Throwing the sheets off his naked body, he stood and stretched the kinks out of his muscles before heading into the bathroom. He turned the shower on and as soon as it was lukewarm and not freezing, he stepped under the spray. Putting his hands flat against the wall under the showerhead, he let the water soak his head and body.
He knew the Trident women were taking Nick shopping for furniture this morning, so he might manage to avoid the kid today. That would be day two out of thirty, and he was only batting five hundred so far. Shit. Maybe after the team got back on Monday, he’d ask Ian for some time off and take a trip up to the company safe-house in North Carolina, which the team also used for down-time. There was a lake he could fish in and plenty of acreage he could hike through. He couldn’t stay there the whole month, but maybe a week or two if the case-load was slow. He’d check with Boss-man after he dealt with the newbies.
Thirty minutes later, he strolled out of a deli with a toasted buttered bagel, a container of fresh fruit, and a black coffee. Hopping into his Chevy Suburban, he tossed the food bag on the passenger seat and placed his coffee in the cup holder next to his thigh before turning the ignition key. From its perch attached to one of the air-vents, his cell phone rang and he checked the screen. Shit! It was Drew. Jake had too much going on in his head to talk to the guy, so he let it go to voicemail. Maybe if he didn’t return the call, Drew would get the hint.
Sighing, he put the truck in drive for the five-point-three-mile trip to Trident’s complex, where he waved at the daytime guard who opened the gate, allowing Jake to enter. Passing the first warehouse where The Covenant was located, he pulled up to the second gate and rolled down his window. A computerized scan of his palm print would open this one, letting him into the remaining compound consisting of three more warehouses. The first one on this side of the fence was for the offices of Trident Security, with bunk rooms on the second floor. The rear of the building was a garage for their extra vehicles. The middle structure housed the training facilities. The last building was home to four huge apartments—Ian and Angie’s, Devon and Kristen’s, Jenn’s, and then…Nick’s. At some point, the kid’s two older brothers expected him to join their business ventures and made sure he knew he was welcome. That’s why the women were taking Nick shopping today—to fill the empty apartment—and he was sure the SEAL was fucking thrilled to death.
Pulling into a spot at the entrance to the offices, Jake was greeted by an enthusiastic Beau, carrying a drool-covered rubber ball. He took the disgusting offering and threw it hard across the compound to the dog’s delight. After repeating the ritual two more times, he ambled into the building with his canine buddy on his heels. It was too early for their secretary, Colleen, to be in, so he checked his message slot at her desk and retrieved a few pink pieces of paper, while the dog laid down in the reception area.
Shuffling through the call-backs, he entered his office and flipped on the light before realizing someone was sitting in his chair. And not just anyone…but Nick. Fuck! Jake frowned and kicked the door shut with his foot. He wanted to cross his arms and stare down at the kid, but with his coffee, food, and messages in hand, he couldn’t pull it off. Sighing loudly, he placed everything on his desk and assumed the stance he wanted. “What’re you doing here?”
Nick didn’t seem affected by Jake’s dominant tone. Instead, he leaned further back in the leather chair and the corners of his mouth ticked up in apparent amusement. “I want to talk without you shoving me up against a wall or bitching at me. I figured this was the ideal place.”
Jake raised his eyebrows over narrowed eyes. “You seem sure of that. No one else is here yet, so there’s no reason for me not to haul your ass out of my chair and throw you out the door.”
“You’re right. There’s not.”
That wasn’t the answer Jake had expected. He was even more shocked when Nick got up and gestured for him to take the seat. Stalking around the desk, he tried to get a read on the kid. He was up to something, but Jake wasn’t sure what it was. He sat, but before he had a chance to pull himself closer to the desk, Nick lifted a leg and straddled his thighs. Ah, shit! A denim covered semi-hard-on was only inches from his face. He knew it wasn’t a full-fledged one because he’d seen exactly what Nick looked like at full attention—impressive would be an understatement. The thought caused his own dick to stir. “What are you doing?”
“Stating my intentions,” the kid replied smugly as he leaned his tight ass against the desk’s beveled edge.
The Dom forced his gaze upward to the other man’s handsome, chiseled face. “Your intentions?”
“Yup. My intentions. You rattled off a list of reasons why we won’t have a repeat of our one night together. Well, I have a few reasons of my own as to why we should have a repeat. In fact, I think we should have several repeats.”
Letting out a snort, Jake glared at him. “This should be enlightening.” He clenched his hands into fists to keep them from grabbing the guy’s hips and pulling him forward.
“I hope so.” Nick crossed his arms. “One—yes, it was a one-night-stand, but fuck, it was the best one of my entire life. You did things to me I never knew I wanted before. Two—you were right, I’ve never played in the lifestyle before. I never understood what drew people into it, and I think it’s because I was looking at it from a dominant standpoint and not a submissive one. I’d never been submissive when it came to sex before you. I still don’t know why I submitted that night. All I know is, I want to do it again, Jake. But only for you. Three—if we do this, I don’t want you holding back on me. I want to try and take everything you have to offer. You might be right and the lifestyle might not be for me, but I won’t know unless I give it a shot. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? Four—again, if we do this, it’s exclusive. I don’t share. I know you’re a Whip Master at the club, and while I’ve never seen you in action, I have watched China and Carl. I know there doesn’t have to be sex involved, and I’m fine with you scene-ing with submissives in that capacity only. But it has to be in public. If it’s not, then I have to be in the room with you. I guess you can call that a hard limit for me. That’s what it’s called, right?”
Jake didn’t answer him because his mind was racing as Nick threw every one of his reasons back at him, shredding each as he did. But the kid had only listed four, and that wasn’t enough for the Dom. “What about reason number five?”
This was the big one, and Nick swallowed hard. “I’m willing to come out to my family—I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately—but not yet. I have to take this one step at a time. It’ll be too much for me if I tackle everything at once.”
Rubbing his bottom lip with his fingers, Jake stared at the beautiful man in front of him. The urge to order him to strip was strong, and he almost did it just to see the sculpted body he’d spent a few hours exploring two months ago. Jake stayed in top physical shape and had always been attracted to men who also took care of their bodies. He preferred hard, muscular flesh over soft, but not too well-built, since steroid-pumping gym buffs did nothing for him. However, bodies that came from hard physical labor and training were a total turn-on. Just like Nick’s.
Damn. This wasn’t some short term fling he was looking at here. It was something much more, which thrilled and terrified him at the same time. He had to be crazy to think this might work out, but the temptation to try was getting harder to resist. He’d never dated anyone whose family he was close to, much less knew, and Nick may not have met Jake’s mother yet, but he’d met Mike on numerous occasions. “I’ll give you two weeks.”
Jake’s stomach sank when Nick’s face fell. They hadn’t even started and he was already fighting the Dom. Shit. He should’ve known it was too good to be true.
“Two weeks,” the kid whispered. He shook his head and brought his voice up to a normal level again. “No. No way.”
Pushing his chair back so he could stand, Jake raised his eyebrows as raw disappointment flowed through him. “No? I thought you ju
st said you were willing to come out to your family. I’m giving you two weeks to do it and you’re saying ‘no’? Then we have nothing more to talk about.”
He skirted the desk, and was halfway to the door when Nick’s broken voice reached him. “Wait…wait a minute.” He stopped, but didn’t turn back around, afraid of caving and telling him to forget the demand—that it didn’t matter. But it did matter—it mattered a lot. “I misunderstood what you meant. I thought you were putting a time limit on us. Two weeks is…is okay. I’ll do it. I’ll talk to Ian, Dev, and my folks. Please, Jake. Don’t walk away.”
The sheer desperation in the other man’s voice had Jake’s gut and heart clenching. As he spun around, he heard the sounds of people arriving to start the workday out in the reception area. The new recruits were here as well as Colleen. He strode purposely toward Nick, his intent evident in his stare. Stopping inside the kid’s personal space, he grabbed him by the back of the neck, holding him tight. “There’s more to this than just tying you up and fucking you senseless. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Then go over to the club sometime today. Behind the front desk, you’ll find submissive protocols as well as a blank limit list. I want you to fill it out and bring it to me tonight.”
Nick’s eyes widened. “At the club?”
“No, my place. Before anything else happens between us, we’re going to sit down and negotiate both of our limits. And then…” He couldn’t resist his urges anymore. Drawing Nick closer, Jake kissed him. Hard. Demanding. Dominating.
Nick parted his lips for more, but Jake pulled back again, stopping only a few inches away. “Can’t get started here. I’ve got meetings and I’m not going into them with wood.” He smirked. “But be prepared, Junior, because I plan on continuing this…” A quick peck was placed on Nick’s mouth followed by a lick. “Later. My way.”
CHAPTER 6
An hour later, Jake watched one of the two new Trident operatives, Tristan McCabe, run his way through the military-style obstacle course the team had set up north of the main compound. It was surrounded by a quarter-mile running track and sat parallel to the new heliport. The chopper would arrive after the new pilot reported to work, and then traveled to California to fly it back. Ian and Devon were currently in negotiations for the property south of their current acreage and had plans for a multi-story hollowed out building which would be used for mission practice runs as well as routine training. The walls could be moved around in order to simulate different setups. An outdoor shooting gallery with pop-up bad guys was also in the future plans. It would work with computerized weapons and targets, so there was no need for live ammo which always ran the risk of accidental injuries—insurance companies tended to frown on that.
Patiently waiting at the starting line of the course was Nick. After they’d left his office earlier, Jake had introduced him to the two new operatives, and Nick had stood by when Ian joined them, laying out the agenda for the day. The first matter Jake took care of was showing Foster and McCabe the bunk rooms and living quarters above the offices. The second floor housed six bedrooms, four with a set of bunk beds, a desk, and a dresser, as well as an attached bathroom. The other two bedrooms had the exact same setup, but had a queen-size bed instead of the bunks. A kitchen and large recreational area, complete with couches, recliners, sixty-inch HDTV, pool table, and dart board, made the entire floor a comfortable place for the new team members to stay until they found their own housing.
Next Jake gave them a tour of the training building. It sat between the Trident offices and the residential one, and contained a gym, indoor shooting range, training room, and a panic room, in case of an emergency. Upstairs was currently spare space and storage. He informed the two men that Marco would set them up with the standard-issued equipment when he and the others returned from their current mission.
For now, Jake was running the men through their paces, trying to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Nick had volunteered to run the course with them to keep up his own physical fitness routine. He’d managed to convince the women to go shopping without him today, and promised to go to the furniture store with them tomorrow. Jake had a feeling he was trying to find another way out of the excursion.
While McCabe grabbed a thick rope and swung his body over a water trap, Cain Foster stood next to Jake, trying to catch his breath. He’d just completed the course in seven minutes and forty seconds, which was pretty good for his first run-through. The course was a slightly modified version of the Navy SEALs' famous O-course in BUD/s training, which Jake had spent countless hours on during his time in the military.
“What’s the course record?” Foster asked between gulps of air.
Jake watched McCabe clear the rope webbing before answering. “Devil Dog’s got it. Five minutes, twenty-two seconds.”
“Shit. I wasn’t even close.”
Letting out a quick snort, Jake shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It took Dev two weeks to get that time and he helped design the course. Besides, it’s not like you had to do many O-courses like this in the Secret Service. You’ll get there…then you have to do it with a thirty-pound pack.” He hit the button on his stopwatch as McCabe crossed the finish line. “Not bad for an Army grunt. You beat Foster by sixteen seconds. Seven-twenty-four.”
The former Delta Force operator cursed as his lungs heaved for oxygen. “Fuck, that sucks.”
Jake just grinned. It seemed like that was everyone’s reaction to the first time they ran it, but he wasn’t worried. According to Foster, he hadn’t run an intense obstacle course in years, and McCabe was still gaining the strength back in his left bicep after taking a bullet four months ago. Poor guy got nailed two weeks before his last tour in the Army’s Special Ops was complete.
“What time do I have to beat?”
His gaze found Nick standing at the starting line and he willed himself not to have a reaction. The kid was in a pair of grey sweatpants and military green tank, and was in peak physical condition. The day’s temperature was in the low eighties, which was normal for the beginning of November, but it was wise to wear sweatpants on the course unless you wanted splinters or rope burns on your thighs. “If you want to impress me, you gotta beat Dev. Five and twenty-two.”
“Shit, that’s nothing. Big brother is going down.” He shrugged his shoulders and swiveled his head, making sure his neck muscles were as loose as the rest of him. Lining up at the start, he grinned at Jake.
Cocky little shit. “Ready? Three. Two. One. Go!”
Nick took off like the devil was on his heels. He vaulted the first short wall then raced across a low balance beam without a moment’s hesitation. Jake’s gaze bounced between his stopwatch and the kid, his thoughts urging him on. Four minutes into the run, Ian walked up and stood next to his teammate. The boss’s eyes were on his younger brother while Jake handed him a clipboard with the other men’s times on it. Ian didn’t even glance at it. “How’s he doing?”
“Faster than a fucking jackrabbit. If he doesn’t miss anything, he’s going to beat Devil Dog’s time by a good fifteen to twenty seconds.”
Ian snorted in feigned disgust. “Great. Just what he needs…fucking bragging rights.”
The four men watched as Nick completed the last few obstacles and lunged across the finish line. He pulled up short, panting hard, and raised an eyebrow for his time.
“Four-fifty-nine.” Damn it, Jake thought. Was that pride in his voice?
“Hoo-yah!” The smug bastard did a dance which belonged in an NFL end-zone while the other men groaned. Yeah, it was obvious he was going to crow about that record for a long time.
Before he could say something snarky, Jake’s phone rang and he grabbed it from its hip holster. Unknown Caller. He swiped the screen to connect and brought it to his ear. “Donovan.” He was greeted by silence, but when he checked, the call was still connected. “Hello? Anyone there?”
There was crackling across the line and t
hen a whispered voice. “J-Jake?”
He froze and the hair on his neck tingled. “Alyssa? Alyssa, baby, is that you? What’s wrong?” All eyes were suddenly on him at the elevated concern in his voice. The men knew something bad was about to go down.
There was a gut-wrenching sob. “J-Jake, t-they killed her. T-they killed my m-mom.”
“Shi…where are you, Alyssa?” He turned and began to jog toward the office building with the others fast on his heels. “Alyssa? Answer me. Where are you?”
“I…I’m hiding in the b-bathroom at the park. I’m s-scared, Jake. You…you have to help me. Please, help me!”
She was close to being hysterical and Jake still needed information from her. “I’m going to help you, but first, sweetie, you need to tell me exactly where you are. Remember? They wouldn’t tell me where you and your mom went. Give me the town and state you’re in.”
“Canon City, Colorado. P-please, come get me! Please!”
“I’m coming, sweetheart. Stay on the line with me.” Barging into the office, they startled Colleen, but Jake continued past her desk and into the conference room, followed by the others. He grabbed a laptop and slid it across the table to Ian, who was in the process of taking a seat. “Canon City, Colorado. I need a contact there fast. Critical extraction.”
Ian brought the computer out of sleep mode and started typing as Jake returned his attention to the scared young girl on the phone, trying to get more information from her. The other three men stood silently around the large conference table waiting for further details as their secretary appeared in the doorway. Without taking his eyes off the computer screen, Ian ordered, “Colleen, call Chase Dixon. Tell him we need to borrow one of his planes, ASAP. Ours is still in South America. We need to go to…here it is…we’re heading to Colorado Springs or as close to Canon City, Colorado as we can get. It’ll be a round-trip or to another location. Not sure yet. Take-off within the hour.”
Topping the Alpha: Trident Security Series Page 4
