Rescuing Kassie: Delta Force Heroes, Book 5

by Stoker, Susan

  “Yeah. I’ve got your address programmed into the GPS and it looks straightforward enough.”

  “How’s your sister?”

  “She’s okay. Neither of us have seen Dean, but I’m sure he’s still around somewhere. The longer he waits to contact me, the more nervous I get. But if I’m honest, I’m not sure Karina is really watching for him. She’s kinda got her head in the sand about the entire situation. She was freaked out when I first told her, but since then I think she’s just trying to forget about Dean in order to cope with the fact he’s been watching her.”

  “She needs to be careful,” Hollywood warned.

  Kassie sighed. “I know, and I think she does too, but I can’t be with her twenty-four seven. She has school and I have to work. I’ll talk to her again. I’m doing my best, Hollywood.”

  “I know you are, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” he soothed, hearing the defeat in her tone. Hopefully after the weekend, he and his team would have a plan to deal with both Dean and Jacks that would make her feel better. Hollywood caught Truck’s eye and gave him a chin lift and head jerk, letting him know he was leaving. “Have you talked to the detective you showed the texts and emails to lately?”

  “Yeah. He said they were looking for Dean, but hadn’t been able to find him yet. It’s so weird that someone can hide like that. Heck, every time I turned around he was there. I can’t believe they can’t find him.”

  “It’s fairly easy to stay out of sight if you don’t want to be found,” he told her. Then asked, “Did you get a restraining order yet?”

  She paused, and Hollywood knew what she was going to say before she said it.

  “No, but I meant to.”

  “We’ll talk about it this weekend. You can’t keep putting it off,” Hollywood told her sternly. Before she could argue with him—he knew what her objections were to getting it filed, and he would nip those in the bud—he said quickly, “I’m going to let you go so you can concentrate. Drive safe. Let me know when you get close. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  “Okay. See you soon.”

  “Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  Hollywood hung up and climbed into his car. He’d seen Kassie three days ago when he’d driven down there after work on Tuesday, but he was ridiculously excited to see her again. On his turf this time. Dating had never felt like this before. He’d been happy to spend time with a woman, but hadn’t ever felt this anticipation, this eagerness to be with another person as he did with Kassie.

  He felt more himself with her than with anyone, outside of his family and teammates. She liked how he looked, but he knew she wasn’t with him because of it. Until he’d met her, he hadn’t realized just how much that mattered to him.

  Hollywood glanced at his watch and nodded to himself. He had plenty of time to shower and change before Kassie arrived. He hadn’t forgotten how she’d run her nose along his neck, inhaling his scent. If she liked his aftershave, he’d go out of his way to make sure he always smelled like that for her.

  An hour later, Hollywood waited outside his apartment complex for Kassie to arrive. She’d called five minutes ago saying she was getting off the interstate and should be there soon. He watched as her four-door Honda Accord pulled into the lot. By the time she parked, he was at her door, holding it open when she climbed out.

  Without thought, Hollywood caught her around the waist and pulled her into him. He dropped his head and caught her lips with his own. They’d kissed before, but not like this. Hard, long, and passionately. Hollywood could smell the scent of shampoo mixed with her essence as he devoured her mouth. He hadn’t even looked at what she was wearing; his only thought was that he needed to kiss her.

  He felt her hands gripping the sides of his T-shirt and shifted her in his grasp until he could feel every curve. Pulling back long enough to mumble, “Hey, sweetheart,” he put his hand on her back, pressing her harder against him. He didn’t give her a chance to respond. Taking her mouth again, Hollywood swore he heard birds singing and bells ringing. It was ridiculous, but nothing in his entire life felt as good as Kassie’s lips and tongue moving under his own.

  After several more blissful moments, he finally pulled back. He kept her lower body flush to his and asked, “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” she breathed. “Better now that I’m here.”

  “Good.”

  They smiled at each other for a beat.

  “You need anything before we go up?” Hollywood asked, strangely reluctant to move even an inch.

  Kassie shook her head. “Since I’m staying at Fletch’s place tonight, I’ll keep my bag in the car.”

  Turning them, Hollywood put his arm around her waist and shut her car door. He led them up the stairs to his apartment, for some reason anxious to get her into his space. He wasn’t able to keep her safe day to day, so now that she was here, he wanted to lock her away from the world. The only place he knew for certain Jacks or Dean couldn’t get to her was behind his door. So that’s where he wanted her.

  Sighing in relief when the door clicked behind him, and trying not to think about the fact that she’d be leaving later to go to the apartment over Fletch’s garage, Hollywood smiled at Kassie.

  “The drive was okay?”

  “Yeah. Surprisingly, the traffic actually wasn’t too bad. I thought getting out of Austin would suck. I guess everyone saw me coming and got out of the way,” she teased.

  “As they should. Want the grand tour?”

  “Sure.”

  Hollywood showed Kassie around his apartment. It wasn’t much to write home about. The door opened into the main living area. The space was an open concept, so the kitchen was visible from the doorway. It had stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Hollywood didn’t have a kitchen table, but there were stools pushed in under a bar.

  “As you can see, this is the kitchen and living area,” he said unnecessarily.

  He tried to look at his place from her perspective. He had a few pictures of his family on the bookshelf against the wall, including his sister and her family. There was also a framed shot of him and all his friends taken at Emily and Fletch’s wedding. Emily had insisted on taking it before the shit had hit the fan that night, and then had gotten it framed and gifted a copy to each of the men. Ghost, Fletch, Coach, himself, Beatle, Blade, Truck, and Fish were wearing their dress blue uniforms, standing next to each other, grinning like fools.

  Kassie went straight to it, smiling. She picked up the heavy frame and examined the eight-by-ten print. “I recognize everyone but this guy,” she said, turning the photo to him and pointed to Fish.

  Hollywood smiled and said, “That’s Fish.”

  “Fish?”

  “Yup. He can swim like one.”

  “Hmmm, I didn’t see him at the ball,” Kassie commented.

  “That’s because he wasn’t there. He doesn’t do so well with crowds. The short story is that he was in a situation in the Middle East and all the guys in his platoon were killed. Truck saved his life, and we hauled his carcass to safety. So now he’s one of us.”

  Kassie wrinkled her brow. “But he’s okay?”

  Hollywood shrugged. “He will be. He lost part of his arm, and will be medically retired from the Army, but he’s almost done with therapy. He’s come a hell of a long way and we’re happy to call him brother.”

  “I love that for him,” Kassie said softly. “I wish every wounded soldier had the kind of friends to come home to that he did.”

  “Me too,” Hollywood agreed, wondering anew how in the world he thought Kassie would ever deliberately and maliciously use him to feed information to Jacks. She was considerate and kind to just about everyone she met, even Fish, who she’d never met.

  “You wanna see the rest of the place?” he asked quietly.

  Kassie nodded, but her eyes didn’t leave the photo for a long moment. Finally, she placed the frame back on the shelf and turned to smile at him. “You’re hot in your uniform, but I
think I like you better like this,”—she gestured to him—“jeans, old T-shirt and ratty sneakers. It’s more…you.”

  God. She killed him. Not able to say the words that would do justice to the way she made him feel, Hollywood took her hand, kissed the back and led her through his living room. He steered her around the black leather couch, coffee table, and recliner. He went down the hallway, gesturing to a closet, a utilitarian bathroom, a bedroom that he used as a workout room, a linen closet, and finally to the master bedroom. Swallowing hard, feeling as if he was opening the door to a whole new life, he turned the knob.

  Kassie took a step inside, then snorted under her breath.

  Hollywood smiled. “What?”

  “You don’t have a bed,” she told him, as if he didn’t know.

  “I’ve got a bed,” he countered, looking at the mattress sitting on the floor. It wasn’t the most put-together master bedroom he’d ever seen, but he had a place to sleep, a dresser to keep his clothes in with a TV sitting on top of it, and a small bedside table where a digital clock sat and his pistol resided when he was sleeping. It worked for him.

  “No, you have a mattress,” she corrected.

  Hollywood smiled, loving how relaxed and happy Kassie looked. “Right. Then I have the most important part of a bed. I’ll have you know that mattress is as comfortable as anything I’ve ever slept on, and I’ve never seen the need to go to the trouble of buying a contraption to put it on.” He didn’t tell her that when he was on a mission, he usually slept in the dirt, mud, and sand. This was actually luxurious by comparison.

  Kassie shook her head at him. “You have to have a bed, Hollywood.”

  “Why?”

  Instead of answering, she asked, “Do you really bring women to your place to seduce them, then back here to your room, only to have them see this?”

  Hollywood knew she was joking with him, but it was important for her to know how things were. “I’ve never had a woman here, Kassie.”

  The smile faded from her face as she searched his eyes. But she didn’t say anything.

  “I don’t pick women up anymore, sweetheart. I’m thirty-two, way beyond the bar-hopping stage. I’ve only been with two women in the last four years. Partly because I’ve been busy, but I’ve also gotten sick of them wanting to be with me simply because of my looks. That sounds conceited, I know, but it’s been what I’ve experienced. And neither of those two stepped foot in my space. Not in my kitchen. Not in my living room. And definitely not in my bedroom. This mattress has known the weight of my body and mine only.”

  Hollywood wasn’t sure what Kassie’s response would be to his impassioned statement. Maybe delight that he didn’t sleep around. Maybe surprise that he had the balls to bring it up. But what he didn’t expect her to do was smile broadly, then take three steps toward his mattress and throw herself down on it.

  She giggled as she lay back and wiggled her butt back and forth. Her arms moved up and down and her legs in and out, as if she were making a snow angel on his sheets.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, bemused.

  “Now you can’t say that you’ve been the only person on this mattress,” she got out between giggles. “Now it’s been contaminated by girl cooties.”

  Hollywood knew he’d only known Kassie for a couple of weeks, but it was right at that moment, watching her giggle and writhe on his mattress, teasing him, that he fell irrevocably in love. No shit, not fucking around, madly in love. He knew some people wouldn’t believe him, would tell him there was no way he could be in love with a woman after meeting her online and only seeing her in person a handful of times. But they’d be wrong.

  He absolutely loved Kassie Anderson and she’d be his, no matter what.

  Not giving her any warning, Hollywood pounced.

  He crouched over her, pinning her body under his. She was still giggling, but pushed at his chest, trying to move him. “Oh no, Hollywood, it’s too late. It’s already contaminated. There’s nothing you can do now.”

  It wasn’t until he dropped down fully on top of her that Kassie stopped giggling, even though the smile stayed on her face. Aligning his crotch to hers, knowing she’d be able to feel his erection, Hollywood grabbed her hands, pinning them over her head and holding them there with one of his. His chest rubbed against her now stiff nipples as he came down on an elbow over her.

  She inhaled deeply once and wiggled under him before stilling.

  He smiled as she closed her eyes and arched her back, pressing herself harder against him. “I don’t mind your girl cooties,” Hollywood told her. “In fact, I’m hoping you’ll someday infect the shit out of this mattress with your…cooties.”

  The smile on his face grew when she blushed. But she gamely opened her eyes and looked up at him. “I’ll infect yours if you infect mine.”

  Hollywood was speechless for a moment, then he dropped his head and nuzzled her neck. She tilted her head to give him more room and he felt her inch her legs apart and shift until her knees were bent and pressing against his thighs. “Damn, woman.”

  She laughed at him and Hollywood pulled back. “How did I get lucky enough to have you here in my bed?” he mused more to himself than her. But, of course, she answered him anyway.

  Kassie shrugged. “I think you’re delusional because I’m the lucky one. But whatever.”

  “You are absolutely one hundred percent wrong,” Hollywood told her softly. “I know a good thing when I see it. If Jacks and all the other men you’ve run into during your life didn’t see it, it’s their loss. But now you’re mine. They had their chance. I’ll spend every day making sure you know how precious you are. I hate that he made you feel as if you weren’t an amazing, wonderful woman. But if you want to continue to believe as if you’re the lucky one, have at it.”

  “You’re crazy, Hollywood.”

  Without smiling, he returned, “No, sweetheart. You just haven’t been treated as you should be. But that shit’s over. I’m going to make it my mission in life to show you what you’ve been missing. To show you how a woman who is the most important thing in a man’s life is treated.”

  Her brows furrowed in confusion, but she obviously chose to move the conversation on. She lifted her head and ran her nose down his jawline, inhaling as she went. “You always smell so good. I love it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “But I should warn you, Kassie. I don’t always.” He smiled down at her and touched his index finger to her nose in a gentle caress. “Forty-five minutes ago, if you sniffed me you would’ve shrunk back in horror and refused to even be in the same apartment with me, nevertheless the same bed.”

  She giggled. “Well, I appreciate the effort.”

  Hollywood asked, “You get a chance to grab something to eat on your way?”

  She shook her head. “No. I was too excited to get up here.”

  He liked that answer. She hadn’t said she was too excited to see him, but it was implied. He’d take it. “You hungry?”

  Kassie nodded. “I could eat.”

  Knowing he needed to move, or he might not let her leave at all, Hollywood pushed himself up, getting to his hands and knees over her. “I’m making steaks, green beans, and salad. That okay?”

  “Perfect.”

  He stepped off the mattress and held out his hands. “Come on, I’ll help you.”

  “For some reason, I feel like I’m sitting on the floor,” she quipped.

  “That’s because you almost are.”

  She put her hands in his and he grimaced at the coldness of her fingers. Once she was standing, he sandwiched her hands between his own and briskly rubbed them. “I can’t get over how cold your hands always are.”

  She shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me.”

  “Well, it bothers me,” he told her honestly.

  After he’d rubbed them for a while, he grasped one, intertwined his fingers with hers and led her out of his bedroom. He got her situated a
t the bar in the kitchen and poured her a glass of red wine. He took out the steaks he’d been marinating and got to work.

  Forty-five minutes later, stuffed from dinner, they were both sitting on his leather couch. The television was off and they were talking.

  “I love that you’re so easy to talk to,” Hollywood told her. “From the first message we exchanged, I noticed it. You had no problem talking about whatever popped into your mind.”

  “Don’t remind me,” Kassie moaned. “I can’t believe I babbled on about dick pics.”

  Hollywood chuckled. “I’m still holding out for a boob pic from you.”

  “You’re just gonna have to keep holding out, buster,” she scolded. “There’s no way I’m sending naked pictures to anyone. With my luck, Richard would figure out how to hack my phone or computer and they’d end up on Porn Hub or something.”

  He laughed and pulled her closer to him. “I don’t need pictures, Kass. I’m holding out for the real thing.”

  Kassie bit her lip and said hesitantly, “I’m not exactly porn star material, Hollywood.”

  “And?”

  “And I just thought I’d warn you before we get to the point where we exchange cooties,” she tried to joke.

  “I don’t want perfection, sweetheart,” Hollywood reassured her. “I want a woman who is passionate. Who wants me as much as I want her. I want someone I can laugh with. Who doesn’t care about looks as much as she does about what’s inside a person. And I know for a fact from that kiss earlier that the only thing I’m going to care about when we do get naked together is how you like to be touched, where, and how quickly it’ll take you to come for me.”

  She shivered and murmured without looking at him, “I don’t think it’ll take long.”

  Hollywood tipped her chin up with his finger. “I like what I see when I look at you, Kass. You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I’ll remind you of that if you’re disappointed when we get naked.”

  Loving that she’d said when, and not if, Hollywood merely grinned and tugged her closer to him.

  As she did most nights when he’d visited, she snuggled into his side at his urging. They were quiet for a moment before he changed the subject. As much as he wanted her naked in his bed, tonight didn’t seem to be the right time. If he was honest with himself, he wanted the threat of Jacks and Dean eliminated before he took her to bed. He wanted to slay all her dragons for her. “Why haven’t you gotten a protective order, Kass? It seems to me that would be the next step.”