Men Out of Uniform: 6 Book Omnibus

by Rhonda Russell

  Huck’s gaze tangled with hers, smokey and sated and loaded with male satisfaction, and something shifted around her heart. Something dangerous and ill-conceived and just plain stupid because it had no place here.

  But before she could completely panic, he slid his hands over her bottom once more, then carefully--reluctantly, she could tell--pulled away from her. She immediately missed his warmth, the feel of those big wonderful hands on her body.

  With the help of a tissue he’d grabbed from her nightstand, he made quick work of the condom, then drew back the covers and settled her in bedside him. Despite the protection in the bedside drawer, she’d never had a man in her bed before.

  It was...nice, Sapphira decided. Because it was Huck.

  The moment begged for conversation, for a compliment or at the very least a thank you. He’d just given her the very best sex--and very best orgasm--in her life and yet...Sapphira couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

  She waited, hoping he’d contribute something.

  He didn’t. He doodled his fingers on her upper arm, drew lazy circles and seemed to be completely content. He sighed into her hair. She concentrated on the heavy rise and fall of his chest beneath her ear, the delicious feel of her smooth leg slung over his hairier one. On anything but what lay unspoken between them.

  But...how the hell was that possible after what they’d just shared? How could he simply lay there and not say anything? Because he couldn’t think of anything positive? she wondered, becoming ridiculously paranoid. What? If he couldn’t say anything nice, then he wasn’t going to say anything at all? Was that his game?

  Fine, Sapphira thought. Besides, this was probably the only way she’d ever have the last word. Pasting a smile on her face, she snuggled in closer to him and sighed as though all was right in her world. And curiously, because she was with him, she could almost believe it.

  “Huck?”

  “Hmm?”

  “I need to tell you something.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ve got an appointment with the gynecologist in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Feeling like the proverbial only rooster in the hen house, Huck shifted miserably in the squeaky leather chair in Sapphira’s gynecologist’s office and pretended not to be uncomfortable--pretended being the operative word.

  Truth be told, he felt so damned twitchy it was a miracle his skin hadn’t started flaking off.

  When Sapphira had announced last night--immediately following the best sex he’d ever had in his life, because she was evil--that she needed to go to the gynecologist today, Huck had known one single blinding moment of panic. Visions of VD and antibiotics had flashed in his post-orgasm fuzzy brain, but then sanity had returned in the form of her laughter, and he’d relaxed.

  In the first place, they’d used protection, and in the second place, he instinctively knew she was healthy. After all, he thought, feeling a wicked grin slid over his lips, she’d tasted fine.

  She’d rattled off some nonsense about a bad pap smear--whatever the hell that was--and how the test had needed to be redone. He shouldn’t worry--she was fine, she’d assured him. It was merely a precaution and while they were out, could they please drop by her favorite coffee shop and that was all.

  She promised.

  Considering that she hadn’t asked to go anywhere in the past couple of days and she’d chosen a time when, admittedly, he would have told her she could fly to the moon if she’d had a rocket available, Huck had simply toyed with her breast, sighed heavily--because he was doomed--and said yes.

  Then, because he knew his job was going to come to the same disastrous end as his last career, he’d said to hell with it all and spent the entire night in her bed, punctuating the wee hours with the best sleep he’d had in years and the best sex...ever.

  Honestly, he’d known the attraction--the sheer force of her appeal--had exceeded anything in his extensive experience, but nothing--nothing--could have prepared him for the absolute annihilation of his self-control and resulting response.

  He hadn’t just wanted her--he’d had to have her.

  Impossibly, even sitting here in this wretched doctor’s office while feminine atrocities were being conducted behind closed doors, he could feel the heat writhing in his loins, creeping up his dick.

  He should have been satisfied. Shouldn’t have the friggin’ strength. And yet, if she walked out that door right now, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could take her.

  Gratifyingly, he also knew--not simply suspect, as she was so keen on pointing out last night--that she wanted him too, that she’d let him. Thankfully, whatever mad fever had corrupted his own blood, brain or what have you, had infected hers as well. No brag, just fact, but Huck knew when a woman wanted him. A lingering look, quickened breath, a shallow sigh. Those were nice. But nothing compared to the being the object of her affection.

  She had to taste, touch, sample...everything.

  She was fearless and tireless and completely uninhibited. He hadn’t had to coax a single response from her, hadn’t had to jump through the usual seduction hoops. She’d wanted him and she’d had him--repeatedly--and this morning, when there could have been an awkward moment between them, Sapphira’s bright green eyes had warmed with pleasure and, a sleepy smile still on her lips, she’d pressed a kiss against his cheek and then rolled out of bed, completely naked, citing a necessary visit.

  Minutes later they’d been sharing coffee and slathering jam over a bagel. It had been...easy, Huck realized now, and disturbingly domestic.

  At some point he knew that he’d have to discuss the ramifications of a sexual relationship with her--after all, this was the woman who’d already asked for a replacement once--but at the moment he wanted nothing more than to simply enjoy spending some time with her. And no doubt that would lead to having more sex with her, and since he didn’t seem physically capable of keeping his hands off of her, this was probably the most realistic plan to try and put into action.

  His cell vibrated at his waist once again--he’d already fielded another call this morning from his PI, who’d yet to turn up anything on his father--temporarily giving him a reason to do something other than stare at the poster of the female anatomy adhered to the wall. “Finn.”

  “We’ve been over the letter you couriered over yesterday afternoon and it’s clean,” Payne said.

  Dammit, Huck thought, unsurprised. We’re they ever going to get a break? “I figured as much,” he told him, passing a hand over his face.

  “How’s the house arrest going?”

  “Better than expected,” Huck said, flushing with a guilty smile. “We’re out right now actually. She had a doctor’s appointment.”

  “Don’t tell me she’s back at the gynecologist?”

  Huck stilled, a memory niggling just out of reach in the back of his mind. “Yes,” he said cautiously. “What? You’ve been here before?”

  “Just last week,” Payne said. “For a yearly pelvic exam, according to her. But it’s funny because I got the impression she’d been there a lot recently. All of the nurses were on a first name basis with her and one of them made the comment, ‘It’s not long now.’ If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that she was pregnant.”

  The female anatomy poster he’d been staring at spun at an odd angle and his mouth went bone dry. “P-pregnant?” Huck asked, coughing on the word. Surely not. He’d know, right? Wouldn’t he have been able to tell? Wouldn’t her breasts have been tender? Her belly a little full?

  Pregnant?

  “She’s not,” Payne said. “I point blank asked her and she said no. Frankly, I’ve always been good at picking up on a lie and my gut told me she was telling the truth.” He paused. “But I do think it’s a little odd that she’s back there already. What reason did she give?”

  “That she’d had a bad pap smear and it needed to be redone. I’m, uh... I’m not familiar with it and I--“

  “Hold on,” Payne
said, cutting him off. Huck heard him call out to someone else--his wife, maybe?--then ask a series of muffled questions. “Okay, Emma says that it’s possible that the original test got botched, but... I don’t know. I don’t trust her. My internal alarm is going off here.”

  His, too, Huck thought, staring at the door where Sapphira had gone inside. He’d insisted on sitting in the hall rather than in the waiting room. How was he supposed to protect her if he didn’t know where the hell she was? he’d argued, much to her annoyance.

  “Let me ask you something, Payne,” Huck said speculatively. “Did you wait in the lobby or go back with her?”

  “She wouldn’t let me go back with her, but I refused to wait in the lobby. We compromised by letting me guard her examining room door.”

  “Right. That’s what I’m doing as well. Did you go into the room and inspect it first?”

  “I tried,” Payne said. “She wouldn’t have it.”

  Huck hummed under his breath. He was beginning to see a pattern here. He’d wanted to scope things out as well and she’d acted as though he were a total moron for even suggesting it. And since this was her territory, so to speak, he’d relented.

  Clearly that had been a mistake.

  Because what had even become more transparent was the fact that she was hiding something.

  Again.

  Huck smothered a long-suffering sigh and told Payne he’d keep him informed.

  “Do,” Payne said. “I’m getting a weird vibe.”

  His conscious twinging with the uncomfortable knowledge that he’d just slept with his first assignment and that it was a shitty damned way to thank the men who’d taken a chance on him, Huck muttered a “Sure thing” and disconnected.

  Then, after less than a moment’s hesitation, he stood up and made his way to the door to the room where Sapphira had disappeared more than twenty minutes ago. The doctor, a short Indian man with a warm smile, had gone inside while he’d been on the phone with Payne. He leaned in and listened intently.

  A strange, watery thump-thump-thump sounded, followed by an unmistakable “Awww. Isn’t that wonderful?”

  Not Sapphira’s voice, Huck thought, frowning. A nurse? He didn’t think so. A nurse had ushered Sapphira in, but hadn’t lingered. She’d exited shortly thereafter and not another single soul, with the exception of the doctor, had gone into that room. He’d be willing to bet his life on it.

  “A nice strong heartbeat,” a heavily accented voice confirmed. The slide of wheels across the floor then, “Let’s check you then and see where you are this week.”

  A strong heartbeat? Check her? Whose heartbeat? And check who? Dammit, he needed to be in that room. None of this made any sense and a horrible sensation had taken root in his gut. He strongly suspected someone in that room was pregnant, and if it wasn’t Sapphira, then just who the hell was it? Was that what she’d been hiding?

  “Can I help you?”

  Huck started and turned around to find another nurse, this one scowling and unfriendly, staring at him. He upped the charm wattage hoping to soften her, but didn’t believe for an instant it would work. His lesbian radar rattled significantly. “No thanks, I’m just listening.”

  “If you were allowed to listen, then you would have been invited into the room.” She lifted her chin. “I’m afraid I’m going to have ask you to leave.”

  Oh, shit. Since it hadn’t worked, Huck abandoned any pretense of charm and blanked his face of any emotion. “And I’m afraid I’m going to have to refuse. I’m Sapphira Stravos’s security detail and I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her nostrils flared as she inhaled an incensed breath. “Then kindly return to your seat. It’s impolite to eavesdrop,” she pointed out, directing a pudgy finger at uncomfortable chair.

  Though he didn’t particularly care for her imperious gesture or the criticism, Huck decided it would be better to heed the woman than cause a loud scene. While he’d like nothing better than to charge the room and find out exactly what was going on--and were he still a Ranger, that’s the precise strategy he would have employed--he knew his current line of work wanted more finesse.

  It was a mystery, Huck decided, one he had every intention of solving.

  And when he’d put all the pieces together, he planned to share them with Sapphira...and dare her to take them apart.

  * * *

  “Carmen, you’re fifty percent effaced and dilated a centimeter.” Dr. Borgu shrugged. “You could deliver any time now. As we discussed last week, it’s normal to have a little spotting and mild contractions after you’ve been checked, so don’t worry about that. If, however, your contractions become regular and are five minutes or less apart, or your water breaks, then go directly to the hospital.”

  Smiling, Carmen nodded. Seemingly satisfied, the doctor shook her hand and left the room. Sapphira quickly moved to the door to make sure that Huck wasn’t going to try and steal a peek into the room. Honestly, she wouldn’t put it past him. He’d tried every way in the world to accompany her into the exam--which wouldn’t have been a good idea even if she’d really been having another pap smear--and she’d had to heave many an exasperated sigh to limit his presence to the hallway.

  Carmen’s dark gaze found Sapphira’s. “You’re going to come to the hospital, right? You’ll be there?”

  “I promise,” Sapphira told her, offering a reassuring smile. No matter what it took, she wouldn’t let her down.

  Honestly, looking at Carmen--at the grace and strength she’d shown at seventeen while dealing with an unplanned pregnancy and impending motherhood--Sapphira knew her own problems, annoying though they were, paled drastically in comparison. Carmen had repeatedly thanked her for her support, had reiterated her appreciation over and over, but what the younger girl didn’t understand was that you couldn’t put a price tag on what Carmen had shown her.

  She’d been so brave, so strong, had matured with an inherent efficiency only impending motherhood could have brought about. She looked at Carmen, listened to her baby’s heartbeat and knew had her own baby survived, she would have been strong enough to do those things as well. Was it hard, when she missed her own unborn child with every beat of her heart? Yes. But it was worth it.

  That, Sapphira thought as she watched Carmen rub a hand over her swollen belly, was utterly priceless.

  “So have you thought any more about what we talked about?” Sapphira asked her.

  Carmen hesitated. “You mean the job?”

  “And school,” Sapphira added. She’d talked to her cohorts at Belle Charities and they’d unanimously decided to put Carmen on staff as a permanent mentor for unwed mothers. Unlike the rest of them, she’d be a paid employee, with benefits. They’d also agreed that a job without an education wasn’t going to suffice. Carmen had the brains, the drive and the ability to do so much more and, ultimately, to teach other women like her how to accomplish the same things. While the other mentors would offer support and advice, Carmen’s first-hand experience would validate her in ways the rest of them could never imagine.

  In short, her story would make her a credible mentor for their cause, and investing in her and her education was a sound financial decision.

  “I appreciate the job offer, Sapphira, you know I do,” she said, her chin tilting at a familiar proud angle. “But the scholarship is too much. I can’t accept it. Working is one thing. You know I’m not afraid to work--”

  Too true, Sapphira knew. Despite the hell it had wrought on her back Carmen had held onto her job at a local bookstore and had continued to go to school.

  “--but I won’t take that sort of hand out. It’s too much.”

  “Carmen, it’s a hand up, not a hand out. There’s a difference.”

  She started to shake her head. “I don’t think--“

  “Carmen, please. You need this,” Sapphira said, taking her hand. She grinned. “And your baby is going to need it, too.”

  She smiled weakly, looked away and shook her head, clearly on t
he verge of relenting. “It’s low to play the baby card, you know that, don’t you?”

  “I’ll do whatever I have to do to get you to say yes,” Sapphira needled. “Little Esmerelda is going to need an educated mother.”

  Carmen’s dark eyes widened. “Esmerelda? I’m not naming this baby Esmerelda,” she said, wrinkling nose in distaste.

  “Then what are you naming this baby?” It was a game they’d played since the beginning and a carefully guarded secret as far as Carmen was concerned. While it would have driven her insane, Carmen had even refused to know the sex of the baby. “Ten fingers? Ten toes? Everything is where it’s supposed to be? Then that’s all I want to know.”

  And she’d meant it, insisting that it be a surprise.

  “You know I’m not telling you until its born,” Carmen said. She glanced at her watch and winced. “I’ve got to hurry. My shift starts in less than an hour.”

  Sapphira felt her brow wrinkle. “Are you sure you need to go to work?”

  “I’m sure I need the money,” Carmen said, ever practical. She gathered her purse, hugged Sapphira tightly and thanked her again for attending the appointment with her. “You keep that cell on and fully charged,” she instructed. “I’d hate to have to storm the gates of your hoity-toity estate.” She chuckled softly. “How’s the new body guard working out?”

  Sapphira had told her about Huck yesterday in their brief instant message conversation. The mere thought of him made the tops of her thighs burn and remembered heat throbbed in her sex. “He’s a caveman,” she said. “But he’s not that bad.”

  Carmen stilled and she stared at her long enough to make her want to squirm. “You like this one,” she breathed, seemingly stunned.

  What the hell? Sapphira thought as panic punched her pulse into overdrive. Was she wearing a sign? Had she become that pitifully transparent? Sapphira cleared her throat and tried to appear nonchalant. “He’s nice enough, I suppose. If you like that sort of thing.”