by Billi Jean
She listened quietly to him, and afterwards, she nodded, but her expressive face seemed to say that he’d surprised her more than a little.
“What? You think I should walk the line now, when I’m not in?” he asked. “Talk about how great our country is and how I will always stand by what my government does and says?”
“No, no I don’t. I’m just surprised you would think that way. Well, maybe I’m not,” she added. “But you were doing good things, especially in the Rangers. They help a lot of people—people that never realize they benefit from all the sacrifice.”
His face got hot at her words and the admiration in her eyes. She wasn’t saying that to make him feel good. She meant it. Sonya would never stroke his ego, but she didn’t shy away from complimenting him, either. He sensed he’d better learn to take it or she’d do it much more, and more than likely in front of people just to get him.
“We all could do more,” he said firmly. “But it’s not my fight any longer.”
“No,” she murmured and yawned again. “It’s not mine either.”
“Come on, enough yawning, time for sleeping in this bed,” he said. When he did, it sank in that this would one of many times he’d be able to fall asleep with her—without passing out in each other’s arms after a wild bout of lovemaking. A warm, comfortable feeling settled in his muscles, especially when she smiled sleepily and curled up closer.
“Oh, sleep,” she whispered, clearly ready for it.
“I’m going to go set the stove then come right back to join you,” he told her.
She gave him a grumpy frown but sighed and let him pull from her arms. “Hurry back,” she said, watching him with a sleepy smile. “I’ll keep the bed warm.”
“Good. You do that.” He chuckled and sat up to strap on his prosthesis. She trailed a hand down his back and of course the woman smacked his bare ass when he stood.
He grunted but she just giggled and when he glanced back, she was watching him still. Hell, a man could get damn used to that.
“Go to sleep. I’ll be right back,” he reminded her and headed out, feeling her eyes on his back—or maybe his ass—the whole way.
She amazed him, truly amazed him. His chest felt all strange and light, and almost as soon as he left the room, he missed her. He quickly took care of the stove, dogs and locked the house up. The place was quiet and, he knew, secure, but for some reason, tonight he checked all the windows and locks. When he got back to the bedroom after brushing his teeth, he thought she’d fallen fast asleep, but as soon as he lifted the covers carefully, she shifted and smiled at him.
“Brrr, your feet are freezing. Get in here,” she said and turned to curl up into him.
“Foot. My foot is freezing,” he laughed and pulled her closer.
She rubbed his foot with hers and made a happy hum when she did it. “You’re such a smartie. How’d you get so cold?”
“I checked the house, I guess,” he said and settled her against him. She fit him perfectly. Just perfectly. “Do you mean it, that you’re out?” he asked, curious if she was really done with the agency. She was young.
She murmured a sleepy question sound.
“That you’re done with the danger and adventure?”
She yawned and nodded at the same time. “Yeah, I’m out. That kind of life isn’t for me, not any longer,” she said. “I’m hoping it’s a done deal. Is that what you were thinking about while walking around naked?”
He laughed, like he knew she wanted, and growled into her neck, adjusting her body until he found the right place for her, tight to his chest and all soft and warm against him. She slipped a satiny leg between his and he grumbled but shifted to accommodate her.
A done deal. Is that the truth? There was worry in her tone when she said that, worry that made him think even if she wanted it over, it might not be over.
“So, when are you gonna take me fishing again, cowboy?”
He chuckled, but pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Didn’t I tell you that you’d be addicted?”
She grumbled sleepily.
“Soon. I didn’t get a chance to reel you in for some fun over on that soft grass, did I?”
Another delicate yawn and she closed her eyes, but sleepily he heard her say, “I’ll bet you don’t have any trouble reeling me into anything once I get some sleep.”
It was keeping her that might be hard, he knew.
Chapter Eighteen
Sonya stretched, feeling wonderful. She paused when her hand hit something. Blinking past the sleep still lingering in her eyes, she picked up the piece of paper and read Cody’s note. Under the note was his belt.
Next time you can do the tying.
She doubted she’d need his belt to keep Cody close.
But did she deserve him—this? Was Tazz right? Were they all right? Did she have the ability to write her own future? She’d done that, hadn’t she? Good and bad decisions, she’d still made them, not let someone else do it—not once. Not even the men who’d raped her had ruined who she was—or who she would become. She’d defied them all, hadn’t she?
Stretching again, she reached for the ceiling, then ran her hands down her body and smiled at the memory of Cody doing the same. Her fingers closed on the belt and she smiled.
No, she wouldn’t have to use anything to tie him up with. Not with Cody Johnson.
Suddenly she couldn’t stay in bed a moment longer. She wanted to do something for him, but what? Not sex, no, she thought and stashed his belt in with the other toys in her bedside table. He’d put the lube back in there she noticed and another note.
Next time I want to use this too…
She grinned at the vibrator under his note and wondered if he meant on her or on him. Probably any way that she wanted.
Today, though, she didn’t want to find some new and hot way to make him insane with sexual fun. She wanted to do something for him outside of that.
Women cooked for men. It was a big sign they were into them. But she couldn’t cook. She’d not been exaggerating. Food, though… She could go get something he liked. Cody had mentioned some BBQ place in town and Troy had joked that the BBQ beef sandwich was the only thing that got Cody out of the house. Maybe go get some of that and now she knew how to make baked potatoes, she could do those and a salad—a good salad, too. She could do those easily. Would he like that?
She pictured him and sighed. Yep, he would. She had a feeling Cody liked her—no matter what she did for him, he’d like the thought behind it. She recalled all the things he’d done for her, in bed and out, and her smile grew. Yep, she liked him too.
Maybe she could buy him a new shirt. His were…well, worn. She picked one up from the hamper and breathed in his scent then winced. Maybe wash his clothes, too. That was another thing girls did…
Busy getting ready for the day, she rushed through walking Blue and came back to get the SUV packed up. She always had her bag with her—after years of needing to be on the run, there was always a bag ready to within her grasp. This time she stowed it under the seat and smiled because maybe, just maybe, she could leave it there for good.
An hour later, she was driving with Blue, the windows down and the wind in her face, on her way to do something nice for a man she thought she could keep around. Blue loved sticking her head out of the window and after scaring her by nearly falling a few times, settled down on the seat with her head leaning against the open window.
The town proved much, much smaller than she’d remembered, but that might had been because she’d driven through after hours of driving. She dropped the tire off with some old mechanic who didn’t seem to her to be strong enough to lift the tire, let alone fix it, but he assured her it would be ready in an hour.
She walked from there to a western wear store and went inside. The place was empty except for an elderly woman in amazing makeup and a tight cowboy shirt and jeans. She smiled and helped Sonya pick out two nice shirts, and a T-shirt that said, A cowboy’s work is never done. S
he thought the T-shirt would make him smile. He was always teasing her about filling the wood stove and cooking, then making love to her as if he was working too hard.
The purchases gave her some kind of weird thrill, too, almost as if he was standing next to her and kissing her neck.
Is this how couples feel?
On the way back to the SUV she stopped and picked up some scented candles, fresh greens for a salad and loaded up on fresh fruit. By the time she got back to the garage, two young men were working there with the old guy and her tire was fixed.
The BBQ place was easy to spot and after placing a pretty big order to go, she settled on the bench by the register to check her messages on her phone while she waited. The girl behind the counter was busy, especially with the order Sonya had placed. She’d ordered some of the fresh baked cornbread and enough food for six people, thinking how hungry Cody got after a long day. Plus, he’d had a long night.
If he came back today, he would be pretty hungry.
He’d come back. She already missed him.
That should’ve freaked her out, but it didn’t. Was it the drug? Did the Sentinel drug do the same DNA matching as Duke’s? Maybe Duke hadn’t really modified the drug at all.
The thought made her shiver, but she didn’t believe it, not really. The drug’s side effects were wearing off. The fishing accident slice on her thumb wasn’t healed. Her leg was, but that had been right when she’d gotten here. Chung had said within six months there would be a marked difference. Tazz’s wedding had marked the six month point for her. She thought about that while she sat. Had she really required as much punishing exercise as she’d needed before? Or as much hard, long sex?
Not really.
She’d always had high energy and she’d always had a high sex drive. It had scared her as a young woman, but as she’d grown into her own body and needs, she’d gotten more comfortable with her desires. The drug had been a big blow. She could see why she had suffered so much from the side effects. She’d fought the urge to go and find the first man she could to satisfy herself because it had been too out of her control. It was too close to being forced on her.
Now she felt solid—more herself. She wanted to make love to Cody, but what woman wouldn’t? He was an amazing lover. Last night had proved that, but every other time before that had, too. She’d nearly fainted last night. Sex like that wasn’t common, but she believed it was Cody, not a drug. He was right. They fit each other. His big sexy cock fit her and so did his teasing, grumbles. He fit her.
That wasn’t a drug. She couldn’t think of a thing that he did she didn’t like, or at the least warned her that this was only temporary.
Her phone rang and startled her so badly she nearly dropped it on the floor. The caller ID made her hands tense.
Carson.
The commander had very few reasons to contact her. Mostly because she’d told him not to call her unless Walters was on her tail.
She answered on the third ring and moved away from the counter. “Petrok.” The weight of her Sauer in its holster suddenly felt warm and solid.
“You have trouble, Petrok. I’m heading in. Where are you right now?”
She swallowed before she could make her throat work. “Explain that.”
“Walters has an ID on your location. We found the nurse. She confirmed he was on his way to Wyoming to take care of someone named Sonya.”
Fuck. She pushed open the door and stepped outside, letting the wind cool her hot face.
“When was this?”
“Two, three days ago. He is probably already at your location.”
She heard the sounds of a helicopter through the phone and closed her eyes as reality hit. Walters. Here. He knew—absolutely knew—every detail about the drug. More, he wanted her dead. If he was here—he’d not waste time getting to her. She was lucky he’d not beaten Carson and already killed, or worse, kidnapped her.
A chill shivered down her arms.
Cody. Where is he?
She glanced at her watch. Was it too early for him to be done and back to her place? How long did it take to round up some missing cows? Would he head straight there or go to his house? Or Troy’s house? Why didn’t you find out where Troy lived?
“Petrok?”
“I’m in town,” she said clearly while she decided what to do.
What I have to do.
Leave Cody before I get him killed. Call him, explain something… That I’ll be back.
Am I coming back?
Yes. Absolutely.
Imagining a life without Cody there, his blond hair glowing in the sunshine with the mountains behind him, his smile so big it made his painful scar disappear, drove a spike of fear through her. What if I don’t ever see him again?
The flight or fight adrenaline rushed her. Her throat ached. Grimacing at the painful thoughts, she rubbed her face and tried hard to think of what she should do.
“Meet me one mile out at the crossroads south of town. You’ll see my SUV. Who’s with you?”
“Jansen and Bryson.”
“That it?” she asked, suspicious. She’d seen Jansen after Paris had disappeared—the woman she’d thought both men had been way too into back at Duke’s compound. He’d been in bad shape and she’d wondered then if it’d been more than the roughed up leg and fall from a cliff and more about the girl.
“And the helicopter pilot. Are you armed, Petrok?”
“I am, sir. I’ll be waiting.” If Walters was here, she’d trust both men at her back. And if Jansen was worked up over Paris, maybe she’d do some digging for him, see if she couldn’t find the little ice princess.
“Good. Stay put and don’t go to Ace’s for whatever reason. Stay put,” he growled. “We’ll be there in forty minutes. Be prepared to come in. There’s no way we can allow you out there on your own now,” he warned then hung up.
She wanted to throw the phone, but headed back in for her food order. It would be strange if she didn’t. Right now she had to appear as normal as she could.
“Miss, your order is ready,” the nice counter girl said.
She plastered on a smile and handed over the appropriate money without letting on that inside she was being ripped in two—or soon would be.
Cody. I should never have let you stay. Now I’ll have to let you go.
The thought was followed by such a rush of pain that she blinked to clear her eyes and pushed through the double doors without even seeing where she was going.
How can I leave you behind when I just realized how good it feels to have you around?
* * * *
Cody got down off his gelding and sighed. He missed Sonya. He missed her something fierce. And it had only been hours. Not even seven, to be exact, since he’d left her warm and cozy in her bed. She’d been so curled up in his arms he’d had a hard time not waking her. He’d actually been surprised when all he got from her was a sleepy grumble. She trusted him.
Yeah, obviously or he’d not have been in her bed, or as she said, past her door. Hell, he’d even gotten past her back door. He wiped a grin off his face at the thought and went on to rub his neck. He was a goner.
“You okay, man?”
He glanced over at Troy and saw his friend’s shit-eating grin. “You missing the little lady, huh?”
“Fuck you, Troy.”
“What? When you have that hot ticket at home? The girl’s obviously nuts over you, man, and you want me?”
“Troy,” he began but ended up just shaking his head. She was nuts over him, wasn’t she? Yeah, she was. Last night, and the way he’d made love to her followed by the hot, insane anal flashed through his mind. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure what he liked more—maybe he didn’t like one more than the other because both had him burning up from off the charts orgasms. Holding her after had been just as satisfying, oddly enough. When she’d fallen asleep first in his arms, he’d held her and let the sensations sink in slowly until he’d let sleep overtake him.
�
�Yeah, you’re a lucky guy, man. Come on. Let’s unsaddle and get you back to her,” Troy half grumbled at him.
“I want to go by Joe’s BBQ first and get her some. I bet she’d like it.” Maybe he’d talk her into cuddling up by the wood stove again and let him hold her while they talked again.
“Well, considering you’re bringing it, I assume she’ll like it,” Troy muttered, this time not bothering to hide his jealousy.
“You have plenty of women so don’t give me that,” Cody said, loosening White’s cinch then pulling his saddle and blanket free. The big gelding shook himself and stomped, no doubt hungry after working all day.
“Yeah, but not a one wants to hang around very long.”
Cody paused and stared over his horse’s back to see that his buddy was serious. He exhaled and started brushing out the sweat stains on White’s coat while he thought about what Troy wasn’t saying. He’d been given a rough ride by Cindy, but at least he’d tried with her. Troy never tried hard with women. He never put himself out there and as soon as one started showing signs of nesting, he ended things with a longer deployment than he needed.
“You ever think maybe they would if you indicated you wanted them to?”
Troy pinned him with a glare. “What does that mean?”
“How long was your last relationship?” Cody asked.
Troy grimaced and brushed out his horse with angry swipes. “A year—”
“That you were with her, the entire time, no deployment.”
“Six months, then, maybe a bit less,” Troy offered after putting his horse away. “Look, I know. I know, but they’ll end up leaving anyway. Why put yourself out there? I mean, hell, look at you and Cindy. She fucked you over.”