Steele (The Elite Forces Book 4)

by Kathy Coopmans

  I’m not sure how women are treated there these days. Equal, I would hope, but the way she was dressed tells me it hasn’t changed all that much. It’s society and their rules that limit their upbringing and way of life that has her all twisted up inside. “I’m not asking you to sleep out in the storm. I’m wondering about our sleeping arrangements in here.” I can’t look at her. I want to shake her up, tell her she needs to leave those beliefs behind her. It’s not that I want to share the bed with her; I was planning on sleeping out here anyway.

  What happened to the strong woman who shoved me to the side when she first saw Ace? When she buried her father? Said good-bye to her friends? This sudden turnaround has to do with me. I’m affecting her, just like she’s getting to me. I have to make this crazy shit stop. This girl has her whole life in front of her, and the last thing she needs is a guy like me complicating things for her.

  “I’m sorry. I just…I don’t know what you expect from me.” She won’t even look at me. Instead, her head is bowed as if she’s waiting for orders from someone to deliver her next move.

  “I don’t expect a damn thing. You get some sleep, and when we get rescued, I’ll deliver you to your home just like I promised.” I won’t be sleeping much tonight. Call it the uneasiness of being stranded that has me wound up so tight, because I refuse to acknowledge that she has me acting like this.

  She still doesn’t move or look at me, so I approach her. I need her to know I’m here to keep her safe and that she doesn’t need to fear me or do anything to please me. In fact, if she tried to make something happen, I’d put a stop to it.

  I guide her to look at me as I stand in front of her, because she doesn’t move to do so herself. “Grace. You have nothing to worry about.” Except, Christ Almighty, when I look at her… really look, all I want to do is kiss her fears away. That’s it. Nothing more.

  “I’m sorry. This is all foreign to me, and I guess it makes me nervous. These feelings—” I stop her quickly, not allowing her to say anything further by putting my finger over her lips.

  “Never talk about feelings when you’re stranded. Emotions are heightened, and it’s easy to misconstrue things.”

  “My feelings for you making me feel safe aren’t misconstrued.” I turn away from her, mainly because being that close to her fucks with my mind. And I want to kiss her.

  “It’s my job to keep you safe, Grace.” I catch the sky lighting up through the front windshield. The plane rocks as the rain pelts down hard.

  I’m not sure if her eyes are on me or what’s showing in the windshield behind me. All I know is, this electric storm is growing stronger by the second. It’s not long, and the whistle of the wind blowing around our vessel mixed with the rumble of the thunder has her sitting down with an uneasiness around her.

  “Let me see if I can get a signal yet.” Not that I’ll be able to with these clouds in the area.

  “Okay,” she whispers to me while her hands fidget in her lap.

  I feel her eyes on me as I take the few steps needed to get to the cockpit. I bend down, grab my gear, and mess with the channels. “Just like I thought. Nothing,” I say, toss the gear back to the floor, and shut the door behind me.

  “I’m sure they’ll find us when the sun comes back up.” I sure the hell hope so. I’m not sure how much longer I can take being out here with all these thoughts running through my mucked-up head. She’s interrupted by the monstrous crack of lightning that hits the airplane, shutting down the standby-powered source. She grabs my arms out of instinct as the cabin goes pitch dark between strobe light flashes sent in by mother nature. “What does this mean?”

  “It means tonight is going to be a little darker than I planned, but at least we’re sheltered.” Her fingers squeeze me a little longer before she slides her hands down my arms, pulling herself away.

  I’m just about to say something else when lightning strikes a few feet in front of the nose of the plane, close to where we’re standing. The noise startles her enough that she jumps forward, landing against my chest as she does. I wrap my arms around her instinctively to shelter her, holding her as I walk us both backward.

  She’s trembling as she looks over her shoulder, and before I can stop myself, I’m guiding her face to mine with a finger under her chin and pulling her in for a soft kiss. It’s a simple kiss, a slight brush to her sweet lips. One that calms her nerves instantly while triggering me to both know I’ve made a mistake and wishing I could take this even further. There’s something inside me that won’t pull away. I’m drawn to her.

  It takes her a few seconds before she moves her lips with mine, her mouth finally opening, her tentative tongue following soon after, and before I can stop us, we’re wrapped up in each other’s arms in a kiss that feels more connected than any I’ve had in the past. I pull back abruptly but keep her held solidly in my arms.

  Her breathing tells me she’s caught between being shocked that I just did that and most likely wanting more. Or at least that’s what mine is saying.

  “Maybe we should try to get settled in. I’ll help you to the bed, and I’ll be out here.” She tenses up immediately.

  “Can you at least stay in the room with me until this crazy storm is over?” I’m still trying to process all of this when I guide her through the darkness, using the flashes of lights to help me see. There aren’t any windows in the bedroom section of the plane, so as soon as we enter through that door, my vision is skewed.

  “The bed should be a few feet in front of us. When we get to it, crawl to the other side. I’ll sit on this side until the storm quiets down.” Another crack of lightning strikes as I guide her toward the bed. “I need to change. Get yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.” I feel around the bed, pull back the covers, and help her in. Her tiny frame shivers. Another idiotic move on my part. I’ve been standing around in wet clothes; my body heated from being near her when I should have known how quickly the temperature would drop in the middle of the woods.

  “I’ll only be a couple of minutes. Holler if you need anything.”

  “Okay,” she says, voice quivering. I need more like ten minutes to pull my shit together before I come back here. I don’t tell her that. I move out of the room and grab my clothes from where I dropped them on the couch. I use the lightning to guide me back to the bathroom, where I place my hands on the counter after securing the door, and even though I’m thankful I can’t see myself in the mirror, my eyes drift up there anyway.

  “You need to stay the fuck away from her. Get her ass home and be gone.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  GRACE

  I fell asleep shivering, cold right down to my bones, and now that I’m alert and wide awake, I begin to sweat. I try to turn over when I panic when my eyes land on Steele lying right next to me. He’s on his back, one hand flung over his eyes, while the other lies flat across his stomach. His breaths are shallow and he’s lightly snoring. A beautiful mess of a man. My fingers itch to touch him. To soothe away his pain.

  The last thing I remember is him placing another blanket over me, saying he would stay until I fell asleep. He stayed all night to keep me safe. Little does he know that it’s him I was afraid of last night and not the storm. Not that I thought he would try to do anything; he never would. It’s these crazy feelings I feel toward a man I barely know that frighten me, and I want more. My feelings aren’t heightened because I think he’s some hero who saved me. I’m human, we have attractions, and no one knows me better than I do myself. I’m attracted to this man.

  The events, my emotions, everything that’s occurred over the past few days wiped me out the minute my head hit the pillow. I swallow as I stare at this beautifully broken man lying here. His shallow breaths, his slight beard. Those lips. He kissed me.

  At first, my body wanted to pull back, to say this is wrong. To scream this is unlike me and goes against everything I’m accustomed to. The thing is, it didn’t feel wrong. It felt unlike anything I imagined possible.
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  You would think I would feel guilt, be ashamed or even angry for sharing a bed with a man who isn’t my husband. And even though it goes against my beliefs, I know it’s not a sin. It’s far from it. Besides, that sofa out there would barely hold me, let alone a big man like him. He’s tall, muscular, and he’s been through enough that he needed a good night’s sleep. He also didn’t climb under the covers, which shows me how much of a caring gentleman he is.

  I told him the truth last night about never having slept under the same roof as a man. He shocked me and surprised my brain at the same time. I wish I could lie here and admire him, but my bladder screams for me to get up. I lift the covers slowly, careful not to wake him. I have no idea what time it is. However, it’s stopped storming, and there’s enough light that I’m able to see him, so my guess is it’s morning.

  I stretch my aching limbs, which cause the burn across my chest to pull and sting. Quietly, I make my way out of the room, softly closing the door behind me. After slipping my feet into my boots, I use all the strength I have to pull down the level, push the door open, and then I freeze.

  “Shit,” I whisper. The knowledge that I swore causes me to laugh to myself. I’m several feet above the ground, and I have no clue how to dislodge the ladder. I suppose I could use the bathroom in here, but when I remember he said the backup went out, I’m not sure if I should. I take a deep breath, push off, and jump. My feet are landing with a soft thud on the wet grass.

  I walk through the squishy grass to the back of the plane, take care of business, and even though circumstances have caused me to use the bathroom outside before, I find it funny that I’m squatting in the middle of nowhere at what appears to be the butt crack of dawn with nothing to wipe with and no way to get back on the plane. I may have been able to jump down, but there is no way I could get back up there.

  I stand, pull up my jeans, and walk to the edge of the clearing. On any given day I would welcome a walk in the woods. The wildlife, the greenery, all of it would be a change to the dark, gloomy desert.

  “Well, Mom and Dad,” I say to the bright blue sky. The fresh smell of wet leaves and pine is assaulting my senses. “I’m sure this isn’t quite what you had in mind when you told me to go home and start my life. I miss you both more than anything. I’m scared. Very scared of going back to a country that I’m unfamiliar with. I feel out of place already.” I pause and redirect my thoughts to what does make me feel at peace.

  “This man, though. The feelings I have stirring up inside are more foreign to me than anything. I like him, and I sense he likes me, too. I’m positive it doesn’t have a thing to do with his promise to get me home. I think he’s broken.” I freeze when I realize I’m not only talking to my parents as if they’re standing in front of me, I’m also talking to someone else. Steele. He’s behind me. I can sense him. Another trait I learned from living in the danger zone. You always have your guard up.

  I feel my face turn red. It seems to do that often when it comes to him.

  “Good morning,” I express, acknowledging his presence as I slowly turn around to see him standing several feet away from me, arms crossed, legs spread wide, and staring angrily in my direction. With as much distance between us, I know there’s no way he heard me talking, so I stand here dumbfounded, curious as to why he’s glaring at me as if I’ve done something wrong.

  “I wake up, and you're nowhere to be found. You scared the hell out of me, Grace,” he hollers without shortening the distance between us.

  “I’m sorry. I had to use the bathroom. I didn’t want to wake you.” I’ve never seen him this nervous or upset before. Not even when Ace was hurt.

  “I asked you to tell me when you went outside. Let’s hope we get out of here and there isn’t a next time, but if there is, you make sure you wake me up. There could be something dangerous out here.” I want to shush him and tell him that I’m very capable of taking care of myself. Besides, this isn’t danger. Not compared to the environment I’m used to.

  I’m just about ready to tell him that when the sound of a plane approaches overhead. He moves quickly. So quickly, I barely notice his bare feet splashing up water behind him. His hands start waving in the air. I shield my eyes and look into the clear, blue sky. The plane dips, lowering, slanting, and eventually landing a lot smoother than we did. I sigh with a rush of relief overwhelming me.

  “I can fly a plane in my sleep, my ass. You lucky son of a bitch. What the hell happened? Vice steps out of the passenger side of the small plane, his voice loud over the dull noise of the plane. His eyes are trained on Steele. The poor guy looks worried out of his mind.

  “Engine failure or some shit. I don’t know for sure. It happened before I could think straight. Just got her up and going when she shut down. Thank fuck I wasn’t thirty-five thousand feet in the air, or I wouldn’t want to kiss you right now,” he jokes. I stand there with a touch of envy watching these two interact. I’m feeling quite stupid, too, just standing here with my hair more than likely ratted up, my makeup I applied probably smeared all over my face.

  “You try kissing me, and I’ll knock you on your ass.” I giggle, which causes the two of them to turn around. “Hey, there, Grace. I hope this asshole treated you right. Do you mind gathering your things while he shows me the damage? We’ll get the two of you out of here as soon as we can.”

  “He was great. Thanks for coming to our rescue.” I smile, feeling as if I’m outstaying my welcome. I look back at our plane and notice he dropped the stairs, and I somehow missed it. Just when I thought I never let my guard down, I realize I had.

  I head up the stairs and let them tend to their business. I find a mirror and attempt to calm my looks down even slightly for the trip home. My makeup isn’t smeared, surprisingly. My hair, though, looks as if it was caught in the storm. I reach for my bag to retrieve my brush and a rubber band. Just when I’m about to secure the braid, I pause when I hear Vice ask a question that surprises me.

  “Tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.” I can hear them below me, their deep voices traveling even though I know they don’t intend for them to.

  “You know me better than that. This is just like a mission for me. I plan to do the job exactly as I was asked.” I’m just a mission? Why did he kiss me? Make sure I was warm all night while he most likely wasn’t?

  “I guess the tension I’m noticing is all in my head then.” My thoughts exactly. There is all kinds of tension floating around here.

  “Must be. I’ll deliver her today, and I’m sure I’ll never see her again. Now, get me out of here before I get stuck here dealing with this crash. You know I have to get out of here before they try to detain me.” A jolt zaps my chest as I take in what he’s saying. I try to comprehend how this is making me sad and angry. I knew he’d be taking me home today. In fact, I thought we’d be getting there about now. But instead, I’m standing here listening to the two of them talking while he passes me off as a job. I want to know what he means by being detained as well. Is he a criminal?

  They don’t say anything more. He doesn’t have to. I need to get a grip on my feelings and stop thinking there’s more to what I have with him than is really there. It’s obvious to me now that all this tension is one-sided. He’s a man who’s only doing his job before he’s rushed out to do another. How could I be so naïve to think anything differently?

  “You ready? They’re going to fly us to a city about an hour from here. There’s no use flying back and going through customs all over again. Not to mention I’d have to explain how we crashed, go through more paperwork than I care to, which would delay getting you home.” I want to ask him how in the heck he can get away with something like that. Is he more important than he’s telling me? Or does he have something illegal on here, such as drugs, and he’s using the government to bring them back and forth?

  “I’m ready, but if you're doing something illegal by not reporting this, then I’m warning you, I want no part of it. You can leave me at the
airport, and I’ll find my own way home.” There are a few beats of silence where the only thing I can hear is my heart trying to pound out of my chest. I can’t believe I blurted something like that out. I’ve never lost my temper toward anyone before, especially a man.

  “You think I’m messed up in illegal activity? Where in the hell did that come from? Jesus, Grace. If you can’t take my word for it, then you and I have nothing more to say to one another. Now, grab your shit. I’m done here. And one more thing,” he says before he exits the plane. “I work for a company that’s pretty much non-existent. You can search all you want, and you’ll never find us. I’d appreciate it very much if you didn’t tell anyone about this or mention my name.” He walks out as every single hair on my arm rises.

  What the heck is it his company does?

  CHAPTER TEN

  STEELE

  “What the hell crawled up your ass and died?” Damn, Jackson. His mouth is always flapping in the goddamn wind, even though most of the time he doesn’t say anything worth listening to.

  “What are you going on about?” I say, getting back to my paperwork at my desk.

  “You’ve been scarce since you returned two weeks ago. Something went down besides a plane, so spit it out,” he challenges in his cocky way. I’d like to punch him in his throat and knock him on his smug little ass, but I hold back.

  He’s right, and it doesn’t have a thing to do with the plane. That shit was on the mechanics who didn’t properly inspect it. It doesn’t make a bit of difference how good of a pilot you are when there’s a problem with the fuel system that causes the computerizing in the cockpit to send off mixed error messages. I had to land the plane.

  My issue is Grace. I have no idea where she came up with the idea that I might be doing illegal trafficking or whatever she thought, because after our rundown, she never spoke another word to me unless she had to. Her answers were short and to the point. A yes here, a no there, and then when we landed in the States. She grabbed her bag, told me thank you, and departed the plane the minute I opened the door. She even went through customs on her own. It was the longest flight of my life.