In this Marine’s case, there was no question that he wanted to learn more about her. In his deep gaze, Alexa found warmth, caring, and something so profound, she had no words to describe it. How crazy was that?
While Matt was right, she was between relationships, Alexa had no intention of starting another one. The timing was all wrong. In March, she would be turning in her officer’s commission and leaving the Air Force to work at Artemis Security with Tal and Matt.
Beneath that shaggy hair and unkempt beard, Alexa sensed Gage was a very attractive man. She’d never been drawn to hunks, preferring men with interesting faces that revealed the story of their lives. But she liked Gage’s sensual mouth, although his lower lip, slightly tucked inward, showed her that he wasn’t happy. There was something about him that made her want to open her arms, slide them around his shoulders, and simply hold him. The desire to do just that was so powerful, that Alexa had to steel herself against actually doing it.
God knew, she was an open book, a toucher, a hugger, someone who lived through her senses. This man’s face hid a lot, Alexa could feel that deep down, he’d never want to open up and share his troubles.
Until now, maybe? When Gage looked over at her, she felt her face flush and perceived his attention as a light, tender touch. That was different! Men looked at her with interest, even lust, and she sensed that Gage might feel those things, too, but there was so much more to it than that. And as his eyes lingered for a moment on her parted lips, Alexa swore she could feel him reach out and run his thumb across the lower one.
Funny, the skimming look he gave her was quiet, gentle, and noninvasive. He might have been lusting for her, but he wasn’t like the morons at the canteen bar who were literally drooling over her when she walked in. Alexa hated that kind of schoolboy behavior and patently ignored it.
But this man’s look? Alexa could feel care, respect, and tenderness each time he connected with her, and that alone made her pulse pound. As a female combat pilot, she was a rarity, and she was on a base where men outnumbered women a hundred to one. Alexa was unimpressed with men staring at her, wanting to screw her and then walk away. She disliked men who couldn’t keep their brains above their belt and their balls separate.
But Alexa knew that this man could, and how refreshing that was! She’d found very few like that in her twenty-eight years.
Snapping out of it, Alexa felt momentarily dizzied and blamed stress for her reaction. She’d had a tough morning with her squadron, going out and flying low, keeping a platoon of Army soldiers from being overrun by the Taliban. Her A-10 had taken a number of bullets in the fuselage, and once she’d landed and done a walk-around with her chief mechanic, she’d been shaken. The plane could have crashed if the right bullet had gone into the wrong place on her Warthog. And she could have died in the crash; she had been flying far too low to pull the ejection seat soon enough.
Alexa thought that perhaps her strong response to Gage might be associated to her earlier scare, but this wasn’t the first time she’d come close to cashing it all in. Not in her line of business.
But every time it happened, it scared her. She was too young to die. She had a whole lifetime ahead of her. It wasn’t that she was afraid of flying. Indeed, she had her Boeing Stearman biplane waiting for her at an airport hanger back in Virginia that she loved to fly when she was home. She had a job at Artemis she could hardly wait to step into so she could work with Tal and Matt.
When Matt had introduced Gage Hunter to her, she’d liked his name, thinking that he did, indeed, gauge people with that scalpel-like gaze of his that missed nothing. And, check, he was a Marine sniper, just like her big sister. Alexa liked his courtly behavior toward her. When he called her “ma’am,” she appreciated his respectful address, but it wasn’t formality she wanted between them.
Yes, she was an officer. Yes, she knew her responsibilities as an officer. But really, Alexa treated all her enlisted people as a team, not below her in rate or rank. She had always embraced all of humanity as her equals. But Gage had thought he should respect that line in the sand, and she’d wiped it away without a second thought.
As Alexa sat there with the men, she wanted to devote her attention to Gage, because she had a lot of questions for him. She wanted to know everything about him so she could understand her powerful reaction to him. No doubt, he was an alpha male, just a quiet one. Alexa knew what it took for someone to be a Marine Corps sniper. There was a certain kind of personality that fit that career slot. They were quietly competitive, much like Matt and his men in Delta Force.
Snipers were not necessarily considered black ops, but rather were force multipliers used throughout all branches of the military. The fact that Matt not only knew Gage but considered him a friend and had gone on missions with him told her plenty. Her brother was a straight shooter when it came to knowing people and chose his friends carefully. Matt didn’t suffer fools, nor did he put up with the assholes on the base, either.
Matt’s friends were like him—men of strong moral fiber, values, and tons of courage. Her twin was much like Gage, deceptively quiet. While most would not pin him as type A, he damned well was. Matt’s competitiveness showed up in the field and on missions. Otherwise, he tucked it away so no one would guess the depth of his power and drive.
She looked quickly through her lashes toward Gage as she ate her pizza, thinking that he was exactly the same as Matt. Probably a clone, she thought, grinning a little. Where they weren’t alike, from what her internal radar was picking up, was that heavy cloak of loneliness and grief that Gage wore around him.
Matt, in comparison, felt light, happy, and whole. Gage did not. Alexa felt a strong communion with anyone who was suffering. It was her nature to reach out and touch them, give them something positive, compared to whatever silent load they carried. She always wanted to bring out a smile in another person. It was just the way she was built, and people loved her for it.
Gage hadn’t smiled once. The corners of his mouth were always tucked inward, and he was quiet, rarely speaking but listening a lot. He would say little unless she jabbed him with a question that required an answer. He was like a ghost at the table.
While Alexa rarely opened up to other people, she was completely open with her own family. That was different. She loved them, cared for them, and wanted to always know and be in touch with them in every possible way.
She sensed that Gage Hunter had no close family ties, and intuitively, she felt him standing behind walls of his own making to keep others from knowing . . . something.
Matt had said Gage was an introvert. Well, Alexa was an extrovert, his exact opposite. Matt was an introvert, too, and she began to understand why he and Gage were friends—Birds of a feather and all that.
And when Gage had offered her his napkin to wipe off her greasy fingers, he’d won big points from Alexa. She wasn’t surprised, though, because he reminded her of a knight from the era of King Arthur. When Matt had teased her, she’d sensed Gage’s desire to help her, and when she’d touched his long, well-shaped fingers and saw his eyes widen slightly—well, that was all the dessert she needed!
Matt’s radio beeped, and he grimaced. “Great,” he muttered, wiping his hands on his trousers, “HQ wants something.”
“Oh, no,” Alexa murmured, frowning. She stopped eating her second wedge of pizza, listening to Matt, but couldn’t hear the conversation due to the noise in the canteen.
Gage watched his friend’s face and knew something was up. Matt had just come in off a mission, so they couldn’t be throwing him back out on another one. He glanced over and saw Alexa’s profile, her fine, thin brows drawn down, her mouth tight. She was worried, too.
“It’s probably a detail on his mission report,” he told her, trying to ease her concern.
Alexa turned, confused. “What?”
Gage motioned toward Matt. “He just came off a mission. HQ is probably comparing reports and has questions they need Matt to answer, that’s all. I d
on’t think he’s going to get called back out on another op, if that’s what’s worrying you.”
Alexa gave him a warm look. “I hope you’re right, Gage. Thanks for telling me that.”
He nodded, wanting to reach out and graze the soft velvet of her cheek. Instead, he focused on Matt’s one-sided conversation. When Matt finally signed off, he shoved the radio back into place on his epaulet on his left shoulder.
“Sorry, boys and girls,” he said, rising. “HQ needs some more intel that I didn’t put down in my report.” He leaned over and kissed Alexa’s hair. “See you later, baby girl.” Lifting his head, he looked at Gage. “Make sure she gets to her B-hut safely?”
“Sure,” Gage agreed with a nod. He could see how many men in this canteen would more than likely follow her, trying to engage her, trying to get her into their beds. Worse, some women walking alone in the evening hours or at night had been mugged and raped. And someone like Alexa, who was so beautiful? Gage thought she needed a bodyguard around the clock. And he was just the man to be one for her right now. Matt was like a brother to him, and he wasn’t about to allow Matt’s sister to be put in the crosshairs of a rapist.
Matt gripped Alexa’s shoulder as he moved past her. “Gage will take good care of you. I don’t like you walking around here by yourself.”
“Oh, gee, Matt,” Alexa protested. “I’ve only been at this base the last five years. Nothing’s happened.”
Patting her shoulder, Matt said, “Gage is a good friend. He’ll walk you back to your B-hut.”
Alexa gripped her brother’s hand and squeezed it. “See you later?”
“Yeah, I’ll try to make it to the supply depot and help you get those clothes and shoes in boxes tomorrow morning. I haven’t forgotten about it.”
“Good, don’t,” she said, giving him a stern look.
Gage nodded good-bye to his friend. He turned, seeing Alexa stand and pull out her dark blue garrison cap and settle it on her head. Immediately, he stood and saw several men moving in her direction.
Alexa saw three soldiers ease from the bar, their eyes on her. She was going to say something when Gage put himself right in front of her, standing there like the bristling, quiet alpha he was.
She stood near his right side and behind him. This wasn’t the first time she’d been hit on in a canteen. As an officer, she had the rank, and Alexa was more than prepared to use it, but Gage, as if reading her mind, lifted his hand, opening it toward her.
“Let me handle this?” he asked, giving her a sideward glance.
There was something deadly about his demeanor. Alexa gave a brisk nod and watched him turn away, facing the three enlisted soldiers, who were so drunk they bumped into one another as they approached.
The canteen suddenly quieted, and Alexa felt anger stirring in her. She hated this kind of shit. Always had. And in the past, she’d handled it just fine on her own. But there was something reassuring about Gage as he stood there loosely, his large hands hanging relaxed at his sides, his piercing gaze on the three soldiers.
There would be no fight here today if Alexa had anything to say about it.
“That’s close enough,” Gage said in a quiet but firm voice.
The three soldiers halted. The red-haired one snorted.
“Get the fuck out of the way, dude. We want to talk to the lady.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Gage said, his voice low, almost friendly. “Why don’t you three go back to the bar and finish off your beers? The lady and I are leaving.”
Alexa silently cheered Gage on for his diplomacy. She liked that he didn’t get threatening, all huff and puff. The confusion in two of the three soldiers’ expressions told her Gage had made contact. The red-haired one, however, wasn’t having it. He was drunk enough, stupid enough, to push harder. And Gage stood about five inches taller than the soldier. Alexa knew that when someone was drunk, details like that failed to register.
“You can leave, dude,” the red-haired soldier said with a broad wave of his hand. “But she stays. She’s ours,” he sneered, glaring up at Gage.
One corner of Gage’s mouth twitched. “What do you say we take this outside and settle it, then, because the lady is with me.”
The gauntlet had been thrown down so quietly that Alexa barely heard the veiled threat in Gage’s tone. She looked at the rest of the men in the canteen. They were all leaning forward, straining to hear him speak. Someone behind the bar shut off the music.
Silence.
Dead silence.
Alexa gulped, her gaze shooting from Gage’s harsh profile to the soldier, who was barely able to stand, six feet away from him. Before she could step in and say anything, Gage turned, cupped her right elbow, and guided her around where the soldiers stood. His gaze never left the red-haired one until they were past him.
The rest of the men in the canteen stepped aside, allowing them passage to the door. Gage pushed it open, guiding Alexa outside, his hand still firm on her elbow.
Sunlight, bright and blinding, hit Alexa. Gage continued down the wet sidewalk, which had earlier been shoveled clear of snow on both sides. Now, in midafternoon, it was melting on the desert base. The wind was breezy, and Alexa was glad to be near Gage. He was like a mountain preventing the cold air from reaching her.
“I like your style,” she told him, looking up at him as she pulled on her aviator sunglasses.
“He was too damned drunk to know up from down,” Gage said, shaking his head in disgust.
“I saw him latch on to the hog’s tooth you’re wearing.”
“I was hoping he would.”
Once they reached the broad sidewalk that curved along the wet asphalt two-lane street, Gage released her elbow. He didn’t want to, but knew he should. Even though he wore civilian clothes, Alexa was in uniform, and her captain’s bars were clearly visible on the shoulders of her flight suit. He checked his stride for her sake, keeping her on the inside of the street. He kept watching Humvees move slowly up and down it.
“I could have handled that confrontation, Gage.”
“I know you could.” He shot a glance down at her. “And I can just hear you asking why I didn’t let you do it.”
Her lips curved. “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”
A slow grin appeared. “Hey, I promised your brother that I’d take care of you after he left. My word is my bond.”
A good, clean feeling flowed through Alexa. He’d put on a pair of wraparound sunglasses, his baseball cap low on his brow. Gage Hunter was a badass in disguise, and she suddenly grinned.
“Just another thing to like about you.” She saw him cock his head in her direction, knowing his gaze was locked on her even if she couldn’t see it. “You’re a badass,” Alexa said, watching his lips twitch. This man did not give a thing away. Why? What made him close up like that?
“The enemy thinks so.”
“So did those three idiots in the canteen.”
“You had to feel pity for ’em.”
Alexa watched white clouds scuttling quickly by. She was cold and wrapped her arms around herself, chiding herself for not bringing along her warm, thick aviator’s jacket. Having been in such a hurry, she’d gotten a lift from a Humvee driver directly to the canteen from the fixed-wing terminal, leaving her jacket with her other gear in a locker.
Gage suddenly stopped, and she almost ran into him. He pulled off his leather jacket. “Here,” he said, putting it around her shoulders and pulling it almost closed. “You’re cold.”
Stunned by his kindness, she felt her face heating up. “Thanks,” she whispered. “How did you know?”
A quick smile hooked one corner of his mouth. “You put your arms around yourself. You’re only wearing a flight suit.” He straightened and touched her elbow. “You’ll be okay now.”
Alexa gratefully pulled together the edges of his huge, warm jacket. She could smell his male scent, dragging it deeply into herself, feeling her whole body respond pleasantly to it.<
br />
“But now you’ll be cold,” she protested.
“I’ll be okay.”
Snorting, Alexa said, “You’re as bad as Matt is.”
“How’s that?” He reluctantly dropped his fingers from Alexa’s elbow. Damn! He liked touching her way too much.
“He always thinks he has to take care of me.”
“Isn’t that what big brothers are supposed to do?” he teased, catching her pouty expression. He would have loved to kiss that lower lip of hers.
Just a pipe dream, he told himself. Alexa was an officer. Okay, she was free at the moment, with no man in her life, but Gage knew that would change pretty damn fast. A bright, intelligent, beautiful woman like her wouldn’t stay off the market long.
“You’re so much like Matt it isn’t even funny,” she grumped, giving him a good-natured look.
“We work together,” Gage said. “I really respect your brother. He’s solid gold.”
“So are you.” Alexa wanted to slap her hand against her lips as she blurted out the words and Gage hesitated briefly midstride, then continued walking. But she felt his response, and it was warm with promise. “You could be his twin brother,” she teased.
“Unlike you, who are his twin?” He studied her for a moment, fighting to keep his hands off her.
“No,” she muttered with a laugh, “this is a guy thing. Testosterone. You know?”
“No, I don’t. Spell it out for me?” Because Gage did not want to assume a single blessed thing with Alexa, the beautiful redhead who was like a dream come true.
And dreams died on him. Always. The need to kiss Alexa, explore her body, damn near overrode his control. He could smell the enticing scent of almonds on her, and he would have bet that she used almond oil on her hair.
Broken Dreams (Delos Series Book 4) Page 3
