Survive By The Team (Team Fear Book 3)

by Cindy Skaggs

  He jumped from the top third rung on the ladder to the loft floor.

  “Show off.”

  Maybe a little. Shit. “Where’s this hideout?”

  “This way.”

  He followed her into a room lined with bunks, four in total plus the dresser he’d searched last night. “Nice space.” He walked the narrow aisle between the bunks but didn’t see any place to hide.

  Mandi lay down on the ground next to the back bunk and rolled under the bed. No way was he getting trapped under a twin bed with her, even when she told him to follow. He stood with his hands braced on his hips, trying to figure the best way to deal with the situation. It’s not like it had been that long. He shouldn’t be feeling this overwhelming pull toward her. The physical need did not need to be assuaged.

  Scuffling sounded from under the bed. A click and a scratch. Maybe she could pull out whatever she found, but a moment later, the room went silent.

  “Mandi?”

  When she didn’t respond, he lowered to his knees to peer under the bed.

  Empty.

  A second later, she screamed.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mandi stood in the middle of the attic and brushed frantically at the mousetraps she’d rolled onto. Where the heck had those come from? And thank God there weren’t any mice in them. After she shook off the mousetraps, she brushed off a nasty web. As a kid, she hadn’t cared, but climbing around with spiders and dust wasn’t her idea of a good time. Dean rolled into the room and hopped to his feet like a man on fire.

  “Wait, watch your—”

  He smacked against the sloping roofline.

  “Head.”

  He cursed and rubbed the back of his skull. He had to hunch over or smack his head again. The hideout was really just a glorified attic with a sunroof to let in light, which at the moment was muted beneath a thick layer of snow. The lines of the roof sloped steeply, but the floor was solid. When she and Danny were kids, they’d had to jump to touch the ceiling. It was the perfect place to hide from their parents. They’d had many adventures together in this stupid little room. With no TV, books, or video games.

  Dean bent over to look at the trap door he’d dropped through. Her father had built a false wall under one of the bunks. A board under the bunk beds gave way when pressed. It popped open to drop onto a ramp and into the attic. “Pretty cool setup.”

  “My dad thought so. Mom thought he was insane, but he said kids needed a fort.”

  “I had a couple boards built into a tree by the creek. That was a fort. This is…”

  “A hidden room.”

  “Use it much?”

  “Not since I was a kid.”

  “The same can’t be said for your brother.” He motioned behind her.

  She turned to see one of the mattresses from the upper bunks had been shoved into the far corner. The sheets and blankets were tossed aside as if he’d rolled out of bed that morning. The image of him with sleep messy hair was so real she had to press a hand to her aching chest. A duffel bag was pushed against the wall next to a line of shoes and boots. She blinked back tears. All those times she’d wondered where he was and Danny had been hiding here.

  Dean stepped across the room to the makeshift bed. “Do you mind if I poke around?”

  “No.” She crossed the room to help search Danny’s duffel. Dean made a neat stack of clothes on the mattress as he pulled them from the bag. A Harley shirt she’d gotten Danny a few years back was on top. Faded blue with an eagle soaring under the Harley emblem. Mandi lifted it off the pile while Dean continued his search.

  The soft cotton had been washed so many times that the emblem was starting to fade. She lifted it to her face and took a deep breath. Wished that the shirt still smelled like her brother; that there was still a part of him living. She hugged it to her chest and turned to see what else Dean had discovered.

  He held a picture in a wooden frame.

  “That used to be in our parents’ room. I didn’t even notice it missing.”

  The photo was taken outside the cabin. Danny was holding a hunting rifle. Mandi was glaring up at him, because she’d wanted to hold the weapon. Her father’s sloppy scrawl marked across the bottom.

  “Manny and Danny,” Dean read.

  “Dad’s nickname for me.” She rubbed her fingers over the uneven scrawl. “Mom hated it, but it fit me at the time. All tomboy. I wanted to do everything Danny did. Dad let me.”

  “If I didn’t know you were twins, I’d think he was a few years older than you in this picture. He’s a good six inches taller. How old were you here?”

  “Twelve. First year they took me hunting with them. Danny was furious.”

  “Shoot anything?”

  “That’s why Danny was so mad. I’m a better shot than I am at poker.”

  “I’m starting to think you’re making stuff up.”

  “Being a twin can be a competitive sport.” She’d wanted so much to keep up with Danny. To excel like he did in everything he tried. “Anything in his bag?”

  Dean squatted down to finger through the rest of Danny’s things. “Another photo.” He flashed it her direction.

  “Ellie. Taken last Christmas.” Their fingers brushed when she took the photo. Danny had loved Ellie. Completely. He’d joined the military to take care of her, and he’d never looked back, never complained that life had dealt him an unfair hand. He’d done what he had to do to make a life for his only daughter.

  Mandi put the picture with the t-shirt she hugged to her chest. Somehow, seeing this room with the last of Danny’s things was like losing him all over again. She hadn’t really understood how worried he was, how far he’d gone to protect them. He was hiding like a squatter.

  “Any hidden compartments or loose flooring where he used to hide stuff?”

  “I don’t think so.” She paced around the edges of the room. It was surprisingly clean considering no one had been there in nearly a decade. No one but Danny. “This couldn’t have been comfortable. Look at you. You can’t even stand up straight without hitting your head. Why would he sleep in here when he had the whole cabin?”

  “There’s only one way into this room and one way out. Only the two of you knew about it. Safest place to be.”

  Her brother had spent the last weeks of his life in a hidden part of the attic. Paranoid and alone. “But he was safe at home.”

  “Probably not, not without bringing his problems to you.” He repacked the duffel as neatly as he found it. When he finished, he motioned her close. “What’s that? Turn around.”

  She did a slow turn and felt him pull at the legs of her pants. She glanced back to see him pulling something from the flannel. “Oh, a mousetrap. They were our silent alarms. We put them under the bed around the entrance so we’d know if someone disturbed our hiding place. It was a silly little spy game. Dad used to pop a few traps before we got here to freak us out.”

  “Looks like Danny was still using them.”

  Mandi stood patiently while he unclipped a few more from the back of her clothes. The brush of his fingers as he freed her from the mousetraps woke her faster than the strong cup of coffee she’d had downstairs. Her pulse jumped when he gave the pants a final pat down. He could put those big man hands on her anytime.

  “You’re clean,” he said.

  But her thoughts weren’t. They were R-rated with the hopes of… “Dean?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Promise me Ellie is safe with your team.”

  “They’re the best of the best. Trust them.” He rose to stand behind her, just shy of touching her back. “Trust me.”

  She bent over, slowly, intentionally, to set the t-shirt and picture on the floor. Her backside brushed against him. Maybe that was on purpose. Her heart thumped through her chest with a powerful vibration that shook her up. A nervous thrill shot through her body as she rose and faced him. They were so close she heard his sharp intake of breath. Felt the warmth that emanated from him.

 
; She’d stayed safe and isolated since Ellie was born, protected herself from the same mistake as Danny had made, but she didn’t want that kind of safety anymore.

  She wanted to live.

  Dean was right in front of her, he was sexy as hell, and life was too damn short. A cruel fate had taken her parents and Danny in the same year. An even crueler fate threatened to unleash Team Echo against her. If anything bad happened, she didn’t want regrets. No more playing it safe. No more hiding behind responsibilities.

  For a moment—this very second—she was simply a woman alone with a man she found attractive. No future, no past, just the moment. They shared chemistry. They shared a kiss last night, but this morning she wanted it all.

  So she took that final step, bridging the space between them. Dean backed up until his head hit the sloping ceiling. It made her feel powerful for such a big, scary guy to back away from her. Unsure. He was unsure, and that was freaking adorable.

  “The kiss started something last night.”

  A spark lit his eyes and a flush crossed his cheekbones before he doused it with a shake of his head. “I was hoping you forgot.”

  Not enough drugs in the world to make her forget that fiery kiss. “Maybe it wasn’t as good as I remember. What with me being loopy.”

  “Manipulating me won’t work.”

  “Wanna bet.” She rubbed a finger over his split lip. Easy to do since he was hunched in the corner like a trapped animal. “I’m going to kiss you. Fully awake and fully aware.”

  “You shouldn’t.”

  She stepped so close her chest rubbed against him. “Saying things like that encourages me.”

  “Maybe I say things like that to manipulate you.”

  “Reverse-reverse psychology. You forget. I deal with a six-year-old every day. That kind of thing doesn’t work on me.”

  She levered up on tiptoes, gliding up his body until she reached her destination. She twined her arms around his neck.

  He flinched at the contact. “You shouldn’t want this,” he said, his voice husky.

  “And yet I do.” She nipped his lower lip.

  “I’m not a keeper.”

  “So? Do you warn all your women away?”

  She was making it damn hard to back away. Stills groaned even as he trailed his lips along her soft skin. “You’re a sister. There are rules against this kind of thing.”

  “Danny’s not here to object.”

  “Then I have to object on his behalf.”

  “Do you really think he’d rather I ended up with someone like that deputy—”

  “Or the doctor,” he reminded her.

  “Than one of his teammates?”

  “In a heartbeat, sugar.” She was the kind of woman that men noticed. Pretty, sweet, with a sunny smile and a trusting nature. A woman like her was a keeper, and as he had so aptly reminded her, he wasn’t. He tried to disentangle himself, but she was wrapped around him but good. “I’m a bad bet. No one knew that better than your brother.”

  “Yet he chose you to watch over me.”

  Now she chose to believe him. “Because we protect the innocent. It’s what we do.”

  “If that’s true, he could have chosen any of the team. He chose you.”

  “How do you know I didn’t draw the short straw?”

  “I know better.” She chuckled low and his groin tightened. “Because you make decisions. You don’t have them thrust upon you.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  “The way you went against your team to find answers at the lab. Even when it pissed them off, you did it your way and in your time.” She combed her fingers through his hair. “And then there’s the way you broke up with Shelley. Your choice and on your terms.”

  Her touch stirred up desires better left buried. Chill bumps erupted along his neck where her fingers hit one of his hot zones. His dick stirred awake. “Apparently I talk too much.” He couldn’t believe that he’d told her all those things or that she remembered. In the past few years, he hadn’t talked much to anyone, not even—

  Mandi brushed her lips against his neck.

  He closed his eyes and tried to rein in the physical need, but with each breath, he inhaled her scent. Sunshine and forever. Turning, he put her under the sloping part of the ceiling so he wasn’t hunched over. The sudden move caused her to lose her grip. He took advantage and wrapped both hands into one of his. “Why are you doing this?”

  Head tilted, she looked younger than he knew her to be. A sprinkle of freckles dusted her nose and cheeks. A flush climbed from the collar of her nightshirt to her cheeks, but she didn’t struggle to pull her hands free. He’d have let go if she did. He wanted her to. He never should have put her in a position that thrust her ample chest out and tilted her pelvis into him. It was too tempting and his resistance was fading fast.

  Her lips parted and her tongue flicked out. “I’ve been frozen for a very long time. You make me feel.”

  “You’re relieved they found Ellie.” He shook his head to dislodge all the dirty thoughts of what he wanted to do. With her. To her.

  “Don’t tell me how I feel,” she said, her tone defensive. “I’m more interested in what you feel. What you think.”

  Nobody gave a fuck what he felt. That’s the way he wanted it. Made it easier to leave this world on his terms. He dropped her hands and stepped back.

  Her socks snagged on the raw floorboards as she followed. “Are you sure you don’t feel fear?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Then why are you backing away from me?”

  Hell if he knew. He’d been dying to touch her. Taste her. Dead center of the attic, he stopped and she walked straight into him. Her body was flush against his. Her curves turned his mind to mush. Doing the right thing no longer mattered.

  He cupped her neck. So fragile.

  He rubbed a knuckle along her jawline. So soft.

  “This is a mistake,” he warned. The flutter of her pulse beat against his hands.

  “If we’re going to make a mistake,” she said, lifting onto her tiptoes, “better make it a good one.”

  “Hell yeah.” That was a philosophy he could get behind. It was too late to keep things platonic, but she needed to understand what she was getting into. Bracing a hand on either side of her face, he forced her to look at him. “I set the pace. I lead.”

  She swallowed. “Is there any other way?”

  “Not with me.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mandi’s heartbeat echoed in her ears. The thrum of her pulse vibrated on her skin and he hadn’t even touched her yet. Her body burned at the implied question. Would she give him control?

  Who was she kidding? He’d been in control from the moment he walked into her hospital room. “I like playing with fire,” she whispered.

  One hand dug into her hair. Intense focus as he held her gaze, so close she saw the switch in his eye color to a darker green, felt heat emanating from his body, and was surrounded by his scent of pine and smoke.

  He leaned in. “There’s no going back.”

  Words stuck in her throat. She nodded.

  His lips captured hers. Toyed with her, kissing along the edges until breath panted from her lungs, yet he maintained iron control. Slow, the pace killing her and freeing her to simply experience. Nips at her bottom lip tugged an invisible string to her core. Dips and feints as he teased, giving her a taste here, a brush there, the barest whisper of his lips on hers before he slipped away to attack from another angle.

  The man kissed like he had a lifetime. Or maybe that he wanted one.

  Finally he pressed his full mouth to hers in a kiss that stole her breath. The second she opened her mouth he invaded, seeking and destroying, sending shivers down her spine.

  Heck yeah, she liked playing with fire. She threw herself into the pyre, pressing against him while her hands explored under his shirt. Skin, glorious, warm, ripped male flesh teased her fingertips. It was a shame to hide all that,
but if she’d known what he had under his clothes, she’d have wanted him naked sooner. As it was, she skated her hands to his rib cage, pulling the shirt up as she went.

  Finally she broke free to catch her breath; to remove the offending shirt.

  He bent to allow her to slip it over his head, and then returned his hands to rest softly on her hips.

  Lordy, Dean was ripped. She would have fallen back a step if not for his hold. His defined biceps alone made her mouth water. Abs to die for that trailed into a V at his waist. Light brown hair covered a broad expanse of chest and trailed midline to disappear into his jeans. Why the heck did he cover that with a baggy hoodie? The strength he’d hidden astounded her and she reached out to touch. To trail her fingers over the curve of his bicep, through the light chest hair, down the abs. Solid muscle. Unreal, yet right in front of her.

  “You’re incredible.” Her fantasies up to this point in her life had been uninformed, because she hadn’t known men like Dean existed. She wet her lips. “I want...”

  “What?” he croaked, his voice husky.

  “To touch you. Everywhere.”

  He smirked, one corner of his lip higher than the other. “We’ll get there.” He winked. “But now it’s my turn.” He removed her sleep shirt before she comprehended his intention. “No bra,” he said in an approving tone.

  Embarrassment heated her cheeks and contrasted to the cold attic air that brought her nipples to tight peaks. “I don’t usually sleep in a bra.”

  He simply stared for a moment, his eyes skimming, the look so hungry it made her lower body clench. “Sugar, you could go without a bra every day and I’d die a happy man.”

  She put a finger to his lips. “Don’t talk of dying. Not now, not even in jest.”

  He nodded. For a moment, sadness reflected in his eyes to disappear so quickly she might have imagined it. She didn’t imagine him reaching out to cup her breasts. “Been wanting my hands on these.”

  “I didn’t think you noticed.” Her breath hitched when he started to knead. “Anything. About me.”

  “I noticed everything.” He flicked a thumb over one nipple. Repeated on the other side. “And these babies are so full even a blind man could see them.”