by Susan Stoker
“What? You can ask me anything. You name it, I’ll give it to you,” Slade said softly.
“You can say no, or that you’ll think about it, but do you think…once this craziness is done…could we come back up here? Maybe spend some time in Rachel as just us? Come back to Goldfield and do this again, but without the need to make a mad dash home?”
“Absolutely,” Slade told her with a small smile. “We’ll take a week or two, maybe find some of those geocache things. We’ll make love before we go to sleep, and I’ll wake you up with my tongue on your clit and we’ll start every morning with more than a bit of petting. I’ll make sure you’re completely satisfied before I get up and find you a peppermint mocha and maple donut.”
Dakota stared at him for a moment, the longing for the picture he’d put in her head almost a physical thing. Needing to diffuse not only the lust in her body, but the intimate situation as well, she teased, “Do you think Wolf will give you the time off? I’m not sure he’s gonna want you to leave anytime soon after you go back to work.”
Slade chuckled. His hand, which had been resting on her breast, slid down her belly and moved to her side, his thumb caressing her hipbone. “Wolf’s not my boss, sweetheart. I’ve got a ton of vacation time saved up.” He shrugged. “Never had anywhere I wanted to go to use it.”
“Okay then.”
“Okay then,” he echoed. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips, then pulled back and said, “I’d give you a proper good-morning kiss, but I’ve got morning breath. Go shower. I’ll see if I can’t rustle us up some food. You can eat while I shower and we’ll get on the road.”
“Sounds good.”
“Don’t get used to solo showers,” he told her sternly, his eyes sparkling. “When we’re the ‘us’ I want us to be, that I hope we’ll be soon, I want to start my day with you naked, wet, and writhing in my arms.”
Dakota shivered from head to toe at the carnality of his words. Yeah, she wanted that too. She didn’t even have the words to respond.
“Go on. Don’t forget to take the painkillers before you shower. Unfortunately, you’re gonna need ’em by the end of the day.” And with that, Slade squeezed her waist and climbed out of the bed.
Dakota stared at him as he walked leisurely to the chair he’d draped his clothes on last night. The muscles in his long legs flexing as he moved. He was wearing a pair of boxer briefs, which did nothing to hide his muscular ass from her eyes.
She continued to stare at Slade as he pulled up his jeans. He turned to her then, his pants unbuttoned, his erection plain to see straining against the denim. “Dakota? We really do need to get moving.”
“I’m going, I’m going,” she mumbled, not taking her eyes off him. Slade might be almost fifty, but he was literally the sexiest man she’d ever seen. He was still in shape from his days of being a SEAL. She figured he must still work out because the muscles in his chest and arms looked solid, and rippled when he moved.
He chuckled and bent over to grab his T-shirt. Suppressing a sigh, Dakota watched as he pulled it over his head.
“I’m going. I adore your eyes on me, love, but I’ll never get my cock to relax enough to ride if you don’t stop eye-fucking me.”
Dakota blinked, then blushed. She looked away from him then and said, “Don’t mind me. Go on, find me some coffee and sugar. I’ll be ready when you return.”
She heard him stalking back to the bed, and it dipped as he rested his hands on the mattress and leaned over. “Love this,” he declared, and didn’t make her ask what. “Love that you can’t keep your eyes off me. Never had it. My ex never cared enough about me to look at me the way you do. As if you want to eat me alive. And so you know, the feeling’s mutual. The only thing keeping me from fucking you until neither of us can move is the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up. Those assholes are out there just waiting for me to fuck up. And it’s not gonna happen. Shower. I’ll be back.” Then he gave her a hard, closed-mouth kiss on the lips and stalked out of the room.
The memory of the morning had kept her occupied for most of the ride out of Nevada. Riding on the back of the motorcycle had been scary when they’d hit the traffic of Las Vegas, but Slade had somehow sensed her nervousness and had reached back and patted her thigh and shouted, “I got this, love. Close your eyes and trust me.”
And she had.
But the long stretch of interstate between the California border and the small military town of Barstow had been brutal. There wasn’t much to look at and Dakota kept imagining Aziz’s goons driving up from behind and ramming them.
By the time they were headed down the Cajon Pass and into San Bernardino, Dakota was way over the whole motorcycle thing. All she wanted to do was lie down and stretch out all the kinks in her body. She’d never think that sitting in a massage chair was cool ever again. Her brain felt as if it had been rattling around for days rather than hours.
“Dakota, you doin’ okay?” Slade asked when they were passing by the city of Escondido.
She sighed and yelled back, “Fine!” The word came out more irritable than she’d wanted it to, but whatever. She couldn’t take it back now.
“Twenty minutes, tops,” he told her with a squeeze to her hands on his belly.
Dakota nodded, even though she knew Slade was totally lying to try to make the last part of the trip easier. She knew Escondido was about thirty miles from San Diego. She rested her helmet-clad head on Slade’s back and closed her eyes, letting her mind wander as they covered the remaining miles to Wolf’s house.
She should’ve been nervous to be back in the town where her apartment had burned down and she’d been threatened by Aziz, but at the moment, all she could think about was Slade.
She tried to analyze why she’d fallen for him as quickly as she had. It probably had to do with the fact that she was in danger…although when she’d first seen him, she hadn’t felt as if she was in danger. She’d been in Rachel for so long she’d become merely cautious, rather than freaked out by the people who entered the small restaurant/bar.
Maybe it was because she hadn’t had sex in so long…years. But she didn’t think that was why she’d fallen for Slade either. She enjoyed sex, but didn’t need it. Before everything she owned had turned to ash, she’d had a vibrator in her bedside table that she’d used on a regular basis. It wasn’t the same as having the intimacy a man provided, but it worked for her. So yeah, she didn’t think she was attracted to Slade simply because he was hot.
There was just something about him that made her feel…grounded. Yes, she felt safe with him. Yes, she wanted him. But it was more. Dakota knew the man wasn’t perfect. He’d lived almost half a century; he would certainly have his own quirks, idiosyncrasies, and ways of doing things that would probably drive her crazy, just as she wasn’t perfect. But she’d easily overlook his quirks if the contentedness she felt around him continued.
Was she crazy for imagining herself spending the rest of her life with him? For even knowing after two days that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him? Probably. Dakota grinned. But who the hell cared. It wasn’t as if she was getting married anytime soon. But she’d been cautious enough in her life. It was time to be spontaneous and go with her heart rather than her head. If she was crazy, so was Slade. And being crazy together sounded a hell of a lot better than being crazy by herself for the rest of her life.
Her thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when Dakota felt the machine between her legs rumble as it slowed. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to look around. She saw they were in a neighborhood with small, cute houses. Slade eventually pulled into the driveway of a gray house with a small front porch. There were two cars already parked in front. He stopped the Harley and turned off the engine.
Dakota sighed in relief. The next time Slade wanted her to ride this beast, she was at the very least requesting earplugs.
As he’d done every other time they’d stopped, Slade immediately hopped off the m
otorcycle and turned to her. He’d already unbuckled his helmet and reached for hers. Dakota let him remove it; she’d tried to tell him earlier that she was perfectly able to take care of herself, but he’d only smiled and said, “I know, but it pleases me to do it for you.” How could she deny him when he’d said something so sweet?
He unbuckled her helmet and hung it alongside his own on one of the handlebars. Slade gently massaged her head, magically homing in on the places where the plastic had bitten into her skull. He’d tenderly braided her hair again that morning before they’d set off and she decided his fingers felt like magic.
“You ready?”
Dakota knew he meant was she ready to get off the bike. And she wasn’t, because she knew it was going to hurt, just like it had every other time he’d stopped and made her walk around. But she simply nodded, trying to hide her discomfort and anxiety from him.
Apparently, she did a shit job, because he sighed and said, “I’m sorry, love. I know you hurt, but you did an amazing job today. I’m proud of you. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you’ve been riding bikes all your life.”
“Yeah well, did I forget to mention my dad is a member of the Hell’s Angels and I’ve been riding with the gang since I was a small child? Silly me.”
His lips twitched, but he didn’t laugh. “Thank you for joking about this and trying to make me feel better. But it won’t work. I feel like shit for hurting you.”
Dakota could see that Slade really did feel awful. Her heart cracked even more. Besides her parents, no one had cared this much about her…ever. She laid her hand on his arm and said softly, “You didn’t hurt me, Slade. I’m fine. Yeah, I’m sore, but it’s not like we had a choice. You’re helping me, and that’s something I’ll never forget. Ever.”
“I’m not doing this for your gratitude,” Slade bit out.
“I know you’re not,” she returned. “But you need to stop getting all pissed off every time I thank you. I know better than anyone what Aziz has in store for me because he explained it to me in great detail. I can’t stop being thankful to you for helping me, so getting upset with me doesn’t do either of us any good. But just because I’m grateful, doesn’t mean I don’t feel more for you. I didn’t jump on the back of any other guy’s motorcycle who came through Rachel, and believe me, there were plenty. I got on the back of your bike. So cool it with the macho bullcrap and if I say thank you, swallow hard and say you’re welcome.”
She probably wouldn’t have snapped at him if she wasn’t so tired and sore, but it had been a long two days and Dakota wanted nothing more than to get clean, then sleep. In that order. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Slade’s crap.
“You’re right. I’m sorry,” he said immediately. “And you’re welcome.”
Dakota blinked. Well. All right then. She’d mentally tallied a strike against the man for not wanting her thanks, but had to erase it when he’d so easily and quickly apologized.
“Good.”
“Now…you ready to stand?”
Dakota grimaced. “No.” But she threw her leg over the bike and prepared to do it anyway.
As he’d done every other time, Slade’s hands went to her waist and held her steady as she stood. It took a few moments for her to get her balance, as usual, and she stayed still in Slade’s arms until she felt as if she could walk on her own.
“I’m ready,” she told him after several moments went by without him moving back as he usually did.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” Slade breathed.
Dakota snorted. “I’m sweaty, dirty, windblown, and walking as if I’ve got something stuck up my butt. I think you need glasses.”
“You’re sweaty, dirty, windblown, and walking funny, but I can see you clear as day, love. And what I see is an unpretentious woman who is in the middle of a fucked-up situation, doesn’t own anything but what’s in a beat-up old backpack, but who can still somehow embrace new experiences, be open to a relationship with a retired old Navy fart, and who doesn’t complain even once about feeling like shit after an eight-hour bike ride.”
“Uh…okay, whatever.”
“And you need to learn to take a compliment,” Slade said, grinning.
His smile did something to her insides. Dakota loved when he grinned. It made her belly do cartwheels, especially knowing he was smiling at her.
“Is my retired Navy fart ever going to help me walk inside so I can get that shower?” she asked cheekily.
In response, Slade leaned down and kissed her. It wasn’t short, but it wasn’t long either. His tongue swiped over her bottom lip and when she opened for him, it ducked inside, caressed her once, then retreated. Dakota swayed toward him when he pulled back, and blinked.
“Come on, love. Let’s go meet Wolf—who’s been watching us for the last five minutes—and whoever else he’s got inside.
“Oh geez, he’s been waiting for us to get inside?” Dakota asked, frowning. “How rude of us.”
Slade didn’t respond, but turned her so she was tucked up against his side, which she was thankful for because she wasn’t sure she could walk on her own, and steered them toward a door off to the side of the house.
Ready or not, it looked like she was going to meet Slade’s friends. Briefly glancing up at the heavens, Dakota sent a short prayer upwards. Please let the craziness of my life end soon. I really want to be able to spend time with this man without the threat of a terrorist hanging over my head.
Chapter 10
It was an hour later and Dakota had showered, taken more pain pills, and was currently sitting curled against Slade’s side on Wolf’s couch as her current situation was discussed.
“So Fourati is American?” Wolf asked.
“Yeah, I’m almost positive,” Dakota said.
“Damn,” the SEAL swore, running his hand through his hair. “No wonder the government wasn’t having any luck finding him. Not if they were looking for a foreigner. This makes tracking him down more difficult.”
“I know,” Slade agreed.
“And how’d you get involved in this again?” Cookie asked Slade. Cookie was a SEAL on Wolf’s team, and who Slade worked with all the time. He’d come over at Wolf’s request so they could talk about security for Dakota. The rest of the team would eventually be brought up to speed as well, but for now it was just the three men, and Dakota, talking.
“Can’t say,” Slade told him. “But the bottom line is that it’s a matter of national security to take Fourati down. And not just because he’s after Dakota. Though that’s my main motivator at the moment.”
“How come the papers didn’t report on the fact you were the lone survivor of that blast?” Cookie asked, switching topics easily. “Does anyone else find that odd?”
“It’s not odd,” Dakota piped up. “I was scared, and even though I hoped Aziz was dead, I wasn’t sure. I waited a day or two to see a doctor about my arm, just to be safe. And his speech about me being the mother of his future children who he’d train to be terrorists was fresh in my mind. It had been absolute chaos both inside and outside the airport, and I just wanted to go home. I didn’t tell anyone I had been in there, so the press simply didn’t know.”
Slade tightened his hold on Dakota and glared at Cookie. He didn’t like that his question had disturbed her.
“That makes sense…but you knew about her being at the bombing, right?” Wolf asked, looking at Slade.
“Yeah, but not until recently. My…contact told me about her. Said recruitment videos online talked about her, and even had a picture of her from that day,” Slade informed his friends, hating how Dakota’s body tightened further at his words.
“So everyone in his network knows about her,” Wolf concluded.
“Seems so,” Slade agreed.
“So we need to find this Fourati guy and take him out before this goes any further,” Cookie added.
“No,” Slade disagreed. “I need to find this Fourati guy and take him out. You and your team, Wolf, have
nothing to do with this. This is off the record, and you will not be involved beyond protecting her while I get things sorted here. I’m retired. It’s why I was specifically asked to take care of this.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Wolf growled. “SEALs don’t work alone. No fucking way. We’re a team.”
“This is unsanctioned. I can tell you this much though, the job came from the highest fucking levels of the government. You cannot be involved.”
“But we are involved,” Cookie argued.
“Maybe I should leave,” Dakota said. “If you guys could get in trouble, I should just go.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Wolf said.
At the same time, Slade and Cookie said, “No.”
Slade put his finger under Dakota’s chin and forced her to look up at him. He hated the look of uncertainty and fear on her face. “I’m going to fix this for you, love. I’ll take Fourati down and he won’t hurt you again. Soon this’ll be just another story we can tell our friends and family when we’re old and decrepit. Got it?”
“But—”
“No. No buts about it. You’re not going anywhere.”
The look of fear was replaced by irritation. “You’re annoying.”
“I know. But I’m the annoying old Navy fart who is going to make it safe to rebuild and live your life…hopefully with me beside you every step of the way.”
“Fine.”
“Fine,” he echoed. Then he turned to Wolf and Cookie. “Your job in this is to keep your eyes on Dakota when I can’t.”
“We were gonna do that anyway,” Wolf told him. “But you need to—”
“No offense, but no. I don’t want to involve any of you more than you already are. If it makes you feel better, however, I’ve got Tex on this.”
“Fuck. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Cookie asked. “If Tex is on this, Fourati is as good as captured. Me and Fiona will expect you and Dakota to come over for dinner next week.” He grinned, the natural cockiness of a man who was that sure of his friend’s success showing through loud and clear.