by Cara Carnes
“Oh no. I’m on my way. Don’t move.”
She clicked off the phone as Gage watched her through the window. Eyes twinkling, he unlocked the truck and opened the door. She swiveled around so her feet dangled, but she made no attempt to exit the truck.
Except for blood along his mouth, Gage didn’t look very hurt. His shirt was torn along his shoulder and in a few patches along his stomach. Aside from that he looked…
Amused.
Her gaze narrowed.
“Who did you call?”
“Erm…Addy,” she admitted. “I sort of blindly punched. She was tagged in by chance.”
“Get out of the truck, Little Bit.”
“Erm…she’s not very happy I called and ordered her over here. She told me not to move.”
“Then I guess we do this here,” he whispered as he grabbed her waist and hauled her closer to the edge of the seat.
Shock stilled her breath as he claimed her mouth. The kiss was hot, hungry, and carnal. She wrapped her legs around his waist and gasped as he ground himself against her.
“No matter how badly I want to, I’m not fucking you tonight, Little Bit,” he said. “But I want you in my arms.”
He was so tactile. Zoey knew there were a hundred reasons to say no, but she couldn’t think of a single one. Groans sounded behind them.
Gage pressed his forehead against hers. “Reach down underneath the seat and grab the zip ties.”
Right. Because every commandos truck had scores of zip ties to secure assholes. Zoey blinked, then got to work grabbing the zip ties. Gage chuckled as she eyed them and handed them over.
“I’m thinking I shouldn’t have bothered calling Addy,” she commented.
“Probably not, but she can help deal with these dicks while we wait on law enforcement. There are warrants out for them.”
“All of them?”
“Yeah. By the time the state is done with them, they’ll be in cells right next to Dom. Bet that’ll go really well since they were part of the crew that wanted to whore out his little sister.”
“They wanted that?”
“From what Dallas gathered after things went down, yeah,” Gage said. “Kamren doesn’t know that, Zoey.”
Rightly so. Dani Demarco was Kamren’s BFF, had been since grade school. That was a big deal since Kamren hadn’t finished school past the third grade. Dani had remained the only constant in Kamren’s life until recently.
“Why is Dani not at The Arsenal under protective custody or something if these assholes were out and about?”
“You know she’s got some hang-up with the Masons. She wouldn’t step foot out there.” Gage shrugged. Marcus and his team have been taking turns keeping her under surveillance. She’s as secure as we can get her.
Zoey breathed a sigh of relief. She’d known Marcus and his team were unusable for missions but hadn’t asked Cord why. Now she knew.
“Anything else I should know?”
“You’re sexy when you get sassy,” Gage commented with a grin.
Zoey curled her toes in her boots and watched as a black truck slid into position on the other side of the downed pile of men. Addy exited but kept the door to the vehicle open. Jesse came around from the side and chuckled as his gaze swept the wake of Gage’s fight.
“Seems we weren’t needed after all,” the man commented. “Go. We’ll handle clean up. You contact the Texas Rangers yet?”
“No, was about to.”
The Texas Rangers were temporarily handling law enforcement in the area until a new sheriff was situated in Marville. Even though the small town was only fifteen miles away from Resino, it was in a different county.
From what Zoey had heard, folks had decided to make Phil Perskins Sheriff. From what Kamren had said, it wasn’t a good decision, but one most people had expected since he’d been quite vocal in his desire to hold the seat. All Zoey knew was the bastard was Ellie’s ex-husband. There’d been too many other things going down recently to get beyond that when it came to Marville.
“Turn around, Little Bit,” Gage ordered as he took the seatbelt and latched her in.
“Where are we going?”
“We’ve got a date to finish, remember?”
Her pulse quickened as she caught the gleam in his gaze. “Erm, about that…”
He stood upright fully and smirked. “This’ll be interesting. You’ve got that gleam in your eye.”
“Maybe we should go back to The Arsenal. Watch a movie.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Erm, you just beat up a bunch of people. The law’s gonna wanna talk to you.”
“They can do that in the morning,” Gage said. He leaned forward and cupped her face. “We’re finishing this date, Zoey.”
Her pulse quickened. She didn’t argue because she really wanted to figure out how he intended to finish their date. Whatever it was, she was all in.
“Why are we at Kamren’s farm?”
Because Gage had called in a huge favor in order to spend a bit of downtime with Zoey rather than at The Arsenal compound. As much as he respected the hell out of the operatives out there, he didn’t need them ramming their opinions down his throat. Surely word had gotten out about what Ian had said.
No fucking clue what went down today, but that girl over there’s been sitting here waiting for that plane for hours. Whatever happened rattled her in a way nothing else has. Handle her with care. Break her, I break you.
Gage remembered every word Addy had said when he’d landed.
“She and Dallas are at the compound. Momma Mason wanted a night with the boys,” Gage said. “I thought we could hang out here, watch a movie, and relax.”
Relax.
It was a concept one no one at the compound had embraced lately. As much as he’d hated having his darkest secret exposed today, it’d been a wake up. He’d come a long way since then because he was surrounded by good men and women. Excellent operatives.
He wasn’t the same man he’d once been.
But he’d been killing himself trying to prove that fact since his arrival.
So had Zoey.
The faint circles beneath her eyes as she’d looked up at him in the restaurant had sealed his decision to end their night here. Zoey needed rest. Dallas had offered the location on the plane in his not-so-subtle suggestion to get away the second he could. The man knew the weight of his family and every other operative descending on a person.
He’d been there and done that repeatedly not so long ago.
Dallas hadn’t known Gage would bring Zoey, but it wouldn’t matter. Tonight wasn’t about sex, even though his entire body ached with the need to have her. No, he’d take a page from Dylan’s, Jud’s, and Dallas’s book and take his time. Good women were worth waiting for.
“No sand,” Zoey said as she slid out of the truck and looked up at him. “And no sappy shit.”
Gage grinned. “You think Kamren or Dallas would have sappy shit in their place?”
“I think the girls have been over here loads and they’re all about sappy, especially Rhea.” Zoey shuddered. “That movie night was almost worse than the sand one.”
“No sand, no mush, no wars.” The latter tumbled from his mouth of its own accord.
A flash of pain rolled through Zoey’s face. She reached up and touched his face. “No wars.”
Dallas had put a lot of work into the farm. The house wasn’t the dilapidated mess it’d once been. The entire porch was new, as was the roof and about eighty percent of the interior structure. The man should’ve torn the entire thing down and started from scratch, but he’d been emphatic in his desire to keep as much of the structure as he could because Kamren wanted it that way.
The sofa was comfortable and wide, a fact Gage was grateful for. He motioned toward the bedroom. “Go grab something comfortable from Kamren’s clothes. She wouldn’t mind.”
“I can’t rifle through her stuff.”
“You want me to call and get perm
ission?”
The woman looked around and popped her lip into her mouth. “I guess not.”
“It’s a T-shirt, Little Bit, not nuclear launch codes. I’ll get the supplies situated.”
“Supplies?” She looked at him like he’d spoken a foreign tongue. “I can’t eat anything else.”
“There’s way more than food required for a proper movie experience. Go, get changed. I’ll handle the rest.”
Gage got to work and snagged pillows and a thin blanket from the guest bedroom. He got the sofa ready, then handled the lighting. The overhead lights were too harsh, but no light wasn’t acceptable either. He found a couple candles in the dining room. He lit them and set them on the side end tables near the loveseat.
He turned on the television and activated their box. Someone was a closet movie rat because there were a ton of options. He thumbed through and grinned as he punched his selection. Little Bit would love it even if it was a bit of a hell for him to endure. Then again, he’d never seen Star Wars, so maybe it wasn’t that bad.
She wandered in wearing a loose T-shirt that sagged to her knees. The material stretched across her chest but draped on her otherwise. It was definitely not Kamren’s, but Gage kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t gonna lose his shit because she’d pulled another man’s shirt out to wear. As long as she was comfortable, that was what mattered.
“Settle in. I’ll be right back,” he commented.
She looked at the sofa, then over at the television. “Star Wars? That’s not within the parameters, Sanderson. The word war is literally in the title.”
“I’ve never seen it,” he admitted.
“You’re lying. Everyone’s seen Star Wars.” She crossed her arms, which drew the material up her thighs while also focusing attention on her breasts.
Blood surged southward as his wayward dick thought twice about his plan not to make tonight about sex. He picked up a different Star Wars movie. “This one then?”
“That’s not even the right start to the series,” she said. Her gaze narrowed. “You really haven’t ever seen it, have you?”
“Nope.”
“You’re hopeless. Next you’ll tell me you’ve never seen Guardians of the Galaxy.”
“Is that the raccoon and the tree?”
“The raccoon and the tree?” She repeated it as if he’d called her a murderer.
He loved when Zoey got riled up over little things. He chuckled and drew her into his arms. His body tightened as he tasted her lips. Control shifted to her when she deepened the kiss and grabbed at his shirt.
“Off,” she growled. “If I’m getting comfortable, so are you.”
Gage removed the shirt and tossed it aside. Her gaze roamed down his chest and back up. Eyes wide, mouth parted, she whispered, “Fuck, you’re hot.”
Amusement rolled through him. She never minced words. He’d been with more than his fair share of women, but those three words had a bigger effect on him than any woman ever had. With Zoey his looks would never be the most important thing, there was no question about that, but knowing he affected her on a physical level made him feel like he could leap tall buildings and save the world.
For Zoey, he’d try because right in that moment, he wasn’t an operative or a soldier. He was a man about to watch a movie he didn’t give a damn about because it’d make a woman he cared more than he should about happy.
Gage reached for his belt and undid it. Her mouth fell open as her eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“Getting comfortable,” he said. He slid the belt off and opted to keep the pants on. “I don’t trust myself in anything less, Little Bit. You’re a hell of a temptation.”
Zoey plopped down in sitting position on the edge of the sofa farthest from the pillows. So freaking adorable. He sat in the middle and laid down. Legs behind her, he looked over at her.
“Well, that’s being a sofa hog, Sanderson,” she said. “And we’re watching Guardians of the Galaxy. Star Wars is too addictive for your first foray into awesome cinematography. You’ll want to watch more than one movie, and you need sleep more than you need to reeducate yourself on what a good movie is.”
“Lay down, Little Bit. If I’m watching a talking raccoon and tree, I’m holding you while I do.”
“Groot has a complex vocabulary of three words. No, four. You need to respect the nuances of his inflection. That’s where the beauty of his language comes from,” she said as she looked at the sofa. “I can sit over there, you know.”
“Lay down,” he whispered. “Nothing’s going to happen unless you want it to.”
She got into position as if she were settling into an execution chair, body tense and ramrod straight. But her breaths were quickened, and her pulse hammered against his fingertips when he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and repositioned her arms.
Little Bit was excited, but nervous.
So freaking shy and adorable.
He drew her backward until her back was against his entire front. He cocked their right legs forward and up enough to draw her under him so he could partially cover her. Just enough to firm the contact.
“God, you’re so tactile.”
“You don’t like it?”
“I’m not used to a man wanting to cuddle. Heck, this isn’t cuddling. It’s like a cuddle, a spooning, and a tactical pin all in one.” She relaxed into his body even as she voiced her thoughts. “Do you do this a lot?”
“No,” he said honestly. “I haven’t been with a woman in almost a year. Even then it was a brief mistake quickly corrected.”
She put her hand over his when he rested it around her waist. “Fuck, you smell so good. You’re so warm. It’s like getting hugged by a furnace. And you’re way warmer and snugglier than my weighted blanket.”
“Weighted blanket, huh? You use it a lot?”
“Most nights, except for the summer. It gets really hot down here. Poor Dobby hasn’t needed any of his clothes,” she whispered.
“If you get cold, let me know,” he said.
“No, I’m good,” she whispered. “I know you aren’t ready to talk about today, but I just want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had that horrible decision to make, and I’m sorry it cut you so deep it’s still hurting you today. And I’m sorrier than hell my mess dredged all that up and exposed it for everyone to see. Everyone should be able to hold onto their demons until they’re ready to share them.”
“It was past time. I hope to hell the entire compound doesn’t hear, but I’m glad you know.” He nibbled on her ear. “None of what happened in that office is on you, Zoey. The bastard was messing with me and The Arsenal long before you were in the picture.”
“Vi’s right. It’s all a lie.”
“Whatever it is will wait. For now, let’s watch the raccoon and tree kick some ass.”
“You’re hopeless, Gage Sanderson.” She reached over and snagged the remote and clicked play. Then she snuggled back into his hold. “Thank you for this.”
He smiled and ran his hand through the pool of hair atop her head, which was nestled beneath his throat. So fucking beautiful and tempting. But the bundle of woman in his arms needed the quiet and solitude a movie night could offer more than he needed sex.
12
“You snore.”
Zoey’s eyes popped open. Shock riddled her mute as she blinked and peered into curious eyes so like Dallas Mason’s it was startling. Little DJ was a Mason through and through. Early morning light splayed in through the open curtains.
The scents of bacon and toast filled the area. Her stomach grumbled its demand for food, but she remained locked into place, halfway under Gage and halfway not. No man had ever held her all night. While the sofa was small, there’d been plenty of room to give each other some distance.
But he hadn’t wanted space between them, and neither had she.
He’d been asleep before the credits rolled. Exhaustion had impacted them both, but he’d clearly needed the rest. She’d woken a few ti
mes during the night, but he hadn’t moved except to reposition them a few times.
“It’s not polite to say that kind of stuff,” she said, recalling how Ellie handled the boys. They needed lessons more than they needed friends. It was up to her and those around them to give them the social skills they lacked so their family could spoil them rotten with love.
“That’s what Mom says,” DJ admitted. “She’s out feeding the chickens. Daddy and TJ are fixing breakfast. Dad says you two are lucky he promised to be nice. Otherwise he’d kick Gage’s ass for sleeping so hard.”
Daddy Dallas had a big mouth and needed a butt kicking of his own. “Is anyone else here?”
“Yeah. They’re all outside ’cause Mom wouldn’t let them inside. Aunt Vi and Aunt Mary and Aunt Bree and Aunt Riley and Aunt Rhea.” The boy took a breath and rolled his eyes up at the ceiling as if mentally running through a list. “Uncle Jud and Uncle Dylan and Uncle Jesse, too.”
“Christ,” Gage muttered. “Guess they’ve never heard of a cellphone.”
“We have. You slept through eleven calls,” Dallas commented. “Go outside and tell the others they’re awake, son. Breakfast is almost ready.”
“Crap.” Gage shifted behind her. The hard, warm lines of his body rubbing along hers directed her attention to the evident hard ridge along her ass.
Zoey gulped.
“Good morning,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m thinking we both slept through an alien invasion.
“Apparently.” She swallowed. “DJ says I snore.”
“I wouldn’t know. Apparently I died,” he commented. “I haven’t slept that hard in years.”
Zoey squeezed his hand. “I’d better get dressed before the women descend. I’m thinking there’s a reason they’re all here.”
“Oh, there’s a reason,” Dallas commented, making no qualms about the fact that he was listening to everything they said. “Shower in the master bath is better. The girls left a bag of stuff for you on the bed.”
Zoey shuffled off the sofa and headed into the bedroom. The door closed with a soft click behind her. She’d slept in Gage’s arms all night. Awareness tingled along her skin. She hadn’t meant to run away, but she had zero idea what the heck she was doing with him.