by David, Kori
But Damon shook his head. “She’s not going to make it, sugar. Look at all the blood.” He pulled Dani close and hugged her tight. “Tell her you love her,” he whispered into her hair.
Dani looked up at him in disbelief. “She just tried to kill you.” It was something she would have expected from his brother, that overwhelming compassion in the face of what some would call evil. And it was like Gabriel was with them, watching over them both.
Guiding them.
She went down to her knees and pulled Claire into her arms and away from the mess she’d made on the ground. If Damon trusted Gunner enough to inject himself with a full dose of the virus, then she’d trust his serum as well and give Claire what she needed. She couldn’t stop herself. And she couldn’t process everything that the woman in her arms had done. To Dani, she was still just her best friend. She’d mourn that later and let the anger come then.
“I love you too, Claire. You’ve been the best thing that’s happened in my sad life. You always made me smile, even when I didn’t want to.” She hugged the crying woman closer. “Thank you for loving me.”
“I’m sorry, Dani. So sorry for what I’ve done.”
“Don’t worry about that now. We have to get you well, so you can fix it, okay?”
Claire nodded and then relaxed into Dani’s arms. Her crying had stopped and she was burning up. She was hotter than a human body should ever be, and when she slumped over, Dani knew it was over.
She looked up at Damon with tears streaking down her face. “Tell me this isn’t my fault.”
He pulled Claire out of her arms and laid her on the ground, checking for a pulse. He pulled back and shook his head, finding none. “What she did wasn’t your fault. She never stopped to think about what her actions would do, beyond keeping you with her.”
He pulled her up into his arms and away from the body. Dani shuddered and forced the sob back down, stinging her throat in the process. The hot tears she couldn’t stop. For the lost lives of innocent villagers, to the soldiers that were infected at the camp, to the woman who’d loved her and had gone mad because of it.
“I think she used the first syringe on that coma patient and then used the second on herself,” he said. “I think the guilt of what she’d done finally caught up with her.”
“It doesn’t excuse her,” Dani sniffed.
“Well, I, for one, am glad the bitch is dead,” Gunner snarled, coming into view. He was holding his case, and when he reached them, he grabbed them both and pulled them into a hug. “She almost shot both of you.”
“Calm down, man. I had it handled,” Damon said.
“You gave yourself a full dose of the virus, dumbass. How am I supposed to react to that?”
“You heard it all?” Dani asked.
“Every little bit. And we got it recorded as a confession of sorts. But since justice has already been served, I guess it doesn’t really matter now. But I’m still pissed off.”
Gunner was down on one knee, jerking open his case and coming out with another needle. “Since you were so goddamn cavalier about sticking yourself, you won’t mind this.” And he came up and stabbed Damon in the same thigh that he’d given himself the shot in.
“Ow, you bastard. I didn’t actually give myself the shot, just got the needle in as a distraction before pulling it out and throwing it at her. She’d taken a shot at Dani, damn it.”
“I don’t care, this is another precaution.” And then he came up with another syringe. “And one for you, my dear, since you decided to pardon the psychopath with close physical contact.”
Dani didn’t argue, just presented her arm for the shot. He was a lot gentler with her, even though she could tell he was still pissed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you, Gunner.”
“Thank me by naming your first kid after me, even if it’s a girl,” he muttered, before he stalked off and into the shadows again with his briefcase.
Dani looked up and Damon and slid her arms around his waist. “I knew you’d find me.”
“Gabriel told me where you were.”
She pulled back and stared up at him confused. He pointed toward the cockpit. There was a soft blue glow that she hadn’t noticed before. “What is that?”
“Motion activated. I sleep in my chopper a lot when I’m on a mission. That glow has saved my ass on several occasions. It’s set to go off when anyone gets within a hundred yards of my bird.”
“He really is with us, isn’t he?”
Damon nodded and kissed her. “He always will be. He loved you until the day he died, and I will love you until there’s not a single breath left in my body.”
“I love you, Damon.”
“Damn straight, you do. Now, let’s get out of here and see if Gunner has singlehandedly saved the camp yet.”
“What did he inject us with this time?”
Damon smiled. “The cure.”
“That’s hard to believe, but it would be a miracle.”
“I’d only ever bet against Gunner in poker.”
Chapter 16
“I quit,” Mike Hansen said. “You guys are driving me to drink.”
It had been three months since Liberia and all the death that had taken place there and Damon Dupree had never been happier. He was getting married today to the most beautiful woman in the world, and he had his friends by his side. Even the grumpy one.
“You can’t quit, Uncle Mike. Daddy says it makes you a sore loser if you quit ‘cause you’re losing.”
“How did you get so good at poker?” Mike grumbled and tossed his cards down.
Xavier Steele pointed his little finger right at Damon, and he couldn’t help but grin at the disgruntled look on Mike’s face. The kid was fleecing the big man of all his money. Damon couldn’t have been prouder of him if he’d been his own son.
Zach was grinning, but not really paying attention because his wife, Elizabeth, had just bent over to adjust the flowers on Jesse’s twin girls. Damon rolled his eyes, but understood completely. He didn’t think he was that bad, however.
“You are, you know,” Jesse said, grinning at him. He nodded toward their friend, still ogling his wife. “When Dani walks by, you can’t even string together two words.”
“I don’t believe you,” Damon mumbled and looked back at his hand. He didn’t need to, he was sitting on a full house, Aces over Eights. The dead man’s hand, but he was alive and well, thanks to Gunner.
“Has anyone heard from Gunner today? Did he make his flight?”
“He’ll be here,” Zach said. “He’s tied up in some debrief that’s still going on over his Ebola serum. That whole thing in Liberia has blown up in everyone’s faces, especially once that Dr. Graham went on Larry King Live about his damn book.”
Jesse took the cards out of Xavier’s hands and pointed toward Elizabeth. “Your mother wants you.” The boy hopped down from his chair, racing off toward his mom. He turned back toward Damon. “How is Hailey doing?”
They all knew the story, and Dani was keeping tabs on her friend. “She’s got some organ damage that is going to be slow healing, but she’s alive and thankful.”
And, even though Dani refused to speak to Travis, and he had been fired from his position at the CDC, Dani had quietly helped him get his son into this country and away from his grandfather.
“Gunner took it pretty hard over losing some of those soldiers,” Damon said. “He went into his lab and didn’t come out until he had a workable serum to inoculate everyone that had been exposed.”
Zach shook his head. “He needs a caretaker. Otherwise, that old butler of his is going to find his rotting corpse in that basement of his.”
Damon grinned. “He does tend to forget to eat when he’s on a project.” His cell phone made a chirpy noise and he looked down. He read the text message. “Speak of the devil. He said not to hold the wedding for him, but he’d be at the reception if he had to fly himself. He’s ramming his serum down the throats of anyone that
will listen to him.”
“Good for him,” Jesse said.
“No way is the FDA going to approve it until they get their grimy hands on it and decide how to make money on it,” Mike added. He was looking at his single dollar left in front of him. “Your son,” he said to Zach, “is a poker shark.”
“He makes me proud,” Zach laughed.
“Well, I’d better go tell Red that we can finally get this done.”
Jesse was the one rolling his eyes this time. “For the love of God, Damon, don’t phrase it like that or she’ll never marry you.”
“She’s crazy about me. And my daddy has a shotgun and a pet alligator; both will be used to get her back into the family if needed.”
Then he left his friends to find his soon-to-be bride. He took the stairs two at a time and went into their room without knocking. And what he saw took his breath away. She was in nothing but a tiny lacy something that didn’t hide anything from his hungry gaze, white stockings with garters, and white heels.
“You are not supposed to see the bride before the wedding,” she scolded playfully. “It’s bad luck.”
“I make my own luck, and I think I’m damned lucky to catch you in that little number.” He slammed the door and locked it before stalking over to his redheaded beauty. She had her hands on her hips and a sassy look on her face.
She held a hand up and pressed it against his chest. “You are going to ruin my make-up.”
He leaned in; just close enough to kiss, but not. “You can fix it again.”
“My daddy and yours are downstairs right now,” she squeaked, dodging his kiss.
“Then it can be a shotgun wedding if they find out.”
The love of his life pressed her delectable body against his and wound her hands around his neck. “Maybe if we’re real quiet,” she said suggestively.
She was wearing some kind of sultry perfume that had him putting his nose into the crook of her neck to inhale her. Dani smelled like sunshine and sex, and it was making his pants tight and uncomfortable. He nibbled and she sighed, sliding her nails against his scalp to urge him on.
And then the door opened. Lily Calhoun and Elizabeth Steele stood there with their arms crossed over their chests, both trying, and failing, to look disapproving. The big grins were a giveaway.
“Out,” Lily said, glaring at Damon. “You are needed downstairs by the fathers, who saw you sneaking up here, by the way.” She held up the spare key. “Daddy Dupree gave me this and said to give you some hell.”
“And we need to help Dani get dressed,” Elizabeth said with a grin. “You can help her undress later; I promise.”
“Okay, okay,” he said, hands raised and backing out. As much as he would’ve enjoyed a quickie before the actual nuptials, he wanted her to be his wife before he made love to her again. “I love you, Red. See you downstairs in thirty minutes. I’ll be the one in front waiting anxiously.”
He watched the love shine out of her eyes as she smiled at him. “I’ll be there.”
And he went out and closed the door behind him. Then he went into his brother’s room and sat down on the bed. Even after all these years, the room still smelled like his brother. Nothing had been moved or changed either. It wasn’t a shrine, but it didn’t feel empty and cold either. Damon wanted some time alone with his twin. He was quiet for a long time, collecting his thoughts and letting his brother’s presence infuse his soul. Damn, he missed him. His other half.
“Thank you, Gabe. For bringing her into our lives,” he said. He had a photo in his hands. The one of himself and Gabriel, with Dani in the middle smiling into the camera. The way it was, and the way it always would be. The three of them together. Only Gabriel was watching over them and Damon felt that he would be happy for them both.
“I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
With his head bowed, he heard her, but didn’t see her. He must have lost track of time because when he looked up and saw Dani in her wedding gown, she stole his breath. She touched his cheek and rubbed her thumb softly over his lips. There were no tears on her face, only love and understanding.
“We’ll take care of each other.”
“Forever,” he whispered. It was a vow that he’d keep for the rest of their lives.
Other Titles By Kori David:
In Zach’s Arms (Once a Marine, Always a Marine: Book 1)
Romance author, Elizabeth Russell lives alone, works alone, and that’s that way she likes it. No ties, no relationships, no complications. But when her apartment is broken into and it looks more personal than per-chance, she finds herself running to the only person who can protect her—too bad he also has the most potential to crush her world.
Former Marine turned securities expert, Zach Steele doesn’t do regret or second chances. So when a sexy heartbreak from his past shows up on his doorstep, desperate for a safe place to crash, his first reaction is, Hell no. But with a stalker quickly closing in and the only woman he’s ever loved looking up at him like he’s still “that” guy, Zach offers up his protection. Working together to bring her stalker down brings them closer than ever, and Zach realizes that it’s not just Elizabeth’s life that’s in danger . . . but also his guarded heart.
Lily’s Outlaw (Once a Marine, Always a Marine: Book 2)
When photojournalist, Liliana Richardson, agrees to go on assignment in Arizona, she has no idea it could cost her everything. But one wrong picture at the right moment puts her on a lethal drug cartel’s hit list. Kidnapped and held poisoner in a border town, she is certain her life is over, until the bad boy from her past shows up. Now she’s on the run with the only man who ever made her want more. Problem is: She knows she can trust him with her life, but not her heart.
Security specialist and former Marine, Jesse James Calhoun, follows a strict code. Work hard, play hard, and never get too involved. When he gets information that the wild girl from his past needs help and fast, he’s ready, willing, and able to neutralize the threat. But the spoiled girl he knew is all grown up and has a secret that someone is willing to kill for. Can he keep them alive long enough to uncover her secret? Or will she leave before he can stop a killer, taking his heart with her.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Other Titles by Kori David