreeable assortment of kisses down his chest and belly, and soon Carter began to realize how caught up in her sensuality she was. He took the initiative again and quickly brought her to the point where she was moving against him, arching and thrusting, her strong hands clutching his shoulders. "Not that way," she pleaded. "Not now. Join me. Be with me. Hold me." But Carter persisted and soon her body twitched again involuntarily with galvanic pleasure.
Carter could feel her surrender herself to their lovemaking, and the knowledge that she was most likely someone and something other than what she had represented herself to be impressed him as he finally joined their bodies.
If she was a professional, her trust was either touching or foolish.
All thought of that quickly faded.
Susanna brought an intensity and energy to their lovemaking that quickly took over. Gently surrendering himself to it, Carter smiled and supposed it was only fair after what he'd done to her.
Carter was awakened by the sound of the telephone. She'd made no attempt at subterfuge or stealth, and when she saw Carter's eyes opening, she covered the mouthpiece and said, "Does lovemaking give you an appetite?"
"Invariably," Carter said.
Susanna started to order, but Carter took the phone from her and ordered in Spanish a number of Mexican dishes including the piquant green chili so famous in central and southern Arizona.
While they were waiting for the order to be brought, Carter again checked the door, the hallway, and the windows. For good measure, he ran another check on the phone. "Equipment is so sophisticated these days, they don't even have to be in the room to turn the phone into a microphone."
Susanna nodded, propped herself up on one elbow, and eyed Carter speculatively. "I'm having a very good time with you," she said, "and I'm probably a little in love with you, but I happen to be a practical and realistic sort and so I wonder if we could have the rest of the day together."
"How about until breakfast, tomorrow morning?" Carter countered.
"I think I am in love with you." Susanna King said. "But only until breakfast."
Using some of Susanna's things, Carter took a quick shave and by the time he'd finished, room service arrived with what they both agreed was enough food and drink to last them until tomorrow morning.
Wheeling the serving dolly over to the side of the bed, Carter produced dishes and glasses. They ate and drank, unselfconscious about being naked, their hands meeting occasionally, their eyes filled with the admiration of each other and the knowledge of what was still before them.