“That feels nice.”
He kissed her hair, and continued to massage her shoulder. “You don’t need an appointment you know. Just ask and I’ll do this every night,” he paused. “After your physio.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why not?” he asked, then kissed her bare shoulder and filled his palm with her breast. Gently, she stroked his thighs. “I wouldn’t say no.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because this is where you belong,” he answered, hearing the wish in his own words. She rolled onto her side, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Kayla?” She turned her sleepy eyes toward him. “You know you’re the only woman in my life, right?” She tucked her chin down and buried her face. “All right, if you don’t want to answer that, how about this, am I the only man in yours?”
A muffled, “No,” tickled his skin.
His brows popped. “Say what?”
“I’ve got all your SEALs tied to my behind.”
He coughed out a laugh. “Okay, so that might be true, but you know what I’m talking about.”
Her answer was a nervous squeak. “No.”
“Kayla, you’re being a brat.”
“You’re being a pain in my ass,” she sing-songed back.
Sliding his palm over her cheek, he said, “It’s a beautiful ass,” letting his fingers tease the sway toward the back of her thigh.
“Captain, are you seducing me again?”
“Can’t seem to stop, might as well give in to it.” He followed the curve of her lips with his tongue, and kissed away the wetness. “How about we both hold up the white flag at the same time? Give in to what we want.”
“What’s that?” she whispered against his mouth.
“Each other.” He chuckled. “And the entire West Coast SEAL teams.” She shook her head, but he stopped her movement with a finger to her chin. “You might be the most stubborn woman on the planet, but I also know you’re the only woman on earth meant for me.” He swept the small white hand towel on the nightstand into his hand and offered it to her. “I’m willing to surrender.”
A little groan escaped her as she pushed herself to her knees and straddled his thighs. With a slow hand, he swirled his thumb around her blush areola, and it peaked against his touch. The response between his legs came hard and fast. He lifted his gaze to memorize the features he wanted to see every day of his life. “I know I promised you I’d find the Shark, and I won’t lie, I’m no closer now than three weeks ago, but I won’t give up.”
Kayla leaned forward, brushing a gentle kiss on his lips, making his need for her soar, but it came plummeting down with her words. “I want you to stop chasing him. Stop chasing me.”
His brow drew tight, trying to read her. Her expression gave nothing away, benign and beautiful as always. “I don’t want to do either. Why would you…?”
When she dropped her gaze instantly, he knew Red was right. She was doing this to protect him. “Kayla, up here,” he said, wanting her to look in his eyes. Reluctantly she did. “If I die protecting you, it’s a sacrifice I’d gladly make for the only woman I’ve ever loved.”
Her eyes soared open, reflecting more expression than he’d ever seen. Disbelief stood protecting the small twinkle of hope that carefully peeked from the corner. A grin pulled at his lips. “I” He planted a kiss on her nose. “Love.” He brushed another one on her cheek. “You.” Settling his mouth on hers, he lingered there. Her dainty arms slid over his shoulders, and her hands locked behind his neck, infusing his heart with warmth. Her eyes narrowed a little when she withdrew. “Kayla—” he warned, sensing she was going to put up a diversionary tactic. “I know I can be the world’s biggest ass sometimes, but you’re stuck with me. Wrap your head around that.” He tried not to laugh seeing her mouth open and then slam shut again.
“I’m…you’re…God you’re impossible,” she pushed the words out like she’d just run a 10-K race.
“You have some ‘impossibles’ racked up too. Impossibly beautiful, impossibly intelligent, sexy, kind, strong.” With each description, her cheeks blushed. He was on a roll, and the words had their own momentum. They all had a target, her heart, her trust. “I’ve had a lot to be thankful for in my life, but none of it comes close to the day you walked in my door. Then there was the day I first touched your lips, and the day,” his breathing started to labor with internal heat. He lifted her hips, and with a slow beautiful slide, he entered her channel. His lids slammed closed with the glorious feeling of their bodies becoming one. “We first made love.” Her body softened in his hands. “I will never betray your trust.”
Until dawn, he cherished her, with slow, gentle heat, not because of her injury, but because his heart demanded it. He seated himself deep, and came with an agonizing orgasm that kept him shuddering and filling her with his love. When her sweet little gasps of pleasure told him she was close, he watched every expression on her face as he teased her release, and his heart stretched to its farthest boundaries when she came apart in his arms.
Kayla curled against him, and she fit so perfectly against his strength. What was he waiting for? The woman he loved—loved him. He thought about all the times he’d screwed up when it came to her. He was going to do this right!
Chapter Three
“Why does he have to be such an overbearing asshat?” Kayla grumbled for the tenth time.
“Why do you think, Snow White?” Mace cranked a quick look in her direction as he drove the rental car up Old Town Avenue, and found a spot to park on Juan Street.
A week of hard work had passed since their car accident. She’d followed the doc’s orders, and did her physio religiously every day to strengthen her shoulder, even though she hated doing it at the base. Everyone used the facilities. They were all so fit and beautiful, especially the women. Thane showed up, and before she knew it, sweat poured down her back in a full workout instead of some simple strengthening exercises for her ligaments. When she tried to stop, Thane barked at her like a recruit, which had her firing back responses that had everyone staring at them. Mace jumped between them, but the fight was already underway, and had nothing to do with working out. Normally she held her own, but these days she couldn’t keep it together, and started to cry, which made her even madder. With little thought or regret, she hurled a three-pound disc weight, aimed at Thane’s head, and then walked out. Mace followed her, and agreed to take her off the base, in hopes of calming her down.
The main drag of the small, restored district known as Old Town, a few miles from the core of San Diego pulled in visitors by the carloads each year. The great food and party atmosphere was a local favorite, and hers.
Slipping off her sweater, she slung it over her arm as they joined the tourists meandering the sidewalks under a warm February sun investigating little shops with handmade knickknacks and bobbles to attract the eye and crack the wallet. “He doesn’t have to hover over me when I’m doing physio, you’re bad enough.”
Mace wrapped his arm around her waist, and they ran the crosswalk to the other side of the street, then sauntered up the steps to a patio bar, and snagged a small table. Mace sat down across from her. Covering her hand, he said, “You’re special to him.”
“He’s got the admin assistant slobbering all over him, and he likes it.”
“Hi, folks.” A guy in his late twenties turned brilliant blue eyes on her. She scanned the black apron with Bruce written on it as he leaned over the table. “What can I get ya?”
Roping her purse on the back of her chair, she said, “Do you make a good Margarita?”
Bruce’s cheeks puckered, and he gave her the once-over. “For you beautiful, I’d make anything.”
“Hey, man,” Mace growled. “I’m sittin’ right here. How do you know she isn’t my girlfriend?”
The waiter turned his attention on Mace. “Because you’d be next to her, having a hard time keeping your hands to yourself.” Balancing on his knuckles, Bruce tilted in her direction. “Lea
st I would.”
Mace rolled his eyes. “I’ll have a Bud, man, and don’t do that when her boyfriend gets here, he’ll grind you into ash.”
“Margarita for me, make it two.”
The waiter winked at her and returned within seconds, placing a red wicker basket of nachos and salsa on their table.
“Two?” Mace asked, grinning at her. “I didn’t work you that hard in Physio.”
“Did too.”
“Not.”
“I’m thirsty.”
“Have some water.”
“Captain Austen is not my boyfriend, Mace.”
Mace nodded at the waiter when he dropped a brew in front of him. “You’re right, he’s more than that. A man doesn’t break his balls going twenty hours a day trying to catch a serial killer if he doesn’t like a girl, but it’s your PTSD that scares him more than the Shark.”
Her gaze fell to the tiles covering their table. Brilliant, hand-painted strokes of blue, red and yellow brightened the small squares. “None of you were supposed to know.”
“So—we do now. We love you. Deal with it.” Mace squeezed her hands. “Tell me what’s really wrong. Normally you’d be dressing him down. You’re acting like a girl these days.”
She breathed out a pent-up gust of air. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Mace.”
“Why don’t you stop fighting him for starters?”
She looked into Mace’s beautiful baby blue eyes, too warm and kind to be a warrior, but in combat, he was lethal. Patient, deadly accuracy had given Mace a reputation as one of the best snipers in the military community. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Yes, you do.” Mace plucked a chip from the basket and loaded it with salsa. “If he isn’t your boyfriend, what is he?”
“Overprotective. On a mission. Dog with a bone. All of the above.” Flicking a loose wave of hair from her eyes, she said, “I want Thane to stop chasing the Shark. You have to convince him.”
Mace swayed his head. “Not until the Shark is dead. I don’t know if the son of a bitch realizes whom he’s up against, but he put crosshairs between his own eyes when he decided to come after you. He’s never going to trial.”
Scooping a hefty amount of salsa onto a chip, she cupped her other hand underneath. “Why is Thane so obsessed about this?”
Mace’s broad shoulders rose with a chuckle. “We’re back to…Why do ya think?”
“It’s not because of me,” she said around a full mouth.
He leaned back, crossing his abundantly muscled arms. “Guess again. The only reason he’s doing this is because of you. Before you became a target, he was satisfied NCIS would find the Shark. Women were dying, but no one asked us to track him down. It’s a prime example of bureaucratic paradigms. SEALs don’t pursue serial killers, they ferret out Tangos.” He shrugged. “It was obvious to all of us we should have started to hunt him as soon as we knew what we were dealing with. In a way, you’re saving a lot of other women.”
“I hope so.” She sighed and leaned back, trying not to drip the salsa all over herself while balancing a chip. “You give him such a bad time, but you respect him a lot, don’t you?”
“I do. I think the bigger question is what do you think about him?”
She’d been under lock and key for too long. The entire time her thoughts swirled around the Captain. “I’m going to leave—if I live through this.”
“What? Why?”
“Between you and me?”
He nodded, searching her eyes. “I know what you’re going to say, and I think the Captain knows too. He wants you to trust him, Kayla. He knows what you went through, we all do. By the way, your first appointment with the shrink is next week.”
“I don’t need a shrink. I’ve dealt with my—stuff—just fine.”
“I’ve got my orders and this time I’m following them. I’ll sit on you myself in the doc’s office. I am never going to watch you have one of those—episodes—again. I’ve been tied up in knots hoping to hell you don’t have another one when it’s only me around.” Mace’s body tensed, and he shoved himself back in his chair, chucking back a long gulp of his beer. Swallowing, he brought the bottle down with a thud on the table. “No fucking way am I ever watching that again.” A hard set of eyes gazed at her, and he worried his cheek with his tongue. “You know you’re ex is back in the service, don’t you?”
Downing half the Margarita, she dwelled on sidestepping the issue of her past as she licked the salt from her lips. “Yes.” It hadn’t been her only motivation, but it certainly was one of the reasons she’d applied to the U.S. for a new job.
“That’s why you came here, isn’t it?” Mace surmised, cocking his head at her. “The Canadian forces brought him onboard after his release from prison because he had a sterling record prior to the attack. Exemplary warrior, and no government is gonna waste that.”
“Greg told me he’d been given a waiver. How do you guys find this stuff out?”
“Not me. The Captain went looking for answers. He could never understand why you were here.” Mace read her expression, saying, “No one blames you for leaving, Kayla. It’s understandable. Your ex is overseas right now, and the Captain knows where he is.”
“That’s not good.”
“You’re right, it’s not. Manchester received your file from the Canadian RCMP while we were in his office, and it included pictures of you in the hospital after the attack. It took five of us to stop your boyfriend from heading out the door.” Mace gave her a sympathetic smile. “You know us well enough. No matter what situation a SEAL encounters, we’re trained to maintain control, even if it’s in a hailstorm of confusion. I’ve never seen the Captain lose his edge, but he went nuts. Fox had to call Redding. He was the only one who could stop him from getting on a plane and hunting your ex down.”
A trickle of worry slipped down her spine. “When did this happen?” Mace only offered a steady tense brow. The “SEAL look,” she called it. “When?”
“Three days ago.”
“He doesn’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“My marriage was complicated. I’m not defending what Daniel did, but he had issues he couldn’t control.”
Mace sat up straight. “You sound like you’ve forgiven him.”
She bit on her lip thinking about Daniel. They were explosive together in all the good ways and the worst. In the end, Daniel’s darkness won out. “Mace,” His eyes softened as they always did when he looked at her. “I loved my husband. What happened to me wasn’t Daniel’s fault.”
Mace folded his arms over his chest, his brow furrowing. “How can you say that?” he said. “I saw what he did to you. He didn’t just beat you up, he tried to slaughter you. I’ve left the enemy in better condition than you were.”
Fingering a chip, she turned her face to the warm sky. “Daniel was a victim of childhood abuse as well. Like me, he and his brother Greg joined the Navy to escape, and in a way, find a new family. Greg resolved his youth, but Daniel’s anger stewed inside him. The missions with JTF began to change him. Back then, Post Traumatic Stress wasn’t an open topic for admission or conversation. He didn’t mean to do it, and I understood that.”
Mace watched her intently. “So you’re giving him an out and blaming it on PTSD?”
She ignored his obvious doubt. “As the years progressed and he didn’t get help, the episodes got worse and came more often. That night,” She took a breath to center herself. “Daniel had just returned from a deployment. We were going to have a wonderful Christmas. Daniel had been standing at the fireplace reading the Christmas cards. His brother, Greg, had sent one. When he read the card he got angry, unreasonably so, but in that same instant a truck or car backfired on the street. Daniel wasn’t Daniel anymore. He attacked me. He was back in the theater fighting the enemy.”
Mace reached across the table and squeezed her hands tightly, trying to stop them from shaking. “I don’t want you to talk about t
his if it bothers you, but, Kayla, I want you to be honest with me.”
She nodded.
“Was Daniel only abusive when he had PT episodes?”
Her gaze veered to the couple sitting next to them. They were laughing, and had their heads together looking at something on her phone.
“Kayla—”
She gnawed on her lip. “Daniel hated it when men talked to me, and working on the base I was surrounded by them. I knew it was just his past haunting him, and I tried to reassure him, but I could never convince him, and once his anger took hold….” Trying to explain this to Mace was near impossible. “We were both too young to be married, and with our backgrounds and inexperience…we’d fight.” She bowed her head.
“You can’t blame all those years of abuse on PTSD. He had problems, deep ones, and you were right to leave. He needed help desperately, and hopefully got some, but using you as a punching bag is not acceptable therapy,” Mace growled.
She nodded knowing Mace was right on some levels. “Regardless, I’m just shrapnel in a minefield of women in Captain Austen’s life. There is no reason for him to become tangled up in my past.” Thane was stronger in mind and body than any man she’d ever known, except maybe Daniel. She wouldn’t want them to come face to face. The thought of those two titans squaring off, scared her more than the thought of standing like a morsel of meat between two T-rexes.
Mace reached across the table and stroked her necklace. “Do you really believe that after he gave you his Budweiser?”
It hung around an undeserving neck as far as she was concerned. Thane had earned it long ago, passing the BUD/S training, his qualification training, and then designated as a Navy SEAL. “He must have had a thousand opportunities, and he’s never settled down. There’s a reason for that.” Twisting the napkin around her finger, she watched the blood flood to the surface, reddening the tip. “The woman Thane’s meant for will be someone important. Someone strong, like him.”
Greg Lapierre slid into her thoughts. Her brother-in-law had called every day since she’d told him she wouldn’t be home for a while. He kept prodding and asking questions until she finally broke down and told him about the Shark.
Code Name: Kayla's Fire (A Warrior's Challenge) Page 3