by Adriana Noir
Wrapping her arms around her knees, Taylor sat huddled as Sebastian lathered a generous amount of shampoo between his hands. The fragrant burst of cashmere seemed to fill the entire room. Her mind tried to focus on his actions as he scrubbed her scalp, working the soap into a thick lather. The gentle, but vigorous, scrub of his fingers felt like heaven. Closing her eyes, she let a contented sigh part her lips as he rinsed her, then conditioned her tresses and repeated the process again. By the time he’d finished rubbing down her body, she felt like a pampered, boneless heap.
Leaning over the tub, he cradled the back of her head, his lips claiming hers in a slow, drugging kiss. Taylor moaned against him. Pain or not, her body still responded with hunger to his touch. He kissed her again, this time his lips curving in amusement against hers.
“Mmm. That’s my girl,” he praised.
Grabbing a towel, Sebastian eased her up and hit the drain for the plug. She clung to his biceps unsteadily, unable to find the strength to stand on her own. After wrapping the fluffy warmth around her shoulders, he scooped her up and lifted her from the tub. Relieved, her arms sought immediate purchase around his neck. His hold tightened in a reassuring squeeze.
“It’s okay. I got you, sweetheart,” he murmured, drawing her against his chest.
She pressed her nose against his neck and breathed his warm, woodsy scent as he carried her out of the bathroom and laid her on the bed. He stripped the wet towel away and peeled the covers back before drawing them up to tuck them under her chin.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, perching on the edge of the bed beside her.
“No. Not yet.”
“Soon then.” Leaning over her, he kissed the top of her head. “Josh will be here shortly and I have a few things I need to take care of. I’ll be downstairs. If you need me, just holler, but I really want you to just take it easy for a bit and try to take a nap.”
“Okay. Can you stay here for just a few minutes though?”
Running his fingers through her hair, he winked. “Absolutely.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her tightly against his side. She rested her head against his chest and snuggled closer into the warm cradle of his body. Toying with the buttons on his uniform, she closed her eyes as he trailed his fingers up and down her back.
“Seb?”
“Hmm?”
“Was Marx upset that you spent so much time at the hospital?”
She could feel the hesitation thrumming through him as he grappled with his words and how much to share.
“Marx wasn’t pleased,” he admitted quietly, “but he will get over it. I don’t want you worrying about these things, Taylor. It doesn’t matter. I’m here and that’s what’s important.”
She nodded, but couldn’t ignore the dread crawling through her. Short of him dying, SKALS locking Sebastian away again topped her list of nightmares. He’d barely made it back to her last time, and she would never forget the array of bruises and burns marring his beautiful skin. Some of those scars still remained. As if sensing the dark turn her mind had taken, he tipped her face up toward him.
His breath fell warm and soft against her skin and carried a faint hint of spearmint as he rubbed a slow circle against her belly. “Do you need anything?” he asked.
“No. I’m okay.”
“You know it’s not going to hurt the baby. The doctor promised the stuff he was sending home was safe. You don’t need to suffer, darling.”
Turning slightly, she traced the strong outline of his jaw. “I know, but doctors say that all the time. All you see nowadays are commercials for lawyers and civil suits against medications doctors used to think were safe. Even Tylenol isn’t as harmless as people once thought it was. It’s not a chance I’m willing to take.”
Capturing her hand, he kissed her fingertips. “I love you, baby, and I admire the fact that you are trying to be strong. Just don’t cause yourself any unnecessary hardships in the process.”
“I’m not, Seb. I promise.”
“Okay.” The indents framing his cheeks dimpled with his smile as he dropped his gaze to her stomach and once again started rubbing lazy circles across her navel.
“I know that look,” she accused. “You’re up to no good.”
His soft laugh rolled through the room and made her heart soar.
“I was just thinking about some other things the doctor told me.”
“Such as?”
“Our sex life can actually be beneficial to the baby. Something about the rocking motion and contractions soothing them inside the womb.”
She couldn’t contain her laughter. The amused shimmying elicited a fresh wave of pain in her battered system, but she rode it out, caressing his face with a mixture of appreciation and surprise. His grin widened and he dropped his forehead to rest against her temple. He turned, leaning his body over hers but keeping his weight braced above her on his arms. Taylor squirmed as his lips brushed the shell of her ear, igniting a fierce spark of desire. It had only been a few days, but she missed his body and his touch.
“I’m warning you right now,” he rumbled. “Argue with me on that one and I am going to dig my heels in.”
“I’m going to have to take your word for it.”
“Such blind faith,” he teased.
“It is. You got to see the baby, hear its heartbeat, and ask all kinds of questions. All I got was some pictures and a bunch of stupid pamphlets.”
“We will get you in again soon, sweetheart. I promise. He gave me the name of a doctor who would be willing to help, despite the inconveniences. They run a family practice and are willing to make house calls if need be, so no one would be any the wiser.”
Sighing, she settled her head back down against their pillows. She stroked the blanket he’d draped over them, using the luxurious buttery texture as a means of distraction. “Do you know if it’s a girl or a boy?” she whispered, trying to mask her disappointment.
“No. It was still too soon for that. Another two months or so and we should know.”
“Do you want to know, or do you think we should wait and have it be a surprise?”
Sebastian blew out a deep breath and his brow creased with thought as he took her hand and twined his fingers through hers. “I’ve never been big on surprises, sweetheart. I, myself, would like to know, just so we can prepare and fill the nursery with things until our hearts are content. Either way, it’s going to be a surprise when we find out. One way is just sooner than the other.”
“True…”
“But,” he said, pausing, “if you want to wait until the baby is born, I will try my best to understand and accept that. I should warn you, though. I can be extremely persuasive when it comes to getting my way.”
Another laugh bubbled up inside her and she leveled him with a look of sarcasm. “No, really?”
“Really, darling,” he whispered, though his attention had already drifted to her navel again.
“Seb?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re worse with the baby than most men are with boobs. My eyes are up here, handsome.”
Laughing, he swung his gaze back up to her face. Her cheeks flushed with a pleasant warmth as she found herself trapped beneath his heated stare. The slow smile curving his lips was both sinister and reproachful as his eyebrow lifted in warning.
“One of these days, that sweet little mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble.”
She colored at the implication and wrested her gaze away from his. “It already has,” she muttered.
“Mmm. So you do remember,” he said, tracing a slow path along the curve of her cheek. His lips followed their path before he leaned in to steal a brief kiss. “We’ve both procrastinated long enough. Get some sleep.”
CHAPTER 3 ~
The whiskey burned like liquid fire going down, but he grimaced and tossed back another shot. Few things dulled the anger and dread inside him, and one of them was sleeping upstairs. It had been a long day between dea
ling with Marx and bringing Taylor home and assuring she was settled. Maybe he was going soft, but he found himself acting extremely out of character and debating whether or not he should ask Rupert to settle into the vacant guest room across the hall. He tried to convince himself it was just a knee-jerk reaction that would pass, but it would almost make him feel better to know there was armed security in the house guarding Taylor when he was away. Almost, but not quite. Cursing, Sebastian scrubbed the elongated stubble still stretching across his chin. Maybe it wasn’t out of character. With all of the shit that was going on, it was a real enough possibility that he’d just gotten that damn paranoid.
Josh tossed back another shot as well and regarded him with a rueful shake of his head. “You look like shit, bro.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll be sure to rescind my cover shoot for GQ this month.”
His partner shrugged. “I was just saying a real shower and a shave wouldn’t hurt. Especially if we’re going to be working in close quarters here and all.”
“I’m not asking you to cuddle,” Sebastian snapped. “I’m asking you to help me find the son-of-a-bitch that did this to Taylor. Either start doing that or get the hell out.”
The humor in his partner’s blue eyes dimmed and he spread his hands in a show of helpless frustration. “I was getting to that, but I swear to Christ you are so tightly wound right now, I’m afraid if I breathe on you, you’ll snap.”
“That might very well be the case.”
“Yeah. Go figure,” Josh muttered. “I went over the police reports. There’s nothing in there that doesn’t jive with Taylor’s version of the story. She blew the intersection and got hit…twice. They said a local towing company had been called to pick up the vehicle, but when Brad and I went to pick it up and sweep it, the guy said it was gone.”
Sebastian’s fists coiling as he turned to confront his partner with a questioning tilt of his head. “Gone where?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Baas. That’s a good question. He said some guy came to pick it up: a tall, middle-aged Caucasian who doesn’t match the description of anyone we know or the man Taylor said she spotted. We’ve called around but, as of yet, we got nothing.”
His cheeks twitched as his eyes narrowed. “Why would someone do that?”
Josh shrugged. “Who the hell knows? Times are tough, pal. Those 300s are pretty boxy and look like they weigh a ton. Maybe it was someone looking to make some extra cash.” Josh said as he settled into the russet leather armchair gracing the study.
“Without any proper identification?” Sebastian asked. Growling he paced the floor and raked his hand through his hair with a vicious tug. “What about the tapes? Descriptions aren’t reliable. I want to see this guy.”
“Not gonna happen. System was busted. You know how those local mom and pop shops can be.”
His laugh was dry and sardonic. “Of course. Some man just waltzes in and takes my vehicle with no identification and it just so happens the towing company’s surveillance system was on the fritz? I don’t think so,” he claimed. Whirling on his heel, he pointed his partner’s way. “This guy knows who did it or he is covering someone else’s bases. Tell him to spit out what he knows or I will have his head on a goddamn stick.”
Josh winced at both words and venomous tone. “Okay, Baas. Just try to calm down a little bit here, would ya?”
Sebastian cocked his head, his eyes narrowing into thin slits as his voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “Someone tried to kill Taylor and you’re asking me to calm down?”
The harsh angles of Josh’s face shifted with his pained grimace. He tensed in his seat as if expecting Sebastian to spring. “I didn’t mean it like that. Look, Baas, all I’m trying to say is that we don’t know that for a fact. For all we know, it was just some weird manufacturing default in her car. We can’t just go after this guy and pump him for info. Not without knowing the whole story. We’ll get there, buddy. I promise. You just gotta give it some time.”
“What about the video surveillance from the grocery store?”
“I’m working on it. The prick wasn’t exactly sympathetic when I whipped out my badge. He’s demanding warrants. We’ll get the tapes. It’s just going to take a day or two.”
Sighing, Sebastian sloughed a hand down his face. He wondered if his features looked as haggard as they felt beneath his palm. “I don’t have that kind of time. If Marx was behind this we’ll never find anything,” he muttered, his voice carrying a hint of defeat. “He’s too smart for that.”
Josh leaned back, his face contorting. “Hold up. Do you honestly think he was involved in this?”
“What makes you think he wasn’t?”
“It’s just not his style. It’s too subtle. If Marx wanted her gone, she would be. He wouldn’t try to hide it. The asshole would flaunt it and bask in your misery.”
“Not his style, Josh?” he asked, fighting to keep the bitterness out of his voice. “Perhaps you’ve forgotten what he did to my family the last time he perceived them as a threat.”
The none too subtle reminder drew a muttered curse from his partner. Ignoring him, Sebastian dropped onto the padded office chair behind his desk. The leather cushions expelled a soft hiss of air beneath him as he frowned and adjusted his weight.
“I am just being truthful, Josh. You have no idea what he is capable of or what sort of things he would hide from us. None of us do.”
“So we are getting back on that tangent again?”
“Which one would that be?” Sebastian asked, raising a tawny brow.
“The one where Marx is a double-crossing bastard who can’t be trusted.”
He opened his mouth to speak then closed it. After pouring himself a drink, he swirled his tumbler, watching the rich amber liquid ripple across the deep beveled cuts of crystal. His gaze landed on his partner, studying him. Josh’s muscles were taut, his brow drawn, and his arms crossed in a defensive fold. As much as he wanted to tell the man what he knew about their leader and Project Blue, everything about his partner’s body language warned that now was not the time.
His gut burned with an intensity beyond the pleasant warmth of the alcohol, and an ulcer threatened to flare. Blue wasn’t something he could sit on forever. Soon, Marx would want to make a move, but divulging that sort of bombshell to his team put him on very dangerous ground. If he spoke too soon, they would think he was insane. Blowing out a deep breath, he seriously started to wonder if that wasn’t the case. As horrible as it was, he actually preferred that option over the one he currently faced.
Josh shook his head. “Look, I know you need a place to lay the blame. All I’m asking is for you to sit tight for a few days and trust me. Focus your energy on Taylor, where it needs to be, not some hate-fueled headhunt. Jumping to conclusions right now is only going to get you hurt or killed. You damn near crossed that line today, Baas. Don’t make that mistake again.”
Sebastian mulled those words over for a few minutes. His troubled gaze shifted beyond his partner’s solid silhouette to the twilight painted hues blanketing the grounds. Perhaps Josh was right. A few more days wouldn’t hurt anything. For the moment at least, Taylor was safe, tucked behind a sanctuary of electric gates and guarded walls.
Shifting his attention back to his partner, he tented his fingers beneath his chin and nodded. “Keep me updated.”
“I will, Baas.” Josh hesitated then added, “I’m glad Taylor is okay.”
His shoulders jerked with wry humor. “As am I. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if she wasn’t.”
They both frowned in confusion at the sound of soft footfalls outside the door. A light knock drew his attention and Sebastian lifted his stare as the ornate wooden barrier inched open. Josh swiveled in his chair, his gaze raking over Taylor as she offered them a hesitant smile. His face twisted with sympathy.
“Hey, kiddo. How ya doing?”
Her fingers curled around the doorframe for support, but Taylor brightened a little with her smile. “H
i, Josh. I’m okay. How have you been?”
“He’s fine. Why aren’t you in bed?” Sebastian asked, levering to his feet. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
“I’m hungry,” she admitted with a sheepish wince.
“Okay. I’ll order something in a minute, baby. Go lie back down.”
Taylor made no effort to mask her pout. “Would it hurry you along any if I told you I was lonely too?”
Josh chuckled quietly and rose to his feet. “That’s my cue to get the hell out of here.” He clapped Sebastian on the shoulder. “Take good care of her, Baas, and think about what I said.”
Hauling his partner in, he thumped his back in a brief show of appreciation. Josh crossed the room and flashed a wink in Taylor’s direction.
“Later, kid. Get better and keep Sebastian outta trouble.”
“I’ll try but you know how he is,” she said with a quiet laugh. “Give Monique and Aiden our love.”
“I will. I’ll show myself out.”
“Don’t let the door hit you,” Sebastian muttered.
Some of his bitterness faded as he found himself staring into the silver pools of Taylor’s eyes. As sappy as it sounded, he could lose himself inside of them for hours. Maybe even days. Relaxing some, he forced a smile and brushed her cheek, hating the small cuts and bruises mottling her precious skin.
“Stubborn little minx,” he mused before leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. “You’re so lucky I love you. What do you want to eat?”
Taylor tapped her lip in thought for a second before swinging her wide eyes up to his. “Chinese? I would do unspeakable things for some General’s chicken and vegetable fried rice right now.”
Laughing, he palmed the back of her head. “I’m going to remember you said that,” he warned. “I’ll place the order. You go get comfortable on the couch and pick out a movie or something. You need to rest.”
“Yes, Sebastian.”
She started to back toward the corridor and faltered. Casting her attention to the floor, she wrung her hands, a surefire sign she had something else on her mind. Saying nothing, Sebastian lifted an inquisitive brow.
