by KaLyn Cooper
Punching a few buttons, she slowed the machine, but before it came to a complete stop, one of the men was by her side. Fuck. She couldn’t remember his name. Panic ripped through her. She should know who he was. He was an assistant manager for Christ’s sake. There were only three of them at each center. What the hell was his name?
The man with hazel eyes, about her age, grabbed Damnit’s leash. “I’m done. I’ll take him out for a walk.”
Katlin gave him what she hoped was a thankful smile, but she was breathing too hard to be sure. “I appreciate that,” she said between huffs.
“Come on, Damnit. Walk with me.”
The dog didn’t move.
He poked his muzzle at Katlin.
The machine came to a complete stop. Between gasps of air, Katlin told her puppy, “Go on. He’s going to take you out.”
The dog didn’t move.
Katlin gave a heavy sigh and she stepped off the treadmill. “Okay, big boy. I’ve got you.”
Damnit instantly came to his feet and walked right beside Katlin. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into him today.”
“I do,” Top called from the door, his feet spread wide, powerful arms crossed over his broad chest. “Damnit is smarter than you are. What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
At the moment? Trying to walk on legs that felt like cooked noodles. Her lungs burned. She seemed to have to think about every step to make her legs move. She wasn’t sure she’d felt this bad after running the Marine Corps Marathon two years ago. She couldn’t answer Top’s question. She didn’t have the breath.
When she was within reaching distance, he grabbed her wrist, flipping it around so he could see the numbers. “One hundred seventy,” he growled. That’s almost twice as much as the doctor allowed. From now on, I’m in charge of your workouts.”
Top reached down and scratched Damnit’s ears. “Good boy.”
Katlin swayed but managed to lift her hand and caught herself on the doorjamb.
Good.
She was still upright.
“Whoa.”
Katlin whipped her head around to see who had spoken. They felt too close.
Her brain swam within her skull. She felt like she was stepping out of the Tilt-A-Whirl at a traveling carnival.
Suddenly, she was in the air. “I’ve got her, Top. You deal with the dog.” She recognized the man’s voice but still couldn’t think of his name. He’d picked her up bride-style.
Damnit was licking her hand that swung loosely to the side, then he was gone.
She heard nails scampering down the hallway.
“Somebody grab Damnit,” Top called. “Take Kat to the penthouse.”
Katlin inhaled deeply several times. Her head quickly cleared. “Put me down, please. I can walk.”
“Not until we get her upstairs,” Top ordered.
Katlin heard boots running down the hallway. Fuck. She knew who that would be, and he wouldn’t be happy.
“What the fuck happened?” Alex’s distinct voice cut through the noise.
“I’m all right,” Katlin yelled as loud as she could. She turned to the man carrying her. “I’d truly appreciate it if you’d set me down. I really can walk.”
Alex was on the other side of her, lifting her out of the man’s arms. “I’ve got you, now. You’re safe.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m fine. Please, put me down. I can walk.” She swallowed her pride. “I may have pushed myself…a little. I got a little dizzy.” She quickly added, “But I feel fine now.” And she did. Embarrassed, but physically well enough to walk on her own.
As soon as someone punched the button for the elevator, the doors opened. Damnit followed them in, dragging his short leash.
“Damnit came sliding into my office.” Alex’s voice shook. “All I could think was—”
Katlin put her index finger over his lips. “I’m fine.” She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. “You don’t have to carry me.”
When the doors opened, she already had her key fob out and unlocked the apartment door.
She giggled. “You’re not supposed to carry me across the threshold until I’m in a bridal gown and you’re bringing me home for the first time as your wife.”
The look he gave her was completely unreadable.
Had he changed his mind? Was he going to call off their engagement? More than once Dr. Tobias had told them that it could take years before she was back to being the same woman she’d been BTE. She’d also heard the doctor say that she may be a totally different woman when she regained consciousness. Had Alex decided he didn’t like this woman she was now? Maybe he didn’t want a damaged wife.
He hadn’t once told her that he loved her since she’d awakened.
Katlin thought she’d been making amazing progress. Sure, she was hiding a lot from them, but it wasn’t that big a deal. So what if she couldn’t remember everybody’s name? She didn’t think her personality had changed…much. She seemed to cry a lot which was new. Her body wasn’t as strong as it was before, but it hadn’t changed that much.
“My memories are coming back!” She announced as they passed the bouquet on the foyer table. She squeezed his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for the yellow roses. I remembered all about them this morning.”
He laid her down on the bed, then sat on the edge. With his elbows on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands. “Christ, Kat. You scared the shit out of me.”
She sat up next to him and rubbed her hand up and down his back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just got a little lightheaded while working out in the gym.”
“Dizzy enough that Sam had to carry you.” Alex’s worry was evident in his tone.
Sam. That was his name. Samuel Baden. See? She was getting better.
“They were all overreacting.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “You only hire macho men. Of course, they would swoop in and scoop up a woman if they thought she was going to faint.”
He rolled his head to look at her. “You were fainting?”
Well, hell. That was the wrong choice of words. “No. I just felt a little wobbly.”
“Why don’t you lie down and take a nap?” Alex suggested.
“I stink. I’ll see how I feel about a nap after I take a shower.” Standing, she held out her hand to him. “Join me?”
“No. But I’ll wait in the bathroom while you shower, just in case you get lightheaded again.” The smile he gave her didn’t reach his eyes.
She stripped on the way to the bathroom, giving him a little extra swing in her naked hips, tossing the stinky clothes in the hamper. She’d show him exactly what he was missing. But when he followed her in and leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest, his body language screamed his unhappiness at being there. She didn’t want to stand naked in front of him while the water warmed, so she stepped into the tepid shower. Closing the door she turned on all eight showerheads.
Maybe with water pelting her body, she wouldn’t think about how many times they’d made love up against those marble walls. How many times Alex had soaped her body, washing their lovemaking off her and she’d reciprocated. She loved rubbing her hands all over his body, whether with soap, or oil, or sweat.
She’d been awake for nearly a week and Alex hadn’t even kissed her. Little pecks didn’t count. When she and Alex kissed, BTE, it had been all-consuming. These days, when she awoke in the middle of the night, he was spooning her from several inches back or had a hand on her hip. BTE, he’d be right up against her, one hand cupping a breast. She didn’t even know if he went to bed or awakened with a hard-on.
Katlin would gladly take care of it for him. They had always been a very sexual couple. When together, they seemed to need to make up for the lost time, often having sex several times a day. Location didn’t matter. They had christened almost every surface in the apartment.
Her shower poof scraped over her hardened nipples as she spread the sud
s over her body. Aroused, Katlin decided to ask Alex one more time to join her. Sliding open the door she asked, “Can I change your mind about joining me?”
“You done?” He asked at the same time, leaning forward to grab a towel.
“No.” They said in unison.
With tears in her eyes, Katlin stepped back into the shower and quickly rinsed. When she moved out onto the rug, she snatched the towel from his grasp. “I told you I was fine,” she snapped, wrapping the towel around her.
“Babe.” That was the only word he said.
Without looking at him, she strode to the bed. “I think I will take that nap.” She dropped the wet towel onto the wood floor and crawled under the covers…naked. “Hang that up for me, would you, please?” She couldn’t watch him walk out of the room, so she rolled toward the other wall. She heard him pick up the towel and hang it in the bathroom before he walked out of the bedroom.
When the tears started to flow, she didn’t bother wiping them away.
Damnit jumped up on the bed, leaped over her body, and got in her face. He wasn’t allowed on the bed and knew it. But when her puppy licked away her tears, they just flowed until she cried herself to sleep.
19
“Babe, wake up.” Alex kneeled next to their bed and spoke quietly to her. With his fingertips, he brushed stray hairs off her face and tucked them behind her ear. He needed her to wake up. “Katlin, wake up and look at me. You have company.”
She whimpered and pulled the blankets over her shoulders.
“Do you want me to ask them to leave? I will if you’re too tired.” He really hated to do that to Daniel, but he would for Katlin.
Exhaling a deep breath, Katlin rolled over. “Who’s here?”
“Your brother, Daniel. He brought the kids.” Alex ran his fingers through her hair from her temples to the back of her skull. “But if you’re too tired, I’ll ask them to come back another time.”
“Aunt Katlin,” Simon practically sang. “Can you come out and play?”
“I’ll be right there,” she called loud enough so her nephew could hear her through the closed door.
“Do you know how beautiful you are when you first wake up?” Alex bent and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “For nearly a week I was afraid you weren’t going to wake up. Then I was afraid you would and that you’d be some other person. Somebody who didn’t know me. Somebody who didn’t love me the way I love you.”
He kissed her again. “I’m sorry I was such a dick earlier today.”
The kiss he gave her was slow and sensual. “I know you wanted me to rip my clothes off and join you in that shower…but I couldn’t. I knew if I did, I’d want to bury myself deep inside you up against the wall like we have so many times before. I had to hold my hands down under my arms so I didn’t touch you. The doctor doesn’t want you working out hard, so I know he doesn’t want us having mind-blowing sex.”
He tried to pack everything he felt into his next kiss. “Don’t think for one millisecond that I don’t want you.” He looked down at his obvious erection trying to poke through his basketball shorts. “Now, quickly get dressed and go out there and play with your niece and nephew. Tell them Uncle Alex will be out as soon as he showers.”
It was a good thing Alex was used to showering and getting dressed in a hurry. Daniel had stopped by to visit the first day she was at Guardian and things had been a bit rough for the first few minutes. Fortunately, Katlin recognized him, but she couldn’t remember his name. When she asked about their childhood together, admitting she couldn’t remember what he’d look like at different ages, Daniel finally explained that they had grown up mostly apart. He’d been left to attend school in the United States while she lived in embassies with their parents, only visiting her much older brother during holidays. Those memories of her entire family together still hadn’t returned.
Fortunately, Katlin did remember the children who he’d brought with him this time.
When Alex stepped into the living room, Katlin had the adorable dark-haired four-year-old, with eyes that matched her own, in her arms. “When did you get so big?” She asked dramatically.
The child put his small hands on each side of her head. “Daddy said your head got hurt. Where? I kiss it, make it better.”
Alex’s heart melted. Katlin loved that little boy so much. He wondered if they could have a boy. There were very few eggs left and their success chances were slim, but better than none. He would do whatever it took to give her a baby. He corrected himself. Give them a baby.
Katlin forced a smile. “My brain was hurt inside my head so you can give me a kiss right here.” She tapped her lips with her index finger.
Simon leaned forward and gave her a smacking kiss like only small children can do. “All better?”
“I’m gonna need lots more medicine like that before it’s completely healed.” She scrunched up her face overdramatically. “Do you have more where that one came from?”
Simon’s blue-on-blue eyes lit up. “I’ve got lots of kisses.” He leaned in and gave her another. “Let me know when you need more.” He pointed to the superhero rolling bag. “Do you want to play with my trucks?” His face fell. “Daddy made me bring puzzles, too, in case I needed to play quietly while adults talk.”
Katlin carried him over to his bag. “How about you get your trucks out while I say hello to your dad and snuggle Isabella for a few minutes?”
“Will you hang on to her while I do my job? She walks, you know. And she likes to put my toys in her mouth and gets them all slobbery.” Simon turned his back on everyone as he unzipped his bag and began unloading.
“Let me have that little girl.” Katlin lifted baby Bella out of her brother’s arms and sat down on the couch next to him. “Thank you for bringing them over.”
She was so damn good with kids. And he promised himself that he would be better with his next children than he’d been with Jenny. Although he had to admit that Katlin had helped him learn to enjoy his daughter. He’d been so afraid of doing something wrong with her as an infant, then she and her mother had completely left his life for years. He’d only been able to see her for a few hours every six to eight weeks, sometimes less when he’d been on deployments.
“How are you doing?” Daniel asked. “And don’t sugarcoat it.”
“I might’ve done too much today in the gym. I got a little dizzy.” Katlin drilled her nose into the baby’s rounded belly. “But I’m much better now, aren’t I Bella?” She looked so happy to be with the children.
“Christ, sis. You need to be more careful,” Daniel scolded.
“It was my first day in the gym. I had to figure out my limits.” She smiled at her brother. “And now I know I can’t maintain a heart rate of one hundred seventy beats per minute.”
“Top told me on the way up here that he’s going to take over as your personal trainer.” The edges of Daniel’s mouth twitched. “I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. He’s used to conditioning Marines for Embassy duty.”
“And sometimes he treats me as though I’m still four years old.” Katlin loved the hard as nails retired Marine and would do anything for the man. Alex was glad for his protectiveness.
“Have you been keeping up with the news?” Daniel’s question was tentative, and Alex completely understood.
“If you’re asking me if I heard about Jack’s parents being murdered, the answer is yes.” She grinned and rattled keys for baby Bella. “It would be pretty hard to live in D.C. and avoid the barrage of media. They’re feasting with speculation.”
“Do you think Jack killed them?” Daniel asked with all seriousness.
“Fuck, no.” Katlin slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes apologetic toward her brother. “Sorry. I don’t think he has anything to gain by their deaths. His father was a known hound dog. If the rumors are true, he kept several women on the side. I think his mother was just as bad.”
“With women?” Alex couldn’t help himself.
Katlin shrugged. “More than once I’d heard that she thoroughly enjoyed her workouts with her trainer.”
“I’m quite sure I don’t want to know why she was in training.” Alex looked to Daniel. “Have you ever met her? The woman has domme written all over her.”
“The newspaper said the wife was killed first.” Daniel handed Katlin a burp cloth. “You keep bouncing Bella around like that she’s in a throw up on you. Peas, the second time around, aren’t pretty.”
“Do you want to stay for supper?” Alex asked as he kneeled next to Simon and helped him unload trucks.
“Thanks, but no.” Daniel glanced at his son. “The kids have already eaten. They’ll probably fall asleep in their car seats on the way back home. Their bedtime is seven-thirty and you guys are still eating appetizers then. Sometimes I miss late-night dinners.” Daniel’s lips pulled tight. “When Nita is home, we’ll feed the kids and get them in bed so we can have our own quiet supper. But she’s still off training.” He made air quotes around the last word. “Have you heard from your team? I haven’t heard a word from Nita.”
“If it’s any consolation, I believe they truly are training. I’ve been told they’re working with Team Two. I did get a text from everyone a few days ago wishing me a fast recovery.” Katlin put her niece down on the floor. The baby immediately pulled herself to a standing position and she toddled straight toward her older brother.
“I’ve got her,” Alex said as he intersected the wobbling child. Scooping her up, he held her high above his head. “And where do you think you were going?”
He loved Katlin's niece and nephew. Bella reminded him so much of Jenny at that age, so curious. He hoped that perhaps as soon as Katlin was given permission to travel, they could make Miami their first stop so they could visit his daughter.
Isabella soon slowed and crawled into her father’s lap. Simon was secretly rubbing his eyes as well.
“I need to get these creatures home.” Daniel stood and wrapped his arms around Katlin. “It’s good to see you up and about.” He squeezed her tighter. “I couldn’t stand seeing you in the hospital bed hooked up to all those machines. When we rescued you, Top and I agreed that I shouldn’t come over to the safe house and visit you in case Jack had agents following me. I had a tail coming home from work almost every night. I couldn’t tell which agency had somebody on me.”