by Susan Stoker
“Are you okay? Can I get you anything?” Truck asked from the other bed. He’d stretched out on the second queen-size bed in the room, diagonally so he’d fit, and Beatle could feel his eyes on him.
“No. I think we’re okay.”
“You’re good for her,” Truck said. “I’ve never seen two people connect like the two of you have. I’d pay any amount of money for Mary to look at me the way Casey looks at you.”
Beatle wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t exactly say that Mary would come around, because he wasn’t sure she would. Truck and Mary definitely had an interesting dynamic. It was no secret that Truck loved the woman, but what wasn’t as clear was how Mary felt about him in return.
His chance to probe into Truck’s relationship with Rayne’s best friend was lost when Truck said, “I’ll make myself scarce in the morning so she won’t feel awkward.”
“Thanks, Truck. And…if you ever need anything…an ear or whatever, I’ve got your back.”
“Appreciate it. But no worries. Mary might be stubborn, but I’m even more so. She’ll come around. Eventually.”
And with that, Truck turned on his side, putting his back to Beatle and Casey, giving them as much privacy as possible in the small room.
Beatle shifted, bunching the pillow under his head and getting more comfortable. Surprisingly, having her on top of him wasn’t a hardship. He barely felt her weight; she was more like a weighted blanket than anything. He’d gotten so used to sleeping plastered to her as they’d made their way through the jungle that she just felt right in his arms.
She moaned a little in her throat and Beatle ran his fingers lightly through her clean blonde hair. “Shhhhh, sweetheart. I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
His words seemed to do the trick and she stilled.
Knowing he’d done that, made her relax and sleep peacefully after her nightmare, made his eyes burn. He’d never felt as much for someone else as he did for the woman in his arms. He couldn’t live without her in his life. He simply couldn’t.
Beatle didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually his eyes got heavy and he felt himself falling into the abyss that was slumber. He turned his head and kissed Casey’s temple, leaving his lips there on her skin as sleep finally overtook him.
* * *
Casey came awake slowly. She kept her eyes closed and tried to remember where she was. She’d never been so cozy in all her life, and she didn’t remember her mattress ever being as comfortable as it was at that moment.
When the bedding under her moved, Casey almost leaped out of bed in fright. But suddenly she remembered everything. Costa Rica. Being kidnapped. Being in the hole. The dash through the jungle. Beatle.
Her eyes opened, and it took her a moment to understand what she was looking at. Beatle’s jaw. Then she realized that she was lying on top of him. It seemed more intimate than when they’d slept together in the hammock in the jungle. There, she’d slept against him, but they’d been more side by side. Now, she was literally on top of him. She had to be squishing him, but he didn’t seem to care. His breaths were slow and easy, and he was completely relaxed under her.
Casey didn’t move a muscle. She liked this. A lot. She tried to remember anything about how they’d gotten in this position but couldn’t. The last thing she recalled was lying in bed and staring at the connecting door to the other room.
“After you climbed on top of him, you slept like a log.”
Casey inhaled sharply, but didn’t jerk out of Beatle’s arms. She recognized the voice. Truck. She lifted her gaze from Beatle’s face to the bed next to them. Truck was lying on his back, one arm under his head, the other across his belly.
“I don’t remember,” she said softly, so as not to wake Beatle.
“You were having a nightmare. We all stormed in to kill whoever it was that had broken into your room to find no one here but you.”
“I don’t remember anything,” Casey repeated.
“You thought you were in that hole again. And you fought like hell. Just as I’m sure you did when it actually happened.”
She didn’t answer this time. She had fought like hell. She’d done everything possible to get up and out of the hole after they threw her in. They’d thrown her away like she was a piece of garbage being disposed of.
“Our travel plans have been moved up,” Truck told her. “I heard Ghost talking next door. We’re leaving tonight. The fact that you spoke with the officers yesterday, and with a little help from a friend back in the States who has connections, we’ll be out of here before the sun sets.”
Casey sighed in relief. She couldn’t wait to see the backside of Costa Rica.
“You have a decision to make,” Truck went on, and her eyes went back to his face. “We need to know where to take you.”
He paused, and Casey inhaled in surprise. She honestly hadn’t really thought much beyond getting out of Costa Rica. But yeah, she supposed she should’ve thought about this before now.
“You of course can go home to Florida, but I don’t recommend it. We don’t know who kidnapped you in the first place. It might’ve been a random person from this country who thought he could make an easy buck, but the fact that none of you were actually ransomed makes that unlikely. And I think the fight in the jungle also clued you into the fact that whoever it is, really wants to make sure you don’t escape their clutches.”
“You said I had a decision. Where else would I go? Witness protection?”
Truck chuckled. “Nothing so dramatic. You can come to Texas with us. With Beatle.”
Casey’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Beatle’s going to talk to you about this later today. He’s going to suggest that you come with us. We’ll keep you safe, Casey, have no doubt about that. But it has to be your decision. I wanted to give you a head’s up so you could think about it. So you didn’t feel blindsided.”
Casey closed her eyes. Yeah, that’s exactly how she felt. Blindsided. Go to Texas? She was ashamed to admit, even to herself, that she’d dreamed of Beatle asking her to go to Texas with him. Telling her he loved her and couldn’t live without her. But that was fantasy. Of course he didn’t love her.
And she had to go back to Florida, didn’t she? Her job was there. Her apartment. Her life. She couldn’t just…leave.
But that weird feeling was still there at the back of her mind. She wasn’t safe. She remembered the man in the jungle, and how he’d threatened to violate her before giving her to his “boss.” The person who wanted to make sure she never made it out of Costa Rica alive. Or at least not with her sanity intact.
Goosebumps broke out at that thought, and once again something pushed at her memory.
“Think about it,” Truck said, breaking her out of her musings. “I’d love for you to meet my Mary.”
And with that, the large man eased out of the bed and stood. Without another word, he headed for the connecting door and disappeared behind it.
Casey looked back at the man she was lying on top of. The room had lightened with the rising sun and this close, she could see that his five o’clock shadow had hints of red. His eyelashes were incredibly long, especially for a man. They were also tinted auburn. Her eyes traced the shape of his lips, his nose, even his cheekbones. He was good-looking, but in a rugged way. Not like his friend Hollywood, who was drop-dead gorgeous.
But Casey wasn’t attracted to Hollywood at all. Nor any of Beatle’s other friends. No, he was the one who made her tummy do summersaults and her pussy weep.
She scrunched her eyes closed. Darn it, she shouldn’t be turned on. How could she be turned on? Her entire life was in upheaval. She needed to check on her students, make sure her parents knew she was alive and well, contact her friends and the dean at the university so they knew she was okay.
But somehow, lying in bed with Beatle—okay, on Beatle—made all those other things fade in importance. She was glad Truck had given her the head’s up on the decision she had to make. F
lorida or Texas? She honestly wasn’t sure what the right choice was. Texas would be smart, but she wasn’t sure she could be around Beatle any longer and not act on her attraction to him. And if he disappeared, and let her brother stay by her side, it would hurt.
If they got back to the States and he realized that whatever feelings he might’ve had for her in Central American were a result of the adrenaline and excitement of the rescue, she’d never recover. Casey knew that about herself. But if she went to Florida and didn’t even give them a chance, she knew she’d regret it. Not to mention the little detail that apparently someone wanted her dead.
She could go to Arizona and stay with her parents, but what if that put them in danger? Fuck, she was so confused.
Just then, someone dropped something next door, and Beatle moved so fast, Casey couldn’t even begin to process what was going on. One second he was asleep, and the next he’d rolled until she was under him, his body covering hers.
“Shit, sorry,” he muttered in a voice deep and gravelly from sleep. He eased up on his forearms above her. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
His body slowly relaxed when no one came crashing into their room. “Sleep good?”
“Uh huh. You?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well in my life.”
Oh. My. God.
Casey swallowed hard and couldn’t tear her gaze from his if her life depended on it.
“I like you in my arms. I could easily get addicted to it. To you.”
Then, as if he hadn’t just rocked her world, he rolled over and sat on the side of the bed. He looked back at her. His hand came up and brushed a lock of hair off her forehead with a touch so gentle and light, she almost didn’t feel it. “Stay in bed, relax. I’m going to get up and see what our plans are for the day. I’ll get some more shampoo and stuff for the bathroom and check on our clothes. You want anything specific for breakfast?”
She shook her head. “Surprise me.”
“Anything you don’t eat?” he asked.
“I’ll be okay with anything but an MRE,” she teased.
His eyes sparkled with humor. “You got it, sweetheart.” Then he surprised the shit out of her when he leaned toward her again and shoved his hand under the back of her head. He lifted her at the same time he dropped his mouth to hers.
This was no gentle good-morning kiss. This was a claiming. A possessive, passionate, I-wish-I-could-stay-in-bed-all-day kiss. When he finally pulled back, Casey licked her lips, tasting him there.
“No MREs. Got it.” He ran his thumb over her lips and took a deep breath. Then he moved, slowly and what looked like reluctantly, and stood. He strode to the bathroom without looking back.
Casey stayed on her back, looking up at the ceiling and trying to calm her racing heartbeat. The man was lethal, and in that instant, she made her decision.
She wanted to be wherever Beatle was.
So, Texas it was.
Chapter Fifteen
Casey figured she should probably be nervous, but she wasn’t. After a delicious breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, and orange juice—oh my God, orange juice, she’d never tasted anything so good in all her life—Beatle had immediately sat her down to discuss their next steps. She was more grateful than she could express that Truck had given her a head’s up as to what Beatle was going to talk to her about.
When she’d told him she’d like to go to Texas with him, she thought she’d seen relief on his face. Relief and desire. But she wasn’t sure if she was just seeing what she so desperately wanted to, or if he really wanted her as much as she did him.
She knew she had a lot of people she needed to contact when she got back to the States, but she wasn’t worried about it right then.
She spent her last day in Costa Rica safe and happy in the hotel. The air conditioning was kicking and Beatle stayed by her side all day. The other guys came in and out, and she’d learned a lot about them and the women in their lives as a result.
At one point, all eight of them sat down and played a rip-roaring funny game of Cards Against Humanity. Apparently, Hollywood had been talking to one of the employees and had mentioned that Casey was bored, and she’d unearthed the slightly scandalous game.
Casey had never laughed so hard in all her life. By the time they had to leave the hotel, she felt as if she’d known the Delta Force team for years.
So when they changed from the happy-go-lucky men she’d spent the afternoon with to the on-alert, deadly soldiers she knew them to be, she wasn’t even fazed. In fact, she trusted them more than she had before.
Throughout their trip out of the hotel and to the private airport, Beatle was right next to her. His hand on her arm, or clutching hers, was comforting and reassuring. And when there was a slight problem at the airport, she didn’t panic, merely did whatever Beatle told her to and put her life in his hands, again, with no hesitation.
She slept a little on the plane, with her head resting on Beatle’s shoulder, his hand clutched in hers. The flight to Fort Hood Army Airfield took around six hours. The sun was just coming up over the Texas horizon when they landed. It took a bit to get the plane cleared, and Casey knew she still needed to meet with the team’s commander, but she wasn’t worried.
How could she be with Beatle and his teammates at her back? They’d proven time and time again that they had her best interests at heart, and that they’d keep her safe.
No, right then, she was less worried about her safety, leaving that to the man at her side, and more excited to meet the women she’d heard so much about in the last twelve hours or so.
But if she was being honest, the person she most wanted to meet was Annie. Fletch’s daughter was seven, and if Casey believed everything he said about her, the cutest, smartest, most amazing child who had ever been born. She wanted to see the badass soldier with the little girl who obviously had him wrapped around her finger.
An hour after leaving the plane, and after a short talk with Beatle’s commander, and after Ghost had turned over all the video footage from their time in the jungle, they were on their way to Fletch’s house. Apparently, he had an apartment over his garage that she’d be staying in. Beatle said he’d take her to his place, but since Fletch’s property had an extensive security system, it would be easier to keep her safe there.
Once again, Casey chickened out about asking if he’d be staying with her. She supposed she’d find out soon enough.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Beatle asked as Fletch drove them toward his house.
Casey shrugged.
“Are you worried?”
“A little. I mean, I have no idea if whoever tried to kill me down in Costa Rica will follow me to the States and try again. I don’t know what’s going to happen with my job. My parents are freaking out and are threatening to drive to Texas to see for themselves that I’m okay. I want your friends’ women to like me, but since I haven’t had many true friends in my life, I’m worried they might not. And if that isn’t enough, I feel like I’m putting Fletch and his family in danger simply by being on his property.”
Beatle didn’t miss a beat as he addressed each of her concerns. “I hope whoever is after you does try to get to you while you’re here. It’ll make our job easier to find and stop them. But they aren’t going to touch one hair on your head, that’s my promise to you. Whatever happens with your job will happen. I’m not trying to be a dick about it, because I know it’s important to you, but if the administrators can’t cut you some slack and give you time off after what happened to you while on a school-sponsored trip, fuck them. There are other universities and other jobs. With your credentials, you can get another teaching position easily. And I don’t blame your parents; if I had a child who’d been kidnapped and chased through the jungle, I’d want to see them in person to make sure they really were okay as well. They’re welcome to come spend some time with you.
“And everyone is going to love you, Case.
How could they not? I don’t know why you haven’t had any close friends in the past, but I have a feeling as soon as Kassie, Rayne, and the others set eyes on you, they’re gonna adopt you as one of their own. I’m sure as hell going to do everything in my power to make that happen too. And you are absolutely not putting anyone in danger. Fletch was the one who volunteered to have you stay at his place. You aren’t the first person, and you won’t be the last, to take refuge there. If the shit hits the fan, both Emily and Annie know what to do. They’ll be safe. Promise.”
“Well. All right then,” Casey said, a little dazed from all his rebuttals. “I might as well just turn off all the thoughts in my pretty little head and enjoy the ride, huh?”
Beatle smiled at her, and she thought she heard Fletch snort from the front seat, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the man next to her to check.
Teasing with Beatle was new to her. Throughout their relationship, if you could call their time together a relationship, she’d been scared and freaked out. She was either crying in his arms or trying to hold herself together. But now that they were finally out of Central America, she felt more like herself. Lighter. Safer.
He touched her nose with his pointer finger and grinned. “Yup. Exactly.”
Casey rolled her eyes at him. Then leaned forward to talk to Fletch. “So…you and your wife are expecting?”
“Shit,” Fletch grumbled, then looked at her through the rearview mirror. “You heard me talking to Em in the hotel, didn’t you? I thought you were asleep.”
Casey shrugged. “I wasn’t.”
“It’s okay. It’s a new thing. We haven’t officially told anyone yet,” Fletch informed her.
“It’s about time,” Beatle said with a smirk, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest. “I mean, you’re the one who’s always talking about how hard you’ve been trying to knock her up.”
