HIS Series Box Set (Books 4-7)

by Sheila Kell

  After donning a shirt and fixing his comm system, he turned to her and wondered what was going through her head. She almost looked frightened again, and his gut lurched.

  Then she surprised him with a question out of the blue. “I want to hear about that tattoo on your belly. Is that the one you and Brad got?”

  Automatically, he looked down, but his stomach was covered with his navy blue T-shirt. He knew what she meant; he just hadn’t expected that to be her question. Maybe she’d missed seeing his shower prosthetic leg in the corner. He hadn’t had an opportunity to return it to the guest room.

  “There’s not much to say.”

  She cocked her head to the left. “I know you didn’t have it when I knew you. You were with Brad. There’s always a story. He said it was before you went into the navy.”

  He didn’t want to correct her that she still knew him, so he just pulled his shirt up to show her the tattoo again.

  Matt chuckled at the memory of when he’d decided to get the tattoo. “What good tattoo story doesn’t start with ‘booze was involved?’ As Brad said, the night before I shipped out to boot camp, Brad and I went on a bender with some friends. I knew it wasn’t wise considering I had to be ready to process in all day, but when have my twin and I ever done what is wise?” He narrowed his eyes and his lip quirked. “Don’t answer that. Anyhow, I’m not sure how we ended up at the tattoo parlor, but come morning, I woke with a pounding head, my stomach a nauseous ball, and this damn tattoo.” He gestured to his stomach.

  She’d moved closer to him and reached out to trace the outline of the flaming sun around his belly button. He wasn’t pulling down his pants so she could trace what fell below the belt. He’d never survive the touch.

  His dick twitched at the tender fingertip outlining his tattoo, and he willed it to halt so it didn’t scare her.

  “And that’s the same one Brad got?”

  He forced his focus on her words and not what her hand could do to pleasure him. “Yes. Even in our inebriated state, we remained twins.”

  Then, as if realizing what she’d been doing, she jumped back and removed her finger from his skin. “I’m not surprised Brad lured you into doing something you wouldn’t have otherwise done by yourself. He was always a bit wilder than you.”

  His back stiffened. His twin might be a major pain in the ass, but he never pushed Matt out of his comfort zone. Even drunk Brad knew the boundaries. “It was mutual,” he said before turning to leave the bathroom so she didn’t see she’d been right and Brad had led the charge. In reality, they’d allowed one of the chicks with Brad to choose the tattoo. The worst thing was it hadn’t been the stupidest thing they’d ever done together. Although, Caitlyn knew most of their adventures. “I heard sirens, so the cavalry should be here in a minute or two. I want you to stick with me and always keep me in between you and Neil. Got that?”

  She nodded but didn’t speak. Had he offended her with his comment about Brad? Sure it’d been Brad’s idea, but he’d wanted something to remember his twin by, and it seemed appropriate at the time.

  Brad took that moment to knock on the bathroom door. “Are you two okay in there?”

  Okay, how? Okay with the events of the evening that left a hole in his pants? No. Okay with Caitlyn needing protection? No. Okay with each other in a confined space? Not really. They were only okay with the fact that the men apprehended the shooter so he couldn’t harm Caitlyn.

  After a nod to Caitlyn, they exited the bathroom to an angry Brad.

  “Why the fuck didn’t you wake me?”

  With Matt close to Caitlyn during the day, Brad remained close to the house during the evening to allow Matt to sleep peacefully. About as peacefully as he could.

  “We were just about to do that,” Matt told him.

  “Were either of you hurt?”

  “No, we’re fine,” Caitlyn stated, forgetting or ignoring the shot near his calf.

  Something warned him she hadn’t forgotten. He prepared himself for the explanation he’d have to give her.

  Brad looked back and forth between them and drew in his brow. “The sheriff is here.”

  Good. It was time to get rid of this unexpected threat to his woman. Yeah, he said she was his. Let her fight it all she wanted. Even though they’d come together under unfortunate circumstances, he knew in his heart that she was his woman. Time hadn’t changed how he felt. She’d learn that soon enough.

  WITH THE SHERIFF gone with Holbrook in custody, and Brad positioned outside to help cover the blind spot that Holbrook had snuck through, Matt sat on the couch sipping iced tea, a little calmer than he’d been earlier. Caitlyn sat as far away from him as possible. It made him want to laugh after thinking about the kiss they’d shared.

  “Thank you for saving me from being shot by Neil,” she said quietly.

  A warm calm settled in him at her words. “How’s your head and your shoulder?” While he’d tried to be gentle, there’d been no time to completely protect her head from hitting the floor. Injuring her at all had his heart dropping to his gut like a lead ball. But the bullet hadn’t hit her, and that kept him from being depressed over her small injury.

  She touched the back of her head and winced. “I’ll be okay.”

  They sat in a stilted silence that hadn’t been there before. He didn’t like it one bit. “What’s going on in your head?”

  Shrugging, she said, “Nothing.”

  Sure, and he’d love to buy swampland in Louisiana. Yet, he couldn’t tell if she was bothered by Holbrook… him being there… or his lack of his lower leg. Something told him the latter was what was on her mind, even though it should be the last thing.

  Would she treat him differently now? Some people did—treated him like an invalid or someone incapable of doing regular things—and he didn’t want that from her. He didn’t want anything that might allow her to pull back on their relationship.

  He decided to grab the reins and get it over with. This would be the only person outside of his immediate family and the HIS team who he’d share the story with. Not so much because most of it was classified, but for how he knew they’d see him… treat him. He had been in charge after all. “I lost my leg below the knee when I was in Pakistan.”

  Caitlyn appeared relieved he’d brought up the topic, but her relief turned to confusion. “I didn’t know we had men in Pakistan.”

  Stoically, Matt told her, “We have small contingents of men almost everywhere. It’s just not advertised.” Their mission had been classified. They were to help a man the US wanted to speak with leave the country safely, and they couldn’t just fly a helo where the man lived and grab him. The guy was promised to be a great intelligence find. Matt couldn’t tell her that though. Not only was it part of why the mission was classified, but so was the identity of the man. She’d never let it go if he became vague on the reason, so he tried his best to skim over it without her seeing through him.

  “I can’t tell you what we were doing. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to tell you Pakistan.”

  Her eyes were serious and imploring. “I can keep the secret.”

  It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her; he just believed in OPSEC—Operations Security. That meant he couldn’t give her much at all, but he had to give her something. Like you fucking blew it and gave her Pakistan, asshole? Thinking before he said each word, he gave her an overview of sorts. “Well, we—my team and I—were trying to leave the country, and our vehicle broke down. It’s not like there was a repair shop at hand, so we started walking and were feeling good about our egress when someone traveling with the team stepped on a land mine.”

  The images of what had happened haunted him day and night. The blood and screams of his injured men. If only the idiot they’d been helping would’ve paid attention. From the start, he’d been uncooperative, and that was telling given that they were there to save him. Instead, he’d pushed ahead of them. Automatically, the team closed in to capture him for his own protect
ion, because it was probably known he’d given in to the Americans. Instead of the team succeeding at corralling him back, their world irrevocably changed.

  He swallowed hard against the memory of not only his loss but also the loss the team sustained. “Two of my teammates lost their lives.” So did the idiot who’d stepped on the mine, but she didn’t need to know that. “Myself and another team member, who’d been close to the blast, lost limbs.” The four of them who had corralled him. Matt had never felt so much pain before. The long wait for evac had been agonizing. Thank the fuck they’d had morphine in a medic pack, because it wasn’t an easy feat for the bird to get there and evacuate them from that hellhole when they’d been trying to be stealthy. He hadn’t wanted to be dosed at first. He’d wanted to retain his senses to take care of his team, but it had hurt so fucking bad, and looking down and not seeing a foot had put his emotions in a blender. His second in command told him that he had the team and that Matt needed to take the damn shot. After the morphine had kicked in, he’d been glad for the forcefulness of his second in command.

  During his retelling of that fateful mission, Caitlyn had slid down the couch toward him and then put her slender hand on his thigh in a supportive gesture. The heat seared through his skin and settled him somewhat.

  “Oh, Matt.”

  At the tone of her voice, he removed her hand and surged up from the couch. “I don’t want your pity, Caitlyn.” Anger laced his veins. Anger at believing she’d be different. Maybe she once had been, but apparently not today.

  Breathing heavily, he stood with his back to her as if that would erase how she’d reacted. How he’d reacted.

  He heard her quietly standing a moment before her hand touched his shoulder. He wanted to be mean and shrug her touch off, but in truth, he liked her touch… craved it, because it grounded him. It always had. “You misunderstood. That wasn’t pity, Matt. I was just heartbroken to hear what happened to you and your team.”

  “They were good men,” he croaked through heavy emotion. He wondered if the team had blamed him for the loss. He’d been leading the team—like always. But he hadn’t controlled the man they’d been sent to retrieve. Something about the way the man acted had bugged Matt, but he’d never find out what it was.

  With loving care, she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed tightly.

  Her touch was a balm to his tormented soul. For a few moments, he did nothing, not wanting to scare her off. Then he covered her arms around his waist with his own and relaxed. Her body next to his helped him combat the horrendous scenes that played in his mind.

  Brad entering the room startled them both, and they jumped apart like teenage sweethearts who’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t. Brad shook his head at them. “Hey, brat, what do you want to do about the window? It’s not in danger of shattering tonight, so we can leave it until you can call someone to fix it tomorrow, or if you have some wood, we can cover it. I’d say we could run to town to get some, but I think everything’s probably closed by now.”

  Caitlyn stared at the small hole in her window for a good minute before she responded to Brad. “I don’t have wood to cover it, so we’ll have to leave it uncovered. Are you sure it won’t shatter?”

  Matt shook his head. “No, it won’t break tonight. You’re in trouble when it starts spider webbing out.” He looked directly at her. “But you need to have it replaced tomorrow.”

  “I wonder how much bullet proof glass costs?” she murmured.

  “It’s pricey and doubtful you’d get it tomorrow,” Brad told her, playing along with a smile. He turned to Matt. “Neftali is beating himself up for not spotting Holbrook until it was too late.”

  Normally, he’d say good, let him stew in it. But not in this instance. They gave him too much area to cover. “Make sure to tell him it wasn’t his fault. We gave him a lot of indiscernible ground to cover.”

  With a shrug, Brad said, “Won’t matter.”

  “I’ll talk with him tonight. Is everything else okay?”

  “Yeah, the men are changing out now.”

  Matt looked at his watch. “Why so late?”

  “They overlapped and walked the woods closest to the house to see if anyone else might be hiding out.”

  “It’s dark outside,” Caitlyn said incredulously.

  Both men chuckled. Matt gave her a wink. “They still need to do their job in the dark.”

  “You’re right,” she murmured as if she didn’t really want to tell him that he was right and she was wrong.

  Had this been an argument between the two of them and she’d said that, he’d have reacted differently. Yes, he’d be smug about it. But this wasn’t, and her defeated voice made an impression in his heart that he couldn’t hide.

  In one swift movement, he was in front of her, so close he could smell her perfume. He opened his arms, and she fell into them. When wetness hit his T-shirt, he nodded toward the door. Understanding, Brad quietly left them alone.

  Holding her tightly, he rubbed his hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture.

  Among sniffles and hiccups, she asked, “Why? Why me?”

  Was there a right way to answer that question? She was good and wholesome but had the unfortunate luck of two men after her who were bent on revenge. Thank the fuck they’d captured the one they hadn’t been aware existed. If they’d have left her alone, she’d been seriously injured or dead at the hands of Neil Holbrook. He hoped no more surprises lay in wait for them. “I don’t know. All I know is that evil exists and it can impact good people.”

  “If you hadn’t been here…,” she started then changed her flow. “Thank you for saving my life.” That brought on fresh tears, and he wondered how soaked his shirt would be. He also wondered if she noticed how tightly she clung to him.

  When she looked up, he gazed into her blue-green eyes and fell in love all over again with her compassion, warmth, and heart for the man he was. It reminded him of the first time he’d seen her on campus. It’d been at her freshman orientation at Ole Miss, and she’d been utterly lost. After meeting her look, he’d fallen under her spell and walked her to her classroom, not caring that he’d be late for his own.

  Unable to resist, he leaned down and touched his lips to hers.

  STARTING AT WHERE their lips met, pleasure exploded throughout her body. Gently, Matt’s warm, damp lips covered hers. His kiss—hesitant and careful, almost too careful—seared its way to her soul. And when his tongue entered her mouth, she was a goner.

  As their lips and tongues tangled, she slid her arms up his body and around his neck, eagerly tugging him closer to remove the distance between them. She couldn’t get close enough, and that was so unlike the woman she’d become. Did she enjoy his touch and kiss because they’d once been lovers? One thing was for certain, she’d never allowed a date to kiss her with the heat of the kiss she found herself locked into now.

  Her pulse raced in excitement. Without hesitation, she gave herself over to him. Their tongues battled and she felt almost limp with desire. Something she’d thought she’d lost and never find again. Matt’s touch wasn’t new, to her lips and her body.

  His mouth left hers and then blazed a path down her chin and under her jawbone to the sensitive spot below her ear. She shivered under the assault on her senses. She’d forgotten how intense his kisses could be.

  A moan slipped from her lips, and she wished she could call it back. She shouldn’t be loving him like she was. She’d pushed Matt from her life when she hadn’t even wanted to live. She’d blamed him when it wasn’t his fault. After all of that, he’d shown up to protect her when she needed it the most. Christ, her mind was so screwed up, and his passion-filled lips were the reason.

  Her need for him tingled in her most private place, and she wanted to jump for joy at the feeling she thought she’d lost. When he pulled her close, his hands on her backside, she stiffened, but he took her lips with his and coaxed her relaxation into his touch.

  Bre
aking the kiss that left them both breathing heavily, Matt leaned his forehead to her. “Oh, Caitlyn, I want to make love to you.”

  Before she could think, she whispered, “I want it too.” And she did. Her body yearned for the familiarity of his touch. She hadn’t been saving herself after the rape; she’d just been waiting for the right man to come along. Matt. It was always Matt. He’d been her first… her only outside of that bastard who’d touched her under threat of her life. But she wouldn’t allow that memory to resurface while she was with Matt like this.

  Cautiously, as if he thought she might break, he clasped her hand and turned toward the hallway.

  Her heart throbbed inside her chest, the sound reverberating in her ears, blocking out all noise and common sense. If he spoke to her as he led the way to her bedroom, she couldn’t make out what he said.

  After he’d pulled her into her bedroom, he closed the door, hesitated for a moment, and then locked it, keeping everyone out. She appreciated that action, because she didn’t want an unwanted intruder, even if by accident.

  Almost nervously, he came back to her, and before he reached out, he asked softly, “Are you sure?”

  Was she? She surely wanted to feel the love she knew he could give. That had to mean yes. Didn’t it? Her mind lighted on the fact that people were all over her house. That didn’t make it feel very private, even with the door secured. With a worried look clouding his face, she decided she’d best answer with what she wanted, not her fears. “Yes.”

  “Thank God,” he said on an exhale while relaxing his shoulders as if the weight of the world had been on them.

  She smiled at that. It endeared him even more to her.