by S. M. Butler
Awkwardly, I raised an arm and patted her back. “Yeah. Um… Hi.”
Murphy appeared behind her and I swear, I heard a soft snicker escape him. “Addy, come on. If you hug her any tighter, she’s likely to shoot you in the head.”
Addison laughed and stepped back. “Everyone needs a hug, Murphy. Just because you’re weird, doesn’t mean the rest of the world is like you.” She rolled her eyes and looped her arm with mine. “Come on, Cady. Everyone’s in the living room.”
“Oh, man. Did I miss the awkward Addison-Cady hug already?” I stiffened, recognizing the voice behind me even before I needed to turn. But I did, and Dylan stood on the porch, smirking. I wanted to wipe that damn expression off his newly shaven face. But it still managed to wake up my libido. It’d been a couple of days since I’d called him for sex. Maybe I could delay my trip a couple hours…
No. That was stupid. I needed to go. He’d still be here when I got back anyway. I could maul him then. He was looking really hot tonight, with a form-fitting T-shirt and low-hung jeans.
“Oh, Bambi, you’re just jealous because Addison likes her men with the ability to grow facial hair.” His smirk faded into a scowl. He hated when I called him Bambi. But he was four years younger than me. I felt like I was robbing the cradle sometimes, even though—surprisingly—he was one of the most skilled lovers I’d ever been with. He was an addiction, a taste I couldn’t stop wanting.
Murphy laughed, but Dylan turned and punched him in the chest. “Shut up, fucktard.”
“Hey, it was funny.” Murphy shrugged and pulled Addison into his embrace, so she was flush against his side. “Come on in, you two. Shut the door behind you.” They went further in, leaving Dylan and me alone and standing on their front porch.
It was an odd combination, those two. Addison, with her color-treated platinum blonde hair and her addiction to pinup dresses, and Murphy, with those mysterious icy blue eyes and darker complexion. But on the same hand, it worked for them. They looked like they belonged together. They were lost in each other. A small envious devil poked at my consciousness, telling me that I had that chance and instead, he’d put two bullet holes in my chest.
“So I hear you’re leaving town.” Dylan’s tone was conversational as he shut the front door behind us. He turned to face me. “At least that’s what Master Chief said.”
Dread filled my chest, making my lungs feel like they were lined with lead. “You’re the one he wants to come with.”
Dylan nodded.
“Fuck it all,” I groaned.
“You didn’t seem to have a problem with me the other night.”
“I’m not leaving here so I can have sex with you every night, Bambi.” The scowl on his face reappeared. Good. “I’m leaving because I have something important to do.”
“Your partner.”
“Did he tell you everything?” I snapped.
“Not everything. I was hoping you would.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it here.”
“Fair enough. It is a party, but you are going to talk about it, Cadence. I promise you that. You’re not getting away that easily.”
He strode past me toward the living area. I heard the other members of the team greeting him and suddenly, I felt incredibly alone. He was on to me. He knew me way too well and he knew I was going to skip out. I’d screwed up, again, and let someone get far too close to me.
~*~*~
Dylan
It was weird having a party to say goodbye to someone. It was both somber and happy, because we were glad that Chris Hardy was alive and well, but we were losing a member of the family. No one really knew whether to be happy or sad. And it didn’t hit me until I stepped into the living room and saw him.
It had been a few months since I’d last seen Hardy, since I’d been out of the country. He’d gained a little weight, not much, but enough to notice. I supposed that came from not being able to exercise regularly like he had before. He was walking on his own now, not needing assistance any longer. The thing was, he’d never be one hundred percent again. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel in the same situation.
I shook his hand. “Hey, fucker.”
“Don’t start with me, asshole,” Hardy said, smiling. “How you doing?”
“I’m fantastic. This asshole at work is leaving and I’m getting his corner office.”
Hardy laughed. We were SEALs. Our office was the back of a helicopter before we jumped out of it.
“Fuck, I hate your ass,” Hardy grumbled.
“No you don’t. You love me.” I grinned.
His sister cut into the conversation. “Chris, stop being a jerk and sit down at the table. It’s time to eat.”
Hardy said something under his breath, but smiled when Addison turned her evil gaze on him. She pointed toward the table, like she was his mother. It was kinda hilarious to watch the two of them. Hardy had always talked about how Addison was his younger sister, even though they were twins. Having met her, I barely saw the twin thing anymore. They were so different.
Cadence’s form caught my attention as we all shuffled toward the table. I swore she wore that she wore clothes like that just to taunt me. Her black leather jacket was half-zipped, stopping just below her breasts. Tight jeans hugged the curve of her body. And beneath the jacket, a low-cut T-shirt gave me a small glimpse of a pink, puckered scar.
She smiled and greeted the guys, smoothly moving from one to the next like a practiced musician. God. She was good. The smile was forced, but it wasn’t plastic enough to tip off the guys. Her shoulders were just a little too straight. They were subtle things, ones I didn’t think that anyone else would notice about her. But I’d had time to get to know her mannerisms. Whether she realized it or not, six months was a long time to be with someone, even in a casual way.
She sat down across from me, though she didn’t look happy about that. I got the feeling she was trying to distance herself again. It was her M.O. these days, especially after the last conversation we’d had. Even if she was uncomfortable with me, she didn’t really show it to anyone else. She smiled, made small talk, took the team’s jokes in stride. She looked comfortable to the public eye. For me, it was too practiced, too comfortable. She had a plan she didn’t want us to know about. Or, maybe, it was just me she didn’t want to tip off. She definitely didn’t like that I was going to be her travel buddy. When she excused herself from the table to use the restroom, I let her vanish from the room, and then I followed.
She slipped into the restroom. I gave her five seconds and opened the door.
And caught her trying to climb out the tiny bathroom window.
~*~*~
Cadence
A strong arm wrapped around my waist and then I was moving backward. Dylan pushed me up against the shower wall, just below where the window was. We stood, inches from each other, inside the bathtub. Before I could speak, he just kissed me so hard every single thought in my brain liquefied and leaked out my ears.
My fingers dug into his shoulders while he held me in place. His warmth enveloped me, his hands roaming over my ass. We broke apart, both of us gasping for breath.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I whispered harshly.
“Stopping you from skipping out on me.”
“You could have just said ‘stop’, you know.”
“Would you have listened?” He had a point there.
“I don’t want you with me,” I told him. “What I’m doing is dangerous. You’ll get yourself killed.”
“That’s my choice. You are my choice.”
What the hell did that mean? I shook my head. “No. I’m your assignment.”
“Oh, really?” He grabbed my wrist and put my palm over his crotch. I resisted the sharp inhale that threatened to come up when I felt the hard length of his cock inside his pants. “Does that feel assigned to you? When are you going to get it through that thick skull that people might actually care about you?”
; “Stop it,” I told him, yanking my hand back. He surprisingly stepped back, but not far. If I tried to go out the window again, he’d have me pretty quickly. “We can’t do this, Bambi.”
“My name is Dylan.” The words were growled, and they made it seem like his body was crowding me, though he hadn’t moved at all. “Why is that so hard for you?”
“Because you’re still the wide-eyed baby that came to this team three years ago.”
“A baby that has fucked you six ways from Sunday,” he hissed in my ear. I shuddered, which only encouraged him. His lips took hold of my ear, his cheek against mine, and he sucked the lobe into his mouth. He pressed against me, his hard bulge against my pelvis. My hands were on his biceps, like I was going to push him away, but they weren’t moving. I couldn’t make myself do it. I couldn’t push him away. I liked the way he made me feel. I liked that he made me feel.
One of his hands rolled my jacket zipper down while his hot mouth made the skin on my neck sizzle. My head rolled back, giving him more access to my throat, which he fully took advantage of.
“I’m not Bambi, baby. Say it.”
“I’m not ‘baby’.” I ground out.
His hand trailed over my shoulder holster to my shoulders so he could slide off my jacket. Then his hands were over my breasts, squeezing, caressing. He pinched my nipples over my clothes and twisted in that way he knew that I loved. A low moan came out of my throat.
“Come on, sweetheart. Say what I want you to say,” he coaxed. His fingers moved deftly over my waistline and before I knew it, he’d unzipped my pants and lowered them to my knees. His fingers caressed me between my legs, sliding through the wetness he’d coaxed out of me. His middle finger found my clit and circled it, slowly, but with purpose. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“They’ll hear us,” I finally managed out, breathless already. It was scary doing this in the bathroom while his friends were in the next room, but stopping was beyond my capability. I wanted it, the small promise of a climax his fingers said they would deliver.
But he wasn’t listening. He sunk to his knees. The next moment, I saw stars as he licked his way to my orgasm. But he wouldn’t let me climax. As soon as I would get close, and fireworks would begin to go off, he’d pause. “My name?”
“Bastard.”
“Close enough this time. We’ll work on it,” he replied with a large grin. And then his tongue swiped over my clit again and the fireworks all exploded. He rode through my orgasm, until I was gasping for breath and my knees turned to jelly. He caught me as I collapsed, holding me to him while I caught my breath.
“You play dirty,” I told him.
“I play to win. See you in the morning, babe. We have a long trip ahead of us.” He grinned widely, and stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the door after him. I was left in the shower, half-clothed and not even nearly fucked. He’d given me a mind-blowing orgasm, and then had walked away like it was nothing. The guy was a mastermind. An evil mastermind.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dylan
Walking away from Cadence last night, while she was all tousled and bothered was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. Her strawberry blonde hair hung over her face, her chest heaving from the exertion of her climax. I loved every second.
Maybe I’d let her roll over me over the last few months. Maybe I’d let my fascination and attraction to her supersede my better judgment. Maybe I was just a damn fool.
Yet, I was still running after her like a hungry puppy. And she was still trying to distance herself, at least from the looks of the GPS locator in my hand, she was. The signal was moving. She was headed for the airport, three hours ahead of the schedule she’d given me.
I got on my bike, and settled the locator box on the front where I usually docked my mp3 player. As I zipped over Coronado Bridge toward the five, darting between the lanes of traffic, my thoughts strayed from the traffic back to Cadence. Cady and I had a very casual relationship, or that was what we wanted to think, but when you slept with someone regularly—long term—things tended to get complicated and honestly, that was happening. And as soon as she figured out that our relationship was in fact, changing, I was pretty sure she’d bolt like a scared rabbit. Not that I didn’t have my own fears and desire to run like hell from a exclusive relationship, but they weren’t like hers. I’d been perfectly willing to keep it casual before, but now… I wasn’t willing to let her run away anymore.
I parked my bike at the airport and sent Murphy a quick text to ask him to pick it up later. I’d get him back for the parking another time. The airport wasn’t that busy, which was good. I followed Cadence’s signal through the airport right up to the check-in line. She was at the counter when I found her, so I slid right up next to her and put my arm on her shoulders. “Hello, sweetie.”
Her eyes widened, and her lips parted like she wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her lips. I grinned at her and plucked the boarding passes in her hand from her. She had two. If she was planning on ditching me, why did she have two of them? I glanced down at them. Tampa? Interesting. I’d kinda expected her to go the other way. What was so special about Tampa? I let out an exaggerated sigh and said, “Okay, I’ll let you have the window seat this time. I’ll be magnanimous.”
The shock quickly vanished, replaced by cold fury. Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I wondered if her eyelashes were going to sprout icicles. She didn’t say a word while the service attendant checked us in and handed us the boarding passes back. Cadence reached for them, but I grabbed them first. “Oh, don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’ll take care of these. And your bag.” I swiped her backpack before she could stop me.
I grinned as the service attendant put her hand over her heart. “Isn’t he sweet? Reminds me of my first husband. He died some time ago. But he was the sweetest thing too.” The woman patted Cadence’s hand. “Hang on to this one, honey. He’s a keeper.”
I tucked the boarding passes away in my jacket, and took her hand. She started to pull back, but I tightened my grip. I kept up my good guy act until we were out of earshot and line of sight of the check-in desk. She pulled back again, and this time I let her loose.
“How did you find me?” she ground out.
I ignored her question and replied, “Ditch me again, and I will tie your ass to a chair.”
“I don’t want you here.”
“Tough shit, you big baby.” She blinked at my words, but I was too annoyed to care. “I have orders to watch after you. Okay? What you don’t get is just because you had a bad experience doesn’t mean that partnerships suck.”
“Don’t even. Don’t you even pretend to know what it’s like—”
“Blah, blah, blah. I don’t give two fucks about your past, Cady. Okay? Get that through that thick skull of yours.” I’d stunned her into silence, but I wasn’t done. “You are not the first person to be almost killed. Ask Murphy. Ask Hardy. Every member of Lucky Thirteen has had to put their lives on the line. You’re not a special case.”
“I’m not sleeping with them,” came the quiet answer. Then I understood. It wasn’t that she was afraid of someone being on the trip with her. It was because it was me. She didn’t want me there because it split her focus. At least that I could understand, even if I thought it was stupid. We worked well together. We proved that on the Paris mission when we recovered the contents of Addison’s vault in her apartment last year.
I stopped, and lifted her chin so she met my eyes. I saw sadness in them, mixed with the anger she buried so deep inside her. “Would it be easier for you if I got someone else to be with you?”
She shook her head. “There’s no time. The plane leaves in forty-five minutes. Plus, no one else can keep up with me.”
“Then what can I do?”
“Be a friend.” The answer was surprising. She’d never even considered calling me a friend before.
“I’m always your friend, Cady.”
“But anything more than
that will cause problems.”
Quickly, I understood what she was really saying.
“No sex? Strictly not what we are doing?”
She nodded, confirming what I’d already figured out. Sex complicated things, and we were good at complications. She was putting distance between us, distance that we hadn’t ever had before. It sucked, but if that was the way she wanted it… then I could do that for her, if only so I could stay by her side and make sure she was safe.
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is. We had a good run, Bambi, but it’s time. Neither of us can afford a relationship.”
Bambi, again. One day, I’d get her to say my name. For real. But in that moment, it wasn’t the right time to argue the point. Instead, I released her hand and nodded. “Okay. We go back to strictly business.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. She squared off her shoulders, rolling her neck and held out her hand. “My boarding pass please?”
“No ditching. That’s part of this arrangement. Because I’m damn good at hunting you down, and if I think you’re being unnecessarily reckless, I will tie your ass to a chair.”
She paused, and it almost looked like she wasn’t going to agree to it, but then she nodded, just once. “Agreed.”
Somehow, I didn’t think anything we did was going to be as simple as we had just pretended it was going to be.
~*~*~
The Port of Tampa was huge. We stood outside Cruise Terminal 2, looking up at the giant ship looming over us. I sipped the coffee I’d just bought and stared up at the thing. A cruise liner? She wanted to take a cruise liner? Visions of the Titanic flashed before my eyes. I could deal with jumping out of helicopters and storming buildings. I could even swim for miles underwater. But being on an actual cruise-liner? That was a little terrifying. Navy ships were different, because there was real security there, but civilian ships? How many movies were out there about cruise ships getting hijacked and shit? I hated being bottled in.
