They headed down the OTC medicine aisle and Kat quickly found the brand she used for her headaches. Before they had a chance to reverse their direction, a pretty brunette came around the far corner of the aisle and her face lit up as she spotted Boomer.
“Hi, M…Ben.”
Boomer winced at the woman’s cheerful voice and near slip of his title of Master. “Hi, Cassandra.”
She approached and stopped a little too close for comfort. Normally Boomer wouldn’t have minded running into the petite submissive he’d topped a few times, but with Kat at his side, he was a little uncomfortable.
“We missed you at the club last weekend.”
He scratched the top of his head. “Uh, yeah. I was working the whole weekend.”
Cassandra’s eyes flashed to Kat who had taken a step closer to him and looked as if she was waiting for Boomer to introduce them. “Hi. I’m Cassandra.”
Kat shook the woman’s outstretched hand. “I’m Kat.”
“Nice to meet you.” Her eyes went back to Boomer’s face. “Will you be there tomorrow night?”
Boomer gently grabbed Kat’s arm and shook his head. Cassandra was a sweet submissive who waitressed at The Covenant, and he knew she wouldn’t step on another woman’s toes intentionally. She also wouldn’t publicize what kind of club The Covenant was. “Uh, no, I don’t think so. Maybe over the weekend, but I’m not sure.”
Cassandra’s gaze flicked to the possessive hand on the other woman’s arm, and she took a step back, her eyes full of apology to Boomer. She must’ve realized she’d almost said too much. “Okay. If not, I’ll see you some other time. Kat, it was nice to meet you. Have a nice day.” Without waiting for a response from either of them, she spun around and waved goodbye over her shoulder.
Boomer’s hand griped Kat’s arm a little tighter as he turned her in the direction of the cashiers. His father had been a few steps behind them and gave him a ‘you’re so fucked’ smile before leading the way. Boomer wasn’t sure what that was all about. Cassandra and he were friends. Friends who occasionally fucked during a scene at a private BDSM club. What was wrong with that? He glanced at Kat who had a curious expression on her face. He knew she wanted to ask him about Cassandra. Yup, his father was right—he was so fucked.
Chapter 6
They had about another half hour before they landed in a small airport outside of Norfolk, Virginia. Boomer hadn’t been up this way in over a year, but his last trip had been a long weekend of catching up with people he hadn’t seen in a while. Another one of his old high school friends had taken the plunge and gotten married. They were dropping like flies these past few years. His mind drifted to Alex and he wondered, if his friend had still been alive, would he have found some woman and put a ring on her finger. He doubted it. Alex had been worse than he’d been back in the day. His friend had a new hook up almost every weekend, going through girls as if trying to win a new Guinness Book of World Records event. At least Boomer had dated several girls for a few weeks before moving on.
But all that changed after his Kitten had ‘died’. He’d only fallen in love once in his life and look how it’d ended. She was gone less than thirty-six hours after he professed his love. Yeah, it hadn’t been her fault, but it still hurt like hell.
He glanced over to where she was curled up on the plane’s couch and reading a book since her migraine had faded. Damn, she was still the prettiest woman he’d ever met despite her recent weight loss. She’d passed on the egg sandwich, letting him have it instead, because she couldn’t eat with the headache. He had Jake stop for a turkey and cheese sandwich for her to eat on the plane and had been happy to see her finishing it off about fifteen minutes ago.
In the recliner next to him, Jake was taking power nap. His teammate had been up half the night trying to find his missing informant. He’d finally found the little punk in a local crack house and Jake was pissed. The kid had been clean for six months before this set-back. Jake dragged his ass out of there and into a hospital. The next stop was an agreed upon rehab facility. Boomer had never met the informant, but if the former SEAL was putting this much work into trying to save him from the life of a homeless junkie, then there had to be something there which impressed him. Boomer hoped the kid was worth the effort.
He got up and sat down on the couch next to Kat. Against his better judgment, he grabbed her ankles and pulled her feet into his lap. She’d removed her slip-on flats earlier and, without conscious thought, he began to rub the arch of her right foot. As he dug his thumbs deep into the tissue, she closed her eyes and groaned. The sound went straight to his groin.
“God, that feels so good. Please don’t stop.”
His mouth twitched, and he wished he was doing other things to her which gave him the same response. “So, tell me about Portland.”
Her eyes opened just enough for her to see him through the slits. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. Everything? Anything? Do you have a job there? Friends?” Boyfriends? He was torn between wanting and not wanting to know the answer to that.
She shrugged. “Only a few close friends, but I have a great job which I love. When we first ended up there, our handler, Chris, sent me to see an old army buddy of his. Jeremy Pierce and his wife Eva own a canine training facility for protection and law enforcement. We clicked right away and he taught me how to train the dogs. I’ve been working for him ever since. I train them in drug and explosives detection, as well as passive and aggressive tracking, depending on the dog and the agency. Passive tracking is for missing persons and aggressive is for suspects.”
“What differs?”
Groaning, she bit her lip when he dug into a particular spot in her arch. “Passive tracking, the dog will lead its handler right up to the person. When you’re tracking a possibly armed suspect, you want some warning before he’s suddenly right in front of you. There’s a funny story about one of our graduates. His dog was a passive tracker and drug detector, but a few months ago, they had a suspect disappear into the woods, and they didn’t have an aggressive tracker available. So, what they did was put two officers, with their guns at the ready, on either side of the team because the handler’s eyes had to be on the dog, looking for tells. This way if the suspect suddenly appeared, they were covered. Anyway, they were tracking for about ten minutes when the dog suddenly sat down in the middle of nowhere. The handler was trying to get him back on track, but the dog wouldn’t budge. It took a few moments, but they realized the dog was sitting on a pile of leaves and one of them spotted the heel of a sneaker. The suspect had buried himself under a pile of leaves, hoping they’d walk right by him and the darn dog was sitting on his back.” They both started laughing. “The handler kicks the guy’s leg and says ‘Don’t move.’ The suspect answers, ‘Wasn’t planning on it.’”
Laughing harder, Boomer couldn’t help but be impressed. It was obvious she loved her job. “Wow. That’s awesome. Beau went through a training place like that in Florida. He was about six-weeks old when Ian found him at the compound. His mother was a stray who’d just died, so Ian took him in.”
“I noticed his training,” she told him while nodding.
“Do they know where you are? Your bosses? I mean, do you still have a job after we find who’s after you?” Part of him wanted her to say no, but they would both be better off if she said yes.
She glanced out the window of the plane. “Yes. Sort of. I told them I had a family emergency.” At his raised eyebrow, she shrugged. “It was all I could think of at the time. Anyway, even though no one ever came out and told Jeremy I was in witness protection, he’s very astute and I’m sure he figured it out. He just told me to keep in touch and to call him if I needed anything. I should call him later to let him know I’m still alive.”
“Good idea. Use your pre-paid phone, since they’re very hard to trace. Then we’ll throw it away and get a new one. Ask him if anyone suspicious has been snooping around asking about you.”
Kat nodded and tapped his hand with her left foot. It was a blatant hint to give it the same treatment he was giving her other one. He chuckled and swapped them. “Better?”
“Yes, much.” She groaned as he worked his thumbs deeper. “I can’t remember the last time I had a foot massage. I used to get them all the time when I treated myself to pedicures, but it’s been a while.”
He was glad it was a professional service where she had gotten the massages, and not from a boyfriend. A pang of jealousy at her dating some guy hit him in the gut and he forced himself not to question her about other men. Who she dated was none of his business.
Glancing down at her lap, he eyed the book she’d been reading, and…oh, fuck…it was Leather & Lace, by Kristen Anders, soon-to-be Kristen Sawyer, Devon’s wife. While Boomer hadn’t read the whole thing, he’d flipped through and read the steamy sex scenes after Devon mentioned how hot they were. It was fucking hot porn in written format, plain and simple. It also involved BDSM and he was shocked Kat was reading it. Did she just like reading about the lifestyle or was she into it? And if she wasn’t, would she be interested in trying it? Did she fantasize about a man doing to her the things Master Xavier did to his submissive in the book?
He shifted uncomfortably and shoved his thoughts back where they belonged—in the gutter. She was a job and an old friend, nothing more. You might as well give up trying to convince yourself buddy, because it’s not working.
“Prepare for landing.” CC’s voice came over the intercom and Jake’s eyes flew open. That was the thing about being in special ops—you got used to catnaps and waking up completely refreshed.
Boomer swung Kat’s feet to the ground so she could sit up and put her seatbelt on. He then strapped his own around his waist. They would be on the ground and in their waiting car within fifteen minutes. After he had the plane refueled, CC would get a room at the closest motel for the night, so he would be nearby if they needed him. Meanwhile, Boomer, Kat and Jake would head into the Norfolk residential area where the two childhood friends used to live. There was a Best Western near the bank they needed. From what Boomer had been able to access online it was the ideal motel for them. There were plenty of escape routes if things went south.
Next to him, Kat visibly shuddered.
“You okay?”
She gave him a tiny smile. “Yeah, I think so. It just hit me. I haven’t been here since I was seventeen with a bright and happy future ahead of me.”
Boomer reached over and squeezed her hand because he couldn’t think of anything to say which didn’t sound cliché. He just hoped, when this was all over, she did have a happy life in her future, even if it wasn’t with him.
* * *
As Jake let himself into the adjoining room to the left, Kat followed Boomer into their motel room. He tossed his duffel bag on the bed closest to the door and gestured for her to take the other one. It wasn’t even one in the afternoon yet, and she wanted nothing more than to crawl under the covers and take a nap.
He must have seen the look of longing on her face before he turned to unlock the go-between door connecting the two rooms. “Take a nap if you want. Jake and I will be next door working on a few things for tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Kat pulled off the blonde wig she’d donned before getting off the plane and scratched her itchy scalp. Reaching to pull the bedspread down, she kicked off her shoes at the same time. “Don’t let me sleep past three, please. Otherwise I’ll be up all night.”
“Sure.” Boomer watched as she climbed into the bed fully clothed. She shifted a few times trying to find a comfortable position and finally settled on her side facing away from him. Her long brown tresses fanned across the pillow and his hands ached to run his fingers through the soft strands. The longer he was around her, the more his old feelings for her pounded in his chest. But there were new feelings there too. Feelings he didn’t know what the fuck he was going to do about.
Sighing, he walked into the other room and left the door ajar in case she needed him. Jake was exiting his bathroom and drying his hands on a towel. He raised an eyebrow at seeing Boomer alone.
“She’s lying down for a while.”
“Ah.” They both sat down at the table for two and Jake opened a folder with all the pertinent information they had so far. “So…you want to talk about work or what it’s like to have an old girlfriend come back from the dead?”
Boomer knew his friend was being sympathetic despite how his words sounded. He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at the partially opened door behind him before turning his attention back to Jake. “How do you know she was a girlfriend?”
“Ian keeps me around for my sniper skills and powers of observation. If she wasn’t your girlfriend, there was a time you wished she was.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and keeping his voice low so she wouldn’t hear him. It’d been a long time since he’d told anyone about his Kitten. “She was my best friend’s sister and a year younger than us in school. I never thought of her as anything more than a good friend until I took her to my senior prom. One minute she was my friend, the next minute I wanted something more. Hit me from out of the blue, you know?”
Jake nodded, but didn’t say a word.
“The night of my going-away party, a week before basic training, I found out she felt the same way. I asked her to be my girl and to wait for me. She agreed and two days later…her entire family was gone.”
“From what Ian told me, she didn’t have a choice.”
Boomer leapt from his chair in frustration and began pacing, but kept his voice low. “Damn it, I know it wasn’t her fault. But too much time has gone by. We don’t even fucking know each other anymore. I’m not the same eighteen-year-old kid without a care in the world. I’ve seen and done shit she could never imagine. I’ve changed, and I doubt she’ll like the guy I’ve become.”
Crossing his arms, Jake narrowed his eyes at his teammate. “Close the door.”
“What?”
“Close the damn door and sit the fuck down for a minute.” After Boomer eased the door shut and plopped back down in his seat, the harshness ebbed from his friend’s voice. “I’m a little confused here, Baby Boomer. Are you talking about the Navy and the shit we’ve done, or are you talking about the club and the lifestyle?
“Both, I guess,” he mumbled, staring at the floor.
“Well, the SEAL shit is easy. You’ve served your country proud and followed orders like the good frog you are. Yes, you’ve killed more people than anyone will ever know about, but what it boils down to is you killed because you had to. You’re not a murderer. You saved lives—civilians’, your teammates’, and your own. There’s nothing wrong with anything you’ve done in the name of Uncle Sam and apple pie. I don’t think your girl in there would have any problem with that, especially since you can’t tell her most of it.”
Boomer shrugged and kept his eyes downcast.
“Now, about the lifestyle. You’re not the first Dom to question himself, and you won’t be the last. The point is…which is more important to you? Can you love her without topping her? Or do you need it like the air you breathe? You said before, you don’t know each other anymore…maybe this is your chance to get to know her again. Maybe she’s changed, too. Maybe she wants to be topped, did you ever think about that?” He paused a moment to let the idea sink into the other man’s head. “Now stop being an ass and let’s get your girl out of trouble, all right? Think about fucking her after this is all over.”
Boomer snorted then grinned. “You’re a prick, Reverend.”
“Hey, I tell it like it is. You want sensitive, call Polo.”
Chapter 7
Boomer quietly shut the door between the two rooms, but kept it unlocked. Kat was still sleeping and he didn’t need to wake her yet. Jake and he had spent about thirty minutes going over what they knew and what they still needed to find out. They’d called Ian to let him know where they were staying, so he could forward
the information to Keon. The paperwork they needed for the bank would arrive sometime after eighteen hundred this evening. Jake was heading out in a few minutes to scout the area around the motel, and also the bank, which was three blocks away. In the meantime, Boomer was left alone to watch over Kat. He double checked the front door locks and peeked out the window through the thin gap of the closed curtains. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Spinning around one of the straight back chairs at the table, he straddled it and sat. Kat was now laying on her other side, facing him, and his eyes roamed over her features. Her cheeks, pert nose, and soft full lips helped form a face which could grace a magazine cover when combined with the beautiful eyes he would recognize anywhere. The sheet had shifted down to her waist leaving her upper torso exposed. His mouth watered as he stared at the lush cleavage peeking out of her V-neck shirt. Damn, he wanted her more now than he had as a teenager. Maybe Jake was right. Maybe the universe had sent her back to him for a reason.
Being a Dom was a major part of his life. He’d found the lifestyle he loved before he was assigned to Team Four and met Ian and the rest of his current teammates. One of his buddies from basic training had brought him to his first club after they’d been stationed together in San Diego. He spent two years there until he was accepted into the SEALs Bud/s training program. After graduating with his trident, he was assigned to Team Four, which was his father’s old team in Virginia. He’d been happy to learn several of his new teammates also participated in the lifestyle and joined the club they all frequented.
Kat stirred and moaned, but stayed asleep. The sounds coming from her mouth had him growing hard and he adjusted himself in his jeans. What would she do if he woke her by nuzzling her ear…her neck…her breasts? Would she push his hand away as he cupped her mound and flexed his fingertips into her core through her pants? Would she allow him to undress, restrain, eat and fuck her? Would she scream when she came for him? Would she beg for more? Would she…
Waiting for Him Page 6