Brotherhood Protectors: Exposed (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Scandalous Moves Book 4)

by Deborah Grace Staley

  “Excuse me, what?” he said.

  “I burned sage and asked the land to accept me as its guest.”

  “Okay . . .” he said, nodding once, slowly, because he probably thought she was nuts.

  “I’ve been here a couple of days. No incidents. No intruders.”

  The hammock swung gently as the sounds of night began to fall around them. A chorus of frogs, a duck call, the sound of fish jumping in the water—all welcomed the rhythm of the night for her, but this man had disturbed the serenity of the spot she’d claimed. He had an air about him that said he’d claimed the land first, and she was an intruder. And damn if that didn’t trigger a flashback she didn’t want.

  Something between his fingers caught her eye, and she grasped at the distraction—his index finger, turning it to examine the spot. He had a tiny anchor tattooed on the side of his finger. She traced it with a fingertip.

  “I thought you said you were in the Army,” she said. “Aren’t anchors Navy?”

  “I was Army,” he confirmed. “The anchor was to remind me of home—this place. Remind me I had a peaceful place to come to no matter what hell I went through.”

  “That’s nice,” she said. She hadn’t had an anchor for some time—maybe ever. She’d learned to embrace her nomadic lifestyle, the constant changes in location and experiencing new cultures. But her last assignment had changed her outlook and made her question those choices. Being afraid was a foreign notion to her. She felt out of place in her own skin.

  “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sleep, knowing you’re here alone,” he said.

  “Stay.” That one word surprised her, but there it was, floating in the space between them.

  “I shouldn’t.”

  That’s when she realized he was considering it. “Afraid you won’t be able to resist me?” she bit into her apple, aware of the innuendo.

  “I’m trying to do the noble thing.”

  “Oh, God. Please. Don’t feel like you need to be noble on my account. I’m the least old-fashioned person you’ll ever want to meet. In fact, I’m impossible to offend.” She let the words trail off, knowing he had more to say.

  “Nevertheless . . . I can’t leave you here alone,” he repeated.

  “A dilemma, to be sure,” she said. “Since you’re unaccountably reluctant to sleep with me, I suppose I should tell you I have a sleeping bag.” She let her gaze slide down his long, lean, muscular body. “But I don’t think it’s long enough for all of you.”

  “I’m a soldier—”

  “Were,” she corrected.

  “I can sleep anywhere.”

  “You are determined to do the noble thing, aren’t you?”

  “If no one has ever treated you with this kind of consideration, that’s unfortunate.”

  That statement stirred her anger, and she rarely lost her temper. “Should I be offended?”

  “With the men in your life? Yes. With me, no.”

  He sounded so cocky and judgmental. She sat up. “If I wanted a bodyguard, I’d hire one,” she flatly. And then because she felt a need to test his convictions, she added, “But my other suggestion for how we spend our time stands.”

  He smiled, but stepped away with a rueful look on his handsome face, like he had to move away to keep from doing something he thought he shouldn’t. Fascinating.

  He smiled, looking at her set-up. “I haven’t seen a VW bus in years. What is it? From the Seventies or Sixties?”

  “Sixties, I think. I’m not sure.”

  “It’s, um, colorful,” he commented.

  “It is,” she agreed. She loved the brightly colored flowers she’d painted on the van. They made her happy. “It needed painting, so I decided to customize it.”

  “Kind of like your arm?” Jake said.

  She held out her left arm and looked at her tattoos. “For me, these are kind of like your anchor. There’s a different flower from each place I’ve traveled, to remind me that there’s beauty, even in places where beauty is hard to find.” The last one she’d gotten, the rainbow flower—a long stem with pointy red leaves—like her heart, hadn’t completely healed.

  “That’s nice,” he said quietly. “They’re beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” she said, and just like that, a thread of connection joined them. They’d both seen terrible things through the work they did. Things that once seen could not be unseen.

  “You said you sleep in the hammock?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Yes. Naked,” she added.

  “If you have a bed in the camper, I could sleep there,” he suggested, ignoring the naked part of her statement.

  “As you suspected, it’s unbearably hot in there, even with the windows open.”

  “I don’t mind the heat.”

  She stood and he automatically stepped closer to steady her with a hand at her elbow. Her reaction to him was instant, stronger this time. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist joining you,” she said honestly.

  “Soleil . . .” he began.

  His hand on her arm made her shiver despite the heat. “But since you don’t seem to have the same problem, knock yourself out.”

  He gripped her harder, then relaxed, but didn’t remove his hand. His thumb brushed her upper arm. “You think I’m not attracted to you?”

  “Are you?”

  “Hell, yes.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Like you, my work has made relationships impossible, and for me, you’re not the kind of woman I’d do short-term with.” Before she could get good and upset over that statement, he added, “With you, I’d want to take the time my time.”

  “Oh.” Good Lord, the thought of him taking his time with her made her knees feel a little weak. Was she ready for that? Could she stop moving around and stay in one place?

  But then he went alpha and added, “So, we’re both keeping our clothes on tonight.”

  “I can see you’re used to having people do what you want.” She put her hand on his waist.

  “Old habits,” he said with a lopsided grin.

  “I’d like to amend my proposal,” she said.

  “I’m almost afraid to ask,” he said cautiously.

  “No one has ever taken their time with me.” For her, sex had always just been a distraction—a fulfillment of needs. If she needed to rethink her career, maybe she should rethink her lack of personal life, too. Tempting, but still, she resisted. She had to because she knew from experience, no one would ever really want her. No one ever had.

  “Well, that’s a damn shame,” he said and moved his hands up her arms.

  The damn shame was the temptation to find out what sticking around with Jake would be like. “What if I stayed long enough to give it a try? No guarantees.”

  “I’d say I’m not interested unless you’re sure.”

  His slow, deliberate kiss gave her a taste of what it could be like with someone who took his time with her. Even though she’d always been an instant gratification kind of girl, a counter-image of taking her time with Jake bloomed in her mind.

  He broke the kiss but moved his mouth down to her neck. “Oh, shit . . .” She tipped her head up to give him better access.

  He stopped kissing her. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. “What?” she said.

  “You’re the one who spoke,” he pointed out.

  Had she? “I was just thinking that if I agreed to stay for a while, you’d have to give me something in return.”

  “What’s that?” he asked, returning his attention to her neck.

  “Relax the rules along with your urge to tell me what to do.”

  “I could give it a try,” he offered.

  She smiled. What had he said? “I’m not interested unless you’re sure.”

  He chuckled. “You drive a hard bargain.”

  “Maybe you should sleep on it,” she said. “In the camper.”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “Hmm. In the interest of
taking our time, we should both sleep on it.”

  Soleil was used to making quick decisions. She followed her gut. If she had to think about it, she didn’t do it. But given what had just happened, maybe she should give it some thought. She had to say, it did enhance the anticipation factor.

  She held out her hand. “Deal.”

  * * *

  A few hundred yards away, a man with binoculars said, “We got company.”

  The man beside him grabbed the binoculars and focused them. “She’s not alone?”

  “No. Some damn mountain of a man is there with her,” he paused then added. “Shit. He looks badass. That’s damn inconvenient.”

  The other guy grabbed the binoculars. “Yeah. Shit just got real.”

  “Boss ain’t gonna like it.”

  “Told you we should have let him know we had eyes on her.”

  “She’s sweet to look at.”

  “Looking at her’s not the job.” The man said and made a call.

  3

  Jake rolled to a sitting position and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. When his vision cleared, the bright sunshine hurt. How late had he slept? He checked his watch. Seven a.m. He stumbled out of the camper and scanned the area. Soleil was gone. Good thing he hadn’t taken A.J. or Hank up on that job offer. He’d slept like the dead after he’d finally drifted off. If an intruder had come up on them, he wouldn’t have known it. She’d even left without him hearing her.

  He spotted a sheet of paper with his name written in a flowing script on the small, round table outside the camper. He picked it up and read. “Gone to the beach.”

  He jogged up to the house, dug his shaving kit out of his duffle, took care of business, brushed his teeth, and changed into swim trunks. He wondered where Soleil did her morning rituals.

  At the end of his driveway, he crossed the road to the beach. When he got to the top of the dune, he saw her. Focused on holding the yoga pose, she didn’t notice him. She’d tamed her hair into one thick braid that hung to her waist. Her body was nearly bare because her bikini did a piss-poor impression of the garment. It was made of some kind of knotted, thick white string. The slight triangle barely covered her round, perfect ass. He could imagine the front of it rode indecently low on her hips. She twisted at the waist, her arms outstretched as she lifted her hands to the sky. The minuscule triangles barely covered her and left everything else exposed for his viewing pleasure.

  His cock got insta-hard and twitched its interest. “Down boy,” he mumbled.

  She turned, pinning him with her clear blue gaze and smiled. “Hi,” she said as he approached.

  “I know. I have to stop sneaking up on you,” he said. As he got closer, he saw the bikini was at least lined. But still . . .

  She grasped her ankle and pulled it up to touch the back of her head. “It’s okay. I was expecting you.”

  The note. Right.

  He watched, hypnotized by her movements. She released her leg, put her hand under her heel, and lifted her other leg straight up beside her head. Of course, his frustrated libido had him sexualizing everything she did.

  “How do you do that?”

  “Years of disciplined practice.” She released her leg, pressed her palms together, and said, “Namaste,” then picked up a towel to wipe the sweat off her chest.

  “Namaste.” He repeated the greeting because he knew it was considered rude not to.

  God, he was in deep shit here. When he stood next to her mat, Soleil didn’t speak, but she was openly looking her fill. He raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m gonna need a second,” she said.

  And just like that, every nerve ending in his body fired because there was a hell of a lot of her body exposed to his perusal. “That suit hardly qualifies you for not being naked,” he pointed out.

  “You don’t like my bikini?” she said all wide-eyed and innocent.

  “You ever heard the term, ‘don’t poke the bear’?” he growled.

  She shrugged and grabbed an insulated water bottle. “Sorry. I’m not familiar with hunting terms.” She took a drink, and all he could think of was putting his lips on her long, graceful neck. “How did you sleep?” she asked.

  “Fine after I finally fell asleep,” he admitted. “You?”

  She leaned over to set her bottle down. The action gave him an up-close view of her nearly bare breasts.

  “Terrible,” she said. “I kept waking from vivid, erotic dreams.”

  At least she’d been asleep. Fantasies and the knowledge that she was only feet away had kept him from drifting off until exhaustion had won out. Time to change the subject.

  “I thought I’d go for a swim,” he said.

  “I’m taking the paddleboard out. Want to join me?”

  He rotated his neck and started stretching his arms. Why had he suggested going slow? “I suppose I could swim along beside you,” he suggested without enthusiasm.

  “You’re cranky in the morning,” she pointed out. She picked up her paddle. “I meant, join me on the paddleboard.”

  He frowned trying to figure out the logistics. “Two paddles?”

  She nodded toward the water. “I’ll show you.”

  Damn it. She’d distracted him. Again. He seriously needed the physical exertion of the swim. “I’ll stick to swimming.”

  “Suit yourself,” she said and maneuvered the paddleboard onto its side so she could drag it to the water. “I’ll be close by if you change your mind.”

  Jake stepped in and took the board from her. “I got it.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  His arm brushed her breast and he got flustered—maybe even blushed, but he could blame it on the heat. He made a mental note to pick her up a more adequate suit when he went into town later.

  They both walked into the water until it was over her knees, and he put her board in then adjusted his goggles. The water was warm, but it felt great. Soleil got onto the over-sized board and lying on her stomach, paddled out. Jake waded in a few more yards, then dove in.

  * * *

  Soleil had to get up on her feet quickly and begin paddling to keep up with Jake. He cut through the water like a machine, eating up the distance. As usual, the early morning water on the Atlantic was smooth, so paddling was easy. Staying next to Jake, however, was a challenge as he swam parallel to the beach, but admiring the play of muscles as he moved made the burning in her arms worth it. He was a beautifully made man.

  After they’d gone what had to be a few miles, he stopped and treaded water. She circled around him. “You’re in much better shape than I am,” she said, more than a little out of breath. “I was afraid I was going to have to head back.” She sat and straddled her board, then paddled closer.

  Jake pushed his goggles up to his forehead and scrubbed the water off his face. “The water feels amazing.”

  “Amazing, yes. Exactly what I was thinking,” Soleil said, but she wasn’t referring to the water.

  He swam over to her board and grabbed the nose. He blinked the water off his eyelashes, then got still as his gaze locked on her crotch because, well, it was at eye level for him.

  “Sorry,” they both said at the same time.

  Soleil grinned and crossed her legs. “I’m not used to being around people this early in the morning. Guess I’ve been on my own too long.” Way too long, she thought, remembering his proposition from last night.

  “0-700 is sleeping in for me,” he admitted.

  “I enjoy ignoring the clock when I can.” Soleil leaned back on the board and tilted her face toward the sun. “Maybe that’s a rule I can help you break,” she suggested, reminding him of her proposition. “I love Florida. It’s good to be home,” she admitted.

  “How long have you been away?”

  It seemed like a lifetime. “I left after I turned eighteen.”

  “Your parents must be glad you’re home.”

  She laughed, but the sound held no humor. “They sold our farm after I finished
high school so they could teach sustainable farming to at-risk populations around the world. They’re somewhere in Africa. I’m not sure where.” Jake’s eyes looked blue-green this morning, like the ocean.

  “What about Luna?” he said. “She would have been pretty young when you were eighteen.”

  “She traveled with them for a while, but needed to be in school.” Soleil trailed a hand in the water. “Neither of us went to a formal school until we started high school.”

  “You were homeschooled,” Jake said.

  “No, nothing so formal.” Soleil shook her head. “My parents were unconventional, and so was our education. We were taught to read, but beyond that, we learned on our own, through exploration.”

  “Wow.”

  “I decided to go to high school on my own. They didn’t stop me.” She got quiet, remembering how they’d never really cared what she did. They’d given complete authority to make her own decisions. “I convinced them to send Luna to the United States to go to high school. They put her in some preppy boarding school up North, but she didn’t fit that mold. So, she came back to Florida and lived with our aunt.”

  “Did you consider coming home to be with her?”

  Soleil shook her head. “My work was taking off, and I was in a different country every month.” And now that she was here, Luna didn’t have time for her. After a few moments passed, she added, “Did you ever think about quitting the military so you could be with your family?”

  “All the damn time,” he admitted. “But it’s not like you can just quit the Army whenever you want. Every time you reenlist, you’re committed for a specific number of years, and in my field, the reenlistment bonuses were really good. When I got close to twenty years, I decided I might as well stay in for the pension and medical benefits.”

  “Makes sense,” she said.

  “I also loved the work—felt like I was making a contribution to making the world a better place, you know?”

  “Yeah, I get that,” Soleil said. Their work was similar in that regard. “I’m sure Caroline will be glad to have you home now. Is your son still around? What was his name?”