Handle Me

by Kira Sinclair

  Uncomfortable awareness filled her. For her sanity, she needed to get away from him.

  Pushing up from the ground, Van wandered closer to the playground equipment.

  Kids, wrapped up in their summer fun, yelled and chased each other. On the sidelines, adults talked and watched, some read books or punched aimlessly at their phone screens.

  Van let her gaze drift amongst the energy and activity. But then it stopped at the far side of the park. A guy she’d never seen before was just standing there, clearly out of place. Not that she necessarily knew all the neighbors. Or the people who normally frequented the park. But there was something about him that felt...off.

  He was fidgety. His eyes kept darting around, never landing on anything for long. After watching him for several minutes, Van concluded he was alone at the park. At least, he certainly wasn’t with any of the kids.

  Working in the ER, she’d treated enough junkies to recognize the signs.

  She felt a presence beside her. Without looking, she knew it was Ty. “Are you seeing this?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  She couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, especially when she had the resources to help the man. Straightening her spine, Van was about to head over to him and give him her standard speech about drug treatment options, but before she’d even taken the first step Ty’s hand wrapped around her arm.

  “Don’t.”

  “Don’t what?”

  His head swiveled and his only response was a cold, intense stare that had shivers snaking down her spine. Gone was the boy she’d grown up with, her brother’s best friend, and in his place was the hardened soldier who’d spent years in the middle of a war zone. She could see the experience and knowledge swirling in his gaze.

  It bothered her that anyone would ever have to deal with the things Ty had seen. But it bothered her more that the wounded boy she’d longed to protect had grown into a man scarred by even more tragedy.

  But she didn’t need a tortured hero; she was far from helpless. Placing her hand over his, she pried Ty’s fingers from her arm. “I deal with men like that all the time, soldier. I’ll be fine.”

  His lips thinned and his eyes narrowed to unhappy slits. He opened his mouth, probably to lambast her, but the words stalled.

  A high-pitched scream split the park.

  Ty swore under his breath.

  Beside them, Kaia’s ears pricked and her body went stiff.

  “Someone stop him! That guy grabbed my purse from the stroller.” An attractive blonde woman, probably in her late twenties, was pointing at the junkie hightailing it away from the park. Several women crowded around her. Most snatched up their children and held them close. But none of them were in a position to run after the man.

  Van didn’t blame them. She knew from firsthand experience that addicts who were tweaking for a fix could be highly unpredictable and dangerous, and none of them had experience dealing with that kind of thing. Besides, he had a head start.

  On everyone but Kaia.

  She didn’t see or hear the command, but it was obvious Ty had given it.

  One minute Kaia was standing at his hip, the next she was streaking across the park in hot pursuit. And even with the loss of a limb, she was easily gaining on the man.

  There was an audible gasp as Kaia leapt for him, snapping her jaws around his arm and holding tight as he spun on the spot, trying to dislodge her.

  The man screamed, a piercing wail that sent chills down Van’s spine.

  With his free hand, he began pummeling Kaia around the head.

  And that’s when she got pissed.

  Without another thought, Van took off across the park. Ty was already several steps in front of her. “Make him stop,” she yelled.

  Kaia wrestled the man to the ground, using the weight of her body and her sharp teeth to subdue him. Ty waded in. He must have given another command because Kaia released her hold, scooted out of the way and sat back on her haunches.

  Van could see Ty had the junkie well in hand as he rolled him onto his stomach, jerked his arms up high and placed a knee on his back to immobilize him.

  Van skidded to a halt beside Kaia, quickly running her hands over the dog, looking for signs of injury.

  “She’s fine, Van.”

  “He was beating the shit out of her, Ty,” she spit out, anger flaring in her chest.

  “She’s trained for that. I promise, she’s fine.”

  Kaia sat quietly—she wasn’t even breathing hard—and let Van run her hands over every inch of her body. She stared at her with those deep brown eyes, full of calm.

  A calm Van apparently needed.

  She realized her own heart was racing, her stomach flipping around like someone had placed her on a roller coaster. Tears burned the backs of her eyes.

  She stared into Kaia’s gaze, the last piece of her brother, and realized that after only a day it would devastate her if something happened to the dog.

  The thought instantly made her more antsy and unsettled.

  “Someone call 911. Van, I need you over here. This guy is the one bleeding.”

  Van’s body jolted into action. She scrambled over to kneel beside Ty. “This nice woman is an ER doctor. If you’ll cooperate, I’ll let you up so she can look at your wounds.”

  The guy moaned and nodded.

  “If you try to run or do anything stupid, Kaia is right over there, just waiting to take you down again.”

  The guy whimpered. “Jeez man, I promise. Just keep that psycho dog away from me,” he wheezed.

  Van leaned down to his ear, “She isn’t psycho. She’s a highly trained weapon. So I suggest you move slowly and do exactly as I say.”

  * * *

  TY WATCHED THE HULLABALOO. He’d clipped the leash back onto Kaia’s harness, not because he expected her to run off or react badly to the commotion, but because, after the demonstration of her skills, the spectators had been restless.

  He’d watched Van administer first aid to the junkie. And while he was a captive audience, she’d also taken the opportunity to talk to him about rehab and the options that were available for assistance in getting clean.

  He really hoped the guy listened, but Ty wasn’t holding his breath.

  He’d spoken with the officers who’d responded to the call. In the grand scheme of things, a thwarted purse snatching wasn’t a major deal. But Kaia’s involvement had brought extra attention...and scrutiny.

  Thankfully, with her scheduled appearance in the Fourth of July parade in a couple days, the mayor and police chief were already aware of her presence. Not to mention her skill set.

  Van smacked her palm against the closed door of the ambulance and then put her hands on her hips as she watched it drive away. The guy wasn’t severely injured, but he might need a stitch or two.

  “You’ll be in town for a few days, right?” an officer asked Ty.

  He pulled his gaze away from Van and nodded. “At least through this week. Maybe next.”

  “I doubt we’ll need to get in touch with you again. There were enough witnesses. But just in case, please make sure you provide us with your contact information before you leave.”

  Ty nodded and then wandered to where Van was standing with a couple of the women who’d hung around.

  She looked tired. He could see lines of exhaustion creasing her forehead from several feet away.

  “You ready to head back? They’re done with Kaia and I’m sure she’d like some water and food.”

  Van nodded and gave the other women an apologetic smile. Together, she and Ty headed in the direction of her house. Kaia trotted beside, the leash slack between them.

  When they reached Van’s front porch, she dug in the pocket of her shorts, fishing out a set of keys. They jingled
as she fumbled with them, then fell to the wooden floor with a loud clatter.

  Kaia’s ears pricked.

  Van swore beneath her breath.

  She dipped to pick them up at the same time as Ty.

  Kaia scrambled backward and sideways, wrapping the leash around his back and pulling him off-balance...knocking him straight into Van.

  Unstable, they both collapsed to the floor, Van stretched out haphazardly beneath him.

  All the air rushed from his lungs, not from the impact, but from the feel of her beneath him once more.

  His fingers let the leash slip through, tangling in Van’s silky hair instead.

  Her eyes flashed with need. Her lips parted, making a silent offer he was too weak to ignore.

  Dipping his head, he claimed her mouth. The kiss started out soft and testing, but it didn’t stay that way. The moment his lips touched hers heat ballooned up and took over. He’d meant to be gentle, but...

  His tongue thrust inside the open invitation of her parted lips. His hips rolled helplessly against hers. She whimpered, her fingers tightening their grasp on his shirt.

  At first he feared she might protest. But the way she responded... Her tongue tangled with his, stroking and seeking. She shifted beneath him, her thighs opening so he could settle closer.

  Hell, they were going at each other on her front porch like two starved animals where God and country could walk by and see.

  As much as he didn’t want to, he was about to end it when Van’s body language changed. Instead of grasping at him, she started pushing him away, her palms planted at his shoulders and shoving.

  She tore her mouth from his, her teeth scraping against his bottom lip.

  “This was a bad idea four months ago,” she panted. “It’s an even worse idea now. Get off me.”

  Ty’s brain had to scramble to catch up. He felt like he was moving in slow motion as he levered himself off the ground. Reaching down, he offered a hand she refused to take.

  Van brushed herself off, glaring at the floor like he’d purposely knocked her down and attacked her.

  That was bullshit.

  And then her words registered.

  “So you do remember,” he said quietly.

  5

  OF COURSE SHE REMEMBERED. She’d never forget that night, or the way Ty had somehow managed to give her something so good in the middle of something so bad.

  But that didn’t mean she was stupid enough to want him to know that. Her relationship with Ty Colson was complicated enough as it was.

  But her big mouth had opened and now she didn’t have much of a choice.

  “I remember,” she confessed.

  And if she hadn’t, no doubt that kiss they’d just shared would have brought memories flooding back.

  Not a fan of confrontation, Van scooped up the fallen keys that had started this mess. But she didn’t get anywhere close to the lock before Ty’s hand squeezed around hers, pulling them out of her hand.

  “Give those back,” she demanded.

  “Not a chance, princess.” He tucked the keys into his front pocket...right next to the unmistakable bulge pressing against his zipper.

  Bastard. He knew she wasn’t going after them. She could turn around and walk away...to where? The park they’d just come from? No, thank you.

  She didn’t know her neighbors well enough to just show up on their front steps. Her best friend Bethany, a nurse in the ER, lived on the other side of the city with her husband and two kids. She’d come if Van called, but then she’d just have to sit here with Ty and wait.

  He’d get what he wanted anyway.

  She growled something unpleasant beneath her breath.

  His only response was a twisted smile that she immediately wanted to wipe off his face. Fortunately for him, she’d taken an oath not to harm anyone. But it was touch and go for a minute.

  Turning away, Van stalked to the far side of the porch, tossing words she wanted to mean but didn’t quite feel over her shoulder. “I suggest you do exactly what I plan on doing and forget that night ever happened.”

  She felt him way before she heard him. All that pent-up tension and heat slipping over her skin like fingers, caressing her into a reaction she didn’t want to feel.

  Ty didn’t actually touch her, though. He didn’t have to.

  “You keep telling yourself that, princess,” he whispered, the soft puff of his breath tickling her ear. A shiver rolled down her spine. He was too close not to notice.

  He chuckled.

  Van ground her teeth together, biting back words that would only cause more trouble and attempting to find a better—safer—outlet for all the pent-up energy his nearness caused.

  “I remember every moment of that night,” he murmured, his words low and dangerous to her equilibrium.

  “Highly unlikely considering how drunk you were.”

  His fingertips found the curve of her neck and slowly, devastatingly, trailed across her skin. Goose bumps erupted in the wake of his touch, a telltale sign she was powerless to hide.

  “I stopped drinking the minute we hit that tree house. I was sober as a judge by the time things got...heated.”

  “Ha!”

  “The way you looked, naked, flushed with desire and spread out on that blanket, is something I’ll never forget. Not as long as I live.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. She tried to tell herself it was because he’d indirectly mentioned dying. But she knew she was lying.

  Ty swept her hair over one shoulder, exposing the curve of her neck. The warm summer breeze ghosted over her, replaced almost immediately by the blazing heat of his mouth.

  She whimpered. The sound simply escaped, uncontrollable and way too revealing.

  No. “I can’t do this,” she said, the words coming out a strangled mess. “We can’t do this.”

  Yanking her body away from his, she tried to escape, but he’d maneuvered them both so that she couldn’t.

  A hand on the railing at either side of her hip, he’d left her two choices, stand and take whatever he wanted to dish out or put her hands on him and push him away.

  She didn’t trust herself to touch him.

  Turning in the circle he’d created, Van pressed her butt tight to the railing and leaned back as far as she could. It wasn’t nearly enough.

  Tipping her head back, she stared up into his stormy-blue eyes. “Please, Ty, don’t do this. You’re only here for a few days.”

  His gaze raced across her face, serious and searching. She had no idea what he was looking for, but she hoped he’d be satisfied and leave her alone. She was familiar enough with the human body to recognize her own fight-or-flight response. Her pulse was racing, her heart fluttering uncontrollably in her chest.

  For the second time that day, adrenaline flooded her body. Uncertainty and need tangled together, confusing and uncomfortable.

  “You responded to that kiss we just shared.”

  She wasn’t going to lie to him. Couldn’t. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s right and you know it. I’m a doctor, Ty. I understand the amazing and complex things the human body can do. And that’s what we share. Nothing more than biology, physiology.”

  His jaw hardened, the muscle right below the chiseled line jumping rhythmically. Despite the point she was trying to make, Van wanted to reach out and soothe it.

  “You’re wrong.”

  “It doesn’t matter if I am. Ty, you’re the reason my brother is dead. He never should have been in Afghanistan. He followed you into that life. My body might think you’re God’s gift to continuing the species, but my brain doesn’t give a shit.”

  He reared back as if she’d hit him. A minute ago she’d wanted nothing more than space between them. Now that she had it...she w
anted the heat of his body back.

  No, her traitorous libido wanted the heat of his body back.

  Part of her regretted the pain she saw lurking in his eyes...pain she’d put there. But the rest of her recognized the need to press her advantage while she had it.

  “Before that night I hadn’t had sex in almost a year,” she continued. “And I haven’t been with anyone since. It would be easy to let myself indulge in the release you’re offering, but we both know that’s all it would be. You’ll be gone in a few days, and let’s be honest, it isn’t likely we’ll see each other after this.”

  Ty’s gaze hardened, his eyes like ice. In that moment she could see the ruthless, fearless, dangerous soldier that he’d become.

  That man scared her. Not because she thought he might hurt her, but because it was a reminder that no matter their history, she really didn’t know the man standing in front of her. Not anymore.

  Fishing her keys from his pocket, Ty flipped them to her. Van scrambled to catch them.

  “Take Kaia inside and be sure to give her plenty of water.” His voice was flat. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  Van watched him walk down her front steps to the car sitting in her driveway.

  Kaia lifted up onto her haunches from where she’d been enjoying a patch of sunshine beside Van. Her ears pricked and her gaze stayed with Ty as he walked away.

  She let out a single, soft sound that echoed through Van’s chest.

  For some goddamn reason, she felt the urge to make the same sound.

  Instead, she turned away, went inside and did as Ty had said.

  * * *

  HE WANTED TO hit something. Something solid, something that would send pain reverberating through his body. A physical sensation he understood and could handle. Unlike the tearing sensation of grief ripping through his body.

  It wasn’t a new feeling. Quite the opposite in fact—he’d struggled with it from the time he was nine or ten. Being a convenient punching bag for his mother’s asshole boyfriends had taught him a thing or two...not all of the lessons were good.