by A J Storm
She surrendered to his arms and allowed herself to cry while his fingers stroked her hair. He whispered to her, but she couldn’t hear what he said over her sobs.
“I’m sorry I said those things to you. I’m just worried and scared they’ll get to her before we do. And it’s frustrating you won’t let me inside of your walls,” she expressed.
“Shh, it’s all right. I’m sorry too. I’ll work on sharing more of myself, I promise. But Willow, there are some things that will take longer. You have to give me time.” He sat back in his chair and pulled her into his lap. She felt his lips brushing her neck—up and down, back and forth. The heat in her body rose along with her breathing. His strong arms held her closer at the same time his lips gave small kisses across her throat up to her chin. She moved her head slightly until his lips were on hers.
He pressed his lips a bit more firmly, finding Willow more than responsive. He tasted so sweet to her, his tongue gently stroking her mouth. A moan escaped her lips, and she giggled afterward.
Chaos gave her one more small peck, then settled his forehead against hers.
“Oh, Willow, you have bewitched me. I know we have a tremendous amount of crap in front of us, and it’s the only thing keeping me from taking you to bed. I want you, but I can’t afford to let anything or anyone to distract me. And sugar, you are such a wonderful distraction.”
Her face flushed, and her body swooned against him. “I’m going to hold you to that, Chaos.”
He helped her to her room, then waited while she went to the bathroom and changed into her sleep shirt. Tucking her into bed, he kissed her again, brushing his tongue over hers, long enough for both to moan their approval.
“Okay, you sleep. I’m getting you up when I get up, so you can accompany me to work. We’ll have another conference call with Creeper and Mac.”
Just as he promised, Chaos woke her early with a tray of juice and different kinds of pastries. Strawberry jam was also on the tray in a small crystal bowl.
“Oh, wow, I could wake up every day this way,” she grinned up at his face.
“Don’t get used to this, sugar. I’m usually in the gym this time of morning. Take your time eating, then get dressed, and we’ll head downstairs.” He smiled and winked as he walked out.
Willow didn’t realize how hungry she was and made a pig out of herself, especially with the strawberry jam she put on a few scones. The bathroom was her first stop as she stuffed the last bit of bread in her mouth and gulped the apple juice down. Moving the semi-empty tray to the bedside table, she stood and stretched her muscles and joints.
Electing not to shower, due to a lack of time, she strolled into the bathroom, relieved herself, brushed her teeth and hair, and shucked her nightshirt for clean clothes. Hurriedly, she slipped her feet into her boots and ran out to find Chaos. His body leaned against the brick wall surrounding the fireplace, waiting for her with a huge grin on his face.
Even simply dressed, she was beautiful.
He was dressed in a white dress shirt, black dress slacks over his black dress shoes. His eyes focused on hers, aware she couldn’t take hers off his body.
“You approve of what I’m wearing?”
“Definitely. Compared to me, you’re dressed to meet Cinderella at the ball. You’re dressed fine—delicious would be a better word.”
“You ready to go down?” he asked.
Hell, yes, I am.
“Ready and willing.”
With his hand on her back, he ushered her into the elevator, punching in the code. The warmth of her body against his as he stood next to her lit him up. He felt a slight shudder run through her body and wondered what caused it. Hopefully, it was the proximity of his body or maybe a memory of the kiss from last night.
When he turned to look into her eyes, he broke into a big smile, knowing he was right. She blushed bright red and giggled when she returned his stare. He’d also felt her shudder, and she knew it.
He kept quiet, not teasing her about her blushing, so she wouldn’t be embarrassed further. The office was empty when the elevator doors opened. Maggie wasn’t there to distract Willow from her embarrassment. His hand returned to the small of her back as he directed her steps from the elevator to the door of the conference room.
As if standing at attention, Maggie held a coffee cup in each hand, ready to hand them off to each of them. “Good morning, Willow, Chaos. A little caffeine to start your day,” Maggie offered.
“Maggie, you’re a doll. You didn’t have to stand at the door and serve us. I just wanted the coffee made in the pot and ready to go.”
“I think your true words were, ‘You’re Majesty, have the coffee hot in the cup and ready to drink.’ So, per your instructions—in the cup, hot and ready to drink. And yes, sir, I am one hell of a doll.”
“Thank you, Maggie,” Willow said.
“You’re welcome, sweetie. Oh, Creeper and Mac are ready when you are, boss.”
Chaos motioned toward an empty chair for Willow while sipping his coffee and hitting the connect button to the large screen. It brought up the split screen—Creeper on one side, Mac on the other. He sat next to Willow at the table.
“Good morning, Chief of Operations,” spoke Creeper, using the ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ tone. “And hello, gorgeous lady. You’re back with us—awesome.”
“Howdy, everyone,” posed a smiling Mac with a grumpy older Indian in the background.
Willow blushed once again, greeting each of the men on the screen. Chaos watched her and laughed out loud. She knew why this time—blushing.
“Good morning, guys. Hey, Mac, is that Ben behind you? Tell him he needs to smile more,” Chaos greeted.
“Don’t get him started, man. He’s past ready for Sadie to get her butt home from her honeymoon,” Mac laughed.
“I can only imagine,” replied Chaos. “Let’s get started. I hope both of you looked over the file I sent you last night. It appears to me Viper, who is one of Austin’s upstanding attorneys, is dealing in selling babies. Anyone think differently or have another idea?”
Chaos hadn’t come up with anything else from the figures represented in the document, and Willow agreed it was the only plausible explanation. After all, couples who couldn’t birth them were a growing population and willing to do just about anything to start a family of their own.
“Mac and I located Viper and joked why an attorney would use that name away from the office,” Creeper offered.
“Yeah, honestly, all we came up with was drugs or smuggling illegals into the country. But after studying the document, that makes more sense, bro,” added Mac.
Chaos saw Willow give a big swallow as if working up the courage to interact with the guys. Her shyness was cute and made him scoot his chair a bit closer.
“I don’t know if Chaos sent the letter from my sister with the main file or not—”
Both men at the same time interrupted, “No, he didn’t.” Chaos had chimed in, “No, I didn’t.”
She smiled at Chaos. “You could’ve, you know. I wouldn’t have cared. She told me she was in hiding, attempting to protect her baby as well as herself. It made me think she was worried Viper would take the baby from her after she gave birth. So, I agree with all three of you.”
He’s selling babies.
Chaos reached over, gripping her hand, giving it a squeeze. He understood this was overwhelming and wanted her to know he and his family were there to support her.
“We need to brainstorm how we can dig into this. It’s obvious Nova doesn’t want anyone, including her own family, to know where she was or who she was with if anyone. My gut says we send someone undercover into the Viper’s den. Shoot me ideas on how to accomplish that and where to take it from here,” Chaos suggested.
The four of them stared at each other across the internet until Willow finally spoke up. “I’d be willing to help, but it’s obvious the guy knows what I look like and who my sister is. I’d love to fool the bastard if it would bring h
im down. I want my sister to be able to come home.” Her hand was squeezed again, and she squeezed his back.
“Since I’m closer to Austin than Mac is, I’d say it’s up to me to play, and I’d be delighted to take part in it. One of my guys would be more than willing to help me out. We could go in as a gay couple willing to pay any amount to adopt a baby. I think this guy would probably be evil and greedy enough to be totally on board with us. What do you say, guys?” Creeper asked.
Willow turned to Chaos, waiting for him to answer before she offered her opinion. He was, after all, the investigative expert in all of this. They both looked into each other’s eyes and burst out laughing.
“You first,” he threw out.
“No, you go first. You’re in charge,” she offered.
“Personally, I think it’s a great idea. The gay aspect would make them ask for the world while also keeping it on the secret side of things. Let’s do it, Creeper.”
“Me too,” Willow answered. She turned to the screen, encouraging Creeper to go ahead with his plan.
“I’ll talk to my guy tonight, and we’ll make a plan. Chaos, I’ll report what we’re doing and get back to you,” he announced.
“Perfect. That’s all I’ve got on our side, guys, unless you have something else.”
Two ‘nopes’ came across, and Chaos offered goodbyes for him and Willow both, shutting off the connection. He turned and asked how she felt about the meeting. Hopeful was the word she used with him and the fact she wished she really could have taken part in it.
10
A large, orange and black suitcase laid open on top of a king-sized bed belonging to the Holiday Inn in Round Rock, Texas. Creeper prepared to drive into Austin, so he could start on the first phase of his task—getting to know Viper.
Through his internet search and from a few personal contacts, he discovered where the man hung out at night. Seems the guy ran with a hardcore biker club at one of their favorite watering holes. Hell’s Garden wasn’t on the tourist list of places to visit while in Austin. In fact, it was a little-known place, and he had a hard time finding directions to it. But he was successful.
Creeper intended to visit the bar, hoping to catch a visual of Viper interacting with his peeps. There’s no better way to tell a man’s character than studying him when he doesn’t know he’s being watched. At least, that was what he always found.
It had been a long time since he’d been back at the Penthouse—six months at least. Chaos was the only one home since Howler had gotten married and moved all his belongings to Oklahoma. Mac was helping Ben until the couple got back from their honeymoon on Sunday. It would be good to spend a little one-on-one time with Chaos—unless he was on an obsessing bender.
Standing in front of the mirror, his eyes focused on his face staring back at him. He’d seen a lot of shit go down. He’d taken care of a lot of shit as well. Thirty-eight years old was old in his mind, and twenty years was a long time to be doing what he still did. He attempted to retire several times throughout the years, but he couldn’t give it up—not yet.
Even though he was the baby of the three boys, his face looked on the rough side, in his opinion. He didn’t have the baby face like Chaos, and he certainly didn’t have the chiseled, Greek god face Howler had. Both brothers drew people to them with their faces and smiles, but Chaos had the added advantage of his tattoos.
Creeper was good-looking, he didn’t doubt that. He never lacked offers of female companions. There was just something off when he looked at his reflection. Maybe he was colored by what he’d seen, done, and still did.
Well, hell, he didn’t have time for this. He continued packing his stuff, zipped up the suitcase, double checked all the rooms, and headed out to his truck, leaving the key card on the dresser by the television.
True to his word, Chaos walked into the apartment two hours later. Willow had soaked in the jacuzzi and sat on the couch, thumbing through a magazine.
“Hey, beautiful. You ready for one of Austin’s adventures?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I’ve seen most of Austin’s adventures. What have you got on your mind?”
Chaos gave her a devilish smirk and walked into his room, closing the door behind him. Rolling her eyes, she fell against the pillow at her back, wondering what the hell he was getting her into. Ten minutes later, he was back, changed into jeans and sweatshirt, wearing athletic shoes on his feet.
“Did you pack a pair of sneakers you don’t care if they get muddy or torn up? Also, grab something to tie your hair up with—we’ll be on the bike part of the time.”
He really does mean an adventure—shit. Without a word, she stood, walked into her room, changed her shoes, and grabbed a light jacket, then turned around and strolled back out.
“So, what’s this adventure?”
“We’re taking a canoe down the Colorado—maybe stop along the way and sit on the bank somewhere. It’s peaceful and conducive to getting to know each other.” He grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch just as Creeper made his way off the elevator.
“I love canoeing—I love being outdoors and on the water. This will be fun.”
“Yo, bro, what’s up? Hi, Willow. Where you all off to?” Creeper greeted, back from his assignment.
“Canoeing, dude. Your room is open—Willow’s in Mac’s. We’re off for the afternoon. See ya’ later,” Chaos announced.
Down in the garage, he helped her with the helmet and pulled her up on the back of the bike, encouraging her to scoot up against him. Willow admitted to herself his body felt wonderful against hers. She gave in and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling flush against him.
Since the two discussions he had with her about the tats, she held herself aloof from him. Maybe his remark about ‘conducive to getting to know each other’ was his way of showing his true self. And maybe not—that remains to be seen, Willow. Don’t get your hopes up.
The ride on the bike thrilled her as well as surprised her at how quick she picked up the rhythm and flow as Chaos darted in and out of traffic on the highway. She found it a bit like riding a horse, once you get the feel of the horse and its rhythm. With anyone else, she would have told them to pull over and let her off once they started darting between cars, but her body molded to his and streamlined the ride. In fact, she felt a bit like a bird in flight, skimming over the water.
After a few minutes, he pulled off onto a road leading to one of many kayak rental companies along the river. He parked his bike and helped her off, locking the bike and his helmet in place. They walked into the business, and while Willow looked at all the equipment and clothing available to rent or purchase, Chaos rented a canoe for the afternoon. He arranged for a shuttle to pick them up after four hours.
Quietly sneaking up behind her, he placed his hand on her shoulder. “See anything you can’t live without?” She jumped and turned, noticing his face was lit up as he chuckled at her. “We’re ready to go. Let’s get our canoe and get going,” he suggested.
She followed him out, and once settled in, they spent the next hour gliding down Lady Bird Lake with him giving instructions how to paddle from the back. The lake was, in fact, a reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, built as a cooling pond for a power plant and became a popular place for water sports and flood control.
Willow’s jacket came off quickly after several minutes on the water with the sun beating down on her. Chaos pointed out different wildlife along the river—turtles sunbathing on rocks and tree branches, plus waterfowl of all kinds. Surprised at herself, she realized how much she needed this little outing down the river. She’d been stressed over the last week without knowing how much her body was affected.
He ordered new paddling instructions to her when he found a small unpopulated clearing along the bank, a perfect place to park and watch nature. Not wanting to appear lacking in following orders skills, she quickly moved her paddle on the proper side of the canoe, and they floated right to the clearing.
He situated the boat where it wouldn’t float away, then spread the blanket over a patch of grass close to the water. Stretching out, they watched the river water follow its course as it rushed by. Willow loved listening to the sound it made. With her arms and hands folded under her head, she laid back, letting the sun warm her body and simply listened to everything.
“This has been perfect, Chaos. Thank you for bringing me.”
“You’re welcome, sugar. I felt I needed to make it up to you about the tats,” he sheepishly smiled at her.
“No, you don’t. It was my fault for being nosey. Hey, do you have any idea when they’ll be through fixing my house and installing the security system?”
“Oh, right. Not really—I’ll check with them tomorrow. That okay?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. Your place feels like a five-star hotel, and I’m in no hurry to leave, but I do need to get back to work at the ranch.”
He didn’t speak for several minutes, and Willow simply thought he enjoyed the sounds of nature as she did. Her eyes were closed, soaking up the sun when his voice finally broke her quiet time.
“The tiger on my hand represents the unit I was in when I first worked for the government.” He stopped, becoming quiet once more.
“Look, honest, you don’t need to explain. I promise I’m fine not knowing about them.” Sitting up on the blanket to get a better view of his face and emotions, she reached over and touched his hand, hoping it would convey her sincerity.
“No, sugar, I want you to know. The unit was known as the Roaring Tigers—fierce and merciless. We took no prisoners, Willow—none. When I first had it tattooed on my hand, I was proud of what it stood for. I was part of a killing machine for my country. Later, when other actions occurred, it took on a different meaning. It now reminds me of what I was turned into and what I refuse to become again.”
“I’m so sorry, Chaos. I feel guilty for dredging all of this up again.”