Wet For Her Warriors (Book 5 of the WILD -- Warriors Intense in Love & Domination -- Boys of Special Forces)

by Angel Payne

  “Then what was?”

  “After I went through the drill of asking about the Forte project and indicated I had ‘substantial’ funds to invest, he got even oozier on the demeanor. Then he told me, as if he were some servant just checking my martini order, that he noticed I was calling from a location on Kauaˋi—“ he stopped to let Tait bark the f word at that— “and assumed I was on the island to take a look at their ‘unique opportunity’ here. He assured me that the ‘asset’ was ‘days away’ from being secured and accessible.” Like a character from a bad spy movie, Kell hunched his shoulders and leaned deeper over the table. “Then he asked which delegation I was representing: Pyongyang or Tehran.”

  A two-by-four of shock knocked Tait back in his chair. “Are—are you fucking with me?” He took another hard gulp of his water. “Don’t answer that. Of course you’re not.”

  Kellan worked his jaw back and forth. “Now you know why I hung up.”

  “No shit.” He swallowed hard. “Rephrase. Holy shit.”

  “I’ve been running all kinds of nutso scenarios in my head since then,” his friend supplied. “Like maybe the words are just some sick inside joke among the Benstock crowd. Maybe they’re using them to stand in for something else, to make the ‘poser’ investors run when hearing them.”

  Tait shot him a hard stare. “You really going to play ball with that hunch? Kell, crazy men print the president’s likeness on toilet paper in both those cities for the fun of wiping their asses on his face. This intel is too insane not to—”

  “Okay, back that pony up. Like I said, we’re not even sure it is intel.”

  Thanks to his time with Leo the last few days, Tait had perfected the art of eye rolls. He threw a good one at his friend before charging, “Whoever the hell you called, he was able to drop a locator pin on your burner phone. And if you were calling from a car—”

  “Fuck,” Kell cut in. “Yeah. I was in Lani’s jeep.”

  “Then the reason why the guy got sappy on you was due to stalling. He was likely repositioning some private satellites with the intent of photographically feeling you up.”

  “Shit.”

  “You tossed the phone after you hung up, right?”

  “Straight into an eco-collection bin.”

  “Good.” Nevertheless, the breath he released was harsh and heavy. “Dude, we’ve got to call Franz. There’s a good chance he can pull in his buddy from the spooks and give us guidance on what needs to happen next.”

  Kellan’s relief blared across his face. “Dan Colton, right? He still with the CIA in South America?” At Tait’s nod, he continued, “Good man. That’s a sound plan.”

  Tait consciously schooled his features as he managed a nod of agreement. Truth was, he’d never forget Dan. The guy had been a key support during the six months of Luna’s coma and, more importantly, the six months since she’d gone to sleep forever. At least once a week, Dan had called from wherever he was in the world for regular check-ins. While Tait was sure the guy was motivated by misplaced guilt—Dan wasn’t even with the same agency that had “borrowed” Luna for the mission—he was still grateful that somebody remembered Luna’s sacrifice. Her actions had prevented a domino effect of bombs that would have put everything west of the Rockies beneath a radioactive cloud for decades to follow.

  He gave himself a mental wrench. Right now, there was no room for sticking even a toe into grief’s swimming pool. Much bigger issues were at hand.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” he asserted while tossing down his napkin. “I’d rather call Franz from the house, where we can’t be overheard. And I think your protective fleas have jumped to my hide, too. I don’t like the idea of Lani and Leo being alone back at the estate, so the sooner you get back to them, the better.” When Kellan didn’t match his haste, a thread of discomfort snaked back through his stomach. “Come on,” he prodded to cover for it. “Let’s bug, bro.”

  “Tait.” His friend’s voice sounded like a bucket of dry lava rocks. “About Lani…”

  He thrust to his feet. “Not going there, man.”

  “I think we need to.”

  “Well, I think you’re wrong.” He grimaced. “Since when are you such a fan of the emotional slice-and-dice, anyway?”

  “Did I say I was a fan?” He thrust up his jaw. “Some people are just worth getting uncomfortable for. Like it or not, dickhead, both of you fall into that category for me.”

  Hell. Ignoring the shitball now really would make him a dickhead. “Okay, fine. We’ll talk about it, just not here. First things first. Let’s get back to Franz’s place, grab the guy on the horn, and make sure your discovery is disseminated to the right people. After that, I promise we can sit down, brew up some herbal tea, and have a long, cozy chitty-chat, if that’s what you want.”

  “Chitty-chat?” Kellan glowered as he pushed to his feet. “You’re pushing it, T-Bomb.”

  “But I’m worth it.” He batted his eyelashes in an open taunt. “Remember?”

  * * * * *

  Thanks to a huge accident on the 50, their drive time back to Franzen’s was prolonged by an hour. A stroke of luck helped Tait in veering Kell away from approaching the subject of Lani again. He gave himself a mental high-five for thinking to load the full Timbaland music library on his phone. After plugging it into the rental car’s USB, he was able to keep Kell more occupied than a two year-old with his mama’s key ring.

  When they got back to Franzen’s house, the sun had disappeared, leaving the sky a brilliant blend of purple, crimson, and gold. Lani’s jeep was still in the driveway, as they’d expected, but it was joined by a black pickup. Since the wheel wells were splattered in fresh mud and dust, Tait drew the conclusion that the second vehicle had come from Hale Anelas, as well. He peered at the house in curiosity. The living room and lanai lights were aglow.

  “Somebody’s here,” he stated. “I didn’t think we’d be gone that long, so I didn’t leave the lights on.”

  “Shit,” Kell spat. “You think we need to be worried?”

  “That’s not what my gut’s saying,” he replied. “But who the hell is—”

  He was plunged into silence by a figure bursting from the house and racing across the packed earth. His breath was kept captive by the sight of luscious hips encased in snug jeans, incredible cleavage in a flowered camisole, and a flowing mane of thick black hair—

  Flying around a goddess’s face, flooded with terror.

  “Starshine?” Kellan followed it with a rough grunt as Lani launched herself at him. She sobbed hard into his shoulder, revealing she’d been waiting a while to do so. “Hey, hey,” Kellan crooned. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  Now Tait’s gut began its alarms. “Is it Benson?” he charged. “Has he fucked with you again? Where is the bastard?”

  As he fired the demands, someone else emerged from the house. Ike, one of Hale Anelas’s ranch hands, appeared in the twilight. The man’s face, normally ruddy and smiling, was redrawn by lines of worry. “It’s not Benson,” he explained. “It’s Leo.”

  “Leo?” Screw the alarms. His stomach clenched into a full fist of dread. “What’s wrong with Leo? What’s happened?”

  Kellan held out a surprisingly steady hand. “Whoa. Wait. This isn’t undue drama, is it? Ike, we already know about the shiner.”

  “The shiner?” Tait growled. “When the hell did that happen?”

  Ike shook his head. “No. This is more, I’m afraid.”

  Kellan scowled. “More…how?”

  “He’s gone.” Lani’s confession spilled from trembling lips. Tears were so thick in her eyes, they resembled iridescent glass.

  “Gone?” Tait echoed. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  Ike shifted forward again. “We didn’t notice anything screwy until it was time for dinner. Most of us were down at the barn all afternoon, and Hokulani was working in the rose garden. Everyone thought Leo had gotten home and was in his room, doing homework. We didn’t realize
the room was empty until we called him down for dinner with no response.”

  Lani sucked in a shaky breath. “Th—that’s when I checked my texts and emails.”

  She held out her phone for both of them to view.

  Lani,

  I love you, but I can’t do all this anymore. I was so proud of myself for standing up to Parker yesterday, but I should have seen what the prick was up to. He only backed down because he had a better plan in mind than bashing my face in. Kalea is with him now, and my heart is ruined, instead.

  What’s the good of continuing to try, when shit like this keeps happening? Mom and Dad are gone. Soon our home will be, too. And having to see my greatest love with my worst enemy… It all sucks bigger bones that what I can handle.

  I want to be alone. Forever.

  Tait read the note over one more time, then returned the phone to Lani. Yeah, the message dripped in teenage melodrama, which should’ve had him snickering a little by now. But that was the guy he was a year ago. A guy who’d been through a year of pain a lot like Leo’s closing line.

  A guy who also had a CO and a best friend who hadn’t given up on him.

  The thought gripped him so deeply, he didn’t notice Lani pull away from Kellan and approach him. When she twisted both her hands into his, he started a little—then went completely still. Within seconds, the woman wrapped his soul and senses again. Seized by the desperation in her clasp. Eviscerated by the sorrow on her face.

  “You’ve spent the most time with him in the last week, Tait. If you have an idea where he might’ve gone…what he might be thinking…God, anything…” Another cry burst from her, filled with distraught need. “He’s the only thing I have left. Help me…please!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Lani had been through a lot of fear in her life. Hiding in a cave from Hurricane Iniki when she was four. The night they’d come to tell her about Mom and Dad’s plane crash. Anytime Gunter and his gang came calling.

  None of it came close to this new terror.

  Her throat was clamped shut. Her veins ran with ice water. “He—he doesn’t pull stunts like this,” she explained, trying to breathe but getting ragged results at best. She peered frantically between Tait and Kellan. “He knows better than this. We are Kails. We don’t just run away from our issues. What the hell is he thinking?”

  As if her thoughts had a conduit to the elements, the sky over the ocean snarled. They all looked to see massive thunderheads, rolling in fast.

  “Well, isn’t that special.” In true Kamaˋaina style, Ike gave the situation a softly sardonic commentary.

  “Shit!” Lani spat.

  Tait and Kellan’s reaction, nearly the same wide stance with hands to their hips, gave her an odd, immediate surge of confidence. Without turning his assessment from the horizon, Tait asked Ike, “How long do you reckon before that shit hits?”

  “Depends,” Ike supplied. “If the wind stays low, four to five hours. If it starts to blow hard, we could be under showers in an hour.”

  Kellan turned to them. “Apologies for sounding like a guy who grew up just outside Spokane, but it’s still eighty degrees. A little rain won’t give the kid frostbite, right?”

  Lani paced away from them then, unable to listen as Ike explained what a downpour did to some of the rocky cliffs along their side of the island. Hearing the phrases “slick as Vaseline” and “lovesick teenager with three seconds of patience” wasn’t doing a thing for her agitation level.

  After the men deliberated for what felt like days, they moved into action at the same time. She jogged back over in time to watch Ike transfer the first aid kit and a blanket out of his truck and into her jeep. At Tait’s order to do so, he also peeled back the jeep’s convertible roof.

  “That’s good,” Tait remarked as he emerged from the house with a coil of rope and some bottles of water. He’d changed into heavy khaki pants and a windbreaker. “We’ll have better sight lines without the lid.”

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Tait stopped to give her a tight hug. “I’ve got a pretty good idea of where he is,” he stated. “We’re taking the jeep because we can get it onto the sand. Ike’s driving, since he grew up on this shore.”

  “Then I’m going with you.”

  His features tightened. “Lani—”

  “I grew up on this shore, too, hupo.”

  He curled a hand around her nape to keep her gaze bolted with his, lowering his head to help the effort, too. “You’ll be calling yourself an idiot if he comes back here, finds no one around, and decides to fly again.”

  A unique yet familiar scent came from behind her. Kellan’s bergamot and musk essence instilled her with much-needed resilience. She was tempted to kiss him for it as he injected, “I’ll stay here, T. She needs to go.”

  Tait looked up. The two men held each other’s stare for another thirty seconds, in which Lani could’ve sworn she was witness to a conversation that didn’t have its volume knob turned up. Tait actually nodded at the end of it, like Kellan had made a final point with which to concur. “Got a jacket with you, dreamgirl?” he issued. “It’s likely going to get a little breezy.”

  She shrugged, not about to let her wardrobe be his next excuse for deterring her. “I’ll be fine. Come on; let’s go.”

  Tait turned from her without a word and disappeared into the house. A few seconds later, he strode back out with a sweatshirt in hand, passing it to her on his way to the jeep. “Now you’re fine. Put it on and hop in. We’re racing the sky.”

  She tugged the sweatshirt over her head, feeling tiny in the large garment. As she started rolling up the sleeves, it was impossible to avoid the intensity of Kellan’s stare—on her chest.

  “I’ve always loved being in the Army, but starshine, you give the word new meaning.” He playfully traced the “R” that was pushed out by her right breast as he pulled her in for a kiss. Lani didn’t resist the fervent press of his lips. She wrapped both arms around his broad shoulders, gripping him just as eagerly in return. When they pulled apart, she moved one hand up to his stubbled, sexy jaw.

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” she confessed, meaning the words a thousand times more than she had in the kitchen last night. She hoped he saw the thankfulness in her eyes. His answering smile conveyed that he did.

  All too soon, she had to step back. Kellan squeezed her hand one last time before he let her go. She pressed it into the center of her chest, hoping his strength seeped into the one place where she needed it most right now. Her heart.

  * * * * *

  “Pull in here.”

  Tait’s shout prompted Ike to jerk the jeep’s steering wheel, directing it across the sand and toward the deep alcove in the cliffs to which he’d pointed. Lani fought to stay upright in the back seat as they bounced over the rockier ground of the shore. The moment Ike cut the engine, she glanced frantically to the clouds over the water before jumping out and joining the men, who tested flashlights and coiled rope for inclusion in the backpacks at their feet.

  “Are you sure about this?” she questioned Tait.

  He checked the attachments on a supersized utility knife. “Of course I’m not sure. But he’s a sixteen year-old on a pretty small island who doesn’t have many options for a stunt like this. Besides that, he was gung-ho about showing off this ‘discovery’ to me just two days ago. If this was Final Jeopardy, I’d write it in and bet everything but a buck.”

  “But we’re over three miles from home. How could he have gotten this far, over the rocks, since school got out?”

  Tait flashed her a rugged soldier’s version of his crooked grin. “Because he didn’t come from home.” He tapped the phone that had become a permanent fixture in her hand, a symbol of the hope that Leo would simply call and say he was just kidding and was back at Hale Anelas. “Time stamp on the email. Twelve-thirty. I’m going to go out on a limb and bet he tossed in the towel on school after that.”

  “And just phoned the bus dr
iver for personal car service?” she countered.

  “I wouldn’t put it past the kid, but not likely in this case.”

  “So how did he get out here?”

  His stare widened with speculation as he slipped on his backpack. “You really itching to know my theory on that one, too?”

  Lani gulped. “Would the wise answer to that be no?”

  “Probably.”

  As the weight in her chest tripled, she gestured toward the cliff, giving him clearance to lead the way. As Tait stepped past her, he slipped a hand around hers and held on firmly. She accepted the support with greedy gratitude. Like his best friend, the man had figured out that she talked a good game when it came to I-Am-Woman-Hear-Me-Roar, but having them confirm her strength by borrowing a bit of their own, through their simple physical reassurances, was what kept her putting one foot in front of the other right now.

  The cave was wider than she originally thought, since a big portion was hidden by a secondary rock outcropping. The natural disguise also cloaked a path: a narrow dirt ingress that was wedged between the steep bluffs like a secret note between two books. Tait led them straight toward it. “Here’s where we’ll need the flashlights,” he instructed.

  Unbelievably, the path tightened. Lani felt like the mountain was swallowing them, though she could still hear the surf on the shore—and the thunder in the sky, crawling closer. She coupled those observations with the packed dirt beneath her feet, and summed up the courage to voice her conclusion. “The tide’s rising with the storm. We’re screwed if we’re not out of here in an hour.”

  Tait didn’t break stride. “I like to save the word ‘screwed’ for a different connotations, dreamgirl. I’ve cross-trained with enough SEALs to keep us alive and afloat in here if needed.”

  The hoo-rah bravado didn’t fool her. The undercurrent in his tone was gooier than the moans of the wind through the tunnel. “But if we don’t reach Leo—”