Freedom: A Captivating and consuming contemporary romance (Freedom series Book 1)

by J Grayland

  Pulling my wrist from his grasp I said “What the hell is your problem? For the first couple of weeks that we arrived here you couldn't even be bothered to look at me, never mind speak to me, you just sent your little minion Jax in to do all the talking but now, all of a sudden, you think I have some big conspiracy thing going on that you don't know about? Oh! fuck yeah I forgot you’re an American so everything is a big conspiracy.” He came in close to me, breathing hard, the little muscle in the side of his jaw twitching faster.

  “You have a very dirty mouth for such a pretty lady” he said with a smirk.

  “Oh! this is nothing mate compared to what I am capable of.” Now we were both breathing hard, staring at each other until the lock of our eyes was broken by the sound of Jax's drawl as he slipped his way in between us.

  “Hey, now what on earth is going on here?” I look at Jax then point at Nate.

  “Your friend here is a dick head, that's what's wrong,” I said, planting my hands firmly on my hips.

  “Come on now Doc, cool it down, let's just bring the heat down a little and talk about it.”

  “That's what I was trying to do but she is impossible.” Nate gritted out not taking his eyes away from mine.

  “I will talk to you when you learn to speak to me like I am a person and not an inconvenience,” I say, then I walked away and up to my room slamming the door behind me, leaving Nate rubbing the back of his neck and pacing back and forth with fury. I peek out of the window and watch as Jax speaks while Nate looks at him, furious. Listening closely, I strain to hear what they’re talking about. “What the hell did you say to her Nate?” Jax says. Nate points over towards my door. “That woman is so...so...infuriating, I just wanted to ask her some questions and she exploded like a cherry bomb.”

  “Well you're not actually Mr. Charming are you?” Jax retaliates.

  “I don't want to be Mr. fucking Charming I want to get to the bottom of this shit and get the fuck out of here and back to my air-conditioned office” Nate yells loudly turning his head towards my room, hoping I would hear him.

  “Jesus Nate, what the hell is wrong with you?” Nate looks at Jax, his anger radiating from his eyes “Nothing, forget it” he spits out and walks back over to their tent shaking his head.

  In my room, I start to do my own pacing which is hard considering how small it is in here. I could not believe how this man could make me explode so fast, what the hell was going on. I’m always so calm and collected but he just seems to know how to push my buttons. I mean, he went from a silent arsehole attitude to an overprotective alpha male, to accusing me of being a liar and hiding something from him. He was like a rollercoaster- admittedly an extremely handsome- one but still I didn’t have to answer to him, or his damn rollercoaster personality.

  Over the next couple of days, I tried to keep my distance from Nate and things were fairly calm Nate had gone back to not even looking at me and keeping to himself while Jax and I were always talking. He was great and hilariously funny, the complete opposite to Nate. He reminded me a lot of Flynn, and we seemed to have this comfortable, easy banter between us. He told me that he and Nate had been friends for quite a number of years before he came to work for him. Apparently, they both met when they were in the military. He also dropped a few lines into our conversations about how Nate lives a very private life back home and tried to excuse his hard personality and his unsociability on his experiences while on tour with the military.

  “Once you get to know him he’s a great guy, he’s the only man I would ever trust with my life,” Jax said, and I could see the loyalty and adoration in his eyes as he spoke. He and Nate had a very close brotherly relationship, one that it appears had been built over a lot of tough years.

  Chapter Eleven

  Casey

  On Saturday it was low key celebrations all over the base due to it being American Independence Day back in the States. In the mess hall they had set up a huge barbecue area and supplied steaks, burgers, and hot dogs all through the day that included a wonderful selection of desserts, and I had put away more than my fair share of chocolate brownies, but they tasted heavenly. Later on that night they had built a fire pit that now roared with flames and sat around drinking beer and toasting marshmallows, people kept drifting in and out as they came off duty and went on duty and everyone seemed to look like they were in a food coma from all the food they had grazed on throughout the day.

  I was walking back towards my room after finishing up some paperwork when I heard Jax call out “Hey Doc, come on over here and have a beer with us.” Looking over at him I gave him a smile but shook my head declining his invitation. “Thanks, but I'm really tired.” Jumping up from where he was sitting he jogged over to me and placing his hand on the small of my back as he ushered me towards one of the logs placed around the fire pit. “Now come on girl, there's a time for work and a time to relax. And right now it’s time to relax and have a beer.”

  “Ok, cowboy” I relented and sat down on one of the logs and where a cold bottle of beer was placed into my hand. “Thanks,” I said looking up at Jax as he sat down next to me and clinked his bottle against mine, then took a huge pull of beer from his bottle. “Happy Independence Day,” I said as I put the bottle to my lips and drank down some of the ice cold amber liquid and let out a low moan “Mmmm.” “I see you like American beer ?” Jax asks and I nod giving him a smile.

  “It's good and it's been a long time since I've had a cold beer” “Really? I thought you Aussies lived off the stuff.” Laughing I shake my head at him “You Americans do have a lot of misconceptions about us.” “Then maybe you need to educate me darling” he chuckles leaning closer to me. Ignoring his playful innuendo I ask “So where's your boss tonight? Not celebrating?”

  “Not sure, he’ll be somewhere around”.

  Jax and I relax into a comfortable conversation comparing different holidays and celebrations in each other's countries and before I realized it he had handed me another bottle of beer and as I lifted the bottle to take another drink I noticed Nate. He was standing over near their tent, a beer in one hand talking to a pretty dark haired woman and he was actually smiling at her. “I see he's found a friend,” I said pointing over to where Nate and his female friend stood with the neck of my bottle. Jax looked over to where I was pointing and let out what sounded like a grunt. “Dang, must be her lucky night cos he’s smiling.” At his words, I felt my stomach drop into the bottom of my feet, and I actually felt queasy as I watched him absorbed in conversation with this other woman. What the hell was wrong with me? It had to be the beer that was making me feel this way after all it had been a long time since I had drunk one. Shaking my head I tried to clear it but the more I watched them the sicker I felt, it was like a mixture of nausea and anger, anger? Why would I be angry seeing him with a woman? It didn't make any sense, I couldn't stand him, he was an egotistical arse. No, it had to be the beer, there was no other explanation for it. As though he felt me staring at him Nate turned and looked straight at me, my face flushed instantly with the thought of him catching me staring at them, and then he smiled, the bastard smiled a huge confident and flirty smile at me. Quickly looking away and back at Jax, I stood “Thanks for the beer Jax. I'm going to go to bed I'm really tired.” “Oh, Ok darlin, I’ll see you in the morning”.

  “Night,” I said as I dropped the empty beer bottle into a garbage bin and walked back to my room, and with every step I took, I could feel those steely grey eyes burning a hole into my back.

  I really needed to talk to Flynn right now. Checking the time and working out the difference I grabbed my calling card and headed over to the base phone and dialed his number. He picked up on the third ring. “Hello? Flynn?”

  “Casey?”

  “Hey mate how are you?” I asked feeling instantly at ease hearing his voice.

  “I'm good, how are you?” he asked.

  “I'm…ok” I answered with as much confidence as I could muster.

  “J
ust ok?” he asked with concern.

  “No, I'm good, really I just wanted to hear your voice.” Feeling a little more at ease I slipped into a comfortable conversation with Flynn, catching up on what’s been happening back home and by the end of the half-hour call, he had me laughing and feeling completely relaxed, as usual. Sighing, I say “I had better go, Flynn, I need to be up pretty early.”

  “Ok, babe, you know I miss you.” “I miss you too, so much.” The last words came out in a whisper. “Not long now though hey?” Flynn says.

  “Nope and I’m sure we’ll have fun making up for all the lost time.” I smile at the thought.

  “We will babe, just be careful and look after yourself.” He said sternly.

  “I always do....love you.” “Love you too babe.” And with that, I hung up the phone, stared at it for a lingering moment and smiled to myself. Turning around I walked straight into the solid hard chest of Nate. Looking up at him I mumbled an apology and attempted to walk around him but he moved in the same direction blocking my way, so I tried to move around the other side but once again he moved to block me again. Looking at him with frustration I ask “What?”

  “Who's Flynn?”He bites out.

  “What?” I asked slightly confused by his tone.

  “You heard me the first time Doc and I hate repeating myself, I only ask once.” He said crossing his arms over his chest. Annoyed at the now smug look he has on his face, I shake my head, “Piss off Nate, first you shouldn't be listening into other peoples conversations; second it's none of your business; and third, I don't have to answer to you,” I say prodding a finger into that rock hard chest of his emphasizing my points until he catches my wrist in his hand.

  “Who the fuck is Flynn?” he asks again this time more slowly, his deep voice now a rumble. Pulling my hand out of his grasp I start to walk away but he moves in front of me so that my back is now pressed up against the wall that the phone is connected to. Placing his hands flat against the wall one on either side of my head he leans in close, his face almost touching mine, and shakes his head “You are a very trying woman Doc and you are wearing my patience very thin.”

  “Then maybe you need to go back to your little friend.” I nod in the direction of where he was standing earlier talking to the dark-haired woman, I watch as both his eyebrows arch and a faint smile curves at the corner of his lips as he moves his mouth closer to the side of my face, his breath is warm and smells of coffee as he whispers against my skin “Are you jealous Doc?”

  Anger spread through my body as I pushed at his muscled chest with both hands moving him only slightly backward.“Don't flatter yourself, Nate, you’re nothing special” I spit out.

  “Are you sure about that?” he asks sliding an index finger against the side of my jaw. Pulling away and ducking down under his arm, I manage to escape his trap making my way quickly towards my room but I could hear him coming up fast behind me. “Ok, Look, I'm sorry.” He says making me stop and spin around to meet him face to face and I can see the sincerity of his apology in his grey eyes. Looking at him I extend my hands outwards as I ask “What do you want from me, Nate?” I almost plead and I watch as he rubs his hand over the back of his neck.

  “I want you to talk to me.” He says.

  “Why? Why am I so interesting to you? I'm just a job remember? Now all of a sudden you want to talk, no...no…sorry, interrogate is more the word, because for some reason you think I have something to hide from you.” Shoving his hands deep into his pockets and lowering his head I hear him let out a long breath before he speaks.

  “Ok, I get that I’m not the easiest person to talk to but in these circumstances, to me, time is too precious to waste and I think that there’s something more going on here than you just being here for your medical skills Doc, and I’m just trying to piece things together.” Looking into his eyes I see uncertainty and a true concern in them, so much so that I pull in my claws and calm my voice.

  “Look I applied for the job through a colleague at work. I was accepted by IMA and shipped out here and that's as much as I can tell you.”

  “Did you know the work colleague personally?” he asks.

  “Well no it was kind of a friend of a friend type situation, but it all seemed above board. I researched IMA to make sure they are a legitimate company” I told him.

  “Oh they’re legit alright” he interrupts, then continues, “But it's what's hidden underneath that has me more concerned.”

  “Well, like I said, you know as much as me, and I’m sorry that I don’t have anything more to give you Nate but there is no conspiracy going on and I'm not hiding anything from you. So if we're done here I’m going to get some sleep.” He gives me a nod but before I walk away he asks “One more thing?”

  “Sure.” I sigh.

  “Who is Flynn?” Giving him a sheepish look I just smile and say “Well Mr. King I do remember you telling me that you never ask a question twice sooo, I'll pretend I never heard that.” As I turned and walked back to my room I heard him let out a string of curses under his breath.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nate

  Looking up at the sound of my name I see Jax waving the satellite phone in the air above his head. “It's Paxton” he shouts making me jog over to him and take the phone. “Paxton?”

  “Hey, big brother how are you?” Paxton asks.

  “I’ll be better if you have something for me,” I tell him.

  “Well I’ve been doing some digging around and as we already guessed IMA is pretty much a front for illegal activity.”

  “What kind of illegal activity?”

  “You’re not going to like it, Nate.” He pauses as I close my eyes and say.

  “Go on?”

  “It seems like our old friend Peterson has been moving a lot of black market stuff under the radar.”

  “What kind of stuff?” I ask gritting my teeth waiting for his response.

  “Cars, electronics, weapons, it appears he's been supplying the head of an underground militant group there with a lot of luxuries and getting paid handsomely for it.”

  “Do we have a name?”

  “He’s known as the Red Dagger AKA Asferat Halmid, he runs a militant posse there and apparently is quite wealthy and wields a considerable amount of political power as well.”

  “Ok that’s standard out here but what's this got to do with Miss. Tyler?” This time there was a much longer pause before Paxton spoke again.

  “He also likes collecting things like...... women.”

  “What the fuck Paxton?” I exploded into the phone.

  “Apparently he has quite a harem of women for himself so I'm thinking if Peterson has been supplying him with what he wants, maybe he put his order in for a blonde intelligent western woman.” Now pacing back and forth in front of the tent, I rub a hand down my face in frustration and revulsion at Paxton’s words. “Do you think someone would go to all that trouble just to fill his harem?” Paxton asked.

  “I think if someone has more money than brain cells they would, but why would Peterson call in his owed favor for me to get her here?” I said.

  “Now that I do not know. He would have to know that you wouldn't let her out of your sight Nate, but then he also knew that if he needed to make sure something was delivered in one piece that he has the right man for the job.”

  “Fuck, if that shifty little prick thought he could pull me into his diabolical illegal business dealings he’s got another thing coming,” I spit out angrily.

  “So what's the plan brother?” Paxton’s voice broke into my thoughts.

  “Well, I think for one I need to get Casey out of here and back home.”

  “What Australia?” He asks.

  “No, Portland.”

  “Here?” Paxton asked “Why here? Nate, don’t you think it would be better to send her back to her own country, surely they wouldn't go after her there.” He says now sounding slightly exasperated.

  “And you know that for sur
e Paxton? You can guarantee that can you?”

  “Well no, but...”

  “That's right and neither can I.”

  Once I had disconnected the call to Paxton I found Jackson sitting in front of the open fire. Taking a seat down next to him, I filled him in on the latest information Paxton had given me and watched as the anger spread across his face. “That mother fucking son of a bitch” Jax raged.

  “Exactly” I agreed, feeling just as frustrated as he did right now.

  “So what are we going to do?” He asks me.

  “I'm planning on taking her back to Portland until I can work out what Peterson’s plan is. At least there I have my own resources at hand.”

  “Pftt... good luck with that one man, there is no way you will ever convince that woman to go to Portland with you” he chuckled.

  “I know,” I said rubbing my fingers over the stubble on my chin “She's like a wild cornered cat, but...” my words trailed off in thought for a moment taking some pleasure in the thought of her wildness. Until Jax cleared his throat.

  “I think you need to keep your mind on the job,” Jax said and I looked at him through narrowed eyes.

  “Don’t you think that’s what I’m doing?” I growl at him and he lifts his head up towards the sky like he’s searching for the right words “Jax?”.

  “I don’t know man; there’s something….different about you, I’ve never seen you act like this before. I mean what is it about this woman? I’ve seen you watching her like an eagle watching its prey, and I have never seen you do that to any woman before, and now you wanna take her back to your home for protection, why don't we just get her back to her own country?”

  Scrubbing a hand across the back of my neck I look at him and ask “Honestly? I don't know Jax there's just something about her I’m not sure what it is but fuck, it’s there I can feel it. What I do know is that I have a bad feeling about this whole situation, I keep going over what Paxton told me and it just seems to be a lot of planning and preparation to go through for them to just give up once she's gone from here, and you know me, if anything did happen to her…” I said blowing out a breath.