Blood Vows (The Arsenal Book 3)

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Blood Vows (The Arsenal Book 3) Page 21

by Cara Carnes


  “You were a wreck earlier, and now you’re calm.”

  “Because I saw you in there rifling through the packs like a rabid squirrel to make sure we were covered. And because when I got over the nervousness about my kid likely being nearby, I realized this isn’t anything we haven’t done a hundred times.”

  “Which makes my worrying about a hatchet pretty stupid,” she muttered into his neck.

  “No, it makes you smart,” Dallas said. “But we’ll be fine.”

  Kamren inhaled his scent and stilled. Scent. Shit. Surely since they’d been on hundreds of missions they knew scent was critical. Some of them smelled so damn good she could track them from a half mile away from that alone. Normally that was a good thing, but not in the woods. Not when the slightest out-of-place scent gave away your location. Out here any smell other than a natural one was foul. Translation? They stunk like city. No way in heck was she telling Dallas, or any of them they stunk. No way in heck.

  She imagined someone telling Jud he stunk and snickered into Dallas’s neck.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” she lied.

  “I’m thinking you just lied,” he said. “Maybe I should interrogate you.”

  Kamren squealed and shoved away when he started tickling her sides, but he held her firmly in place. She bucked and kicked but couldn’t get away. “Dallas, no!”

  Instead of stopping, he carried it one step further—by hoisting her up and carting her toward a thatch of trees a ways away. Oh no. He was not going to take her away where everyone knew he was going to…

  She froze as anticipation fired through her system. What was he going to do? “Dallas?”

  He set her down a few feet into the wooded area. For the most part they were still in the lower plains leading to the rugged wilderness they’d be searching, which meant there were far fewer trees at this point. Pleasure ignited within her as he claimed her mouth. The kiss was slow and all-consuming as the impact drifted within her, a sensuous curling of awareness after a long numbing sleep.

  He taunted, toyed, and tantalized with his tongue as it swept, flicked and laved her mouth, neck, and downward. Confident hands wandered beneath her shirt and stroked upward in a slow, patient glide that left her growling and grabbing at him. The timing was horrible—they were about to head into rugged wilderness for no telling how long—but Kamren couldn’t deny the connection between them.

  He sat on a downed log and dragged her forward until she straddled his lap. She cupped his face and claimed his mouth as she ground against him, letting him know she didn’t want to stop. She needed way more than a few languid kisses to fuel the inferno within her. A groan escaped him as he yanked off her shirt and held up his hands with a grin as she did the same to him.

  “Erm, guys?” Kamren froze at the voice in her ear. “Yeah, erm. Mics. Off. Please?”

  “Sorry, Zoey.” Dallas yanked the small bud from his ear and pushed something on it. He repeated the process with hers. “Sorry, Kamren, I should’ve remembered they were in.”

  She didn’t let herself think about who had heard what they’d been doing. Thank God she hadn’t said much, if anything. “I need you, Dallas.”

  “My first time inside you isn’t going to be in the woods,” Dallas whispered against her skin as he trailed kisses down her neck. He dragged her into him as he removed her bra. “But we can sure as hell make you come.”

  Her toes curled in her boots as heat suffused her nipples. Awareness arced through her in a surge of heated tingles arrowing downward to where she ground herself against the prominent bulge in his pants. Sex hadn’t ever been a driving focus in her life, which was probably why she’d never had a long-term relationship. Her few months with Tanner were the extent of her experience in the keeping-a-man endeavor, and that’d failed miserably.

  She didn’t want to screw things up with Dallas. She swallowed the thought as he severed contact with her nipple and dragged her face downward until their lips merged. It wasn’t a merging as much as it was her melting into him. He rolled both her nipples between his fingers and looked up at her when the kiss broke.

  “Gorgeous,” he whispered. “I can’t wait to spread you out on my bed and feast on you for hours.”

  Her pussy clenched as his words activated her imagination, but it was the way he stroked down her belly as he maintained eye contact that made her pulse pound. He undid the button on her cargo pants. She swallowed, leaned down and kissed him. But he kept his eyes open, watching her from so close it felt as though they’d crawled inside one another and set up camp.

  “Dallas,” she whispered against his mouth as he undid her zipper and dipped his hand inside.

  A moan escaped her as he cupped her sex and glided deft fingers against her slick entrance. She cut off his appreciative groan with a kiss as he thrust two fingers inside her. He nipped her lower lip and shifted focus to her clit. She cried out against his mouth and sank her nails into his back and shoulders as she rode his hand.

  Dallas was lethal to the senses.

  “Come for me, Kamren.” The gruff voice pushed her closer to the edge as her entire body trembled with the need for release. “Look at me. I want to see your face when you come on my hand. Pretend it’s my cock.”

  Kamren complied but ran her hand between them and reached for his pants.

  “Don’t. This is about you,” he said.

  “That’s not fair,” she quipped, her voice breathless as he rolled his thumb across her clit again. Any semblance of thought died beneath the onslaught of sensations as she exploded. There was no other way to explain the strength with which her orgasm struck. As she rode the dregs of pleasure, she looked down into Dallas’s eyes and knew he’d taken root deep inside her.

  She hadn’t even noticed his presence until just now, but he’d settled in at some point. In a way she knew she’d never recover if he decided to pull up stakes and vacate her life. Her heart thudded wildly in her chest when he brought his fingers up to his mouth and licked her arousal from them. The act, her watching, their eyes locked…her entire body trembled beneath the weight of awareness encasing them.

  “You’re beautiful when you come, Kamren.”

  She stroked his face and leaned down until their foreheads pressed together. “I can’t wait to be under you, in your bed, feel you buried deep inside me. But before that I’m gonna take you deep my mouth, taste your arousal as I look up into your eyes. I want to watch you come for me, Dallas.”

  “Fuck, sweetheart. I’m harder than a spike as it is.”

  “Then let me.”

  “No, not here. You deserve more than a wilderness romp, and there’s no way in hell I’d stop if I got your mouth around my dick.”

  There was no way she’d stop either. She sighed her contentment as he closed her pants. Together they redressed and cleaned up with some of the disposable wipes she had in her cargo pants.

  “You would’ve made an excellent Boy Scout, you’re prepared for anything.” Admiration reflected in his voice, a confidence in her abilities he’d demonstrated by letting her divvy up supplies earlier and not having anyone double-check her work. And he’d wanted her out here helping find his child.

  He trusted her to help.

  “I’m leaving nothing to chance. We’re not leaving until we find your son.”

  “You should be asleep.” The voice on the com startled Kamren a moment. She blinked and looked around. None of the Arsenal crew stirred. Had they not heard Vi’s voice?

  “It’s just us. You, me, Vi, and Mary,” Zoey said. “They think you’re stewing on something.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “The drones,” Mary answered. “You kept pacing earlier, after everyone ate and settled down. Our teams are the best around because we don’t ever keep things to ourselves. Whatever you’re stewing on, spit it out.”

  “Is it about Tanner?” Zoey asked. “He’s really hot.”

  “No. It’s not about Tanner.” She
slid from Dallas’s embrace and took a moment to check on him. She was surprised he hadn’t stirred.

  Jud and Sanderson were taking the first shift of security, along with the drones. She’d heard them work out the schedule amongst themselves earlier. No one had tried to work Tanner or Brace into them. Though she understood, it didn’t bode well for them trusting the two men.

  “They don’t trust Tanner and Brace,” she said.

  “No. We don’t know them, but we trust your judgment. If you say they’re good enough to lead our men through this, then that’s good enough for us,” Vi said. “But that doesn’t mean Dallas’s brothers and the other men are going to be welcoming Tanner and Brace into the group. They’re unknowns, one of which clearly had a close relationship with you. They won’t accept those two until Dallas does because they’ve got his back.”

  “There’s no reason to have his back,” she argued.

  “Given the things Dallas and Dylan went through, there’s reason, but I doubt that’s what’s keeping you up,” Mary said.

  “It’s stupid, and I…” She took a deep breath. “I can’t keep obsessing over it. It won’t matter anyway.” Probably.

  “What?” Mary repeated, her tone still patient. Calm.

  “Everyone smells. Soap. Cologne. Man.” She swallowed. “Scent carries a long way out here. One whiff of them and our location may as well be a bullseye with flashing neon arrows. I could track them from a mile out, if not more, on that alone.” And really, what was she doing spewing all that? The women had led tons of operations. They likely knew more of this stuff than she did.

  “Okay, that wasn’t what I expected,” Vi said, amusement evident. “So, to clarify. You can’t sleep because my man and the others smell?”

  “I didn’t say that,” she said quickly.

  “Yeah, you kinda did.” Zoey snickered. “Oh, please, please, please let me be the one to tell Sanderson he smells. Holy. Shit. I love this job.”

  God. This wasn’t going to go well.

  “Kamren, take a deep breath. Your pulse is through the roof,” Mary said.

  Kamren glanced down at the damned wrist thing Dallas had put on her earlier in the evening. She’d forgotten the women could monitor her vitals now. How embarrassing. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. You all had it covered, didn’t you?”

  “Honestly, no.” Vi paused a moment. “We’ve searched a lot of grids for Dallas’s son the past few months, and it’s easy to forget the setting isn’t our typical op. With all the scents in a forest and wilderness environment, I have to admit I didn’t think they’d stand out, but now that you say it, it seems extremely obvious.”

  “And hysterical,” Zoey said as she continued her laughing fit. “Oh, God. We can’t say anything until the drones are in place. Hold on, I’ll get them in position, then you can wake everyone.”

  Wake everyone? Wait. “No. Let them sleep. We’ve got a long trek ahead of us.”

  “Yeah, in less than a few hours. They need to handle this while they’re up on their security detail, which means we have to tell Sanderson and Jud at the bare minimum,” Mary said. “Unless you want to.”

  “I’m not telling them that shit,” Kamren shook her head and swallowed. “I really wish you’d forget about it.”

  “No way in hell,” Vi said. “Thank you. Thank you for having my man’s back out there. Now get some rest. We’ll handle the stink issue.”

  “I put some wipes and bars of hunter soap in the packs. You know, just in case,” Kamren supplied.

  “Thank you,” Mary added. “Rest. We’ve got your six. You aren’t alone.”

  And she wasn’t. She peered out into the inky night, then settled back into position beside Dallas. Tomorrow they’d set out, and she wouldn’t stop until they found his son. He was out there. Somewhere.

  17

  “You’ve got a hell of a woman,” Jud commented. “Mine took a certain amount of pleasure informing me and Sanderson we all smell, and Kamren was too worried about us smelling up the woods to sleep.”

  The man slammed a small bar of soap and a pack of wipes against his chest. “Creek’s a quarter click east, colder than hell. Thinking you could use it.”

  Fucker. Dallas gritted his teeth and ignored the blood surging southward when he thought about Kamren’s sweet body against his when he’d woken moments ago. Darkness sealed the area off like a tomb. He glanced back at where she still slept. She’d stretched closer to Jesse’s sleeping bag, likely seeking the natural heat of another body in her sleep.

  “She should’ve woken me, told me.”

  “Thinking she didn’t want to tell her new man he stinks like city.” Jud smirked. “Gotta admit, it hadn’t occurred to me. Figured a little civilian soap wouldn’t hurt.”

  “Can’t be too careful,” Dallas muttered as the revolting stench radiating from the small bar entered his nostrils. Pride rose in his chest, but it was shoved aside by another far deeper emotion, one he didn’t want to think about. She’d been deep in her head worrying about every little detail to find his kid. He glanced down at the foul stuff in his hands. “She bring this?”

  “Yep. Smells like deer piss or something else I’d rather not think about.” Jud glanced at the campsite. “You cool with Tanner?”

  “Yeah.” He hadn’t been at first, but she’d yet to approach the man who’d once had her. Fucker was an idiot for letting her go.

  “Should’ve cleared the knives with you first, man.” The man’s voice was low but edged with sincerity.

  “Made too much out of it.” Dallas looked the operative in the eyes and gave him something in return. “Said it was the first gift she’d ever gotten. That hit hard. You’re a hell of a man to give her that.”

  “Fuck.”

  “When this is over, I’d appreciate you showing her how to use them. With the shit that surfaces around us, can’t hurt for her to know whatever she can.”

  “I’m thinking she could teach us a few things,” Jud said with a grin as he crossed his arms. “Consider it done.”

  Dallas looked down at the second bar and set of wipes with a raised eyebrow. Jud’s grin returned, along with a wicked gleam he’d started to recognize, one that’d appeared thanks to Vi. The woman had unearthed the man beneath the lethal machine created by The Collective.

  “Figured you could inform Tanner of his issue.”

  Dallas chuckled. Fuck, but he loved his team.

  He found the bastard skulking not too far from where Kamren slept. A pot of coffee was brewing on the campfire. He motioned the man toward the wilderness, and like the trusting dumb fuck he was, he followed without comment. In another lifetime, Dallas would’ve relished handling the situation a little differently. Bullet to the brain. Knife to the throat. The possibilities listed in his mind, and he was sorely tempted to use one as he halted not too far away.

  A drone followed.

  Fucking Vi and Mary. They hadn’t said anything through the com, but they were silent witnesses. The conscience he’d gladly set aside for Kamren without hesitation.

  “Problem?” Tanner asked, a smug smirk on his face.

  “A few.” Dallas clipped the words as he shoved the soap and wipes at him. “Clean the smells off before we head out.”

  “Kamren always thinks of the little things,” Tanner said, his voice fucking reverent.

  “That’s problem two.” Dallas waited until the man’s gaze locked with his. “Want to make sure you hear this loud and clear. Back the fuck off.”

  “Come again?”

  “Kamren isn’t yours. I won’t have her hurt because she’s helping me find my kid.”

  The man crossed his arms, looking back at where they’d left everyone else. “For the record, I fucked up. I made her choose between me and her family, demanding she stay with me rather than go home when her dad said he needed help. I tried to keep her away from the shit at home.”

  Dallas had to admit he would’ve likely tried to do the same thing—keep her away,
especially if he hadn’t ever been in Marville and seen firsthand how folks there grew up. Family came first, no matter what. It was the same upbringing he’d been raised with.

  Except his family hadn’t used fists and left scars. The guy hadn’t made the right decision, but he’d tried to keep her safe, which stifled a lot of Dallas’s distrust and dislike for the man. He’d tried to keep her safe.

  “It sounds like you did what you could. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if it’d been me back then. I have to admit things are different now with him gone.”

  “Maybe so, but a lot of what went wrong was on me. I was young and dumb. I wasn’t prepared to fight to a relationship, to give her the time she needed to experience a normal life. I wasn’t the man she needed to be the woman she could be. I made her choose because I didn’t understand what else I could have done.”

  “Strong woman like that doesn’t want a man fighting her battles. She doesn’t need a hero.”

  “I saw enough, toward the end. She was good at hiding the evidence. He was a mean son of a bitch,” Tanner said. “Getting between her and family was the wrong play.”

  Truth told, Dallas wasn’t sure how he would’ve played it if her father was still alive.

  “Woman like that, strong and brilliant, deserves a man who stands at her side. Saw that with my brother. Fucking hardest thing he’s ever done was stand back and let her fight her own battle. Had no fucking clue the balls it took for him to do that when it went down. Now I know.”

  An intake of breath on the other end of the com was the only indication Dallas had that he and Tanner were not alone. Didn’t matter. “Balls of steel to let the woman you love look her nightmare in the eye and kick its ass. Learned that from the women on the coms. I thank whatever twisted fate brought them to us, because I learned from watching their men how to pull my head out of my ass and be the man Kamren needs, not the one I think she should have. I’m sorry you didn’t get to have that insight when you were with Kamren.”

  “Even if it meant she stayed with me?”

 

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