by Susan Stoker
“Good.”
He wanted to shake her. Make sure she understood. “I could be sent to India to help fight against the people who force children to marry men four times their age, or halfway across the world to help rescue a boatload of refugees.”
“Or maybe even to the coast of San Francisco to help a lone woman, who was kidnapped and about to become a sex slave, escape and return to her life.”
“Exactly.”
Allye sat up then and put her hands on either side of his face. Her palms were warm against his cheeks. “The world needs more men like you and your friends. I wish there were more people willing to stand up for what’s right and good than assholes like the two who you killed on that boat. I don’t feel bad for them, because they made their own choices, and died as a result of them.”
Her eyes darted to his lips before coming back up to his eyes—and that was all the encouragement Gray needed. His hands gripped her hips hard enough that he knew he was probably leaving bruises on her delicate flesh, but he didn’t loosen his hold. Moving slowly, giving her a chance to pull away, Gray lowered his head.
But she didn’t pull away. In what he was beginning to learn was typical of Allye, she went after what she wanted, lifting her chin and meeting him more than halfway.
Their lips touched, and Gray jolted as if he’d just been electrocuted. Then he slanted his head and took control. Or tried to. Allye wouldn’t let him. She gave as good as she got. The slight noises coming from deep in her throat egged him on, encouraged him to take more, to give more of himself to her.
Their tongues dueled and danced together as if they’d kissed a thousand times before. Gray could taste the mint she’d eaten an hour earlier. For the first time, her position on his lap turned sexual. The heat between her thighs burned him with its intensity. His cock was hard, lengthening quickly, ready to push inside her. For a second, he contemplated the best way to rip off her shorts so he could take her right now, just like this.
But when she pulled back, breathing hard, and Gray saw a blush make its way up her chest into her cheeks, he reined himself in. He wasn’t going to fuck her like that. At least not this time. She deserved more, and for the first time in his life, he cared about what the woman he was with deserved.
In the past—the very distant past, as it had been more than a year since he’d last been with a woman—he hadn’t cared much beyond getting off . . . and chose women who felt the same way.
But Allye was different. He knew it deep down inside. When she licked her lips and then bit one uncertainly, Gray rushed to reassure her.
“Thank you.”
She looked confused. “For what?”
“For listening. For not judging me. For accepting me the way I am.”
“Of course,” was her reply. And Gray realized that for her, listening and not being judgmental was a way of life. It was simply who she was. With the way she’d been brought up, with a mother who didn’t give a shit about her, and then being shuttled from foster home to foster home, her ability to be empathetic and down-to-earth was simply a fucking miracle.
And suddenly the thought of anyone getting their hands on her and abusing her, and changing who she was as a person, was absolutely abhorrent to Gray.
He opened his mouth to tell her that he was going to make sure she was safe to live her life, where and how she wanted, when his cell phone rang.
Allye smiled shyly at him, and started to move off his lap.
Gray’s hands tightened, not wanting to lose her.
“You need to get that. It might be Meat calling to tell us what he found out.”
Gray knew she was right, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
He leaned close and kissed her forehead before helping her climb off him. With his dick still semihard, Gray stood and stalked over to the other couch where he’d left his phone.
“Gray here.”
“Turn on channel eight.”
Gray immediately looked to find the remote to the TV and do as Rex ordered. He didn’t ask why, simply turned on the television and changed it to the correct channel.
The tail end of a story about another woman who had been kidnapped in San Francisco that afternoon was playing. Apparently, she’d been taken off the streets kicking and screaming, and there were several witnesses and even a blurry cell-phone video of the incident. When the weatherman came on and began to talk about the week’s upcoming weather, Gray asked cautiously, “Why did I need to see that?”
“Ask Allye.”
Gray wasn’t surprised Rex knew she was there. He seemed to know everything. His stomach churning, he turned to Allye. As he feared, she was sitting at the edge of the couch, one hand over her mouth in shock, her eyes wide with horror.
“Kitten,” he said soothingly.
“That’s Jessie,” she said, her words mumbled from behind her hand.
“Who?”
“Jessie Callahan,” Rex answered from the speaker at his ear. “Nineteen. Five-ten, one hundred and twenty pounds. She’s a dancer at the same place your Allye works.”
“Fuck,” Gray swore, then clicked off the TV and strode over to where Allye was sitting, still in shock. “Nightingale?” he asked Rex.
“I don’t have all the details yet, but I’m assuming so, yes.”
“What’s the plan?”
“No plan,” Rex said immediately.
It didn’t sit well with Gray. “Allye knows her.” He told Rex something the man obviously already knew. “We can’t just do nothing.”
“If this is Nightingale, he did it on purpose. It’s as much proof as we’re gonna get that he was the one behind Allye’s kidnapping. He wasn’t taking her for someone else. He wanted her for himself. And now he’s pissed that she’s disappeared. He took this new woman to send a message. He’s reacting, not thinking. That can be good for us.”
Gray ground his teeth together. He knew exactly how Allye was going to react to the fact that he and his team weren’t going to do anything to find the other woman. Hell, he’d just talked about the exact same thing happening to him, and how he’d reacted when the terrorists had tortured people to get a reaction from him.
“Has Meat figured out what’s on the flash drive yet?” he asked his handler.
“No, but he says he’s close.”
“Call me when he’s got information,” Gray ordered.
“You know I will. Take care of Allye,” Rex said before hanging up.
Gray sighed and clicked off his phone. He sat next to Allye and put his hand on her knee. “What do you know about her?”
She was still staring at the television even though the screen was black. “Jessie’s a lot younger than me. She joined the troupe about four months ago. She’s a really good dancer, but jealous. She wants to be a star, and doesn’t like the fact that she has to work her way to the top.”
“Are you friends?” Gray asked.
Allye shook her head. “Not really. I mean, we’re courteous to each other, but that’s about it.” She turned those big expressive eyes his way. “Is it the same guy who took me?”
Gray wanted to lie. Wanted oh so fucking badly to lie, but he couldn’t. Not to her. “Probably.”
“It’s because I left, isn’t it?”
Gray nodded. He let her think about the situation for a minute, then asked, “You okay?”
Allye looked down at her lap before answering. “If I say yes, I’m a horrible person for being glad it’s her and not me. If I say no, then I’m being hypocritical, because I don’t really even like Jessie all that much.”
Gray brought his hands up and physically turned her to face him. He put his palms on her cheeks, much as she’d done to him earlier. “This isn’t your fault,” he told her fiercely.
She shook her head. “Technically, it is.”
“No, it’s the fault of the man who kidnapped her. Period.”
“What do you think is happening to her?”
“Don’t think about it,” he said.
“How can I not?” she returned in anguish.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she brushed his hands away from her face and pressed her thumb and index finger to her closed eyelids in an effort to hold them back.
Gray leaned into her and said urgently, “Don’t give him that power over you. The terrorists who held me and Billy did the same thing, and I fell into their trap. What he’s doing is on him, not you. Even if you flew back to California right this second and gave yourself up to that asshole Nightingale, it wouldn’t change whatever he has planned for her. Remember that.”
He saw Allye take a deep breath, then she opened her eyes and looked up at him. “What can I do, then? How do I make this stop? Will I ever be safe? Or is he going to slowly kidnap and torture everyone I know? What do I do, Gray?”
The last question was so agonized, it almost tore Gray’s heart out.
He moved slowly so he wouldn’t startle her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Not sure what her reaction would be to his attempt at comfort, he was astounded when she melted into him as if they’d been a couple for years.
“Trust me,” he said. “That’s what you do. Trust me, Rex, and the rest of the guys to fix this for you.”
She didn’t respond verbally, but the small nod he felt against his chest was enough. In fact, it was everything.
Allye Martin might have been a stranger a week and a half ago, but now, he had a feeling she’d just become the most important person in his life. More so than his team. More so than his mother and brother.
It was an odd feeling, knowing that he’d do whatever it took to protect someone. It was more than the feeling he had on missions, where he did his best to bring justice to the countless women and children he’d been sent to rescue. This was a bone-deep feeling of rightness that he couldn’t shake. That he didn’t want to shake.
Chapter Nine
Allye lay in the double bed in Gray’s guest bedroom that night, unable to sleep. For the first time in a really long while, she was struggling to figure out what her next steps should be.
Right after high school, when she’d aged out of the foster-care system, she’d drifted, not able to figure out what it was she wanted to do for a living. College was out. She didn’t have the grades, the desire, or the money to attend. But she also couldn’t get any decent jobs with only her high school diploma, so she’d used what little money she had and fled west. She’d ended up in San Francisco, and luckily had befriended some nice people who let her live with them in a small house, and from there, she’d eventually found the dance theatre.
She’d always loved dancing, and Robin had taken pity on her, giving her a job while Allye continued taking dance classes. She’d cleaned the theatre for a year before Robin finally let her join the troupe on a month-to-month basis. Allye had worked her ass off, proving to Robin, and herself, that she was serious about becoming a dancer. It wasn’t until two years ago that she’d finally earned the lead spot in a few performances. It had taken almost eight years, but she’d done it.
She’d never be a millionaire, but it was enough for her to live on.
But now . . . Allye didn’t know what to do. Going back to California would surely mean whoever was out there would continue to try to grab her. But what would she do if she didn’t go back? Where would she go? Where would she live? How would she support herself?
She finally managed to fall into a restless sleep an hour later . . . only to wake up screaming not too long after that.
Her door flew open, and Allye screamed again when she saw the shape of a very large man looming over her.
“Jesus, it’s me, kitten.”
Allye recognized Gray’s voice immediately and opened her arms.
Gray gathered her up, and it wasn’t until her face was pressed against his neck that she realized she was panting.
“Shhh. You’re okay. I know I said it was fine to remember and have bad reactions, but you didn’t have to be an overachiever and do it your first night here.”
Allye snorted against him, but didn’t pull away. His gentle caress on her back was soothing rather than stifling or patronizing. He didn’t say anything else, just rocked a little with her in his arms.
When she felt she had herself somewhat under control, she pulled back and roughly scrubbed a hand over her face.
“You want to talk about it?”
She sighed, but didn’t hesitate. There was just something about Gray that made it impossible for her to hold back from him. “There was a guy. He had Jessie, and he was hurting her. Telling me that if I went with him, he’d let her go. You were there, too, but you couldn’t get to me. You were behind a piece of glass or something. You were pounding on it, yelling something at me, shaking your head, but I couldn’t hear you. When I looked back at this faceless guy—literally, he had no face—he took a knife and slit Jessie’s throat from ear to ear. That’s when I woke up.”
“Jesus, kitten. That’s one hell of a dream.”
“Uh-huh.” Now that Allye wasn’t scared out of her mind and her heart had slowed down to its regular rhythm, she was exhausted.
“You tired?” Gray asked.
“Yeah,” she mumbled.
“You gonna be able to go back to sleep?”
She stared at him for a second before blurting out, “Can I sleep in your room?”
Gray didn’t answer, just stared at her with an unreadable look on his face.
“Never mind,” Allye backtracked, pulling out of his arms. “Stupid question. I’m fine. I’m sure I’ll fall right to sleep now and—”
“Look at me, kitten,” Gray ordered.
She raised her eyes and waited for him to tell her she was being silly. That she was a grown woman, and if she just relaxed, she’d sleep fine.
“I want you in my bed. But I need you to answer a question for me first.” He paused as if waiting for her to answer.
“Okay.”
“Do you want to be there only because you’re scared and worried about Jessie? Or is there another reason?”
Allye swallowed. Was she brave enough to admit that she liked Gray? That being with him made her feel not quite so alone in the world? She thought about her response for a long moment. He was quiet, letting her think and answer in her own time.
“I’m twenty-nine years old,” she said softly. “Mature enough to be blunt about what I want. I’ve never been afraid to come right out and tell a man that I’m attracted to him or that I’m interested. But with you, I’m scared to death because I’m afraid you only see me as someone you rescued. That you’ll look at me with pity if I admit how I really feel. And most of all, that you won’t feel the same.”
“Tell me,” Gray both ordered and begged at the same time.
Feeling as if she were standing at the edge of a fifty-foot drop-off, Allye looked Gray in the eyes and said, “I’m attracted to you. I don’t know if it can go anywhere because it seems like we have a million factors working against us. All I know is that when I’m with you, I feel safe. As if nothing and no one could ever hurt me. But I also feel energized. Excited. My stomach feels funny, and when I think about leaving tomorrow and never seeing you again, it makes me want to cry. And I already told you, I never cry. I want to sleep in your bed because I’m scared, yes. And you make me feel safe. But it’s more than that. A lot more.”
Gray had an intense look on his face that Allye couldn’t decipher. He stood, and she was afraid for a second that she’d said all the wrong things and he was leaving. But when he leaned over and picked her up as if she weighed no more than a child, she relaxed, curling her arms around his neck and laying her head on his shoulder.
He walked across the hall to the master bedroom and carried her over to his bed. He placed her down and followed her onto the mattress. Allye quickly slid over, giving him some room. She turned onto her side to face him and sighed in contentment when he gathered her to his naked chest and pulled the comforter up and over them.
Just when she didn’t think he was going to say anything, he spoke. His words rumbled through his chest, making their way into her own.
“Leaving you alone in that guest room earlier almost killed me. But I didn’t want to move too fast. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I left San Francisco. I’ve never thought about any of the women I’ve rescued before, after they were safe. But I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Every time my phone rang, I thought it would be Rex calling to tell me that you’d disappeared again. And that scared the shit out of me.”
Allye raised her head and blinked at him. “Really?”
“Really. And I’ll tell you something else.”
“What?”
“Nothing would’ve kept me from coming after you again.”
The pressure behind her eyes built, and Allye ducked her head against his chest to keep the tears at bay. What was happening to her? She never cried, and yet here she was, holding back tears because of something he’d said . . . again.
She felt his lips against the top of her head. “And for the record, I want you too. But not tonight. Sleep now, kitten. You’re safe here. No need to dream bad things.”
She smiled against him. “I don’t think I can control that.”
“Sure you can. Just know that you’re here with me, and it’ll keep those nightmares at bay.”
It was an arrogant thing to say, but Allye had a feeling he was right. After a moment, she whispered, “Do you want to . . .” She told him she’d never had a problem asking for what she wanted before, but for some reason, she couldn’t just come right out and ask if Gray wanted to have sex with her.
But he seemed to know what she was asking without her having to say it. “Yeah, kitten, I do. But not right now. I’m tired and feeling mellow. I just want to hold you.”
“Okay. But later?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, Allye. Later for sure.”
Smiling, and feeling happier and more content than she’d felt in a long time, Allye fell asleep in Gray’s arms. And didn’t remember one dream.