“You are going to be impressed.”
“I know I will be,” Hawk said in the same boisterous tone as his host.
Two of Kroll’s goons slid open the massive warehouse doors and overhead lights flooded the massive space. Hawk’s jaw dropped at the display. The place was packed with rows and rows of crates, packed with guns. Handguns, sniper, semi-automatic, and automatic rifles. Grenades. Rocket launchers. C4 explosives. Igor passed by the crates and shelves housing his weapons explaining what each weapon was and what it did. And then he got to a rather large rocket in the back of the room. He waved his hand over it with a flourish.
“And this, my fine hyena friend, is my nuke.”
Hawk had to force himself to remain calm.
The fact that this man was selling a nuclear weapon to terrorists made his skin crawl. Hawk had to use every ounce of self-control to keep his inner bear from pounding the guy right in the face until he smashed the evil right out of him.
“My associates will be so pleased,” he finally said, smiling wickedly to reveal his gold tooth.
“I thought you’d say so.” Kroll smiled broadly, holding the lapels of his pink suit jacket as his stomach quivered with glee.
“I will arrange for payment to arrive at pickup tomorrow.” The raid was planned for exactly the time when Kroll expected them to arrive for the weapons. That would mean all of his security was there and accounted for. All of the weapons would be on the premises. He would be armed to the teeth and ready for anything at that point in time, but that was exactly what the Justice Squad with counting on. That meant they were sure to nab every single one of Kroll’s cronies, all the weapons, and all the contact information they needed for their true mission. Bringing down the hyena terrorists and preventing them from ever hurting another innocent person again.
Kroll and Hawk walked out of the warehouse and onto the grounds. He spotted the slim figure of a woman walking at the edge of the forest on the other side of the lawn. Kroll waved his hand and called out to Elena. She looked up at them, her shoulders slumping slightly. She approached, and as she grew closer, Hawk could see the mistrust and anger in her eyes.
“Daughter,” Kroll said, gripping her delicate shoulder with his meaty fist. “Why don’t you show our friend here around the compound. Get to know him a little better. He’s just the sort of person that I’d love to have close to the family.”
“I was busy,” she said breathlessly.
“Nonsense. I insist.” He slapped Hawk on the back and laughed. “You two get to know each other better. I think you’ll find that you like more than just my weapons.”
“I would be delighted,” Hawk said, turning from Kroll to his daughter.
Elena squinted in the bright afternoon sunlight. She didn’t look pleased. Her frown grew deeper as her father began to walk away. Then she plastered a fake smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. She glanced around, seeing her father’s goons patrolling the area with their guns in hand. Things were heating up at the Kroll compound as the trade-off grew closer. Elena was a smart woman. She wasn’t going to give anything away, no matter how upset she was at Hawk. She knew how to stay safe. He was sure of it.
“Let me show you the boxwood maze,” she said, motioning for him to follow her deeper into the property.
“Is that what that is? I was curious about it. I’d love to see it.” He was relieved that she was taking him to exactly the location that he knew was going to be safe from any security cameras.
They walked across the damp lawn and entered the maze. The hem of Elena’s white dress was discolored from the dew on the grass. She wore waterproof boots that hugged her shapely legs and a hand knit sweater wrapped around her slim figure. Her long blonde hair hung in waves around her shoulders and her bright blue eyes twinkled in the autumn sunlight.
She was so beautiful. So enchanting and mysterious. He wished he could reach out and take her hand, pull her close and hold her tight. He wished he could take away all the fear and the pain and all the suspicion. But all he could really do was tell her the truth and try to make her understand.
As they approached the center of the maze, Elena turned on him, and her eyes pierced him with determination. He could see the rage in her beautiful delicate body as she raised a trembling fist.
“Tell me who you are. Tell me who you are right now, or I swear to God I will tell my father everything I know about you.”
“All right, Elena. I want to tell you the truth. I’m going to tell you everything I can. But you must understand I am putting myself and others at risk doing so. But you matter more to me than anything else.”
“How could I matter so much to you? You don’t know me. You know nothing about me.”
“I know that you’re my mate,” he said, taking her raised fist and pressing her palm against his heart. “And I know that you feel it too. It’s impossible that you would not.”
She whimpered and pulled away, turning her back to him. She covered her face with her hands and let out a sound that was somewhere between a scream and a whimper. She whirled back at him, her face confused and tormented.
“Tell me who you are.” Her words were almost a whisper.
“My name is Colonel Hawk Barlow. I am the leader of a clandestine military operation. I am here investigating your father. He is selling weapons to terrorists. My team and I are here to end that. If you are the woman I believe you to be, you would support that. And you would believe me. I’m putting everything on the line for you, Elena. Everything.” Now it was Hawk’s voice that trembled.
He watched her expression change from anger to understanding and then remorse. She walked to him, and her face opened to him for the first time since they’d met. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened. She shook her head, confused, concerned, worried. He could smell the emotions rolling off of her. And he wished he could take it all away and make it right.
“I need you to meet me tonight. I want to take you away from here. To keep you safe.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that you will come. Say that you will meet me. The same place we met before. And I can take you to safety.”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“You will be in danger if you stay here. Please meet me tonight. I can protect you.”
“I will meet you again, Hawk Barlow. But I can’t guarantee that I’ll leave with you.”
Hawk let out a deep sigh. He wanted to scream and plead —she had to understand that her safety was on the line. He wished that she would agree to leave tonight. But at least she had agreed to meet him.
Chapter 8
After Hawk left with her father, Elena stood at the edge of the boxwood maze feeling as if her mind had never left it. She was lost in the chaos of confused emotion and conflicting information. She believed Hawk now, for better or worse. Because it was true: she did feel for him what all the books and poems and articles said a shifter mate would feel for their fated one. She couldn’t help it. She had to trust him if she was ever to trust herself again. And she understood how dangerous it was for him to reveal himself to her. If her father knew he was a US military officer, he would be dead before he left the grounds. He had trusted her with extremely sensitive information. She had no choice now but to believe in him and in herself.
He had asked her to meet him again at the same spot. He wanted to take her away. And no matter how much she wanted to run into his arms, she couldn’t just fling herself into that life. She needed to know who he was. She needed to know for sure that going with him was the right move. Him coming clean about his identity had been enough for her to meet him again and hear him out, but it wasn’t enough to make a final decision. No matter how much she wanted to. For all she knew, he was just using her to get to her father. She didn’t want to believe it, but she still wasn’t convinced.
Part of her considered packing up her things and leaving her father’s house for good. But she just wasn’t r
eady yet. She had a plane ticket booked for tomorrow evening, and she would continue with her original plan. Hawk told her she needed to leave the house, but he hadn’t told her why. Perhaps he would tell her when they met later that night. And then she would make her final decision about what to do.
Elena told her father that she was going for another bike ride an hour and a half after Hawk left the compound. It was a beautiful autumn afternoon and the sun shone down over the autumn forest. The dry golden leaves fluttered on the wind as she rode her ten speed along the secluded road. She saw dragonflies speeding by and wondered why they were about so late in the season. Again, she rode slowly, waiting and listening to ensure that no one was following her.
When she arrived at the woods where she had met Hawk before, she climbed off her bike and walked deeper into the forest. She had brought a blanket and a thermos of tea with her this time. It was growing colder, and she hoped to spend some time talking to Hawk and getting to know him. It would help her get a better sense of who he was and if she could truly trust him.
She continued deeper and deeper into the forest, walking well past the place where she had met him before. The dragonflies seem to be tailing her as they fluttered around her shoulders and shot up into the branches of the naked trees. She waited for him to stop her and let her know she’d walked far enough, but she still didn’t hear his voice.
Finally, after walking at least another mile deeper into the forest, she felt her cellphone buzz in her pocket. She stopped and read the text message, but it wasn’t from Hawk. It was from her father.
“Come home soon, I have a gift for you. Something your mother wanted to give you when you became a woman. I never had a chance before, but now it’s time.”
Elena grew emotional at the thought of a gift from her mother that had been saved for her all these years. She gasped a little and a tear formed in the corner of her eye that she swept away.
“What’s wrong?” Hawk’s voice came out from behind a tree.
She looked up in that direction and saw his handsome face emerging from the cover of the forest. He was dressed as he was the first time they’d met in private; like a rugged outdoorsman rather than a gangster.
“My father said he had a gift for me from my mother.”
“I thought your mother passed away long ago.”
“She did. But I still miss her so much.”
“It must have been hard for you to grow up in that house.” He stepped closer, the warmth of his body radiating into hers.
“That’s why I left. Without a word. He had no idea where I was until I returned.”
“You must come with me now. I can take you away from here and protect you.”
“But I don’t know you, Hawk Barlow. How can I possibly trust you? All you’ve told me is that you are a US military officer. And that you’re investigating my father. Why am I in danger? What does any of this have to do with me? If you’re here to arrest him, then do it.”
“It isn’t that easy,” Hawk said. “As you know, your father is a very dangerous man. Right now, as we speak, he is preparing an entire warehouse of weapons for the hyena terrorists to purchase. Those weapons include a nuclear bomb. Absolute care must be taken in shutting down the compound. We must arrest or neutralize every member of his organization and gather all of his contact information. That means we must drop in to the compound in one decisive raid. It’s taking place tonight, at 0300 hrs. You need to be gone before then. Things could get ugly. You could be hurt. I can’t allow you to be in the crosshairs.”
“Will he be killed?”
Elena felt dread gathering in her chest. She had no real love for her father, but she also couldn’t imagine him dying. Then she would be left with no parents, an orphan, alone in the world with no home, with no country, with no family of her own. Another tear slipped down her cheek, and she wiped it away.
“I wish things hadn’t happened like this. I wish we could have met under better circumstances. But as they say, fate works in mysterious ways. I am grateful that I was here for you. To tell you that you need to get out of that house. And to keep you safe. You can’t be in that house during the raid.”
“I won’t be. But I don’t know if I am just going to go with you. I don’t know you. I believe what you’re telling me, but I’m not a shifter. I’m a human. I don’t know what it means to be someone’s fated mate other than the things that I’ve read in magazines. I admit, I feel something. But it could just be because you’re handsome and I’m lonely.”
He took her hand and covered it with both of his, looking deeply into her eyes. “That’s not the reason,” he said in a husky voice.
“I need to know who you are. I need to know about your life. I can’t just accept your word and believe that I’m your mate and that I should just run off with you. No matter how dangerous my father is. I’m my own woman. I can’t just let myself be persuaded by you any more than I can let myself be persuaded by him.”
“What do you want to know?” he asked.
“Tell me about your life. Where did you grow up? Why did you join the military? What do you do in your spare time?”
“Come, I’ll tell you everything.”
Hawk took the handlebars of her bike and led her deeper into the forest. As they walked, he told her everything. Starting with his earliest memories from childhood. How he’d grown up on a small Colorado ranch. How he had watched his mother gather eggs and can vegetables. And how he watched his father herd cattle. He had always wanted to join the military and then return home to the family ranch. But his parents had lost their land to a bad loan and had both passed away while living in a condo in Denver while Hawk was still in service.
He regretted not being there for them. But it only made him more determined to protect those he loved, his country, and the way of life that he believed in so deeply. When he had been discharged from the military and asked to create the Justice Squad, he chose Fate Rock as their home base. It was so like the little town he’d grown up in that it was always a constant reminder of what mattered most.
Elena listened to his story, her heart buzzing and growing increasingly open to this man who now sat beside her on the warm flannel blanket they’d spread on the ground. She opened the thermos and offered him a cup of tea. She sipped the warm liquid gingerly and considered what he’d told her. She had to respect his love and loyalty to his family. It reminded her so much of her own feelings about her mother and her homeland.
“When did you start doing yoga?” he asked her between sips of tea.
“When I was about fifteen. Three years after my mother died. I was alone with my father and growing increasingly aware of the violence and crime taking place in my own home. I needed a way of escaping the horror happening all around me. I was too young and too afraid to run away. So, I lost myself in yoga. At first, I was able to find some books and then the Internet made learning more available. And then finally, when I turned eighteen, I ran away to India. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but I felt safer in the ashram than I had at home since my mother died. I found guidance and companionship there. I felt I truly had purpose. And while I don’t fully believe everything they taught me, I did gain a tremendous amount of discipline and spiritual understanding in my time there.”
“What made you decide to leave and come here?”
“I left because of my longing to have a family. I wanted to say goodbye to my father one last time. But I also had the naïve belief that maybe if I thought differently about who he was he would be different.” She laughed darkly, thinking about how silly it had been. And how that misguided belief had brought her into this dangerous situation.
“You have a big heart, Elena Kroll. You shouldn’t feel bad about yourself for that. You wanted to believe your father could change. I respect that. I believe change is possible. That the world we live in can be a more just, more balanced place, where families and communities thrive in love of each other and their own individual strengths. That’s w
hy I keep fighting this fight. Because I want to protect the freedom and the opportunity for us to love each other as we are.”
Elena looked up at Hawk’s handsome face, hearing his words. Her heart burst like a bubble and she was left speechless and breathless for several moments.
“What’s wrong?” he asked her.
“I just wasn’t expecting a special forces military officer to speak so eloquently. I’m really surprised.”
He let out a goodhearted chuckle and took her hand. “I’m glad we had this time. You are right to ask for it.”
Feeling his big warm hand holding hers sent a flutter of desire down her spine into her core. She moved on instinct, reaching out to Hawk and cupping his cheek in her hand. They looked at each other, taking each other in. He didn’t miss a beat, reading her like a book. He pulled her closer and claimed her mouth with his. The heat of their kiss was like an explosion of desire. The sparks rained down on her, igniting every fiber of her being. She groaned, hungrily, needing so much more.
His tongue slipped through her lips and she greeted it with a flood of passion and desire so intense she felt it might wash away all the darkness and all the terrible memories of her past. He pulled her closer, and she slid onto his lap astride him as he sat leaned against a sturdy tree trunk. The warm afternoon sun shone down on them and the heat of their bodies intensified.
She groaned, gripping at the collar of his shirt. She slid her body over the hardness between his legs, and he gripped her thighs and guided her as she moved with him in a slow sensuous rhythm. She could barely breathe, and her mind went blank. All she knew was she wanted him. The years of celibacy after only a handful of encounters with her teenage boyfriend instantly caught up with her and she was ravenous with need for Hawk.
His hands slid up and down her body as he thrust into her increasingly damp core. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She tore at the buttons on his shirt, revealing his muscled chest, covered in a layer of dark hair. She ran her hands over his pecs, reveling in the feeling of his masculine flesh under her hands. Hawk slid his fingers under her shirt and pushed it up over her breasts, revealing her bra to his eyes. He gazed at her, the fire in his eyes burning like the sun that grew warmer overhead.
C.O. Bear (Justice Squad Book 4) Page 5