Dare Me Again: A Christmas Chronicle

by Karin Tabke

  She nipped his bottom lip. “I’m feeling very selfish at the moment. I want more time with you, not stolen moments like this.”

  His dark brows rose. “You didn’t enjoy this?”

  “I loved it.” She smiled slyly and flexed her muscles around his still swollen penis. “I love that we manage to carve out time like this, as fleeting as it is. But Simon, I miss you. I miss us.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  “I miss us, too, Princess.” He grinned and kissed her nose. “So I did something about it.”

  Surprised, she looked intently up at him. “You quit your job?”

  He gave her an as if look. But she knew in her heart that he would walk away from it in a heartbeat if it meant keeping her. Just as she knew she would rather die than ever ask that he give up what he loved just because she wanted more time with him. “I knew what I was signing up for when I said yes to the dress, Captain West. I’m in for the long haul.”

  “Damn straight you are,” he growled, tightening his arms around her as if she would even think of leaving him.

  Never.

  Gentling his embrace, he rubbed his nose into her hair and inhaled deeply, then said, “What would you say to a week up in the mountains? No cell phones, no computers, completely unplugged?”

  Her jaw dropped and she moved so quickly, needing to look at him to be sure he wasn’t messing with her, she nearly hit him in the chin with her head. “Seriously?”

  He smiled widely, flexing inside of her. His big bad wolf was getting ready to howl again.

  Clenching him, she sighed. Never, ever, would she become tired of or indifferent to this man’s passion for her. If he hadn’t been holding her, she’d be on the ground—that’s how overcome with emotion she was. They shared something special. Once-in-a-lifetime kind of special. Something profound and deep. It used to terrify her. Given the dangerous nature of his job, sometimes it still did. Life without Simon would be unbearable.

  “Seriously,” he said, kissing her between the eyes, then trailing his lips along her brow to the curve of her cheek before nibbling his way back to her ear. “After my meeting in LA tomorrow, we’re packing up the Jeep and heading north. Just you, me, and Junior in a cabin tucked so far up in the mountains only the goats can get to it.”

  “Oh,” she moaned, disappointed that there was no way she could manage the time off. “I, oh, Simon I can’t get out of here until after the New Year.”

  He sucked on her earlobe as his tongue swept the shell of her ear. “I took care of that.”

  She stiffened, pulling away. “You took care of what?”

  He pulled her back into his eager cock. God, it felt good. But—

  “You don’t have to report back to work until the second.”

  When he caught her lips in a deep kiss and moved hotly into her, she twisted her head and braced her hands against his thick biceps. She loved the hard feel of his body. He was a big man. Six-four, a muscular two-forty, and strong as a lion. And just as territorial. She loved that about him. He took charge. He was the ultimate protector. No one was more intimidating than her husband. But—he was overprotective to a fault and bossy, and it was a precarious balancing act she walked; allowing him to be him, but also keeping her own sense of self. It was one of the reasons she’d chosen to leave the research side of medicine and come over to the clinical side.

  “Simon,” she breathed, as his lips found the thick throb of her jugular, and his fingers played with her nipples. “You can’t just ‘take care’ of things.” She moaned, wrapping her legs snugly around his waist. The things he did to her body… “How would you like it if I went to your boss and ‘took care’ of things for you without asking you first?”

  His head dipped to a sensitive nipple. “I…” He swept his lascivious tongue across it in a slow languid lick. “Would love…” He sucked the entire nipple deeply into his mouth. He let it out with a wet pop and notched her chin up to stare her straight in the eye. “For you to tell my boss how it is with or without my knowing.”

  She raised a skeptical brow. “Really?”

  “Really. I don’t give a rat’s ass about anything except you and the baby. If I overstepped some boundary by making arrangements with my wife’s employer without her knowledge so she could spend Christmas with her husband, I only apologize if that action puts you in bad place when we return.” He pulled her hair back and her breasts dug into the smooth linen of his shirt. “But I’ll be damned if I’ll apologize for anything else.”

  “Simon, I’m not asking for an apology, I want to go to the mountains with you. But, baby, you can’t just call my boss and threaten—”

  “What makes you think I threatened him?”

  Cocking her head, she chose her words carefully. “Perhaps you vigorously persuaded him? Because I know Sam wouldn’t have let me have time off without some serious incentive.”

  He smiled again. It got her every time. “I merely explained that in your condition you needed some time off. Then I explained how angry I would be if anything happened to you or the baby because you were overworked.”

  “Simon!”

  He threw his head back and laughed. Ignoring her furious glare, he grabbed the cradle of her hips at the same time he plunged into her, taking her breath and arguments away.

  And just as she always had, she gave Simon what he wanted, because it was she wanted, too.

  He was gentle in his passion, murmuring soft words of love for her. His possessive arms held her close. His lips covered hers, muffling her cries of pleasure as she came in a sweet wild torrent of sensation.

  Simon quickly followed her. “Damn, Kat,” he groaned as his body jerked against hers. His sharp intake of breath, then his long slow exhale of satisfaction that followed fueled her wife’s ego. She hung in his arms, her tired body warm, and supple. She had all the strength of an overcooked noodle. Pressing her cheek to his chest, she closed her eyes and softly sighed.

  “If we were home, Princess, I’d stand here all night inside of you and allow you to sleep wrapped around me like this, but…” He kissed the top of her head.

  She looked up at him with tired eyes. He smoothed her hair from her cheek. His dark green eyes narrowed. “You look beat as hell. If I hadn’t already told Doc Sam you needed rest, I’d tell him now.”

  She nodded. He had a point. She suddenly felt so exhausted she could barely move.

  “I’m getting you dressed and taking you home. You’re done for the night.”

  “Simon, my shift doesn’t end for another two hours. I have a responsibility.”

  “You’re damn stubborn, Mrs. West,” he chided as he stepped back, giving her some room.

  Smiling more brightly than she felt, she moved out of the warm circle of his body. “It takes stubborn to know stubborn.” As she bent to retrieve her skirt, the room swayed and she lost her balance.

  “Damn it, Kat!” Simon cursed, catching her to him. “My stubborn is overriding yours. I’m taking you home. Now.”

  This time she didn’t argue.

  Simon stood over his slumbering wife while tying his tie. He was late for his flight to LA, but reluctant to leave her. She had slept from the moment he slid her into his car last night to now. She hadn’t moved when he undressed her, or when he pulled her into his arms earlier and kissed her good morning. She was down for the count. And it was his fault for pushing her sexually last night and for not being home when she needed him.

  “Damn it,” he snapped and unknotted his tie for the third time, then started over.

  Maybe that’s what he and Kat needed. Not a restart of their relationship or marriage. Hell no. Despite its rocky beginnings, he wouldn’t change any of that because it was what brought them together. But these past few weeks…

  This task force was sucking up every minute of his day and Kat’s job at the clinic was sucking the life ou
t of her. Something had to give. Hopefully their vacation time together would be the impetus of that something giving and they could come up with a few compromises so that they wouldn’t have to spend so much time apart.

  He got that she had embarked on a new and exciting career in medicine. He loved watching her in action. That genius brain of hers was damn sexy. So was knowing that she was pregnant with his baby. He loved the changes in her body and the power he felt each time he pressed his hand to her belly, knowing his seed had struck home. They hadn’t planned on having kids so soon, but when she took the test, they both cried. And he had experienced a bone-chilling fear. As a cop he had seen the ugly side of what humanity did to itself. As a father, he would vigilantly protect his family.

  They were both taking several months off when the baby came, and when Kat decided when she wanted to return to work either full-time or part-time, his mom was going to babysit. That was an enormous burden off his shoulders. Call him old-fashioned, but he didn’t want a nanny or some Swedish girl spending more time with his child than he did. If it was up to him, he’d stay home and be Mister Mom. He chuckled at the idea. But damn if he wouldn’t.

  Finally happy with his knot, Simon took his shoulder holster from where it hung on the back of the bathroom door and hoisted it on. Purely from habit he checked his Sig, confirming there was a round in the chamber. He slid it securely into the leather sheath. Then he slipped his wallet into his back trouser pocket. Yanking his suit jacket off the hanger on the door, he grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and stood for one last moment to stare down at the woman who had stolen his heart.

  Katrina Winslow West was as hot as a habañero, as sweet as a peach, and as sharp as Einstein. And she was all his. His chest tightened painfully with emotion. He’d almost lost her a few months ago to a savage asshole. If the prick wasn’t locked up in jail awaiting trial, no way Simon would let Kat out of his sight. She thought he was interfering with her job now? Fuck that; she’d be glued to his hip and armed to the teeth if Evan Scott was a free man. But that wasn’t going to happen. Because once that loser was convicted, he was going to be eating slop from a metal tray for the next twenty-plus years.

  He squatted down so that he could see her face when he kissed her good-bye. As much as he wanted to wake her, he decided she needed sleep more. Smoothing her chestnut-colored hair from her creamy skin, he smiled when her big blue eyes fluttered open and she smiled.

  “Hi,” she said softly.

  Simon smiled, that familiar ache in his chest when he looked at her hurting a little more this morning than it usually did. God, he didn’t want to leave her.

  “Hi,” he said back and kissed her parted lips. He wanted to linger. To run his fingers through the gentle tangle of her hair, to hold her close and stroke her soft curves, and to hear her soft cries of pleasure as he entered her. But there was no time. He was late.

  He told himself they’d have a whole week to enjoy each other. He just had to get through one more damn day.

  “I have to go, Princess, or I’ll miss my flight.”

  She grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers with his. “So miss it.”

  He was on the edge of staying. But as the Bay Area point man of Nor-GET, the Northern California Gang Enforcement Team, which was a collaborative effort between county, state, and federal law enforcement, he was expected to be at the meeting in LA with their southern California counterpart. Big shit was brewing between several rival gangs, and Nor-GET was right in the middle of it.

  “I’ll be home by ten. Have yourself packed. We’re leaving tonight.”

  “I have all of my winter clothes in the city at the apartment.”

  “I’ll buy you new clothes. I don’t want you to leave the house while I’m gone.” As he said the words, the hair on the back of his neck spiked. He hadn’t even meant to say them. Wasn’t exactly sure why he did. But now that he’d said them…

  She frowned. “Simon—”

  He grabbed her hands and pulled her to him. “I want your word you’ll stay here.”

  “But why?”

  “I want you to get as much rest as possible. You’re going to need it, Princess.” He kissed her, then stood.

  “Well, in that case,” she said, “I’ll definitely take it easy today. But you’re going to have to keep your energy up today, too.”

  “Never a problem with you, Cinderella. Never. I’ll see you around ten tonight.”

  Two and a half hours later, as his plane touched down in LA, Simon saw he had a voice mail. When he tapped the icon, he scowled. Caller ID said, SFCGOV.

  Simon hit the icon and listened: “Captain West, this is San Francisco Deputy DA Jon Onfario. I’m calling as a courtesy to inform you that Evan Scott has struck a deal with the FBI and will be released sometime this morning.”

  Simon’s blood iced in his veins. Fuck, that feeling he’d had before he’d left. It was as if his body had sensed what he couldn’t possibly have known.

  Evan Scott was a dangerous bastard. He knew exactly where Scott would go. His plea was bullshit. He wanted one thing and one thing only—revenge.

  He dialed the DDA’s number. Cursing when he got Onfario’s voice mail, he left him a message. “Onfario, this is West, why the fuck wasn’t I notified in advance that there was even talk of a deal with Scott? That bastard tried to kill my wife! Now he’s out doing whatever the fuck he pleases. I swear to God, if he comes near my wife, I’m going to put a fucking bullet between his eyes! Call me back, damn it. I want his release time, location, and any conditions he was released under. ”

  Simon hung up and called his buddy Jack Thornton, who was FBI and part of the task force that put Scott away.

  “That piece of shit motherfucker Scott cut a deal,” Simon said, when Jack answered.

  “I just heard,” Jack said. “I was going to call you. Where’s Kat?”

  “Home in bed, where I told her to stay.”

  “Santa Clara house?”

  “Yeah. She wanted to go into the city today to pick up a few things from the apartment. I told her to stay at the house. Damn good thing I did. If Scott just walked out of jail, he’d be breathing the same air.”

  “I’ll ask Stevie to go hang out with Kat until you get home.”

  “I was going to call in a few units to keep an eye on the house until I get back into town. Stevie there makes me feel a whole lot better. Do you have the details of that piece of shit’s deal?”

  “Only that he made one. I’ll get the four-one-one on his conditions and give you a call back.”

  “Thanks man. I’m catching the first flight out of here, should be back in San Jose in two hours or less.” Simon hung up and made straight for a booking agent. He needed to get to Kat before Scott did.

  Chapter Four

  Taking a cab to the clinic, Kat picked up her car and headed north to San Francisco. Since she hadn’t technically given Simon her word that she wouldn’t go to their apartment in the city, Kat didn’t think twice about going. Her winter wardrobe, one she happened to love, was there and so were Rosie and Elliott, her two best friends. It had been months since she and Simon had been back to her place in the city, and she missed it.

  And it wasn’t like driving to the city was dangerous. She wasn’t being careless by any means, but if she gave in to Simon’s every whim, she’d be swathed in bubble wrap and never leave the house. Since she’d told him she was pregnant, he had become an overprotective nervous Nelly. Of course she loved him for it, but his constant worrying about her health became suffocating at times. She was a happy, healthy, pregnant woman who, despite the requisite morning nausea and fatigue, felt fabulous most of the time.

  How could she not? She was married to the hottest cop in California. She had a new job she loved, her man had a job he loved, and they loved each other “to the moon and back” as Gracie, Simon’s niece, liked to say
when she hugged Kat good-bye. Kat smiled. The closeness that had developed between Kat and Gracie didn’t sit well with Gracie’s mother, Simon’s widowed sister-in-law, who had it bad for him, but Kat hoped she eventually got over it. If not? Oh well.

  Simon was hers. Forever. She was never giving him up. Ever.

  As she drove into the small parking garage next to her building, her cell phone rang with Simon’s ring tone—“Bad to the Bone.” She reached to answer it, but hesitated. He’d ask where she was and then they’d argue. She decided she’d call him on her way back to their home in Santa Clara, thus proving to him she was safe and sound and he had nothing to worry about.

  A minute later her cell chirped that she had a voice mail, followed by a text from him.

  Call me, NOW!

  His commanding tone got her dander up. Couldn’t he just ask nicely?

  As she took the elevator up to the apartment she listened to his voice mail.

  “I need you to call me ASAP, Princess. Please. Call me. Now. I love you.”

  Sigh. How could she resist?

  Just as she was about to call him back, the elevator door opened and Rosie, her best friend and neighbor before she’d moved in with Simon, stood grinning at her like she was the last piece of chocolate on earth. “Hello, doll. How are you?” She grabbed Kat and gave her a huge bear hug. “I saw you coming down the street. I’m so happy you came by!”

  Smiling, Kat let her friend whisk her down the hall to her place. “I told Elliot that we needed to have a room set up just for the baby. You know… For when you and Simon want some time together. Just bring that sweet little bundle of love over and we’ll be happy to watch her. I love the name Lucy. Do you?”

  Kat grinned. “Simon won’t admit it out loud, but he’s so terrified of having a daughter he has himself completely convinced we’re having a boy, so no to Lucy.” Secretly, Kat wanted a boy first. Then the little girls could come.