“Got it, men versus women,” he’d glowered. “Are you trying to say they might be able to target actual families?”
“Yes! Can you imagine the application if it wasn’t an airborne poison, but an actual treatment for a disease? I’m sure we could do things like target those people who were carriers of the sickle cell anemia gene. This is amazing work. I need to talk to the person who developed this.”
The general crossed his arms. “That’s not possible,” he bit out.
She thrust her hands on her hips. “It has to be. The potential benefits are extraordinary. This is a critical breakthrough.”
“You gave me the information I needed. It’s time you went back to your lab in San Diego.”
The next thing Riya knew, she was on a plane with all of her notes confiscated. Since she’d been working on a Pentagon computer and not allowed access to her personal computer, they’d figured she wouldn’t be able to retain the information. Were they nuts? She had a photographic memory for God’s sake. Couldn’t the idiots read her file?
Riya prayed that at least part of her brain could focus on work, and not on Gray. She bent over her notebook and began sketching out the sequencing she’d witnessed from the pathogen. There had to be a way to reverse engineer it.
* * *
“Dammit!”
Her pencil careened across the page, scratching over her writing. Then a huge grin broke over her face as the second bong of Gray’s distinctive text tone sounded. Riya untangled herself from the couch and made a mad dash upstairs to her phone.
Einstein yowled in protest and ran after her.
YOU UP?
Riya clutched her phone, and fumbled to answer Gray’s text.
YES.
CAN I COME OVER?
Her hands were so slippery that she had to retype the word, YES.
BE THERE IN LESS THAN THIRTY.
Riya looked at the time on the phone. It was three-thirty in the morning. Miranda had said that Griff had often come back in the middle of the night. Did this mean that Gray wasn’t even going home, he was coming straight to her?
She stumbled on the sheet that was hanging off the bed as she rushed to the bathroom. Einstein almost got caught under her feet.
“Any damage I do is going to be your fault,” she warned. Pinning her braid on top of her head, she jumped in the shower and screeched under the cold water. She powered through until it warmed up. Nothing was going to stop her from getting ready.
When she got out of the shower she took a long time smoothing on her jasmine and raspberry lotion that she knew Gray liked. She frowned when she saw all the scratch marks. Now she didn’t feel itchy at all.
You’re a mess.
Just went to prove that a genius was as prone to psychosomatic responses as the next person.
She pulled out the lace lavender bra and panty set that she had purchased when she’d taken her sister out shopping. She’d been petting the satin and lace at least once a day since she’d brought them home, imagining Gray’s reaction when he would see her in the lingerie. She shivered as she finally pulled it on.
She looked in her bedroom mirror and frowned when she noticed her hair. Riya yanked at the scrunchie holding her braid together, and dug her fingers through the long strands of her unwinding hair, trying to make it look nice.
Her doorbell rang.
For God’s sake, it had barely been twenty minutes. To hell with her hair. Who cared what she was wearing. She whirled away from her mirror and stubbed her toe on her dresser as she raced to her bedroom door.
“Fuck!”
Oops, she was only wearing underwear. She grabbed her discarded sleepshirt and started tugging it over her head as she headed toward her stairs.
Stop.
Get a grip.
At the rate she was going she’d end up with a broken leg at the bottom of the stairs.
Riya untangled her right arm and got it into the sleeve of her pink shirt, and pulled it down so it covered her booty. Grabbing the handrail, she pounced down the stairs. She could do that, she was holding the rail after all.
* * *
Be smart.
Go home.
Go to bed.
Be smart.
He should never have texted Riya. What was he thinking? He was exhausted. He needed sleep. Desperately. But he needed to see Riya. He needed to touch her. Feel her warm and vibrant skin beneath his fingers, feel her warm breath against his lips. To see her eyes filled with light and laughter. It wasn’t a want, it was a deep and compelling desire.
Gray relived those last few hours when he and his men were in Bahrain. As soon as they crossed the border, they’d been met by members of the Fifth Fleet. He and his men had watched as Chantelle Briggs and Emily Hoag were taken from their care and put on a helicopter. Then Gray and the rest of his team went back to NSA Bahrain, and were separated. Gray went to go meet with the commanding officer, while his men went to go get something to eat.
Captain Reese was a smart man who had received the video from Dex showing Acting Commander Harry Morris in action. Reese was also wise enough to realize that it was more than likely someone connected with Black Dawn had arranged for Acting Commander Dumbass to have papers transferring him to Libya.
“Morris is on his way back here,” Reese said with a steely glint in his eye. “I would have taken care of him on my own after receiving the video. I didn’t appreciate you sending him around the world.”
“Noted,” Gray agreed. There was no way he was going to throw Wyatt under the bus for having done this. Actually it showed some initiative on the kid’s part. But still Gray needed to teach him some discretion.
“Now that that’s out of the way, I want to tell you I’m impressed with you and your team. You knocked it out of the park. But who are we kidding, that doesn’t mean shit. You’ve impressed Baker, that’s who really matters. Plus, your plan didn’t kill him. Which I sincerely appreciate.”
“How is he?” Gray asked. He’d only gotten the one report that the former SEAL was fine after the crash that had sent him over the bridge.
“He ended up with a couple of broken ribs. Of course he reported for duty the next day.”
Any SEAL would have done the same thing.
“Any word on the women?” Gray asked.
“They were only airlifted to the hospital two hours ago, Lieutenant,” Captain Reese sighed. “I asked my assistant to interrupt us with any news about their status. They were taken to the same hospital used by the Prince of Bahrain. It has the best facilities in the country.”
“Are their families going to meet them?”
“Emily Hoag’s mother is coming in from Oman, the Ambassador can’t make it. It’s my understanding that Ms. Brigg’s estranged from most of her family, but a cousin is coming from Canada. The doctors have some concerns about both the women, for different reasons.”
Gray knew exactly what he was talking about. “I want to be kept informed, even when I return to the states.”
Reese gave him a considering look, then nodded. “You and your men did a damn good job. I hate the fact that one of mine got in our way.”
Gray really didn’t need to know why Harry Morris had been put in an acting commander position. It wasn’t his business. But what was his business, is that he not be in a position to harm anyone in the future. He put men’s lives at risk.
“Captain, with all due respect—” Gray began.
Reese cut him off. “I’m not going to go into a long drawn-out explanation,” Reese said. “What I will tell you, is that Morris will never be in a position to put another man or team in harm’s way. You have my word on that.” Reese got up from behind his desk and held out his hand. Gray shook it.
“Your transport is already fueled up. Hopefully, we’ll have an update on both women before you leave.”
Gray caught up with his men as they were walking to the plane. Reese’s sandy-haired assistant came running across the tarmac to talk to them.
&nb
sp; “What’s the news?” Gray demanded as all of his team gathered around the young man.
“Ms. Hoag isn’t speaking to anyone. The doctors say that she’ll be good to travel home to California in a couple of weeks with her mother.”
“What about the Ambassador?” Griff crossed his arms staring down the smaller man.
The petty officer didn’t flinch. “I was told that the Ambassador couldn’t leave his post at this time, and it would just be Emily and her mother leaving to go stateside.”
Gray could feel every one of his team making judgements about Emily’s father, none of them good.
“I’m going to be keeping tabs on her,” Dex said. “Just because she arrives back in the States, doesn’t mean she’s off our watch.”
Gray’s men nodded.
“And Chantelle Briggs?” Aiden asked. “How is she doing?”
“She’s still in surgery.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. “The doctor wanted me to tell you something verbatim. ‘Whoever worked on Ms. Briggs in the field did an excellent job.’” The young man looked up and grinned.
“You still didn’t answer my question,” Aiden glared at him. “What kind of surgery is Chantelle having?”
“Oh, one of her broken ribs ended up perforating a lung, and they had to go in and repair that. They don’t expect any problems.” Gray watched as Aiden relaxed the slightest little bit.
Dex turned to Aiden. “Don’t worry, man. Wyatt and I will be keeping tabs on Ms. Briggs as well.”
“Your ass would have been in a sling if you hadn’t,” Aiden glowered.
“Okay men, get moving,” Gray waved to the plane. “The sooner we board, the sooner we’re home.”
That was the only good news that the members of Black Dawn had before they loaded up on the plane. For the first half hour of the trip home, Gray replayed the mission, beating himself up. Was there any way that they could have gotten to the women when they were still at the resort? If they had, could they have saved Emily from the atrocities visited on her by Faizon and his son?
He allowed himself exactly thirty minutes of worthless thinking before shutting that shit down. He and his team would do a post-mortem of the mission when they got home, they would determine what went right and what went wrong. But analytically, Gray knew that with Harry Morris in their way, they got to Saudi Arabia as quickly as they could. Aiden and Dex had worked wonders figuring out the Golden Tulip, and they’d had no choice but to wait until the middle of the night to raid the boat.
It was a subdued group that landed in San Diego. Wyatt wasn’t at the base, and all the men left to go home to their women. Gray had intended to go home, there was no way he was planning on subjecting his dark mood on Riya. But here he was at her door, waiting for her to open it.
He heard the click of the alarm being unarmed, and then she unbolted the door, and there she was. He could breathe again.
“Gray?”
He realized he had been standing there without speaking.
“I’ve missed you.” His voice was rough.
She grasped his hand and tugged. “Come in.”
9
Gray was a sight for sore eyes. The black t-shirt he wore molded to his upper body, and made her ache, but when she looked into his face all of her naughty thoughts flew out the window. The man looked exhausted. More than that, he looked ravaged.
Riya put her hand over his heart. “Gray, what happened?”
He shook his head, as if coming out of a dream, then smiled down at her. “You’re beautiful.”
Had she dreamed that expression on his face? No. She hadn’t.
“Talk to me. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. A little tired. Hungry. Happy to see you.” He cupped her cheek, his thumb doing that thing he did, caressing her lower lip, causing shivers to race through every cell of her body.
“Is everybody else okay? Griff?”
“Everybody’s fine. I promise.”
“Let’s get you something to eat.”
“You’re kidding, right? Food can wait. It’s you I want. You I need.”
The heat in his eyes could melt steel. Riya trembled, and Gray wrapped his arms around her. Was he holding her up, or did he just want her close? Did it matter as long as she was pressed up against him?
Riya sank her nails into his shoulders, trying to force him to lower his head. Then he did.
Gray’s mouth touched hers and she thrilled at the sensations that ran up and down her spine. He brushed his lips back and forth against hers, until he coaxed her to open with a sigh of contentment. Like the marauder he was, he took advantage and stroked his tongue inside her mouth and gathered her closer, when her knees weakened.
She needed.
She wanted.
She sucked him deeper inside, sliding her tongue against his, exalting in every single one of the new sensations that Gray provided.
He tangled his hand in her hair and pulled at it. The tugs in counterpoint with the thrusts of his tongue. She was going to explode.
What was that noise?
Was it a whimper? A moan?
Gray reared back and gave her a penetrating look. “Baby, are you okay?”
“What?” She didn’t understand. “Why did you stop?”
His shoulder relaxed just the tiniest little bit beneath her hand. She moved it to stroke his whiskers.
“I was worried, the noise you made, it sounded like I might have hurt you.”
“Oh, I was the one I heard,” she grimaced. “Gray, you’ve never, ever hurt me.” She cuddled up closer to him. “Being close to you feels wonderful.”
He let out a sigh of relief. As much as she wanted to continue the kissing portion of the evening, it seemed that Gray was a little too tightly wound for that. She gave him another hug, willing him to relax. It took a solid two minutes before she felt the tension drain out of him.
“Now are you ready for some food?” she asked as she pulled back to look him in the face.
His eyes lit up. “What do you have?”
“Tandoori chicken and rice or Hawaiian pizza.”
It was fun to see Gray shudder in distaste.
“Pineapple on pizza is an offense to all that is holy.”
“Tandoori chicken it is, unless you want me to make you a grilled cheese sandwich and warm up some tomato soup.”
“Are you kidding? I want the chicken. All I’ve had is an MRE since yesterday.”
He started to follow her into the kitchen.
“Sit down, Big Guy. I’m bringing it out to you.” She shoved him toward the couch, but he didn’t budge.
“I really want to go into the kitchen with you.” His voice was rough, in a sexy sort of way.
“Why?”
“I can’t wait to see you bend down to pull things out of the refrigerator.”
Holy hell!
Riya looked down. How had she not remembered she was only wearing her sleep shirt?
“Let me go upstairs. I’ll be right back.”
Gray grabbed her hand before she could make a run for it.
“Are you cold?”
He had often teased her about keeping the temperature up above seventy degrees at all times. So he knew she wasn’t. She shook her head.
“Don’t feel like you have to get dressed up for me. Anyway, besides getting a chance to see your sexy legs, your shirt is cracking me up.”
She looked down at the phrase adorning her chest, and giggled.
“You like that, do you?”
“I met a man while I was overseas, who wouldn’t catch the joke.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
She plucked at her shirt so she could get a better look at the saying.
Five out of four people struggle with math.
“Uhm, Riya, I can almost see your panties when you do that.” Gray’s voice was strangled.
She blushed from the tip of her toes to her forehead. “I’ll go change,” she whispered.
“D
on’t you dare. I’m serious, I want to ogle you in your kitchen.”
She felt that rumbly voice all the way to her toes. She could always stoop to pull things out of her fridge, instead of bending.
Gray yawned, and all thought of stooping and bending fled her mind. “You are relegated to the couch. I’m warming up some food for you. If you last long enough tonight, I’ll give you a small peek at the color of underwear I’m wearing, but only if you’re a good boy.”
What the hell, it was what she’d been hoping to do anyway. But more important than anything else, was taking care of Gray. He looked dead on his feet, he needed to eat and rest. As she saw him sink down into the cushions, she wondered if he would even be awake when she brought out the food.
* * *
“Gray?”
Gray recognized the pearl gray glow of dawn lighting the room. Riya’s face came into view.
“You look uncomfortable as all get out. I hate sleeping on this couch, and I’m half your size.”
Gray stretched his neck and winced, then he laughed. “This is a dream bed compared to a lot of places I’ve slept.”
“Come upstairs, and you can have a real bed. Or I can make you breakfast before you go to bed.”
“That sounds like heaven.”
Gray swung his legs over the side of the couch and planted his feet onto the carpet. He vaguely remembered taking his boots off.
“What sounds like heaven?” Riya asked.
Gray grinned up at her. “Either. Both.” He took a look at Riya and was disappointed to see she was now wearing jeans and a sweater.
“Well that’s as clear as mud,” she smiled.
Gray itched to pull Riya into his arms, but he ran his tongue over his teeth. He’d taken a shower, brushed his teeth and put on clean clothes at the base in Coronado before heading to Riya’s. But now that his teeth had grown hair, he’d kill to grab his toothbrush from the duffel in his car.
“First, I need to go grab some stuff out of my car and head to the bathroom.”
He looked over to his right and saw that his boots weren’t standing neatly at the end of the couch, which was odd. They were on their side, and one of them was being pulled, ever so slowly, under the couch by the shoelace. He could make out Einstein’s blue eyes glinting from under the sofa.
Her Captivated Hero: A Black Dawn Novel Book 6 Page 10