by Bianca D’Arc
“Stolen,” Zeke mumbled, shaking his head. “Where’s the cash?”
“Here,” Wil answered, pointing to a spot on the table that held a wad of cash. “Why?”
Zeke replaced the wallet on the table before speaking. “Because I got a flash of something. The paymaster—whoever he is—paid this guy in cash last time, and I might be able to get something off the bills, if he still has any from that payment.” Zeke took a deep breath. They knew from past experimentation that money was difficult since it changed hands so many times. Money always had a history, and it wasn’t always pleasant. “Captain, could you hand those bills to me one at a time?”
“Sure thing.” Hal put on gloves before handling the evidence and carefully handed Zeke one bill at a time, starting with the singles first and working his way up the denominations.
Zeke discarded the first few bills after cursory examination. “Nothing pertinent,” he said before placing each bill on the table in front of him in a neat little pile. He did the same until they got to the first twenty-dollar bill. There, he paused.
“This bill is too young,” he said at once. “Counterfeit.” He closed his eyes. “Short history. Made recently. Nearby. I see the basement of a fancy house. A compound. Men and women working there on various projects.”
“Identifying features?” Hal prompted quietly.
“Americans. All ethnic backgrounds. Not what we expected. They’re not jihadists. Not the way we think of them. Their goal is something bigger than politics. Bigger than religion. They want to destabilize the entire world. One of them is saying something about human sheep. Confusing the human sheep.”
Carter frowned, shooting a look at Hal, but the captain was focused on Zeke. “Do you see any of them? What do they look like? Are there any animals in the vision?”
“Big dogs,” Zeke said immediately. “No. Wait. Not dogs. Wolves.” A shiver ran down Zeke’s spine. “And a tiger?” Zeke’s eyes opened, and he shook his head. “This doesn’t make sense, Captain. I’m sorry.”
“No, Zeke. It does make sense. You need to write down every last thing you saw, even if it seems crazy, and then tomorrow, we’re all going to have a little meeting with the base commander. It’s time we all got on the same page.” Hal’s expression was grim. “Stop for now. Make a full report on that last experience and have it to me before you turn in tonight. We’ll do the rest of this tomorrow.”
“What about the prisoners?” Carter had to ask.
“They’ll be okay for the night. Wil, you’ve posted guards?” Hal asked the other man.
“Yes, sir. We’re doing it in rotation. They will never be unobserved,” Wil reported.
“Good man,” Hal replied. “Then, there’s nothing more to do but carry on. You two have your orders. Carter, with me. We’re going to see how the women are holding up.”
When Carter appeared in the doorway to the mess hall, Hannah was relieved. Not that she didn’t like the other women, but they wanted to make a big deal out of the danger she’d been in, and it was something Hannah preferred to take in stride. She was a soldier, after all. She’d been in worse danger in the desert. A little mall abduction was nothing. Right?
The captain came in behind Carter and went straight to his wife, who just happened to be sitting next to Hannah. Carter held back a bit as the other men joined the group.
“I just want to thank you again, sir, for allowing your unit to come to my rescue one more time,” she said, feeling it necessary to put her thanks out there again. These guys—Carter especially, of course—had gone above and beyond for her a couple of times, now.
“I’m glad we could help out, Sergeant.” He looked at the table and seemed to note the coffee cups and absence of edibles. “Haven’t you ladies eaten yet?”
“We decided to wait for you,” Casey told her husband, placing her hand over his on her shoulder. When she looked up at him, it was clear to Hannah that they loved each other deeply.
Hal looked up at the other guys just entering the room. “Dan, can you and the others get the buffet trays out? The fridge should have everything we need.”
“Sure thing, Cap’n,” Dan replied, adjusting his trajectory to take him into the kitchen area. A few of the other guys followed, returning in short order with platters wrapped in plastic cling wrap, which they deposited on the big table.
Jeff took his seat next to Rose, and Hal took the chair Casey had kept open for him. Hannah was pleased when Carter chose to sit next to her, reaching toward the middle of the table to unwrap the first of the platters. He let Hannah choose a sandwich before taking his own and passing the platter around the table. Plates were handed out the same way, and a tub with utensils was on the table for those who wanted them. Other platters with coleslaw, potato salad and other side dishes were passed around as well, and before long, Hannah had a plate full. It felt like a picnic, in a way. Cold cuts and creamy salads, soda and iced tea, which they dispensed from big pitchers at the center of the table.
The kitchen staff was long gone for the night, but the unit was eating a hearty meal that had been left for them. Hannah was impressed.
They all chowed down, enjoying the camaraderie of a shared meal. Hannah felt like it was all a bit unreal. She hadn’t thought she’d ever see this room, or these people, again. Things had changed, once again, on a dime, and she had to adjust.
Wasn’t the Special Forces motto something about adapting and overcoming? She had to do that. Her life had entered a strange zone, and she had to roll with the punches, such as they were. So far, everything had worked out in her favor, and she hoped the trend continued. She thought these guys had a lot to do with her good fortune. Especially Carter.
As dinner wound down and platters with pie and slices of cake were passed around, Hal spoke. “Today was almost FUBAR, but thanks to Carter and his special talents, we were able to save the situation,” Hal said unexpectedly, garnering the attention of every person in the room.
Hannah was surprised. She hadn’t thought the day was effed up beyond all recognition, at all. She supposed, if the bad guys had managed to abduct her, the term FUBAR would work, but they’d averted that. Quite handily, she’d thought. Apparently, the captain thought different.
What she couldn’t figure out was what the captain had meant by Carter’s special talents having to do with her rescue? What were his so-called special talents? And what made them—whatever they were—so different from the talents of the rest of these Special Forces behemoths? She dearly wanted to know.
She’d spent a lot of time thinking about Rick and Rose and all the others she’d met here, and something just wasn’t adding up. There were all these hints that things were not quite as they seemed, but she had nothing concrete, except what she’d seen with her own eyes as Rick healed her foot and what little Rose had talked about when admitting that she was Madam Pythia from the new age shop.
“Now, we’ve all had a long day. You did well, despite the short notice and shoddy intel,” Hal went on. “I’m calling a mandatory unit meeting for eleven hundred hours tomorrow morning. All will attend, except those on guard rotation.”
Hal stood, and the rest of the men stood out of respect. Casey stood as well, joining her husband, and Hannah stood because she was a soldier too, even if she wasn’t in uniform. Rose just smiled, as if she knew something nobody else knew, which, if she really was clairvoyant, she probably did.
“We’re turning in,” Hal told them all. “Get an early night if you can. I expect big changes tomorrow.” Hal left on that concerning note, with Casey by his side. He was very solicitous of his wife, in a way that made Hannah wonder if there was a reason he treated Casey like a fragile porcelain doll.
“Casey’s pregnant,” Rose told Hannah in a quiet voice once the couple had left the room.
“Do you read minds?” Hannah challenged Rose with a grin.
“Nope. Not me,” Rose replied, “but it was pretty clear you were noticing the way Hal walks on eggshells around his wif
e. I think it’s kind of cute.”
It was, but Hannah wouldn’t be caught dead calling the captain of a Green Beret unit cute, no matter the circumstances. She opted for a safer observation.
“He’s very protective.” Hannah felt proud of the way she’d skirted that conversational pothole.
“They all are,” Rose admitted, her voice low, just between them. “They’re good guys.”
“The best,” Hannah had to agree.
“Good to see you ditched the boot,” Carter said near her ear while Rose answered something Jeff said to her.
“It’s honestly good to be rid of it. Now that my foot is better, it was harder than I expected to have to hide it all day,” she admitted. “Casey got me another pair of sneakers out of the storage cupboard. I’m going to owe you guys for all the gear I’ve been using.”
“Not at all,” Carter assured her. “The government is paying our way, and that includes supplies for anyone under our care.” Dan and some of the others got up and started taking the few leftovers into the kitchen. “Want to take a walk on the beach?” Carter asked in a low voice.
“Thought you’d never ask,” Hannah replied, feeling a bit playful. She was thrilled she’d have another chance to be here, in this magical place, with the man she…surely, not loved… Not so soon, right? But the man she admired above all others. Yeah, that felt right.
Though, she had to admit, the L word kept popping into her mind whenever she thought about him. Her more sensible side kept tamping that down. She hadn’t known him very long at all. Love took more time to develop. Didn’t it?
Whatever it was she really felt for him, it was intense. She wanted to be with him at all times. Even when they were just doing normal things. She wanted to be in his presence, hearing his voice, feeling the reassurance that he was there, and with her.
Gosh. When had she become so needy?
They left the others in the mess hall and headed for the dark beach.
CHAPTER TEN
Hannah felt the magic of the night surround them. A night she hadn’t expected, alone with Carter with nothing but the wind, the waves, and the sand beneath their feet. The weather had picked up, and the waves were a bit more ferocious tonight than they had been the last time she’d walked this beach.
Their wildness echoed the wild impulses that drove her to make the first move with this enigmatic man. She didn’t want to come across as easy, but she also wanted him to know that she was more than receptive to repeating their intimate encounter.
“You know,” she began, trying to find the right words as they walked along, “even though someone tried to kidnap me, I’m kind of glad how things worked out. I felt really sad at the thought of never seeing this beach again,” she told him, staring out at the water for courage. “And especially never seeing you again.”
He stopped walking, and she went a step farther before realizing he’d halted. She stopped as well, and turned to face him in the faint moonlight.
“I didn’t like it either, but it was the way it had to be,” he said, his tone as mysterious as the dark night.
“Things have changed, though, right?” She needed to hear him say this wasn’t going to end with the morning light. She wanted more time with him.
He sighed. “Yeah. Things have definitely changed.” He moved closer to her, stepping right up into her personal space. “The opportunity for a clean break has come and gone.”
He moved one hand to curve around her waist, almost tentatively, as if he was seeking permission. She didn’t pull away. In fact, she moved closer, and his other hand moved to circle her waist as well.
“Did you really want that clean break, or did you feel it was your duty?” she asked quietly. It was important to her to know, even if his answer was painful to hear.
“The latter,” he admitted, and she was able to breathe again. “Dragging you into this situation would have been irresponsible, but I realize I didn’t drag you into anything. The enemy did. In one way, I’m relieved it happened. Seeing you at the mall… Watching over you, but unable to make contact… It was killing me to be so close and yet so far.”
“And I keep kicking myself that I didn’t see you,” she admitted with a smile. “I thought I was more observant than that.”
“Ah, but I am a master of disguise,” he teased, leaning toward her so he could capture her lips with his own.
They kissed like lovers reunited—which they were—but there was a quality to their kiss that spoke of a longer or deeper commitment than they actually had. It was as if they’d been together a long time and then parted, only to reunite. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought they’d known each other for years, instead of only days.
Perhaps the danger of the situation had added something to their relationship. Compressed their timeline. Although...she’d been in dangerous situations before with men that she found attractive. The guys she’d worked with in the desert weren’t bad guys. She could have easily dated almost any one of them, had they been free to do so. She’d never felt this unwavering pull toward any of them. She hadn’t felt it toward any of her past boyfriends.
Only Carter. There was something so incredibly special about him...and she didn’t just mean the fact that he was a Special Forces bad boy. Her family had more than one former Green Beret in it, and she wasn’t overawed by the idea. No, it was Carter, himself. Something about him drew her like a magnet.
She wasn’t fighting it, and, it seemed, neither was he, any longer. Oh, he’d tried to break off their connection, but circumstances had been against him. She liked to think that he’d missed her in those hours of their estrangement, as much as she’d missed him, but she wasn’t sure. Whatever the case, he was here now, with her. Kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
And she was fine with that. More than fine, actually.
He released her lips and kissed his way down her neck. Her eyes flickered open, and she gasped—not in pleasure, but in surprise. Carter drew back, seeming to understand the difference.
“What?” he asked, looking around.
“Eyes,” she said in a soft voice. “Over there in the dune grass. Animal eyes, low to the ground, watching us.”
“Seriously?” Carter turned to search the dune area behind him. “I don’t doubt you, but it seems to have hidden or left.”
“Maybe we should do the same,” she said, a shiver running down her spine. Those reflective eyes had been spaced far enough apart that whatever it was that had been lurking in the grass wasn’t something small.
“Hide?” Carter joked, looking at her, a smile on his lips in the moonlight.
She punched his shoulder. “Leave,” she told him. “Let’s go back to the barracks.”
Carter slung his arm around her shoulders as they started walking back. “Your room or mine?” he asked in a low voice, his tone warming the marrow of her bones.
“Whichever is closer,” she whispered back, and by mutual consent, they started walking faster. Much, much faster.
They managed to get to his room without anyone seeing them, and the minute the door closed, clothes flew every which way. He seemed as eager as she was to get down to bare skin. She’d no sooner slid her pants away and was completely naked, when he lifted her up and placed her on his bed.
First, he ran his hands all over her body, pausing here and there in the headlong rush toward pleasure. Then, he followed the same trail with his mouth, bringing the smoldering flames of her desire to roaring life. What he did after that, with both tongue and touch, made her want to scream in delight and anticipation, but she was mindful of the other people in the building and bit back her louder impulses. She moaned, though, quietly. And sighed. And grasped his body with fingers that tightened as he brought her to her first climax just by touch alone.
And, oh, what touches! He knew just how and where to run his hands, or fingers, or tongue, to bring her to exquisite tension. She came down from the high of climax to find him smiling.
“
I guess you liked that,” he whispered, just before he leaned down to nip at her lips.
She liked the smug light in his eyes, but she wanted to show him she could give as good as she got. Pushing at his shoulders until he figured out she wanted him to roll onto his back, she kissed him deeply until she had him just where she wanted him. Then, she drew back.
She straddled his thighs. Her feeling of power was strong as she rose above him. She reached for his hands and put them on her breasts, liking the way he followed her unspoken orders. Then, she reached between them and wrapped her hand around his hard cock. He was already wrapped and ready for her. He must’ve done that while she’d been otherwise engaged, drugged by his beguiling kisses.
Carter gasped as she squeezed him and found a rhythm that made him strain against her. Taking pity on the poor man, she lifted up just enough to take him inside her body, going slow, making it last. He felt so good. So hard and thick. So…perfect.
She encased him fully and then stopped for a precious moment to try to regain some semblance of control. She had almost come just from the act of joining. How was she going to last long enough to bring him with her next time?
It was a challenge she looked forward to undertaking. She just needed a moment to catch her breath.
Carter, however, had other ideas. He surged under her, moving his hands to her hips and back, supporting her as he rolled, taking her down to the bed, once more. He took over, positioning them facing each other, on their sides. It felt a little odd at first, but she liked the different feel of this position, and once he started moving inside her, she just hung on for dear life as fireworks seemed to go off inside her body.
Happy firecrackers. Crazy bottle rockets. Incendiary flowers of primal passion that went on and on, bursting and exploding inside her body. She felt Carter stiffen and heard his deep groan. This time, he was with her, and she felt a sense of completeness in the moment. In the man.