“Seriously?” Celine went to her knees next to him, her eyes wide. “You really think I can’t handle a little screwing?”
Aaron growled and shot up straight so that he was eye level with Celine. “You really think what we just did was just sex? It was more than that and you know it.”
“No, it meant more than that to me. I was teasing you. Trying to get you to see I’m not weak.”
Aaron pushed her down and pulled her onto his chest so that she draped across his body once more. “No, you’re one of the strongest women I know. You know what I do, I’ve seen women break under less strain. I just want you to be safe and healthy.”
Celine stared up at him with her big emerald eyes. “I am safe. I’m with you.”
Overwhelming protectiveness surged. “Damn right, you are. I’ll protect you with my life.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, taking his wave of power and crushed it, leaving him with an aching coldness in his chest. He released her hands and cradled her face between his palms. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Her hands went to his, holding him to her. “It just feels good to hear you say it.”
Aaron held her gaze, leaving his open so she could see his sincerity. “It’s my job to protect you.”
The hope shining in her eyes faded and he did a mad scramble to try to figure out how he could heal the hurt.
She sucked in a breath, her lips trembling and said, “I know you’d rather be with your team. I understand. Who could blame you for wanting revenge against that horrible monster.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your job.”
Aaron waited for her to continue, but after a few seconds it became obvious she was done. “What about my job?”
She looked away and he gently tipped her chin back to face him. A fresh tear tracked out of the corner of her eye and something inside him broke. He gently wiped the drop from her temple, and waited.
“I know that I’m just a job for you. That when it’s safe, this will all be over and I’ll probably never see you again. And I know you’d rather be back in Afghanistan right now, tracking down the man that killed your teammate.”
Her words doused his desire. “You really think I could just leave you?”
She nodded another tear falling. “They always do.”
Aaron slammed his eyes shut and tilted his head back to hide the expression on his face. How could she think that he could just walk away after what they’ve shared? Yes, he’d been attracted to her before, but now, after he’d spent a whole week learning about her quirks and caring for her…and then tonight, the most fucking perfect sex he’d ever had…he knew she was the one. She was his everything.
Aaron wrangled his control and faced her. “Let’s get a few things straight. I’m not leaving you, not now, not in a week, not in two weeks. Mr. J can eat a bullet for all I care. I’d like to see him die, but the man who tried to destroy my life isn’t nearly as important to me as the woman that restored it.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, his heart beating almost painfully in his chest. “I will never leave you. Ever. Yeah, with my job I’ll be deployed. I won’t be able to tell you where I’m going or what I’m doing, but I’ll come home and when I do, you better be there waiting for me.”
Her gaze searched his and it was all he could do not to grab her and kiss the truth into her. If anyone should be worried it was him. Not many women could handle being with a special forces operative. The constant worry and secrets that came along with his job had destroyed plenty of relationships, that’s why he’d never sought a serious girlfriend in the past. But he’d never felt like he did right now either – like he couldn’t breathe without her.
She gave him a trembling smile, twisting his insides.
“I believe you, and I don’t want you to leave either. But I don’t want you to miss your chance for revenge.”
“Before I had you, I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. But my world’s changed and I wouldn’t leave you for a second.”
Celine snuggled closer to him, inhaling his earthy male scent and reveling in the way his chest rumbled against her cheek. “So what do you think will happen with Mr. J?”
“I think my team will catch him and I think we’ll find Caroline,” Aaron answered quickly.
“You seem so sure.”
“The information you were able to give us on Mr. J, who you knew as Jack Mankel, is going to help a lot. Up until now we didn’t know his current alias.” Aaron stroked her hair, sending delicious shivers down her spine.
Jack Mankel had seemed so smooth and charming, but when Celine really thought about it, she’d had a feeling about him in the beginning. Her instinct had been not to trust him. And then his daughter…She kept having dreams about her and Caroline.
“Aaron, has anyone been able to dig up any information on his daughter?”
“Not yet, honey, but Agent K and my whole team are looking into it.”
“It’s just that I keep seeing her in my mind and for some reason I think she looks like Caroline. Maybe I’m losing it.” There really wasn’t any other explanation. The worst nightmare that held her was of his daughter actually turning into Caroline, which was just insane.
“You went through a lot of trauma, both physically and mentally. Give yourself some more time to recover,” Aaron said.
But what if she could remember more – it would help their mission. Maybe even be what helped them find Caroline and safely return her home.
Aaron’s stomach grumbled, the loud sound taking over the room and her thoughts. “You know what would make this night even more perfect?”
“Hmmm…”
“Food.”
“Hungry?”
“I think I’ll be hungry for the rest of my life,” she answered honestly.
He laughed, a deep and rich sound that made her own lips curl in response.
“I aim to please. Stay put, I’ll be right back.” Aaron eased her onto his pillow and went downstairs. She lay there, half on the verge of sleep and consciousness, listening to him move about in the kitchen.
She’d completely fallen for Aaron Speirs. A warm feeling that had nothing to do with the hot bath stole across her chest and left her fuzzy.
She’d known it would happen, known with every fiber in her being, and yet she’d been helpless to stop. Even knowing from firsthand experience how dangerous his job was and that she’d chew her nails off with worry when he deployed – he was worth the pain.
Every single bit of it.
A bright red light flashed on the bed stand by her head. She tried to ignore it, but it kept flashing. No way she could nap with that and what if it was Mr. K? Or Merc?
Celine eased up, blinking, and reached for the small black box, turning it in her hand as she tried to figure out what the heck it was. Definitely not a cell phone or a clock. In fact, it was nothing but a flashing light.
“How does a grilled cheese sound?” Aaron stood at the top of the stairs, his smile fading as he stared at the box.
“I’m sorry. It woke me up. I didn’t mean to mess anything up.” Celine nibbled her lip, hoping she hadn’t done any damage.
“How long has that been blinking?”
“Maybe a minute, why?” Her heart started to pick up pace.
Aaron dropped the tray on the foot of the bed and snatched her up. “Get dressed, now.”
He left her standing by the bed to filter through his bag. When he came up with a pistol, she swallowed. “Aaron, you’re scaring me.”
“Someone’s breached my first tripwire. I need to check downstairs. Get dressed and wait for me here.” The sweet, kind expression was gone from his face, instead she saw the soldier coming out in him, the one that could kill with ease if needed. She nodded and watched him run downstairs as she hurried to yank on her t-shirt and shorts. The moonlight cast long shadows that seemed to shift and move across the dark room.
The men were back, the ones that had tried
to have her killed. Fear turned her legs to ice and she wavered as nausea rolled through her stomach. Aaron reappeared in the room and pulled her to the bedside, shoving her down into a crouch. He’d acquired a rifle and an extra pistol which he checked and then handed over to her. “You remember how to use this?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Just keep your finger off the trigger unless someone makes it past me. If you see someone you don’t recognize, do not hesitate, aim for his chest and empty your gun. Got it?”
“I, I think so. How did they find us?”
“I don’t know. No one knows about this place, not even my team mates. Everything was secure.” Aaron said.
She trembled, her hand sneaking up around her neck. The gun felt cold and heavy in her hand.
Aaron pinned her with a hard stare, his gaze morphing from unreadable to understanding. He eased closer and cupped her chin in his hand. “It’ll be okay. We’ve got the tactical advantage here. I can pick them off as they come through the door. Besides, if they hadn’t found us, we would have had to leave this place sometime, and they would’ve still been waiting. At least this way I don’t have to wait on someone else to do the job that should have been done in D.C.”
She saw a shadow move across the front window and her trembling turned into a full out earthquake. Aaron held a finger to his lips and gestured for her to get down. She squeezed closer to the bed, her knees curled to her chest, as Aaron belly crawled to the railing and settled his rifle against his shoulder. He moved like he was born to do this. She sensed the steady hum of energy building in him, watched how fluid he sighted his weapon on the front door. His hand caressed the rifle, held it almost as close as he’d held her.
Celine felt the tiniest bit of tension ease from her shoulders and she concentrated on the man guarding her. From this vantage they could both clearly see the front door and window, leaving whoever was dumb enough to break in a sitting duck.
When she heard the door knob rattle she almost didn’t believe it. Weren’t these guys pro’s? They’d penetrated a top secret layer of the pentagon.
Aaron didn’t tense, didn’t change his breathing, just slow and steady and patient. Just like him.
She heard another click and then the door swung open, a large man filling up the doorway. Her recognition was instant. It was Daniel, from the airport, his big burly frame practically rolling with menace.
So why was he just standing there?
She wanted to nudge Aaron and tell him to shoot the bastard, but she didn’t dare break his concentration. If Daniel got past Aaron, the false calm she’d achieved would crumble.
Daniel eased inside, pistol raised, and did a slow sweep of the living room, and then disappeared to the right. He was in the kitchen. After that, there would be nowhere else for him to go but upstairs.
She tightened her grip on the pistol and focused. Just breathe. Why the hell didn’t Aaron shoot him?
A stair step creaked and she froze. Aaron had tucked her close to the bed and wall, she couldn’t see straight down to the steps.
Aaron shifted his gun left and down. She watched as his finger fell from the rifle stock to the trigger. He breathed out and squeezed. The bullet zipped through the room and she realized he had a silencer on his gun. Then there was a thunk, like Daniel falling to the floor.
Celine eased up onto her knees. Aaron was still facing the ground floor, focused on the open door.
She sensed a presence behind her a second before a hand closed over her mouth and a sharp tip nicked her throat. She needed to scream, to fight. She jerked, but that just drove the knife deeper into her skin. He shifted on the bed behind her, the mattress creaked.
Aaron jumped up and spun around, his pistol at the ready. The man behind her jerked, yanking her to the other side of the bed in one violent pull that felt like it crushed her windpipe. Celine slapped at his arm with her free hand, digging her nails into his skin, holding tight to the gun in her other.
“Drop her and I’ll kill you fast,” Aaron leveled his pistol right over her shoulder.
“We both know that’s not how this is going to play out.”
XXX
Aaron watched as Eli dug his knife into Celine’s throat and the small trickle of blood that followed. Rage hit him hard, but he shoved that emotion back down. Celine needed calm and cold. Just like he’d been trained. “Let her go.”
Eli eased the knife down, tracing the tip down her chest and belly. “I don’t really want to do that.”
When he tucked the knife between her thighs, like a sick lover’s caress, Celine moaned and her eyes went wide. He kept his other hand over her mouth and continued his slow arc back up to her neck.
Aaron fought back the nausea and concentrated his aim at just over her right shoulder. This close he could probably get a round off without hitting her, but the blast would burn, and if he was so much as a hair off…
The open window behind Eli caught his attention. He needed a distraction. “You scaled my cabin?”
“Easy, done it plenty of times.”
“And you sent your friend through the front door as a distraction, even knowing I’d put a bullet in his skull.”
Eli shrugged, but his eyes glowed with pleasure. “He said he wanted to help.”
Aaron had seen men like this before. Killing didn’t bother him, it excited him. Being in power, like he thought he was now, aroused him. Aaron shifted right, to a better position to fire. “So who sent you? You’ve left my agents scouring the pentagon for moles, but I don’t think your boss is there anymore.”
Eli turned, countering his movement. “I think we both know who I work for and that he doesn’t mind that I plan to play with the merchandise before I kill her. But not before I take care of you. Drop your gun and I won’t make you watch. The men usually cry and beg when I rape their women, it’s a huge distraction from my pleasure.”
Celine bucked, her scream muffled by Eli’s hand over her mouth. Aaron felt the tightness in his chest as Eli tried to make him lose control. Aaron spotted the pistol clutched in Celine’s right hand, dangling in front of her.
He caught her wild gaze and held it as he spoke. “I think you’ll find her a little harder to tame than the helpless women you’ve hurt in the past. She knows how to defend herself.”
Celine’s eyes widened more and Aaron saw her clench the pistol, partially hidden beneath her t-shirt.
Eli slid the knife down again, toying with the material covering Celine’s breasts as he shoved a knee between her legs. “I’ll break her. Just like I break them all.”
Aaron nodded, a slight movement of his head. Celine fired.
Eli screamed and dropped the knife. He shoved Celine forward and clutched his blown-out knee. Aaron caught her in his arm and fired a single bullet into Eli’s head. The bastard dropped like the piece of shit he was, his wide sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Aaron dropped his gun on the bed and took Celine into his arms, uncaring of the fact they were both trembling. “Are you okay? Did he cut you?”
A muffled ‘no’ was her response.
Aaron held her at arm’s length, a red haze filming his vision as he focused on the trail of blood at her neck. Dead. Mr. J was so dead. He’d been the one to hire Eli and Daniel. He’d been the one to try and sell her as a sex slave. He’d been responsible for her kidnapping.
“Aaron?” Celine put a hand on his chest, the other wrapped around her neck. “I swear, he just nicked me. It’s nothing.”
Aaron groaned and yanked her back to him, unable to get his mouth to work right. All he could do was hold her and tell himself she was alright. “Do you need to sit down? Never mind, sit down. I’ll get the first aid kit.”
Celine surprised him when she cupped his cheek, stopping him before he could force her to the bed. “I’m okay. You protected me.”
“That was too close. I should have known it wouldn’t be as easy as it seemed.”
“And now they’re dead and we
don’t have to worry, right?” Her tone was serious, but steady.
“Why are you being so calm?”
“Because I feel like it’s over and because he didn’t really hurt me.” She lifted up on her toes and placed a kiss on his lips.
Aaron groaned on contact and took her mouth in a kiss that left them both shaking. Seeing her like that…again…he shuddered. “I could have lost you.”
“Nah, I had him.”
Her words drew a shaky chuckle from him. “I love you, honey. God, I love you.”
She relaxed in his arms, her faced turned up to his. “I love you too.”
XXX
“Noni, you’re going to make me too fat to button my pants.” Celine took another mouthwatering bite of Noni’s famous fudge and groaned. Aaron’s grandmother sat beside her on her front porch, both women watching as Aaron installed a gate to go with the new fence he’d had put up around Noni’s house.
“You need some meat on your bones, especially if you’re gonna be strong enough to give me grandchildren.” Noni threaded her gnarled fingers together and leaned back in the rocking chair.
Celine choked. “Ummmm, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse?”
“Not if I know my grandson. I’ll bet he’ll make sure everything is done all proper.”
As if he could hear them talking about him, Aaron straightened and waved. Celine blew him a kiss, loving the way he caught it and held it to his heart.
“He hasn’t left your side, not even to go back overseas. And that fence, I don’t cater to such, makes me feel too claustrophobic.”
“Noni, he wants you to be protected.” Celine took a nibble, promising herself she’d slow down before she ate the entire plate, and watched Aaron’s shoulders bunch and flex as he moved. If it weren’t for not wanting to hurt Noni’s feelings, she’d be out there with him, just so she could be close to him.
“Pshaw, I’ve managed to live a full eighty-seven years without a fence and gate. I’ve got my shotgun in the house for anyone dumb enough to try me.”
Celine knew without a doubt Noni meant every word she said. “I think it makes Aaron feel better. He’s trying to protect you.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Aaron's Honor (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Men of Mercy Book 8) Page 12
