“I won’t need the pain meds,” Jake said.
Ignoring that, the nurse added, “Superman can also take up to 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every six to eight hours.”
Soleil grinned and put the papers in her purse. “I’ll do my best to see that he takes care of himself.”
“Go with God,” Darcy said and left the room.
“She gives the name ‘Nurse Ratchet’ new meaning,” Jake groused.
“You’ve not had me for a nurse yet,” Soleil warned.
“Just being in the same room with you makes me feel better,” he said. And damn if that softly spoken statement didn’t soothe her anger. A little.
Darcy returned with a wheelchair and Hank.
“Oh, hell no,” Jake said.
“Hell, yes. Hospital policy,” Darcy said firmly and pointed to the chair.
Soleil dropped sports slides onto the floor. Jake stood and put them on. Hank laughed when Jake walked over to the wheelchair and sat down.
“What?” Jake said.
Hank picked up the duffle. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard you take an order, sir.”
“Men,” Soleil said and followed Jake and the nurse to the elevator. Hank brought up the rear. She was glad she’d slept all day. She was going to need all her faculties to convince Jake he needed to rest instead of launching into action too soon.
11
A.J. held the door as Jake walked into his house. “Welcome home, Hawk.”
Soleil pointed at the recliner and said, “Sit.”
Jake did as she instructed, a little to pacify her, but mostly because he felt like he’d just run a marathon. When she’d gone into the kitchen, he looked at Hank and A.J. and said, “Let’s go over the plan.”
“Tonight, Crowder and a team from the local DEA field office will spread out along the shoreline along the lagoon. They’re banking that the people who shot you will show,” A.J. said.
“Not likely with all the police presence yesterday,” Jake said.
“They’re prepared to stake out the area indefinitely. If these guys stashed product somewhere, they’re going to try to recover it,” Hank added.
“Unless they got it while the house was vacant overnight,” Jake said.
Hank shook his head. “The police, DEA, and my people have been monitoring the site.”
“We could be waiting a while,” Jake pointed out.
A.J. just shrugged. “Nate says there’s been a lot of drug activity in and around Port Canaveral.”
“Are you going with them?” Jake asked Hank.
“I’ll be here with you and Soleil.”
“What about you?” he asked A.J.
“I’m running the audio and visual from here.”
“I can do that,” Jake said.
Soleil returned with a tall glass filled with a thick, white liquid. “Drink this.”
Jake sniffed. “What is it?” It smelled fruity.
“A protein smoothie.”
He sipped it, tasted like banana, pineapple, and coconut. He took another drink. “It’s good. Thanks.”
In response, she walked away. After a moment, a door slammed.
“Ouch,” A.J. said. “That’s no good.”
“She’s worried it’ll take longer for me to recover because I left the hospital so soon.”
“She’s not wrong,” Hank said. “I told you we had this. Your only job is to get your strength back so you can run my East Coast security division.”
“Don’t you mean my personal security division?” A.J. countered.
Jake drained the smoothie and set the glass on an end table. “Where are you guys staying?”
“I got a hotel in town,” A.J. said.
“I’m staying here with you and Soleil,” Hank said.
“Speaking of,” A.J. said, “I’m off to catch some sleep. I gotta be back in a few hours. It’s going to be a long night.”
“I think I’ll do the same.” Hank stood and walked A.J. to the door. “Later,” he said.
Jake heard Hank set the alarm and return to stand close by. “Think I’ll bunk down in the spare room if you don’t need anything.”
“What are you sleeping on?”
“Air mattress.”
“Sorry about that,” Jake said.
“I’ve slept on worse. Later, man.”
Jake stood and went to his bedroom. Inside, he found Soleil sitting near a window, looking outside. “I have plans to put in sliding glass doors there and build a patio,” he said. “Maybe add a hot tub.”
She didn’t respond. Didn’t look at him. She held herself rigidly, and when he got closer, he could see her eyes were red. “Hey.”
She stood and moved around him. “I’m going outside.”
“Hank set the alarm. He’s sleeping.”
She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. “I’ll go to the sunroom, then.”
“Stay,” he said softly.
“I can’t look at you right now,” she said.
“Don’t be angry,” he said.
She spun and said, “I’m not angry. I’m worried about you. What you’re doing is stupid and unnecessary. Hank, A.J., and Nate don’t need your help. You should be in the hospital, with doctors and nurses caring for you.”
He didn’t know how to respond to that because as Hank had said, she wasn’t wrong. She turned and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
Shit. He went into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face and brush his teeth. After that, he walked slowly to the sunroom. He closed the French doors that separated it from the rest of the house. Soleil sat in an old wicker chair with faded cushions that had seen better days. Her legs were bent and her forehead rested on her knees. “I want to be alone,” she mumbled.
“I don’t,” Jake said. “Damn it, I need to hold you because I could have lost you yesterday.”
“I’m not the one who got shot,” she fired back.
“Thank God,” he said, hoarse with the feelings coursing through him. He dropped down onto the couch because his legs wouldn’t hold him anymore. He felt as weak as a kitten.
Soleil was there, squatting in front of him, her hands on his knees. “Are you okay?”
He grabbed her wrist and tugged until she was sitting next to him, and he had his arm around her. She stiffened at first, then relaxed and settled her face against his neck. And damn if it didn’t fit there like they’d been made for each other.
“I hate you right now,” she said.
“I know.” As he inhaled her scent, he felt his heart rate decrease, his body relax, and his pain level lower to something more tolerable. He moved his leg and nudged hers, hoping she’d get the message and put her legs on his thighs. After she did, he gripped her waist and pulled her into his lap, holding her tight against his chest.
He pressed his lips to her temple and said, “It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was if they were aiming for me.”
“We’re pretty sure at this point the perps are drug runners. So chances are, they have a hiding spot somewhere near here, and they’re trying to scare us off the property.” He put his cheek against her forehead and added, “The only thing we can do now is find the people responsible and put them away.”
She started to speak, but Jake added. “I’m not going to do anything to make myself worse. Trust me, being here, at home with you, is the best medicine for me.” He gave her a crooked grin. “So, kiss me and make it better already.”
She took his face in her hands, stared at him for a long moment, then kissed him, but the contact ended too soon. He bumped her nose, inviting her to do it again. She did. This time, lingering a little. He nipped her lower lip and pulled it into his mouth. She tilted her head and touched her tongue to his. Jake moaned, glad to let her take control.
His need for her ramped up as the kiss continued, but she froze. “I’m sorry,” she said and scrambled off his lap.
“Come back,” he said, holding out his hand.
>
She pointed at his erection. “You shouldn’t.”
He grinned. “I think I could manage it if you do most of the work.”
“Jake . . .” she began.
He untied the string at his waist.
She crossed her arms. “Not only is this a bad idea, we don’t have a condom.”
He reached into his pocket and held up the condom he’d gotten from the bedroom before coming in here.
“Did you plan this?” Her tone was incredulous.
“Always prepared?” he offered.
“There’s no way this won’t hurt,” she reasoned.
“I have a ridiculously high pain tolerance. Besides, I want you so bad I’m probably gonna come as soon as I get inside you.”
She took the condom from him and put her knees on either side of his legs on the couch. Jake slid his hand up her leg, under her short, flowing dress, to pull her panties down, but she wasn’t wearing any. When he raised a brow, she said, “Haven’t you noticed? I don’t usually wear underwear.”
“Now that you mention it . . .” he said and cupped her sex. Her fluids coated his palm. Watching her push his pants down, tear open the condom, and roll it down his cock was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. He raised her skirt above her thighs so he could watch as she took him. That sight was pretty damn hot, too. When he was seated to the hilt, she didn’t move.
“Promise you’ll tell me if it hurts.”
All he could do was nod because she raised slowly and slid down onto him. All his breath came out in a rush.
“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
“Don’t stop,” he managed.
She repeated the motion, and he eased his hand up her leg to the juncture of her thighs. She gasped when he pushed his fingertips across her clit. She eased down slowly until he was completely inside her, then she contracted her inner muscles on him and made fast, small motions that squeezed his cock inside her without disturbing any other part of his body. Dear God, he’d never felt anything like it before. He came, filling the condom while her own spasms intensified, and she milked him until there was nothing left.
When he’d recovered enough to speak, between kisses, he said, “Where did you learn to do that?”
She smiled against his mouth. “In India.” She reached down and grasped the condom as she moved off him. “Would you like to get in the bathtub?” she asked.
He had a hard time getting the thought of her doing that with another man out of his mind. Why in hell had he asked such a stupid question? “I think I’d rather lie down.” He just wanted to sleep. She took his hand and led him to his bedroom’s en suite bathroom. She threw the condom away and wet a washcloth that she shared with him.
Jake barely made it to the bed, but managed to push his pants down and kick them aside. Soleil stripped, too, and he waited patiently while she fussed, stacking pillows under his shoulders and head. When she was satisfied, she snuggled against him. She stroked his abs and chest, probably giving him Reiki. Jake sighed his pleasure, put his arm around her shoulders, closed his eyes, and let sleep take him.
* * *
Pain woke Jake sometime in the middle of the night. He glanced at the clock. The display read three. The mission. Damn it. They hadn’t woken him up. He turned to find the space beside him empty. What the hell?
He threw off the covers and put his pants on, cursing the pain the sudden movements caused him. On the other side of the darkened house, he found everyone in a room silently staring at computer screens. “What’s happening?” He pressed on the muscle at the top of his injured shoulder, trying to ease the pain he felt there.
He stood behind A.J., but the screens were dark.
“No action yet, man. Go back to bed,” A.J. said.
“Come to the kitchen,” Soleil said. “I’ll get you some ibuprofen for your shoulder.”
“I think I’ll stay for a bit,” Jake said and pulled up a chair.
Soleil shook her head and left the room.
“You two kiss and make up?” Hank asked.
“Shut up, man,” Jake said. “What am I looking at?”
“Nathan and his men are spread across a mile of shoreline along the lagoon, waiting with the local P.D.’s S.W.A.T. team.”
“No movement? Nothing at all?”
“Nada,” A.J. said. “But we expected this.”
“That doesn’t make it less frustrating.”
Soleil returned with bottles of water for everyone and some pills for Jake. He popped them into his mouth, and she uncapped the water for him. “Thanks,” he said.
“I’m going to bed,” she said, an invitation in her eyes that was hard to ignore.
After she’d left, Hank and A.J. both looked at Jake. “You sure that bullet didn’t hit your brain? You look like hell, and there’s a hot woman in your bed. Nothing to see here.”
Jake couldn’t argue with their assessment. He felt like hell, too. “Wake me if there’s a change.”
In the bedroom, he slid into bed and Soleil curled against him. “What woke you?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said, tracing circles on his chest. “I guess I’m feeling unsettled.”
“I can help with that,” he said.
Ignoring his suggestion, she said, “I don’t think I’m going to rest until whoever shot you is found.”
“We’ll get them.”
“Let’s go,” she suggested. She propped herself up on one arm and looked down at him. “Just get out of town for a few weeks. I know it’s too soon for you to travel far, but we could go to the Keys. Or Miami.”
“Caroline’s wedding is next week.”
“She’s decided to postpone it until this mess is resolved. Can’t say I blame her.”
“What the hell?” Jake said. “She can’t do that. It’s her wedding. She’s been planning this for more than a year.”
“What if people with guns show up at the wedding? She was having the reception on your beach, after all. And now, this place looks like an episode of CSI.”
“We’re not running,” Jake said. “And Caroline’s wedding will go on as scheduled. We’ll rent a venue for the reception if we have to.”
Soleil settled down next to him. “It’s not a bad idea to leave for a few days. You won’t get any rest here with so much going on.” She kissed his neck. “At least think about it?”
He hugged her and said, “Sure.” But long after she’d fallen asleep, he was formulating a plan to flush these guys out.
* * *
The next few days followed a similar pattern. Jake felt stronger. Soleil was increasingly more nervous and agitated. She’d stopped sleeping and had lost weight. The wait for someone to make a move dragged on. Jake shared his ideas for drawing the intruders out with Hank and A.J. His friends listened carefully, then gave each other a look.
“I think it could work,” A.J. said. “I’m going to call Nate.”
When he left the room, Hank said, “She’s going to be furious.”
“I know,” Jake agreed. “That’s why we’re not going to tell her.”
“You need to think this through,” Hank began.
“I have. The best thing for all of us is an end to this. My daughter’s wedding is only a few days away,” he said because he’d talked Caroline into going ahead with her original plans. “This whole thing has sucked the joy out of it for her, though, because she’s worried about dodging bullets. We need to put an end to this situation, now.”
“I get it,” Hank said. “But you’re still injured. I’ll do it.”
“No. You and A.J. both have wives. You shouldn’t take the risk. This is on me.”
“You’re wearing a vest,” Hank said firmly.
Jake nodded. He was down with that. He didn’t want to take another bullet.
“You don’t have to do this,” Hank repeated. “We can send anyone out there.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had limited access to the area for the past w
eek, but if they publicly lifted the restriction and made it look like they’d given up the search, the perps would return, especially if they saw him nosing around the area again. “It’ll work,” he repeated.
Hank stood. “I’m on record here that I’m against this.”
Soleil walked into the room, fresh out of the shower, barefoot and wearing shorts and a halter. “What’s a bad idea?”
Jake stood. “Me skipping my ortho appointment today.”
“Why would you do that?”
“I don’t like doctors.”
Soleil just shook her head and continued into the kitchen. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re going.”
“I need to check email before we leave,” Hank said.
“Guess I better get a shower,” Jake said and ducked into the bedroom. Crisis averted.
* * *
The next day, Jake begged off going to a bachelor’s party for his future son-in-law, complaining his pain level had elevated.
“Should we call the doctor?” Soleil asked.
“No. I’m just going to take some ibuprofen and go to bed.”
“I’ll stay with you,” she said.
“No. Go to Caroline’s party. Have fun.” Jake needed to get her out of the house and some place safe.
“I’m not into drinking too much and watching random guys strip.”
He kissed her. “I’m not into you watching random guys strip either.” He looked at her outfit, a black leather vest and matching skirt so short it barely covered the essentials. A long black lace jacket with flowing sleeves completed the outfit. “You look hot. If anyone comes onto you, I’ll have Hank kill them.”
Her bracelets jangled as she put her arms around him and grabbed his ass. “I’d rather watch you strip,” she said, her mouth on his neck because she was wearing tall black boots with heels.
“I’d be glad to oblige if it wasn’t for this damn shoulder,” he said. God, he hated lying to her.
She kissed him, but he took the kiss deeper, wanting—needing to taste her before she left and he did something crazy. Like, tell her he loved her. He broke the kiss and said, “Go. I’ll see you later.”
Brotherhood Protectors: Exposed (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Scandalous Moves Book 4) Page 11
