He sat beside her and grabbed his food. “I get that. Happens to me too.”
She peered at him thoughtfully. Was this an awkward truce, or was he going to mention the club again? Before he got the chance, maybe it was time she took charge of the conversation for a while.
“What precisely do you do in the Navy SEALs?” She had a good idea what some of it was after tonight. It involved lightning-fast maneuvers and people who screamed bloody murder.
“Stuff.”
She laughed. “That’s what they show on those nighttime SEAL dramas—stuff.”
“You don’t really want to know what my job is.”
“Why not? You know mine.”
He studied her, his gaze boring hotly into hers. “All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you… I’m a sniper. I shoot people, Bailey. From the kind of distance where they don’t know it’s coming. Among other things.”
Her heart throbbed. “I… Wow.”
“Upset?”
Was she? “No. I’m assuming they’re bad people.”
“The worst. Terrorists. Drug dealers. Human traffickers.”
“There was a movie about a sniper,” she said.
He nodded. “Chris Kyle. American Sniper.”
She remembered that movie. It had Bradley Cooper in it. “Didn’t turn out so well for him, did it?”
“No, but that wasn’t combat. It was a crazy asshole with a weapon.”
Bailey swallowed. “But life in general… It seems like he had a hard time adjusting to life outside a battlefield.”
Alexei shrugged. “It happens. Every time we come back… There’s an adjustment period.”
“When was the last time you were there? On a mission, I mean.”
“I got back the night before you woke me up banging on my door.”
Bailey set the sandwich down. She couldn’t eat it now. She couldn’t eat anything while thinking about Alexei dressed in camouflage, weapons strapped across his chest. About the mental load he carried. “Oh.”
He frowned. “Is this conversation bothering you?”
She started to lie. But then she didn’t. “A little bit, I guess. Maybe because I’m already keyed up. Maybe because, even though I’m pissed at you for trying to tell me what to do, I like you. And the thought of you in pain…”
His gaze hardened. “Stop. Just stop. That’s not what this is, Bailey. We aren’t a thing. There’s no relationship here. You aren’t supposed to get twisted around the axle about my work or my state of mind.”
Bailey blinked at him. So many things in that statement to piss her off. She snorted a laugh because he didn’t even see the irony in what he’d just said.
“Oh really, Captain America? The same as you didn’t get twisted around the axle about my work or the fact there might be men jerking off to thoughts of me right now? Because we aren’t a thing and this isn’t a relationship, right?”
He had the grace to look sheepish. But then he opened his mouth and ruined it. “Right. But it’s not the same thing.”
Now he was making her mad. “Oh yeah? Is that because I’m stripping while you’re out there protecting the world? Is that the difference? Or is it because I’m just a woman and you’re a big strong man who knows what’s right for me?”
“Fucking hell, you make me insane,” he growled, pushing both hands over his face and glaring at her.
“Pot. Kettle. Black, Alexei.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back on the couch, propping a foot against the coffee table and glaring back at him. “Explain to me how it isn’t the same thing.”
“My life is fine. I’m not doing something to get by or make enough money so I can do something else. I’m doing something that makes a difference. What I do helps my country.”
“Oh, I get it. Geez, why didn’t you say so?” Lava boiled in her veins. “You do something noble while I’m just a dirty stripper, right?”
“Not what I said,” he growled.
“You implied it.” Bailey got to her feet. “I’m showering and going to bed.”
He frowned. “You didn’t finish your food.”
She stuck her nose in the air and glared down at him. “I’m not hungry anymore. Your hypocrisy has killed my appetite.”
Jesus, he was an asshole. There was no other word for it. The bedroom door slammed. A moment later it opened again, and then the bathroom door slammed. The water turned on and Alexei tried not to imagine Bailey stripping down and stepping beneath the spray.
Yeah, he failed.
Alexei didn’t blame her for being pissed. He’d been a dick. But when she’d gotten that moist-eyed look, her breath hitching when he’d told her he’d just returned from a deployment, he couldn’t stand her sympathy. He didn’t need it and he didn’t want it. He was fine.
Naturally, it all fell apart after that and he’d made a mess of it. He didn’t think she was a dirty stripper at all. He understood doing what you had to do to survive. But her job wasn’t important to her. It was a means to an end until she could find something better. His job was important to him, and being HOT was everything. That’s what he’d been trying to say, but she’d gotten pissed and stormed off.
He finished his food, crumpled the wrapper, and threw everything away, then headed for his room. When he heard Bailey leave the bathroom, he went in and took a piss and brushed his teeth. The air was still steamy and smelled like her. Flowery and fresh. If he closed his eyes, he could almost picture her in the shower.
He glared at himself in the mirror, then flipped off the light and went to bed. Naturally, sleep didn’t come as quickly as he’d like. He replayed Bailey’s striptease even though he tried not to. His cock turned to stone. His balls ached for release.
He smoothed his palm down his abdomen, beneath the waistband of the boxers he’d worn to bed. He took his stiff dick in his hand, nearly groaning at how sensitive it was. How ready.
He hadn’t intended to do it, but maybe if he cleared his head, he could think logically about all this shit again. He pushed the boxers down and stroked himself from root to tip. His body responded, the pleasure singing through his veins, his balls tightening in anticipation. He stroked faster, the image of Bailey with her gorgeous tits strutting on that stage foremost in his mind.
It didn’t take long before his balls squeezed tight and semen surged up his shaft and shot onto his belly. Alexei groaned as he jerked every last bit of pleasure from his body. Then he collapsed on his pillow, breathing hard.
He stripped off his boxers and used them to clean up. Then he threw them on the floor and turned over, punching the pillow and settling in for sleep.
But sleep eluded him for a long time. Instead, he lay there and thought about Bailey. Not her tits this time. Her eyes. Her soft, soulful eyes and the way they’d filled with emotion when she’d said she was bothered by the idea of him in pain. It was more than he could take. More than he probably deserved. But what he didn’t understand was why he cared what she thought. Why it bothered him.
Why he couldn’t get her out of his head no matter how he tried.
Chapter 14
Bailey had to pee. She woke up when she couldn’t push off the inevitable any longer. It was still dark out, which meant she hadn’t been sleeping for very long. Shouldn’t have drank that soda before going to bed.
She threw the covers back and got up. She didn’t need a light to see her way to the bathroom. The hall was dark, but the light of a streetlamp filtered inside, lighting the way. She shuffled to the bathroom, leaving the light off as she shut the door and took care of business.
When she finished, she opened the door—and froze as she came face-to-face with Alexei. He was tall and broad, and her gaze skimmed over his bare chest, down his abdomen—and then stuttered to a halt when she encountered no clothing to halt her progression. The happy trail trailed… and ended in a dark mass of hair from which a long, thick cock protruded.
Her heart stopped. Her mouth watered. And she jerked her gaze
to his, determined not to look. Not to want.
“What the hell, Alexei?”
“Sorry,” he said, though he made no move to cover himself. “I didn’t know you were up.”
“I flushed the toilet! Washed my hands! How could you not know?” she hissed.
He snorted. “Because I was asleep. I woke up when I had to fucking pee. Drank too much before bed.”
She let her gaze drop again. His cock was semihard. Magnificent. She wanted to drop to her knees and take it in her mouth. And that was a feeling she hadn’t had in a very long time. Too many guys at the club telling her to suck it had kind of ruined the idea.
But now? Oh, now she would suck that thing until he exploded on her tongue. Bailey shook herself. What the hell was she thinking? She was pissed at him, not wanting to suck his dick. She snapped her eyes back to his. Was he smirking at her?
“Like what you see?”
“Seen one, seen them all,” she retorted.
“Sure, I’ll grant you that dicks aren’t all that different—but what I can do with it… now that’s something you might want to know.”
Bailey was so glad it was dark. Heat flared beneath her skin. Bloomed in hot waves across her body. She was also wet. Her panties were going to be soaked if this continued. But then she thought of his smug superiority earlier. The way he’d shut her out of his life while simultaneously trying to control hers.
She dragged her gaze back to his. “Not particularly,” she told him. “If I want to fuck a guy who refuses to respect me, I can just pick one up at the club. Dime a dozen there.”
The heat in his gaze banked. “I’m not those guys, Bailey.”
“No, maybe not, but you aren’t much better. Oh sure, you’re helping me. But you don’t respect me enough to keep from insulting me when you feel threatened.”
He made a sound that might have been a growl. “I don’t feel threatened by you. I just… fucking hell, are we really talking about this while I’m naked and have to piss?”
She stepped aside from the door. “By all means, don’t let me stop you.”
He hesitated as if he might say something, but then he breezed past her and went inside, closing the door. She waited for a few moments, her heart hammering, and then she went back to her room and shut the door. She was just climbing into bed when the door opened.
Bailey squeaked. “What now?”
He stood in the entry, imposing as a Greek god—and every bit as naked. “I’m not threatened by you. I like you. I’m attracted to you. I want to fuck you blind, Bailey. I shouldn’t, but I do. So yeah, I get pissed when I have to stand there and watch you baring your body on a stage—and it’s not for me.”
Oh my…
Hello, melty panties. Hello, hammering heart. Hello, throbbing pussy. She swallowed and forced herself to think.
“That’s… Wow. I like you too. I think. But not when you’re being judgy and bossy. I’ve been on my own for far too long to let anyone tell me what to do. And we barely know each other, as you’ve pointed out many times. It’s been three days—even assuming you didn’t knock Kayla up, that’s not enough time for me to decide to jump into bed with you. No matter how gorgeous you and that cock of yours might be.”
He dragged in a breath. “Fair enough,” he finally said. “But Bailey—I’m sorry for being an asshole earlier. I don’t want you to feel disrespected. It’s not who I am or what I do.”
He turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Bailey sat up in bed for a long while, staring at the door, her body jumping with nerves and thwarted arousal. Now why did he have to go and be decent when she’d been pissed at him for being a jerk? It was easier to turn him down when he was a jerk.
She fell onto her pillow face-first, her screams of frustration disappearing into the cushion.
“You awake?” Blade asked.
Alexei pushed a hand through his hair and yawned. “Yeah, man. I’m awake,” he said into the phone. It wasn’t quite true, but it would be. It didn’t take him long to get functional. It couldn’t in his job.
“We got the footage,” Blade said. “The club uses a local alarm company and they record twenty-four seven. It’s real motion footage too. Good stuff. Anyway, found the guy and managed to get a still. His name is James Dunn. He’s part of the Kings of Doom motorcycle club—and he’s a suspected sex trafficker. He was stopped in West Virginia last year with a nineteen-year-old girl, some marijuana, and a suitcase of condoms. The girl refused to give evidence and there were no charges on the trafficking. The marijuana charge remains, but he left before it went to trial. There are charges against him in several states, including this one. He’s wanted for possession of stolen goods, forging checks, and assault and battery.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, shit is right. Money thinks he’s seen him before. Maybe he’s the guy who was dating Kayla Jones at Buddy’s.”
“Can you send me a pic?”
“Yep. On the way.”
Alexei’s phone dinged and he pulled it away from his head to open the picture. The meaty face was a little grainy, but Alexei was pretty sure he was looking at Kayla’s boyfriend. And the dude was a trafficker in addition to being a fucking douchebag criminal? Man, the feeling in Alexei’s gut was not a good one right now.
“That’s the guy,” he told Blade. “We need to find him.”
Alexei didn’t like the dread forming inside. Sex traffickers like Dunn were insidious. They recruited girls with promises of love or a better life, then kept them high and traveled around pimping them out, hence all the condoms. The girls were usually complacent because of the drugs. When they were caught, they didn’t rat out the trafficker because they were too scared. It was a petty operation, but no less sickening or criminal than the bigger operations that sold girls into slavery in other countries.
“So far we’ve got nothing, though we’re checking hotel registrations and local businesses for any trace of him. I can’t say for sure, but he might have been the guy in the car outside Bailey’s building the other night.”
“He thinks she knows where Kayla is. But what does he want with Kayla?” It wasn’t a question he expected an answer to.
Blade didn’t attempt to provide one. “I can’t find a trace of her, Camel. Not in California and not here. It’s like she doesn’t exist.”
“She had a baby. She has to exist.”
“I know, dude. But she’s hiding. She’s scared of something.”
“Jesus,” Alexei said. “If she was really with Dunn, and he was pimping her out—Ana could belong to anyone. Or she could be Dunn’s if Kayla was really his girlfriend.”
“Holy hell,” Blade said. “It makes sense now.”
Alexei’s senses prickled. “What does?”
“There’s something about an adoption agency here. James Dunn visited an adoption agency in Baltimore—the Stork’s Nest. They specialize in high-end adoptions. People with a lot of money who are willing to pay exorbitant sums for a baby of their own.”
Anger was a drumbeat in his brain. “Any records on the visit?”
“No, just the single entry that he went there. The police were keeping tabs on him, but that didn’t extend to the purpose of his visit.”
Alexei thought of baby Ana. If Ana was Kayla’s and James Dunn’s, would he have offered her to the adoption agency for a price? Of course he would have.
“Fucking asshole,” Alexei said. “Thanks, Blade. I appreciate the information.”
“Hey, man. We’re like the musketeers and shit. One for all and all for one.” He paused. “No problem.”
They hung up and Alexei got out of bed. He was still naked, so he found a pair of sweats and dragged them on. They hung low on his hips, but they weren’t in danger of falling off. He headed for the kitchen, intending to fix coffee before hitting the shower.
Bailey looked up as he strolled in. He crashed to a halt. She was sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling through her phone. She was completely dressed in s
kinny jeans, sandals, and a fitted tee that emphasized how luscious her breasts were. Alarm bells began to ring deep within him.
“Going somewhere?” he asked as he went over to the coffee maker and pressed the Start button.
Her expression was cool. “I think maybe I should go home. Get out of your hair.”
He gaped at her. “Is this about last night?”
She dropped her gaze for a second. “No.”
He didn’t believe her. “What the hell are you thinking, Bailey? That asshole is still out there, still looking for you.” He shook his head. “I can’t let you go.”
“I’ll buy a gun. He won’t get very far if he tries to break in.”
“First of all, there’s a waiting period. Second—ever shoot a gun before?”
She hesitated too long. “Once. It’s not that hard.”
“Sure, it’s easy to pull a trigger… It’s not so easy to hit what you’re aiming at.”
She threw up her hands. “I have a life, Alexei. I can’t put it on hold forever. I need to go home and do my own thing. Without you, because you won’t always be there to bail me out.”
He couldn’t even process what she was saying. “A man threatened you with physical violence—or have you forgotten?”
“I didn’t forget. But guys say shit all the time at the club—doesn’t mean they mean it.” She snorted. “Hell, you say shit and you don’t mean it.”
He was too pissed to ask her what she meant by that last sentence. “Bailey. Jesus.” He paused, gathered his thoughts. “All right, how about this? His name is James Dunn. He’s definitely the guy I saw last year at Buddy’s waiting for your sister. Multiple times, I might add.”
She looked only mildly shocked. “Okay.”
He stalked over to where she sat, glared at her. “No, not okay. He’s a sex trafficker, Bailey. He sells women into sexual servitude. He keeps them high and pimps them out.”
Her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes were clear one minute and then glistening with tears the next. He felt like an ass for putting that look on her face, but she had to know. And she had to believe she was in danger.
HOT SEAL Redemption Page 11