Edge of Danger

by Katie Reus

  Tucker glanced at Kane and Brooks as Cole returned, beer in hand. They hadn’t officially made any decisions, but they’d been talking the past two days about making changes. Maybe nothing would come of it, but maybe it would. He was leaning toward a job in private security, maybe personal security or something as an instructor. The four of them had even bounced around the idea of starting their own company. But that was way in the future.

  Tucker shrugged. “No idea yet.”

  Burkhart’s expression turned speculative, but he nodded. “Keep me in mind if you’re looking to move on.”

  Tucker nodded once but didn’t respond. Now wasn’t the time.

  “I’m going to head out,” Cole said.

  Tucker was thankful his friend had said it first. They’d been at the Southerses’ house most of the day, since the morning funeral, and it was time to head home.

  After they said good-bye to everyone, Tucker was thankful to finally be alone with Karen in his truck, headed to Maryland. There was no one else he wanted to be with.

  “You want to go somewhere else, grab a beer?” she asked, reaching across the console for his hand.

  It was instinct to hold her hand now, to reach for her whenever she was near. “No, I just want to tune out the rest of the world for the night.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’m sorry you lost such a good friend.” Karen seemed to intrinsically know that Max had been more friend than boss. Hell, more father figure than boss, even though he had a father he loved.

  He squeezed her hand. So much had happened in the past two days he was still trying to process it all. Hillenbrand had a string of lawyers backing him, but the man was never going to be set free. His bail had been revoked and he’d remain in prison until his trial. If it even made it that far. There was so much evidence against him, Tucker didn’t think it would.

  The stolen drone had been found in one of Hillenbrand’s warehouses. So far two of the men who’d been with him during his attempt to flee the country had admitted that the RPG attack in the subway had been ordered by Hillenbrand and for two reasons. Hillenbrand had wanted Vane—a loose end for him—dead. He’d also suspected that Vane was setting him up and had wanted another distraction for his escape. And he hadn’t wanted to risk using his stolen drone with all the agencies on such high alert. He’d been planning to save it for later.

  “How’s Ortiz?” he asked, wanting to know about the agent, who was also a good friend of Karen’s. They’d been to visit him and Freeman yesterday afternoon. Ortiz had suffered from a broken leg and concussion and Freeman had a broken arm and clavicle. Both men had seemed to be doing well, but he knew Karen was still worried.

  “Good, he texted me today letting me know they’d be releasing him and Freeman both soon. It’s gonna suck for a while and they’ll be on desk duty even after they’re healed, at least for a couple weeks, but they’re alive.” Her voice was tinged with unmistakable sadness.

  “I’m sorry about your agents.” Two of her guys had died in the attack. They’d been to both their funerals before going to the hospital yesterday.

  Three funerals in two days was too much for anyone.

  “Thanks.” She let out a ragged sigh, squeezed his hand.

  After driving in silence for a while, he said, “After we have breakfast tomorrow I’ve got to head back to my place, see what a mess my people and the FBI made.” He didn’t like the thought of leaving her, but he hadn’t even been home since everything happened, so he had no clue what it looked like after the DEA and whoever else had gone through it. He and his team had been publicly exonerated—very publicly, with the media running feeds about them almost twenty-four/seven—and they’d been dealing with answering questions from too many people to count. Especially since they’d all killed someone. He’d taken more than one life in the line of duty, and killing Rayford Osborn had been a big deal. The media were going crazy over it, but he and his guys were all declining interviews. Turned out that Osborn’s boss, presidential candidate Clarence Cochran, had no idea what his right-hand man had been up to, but it didn’t matter. His political career was probably over. Anyone linked, even inadvertently, to this mess was screwed.

  “I’ll help if you want.” Karen sounded almost tentative.

  “I know you’re crazy with work right now,” he said as they came to a stoplight. He knew she’d have no problem coming with him, but he didn’t want to affect her job.

  “Well . . . I talked to Wesley and he’s giving me the week off. I have so much vacation time built up over the last few years it’s a little sad. I figured it’d be a good time for us to get some downtime together.”

  “I’d love for you to help.” He cleared his throat, glad he had to keep his eyes on the road. “I, uh, was thinking of heading down to Georgia to see my parents in a couple days. Once I’d straightened everything out at my place.” He wanted her to come with him.

  “That’s great. I bet it’s been so hard on them. Plus, it’ll give you time away from the media storm here. They’re like vultures.”

  “I want you to come with me,” he blurted out when it was clear she hadn’t realized that was what he meant. He shot her a quick glance at another stop.

  Her eyes widened. “To see your parents?”

  “Hell yeah. Unless you don’t want—”

  “Yes, you silly man. I’ve never met parents before, though.” She bit her bottom lip then, his brave, brilliant analyst suddenly looking unsure of herself.

  That thought alone made him want to laugh. “They’ll love you. Maybe not as much as I do, but close.”

  She blinked once, twice. “What?”

  Aw hell. He’d wanted to tell her in a better setting than this, with candles and romantic shit. After glancing in the rearview mirror, he steered into the right lane, then pulled into a gas station.

  She was silent as he parked. He left the engine running so the heat would stay on, keeping her warm.

  Feeling more awkward and unsure than he ever had, he turned to her. He’d rather be in a war zone dodging bullets than face her rejection. Their hands were still linked, so he squeezed hers gently. “I don’t expect you to say anything back, but yeah, I fucking love you.” He inwardly cringed at his choice of words but forced himself to continue. “Since I was in the Corps I’ve had to make split-second decisions, often life-and-death ones, on an almost constant basis. I trust my gut instinct in any situation and I love you. I’ve never been in love before, but I know what I feel for you is it. I also know it’s too soon for any sane person to—”

  “I love you too.” A wide grin spread across her beautiful face as she said the words. “I’ve gone over this in my head a million times it seems, trying to tell myself I’m crazy to even contemplate it. The analyst in me says it’s too soon, but . . . I love you.”

  He leaned forward, tangling his fingers through her hair as he crushed his mouth over hers. He definitely hadn’t planned to spill his guts to her at a gas station, but he didn’t care where they were, just that they were together. And that she felt the same way.

  God, she loved him too.

  Relief like nothing he’d ever known pummeled through him, battering his insides. This wonderful woman actually loved him. It was way too soon for future talk, but deep down he knew that his future was with Karen. Now that he’d found her, he didn’t plan on letting her go.

  Epilogue

  Six months later

  Karen let her head fall back against the cushioned cabana bed. Tucker had pulled all the curtains closed and no one was on the beach right now anyway, but she still made herself stay quiet. The salty tinge in the air rolled over her, the sound of the nearby waves soft and steady. But all her focus was on the very sexy man who had his face buried between her legs.

  “You like that?” he murmured, his tongue flicking lazily against her clit.

  “Yes,” she whispered. She loved it, something he very well knew. He just liked to tease her. They were at his parents’ beach house in north Fl
orida and had decided to take an early-morning walk. On the way back up to their home, Tucker had pulled them into the private cabana on their property. But it was right on the border of the public beach area.

  “Louder.”

  “Damn you, Tucker Pankov,” she whispered again.

  Chuckling in that maddening way of his, he nipped at her inner thigh. “You get a pass for saying my whole name.” Then he returned to what he was doing, teasing her with that far-too-talented tongue until she was writhing against him and moaning his name. Screw being quiet.

  She slid her fingers through his hair, holding his head to her because she couldn’t bear to let go of him. Her orgasm was sharp and intense, as it always was when they had sex in a semi-public area. Ever since that storage closet, she and Tucker had found interesting places to make love. Only six months had passed since they were together, but it felt like a lifetime. It was as if she’d known him forever and now she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

  Before him she’d have never taken a mini-vacation, but having him in her life had made her realize there was more to life than work.

  He lifted his head as her climax ebbed, the grin on his face pure wicked as he crawled up her naked body. She leaned up to kiss him, her lips meeting his as he settled his hips between her legs.

  They were so attuned to each other now it stunned her. She’d never felt like that with anyone before. Arching her hips into his, she savored the way he thrust into her, his thick length filling and stretching her.

  She clutched tightly to his shoulders as she dug her heels into his ass. Each time he slid into her, she felt the way those tight muscles clenched under her feet.

  It didn’t take long until she was coming again, him right behind her. He had way more control than she did, because he managed to quiet his moans against her neck as he came inside her. He nuzzled her neck, kissing and nipping her sensitive skin just the way she liked, just enough to make her absolutely crazy.

  The ripples of her second orgasm pulsed through her, not as intense as the first one, but just as wonderful. After what seemed like forever, he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back next to her. His breathing was as erratic as hers and she knew if she looked over at him, she’d see a satisfied, probably smug expression on his face. But she was too tired to even move her head.

  “I think I’m just gonna stay here for a bit,” she murmured.

  “Nope. My mom’s making breakfast. If we don’t return soon, she’ll come look for us.”

  The thought of his mom’s cooking was enough to make her get up, but truly, the thought of his slightly terrifying but wonderful mother finding them on her cabana completely naked was what did it. She bolted upright and Tucker just laughed.

  “Can’t believe you’re scared of her,” he said as he sat up behind her, reaching for his swim trunks.

  Karen fastened her bikini top into place before tugging her tank top over her head. “Not scared, just have a healthy respect for her. And don’t even pretend you’re not freaking terrified. I’ve seen the way you and your dad are around her.”

  Tucker just snorted, as if Karen were crazy. But she knew the truth. His mom had some sort of mojo thing she did with her gaze. As though she could just will you into doing what she wanted. It was fascinating.

  Once they were presentable, though Karen knew her cheeks would be flushed, they exited the cabana and headed up the long wooden dock to his parents’ vacation home. The place was incredible and she understood why they spent their summers here.

  They rinsed their shoes and feet of sand before Tucker opened the sliding glass door into the kitchen.

  The smell of fresh coffee and whatever his mom was cooking—biscuits and gravy—made Karen’s mouth water.

  “I’ll get you coffee,” Tucker murmured before kissing her on top of the head.

  “Everything smells good,” Karen said, heading for the table where Tucker’s dad sat. Vitaly Pankov was a big man, just like his son. He didn’t talk much, but he was friendly and welcoming.

  Vitaly nodded once and looked up from his iPad, where he was reading the news. “Everything my Darla cooks is good.” He had a slight accent and it warmed Karen’s heart the way his gaze flicked over to his wife, filled with such obvious love.

  “Don’t try to get on my good side.” There was a hint of annoyance in the petite woman’s voice that told her something must have happened this morning between the two of them.

  Karen had spent enough time with them over the past six months—with them coming up to visit her and Tucker in their new place in Maryland—to realize that Darla Grace did not hide her emotions well. The former beauty queen had impeccable poise for the most part, but man, she had a temper.

  “How was your walk?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder to look at Karen, a warm smile on her face.

  “Wonderful. I told Tucker we’re going to have to get here more often. Thank you guys again for inviting me.” It was so weird to interact with such a loving family, but she could definitely get used to this.

  As Tucker sat next to her, placing a steaming cup of coffee in front of her, Darla made a tsking sound as she turned back to the stove. “You don’t have to thank us. What you can do is start planning on grandbabies for us.”

  Karen was glad she hadn’t taken a sip of her coffee, because she started choking on air. Grandkids? What? She and Tucker hadn’t even talked about marriage yet and yes, she was old-fashioned like that. She didn’t want kids without a ring and all that jazz.

  “Just ignore her, it’s a thing Southern women do,” Tucker murmured, with his father just grunting in agreement.

  Though she wasn’t sure if the agreement was to the grandkids part or the Southern women part.

  “Just think, you two will have a wonderful story to tell your kids about how you met.”

  Tucker, the traitor, didn’t respond, just picked up an orange from the bowl in the center of the table and started peeling it while studiously ignoring her gaze.

  Feeling awkward and as though she should respond, Karen cleared her throat. “That’s true, though I think I’ll leave out the part about him kidnapping me.” Not that she was even thinking about kids.

  Now Tucker started choking. His father raised one eyebrow, which might as well have been a shouted response from anyone else.

  “My son kidnapped you?” Darla demanded, drawing Karen’s attention to her. She’d turned away from the stove now to face them, one hand on her hip and the other was holding a spatula like a weapon.

  “Um . . .” Frowning, Karen racked her brain, but couldn’t remember their exact past conversations about everything. They’d come to see his parents directly after everything had happened six months ago and explained what they could without giving away any national secrets. Karen had just assumed Tucker had told his parents how they’d met. “Yes.” She practically squeaked out the answer.

  “Cole and the guys helped,” Tucker muttered, sounding a little like a petulant twelve-year-old.

  Darla’s expression went nuclear, but she didn’t say anything. Just turned back to the stove. The silence was deafening and Karen wanted to kick her own butt.

  “I thought you told them,” she whispered.

  “Tell my parents that I kidnapped a defenseless woman?” He asked the question as if she were insane.

  Okay, damage control time. “They were really nice kidnappers and it was because—”

  Tucker shook his head sharply, cutting her off. “You’re just going to make it worse, sweetheart.”

  “She’s not angry at you anyway. She’s upset with me.” There was the slightest trace of a Russian accent in his voice as Vitaly stood. He was smiling, though, as he made his way to his wife. He murmured something too low for them to hear as he set his hands on Darla’s shoulders and nuzzled her neck.

  Tucker grabbed Karen’s hand and mouthed, Come on before practically dragging her from the kitchen. Once they’d made it upstairs, Karen said, “I’m sorry. I really t
hought they knew.”

  He just grinned and shook his head, pulling her into the guest bedroom they were sharing. It was decorated in a beach theme with royal blue and turquoise as the main colors. “Don’t worry about it. Trust me—she’s not really mad at me. My dad probably ‘forgot’ one of their little anniversaries again. He does it on purpose because he likes to make up with her.”

  Karen frowned. “Anniversaries as in plural?”

  Tucker nodded. “Oh yeah. She’s a freak about that kind of stuff. An anniversary of their first kiss, first date, first other stuff I don’t want to know about. She likes to celebrate everything.”

  “You want me to start keeping track of all our firsts?” Karen asked teasingly. “Like the first time we had sex in a cabana?”

  “Dear God, no.”

  Laughing, she shook her head. “Good, I can’t keep track of that kind of stuff anyway. Will I have time for a quick shower before breakfast?” She had shopping plans with his mom and she still felt sandy and gritty.

  Almost distractedly he nodded as he made his way to one of the dressers. “Yeah. I’ll grab your coffee for you.”

  “You are definitely a keeper,” she said, shutting the bathroom door behind her.

  Less than two minutes later she wasn’t surprised to hear the door open. He’d either gotten her coffee or planned to join her. Maybe both.

  “The coffee’s on the counter. I put it in an insulated mug so it’ll stay warm.”

  That little act was one of the reasons she kept falling harder and harder for him. She hadn’t realized there were degrees of love, but for her, it turned out there were. After all that insanity so many months ago, she’d fallen hard, but it was the small day-to-day things he did that showed how much he cared that had her completely addicted to the sexy man. “I love you.”

  “Me or the coffee?” he asked, pulling the shower curtain back and stepping inside.

  She grinned as she rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, drinking in the sight of him. “Both.”

  “At least you’re honest.” He placed his big hands on her hips as he moved flush against her. His thick length was hard against her abdomen.