by Peyton Banks
“I’ll be back for you,” I whispered through clinched teeth, dropping his lifeless body to the ground.
I grabbed his weapon and stashed it under my shirt as I walked into her house. Creeping along the kitchen wall into the living room, I scanned my surroundings then peeked down the hall. The sound of shower water running upstairs caught my attention. I stalked up the wooden stairs holding the Glock high. Back to the wall, I stepped sideways, then peeked into the master bedroom. The man turned the bathroom doorknob. There wasn’t a chance in hell I would allow him to see her naked. I stalked inside the bedroom and rested my muzzle against the back of his head.
“You’re in the wrong house.”
The man raised his hands and snickered, walking backwards. “I don’t think so. She has something that doesn’t belong to her.” I snatched the weapon from his hand.
“I don’t give a fuck what she has. You thought you could walk into the bathroom and take a little something extra that didn’t belong to you,” I growled.
“Look man. Let me grab my boss’s property and be on my way.”
“No fucking way.” I placed his weapon in my waist band.
I was well armed after collecting their weapons. I was ready with or without the guns if any of their friends arrived.
I gripped his face and twisted.
The bathroom door swung open. “Ah!” she screamed at the creaking sound of his neck breaking.
His body fell to the floor like a sack of rocks.
“You killed him.” Wearing only a towel, her wide eyes stared into mine. Her hands trembled over her mouth. The fragrant scent of oranges rolled off of her skin in the air.
“He planned to harm you. I wouldn’t allow that to happen. We need to move now. Climb into something comfortable quick. More men will be here soon.”
I kicked his lifeless body to the side.
Her wobbly legs moved into the walk-in closet. “How do you know more men are coming?”
“He said you have something his boss wants. Grab a few important items and stuff them inside a duffel bag.”
“Oh my god,” she shrilled, paralyzed in one spot.
I stepped behind her. “Ms. Kerns, you have to pull yourself together. Before we leave, I need to run next door and grab more fire power.”
Her wavy hair was piled on top of her head. Stray strands dangled along her beautiful golden-brown skin. My hand would fit perfect along the side of her neck, while I kissed her perky, plump lips. My cock strained against the khaki fabric. Off limits, Aiden.
She glanced over her shoulder meeting my gaze. “Do you mind?”
“No, sorry.” I turned my back giving her privacy to slip into her clothes. “We can discuss why they were here once we are far away.”
“More firepower? Who the fuck are you? Mr. Wilder…”
“Call me Aiden. I think we are beyond formal greetings.”
“I’m dressed. Tell me Aiden, what are you doing in my house?”
“Saving your life. We have to move now.” I turned just as she slipped into a pair of white sneakers. She snatched the black duffel bag and her large purse off the floor. Ms. Kern’s hair cascaded around her shoulders. My eyes darted to her breasts. Her nipples pebbled under the tight black T-shirt. The jeans appeared to be tattooed to her ass and legs. Shit, why did my sexy neighbor have to run into trouble?
I extended my hand. “I’ll carry your bag.” She placed the strap in my hand.
I stared into her beautiful eyes filled with worry. “Stay close and hold my shirt.”
She swallowed hard and nodded.
“Don’t make a sound once we reach the back door. There’s another body on your patio.”
She gasped.
“We have to remain completely quiet.”
5
Aiden
We crept toward the front of the house. I scanned the neighborhood for any suspicious vehicles. “I think we have a head start.” I pushed open my front door.
Extending my hand, I stepped aside. “After you.”
She walked inside, I followed, and closed the door.
“It will only take a moment. I can’t allow you out of my sight.”
Her hand shook on the banister as we walked up the wide wooden staircase.
I didn’t know what kind of trouble she was in, but I knew I’d keep her safe. We could discuss why the men were hunting her later.
I peeked at her. “Ms. Kerns…”
“Nadia,” she stated in a shaky voice.
“I won’t allow anyone to hurt you.”
Her lips rose and fell. She followed me into the dark walk-in closet.
“You can have a seat on the bed if you’d like.”
My large hands parted a row of dress shirts. I stepped to the right and pressed the button behind the wooden rod along the wall. The wall slid open, and the lights popped on in the closet.
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, my god. Are you a trained killer?”
I shrugged, peeking at her over my shoulder. “Not exactly.” I was, but not the way she thought.
Her eyes roamed the large walk-in closet. She stalked toward a row of suits behind her. Nadia’s fingers grazed the medals on the dress uniform.
I stood sideways never taking my eyes off of her.
Nadia’s eyes snapped back meeting my gaze. The glint in her eyes warmed my heart. There was respect, honor, and an underlying level of understanding in her eyes.
“You’re a Navy commander.”
My eyebrows scrounged together. “Yes.”
“My uncle was a navy man. We loved cheering for him in the Veteran’s Day parades.” The memory brought a smile to her face. She may have forgotten her problems for a moment.
The ends of my lips curled upward.
I broke our gaze and stepped into the weapons room.
I’ll need to throw on a comfortable shirt and grab a few clothing items before we leave. Once we’re in the next town over, we’ll stop at the store and pick up food.
I tossed bullets, several weapons, food packs, and various tactical items I utilized in combat into a large navy duffel bag. I’d save the survival food packs in case of an emergency. If we were forced to move from the cabin and into the woods. They’d come in handy.
The Hemi engine hummed as we barreled along the dark desolate road. Nadia stared out the window, her arms crossed her chest.
“Where are we headed, Aiden?” Her eyebrow rose as she turned to me.
Clutching the steering wheel, I peeked at her over my bicep. Fuck must she raise that cute arched eyebrow like that?
“To my cabin in Bonners Ferry.”
She nodded. “I know nothing about you…”
“Are you sure about that? Mrs. Bell didn’t tell you anything?”
She scratched the back of her hair and cleared her throat. “She said you own a dentist office downtown. And you’re single,” she mumbled.
“I’m sorry what was that last part? I couldn’t hear you.”
Her eyes darted in my direction. “She said you are single.”
“Yup, I am.”
“Why?”
Shit, I can’t tell her the real reason I wasn’t married or in a relationship.
“A new dental practice can be tiresome.”
“That’s understandable.”
“What about you?” Aiden, what are you doing?
“You have to ask the question, Mr. Wilder.”
I chuckled. “Ok. Why does such a beautiful young woman live alone in a retirement community?”
Not sure why those words fell out of my mouth.
She fidgeted and ran her hand over her arm.
“Thank you for the complement. I didn’t have the best track record with men. Well, that’s what my mother said. I also partied too hard during my college years. Like I was hooked on recreational drugs. My best friend overdosed and died. I cleaned up my life, then moved here.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
<
br /> “I didn’t expect you to share so much.”
She shrugged. “Commander Wilder, I am sure you could dig into my background and find out everything about me down to my favorite color.”
“That’s true. I’d rather you tell me what your favorite color is.”
She blushed. “You didn’t check every residents background in the neighborhood?”
I smiled. “No.” Admiral Cutner assured the neighborhood was clean. I didn’t inquire about Nadia. Didn’t think I had to until now.
“Every evening you are home by nine.” Shit.
Her eyes lit up. She dropped her hands to her sides. “Do you watch all our neighbors, Commander?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “I just wondered why you never went out. I understand now about the substance abuse, but not even dinner with friends?”
The smile vanished from her pretty nude lips. “I don’t have friends here or at home.” Her forehead thudded the passenger window.
Why didn’t I look into her background? I’ve never left the responsibility up to Admiral Cutner to inform me of anything to do with my surroundings. Maybe I didn’t want to know what was happening in the home next door. All the years I served in the military, that was my world to know every little thing about the enemy.
Her beautiful head tilted to the side gazing at me. “I am sorry. Didn’t mean to get emotional.”
My fist opened and closed on the seat at my side. I fought the urge to place my hand over hers and assure her things would be fine.
“I guess it’s not normal for twenty-six-year-old women to live in retirement communities.”
“Nope.” I smiled wide.
She leaned her head against the window and stared at me. “Why does a Navy Commander live in a retirement community?”
Her eyebrows wrinkled. “And how does someone so young become a Commander? How old are you?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked her so many questions. “I am twenty-eight.”
Silence.
“That’s it? Oh, no you don’t. A young Navy commander lives in a retirement community. You killed one man and injured the other.” She raised her finger in the air.
“Oh, and last but not least, that armory you have hidden in the back of your closet, I’d say you are someone very dangerous.”
I stared at the two-lane highway.
“You’ve been grouchy as shit. Every time you and I have a conversation, you grunt and stalk off. Like I am a bother.”
That time I reached my hand across the seat and lowered it over hers. “I apologize. The goal was to keep to myself and focus on my business. Not watch you come and go all the time. It didn’t help you were afraid to allow me in your house to install the timer.”
I retracted my hand.
She ran her fingers through her dark hair, gazing out of the window.
I sighed. “I am a Navy SEALs Special Operative.”
Her head darted back and her mouth dropped open. “How can that be? All you do is sit in your backyard alone drinking beer and cooking steaks. Good steaks too. Or at least they smell damn good. You’ve never invited me over once.” Her arms crossed her chest, and she grimaced.
I laughed. “Again, I am alone for a reason. I prefer to stay that way.”
She sucked her teeth. “I wasn’t coming on to you.”
I threw my hand in the air between us like I was pumping the breaks.
“I understand. It’s nothing personal. I was on active duty for seven years in other countries. I saw and smelled the stench of death every day. Not to mention I’ve buried too many of my friends.”
Her eyes softened and she placed her hand over mine. “Thank you for your service, Aiden. And I am so sorry you, loss so many friends.”
She withdrew her hand.
“Thank you.” I raised my dark brow. “You know I didn’t expect to run to my neighbors defense and kill a man.”
She ran her hands over her face. “Ugh! Why is this happening to me?”
“Tell me what happened, Nadia.”
“I was assigned to work on a coworkers files while she was out sick. I am an accountant. Long story short someone is laundering money through the company I work for. Several businesses on file show they have tenants but they don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Well one of the businesses I run past every Saturday morning. It’s vacant. And the other businesses…I may have drove over and checked to see if there were tenants.”
My eyes widened. “You should have never done that. Nadia.”
“Well, Aiden, what was I supposed to do?”
“Inform your boss.”
She ran her hand over her hair. “Well, about that. The next day I arrived at work, the receptionists informed me again I had to work on my coworkers file. I hoped I wouldn’t uncover more, but I did. This time I found two of the money trails leading right to my boss’s Cayman and Swiss accounts.”
“Shit! What about the coworker did you confront her?”
She hesitated. “Claudia hasn’t returned to work.”
“Who else handled her accounts while she was out of the office?”
“Nobody. This was the first time she’d been absent.”
“Sounds like your boss or the people he’s working with are trying to cover their tracks. They may have killed Claudia.”
“Oh no.” She shook her head.
“They won’t stop until they find you.”
“I have to find away to expose them.” She dug into her purse, then held up a flash drive. “I knew something wasn’t right. I made a copy of the files because I planned to dig deeper.”
“I’ll help you get your life back. First, we have to lie low for a while and devise a plan.”
“Thank you, Aiden. I am so sorry you had to get involved.” She placed her hands over her mouth.
“Your practice? What are you going to do?”
“I have partners. They will run the office.”
She placed her hand over her chest and exhaled.
“Those tiny cameras and bugs I planted in your house, before we left, should hopefully reveal who’s after you.”
6
Nadia
The oversized beast stood outside my bathroom door twisting a man’s neck before my eyes. He tossed him aside like yesterday’s trash.
He ordered me around like I was his responsibility. The shock of finding out men came to my home to kill me set my nerves on edge. Tremors pulsated through my entire body.
Standing before the brooding man in my closet wrapped in only a towel, my heart raced. My hands and legs were jello while I climbed into my clothes. Minutes later, we stepped past the unconscious man on my back patio.
The moment he reassured me I was safe with him, my heart beat slowed until we stepped into his closet and he opened the armory. The stone-cold killer would protect me? My eyes landed on his Navy commander uniform putting me at ease again. He fought for our country, but if didn’t explain why he lived in our neighborhood.
Sitting across from him in his hemi truck, my nipples pebbled under my T-shirt. Shit, staring at his bulging tatted bicep sent shock waves to my pussy. I should have invited myself over to his house long ago. What could have gone wrong? Sex between neighbors wouldn’t have been bad. Creep over after work fuck him then stroll over to my house. The drought was catching up. And the second his big strong hand covered mine, I wanted to slide his fingers inside my jeans. Fuck, now I’d be alone in a cabin with him until we sorted out my problems. My dirty thoughts continued as I brought him up to speed on how I got into my mess.
An hour and a half later, Aiden turned into a twenty-four-hour big box store parking lot.
He scoured our surroundings then reached into his duffel bag on the back seat retrieving two hats. “Here, slip on the baseball cap.”
I lowered the cap onto my head. He did the same. “Come on we need to buy food.”
The lights in the store shined brighter than usual. Maybe because we we
re on the run. My heart thudded my chest as I kept his pace through the massive store. He slowed at the meat case. “Make a few selections.”
I swallowed hard as I picked up a package of chicken breast. Fuck, I can’t cook, I quickly remembered.
I met his gaze. “Cooking isn’t my specialty. But I know what I like to eat.”
His eyebrows rustled together. “Explains the abundance of food deliveries. I thought maybe you were too tired to cook.”
My mouth dropped open. “You noticed the delivery services?”
“Observing my surroundings is what I do.”
I shook my head. “Right.”
“Grab whatever you want. I’ll cook.”
I halted and peeked at him again. “I know you grill, but you can cook too?”
“Yeah, I have to survive. Eating takeout all the time isn’t healthy.”
Great a health nut. “Microwavable dinners worked fine for me.” There was no way I’d tell him my mother prepared meals I could freeze.
He shook his head. “If you say so.” We turned down the spice aisle. He selected what he needed. The navy T-shirt clenched his biceps. His pecs flexed under his shirt with each movement. If he could re-frame from making physical contact, I’d be fine.
“Are you all right?” His eyes narrowed.
Shit, he caught me staring at his impeccable hard muscled body.
“Yeah, I am fine.” I chuckled. I think the better question was how would I keep my hands off of him.
His green eyes glinted and his lips curled upward. “Let’s move.”
A flush of heat washed over me. Yeah, he knew I was staring. Fucking embarrassing. But to my defense, men can’t walk around with muscles rippling all over their bodies and expect women not to look. It was impossible not to.
Aiden dimmed the lights coasting through the woods toward a log cabin with a porch that stretched across the front.
How I’d love to drink in his brooding stature in that Navy uniform. I shook my head in the shadows. Get your mind out of the gutter, Nadia.