by Kaylea Cross
“Away wi’ you, spoiled brat,” he said with a grin, tossing Karas a small chunk of carrot. She sniffed it, walked away in disdain and lay down with a groan on the mat in front of the sink, watching him with reproachful brown eyes. How dare he try and sneak a vegetable into her.
“Oh, Karas, knock it off,” Megan said with a laugh. “You’ll get plenty of meat later and you know it. Such a diva.” She put the carrots on to boil. “Do you remember much else about Aunt Lucy?”
“Aye. She was nice to me. Would read to me and let me help decorate biscuits and make mince pies at Christmas.”
“That sounds nice.” Megan’s voice was wistful. She didn’t often talk about her past.
“Do you remember anything about your aunt?” The only other relative she’d ever mentioned to him other than her parents, who had died in a car accident when she was young.
“Not really. Just her being at our house for Christmas dinner once or twice. I don’t think she and my mom got along. Although I do remember her taking us for ice cream after our parents died. But then she decided she didn’t want to be our guardian. That was the last time we saw her, in the lawyer’s office.”
We meaning her and her older sister, Amber, their resident technical wizard and hacker. They’d been separated not long after they were put into foster care, then shunted into the Valkyrie Program in facilities on opposite sides of the country.
It still horrified him. They’d only found each other again last summer, when Megan and Ty had literally hunted Amber down. “Do you think she ever tried to find you both again later?”
“Don’t know, and don’t care.” She tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder. “But Amber’s hell-bent on finding her and getting answers about why she ditched us.”
“And what are you two up to in here?”
Marcus’s head snapped up at the sound of that soft voice coming from the kitchen doorway. The sight of Kiyomi standing there made his entire body tighten.
She’d filled out during the time she’d been here, and it looked damn good on her. She wore snug jeans that clung to her hips and thighs, and a cherry-red sweater that hugged her small breasts. Her shiny black hair was pulled up in a clip, and the smoky eye makeup made her dark brown eyes look dramatic and mysterious. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Marcus is making us Sunday dinner,” Megan replied.
“Supper,” he corrected.
“Is he?” Kiyomi watched him with a little smile that made his pulse skip.
She’d transformed before his eyes in the few months she’d been here at Laidlaw Hall. From the beaten, half-starved captive that Amber and her boyfriend Jesse had pulled out of that dungeon in Damascus, to this vibrant, stunning woman standing in front of him. All the Valkyries were in danger, but there was a multi-million-dollar bounty on Kiyomi’s head that put her most at risk.
“Aye,” he said, doing everything he could to hide his reaction to her while reminding himself why she was off-limits.
She’d healed physically, but he wasn’t so sure about the mental or emotional wounds, and after what she’d endured there was no way she was ready to be with a man yet. Not only that, he couldn’t make a move because he was essentially her landlord and didn’t want her to feel like she owed him anything simply because she was staying in his house.
“Can I help?” she asked, coming toward him.
“Yes, come help me with these carrots,” Megan said, waving her over.
Marcus caught himself drawing in a deep breath as Kiyomi passed by, pulling in her light floral scent. He didn’t know if it was her shampoo or lotion or what, but it drove him crazy and he wanted to bury his face in her hair, the side of her neck to inhale more of it.
Banishing those thoughts, he spooned some of the drippings into the bottom of each muffin tin for the Yorkshire puds, then slid the roasting pan onto the stove and lit the burner to start the gravy while the women chatted.
“Did the fireworks keep you up last night?” Kiyomi asked him a minute later.
“No, I was still awake.” He didn’t sleep well or much. He added the flour and started whisking. “You?”
“Same. Here, let me do that and you can make these Yorkshire puddings I’ve heard so much about. What are they, anyway?”
He glanced at her in surprise. “You’ve never had them?”
“Never.”
“They’re a savory batter baked with hot beef drippings and served with roast meat.”
“Like crispy little pillows of deliciousness to pour gravy into,” Megan added. “You’ll love ‘em.”
The three of them worked in comfortable silence to get the rest of the meal ready, and Kiyomi watched closely as he made his aunt’s Yorkshire puddings. When everything was done, Marcus wiped his hands on the tea towel and stepped back from the cooling puds. “Right, I think we’re ready. Call in the troops.”
“Roger.” Megan dropped her apron on the counter and sauntered out of the kitchen as Marcus reached for the platter of sliced beef.
“I’ve got it.” Kiyomi took it from him, standing so close that her hip brushed his groin as she turned away.
Marcus froze, biting back a hiss at the contact. He was in trouble. One unintentional touch and it lit his whole body up. She tempted him like no other woman ever had, and his body was on edge around her.
Once he had himself back under control he carried everything to the table in the dining room, and soon everyone arrived. Six Valkyries and four significant others, every one of them a skilled operative in their own right. They rarely got a chance to eat as a group. Marcus enjoyed it.
When everyone was seated, he stood at the head of the table and raised his glass as Karas laid down beside his chair. “To friends, who have become family.”
He caught Megan’s eye, and gave her a private smile. After he’d made it through SAS selection, The Regiment had become his family. Since the mission in Syria he’d been alone, missing that sense of purpose and belonging. Megan and the rest of the people around this table had given that back to him.
“Hear, hear,” everyone chorused. They tapped their glasses together, then tucked into their meal.
Though he would never admit it aloud, he was chuffed to bits that everyone enjoyed the meal so much, especially his Yorkshire puds and gravy. While he ate, he snuck a piece of roast under the table to Karas, who took it gently from his fingers and stared up at him with alert, hopeful eyes.
“What’s for dessert?” Chloe asked as she finished off her last Yorkshire. The woman ate as much as he did, though usually she stuffed her gob with junk food.
“Nothing, unless you made it,” Megan told her dryly.
“Dessert’s outside in just a bit,” Marcus said, and Chloe shot Megan a smug look across the table. Things had been tense for them all lately. Marcus figured they could do with a bit of fun.
While everyone cleaned up the supper dishes, he went out back with Karas to light the bonfire. He’d chosen the location with care, in a spot where no one but them would be able to see the fire. The sky was already growing dark and a crisp, cold wind blew across the hills. Once the fire was really roaring, he texted the others to come outside.
“Oh, wow,” Chloe said as she marched toward the fire with an unholy grin on her face. “How’d you start it?” Her down vest was open, revealing a shirt that read: I love a good bang.
“Without explosives,” he answered, earning a snicker from everyone else. If he didn’t know that Chloe was an explosives and demolition expert, he would have sworn she was a pyromaniac.
She looked disappointed. “Man, I wish we could risk setting off some fireworks. Just imagine the display I could put on for us.”
Her boyfriend Heath wound an arm around her shoulders. “There are already plenty of fireworks whenever you’re around, firecracker, trust me.”
Drawing attention to themselves, even with fireworks, was dangerous to them all. The whole point of them staying here was to keep a low profile and stay off t
he radar of whoever was hunting them.
Marcus passed out sticks he’d sharpened to points at one end earlier and then passed around bags of marshmallows. “I also brought this, to keep the chill away.” He handed Ty an open bottle of whisky.
“Now you’re talkin’,” Ty said, taking a sip before passing it to Megan.
While everyone talked, drank and roasted marshmallows, Marcus stood close to the fire next to Karas, leaning on his cane as he enjoyed the heat of it on the right side of his face, where no scars dulled the sensation. He joined in the conversation a few times but mostly listened, watching Kiyomi when her attention was elsewhere.
She was so utterly beautiful, and it did his heart good to see her so relaxed here. Happy, even.
A small explosion in the distance made him jolt. Conversation ceased, all heads whipping toward the source of the noise past the front of the house. Karas raced off toward it in the darkness, barking.
“The assholes are back,” Megan muttered, setting her roasting stick aside. “We’ll run them off and hopefully they won’t be back.” She took Ty’s hand and they left the fire to head to their gatehouse near the road that ran past the front of the property.
Minutes later more sharp explosions thudded in the night. A few seconds after that, his mobile buzzed in his pocket. A text from Megan.
Karas is hurt.
His heart dropped. He gripped his cane and started off across the field as fast as his gimpy leg would allow.
“What’s wrong?” Kiyomi was at his side in an instant, watching him in concern.
“Karas is hurt.” He pushed himself to go faster, ignoring the sharp pain in his hip and thigh.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know.” He hurried on, cursing his damned limp. Kiyomi stayed beside him, and by the time they reached the front of the house, Megan and Ty were coming up the driveway. Ty was carrying Karas.
Marcus’s stomach lurched. “How bad?”
“I think she’s mostly just shaken up,” Megan answered, rushing to keep up with Ty’s long strides.
“It’s her right foreleg,” Ty said, stopping in front of Marcus.
Marcus bent to take her sweet face in his hands. Her eyes were fixed on him. She was panting and trembling, clearly in distress but he didn’t see any blood. “Bring her inside.”
Ty carried her into the study and placed her down on her bed in front of the fire.
Marcus knelt in front of her and took her chin in his hand. “What happened, lass?” Her pupils were even, but she trembled so much her collar jangled. The fur on her right shoulder was singed, and when he picked up her right front paw, she licked her lips and flattened her ears against her head.
“It’s all right, lass,” he murmured, stroking her head with his free hand as he bent closer to examine her foreleg. The side and back of it were burned, all the fur missing. But the bone seemed sound. His jaw tightened. “Did those bloody bastards throw one of those things at her?”
“I’m checking that right now,” Megan muttered. Kiyomi was beside her at his desk, pulling up the security feeds on the computer screen.
“Yeah,” Kiyomi said a moment later, her dark gaze swinging to his. “That’s exactly what they did.”
She turned the screen around so Marcus could see. The three teens from the last few nights arrived on their bikes, dropped them near the front gate and began lighting off bangers. When Karas appeared in view a minute later, racing toward them up the driveway, they started lobbing them at her.
The first two missed. She cowered, tucking her tail beneath her as she darted away, but the shortest of the three boys threw another at her. It detonated right below her leg.
She dropped to the ground when it exploded and the boys took off, laughing and high-fiving each other. Marcus clenched his jaw, anger pumping through him.
The silence was broken by the sound of a can being cracked open behind him. Chloe stood in the doorway next to Heath, a can of her favorite energy drink in her hand.
Staring hard at the computer screen, she narrowed her eyes. “Those little shits need to be taught a lesson.”
Aye, they bloody did.
Chapter Two
Kiyomi wanted to stay and help with Karas, but it was obvious that Marcus wanted to be alone. Heath brought him a med kit and offered to dress Karas’s wound, but Marcus dismissed him with a curt “I’ll do it.”
In silence everyone filed out of the study, the easy, carefree mood from earlier destroyed. Kiyomi was pissed. Those kids were cruel idiots. And the fireworks were grating on her nerves. The major bounty on her head was never far from her mind, or the two people currently hunting her.
“Can you believe those assholes? Unreal,” Megan muttered as she and Kiyomi followed Chloe down the hall to the kitchen, where a small mountain of dishes was waiting to be cleaned up.
“Oh, it was definitely real,” Chloe said, a savage edge in her voice.
Megan eyed her sharply. “Don’t do anything stupid, Twitch. Let Marcus handle this.”
Chloe shot Megan an annoyed scowl over her shoulder. “I won’t, Itch.”
The two of them called each other by the nicknames they’d adopted as trainees in the Program when they’d roomed together. “They won’t come back tonight,” Kiyomi said, certain of it. Poor Karas. Those little bastards were a menace.
“If they’re smart, they won’t come back at all,” Megan said darkly.
“They’re teenage boys,” Chloe muttered. “They’ll come back.”
The others were already working in the kitchen when they walked in. “How’s Karas?” Trinity asked, a dishtowel in one hand.
“Burned and traumatized,” Megan answered. “Poor thing. She had such a rough start in life, those firecrackers probably reminded her of the bombs. I can’t believe she’d be hurt here of all places.”
Trinity nodded. “How’s Marcus?”
“Pissed as hell,” Chloe answered. “And rightly so.”
Kiyomi stayed quiet, helping where needed as they finished the clean up. She’d never seen Marcus angry before. It made him even quieter and more intense.
After everyone pitched in, Kiyomi waited until it was just her and Megan left in the kitchen before approaching her. Megan was putting up the last of the dishes while Kiyomi wiped the countertops down. “What will Marcus do?” Kiyomi asked.
“Meaning, will he go after them?”
She frowned. “I don’t think he’d—”
“No, he wouldn’t, because he’s too honorable to do something like that. He’ll probably just file a complaint with the police at most, though maybe not because he doesn’t want to draw any attention to him or this place.”
Because of them.
Karas’s tormentors might go unpunished because Marcus wanted to protect the team. Kiyomi felt badly. “I hate that Karas was hurt, and also that it spoiled the night. Marcus went to a lot of trouble for all of us.”
He was a hard worker, rising early every day to check things and fix things around the property, and staying up late to work on all the finance and accounting needed to keep a huge place like this going. He also put a lot of effort into staying strong and in shape. His leg bothered him but he never complained, never let on. She admired him for all of it.
“Yeah. I knew we’d all grow on him after a while, even though he’s pretty much a recluse.” Megan’s smile was fond as she placed a deep blue platter in the cupboard next to the chef-quality gas range.
Kiyomi wanted to do something for him. Even something little, to show she cared. “Should I bring him something? A brandy maybe?” She didn’t even know if he drank it.
“Take him a cup of tea. He’d like that.”
“All right.” She went to the cupboard where the tea and coffee were kept. “What kind?” Though she already knew exactly what kind, because she made a point of noticing every little detail about Marcus, but didn’t want to tip her hand and let Megan know just how interested in him she was.
“Yor
kshire Gold. What else would you expect from a proper Yorkshireman? Just a bit of milk, nothing else. And here, this is his favorite mug.” Megan reached into the upper cabinet next to her and took out a battered mug with the SAS symbol on it.
Yes, Kiyomi knew that too. The one with the winged dagger and a stylized scroll beneath it that read Who Dares Wins. “Thanks.” She filled the kettle and put it on the stove to boil, then finished wiping the countertops while it heated.
When it began to whistle she turned off the burner and poured water over the teabag in the mug. She didn’t often get to talk with Megan alone, and there were so many questions burning inside her. “Has there been anyone else in Marcus’s life in the time you’ve known him?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“No, no one.”
Kiyomi glanced at her, surprised. “Really? No girlfriends? Not even any dates?”
“Nope. He pretty much shut himself away here after he came back from Syria. Would probably have never left the property if I hadn’t come along and forced him out of his funk.”
Kiyomi frowned. That couldn’t be right. “He hasn’t dated or anything since he came back from Syria? Wasn’t that over two years ago now?”
“Nope, and yep.”
Wow. Why did he shut himself away from the world here? To punish himself? It couldn’t possibly be because he was embarrassed about his scars. Only the ones on the left side of his face and neck were visible, and they did nothing to detract from his looks.
She couldn’t understand it. Marcus was a handsome, powerfully built man who carried himself with an air of quiet confidence that was downright mesmerizing. “What was he like before he was wounded, do you know?”
Megan turned to face her and leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms and ankles. “Still serious, I think. But not like he is now. And for sure he used to be more social. He cut contact with most of his military buddies, but he’s told me some stories about wild parties and other stuff he and some fellow NCOs used to get up to. While he’s never come right out and said it, I get the impression he was pretty popular with the ladies, too.”
