The team swung from jokes, to work, to nonsense and back again. Everyone was at ease, and Commander Austen looked the most relaxed of them all. His arm rarely ventured from the back of her chair. A comfortable white cotton shirt covered his broad shoulders and chest, and a pair of jeans gripped his muscled legs. Golden tanned skin made him look like a typical California hottie. She wondered what it would feel like to have all that strength twined around her. Just once.
An overwhelming urge to loosen all the buttons on his shirt flitted into her head, and her thighs quaked with the thought. The Commander belonged in a sexy bed sheet commercial, not putting his life in danger every time he left the base for ‘a meeting.’ His laugh was deep and comforting, and when he smiled, her heart dipped a little each time. He wasn’t the Commander anymore, he was just one of the guys. Only a true leader—a man who knew his strength—could release it without fear of losing it.
Although she was looking at him, she focused on her daydreams. Blinking her thoughts away, she blushed. The Commander’s cheeks hollowed and a flicker of heat passed through his eyes as if he’d known what she was thinking.
He shifted his hand to her shoulder and leaned into her ear. “You’re not letting go, sweetheart. Red scared ya, didn’t he? Or is it me?”
“Excuse me,” a voice said from behind her.
She swung around to see one helluva good-looking man. He stood over six feet, blue eyes, brown hair, toned, tanned—jock, she thought to herself, but definitely her age. “Yes?”
“I, uh—” His brows quirked together as the rest of the men at her table fell silent and turned a glare on him as if he had no business talking to her without their permission. When they wanted to, they could look damn intimidating. The guy pointed beside them. “I’m sitting over there and I’m just guessing, but are you Canadian?”
She cocked her head. “How did you know?”
He flashed a charming smile. “Dance with me and I’ll tell you.” He extended his hand for her to take. “I’m Jason. I’m from Ontario,” he said, guiding her to the dance floor.
Chapter Thirteen
Cobbs brushed a hand through the air and the waitress was on top of them. “Señorita, we’re gonna need a couple bottles. And the big guy here needs his own bottle. Get some nachos and a pail of crabs or something, too.”
“Sí, Señor,” she said, then wove through the crowd to fill their order.
“We’re gonna end up in a goddamned fight again,” his Master Chief said, laughing and slamming his hand down on the heavily carved table. “Ahh, I love a good bar fight.”
“Hey, it’s his own damn fault,” Cobbs drawled.
“If you’re talking about me, you can shut the fuck up,” he said, leaning forward snatching the tequila bottle.
Mace shook his head at him. “You’re an idiot, Commander.”
“See, I told ya,” Cobbs said, yanking the bottle from his hand and splashing his shooter glass to overflowing. “We can all see it.”
“What he can’t see is that guy is totally putting the moves on Kayla.” Mace jerked his head toward the dance floor.
“Listen up, men—it’s not going to happen.” He kept his eyes on the team instead of her. She could dance with anyone she wanted. She could go to bed with the guy… No, she couldn’t. Would she? He didn’t know which emotion hit him harder, the overwhelming lust he couldn’t seem to control when he was around her or the explosion of jealousy rearing up inside him thinking of her with someone else.
The team started to jeer, and Cobbs threw his arm across his shoulders. “You’re about to cave, old friend.”
“I’m not caving,” he said, shaking his head. He’d caved this afternoon. As soon as he’d made the callous remark to Law, he was sorry. In the lunchroom, he’d wanted Kayla to give in with his kiss. He sensed if they had been anywhere else—alone, she would have made him a very happy man. Fuck, he wished they’d been somewhere else.
“You’re going down like a house of cards, Commander,” Fox said, thrusting his bottle in the air. “You’ve been hanging on to bachelorhood far too long. Every man falls sooner or later, you’re going down just like the rest of us.” He laughed, missing his mouth, and the tequila dribbled down his chin, and splattered on the table.
“Oh, look at that.” Mace nodded. “Here it goes, ah, there’s the tilt of the head saying I’m interested in you. And now he’s pulling her a little closer, not taking his eyes off her. Uh-oh.”
The music changed and a slow song came on. “Not caving,” he said, picking up the bottle and downing it from the neck. Fox might be three-quarter ways sheeted to the wind, but he wasn’t going there tonight, not with Kayla along for the ride. If he kept himself partly sober, he wouldn’t lose control like he did in Arizona.
“Sir?” Clay prompted, pulling his attention to the young man.
Twenty-five-years-old and a genius with electronics, Clay was their main communications link with the world when they were out on a mission. Although he had a man’s body, his features made him appear like the nineteen-year-old boy next door, one who could rewire a satellite if he wanted to.
“I would think Kayla would want what every other healthy female wants.” Clay raised his brows. “Sir, it’s not like you’ve stopped having…company. You shouldn’t be pissed she wants some attention.”
Sometimes, however, he hated how the kid thought.
Cobbs was about to say something then stopped, staring at him. “Oh, shit.”
“Screw off, Pat,” he warned, darting his eyes away.
“Uh-huh. You still haven’t warmed up to a piece of tail, Thane?”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Yeah, busy with what?” Cobbs prodded, diving into the nachos the waitress plunked in the middle of the table.
So what if he hadn’t been with anyone in a while? His eyes darted to the dance floor, and he sat up straight. “What the fuck!” he spouted, watching Kayla and the asshole trying to get cozy with her. Jason’s hands slid dangerously low on her backside and… “Screw that,” slamming the bottle on the table.
“Atta boy, Commander,” Fox bellowed, lifting a glass in the air at him.
Their necks all twisted. The guy had Kayla’s body molded to him. He whispered something to her, and she returned an enormous smile.
“You gonna let some Canadian yahoo take her?” Cobbs threatened. “What the hell are you waiting for? Your attraction has been hot and heavy from the get-go. Your resistance is futile,” he said, laughing and grabbed his shoulder. “You know damn well it’s not just a one night stand. Sooo—” He swayed a bottle in the air for emphasis. “You’re trying to stop it from happening, for all the wrong reasons. And when it happens, and believe me it’s going to happen, Thane, you’re going to go off like a fuckin’ powder keg, and there’s no way you’re setting her free after that.”
Mace’s shoulders rose with laughter. “I didn’t know you were such a romantic, Lieutenant.”
“Mace if you keep banging everything you run into, you’ll eventually find Miss Right,” Cobbs said, landing the bottle on the table with a thud. “But you’ve got to start seeing with your eyes instead of your dick.”
“Already have, but she doesn’t look at me like she looks at him,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Thane turned a droll expression on Mace. “Got news for you, Wonderboy, you couldn’t handle her.”
Mace quirked his lips. “Thanks for the reality check, Flash Gordon.”
The team busted a gut, but he didn’t. If that guy’s hands got any lower on Kayla’s ass he was going to break both his arms. Kayla was all smiles. She didn’t smile at him like that. The song ended and the guy grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the bar. She hesitated, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Every muscle flexed tight in his body. If Jason from Ontario said one wrong word to him, he’d lay him out flat. He wove his way through the crowd to catch them, and placed a solid, tight hand on Jason’s wrist, but looked
at her. “Kayla, dinner’s on the table, and the team’s missing you.”
Her eyes banked left and then right, offering Jason an uncomfortable smile. He’d already released her and quickly.
“Are you her big brother or something? I promise my intentions are honorable,” Jason said with a joking tone.
He could tell the guy wasn’t half bad, but…big brother? Get fuckin’ real.
“Commander, I was—”
“No, you weren’t,” he said, grabbing her hand and dragging her back through the crowd.
“Hey,” she yanked her hand from his. “Listen up, SEAL.”
They were standing in the middle of the dance floor with everyone’s elbows crashing into them, yelling over the music. “New rule, no dancing with other men,” he blurted before he reasoned it out in his head.
“You can’t tell me who I can dance with,” pointing an angry finger at him, her other hand propped on her hip.
“All right, no dancing with other men in front of me. Is that better?” he growled, angry she was arguing with him, and what she was arguing about. “You can’t tell me you’d sleep with that guy. He’s a fuckin’ asshat.”
“I’m dancing with the man, it’s a bit of a leap from that to between the sheets. And here’s a newsflash, I can sleep with whomever I want to sleep with, Commander,” she said sharply, and swiveled as if she were going to find Jason to prove a point.
His hand shot out to stop her. “I don’t think so.” He yanked her into his arms and glared at her. Where the hell was the nearest hotel room, because right now he wanted to spread her perfect, shapely thighs and make a permanent home between them.
“Don’t look at me like that,” she barked and slapped her hands on his chest trying to push him away.
“Calm down, Kayla.” If she didn’t, he was going to spin out of control. The crowded dance floor and the sultry night made his body heat spiral, but something else had begun to spiral upwards as well.
“Your command ended when we left the base. Stop telling me what to do.”
He curled her tight to his chest. “Kayla—” his voice deepened with warning. “I’d be more than happy to fuck the daylights out of you for the next week straight, probably for the next year, but I know that’s not what you want.”
She stilled in his arms. “What happened in Arizona was a mistake,” she said, bowing her head.
“No, it wasn’t, but I can’t give you what you want.” He breathed out heavily. “Or what I want,” he admitted. She strained against him. Instead of letting her go, he squeezed tighter.
“I don’t want anything, you arrogant ass,” she said, surprising him.
Weaving his fingers through her hair, he gently prodded her to look at him. “Yes—you do, and…”
She fisted her hand and actually shoved it in his face. “If you say you can’t to me again, I’m going to knock you out cold, do you understand me?”
A hefty guy letting it loose on the dance floor nearly crashed into her. Thane’s hand shot out and the guy bounced off it. Watching her expression, he pressed his lips together to burn the grin before it formed.
“I’m glad you find this amusing, Commander.”
“I’m laughing at how pissed you get when you’re backed into a corner.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“No, I’m a bastard,” he corrected. “Hey, look at me. If I were an asshole, I’d be enticing you into bed with all sorts of empty promises. No matter how much I want you, I won’t do that, not with you.” Why did her eyes have to be so beautiful? Every time he looked into them, he weakened a little more like someone removing the bricks from a dam one by one.
“Why are we having this useless conversation, sir?”
His brows popped thinking about a good retort. “Probably because I’m trying to convince myself I’m doing the right thing,” he said next to her ear.
“Right,” she drawled. “I made a fool out of myself in Arizona. I think I learned my lesson. Now, are you done embarrassing me, sir?”
Backing up, he pulled her with him until he reached the thatched wall, the dark corner smelling like stale beer, urine and wafting with some woman’s cheap perfume. “What did I tell you about calling me sir?” he ground out.
“Sorry, sir, it’s just a sign of respect.”
“Kayla, I don’t deserve your respect. I don’t deserve you, but I’ve got enough tequila in me I’m starting to not give a shit.”
“You don’t need tequila to not give a shit about me, I assure you of that.”
She strained to hold herself away from him. “I’d clear a table and make love to you in front of everyone I want you so bad right now, if you want to know the truth.”
She choked on her words, staring up at him with wide eyes.
“You think I’m kidding,” he warned, sliding his arms around her waist, pinning her hips to his. Their bodies were the perfect ebb and flow, fitting together without resistance. “There’s nothing I want more than to make love to you.” The erection in his pants busting his seams confirmed it. “In my mind I’m already buried to the hilt inside you. I get hard just thinking about making you cry out my name.” His lips brushed against her neck, and he took a deep breath, the scent of her skin more important than air. “I want to caress and kiss your body all night, until you’re going out of your mind, and come apart in my arms. That’s what I want because you drive me fucking nuts every time I see you.”
“Comm—”
“Every time I open a door, I see you, whether you’re there or not.” His hand slid down her curves and rested next to the crease by her thigh. Only an inch away, he could feel her heat, and it made him even harder. “I know that beautiful silk is wetting your thighs right now, and I want to follow it up to your sweetest place, and drown in it.” His entire body had grown into a taut spring, driving himself to the point of orgasm admitting what he’d wanted for months.
Her lips parted to say something, but he came down on them with frustration and lust welling together inside him. A moan of need escaped him and broke their connection. “Why can’t we make love?” The warm skin of her cheeks called his lips to explore. Sliding down to her neck, he bit it gently as her body softened in his arms. “Jesus, I want you,” and he kissed her with every ounce of longing inside him. She let him in her mouth to play with her tongue, and it shot his passion higher. Her taste—enticing, and he wanted to savor it all night. The drum of the loud music dulled against the heavy beat of need pulsing inside him.
Common sense rallied with his lust. Maybe they could enjoy each other without the trappings, without having to put her through hell like all the other women who joined their lives to a SEAL. If he just had her once, the yearning to see her every day and the burning need to love her would go away. “Either we’re going to do this and get it out of our systems or we’re moving on,” he said harshly.
Her submissive eyes snapped, and she tensed in his arms. “Then move on, I don’t need a pity fuck,” she spat at him like an angry cat with her claws flexed.
Even in the darkness, he could see her cheeks flush. Every time he opened his mouth around her, he shoved his foot into it. “Kayla—that came out wrong. Listen, I meant it. Next weekend we’ll come back together—alone. You can go searching for treasures, and then we’ll…” He paused, remembering what Cobbs said. Once he made love to Kayla, he knew letting her go would be impossible.
“Thanks for the offer, Commander,” she said, cutting him off. “I can drive in a straight line and find this place myself, and if I need a roll in the hay, I’ll do it with someone who actually likes me.”
She tore herself from his grasp and headed for their table. Goddammit, why did she always think he didn’t like her? The first layer of cards that held the rest of the house caved in. He swept his hand through his hair as he watched her jostle her way through the crowd, his heart turning cold.
When she reached the table, she yanked a bottle from Mace’s hand and literally gulped it down. E
ither he joined them or he hit the road, but if he joined them he was worried she’d hit him over the head with that bottle she clutched in her fingers. Then again, he deserved it.
* * * *
She ignored the Commander when he sat down next to her. The guys darted quick looks at both of them, but didn’t break their conversations.
“Kayla, you gotta try this crab,” Mace said, plopping two halves on her plate.
She considered cracking the shell over the Commander’s head. What an arrogant son of a bitch. If he thought she was pining away for him, guess again. Taking another shot of tequila leveled her nerves, and to prove everything was “status normal”, she drew the bucket toward the Commander. “Have some, sir.” She put extra emphasis on the sir. “It’s good.”
He nodded and picked one out. They filled their bellies, and she ate until bursting. The rest of the team’s bantering pushed most of her unease away, until the Commander’s fingers softly clutched her shoulder.
His lips grazed her ear when he said, “I’m truly sorry, Kayla. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
She turned her head so they were nose to nose. “I’m not kissing you,” she declared sharply.
“I know. It’s me who wants to kiss you.” His expression twisted with chagrin. “I keep telling myself to stop. I’ll only hurt you, Kayla, don’t give in to me.” He brushed her cheek lightly before backing away and giving her an apologetic look.
She felt a quick tug on her heart and her pant leg, and she swiveled around to see two little faces peering up at her from under the table.
“Señora,” they whispered, looking around them worriedly.
The Commander saw them and grinned. “They’re probably looking for a college fund.”
“Hey, guys, what’s up?”
“Señora, you must leave,” the little one said in a hushed tone.
They looked so serious. “Why?” she asked, bending over.
“El Serpiente,” the plump one blurted. “They know you are here. The SEALs, they want to kill them. Bad blood.”
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