The Colonel's Daughter

by Amy Andrews

  Ivy’s eyes flew open, her gaze clashing with the storm in his. “Seth!” She cried out as the hot prickles streaked up her spine and everything that had been pulling tighter and tighter inside her unravelled in one instantaneous second.

  “Ivy,” he groaned, pushing himself up onto his palms, stretching out his back and his neck as he bucked his hips in and out, stoking her orgasm as he surrendered to his own, crying out, “God…fucking…damn it,” as he pumped and pumped until he was spent, finally collapsing on top of her as the tail of her orgasm fluttered out of reach.

  He was breathing hard, his forehead resting on the bed next to her head. “Satisfied?”

  Ivy nodded. She felt good. Even his weight pressing her into the mattress felt good. “Yes,” she panted, struggling for breath. “Hell, yes.”

  In-fucking-credible.

  …

  Seth woke about an hour later in exactly the same position he’d been in after he’d rolled off Ivy, tossed the condom in the nearby trash, and fallen back onto the bed again. Ivy was still there, too, but she’d rolled on her side away from him at some stage, her legs tucked up.

  He didn’t even remember falling asleep, it certainly hadn’t been his intention, but then sex was better than sleeping pills any day. The last he remembered he’d been staring at the ceiling trying to catch his breath, still angry with himself and her over being goaded into screwing rather than taking things slow and easy.

  The faint simmer was still there but it was shrouded in a hefty dose of guilt, now. Yes, he’d given it to her exactly the way she’d wanted and it had been pretty fucking mind-blowing, but still…

  It had been his intention to talk to her about it just as soon as he could breathe properly. And then he’d fallen asleep…

  She, too, apparently.

  His gaze roved over the fall of her pink hair pooling against her lower shoulder blade and spilling onto the bed, exposing the full length of her tattoo. It was the first time he’d had a chance to look at it up close, too busy with her front to worry about the back.

  But now he looked his fill at the delicate artwork, taking his time to examine the dainty green leaves and the swirly stalks in more detail. It looked like the ivy that had crept up the walls of his grandmother’s stone cottage and he smiled at the thought. It suited her.

  It was a whimsical design and very cool that she chosen a tattoo representative of her namesake.

  The urge to run his finger down her spine, to kiss all the way to the bottom and lick all the way back to the top taunted him, but he suppressed it. Having sex hadn’t solved a damn thing between them.

  Having more sex wasn’t going to help.

  His gaze slid to the sickly yellow outline of the bruise on her hip. He shouldn’t feel guilty about that, either. But he did.

  When she’d come into his bedroom looking for underwear, he’d figured it was a simple enough request. But he should have known that nothing with Ivy had been simple.

  A phone rang in his office and Ivy stirred as he eased off the bed, grabbing the discarded towel off the floor and flinging it on as he hurried to pick it up.

  It was Kenny with the news he’d been hoping to hear. Seth listened intently, feeling relieved that Ivy’s intruder had been caught, but sick at his identity.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Seth thanked him and hung up the phone.

  When he strode back into his room, Ivy was sitting on the side of his bed in his jersey again. He wanted to ask her if she was all right, but he wasn’t sure if it would be appreciated.

  Her gaze dropped to his towel briefly before returning to his face. “Was that good news?”

  He nodded. “Yes. They know who tried to break into your house.”

  “Oh.” She leaned forward a little. “Who?”

  “It was Jamie.”

  “Jamie?” She frowned. “From work?”

  She looked confused and Seth couldn’t blame her. With two credible threats out there already, Jamie hadn’t even crossed his mind.

  “He made a full confession to the police.”

  “But…why was he trying to break in?”

  “He reckoned he was drunk and he just wanted to apologize to you for that night at the bar.”

  She frowned. “I would have opened the door if he’d knocked.”

  Seth certainly bloody hoped she wouldn’t have, given Jamie’s supposed alcohol consumption and the hour of night. He doubted very much that good old Jamie was of pure intent if breaking in was his first-line method of contact.

  “Well he won’t be bothering you anymore, anyway. He’s been charged with B-and-E and been sacked from work.”

  “Ouch.” Ivy winced.

  “He’s lucky,” Seth growled. “If I could get my hands on him about now I’d throttle the little prick.”

  She didn’t say anything for long moments, but she didn’t appear shocked by his outburst, either. “Well then,” she said eventually. “I guess that means I can go home now, right?”

  The words struck right to Seth’s core.

  Home. So final.

  He wouldn’t have thought saying goodbye would be as hard second time around, but he was wrong. A lot had happened between them since he’d bundled her into his car last night.

  If anything their connection had grown stronger. And he really didn’t want to see that severed.

  But it wasn’t up to him.

  “Yes.” Seth nodded. “You are free to go.”

  Or stay. Seth desperately wanted to show her an alternative to hate sex.

  “Okay…good.” She stood, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Before I do I just want to say something…”

  Seth held his breath. What was left to say? Did she want to dump on him a little more? Because she could. Did she want him to apologize again? Because he would.

  “I want to thank you for—”

  He sliced a hand through the air to stop her going any further. “You don’t have to thank me for that,” he said stiffly. No matter what she’d wanted, he wasn’t particularly proud to have popped her cherry in anger.

  “No, I don’t mean that.” She shook her head. “Although it was amazing and I should thank you because I know I pushed you into it but you gave me exactly what I asked for, Seth, don’t beat yourself up about that.”

  Seth grunted as he shoved his hands on his hips. “It’s not the way it should be.” Ivy could sugar coat it as much as she liked, he still felt like a cave man.

  “And I’ll be sure to find that out for myself every opportunity I get, but in that moment it couldn’t have been any more perfect.”

  Seth dug his fingers hard into his hip bones. The thought of Ivy with other men felt like a stun grenade in his face.

  Oh Jesus. Get a frickin’ grip, man.

  “What I mean is, thank you for all of it. For driving Merry and I home after every shift and for defending me against Jamie and for saving my life in the alley that night that seems about a million years ago, now. I know that you were only there because of my father and I am still mad as hell about that, but I can appreciate that you were between a rock and hard place when everything went FUBAR in that alley and that being holed up with me, having to lie to me about who you were in that situation, wasn’t exactly a picnic for you.”

  “No, it wasn’t. And I really am sorry about that. But trust me, I’ve been holed up for weeks on end with a bunch of sweaty Marines with only baked beans to eat in the middle of the desert, going into hiding with you was like living in My Little Pony land.”

  She laughed. Actually laughed and Seth was relieved that they were going to part on better terms this time. Considering everything it was the best he could hope for.

  “Seriously, though,” she said, sobering. “I don’t know if I could have gotten through this last week without you by my side. Having someone with me through all of it made me feel so much less alone. And safe. I was scared and you made me feel safe. That’s not nothing. And no ma
tter how mad I am with you, I will always be thankful for that.”

  Seth nodded, extraordinarily touched by her little speech. Considering how badly he’d blown it, it was big of her to be gracious. “Thank you.”

  They looked at each other for long moments. He wasn’t sure what she wanted him to do now. He’d like to think they could hug before she went on her way, but that might be pushing it. “I’ll give you a lift back to your apartment,” he said.

  “I think I’m going to need to borrow some clothes first,” she said, looking down at herself.

  “Oh, right.” He went back to the draws where he’d pulled the underwear out and found a T-shirt and shorts. She was going to have to roll them up somehow, but they’d do.

  He passed them over and watched as she disappeared into the bathroom.

  Ivy climbed into Seth’s clothes. She rolled the waist band of the undies and basketball shorts down and anchored them on her hips. The T-shirt he’d given her fell off her shoulder, but she knotted it at one side to reduce the bagginess.

  The overall affect wasn’t too bad as she inspected herself in the mirror. Although it didn’t feel like her looking back. She felt different. Looked different. Same face, same hair, same mouth. But different. She’d have liked to have taken her time for a full inventory of the subtle changes. The lift to her chin, the little glint in her eyes, the Mona Lisa tilt to her mouth.

  But this wasn’t the moment.

  That would come in the next few days and she’d no doubt spend a lot of time looking in the mirror remembering how Seth had reared over her and pounded into her just the way she’d wanted.

  For now, Kade was dead, her intruder had been caught, and their fucked-up acquaintance was coming to an end. No sense wondering about what could be with Seth. She couldn’t be with someone who had lied to her so fundamentally.

  Even if he’d had no choice.

  She exited the bathroom with his jersey in her hand and tossed it on his bed. Seth wasn’t anywhere in sight, but she could hear noises coming from the direction of the kitchen. She turned to go when a phone rang. It was Seth’s mobile which lay amid the rumpled bed covers where he’d tossed it earlier.

  She scooped it up, doubting he could hear it with his tinnitus all the way from the kitchen. She looked down at the screen as she stepped into the hallway to find her father’s name flashing on the screen.

  Colonel Danforth.

  Ivy frowned. What the fuck? Why was her father calling Seth? Were they still in cahoots? Her father had told her Seth’s services had been terminated and he’d promised he’d never have her watched again.

  The anger of the last few days returned to the boil. The sense of betrayal she’d felt at both Seth and her father hitting new heights.

  Damn the Colonel to hell.

  If he thought she was going to meekly sit back and take this shit he had no idea who she was at all. She’d learned a lot this last year and she wasn’t going to cede any of her independence to him. The second she could find a place she was moving out.

  “Why is my father ringing, you?” she demanded as she rounded the corner and stalked into the kitchen, holding up the ringing phone.

  Seth looked up from the coffee machine, startled. He was shirtless, a faded pair of jeans riding low, the fly buttons not all done up. She was pretty sure he was going commando. Had she not been so damn pissed at him she may well have dropped to her knees and found out. But right now she was more likely to bite his dick right off.

  “He’s probably just found out about the identity of your intruder.”

  Ivy blinked at his calm answer. “How did he even know I had an intruder?”

  The ringing cut out. “I rang him and told him.”

  “Why?” Ivy demanded.

  “I thought he might like to know what had happened and that you were safe with me.”

  “He didn’t need to know any of that. I was safe. He didn’t need to know.”

  “Oh for fucks sake, Ivy,” he snapped. “If you think I wasn’t going to use every source at my disposal to find out who tried to break into your apartment, then you’re way more naive than I thought. As far as I knew, it was either a hit man or some terrorist crap your father was dealing with. I’m sorry, but you already knew I was on his payroll, it never occurred to me that it would be an issue.”

  “No I don’t suppose it would have to you,” Ivy snorted. “You haven’t had to put up with his shit for twenty years. His…obsession with my security. I’m not four-years-old anymore, Seth, I’m all grown up and he has to stop trying to keeps tabs on me like this. I want him to butt out. And I thought, given how pissed I was when you first told me that my father was paying you, that you understood that. I didn’t think I had to explain how much I don’t want my father informed of my private stuff by his freaking minion.”

  The phone rang again and Ivy almost hurled it at the windows. It was the Colonel. Of course. She thrust the phone at Seth. “Answer it. Put him on speaker.”

  “What?”

  “Put. Him. On. Speaker.”

  Seth took the phone and placed it on the countertop as he answered it, tapping the speaker icon. “Rodrigo. Just heard the news. A job well done.”

  He glanced at her. “Yes sir. Thank you.”

  Ivy practically growled at the polite military deference Seth displayed. “Thank you sir,” she mimicked silently, crossing her arms.

  “Now, listen to me, I don’t care how you do it but I want you to convince Ivy to let you drive them back to Canberra.”

  The plug Ivy had been keeping on her temper where her father was concerned blew right off. She half expected to see the windows covered in brain splatter.

  “Daddy!” she snapped, leaping forward, bending over the phone, until her lips were practically kissing it. “He comes anywhere near me again and I will disappear out of your life for good and you will never, ever see me again.”

  “Ivy? Now dar—”

  But Ivy had had enough. She hit the “end” button, clutching the counter as her legs shook violently and air sawed in and out of her lungs. She’d let him get away with this for too long. And it stopped today.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No,” she snapped, stalking over to the lounge area where she’d left her phone and snatching it up, scrolling through her contacts with trembling fingers.

  He followed her over standing at the back of the couch. “Who are you calling?”

  “A taxi,” she said, with more calm than she felt as she hit the pre-listed number in her contacts.

  “Don’t be stupid, Ivy, I can take you back to your apartment.”

  She glared at him. “I’m not going anywhere with you.” The phone picked up on the other end and she requested a taxi as soon as possible. “What’s the address?” the dispatcher asked.

  Address? God…she didn’t even know where the hell she was!

  She looked at Seth. “What’s your address?”

  “Ivy…come on…”

  Ivy clenched her teeth. Her cheeks were hot and she seriously thought she was close to falling down. “I don’t want you to drive me anywhere,” she repeated. “I don’t want to see you ever again. Clearly I’m never going to be able to trust you. My father tells you to jump and you ask how high and you don’t give a shit about what I want. That’s been made perfectly clear today, now what’s the damn address?”

  “You can have my car,” he said. “Just…take my car.”

  Ivy dearly wanted to tell him to shove it. She didn’t want anything from him. But she was wearing baggy men’s clothes, she had no shoes, and no damn money. There were limited choices to getting the hell out of here and she’d be stupid to refuse the most logical one.

  She apologized to the dispatcher and hung up.

  “Keys?” she said, holding out her hand. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.

  He sighed. “They’re on the kitchen counter.”

  Ivy marched past him to the kitchen sweeping the keys up in one smo
oth movement, barely breaking stride as she pivoted and headed for the door.

  She didn’t know if Seth followed her, she didn’t look back. She couldn’t. She just kept on walking, right out of the house and straight to the car, fumbling with the lock and then with the ignition, slamming the car into gear, spinning up dust as she drove down the long drive, refusing to look into the rear-view mirror.

  A metallic gate was opening as she reached the perimeter of the property, and she noticed a security camera discreetly mounted near a hedge which abutted the brick frame of the gate.

  Was he watching her? She hoped so as she flipped the camera the bird and drove out onto the road with her head held high.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Seth barely listened to Kenny as they rode down in the lift together. He was repeating the same stuff they’d just talked about in the strategy meeting and Seth had found it pretty fucking uninteresting the first time around.

  Which was unfair to Kenny. They were about to go into the meeting of their lives. The final pitch to the banking corporation for their security contract. It was down to two companies now and Seth and Kenny had busted their balls to get it this far.

  Although, in truth, he’d been as useless as tits on a bull the last two months since Ivy had driven out his drive flipping him the bird. And not much better the three months prior to that when he’d been at the Cross Bar every night trying to run his company and keep an eye on the Colonel’s daughter. His 2IC had been invaluable during that time.

  They walked out of the lift, Kenny still talking, Seth grunting his approval when appropriate, on complete auto pilot. The way he’d been for what felt like ever now. Just going through the motions.

  It was the kind of flatness he’d felt after his discharge from the military because of the tinnitus.

  The military had been his life and he’d felt lost without it. And he had been for a long time. And then he’d come to Australia and started his company and he’d gotten his groove back.

  But with one careless phone call and a flip of the bird he could feel himself back there again. Being with Ivy had been…

  He didn’t know. He didn’t want to know. There was no point. Mostly he tried not to care but sometimes it made him mad as hell.