Risky Love

by Stacey Kennedy

  “Hartlands Airfield.” Ryder studied them, then gave a firm nod, which looked a whole lot like approval. “See you both soon.”

  Alex felt the ground rock a little beneath her. So much had happened in the past few days, it was impossible to keep up. She pondered that little silent man-talk they’d had. Ryder was the only family she had, and she couldn’t help the way her heart softened as she stared at Ryder’s back while he retreated down the hallway toward the double doors.

  “He’s very good to you.”

  That warmth spiraling through her only filled her more as she found Rowan’s expression tender, assessing. “He is.”

  “Has he always been this way with you?”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Alex said with a gentle laugh, catching Ryder leaving through the doors. She turned back to Rowan as two nurses wheeled a patient by on a hospital bed, who had more tubes in her than anyone would ever want. “When we first met, it was because I hacked into his system. He wasn’t exactly happy to see me.”

  At that, Rowan cocked his head, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Then how did you end up working for him?”

  She paused, letting her mind return to that time in her life. Everything was different then. She’d been a punk kid with a huge ego. The CIA and FBI had already made their deal with her, but Ryder’s conversation had gone very differently. “He gave me a choice,” she explained. “Work for him with pay, which was something the government never offered me, or he’d drive me himself to the police station.” She stared at the doors Ryder left through while a couple entered with a man limping, before addressing Rowan again. “I imagine he looked into my file, saw the life I led, the wrong path I was taking, and took pity on me.”

  “Ah, I bet it was more than that,” Rowan stated. He took her chin, dropped his eye level to hers. “There’s something special about you, and I’m sure that’s what Ryder saw and wanted to protect.” Before she could respond, or even think of a response to that, he closed the distance and pressed his mouth to hers. His kiss was long, slow, and intimate. All things she never had before with any man.

  Something she was growing to like.

  When he broke the kiss, intensity filled his gaze, as he said, “I’ll need to call in a favor to get Mia released now. The hospital is not going to want her to leave yet.”

  Alex knew this from when her mother had overdosed one of the handful of times she had before she died, they’d want Mia to be evaluated by a psychologist. While some doctors were very good, not all were, and Mia’s best chance forward now would be wherever Ryder set her up. “Okay,” Alex said. “I’ll go stay with her until you get back.”

  A smile tugged at Rowan’s lips. “Thank you.”

  While he headed off toward the nurses’ station, Alex returned to the hospital room, finding Mia sitting up, her head bowed. Alex placed a soft, reassuring smile on her face, hoping that comforted Mia. She never dealt with trauma victims before, and the last thing she wanted to do was make this somehow worse for Rowan’s sister. Alex sat in the chair near the bed, but didn’t edge herself closer, wanting to give Mia space to breathe. She had no idea what to say, so she didn’t say anything. Mia and Rowan shared the same colored eyes, only Rowan’s were a shade darker, nearly gray, and of course, Mia didn’t have any of Rowan’s masculine features. In fact, Mia was petite and very feminine…delicately pretty.

  From her hospital bed, Mia studied Alex’s face. “So, you’re the Alex McCoy, huh?”

  Alex blinked. “Sorry, what Alex McCoy is that?”

  “The Alex from Paris.”

  Alex stopped breathing for a second. “Rowan told you about me?”

  Mia gave a slow nod, dark circles beneath her eyes. “Rowan told me all about Paris. You had an effect on him.”

  The room began closing in on Alex. This was not the conversation she was expecting to have. All of this with Rowan was getting so real. It was never supposed to be that. It was hot and dirty and everything in between but never real. Alex was sure most women would find it flattering that a man such as Rowan talked about her, but Alex wasn’t that woman. She didn’t grow up in love. She grew up in pain.

  She’d once run from what Rowan seemed to want. What any man would want. A woman’s heart.

  Now, Alex’s feet felt steadier, and she found herself more content with Rowan’s feelings, which seemed to be growing increasingly intense as the days ticked by, but the dark voice swirling in her mind reminded her: Love makes you weak. Love, and that sick need to give your all to someone else was what killed her sister. Had Lena been stronger, never met her boyfriend, she would never have walked the same path their mother had.

  But another part of her heart wondered: What will happen if you trust yourself and Rowan to love right?

  “Alex?” Mia eventually filled the silence. Alex blinked into awareness again and found tears in Mia’s eyes as she went on. “For days, there was no one to talk to, and now, I have no idea what to talk about or even what to do with myself. I just need—”

  “A distraction,” Alex said, totally understanding. She swallowed her emotions and her heart that rose in her throat. “Yes, I’m that Alex, and Rowan and I spent a glorious week together in Paris. What do you want to know about me?”

  Mia’s hands still trembled as she settled back against her pillow, her eyes dark and haunted and far away from there, even as she said, “Tell me everything.”

  CHAPTER 4

  After Rowan placed a couple calls to ask for a favor and secured Mia’s release from the hospital, Rowan stood at the doorway to Mia’s room, frozen as Alex said, “Paris had an effect on me too.” Her voice was softer than Rowan had ever heard before. “Rowan had an effect on me. I’d never met anyone like him before.”

  “What made him so different?” Mia asked.

  Rowan realized then that Alex was indulging his sister, maybe giving her something else to think about instead of what had happened to her.

  Alex paused for a long moment then said, “Everything about Rowan made him different, but most of all, it was how I felt with Rowan that was so different. I could always walk away from anyone. That’s just what I did. Rowan was the first guy that made me want to stay a little bit longer.”

  “But not long enough to make something out of it?”

  Alex chuckled. “That’s not my way, and it’s not Rowan’s either.”

  “No, you’re right, being serious with anyone isn’t Rowan’s way, but you were very special to him,” Mia said, with sadness in her voice.

  Rowan felt his body chill. His baby sister had been through so much, and he had no doubt that would put anyone’s life in perspective. She probably thought she’d die. Her abduction had changed him too. Made him realize how precious life was. Made him question his decision of walking away from Alex.

  Feeling like an intruder in a conversation that wasn’t meant for him to hear, he turned away and moved to the door next to the stairwell. Alex never talked openly about her feelings, and Rowan knew why. Getting into her heart was hard. A thousand hurts along the way hardened her. And yet, she’d spoken easily to his sister. While Mia naturally had the ability to make people fall in love with her sweet and kind demeanor, Alex still hadn’t needed to share any of herself to help Mia. And yet she did.

  A heady emotion that Rowan couldn’t place filled him as he waited by the stairwell, giving them the time they needed to finish their talk. He felt the exhaustion roll through him. The long days and nights they’d fought to get Mia back, and there she was. Safe. But Lewis was not behind bars or dead, and the position of power Lewis held meant he needed to be stopped. Rowan would be the one to do that, and he was only too happy Alex would be at his side while he did it.

  In fact, he was only too glad they were going to San Francisco. The thought of seeing where Alex came from enticed him. Her house. Her life there. And more importantly, to discover if he could fit into her world.

  A doctor entered the room, followed by a nurse a minute later, and then
Alex came out. Rowan whistled, and he caught Alex’s eye. Her smile tightened his gut and sent heat to his groin.

  “The doctor wanted to have a final chat with Mia before we left,” she said to Rowan when she reached him. “I take it you got her released?”

  Rowan nodded, unable to find the words to properly explain what Alex being there meant to him. What her helping get Mia back meant to him. Instead of finding impossible words, he grabbed her shirt in the same moment he backed up into the stairwell’s door. She squeaked in surprise as he yanked her up against him. This was something they did well. Very well. He spun her around, seeing the wide shock in her eyes, as he pressed her back against the wall in the stairwell.

  She quickly caught up and grinned playfully. “I didn’t know hospitals are a turn-on for you, but hey, I’m all in if this floats your boat.”

  He didn’t laugh. He pressed himself against her, watching the smile fade from her face. Probably at the intensity in his. “You are a turn-on for me, Alex.” He dropped his head into her neck, careful to stay away from the side that had stitches from the attempt that had been made on her life, and inhaled her fresh spring-like scent. “You never ask for anything, do you?” When he leaned away, those usually fiery eyes of hers were simmering with heat now. “You give all of yourself to whoever needs that piece of you. All because you know it’s the right thing to do.” Surprise began stealing the arousal, but he pressed on, needing her to hear all this. “You work yourself ragged to hunt criminals. You bare yourself to my sister, all to make her feel more comfortable.”

  Color flamed in her cheeks. “You weren’t supposed to hear that conversation.”

  “I didn’t hear all of it,” he said, sliding his hand over her hip, pinning her to the wall. “But I heard all I needed to.” He brushed his lips against hers, feeling her reach for more. “Five years ago, I couldn’t keep my hands off you.” He slid his tongue along the curve of her bottom lip and she moaned. “But the more I learn about you, McCoy, the more you drive me fucking wild from wanting you.”

  She slowly opened her eyes, and their gazes held. “Then have me, Hawke.”

  The strength of her. The way she teased with that sexy smile on her face. Rowan throbbed to possess her. He took her hand then and trotted down the stairs, with her following closely. He made it onto the next floor and exited the door, finding the floor quiet, obviously the patients were asleep. He passed the nurses’ station, hearing the laughter coming from there with the bright light spilling out into the hallway, and then he entered a room that had the door open. A quick look around revealed the room was empty. He didn’t pause, he yanked her inside and shut the door, pressing her up against it. “Mia is home because of you. Tell me you know that.”

  She cupped his face. “Because of us, Rowan.”

  He brushed his nose against hers. “I’m going to find a way to repay you for everything you’ve done for Mia…and for me.”

  “You don’t have to repay me,” she whispered, her lips gently sliding across his. “I’m happy Mia’s home.”

  He stared into the warmth of her eyes, realizing a truth he’d never noticed before. Alex worked to ensure no one lost their loved ones, like she lost hers. To never feel what she felt. Every step Alex took was to fix the pain she endured. But when did she get a taste of happiness?

  He knew he could give it to her—the life she deserved.

  With only that on his mind now, he found her mouth and her hands went straight to his jeans, officially ending the conversation. Their touches were frantic while he hurried to get her out of her jeans. By the time she shoved his jeans down, alongside his boxer briefs, she was already stepping out of hers. He didn’t waste the seconds removing his fully, ravishing her with kisses he couldn’t get enough of. Desperate to get closer, to make her feel only the good he wanted her to feel, he hooked one of her legs onto his arms, keeping her pressed tight against the door, ensuring no one bothered them, and then he entered her. Swiftly and urgently, and they both groaned at the pleasure of him filling her.

  He couldn’t make his thrusts hard enough. He couldn’t get deep enough into the very depths of her. She clung to him while he rode her, and he groaned with the ferocity she pulled out of him while her soft sensual moans made him move faster. This primal need she brought out in him was all about lust before. Now, with every stroke of his cock against her warm and wet channel, while she hugged his body tight and moved frantically with him, the primal nature shifted to one far more intense. His.

  Alex gave herself and her talents to the world. Law enforcement agencies took, without thought or care. Her own mother chose drugs over Alex. Her father was totally absent in her life. Rowan wouldn’t repeat their failures. He’d walked away from her once. Never again.

  Needing to get closer, he cupped her neck, her back sliding up and down the door as he rocked himself into her. His muscles burned. The pleasure gritting his teeth as it built…and built…and built until there was nowhere else to go but to explode.

  But he would not go there alone.

  She came first. Always.

  He leaned away to look into her eyes, finding them shut with pleasure. He hardened further, consumed by her beauty, of how incredibly they fit together, of how simply breathtaking she looked when he made her his.

  Her eyes slowly opened then, locking onto his, and widened at the hardening of his cock deep inside her. His growl rose deep from his chest, a sound that had nothing to do with pleasure, and everything about staking his claim.

  He went harder then. Faster. The door banging behind them. The pleasure blinding and all-consuming, giving her what she needed and wanted from him. Until she gave a shuddering moan, tipped her chin up, and broke apart. Only then did he give in and let his control slip until he crashed into the pleasure alongside her.

  CHAPTER 5

  Whispering Winds Treatment Center was a gorgeous facility with sprawling gardens, a pond with a dock, and hammocks placed beneath the shade trees. The main center was a two-story building that looked more like a resort than a treatment center, and when Alex stepped out of the passenger seat of Ryder’s truck, she caught Mia gazing up in wonder at the place. Alex met Ryder at the hood of his truck while Rowan helped Mia out of the back seat. “Thank you for arranging this,” Alex said, quickly giving Ryder a hug. “You’ve gone above and beyond anything I could have asked from you.”

  Ryder returned the hug. “Every person who has been through a trauma should have this available to them, not only the ones with money. I’m glad to do it.”

  Alex also knew it probably hadn’t cost Ryder a cent. All the cases he’d worked, all the people he helped, all that good always came back to him. She learned a lot from Ryder over the years she’d been with him. That love from her found family, she’d never known that growing up. She turned to Rowan who had his arms around a frail Mia as they approached. Tenderness touched his expression as he looked at Alex, and her heart melted at the relief and happiness in his eyes.

  They’d done it. Even if they hadn’t rescued Mia, they’d put enough pressure on Lewis to let her go. She’d done for Rowan what she couldn’t have done for herself with Lena. Saved a life.

  Every hard part of her life. Every moment of loneliness and struggle and heartbreak suddenly seemed not so dark anymore. Everything she’d gone through to be the hacker she was, the person she was, all came down to saving Mia’s life. And she and Rowan did that, both of them…together.

  During her talk with Mia back at the hospital, something felt different inside her. Something that wasn’t thinking of all the reasons she needed to put distance between her and Rowan, but instead, ways to bring him closer.

  When Mia finally reached them, her wide eyes scanned the place. “When you said treatment center, I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere cold and depressing.”

  Ryder gave her a soft smile. “It’s a gorgeous facility with incredible staff. Many of my men have come through this place when they retire from the military.”
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  Which now explained how Ryder knew about it. And she didn’t doubt that somewhere along the lines, Ryder might have either helped the owner or one of the doctors out, and that was how all this was happening so quickly.

  A crunch of gravel behind her had Alex glancing over her shoulder, finding a navy-blue truck coming up the driveway. She squinted her eyes but then recognized the person in the driver’s seat. Luke Hardt, retired Navy Seal. He parked his truck in one of the parking spots, then was out and approaching them with a duffle bag in his hand. He was a tad taller than Rowan and had startling blue eyes that were such a contrast to his jet-black hair. He was one of Ryder’s top guys on the San Francisco team.

  “Mia,” Ryder said gently. “This is Luke Hardt, he’s one of my most trusted and skilled men. He’s going to stay with you during your time here.”

  Her gaze flicked to Luke. “Hi.”

  Luke inclined his head and spoke with a gentle voice, “You won’t even know I’m here, Ms. Hawke.”

  A slight flicker of life came into her eyes. “Please, Mia is fine.”

  Luke paused. Then a soft smile. “Mia.”

  Alex felt her chest constrict, the air so thick and tense around her. None of them knew what Mia actually went through, or if she’d be okay after all this. But that little flicker of life that Alex guessed is what Mia used to look like, gave Alex hope that Mia would salvage a life after this. She wouldn’t let Lewis win.

  Two people came out of the treatment center and approached, both looking like someone’s sweet grandmothers who would bake cookies and tell wonderful stories. They didn’t look to anyone else or say a word to anyone but Mia, and Alex couldn’t quite make out what they said to her, but the way they spoke to her was like they enveloped her in their warmth and affection.