Love Me Last: A Military Man Romance (New Dawn Book 2)

by Rhea Wilde

  “Miss Lynch—”

  “Blow me.”

  I spun back around in my chair and motioned for the bartender. I watched him pour me another shot, doing my best to ignore him.

  “Eva.”

  Mya whispered to me. When I turned to her, I saw her eyes widened with concern. But she wasn’t looking at me. Her stare was locked on the man undoubtedly still behind me.

  “Look,” I said as I spun around. “I’m not interested in—”

  Two other men had appeared behind the man who first confronted me. The three of them all looked indistinguishable from one another.

  “I must insist I speak with you in private,” the lead man said.

  I knew that there was no getting out of it. They were going to cause a scene no matter what I did. I took a moment to gather myself before finally sighing in resignation.

  “Fine,” I said. “Just gimme a second, asshole.”

  I got up from my seat and started digging into my pocket. I pulled out a wad of bills and threw it on the counter toward the bartender then gulped down my last shot.

  “Outside,” I said. “Leave everybody else in the bar out of this.”

  “Very well,” the man said. “We’ll be waiting.”

  They turned around and slowly marched toward the entrance of the bar. I hopped off of my seat and Mya clutched my arm immediately.

  “You’re not really going out there, are you?” I asked.

  “What else can I do? They’re not gonna leave me alone unless I talk to them.”

  “Are you sure that’s what they wanna do? Talk? Who are they?”

  “I don’t know. Could be anyone.”

  “Bikers?”

  “I doubt it. I don’t have any business with them.”

  “Is this about the case?”

  “That would be my guess. The question is figuring out what they have to do with it. And there’s only one way to find out.”

  “Eva…”

  I could feel Mya’s tight grip on my arm. She was squeezing the life out of it. Despite the concern I saw on her face, I couldn’t help but smile at her.

  “It’s all right,” I said. “They’re not gonna try anything.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I just… I have a feeling.”

  “Eva, you’re drunk.”

  “I’m not drunk. Not yet anyway…”

  “Eva—”

  “Listen. Just do me a favor.”

  “Sure. Anything.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I… I’ll take care of this. Everything will be fine. I promise.”

  She didn’t say anything. She just stared at me with the same look in her eyes she had this entire time.

  But her grip on my arm slowly started to loosen. She and I both knew there was no point in discussing it any further.

  “At least let me go out with you,” she said. “Just in case.”

  I nodded to her and she hopped off of her seat. Mya followed me as I slowly made my way toward the exit. My legs wobbled slightly from the alcohol but not enough to knock me off my feet completely.

  When I got outside, the three men stood waiting for me. Right next to them was a black SUV parked right along the curb. The three of them looked even more obnoxious in their leather jackets considering how warm of a summer night it was.

  “All right,” I said as I shrugged. “What’s this all about?”

  “Our boss would like to speak with you,” the man in front said.

  “Your boss?”

  “Mr. Reese—”

  “Oh,” I said. “Mr. Reese.”

  I should have been upset about hearing his name again but I wasn’t.

  “Do you remember what happened the last time your boss tried to get me to speak to him?” I asked.

  “Mr. Reese said he’s willing to forgive what happened if you would come and speak with him now.”

  “He’s not in any position to make demands.”

  “But he is. My boss was adamant about making sure you came this time around. He stressed doing so by any means necessary.”

  “By any means necessary, huh? So now instead of two of you, there are three.”

  “Eva—”

  Mya tried to interrupt but I raised my hand up to put her at ease. I was determined. A drunken idiocy had taken over me to the point that I didn’t care if there were three of them, possibly armed. I wasn’t going to just go along with it. Not tonight.

  “Mr. Reese stressed the importance of minimizing harm to you,” he said. “He’s not interested in forcing you to do anything. But now that his plan is coming closer to being filled, he’s insistent about doing what it takes for you to see him.”

  “Listen, I don’t know what I have to say to make you understand that I’m not going with you—”

  Before I finished, the man lunged at me. I somehow managed to stumble back and throw a fist out. My knuckles met his temple with a thud. The pain reverberated through my hand and up my arm. But he took the worst of it and it was enough to make him stumble to the ground.

  “Eva!”

  Mya called out to me as the two other men advanced. I put my hands up as one of them reached for me and wrapped his arms around me. I swung my leg backward as hard as I could between his legs. He howled in pain, letting me know I’d hit my mark. He fell to the ground and grabbed at himself.

  Satisfied with my work, I turned around to the strange sight of Mya pepper-spraying the third man. He screeched as the liquid painted over his face. His hands covering his eyes, I could only imagine how painful it was. I could smell it even though I stood a few meters away. After she got him to the ground, I smiled at her.

  “Nice job—”

  Before I could finish, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me from the ground. The first man had gotten up and in my drunken stupor, I’d forgotten about him completely. Mya held the can of pepper spray up but suddenly the SUV doors burst open and three more men flooded out. Mya was too stunned to react and they knocked the small can out of her hand.

  They shoved her to the ground and held her there. One of the men held his index finger to her face.

  “Don’t move,” he scolded her.

  I continued struggling in the other man’s grip, flailing my legs and grunting to try and get free. They all worked together to carry me over to the open door of their car.

  “Let go!”

  I shouted out in desperation, hoping someone would hear me. Just my luck we were on the wrong side of town, away from everybody else.

  “Mr. Reese. We have her.”

  From the corner of my eye, I could see one of the men talking on a cell phone.

  Shit.

  I struggled against my captors. It was a futile effort because there were too many of them. My heart raced and so many thoughts in my mind swirled. There was no hope. My desperation was running on empty.

  I closed my eyes and used all of my strength to try and break free from their grip.

  The sound of the traffic on the streets grew louder. My only hope now was somebody passing by. The sound of exhaust filled my ears. It got louder and louder to the point I thought it was right next to me.

  When I opened my eyes, I saw a bike hopped up on the curve.

  “Eva!”

  I barely noticed him but it was him.

  “Sabin?”

  He had seemingly come out of nowhere. Before I barely had a chance to realize it was him, the men converged on him. I watched as the men all struggled to take him down.

  I hadn’t seen John in action before but it was something to behold. The speed. The strength. The agility. He moved around the men like he knew exactly what they were doing before they did it. Every punch. Every kick. Every violent knee and elbow. It all resulted in the sickening sound of bones crunching and blood spilling.

  So much happened but it was all in a flash. Just like that, John was the only man standing in a small sea of downed thugs. The man holding me finally relinquished me from his gri
p.

  “Come on,” he said to the other men. “Let’s get out of here.”

  The other men slowly made their way up to their feet and piled into the SUV. I stood there in disbelief as the door closed. I could barely see the driver staring at me through the windshield, half-embarrassed and half-angry about what just happened.

  As the vehicle sped off down the street, I stared at John in front of me. He looked back at me but didn’t say anything, his eyes locked on mine. His chest heaved as he breathed. Sweat dripped from his brow and down the side of his face. I never thought I would see him again and definitely not like this.

  “What’s going on?”

  From the corner of my eye, I watched the bar door burst open. Some of the patrons finally came out to see if anything had happened.

  “It’s fine,” I said as I put my hand up, my eyes focused on John. “Everything is fine.”

  I could hear their disappointment as they headed back into the bar.

  “Eva?”

  I slowly turned and saw Mya standing there. She was no longer as frightened as she was just moments ago but there was still some concern on her face.

  “Do you know this guy?” she asked.

  “…Yeah,” I said. “This is…”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I looked at him and he turned to my friend.

  “Derek,” he said. “Derek Jacobs.”

  He gave Mya a nod and a polite smile.

  “Right,” she said. “Listen, Eva… I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into but—”

  “I’m fine,” I said. “I’ll be fine. I just need to finish this case. Once it’s over, everything will be back to normal.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sure. You can trust me on that. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I might have a bruise tomorrow but it’s nothing to worry about.”

  I walked over and hugged her. She squeezed her arms around me and held me like we were saying goodbye for good. When I pulled away from her, she smiled softly at me.

  “I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “I promise.”

  She took a step away from me.

  “I’m parked over there,” she said, pointing down the street. “Do you need a ride?”

  I looked over at John and the motorcycle parked up on the curb.

  “Just get home,” I told her. “I’ll take it from here.”

  She nodded to me then made her way down the street. I watched her walk to her car, my eyes locked on her as I spoke to the man who saved me.

  “I don’t know where you got that motorcycle. I honestly don’t care at this point. I’m tired and I just wanna get out of here.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 18

  EVA

  I held on tight to him as the motorcycle sped through the city. The alcohol made my stomach do backflips but I managed to keep everything down. I got used to the nauseous feeling of the city flying by me on the bike and before I knew it, we were back in the hotel room.

  I stumbled through the darkness toward a light switch. When I flipped it on, the first thing I noticed was the electronic set-up on the desk. It was clear Derek was hard at work. There were two cell phones along with a laptop and electronic cables connected all of them.

  “Hey,” I said. “It looks like someone’s been busy. How much longer is that gonna take?”

  “Eva.”

  I moved closer to the desk then took a seat on the edge of the bed next to it. Derek slowly walked up to me and when I turned to him, the usual demeanor I saw was gone. He wasn’t stoic like he always was.

  “That was stupid,” he said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You know that people are following you. Reese could have snatched you up at any moment. The last time he sent men with guns.”

  “And this time he didn’t. Everything worked out in the end.”

  “Eva, I’m serious.”

  I giggled at him. The alcohol had more of an effect on me than I realized. When I saw just how worried he was, I had a short moment of clarity.

  “I can’t always be there to save you,” he said. “What if I weren’t there?”

  “But you were… Speaking of which, how did you know where I was? The only way you would know… was if you were following me. Didn’t I tell you I needed my space?”

  “I had a bad feeling. And I was right. This is a big city but you’re not anonymous. All it takes is one person seeing you for you to get caught.”

  “So, you did follow me?”

  “It’s too dangerous for you to go out alone. You can’t pull a stunt like that until we find Reese and put an end to this.”

  “We can’t do that until you’re finished with your silly little set-up. What am I supposed to do until then? Am I just supposed to sit inside of this hotel room and do nothing?”

  “That’s better than going out and getting caught. You know I need you on this.”

  “I… I don’t know if you do.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I sighed and fell back down onto the bed. Faced toward the ceiling, I closed my eyes and sank deeper into the soft mattress. After a long night, nothing felt more comforting.

  “How many times is that now?” I said. “You keep saving me over and over. I must be a burden to you.”

  “You’re not a burden. You’re…”

  He paused. My eyes still closed, I waited for his response but nothing came. I peeked one eye open and tilted my head up to make sure he was still there. He was just standing there with his arms crossed, sitting on the edge of the desk.

  “I’m what?” I said as I slowly sat up.

  He looked away from me, staring at the side of the room. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds before finally turning back to me.

  “You’re my partner,” he said. “We made a deal. We save Brandon. You get your money.”

  “Is that all this is? Just a deal we made?”

  “That’s right. I shouldn’t have lied to you. But now I’m putting everything out on the table. My name is Derek Jacobs. I’m your partner on this case. As soon as we finish, you’ll never have to deal with me again. The case isn’t solved. Our deal isn’t finished.”

  Hearing him say it didn’t make me feel any better, even though I’d been drinking the whole night. I swallowed to maintain my composure and hide any feelings he might have seen.

  “Okay,” I said with a nod. “Let’s put an end to this case. Once and for all.”

  “All right. It should be another day or two before everything is finished. Once we’re able to track Reese’s location, we’ll be able to go after him directly.”

  Derek took a seat at the desk and began fiddling with all of the equipment again.

  “I should have just let him take me,” I said. “I should have gone with those men and they would have taken me straight to Reese. There would be no need for all of this.”

  “That’s not the same. You would be his prisoner. You don’t know what he’ll do to you.”

  “I know he won’t hurt me.”

  “He sent armed men right to your front door. How can you be so sure?”

  Derek was right. After all this time, even after seeing the kind of man Reese truly was, I didn’t know what he was fully capable of. Reese said he was doing all of this for me.

  What’s the truth? Does it even matter?

  “No, you’re right,” I said. “I don’t know him. I guess I never did. I never knew anybody…”

  I looked down at the ground. It was hard to stay steady considering how much I had to drink. My body was loose and I had to hold myself up. But my mind was clear. I was thinking straight as if I hadn’t been drinking at all.

  A strange feeling came over me. I didn’t know if I were bored or alone. Maybe I was just confused. All of the drama that just happened a few moments ago made me put everything into perspective.

  “John… Derek… Whatever your name is…”

&nb
sp; “What is it?” he said without looking at me.

  “Hey… Hey!”

  I called out to him and he finally turned and looked at me.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Come here.”

  He gave me a blank stare. I looked right into his eyes. Those same auburn eyes made me feel a way I couldn’t describe until now. It was lust. He brought out a desire within me that I felt whenever I was in the mood. It didn’t matter if it were the alcohol or not.

  “I need it,” I said bluntly.

  “You need what?”

  “I need it. Come here.”

  “Eva—”

  “You’re my partner…”

  I managed to pick myself up from the bed. I slowly walked over to him, my eyes still locked on his.

  “…We have to work together on this. So, if I’m going to be stuck in this room, you have to give me what I need.”

  “Eva—”

  “I have needs. Since I’m not allowed to go out, I’m gonna need someone to satisfy those needs. You’re the only candidate.”

  “You’ve had a lot to drink. We’ve been through this before.”

  “And that didn’t stop me. That didn’t stop you either.”

  I leaned forward and kissed him. I opened my mouth slightly and tasted the alcohol I put on his lips. Our lips smacked softly before he pulled away from me.

  “We need to focus,” he whispered.

  “You said it would take a few days. I need this.”

  “Eva—”

  “This isn’t about us. This is just something I need. We’ll pretend we’re two strangers who met at the bar. No names. No commitments.”

  I wrapped my arms around his head and pulled him closer to me. I kissed him again. He was still resisting slightly but not enough to pull away from me completely.

  He stood up from the desk and embraced me. His powerful embrace pulled me close to his hard body, forcing a gasp from me. I had to tilt my head up to kiss him as he towered over me.

  “I’m your partner,” I whispered into his lips. “Just… your partner. Help your partner with her problem. Give your partner what she needs.”

  I could feel my heart beginning to race. My gasps grew deeper as I kissed him, forcing me to breathe through my nose. The loud smacks of our lips bounced off the walls of the small hotel room.