by Susan Stoker
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
Dakota swallowed hard. “Me too, but I’m sorrier for my dad. He lost the love of his life. His soul mate. He told me once, not long after Mom died, that they truly believed they’d been together in a past life.”
“He believes in reincarnation?” Slade asked.
“I guess so, yeah. I can’t say I don’t believe. It was uncanny the things they knew about each other when they met. Mom would sometimes say stuff out of the blue that she literally shouldn’t have known about him. It was really cool. My dad has been so strong since she died, but I can tell there’s a part of him that’s missing. Every day is a struggle for him.” She turned in Slade’s embrace and looked up at him. “That’s what I want, and I didn’t feel that with any of the men I dated. I didn’t want to settle.”
“You shouldn’t settle,” Slade told her softly, running his fingers over her cheek lightly. “My parents are still together, and even though I know they love each other, I don’t think they have the passion that you’ve described your folks having.”
“It’s so rare, most people never find it.”
Slade’s eyes seemed to pierce into her soul as he gazed down at her. “I’ve seen that kind of passion with my friends and their wives. I want it. I’m willing to give up everything I have to get it too. I’d fight and kill for it.”
“Slade,” Dakota whispered, shaken by the truth she saw in his eyes.
He ignored her unspoken plea and continued. “I see and feel that same passion with you, Dakota. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, or even later today. But I know without a doubt that time is precious. Every second I get to spend with you is a second that I’m a better man because of it. Your arms around me as we drive down this fucking excuse for a road are what keep me going. Wanting to find Fourati and end the threat to you is what’s driving me. Not the love of my country. Not wanting to keep random strangers safe. I’m an intense guy, I get that, but I haven’t waited almost half a century for you to come along to waste time now.”
He stopped speaking, but didn’t drop his eyes from hers. The look on his face was both tender and fierce. Dakota knew without a doubt he meant every single word. There was nothing she could say that would come close to telling him how she felt, so she showed him instead.
Licking her lips nervously, she rose stiffly to her knees and turned to face him. The ground was dusty and small pebbles dug into her skin through her jeans, but she ignored the pain. She leaned toward him, suppressing a groan as her muscles complained, and kissed him.
Slade immediately wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her into his body, easing them backwards until he was flat on the ground and she was lying on top of him. Dakota could feel every muscle move and flex under her as she settled over him. His legs spread and her own fell between them. She felt surrounded and protected.
She kissed him with all the fierce passion pent up in her soul. The passion she’d never felt for any other man poured out of her as if she’d turned a faucet on high. She couldn’t get enough of his taste, his mouth on hers, the way his facial hair felt against her own smooth cheeks. She wanted to inhale him and burrow herself into his chest at the same time.
Slade let her take control of their kiss. He lay still under her as her hands roamed his chest, as she nibbled on his bottom lip, even as she moved to his neck and began to suck on the tender skin there. It wasn’t until her hands began to wander south toward the button on his jeans that he moved.
Grasping her fingers in his own, he stopped her, then sat up, manhandling her until she was straddling his lap. His hands went to her ass and he hauled her against him so there wasn’t an inch of space between them. Then his hands eased upward, under her jacket and shirt, until his chilly fingers touched the warm skin at her waist.
He didn’t stop when she giggled and flinched from his cool touch, nor when she breathed in sharply as he skimmed the undersides of her breasts. One hand went to her chest, where he cupped a breast in his large hand, and the other pressed against her spine, encouraging her to arch into him.
Dakota tried to breathe, but was finding it difficult. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Slade’s. She felt his thumb brush over her nipple in a gentle caress. She pressed both her pelvis and breast into him at the same time. Wanting more. Needing more.
“Fucking beautiful,” Slade said softly. “I knew you’d be like this.”
Dakota closed her eyes then, lost in the joy of his hands on her.
“Did you mark me?” he asked.
Her eyes flew open. “What?”
“Did you mark me?” he asked again calmly. “When you sucked on my neck. Did you give me a hickey?”
Dakota giggled and glanced down at the collar of his shirt. Sure enough, there was a small bruise on the side of his neck, right where everyone could see it. “No,” she told him in a tone that she knew he’d be able to tell she was lying.
He smiled and his hand moved down the front of her body and came to rest at her waist. He leaned in and ran his nose up the side of her neck. Dakota tilted her head, giving him room. “You smell so good,” he told her, before latching onto her neck and sucking…hard.
Dakota moaned at the sensation, then giggled at what he was doing. She should be appalled. They were acting like teenagers, but she couldn’t deny that she wanted Slade to mark her just as she’d done to him. As he sucked, his tongue licked and caressed her skin, once again leaving goosebumps in its wake. When he finally pulled back, Dakota rolled her eyes at the look of satisfaction on his face.
She wrinkled her nose at him. “It’s huge, isn’t it?”
“Yup,” he said immediately. The look on his face was smug and proud.
“I can’t believe we just did that.”
The hand that had been at her back came up and he tenderly smoothed it over her head. “I can. And I’m hoping for more when we get to Goldfield tonight.”
At the reminder of how far they still had to go, Dakota groaned.
“How about this?” Slade asked. “As incentive for you, when we get to Tonopah, you get another kiss. When we get to Goldfield, you get more of my hands.”
Dakota’s eyes glittered. Now he was talking. He was great incentive, that was for sure. “And when we get to San Diego?” she asked.
“You get whatever you want,” Slade returned.
“I want it all,” Dakota whispered. “I’m scared, but I want it all.”
“It’s yours,” he said, all trace of teasing gone. “Anything you want. Everything I’ve got. It’s all yours.”
“I’m ready to continue,” Dakota told him, still whispering.
“Okay.” But instead of standing, Slade wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him. They sat on the ground for several moments, soaking up the residual feelings of passion, respect, and trust that had been garnered over the short time they’d known each other.
Finally, Slade pulled back, kissed her lips hard, and stood. He helped Dakota stand on wobbly legs, and they walked hand in hand down the short incline back to his bike.
As they set off once more, Dakota hardly felt the bumps and aching muscles anymore. She’d made a decision on that small hill in the middle of nowhere, Nevada. She was going to take a chance with Slade Cutsinger. The biggest chance of her life. If they could make it through whatever Aziz had planned for her, she might just be rewarded with a love like her parents had.
She smiled all the way to Goldfield.
Chapter 7
“It doesn’t look like much,” Slade told Dakota honestly. They were standing in front of the old Goldfield Hotel in downtown Goldfield, Nevada. He’d thought the small town was going to be bigger. There was literally only one place to stay, the Sante Fe Motel and Saloon. He considered driving back up to Tonopah, but knew Dakota was done.
She’d held up better than he could’ve hoped after their short break. He’d pushed through to Tonopah, where they’d grabbed a quick lunch. She’d told him she was goin
g to wait for her reward until they reached Goldfield.
As they’d driven south toward the infamous mining town, Slade didn’t see hide nor hair of anyone suspicious. He was going to call Tex when they were settled for the night. He was cautiously optimistic that they were safe for the time being.
Dakota had been talking in his ear for the last thirty minutes about the haunted Goldfield Hotel. He hadn’t even heard of the place before, but because of Dakota, he was now an expert.
“Come on, let’s go look inside,” Dakota urged, tugging on his hand.
He’d parked his Harley around the corner, trying to keep their location on the down-low for as long as possible. Slade grinned as he allowed Dakota to “lead” him toward the large glass windows at the front of the building. She wasn’t so much leading him as he was holding her up as she walked.
She was hobbling along, and every step looked like it pained her something awful, but she still had a beautiful smile on her face and did her best to pretend nothing was wrong. She might not think she was tough, but Slade knew differently. The more time he spent with her, the more she reminded him of Caroline. Understated beauty, thinking of others first, and a spine of steel.
He’d been on plenty of missions in his lifetime where the women they’d been sent to rescue had completely fallen apart at the slightest hint of danger. Others had been so traumatized they couldn’t even walk. It wasn’t fair to compare some of the situations he’d been in to what Dakota was going through, but he had no doubt if the shit hit the fan, she’d stand tall and firm and claw her way out.
They stopped at one of the large windows on the front of the building and Dakota dropped his hand, limped to the glass, and cupped her hands to peer inside. Her voice was muffled as she excitedly reported on what she was seeing.
“Oh my gosh, Slade. It’s amazing! It’s like time stood still. There are two black leather circle couch things. I can just picture people sitting around and waiting for loved ones. And the front desk is still there. There are little mailbox slots behind it where I imagine the keys would sit. Oh! And a staircase with red carpet leading upward to something. I can’t see what. And a set of double doors with what look like pineapples etched in the glass. It’s dusty, yeah, but it’s like the place is just waiting for the front doors to be thrown open and guests to stream through.”
She picked up her head and smiled at him. “Wanna see?”
“Yeah, sweetheart, I do,” Slade told her. He walked up behind her and leaned forward, trapping her body between his own and the glass window in front of them. He felt every inch of her body against his as he peered inside. To him, it looked like an old, rundown abandoned room, but he wasn’t going to burst Dakota’s bubble.
When he leaned back, she grabbed his hand again and headed down the sidewalk toward another window. She repeated the same routine, peering inside, giving him a rundown of what she saw. This time she included some other information as well.
“The owner won’t let anyone inside because he’s afraid the ghosts will hurt them. The Ghost Adventures crew went in there in two thousand seven or eight, and had a brick thrown at their heads! They even got it on film. It was creepy, but so cool. Man, I wish we could go inside!”
“You’re kidding, right?” Slade asked her.
“What? No! That would be awesome!” Dakota gushed. “There’s supposed to be a ghost of a woman named Elizabeth who was handcuffed to a radiator, and she had a baby and the father of the child killed them both. And there have been a few people who’ve committed suicide in there, and they’re supposed to haunt the place too.”
“Only you would be on the run from terrorists, but not scared of ghosts,” Slade said, shaking his head.
Dakota turned to him with her hands on her hips and demanded, “Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn’t be fascinated to see proof of ghostly activity.”
Slade leaned forward until she took a step back, trapping her against the glass window. He put his hands on either side of her head and got close enough that their noses were almost touching. “I’ve seen my share of ghostly activity, sweetheart. I can’t say any of them were great experiences.”
“You’ve seen ghosts?” she breathed, her eyes wide. Her hands came up to clutch his sides. “Seriously?”
“Unfortunately, yeah. You don’t spend as much time as I have overseas and avoid it. Although the ones I saw were mostly women and children. I don’t know how they were killed. Maybe it was their husbands, maybe it was by bombs. Regardless, seeing them wandering the streets at o-three-hundred, lost and calling for their loved ones, isn’t something I’ll ever forget or want to experience again.”
“Wow, I guess not,” Dakota said, petting his sides unconsciously.
“You seen enough? Ready to check into the hotel, rest for a while, then grab something to eat?”
She grimaced and nodded. “Thank you for indulging me. I’ve wanted to see this place for myself ever since I saw Zak and Nick experience that brick flying across the room. Hey, maybe we can watch that episode together when we get home…err…sometime.”
Turning and wrapping his arm around Dakota’s waist and helping her walk back toward his Harley, Slade smiled. “I’d love to watch it with you when we get home,” he told her, purposely using the word home. He loved the thought of them having a home together.
They made it back to the motorcycle without encountering any specters, much to Dakota’s disappointment and Slade’s relief. He loved spending time with her but hated to see the pain cross her face as she gamely climbed on the back of his bike again. He needed to take care of that for her.
“Hang on, sweetheart. I’ll have you in a tub full of hot water as soon as I can.”
She squeezed his waist and Slade smiled as he drove the short distance to the motel. He would miss having her arms around him twenty-four seven when they got to San Diego and he parked his bike in favor of his car. It was amazing how quickly he’d gotten used to her weight and heat at his back and her arms locked around him.
The motel had eight rooms, which weren’t any more impressive than the trailers in Rachel. But they were clean, and had bathtubs, which were Slade’s most pressing requirements. He wanted to get Dakota soaking as soon as he could. She’d held up better than he thought she would, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurting.
He requested a room on the end, and parked his Harley around the corner where it’d be harder to be seen from the street. He opened the door and peeked in, making sure it was clear before gesturing for Dakota to enter.
“Why’d you do that?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“Look into the room. I thought for a second you were going to push me out of the way to get inside first,” she teased.
Slade didn’t even crack a smile. He shut the door behind them and turned to her. “I know people have been conditioned to think it’s the gentlemanly thing to do to open doors and let ladies enter first, but that doesn’t fly in my world.”
“But isn’t it the polite thing to do?” Dakota asked, dropping her backpack on the bed and tilting her head at him in question.
“It might be polite, but it’s not safe,” Slade told her. “If there’s someone waiting in the room for us, I absolutely don’t want you to be the first one through the door. I’ll always be the one to check out the room before I deem it safe for you to enter. On missions, I saw way too many times where men shoved women and children through doors before they entered. If there was danger, they’d either use them as shields or run when they were shot as they walked inside. So no, sweetheart, I don’t care if it makes me impolite. I won’t allow you to go first in any situation where there could be the smallest chance you could get hurt or caught in any kind of crossfire.”
“I hadn’t ever thought about it that way,” Dakota said, limping toward him. Then she put her arms around him and hugged him. Hard.
Automatically wrapping his own arms around her, Slade asked as they stood together in the small motel room, �
��What’s this for?”
“For all those women and children you had to watch get hurt,” she told him softly. “I’m sorry.”
Slade’s throat closed up and he pressed his lips together hard. The things he’d seen and done for his country while overseas were a part of his past. He’d dealt with them, talked with counselors and hadn’t thought about them much after retiring. But he definitely could’ve used Dakota’s sweet sympathy and concern for him when he’d returned from a few of those awful missions. “Thank you,” he finally croaked.
They stood together for a long moment before Dakota said, “If I don’t move, I’m gonna fall asleep right here standing up.”
Appreciating her attempt at lightening the situation, Slade chuckled and pulled back, keeping his hands on her waist in support. “Come on. Let’s get you in the tub. I’ll get some pizza, since that’s apparently the only choice at the bar, and we can eat when you’re done. Yeah?”
“Sounds heavenly. You think this place has hot water?” Dakota joked.
“If it doesn’t, we’re heading back to Tonopah,” Slade returned immediately.
“I was kidding.”
“I wasn’t,” Slade told her. “I promised you a Jacuzzi, and while I have to renege on that, I’m not budging on the hot bath. You need it. We’ve got a long day of riding tomorrow and I want to make sure you’ll be able to make it.”
“I’ll make it,” Dakota told him stubbornly.
He ran his hand over her hair and said softly, “Let me rephrase then. I want to make sure you’ll make it with the least amount of difficulty possible. And that’ll happen easier if you can soak your muscles tonight. I’ve got some painkillers in my bag and between those and the hot water, you should be okay for tomorrow. So if this place doesn’t have hot water, I’m hauling your ass back up to Tonopah to one of the chain hotels where I know there will be some.”
He saw the tears form in her eyes and frowned. “What did I say to make you cry?” he asked.