As if called upon, his dick stirred. Vail held the balled, sweaty T-shirt with both hands in front of his waist. He cleared his throat. “Nah, I wouldn't worry about that. It’s the parents who don’t fight for their kids, which often means fighting with them, that worry me.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“So, you’re not the next Virgin Mary and you are married, but you’ve never had sex with your husband and you have a daughter. By birth?”
“Yes.” Her voice rose near to a yell. “Twenty-three hours of labor and stretch marks prove it.”
“It was just a question, Carmen, not an accusation. I’m not trying to take Sophie away from you.”
She nodded and slapped at a lone tear on her cheek.
“You’re accustomed to people trying to take her from you.” He didn’t ask, simply stated what he knew to be true. It went a long way to explaining her overbearing nature with Sophie.
“My family…” She didn’t bother to finish the thought. She didn’t need to. Her bitter sneer said it all.
“You are not your family.”
Carmen barked a dour laugh. “I’ve done horrible things.” Her gaze dropped to his torso.
“So have I, but reasoning makes all the difference.”
“Not to the people you hurt.” The barely audible rasp reached his ears an instant before her hands slipped from the pockets of her jacket and clutched the edge of his sweater.
Vail held his breath. Inch by inch the chilly breeze met his skin. Higher and higher Carmen lifted the fabric until it crowded his chest. Her fingers grazed the freshest scar on his middle. His eyes closed and he swallowed as the touch slowly circled the healed wound.
“Does it hurt?” she whispered.
“Yes and no.”
Her touch left his side and the sweater slipped down, blocking the chill he’d happily endure for her feather-light caress. As if she read his mind, one of her hands cupped his wrist and lifted, while her other skimmed his chin. Vail’s eyes popped opened at the intimate contact. A hint of lilac tickled his nose. With not a flower in sight he guessed the scent came from Carmen. Before he could commit the essence to memory it flitted away on the wind.
“What happened to your chin and wrist?” A frown grooved her siren’s face.
Only then did he notice the blood and lipstick-caked split on her lower lip. “What the hell happened to your lip?”
“It’s nothing.” Her warm fingers slipped from his chin, but her grip shifted on his wrist and tightened on his forearm. Almost absentmindedly, she clung to him while she hid her mouth and blinked back moisture. “You really should have cleaned these wounds better. Come in and I’ll help.” Carmen moved to turn. Realizing she clutched his arm, she pulled her hand back. “I didn’t mean to—”
He snatched the cold, leather covered arm and turned her back. Vail tamped his flaring temper. At least, he tried. Counting to ten in the five languages he knew didn’t help much. “Tell me what happened,” he insisted, without yelling.
“It’s nothing. As I said before.”
“You boil my temper.” Lord, what happened to his icy detachment? It suited him better. The itch that lay just under his skin irritated him like a mattress full of bedbugs.
“I was so enraged and helpless to save Sophia… I provoked them. It’s not a big deal. I took out my frustration on a few of my brother’s men. The ones left standing took theirs out of me.”
“How many were there?” he bit.
“A few,” she lied.
“At least now I know your tell. When you lie you stare at my chest and your nose twitches.”
“What?”
“Yep, almost like Samantha on Bewitched, but not quite.”
“Who’s that?”
“Jesus,” his rage ebbed replaced by disbelief. “I’m not that much older than you.”
She smiled and her tongue flicked out, swiping over her busted lip. Her smile fell. “I didn’t want Sophia to notice. I only wore lipstick to conceal the cut. She has enough to worry about. Please, don’t mention it around her.” Big and soft, her gaze implored.
“All right.”
He tugged closer until her boots butted his own. With little thought he slipped his hand beneath her chin and tilted. Her gaze, which had bounced between his chest and forehead, settled on his. The whites of her eyes grew along with the black of her pupils. As before her mouth fell open. Vail slid the pad of his thumb over her full lower lip, taking care with the abused flesh.
“You didn’t tell me about your wrist or chin.” Her murmured breath warmed his thumb.
Vail’s heart thundered in his ears, but he didn’t shy from the spike in his adrenaline. He bent his head. Licked his lips. Inhaled delicious lilac and clean woman. Carmen relaxed into his touch and he closed the gap.
“Oh, man! Sorry,” Sophie begged.
He jerked his lips from Carmen’s sweet mouth. Both their heads swung around to find the young girl wide-eyed in the frame of the front door. A smirk quirked one corner of her mouth and red stained her cheeks. Carmen’s too. The red cheeks, not the shy smile. If he thought the woman’s eyes were wide before, he apparently hadn’t seen anything yet. They looked close to popping from their sockets. Sophie eased behind the door.
“Sophie, are you okay? What’s the matter?” His questions stopped her before the door reached the latch.
“I’m fine.” She peered from the safety of the shelter, biting the side of her mouth. She held out her hand. In it his phone’s screen lit. “Someone called. I figured it might be important.”
“You did great, Sophia. Thank you.” Carmen slipped from his grasp in more ways than one and hurried to her daughter’s side.
20
By the time Vail reached Sophie the screen had turned black. Her little lips pressed together so tightly a dimple formed on one cheek. When he reached out for the phone her reserve broke and she whimpered.
“I figured it was important,” Sophie said, looking at a spot somewhere above his head.
“I’m sure it is. Thank you.” The last social call had been months ago. His mother had phoned to wish him a happy birthday.
Vail entered his obscenely long security code, saw the encrypted number for the Base Branch office, and hit redial. While he leaped through the hoops to gain access, his gaze veered over Carmen. His blood had cooled to a simmer, but one look at her and it rolled. Desire as he had not experienced in so very long clawed at his neat restraint.
Her hands hid in her pockets once again. The gesture most often hinted at a lack of self-confidence. In others it alluded to deceit. Carmen had taken charge after breaking into the Base Branch’s Washington Headquarters. With her weep-worthy curves, stunning agility, and the seductive beauty of her face she had to know most men would kneel at her feet, if she only gave the order. Vail didn’t figure her lacking self-confidence. He’d found her tell and it most certainly wasn’t hands in pockets.
So, what did it say? That he overanalyzed her, himself, and this entire situation? Probably. The way her gaze flitted about like a mayfly, though the hidden hands spoke of avoidance. And he was what she looked to dodge.
Not a chance.
“Bloody hell,” Khani blurted.
“What happened to, ‘Hey, how are you?’” Vail asked.
“Smart ass, answer your phone. You almost had the team you don’t want shining a light up your keister.”
“It was one minute, Khani. Hardly anything to get worked up over.”
“You think. I know better. It’s going like a bomb around here.” Good thing he’d worked with her for more than a year and knew that last bit was Brit speak for, ‘Shit’s going down fast.’
“What’s happened?” he demanded, hating being in the dark when his people needed him. Then he looked at Sophia and Carmen. Other people needed him too. For now, at least.
“Radio chatter is abuzz. A bomb took out Sinaloa facilities in Caborca. We have three teams en route. One to collect evidence and survey th
e sites. Another is headed to the Sinaloa’s hold in Puerto Peñasco; it’s a tourist town. The last is headed to Hermosillo. The word is at least four more bombs are set to blow. But none of this is confirmed.” Khani huffed, impatient of the wait.
“Jesus,” Vail breathed. “Do you have any idea of the death toll? We didn’t take those facilities in February because of their proximity to civilians.”
“It doesn’t look good,” Khani stated.
“Who?” Vail asked, though he had his guess.
“Some say Zetas, but my money is on Carlos Ruez and his AFO. The pudgy bastard is behind bars, has been beat to hell and back thanks to your shooter, but the look on his face is smug. Triumphant.”
“I’d put my money there too.”
Vail pinched the bridge of his nose. His people could do more than most. Still, they weren’t miracle workers. They could maybe stop one bomb, but what about the others? With radio chatter, second hand, and after the fact intelligence was as reliable as a million marbles, bouncing and rolling across a tile floor. The information changed direction, tripped you up. He needed information from the source, or as close to it as he could get.
“What you said about Carlos’s promise to get out puts me on edge. I would have thought it impossible to infiltrate the office, but if your assailant can, it leaves us exposed. Damn it to hell,” Khani added, giving voice to her irritation.
“Double security, especially at her entry points, and—”
“Her, who?” Khani demanded. “Look, I’ve given you time and too much space. You have to give me something.”
“She’s not a threat,” he skirted.
“She shot you. Almost killed you. Carlos’s leverage over her or not, I bathed in your blood,” Khani rebuffed.
“If someone held your brother captive,” Vail whispered, “is there anything you wouldn’t do to get him back safely?”
The line was quiet for a weighted minute. “Fine,” Khani relented. “Maybe she’s not. I still want to know.”
“I’ll tell you. Just not yet.” He depressed the end button before she could protest and stared at Carmen.
21
Was his stare accusing or were her guilty conscious and his intense stare wreaking havoc on her brain function again? Carmen couldn’t be sure. Curiosity gnashed at her heels, but self-preservation won out, as it always did. She slipped one hand out of her coat pocket and grabbed Sophia’s hand.
“Sophia, it’s time for bed.” Carmen tugged and her daughter followed, dragging her sneaker covered feet. Her other hand left the comfort of her cozy pocket and reached for the doorknob. Vail’s fingers encircled her wrist before she touched brass.
A tight smile sat his face, but finally his intense eyes didn’t study her. “Sophie, I need a moment alone with you mother.”
Carmen’s stomach zinged.
“Sure,” her daughter smiled, “take all the time you need.” She wiggled her brows.
“Sophia Ruez.” Carmen could have died on the spot. “It’s not like that.”
“Speak for yourself,” Vail chimed.
Sophia wriggled free of her grasp, skirted through the door before anyone could blink, snickering all the while. Shock again held Carmen’s mouth agape. Her tongue had been exposed to the elements so much, it was a wonder it hadn’t frozen solid.
Vail planted himself between her and the door. His hot touch seared her skin through the leather as it slid to her shoulder. He bracketed her other arm in his grip and poured the full force of his gaze onto her. Indignation at his brazen touch should have strengthened her spine. Instead, her insides softened at the harbor he provided from the frigid wind and simultaneously melted like liquefied steel at the provocative slant of his brows.
“You might want to close your mouth. It’s awful tempting.”
“Tempting?” Why had she asked that of all the questions floating around her head?
“Mmm.” He slipped closer. “All it would take is a slide of my hand.” His fingers caressed their way up her neck. Her cheek nestled in the warmth of his palm. “A tilt of your head.” He urged her head back with his thumb. “And I could lick the heat flickering in your eyes to an all out inferno.”
Lord, she shouldn’t want this. He should want it even less. Yet, her heart shimmied and her breaths came in heavy pants. Longing electrified every nerve ending, making his light touches exquisitely acute.
“But,” he continued, only an inch from her mouth, “Sophie is watching through the window and I don’t know if I could bring myself to stop kissing you, touching you, once I started.”
Carmen should care about her daughter watching, but her body submitted to his spell. She pressed into his hand at her neck. Filled her lungs with his heady scent. Sweat and the promise of sex. An animalistic self-indulgence that quaked her knees at the mere image it scorched into her mind.
“Tonight, when you’re lying in bed, I want you to think about…your willingness to help stop your brother. He detonated one bomb in Sinaloa territory dense with civilians and has more planned.”
She stiffened. The trance lifted. Reality slapped her cheeks, both sides. Here she was expecting to hear him, the Base Branch Commander beguile her with thoughts of him moving between her thighs. Shame and anger heated her cheeks. All he wanted from her was Carlos’s keys to power.
Did she want to stop her brother? Hell yes. Nothing would give her greater peace than to never worry about that psychopath and his goons again. But foremost, over anything else—even her withered but sprouting libido—she had Sophia to think of. Carmen possessed the will, yet lacked the ability to charge into battle against her family. If anything happened to her, Sophia would be alone, completely unprotected in this world. Getting Sophia to safety remained priority one, regardless of her brother’s actions.
Sadness over her greed plopped onto her back, a relentless burden she’d lived with for eleven years. For the first time, the will to change that flickered in her soul.
Vail donned the mask of cool detachment she had not seen since their first encounter. Just as well. The price for a sexy fling with this man was greater than she could afford. She withdrew from his heat and the cold embraced her, a cold she’d likely carry for the rest of her life. When she turned to the door footsteps scuttled across the interior floor.
“Carmen.” His gruff voice pulled her like a gaping vortex, but she couldn’t turn. “While you’re in bed, think about our kiss too. About how it will feel roaming every bit of your flesh.”
22
Vail had the lion’s share of long nights during his career. The longest weren’t the ones spent laid-up in the hospital not the ones perched securely in the nest of an enemy camp awaiting the quietest dark morning hours to make his move. Time all but ground to a halt his first day back in the home he’d shared with Ellie and, strangely enough, this night. The moon swung across the muted night. The sun brightened the sky one degree at a time. The windows frosted and collected the easy snow that fell all the while.
At one point he turned the water in the kitchen and bathroom to drip to keep the pipes from freezing. Walking past her bedroom door he’d paused, not knowing exactly what made him stop, until the rustle of sheets caught his attention. Sleep evaded her too. The urge to go to her sent him one step in the direction of her door. He needed to better explain what he didn’t understand himself. His desire to protect her and Sophie. His need to possess her as perhaps he’d never possessed anyone before.
A primal surge sent him forward another step and another. Soon he stood inches from the flimsy wooden entryway. His hand hovered over the knob. One hushed sniffle halted his advance and nearly knocked him on his butt. When she’d hurried from the porch hours ago sadness and indecision had marbled her eyes, and still he’d never imagined Carmen Ruez crying. The one tear he’d seen slip from her lashes seemed all she’d been capable of producing. A deep inner strength allowed her to deal with the hell of her life, so she could enjoy Sophie. Resolve like that also set her apart from t
he rest of the world, an untouchable force even he couldn’t reckon with. Then again, maybe not so untouchable. Regardless, he’d slunk back down the stairs, lay with his hands behind his head, and watched the minutes crawl past.
When Vail could no longer stare at the sun’s arduous climb into the sky he hurried upstairs and rushed a shower. He ignored his jutting cock. The hard flesh and harder desire refused dissuasion, swelling thicker under the hot beat of the water. Vail turned the hot water off altogether. He braced against the icy water, while he eradicated the day’s and rough night’s grime from his body.
It did the trick. His pants buttoned and zipped without crushing his manhood.
Small favors and all.
After a full seven hours awake with no food, Vail’s stomach turned against him like a rabid dog. He hurried downstairs, failing in his effort to ignore the light shining from beneath Carmen’s bedroom door. After raiding the fridge for the essentials, Vail set about preparing breakfast. His stomach snarled as the salty richness of pan-seared bacon wafted up his nose.
Not one minute later, Sophie bustled down the steps while wrestling her hair into a messy blob atop her head. “Good morning.” Her molars gleamed in her oversized smile.
“Good morning, Sophie.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, launched her dainty frame into the air, and smacked a kiss on his cheek.
Vail spread the sizzling meat onto the napkin-covered plate he’d fixed earlier and hoped she didn’t desire conversation. True enough, that insignificant peck rendered him dumb. Sophia bebopped to the refrigerator as though the world hadn’t just flipped poles. She pulled the jug of orange juice from the recesses then grabbed three glasses from the cabinet.
“You want juice or milk? Or coffee?” she asked.
For the life of him, his lips refused to move.
She sidled up to him, jug in hand and now a silly grin on her face. “Hey, you in there? Or are you daydreaming?” Her stomach must have tormented her too, because her gaze zeroed on the scalding bacon and her hand followed.
Warrior Mine: A Base Branch novel Page 13