Not a Hero

by Cherise Sinclair

  He laughed ruefully. “I’m not Chuck Norris, Goldilocks. I did all right with three, might have managed the fourth. It’s good Caz was still in the clinic and heard the noise.”

  Heard the noise. This hadn’t been a bar fight. “Where did this happen?”

  “Behind the station. They’d been flattened up against the back of the building so they could ambush me.” His mouth thinned. “I’ll be more careful. And I’ll put up a mirror so I can see what’s out there.”

  “Caz joined the fight?”

  “In a way. He stood in the doorway and took one out with a knife. He insists the reason he throws knives is because medics shouldn’t risk damaging their hands. Sure it is.”

  Audrey tilted her head. “The reason sounds logical to me.”

  “Except that he started pitching knives when he was around ten.”

  Throwing sharp knives at that age? What had Mako been thinking? But, he’d taught his boys how to fight, and thank God for that.

  She ran her tongue over her dry lips. Her heart seemed to have crammed into her throat, and she forced her voice to stay light. “The traditional saying is ‘you should see the other guy,’ How bad are the five other guys?”

  Gabe set his beer down, pulled her against his side, and leaned his head against the couch back. “One got Caz’s blade in his back. One has a knee that’ll need surgery, same with another bastard’s elbow. The other two just have bruises.”

  She put a hint of amusement into her words. “Oh, well, that’s not so bad.”

  And then she swallowed against the bile trying to rise. Don’t throw up, don’t throw up.

  Hours later, Gabe woke in bed. He was lying on his back, Audrey snuggled against his side. The cool night air from the lake ruffled the bedroom curtains and revealed the twilight glow. It must be sometime between midnight and 4 a.m.

  Once his headache had eased up, Gabe had shared an amazing meal with Audrey. There’d been no recriminations or glares about being late. No telling him that the food was ruined. When he’d apologized, she’d laughed and said none of the meal was ruined from the delay.

  Fuck, she’d been sweet. Had he ever had anyone care for him with such a loving mixture of practicality and worry?

  After they’d eaten, she’d snuggled against him and picked a movie about a woman who wanted to be a spy. Light and funny. By the time it ended, the knots in his gut had disappeared.

  Battles added up. Didn’t matter how much experience a man had, his body would react to pain and danger. It always took a while to descend from that adrenaline peak.

  A shame he hadn’t gotten to enjoy sex, though. He liked the zing that adrenaline added. However, sex would’ve increased his blood pressure and probably exploded his aching head.

  Turning his head one way, then the other, he smiled.

  Headache was gone.

  Mentally, he opened up the rules of engagement manual for male/female relationships. In the military, ROE defined the circumstances and manner in which the use of force might be applied. But for this…

  He stroked over the sweetly curved body beside him in hopes that she’d wake and be in the mood. If she kept sleeping, he’d stop. Only a classless idiot pushed a woman into sex if she wasn’t interested. However, luring her into the mood? That fell in the sneaky-but-permissible category for the rules of engagement.

  Hearing her breathing speed up slightly, he grinned and rolled far enough he could capture a breast. Fondle it. Was there anything nicer than the feeling of a breast cupped in his hand?

  Blinking, she tipped her head back. “Gabe?” Her voice was husky with sleep. Damn sexy. As was the way her nipple suddenly puckered.

  “Mmm.”

  “Why do I get the impression you woke up wanting to play?”

  My little librarian. “Is wanting to play a…what do you call it for sex?”

  “Euphemism—and yes.”

  “Then, yes. Let’s play.” He tugged on the spiked nipple and felt her hips give a tiny wiggle. Ah, the lure was working.

  With a tiny giggle, she tipped her head up so he could kiss her.

  Yes. He started to roll over on his soft, willing woman—and pain stabbed through him. A club to the shoulder, a knife to the back, and every muscle and joint ached. “Hell.”

  “Oh, God, I forgot you were injured.” Eyes wide, she sat up.

  His hand regretted the loss of the sweet breast. And he had to grit his teeth to keep from growling…because his erect dick throbbed almost as bad as his back.

  “Oh, such a face…”

  His eyes narrowed. “Did you just giggle?”

  Her lips clamped shut, which meant she gave a set of laughing snorts.

  She sounded so funny he had to grin. “Dammit, I really wanted to fuck.”

  “Ah, poor Chief.” She shook her head and stroked his bare chest in sympathy. “It’d put too much strain on that slash. I’m sorry.”

  “When I find those bastards, I’m going to…” He blinked as she pressed a kiss to his chest. Rubbed her satiny cheek against him. Licked around one nipple, then the other. Kissed her way lower.

  “Sweetheart?” His voice came out gruff.

  “It’s so totally my turn.” Her mist-gray eyes held a smile, and her tongue ran over her teeth.

  Damned if she didn’t sound both smug and enthusiastic.

  Then, to his pleasure, she settled between his legs and took him in her mouth.

  * * *

  She was getting good at sex. Practice made perfect, right? And blowjobs were fun. At least they were with Gabe.

  Audrey licked over the mushroom-like head, enjoying the diverse textures. The head like spongy velvet, the shaft silk over iron. Elastic-like veins just begged to be traced with her tongue.

  She’d learned curling her fingers around the base kept her from gagging herself, but she was improving. As she took him even deeper, he rumbled low in his throat.

  She grinned. “Is there anything in a blowjob you don’t like?”

  “Hell, no.”

  He was getting even harder. As his heavy testicles drew closer to his body, she molded them in her palm. She hadn’t tried playing with them before. So…

  His hand closed in her hair. “C’mere, woman.”

  His jaw was tight, his body tense. She glanced at his erection—very thick and big. “But…”

  Without looking, he took a condom from the nightstand and unwrapped. “Put this on me, please.”

  Admittedly, she’d watched him do it lots of times…because, face it, watching him handle himself was really erotic.

  Putting the top over his shaft, she rolled the condom down. “Gabe, your wound didn’t heal up in the last few minutes. You still can’t—”

  “Be on top. I know.” He smiled slowly. “But you can.”

  Sit on him? Hmm. Although they’d made love in a lot of different positions with far more variety than Craig had ever shown her, she’d never been on top. She almost laughed because no matter how inventive Gabe was, he always took the uppermost positions. Her alpha. “Sounds like fun.”

  Carefully, she straddled him, one knee on each side of his hips.

  His lips curled into an easy smile. “Now grab my dick and lower yourself on it.”

  That sounded excellently wicked. Carnal.

  “Look at you grin,” he muttered.

  Her face turned hot, but she gripped him firmly and put the first inch inside. Mmmm, lovely. Her hips wiggled, but she stayed in place, poised over him, only an inch inside.

  And watched his face tighten at the delay.

  He broke first. With a rough growl, he gripped her hips and yanked her down on him.

  “Oh my God!” The sensation of fullness, the stretch, the heat bloomed in her core. He felt bigger in this position, went farther.

  When she rocked forward, his pelvis rubbed her clit. Oh, that was nice.

  Crinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes. “At this point, you have to do the moving, sweetheart.”

&nbs
p; “I can do that.” Leaning forward, she braced herself with her hands beside his shoulders. Her butt went up, his shaft slid out. Then she settled into a rhythm, rocking forward and back, feeling his erection going in and out.

  “Oh, nice.” She was going to make this last forever. Torture him slowly. Drive him mad the way he had her so many times. She rose and lowered ever so slowly.

  She was in charge and probably didn’t manage to conceal the smirk.

  Even though she hadn’t spoken, his lips quirked. “I don’t think so.” Without moving his sore shoulder, he kneaded her breast.

  When his knowledgeable fingers slid over her clit, shockingly exquisite pleasure shot through her. His touch and the thickness inside her were overwhelming.

  The urge to speed up was uncontrollable, and her slow rhythm fell to pieces. She rocked faster and faster, adding wiggles to make his finger slide crosswise over her.

  Tremors started low inside, the pressure growing. She tightened around him until she could feel each inch moving in and out.

  “Oh, oh, oh, I need…”

  With a low chuckle, he gripped her hips and slammed her down on his cock, lifting his hips at the same time, penetrating hard and deep.

  Her insides clenched and spasmed in wave after wave of pleasure. When he came at the same time, the sense of sharing pleasure was incredible.

  As the energy drained from her muscles, she sank on top of him, her cheek to his chest. His heart made a lovely thumping sound under her ear.

  His arms closed around her, holding her, stroking her hair. “Thank you.”

  Lifting her head, she kissed the side of his strong jaw. “You’re welcome, Mister Bossy Chief who hates to give up control.”

  She felt his smile even as he asked, ever so innocently, “Didn’t you want me to use my fingers? I thought you liked that.”

  Sitting up carefully, she put her hands on each side of his face and gave him a stern frown. “You knew exactly what you were doing.”

  Laughter appeared in his eyes, and oh, she liked that look on him. “Sometimes, I’m not all that sure what I’m doing, no, but I do know this.” His gaze went serious, and he tangled his fingers in her hair. “I care for you, Audrey. No, that’s bullshit—I love you, woman.”

  What? What? Fireworks of delight sparkled around her, even as a thickness filled her throat. She shook her head. “No, no, you’re wrong. You can’t love me.”

  “No?” He tilted his head as if thinking. “Seems like I do. Yeah, I love you.”

  “It’s not funny.” He was injured. She couldn’t hit him.

  His gaze met hers. Straight. Clear. Honest.

  He loved her? He really did?

  Oh my God. What should she do? “I…I’m not ready. No, not ready for this.”

  Fear constricted her lungs. Craig had loved her, and then he hadn’t. If she stayed and Gabe changed his mind, then… “I can’t, I don’t belong here. You shouldn’t love me. This isn’t right. I’m not ready. No. I have to go back to Chicago. I have a life there and—”

  Babbling. She was babbling. Clamping her mouth shut, she stared at him. Shivers ran over her skin.

  “Audrey, it’s all right.” He ran his hand over her cheek and smiled. “You tuck that in your head—that I love you—and stew on it for a while.”

  His order sounded almost insulting, yet he knew her well. She needed to stew.

  After a quick kiss, he made a trip to the bathroom and returned. Rolling onto his back, he tucked her beside him, her leg over his, her arm over his waist.

  “Go on to sleep, sweetheart.” His voice dropped. “Gotta say, having you here in my arms is about my favorite thing in the world.”

  With a sigh, she laid her cheek on his broad, warm shoulder. With a rumble of pleasure, he kissed the top of her head. As she breathed in his masculine scent, she knew she’d never felt so completely content.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  In the station, Gabe watched the video play out the previous night’s ambush in the parking lot. “Seems like moving the security cameras worked.”

  Sitting in the corner, Bull grunted his agreement.

  Although Gabe’s trap had worked, the results made him want to puke.

  Onscreen, the men surrounded him. He hit pause and reset the video to the spot he wanted. No need to watch it again. He had enough bruises to remember every blow.

  The door to the station opened and closed.

  Bull muttered, “The bastard’s here.”

  “Yeah. Guess we finish this game now.”

  Footsteps sounded in the office. Baumer had shown up for his Friday shift, right on time. “You in the office, MacNair?”

  “Yeah. Come in.”

  “Nice day out, isn’t it? Hey, Bull.” Baumer leaned on the doorframe. “Did you want a meeting today? Anything going on I need to know about?”

  “I’m afraid so.” Gabe’s anger was a low flame in his gut. “I got attacked by a bunch of cowardly wimps last night in the parking lot.” Unable to resist, Gabe glanced at Bull. “Five men to just me. Am I really that scary?”

  Even as Bull barked a laugh, Baumer’s face went red. Satisfying as hell.

  Gabe leaned back…and laid his hand on the pistol lying in his lap. Because he wasn’t an idiot. “I have to wonder, are you off your meds, Officer Baumer?”

  Baumer froze before giving a light laugh. “Very funny. I take it you want me to look for your attackers?”

  “No, I’m looking at the leader. Nice brass knuckles you own, Baumer.” Not that he’d used them much. No, the officer had stayed back and let his comrades do most of the work.

  “There’s no way—” Recognizing his mistake, Baumer smoothed his expression. “Why in the world would I attack you? Tell me more about what happened, and we’ll look for the perpetrators.”

  “You’re fired. Hand over your badge and keys.”

  “You can’t do that. I… You don’t have any reason to fire me. No proof.”

  Oh, proof they had, but why waste it on this asshole. Gabe smiled grimly. “You’re on a ninety-day probation, which means I don’t need a reason.”

  Baumer’s gaze turned from Gabe to Bull and back as he tried to figure a way out of the hole. Then he pulled his badge off, dug out the station keys, and tossed everything onto the desk. “I didn’t like working for a pussy like you anyway.”

  Ignoring the insult, Gabe said, “Tell Parrish the next time his Zealots—including you—overstep, I’ll show up at the compound with a warrant and search the place from top to bottom.”

  Most certainly, the asshole reverend had munitions out there that weren’t legal. “Tell him to keep his people in line.”

  Baumer froze. “I’m not one of them.”

  “Save it,” Bull rumbled. “We know you live on the grounds.”

  Gabe didn’t bother to add that Audrey’d found pictures of Baumer and his wife socializing with Parrish and other known Zealots. The dumbass’s wife had posted the pictures on Facebook. “Isn’t it a shame I didn’t leave anything interesting in my office for you to pass to him?”

  A flush reddened Baumer’s face.

  Yep, the asshole was the one who’d gone through the papers on Gabe’s desk.

  When Baumer didn’t move, Gabe motioned to the door. “Dismissed. Regina has a box with your personal effects.”

  “Fine.” Baumer’s face turned purple with anger. “At least I’m not a bleeding-heart liberal kissing up to the bunny-huggers. This town will never amount to anything, and that’s what we like. No one wants a trumped-up city cop here.”

  Baumer stomped out. The door to the station slammed a minute later.

  Bull shook his head. “Bad loser.”

  Uneasiness roiled inside Gabe. Baumer had told the truth as he saw it. No one liked law enforcement, especially the rugged subsistence-living types and those living off the grid. All they knew of Gabe was that he’d worked in Anchorage and LA. City cop. “You think he has a point? Mako might’ve been wrong to think
we could revive this place.”

  Bull ran his hand over his goatee. “We won’t know unless we try. If we give up, tourists will avoid this place, even with the resort open. The Zealots would see to that.”

  “And Dante, Sarah, and the businesses will go under.”

  “Yeah. We need to win this, bro. Not for Mako—he’s dead. Not for us—we’ll do all right no matter what. We need to win for them.”

  Bull had a big heart, and he was right.

  Gabe sighed. There were good people here, ones who deserved help.

  It seemed he wouldn’t be retreating to Mako’s wilderness cabin. That wasn’t who he was. He’d been fighting for others since he was born. Thinking he could stop was just bullshitting himself.

  He glanced at Bull. “Yeah.”

  The one word was all Bull needed. “Good. We couldn’t do this without you.”

  Gabe holstered his weapon. “I’ll give a copy of the security video to Sarah. She can use it when she needs it, and it’ll shut Parrish up for a while.”

  “Now, that’d be a sight worth seeing.” Bull rose. “How much trouble will Baumer give you now?”

  “Some. Maybe. He’s lazy. Trouble is, he’s also a weasel. He won’t attack from the front. But he also knows you’ll gut him and leave him for the wolves if I get hurt.”

  Bull grinned. “I figured that’s why you wanted me in here instead of Caz. For intimidation purposes.”

  “Exactly.” In all reality, Caz was more deadly than Bull. Mr. Intimidation simply liked to fight, nothing more deadly. Although Caz avoided killing, when he did dispatch someone, he was so silent that his targets never heard him before they were falling.

  Bull shook his head. “If Baumer had any idea of your body count, he’d shit himself.”

  “Ewww.” Audrey stood in the door. “Who’d soil himself and why?” She wrinkled her nose.

  Gabe exhaled in relief. She’d only heard the last part of the sentence.

  He walked over, gripped her upper arms, and pulled her to her tiptoes for a quick kiss.

  He probably shouldn’t have told her he loved her, yet, this morning, she was still beside him in bed. Hell, she was with him anytime they could be together. Maybe she hadn’t said the words, but…he knew. Mako had taught him the art of patient waiting.