by Joss Wood
“Cracker has no family and he spends eighteen hours a day at Pytheon,” Stone said. “He has no life, something Sam and I have been trying to get him to have. He had a rough childhood and he considers Pytheon his family... he wouldn’t betray us.”
“He has a ridiculous work ethic and is obsessive about his responsibilities; he fell apart last year when we lost one of our assets in Guatemala,” Stone added.
“Why did he fall apart?” Jett asked, curious.
“He was convinced he’d misinterpreted data on that particular drug cartel, that he’d missed a crucial detail that could’ve prevented Sean’s death.”
“Did he?” Kelby asked.
“No.” Sam shook her head. “I spent hours counseling him. He has an overdeveloped sense of responsibility and I tried to make him understand that Pytheon operates as a team and that he doesn’t need to work himself to a standstill to repay Stone.”
Repay Stone how? Jett was about to ask when he saw Stone’s don’t-ask look and he was smart enough to keep that question behind his teeth. But, if Cracker was that devoted to Stone, there was little chance he’d jeopardize the safety of Stone and his people to do a deal with The Recruiter.
But people were nuts so Jett was keeping his options open. But there was nothing more any of them could do tonight and he needed to get Sam out of here.
“We’re going to head out.”
At his words, Kelby slipped out of the room, no one but Will noticing that he’d left.
“Where are you staying?” Fern asked, worry skipping across her face.
Sam started to answer her but Jett cut her off. “We’re safe. For now. Let’s leave it at that, okay?”
“You’re not going to tell me?” Fern demanded. “Seriously?”
Jett grinned at her annoyance. He liked Sam’s best friend, enjoyed the easy friendship and affection they shared. “Seriously.”
Mary picked up Sam’s clutch bag from the side table and handed it to Sam, standing on her tiptoes to brush her lips against Sam’s cheek. “Please be careful, darling. I’d be devastated if anything happened to you.”
“Jett will look after me, Mare,” Sam said, hugging the older women. “Love you.”
“Put your coat on, it’s cold out there. Let me get it. Have you got a scarf? I hope you are taking vitamin C, darling; you know how you are prone to colds,” Mary fussed.
Sam laughed and put her hand into Jett’s outstretched one. “I have bigger things to worry about than catching a cold, Mare.”
Jett pulled her into his side, surprised when Sam’s arm slid around his waist, her other hand resting on his stomach. “Night, everyone.”
“Let me know when you are home safe,” Stone said.
Jett walked Sam out of the house and down the front steps, knowing his men were deep in the shadows and would’ve warned him if evacuating the premises wasn’t safe. All, according to his men, was well. He saw the mammoth SUV idling at the sidewalk, its dark windows concealing Kelby who was behind the wheel. Jett hustled her over to the car and yanked open the door. “Right, crawl across the seat, get out on the other side and duck into the taxi parked opposite. Duck behind the seat so nobody can see you. I’m coming in after you so make sharp.”
Jett had the pleasure of watching Sam’s fine ass scramble across the leather seats of the SUV and, despite her heels and cocktail dress, she hurried into the taxi, curling up behind the driver’s seat. Using the SUV as a shield, Jett climbed in after her and ducked his head so it looked like the taxi was empty sans for a dozing driver.
Kelby accelerated away and Jett listened for the sound of another car starting up but the road remained quiet. Five minutes passed and two text messages hit his phone almost simultaneously. Kelby hadn’t picked up a tail and his men outside the imposing house were certain no one followed the SUV. Jett glanced down, saw the all clear signal on his phone and tapped the driver on the shoulder. “Drop us off at the nearest subway entrance, Raul.”
“Yes, sir,” Raul answered, doing a fine impression of a dozy driver who’d just woken up and decided to go back to work.
When Raul was a block away from the townhouse, Jett sat up and pulled Sam onto the seat next to him. He opened the bag he’d picked up as he moved through the SUV and pulled out a pair of jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt, and a thick, warm sweater, tossing them into Sam’s lap. He placed sneakers and socks on the seat next to her.
“Change. As fast as you can. We’re bailing as soon as you’re ready.”
Sam, thank God, didn’t argue and after darting a quick look at Raul, shrugged out of her coat and maneuvered her hand behind her back to pull down the zipper. Jett watched her as she slipped her arms out of the demure sleeves and pushed the fabric so it pooled around her waist. She pulled on the T-shirt and the sweater before lifting her bottom to kick free of the dress. Her jeans required some contortion but she pushed her feet against the back seat, lifted her hips and pulled the fabric up. A quick zip and she was decent.
Jett handed her a ball cap and instructed her to hide as much of her hair under the cap as she could.
Then he pulled on a battered leather jacket, an equally battered ball cap and told Raul to pull over.
Jett left the car and turned back to hold out a hand to Sam.
He grinned. “Ever ridden the subway, princess?”
Sam’s attempt to skewer him with a look made him laugh. “Probably more than you have, Legend.”
Back in Gemma’s apartment, Jett punched in the code to open the apartment door and pushed Sam inside. Sam pulled off her sweater and dropped down to sit on Gemma’s bright blue couch. How Jett managed to live with a woman who surrounded herself with psychedelic colors was beyond her. Then again, from what he’d said, he’d dropped in and out of her life so living with Gemma’s artistic streak wouldn’t have been a deal breaker.
“I’m still uncomfortable with the idea of staying in your ex’s apartment,” Sam said as he flipped the locks on the door. “In the scheme of things I know it’s silly, but I still feel weird.”
“What we had is over,” Jett told her. “She’s engaged to marry someone else.”
Sam sent him a sharp look. “And how do you feel about that?”
“I’m fine with it.” Jett sent her a look over his shoulder. “Why the curiosity?”
Sam shrugged. “You asked her to marry you and now she’s marrying someone else. That must sting.” God, why was she harping on this? What was wrong with her?
“I’m very okay with her marrying someone else. My lifestyle, my job, and the fact that I’m not around much is a barrier not many women can see themselves scaling.”
There was a warning in his words and she would be clever to heed it.
“I could handle being alone, I just couldn’t handle knowing that my husband was consistently putting himself in danger,” Sam mused, voicing her thoughts and knowing she shouldn’t. She could love Jett, if she let herself. And if she was being honest, she probably could handle him wandering in and out of her life but the thought of loving him and then losing him froze the blood in her veins. She couldn’t live in a world that didn’t have Jett in it.
No, it was better she put the brakes on whatever was building between them, to end this now. They’d slept together and it was fantastic but she knew herself well enough to know she wouldn’t be able to keep separating sex from love, that she wasn’t sophisticated enough to check her feelings at the door.
“We shouldn’t sleep together again, Jett,” she said, silently begging him to hear what she couldn’t say. I don’t want to fall in love with you, I don’t want to get hurt, you’ve come to mean too much to me too soon.
I’m so scared of loving you, even more scared of losing you.
Jett placed his forearms on his knees, allowing his hands to dangle between them. When he looked at her, Sam felt like he was looking into her soul. He was the first, the only man, to see her so clearly, to strip away the BS of being her father’s heiress and her brother’
s sister and see the person she was underneath her famous surname. Bright, sure, but insecure. Vulnerable, a little needy.
“I wish this was something we could turn off but I don’t know if we can,” Jett said, sounding contemplative. “I look at you and I not only want to strip you naked but I want to discover who and what you are, and like, in and out of bed. I don’t want to get involved, to feel anything more for you than lust and attraction but you make that so damn difficult.”
Sam lifted her hand. “You’re not helping,” Sam whispered.
Jett’s expression was pure stubbornness. “I refuse to live my life feeling scared, Samantha. Yeah, delving deeper into this is a little nerve-wracking but if you’re asking me to make a choice between living scared and having you, I’m going to choose you, every time. As a soldier, I can’t let fear hold me back from doing my job and I refuse to act the opposite in my personal life.”
“If this blows up, it’ll hurt, Jett!” Sam cried.
“So it’ll hurt. But what if it doesn’t? What if this is awesome destiny in action?” Jett asked, his eyes blazing with desire and courage. “Come on, Sam, take a chance.”
“You don’t know what you are asking of me,” Sam replied, her voice barely a whisper.
“I’m asking you to put one foot in front of the other, to take each moment as it comes. I’m not asking you for marriage, for a commitment, to bear my babies. I’m asking you for tonight. Let’s not complicate this by looking too far ahead.”
“How can you not?”
Jett shrugged. “As a soldier, you’ve got to focus on what’s in front of you, about taking the next step, the right step. You learn to live in the moment.”
“I’ve never been good at doing that,” Sam admitted.
“Can you try?” Jett asked. “Because I really need to take you to bed, to touch and tease and taste you again.”
Sam slapped her hand against her forehead. “We forgot to buy condoms,” she groaned, disappointment rolling through her.
Yeah, he didn’t need to work too hard to persuade you to climb back into bed with him, did he, Stone?
Jett pulled a strip of ten condoms out from the inside pocket of his jacket. He lifted an eyebrow, his expression cocky. “Think we can use them all?”
“Not in one night,” Sam retorted, laughing. She threw up her hands and leaned back in her chair. “Okay, I give up. Tonight, I want to be with you more than I want to protect myself.”
Jett’s eyes warmed, deepened and Sam felt herself being swept away. Needing one last moment to anchor herself, she held up a hand. “Just so that we are clear, I might not feel like that tomorrow.”
“Understood.” Jett stood up and moved around the coffee table to loom over her. “Now, will you please stop stressing and let me take you to bed?”
Sam looked over his shoulder to the door and noticed that the bookcase wasn’t blocking it. “No bookcase?”
Jett pulled a face. “Shit. Yeah, I’m going to do that, in a second. But first, I’ve got to kiss you.”
Sam curled her hand around the back of his neck. “Kiss away.”
Jett grabbed her ankles and lifted her legs so she lay horizontal on the couch and gently lowered his big body so he lay on top of her, his erection nestling into the space between her legs. He held his weight off her by resting on his elbows, their mouths perfectly aligned. Jett’s curved lips met hers and Sam felt a buzz cross her skin. No man had ever made her feel like this, like she was dancing on sunbeams and sliding down rainbows. She loved everything about Jett—his fabulous good looks, his rocking body—his skill with that body—but she liked his mind, his drive, and determination, his sense of honor.
She felt safe with him, protected. He was exactly what she was looking for but wouldn’t allow herself to have.
Jett murmured, pulling away to swipe his thumb across her bottom lip, to push a curl out of her eye, “Stop thinking. Relax, you’re in very good hands.”
Sam laughed at his confidence. She was in very good hands and she intended to enjoy those hands tonight, maybe tomorrow night. She wasn’t going to look further than that. Well, she’d try...
Sam ran her hands down Jett’s broad back, reaching under his jacket to pull his shirt out of his pants. Finding skin, she sighed against his mouth, her words a low, husky murmur. “I really love your body.”
“Funny that,” Jett replied, taking a break from nibbling the skin on her jaw. “I adore your body too. You smell like sunshine.”
Sam pushed his jacket off his shoulders. “You have too many clothes on.”
“That’s something that can be easily rectified,” Jett said, pushing up on his arms to stand up. He quickly stripped out of his jacket and pulled his phone and his wallet out of the pockets of his pants before dropping his jacket to the floor. He pulled his weapon from the space behind his back and carefully placed it, barrel pointed away from her, on the coffee table. He bent over, giving Sam a great view of his spectacular ass as he bent down to pull his backup piece from his ankle holster and put it on the table next to the Glock.
Sam’s gaze flicked to the door and reminded him about the bookcase.
“Yeah. Shit.” Jett winced, looking chagrined. “You distract the hell out of me.”
“While you move the bookcase, I’ll do this.” Sam smiled and slowly, ever so slowly, pulled her shirt up her chest, revealing the silk of her pale-blue, strapless, very see-through bra.
Jett licked his lips and Sam smiled when his hand moved to cup her, his thumb rubbing across her nub, the same action he’d used on her bottom lip.
And her womb started to weep with need.
Sam, unable to wait, lifted her arm and placed her hand on his cock, feeling the hard length between her finger and thumb. She used the tips of her fingers on his head and watched, fascinated, as the fabric of his pants tightened, clearly showing his length and thickness.
She so wanted more of that. “I can’t wait to feel you inside me, pushing into me,” Sam told him, surprised at her honesty.
She wasn’t much of a talker during sex, preferring to pray her partners got it marginally right, but it felt natural to tell Jett what she wanted and how she wanted it.
Jett, his eyes closed, seemed rooted to the floor, his fists clenched tight against his strong sides. He just looked at her and Sam knew as soon as they were naked, or mostly naked, she was going to get nailed.
And in the best way possible.
Waiting was not an option.
Sam’s hands went to her jeans and Jett pulled his shirt off. His hands hit his belt and he was pulling it apart and Sam’s jeans were halfway down her legs when his phone rang. Jett cursed and stared down at the burner phone, his face tight with annoyance.
“It’s Kelby.” He picked up the phone, hit the answer button, and snapped out a terse greeting.
Sam’s jeans were pooled around her ankles and she was about to pull her sneakers off her feet when Jett’s bullet-like “Fuck” shifted the air between them. Sam snapped her head up, saw her lover morph into a hard-ass warrior and leaped to her feet. She pulled her jeans up, zipped, and reached for her shirt. Jett, still listening to Kelby, snatched up his smaller weapon and lifted his foot onto the table to slide the pistol back into its holster. He tossed Sam her sweater and she quickly pulled it on and walked over to the door, ready to go.
Because they were leaving, she knew that as well as she knew her own signature.
“We’ll be down in five and we’ll head out the back,” Jett said, picking up his jacket and tossing it toward Sam. She caught it and cradled it to her chest. Jett picked up his Glock and held it against his thigh, the barrel pointing down. Yeah, something had happened. Something bad.
“Pick us up on the corner, by the coffee shop.”
Jett disconnected, jammed the phone into his front pocket, and walked over to her, the muscle in his cheek jumping. He pulled on his shirt and took his jacket from her, jamming his arms into the sleeves.
“What happen
ed?” Sam asked, as he started to slide the dead bolts to open the door.
“Raul, the taxi driver? He didn’t check in and wasn’t answering his phone. Kelby locked in on his GPS and went to look for him. The taxi was found idling at an intersection, both doors open. According to witnesses on scene, three men ambushed the taxi in a well-coordinated attack. After shooting Raul, they opened both back doors and the trunk before jumping into an unmarked van.”
“They were looking for us.”
“Yeah.”
Sam felt the punch of regret, the sour taste of terror. “Is Raul going to be okay?”
Jett opened the door, glancing into the hallway before looking down at her. “Raul is dead.”
“Oh, God, oh no,” Sam cried, the sharp hooves of guilt pummeling her heart.
This was her fault, Raul had been helping her, driving her, and now he was dead. He was so young; he’d had his whole life in front of him. Sam’s knees buckled and she stumbled as Jett pulled her out of the apartment and quietly closed Gemma’s door behind them. Sam looked up, hoping for a hug, a little comfort but Jett was all warrior, his expression blank but his eyes blazing with fury.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” Sam whimpered, tears running down her face as Jett pushed her into the stairwell and urged her to run down the steps. “This is my fault, this is all my fault. Oh, Jesus...”
At the first landing they came to, Jett yanked her to a stop and placed his hands on her biceps, giving her a quick, hard shake. “I can’t afford for you to fall apart so pull yourself together!”
Sam stared up at him, her mouth falling open in a shocked “O” at his harsh tone.
“I’m sorry about Raul but he knew the risks. I’ll mourn for him later.”
“He’s dead, Jett!” Sam cried, shocked at his callousness.
Jett’s eyes hardened. “Trust me, I’m aware. I’m also aware that those assholes were looking for you, that they knew you were in that taxi, that they fucking tracked you to that vehicle. You left that coat, the clothes you wore to Stone’s house in the taxi.” Cursing, he released her arms to take her free hand in his. “We don’t have time to stand here, talking. Let’s move.”