Delta Force Die Hard

by Carol Ericson

  He clasped her hand and raised it to his lips. He kissed each one of her knuckles. “Right now, there’s just this single moment.”

  Lacing her fingers with his, she took a step back and pulled him along with her. “You’ve never been upstairs, have you?”

  “I’ve never been invited.”

  “I’m inviting you now. I even have toothbrushes up there.”

  “Then it’s a done deal.”

  Still holding Joe’s hand, she walked upstairs with him trailing behind her. She didn’t say another word, afraid of breaking this spell between them.

  Her bedroom door stood open. She dropped his hand and crossed the room to the window. “You have to see the view.”

  He stood still at the entrance to the room, his solid frame outlined by the doorjamb. He whispered across the darkness, “I’m looking at the only view I wanna see right now.”

  His words sent a thrill through her body, which tingled in all the right places. She never would’ve guessed Joe McVie would have all the right moves and all the right words.

  She stretched out her hands. “Come to me, Red.”

  His long stride ate up the distance between them, and he took her hands, squeezing them lightly.

  She made room for him at the window, and their shoulders nestled together. Dropping her head to the side into the crook of his neck, she said, “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  He draped his arm over her shoulder and twisted his head to the side to look at her. “The most beautiful view I’ve ever—Oh my God, get down!”

  And the tender moment ended with Joe hooking his arm around her neck and yanking her to the ground as glass shattered around them.

  Chapter Ten

  As his heart practically jumped out of his chest, Joe caught a bead of blood on Hailey’s cheek with the pad of his thumb.

  “Are you hit? Are you all right?”

  “Hit?” Her glassy dark eyes widened. “Hit by what? Why did you throw me down? Where’d the glass come from?”

  Joe ran his hands over her body in a poor imitation of what he’d had planned for her in that giant bed. “Hailey, the glass is from the window. Look.”

  She raised her eyes to the window that looked out on the spectacular view of the bay, which now sported a jagged hole. “What happened?”

  “Someone took a shot at you through the window.”

  Her body, still safe beneath his, jerked. “What do you mean?”

  “Someone had you pinned down with a laser on your forehead. Thank God I saw it before he got off the shot.”

  She began to shake. “No. That can’t be. That’s not possible. It was a light from the street.”

  “A red dot of light on your forehead?” He wrapped his arms around her trembling frame. “I’m Delta Force, remember? I know what a night-scope laser looks like.”

  She buried her face in his chest. “What if you hadn’t come over to look at the view?”

  “Not possible. You called and I came.” He kissed the top of her head and then brushed some slivers of glass from her hair. “Can you move? I want you to crawl to the bed and then get on the other side of it, on the floor.”

  “Where’s my phone? I’m calling 911.”

  “Your phone’s downstairs. Use mine and do it behind that bed.” He handed the phone to her, closing her fingers around it. Rolling from her body, he said, “Move.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Going to pop my head up and have a look.”

  She stopped midcrawl and grabbed his shirt. “No, you’re not.”

  “Just a peek. Get on that phone.”

  She huffed out a breath but continued a damn good army crawl across the carpet.

  Joe got on his knees in front of the window and yanked the drapes closed. He parted them at the middle and put his eye to the glass at the bottom of the window.

  “What is that building across the street from you?”

  “That’s a house.”

  “It’s huge. Who lives there?”

  “Some stockbroker and his wife and kids. I don’t think he’d be renting out any rooms to snipers.”

  “Are they home?”

  “I don’t know. Hang on.”

  As he listened to Hailey make the 911 call, he continued to scan the scene across the street. “There’s that small park. There are several trees tall enough to give someone a view of this room.”

  “The police are on their way.” She sucked in a noisy breath. “Joe?”

  His heart stuttered again. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, but I think there’s a bullet in my wall.”

  “Good. Let’s leave it for the police to dig out.”

  “Someone shot at me through my window from a tree? Do you see anyone in the park?”

  “Nope. Maybe he made his escape after he took the shot, while we were on the floor.”

  “Maybe he thinks he hit me.”

  Joe did another scan of the park and then crawled toward Hailey. He found her stretched out on the floor, on her back, clutching his phone to her chest.

  She flung her arm out to the side and pointed to the wall. “Bullet.”

  “You’re right. At least the police will be able to identify the type of weapon used.”

  “And the FBI. I’m reporting this to Porter, along with the attempt on Ayala’s life. Someone is desperate to shut us up, whether we have anything to say or not.”

  “That’s a bold move, all right.”

  Sirens screamed from the street below, and Hailey rolled her eyes. “That’ll get the neighbors talking.”

  “Are you ready?” He touched the small cut on her cheek. “The glass hit you. Scared the hell out of me when I saw the blood.”

  “Better the glass than the bullet.” She grabbed his hand and kissed the inside of his wrist. “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “Anytime.” He nudged her to start crawling out of the bedroom. “You first.”

  She rolled onto her stomach. “I suppose we should stay down just in case he’s waiting out there to take another shot through the window.”

  “At least until we get out of the bedroom.” He scooted to the side to let her pass. “I’m actually glad the shooter took aim at you first.”

  “Thanks.” She kicked her foot out at him as he crawled behind her.

  “Think about it, Hailey. Would you have noticed a red dot on my forehead? If he’d taken me out first, you would’ve been in shock, confused and an easy mark for his next shot.”

  “You’re right. I literally would not have known what hit you...and then me.” She shifted to her side when they reached the hallway. “Okay to stand up now?”

  “The police are at the door.”

  One of the officers pounded on the heavy door and shouted, “Police! Did someone call the police?”

  Hailey scrambled to her feet. “I guess that’s me.”

  * * *

  ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, the police left and Hailey collapsed in a chair in the living room. “So, somebody climbed a tree in the little park across the street and took aim at my bedroom window.”

  “That’s what the officers seem to think after finding that broken branch, but your neighbors didn’t see or hear anything except your window shattering.” He sat on the arm of her chair and brushed her hair back from her forehead. “You still have a few grains of glass in your hair.”

  “Don’t cut yourself.” She shook her head back and forth. “I hope Agent Porter follows up with the SFPD. He said he would when I talked to him tonight.”

  “Call the police department tomorrow to make sure they’re going to send the report to Porter, like they said they would.”

  “I will.” Hailey yawned and curled her legs beneath her. “Do you think they came after us once they saw us nosing around Marten’s hotel room?�
��

  “Maybe. It’s clear they haven’t found anything in his hotel room, either, but they must think whatever he had or was going to say is important enough to risk raising a red flag for you and Ayala, because you two weren’t going to refute the story about Denver being among your kidnappers.”

  “We need to find out what the key opens.” Hailey yawned again and her eyes drifted closed.

  Joe swallowed his disappointment. This night hadn’t ended the way he’d anticipated, but he couldn’t expect Hailey to be in the mood after a sniper had put her in his crosshairs.

  He smoothed a fingertip over the small cut on her face. He’d thought at first his attraction to Hailey had come from his memories of Lisette, the woman who had been out of his league and out of his reach years ago, but Hailey and Lisette occupied two different planes.

  Lisette frittered away her parents’ wealth on selfish pursuits and status items meant to dazzle the poor boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Hailey put her father’s money to good use, helping others. Hailey used wealth as a tool, a means to a very good end.

  And in the process, her goodness had done more to dazzle this poor boy than all the gold in Fort Knox could.

  “Hailey.” He slipped an arm beneath her back. “Do you want me to carry you up to bed?”

  She murmured and burrowed deeper into the chair.

  He pushed up from the arm of the chair and grabbed a knitted blanket from the back of the couch. He shook it out and tucked it around her body. Then he kissed her cheek and whispered, “Good night, Hailey.”

  Holding his hands out, he backed away from her sleeping form. He dashed upstairs, found the promised toothbrush and brushed his teeth. Then he grabbed a blanket from the bed that had been reserved for Ayala. As he reached for the pillows, he stubbed his toe on a hard edge beneath the bed. He flipped up the bedspread and nudged Ayala’s laptop farther under the bed. He swung by Hailey’s room and snatched a pillow from her bed for good measure.

  When he got back downstairs, he wedged her pillow on the right side of Hailey’s body and threw the other two at the couch.

  He eyed the length of the couch and shrugged. He’d spent the night in worse conditions than a too-short couch in a Pacific Heights mansion with a beautiful woman sleeping in a chair across from him.

  He toed off his shoes and pulled down his jeans and socks all at the same time. He unbuttoned his shirt, yanked his T-shirt over his head and folded everything into a neat pile on the coffee table.

  He settled one half of the blanket on the couch, anchored it with his body and pulled the other half on top of him for a cover. It took him several minutes to get comfortable. He made the best of it by rolling to his side and hanging one leg off the edge of the couch.

  On his side, he had a clear view of Hailey snuggled into the chair. He had no intention of leaving her downstairs on her own.

  What worried him was the growing feeling that he could never leave her side again.

  * * *

  HAILEY TURNED HER head and caught her breath. Was the crick in her neck from sleeping in a chair all night or from Joe’s life-saving technique of tackling her to the ground?

  She rubbed her eyes, and a vision appeared before her. She rubbed her eyes again to make sure she wasn’t dreaming, and the vision only got clearer.

  Joe’s bare leg hung from the couch, his toes touching the floor, the blanket slipping off his muscled thigh. The other edge of the blanket draped across his torso like a toga, and he certainly did resemble a Greek god.

  The muscles she’d imagined and felt beneath layers of clothing appeared before her in an awesome display of maleness.

  If that shooter had to take aim at her last night, why couldn’t he have waited until after she and Joe had made love? How inconsiderate of him to ruin the moment.

  “Is the chair that comfortable?”

  Hailey jerked upright. Joe’s words wrenched her gaze from his perfect pecs to his slightly amused blue eyes. She pulled the afghan close around her body as if she were the one half-naked and exposed.

  “This chair is extremely comfortable. I’ve crashed here on more than one occasion, usually with a book or tablet abandoned on my chest.”

  “I felt bad about leaving you in the chair. I thought about carrying you upstairs to bed when you fell asleep, but I didn’t want to wake you and I didn’t want you sleeping in that drafty room with the shattered window.”

  “That’s fine, but you didn’t have to take the couch. I told you there were plenty of rooms upstairs.” She punched the pillow under her head. “Hell, you could’ve taken my room if you don’t mind a nice, brisk temperature.”

  “I didn’t want to leave you...here by yourself.”

  His low voice rolled over her like a warm breeze.

  She tucked her hands beneath her cheek. “I’m sorry we were interrupted last night.”

  “I’m sorry someone took a shot at you.”

  “And were you also sorry we were interrupted?”

  “What do you think?”

  “I—I think you don’t want to appear callous by being more upset our carnal desires weren’t satisfied than the fact that someone tried to kill me.”

  He grinned and her heart melted around the edges.

  “That’s a fine line to walk. Can we agree that we’re pissed off at that sniper for trying to kill you and for splashing cold water on our...carnal desires?”

  She pulled the afghan up to her nose and peered at him over the edge. “I can agree to that. Can we also agree that the danger is gone and maybe it’s time to return to our original plan?”

  He threw off his blanket and placed both feet on the wood floor. “Danger? What danger?”

  Hailey squirmed beneath her cover. The only danger she could see now was the fire in Joe’s blue eyes.

  Before she had a chance to answer his rhetorical question, Joe tossed the blanket behind him and crossed the space between them on his knees. He pulled the lever to recline her chair and she shot forward, her feet swinging to the floor.

  He crouched before her and said, “I didn’t undress you last night when you fell asleep because I didn’t want to...take liberties.”

  Gripping the arms of the chair with both hands, Hailey lifted her hips. “By all means, take as many liberties with me as you like.”

  Joe unbuttoned her jeans and tucked his thumbs beneath the waistband on either side. He yanked down her underwear along with her pants and pulled them from her legs. He threw them over his shoulder, never breaking eye contact with her.

  A thrill skipped through her body, anticipation making her mouth dry. She didn’t have to wait long.

  Joe hooked his arms beneath her knees and pulled her forward. He positioned her legs over his shoulders and tucked his hands beneath her bottom.

  When his lips touched her throbbing flesh, the world stopped spinning for a split second. When it started again, it seemed to careen out of control. She dug her fingernails into his scalp as if that could ground her.

  His tongue toyed with her, teased her, and she panted out his name. He stopped his exquisite torture, but she craved more.

  She gasped. “You can’t stop now.”

  “I thought that’s why you were saying my name... You’d had enough.”

  “You’re a tease.” She yanked on his earlobe. “Why are you even talking?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  He buried his face between her legs and resumed his exploration of her body and all its sensitivities—and he was a fast study.

  Her hands slipped from his russet hair to his shoulders, which she squeezed and molded as he kept taking her to unimaginable heights of pleasure.

  She reached the precipice of her climax a few times only to have Joe shift his attention to her inner thigh or to a freckle just above her mound. Her frustration quickly morphed into a searin
g need that built up in her core and heated her blood beyond the boiling point.

  After yet another detour, Joe swept his tongue across the pulse beating between her thighs. The ache in her belly exploded into a million pieces, and she arched her back, driving herself against Joe’s mouth.

  He didn’t pull away, which made her orgasm tumble into infinity, wave after wave of pleasure engulfing her body.

  Drained and sated, she slumped back against the chair, her legs still dangling over Joe’s shoulders.

  He eased back, cupped her heel and kissed the arch of her foot. “How was that?”

  She opened one eye. “You have to ask? That was incredible.”

  “Hard to deliver something to the woman who has everything.”

  “I do now.” She wiggled her toes at him. “Well, almost everything.”

  “What else can I give you?”

  “For starters, you can slip off those boxers and let me do what I do best.”

  “What you do best?” He raised one eyebrow.

  She placed one foot against his chest. “You said it yourself. I’m the giving type, generous to a fault.”

  “I don’t remember saying it was a fault of yours.” He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down his powerful thighs.

  Her heart rate, which had been returning to normal, spiked again. She slid from the chair and knelt in front of him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “You know what?” He scooped his hand into her hair. “I didn’t even properly kiss you.”

  “Whatever you just did couldn’t be called ‘proper,’ so I’m not holding my breath for a proper kiss, either.”

  He hunched forward, pulling her head toward him and slanting his mouth over hers. His tongue, which had just teased her to crazy heights of pleasure, continued its assault as his lips pressed against hers.

  When he finally released her, breathless and wanting more, she gasped. “If that’s a proper kiss, sign me up for propriety.”

  Joe rose to his feet and started to take his place in the chair, but she wrapped her hands around his calves.