“I don’t give a fuck if you take me off this assignment,” Slade said in a low, deadly voice. “I’m going to catch that motherfucker and end his miserable life if it’s the last thing I do. But don’t you ever threaten me again. You want to get me fired? Go for it. The replacement you arranged sucks. He’ll have every SEAL team under Hurt’s command killed within the year. But I’ll be gone. I’ll take Dakota and go so far undercover you’ll never find either of us again, and you won’t have a shot in hell of finding Fourati. I know about your wife, and I’m as sorry as I can be that you lost her to cancer, but that doesn’t give you the right to be a dick when it comes to other innocent lives and any relationship I might have.”
“Fuck. You’re right, I apologize,” Lambert said in a quiet tone. “Do what you need to do. I’m counting on you to get this done, Cutter. The country is. I didn’t mean to imply that Ms. James’ life is worth less than the hundreds or thousands of people who could die if Fourati follows through with his plans. But I still have nightmares about those killed on 9/11. I see the people jumping from the burning towers every time I close my eyes. I don’t want to see it happen again. Not when I’m around to stop it.”
“Understood,” Slade said in a slightly less edgy voice. “I’ll call again if I find out anything else.”
“Be careful,” Greg said softly.
“Always,” Slade returned. “Later.”
“Bye.”
Slade hung up and forced himself to relax. The urge to see Dakota crawled through him all of a sudden. Done with making phone calls, Slade went to the basement door. He took one last look around the small house. The lights on the alarm system were lit, indicating it was on and armed. Nothing looked or sounded out of place. Satisfied that for the moment they were as safe as they could be, Slade quietly slipped through the door and headed down into the basement. To Dakota.
He stood by the queen-size bed for a long moment, absorbing all that was Dakota. She lay on her side, one arm outstretched as if reaching for him and the other tucked close to her chest. She was once again wearing a T-shirt. Slade couldn’t see what else she had on because the covers were pulled up to her waist.
Wanting to be in bed next to her more than he wanted his next breath, Slade quickly stalked toward the bathroom. The sooner he changed and brushed his teeth, the sooner he could be where he needed to be.
Within minutes, Slade was slipping under the covers and snuggling into Dakota’s warm body from behind. The minute his legs tangled with hers, he stifled a groan. Her legs were as bare as his. Lifting the sheet and peeking down at her, he saw she wore a shirt and a pair of white cotton panties, and that was it.
His cock immediately surged with blood, ready and willing to do what God intended for it to do. Slade gritted his teeth and ignored the discomfort of his body, concentrating instead on how amazing Dakota felt against him.
The second he wrapped his arm around her waist, she turned sleepily to face him.
“All’s okay?” she slurred, obviously more asleep than awake. Her forehead rested against his chest, her arms curled up between them, and her legs tangled once more with his.
He was surrounded by her warmth and scent, and the way she so trustingly curled into him made Slade’s heart fill with love.
He loved her. Every inch. He hadn’t seen her naked. Hadn’t had the privilege of making love with her yet. Didn’t know her favorite color or even when her birthday was. But he didn’t need all of that to know she was now the most important thing in his life. More important than his job, his home, his siblings, his friends. She was his everything.
“Shhhh,” he whispered. “All’s good. Sleep.”
“’Kay,” she mumbled, and he felt every muscle in her body sag in her sleep.
His erection was nestled between them, hard against her belly, but Slade hardly noticed. All he could think about was how right Dakota felt in his arms.
Chapter 11
Two days later, Dakota thought she was going to go stir crazy. She hadn’t been out of the house since she’d arrived with Slade and she was beginning to feel as if she were a prisoner. The thought made her feel guilty, as she knew Slade and Wolf were only trying to protect her, but it was driving her insane.
Slade had left that morning to do some super-secret SEAL thing. He wouldn’t tell her what, had only kissed her on the forehead and told her he’d be back soon. Not only was she feeling claustrophobic being locked up for her protection, she was about to self-combust from horniness.
For two mornings in a row, she’d woken up with Slade’s hands on her body. This morning she’d practically been orgasming before she’d fully woken up. Slade’s hand was down the front of her panties and his fingers had been coated with her juices.
All it had taken was one look into his lust-filled dark eyes as he’d deliberately and expertly flicked her clit and she’d exploded. The second her thighs had started to tremble and she’d arched up in ecstasy, he’d prolonged her pleasure by easing one long finger inside her body and groaning at the way her muscles gripped him. Seeing his excitement and feeling the insistent stroking of his finger against her G-spot, she’d come again, wishing it was his cock deep inside her instead.
Then he’d blown her mind even more when he’d removed his hand from between her legs and immediately sucked the finger he’d had inside her into his mouth. His eyes had rolled back into his head and he’d groaned at her taste.
He’d met her gaze, said, “Fucking fantastic,” and kissed her until she didn’t know her name anymore. Between her own musky flavor on his tongue and the feel of his beard against her face, she’d almost come again. When he pulled back, she’d tried to return the favor, wanting to see him up close and personal, but he’d stopped her hand when it trailed down his stomach toward the erection she could feel against her leg, kissed her palm and told her that he had to go, but he’d take her up on her offer later. He’d promised that he had to wrap up one last thing and when he returned, he’d be able to spend more time with her. He would still be hunting Fourati, but could do that with Tex’s help and not have to leave her alone as much. Then he’d left her in bed, sated and sleepy, and ordered her back to sleep.
As expected, Slade had been gone when she’d finally roused enough to get up, shower and wander up to the kitchen. But surprisingly, Caroline was there. She’d met the woman the night before when Wolf had stopped by with her in tow. Apparently, she’d convinced her husband that she’d be safe in her own house as long as he or one of the men on his team was with her.
And now this morning, Caroline was in the kitchen when she wandered upstairs, with another SEAL, whose name was Benny.
After warming up the peppermint mocha Slade had left for her, Benny informed her over a breakfast of cheese omelets and bacon that, if needed, her dad would be moving into his house with him and his wife. They’d make sure he was safe, comfortable, and entertained.
Dakota had almost burst into tears of relief and gratitude, but managed to hold them back. While her life had been turned upside down, she’d done her best to keep her dad out of it. But with Fourati still on the loose, Slade wasn’t taking any chances that the terrorist would use him to get to her.
“What do you want to do today?” Caroline asked from across the table. They’d been getting to know each other over breakfast and Dakota liked the other woman. She was down-to-earth, not pretentious at all, and they’d really clicked. It was nice to talk to a woman about something other than teachers, Common Core, and testing for once.
Dakota shrugged. “No clue. I’m about TV’d out, board games aren’t my thing, and I’m not much of a cook. I’m open to any ideas you guys have.”
“We could play a prank on Wolf,” Benny suggested, a grin on his face.
Caroline rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you guys are still on this practical joke kick. What’s the latest?”
The smile on Benny’s face didn’t dim as he looked down at his phone and searched for something.
; Dakota couldn’t help but be entertained by Benny. There were times that morning when he’d seemed like an immature little boy, but when he’d answered his phone and spoke with Wolf, she saw another side of him. The dangerous side. Apparently, Slade had been concerned because Tex had called and said Fourati had posted on his recruiting Dark Web site that his wife would soon be giving her own speech to their followers, and Wolf had called to give Benny a head’s up.
Dakota didn’t like the sound of that, because if Aziz was talking about her, then he’d have to have her in order for her to give a speech. But Benny had reassured Wolf that Dakota was safe and they had no plans to leave the house.
The determination on Benny’s face was easy to see. And it wiped the playful boy right off his persona. It made her relax a bit and understand that while he might joke and kid around about some things, he was still a badass Navy SEAL.
But now he was back to being the entertaining host, trying to find something to make her smile and not feel as if she were a prisoner in the house. Benny turned his phone toward Caroline first and explained through chuckles what she was seeing. “So you know the new guy sucks, right?”
Caroline nodded. “Uh, yeah, Wolf hasn’t stopped bitching about him since Slade took his leave of absence.”
“Right, well the guy might be a good mathematician, but he sucks at computers. Time and time again, we’ve had to explain shit to him that he should already know. It’s gotten really old. So, Mozart and Cookie distracted him this morning, asking if he’d come help them with something in another office, and Dude and Abe sabotaged his computer. They hooked up smoke bombs to certain keys on his keyboard. Apparently, Dude had seen this done before but hadn’t had a chance to try it out. He prepped one at home and switched it out with Zach’s while he was being distracted.”
“What am I looking at, Benny?” Caroline asked, tilting her head to the side as if that would help her understand the picture in front of her. Benny leaned forward and pointed to the screen as he spoke.
“Zach came back from the other room, mumbling about what assholes Mozart and Cookie were, and sat down and began to type. Smoke immediately started pouring out of his keyboard. He panicked and pushed more keys, which made more smoke come out! Instead of doing the smart thing, and getting a fire extinguisher or calling for help, he began to smack at the keyboard like a little kid instead. This picture is of the entire area around his desk filled with smoke,” Benny informed Caroline.
He scrolled through a few more pictures, still chuckling. “See? It just kept getting worse. We were all laughing so hard we couldn’t even tell him to stop. I could barely hold my phone steady enough to get pictures. It got so bad, Hurt came out of his office, mumbling about how juvenile we all were, and grabbed the keyboard away from Zach, hauled it into the hallway still smoking and slammed the office door. It. Was. Hilarious.”
“It doesn’t look like Zach found it funny,” Caroline observed, her lips twitching.
“That’s ’cause he’s an ass,” Benny declared, then turned toward Dakota. “And a big baby. He glared at us all, said we were pathetic, and left the office in a huff. When I left to come over here and relieve Wolf, he still hadn’t returned. I hate people who can’t take a joke. Look, Dakota, tell me this isn’t funny as shit.”
Dakota took the phone Benny offered and grinned, excited to see the results of the prank. It sounded hilarious to her.
The first picture was of the back of a man sitting at a desk, smoke rising from the keyboard in front of him.
For some reason, the hair on the back of Dakota’s neck stood up.
She used her finger to quickly scroll to the next picture. The smoke was thicker in that one, but the camera was closer to the man sitting at the desk. She scrolled again—and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at it.
“Hilarious, isn’t it?” Benny asked, misconstruing her reaction.
“T-this is Zach?” Dakota asked. “The guy who took Slade’s place in the office?”
“Yup. Doesn’t look like an admin guy, does he?” Benny asked rhetorically. “He was transferred over from another office, not sure which one, but he’s completely hopeless. Hurt is about ready to boot his ass out, and the hell with whoever it was who pulled strings and got him the job. Before the smoke-bomb incident, the commander begged Cutter to come in this morning and show the guy how to do some simple shit. Of course your man agreed. He’s such a perfectionist when it comes to his shit, and he was afraid Zach was fucking it up ten ways to Sunday.”
Benny got up to refill his coffee cup, missing the stricken look on Dakota’s face.
Dakota tried to school her features. The last thing she wanted was to look panicked in front of Benny and Caroline. She was ninety percent sure that this Zach person and Aziz were one and the same, but she didn’t want to jump the gun until she was positive.
She looked down at the pictures in front of her once again.
There was a lot of smoke obscuring the features of “Zach,” but when she studied them again, she knew without a doubt the man who was doing Slade’s job was none other than Aziz.
The man they’d been looking for had been right under their noses all along.
“Did you talk about me in the office? Say anything about why Slade was on a leave of absence?” Dakota asked Benny shakily.
“What do you mean?” he asked. His voice abruptly changed, from the happy-go-lucky tone he’d been using when talking about the joke they’d played on Zach to one of intense scrutiny.
Dakota had no doubt the SEALs were close-lipped about the missions they were sent on, but were they about other things? She knew how the employees had been in her office, they gossiped about lots of things, even sometimes confidential information they shouldn’t be discussing.
“Hurt got us all together and told us Cutter was taking a leave of absence, but not why. We never discuss anything about our missions where we can be overheard by anyone without a need to know,” Benny said, his tone serious now, his eyes watchful.
“Did anyone mention V-Vegas?” Dakota stammered.
Benny sat back down and leaned toward her, all business now, and looked into her eyes. “No. We might gossip like girls around each other, but we’d never share anything inappropriately. Our lives depend on secrecy What’s wrong, Dakota? Talk to me.”
Dakota had heard Slade talking with Tex enough to know they thought Aziz had to be somewhat good at technology, in order to track her to Rachel via her web searches, but what if that’s not how he’d found her? What if he’d somehow been able to track Slade? They hadn’t talked about the possibility of Slade’s motorcycle having a tracker on it, or his supposedly secure phone, but Slade or Tex would’ve checked for that…right?
She shook her head and tried to control the panic trying to consume her. According to Wolf, Benny, and the other SEALs, they thought this Zach person knew nothing about computers. Either Aziz had help posting his anti-American and pro-terrorist stuff online, or he was one hell of an actor when he was at the base.
“Zach is Aziz,” she whispered.
To give Benny credit, he didn’t tell her she didn’t know what she was talking about, that she was mistaken. He stared at her for a long moment, eyes narrowed, his jaw ticking, then looked down at the phone in his hand.
Just as he began to dial, the window over the kitchen sink shattered.
The security alarm immediately began shrieking, the sound ear piercing and painful.
As if in slow motion, Dakota saw Benny slump bonelessly onto the table, his phone falling face up with only three numbers keyed in.
Dakota noticed Caroline’s mouth open and assumed she screamed, although she couldn’t hear it over the noise of the alarm, and she saw her new friend whip her head toward the now-broken window.
Dakota never heard the man who broke into the house by kicking in a window in the other room. Never heard him approach as he came up behind her.
She’d just stood, her chair falling over with the force o
f her leap upward, when an arm wrapped around her neck, holding her tightly against a rock-hard body, and a hand with a chloroform-soaked rag covered her nose and mouth.
The last thing Dakota saw before losing consciousness was Caroline desperately struggling with a masked man who was dragging her into the other room.
Chapter 12
Slade looked around his apartment, wanting to make sure he didn’t need to come back for the foreseeable future. He’d grabbed enough clothes to last him for the time he needed to be gone. As long as he had a chance to do laundry, he’d be good. He picked up his extra pistol and ammo and even grabbed a couple of his knives.
When he’d been on the teams, he’d been known for his expertise with the latter. Both throwing and using them in hand-to-hand combat. It had been a while since he’d needed to use them, working a desk job wasn’t exactly dangerous, but something told him that he should grab them today.
It was partly because he wanted to be prepared, but it was more than that. Tex’s report of the video Fourati had posted about his “wife” making a statement soon wasn’t sitting well. He knew Benny and Caroline were at the house with Dakota, but he still wouldn’t be satisfied until he joined them and could see for himself that all was well.
His eyes swept over his living room, the weight of the knives in holsters at his ankles, small of his back, and at his waist comforting. Slade could see the waves lazily crashing against the shore as children played and their parents soaked in the sun. There were a few surfers in the water, crazy motherfuckers…it was damn cold outside, and he knew from experience the water was downright frigid.
He’d emptied his fridge and pantry of anything that would spoil and set the timers on a couple of lights to make it look like there was someone occupying the space. He didn’t have a newspaper delivered, and he’d had his mail forwarded to Wolf’s house. The other man said he’d make sure bills were paid and any important mail was taken care of if he needed to bug out with Dakota at any point.
Protecting Dakota: SEAL of Protection, Book 10 Page 15
