Back at his house the other night, the walls had seemed to close in on them during their brief kiss, crushing her with grief and the weight of her responsibilities. But now, with the fresh air and the sunshine and nothing but open spaces for miles, Kylie felt like she could finally relax and give herself up to the desire coursing through her veins.
Gently, Gage laid her down on the blanket then stretched out beside her. She’d never been much of an exhibitionist, but he had her seriously reconsidering her life choices. The warm pressure of his muscled body beside hers, the feel of his hands touching her, stroking her, teasing her to arch into him, had her breath panting and her heart racing. It had been so long, too long, since she’d been with a man she’d truly felt connected with on an emotional level and it was both overwhelming and perfect, all at the same time. Kylie dug her fingers into his shoulders, his strong back, his hips, needing him closer, closer, as close as she could get him.
He cupped her breast through her top and traced her taut nipple with his thumb. She gasped and tipped her head back. Gage took advantage, nipping and licking his way down her throat to her collarbone while sliding his jean covered thigh between hers, the hard length of him pulsing against her. Given they were out in the open, with the twins sleeping just a few feet away, full-on sex was out of the question, but some heavy petting was definitely in order.
Slowly, she slid a hand between them to stroke him through the soft denim, loving the way his breath caught before she captured his deep groan in another kiss. Meanwhile, he pressed his leg harder against the heat building between her legs. She ground against him, driving her passion higher and higher until it threatened to spill over.
“I want you to come undone for me,” he whispered in her ear, taking the lobe between his teeth. “Let go, Kylie. I’m here to catch your fall. Promise.”
She turned to look at him, the heat in his dark eyes threatening to sear her very soul as she rocked her hips to increase the pressure of his hard muscles against her most sensitive flesh. Stopping now was unimaginable, impossible.
He leaned closer until his forehead rested against hers, his warm breath fanning her face. “Are you close?”
Kylie nodded, biting her lip. Tension coiled inside her, tighter, tighter, until finally it exploded. She bit back a cry and bucked beneath him, staring into his eyes, getting lost in his gaze as she tumbled over the edge into ecstasy. Never had she felt this close to another man in her life. Never.
Finally, once she’d drifted back down to earth, she closed her eyes and just centred herself with the earth beneath her, the wind caressing her skin. Energy seemed to flow through her, around her, connecting her with everything—Gage, the twins, the trees, the sun.
“Okay?” Gage asked at last, his tone quiet as he kissed her temple.
“Wonderful,” she said, cracking open one eye and grinning up at him. She reached for him, wanting to return the favor, but he caught her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist instead. “But—”
“Later.” He leaned down and kissed her before sitting up. “Wait until tonight.”
Giggling from the way he waggled his brows with his last words, Kylie sat up and kissed him again before turning to look back at the twins. “We should probably start home, huh?”
“Yeah.” He stood and then held his hand out to help her up. “With the luck we can make it another hour before they wake up, then make a pit stop to feed and change them along the way.”
“Sounds good.” They picked up their things then walked down the short path to their SUV. Once they’d gotten the stuff loaded in the car and the twins secured in the back seat again, Kylie climbed into the passenger seat and buckled in while Gage did the same behind the wheel. He started the engine, but didn’t start driving, just sat there, staring out at the view once more.
“I had a really great time today. Thank you for bringing me here,” she said, suddenly feeling shy after everything they’d just done together. “Thank you for sharing your past with me too.”
“You’re welcome,” Gage said, reaching over to tip her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze. “And thank you for telling me about your endometriosis. I meant what I said before too. You’re not broken or defective. You’re wonderful. Everything about you.”
Heat prickled her cheeks and she shook her head, trying to deflect the pang of yearning in her heart conjured by his words. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to stay in this little paradise with him and the babies, but she worried he hadn’t really thought things through. Giving up on the idea of having biological children of his own was a big deal and she didn’t want to get hurt again if he changed his mind, so she blew it off instead. “You’re just saying that because I let you feel me up.”
“Nah.” He winked then kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m saying that because it’s true. Someday, you’ll make a guy very lucky.”
“Yeah?” She couldn’t resist reaching over to place her hand on the inside of his thigh, her grin growing in direct response to the twitching of his still-semi hard bulge in his crotch. “Sure you don’t want to get lucky right now?”
His response emerged more as a growl. “Stop tempting me, woman.”
“Fine.” She chuckled as he pulled out of their parking spot and headed back through the nature preserve to the highway beyond. Flirting with him was nearly as satisfying as the actual act of sex, which was both new and exhilarating. She’d been with her share of men over the years, but it had been a long time since one of them had been more than a quick tumble in the dark. She cultivated her hippie, party girl persona as armor, a way to keep her true self hidden away and protected. But with Gage, she felt fully engaged—body, mind, spirt, and that was possibly the greatest aphrodisiac of all.
The greatest risk too, considering that once they did sleep together, Kylie was certain he’d ended up stealing her heart as well. Which made sense, because after today, she was pretty sure he’d already captured her soul.
9
By the time they pulled into the driveway of Gage’s house, Kylie felt about as Zen as she had since before the accident. Hard to believe with all the emotions churning inside her, but it was true. The nature had helped. So had the time with Gage.
As if reading her thoughts, he glanced over at her as he cut the engine and grinned. “I’m glad you came today.”
“Me too.” She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out to get the twins from the back seat while Gage went to unlock the front door and get the lights on inside. She got little Maya’s carrier seat out and set it on the ground near her feet, then started on Brennan’s. But before she finished, Gage was back. She looked back at him over her shoulder and spotted his scowl. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s broken into the house,” he said, pulling out his phone. “I did a preliminary sweep of the interior but didn’t find anyone inside. I’m calling the police.”
She fiddled with the twins’ car seats, stalling, doing her best not to eavesdrop, but finding it impossible not to. Gage was relaying what he’d seen during his brief visit inside and with each word, her stomach cramped harder.
“Yeah. From what I can see, the lock was jimmied. Hard to tell if anything’s missing since the living room’s trashed. No, no one inside. Yep. We’ll wait out front in the yard.”
Gage hung up then walked over to her. She must’ve looked as worried as she felt because he wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her into his side. “Hey, it’s okay. Cops are on their way. The guy I talked to is an ex-Marine. Know him from my time in the SEALs. He's a good man. He’ll figure out who did this. Best keep the twins in the car until we make sure everything’s secure.”
She nodded and blinked hard against the unexpected sting of tears. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t. It was just the last few days had been such a roller coaster. Until the mugging in the park, she’d never dealt with the police in her life and now this would make twice in less than forty-eight hours. Crazy.
Minutes later a squa
d car pulled up at the curb, light blazing, no sirens, followed by a black Chevy Impala. Two uniformed officers climbed out of the patrol car and a guy in a suit from the sedan. Gage’s friend, she’d guess. The trio walked up to where they were standing in the yard near the car.
She recognized one of the uniformed cops as the same guy from the park incident. He tipped his hat at her and pulled out his small notebook again. “Ma’am. Sorry we meet again so soon.”
“Agreed.” She pressed closer into Gage’s side, grateful for his warmth and support, both physically and emotionally.
“Winters,” the guy in the suit said. “Sorry about the break in.”
“Yeah.” He let Kylie go to shake the man’s hand and she missed his embrace almost immediately. Then Gage took her hand instead and she felt better. “Detective Brent Carlisle, this is Kylie Fredericks. Christine’s sister. She had to come back from an extended trip when she got the news about the crash, so she’s staying with me until she gets her situation settled.”
“Hi,” the detective said, shaking her hand as well. “I’m so sorry about your sister. She was great. Tucker was a good friend of mine and the few times my wife and I went out with them we had fun.”
“Thank you.” Kylie forced a smile. “It’s been a difficult few weeks.”
“I’m sure. This doesn’t help either.” Carlisle gestured toward the house and hiked his chin at Gage. “Want to take me inside and show me what’s happening?”
“Follow me.” They started toward the porch then stopped. Gage turned back to her. “You okay out here by yourself?”
She didn’t want to get in the way, but the thought that someone might still be watching the house creeped her out. “I’d feel better with you.”
“Stay with the officers. Let us make sure it’s safe first,” the detective said. “Once we’ve cleared the interior, you can come in, okay?”
Kylie gave a reluctant nod, returning to the SUV and the twins while Gage and his friend disappeared inside. One of the uniformed officers waited with her while the other one, the one from the park, walked the perimeter of the property, checking for suspects. She held her breath until they all returned.
“It’s clear,” Gage said, helping her get the car seats out of the back seat. “Let’s get inside.”
They walked through the busted front door and Kylie couldn’t help but gasp. The living room was trashed. Furniture overturned, cushions slashed, knickknacks shattered. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it at all. The ransacked crime scenes she’d seen on TV always looked a mess, but the reality was so much worse—probably because everything here belonged to someone she cared about. Gage seemed to be taking it well, considering. He still seemed calm and steady, even though his handsome face was pale beneath his tan and his dark eyes were hard and haunted. Kylie noticed the spray painting on the walls. At first it looked like gibberish, but then the more she stared at the neon crimson marks the more they started to resemble things she’d seen before. Symbols, from back in Tokyo.
Her heart dropped to her toes.
“Why would someone do this?” she asked, more to herself than anyone.
“We’re going to figure that out,” Detective Carlisle said. “The crime scene unit should be here soon to dust for prints and check for other evidence of who’s responsible.” He walked closer to where the red spray paint was running down in a bloodlike trail. “Never seen a burglar do this before. Seems more like vandalism. Anyone got a grudge against you, Winters?”
“Not that I know of,” Gage said. “I’ve only been back in town a couple of months. Before that I was overseas on a mission.”
“I got mugged the other day, in the park,” Kylie said before she could think better of it. “I was walking the twins and some random guy mugged me. Took the diaper bag.”
“I doubt that has anything to do with this,” Gage said.
“I don’t know. The diaper bag had a tag on it with your name and address. Whoever did this could’ve gotten it from there.”
“Maybe.” The twins started fussing in unison and Gage walked to the kitchen and set Maya’s carrier down on the table. He took her out of her seat and held her over his shoulder. “Doesn’t explain the rest of this though.”
“I don’t know.” Kylie followed his lead, getting Brennan out of his seat and carrying him in her arms. “Those marks on the walls. They look like Japanese writing, like symbols I saw back when I was working in Tokyo.”
“But why would someone do that?” Gage frowned. “I’ve never been to Japan. And you were there for work, right? You weren’t even there for that long—not nearly as long as you’d planned to be. What’s the worst you could have done? Arrange their furniture so their energy was messed up?”
He chuckled and Kylie glared. “Not funny. I’m serious. First there was that Japanese newspaper the guy left behind and now this. What if they’re connected? What if this is my fault somehow?”
Her head hurt and her heart pounded. If it was true that she’d somehow brought all of this on him and the twins she’d never forgive herself. She looked away and closed her eyes, guilt crashing over her and threatening to pull her under once more.
“Hey,” Gage said, coming up beside her. “Hey, don’t blame yourself. There’s no proof whatsoever at this point that the two things are related. This isn’t your fault, okay?”
“Kylie?” Detective Carlise called from the kitchen. “Can you check to see if any of your items are missing?”
She nodded and with one last lingering look at Gage, walked back into the other room to check her bags. “Oh, God.”
“What?” Gage asked, moving in to stand beside her. “Did they take something?”
“Yes. My laptop. All my work information is on there. It’s connected to my phone and my tablet. If they have that and can hack my passwords, they can access all my devices.” She straightened, feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous. “What am I going to do?”
“Shh.” Gage pulled her into a hug with his free hand, the twins cradled between them. “We’re going to get through this, all right? Whatever is happening, you’re not alone. Partners, remember?” He pulled back and looked into her eyes, his voice calm and steady, soothing the rising tide of panic inside her. “Now, go ahead and pack up what you can of your stuff and pack bags for the twins too. Then wait for me by the door. As soon as I give my statement to Carlisle, we’ll go to a hotel for the night. I’ll get someone in here tomorrow morning to fix the door and install a security system so this doesn’t happen again, okay?”
She nodded, feeling like she was operating in zombie mode, unable to shake the fear that this was all her fault and that the worst wasn’t over yet.
* * *
Later that night, they were settled in a nice two-bedroom suite at the local extended stay hotel. After running a quick inventory of the house, it seemed like Kylie’s computer was the only thing that had been taken. Gage should’ve felt happy that nothing important had been taken from him, but instead he felt restless. Restless and unsettled. In truth, the break in at his house made no sense. He lived in a safe neighborhood. He hadn’t been around long enough to have made any enemies in the area. He didn’t own a lot of flashy stuff that would entice thieves. Even then, the few big-ticket items he did have—his new flat screen TV, the video game console, his expensive tablet computer—none of that had been touched in the robbery. Only Kylie’s laptop.
She’d blamed herself for what had happened, but honestly it was his fault.
He did his best to shake off the feeling of foreboding settling over him.
Every time he let his guard down bad things happened. His parents’ accident. His uncle. Tucker and Christine. Now Kylie and the twins. Maybe if they hadn’t gone to the nature preserve today, none of this would’ve happened. Perhaps if he’d gone to the park the other day instead of her, there would’ve been no mugging. If only…
Gage sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. The sound of the shower cutting off in the en s
uite bathroom brought him back to reality. The blame game served no purpose. His rational brain knew this, even if his heart didn’t want to get with the program.
There had to be a reason for someone to target his house. And the only way to protect the people who mattered to him was to find out who was behind the attack, and why it had happened.
Minutes of racking his brain produced no results, however, and by the time the door creaked open and Kylie appeared, all pink cheeked and freshly bathed, dressed in pink PJ pants and a white tank top, he was more frustrated than before—in more ways than one.
Being with her, sharing one of his favorite spots with her today, had been magical. It felt like they’d finally knocked down the barriers between them and connected on a deeper level. That bond was still there, despite what had happened earlier, and he couldn’t seem to stop himself from walking over to her and taking her hands, resting his forehead against hers, doing his best to be strong and confident for both of them. He knew she was scared. It was written all over her pretty face. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be all right, even if it was a lie.
“Feel better?” he asked, taking a deep breath and catching the scent of soap from her skin. His nerve endings tingled, and his pulse kicked up a notch.
She nodded. “Yes. How are the twins?”
“Asleep in the next room,” he said, pulling away before he couldn’t anymore. “If you’re done, I’m going to hit the shower myself.”
After scrubbing down and rinsing off, though, Gage felt more on edge than ever. He slung his wet towel around his hips, brushed his teeth and did a quick shave then walked out to grab sweats and a clean T-shirt from his duffle, only to find Kylie slumped on the edge of the bed. He stopped short, his skin feeling too tight for his body.
“You okay?” he asked, the words emerging huskier than he’d intended.
She shook her head and looked up at him, her eyes so filled with sorrow that his heart shattered. He was across the room and gathering her into his arms before he thought twice about his actions.
Guarding His Unexpected Twins: SEAL Endgame Book Three Page 7
