by April Hunt
Because she’d like to get back to that. And explore. In detail.
Okay, maybe she wasn’t as daring as she could be. Yet.
“Here.” David caught her mouth for another hot, fantastically mind-blowing kiss. “But I think we should all head someplace more private.”
“All?” Catching her breath was a challenge.
He tapped her nose. “Don’t go thinking too hard because it’s not anything too exotic.”
Keeping one arm around her waist, he snagged Atlas’s leash and gave Atlas the command to sit. There it was again: the half-second of consideration before Atlas made the decision to follow the command. David didn’t comment, but he didn’t have to. They both recognized it. He simply opened Atlas’s kennel.
More rehabilitation required before Atlas would be ready for duty.
“Since you feel safest with both of us,” David commented as he hooked Atlas’s leash onto his collar, “then both of us will see you back to your cabin and stay there with you through the night.”
He’d just invited himself to her cabin. For the night. Yep, she’d heard the key points there.
A thrill rushed through her. It might’ve been better if she’d invited him but she was definitely not opposed to the idea. Especially considering how nice it was to be tucked against his side as they all started walking back to her cabin. The lighted paths had less contrast and the dark beyond them wasn’t as sinister. She didn’t jump at every sound. It was a world of difference in company she trusted.
Her heart just about burst out of her chest once they got there, though. The idea of going back inside, where she couldn’t see anyone coming…“You’re definitely both going to be here. All night?”
It took everything she had to suppress the shiver when her mind went into overdrive and images of a man’s face peering into her windows flashed across her vision.
His arm tightened around her waist, grounding her and bringing her back to reality. “We’ll keep watch.”
“Just tonight?” And that was the issue, wasn’t it? She’d forgotten momentarily about the danger out there. His kiss had blown it right out of her mind but it was still there.
He didn’t push her inside the cabin, or even nudge her. She swallowed hard and walked in on her own. The attack hadn’t happened here, after all. But at the hotel, she’d been shoved inside. And next, they’d hurt her. They’d been about to do worse.
A whine cut through her thoughts and Atlas shoved his head under her hand. His cool nose pressed against the inside of her arm as he wriggled his head, demanding her attention.
“We’ll be here and we’ll take each night as it comes.” David was still outside. He’d stayed back and given her space with her fear.
She was grateful for it. Every door—every time she’d walked through one—she’d shoved this far back into the corner of her mind. Mostly, it’d worked. But not tonight. Too many thoughts were crowding her head and she wasn’t able to compartmentalize the way she normally would. Maybe David had seen it all this week when she hadn’t been completely aware.
Even knowing he was with her and wanting him there, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have panicked a little in that moment if he’d been right behind her. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head slowly. “No apologies. Not ever.”
She opened her eyes wide against sudden, unexpected tears. “I’m kind of embarrassed. But I really appreciate…this.”
He was being incredibly considerate, and thoughtful, and patient. She couldn’t say the words without the emotions spilling over, and tears weren’t sexy. She wanted to recover the excited moment earlier, not be stuck in this echoing fear now.
David only gave her his smile, the one that had never failed to tempt a return smile from her over the last week. “I can stay out here. Atlas can keep watch inside.”
“No!” Her response was immediate and maybe a little horrified. “Please don’t stay out there. Come inside.”
The last ended on a whisper. Even if it was him, someone outside would freak her out even more.
“Okay.” He stepped inside slowly and shut the door behind him.
Immediately, the imaginary vice around her lungs eased. She rubbed Atlas’s head absently, taking comfort from his weight as he leaned against her leg. Her embarrassment was evolving rapidly into something else and her cheeks burned with shame.
“Hey.” David’s voice was quiet, coaxing. “You don’t need to be embarrassed. And this is all about what will make you comfortable. You’re safe with us and everyone here would go the extra mile to see to it that you feel that way. Nothing you say or do is wrong.”
She laughed then, but even to her ears she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Maybe this was what hysteria felt like. This unhinged, out-of-control feeling. Like she could lose it at any minute. “I’d really like to forget what made me come out in the first place and what made me lose my mind when I came back in here.”
“Would you feel better staying someplace else?” Another completely rational, patient question.
He was a good guy.
She shook her head. “Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
She lifted her gaze to his face, taking in the solid lines of his jaw and his serious countenance. His expressive eyes and those lips that’d completely scattered every rational thought from her mind not too long ago. “I’d like to go back to how I felt when you kissed me, because that’s the best I’ve got in my short-term memory currently and it was way better than any kiss I remember ever.”
Too much information. Definitely. And embarrassment was taking on whole new levels.
David’s eyebrows rose during her comment and the bastard started to look smug. “There’s a high bar set there. I’m going to need to try to outdo myself now.”
She opened her mouth to yell at him. What she’d say, she wasn’t sure, but she’d come up with something witty on the fly because he was going to be impossible to work with if she let—
He closed the distance between them and bent to capture her mouth. She hadn’t dodged. Her mind had been too preoccupied with generating witty commentary. Which was a lost cause because his lips burned into hers until she gasped and he deepened the kiss until she was drowning. His tongue teased and coaxed her until she responded in kind.
“Foei.”
She was breathless and off balance, leaning into David and blinking to clear her vision. David had an arm around her and the other out, holding Atlas at arm’s length. The big dog had tried to jump on David again but this time David had caught him and held him back, balanced on his hind legs.
“Foei,” David repeated. “That’ll be enough of that.”
There was a long pause as man and dog stared each other down. Atlas finally settled back on all fours, then sat. Lyn had never been caught in the middle of a pissing match between men before, but somehow she imagined it’d be something like this. Probably.
“He’ll be all right sleeping out here,” she whispered. Maybe she was being disloyal to Atlas. All things considered, she’d make it up to him tomorrow with extra-long walks and a whole lot of belly scratches.
Tomorrow.
David nuzzled just behind her ear and caught her earlobe between his teeth in a gentle nibble. Then he brushed his lips over her ear. “Both of us can make do out here while you get some rest.”
“What?” She jerked her head back, almost catching his chin as she did.
He kept hold of her and brushed her cheek with his thumb. “You’ve got a lot going on inside your head right now and you are the definition of vulnerable. I’d be a complete ass to take advantage of you.”
Please. Take advantage.
“I want to re-establish your sense of safety first.” He just had to sound incredibly reasonable. “And then, take you out on a real date.”
“A date.” She repeated the words slowly, rolling the idea over and over in her head. Now that he mentioned it, she’d hated saying no the first time he’d asked
. Still, he was being incredibly stubborn at the moment and part of her didn’t enjoy the way he was holding out. Mixed messages.
“I figure I should at least buy you dinner before I try taking advantage of you.” He winked, and there was enough heat in his voice to make it clear he was interested.
Her resistance evaporated. “You are incorrigible.”
He screwed up his face in mock dismay. “Sorry. Can you use a smaller word?”
“Impossible.” She balled her hand into a fist and thumped him on the chest.
“That’s only one syllable shorter.”
“Bad!” She thumped him again. “You are a bad, bad man.”
He laughed and snuck a kiss, which she gave him. And she nipped his lower lip for good measure. “I plan to be.”
“Good.” She was pouting and smiling at the same time and she didn’t even know how he’d managed it.
He grinned. “See? Bad. Good. I can handle the easy vocabulary.”
“Tease.” She threw it out there as an accusation.
“I’ll add it to the plans.” He grinned. “Limited vocabulary. Excellent memory.”
“Fine.” She blew out a breath. “I guess we’ll be calling it a night then.”
A very frustrating, probably restless night. His kisses alone had her melty and tingly and wound up in all sorts of ways. God, how would it be when they did get all tangled up?
He nodded solemnly. “It would be a good idea.”
“But not together.” She might’ve sounded disappointed. And it served him right if he heard it and felt guilty.
He kissed her. Kissed her until she melted for him, all the rigid outrage gone as she pressed up against him trying to fit herself against the entire length of him. She wanted to touch everywhere. When he let her up for air, he gave her a smile that meant bad, bad things. “Not yet.”
* * *
“David? Are you hungry?”
Define hungry, he thought, because first thing in the morning his appetite was focused on something much more satisfying than pancakes.
He didn’t open his eyes. Instead he considered his surroundings, how close Lyn might be, and most important, whether he had his pants on. He shifted a leg, took note of the loose slide of something too soft to be denim across the top of his thigh.
Nope.
He did have a light blanket across his lower half. The thin fabric protected him from the chill in the cabin but it definitely wasn’t enough to hide him from the light of day. While he was mostly certain Lyn found him attractive, she might not appreciate the part of him most awake first thing in the morning. At least not yet.
Lyn sighed. “Different question. Bacon? Yes or—?”
“Yes.” There wasn’t ever another answer. Ever. He opened his eyes and sat up. It’d been a long night and he hadn’t gone to sleep until a few hours ago.
Lyn was already headed back to the kitchen area so he couldn’t get a look at her expression yet. Her hips swayed as she walked, though, which could’ve been a torturous tease if he hadn’t already spent a week or so appreciating her walk. So she wasn’t throwing anything special into how she was getting around for his benefit. Biggest issue at the moment was her not giving him any clues as to whether she was upset with him for the way last night had played out.
He’d been trying to be a good guy. Do the right thing. His balls were blue enough to torture him without her being angry with him this morning.
“Did you sleep well?” Safe question. He hoped.
Her gaze shot up and pinned him to the couch. “Did you?”
Not quite mad, but definitely touchy. He’d have to proceed with caution.
“Well…” He drew out the response to give himself time to think. “I stayed on watch until Forte texted me a few hours ago to let me know we’ve got an eye on the grounds. Then I was up for a while longer, thinking of you.”
God, he enjoyed the way pink spread across her cheeks. He planned to tease her more often. This was also a good sign. He’d take whatever he could get.
From the middle of the floor, Atlas snorted and rolled on his side.
No opinions from the peanut gallery, thanks.
Not that he had any delusions of the dog being a mind-reader, but there was no doubt Atlas was aware of the pheromones floating all over the place. Dog probably had a better idea of Lyn’s mood than David did.
“If you were so…interested, maybe you shouldn’t have insisted on sleeping out here last night.” She turned to the stove and a second later, the sizzling of bacon filled the room with mouth-watering aroma.
He took the opportunity to snag his jeans from where they were hanging over the end of the couch. “Seemed like we were on the same page, but you did get some upsetting news yesterday. Wanted to give you time to ease into things.”
Plus, he’d still been on edge after the run-in with the other ex-soldier earlier in the day. He didn’t trust himself to keep things light and easy. Her first encounter with him should be at his best for her, not when his old issues were so close to the surface. She’d seemed to appreciate his reasoning last night.
Of course, she’d given him a look that could kill a man when she’d closed the bedroom door.
As she set a plate on the table, it landed with a loud thunk. He winced. Maybe she’d reconsidered overnight.
Enough.
He stood and got himself into his pants while she was still being stubborn giving him her back. Then he stepped over Atlas and came up behind her in the kitchen, putting a steadying hand around hers on the skillet to keep her from whacking him across the head with it. Other hand on her hip, he ground his own into her backside so there was no way she could ignore the raging hard-on he still had even zipped up inside his pants.
“Believe me, I wanted to join you in your room last night.” He leaned his head close to the side of hers and nipped her ear. “But same reasoning applies this morning even if we both lost some sleep from frustration.”
She didn’t try to step away but her back was straight as a board and her shoulders squared.
“You’re being very considerate. And I should appreciate it. I thought about it a lot last evening. I don’t like the mixed messages and I don’t like running hot only to be put into a forced cool down. You had me incredibly wound up last night and then you decided it was all about the chivalrous thing to do.”
He swallowed hard. Okay. He backed up a fraction and gave her room. “I’m sorry.”
After a moment, she sighed, turned off the heat on the stove and placed the skillet down safely. Then she turned into his arms. Rising up on her toes, she pressed a kiss against his jaw. “But you had good intentions. I’m hoping talking about this will prevent a repeat and that you’ll make it up to me.”
No sane man would ignore that hint.
He kissed her, enjoying the sweet honey taste of her mouth. He also gave thanks she’d changed her mind about keeping professional distance because even the minimal space between them due to the clothes they were wearing was too much. He sincerely hoped she’d be as interested in pursuing this thing between them after he clued her in to all the other shit going on around them.
And the thought effectively chilled him. A man didn’t need cold showers when he had this much insanity to deal with inside his own head. His mood was grim by the time they’d finished breakfast and gathered up Atlas to head back to the main house.
“It’s a vet visit for you, Atlas.” David noticed Atlas had been much more amenable to commands this morning. Small battle won there. He expected to have a few more instances like last night’s contest of wills before Atlas made the decision to listen a hundred percent of the time. It was a turning point between every dog and handler. The trick with Atlas was to get him to a point where he would accept a new handler at all.
Lyn held Atlas for Doctor Medicci while she checked on the healing scrape along his side. Atlas stood still under examination, amazingly responsive to Lyn’s encouragements. David stood back and let the ladies w
ork.
“He’s healing well, not showing any signs of pain.” Medicci murmured as she ran her hands along Atlas’s back and legs. “You kept him on light exercise, right?”
“Easy training and daily walks. No running for any real distance,” Lyn answered. She paused then added, “Mostly. He’s an active dog.”
“Mmm.” Medicci sounded noncommittal but not angry. Atlas was looking good and they all knew it. “On principal, he should be kept to light exercise a while longer but as long as the area around the wound is free of redness or swelling, he should be fine. Sutures will dissolve on their own.”
“Got it.” David figured he’d keep the training review at the current pace. No need to rush Atlas, and Lyn was working wonders with the dog in general.
“While I’m here, I’ll do his basic exam and take samples for the standard tests.” Medicci took out her stethoscope and pressed it to either side of Atlas’s chest.
Things looked to be fine until Medicci took out the big scanner and passed it over Atlas’s back. She frowned, checked the device, then passed it over him again more slowly. “He’s chipped, isn’t he?”
“All military working dogs are.” David pushed away from the wall and came to stand at Lyn’s side. He ran his fingers through Atlas’s coat along the dog’s right shoulder, seeking the small bump under the skin he’d encountered grooming. “It’s right here.”
“Whatever that is, it’s not a functioning microchip.” Medicci shook her head. “I just used this before I got here on two other dogs. It’s in working order. His chip must’ve malfunctioned or been damaged.”
It wasn’t likely, as small as the chips tended to be, but anything was possible.
“I’ll remove it now and we’ll re-chip him to be safe.” Medicci reached for her sterile implements.
“Remove it.” David cleared his throat. “But we’ll take him on base to get a new one in.”
Two feminine gazes pinned him with questioning looks. It was not the most comfortable he’d ever been. “The microchips for MWDs are more robust than the average pet chips linking a bar code to an owner’s name, address, and phone number. All military working dogs have GPS too.”
