by Jade Powers
Drake’s blue eyes raked over the towel, and Hannah could swear he had x-ray vision because the need and want in his gaze made her shiver. He said, “Yes.”
Hannah tugged the towel up a little higher. His answer hurt, if only a little. She said, “I don’t want that.”
Pushing up from the chair, Drake stood, hair mussed, his gaze penetrating. His voice was deep and husky when he asked, “What do you want?”
Hannah had to think about it. She had to say the right thing. It was hard to put her heart out there. She’d been teased in high school. She never quite fit in. Opting for brutal honesty, minus the pregnancy and cancer, Hannah said, “I’ve never met anyone like you. I wish we could see where it leads. I know what I said. I wasn’t lying to you, but maybe I lied to myself. I’m attracted to you, and I don’t do one-night stands.”
“But you were willing to make an exception for me?” Drake teased. He watched her with an intense gaze that made her feel gushy inside.
“At the time, yes. Now, I want more,” Hannah waited for the easy let down, the polite silence, maybe a lie or two.
“I’m attracted to you, too. I had a serious relationship a few years back that ended badly. I’ve dated since, but until now...” Drake stepped toward Hannah, but stopped himself from taking her in his arms.
Hannah smiled up at him, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “If I didn’t pay attention to the part of me that wants to be careful, I’d take a shower with you.”
“Let’s not be careful. Let’s be wild,” Drake’s deep baritone sent tingles to Hannah’s toes.
With a sly smile, Hannah dropped the towel. Of course then she immediately wished she hadn’t because she felt terribly exposed and even a little chilled in the cool room. Would he see the slight mound to her belly? Was her pregnancy obvious? The delight in Drake’s eyes made it worthwhile.
“Meet you in the shower, in say, ten seconds?” Drake’s words were like honey.
Hannah returned to the bathroom, leaving the door wide open. She turned on the shower. While she was still standing on the tile, she sensed Drake’s presence behind her, perhaps from a change in the air when he opened the door, perhaps from the heat of his body. Her insides tickled and ached with desire.
Slipping his arm around her waist, he leaned down, enveloping her as he kissed her and nibbled her ear. Hannah slowly turned, taking his hand while she did, “I’ve never made love in the shower before.”
That surprised a laugh out of Drake, knowing full well that she had been a virgin on the airplane. He followed her into the water, “May there be many firsts ahead.”
He kissed her deeply, his tongue teasing hers while she slid her hand down his butt cheek. She tugged him closer. His hands caressed her skin, sliding along her breast as he showed her what a tongue was for.
Hannah teased his penis, playing with a delighted smile on her face when it hardened beneath her fingers. Drake closed his eyes, his body straining. He gripped her hand, “Here, like this.”
He was standing at half-mast, ready to rise. Drake took her hand, “Wait, let me show you,”
HANNAH HAD NEVER FELT that tingly crazy sensation before Drake. She’d heard of an orgasm. Who hadn’t? When Drake touched her, her whole body sang—opera, and hitting the highest pitches. Her image of sex in the shower wasn’t as romantic as she’d first guessed. For one, the surfaces were all hard. For two, he was doing things to her that made her melt against those hard surfaces.
Gasping she said, “Maybe we should move this to the bed.”
Drake would have broken a record if he’d been timed. That shower was off and he was over the tub and holding a hand out to help Hannah while she was still tingling. It was a small thing, the way he helped her out, but it meant the world to Hannah. She fell a little more in love with Drake in that moment.
He hadn’t bothered to dry off, and Hannah laughed as they ran naked and wet into the main suite. They made hot, passionate love. Drake’s hands moved everywhere. He was magical. When Hannah climaxed, Drake kissed her and then slowly and gently moved in, his thrusts as careful as he could make them. He treated her like the virgin she almost was.
Finally she couldn’t take anymore. She joked, “Ride me hard, Cowboy!” Then in a breathless voice added, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”
Drake needed the invitation. Once offered, he rose and fell, driving his desire into her until her whole core was on fire. Hannah cried out in ecstasy and need as Drake drove deeper.
They lay spent on top of the covers, Drake still inside her. When Hannah fell asleep, it was with Drake’s arms around her. As she drifted into dreaming, she recognized a serious problem.
Hannah had fallen in love with Drake.
DRAKE WOKE UP FIRST.
His attraction to Hannah was taking on a life of its own. Surely he could spend a day in Hannah’s company without wanting to jump into bed with her.
But it was more than that. He’d rescued many a woman from government terrorists, enslaved people without recourse, without family. None of them showed the kind of spunk or intelligence that Hannah had. She was a perfect match for him.
With a sigh, Drake slowly eased off the bed. He hadn’t washed his hair in the shower. He quietly slipped into the bathroom to shower again.
While he was toweling off, the phone in the room rang. He strode out naked, not bothering to wrap in the towel. Hannah was in motion, but Drake got there first.
Sven was on the line. He said, “Rendezvous at 0900? I’ll be in the parking lot.”
“Sure. See you then,” Drake hung up the phone.
Hannah watched Drake, her eyes soft and content. He said, “Sven will be downstairs in thirty minutes.”
Stretching, Hannah slid off the bed. Even without experience she managed to look sexy while she did. Finding her clothes on the shelf in the little hallway space on the way to the bathroom, Hannah quickly pulled them on. When she noticed him watching, Hannah smiled at Drake. Drake would do anything for her. It was an uncomfortable realization. He wondered if his own resolve would be tested. Things were heating up in the business as well. In his line of work, there was little mixing of business and pleasure. And business could be brutal.
Drake led the way downstairs. He asked Hannah to stay in the hotel lobby while he secured the parking lot. Sven waited in a four door sedan that looked like a million other cars.
Drake walked across the parking lot, waiting until he was halfway to signal Hannah to follow. They hadn’t stopped for a change of clothes. Anyone asking at the hotel would find out that a couple in dirty and torn military clothes had stayed the night. Drake held the back seat door open to Hannah.
“Thank you,” Hannah’s eyes said, I love you.
Her gaze could have melted steel.
“You’re welcome,”
Right back at you.
His lips twitched in a smile as she climbed into the car.
Chapter 9
WHILE HANNAH WAS IN surgery, Drake paced the tiny waiting room. This wasn’t at all like the hospital where there was a giant room with tons of chairs and a television. It was a small, quiet place with an easy chair and books. He’d come in here to hide a couple of times when he just didn’t feel like dealing with the bureaucracy of a corporation anymore.
The worst was that Hannah didn’t even know he was there. She was adamant that she didn’t ‘need him’ to hover. Something had broken between them. The minute she stepped out of the car, and the doctor started talking surgery and examinations, she went all cold on Drake.
There were two doctors on the team. Johnson came out with a smile on his face, “Textbook. They did the insular implants. We removed them, no problem. And the baby’s fine.”
Drake just about chocked on his tongue. “Baby?”
Johnson’s face turned flame red. He took a deep breath. “She didn’t tell you?”
“That she’s pregnant? No. She didn’t tell me.” Drake clenched his fingers into fists and then released them. He did th
is a few times until he could control the anger pummeling his brain.
“Maybe it’s not yours,” Johnson said, thinking he was being helpful. Drake grimaced. No way it was anyone else’s. If someone at that government compound hurt her in that way, he would go for blood. No, it had to be his. It just had to be.
“How far along is she?”
“A few months,” Johnson said.
“Did she tell you about it at least?” Drake asked.
“Yeah. She wanted to make sure we could remove the implants without hurting the baby. I told her there was always a risk, but that she was better off with those things out of her head and off her spine.” Johnson took a seat, blowing out his breath with a whoosh. “I’m sorry, Man. So if you don’t know about the baby...”
Drake stared at Johnson. What was he getting at now? Johnson had more to say. He looked guilty. Drake asked, “What else?”
“Pancreatic cancer. They told her they had some miracle cure. Not sure what the truth was there, but she is holding her own. We spoke at length. She’s refusing chemotherapy and radiation. She wants to keep up with the treatment that the docs who were experimenting on her prescribed. Unfortunately, we don’t know what that was. It kept her alive for months and the cancer retreated while she was with them.”
“So the implants were working well enough on her that she was an asset,” Drake suggested. He paced the room, his tall form overpowering the small room.
Johnson said, “They treated her with some experimental stuff. It no doubt saved her life. We didn’t get too far into that discussion because I wanted to get those implants removed before someone tracked them back or reengaged them. I’ll ask her for more information when she’s conscious...” Drake scowled at Johnson, and Johnson stopped talking.
Drake wanted to punch something. Instead he paced. “The baby is mine.”
“She wants to keep it,” Johnson said. He knew Drake wanted to have kids at some point, even if he was knee-deep in dangerous government plots.
“Did she say why?” Drake asked.
Drake didn’t understand women. Not at all. His long-term relationship with Lauren ended when he accused her of getting rid of a baby he wanted. Now another girlfriend was pregnant except this one wanted to keep a baby when it might hurt her chance for survival.
Johnson shrugged and with a smirk, said, “You’ll have to ask her, which might be interesting since she never told you she was pregnant.”
“Can I sit with her?” Drake wanted to see the source of his anger and see if it would hold before he made any decisions.
“She’ll be out for a few hours, but if you’re that bored, sure...” Johnson handed Drake her chart, and together they walked down the hallway to the room where Hannah slept. Johnson clapped Drake on the shoulder, “Do you need anything?”
“Nah, I’m fine. I’ll just sit with her a while.”
Drake dragged a chair next to the bed. She had bandages in several key locations on her body. Her first surgery must have been intense. Sliding her hand into his, he sighed. She was the first woman in a long time that stirred his heart strings. Even in slumber, her fingers curled, closing on his fingers as if she had claimed him.
Her essence drew him. He thought of the way she fought off the controls to save his life, the smile as she took him that first time. Three times he stood, removed his hands from hers and walked to the door. Once he even made it into the hall.
Drake had to hear her say what she was thinking. Locked away for months, she had to be terrified. He couldn’t blame her for keeping silent that first day they got reacquainted. He had to give her time to tell him herself. Sinking back down onto the chair, he waited.
Hannah felt the warmth on her fingers as she regained consciousness. Along with awareness came pain. A load of pain that tingled through her hands, her legs, her head, even her neck. Her eyes opened enough to see that it was Drake sitting next to her. Her first thought had been her mom. She felt another pain, a little deeper and accompanied with fear. Somehow her own prior bad relationship with her parents didn’t seem to matter. Now that she could never see them again, there was nothing she wanted more.
“Drake?” Hannah’s mouth was so dry that it came out a croak.
“I’m here,” His voice was smooth and deep, cloaked in warmth, but he always had that edge when he spoke, an in-charge type of barrier that seemed to keep everyone but his closest friends out.
Maybe even his best buddies, Hannah thought.
“They’re gone,” Hannah said. She almost asked, “Did they save my baby?” But Drake wouldn’t know about that. Instead she said, “Is Dr. Johnson here? I have a question for him.”
Drake disentangled his hand. He paused for a moment, and Hannah saw a quick flash of anger cross and then disappear from his face before he said, “The baby is fine, if that’s what you’re worried about. Were you ever going to tell me?”
Hannah gasped. In that moment, it felt like the pain from all of her wounds multiplied a thousand fold. His anger hurt. The disapproval in his voice spoke volumes. She wouldn’t apologize for keeping this secret. In a stiff and sarcastic voice she said, “I’m glad patient-doctor confidentiality is a priority here.”
Drake paced away from her bed. She couldn’t even watch him, but she heard him fiddle with the blinds. Even trying to lift her head hurt, so she let it drop while she waited for his excuses. He didn’t give any. He said, “I’m not saying we’re above the law, but do you really think HIPPA is the highlight of your concerns. I rescued you from certain death. When the secret government disappears people for human experimentation, do you think they come back? Ever? This baby is as much mine as yours.”
Hannah felt tears gather in the corner of her eyes. She was not weak. She was not sad. She was pissed, so angry her body shook when she said, “You’re rewriting history. I...RESCUED...YOU!”
The room fell silent. Even the sounds of Drake’s fingers on the blinds stopped, as if he were frozen. Of course, the most handsome man Hannah had ever met would be a jerk. Of course he would remake himself into the hero. He was the one tressed up and in line for execution until Hannah overrode her own programming to save his life, and what did she get? Yelled at for keeping a secret that only benefited Drake anyway.
Drake cleared his throat, “Well, even if you did help at the beginning, without my resources, you would have been recaptured.”
Hannah took a small breath. She would NOT cry. Not for this bastard. She said, “Well, we will never know, will we? Why are you here?”
She longed for him to say that he had fallen in love, that she was the only woman for Drake...uh, what was his last name? That was embarrassing. She wanted to day dream about being his wife and carrying his little child around in one of those front-loader baby packs, and she didn’t even know what the hell his last name might be. And here he was acting like a Neanderthal, which wasn’t even fair. Maybe Neanderthal’s were the forward-thinking people who got a bad wrap. The world would never know.
Instead Drake said, “I want to know if the baby is mine.”
Hannah felt her face flush. The heart monitor beat faster. She hated that there was a witness to her humiliation. She didn’t know what to say and damn it, but those tears were sliding down her temples. Maybe they would stay invisible if she just held it together a few more minutes. She said, “I’m keeping the baby, and I’m raising it alone, so don’t worry, it won’t impact your social schedule or spy ring. As for whose it is, it’s none of your business.”
Social Schedule? Is that what she thought of him? Drake snapped the blinds closed, “I see. I hope your recovery goes smoothly.”
He strode across the floor, his boots a strong echo. He ran into Johnson at the door. Johnson said, “What is going on in here? Hannah’s heart monitor spiked.”
“She just told me about the baby. I need to get some air,” Drake pushed past Johnson.
From her bed, Hannah breathed from her mouth, trying not to make a sound that would show her distr
ess. Drake would never know how hard her heart was breaking. NEVER! Told him about the baby? She hadn’t said a word. The jerk.
Once Drake was gone, Dr. Johnson moved toward the bed, “On a scale of one to ten, how is your pain?”
Hannah swallowed, “Are you talking emotional or physical? Because I’m pretty sure I killed someone earlier in the week. Sometime that might screw me up. I’m fighting off a potentially deadly cancer, and my lover is an ass. I can’t even call him a boyfriend because I promised no strings. Emotional pain is around an 8. I don’t have much to compare the physical pain, but I hurt in sharp pains all over.”
“The cancer seems to have shrunk and withdrawn. It’s not what I would have expected for the time you were there. Do you know what they gave you?” The question was more than just a patient-doctor curiosity to Dr. Johnson. He needed to know to save her life.
Maybe it was more than just the baby. Maybe Johnson had told Drake about the cancer. A weight Hannah didn’t even know existed lifted from her soul. Given the sour look on Drake’s face and his acknowledgement of the child, it made sense.
She answered Johnson’s question to the best of her ability. She said, “They put a catheter in my neck and took some of my blood, then they built up the immune system cells, then they put it back in through my leg. That and I had to take a few supplements. I don’t know what they were. The docs told me they were proprietary. To be honest, I thought they were lying to keep me focused on the experiment. I had nothing to lose, so I let them.”
Johnson scribbled furiously as Hannah spoke, recalling everything she had seen. He said, “You said you’re feeling fragile emotionally? Do you want me to find someone to talk to you? A counselor or something?”
Hannah huffed. Sure, with their care for secrecy, she was going to bare her soul to a stranger. She said, “No thanks. I can deal with Drake.”
“What did Drake say to you?” Johnson asked as he wrote a few notes in her chart.
