Her face flamed. Did she really have such low self-esteem that she couldn’t believe a man might actually love her? She knew from the start that Kane was physically attracted to her—Whitney had paired them. She knew they would have a great sex life, and she’d believed that he would stay with her for that reason. She’d fallen hard for him, something very unexpected and terrifying. But she hadn’t believed it was possible for him to feel the same emotions.
“Baby,” his voice was gentle, compelling. “You have to talk to me. If we stop talking, we’re through.”
“I just realized that I’ve allowed Whitney to undermine my confidence in myself as a woman—as a lovable woman. When it was physical attraction between us, I was comfortable with that, because it was all part of Whitney’s experiment, part of his great plan to produce the perfect supersoldier. But I fell in love with you, and that made me so vulnerable to one of his games. He knew it. He had to have known it. After you left my room, I begged him to pair us together, and I could see how pleased he was. I knew I’d given him another weapon to use against me, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want you suffering without me suffering. At the time I felt I was being fair and taking responsibility.” Her eyes met his. “He knew it before me.”
“Knew what?”
“That I’d already fallen in love with you.”
“Rose.” His voice sent a million birds to flight in her stomach. “Fuck Whitney and what he thinks he knows. You trusted me to make a baby with you. You trusted me to deliver our child and to get you both out of trouble. You can trust me with your heart. God knows, I gave you mine completely. You walk away, and you take it with you.”
She stared up at his beloved face, all those tough lines etched deep, those beautiful green eyes that could pierce like an arrow. He could shatter her so easily, it was true, but if she was going to shatter, better it be with him. In the end, he was offering her refuge, love, a home. He was all she needed if she had the courage to accept that he could love her.
Kane was giving her everything, openly and honestly. She could see truth in his eyes. Was she really so stupid that she’d believe what Whitney had taught her over Kane? Rose shook her head. “I’m sorry, I lost my mind for a minute.”
He bent forward to brush a gentle kiss over her mouth. “You’re allowed.”
Sebastian protested, squirming, giving a small cry of annoyance at the change in position.
Kane laughed softly. “Don’t blame me, son, your mother is the one who is all mixed up. She’s beautiful and intelligent, all right, but I’m beginning to think perhaps she has little lapses occasionally while brain cells regenerate.”
“You did not just tell our son that,” Rose said, desperate to suppress the laughter welling up. The relief at Kane’s reaction to her idiocy was overwhelming. She wanted to weep and laugh at the same time. Instead she was practical, taking Sebastian from his arms. “Clearly, the boy needs to eat. I’m going to be having a little talk with him while I feed him too.”
Kane swept his arm around her waist and pulled her beneath the protection of his shoulder. She loved it when he did that. She didn’t need protection, but it was thrilling all the same.
“Eric is bringing the physical therapist with him again today,” he reminded when she would have sunk into a chair right in the living room.
Rose rolled her eyes. “It’s natural to breast-feed, Kane.”
“Absolutely, and I love you to breast-feed him. The thing is, I must be some kind of a perv, because whenever you feed him, I want you so damn bad I think I’m going to have to throw you up against the wall and take you right there. It takes a lot of discipline and control to behave myself. I sure don’t want any other man getting the same reaction.”
She felt the blush start somewhere in her toes and steal all the way up her body. She wouldn’t mind him slamming her up against the wall and taking her right then. “I wouldn’t say no,” she informed him in her best siren’s voice.
He groaned. “That was just wrong. Now every time you feed our son, I’m going to have the hard-on from hell and think about your reaction to my throwing you up against the wall. You just can’t put images like that in my head.”
She sat demurely in the chair across from their bed and settled herself comfortably. “I believe you put the image in my head, Kane. Which, given that the odious doctor and what I am very certain is most likely a clone of him are arriving any minute, wasn’t a very nice thing for you to do.” Deliberately she took her time unbuttoning her blouse. Ordinarily she would have covered herself a bit with a blanket, but instead, just to tease him, she unclipped her nursing bra, exposing her firm, round breast.
“I’ll just have to sit here, fantasizing about taking a long, wild ride on your very enormous hard-on.” She stared hungrily at the front of his jeans, her gaze devouring the thick bulge there. Deliberately she moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue and then ran it around her lips in anticipation.
He groaned and adjusted his jeans. “That’s just not right. You’re torturing me.”
“You deserve it for being right about going out with shadows tailing us. I hate not being right. And anytime you best me, just think of this moment.” He was standing close enough to her so she gave in to temptation and reached out to stroke the front of his jeans in long caresses.
He didn’t move but pushed into her hands, allowing the friction to deepen. “I did do that, didn’t I?” He grinned at her. “Bested you, babe. I was right.”
She rolled her eyes. “Rub it in, soldier.” She increased the pressure on the front of his jeans, drawing another groan from him.
The strobe in the bedroom went off at the same time the intercom buzzed at the front door. Kane sagged. “This just sucks.”
Rose smiled serenely and cradled Sebastian to her. She’d done a darn good job of turning the tables on him. Playing together was important. Just like trust. There were so many things she had to learn about relationships. The camaraderie between Kane and Mack and Jaimie was the same she’d shared with the women she’d been raised with. They shared trust, an unbreakable bond, along with the other members of the team. She wanted to be part of that. When she walked out onto the street to do her shopping or go to a movie—something she’d always dreamt of doing—she would feel safe knowing they were watching over her.
She rubbed Sebastian’s head, noting his hair was growing fast and thick. He seemed stronger than ever. She’d read in the baby book of the progress he was supposed to make from week to week, and he seemed far ahead both physically and mentally of where he should be. He obviously recognized both of his parents and even the team, although he was much more withdrawn around them. He rarely made a sound around the others. Rose had to watch him closely for cues when he might by hungry or need his diaper changed.
He was always eerily silent around strangers. The doctor and physical therapist as well as any deliveryman prompted him to go completely still, and he stared unblinkingly at them until they left his line of sight. He had easily held up his head far before the book told her he would, and he was pushing himself up by his arms as well as using his hands with coordination.
“Because you’re so smart, Sebastian,” she whispered. Inside, she was just a little afraid. If Whitney ever got an inkling that Sebastian was weeks ahead of where he should be in his development, she was certain he would send an army after the boy.
She tried to keep her son away from everyone and often cautioned Kane not to brag about him, even to his team members. If Sergeant Major learned about Sebastian, would he say something to his superiors? Would it be put in a report somewhere for Whitney to find? She knew the man had spies everywhere. Money talked, and Whitney had plenty of it. He also was very adept at blackmailing people into getting what he wanted. Or threatening them.
Whitney had a variety of ways to succeed at his plans, and he was ruthless enough to always come out on top.
She brushed kisses on top of Sebastian’s head before switching him to the other
breast. “You don’t have to worry, son,” she whispered, rocking him a little. He always seemed to sense her agitation and reacted, snuggling closer as if to comfort her. “You’ve got not only your daddy and me but Mack and Javier and all the rest of the team. I know some of them are scary, but they’ll look after you always.”
Saying the words aloud comforted her. Maybe no one was completely free. She wasn’t a prisoner unless one counted love caging her in. It was her choice to stay with Kane and the others. “We can have a life here, Sebastian. It won’t be perfect. You’ll have to learn about self-defense and guns and hand-to-hand combat, but we’ll have fun. I promise you that. We’ll definitely have fun.”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Kane stuck his head into the bedroom, keeping the door closed just in case anyone might catch a glimpse of her. “I’m heading up to the training floor. Eric gave the okay, and they’re going to work me a little harder.”
She laughed. “Does he know you’ve been training for the last couple of weeks?”
He frowned at her and gave a quick shake of the head.
“I knew you were lying to me when you said he gave the thumbs-up.”
“I never told you Eric gave me the thumbs-up. When you asked me if it was okay for me to train, I put my thumb up, that’s all. I can’t help how you interpret gestures.”
“I can give you a couple of other gestures you might want to interpret,” she threatened, trying not to laugh. He was impossible to keep down.
“We can discuss that when I get back. Or you could call Jaimie and ask her if she wants to go shopping with you.”
She could see the effort it took for him to make that concession. He was determined to give her whatever freedom she needed. “I might put off the shopping until tomorrow, and you can arrange for our shadow escort ahead of time. That way, no one has to scramble or interrupt any plans they might have already made.” She leered suggestively. “I think a discussion is definitely in order when you get back. I’ll have Sebastian asleep by then. I’m going to play with him now. He likes to be on the floor.”
“He rolled over the other day.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell him she’d seen Sebastian doing that particular trick a few times. He was abnormally strong. She planned on mentioning it to Paul the next time she saw him. There was no question that Sebastian had inherited special DNA from both parents.
“He’s great, isn’t he?” she answered. “Don’t overdo, Kane. Really, just do what the physical therapist says is safe.”
He blew her a kiss and shut the door behind him. She could hear his laughter fading away as she snapped her bra back into place and buttoned her shirt before lifting Sebastian to her shoulder to rub his back until he burped.
She loved the way he smelled, all clean and fresh with a hint of his father on him. “Do you feel like playing today, son?” She crooned as she spread the thick rug Kane had brought her just for this purpose. He had more baby toys than any one child should ever have because the team was constantly bringing him gifts.
She stretched out on the floor, lying on her stomach next to him. Sebastian immediately pushed himself up as if doing a push-up from the knees up. He held his head up and looked around the room before looking at her, almost for approval.
“That’s a boy. Stretch out. Doesn’t that feel good? Your arms are getting very strong, Sebastian. Now push with your legs.” She turned him over and took his legs, singing softly as she mimicked kicking and walking in the air.
Sebastian laughed and cooed at her. She loved his bright eyes and the instant response. He rarely cried, watching her and Kane with his intelligent eyes. She leaned down to kiss his foot. “You’re such a happy baby,” she told him.
Sebastian’s gaze shifted from her face to look just over her left shoulder. His eyes went wide and staring, and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Rose rolled away from the baby, trying to get her feet under her. A dark shadow loomed over her, caught her by her hair, and threw her forward so that she landed hard a few feet away, sprawling facedown again. The moment she hit the floor, she rolled under the bed and out the other side, leaping to her feet and grabbing for the knife she kept on the nightstand.
A second man appeared in the doorway, scooping up Sebastian, who stiffened and began to wail at the top of his lungs, kicking and squirming, fighting the large hands of his kidnapper.
As Rose rushed around the bed, the first man caught her by her ankle and yanked. As she went down, he slammed into her back with the force of a linebacker, knocking the wind from her body. She felt a sharp sting in the side of her neck, and the man caught her body up and tossed her over his shoulder.
She hit his back with her head, unable to move. The knife dropped from her hand, the tip sinking into the floor. It wobbled back and forth for a long, strange, slow-motion moment, and then everything went black.
CHAPTER 15
“Keep going,” John Baily snapped, his face a stern mask.
Kane wiped the sweat from his forehead where it was dripping down to sting his eyes. He glanced at Eric. The doctor leaned against the wall staring into space, paying no attention to the therapist torturing him. Everything hurt. He could barely breathe, and he wasn’t altogether certain he could keep going. Was that the point? Were they trying to drive home to him that he was still weak?
He ignored Baily and stalked across the room to snatch up a towel. Gideon leaned against the wall regarding him with worried eyes.
“Tell him to go to hell,” he suggested. “He’s a sadist.”
“I haven’t even been working ten minutes,” Kane said, slightly ashamed. “He’s got me going up the ropes over and over, and my gut just can’t take it yet.”
“This is a bullshit workout, and you know it,” Gideon said. “I think Eric went to sleep, or he’d be all over this guy.”
Lights began flashing throughout the workout room.
Gideon turned and ran for the door, Kane following on his heels. The silent alarm had to have been triggered by one of the team; no one else knew about it.
Two Ghosts coming out of Kane’s house. They both carry a precious package. Javier’s voice filled their minds. Steady. Cool. Lethal.
Gideon broke off and went up the stairs two at a time. He could serve them better from the roof. He would be their eyes and wouldn’t miss if he got a shot.
Kane could hear his blood roaring in his ears. He didn’t have to be told what those precious packages were. How the hell had they gotten in without triggering the alarm? Mack met him on the stairs and threw him a gun. He knew the other team members would be pouring into the street, onto the roof, and would be ready to go mobile if their prey somehow managed to get through the gauntlet of team members.
Whitney’s two men burst out of the warehouse, running for the waiting SUV. It was dark with tinted windows and should have been running. Instead, all four tires were slashed and the engine was off. The man with the baby tore open the passenger door, looked inside to see the driver slumped over the wheel, his throat a mass of blood. Swearing, he slammed the door, and the two men took off running for the docks.
I’ve got eyes on them, Ethan reported. He was on the roof of the second building, already making his sweep for enemies. Heading for the docks. He caught sight of Gideon running across the warehouse roof toward the ocean side. A movement on the roof of the building across the street sent a chill through him. Gideon, drop! Drop!
Gideon threw himself flat as a bullet spit into vent housing, missing his head by a scant inch.
Damn it, Gideon. Are you hit? I don’t have a shot. I can’t take the shot. Lucas? Again it was Ethan. Fucking fog.
He hadn’t heard the shot, but there was no doubt one of Whitney’s sharpshooters had gained the roof of the apartment building, where they were most vulnerable. It wasn’t a long shot by any means and easily a silencer could be used without fear of losing accuracy.
Shoot that bastard, Ethan, Gideon snapped, keeping down. He couldn’t help, pinned down as he wa
s.
I’ve got him, Lucas Atherton announced calmly. The sound of the shot cut through the drifting fog. He’s down.
The three men on the roof of the buildings scrambled to become the eyes for the team spreading out like wolves hunting on the ground. People walked along the street, moved through the fish market at the far end of the docks, and workers unloaded cargo along the docks. Traffic moved slowly, and the world seemed oblivious to the drama taking place on the street.
Javier, on a skateboard, dropped into position just a few yards from the fleeing men. He looked like any other teenager out for fun, sliding in and out of pedestrians with ease. He had spotted the SUV waiting in front of the warehouse and had taken a closer look before disposing of the driver.
Kane and Mack burst from the warehouse and ran together, weaving in and out of the pedestrians, sprinting fast. A bullet shattered the glass of a small bookstore, sending shards flying into the air and raining down onto the sidewalk and street. Several people screamed and began running.
Take a left, Top, through the alley. You’ll get around in front of them. Javier is closer to them, and Brian’s flanking them on their left. Gideon was as calm as ever.
Jacob’s closing in from the right, Lucas reported.
Get the shooter, Mack snapped.
Already done, Top, Ethan said as he took his shot. The shooter was in an apartment on the third floor, fifth window over. Ethan fired through the window, watching his bullet hit the target. He’s down. Sweeping now.
Paul and Marc are right behind you, Top, Gideon added.
Paul Mangan and Marc Lands were the best medics they had on their team. If Rose or the child were injured, it would be up to them to save them quickly.
They were surrounding the enemy, closing in fast.
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