“I think the last hour proves you wrong.”
“We need to get up.”
"We will, in a minute."
"What are you waiting for?"
"A good morning kiss."
"Oh, no. No more kissing. No more touching. No more sleeping in the same bed. I'll take the couch."
I was a little afraid of the lazy smile that played on his lips. I didn't need him to utter the words to know he didn't agree with my moratorium.
"Stop fucking around and kiss me good morning."
"Not gonna happen, Brooks. We need to get up. I have work to do. I have to go to the naval base and drop off some documents before we leave Bahrain."
"Then you better hurry, Doll."
Why wasn't I wrestling out of his grasp? I could've easily fought his hold and broken free. But I wasn't. I was still perched on his lap, naked, with his dick pressed between us. Why did he have to be so damn sexy? Or maybe a better question was, why was I so fucking weak?
All it took was the slightest bit of pressure on the back of my head and I was lowering my lips to his. He wasn't smug about my acquiescence. As a matter of fact, when his eyes locked onto mine they gentled. He looked almost proud. Maybe I was seeing things and he was simply amused he was getting his way—again.
He didn't allow me to kiss him, like he'd asked. As soon as my lips touched his, he halted my progress. Instead of allowing me to take control, he slowly grazed his lips against mine. Feather soft. His stubble a barely-there scrape as he kissed the corner of my mouth.
"You are so beautiful."
He placed another peck square on my mouth.
"Absolutely perfect."
He moved to the other side and another brush of his lips.
"I can't get enough of you."
My heart pounded, my legs trembled, and my hands on his chest shook. He had to stop talking. I pressed in closer and swept my tongue across his lips, preventing him from saying anything else.
"Goddamn, never been kissed like that before, Doll. I could spend all day in this bed with you doing nothing but exploring that sexy as fuck mouth of yours."
The kissing, touching, and sex was less potent than his words. When he said those things to me, he made me want to believe. I wanted to be beautiful. But I wasn't. I was anything but perfect. My flesh was marred and mangled. Brooks was out of my league. Out in the real world, he could have any number of sexy women at his beck and call. I was a convenient lay while he was out on an op.
“One of these days, you'll believe me, that the shit you allow to swirl in your head is utter shit.” I hated that he could read me so easily. "Up you go."
"Um... Maybe..."
"Not a goddamn chance you're trying to roll off me so you can hide. This is day one of me washing that shit from your head. There is not one thing about you I don't find beautiful."
"Brooks," I snapped. "Stop saying that crap. We both know it's not true."
I found myself flying through the air, flat on my back, and Brooks’ large frame looming over me before I knew what was going on. "You calling me a liar, Tatiana?"
"No. Not a liar. I think you're trying to be polite."
"Doll, we've been over this. I don't say shit just to say it. I'm not polite, I'm honest."
He sat up and rearranged my legs so they were wrapped around his back and he stared down at me. With one hand still on my hip, his other traced the puckered scars on my stomach.
"Please, don't."
He ignored me and continued, touching each one of them. Tenderly. I couldn't stand to watch, to feel his roughened fingertips lightly caress my disgusting skin.
"Stop, Brooks."
His exploration progressed but his gaze came to me. Brooks’ eyes held mine and his hand roamed. I felt the stinging and the liquid was nearly brimming over. I could do nothing to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.
"Damn you," I hissed. "Stop."
"Each and every one of these marks represents how strong you are. How mentally tough you are. What your body can endure because you are fierce. Each scar a reminder that you are a force to be reckoned with. Your determination, will, how capable you are. Every blemish tells a story of survival and courage. You are goddamn beautiful and it has nothing to do with your pretty face, soft hair, great fucking legs, and everything to do with these.” His big hand spanned my stomach, almost covering all of the pockmarks. "Your strength makes you the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. And mark this, Tatiana, one day you're gonna see what I see. But in the meantime, I'm gonna remind you and I'm gonna do it often. No way in hell should a woman like you live her life hiding away with a hand up. That hand is gonna fall, too. And when it does, I'll prove to you where you land is a safe and good place to be."
When Brooks stopped speaking, I had no choice but to come to the realization I wasn’t walking away with my heart intact. When he left, I’d have a Brooks Miller-sized hole in my chest. And I would bet it was going to hurt worse than any beating I’d received while in enemy hands.
Chapter 18
By the time I’d allowed Tatiana out of bed, the guys were done with breakfast and were sitting around the table going over the latest information Tex and Garrett, our in-house intel specialist, had sent over. No one said a word about me missing breakfast, and when Tatiana joined us a few minutes later no one said anything to her, either. Which was good because I was still mad as hell the woman disappeared into her head and believed she was somehow damaged and disgusting. It gutted me she thought so little of herself. If nothing else, by the end of this mission, she’d see herself how I did. Capable and strong.
"What time are we leaving?" Tatiana asked, as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Twenty hundred. It's a six-hour drive to the eastern province," Declan answered.
"I have to drop off some documents at the naval base and send a few emails before we leave. Leon instructed me to send the UN my resignation effective immediately,” she told us.
She'd told me about needing to go to base, but not quitting her job.
"Why does he want you to quit?" I asked.
"For one, the parameters of my job with the UN are based exclusively in Bahrain. The other issue is, Z Corps will be taking over my salary."
"What did Z tell you about The Company?" Kyle inquired.
"Not a lot. He said he knew more than me, but not as much as he would've liked to know. He also shared he had unease but didn't elaborate. I don't know Zane as well as the rest of you but I do know he's not a liar. If he has concerns, then I need to consider what that means for me."
I found it interesting she was giving care to what Z had told her. She was correct about one thing, Z didn't bullshit. He was as straight as they came. If he said she needed to be mindful and watch her back, then she needed to be careful.
"What do you know about this Leon Brown?" I asked.
"Just what I told you. The name is obviously an alias. He gives me orders, I follow them. My after-action reports and SITREPS are verbally given directly to him. I have zero contact with anyone else."
"You trust him?" I continued to pry.
"As much as I can trust anyone."
That was a CIA bullshit answer. There was very little trust among spies. They all knew the agency could and would turn against them. Even their fellow operatives would slit your throat if they were ordered to.
"Let me ask you another way, do you trust him with your life?"
"I have for the past couple of years."
"Wrong answer."
"What do you mean, wrong answer? Considering he's the only one who knows my mission specifics, I've obviously trusted him with my life."
"If you were to ask me if I trust any of these men.” I swept the room with my hand. "With my life my answer would be, yes. Just, yes. Emphatically, yes. No hesitation. I would trust them with your life. No question. There is reluctance in your eyes. I don't like doubt, especially when we're talking about my ass swinging in the wind if you do not a hundred percen
t trust Leon Brown."
"I wouldn't trust him with your life," she admitted.
"I'll call Z while you two are delivering her documents to the base and see what he says about giving Leon limited intel," Declan told us. "Just to add, Tatiana, if you don't trust him to have our six, you shouldn't trust him with yours. I'll see if Z has anything new on The Company. He hates the unknown. I'd bet he's been all over Garrett's ass to find anything and everything."
"I appreciate you asking Zane, but I can go to the base by myself. There's no need to inconvenience anyone."
"No-go, Doll. I'm taggin' along," I told her.
"Why? That's stupid. I've traveled all over Bahrain by myself, Brooks. I don't need an escort."
I was trying to hold back my amusement. She was feisty when she was annoyed. Not only was it cute as hell, it turned me on like nobody's business.
"Didn't think you did."
She sipped her coffee and glared at me. I assumed she was waiting for me to tell her I'd stay behind. That wasn't happening. I didn't care how many times she'd gallivanted around the country by herself, shit had changed. One of the changes was someone was actively trying to kill her. Another was she now had me as a shadow. I didn't give two fucks if it made her mad.
"But you're still coming with me, aren't you?" She set her coffee down on the countertop.
"Yep."
"Why are you so hard-headed? Seriously, you have your own shit to do. The little woman doesn't need a big strong man to follow her around."
"Careful, babe, that giant chip on your shoulder is showing."
"Whatever, asshole. I don't want you coming. Besides, you don't have clearance to get where I'm going."
"Didn't ask if you wanted me to come. Unlike what you are used to, none of us go out alone. We always have someone at our back. Safety in numbers and all that good shit."
"Right, so I guess when you told me you went out to scout out the Bitoo brothers’ location, one of the guys went with you?" She grinned.
"There's always a special exception."
"Great. So, make one now."
"The two of you gonna stand around and bitch all day? As amusing as it is watching Brooks chase his tail, we all got shit to do." Thad chuckled. "And I think it is worth repeating, it is amusing."
Tatiana's face paled when she remembered we had an audience. Her pretty eyes narrowed and I lost the battle. What had started off as a snicker was soon a full-blown belly laugh.
Her eyes rolled and I would swear on a stack of bibles I could hear her teeth grinding.
"You hungry, Doll? I can make us something to eat before we head out."
I wanted to remind her she'd burned a hell of a lot of calories this morning, but I held my tongue. I liked her sassy and annoyed, not embarrassed and ashamed. The way her cheeks tinted pink, it seemed she didn't need the prompt.
"I'm not hungry."
"Then I'm ready when you are."
"I'll grab my stuff." Wisely, she didn't try to argue further.
I waited until she was in the bedroom before I sorted through the papers on the table. "Anything new I need to know?"
"Falcon Holdings has proved to be a gold mine. Tex is connecting dots left and right. Taking out Al Issa is priority number one. If we can recover any of the artifacts, that's gravy, but not our first concern," Dec told me.
"What else has Tex found?"
"Falcon Holdings owns other companies’ outstanding stocks. When Tex looked into the companies, most of them are bogus. Nothing produced, no goods sold, nothing purchased. Those are the companies he's focusing on. He even found one that traces back to dog rings and cockfighting. It seems that South America has a huge issue with it," Max added.
"Why would that even be on Tex's radar?"
"Because it pulls in millions of dollars, and why are people investing big money into a fake corporation that’s only income source is animal blood sports?" Max's brow lifted.
His question was rhetorical and didn't require an answer, but I had a question. "Seriously?"
"Serious as a heart attack."
"Well, damn. I thought dogfighting was low-end bullshit. Street gangs and thugs. I had no idea it was that lucrative."
"Brother, big time players are involved. Tex is confident he can track it back to Omni."
"Track what back?" Tatiana asked, coming back into the dining room with her backpack over her shoulder.
"Cocks." I wagged my eyebrows.
"Are you thirteen?" She glared.
“No, really, we're talking about cockfighting in South America.”
“Actually, we were talking about the money involved in dog fighting,” Max interjected.
“Oh, yeah, it’s huge. I know a woman back in San Diego, Faith, who works in a shelter who saves pit bulls. It’s dangerous going in and trying to get the dogs. There’s a lot of money being thrown around, and that’s on the low scale,” she told us. “Anything new with Al Issa?”
“Tex’s latest intel shows Al Issa at his palace. The full staff and extra guards indicates he’s gonna be there awhile.”
“Are we taking out the compound or waiting for him to be on the move, with less security?” Tatiana questioned.
“Right now, the plan is to take the compound. That’s our best shot at recovering the missing tablets,” Declan relayed. Tatiana continued to study the satellite images Tex had sent over. “What are you thinking?”
“I think that’s a lot of armed guards. I count ten on the perimeter. Three in the courtyard. Five on the roof. Not to mention, he’ll have a personal detail surrounding him. That’s eighteen guns we can see, and more than likely a shit ton we can’t. There are six of us.” She told us something we’d already calculated.
“Easy day,” I told her.
“I hate that SEAL shit. All your tough-guy lingo doesn’t make you invincible. We’ll be out-numbered a minimum of three to one. His staff will be armed, too. Not to mention, the sympathizers in the area will come to his aid. Al Issa isn’t stupid. He keeps the locals in money, just for this reason.”
Max, Thad, Kyle, and Declan all chuckled at her outburst. Obviously she wasn’t pleased they’d found humor in aggravation. She looked madder than a wet hen.
“We’ll set charges in the surrounding area as a distraction. Once those go off, we’ll set the perimeter to blow—”
“Or, you wait until he leaves the compound and take out his convoy. The guards will scramble to the location, leaving minimal security at the compound and I can slip in and snatch the tablets.”
“Doll, this isn’t a quick snatch and grab. And once again, there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell you’re going anywhere alone,” I corrected.
“That’s—”
“Not up for negotiation,” Declan cut her off. “Once we have updated intel, we’ll go over mission specifics. Until then, wrap up your business in Bahrain so we can get ready to go.”
Tatiana looked like she wanted to argue but wisely kept quiet. I understood she’d spent the last two years working on her own, but she was going to have to learn that no man on the team was ever going to let her go into a situation solo. That wasn’t how we worked. Every man had a battle buddy. It was smart—two is one, one is none.
“You ready?” I asked.
“Yep.”
Her short-clipped answer made me smile. Hot damn, she was feisty. And so pretty even in her cargos and long-sleeved button-up shirt that showed none of her toned, tanned flesh. I didn’t need to see it, the memory of her hot and sweaty on top of me was tattooed on my soul.
Chapter 19
The first ten minutes of our drive was done in silence. I was more annoyed than I should've been but after the morning I'd had, my nerves were fried. I couldn't remember a better way to wake up than in Brooks’ strong arms. And the two smokin' hot rounds of toe-curling sex were fantastic, too. It was the vulnerability I could've gone without. The verbal sparring where Brooks had outright told me he thought I was beautiful. I still didn’t believe him
but when he'd promised to make me see what he saw, I wanted to. I wanted to feel as strong and as brave as he thought I was. I knew I was more than capable of doing my job, but I no longer felt courageous.
"We have a tail," Brooks told me, breaking the silence.
"White Mercedes?" I asked.
"Yep."
I'd been watching the car in the side mirror for the last few miles. The driver was trying to stay a few lengths back but he stupidly changed lanes every time Brooks had.
"Where are you going to try and ditch him?"
"Once we get closer to the naval base. On the north side, near the pedestrian entrance."
"There's nothing there but small side streets. Most are one-way. I think you should stay on the Causeway, take the last exit before the bridge. To the east of the base, there's nothing but industrial parks, it will be safer without the congestion of all the shops on the north side."
"I agree less traffic, but a wide-open space gives him a better opportunity to catch up. Not to mention, a straight shot if he opens fire."
"Ah. I hadn't realized Brooks Miller was afraid of a little gun play."
"Being shot at is not my most favorite pastime. I'm more concerned about what the passenger's packing. I'd prefer not to give them the range to detonate an RPG."
That was my preference as well. I'd had enough of having missiles shot at me for a lifetime.
"Take us into the industrial park. Better to be on the offensive."
"And what? You gonna go all Wile E. Coyote? Did I miss where you packed your dynamite and boomerang?"
I would've been pissed if it wasn't for Brooks' playful tone. Something strange hit my chest, normally when I picked up a tail, adrenaline kicked in and I got a little nervous. I was always by myself. I had no one to rely on but me. But today I had Brooks, and in turn, he had me. The heart-pounding fear of someone hunting me was absent. Together, Brooks and I would figure something out.
Brooks (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 1) Page 11