Alpha Warrior

by Aimée Thurlo

  His body needed her, but his heart did not. If she could have had both from this man, whose capacity for love ran so deep he seldom allowed anyone to touch that side of him—that would have been worth the risk, and her heart’s surrender. But as it was…

  Although her body was quivering with awareness and longing, she found the strength to move away.

  Nick shook his head slowly, then turned to face the fire. “When you stop being afraid to face tomorrow on its own terms, Drew, come to me. I can help you find answers to questions you’ve never even dared to ask.”

  As he walked away, she felt emptier inside than she’d ever thought possible. He was magic and chaos all rolled up into one devastating package. Taking an unsteady breath, she sat by the stove’s open door and stared at the dancing fire inside. Like Nick’s arms, its warmth was enticing, but within its promise of comfort lay an even greater danger.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Nick continued his surveillance of the area outside, checking through the front and back windows but staying out of view, and changing positions often. His pistol was still on his hip, and the shotgun was propped up against the wall, within easy reach.

  “Nick, let me maintain the fire and keep watch for a while. You’ll need to get at least a few hours sleep to keep your reflexes sharp.”

  He moved away from the window and stoked the fire. “All right. Take over.”

  Nick pushed the sleeping bag a bit closer to the stove and laid down.

  With the exception of Nick’s breathing, the silence was nearly absolute, and a bit frightening. Drew had never been anyplace where you couldn’t hear some sign of civilization.

  Minutes ticked by, then she heard Nick groan. The deep, anguished sound broke her heart.

  “No more death, not today,” he whispered. Though he seemed oblivious to it, tears stained his face as the nightmare unfolded in his mind.

  The overwhelming need to console him came from the very depths of her being. Everything female in her demanded it. Drew went to his side and brushed away his tears, but he didn’t wake. Seeing his features contorted by that gut-wrenching sorrow, she leaned down and kissed him gently.

  He woke up instantly, and instinctively deepened the kiss, filling her mouth with his tongue, drinking her in like a dying man. “I need you. Stay,” he whispered, before she could move away.

  Nick’s plea held a power she couldn’t resist, and she melted against him.

  He held her tightly and kissed her again, sending rivers of pleasure coursing through her.

  When he eased his hold, she took an unsteady breath and rested her head on his shoulder. “Talk to me, Nick. What happened when you were at war?” she said, holding on to him.

  He brushed a kiss on her forehead. “The truth isn’t pretty,” he said, his voice filled with the shadows of that darkness which shaped his dreams.

  Silence stretched out, and she sensed his inner struggle. Hoping that the quiet in her would speak to the emptiness in him, she waited.

  He took a long, unsteady breath. “I’m not the hero they say I am.” For several long moments he said nothing else, then tightening his embrace, continued. “When I was deployed with my unit, my mission was to gather intel before our troops advanced into an unsecured area. One day, we were instructed to sweep a small mountain village in eastern Afghanistan, but our operations schedule made it impossible for me to do anything except rely on old information. I insisted that we be given another twenty-four hours, but our platoon leader refused. He said the men were up to the job, and that I should follow orders and keep my mouth shut.

  “I could have gone over his head to the captain, but I didn’t. We went in, essentially blind, and were ambushed. I did what I could, and eventually got the men out of there, but we paid in blood that day. Six Marines were wounded, and we lost four good men. I relive those hours every night in dream after dream. That’s the price for my mistake.”

  “The decision wasn’t yours to make, Nick, but you acted with honor when the chips were down. You did what you had to do, and risked your own life to help the others.” She looked into his eyes, letting her heart speak to his. “You’re a good man, Nick.”

  “When you look at me like that, I can almost believe it,” he murmured.

  The pain laced through his words called to her. His soul was reaching out to hers. He needed the warmth of unconditional love, the healing that would come from knowing he was understood and accepted just as he was.

  Her heart opened instinctively. She kissed him tenderly and he responded in kind, then left a trail of kisses down the column of her throat. She sighed softly, and he growled with pure male pleasure.

  “You make me crazy,” he said, between breaths. Passion swept through his senses as she pulled his sweater off and kissed his bare chest, then ran her hands over him, as if trying to memorize every detail.

  “Show me you want me,” she whispered.

  Drew’s words made something inside him snap. He wound his fingers through her hair, and, pulling her head back, kissed her hard, plundering her mouth as he tugged at her clothing and swept away her undergarments. Heat pounded through him as her breasts spilled onto his hands.

  “Close your eyes and just feel.” He drew the tiny peaks into his mouth and suckled them. His scarred soul needed her sweetness, her innocence. His world had been too cold for too long.

  Cradling his head between her hands, she pressed him to her.

  He continued to love her, taking his time, and then drew back, watching the play of emotions on her face.

  “More,” she begged.

  Seeing her eyes cloudy with desire, he stood, stripped off his jeans, then lay beside her once again. Though blood thundered through him, he told himself to hold back. Let the night last.

  As he branded the soft flesh of her stomach with moist kisses, she instinctively parted her legs, granting him greater access. Her fists clenched as he caressed her in ways no one ever had.

  Drew writhed and cried out his name, feeling needs as primitive as the desert night exploding inside her. As shudders wracked her body, and she came apart, Nick held her tightly against him.

  “Your love makes me feel whole,” he whispered, fighting to keep things slow.

  Drew sighed. The warrior whose heart was encased in steel had allowed her love to reach him. There was magic in every second.

  He held her against his chest for an eternity, murmuring words a man spoke only to the woman who had captured his heart.

  “Teach me how to love you,” she said, almost dizzy with wanting.

  He was so hard, but he moved out of her reach before her hand found him. “Not yet, sweetheart. Not yet.”

  “Don’t hold back, not anymore. Show me what you’re feeling.” She reached for his manhood and gently caressed him.

  He sucked in his breath. “Be careful. I need you too much.”

  “No more words,” she murmured, kissing him there.

  It was unexpected, and the sudden warmth annihilated what was left of his control. He pushed her back and moved over her. Fire pulsed through him, but with his last shred of sanity, he forced himself to enter her slowly and gently. She cried out as he reached the tiny obstruction and then broke through.

  “More,” she pleaded.

  The one word ripped through him like lightning. White-hot flames coursed through his veins. Her softness cradled him, stroking him, and creating new fires with each thrust. Pressure mounted, pounding through him. Then she angled her hips upwards, to meet his downward thrust, and cried out. Feeling her release, he followed her over that edge, losing himself in her.

  TIME PASSED. WHEN HE started to shift and move away, Drew wrapped her arms even more tightly around him, holding him in place. “Not yet. Don’t go.”

  “I’m here,” he murmured.

  Lifetimes passed before he finally shifted. The trace of blood on his sleeping bag was a reminder of the priceless gift she’d given him. He wanted to stay with her, to have her be a part of h
is life, even after the case was finished, but he knew that there were no happily ever afters for a man like him.

  “Nick, is it always like that? The fire, the need, and then that feeling of…completion?” she whispered, resting against his side.

  “No. That only happens when it’s right.”

  She nuzzled into him and he tightened his hold.

  THEY MADE LOVE TWO more times before daybreak. As the sun peered over the east, Nick eased his hold and moved away. It was time to get moving.

  “I’ve never been a night person—until now,” she said.

  He gave her a hand up. “My brother sees dawn as the birth of a new day. To me, it was the death of night. But I’m beginning to see that the night surrenders with dignity. There are no losses, just balance.”

  As they both slipped into their clothes, he saw how gingerly she moved. He’d hurt her. He blasted himself for being careless and not nearly gentle enough. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” she asked, quickly.

  “That was your first time,” he managed to say, in a thick voice. “You gave me a gift I didn’t deserve, and I should have been more careful—gentler—with you.”

  “What we shared was…perfect,” she said. “I wanted your heart, not just your body, and you gave me both. That was a gift, too.”

  “But I have no future to share with anyone. The past owns me and will follow me until the day I die.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “You told me that you never belonged anywhere. You want security in your life because of what came before. Can you forget all that and start with a clean slate?”

  She shook her head slowly. “So we both have our own demons to battle,” she answered. No promises had been made, and nothing bound them together—except the whispers of her heart.

  THEY WERE ON THE MAIN road when Nick called his brother.

  “You left a huge mess behind, bro,” Travis said. “Manpower’s stretched to the limit, and the county’s asked the department to lend a hand. There’s evidence all over the canyon.”

  “Any word on the delivery people?” Nick asked.

  “The two men are regular employees who claim to have entered the bakery after closing, as usual, and picked up the cake from the bakery’s walk-in. But here’s the kicker. This morning the owner of the bakery discovered that the front door was unlocked—bumped by a burglar—sometime after closing.”

  “Sounds familiar. Does the bakery have any surveillance cameras?” Nick asked.

  “Yeah. But the lenses were painted over right after a hooded figure broke in, so we’ve got zip. And here’s more cheery news,” Travis added. “Chief Franklin found out that you and Drew attended the party, and he was ready to take your badge until the mayor pointed out you were the one who saved everyone’s butt.”

  “Did you ever backtrack the hunters around our place?”

  “Yeah. And there’s no way they were hunting any coyote. Their tracks led almost in a straight line from their vehicle to our home.”

  “Can you give me a description?”

  “Not much. The closest we got to each other was around fifty yards. But if you need me…”

  “I know—and thanks,” Nick said, then hung up.

  Drew checked her own phone for messages, then glanced over at him. “My uncle Earl left me a text message. He says he needs to talk to me as soon as possible.” She tried to dial his number next, but was unable to get through. “This is very odd. I can’t even get his voice mail.”

  They stopped for breakfast at a coffee shop, and Drew tried her uncle again.

  “Nobody picks up the home phone either,” she said. “Something’s wrong.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “My intuition hasn’t been wrong so far.”

  As they ate, Drew accessed her e-mail and tried twice to log on to her My View account, but kept getting routed to the social network’s homepage. There it would ask if she wanted to sign up for the service. She went through several checks and finally realized that, somehow, her account and her My View page had been deleted.

  “What’s wrong?” Nick asked.

  “My Web page has been deleted. Someone hacked in and unsubscribed me,” she said. “I think someone’s trying to get my attention.”

  “It seems so,” he admitted, “but the two events don’t have to be connected.”

  “But they could be, and my uncle could have become a target. Uncle Earl and I have had our differences, but he’s family, and I’ve never known him to cry wolf.”

  “I could have Travis go by and check.”

  She shook her head. “If he says he has to see me, even though he knows the trouble I’m in, I’ve got to take him at his word. I have to go and make sure he’s okay.”

  “It’s my job to keep you safe. I can’t agree to this.”

  As his phone rang, he flipped it open with one hand. “We’re having breakfast and coming up with a plan of action,” he said to the person on the other end.

  She knew from his tone of voice that he was speaking to Travis again. Drew pointed to the coffee shop’s breakfast bar and her empty napkin where her cinnamon roll had been. When Nick nodded, she took several bills out of her wallet, then pushed her purse in front of him, asking silently that he watch it for her.

  As she pulled her hand back, Drew casually palmed the Jeep’s keys. Nick reached for her arm, flipping the phone closed. “You were going to go on your own, weren’t you?”

  She sighed and nodded. “My uncle and I aren’t close, but he took me in when I had nowhere else to go. Coming through for him is a matter of honor, or as your people say, ‘balance.’ Do you understand?”

  “I understand what you’re trying to do, but it’s a bad idea.” He blew out his breath in a hiss.

  “You honor your debts. Why do you expect any less from me?”

  “You make me crazy.” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair.

  “You didn’t think I was so bad last night,” she answered with a gentle smile.

  He looked directly at her, and for one brief second, there was nothing peaceful about the peace officer who met her gaze.

  “Last night was last night,” he said, in a cold voice. “Today is about survival. Focus on that.”

  She stared at Nick for a moment, trying to understand. The gentle lover she’d known just a few hours ago was gone, maybe forever. He was all business now, and deliberately pushing her away. Maybe he regretted what had happened between them, or thought she was making too many demands on him as a result.

  “If we’re going to check out your uncle, we’re going to need a plan first.”

  “You and I will find whatever answers we need to finish what we set out to do. And don’t worry about me, I am a survivor.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Nick parked near the rear door of what had once been a dog grooming shop. A minute later, his brother drove up in an older-model white van, with side panels that read DOWN THE DRAIN PLUMBING.

  Travis climbed out and opened the back of the van as Nick and Drew left the Jeep. “I’ve called in some favors. Jim Quincy is a former cop who owes me. He loaned me the van and three uniforms.”

  They slipped the coveralls over their clothing. At Nick’s insistence, Drew rode in the back.

  “This is your great plan, Nick?” she muttered. “We could have just driven by slowly and taken a look. Instead, we put on these clunky disguises, and I end up hiding among the pipes and porcelain. It smells funny back here.”

  “The entire truck smells. Just stay out of sight until we get there,” Nick said.

  “I hate to point this out, but if my uncle’s guarding the house and sees a van from a service he didn’t call pulling up by his home, he’s likely to think burglary, and go all cop on you.”

  “That’s fine, as long as he identifies the target before he shoots,” Nick said.

  “Why do you think he needs to see you so badly?” Travis asked her.


  “He must have found out something he needs to pass on directly to me and you, Nick.”

  “That possibility occurred to me, too. That’s the only reason I’ve agreed to do this,” Nick said.

  They drove around the neighborhood, pretending to be looking for an address, all the time making sure they weren’t being followed.

  “Does he park in the garage?”

  “No, the garage is filled with so much junk there’s no room.”

  Travis parked one house up the street from Earl’s home.

  “Why are you parking here?” Drew asked.

  “If we’re being set up, they won’t be able to ambush us from inside the house now. They won’t have a clear line of sight. They’ll have to come out to get us, and that means they’ll lose the element of surprise.”

  Nick looked around carefully, waiting and watching before opening his door. “It looks quiet, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Let’s go take a look around.”

  Nick and Travis got out first, then, once she got the go-ahead, Drew stepped out, too.

  “Stay behind me all the way,” Nick said, then handed her a clipboard. “For show,” he added, “like you’re carrying the paperwork for a job estimate.”

  Travis reached into the back and picked up a small toolbox. Staying alert, they headed toward the front door, approaching from the garage side, so anyone looking out the front would have trouble following them. They also remained several feet apart, careful not to bunch up, as Nick led the way. Drew stayed in the middle between both men, Travis protecting their rear.

  As they passed by the living room window, Nick noted the closed curtains. The house across the street was mirrored in the glass, and just beyond the porch, he suddenly saw the reflection of a man standing by a juniper, pointing a weapon at them.

  “Gun!” Nick yelled, whirling around.

  A rifle shot went off, shattering the window.

  Nick dove toward Drew and pulled her down, using the old elm in the front yard as cover. “Stay here and keep your head down,” Nick said, then rolled to his left, yanking out his pistol.