Blade’s head snapped up. “Wait a minute—you had a cat and your husband gave it away?”
She nodded. “He did.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Yes, I certainly thought so. I checked to make sure Tigger was okay—and he was. I send money for his care. Hunter didn’t know that. I still have a little bit of money in my own account, and I set up a transfer to the people who adopted Tigger.”
Blade stalked toward her. She didn’t know what he was planning to do, but when he sank down on the couch and dragged her into his arms, she didn’t protest. Why would she?
“Fucking hell, Quinn,” he growled, his breath hot against her hair. “I’m sorry you had to endure that man for so long.”
She lay with her cheek against his chest and an arm over his midsection, spreading her hand over his hard abdomen. She could stay like this forever if he’d let her. “I made a bad choice,” she said. “But I didn’t know until it was too late.”
He pushed her hair from her face, tucked it behind her ear. Tipped her chin up so he could see her eyes. “You okay?”
“I will be. I think I need a shower and maybe ten hours of sleep.” She bit her lip, dropped her gaze from his. “I don’t want to sleep alone, Adam.”
“I told you what I want to do to you. It hasn’t changed. But Quinn, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. You’re tired and emotionally exhausted, and that’s the kind of bridge that once you cross it, you can’t go back.”
She tried not to let his words sting. But they did. “I know. And I don’t expect you to do anything, but maybe if you’d hold me like this for a while, I wouldn’t feel so lost.”
He blew out a breath. “It’s gonna kill me, but yeah, I can do that. If that’s what you need.”
Chapter Fourteen
Blade checked the perimeter through the cameras and armed the alarm system while Quinn disappeared into the shower. He heard the water turn on and he couldn’t help but picture her stepping under the spray. Soaping her body, her hands gliding over her breasts, down the delta of her belly, between her legs.
“Stop it,” he growled. No damned sense getting worked up when he’d just promised her he’d sleep with her and hold her all damn night.
Okay, not all night. Just until she fell asleep. He could do that. He could survive it. He’d survived far worse, hadn’t he? Being a SEAL was no walk in the park. He’d gone on countless missions, and so far he’d walked away from each one. So a few minutes cuddled up with Quinn Evans Halliday would be torturous but survivable. He could handle it.
Except he didn’t really have to. Quinn wanted him. He wanted her. That kiss they’d shared in the market in Tai Po had been utterly explosive. He’d wanted his share of women, fucked his share of women, but he’d never felt quite that level of yearning before. He’d told himself it was their shared history causing it. And the forbidden element. She’d been another man’s wife at the time. He respected that barrier, even when the husband was the kind of asshole Halliday had been.
But now she was a widow. No longer off-limits. He could spend the night deep inside her and nobody would care.
Except he had to be careful. Quinn wasn’t someone he could treat like a hookup. She was more than that. She was his friend, and he’d already been a shitty friend once before. He couldn’t do it again. If they had sex, it would get awkward. She’d get hurt in the end because he wasn’t a forever kind of guy. Never had been.
And then there was his job. It wasn’t the sort of job a guy who wanted picket fences and kids did, even though he had teammates who were successfully negotiating that minefield at the moment. He’d watched them with interest, but never longing. His emotional outlet, when the shit got rough, was fighting. He’d learned mixed martial arts in Hong Kong, and when the pressure got to be too much and he needed a release that wasn’t sexual, he headed for the underground fight scene.
No, he definitely wasn’t a forever kind of guy. But Quinn was a forever kind of girl. And he wouldn’t hurt her for anything.
It was only ten p.m., so he got his phone off the charger and dialed. It was answered almost immediately.
“Blade, what’s up?” Alex “Camel” Kamarov asked. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, man. I’m home.”
“We heard you’d been reassigned. We’ve all been wondering what was going on. Can you talk about it?”
He thought about what Ian had said to him about calling his team. That sounded like tacit approval to him. “Some of it. But not on the phone.”
“I can be there in twenty. We’ll get the guys together—could take another couple of hours.”
Blade laughed. “Not tonight, Camel. I’ve just spent the past twenty hours or so on a plane. I’m going to bed. But I’d like the team to get together as soon as possible. I’ll tell you what I can, but the thing is, I’m pretty sure I’m going to need your help at some point in the near future. FYI.”
“You know you don’t even have to ask. We’ve got your back.”
Yeah, he did know that. It was the greatest part about being a SEAL. About being HOT.
“How’s Bailey?” he asked. “She still treating you right?”
Camel snorted. “Bailey is the fucking light of my life, man. It’s only been a couple of weeks since you last saw her.”
“Yeah, I know. But she might have seen the light since then and stopped putting up with your ass.”
“Hardly.”
“What about Kayla and Ana? Neo still pretending he’s not interested in her?”
Zack “Neo” Anderson was their teammate, and ever since Bailey’s sister Kayla had arrived, Neo had seemed partial to the blonde and her baby. But he’d never actually asked her out.
“Man, I don’t know what’s up with Neo. He hasn’t been around for a week. Kayla refuses to talk about him, or so Bailey says. I honestly don’t care, so long as nobody’s unhappy. They can figure it out for themselves—or not. Not my problem.”
Blade heard the shower shut off. “I think it is your problem whether you want it to be or not. Kayla is Bailey’s sister. You’re gonna hear about this for a while.”
“Jesus. Thanks, Blade. Why don’t you disappear again for a while?”
Blade laughed. “I might. Right now though I’ve got my own problem to deal with.”
“Seriously? What kind of problem?” Camel sounded entirely too interested.
Blade thought about playing it off, but the truth was they’d all know soon enough. “I had a best friend in high school. We lost touch and she, uh, married someone. But he’s dead now and she’s here with me. That’s all I’m telling you for now. You’ll find out more tomorrow.”
“Fucking tease,” Camel said laughingly. “Fine, tomorrow.”
They talked a few more seconds, and then Blade hung up and sucked in a deep breath as he heard the bathroom door open. Quinn came down the hall, hair in a towel, another towel wrapped around her body. His dick immediately sat up and took notice.
“I, um, don’t have anything to wear to bed. I didn’t pack pajamas,” she said.
“I’ll give you one of my shirts.” He went into the kitchen and opened the double doors where the washer and dryer were hidden away. He grabbed a clean navy-blue T-shirt that said Navy in yellow letters and took it back to her. It was an XL, which meant it would probably come down to her knees or thereabouts. Not as much coverage as he would like, but maybe it’d be enough.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him tentatively, then spun on her heel and headed for the bathroom again. He watched her go, thinking that of all the things he’d ever thought would happen in his life, having Quinn in his house wearing a towel and making his dick hard simply by breathing wouldn’t even have made the top ten.
He went into his bedroom and threw back the covers. He’d considered going into the guest room and getting into bed with her there, but that bed was only a full-sized while his was a king. He could hold her until she fell asleep and then put an acre of mattress between them so he c
ould make it through the damned night without losing his mind.
Why had he agreed to hold her again?
Oh yeah, because she’d asked him to and he couldn’t tell her no after everything she’d been through. The cat story had nearly killed him. Speaking of cats, Dude, aka Buddy, was sitting by his bowl in the kitchen and licking his paws. Blade strode over and looked down at him.
“You staying or going tonight?”
Dude looked up at him and shrugged. Okay, not really, but the look the cat gave him was definitely a shrug.
“All right then. I’m going to bed. If you’re staying, that’s fine. I’ll let you out in the morning.”
Jesus, he was losing it. He was having a conversation with a damned cat. A cat that wasn’t answering. He went over and took out a bag of dry food, poured some in a different bowl, and set it down. He took out one of those travel litter boxes from the closet, peeled off the paper, and set the thing down in a corner. He kept a couple of them around because sometimes Dude didn’t want to go back outside after he’d eaten. So far, there’d been no accidents.
He wouldn’t even have known about the temporary litter boxes if not for the neighbor. “Piss anywhere but there and you’re never coming inside again,” he said sternly.
Dude simply raked him with a disdainful glare.
Blade shook his head and went back to the bedroom. A few minutes later, Quinn came in. Her damp hair hung down her back, and her face was scrubbed free of the remnants of her makeup. His T-shirt hung to her knees, as he’d predicted. Thankfully.
She twisted her hands into the sides of it. He wondered if she knew or if it was an unconscious gesture. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he replied. Then he patted the bed. “Get in. I’m gonna shower too.”
“Okay.”
She looked nervous. He stopped in front of her and put a finger beneath her chin. “You don’t have to do this, Quinn. You can change your mind about sleeping with me.”
“No. I want to.”
“It’s just sleep though.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you nervous?”
The corners of her eyes crinkled. “You can tell?”
“Of course I can tell. You’re practically vibrating with it.”
She sighed. “You have no idea how often I thought of this when we were teens. How I wanted to be your girl. I wanted you to hold me close all night long. I’m sure I wanted other things too, but I was more vague on that than I should have been.”
He frowned. “Meaning?”
“Meaning I didn’t quite know what was supposed to happen. Of course I knew in the abstract, but I was shockingly ignorant too. Combination of factors.” She waved a hand. “None of that matters right now. What matters is I feel safe with you and I’m so very glad Hunter hired you.”
A sliver of guilt pricked him. Hunter had hired him, it was true, but there was so much more behind it that he didn’t want to tell her just yet. And that’s what made him feel like a jerk. He hadn’t gone to Hong Kong to protect her at all. He’d gone there to spy on Halliday—and her since nobody had known if she was part of Hunter’s conspiracy or not. She wasn’t, however, and that was one of his greatest reliefs.
“I’m glad he did too.”
She laid her palms against his chest. Curled her fingers into the fabric of his T-shirt. “If you hadn’t been there, I’d probably be dead.”
He didn’t think there was any probably about it. If the triad had killed Halliday, they’d have come for Quinn and leaned on her for money. Then they’d have killed her too. And if it had been one of Halliday’s other business partners? Well, there was no telling what would have happened to her. Getting her out of Hong Kong had been the best thing he could’ve done.
“Don’t think about it. You’re here, you’re safe, and we’ll make sure you stay that way.”
“How long do you think I’ll have to hide?”
He pulled in a breath. “Honestly? I don’t know. But you’re welcome here as long as you need it. And if the boss says to move you, I’ll go too.”
She smiled up at him.
He suddenly couldn’t breathe as well as he should. “Damn, you’re beautiful,” he said. “I should have told you that years ago.”
“Thank you. And it’s okay. It’s probably a good thing you didn’t, actually. I already idolized you. If you’d told me that, I’d have been even more lovesick than I already was. I might have tied myself to that tree in front of your house and refused to leave when you told me you were joining the Navy. It could have been ugly.”
He searched her sparkling gaze. It took him a good few seconds to realize she was teasing him. Sure, there was a hint of truth under the joke, but she wasn’t being entirely serious.
“I’m sorry if I hurt you, Quinn. It was never my intention.”
“I know.” She shoved him away and crossed her arms. “Now go shower. I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”
“Yes, ma’am. Be right back.”
But when he got back, she was under the covers, her small body curled into the center of the mattress, sound asleep. He breathed a sigh of relief. Or maybe it was disappointment.
He grabbed one of the pillows and headed for the couch. He’d turn on the television, distract himself for a while. Maybe, when he was tired enough, he’d return. Or not.
Yeah, it was going to be a long night.
Chapter Fifteen
Quinn woke up when something soft and furry settled against her side. “Tigger,” she breathed before she remembered where she was. She reached down and touched the cat who’d lain beside her. He started to purr. Tears pricked her eyes, but she swallowed them down.
It was dark in the room and since she was unfamiliar with her surroundings, it took a moment for everything to come into focus. She turned her head, searching for Blade, but she was alone. Disappointment flared inside.
“How are you, sweet kitty?” she asked, scratching the cat. He purred.
She didn’t know what time it was or how long she’d been asleep. All she remembered was standing close to Blade, her palms on his chest, and then stepping back and telling him to shower. She’d climbed into bed to wait—and that was the end of that. She’d clearly missed his return, and she was certain he hadn’t gotten into bed with her at all at that point.
The cat jumped down and Quinn lay there, wondering what to do. Go back to sleep or get up and search for Blade? What if he was in the other room, sleeping?
Then she’d leave him alone, wouldn’t she?
She flipped the covers back and climbed out of bed. A quick stop in the bathroom to pee and swish around some mouthwash, just in case he was awake, and then she headed down the hallway and into the tiny living room.
Blade lay on the couch, the light from the television flickering over his face. And his bare chest. Lord have mercy. He was heavily muscled, with tattoos on his arms. His face was in profile to her as he looked at the TV. He had a scruff that she wanted to rub her hand over.
She took another step forward and he looked up, his dark gaze landing on her. “Everything okay, babe?”
His voice was gravelly, as if he’d been asleep and just woke up.
“Fine. The cat woke me.”
“Oh man, I’m sorry. I should have put him out.” He pushed to a sitting position and ran a hand through his hair. Muscles flexed and bunched. Her mouth watered. He wasn’t like those guys at the gym who were too pumped, too focused on their upper body to the detriment of everything else. He was big and proportional and so seriously in shape that her insides twisted at the sheer beauty of him.
“No, don’t worry. He got into bed with me and purred for a while. It was nice.”
Blade looked surprised. “Huh, really? He’s never gotten in bed with me. If he stays overnight and wants out, he comes in and yowls. Works every time.”
He levered up off the couch and strode into the kitchen where the cat sat by the food bowl. She watched as he reached into the cabinet for
another tin of food, muscles rippling across his back. Her heart swelled with emotion as he opened the can and dumped it in the bowl. It was silly, but she couldn’t help it.
“Why do you take care of a cat that isn’t yours?”
He looked up from washing his hands. “It’s not a hard thing to do and it doesn’t really cost me anything other than time and a few bucks for shots here and there.” He shrugged. “Besides, it’s the right thing to do, don’t you think?”
She did. She hugged herself though she really wanted to go over and hug him. “It is. I love cats, but my parents wouldn’t ever let me have one. Tigger was my first. I had him for five years.”
“I’m really sorry, Quinn. If I could get him back for you, I would.”
“I know. He’s in a good home though. It wouldn’t be fair to the family who adopted him if I asked for him back. But they know if anything changes to contact me. I’d have found another home for him if they had.”
“Because Hunter wouldn’t let you have him.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. He didn’t like me to have anything that made me happy. No friends, no pets, no life outside of him and his ideas of the perfect wife.”
Blade opened the fridge and grabbed a beer. “You want one?”
She hadn’t had a beer in years. Hunter thought it was too coarse for a lady. Wine was acceptable, but not beer or liquor. “Yes, that would be lovely.”
He popped the top on two beers and came over to hand one to her. They were standing in the middle of his living room. “You want to sit?”
“That would be lovely.”
Geez, could she sound any more nervous, repeating herself like she didn’t have a brain in her head? She went over to the couch and took a seat at one end. Blade sat down on the other. He reached out to clink beers with her. Then he upended the bottle and took a healthy swig.
She took a sip. The beer was creamy with a bite at the end. It tasted better than she’d expected after so many years of not drinking any. “So I guess I fell asleep.”
HOT SEAL Target Page 12
