Tempest's Paradise (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Amanda Kay

  He was still having trouble processing the fact that he had kids and two no less. He had twins in his family, but there hadn’t been any in a while, so he never thought about it. His were perfect though. Serenity was his dark angel. She had his dark complexion with her mother’s startling green eyes and full lips. Her hair was something special, too. Her hair was dark like his but with red highlights throughout. She also had this cute little dimple in her right cheek when she smiled. She was just beautiful. Seth had the exact same features. He had the dark complexion and hair with red highlights. His eyes were just as green and his lips just as full as his little sister’s. The only difference, other than him being a boy, was his dimple was in the left cheek when he smiled.

  He stood just inside the kitchen door and watched Tempest. She was busy getting breakfast ready, and her back was to him. He took the time to study the differences in her. Her skin was softer, silkier. Her curves were fuller and more rounded since she had just given birth a couple of months ago. Her hips were a little more spread and her breasts were bigger and fuller than before. She looked amazing. He always thought she was a little too skinny before everything had gone wrong. She looked like a radiant woman.

  He stayed in the doorway as he spoke. “It smells amazing.”

  Tempest jumped as the deep timbre of his voice startled her. “Thanks, I figured it was a special occasion,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder.

  She got their plates ready and then set them on the table. They ate in silence and then each placed their dishes in the sink. They went back to the table and sat down.

  “What do we do now, Devin?” Tempest asked, her brow crinkling in worry.

  “I’m not sure, Tempest, but I’m not leaving. I can’t leave now even if I wanted to, which I don’t,” he amended quickly. “The problem is there is still someone out there who threatened you. We found the person who hacked our system just before I came looking for you. What he did is considered terrorism, since we hold some big government contracts, so he is being held by Homeland Security, but as far as I know he hasn’t told them anything yet. We still don’t know where the money that was funding his operation came from. They might not be as big of a threat to you, but the danger is still there.”

  Tempest regarded him calmly as she took in what he just told her. “I don’t want you to leave, and I wouldn’t even ask you to. They are your kids as much as they are mine, but that still leaves the question of ‘what about us.’ I don’t want or need an answer about that now. I’m more concerned about who is fucking up my life now. If you can get me his bank accounts, I can find where the money came from. It won’t exactly be legal, but I can figure it out faster than the authorities. They have to wait on warrants and other crap like that. I don’t,” she said, her cheeks flushed in anger.

  “I can get you what you need, but I don’t have to think about us. I want you. I never stopped wanting you,” Devin said in a whispered voice tinged in desperation.

  “I just need a little time, Devin. I was utterly destroyed after you left so suddenly. I was heartbroken, and the only reason I survived it was because I found out I was pregnant. I just need a little time. Please understand,” she said, pleading with him.

  Devin reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. “I’m not going anywhere. You take all the time you need,” he said with an understanding smile and then leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

  Tempest sighed and leaned her forehead against him. They sat there like that for a moment just enjoying the closeness. Tempest put on a scowl when her doorbell rang. She gave a frustrated sigh and headed for the door. She looked through the peephole and groaned. It was the entire posse. It was going to be a long day.

  She had barely gotten the door open and Elaine, Grace, and Clark were hustling into her house. She rolled her eyes when the babies started fussing. It was like they had a sixth sense about when Grace was around. She spoiled them horribly.

  “Oooh where are my little angels!” she said as she absently hung her coat on the peg and dashed off to the nursery. Tempest groaned when she heard her kids giggling and cooing right back at their grandma.

  “Y’all are here awfully early this morning,” she said dryly as Elaine gave her a brief hug and rushed off after Grace.

  “We thought we’d surprise you.” Clark chuckled as he gave her a quick hug and headed after the women.

  She walked back to the table to a stunned Devin. “I swear I don’t even know why I bother. I could run around this house butt naked and they wouldn’t even notice as long as those little rug rats were within arm’s reach,” she mumbled grumpily.

  Devin snorted. “I’d sure as hell notice,” he said and watched her with a heated gaze.

  Tempest couldn’t stop the blush as it moved up her neck. She also shifted nervously in her seat. She hadn’t been with anyone since Devin. It had always felt like such a betrayal to even think about it while she had been pregnant with his children. Even now that she had them, she was too damn busy to think about dating, much less sex.

  “You could walk around in a burlap sack and curlers and I’d notice you,” he said with a grin.

  Tempest scrunched up her brow. “I’m sure there was meant to be a compliment in there somewhere, but I’m not seeing it,” she said and scowled at him.

  Devin didn’t have time to comment because her other three house guests came back up the hall with the babies in tow. All of them were making silly baby sounds and cooing noises. Seth and Serenity were eating it up and answering with their own coos and giggles. She could only imagine what her kids were thinking.

  “They have got to be the biggest bunch of idiots I’ve ever seen, Seth.”

  “I know but at least they keep us entertained, Serenity. Just keep smiling and I guarantee we’ll get a new toy out of the deal.”

  Yep she figured it went something like that. Even Clark, a three-star general, was making weird raspberry noises with his lips and Seth was laughing almost uncontrollably. Elaine and Grace were both making funny noises and faces at Serenity, who was twittering happily up at them. It had to be one of the most ridiculous things she had ever seen in her life. She turned to look at Devin. His face was absolutely comical. It was a mix between side-bursting laughter and utter horror at how big a bunch of asses they were making themselves look like.

  “This is what you’ve been dealing with for two months?” he asked, unable to tear his gaze away from the group of adults acting like morons.

  “Yep, it has been like this nonstop for two entire months.”

  “Jesus,” he mumbled.

  They both stood from the table and went into the living room. They each took a seat on the couch as everyone else took their customary seats. Clark sat in the gliding rocker while Grace and Elaine sat on the floor with the two babies between them.

  “So do you two have things worked out?” Elaine asked, never one to beat around the bush.

  Devin gave her a hesitant look and then took her hand in his. “Yeah, we got things pretty much ironed out except who would threaten her,” he answered.

  “Well, what have you found out so far?” Clark asked.

  “We caught the guy who hacked our system. His name was Scott,” he said and looked meaningfully at Tempest. “You remember the guy who stormed out of my office the first day you came in?”

  “It was him!” she said with disbelief. “Why would he threaten me? He had no clue who I was or what our relationship was.”

  “I know, but we traced all the malicious coding back to his equipment.”

  “But how could he possibly know that we were seeing each other. Hell, no one knew!” she said, confusion crinkling her brow.

  “Don’t swear if front of the babies,” Grace scolded gently and then smiled down at Seth as he gurgled at her.

  “They don’t understand a thing I’m saying for heaven’s sake,” Tempest huffed in annoyance.

  “Anyway!” Elaine said, bringing the conversation back to the issue a
t hand. “Didn’t you say they had taken surveillance photos?”

  “Yeah, there were dozens of them,” Devin said, anger coloring his cheeks.

  “So maybe they were following you and just happened upon Temp and figured out she was important,” Elaine added helpfully.

  “I don’t think so. The only thing those photos had in common was Tempest. There weren’t any photos of just me, or just you, or just Clark. They all had Tempest by herself or with someone.”

  Everyone in the room turned and looked at Tempest. She squirmed under their intense and worried gazes.

  “What?” she snapped. When no one answered her right away, it clicked what they were all thinking. “Y’all think they were following me and Devin was a way to get at me!” she said and she had to suppress a shiver of horror. “Shit!”

  Devin’s face contorted in anger. “We need to find out if Scott has said anything.” He growled and shot off a text message to Wayne.

  “Get me that bank information and get it now,” Tempest said, anxiety making her voice shake.

  “You’re not going anywhere near this,” Devin said harshly.

  Tempest turned and gave him a look that caused him to take pause for a moment.

  “Devin, son, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my long years in the military, it’s to never come between a mother looking out for her kids,” Clark said with a chuckle.

  It hit Devin hard that Tempest had every right to be in this up to her neck. If someone was after her, then there was a possibility that they could come after their children. His blood turned to ice in his veins as the possibilities flew through his mind. He turned desperate and worried eyes on his son and daughter. Fear seized and froze the breath in his lungs. He turned panicked eyes on Tempest. What he saw made the air release from his lungs. She looked murderous and for the first time he saw her as a highly trained solider ready to protect those she loved. She wasn’t some weak little girl who needed a big strong man to protect her. Hell no, what Devin saw was the woman the army had trained her to be. A soldier, calculating, smart, protective, and for lack of a better term, a killer. It hit him in the gut when he finally realized she had been trained to kill, and for all he knew she had killed while she was deployed. She would protect their kids with or without his permission.

  He stared at her with an entirely different understanding and respect. “I’ll get you the information you need as soon as I can,” he said, awe ringing through in his tone.

  Her only response was a sharp nod of her head. Someone was a walking dead person. They just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter 8

  Tempest had been working all weekend trying to find out where the money had come from. She didn’t know if the person was very smart or just extremely lucky. She gritted her teeth in frustration. She was going to figure it out come hell or high water. No one was going to get the opportunity to threaten her children.

  Just the thought caused her body to shake in pure fear. She looked around and saw Devin sitting on the floor with Seth and Serenity. The sight brought a smile to her face. He was an amazing father. He was attentive and affectionate with the babies, but he was still firm with them. He had already had to scold little Seth because of his temper. Seth had a bad habit of throwing temper tantrums and he was only two months old. If he didn’t get what he wanted the second he wanted, he would throw an angry, screaming, walleyed fit. Whenever he had done it in the past, Tempest had just ignored him and gone about getting what was needed at her original pace, showing Seth that just because he was throwing a fit didn’t mean he was going to get what he wanted any faster. The fits had become fewer and farther between.

  Since Devin had arrived, Seth was testing his boundaries with the “new guy.”

  Devin had taken his cues from Tempest in the beginning, but the fits actually started to become more frequent instead of less frequent. Seth had thrown a beauty that morning, and Tempest had just wanted to sob in frustration. Seth had been lying in the floor playing contentedly when all of a sudden he just started screaming. Tempest had checked his diaper. Nothing. She tried to give him a bottle. He didn’t want it. She tried burping him, thinking it might be gas. Nothing. She had set him back on the floor, and he had pushed his little head back arched his spine and screamed for all his little lungs were worth. They were obviously worth a lot. Tempest had sat down beside him at a complete loss.

  Devin had come down the hall all calm and cool. He had sat right down and picked up his screaming son and all he said was, “That’s enough.” He didn’t yell, and he wasn’t harsh. He spoke in that firm, deep voice of his, and Seth looked up wide-eyed and completely surprised. He had whimpered a little, but otherwise the fit was over. He laid him back in the floor, handed Seth a toy, and watched his son play contentedly. It had been amazing to watch. Since then, there hadn’t been any more fits of screaming anger.

  She shook her head with a little smile and got up from her chair. She groaned and stretched her sore muscles. She looked back and found Devin smiling at her. It was a big and sappy smile, too. She just chuckled at him.

  She had waited two weeks to get the account information, and it had finally come on Friday. Tempest had tried to give the kids to Clark and Grace for the weekend. She knew that it would be near to impossible to get anything accomplished with the rug rats around. She had forgotten that she wasn’t a single parent anymore. Devin had jumped up and immediately said he would look after them while she worked. It was then and there that her guilt slapped her in the face. He had missed time with his kids that he was damn near dying to make up for. Grace had given him a loving smile and “graciously” declined playing babysitter since she and Clark had plans. Tempest was grateful that Grace and the general were understanding and hadn’t been upset. She had to get used to the idea that Devin was around and they were his kids, too.

  While she had worked, he had played with the kids, fed them, given them baths, everything that she would’ve done. He was sitting in the floor playing with them at that moment, and she just smiled. Serenity was completely smitten with him, and Seth seemed to watch him with awe and wonder. She was thankful it hadn’t taken long at all for that bond to form.

  It struck her as she watched Devin play with the kids. He had been in her house for two weeks. He had slept in her bed every night, but he had respected her wishes. He gave her space and time. It chipped away at the doubt and worry that seemed to gnaw at her.

  She looked up at the clock with a sigh of relief…naptime.

  “Hey, Devin, it’s time for them to take their naps. Would you mind putting them down? I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “I don’t mind at all! Is there anything special I need to do?”

  “No, just put them in the crib, turn out the light, and pull the door, too. They take a nap at this time every day. They might fuss a little, but they’ll fall asleep quickly.”

  “Okay,” he said with a goofy smile and picked up the babies and headed to the nursery.

  She came out of the bathroom to find Devin sitting on the bed waiting for her. She gave him a small smile as she went to walk past him. He simply stood and blocked her path. The breath caught in her throat as one of his big hands caught her around the arm. He didn’t say anything as he simply turned her and looked down into her eyes.

  The intensity caused her breath to hitch. His gaze was full of lust and pure heat. She shivered involuntarily as his hand slid up her arm and to her face. He cupped her cheek in his palm and just stared at her for tense moments. Tempest almost sobbed in relief as his head descended. His lips touched hers, and the world exploded in bright colors.

  His free arm wound around her waist and cinched her close. She sighed into his mouth when her soft curves came into contact with his muscled frame. Her arms stole around his neck and pulled him tighter against her body. She shivered as he groaned his approval.

  Her mind turned to absolute mush when his tongue slipped past her parted lips. His taste exploded on her tongue, an
d tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. She had missed his taste. She had missed his touch. She had missed him.

  Devin pulled back from her when he felt her tears on his lips. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to move so fast,” he said softly and kissed the tears away.

  A sob caught in her throat at his gentleness. She couldn’t speak, so instead she just shook her head.

  “What’s wrong then, baby?” he asked quietly as he studied her face, concern and worry replacing the lust and heat.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” she said on a pathetic sob.

  He pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “God, I’ve missed you, too, baby,” he whispered into her hair.

  “I want you,” she said into his neck as she kissed him sweetly.

  Devin couldn’t suppress his groan. He took her mouth in a searing kiss meant to show her how much he missed her. Tempest didn’t miss a beat as she slid her hands under his shirt, desperate to feel his bare skin under her fingers. She moaned into his mouth as she felt his muscles coil and flex under her seeking touch.

  “I need you,” she whispered desperately next to his lips.

  Devin growled his approval of her desperation as he raised his arms. He grasped his shirt at the back of his head and helped her rip it off his body and fling it without thought across the room. Her shirt followed it just as quickly and thoughtlessly. He had her stripped out of her jeans and panties in short order. He sealed his lips over hers once again and walked her back until her knees hit the mattress. She sat down suddenly with a gasp. Her arousal spiked even more, if that was possible, when he gave her a gentle push on her shoulder, causing her to fall back on the bed. A heated blush swept across her cheeks as he stood over her half-clothed and studied her fuller figure.

  “God, I forgot how beautiful you were,” he croaked and came down on top of her.

  His lips met hers, and his tongue pushed its way past her lips. He wasted no time in refamiliarizing himself with her moist mouth. His hands coasted down her shoulders until he came into contact with the fabric of her bra. He yanked the cups down and skimmed his mouth over her heated flesh. He couldn’t suppress a moan as he closed his lips around her hard nipple. He sucked greedily and was shocked but turned on as hell when he got a mouthful of her breast milk. It was sweet and delicious just like her. He traced his tongue across her chest and over to her other breast, giving it the same treatment. He smiled against her skin as she gave a startled gasp of pleasure.