Taking Passion by Storm

by Ravenna Tate

  “What’s going on between you two?” Her father asked the question quietly. Nadine was certain none of the others heard him.

  “Nothing for you to concern—”

  “Don’t try being condescending with me, Addison.”

  Her father’s voice was one step short of angry as hell. Nadine knew that tone, and she knew she had to step in now or she’d end up explaining the entire story to the whole group of them. “We realized our feelings for each other have run far deeper all these years than either of us acknowledged before.”

  Addison’s eyes widened at her words, and then his features relaxed. “Yes, that’s exactly right. This trip forced us to confront those feelings, and made us realize how precious time and life is.”

  Her father still hadn’t stopped glaring at Addison. “So your intentions are honorable?”

  Nadine wanted to smile at the old-fashioned word, but she knew better.

  “Completely.” Addison glanced over his shoulder, but none of them were paying attention. “I want to marry your daughter, Dixon. I love her.”

  He shook his head. “I had no idea you two were seeing each other.”

  “I should have talked to you about my feelings for Nadine a long time ago.”

  It wasn’t lost on her that Addison had avoided correcting her father’s assumption that they’d been dating.

  “You did talk to me about them,” he said, “only you were too old for her back then.”

  “And now?” asked Addison, his voice full of apprehension.

  Her father grasped her hand, and Nadine was shocked to find it so cold. When would the sun come up? They had to get him back. “Is this what you want? Does he make you happy?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. I love him.”

  Her father closed his eyes and leaned his head against the stone. “You love him. I wasn’t even aware you knew him well enough to make a decision like that.”

  Nadine’s confidence tried to shift again, but she pushed back the doubt this time. She did know Addison well enough to make a decision like that. She would prove that to her father if necessary.

  “I want to hear more about this once we’re underground.”

  “All right. Absolutely. The important thing right now is to get you to a place where they can take proper care of you.”

  He opened his eyes briefly and smiled at her. “The only person I care about taking care of is you.”

  She smiled in return so he wouldn’t worry, but couldn’t help wonder now if she’d jumped into this too quickly. Where did all this leave Addison? She didn’t doubt he’d meant what he said to her, but what if he’d only been reacting to the moment?

  The elation at finding her father alive faded as Nadine went over everything she and Addison had said to each other and done in the past few days. Had they moved too quickly? Would it all fall apart once they were underground and they each went back to their everyday lives?

  ****

  Nadine knew she’d never be able to fall back to sleep again, so she was glad to see no one else tried to. Instead, she ate something along with the others, and when the sun came up, they left the cave.

  George tried to contact the other Storm Trooper team as soon as they were on their way to let them know they’d found Dixon and were heading underground again, but none of the walkies had enough battery power to do it. “We’ll let them know as soon as we can.”

  Merrill scanned the horizon in the east. “They should have been here by now. It’s possible they were delayed again.” Then he scanned the sky. “Too much cloud cover to bother with a satellite signal today. I say we just go for it.”

  Addison scanned the clouds as well. “I agree. The viaduct is less than two hours away.”

  “My laptop battery is almost dead anyway,” said Gina. “We’ll have to wing it.”

  George and Lee fashioned a pallet for her father from sleeping bags and rope, and the two of them plus Nadine and Addison each took a corner. Gina, Suzanne, and Alesia watched the sky closely as the group made their way toward the nearest viaduct.

  It actually took them two and a half hours to reach it because they had to stop several times and change out the people carrying her father on the pallet. The clouds built and subsided so many times that Nadine found herself ignoring them unless the others appeared anxious.

  As they approached it, Gina let out a frustrated sound. “Dammit! We need to move. Fast.”

  She wasn’t one of the people carrying her father’s pallet at the time, but she took hold of it, slipping between Addison and Lee, and ran with the others. Debris swirled in the air above them, but they made it inside ahead of the storm.

  Lee clapped Nadine on the back. “Nice to know you can run like that when you need to.”

  Addison whipped his head around as the five of them placed her father’s pallet on the floor. He glared at Lee. “She ran with us the entire time we were up there.”

  “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Good to know.”

  The two stared each other down until Merrill cleared his throat. “Guess we’d best get Dixon through these air locks, okay?”

  Once they were down low enough, the Internet phones picked up a signal. George sent an email via satellite relay, hoping it would reach the other Storm Troopers so they knew Dixon was alive and safe. Addison called ahead to make sure they were ready for her father at NorthWest Medical Center. As they descended through the last air lock, an ambulance was waiting for them.

  She climbed in the front next to the driver, and Addison took her backpack. “I’m right behind you. Lee’s and Suzanne’s cars are parked close to here.”

  “Thank you.” The words hardly seemed adequate for all he’d done. Nadine wanted to kiss him, but that would have to wait as well. She barely had time to squeeze his hand before the driver asked her to close the door.

  As the ambulance sped toward the medical center, she closed her eyes and tried not to panic. She knew her father would be all right. He might need the leg reset so it would heal the correct way, and he needed IV fluids and probably antibiotics, but he would survive this.

  She wasn’t worried about that any longer. It was everything else she’d have to face head on now that they were back to the reality of their day-to-day lives. Addison loved her, and she loved him. She’d agreed to marry him. She had made love to him, more than once, and she’d told him about the rape. So much had happened in such a short time that her head began to ache.

  Her father’s words had planted the seeds of doubt, and she’d have to deal with that, too. She loved Addison. She knew that. But was it enough? Was she truly ready for this? Addison was the man she’d fantasized about for as long as she could remember. There was no one else she could imagine spending her life with.

  This was real, and it would work out. It had to, because she could no longer picture her life without him.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The ride to the medical center wasn’t long, even in an electric car, but it gave Addison plenty of time to set things straight with Lee. The others had gone with Suzanne, who also had parked a vehicle close, even though there was still room in this one for at least two more of them. Addison had arranged it this way on purpose.

  “What’s your story?” he asked Lee.

  “What do you mean?” Lee kept his eyes on the road, but Addison saw the twitch in his jaw.

  “You know damn well what I mean.”

  Lee shot him a quick glance. “You’re the only one who can flirt with a pretty girl now?”

  Dixon should have the chance to accept this first before Addison told the world about him and Nadine. It was only for Dixon’s sake that Addison didn’t blurt out the whole truth. “We’re together.”

  “For how long? You do have a reputation of discarding them rather quickly.”

  “For good.”

  “Really?” Lee laughed. “You? Come on, boss. You’re kidding, right?”

  “Not this time.”

  “Just bec
ause you fucked her in a bunker and probably in that cave?”

  Addison dug his nails into his palms because the urge to punch Lee was too strong. “Don’t ever let me hear you speak that way about Nadine again. Got it?” He knew the tone of his voice was dangerous and didn’t care.

  Lee glanced at him again, longer this time, his face filled with apprehension. “Okay, okay. Calm down. Christ. She’s only a girl, Addison.”

  “She’s not only a girl. She never was, and she’s not now.”

  Lee’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, right. I forget you’ve known her all your life.” Addison ignored the sarcasm. “Fine. I’ll back off. I had no idea it was a thing between you two.”

  “Well it is.” Addison knew he needed to calm down. His employees had never been his confidants, and he wasn’t about to start spilling his secrets to them now.

  Lee hadn’t worked for him as long as the others, and there were rumors about him doing more teasing of the female members of his teams than was necessary. He’d have to investigate the allegations more deeply. He didn’t want anyone harassed up there. They had jobs to do.

  As for Lee flirting with Nadine, it made Addison’s blood boil to think of any other man near her. Now that he knew what she’d gone through, he also realized how much she’d locked herself away from life all these years, and that made it worse in his mind. He intended to change that for her. He would help her tell Dixon what had happened, and he would keep her safe from this point on, protecting her from anything that made her feel the least bit afraid.

  Now that he’d accepted the feelings he’d always had for her, and asked her to marry him, he didn’t want anyone else to do so much as look at her. She belonged to him and him alone. Let any man, especially one like Lee, try to get near her and Addison would take care of him for good.

  Once they reached the Medical Center, he found Nadine sitting at Dixon’s bedside. She smiled at him and stood, giving him a big hug right there in the middle of the emergency room. His heart soared.

  “They’re taking him to surgery to reset the leg, and then he’s staying here for a few days to watch for infection.”

  “Damn waste of time,” said Dixon, his voice filled with disgust.

  Addison shot Dixon an exasperated look. “Do you realize you were less than a few days from death?”

  Dixon waved a hand in the air. “I had a week at least.”

  Nadine hugged herself. “Stop talking this way, both of you.”

  “I’m sorry.” Addison pulled her close again. “It’s a guy thing.”

  “Right. You have to act so unconcerned about your own health to prove you’re men? That’s silly.”

  Addison and Dixon exchanged a glance, and then Dixon frowned at him. “Now that you’re here, I want to hear more about you and my daughter.”

  Nadine glanced around, her eyes wide. “Dad, not the place or time for that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you need to focus on healing.”

  Dixon was about to speak again when a surgeon and an anesthesiologist poked their heads around the curtain separating Dixon from the chaos in the ER. They were ready to take him to surgery, so Addison wished him luck. Nadine kissed her father’s cheek, and then she followed Addison out of the ER.

  “He’ll be all right,” said Addison. “He’s a tough old bird.”

  “I know. I keep thinking about what he survived up there and I know he’ll come out of this fine.”

  “Then is there something else bothering you? You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.” He glanced around quickly, but no one was close to them. “If you’re worried about telling him what happened to you four years ago, I’ll be with you when you do.” She didn’t react. “Unless you don’t want me to be.” That might be something she’d be more comfortable telling Dixon on her own.

  “I’m afraid to tell him,” she said in a near-whisper. “I know I said I would, and I felt so damn brave about doing so after I told you, but now that I’ve looked into his eyes again, I can’t picture doing it.”

  Addison placed a hand on each shoulder. “Let’s go outside and talk, okay? They have our phone numbers. It’ll be at least two hours until he’s out of surgery and we can see him.”

  She nodded. Once they were outdoors, he found a bench away from the crowds and sat next to her. “Okay. Worst case scenario you can picture once you tell him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean what’s the worst thing you can picture happening?”

  She gazed off into the distance for a moment, and it was all he could do not to touch her. Now that they were back in familiar territory, he wanted to tell everyone how much he loved her and wanted to marry her. There was no need to wait. He wanted Nadine with him all the time.

  “He’ll be very upset that I didn’t tell him after it happened because he’d have wanted a chance to find the man himself.”

  “And if he’d done that, the guy would be dead, and they might have tossed your father into jail for it.”

  She sighed. “I know. That’s part of why I never told him.”

  “He loves you so much.”

  “I know that, too. I also wanted to protect him from this.”

  “Do you still want to protect him?”

  “Yes, but I know I have to tell him. It’s the right thing to do.”

  “Then I’ll help you do it.”

  Nadine put her arms around him, and he pulled her close, wishing they were alone in his house right now. He glanced at her arm and grinned. “You still have dirt on you from that cave.”

  She straightened up. “I’m desperate for a shower and to change my clothes. Do you think it would be safe for me to leave the hospital?”

  “Of course.” He stood and held out his hand. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

  “You live on the other side of town from me, and you didn’t bring your car. And I just realized something. My father has no place to go. The rare times he came underground he’d stay with friends or with me, but he won’t be able to get around for a while. My apartment isn’t equipped for that.”

  He smiled. “He can stay with me. I’ll set everything up. We’ll bring his therapists and physicians to him. That way he never has to leave the house until they say he can.”

  She gave him a cautious look. “Won’t he see this as a way to win his approval of us being together?”

  “I hope he gives it regardless. Nadine, I’ve known your father a long time. I wouldn’t think of him staying anywhere else while he recovers.”

  “I won’t be able to see him very often.”

  “If you move in with me you will.” She gave him a droll look this time, so he held up his hands before she could speak. “Nothing implied. You can have your own room if you want. You can have an entire suite to yourself if that would make you more comfortable.”

  “You’d really do this? It wouldn’t be a big pain in the ass for you?”

  “Of course not. The house is more than large enough, and I want you with me. I love you. I asked you to marry me.”

  She looked so uncertain that he grew fearful. What if she had changed her mind? What if this truly was too much for her?” Addison opened his backpack and dug around, finally retrieving the ring he’d made her out of a twig.

  When her eyes softened as he held it up, his fear turned to joy. “I won’t ask you to wear it, but I would like you to have it. I meant everything I said on the surface, Nadine. I love you, and I want you as my wife. Nothing that happens from this moment on will change that.”

  She took the ring and placed it on her finger, then smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. “I only hope I don’t disappoint you.”

  “Not possible, sweetheart.” He pulled her close again and held her, oblivious to the people walking past them, staring. They didn’t matter. The only person who mattered was this perfect woman in his arms.

  ****

  Her father’s surgery was successful, and they discharged him
three days later. Addison moved him into a suite of rooms on the first floor, and his staff had lined up home health aides, physical therapists, and physicians, just like he’d promised. Her father protested, but Nadine saw the easy way he and Addison joked around with each other, and she knew how grateful her dad was.

  She’d called Brenda to let her know what had happened, and Brenda insisted she take more time off. “You haven’t taken a real vacation in years.” The school year didn’t take a hiatus during the summers underground, so Brenda was correct. Nadine had only taken school holidays off and a few days here and there, usually when she had other things to do. She’d never taken a real vacation from her job for herself alone.

  Addison has insisted on sending Anna Corrigan, the head of his household staff, with Nadine so she could gather enough things to stay in his house for a few days. He promised to get some friends together during the weekend to help her move the rest of her possessions into his house.

  Even though she and Addison had already had sex, Nadine still felt self-conscious at the thought of making love to him, knowing her father was under the same roof.

  “He’s downstairs, in the west corner of the house, and I’m on the top floor, at the opposite end. Plus he can’t walk yet.”

  “I know, but it’s the idea that he’s here. It’s like I’m back living in my parents’ home and I’m still a teen.”

  “We weren’t having sex when you were a teen.”

  She smiled. “Good thing or he’d have killed you.”

  Addison kissed her. Every second of their time together in the bunker and in the cave came rushing back at her, and she longed to feel him inside her again. “After dinner, let’s make sure your dad is settled in, and then come upstairs. He’ll have a home health aide with him all night. We’ll tell the aide we don’t want to be disturbed except for a true emergency.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  “We’ll bring up a bottle of wine, put on some music, and light candles. What do you say? I miss holding you, Nadine. I want to make love to you where we aren’t stuffed into a tiny room or using sleeping bags to get comfortable on the ground.”