Protecting Mari (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Counterstrike Book 1)

by Cara Carnes

  Jen made him wait. Mari’s heart swelled. She wasn’t family. Jen and Milo could’ve easily let him give them an update, even if they’d promised otherwise.

  But good people didn’t lie. They abided by their promises because they gave a damn about the person they’d made them to. Mari let that fact sink in.

  She mattered to Ethan, but she also mattered to Jen, Milo and the others.

  Because she mattered to Ethan.

  Somehow the echoing thought in her brain helped keep her calm as she shuffled down the hall as fast as the too-long pants allowed.

  Milo was closest to her in the huddle and she took in his presence like a punch to the gut. God, he did look so much like Ethan, more so tonight. He’d lost the glint in his gaze. He squatted down before her and she stood frozen as he rolled up the pants legs of her scrubs.

  He stood and smirked. “Can’t have you falling. Ethan would kick my ass.”

  Mari hoped to hell Ethan would be up to doing precisely that soon. She looked expectantly at the surgeon standing before the larger-than-Mari-realized crowd of waiting people.

  “The surgery was touch and go, but Ethan made it through. He lost a large amount of blood, but the field work saved his life. Recovery will be slow, but he’s through the worst of it.” The man looked around. “He’s still awaking from surgery, but he’s quite vocal. Is there a Mari here?”

  She gulped. Tears filled her eyes. Ethan was going to be okay. The cluster of people parted and slowly guided her closer to the surgeon.

  “Ah, yes. You must be Mari. Come with me. He’s demanded to see you, assuming he’s still awake. We expected him to sleep for another few hours before he was fully alert and ready for visitors, but he’s quite determined to see you.”

  That sounded exactly like Ethan—more worried about her than himself. She reached for Jen. “Can she and his brother come with me? Please?”

  “This is highly irregular,” the surgeon responded.

  Milo cleared his throat and pointed a finger at the wall. Mari thought the gesture was odd, then she saw the plaque on the wall. The Davenport Wing.

  They’d funded this wing of the hospital?

  The motion activated the surgeon. He nodded and the newly formed group of her, Jen, and Milo headed down a long, white corridor that stunk of antiseptic and…hospital. She didn’t know how else to describe it.

  If she ever had a bajillion dollars she’d figure out a way to make hospitals smell like roses. Or begonias. Anything but this. She muttered the thought as she followed the fast-walking doctor.

  Milo’s laughter boomed within the narrow corridor. “I’ll see what we can do about that.”

  The momentary bit of humor helped slough off the worst of her fear. Ethan was going to be okay. Chester was dead.

  It was over.

  Now they could move on with their lives, whatever that translated to. With all luck, she could continue getting to know Ethan. The doctor halted at the end of the long corridor and motioned toward the room on the left.

  Mari’s heart leapt into her throat as her pulse quickened. Tears streaming down her face, she turned the corner and vaulted into the room. Relief assailed her as she forced a ragged breath and studied the sleeping man on the bed.

  “His body’s been through quite an ordeal. It’ll likely be a while before he wakes again,” the doctor said in a whisper. “I can let you know when he wakes up.”

  “No.” Mari quietly moved a chair as close to the bed as she could and sat. “I’ll wait.”

  “Ma’am, I’m afraid you need to return to the waiting area,” he said.

  “She’ll wait here. We will all wait here. Thank you,” Jen said, her tone dismissive. “Please have someone bring in another couple of seats and one of the sleeper recliners. Oh, and a meal of some sort. She’ll need to eat in a few minutes.”

  “Yes, ma’am, of course.”

  Mari was grateful Jen had handled the doctor. Eyes watery, she breathed another deep breath and grasped Ethan’s hand. It was limp, but warm. She threaded their fingers through one another and reached over with her other hand until her finger grazed the pulse point along his wrist.

  Eyes closed, she began the slow glide. One letter at a time.

  Ethan blinked awake. He was higher than hell. He recognized the feeling from the injuries he’d sustained while fleeing the jungle prison. Aw hell.

  He knifed up out of bed and froze as his vision settled on Mari. Thank fuck. He collapsed back on the bed.

  “She hasn’t left your side,” Milo whispered. He made his way to the side of the bed. “We took turns staying in here with her, but she hasn’t left. She passed out a couple hours ago. You were out a while. You got an infection.”

  “How long?” His throat hurt like hell. He swallowed as he ran his fingers through her hair.

  “Two days. You’ve been in and out of it, mostly out. You went through a patch where you thought you’d just gotten back from the jungle. You made a hell of a mess.”

  “You didn’t tell them I reacted badly to painkillers,” he said.

  “I did, but they felt it was worth the risk. We all agreed.” Milo smirked. “Nolan and I got you back down. You responded to him, probably because he was there back then.”

  Shit.

  “She’s damn near written an entire book on your wrist,” Milo commented. “You’re skin’ll likely be sore. Then again, maybe not. She’s used almost a whole bottle of lotion on you.”

  He reached down and ran his hands through her hair and grasped firmly enough to draw her attention. She needed her sleep, but he needed her to know he was okay more.

  Mari’s head popped off the bed. Beautiful brown eyes widened and latched onto him.

  “Ethan.” She breathed his name and cupped his face. “You’re awake. Finally.”

  “I’m okay, sweetheart. I’m sorry I scared you. You should be at home resting.”

  She shook her head. “I wasn’t leaving until you woke up. I have it on good authority that seeing a friendly face when you’re waking up somewhere strange is always welcome, especially after you’ve had a scare.”

  Ethan reeled as he took in her smile. He processed her statement, remembered when he’d said it to her back when everything started and he’d had Twitch bring June Bug.

  She remembered.

  Word for fucking word, she remembered.

  “I’m sorry you got shot,” she whispered. “You’re going to be okay, though. Jen and I found the best physical therapist around. The bullet did quite a bit of damage, but it’s nothing you can’t fully recover from. We have a plan. Or, well, several.”

  He smiled. It sounded like little sis had worked hard to keep Mari’s mind focused on the future rather than watching him rot away in a hospital bed.

  “Status?”

  “Chester’s dead. Investigation’s ongoing. So far they’ve suspended three detectives in Homicide and two in Robbery. The blue’s rolling over on them. No one wants the foul taste of what he did stinking up the APD,” Milo said.

  “Jen’s worked out a settlement with the police department for me. I told her I didn’t want anything from them, but she said I should take it.” Mari squeezed his hand. “So I did. She’s going to help me start a nonprofit to run in conjunction with Counterstrike. I want to educate and train the women you’re helping, so they can get better jobs.”

  Ethan smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea, sweetheart.”

  And a pricey one. Either Jen had negotiated one hell of a settlement with the APD on Mari’s behalf, or little sis and big-bro-by-two-minutes had quietly added a couple zeroes to get her dream started.

  “I’ll go let the others know you’re awake and alert for real this time,” Milo said as he shuffled from the room.

  Ethan squeezed Mari’s arm. “Come up on the bed with me, sweetheart. I need to hold you in my arms.”

  “Okay, but let me lock the door. Last time I crawled into your bed, Nurse Cratchet got mad at me.” Ethan chuckled as Mari qui
ckly locked the door and then crawled into the bed on his “good side.”

  Fuck. Physical therapy was gonna suck, but he’d endure it for her.

  He’d do just about anything for her.

  “I was so worried, Ethan,” she whispered against his neck as she settled against him. Hand around his chest, she peered up into his gaze. “I know it’s too soon, and I don’t know how, but I’ve fallen in love with you, Ethan Evans Davenport.”

  “I love you, too, Marisol Santos,” he whispered. He claimed her mouth in a kiss too passionate for the scant amount of time they had alone.

  He doubted Jen and the team would wait long to enter and see for themselves he was okay. The road to recovery would be a long, pain in the ass, but well worth it.

  “The second I’m out of here, we’re going out on another first date.”

  She smiled. “You promise?”

  “This time we’ll do something quiet, out of the way. No pretention. No security risks. No gunshots.”

  “As long as it ends with me in your bed, we can do McDonald’s for all I care,” she whispered.

  Ethan threw his head back and laughed. Mari was hysterical because he knew she meant every word. She didn’t give a damn what they did as long as they were together.

  “God, I love you, sweetheart.”

  Chapter 12

  Three weeks later

  Mari fritzed and fussed with her hair, then pulled on the snug red dress. Tonight was finally the night. After three long weeks she was finally going out on another first date with Ethan.

  Recovery had been slow and far more painful than she’d expected. Physical therapy was a special level of hell she wouldn’t wish on anyone—except maybe Chester. Ethan took whatever the therapist threw at him.

  She’d learned more than she ever wanted about the type of injury Ethan barely avoided sustaining. Unbeknownst to her, a millimeter or two more to the side and he would’ve bled out.

  She forced the thought aside.

  All that mattered now was that he was alive and okay. He and Jen had switched houses. Jen was now on the second floor of the three-story house he and Milo owned, while he’d taken over the bungalow next door.

  For now.

  Ethan made his dislike for the arrangement quite clear. Then Mari had pointed out that it’d give them more privacy. Privacy they’d both enjoyed very, very much.

  But they hadn’t had sex yet.

  Ethan was adamant he wasn’t going to rush them, which Mari loved him for. But if they didn’t make love tonight? Well, a woman had needs and he was going to find out exactly what happened when they didn’t get met.

  She smiled at the soft knock on the bedroom door. She’d moved into the bungalow’s second bedroom. At first, sharing a house with a man she loved but wasn’t sleeping with was a bit…awkward. But after a couple days they’d fallen into a comfortable routine. They spent their evenings together watching television while they mostly made out.

  Her hand trembled as she turned the knob and opened the door. “Hi.”

  Ethan’s eyes widened as his gaze drank in her new dress. She spun around so he’d get the full effect of the plunging not-there-at-all back. She’d bought it while in San Antonio, where she’d met with Zoey and a woman named Ellie. They’d had lunch and shopped their wallets dry.

  It’d been worth every penny.

  She memorized the hungry look in his eyes and licked her lips. “I know we’re supposed to go to dinner, but there’s only one thing I want tonight.”

  A growl rumbled from him as he grasped her head and claimed her mouth. She moaned, sagged into him, and deepened the kiss. She chased, taunted, and toyed with his tongue as she slowly drew them backward toward the bed.

  She wanted him off his leg, which still bothered him late at night. The therapist had told her it’d likely be months before the pain truly went away, especially since he’d sworn off any painkillers.

  Pleasure ignited along her skin as they tumbled onto the bed. She inhaled his intoxicating scent and grasped the pale gray shirt he’d put on. Feeling only a moment’s guilt, she ripped it open. Buttons popped and spewed everywhere.

  He chuckled against their connected mouths and grinned. Eyes opened, she peered into his. The slow touches he’d used earlier became demanding. Fast. Exactly what she needed.

  She wanted to taste, memorize, and savor every inch of him.

  “God, you’re killing me,” he groaned against her throat. “This dress.”

  The straps slid down her arms. Deft fingers unzipped the back. She leaned backward enough for the material to slide down her front.

  “You’re beautiful.” He breathed the words as he ran kisses down her throat and across her shoulders. He cupped her breasts, breasts she’d kept hidden from him so the bitemarks could heal. She didn’t want what they shared intimately tainted by the man who’d hurt her.

  His thumbs raked along her nipples, flicking back and forth in a slow, sensuous glide until the achy nubs hardened. She thrust her chest forward, deepening the contact she’d imagined and fantasized about all day.

  He drew one into his mouth. Pleasure arrowed downward and settled between her legs. She tasted, touched, massaged, and stroked him wherever she could.

  Ethan severed contact long enough to strip out of his clothes. Magnificent. She memorized every ridge, every flex and bulge of muscle along his powerful body. Her gaze skittered past his injured leg. She didn’t want a reminder of how close she’d come to losing him. Not tonight.

  Tonight was a celebration of life.

  Love.

  “You keep looking at me like that and this will be a much shorter union than I want it to be,” he mumbled with a grin.

  “Nothing about you is short.” She skimmed the dress past her hips and tossed it to the side of the bed. “I’ve waited long enough, Ethan. I need you.”

  “Not any more than I need you, sweetheart.”

  She kissed him hungrily and ran her hand down his bare chest. She wrapped her fingers around his hard, long length.

  “You’re a little minx,” he whispered as he dragged her legs up until she fell on her back. He pinned her hands over her head and grinned. “I get to play first.”

  Oh God.

  She writhed beneath him as he caressed down her sides, along her breasts, and up her legs. His mouth followed the same trajectory, tasting, licking, and nibbling until his hot breath trailed up her inner thighs.

  Mari had spent many lonely nights the past few weeks imagining his mouth on her. She’d never come close. Deft fingers spread her folds apart as he licked and teased her sensitive flesh. His tongue flicked along her clit, back and forth until her entire body quaked with the need to come.

  As if sensing her hesitation, he sped up the pace, then switched to a gentle sucking that spiraled her over the edge. Her entire body shook with her release. Fingers in his short hair, she hung on and rode the waves of pleasure.

  “Ethan.” She whispered his name as she cried out.

  His mouth claimed hers. The carnal taste of herself on his lips made her groan. She reached between them and grasped his hard cock.

  “Next time I play with you,” she growled against his mouth. “I need you in me, Ethan. Please.”

  “Mari, I love you so much,” he whispered. He looked down at the pile of clothes. “I need to get a condom, sweetheart.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I’m protected. I take a shot. I have for years. I haven’t been with anyone since I left him.”

  “Jesus, sweetheart. You kill me with how much you trust me to take care of you. I was tested recently and haven’t been with anyone in months. I’ve never been with anyone without a condom.”

  Mari bristled and looked away. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

  “Look at me, Mari,” he ordered, his voice gentle. Fingers beneath her chin, he waited for her to turn her gaze back to him. “I love you more than anything. Of course I want to make love to you without anything between us, but
I want you to know you are safe with me. Always. I would never, ever do anything to violate the trust you’ve given me. Okay?”

  “I love you, Ethan. Please. Make love to me.”

  She kissed him. Eyes open, she watched his expression as he slid into her. A moan escaped her as he filled her fuller than she’d ever experienced. He groaned and rose to position his hands on either side of her head.

  She grasped his shoulders, wrapped her legs around him and matched his powerful thrusts into her. Each one cast a brushfire of awareness through her entire body. He kissed her mouth, nibbled down her throat and along her earlobe. Teased her breasts.

  She sank her fingernails into his back as she fought the need to orgasm again. She wanted to hold out, wait until he was ready.

  “Fuck, I love how beautiful you look when you come. Give it to me, sweetheart.”

  She cried out and held onto him as a whirlwind of desire pulsated through her. She drifted within his embrace as he cried out with his own release.

  Then collapsed on the bed, sated and sweaty.

  Spectacular.

  The word formed in her brain, followed by a thousand more to describe her feelings for Ethan and what they’d just done, but none formed on her tongue.

  He kissed her cheek and drew her into his arms. “That was the best dinner I’ve ever had.”

  She smiled as she remembered his mouth on her, tasting her. She’d get a taste of him soon enough. Head on his chest, she sighed her contentment.

  “Hate to say this, but we’d best get up and get some food in you. We’ve got to be at the airport early in the morning,” he commented.

  Excitement bubbled within her. Tex had tried hard to get Joseph home weeks ago, but his team had been deep within a mission. They were finally home and taking a well-deserved leave.

  Joseph was coming home.

  She wasn’t sure how long of a leave he was getting, or how much of it he’d spend in Austin, but she’d enjoy every single second of the time she got to spend with him. Her mom and dad had just left a couple days ago.

  June Bug hopped up on the bed and curled onto the bed above her head and next to Ethan’s. Mari couldn’t help but chuckle as the cat’s tail flicked back and forth on Ethan’s face.