Shielding Aspen

by Susan Stoker

  “Well, because I don’t live that far away, and I know you were tired too.”

  “There’s no way I was going to wave to you from my doorstep and send you off by yourself. Nothing good happens after midnight, and while Killeen isn’t exactly the murder capital of the world, that doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen. And nothing’s going to happen to you on my watch, not if I can help it.”

  Aspen was literally speechless. She couldn’t help recalling her second date with Derek; she’d needed to use the restroom after dinner, when they were leaving. Derek had joked that since she was “practically” a Ranger, he was sure she could manage to get home all right. She’d laughed at the time, but when she’d come out of the bathroom, he’d already left. The parking lot had been dark, and while it was only around ten at night, it had still struck her as rude.

  While both men were handsome, the differences between Kane and Derek were like night and day. While Derek was good-looking on the outside—and he knew it—inside, he was conceited and selfish. Kane, on the other hand, was a little awkward and unsure of his appeal, but he was generous and genuinely concerned about others’ welfare. Time would tell what his faults were, but Aspen was beginning to think any faults he had would be overshadowed by his good features.

  “Are you mad?” Kane asked, bringing Aspen out of her internal musings.

  “Mad that you didn’t disrupt my sleep and let me get a full night’s rest after a completely hellish week? Or maybe upset that I had to lie practically on top of you on your insanely comfortable couch all night? Um…no.” She grinned as she said the last.

  “Well, sleeping with you on our second date wasn’t exactly in my plans,” Kane teased.

  For a second, Aspen could only blink in surprise, then she laughed. “We did, didn’t we?” she asked.

  “And without even a kiss,” Kane continued to tease.

  “I’m sure that can be remedied…but not until I’ve brushed my teeth and don’t have morning breath,” Aspen told him. She liked the look of both lust and tenderness on his face.

  She was lying on her side next to him, her back to the couch as he rested on his own. One of his arms was around her and the other rested on top of her hand, which was on his chest. They were snuggled together cozily, and she had no desire to move anytime soon. She had no recollection of how they’d ended up in the position they were in, but she definitely had no complaints.

  “What’s on your plate for today?” Kane asked. “I know you said you had the day off, but wasn’t sure if you had plans.”

  “Just errands,” Aspen said with a wrinkle of her nose. “I need to go to the grocery store, but I don’t want to get too much in case we’re deployed, as everyone thinks we will be. I’ve got a few bulbs out in my apartment that I need to replace, and I planned on sitting around doing absolutely nothing for a few hours too. Why?”

  For the first time, Kane’s eyes drifted from hers, as if he wasn’t sure about what he was going to say. It was interesting how confident he was in some areas, but tongue tied in others. “The guys were all going to come over here today. Gillian, Kinley, and hopefully Devyn too. I thought you might want to hang with us for a while after you do your errands.”

  “Who’s Devyn?”

  “Grover’s sister. She recently moved here from Missouri. We’re all pretty sure Lucky has his eye on her, but Grover’s clueless about it so we’re all just watching to see when the fireworks will start,” Kane told her.

  Aspen wanted to. She really wanted to. All the talk the night before about how let down she was that working with the Rangers hadn’t gained her the team she so desperately wanted made her both hesitant and eager to accept his invitation. Hesitant because watching Kane with his team would bring home exactly what she didn’t have, and eager because maybe, just maybe, she could find what she was looking for outside work.

  “It’s okay if you say no, I know how precious a day off can be, especially when you’re training for a mission.”

  “I want to,” Aspen blurted.

  The smile that crossed Kane’s face was beautiful. “Good,” he said.

  “What time?”

  “Around four?” he said. “I’ll go get some burgers and stuff and we’ll hang out for a bit until it’s time to eat. Don’t be surprised if Winnie wanders over. She loves when I have cookouts because she gets to come and ‘ogle the hot Army dudes.’ Her words, not mine.”

  “I think I’m going to like your neighbor,” Aspen said with a laugh.

  “Everyone does,” Kane said easily. “I think Gillian and Kinley have adopted her. They look after her when we head out on missions, which makes me feel better.”

  “What should I bring?”

  “Nothing,” Kane said immediately.

  “Nope. Not happening. You either tell me what I should bring, or I’ll go overboard and probably embarrass myself by bringing over way too much food,” Aspen told him huffily.

  He smiled. “Okay, since you’re going to the grocery store anyway, how about if you bring some sort of salad. I’m not saying anyone other than the women will eat it, because you know, us manly men have to eat our meat and all, but…”

  Aspen rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll make potato salad. Even manly men like you and your friends can’t turn that down…I mean, meat and potatoes go together like peanut butter and jelly.”

  “Homemade?” Kane asked.

  “Of course. Store-bought stuff is gross.”

  “Mayonnaise or mustard based?”

  Aspen eyed him. “Is this a deal breaker?”

  “It could be,” he teased. “Stop stalling, which one?”

  “Mustard, of course,” Aspen said.

  Kane breathed out an exaggerated sigh of relief. “Thank God.”

  Aspen chuckled. “You’re a nut.”

  “Nope, just picky about my potato salad,” he told her. Then the smile fell from his face. “Thank you for not being weird about this morning. I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” He gestured to the both of them lying on the couch with his head.

  “It’s fine. Honestly, I’m glad you didn’t wake me up. I haven’t been sleeping all that well, and I feel better this morning than I have in quite a while. You did me a favor.”

  “Can’t say it was that much of a hardship,” Kane told her. “When I woke up with a crick in my neck around two, I moved us into this position. You were out like a light and barely even protested when I hauled you against me.”

  Aspen shrugged. “When I’m out, I’m out, but it doesn’t happen every night. Sometimes I toss and turn. Too many memories rolling through my brain.”

  “I know about that,” Kane said, and Aspen figured he did. They hadn’t talked about the missions they’d been on, they both knew talking about specifics was out of the question, but she wasn’t naïve enough to think he hadn’t seen some pretty horrific things in his time as a special forces operative.

  “I think I might have an extra toothbrush in my bathroom,” he told her, lightening the mood.

  “You have so many women staying the night that you need to have spares?” Aspen asked before she thought about her words.

  But Kane didn’t miss a beat. “Hell no. I think I got an extra at the dentist last time I was there and never bothered to change out my old one. I know, I know, I should, but I’m not a fan of change, and besides, there didn’t seem to be a need.”

  He was babbling a bit, which Aspen thought was cute. “I know,” she told him, patting his chest. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me to say. You’re an adult and we just met.”

  “It’s been over six months since I’ve been on a date with anyone,” Kane informed her. “And at least two years since I’ve been with a woman.”

  His cheeks flushed as he admitted that last part, and Aspen couldn’t help but be shocked. “What is wrong with the women around here?” she asked.

  He stared at her for a moment before saying, “You don’t see me the same way as everyone else.”

&n
bsp; “Well, that’s just stupid,” Aspen declared, feeling somewhat annoyed. “You’re gorgeous, Kane. I mean, could your eyes be any more beautiful? And your hair is always adorably mussed, which makes me want to smooth it down, which is silly because you’re a grown-ass man. And when you smile at me, my knees go weak.”

  “And then I open my mouth and say something over-the-top geeky, which makes other women’s eyes glaze over, and they realize that they’d have to put up with me in order to have the privilege of looking at my physical attributes up close and personal.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Aspen said, downright pissed now. She sat up and glared at him. “For the record, your smartness doesn’t turn me off. I’m sure if we compared SAT scores, yours would probably blow mine out of the water, but who cares? Anytime you want to babble at me in Zulu, you go right ahead, it’s not going to bother me.”

  “Sithandwa,” Kane said.

  “Bless you.”

  He smiled. “That was darling in Zulu,” he informed her.

  “Shit, really?” Aspen asked, sidetracked from her rant for a moment. “I was totally kidding about you knowing Zulu. Hell, I don’t even know what part of Africa the language is spoken.”

  “Mostly South Africa. The Zulu are a Bantu ethnic group, and the largest in that region at around ten to twelve million people,” Kane said.

  Aspen smiled. She put her hand on his cheek. “My point is, I think it’s cool how smart you are, Kane. I find it amazing that you moved through school so fast. I’m impressed that you joined the Army as an enlisted man, and it’s more than obvious your teammates think the world of you. All evidence is pointing to the fact that you’re not only smart, you’re a good man to boot, which in my eyes is more important.”

  Kane studied her for a long moment, a gamut of emotions rolling through his eyes and on his face. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  “You’re welcome,” Aspen whispered back, feeling the air crackle with anticipation and the chemistry between them.

  “The toothbrush should be in one of the drawers to the left of the sink,” he said.

  “You don’t care if I go through your drawers?”

  “You’re welcome in my drawers anytime.”

  Aspen couldn’t help but laugh at the badly veiled innuendo. “How about we start with a few kisses first?”

  “Deal,” he said, then sat up, taking her with him. Aspen shouldn’t have been amazed at his strength, but she still was. He moved her as if she was a petite five foot four, rather than the five-nine she really was. Even at the same height, he had no problem lifting her over him and helping her stand.

  She groaned. “God, I’m so sore.”

  “When you get home, you should take a long hot bath,” Kane said. “Then do some stretches. It’ll help.”

  “A bath sounds amazing,” Aspen said on a sigh.

  He stared at her, and she could practically read his mind. “I’m not getting naked in your tub,” she quipped. “That might be pushing the second-date thing a little. I mean, I know we slept together and all, but rubbing my naked ass in your tub before I know when the last time you’ve cleaned it is going a bit far.”

  As she hoped, he laughed. “Fair enough. And I’ll admit that I have no idea when the last time that tub was scrubbed, but I’ll get on that today, just in case. You know, for future sleepovers.”

  “You do that,” Aspen said with a smile. She chalked “not cleaning his tub enough” in the con column she was mentally keeping, but had to add, “willing to scrub when asked” in the pro column.

  “I’ll start the coffee while you go and brush your teeth,” Kane told her.

  “I hope you have sugar and creamer,” Aspen muttered. “I like it sweet.”

  “Noted,” Kane said. “You told me that about your alcoholic drinks too.”

  Aspen shrugged. “What can I say, I have a sweet tooth.”

  “Also noted. Go on, your sweet coffee will be waiting when you come back downstairs.”

  “Kane?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks.”

  “For what?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

  “For being so amazing. For not taking advantage. For letting me pick the movie, and for not being an asshole.”

  “I can be one,” he said candidly.

  “I’m sure you can, just as I can be a bitch. But I doubt you’d do it on purpose, and never to one of your friends.”

  “True.”

  “I feel safe with you, and I can’t say that about a lot of people.”

  “That’s a shame,” he told her with a small frown. “You should be able to say that about the men you work alongside of.”

  Aspen shrugged.

  “You’ll always be safe with me,” Kane vowed.

  “Thanks,” she whispered, then backed away from him before she did something she might regret later, like grab him and shove her hand down his pants to see if the erection she’d felt against her leg earlier was as big as it felt.

  They kept eye contact until she reached the stairs and turned to head up them. She thought Kane groaned, but then decided she was hearing things.

  She had to get her shit together. She was falling for Kane hard and fast, and frankly, it scared her. This wasn’t like her. She was cautious and never fell headlong into relationships. But there was just something about him that made her feel giddy and want to throw caution to the wind.

  Doing her best to turn her thoughts to the errands she needed to get accomplished before she headed back here to spend the evening with Kane and his friends, Aspen found the spare toothbrush Kane had told her should be in the bathroom.

  Thirty minutes later, she was standing next to the driver’s-side door of her car in his driveway, feeling nervous.

  “So…four o’clock, right?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Anything you want me to bring other than the potato salad?”

  “Just you,” Kane said. Then he brought his hand up to her face and brushed his thumb along her cheekbone. “I’m sorry you had a hard day yesterday. Thank you for letting me try to make it better.”

  “You didn’t try, you did,” Aspen said.

  “Good.” He took a step closer. “May I kiss you?” he asked softly.

  Staring into his eyes, Aspen nodded.

  But Kane didn’t immediately lower his head. His eyes ran all over her face, as if he was trying to memorize her features. Then he ran his thumb over her bottom lip.

  “Kane?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Hmmm?”

  Aspen licked her lips and saw his pupils dilate. “Are you gonna kiss me or what?”

  Instead of answering, he dropped his head. His lips brushed over hers in a chaste caress. Once, twice. Then he moved one hand to the small of her back and pulled her into him, and his other hand went to her nape. Aspen felt surrounded by him as his mouth suddenly captured hers in a fierce and intense kiss.

  She’d only ever felt tingles in her fingers and toes because of a kiss once before—when Kane had kissed her in the bar. Her lips parted, and then he was there, licking, sucking, nibbling. This wasn’t a mere kiss, it was a claiming—and Aspen was more than happy to be claimed.

  One hand clamped onto his biceps and the other gripped his shirt at his side as she took what Kane was giving her. The stubble on his face lightly scratched her skin, only enhancing the overwhelming experience.

  It wasn’t until they heard a catcall coming from next door that Kane lifted his head. He didn’t remove his hands from her though, merely turned his head, then chuckled low in his throat.

  Aspen turned to look as well and smiled when she saw Winnie standing on her front porch, her newspaper in hand, waving at them. Kane gave her a chin lift, then turned to look down at Aspen once more.

  “I know I need to let you go, but I really don’t want to,” he admitted softly.

  And right then and there, Aspen knew she was a goner. “You’ve got stuff to do,” she reminded him.

&nbs
p; “I know.”

  “So do I.”

  “I know that too,” Kane said, but didn’t release her.

  Aspen smiled and ran her hand up and down his arm. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

  Kane took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then he straightened and lowered his hands, running one through his hair, making it stand up even more than it was already.

  He licked his lips, and Aspen wanted to jump him right then and there. But she refrained…barely.

  “Let me know when you get home?” he asked.

  “It’s only a short drive,” she protested.

  “Please?”

  How could she deny him when he asked so nicely? “Okay.”

  “This isn’t me being controlling,” he told her. “I just want to make sure you’re safe.”

  “I know.” And she did. It felt good to know he was concerned about her. “I’ll text when I get there.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

  Aspen nodded. Kane reached around her and opened her door. She noticed that even after she sat, started the car, and backed out of his drive, Kane remained there, watching her. She felt a little self-conscious about it; no other boyfriend had ever focused on her so intently.

  When she got to the end of his street and looked in her rearview mirror, she saw Kane had walked next door and was talking to Winnie. He was the most considerate man she’d ever met…and somehow that scared the shit out of her. He couldn’t be that perfect, could he? Eventually she’d find some character flaw, and she prayed it wouldn’t ruin everything else she’d learned. She didn’t want or need a perfect man, but so far, Kane was everything she’d dreamed about as a little girl.

  Time would tell if he was going out of his way to be overly nice, but she had a feeling he wasn’t. That Kane Temple was exactly who he seemed to be. A nice guy who’d been overlooked by women wanting an edgier, more dangerous man. But that wasn’t what Aspen wanted. She lived a dangerous enough life as it was. She wanted someone who would be at her side through thick and thin, and it seemed, so far, that Kane just might be that man.

  Her thoughts once more scaring the shit out of her, Aspen decided she should take a step back. She was getting in too deep, too fast. She’d still go over to his house this afternoon, but she’d fortify her mental shields first. She needed to slow down, get to know Kane a lot better. Then she could decide if she wanted to take things further.