by J. L. Drake
“You’re a shitty liar, Savi.”
“Look, can we not do this now?” My eyes plead with him to drop it. I feel my goddamn eyes starting to water. Really, can someone throw me a fucking bone, here?
“Just be thankful Dell said he saw you, or there would have been a search party looking for your ass.” He suddenly steps forward, giving me an unexpected hug.
“Don’t do that again, or I’ll put a tracking chip in your arm.” I let out a long breath, and he pulls away, eyeing me, then huffs and walks off.
“Seems we missed some action while we were away,” Mark chimes in.
I look up at Cole, who is watching me carefully.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Quinn mutters. I shake my head at him. God, why won’t people talk about something else?
“Hey, boys,” Abigail calls out, “could you help me?”
Cole doesn’t leave. Instead, he moves a little closer. He bends down, and his mouth hovers at my ear.
His hot breath makes me shiver.
“There wasn’t a moment when I was gone that I didn’t think of you, Savannah. You’re like a goddamn drug that’s making me weak in the knees.” My breathing catches as my heart beats away, doing a happy strum. “It’s taking every ounce of my self-control not to kiss you right now.”
“I wouldn’t stop you,” I say before I can even think about it.
He steps away, shaking his head and smiling.
“Umm, Cole, I need to—”
“Heard you were MIA, Savi,” York’s voice makes my blood run cold. “You want to explain where you were?” My entire body is locked in place. All I can do is stare at my drink.
“What happened to you?” Cole asks, moving the attention off me.
“Tripped. Fucking cat.”
Ha! I want to knee him again for blaming poor Scoot, but my body betrays me and I stand immobile, listening to his lies.
“How’d everything go while we were away?”
“Same shit, different day, right, Savi?” He wraps his arm around me and tugs me painfully to his side, grinning. “We had one of our little spats, but we made up. Didn’t we, pretty lady?” He makes my skin crawl.
“Well, good.” Cole takes a drink of his brandy, but I see him look at York strangely. “Glad to hear it.”
I try to move away, but York’s fingers dig into my hip.
“Cole,” Mike calls out, “a minute?”
“Be right back,” Cole says and heads off to join Mike.
No! I don’t want to be here. I want to go back to my little safe spot in the library.
York leans in. “You speak a word of what happened last night, and I’ll personally hand you over to the Cartels myself.” He kisses my temple and walks away.
I wrap my arms around my stomach after downing the rest of my drink.
Mark shows up and hands me another. He watches as I finish half of it in one swallow.
“Mark,” I whisper, “do you have any idea when you’re going away next?”
“Possibly next week, but it’s not set in stone.”
I feel the blood drain from my face.
“I don’t think I can stay here.”
Mark drops down to my eye level. “What? How can you say that? What are you talking about?” His eyes search mine, but I feel numb. I’m shutting down.
“Dinner is ready,” Abigail announces.
I turn and walk toward the table.
Everyone is deep in conversation. Paul is talking about the men they encountered at a house they cleared out.
I, on the other hand, am very aware of York sitting directly across from me.
Cole finally joins us, sitting on my right. Abigail is on my left, as usual.
Mark replaces my empty glass with another.
My head is swimming; no food and two martinis cause quite the head trip.
“What number is that?” York asks, pointing to my martini glass.
I lick my dry lips, pick up my glass, and take a long sip, keeping my gaze on his as I give him a silent ‘fuck you.’
Cole looks between the two of us, trying to understand what is going on. Cole’s smart enough not to ask me in public.
“So, Abigail, what time does Aunt June arrive tomorrow?” Mark asks.
“Seven.” Her face perks up. “You’re picking her up at the bus stop, right?”
He nods.
I want to ask if I can go along, but I decide not to push my luck, considering later on that evening we’ll be heading into town for Thanksgiving dinner. I’m excited to see some of the town. Hell, I just want to see past the first set of gates.
“Aren’t you feeling well?” Cole leans over when I look up. “You haven’t touched your plate.”
I glance down. “Just tired,” I fib, picking up my fork and popping a green bean in my mouth.
After the table is cleared, everyone moves out to the living room. I spot Dell by himself, pouring a drink, and I want to make my move and corner him for more details about the possible blackmail comment he let slip, when Mark steps in my path.
“You care to explain yourself?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, what happened while we were gone?” He waits, but I can’t find the words. I can’t even think up a good lie. He grabs my arm and pulls me to Cole’s office, closing the door behind us, then he stands and crosses his arms. “I’ve got all night.”
Ouch! “I don’t want to be here anymore,” I blurt out.
“Bullshit,” he tosses back.
“I don’t feel safe.”
“Yes, you do.” His eyes narrow in on mine. “At least you did right up until we left. So, what happened while we were gone?”
I shake my head. I don’t know what to do.
“Savannah, did someone hurt you?”
I let out a sob and put my hand over my mouth, wanting to spill everything but scared to.
He stands in front of me, holding my arms.
I flinch and look away.
“The men in this house are part of a tight group. We all have to be able to trust one another. If there is something we need to know, you have to tell us before we bring any more people to this safe house.”
Oh, God. I start to cry harder.
“He told me he’d hand me to the Cartels if I tell anyone.” The words are out before I can stop them.
“Do you think Cole would ever let that happen? He’s my brother, and I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve seen him head over heels for a woman.”
I feel myself blush.
“He is one scary guy and knows a lot of dangerous people. No one in their right mind would cross him.”
I nod but can’t help thinking, York did.
“Okay, so that being said—” His voice suddenly changes. “Who hurt you?”
I pull in a sharp breath. “I’ll tell you, but you need to help me erase the tape. I don’t want Cole to see it.”
“No deal, Savi. I’d get fired for that.”
My anger rises. “Then show me where they are, and I’ll do it.”
“I can’t let you on his computer. Besides, Cole has the tightest security system you can buy, and he has a ridiculous number of passwords.”
Well, that, I believe. “I don’t want Cole to see me like that. He may not want me—” I stop myself, shaking my head.
“Savannah.” He grips my arms.
This time I cry out.
He lets go as his eyes narrow. He quickly tugs at my sweater, but I step back. “Savannah,” he says again and reaches over and yanks it off my shoulders.
I try to cover up the marks, but he bats my hands away.
“Holy fucking shit!” he snaps. He turns me to the side to get a better look at the perfect handprints, then steps back, running his hands through his hair and covering his mouth as he thinks. After a moment, he moves to Cole’s computer and starts typing away.
“Please, Mark,” I beg him, “don’t.” I pull my sweater back on as I race up to the front
of the desk. I knew he knew the passwords. “Mark!” He isn’t listening. “Please, please, please, stop.” Then his face drops, and I watch in horror. It’s like seeing a train heading for a car full of people who can’t get out. I know when he gets to the part where York throws me up against the wall, because the color drains from his face. He slowly stands and walks toward the door. I throw myself in front of it.
“Mark, please, I promise I’ll tell Cole. Just wait until after tomorrow.”
“Savannah, please move.” His tone is eerie.
I stare up at this 6’2” man who could easily pick me up and move me aside in the blink of an eye, but he doesn’t. He’s asking me to move. I place my hands on his shoulders just as he did mine.
“Mark, Abigail is so excited to see her sister. This will ruin the mood in the house, and I’m so tired of the attention being on me. Please, do nothing until after Thanksgiving dinner. Do it for Abigail and the rest of the house. They deserve a break.”
His eyes squeeze shut while he thinks.
I think he’s going to say no, but his eyes flicker open, and I can tell he understands.
“You have until tomorrow night. If you don’t tell him by then, I will.”
Oh, thank God. I drop my head. “Okay, yes. Thank you.”
“Are you hurt anywhere else? Anywhere at all?” He looks so upset that I want to hug him.
“No, I promise.” I wipe my cheeks dry and try to reassure him. “It’s just my arms. He was drunk.”
“So, he didn’t trip over Scoot and bite his lip,” he mutters more to himself than to me.
“No. Do you believe he would hand me over to the Cartels?”
He runs his hand over the back of his neck. “Fifteen minutes ago, I would have said ‘Hell, no,’ but now, after seeing that tape, I don’t know.”
“Oh, God.” I feel sick.
“York knows all the ins and outs of this job. He knows which lines you don’t ever cross. I don’t care if he was drunk. He wasn’t too drunk to throw you against the wall or to form a complete sentence.”
“Wait? Could you hear us?”
“There’s no audio yet, but we all lip read. I could make out some of it.”
I try to let all this sink in. “What’s going to happen to him?”
Mark moves back to sit on the couch while I stand, not sure if I’m coming or going. Fuck, I’m so scattered!
“Well, if Cole doesn’t kill him, which I suspect he will, he’ll be sent back to Army headquarters for a psych check. They’ll want to review the tape to see if you want to press charges.”
A chill races up my spine. That is the last thing I want to do. I just want him gone.
“This is going to be a big blow to the house, although I always knew there was something wrong with that son of a bitch.”
“I don’t understand why he’d risk his career. He knows the cameras are all throughout the house.”
“Cole has been upgrading the entire security system, and right before we left, they were working on the cameras downstairs. They were having trouble getting them to connect to the server, so they were offline for six hours. He probably thought they were still down. Fuck, I want to rip his head off right now.”
There’s a knock at the door, and we both jump. Keith pops his head in.
“Is there a party I don’t know about?” When he sees my face, he comes in and shuts the door behind him. “Okay, what’s going on?” I shoot a look at Mark, who is standing up.
“Nothing that can’t wait for a day,” he says, walking me to the door.
Keith doesn’t buy it, but doesn’t push it either, and the three of us walk back to the living room, where only a few people were left.
Cole’s face relaxes into a smile when he sees us walking over to him. “Hey, where did you two run off to?”
“Just got chatting and lost track of time,” Mark says, looking around the room. Oh, God, there’s York a few feet away.
I can practically feel the rage building in Mark’s body as he watches York. I begin to feel even more nervous when I notice Cole watching him too. I need to think fast.
“I’m really happy you’re all back.” And that’s what I come up with? Smooth, Savi. Cole looks down at me and smiles. Well, that is worth the dorky line. My stomach flutters. “I bet you’re all beat.”
“Very.” He downs the rest of his drink.
“Me too.”
“Come on. I’ll walk you upstairs.” We say good night to everyone.
Mark gives me an extra-long, soft hug.
The walk up the stairs is quiet. It isn’t until we are alone that he put his hand on my back. Such a simple act makes me feel so much better. He checks my room, like he always does, and turns on my fireplace. I close the door then join him at the fire, and he stares down at me with that smile that reminds me I’m a woman with needs.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispers and tucks my hair behind my ear.
“Thank you for keeping your promise.” I close my eyes, feeling his hand running up my neck.
He cups the back of my head and tilts it to the side so my neck is exposed. “If I get to come home to this,” his hot lips kiss me just under my ear, “I’ll promise you every time.”
My body goes limp as his words sink in.
He presses his lips back down as his tongue twirls in circles, and he chuckles between his kisses. “You have a wild heartbeat.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I breathe. My hands move under his shirt to skim along his stomach. I no longer register the pain in my arms.
His breathing changes, giving me some much-needed courage.
I let my fingers explore. Jesus, this man has zero body fat. I run my fingernails around to his back, and he hisses.
“You’re testing my self-control, here.”
I grin, happy he’s feeling as weak around me as I am around him.
He wraps his arms around my waist and draws me to him. “I don’t want to screw this up with you. I’ve already crossed a line I should never have crossed. Call me weak, but I’m drawn to you, and I’ve never felt this way before.”
I feel like I might burst, but for a good reason this time. “I haven’t either,” I whisper and pull back. “The way I felt when you left, and again when I saw you downstairs—it isn’t something I’ve ever…I mean, I understand you’re risking your reputation being here right now, and I respect, well, not going public with it.”
“Problem is,” he reaches down and lifts me into the air, pulling me against him as I wrap my legs around his waist, “I want everyone to know you’re mine.”
I grin and raise an eyebrow. “Am I, now?”
He nips at my neck playfully then leans in and gives me a long, deep kiss.
My legs tighten around him as my body coils with lust, then he pulls away, leaving me breathless.
“I want you to be.” He looks up at me with his deep, dark eyes.
“I want to be too,” I confess, feeling lightheaded. I lean my head back against the wall as he licks the length of my neck. I moan, tilting my head to the side and squeezing his erection harder between my legs.
He slams his hips into me and growls as he sucks where my collar meets my shoulder.
“Fuck me, Savi.” He groans as he slowly lowers me to the ground and draws my hand to his mouth, kissing it softly. “Get some sleep, baby.”
My insides melt into a pool in my stomach. This man positively has me wrapped around that smile of his. God, am I really ready to start a relationship with someone? Maybe I just need to stop overthinking things and let myself live a little.
Chapter Eleven
Savannah
I change then begin to pace the room, suddenly feeling guilty for not telling Cole what happened with York. I just need one more day. God, I hope Mark keeps his word. I stop pacing when I hear footsteps outside my door, and I see a shadow on the floor. A soft knock makes me shiver. What if it’s Cole? Maybe he can’t sleep either. Am I ready for this? I slowly make my wa
y over and open the door.
Two glossy eyes stare down at me. Shit! His gaze rakes over my nightgown.
“Evening,” he purrs as I try to slam the door, but he puts his foot in to stop it.
“Move your foot, York!” I hiss, swallowing down a lump of fear. Footsteps coming up the stairs draw his attention, and I shove him backward, slamming the door and locking it. Screw this! I grab a blanket off my chair and slip into the back hallway.
Cole
Cole wakes to banging on his door, then it bursts open.
Abigail is madly running around his room, and he squints as he tries to catch up.
“Where is she? Tell me she’s with you!” She’s talking a mile a minute, racing into his bathroom.
“Who?”
“Savannah! She didn’t sleep in her bed again last night, and I can’t find her anywhere!”
That wakes him up. He jumps to his dresser, pulling on jeans and a black t-shirt.
They both hurry to her room to confirm it is empty. Hearing voices coming from downstairs, Cole bolts out the door. Abigail on his heels, he flies down the stairs and into the kitchen.
“Wow, where’s the fire?” Paul holds up his coffee mug.
“Have you seen Savannah?” Abigail asks breathily.
“Yes, she’s out on the patio.” Dell points outside. “Everything okay?”
Cole doesn’t answer. He moves through the dining room, his stomach in knots. There she is, dressed in a white sweater and light pink tight-fitting pants, sipping a cup of coffee. Her hair hangs in big curls around her shoulders. Christ, she takes his breath away. She must have sensed him watching because she turns to look at him. Her eyes light up then drop quickly after looking over his shoulder.
“That girl is getting a goddamn tracking device in her neck this time!” Keith shouts, storming into the dining room. “Cole, this is the second time she’s done this,” he complains.
“Calm down, Keith,” Abigail says just as Savannah opens the door behind them. She is biting her lip, her eyes downcast.
“Why are we shouting?” Mark looks like he got two hours of sleep.
“Sweet boxers, man.” Cole points to his Ironman underwear. Mark flips him the finger.