by Burke, Dez
She tried to remember all he’d told her about his team, which wasn’t much. Not surprisingly, he
didn’t like to talk about what he really did. But Olivia had managed to piece a few things together and she’d known that his team had been behind the recent successful mission which had brought down one of the world’s most wanted terrorists.
And now just thinking that something might have gone wrong was giving her horrible
nightmares. She could barely focus on work and was continuously calling her parents to find out if they’d heard from him. He would have called if he could, wouldn’t he? It was almost a month now
since he’d left.
Please, please let him be okay, Olivia prayed daily, holding back the urge to drive to his base
and keep asking questions until somebody told her anything about Ivan’s whereabouts. That would be crazy but hell, she was just about ready to go berserk. He’d never stayed this long on a mission and though he’d been away a year on deployment last time, something told her this was different. She
didn’t have a good feeling about it.
To keep herself sane, she filled her thoughts with the images of him and why she loved him so
much. She’d adored him for as long as she could remember, and had wanted him as a man since her
body began to truly understand what those desires meant.
He’d always maintained the playful big brother image back then and she’d never dreamed she’d
get this close to him as to be lovers. It had changed her whole world that night he’d finally
demonstrated that he viewed her as a woman and not just a “kid sister” type.
Thinking of that first night when he’d succumbed to his desire for her and shared the breaking of
her innocence was one instance Olivia would never forget. Something melted in the bowl of her
womb when Olivia thought of how he loved to pleasure her breasts with hands and mouth, or the way
that same mouth was always keen to latch itself to the wet folds between her thighs.
The way he loved her body with his fingers, lips and tongue always showed her how
irresistible he found her. And how much he made her feel like she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. How one look from his piercingly dark eyes could kickstart her heartbeat even if she
was far across the room from him.
And yet it wasn’t all about the chemistry and the incredible sex. Or about his smoking hot body
and the way his years of military training gave him such an unbent and even graceful bearing and
stride. She knew she also loved him for the way he cared so much about others; how he gave his time and finances to worthy causes in the community.
Best of all, Ivan never toyed with family and always made the effort to give her parents his
attention whenever he could, also spending time with his aged aunt who lived out of town.
Remembering his gorgeous smile and the warmth of his eyes whenever he looked at her, Olivia hated
herself for all those times she’d been angry with him for not giving in to her wish for them to be together. Whenever he’d called after their first night together, she’d chosen not to answer the phone.
And prior to that last family dinner he’d shared with her and her parents, she’d never really given him the time of day especially with that damn Molly back in the picture.
And now, Olivia just wished him home. She wanted Ivan back on any terms. She didn’t even
really care whether he’d still want to be with her or not. After they’d made love that final time and he’d promised they’d have a talk when he got back, he’d never told her what it would be about.
Was he going to give them a chance, or was he going to break her heart all over again? It had
almost torn her down when he’d told her that first time that their one night of sex couldn’t guarantee them a future together. Only for him to seek the comfort of her arms that night before his departure.
Did she begrudge him that? Not in the least. She loved him too much to refuse the chance of
sharing such an intimate session with him, especially when she knew he was leaving the very next
morning. The circumstances had been such that in fact, they’d both needed each other. Olivia wasn’t going to pretend that she hadn’t wanted it as much as him – whatever the conditions.
It might seem on the surface that he was just using her; but Olivia didn’t want to think that way.
Didn’t want to believe the worst of him. He was just as torn about his feelings for her, as she was convinced in her love and her wish to be with him for real.
Now she didn’t even care about all that. She just wanted him to show up outside her door,
smiling in that hot, sexy way of his like he knew she how much wanted a piece of him. Or simply to hear his voice telling her he was okay and that he’d soon be returning home to her waiting arms…
Tears poured down her face as she hugged her pillow that night, praying her fears would all be
for nothing. Ivan was so tough; he didn’t ever seem like anything could stop him. He did everything with such precision and control and she couldn’t imagine him being in any kind of trouble he couldn’t get out of.
And yet, she knew he was only human. And tough as he was, he wasn’t death-proof. Every once
in a while there was the news that one special ops combatant or the other had lost their life or had been severely wounded during a mission. All Olivia could do was keep praying that Ivan and all the other men in his unit would get back safe from whatever hell-hole they were in at the moment.
Chapter Fifteen
The man lying in the hospital bed blinked his aching lids open, barely able to finally take in his hushed surroundings. It looked like a military hospital…probably at some command base. He didn’t
recognize any of the doctors or care workers walking around.
Just when he was thinking of what to do about the tubes sticking out of his battered body, a
kindly-faced doctor appeared, his hair a blend of pepper and grey though he didn’t look much over
thirty. The patient felt an immense relief when his commander emerged right next to the genial looking doctor.
“My team…,” the man on the bed said on a croaky voice, already shooting off the pillow. Only
to sink back down with a groan.
“Take it easy son; you’re still very weak from your wounds. The good news is, I’m pleased to
tell you that everyone made it,” the commander’s booming voice told him reassuringly. “And yes, so did the hostage. You did good, soldier. Your fast thinking and bravery helped turn a hopeless
situation around. You suffered the worst of the injuries, but you’ll be happy to know there’s nothing permanently damaged. You’ll be shipped to your base in a day or two and in no time, you’ll be back home with your family.”
Family…the injured man’s eyes suddenly narrowed and then brightened at the sound of that
word.
Family.
It brought up one face in particular, among the other dear ones that sprung to his mind. That
particular face was framed with flowing jet black hair, while a smile burst glowingly in her eyes and on her lips. Beautiful. So beautiful it hurt to think it would be a while longer before he’d see her again.
At least he would see her, soon. Which was more than he’d hoped for in those hellish moments
when all had seemed lost…
But like his commander had just told him, the mission had achieved a successful outcome. He
couldn’t remember much right then, but as the details started to emerge one by one, he realized how lucky he was to be alive.
He’d made it – just barely. And now more than ever, he knew there were a good many things he
was thankful for. Most of all the chance of happiness waiting for him back home.
Suddenly, “home” became the second word that meant the whole world to him right then…
Chapter Sixteen
There was no good reason why Olivia should have let her friends talk her into joining them on
what used to be a fun girls’ night out on the town. So what if they thought she’d been holing herself up too much in the past weeks? What did they know about the hell she was going through? And what
made them think that a few great cocktails and some spins on the dance floor was going to do anything to improve her mood?
It had more than a month since Ivan had left. And not a word from him.
Olivia looked around at the crowded bar and realized that what she’d hoped would be a
welcome distraction was now making her lose her mind. She seemed to see Ivan’s face everywhere
she looked; it was almost as if he was behind every figure she saw standing at the bar or moving on the dance floor. The music pumped loudly in the well-lit club and all it did was vibrate her skull.
This is nut’s, Olivia decided, before dumping her cocktail and turning to call out into her
friend’s ear that she needed to go outside for a moment. “If I don’t come back in fifteen minutes, that means I’ve chosen to go on home,” she told her good pal, Amanda.
Amanda’s full lips pouted in her pretty face. “The others wouldn’t be happy if they found out I
let you slink off like that. This was supposed to be your chance to let loose, forget your worries.”
“There’s nothing in the world that can make me forget my worries, Amanda. At least, nothing
this club can offer,” Olivia said, smiling wryly. “But thanks. You were right though; they make the best cocktails, as usual. But I can’t stand one more minute of this. My head feels like it’s about to explode right now.”
Amanda’s dark eyes softened with sympathy. “You’re thinking about that hunky guy of yours,
right?”
“All the time,” Olivia confessed with a sigh. “And just knowing I’m here trying to have fun
when he could be out there hurt or even…even worse, makes me sick to my stomach.”
“I understand,” her friend said. They’d known each other all through college and had remained
fast friends, always hanging out and being a helping hand when needed. She placed a comforting arm around Olivia’s shoulder.
“I don’t know how come I can be so sure of this, but something tells me your sweetheart’s fine.
Who knows; he could show up right out of the blue and bring the stars out tonight.” Amanda’s smile widened, causing an answering smile to spread slowly across Olivia’s face.
That’s why she liked Amanda so much: her sunny, optimistic personality. In addition, the girl
was usually always right. She hugged the other woman gratefully.
“You have fun, babe,” Olivia said, pulling back from Amanda’s returning warmth. “Just not too
much, okay? I wouldn’t want Dean on my case for letting you get snatched away while my back was
turned.” Dean was Amanda’s beloved fiancé who was out of town on business.
Amanda huffed, tossing her dark hair over one bronzed shoulder. “Aw, hell no; there’s no man
fine enough in here that could steal me away from my D. Girl, stop that,” Amanda said with a wide
teasing grin as she waved Olivia off.
Shaking her head and chuckling, Olivia finally headed out of the packed club. The outside was
deserted except for the few cars pulling out of valet parking. Olivia glanced up at the night sky and thought of what Amanda had said. Bring out the stars tonight. How Olivia longed for one star to fall right then so she could wish her Ivan back, right here with her where she needed him to be.
Wrapping an arm around herself, Olivia started to walk down the lonely, lit-up street as she
wondered if she could clear her head with a walk home. She didn’t live that far away and was truly in no rush to make it quickly home to her lonely apartment. At least she was out of that noisy wild
atmosphere back at the club.
The breeze rustled through her loose hair and she drew in a calming breath. The painful buzzing
in her head had dulled and now all she had was a slight headache that some fresh air would
undoubtedly dispel in no time.
“I was wondering when I’d run into you again.”
Olivia froze for a moment, and then turned with dread to come face to face with the fearfully
familiar man standing there. She recognized him instantly, even with the healing scars of deep
fingernail scratches across one square-cut cheek. His narrow, handsome face creased in a smile that in no way reached his cold, gleaming eyes.
“Hello, sexy,” the man said, stepping forward slowly while he casually lit a cigarette. “You
were in such a hurry the other night that we didn’t get the chance to exchange contacts. Which was really a pity because I have a favor to return to you.”
“What do you want?” Olivia spat, more angry than afraid. It was months since that night in his
car when he’d tried to force himself on her after she’d turned down his advances. She felt satisfaction in seeing how deep her fingernails had gored his model-type features.
“I’m thinking,” the man said with a contemplative pause as he drew hard on his cigarette,
before adding casually, “How deep I can cut into that pretty face of yours with my knife and see how you like it being disfigured.”
As he spoke, he flicked something out of the space just underneath the right cuff of his shirt.
Olivia gasped at the sight of the gleaming blade now resting in his face-up palm.
“Been carrying this around since that night, hoping to meet your acquaintance once again. I’ve
been hanging around this club and hoping you’d be dumb enough to come back here some day. So I
can show you that Eduardo pays back his debts and baby, I owe you one good stab – with my cock in
your pussy and this blade on your face.”
“Fuck you!” Olivia snarled, grinding down her panic and wondering if she could make a run for
it. Or maybe screaming would be better. Either way, she didn’t really believe this fool would try to hurt her. Was he that crazy?
“Oh, yes you will fuck me, sexy thing. All in good time,” Eduardo said lightly. And then before
Olivia could react, he was grabbing both her wrists in one huge fist. She screamed, shocked into
stumbling after him as he dragged her off the sidewalk and just beyond to the darkened side of an
abandoned building close by.
Yelling furiously at him, she struggled and dug in her heels but the bastard was so freaking
strong. He pushed her hard against the wall on the side of the building, and held her trapped with his big, tall body while his hand flashed up to rest the blade against her throat. Olivia’s voice died off.
“That’s right, bitch. Shut the fuck up. Because I’ve got better things in mind that your pretty little mouth could be doing for me right now than screaming.”
“Please. Just let me go,” Olivia breathed out, staring into his furious eyes. He did look a little bit out of it. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and knew that alcohol and crazy didn’t go well together at all.
“I don’t think so,” he grunted, pushing his lower body hard against hers and making her feel his
throbbing member. “I need to show you what happens to pretty little teases like you.”
This couldn’t be happening, Olivia thought even as her mind went blank with shock. The knife’s
edge came so close to her skin she could almost feel her flesh begin to nick at the sharpness.
“Please,” she choked out one more time, hoping to appeal to his better sense. Did he realize she knew what he looked like and he could go to prison for the rest of his life for
this? Unless, of course, he had no intention of letting her off alive…
He merely let out a snarl of a smile at her plea. And in the shadows his teeth gleamed
fearsomely. Olivia wished now that she knew some kind of self-defense tactics to get this beast to his knees for even thinking he could get away with this.
“Oh, you’ll beg, baby girl. But not for me to let you go,” Eduardo growled. “You’ll be begging
for me not to stop as I hammer into your pussy with my cock.”
Olivia let out a whimper of despair, and then drew in a breath as she heard footsteps behind
them. She saw Eduardo’s head whip around at the figure who was moving closer to the broken down
end of the building where he’d trapped her. Olivia’s eyes narrowed in surprise and relief as the huge figure advanced. Even though the shadows hid his face, she was relieved that at last she was getting saved from this lunatic.
“Looks like someone likes picking on a defenseless young woman,” the voice said, making
Olivia gasp out loud. “Only thing is…she’s not as defenseless as you think, bozo.”
Ivan! Olivia screamed silently, her brain not quite wrapping around the fact that it was really
him making his way into the light of the moon shining over them in the unlit back alley. Eduardo
released Olivia and faced Ivan with a ready stance and furious expression.
“Who the fuck are you? Stay the hell out of this, motherfucker,” Eduardo snarled.
Ivan lifted his broad shoulders, encased in a snug black t-shirt. Was it Olivia’s imagination or
did he loom even bigger and taller than she remembered? Olivia’s heart lifted with amazed pleasure.
How she longed to dash off to him but Eduardo effectively blocked her way through and she didn’t
relish trying to struggle past the lunatic.
“I wish I could, man. But you see, the way I’m wired, I just can’t look the other way when I see
someone innocent about to be hurt.”
Eduardo huffed. “Well then, you can walk away with a clean conscience, hero. Because this
bitch is definitely no innocent. She’s a slutty tease and she’s got it coming.”
Olivia could see how Ivan’s fury had overtaken his whole frame. She recognized the signs; saw