* * * *
Dash was trying to get Sara to show fear, to back up on the mat, but she was looking at him with a clear gaze, totally unfazed by his behavior. She seemed almost puzzled by her own lack of reaction.
Dash was confused himself. Where was the timid woman she described herself as so frequently? He was a large, powerful man. When he was behaving in this way, she should be intimidated, frightened. There were grown men in the United States Army who were afraid of Dash Williams. One small, shy woman shouldn’t be so hard to scare.
“Sara, could you tell me what was frightening about him? Can you put that into words? What am I doing wrong? Maybe we could start there.”
“You’re not doing anything wrong,” she said immediately. “You’re not out of control. Maybe that’s why I don’t feel scared. When you lean over me, I don’t feel scared, even though you are so much bigger than me.” She took a deep breath. “I feel - I want to kiss you.”
She wanted to kiss him? Sweet Sara thought of his larger size and it made her think of kissing him? A surge of heat went through him, and he almost reached for her.
Dash took a firm grip on his wavering control and stepped back. “Hold that thought,” he said with a wink. “We’ll definitely get back to it. Right now, we need to figure some things out. We need to know what he might do to scare you, so we can practice what you can do to get through the fear feeling.”
“He’ll grab my arms and shake me,” Sara said matter-of-factly. “Then he might shove me away, or—”
Dash turned away, swearing viciously. “Christ, I want to kill him,” he muttered.
“Dash?” Sara’s voice was hesitant.
He spoke carefully. “Did he push you down, Sara? Did he hit you?” He tried to keep his voice even, tried to hide the terrible rage burning through him. He had wanted to find her fear trigger, to use it as an exercise to help her overcome it. He did not want her to learn to be fearful of him, however, so he had to keep this white hot fury at bay. Somehow.
“I didn’t stick around for that part!” Sara gave a sad half laugh. “I know where this leads. I know it’s only a matter of time. I’m not stupid.” She put her arms around his middle from behind and leaned her forehead between his shoulder blades. “I’m not stupid,” she repeated.
Dash turned in her arms and hauled her up against him, burying his face in her fine hair. “No, you’re damn smart, and thank God for it. You got away.”
“Well, I wasn’t really successful at that,” she admitted, her voice muffled against his chest. “He found me here in no time.” Her tone was apologetic, as if she felt that merely escaping an abuser wasn’t quite good enough, when so many women couldn’t even find the strength to get that far.
Dash squeezed her then set her on her feet. “All right, you aren’t afraid of me, and I’m grateful, honey. But, we need to find a different angle of approach.” He looked around as an idea struck him. “Get your shoes back on. We’ll go through the whole office looking for weapons.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her along with him.
“There aren’t that many weapons lying around the office. The agents are very careful,” Sara protested. “I don’t know if I could shoot a person, anyway.”
Dash laughed out loud and pointed with his free hand. “See that? Picture on the wall, yank it off and brain him with it.”
He proceeded to pull her through the whole office, listing everyday objects and ways to beat or maim an attacker with them. Agents throughout the office caught on immediately and called out helpful suggestions as they passed, causing Sara to laugh. By the time they made it to Grange’s office on the other side of the building, she was really getting into the game.
Dash skidded to a halt inside the door with Sara right behind him. “What’s good in here?” he asked.
“Potted fern,” Sara said instantly, grabbing the glazed ceramic pot off its stand and lifting it above her head. “Brain him with it,” she quoted.
Grange looked startled, then puzzled as he was threatened with the hapless plant.
“That’s my girl,” Dash said proudly. “What else?” He took the fern and set it down.
Sara looked around quickly, face flushed, eyes shining. She spotted a likely object.
“Big gold trophy,” she stated, grabbing it. “Swing it like a baseball bat and run like hell!”
Dash barked out a laugh as Grange intercepted the mock swing and put his college football trophy gently back on the shelf.
“Burgess?” Grange asked conversationally, recognizing the comment about running like hell. It was Burgess’s favorite phrase when teaching his self defense classes for young women, starting a few years ago when Burgess’s own three daughters became teenagers. At one time or another, nearly all of the DIG agents had dressed up in the big padded suit and played bad guy for the college co-eds to beat on under Burgess’s watchful eye. Some of those pretty little girls could get vicious, and Walt Burgess was pleased as punch when they did.
“Yes, Mr. Burgess has some wonderful ideas.” Sara’s voice bubbled with enthusiasm.
“I can just imagine,” Grange said repressively.
“Desk lamp, coffee mug, pencil for stabbing,” Sara recited happily, moving about the room, eyes roving back and forth, looking for dangerous weapons hiding in plain sight.
“Where is the gentle, delicate young lady we hired a few months ago?” Grange asked, his own eyes beginning to twinkle as he watched Sara.
Dash crossed his arms over his wide chest. “I’m replacing her with this bloodthirsty, modern-day warrior in a skirt,” he said with visible satisfaction. “I decided I need a bodyguard.” The idea was laughable. “But you’ll notice the teaching didn’t take very long. The strength was already there.” He leaned against the door jam, just enjoying Sara’s discoveries.
Sara finally stopped circling the room. “Did I miss anything?”
“No, baby, you gave him a second-degree coffee burn, a couple of puncture wounds and a damned good headache.” Dash was clearly laughing at her. “A good day’s work.”
Sara threw herself into his arms. “You can laugh if you like, but I didn’t know any of this before. Nobody looks at the world the way you people do.” She was grinning up at him, and his world narrowed suddenly to her precious face.
“I love you,” he said deeply. “I love you.” And then just, “Sara.” And the room tilted as she pushed him over onto the big sofa, landing in his lap and in his strong arms, where she most wanted to be.
“Dash,” Sara whispered. “I’ve never felt like this.” Her small hands cupped his face. She kissed him softly, repeatedly, everywhere she could reach, while he did the same.
They were so absorbed in each other they barely noticed Grange closing the door quietly as he left. In the long minutes that followed, they explored each other in a hushed silence broken only by tender murmurs and lingering sighs.
“Sara.” Dash’s deep voice was hoarse when he finally spoke. “Sara, we’ve got to stop, honey girl.” She continued to press tiny kisses over his face. His big hands were shaking as they smoothed up and down her back. “Sara, please, it’s Grange’s office,” he tried again. “I’d never hear the end of it.”
* * * *
Sara murmured softly as she nuzzled into his neck and inhaled his hot male scent. She was shivering with unsatisfied passion, and she couldn’t seem to stop moving, rubbing against his big body. Dash held her in a hard embrace until at last her trembling body began to relax against his. He was still tense, but his hands on her were gentle.
“Honey, that almost got out of hand,” he said. “I forget good sense when I have you in my arms. I’m very vulnerable to you.” His admission came slowly, reluctantly.
“Relax,” she said, curling up against his strong chest. “I almost never seduce men in the office. Your virtue is safe with me.” She leaned back and winked at him, grinning.
Dash squeezed her, fingers ghosting along her ribs in retaliation for her sassy comment. Her squeal
ing laughter pealed through the room as she struggled for freedom. Finally, breathless and disheveled, she managed to get off his lap, holding his hands so he couldn’t tickle her any more.
“I’ve lost my professional decorum,” she lamented, letting go of his hands so she could try to straighten her skirt.
“Well, I for one don’t miss it,” Dash said with some satisfaction. “You’re an extraordinary woman. Mysterious. Courageous. I like a challenge, and I’m beginning to think I’ll never quite figure you out.”
Sara was clearly startled by the idea. “There’s nothing extraordinary about me,” she enunciated carefully. “I’m shy and plain and scared of everything. I don’t understand this at all.” She waved her arms in the air, at a loss to describe the incredible attraction between them, the instant, irresistible heat neither one of them could fight.
Dash just grinned. “You are so sexy to me, it’s all I can do to keep my mind on the business for five minutes at a time. You say you’re scared, Sara, but you weren’t scared of me today in the training room. And Isaac or Grange would be more than happy to tell you stories of my past missions that would prove how dangerous I can be. I’ve had grown men, trained soldiers, walking carefully to avoid my anger,” he said. “But, on the second day you worked here, you openly argued with me about a requisition. You don’t back down when you believe in something, and that’s all courage really is, Sara.”
Sara stood still and quiet, thinking over his remarkable idea of her. “It’s you,” she said finally. “If I have courage, it’s because of you. You made me argue with you that day, explain my reasons for changing that form. You wanted me to speak up.” Her speech was slow as she thought it through. “More than that, you prodded me into it. And you keep doing it, deliberately saying things that are so totally ridiculous, I know you can’t possibly believe them yourself.”
She was looking at him again. “What are you doing to me?” she asked. Not angry, more puzzled by his behavior and his image of her.
Dash smiled, leaning forward on the sofa. “It’s not me, Sara. It’s the real you coming out to play. I can feel the passion, the spirit in you, I could from the first. I could tell it was there, even when you tried to hide it with your calm face and your prim office clothes. It was driving me crazy. I could sense it in you, and I wanted you to know it, too. I wanted you to let it go. And I wanted to be the man who got to stand in your fire and burn with you. I still want that, every minute I’m with you.” His eyes were fixed on her, watching her pace as she tried to convince him of her imagined shortcomings.
“I’m not a passionate person,” she said, but even as she said it, she shook her head. “Or, I wasn’t a passionate person until I met you.”
“Are you saying it’s all my fault?” Dash asked, rising from the sofa with that animal grace which was so much a part of him. “That sounds like every married couple I’ve ever heard.”
He hushed her instinctive protest and took her hands in his, bringing them up to his lips.
“Marry me, Sara. We can spend the next fifty years exploring all the passionate parts of your character and you can blame them all on me.”
The glittering intensity of his eyes captured her, burned through her defenses like wildfire. Sara felt as though she was falling into a sea of blue flame, and she couldn’t find her balance. She found herself rocked in his arms with no real idea how she came to be there.
“Oh, Sara,” his voice was laughing. “It shouldn’t be such a shock, honey. You look like I just told you the earth was round.”
“I know the earth is round,” she said stupidly. She couldn’t seem to get her bearings.
“Sara, I love you. Marry me.” He pressed a fervent kiss to her parted lips. “You don’t have to answer right now.” He smiled down at her ruefully. “In fact, it looks like you may be incapable of it. Think about it, Sara. I’ll ask you again tomorrow. And the next day, and the next.” He punctuated the words with stinging little kisses. “Keep in mind, I don’t play by the rules. I’ll be thinking up interesting ways of persuading a woman as fiery as you.” He was laughing as he kissed her flushed cheek and set her away from him, steadying her when she seemed about to fall.
“But, in the mean time, we need to meet with Carolyn and the backup team to go over our plan. And then, more training for you. I think a session with Carolyn would be helpful.”
That brought Sara back to the real world with a snap. “I have to train with Carolyn?” Carolyn’s past record was almost as impressive as Dash’s. Sara wasn’t certain she was up for that level of training, but it gave her something to focus on other than Dash’s stunning proposal. She took a long breath in and lifted her eyes to his.
Dash saw her confusion, her vulnerability apparent in the darkness of her eyes. She looked so young with that lost expression on her face, his protective instincts kicked in full force. He would move heaven and earth to keep her safe and protect her—even from himself.
“Come on, Sara.” His voice was deep and warm, his arm around her tender. “Don’t think so hard. This stalker situation has your whole life up in the air. It’s too much to think about all at once, I understand. I’ll back off for now, if that’s what you want. Just come to the meeting, and we’ll decide what to do with the rest of our lives after this is taken care of.”
Dash offered her his compassion, his understanding.
Sara went with him, her body following him obediently while her mind whirled. Surely Dash wouldn’t propose to a woman unless he was very serious. His reasons were a mystery to her, but he was a powerful and intelligent man, and his word meant something to everyone who dealt with him.
And he loved her. When he said the words, his eyes were lit with a depth of emotion that called up an answering emotion in her. Perhaps it was sudden, but her shock had been as much from her own soaring response to his proposal as from the proposal itself. She opened her mouth to speak, not really knowing what she would say, but realized they were in the middle of the hallway full of agents coming from the other meeting room. She would have to wait for a better time.
Chapter 10
On Wednesday after work, Carolyn and Sara sat at two facing desks in the central office area, watching as the last of the agents filtered out. The backup team would be moving into place about now, having made a highly visible exit earlier in the day, talking about an all-night stakeout, checking the setup of the outside cameras before sneaking back into the building at closing time. Cameras and recording devices were rolling, picking up every sight and sound.
When Dash had left minutes ago with Isaac and Grange to drive away before coming back in through the maintenance tunnel, Sara had been too conscious of the cameras at first to do more than give him a shy hug. He seemed to be letting her set the pace between them since the unanswered proposal. He wasn’t drawing away. The heat generated between them had kept them locked together throughout the nights, but he was waiting for something, some word or signal from her.
“Let’s order a pizza,” Carolyn said. “If we have to stay late, I say make the bosses pay for our dinner.” Carolyn was a consummate professional. Sara thought privately that she had missed her true calling. A career on the stage was waiting for such a talented actress any time she chose to give up security work. Carolyn never fell out of her chosen character, and she never missed a cue.
Sara was finding it somewhat more difficult. Her palms were sweating and she was clutching her sheaf of files like a lifeline, her nervous fingers leaving dents in the pile of papers.
“I don’t like pineapple,” Sara said in a shaking voice, trying to keep up with the game.
Carolyn’s look was understanding. “Okay,” she said easily. “No pineapple. Got it. Listen, I’ll order from here and then just go down to the front to pick it up. They usually get here in about twenty minutes since the pizzeria is just at the end of this block.”
“Great.” Sara tried to smile. Listening to her friend ordering a pizza with every topping except pineapple
, she wondered frantically if she would be expected to eat it. Her dry throat and clenching stomach muscles warned her not to try. She didn’t want to throw up on her first real assignment. She needed to feel she was helping in some way, and gaining the respect of her new friends was important to her. The people she worked with were all experienced, but she kept reminding herself that they had all been beginners at one time. Still, throwing up was not an option.
When Carolyn left to get the pizza, Sara wasn’t truly worried. The team had repeatedly warned her that the process of security work was a waiting game, and she might have to stay until midnight for several nights in a row to lure in their prey. So when she heard the scrape of the side door opening, she thought perhaps one of the team had needed to adjust some of the equipment or use the washroom.
“Sweetheart, I’m here,” Martin’s sickeningly sweet voice said.
Sara froze, hardly believing. She turned slowly to look at her ex, feeling the blood drain from her face. Suddenly, it was as if her hands developed palsy, and the papers scattered across the floor.
“Sweetheart, weren’t you expecting me?” Martin asked as he walked right up to her. He was dressed in his customary tweed jacket and slacks, picture perfect, as if he had just stepped out of a country gentlemen’s catalogue. He looked as comfortable as if he owned the place. “I’m sorry to startle you. I know how nervous you get.” He smiled at her.
Sara was surprised. It was almost surreal. He was speaking as if they were still a couple, as if she had never left him, never run halfway across the country to get out from under his control.
Sara tried to swallow, to speak, but it took her two tries to get her voice to work.
“I didn’t expect to see you again,” was all she was able to say.
Martin frowned. “What? That doesn’t make any sense. I couldn’t let you just go, Sara, a delicate creature like you. You need a man to look after you. You’ve always been sheltered, always been afraid. I knew it was just a matter of time before you realized how much you needed me, so I gave you that time. And now I’m here to bring you home.”
Kenney, Laina - Overheated [DIG Security] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 6