Stealing Carmen

by Faulkner, Gail

  “Not a chance, buddy. Thanks, by the way. The landing lights helped.”

  The voice laughed. “Go away so I can lock up. This place is officially closed ‘til the weather clears.”

  Jack was already about done shutting down. “I’m gone. Just have to tie down and then my taillights are outta here.”

  He kept the Jeep in the hanger with the battery on a charger, he was pretty sure it would start.

  Time to go see if she was still his. That was a damn optimistic thought. Even if the woman was living next door he couldn’t expect anything.

  The time he’d been gone had been more than seventeen months in terms of who he was. Coming back to her might have been his motivation in those moments when nothing else would do it but that didn’t make it her responsibility to take what he was now.

  There were new lines on his face, more gray in his hair and fresh scars on his body. His soul had paid a price for victory. Being the victor didn’t make him the winner if he didn’t get the girl. Her wanting what was left of him was the gamble.

  He’d be shocked if she was in tonight. Christmas Eve was a time for family, friends and warm fires. Still, he needed to get back. Even if it was dark on her side of the building he needed to be there. What he didn’t want to see was blank windows or a new vehicle over there. If she’d moved, that would be a clear sign she wasn’t interested. He’d still track her ass down anyway.

  Pulling in the drive there were definite signs of life. Cheery-colored lights were strung across the entire front, both his porch and hers. The windows were all dark though. It was only eight-thirty but the winter night was vicious and dark. In his garage at last, Jack grabbed the duffel from behind his seat and entered his cold house. Dropping the bag he looked around with distaste.

  He knew he was going to do it. It was illegal. It was arrogant and certainly rude. Jack took the flat leather case out of his duffel and exited his front door. At least he’d knock. Just in case someone was home. No answer.

  Handy little case came out and her door opened easily. Her lock sucked. Her front room was dark except for a single electric candle. The type that usually sat in windows was in the middle of her dining room table sitting on top of an oblong box. There was a note with its corner secured under the lamp.

  Her scent had welcomed him as he opened the door. It was still her home. But she was leaving notes for someone she expected to come in that front door. There was no hope of his not reading it.

  Dearest Superman,

  This is a Christmas wish. You’ll never read it but I needed to do this for me.

  Tonight I’ll be at the Christmas party on the children’s ward. It’s from seven to ten. In the box is a new cape. Wish I’d see you there.

  Lois Lane

  P.S. Batman just moved to town but I’d rather be wrapped in red on the flight home.

  Jack stared at the note in shock. She’d left it for him. How did that woman know he’d break into her house if he came home and she was out? Damn.

  He carefully put the candle lamp and note down beside the box and pulled the cover off. The contents of the box seem to glow in the dim light. Neatly folded with the giant S on top was a Superman costume.

  Jack jerked back in surprise. No! The woman could not be serious! Then his eye flashed to her note. He stared at it hard as his mind churned the facts. The note was much more literal than he was taking it.

  She’d written a Christmas wish. She didn’t expect him to show up at all.

  Batman just moved to town.

  Those two facts told him she was trying to close the door he’d opened. Carmen hadn’t heard from him in seventeen months. Any sane woman should have moved on long ago. She didn’t want to wait for him any longer. Or better said, she didn’t want to want him anymore. This was a gesture. An action meant to force herself to move on. After tonight she intended to get to know Batman, whoever he was.

  The fuck she would! Batman was about to get his ass handed to him.

  Jack looked at his watch. No time. Not bothering with another light he started stripping. Superman would be making an appearance at the hospital children’s party.

  The suit mostly fit. He’d lost weight but the thing still didn’t give him anywhere to hide his cock. Not quite what the kids needed to see. He pulled on a pair of blue shorts and a long overcoat as he passed through his place on the way to the Jeep. Turning up the heat to a normal temperature in the house was an afterthought.

  The streets were empty. Sleet had turned to snow and to him the snow pelting past Christmas lights as he drove to the hospital was surprisingly beautiful. He’d never noticed how nice that looked before.

  Finding the children’s ward was easy with the help of a smiling nurse. Standing well back in the hall he watched a few minutes as the party wound down. It was almost over. Time to fetch his elf.

  She’d lost weight too. Jack frowned. He hoped she didn’t think she needed to. She was amazingly beautiful in the little green outfit but he’d like to see the luxurious curves back on her body. He’d correct that. They would have time to take care of it if he could get his ass in there and take what was his.

  Shedding the overcoat he ignored the sigh from the nurse who’d showed him where to find the party. Damn, this was difficult. He thought he’d faced danger and killed all the fucking dragons already. Missions he’d barely survived were nothing compared to stepping in that door and reading her face when she saw him.

  The note said she still wanted him but several hours had passed since she wrote it. Perhaps that Santa dude was her Batman. He seemed fucking friendly with his elf. Maybe the guy was a fast worker and emotionally she’d already moved on.

  Jack took a deep breath and threw open the door. Best make a big entrance. It would give her a chance to hide her response from everyone else in the room if she wanted to. No one would be looking at her; all eyes would be on him.

  His entrance was indeed big. The kids went nuts, Santa scowled and Carmen froze. Then her hands slowly rose to her face, holding her own cheeks, she disguised the tears. A shy smile trembled on her lips.

  She was still his.

  Jack couldn’t stride across the room and scoop her into his arms. There were little broken bodies clamoring for his attention. Apparently Superman had a huge following at this hospital.

  It was twenty minutes before he could even stand next to her as they waved to the children being returned to their rooms. Carmen had composed her face and Santa was forced to leave so the party could end. Fortunately Superman could hang around and assist the beautiful elf.

  “You’re mine,” Jack murmured in a toneless whisper only she could hear. He couldn’t force his mouth to say any of the other stuff he knew women wanted to hear. This is what he needed first. Desperately.

  Carmen was helping a little boy pile his big present on his lap so the nurse could wheel him back to his bed. She straightened, coming up in Jack’s space as if it were unintentional. “First I’ve heard of that for over a year,” she responded, and turned to help the next child.

  Jack was right beside her, gently teasing the little girl as he lifted her, pretending to struggle with her weight and making her laugh. He put the little waif in her wheelchair and responded in Carmen’s ear. “Say it,” he commanded.

  Carmen laughed with the little girl and waved her on her way. Her eyes met Jack’s and a brow rose. “I can’t. I don’t trust it,” she told him softly, knowing anyone who could hear them would have no idea what they were talking about.

  The last child left. Housekeeping staff was already there cleaning up. Jack didn’t give a damn what those people saw at this point. His hand gripped her arm in a steel hold. He wasn’t marking her but she was in his control.

  Carmen frowned down at the hand on her forearm and looked up directly into his eyes as if that would get him to release her.

  This time Jack raised a brow. “Not likely, baby girl,” he responded to her unspoken demand that he let go. “We discuss this here and now.
I don’t give a shit who hears or sees us.”

  Abruptly Carmen turned her body into him, bringing them in contact from knees to chest. “Then make me believe it,” she challenged softly. Her beautiful face radiated strength and determination. This was no melting response to his command.

  The air sucked out of the room and Jack was sure there were angels singing the Halleluiah chorus somewhere. Perhaps it was the piped-in Christmas music. The only reason he knew the name of that one was because they said the word so many times and right now he appreciated the sentiment.

  Jack didn’t need to hear another word. He ignored the shock at her challenge and took what was his. One arm went around her back, his forearm up her spine and his fist held her hair. The other hand came down on her ass and he had her bent back and taking his kiss hard and deep.

  Tasting her sweet mouth was like diving into fizzing soda. She made every neuron and nerve in his body explode in pleasure. There was no holding back as he drank her. He’d been feeling this kiss from about five minutes after he’d closed the door on her so long ago. He’d lived it when there was almost nothing else to keep him going. Getting back to this woman, this mouth, this soul had become the mission he’d complete at all costs.

  He’d moved the earth to make it safe for her if he were in her life publicly. At the time he’d told himself he was burnt-out and mopping up the job he no longer wanted. He’d probably committed murder for her. It was complicated, but if the man he’d been hunting his entire career had lived, Carmen would never have been safe as his woman.

  All of it was a thinly disguised effort to get back to her. This woman who’d dedicated her life to helping others. Her soul was so clean it sometimes hurt him to think about what she would see in him. It hurt, but not enough to keep him from her. Not enough to make him turn away from this.

  She needed to believe he wanted her? She would know it for a fact as soon as he got her somewhere he didn’t have to leave or couldn’t be arrested for stripping his woman and fucking her brains out.

  Dimly he became aware of hooting and whistling going on around them. Raising his head he happened to be facing the door. There stood Santa dude with his costume in hand. Jack pulled Carmen up with him as he straightened, never taking his eyes off the scowling man.

  He knew the other staff were laughing and carrying on about Carmen getting dipped and kissed by Superman. He’d like to enjoy the ribbing but the possible predator in the door was a greater concern.

  Letting go of her hair he rubbed her scalp where he’d held her, making sure it was obvious he’d done it and that he’d intended to. His attention remained focused on the door though.

  The man matched Jack at six foot three. He was perhaps thirty pounds heavier and most of it wasn’t fat. Jack was lighter than he should be. Lighter didn’t mean weaker, it meant fast in a fight. Both of them were hard men, only one a killer.

  Jack had an arm around Carmen. It tightened when she turned to see what he was looking at. The guy at the door smiled but he was looking at Carmen when he did it not Jack. The guy strode toward them.

  “Hello.” He nodded at Jack without extending a hand.

  “Jack, this is Dr. Harman Berrocko,” Carmen introduced them, but her eyes were swinging back and forth between them as she felt Jack stiffen. “Harman, this is Jack Jones.”

  “Are you sure, Carmen?” Berrocko didn’t take his eyes off Jack as he continued. He’d stopped a few feet from them. “Jack Jones is as invisible a name as John Smith. Your new friend is not what he seems, my dear.”

  Carmen sucked in a sharp breath at the obvious challenge. Her hand reached for Jack’s other arm, fisting on the suit sleeve as if she could hold him from reaching for a weapon as she stammered at Berrocko, “Oh no, no. I mean… I know but…”

  “It’s okay, baby,” Jack assured her in a private tone that Berrocko could hear with no problem. “I’m not spending my first night back home in jail. I promise not to hurt him.” Neither Berrocko nor he had broken eye contact.

  “You think you could take me? Seem significantly undernourished, Jones.” Berrocko laughed but it wasn’t a derogatory challenge. “But if she’s that worried, I guess I’d better pay attention. I’ve never known her to be wrong about anything.”

  “No, she’s not wrong,” Jack agreed, neither confirming nor denying what she was right about. Seemed Berrocko genuinely respected Carmen’s judgment.

  Berrocko turned his attention to Carmen. “Do you need a ride home? I’ve got the Hummer warmed up. We should have no problem with the weather.”

  Jack clenched his jaw. The question was directed at Carmen. He wanted to tell the guy where he could stick his Hummer. It certainly took brass balls to offer a ride home to the woman in another man’s arms without including her male companion.

  Berrocko was flexing in a civilized way. His challenge wasn’t the macho swords at sunrise. He was much more subtle about it with his urban smile and casual display of tail feathers consisting of expensive toys and implied plush lifestyle.

  “Thank you, Harman. I have a ride home,” Carmen assured him smoothly, her hand now resting on Jack’s chest, over his heart. He suspected she was keeping track of his heart rate. That wasn’t the indicator she needed to be concerned about but it was nice to have her hand on him. Jack relaxed, making sure she felt him do it. Her response was the correct one and he appreciated it.

  “Well, I’ll be heading out. You have my personal numbers if you need anything,” Berrocko stated boldly.

  Jack bared his teeth in a near smile. Bastard really was an idiot. Jack gentled his features and turned his attention to Carmen, ignoring the idiot. “Where’s your coat, baby? Time to go home.”

  Berrocko had the brains to turn and walk out the door. Carmen breathed an inaudible sigh of relief and smiled at Jack. “Thank you.”

  A real laugh rumbled up his chest as he looked down into the face of his woman. She was amazing. “I wouldn’t have killed him for being stupid. Just hurt him a little,” Jack assured her softly. She read him way too easy. Perhaps that was a good thing.

  “I have to work with him, Jack.”

  “No you don’t. Where’s your coat? We need to leave.”

  They were in the Jeep before she asked him what he meant. Jack was concentrating on the dangerous drive home, taking it a lot slower than he had getting there. Nothing was going to keep him from her a moment longer than it took to get her in his door. Certainly not an accident because she made him stupid. The club in his costume would have to put up with the slow drive.

  “You don’t have to work with him if you don’t want to,” Jack repeated patiently. “Don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but I’m not leaving this time.” He glanced at her. Her face in the dashboard lights was like looking at her in candlelight. She was stunning to him. He had to stop glancing at her and concentrate on the driving, damn it.

  “Not leaving? What does that mean? Not Superman anymore?”

  “Nope. Just Clark Kent, honey. Hung up the cape yesterday.”

  “So you’re unemployed?” she pressed.

  “Sort of. Mostly I’m free to do what I need to from wherever I want. You could call me a consultant.” He glanced at her again. A small smile lit her face.

  “You really came back to me, didn’t you?” she marveled in a whisper. “That’s a lot of pressure, Jack. What if this doesn’t work out?”

  He was pulling into the garage as she asked that. Shutting off the Jeep he turned to face her. His arm rested along the back of her seat. She hadn’t unbuckled and neither had he.

  “Baby, if this doesn’t work out, it’ll be my fault not yours. There is no pressure because I changed my operative classification. As your dominant it’s my job to learn you. To know what keeps you in my bed, in my arms and on my cock. If I’m so stupid as to screw that up, I deserve to be left.”

  Carmen’s bottom lip caught under her teeth as she looked into his eyes. Her eyes were huge and unblinking for a moment and he could see h
er chest expand in a deep breath. They were both silent as she looked at him. It lasted long enough for the garage light to blink off.

  “Made up your mind yet?” Jack prompted quietly. He’d let her take all the time she needed right now to think about it. Once they left the Jeep he didn’t think he’d have the control to let her think.

  “You’re not even denying it,” Carmen said. “I’ve never known a man who would change his life for me.”

  “Good. It’d get messy if I had to get rid of some other obsessed bastard.”

  Carmen laughed softly and released her seat belt. “Jack, please take me as your submissive. My safe word is peach.” The words were a whisper but they ripped across his world like lightning splits the night sky.

  “Do not move,” he commanded, and slid out of the Jeep. At her door he wrenched it open and scooped his woman into his arms. Letting her walk in the door would put too much distance between them. Clothes were already in the way.