by Susan Stoker
But he didn’t call her on her fake bravado, simply clasped her hand in his and led the way out of the room. They all got in the elevator and went up to their floor. They reached the room she’d been in earlier and Beatle unlocked it. He put his hand on the small of her back to guide her inside. “Open the door,” he told Coach with a chin lift. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”
“Will do,” Coach told him, moving to the room next door behind Hollywood.
“I’ll grab Truck and Fletch,” Blade said.
Ghost stood there looking at Casey for a long moment, then finally nodded at Beatle and followed Coach.
“Inside, Case,” Beatle ordered.
She took a few steps inside the room, and he shut and locked the hotel door behind them.
He guided her to the bed, then grabbed a bottle of water he’d brought up earlier. He twisted off the cap and handed it to her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good.”
“Don’t lie to me,” he ordered as he paced in front of her.
Casey took the time to check him out. He cleaned up really well. He kept running a hand over his short reddish hair and even the look of concern on his face didn’t diminish his good looks. He was wearing only a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, but his outfit in no way diminished the “don’t fuck with me” look he carried like a second skin. Their clothes had been sent somewhere to the bowels of the hotel to be cleaned and the clerk had promised they’d be done in a couple of hours. Definitely by the time they needed to put them on in the morning.
Beatle’s thigh muscles flexed with every step he took, and Casey couldn’t help but stare. She’d been attracted to him when he’d been covered from head to toe with his gear in the jungle, but practically naked? He was even more handsome.
Casey flushed with shame. She shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. Not when he was her brother’s friend. A soldier who’d rescued her. He couldn’t be anything else. He wouldn’t want to be anything else.
But then she remembered his kisses. And the look of lust in his eyes.
She’d had a one-night stand back in college, and while it had been exciting at the time, it had left her feeling gross. She hadn’t known anything about the guy she’d slept with, and for a long time afterward had avoided getting in any kind of relationship as a result of her guilty conscience.
She didn’t want a one-night stand with Beatle, and didn’t think that’s what he wanted from her. Seeing him pace made her long-lost libido flare to life. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in years, she’d been too busy getting her PhD and working. Maybe what she was feeling was simply a way to affirm that she was still alive, maybe it was a result of her feeling grateful he’d rescued her. But deep down, Casey knew neither of those things were true.
She wanted Troy “Beatle” Lennon. Bad.
She jerked out of her thoughts when he stopped and squatted in front of where she was sitting on the bed. “Don’t lie to me,” he repeated. “Are you okay after all that? It wasn’t easy for you to go through it all. I know it wasn’t.”
“I’m okay,” she told him immediately. “It wasn’t easy, but you were there and I’m safe now. Go talk to your team.” She kept her eyes on his by sheer force of will. All it had taken was one glance downward and seeing his knees spread apart, his inner thigh muscles straining with the squat, and she’d felt herself get wet. She needed some space from him. Space to try to control her out-of-control libido. “I’m going to crawl into bed and sleep.”
He stared at her skeptically. Then finally, taking her at her word, said, “I’ll be right next door. We all will. If you get nervous, frightened, or if anyone knocks on the door, you yell out and we’ll come running. Okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed.
Beatle didn’t move for a heartbeat, then slowly stood. Casey tilted her head back, knowing if she didn’t keep looking at him, his cock would be right at her eye level. She’d be at the perfect height to reach forward and pull down the elastic of his shorts and—
She swallowed hard and forced herself to ask, “Will you turn on the bathroom light before you go?”
His voice gentled and he ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “Of course. Climb in, sweetheart.”
She did as he ordered, and held on to the comforter tightly. Casey wanted to ask if he was going to be sleeping in the room with her, but was too embarrassed. She was twenty-nine, for God’s sake. She didn’t need him to stay with her. The thought of being alone, like she’d been when she was in the hole, threatened her composure, but she gamely smiled up at Beatle.
He leaned over her, his fists on the mattress at her shoulders. “If you need me, I’m right next door.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said firmly.
For a second, she thought he was going to call her on the lie, but he simply bent down, kissed her on the lips, then pulled back. “Good night, Case.”
“Good night, Beatle. Thanks for…well…everything.”
He didn’t respond, but stood up and clicked off the light next to the bed.
Casey swallowed hard at the immediate sense of claustrophobia that tried to overwhelm her. It was if she were standing at the bottom of the hole once more, looking up as the men above her covered it.
Once more, something niggled at the back of her brain, but it was gone when she looked at Beatle.
He was studying her, and after a moment, he walked quickly to the bathroom and turned on the light, shutting the door halfway. Then he said softly, “There’s no shame in admitting you need the light on, Case.”
“Thanks,” she murmured.
Then he went to the connecting door and paused, waiting for her to look at him. When she did, he pointed to himself, then at the next room.
Casey nodded, understanding and feeling comforted by the fact that, even if he wouldn’t be in the same room as her, at least he’d be right next door.
Then he was gone. Casey could see the connecting door was cracked, not shut all the way, and she heard Beatle greet his teammates. She couldn’t quite hear what they were talking about, but their voices soothed her nevertheless. If she could hear them, she wasn’t alone.
She turned to her side and closed her eyes. Sleep. If she could go to sleep, then she wouldn’t be scared.
Chapter Fourteen
Beatle was tired. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Casey’s room and crash. He and the others had gone over and over everything Casey had told them, and were no closer to coming up with answers as to who might have been behind the kidnapping than they were when they’d started two hours ago.
They were missing something. Something big, but no one could figure out what. They’d spent some time reviewing the tapes from their cameras to try to see if there was anything obvious they’d missed. If the threat was someone from Costa Rica, it would be better to find out now rather than waiting until they got home. But they hadn’t caught anything that looked out of the ordinary. They’d have to review them more carefully once they were back in Texas. Maybe get their friend, Tex, who was a computer genius, or one of the techs at the post, to help scrutinize them.
Beatle had gotten up several times to check on Casey, and each time she’d been lying still under the covers. He hoped a good night’s sleep would do wonders for her, both physically and mentally.
She hadn’t hidden the fact that she was freaked out. Not even close. In situations like this in the past, he’d felt sorry for the rescuee, but that definitely wasn’t what he was feeling for Casey.
“You really like her,” Blade murmured. The other man had come to stand next to him at the connecting door.
Without taking his eyes from the woman sleeping on the bed, Beatle nodded. “I hope you were serious when you said you wouldn’t mind if your sister got together with me.”
“I was serious,” Blade reassured him. “I know you, Beatle. And I’ve never seen you act like this with a woman before.”
Beatle turned to his friend and teammate. “That’s because I�
�ve never felt about a woman the way I do your sister. I don’t know what it is, but I’ve fallen hard and fast for her.”
“She lives in Florida.”
Beatle ran a hand through his hair. “I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about nothing else but that.”
“I’m not sure it’s the best thing for her to go back there right now,” Blade said. “I mean, someone was very determined she not get out of that jungle. They sent a dozen armed men to make sure of it. I’m not convinced she’ll be safe once we leave here.”
“What the hell is going on? From what she’s said, she’s simply a university professor. Who could want her that badly? And for what? To throw her in another hole? To torture her? There has to be a deeper reason for all this, Blade.”
“I know. I completely agree. That’s why I think we need to keep an eye on her until we figure it out. The last thing I want is some asshole getting his hands on her again. She’s been handling everything pretty well. But if she gets snatched a second time, I think it’ll break her, and she’ll never be the little sister I know and love again.”
Images of Casey lying on a bed, broken in body and spirit, flashed through Beatle’s mind, and he flinched. His eyes sought her out for reassurance that she was safe.
“Here’s the thing,” Blade continued. “I know my sister. She doesn’t like to be a burden. Not to anyone. She’s not going to take kindly to being told she needs a babysitter. She’s going to want to go back to Florida to check on her students. She’s going to think she needs to get back to her life, and she’ll pretend nothing happened.”
“What do you suggest?” Beatle asked. He hated that he didn’t know Casey well enough yet to be able to instinctively know how to handle her, but the fact of the matter was, he didn’t. They hadn’t known each other that long, even if the time they’d spent together had been intense and they’d gotten close as a result. Blade was her brother, he’d known her all her life. If anyone would know how to get her to do something, it would be him.
“She’s not stupid,” Blade said. “She’s not going to risk her life just to defy me. But…I think she’d be more willing to listen if you brought it up.”
Beatle sighed. Yeah, he thought that was what Blade was going to say. “We…I’m not sure I’ll have that much sway.”
“You will. You do,” Blade insisted.
“I agree,” Truck added quietly from behind them.
Beatle startled. He hadn’t heard the other man approach. He’d been concentrating too hard on Casey’s sleeping form.
“From the second you two met, there’s been a connection. You can’t deny it,” Truck said.
“I’m not denying it,” Beatle replied. “But there’s a difference between having a connection, and her agreeing to come to Texas so we can look after her for an indeterminate period of time. What about her job? Her students? Her friends?”
“All good questions,” Truck agreed. “But that woman is scared out of her freaking mind. It’s easy to see. Blade said it himself, she’s not stupid. Besides, it’s not like you’re going to tell her she can’t ever go back to Florida. Talk to her, Beatle. She needs to hear everything we talked about tonight. I have a feeling she’s the key to figuring all this out. But she’s been through a lot, she needs time to feel safe, and to let her brain remember every detail. The smallest thing she saw or heard could be the solution to making her safe once and for all.”
Beatle agreed. He’d seen the way Casey had furrowed her brow as if trying to remember something, but then when she’d been interrupted in her musings, whatever fleeting thought she’d had disappeared. “I’ll do everything in my power to make her safe,” he vowed.
“She said she had a colleague at the university, a psychologist,” Truck said. “Maybe you could suggest flying her out to Texas?”
“Maybe,” Beatle replied. “Although sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger than a friend.”
“Talk to her,” Blade pressed. “Fletch said you guys could stay in his garage apartment. We can help look out for her easier there than at your place.”
The more they talked about it, the more Beatle wanted Casey to return to Texas with him. It was insane. But it also felt right. They hadn’t known each other long, but the time they had spent together had been intense. What was that movie? Speed? Where Sandra Bullock told Keanu Reeves’s character that relationships that start under intense circumstances never lasted?
Fuck that shit.
“I’ll do what I can,” he told his friends. “And if for some reason she absolutely refuses to come to Texas, I’ll go to Florida.”
Silence met his pronouncement for a beat before Truck said, “But you won’t have any backup. I’m not sure you can even get approved for leave for as long as it might take to figure all this out.”
Beatle looked his friend in the eye. “I don’t care. She’s not safe. You both said it. I’m not forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to, and I’m not going to leave her vulnerable to be snatched again.”
“If it comes down to that, I’ll talk to the commander,” Ghost said from behind them.
Beatle turned and saw Ghost and the rest of the team standing nearby. They’d obviously heard the entire conversation.
“I’d appreciate that.”
Just then, a whimper came from the other room. Beatle was moving before his brain could kick in and assess the situation.
He was in Casey’s room and at her side within seconds. But that was enough time for her to be lost in the nightmare she was having. She was thrashing on the bed, fighting the covers, desperately trying to escape.
“Shhhh, it’s only a dream, you’re safe,” he murmured.
She didn’t hear him. She thrashed harder, her legs flailing and her head whipping back and forth as if she were fighting someone who had hold of her.
“Casey,” Beatle repeated, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Instead of calming her, his touch seemed to inflame her more. She jerked away from him and her eyes popped open. They were remote and unseeing, as if she were watching a movie only she could see. Or reliving the most terrifying moment of her life.
“No! Don’t. Don’t push me in there! I’ll do whatever you want! Please, come back!” Then her back arched and she screamed as every muscle in her body tensed.
“Jesus Christ.”
“Fuck.”
“Those fucking bastards!”
Beatle tuned out the exclamations of his teammates and concentrated on Casey. Without thought, he did the only thing that seemed right in this case. He threw back the blankets and crawled into the bed with her. He murmured nonsense as he gathered her flailing body in his arms. He held her head to him and rocked back and forth.
She fought him at first, but slowly, she calmed. He could feel her pulse hammering under her skin, and the quick breaths that escaped her mouth were hot against his neck. But finally her eyes closed, and she grabbed hold of him as if she were never going to let go. She turned and went so far as to climb on top of him. Beatle eased onto his back to accommodate her. Casey shoved her arms underneath him and her knees came up. She huddled on top of him as if her life depended on him holding her.
Beatle swallowed hard and tightened his arms around her. One hand went to the back of her head, the other landed on the bare skin of her lower back. Her shirt had rucked up in her struggles, and the skin-on-skin contact made him almost dizzy.
“I’ll stay,” Truck informed Beatle and their other teammates quietly. “She’s used to me being around.”
Beatle’s gaze swung to Blade. He’d said he was okay with him forming a relationship with Casey, but saying it and seeing his little sister in bed with him, on top of him, were two different things.
“Take care of her,” Blade said softly, before turning and leaving the room.
Coach leaned down and pulled the comforter over Casey’s back. She didn’t fully wake, simply tried to burrow farther into Beatle.
Ghost and Hollywood each gave Beat
le a chin lift before they headed for the connecting door.
“She needs to come to Texas,” Fletch said, his jaw flexing in agitation. “She can’t go back to Florida. She’s got too much to deal with to be alone.”
“I know,” Beatle said softly, not wanting to wake the woman in his arms.
“You know Annie’ll take her under her wing and make her forget all her troubles,” Fletch said.
Beatle nodded. Yeah, Annie was incredible. It was as if she knew exactly what the vulnerable and wounded needed. She’d been amazing with Fish, the honorary member of their team. He was a relatively new addition to their group of friends, and he’d recently moved to Idaho. But at Fletch’s wedding, Annie’d had the man wrapped around her little finger from the moment she’d met him. She did the same to Truck too. The first time she’d met him, she’d put her little hand on his scarred cheek and wanted to know if it had hurt. Yeah, Annie would be good for Casey.
And he couldn’t help but admit that he wanted her to get to know the others as well. Rayne, Emily, Harley, Kassie, and even Mary would be good for her. “I’ll do my best to convince her.”
“You do that,” Fletch said, then spun on his heel and left.
“As soon as we land, I’ll call Harley and have her get in touch with Kassie, to see if they can’t get her a few outfits from JCPenney. She’ll need clothes.”
“Thanks, Coach,” Beatle told his friend.
“No thanks necessary. We take care of our own.” And with that, Coach left the room, shutting the connecting door almost all the way.
Beatle closed his eyes and tried to memorize the way the woman in his arms felt. He didn’t like that she was huddled on him, as if trying to protect herself, rather than lying relaxed and easy. But he could feel her bare stomach against his own. Both their shirts had twisted and pulled up. Her skin was damp with a sheen of sweat from her agitation. Beatle felt like an asshole when his mind immediately imagined them lying together like this after a long, sweaty lovemaking session.
