Catch Me If You Can (Love's Command)

by Billi Jean

  “Ky? Where were you shot?” Daren used his grip on her to move her back, scanning her face, then arms and down for a wound.

  “It’s healed. What about your wound? I saw you shot. I thought—”

  “Baby, it takes more than a bullet to take me down, you know that.” His grin grew until she couldn’t stop herself from hugging him tightly. She didn’t care if everyone was watching, she had to feel Daren’s strength, his love, flowing between them and taking the nightmare away.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I will love you forever, Ky.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Daren sat next to Kylie, holding her small hand, while he listened to the subtle and not so subtle ribbing everyone was giving Tazz, and him and Kylie to some extent. My team—plus two, he thought with a glance at Ky, then over at Sonya.

  Tazz folded his arms across his chest, and scooted down in his chair to give Sonya a serious look.

  “So, they sent you, huh?” Tazz asked.

  Dare saw a smile filter over Ky’s lips, but she hid it by glancing at him. No doubt she saw the humor in Tazz’s situation. Daren did.

  “I came on my own. More of us want answers. It’s not just a Lone Ranger mission, Robert,” Sonya said, barely taking her attention away from her nails to give Tazz a quick frown.

  “Tazz,” Tazz grumbled, with a rub of his unruly hair. “So how many are left?”

  “From the Superman program?” Sonya clarified. “A few,” she said with a shrug, like she hadn’t a care in the world.

  Ace walked in without knocking, interrupting whatever Tazz would have said. Ace took a quick look around the hotel room, before he continued in to take a seat beside Mac and nodded to the room. “What’s wrong now?”

  “Nada man, just watching Tazz sweat. Pretty entertaining, but I got better places to be.” Mac jerked a thumb at Eagle. “We all do. What about you, Dare, man. You going to celebrate with us?”

  At the reference to his upcoming wedding to Tazz’s sister, Mac grinned. Tazz slouched down in his chair even lower. Sonya though, perked up. The little spy had a way of making everyone around her feel like they needed to check their wallets, but she also made him, and he guessed the guys present feel like no matter what, she’d have their back. Maybe that was from the knowledge she’d saved their team time and again, but it was also in her steady look and calm persona.

  “I like her,” Kylie whispered.

  Dare glanced at Ky and grinned. “She’s solid people. So, are we going to this wedding, or should we go have our own?”

  “Why not double up?” Sonya asked with a slow grin. She had no apparent accent, even though her background was Russian. From what little Dare knew about her, she’d not stayed in her homeland past her teens. She’d begun her career as a spy that young, and only shifted to work for the US seven or eight years ago. Since then, she’d ferreted out information to save soldiers’ lives. It was a shock to realize she had been given the same drugs as Tazz.

  “Daren?”

  Daren blinked, only then realizing he’d been lost in thought.

  Sonya raised a delicate eyebrow at him and Kylie laughed.

  “Did you hear Sonya?” Kylie asked.

  “I did. I also think Mac and Mandy need their own—”

  “Mandy already suggested it, bro. We’re on if you are. Getting cold feet?” Mac asked.

  At Mac’s grin, Dare smiled. “Not in this life time or any other.”

  “I take it you’ve already spoken to her father and grandfather?” Sonya asked.

  Ace snorted.

  Eagle laughed outright. “Oh, man, you are one sorry fella right now. Kylie, how tough is this granddad of yours?”

  She smiled and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “He’s eighty five. I think he might be tougher than nails.”

  All the men laughed, even Daren. Sonya patted Ky’s leg and smiled. “Good. That gives Scott here two weeks to get to Korea, ask your granddad and fly you both to some God forsaken Wild West wedding.”

  “Wild West?” Ky asked, looking from him to Mac then back again. “What does that mean?”

  “She’s teasing. Sorta,” he tacked on when Eagle laughed again. He stood and dragged Ky to her feet, tired of sharing her with the team and Sonya. Tazz got to his feet too and nodded to Ky.

  “I’m glad it all worked out for you,” he said.

  “Do what I suggested, Robert. My father is waiting for you. I’ve already let him know and he’s preparing the necessary anti-serums.”

  The men all quieted down at her words and if he had to guess, Tazz was embarrassed by her concern and the attention.

  “I’ll be there,” Tazz said gently.

  “Good, bro, because you know what’s happening two weeks from tomorrow, right?” Daren asked, smacking Tazz on the back.

  Tazz shot a look at Mac and grumbled, “How could I forget?”

  Daren didn’t bother to reply. He guided Ky to the door and opened it for her to ease out of the room. “We’ll see you all in a week,” he said.

  “Daren!” Ky stopped him with a hand on his stomach. Not where he wanted it, but if she went two inches lower he might embarrass himself. “Thank them, too, Daren.”

  “Baby, in case you didn’t notice, you saved yourself. I got there after and just picked up the pieces.”

  “They came all this way,” she said, still trying to stop him.

  He shut the door then moved that hand of hers down the two inches he needed while he guided her backwards down the hall . Her eyes slowly widened, then softened to that warm brown that set his heart to racing.

  “Baby, the only ones coming from now until sun up, are you and me.”

  She tightened her hand around the hard-on punching up from his cargo shorts and tugged him along by it. He nearly fucked her on the spot, but didn’t want to pay the fine for indecent exposure.

  “Is that so?” she purred. “You do realize that drug is still filling us both.”

  “Kylie, the only thing filling you,” he growled and pressed her backward into the room as soon as he had got the door open, “is me.”

  “Oh,” she breathed in his mouth, “I like that. Fill me, Daren. Fill me until there is no you and me, but just us.”

  “Yin and yang.”

  She nipped at his bottom lip and sucked on the spot. At the same time, she unzipped him and, within a heartbeat, had his cock out in her palm. “Yes, I think it’s time we fit together again, Daren Scott,” she told him with a possessive squeeze.

  He nearly went cross-eyed.

  He ripped her shirt off on the way to the bed. Buttons went flying, but he was too busy tugging her sexy skirt off over her butt to care. In less time than it took him to groan over how fucking wonderful it felt to have his hard-on in her hand, he had her naked. She’d nearly gotten him the same way.

  “I love these shirts,” she said, giggling when he tore the long sleeve button-down to get it off his shoulders.

  “Damn, I love you.”

  She smiled, then leaned in and licked a line of fire up his cock, from the root to the head.

  He wasn’t allowing that. “None of that, I’d be done before the party even gets started,” he warned her. With a laugh, he pulled her away and tossed her down on the bed so she bounced.

  She laughed so hard he chuckled. As soon as he had her skin to skin though, she sobered up and cupped his face.

  “I love you, Daren. I want you, now, and forever, okay?”

  He gave her his best smile. “Yes, ma’am, Kylie Scott. I plan on it. From now until forever.”

  “Kylie Scott, huh?” she whispered, a happy smile making her face glow.

  “Yeah,” he breathed against her lips, then kissed her. She melted against him, burning every inch of his skin with hers. He couldn’t hold back then, and lunged forward, taking her in a long, slow slide until his erection was surrounded by her tight embrace.

  “There, baby, we’re one.” He pressed harder, and groaned at how hot a
nd tight she fitted around him. His balls settled along her flesh, and she rocked her hips upward, wrapping her long legs around his waist, and hooked her high heeled feet above his ass.

  “Always.”

  He took her next breath and fed her his, at the same time as he began rocking her world and his. “Always. I finally caught you, baby. Finally have you, all of you, forever.”

  His words spilled out from the heart, so full of love he knew he’d not last with her this first time. She stroked his shoulders and his back then placed her hands on either side of his face to hold him for her hot kisses, all the while saying his name like she couldn’t stop.

  Their passion grew frantic, quickly rushing them toward orgasms that left them both breathless and sweaty. His orgasm shuddered down his body like a steam engine down a runaway track, but so filled with pleasure, he wasn’t sure what he did or said to her until his muscles turned to noodles and he shuddered through another hot gush. Kylie was just as gone. She rocked and rocked her hips, whimpering softly from an orgasm he could feel along every inch of his cock.

  Only after they were both spent and could draw a breath again, did he lift up and turn them so he could curl her up in his arms, spooning her from behind. They lay like that for a long, peaceful moment, simply enjoying her in his arms until he kissed her shoulder where a small, quarter inch line lightened her creamy skin.

  “I never want you shot again.”

  She laughed softly at his words, and wiggled her butt to his hips. “I never want you shot again, either. I think my one to your—what dozen? —is not anything to complain about though.”

  “Huh,” he grunted, and curled his hand around the lush roundness of her breast. “How did you find me, out there, in the desert?”

  If he’d not been holding her so close, he might have missed the way tension tightened her body. But the way they lay, he felt her shoulders tense and her hold her breath.

  “Ky, no secrets, remember?” He turned her gently by the face to look into her eyes. “Nothing you tell me will change a thing between us.”

  Her eyes turned liquid brown at his words, and one tear traced down her high cheekbone. “I know that.”

  “Then don’t cry, baby. Come on,” he urged her. “None of that.”

  “It was my fault, Daren. That you were shot. I was lagging behind, I should have—”

  “Aw, baby,” he pulled up and rested a hand on the side of her face staring down at the misery on he saw there. “Don’t think that. It was my job to hold up the rear. No matter how slow you were, I would have still been where I was when I was shot. They were waiting on us, or my guess is, they arrived right when I passed by.”

  “Exactly! If I’d been faster—”

  “Shh, no way, no how. It wasn’t your fault. You saved my life. If not for you, I would have still been shot, and no one would have found me. I know you dragged me off and hid me, but what happened after? I remember things, Ky. I remember you crying, you leaving, and I remember being worried for you.”

  She sat up at his words, and hugged her knees. “I didn’t know you remembered. I thought you were delirious.”

  The way she said that, the way she avoided his eyes, had him sitting up as well. He gathered her closer and pulled them both up to the top of the bed, wrapping her in the blankets after. This was something she wasn’t willing to share. His guesses were not good, but he needed to hear this from her, because what he was thinking had his heart clenching in his chest. She’d suffered. Sonya had indicated it, but hadn’t confirmed his anything. But the little spy hadn’t denied anything, either.

  “Ky, look, baby, I know you dragged me to safety, then went and got supplies to keep me alive. Then you left me—I want to know why you’d do that if you knew the guys were on their way.”

  She rubbed at her face again, no doubt wiping tears away before he could freak about them. He gave her time, simply holding her, and tracing the line of her arm up and down with his hand. After a while, she tipped her head and seemed to examine his face. “If I tell you, it won’t change things.”

  “About this,” he said picking up her small necklace and touching the white stone. “No, not this, not anything. Sometimes, Ky, it’s better to let things out than it is to keep them all bottled up inside.”

  She twisted her lips but finally nodded. “I left you because I couldn’t stay. There were men looking for you, and they followed me. I had to go, quickly, you see, or they would have found you and—”

  He cut into her breathless speech with a finger to her lips. “And finished what they started.”

  She nodded. “Yes, finished what they started,” she whispered. Another tear tracked down her cheek, and he caught it with his finger then rubbed the next one off as well. “I know you want to know all of it, but it was bad. I try to forget, to not remember those times because I’m afraid it will make me too frightened to…to live.”

  He curled her up tighter in his arms, and rocked them a little. “No way, baby. You have me, but even before that, you had yourself. You saved me, then came back and really saved me. I wish you hadn’t, if it meant you were hurt, but you did. You’re strong, Ky. A fighter.”

  She shook her head and more tears flowed.

  “You are. Nothing can stop that, I’m not. I don’t want to, because it made you who you are and now, you’re here with me. You’re a survivor, baby, just like me.”

  Slowly whatever he’d said seemed to sink in, and gradually her tears slowed and finally stopped. After a while, she relaxed back into his arms, and tilted her head to kiss his chest. “I love you. I’m glad I survived too. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have this, you, and know what it’s like.”

  “Know what it’s like?” he asked, brushing her hair off her cheek.

  “Love. I wouldn’t have, not without you.”

  Her words hit like a dart to the chest. But they also mirrored his own thoughts.

  Without her, he’d never have known that sometimes, one person was all that was needed, one real, true, amazing person like Kylie.

  “Yeah, but let’s not forget who caught who, okay?”

  She laughed and swatted at his arm, then turned in his arms, her eyes turning that warm wicked color he knew meant his night had just started.

  “Oh, yes, let’s not forget,” she whispered, moving her hand down his stomach to latch onto his hard-on, “who’s caught who.”

  He pounced on her, so happy he thought he might burst with it. Kylie, a new life and happiness all rolled up into a future he couldn’t wait to start.

  Also available from Totally Bound Publishing:

  Sisterhood of Jade: A Spartan’s Kiss

  Billi Jean

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  The silence of the night settled over Tabithia as she waited.

  The witching hour could hide almost anything. Things a person couldn’t obscure in the harsh light of day.

  She was good at hiding. Had to be. None of her close friends knew what she concealed beneath the surface of her adrenaline-junkie escapades. Not even her aunts knew that, beneath her skin, she hid the revulsion clawing at her. Why should they? People had burdens. Burdens they managed alone. Hers were no different. And they were easier to hide in the dimness of the midnight hours. Night allowed the edges of darkness within her to melt into forgetfulness. Black was, in fact, her favourite colour.

  She should have been born a vampire, not a witch.

  Sadly, no. She was one of the Wiccan, a Daughter of the Three. She wasn’t one of those goodie-two-shoes, can’t-hurt-anyone witches. Oh, no. Her ancient coven believed in survival. Survival meant being so badass no one messed with you. She had the badass down to a T.

  For all the good it did her.

  Tabithia hunkered further down in her crouch, as a runner glittering with reflectors, ran by with her music blaring. She winced. Clearly, the runner had no regard for her ears. Or herself. Aged buildings, paint peeling and splashed with colourful graffiti, lined a street full
of potholes and trash, yet a woman ran by with her ear buds blocking out any sound other than her music? Humans. Tab never would understand them.

  She really wanted to curse her aunt, Circerran, nicknamed Trouble, for getting her out here. By now, Tabithia could be drinking at One Eye’s immortal tavern or racing her way-too-expensive but fantastic Ecosse road bike with other immortals. Instead, she waited until the jogger disappeared before craning her neck around the building’s brick corner to peer down the murky street. Cursing wasn’t her thing, anyway. Too many people just didn’t get that a curse could come back and bite you in the ass. She did. Oh, yeah, she got that, so no cursing for her.

  Several minutes passed, and no one else appeared. Not surprising since even a stray cat wouldn’t wander through this neighbourhood so late at night. The runner lacked common sense. Still, Tabithia didn’t trust her eyesight alone. Magic could flow beneath the surface of almost anything from a poisoned apple to a slum neighbourhood street. With one more glance behind and to both sides of her, she leaned a hand on the rough brick wall and focused her inner eye, which revealed nothing more than the shadows of the cars she’d already spotted parked along both sides of the street.

  Tabithia watched a second more before letting the witch sight fade, leaving her alone in the shadows once again. Hunger, not for food, but for the feel of others around her, beat at her. Restlessness burned along her body. Her muscles ached from holding them tightly bunched and ready for action—action wasn’t happening on a street corner.

  I could be out partying. Drinking it up. But no. Trouble calls and I have to answer.

  True. She always would, too, no doubt.

  So, party time would have to wait. Instead she waited, while the darkness inside her built higher and higher. The need to ease the pain blistered along her senses grew, and she knew, just knew that only more pain could ease the beast clawing within her.

  She drew her butterfly knife and balanced the double-sided blade by its tip between her two fingers, flicked the scissor-like sheath along her knuckles and spun the silver blade over and between her fingers. The cool weight of steel comforted her. The sharp edge provided the pain that would ease the memories. She watched the silver blur as she twisted her wrist and let the razor-sharp blade glide over her knuckles before snapping the two sections of the hilt in her hand. The urge to screw up the rhythm of her knife play surged through her. With more effort than she felt comfortable with, she steadied her hand and began another round of flip and catch, until she could control her breathing.