by Sable Hunter
“How old is the child?”
“Seven.”
“What can I do?” Hearing a child was involved crushed her heart. She well remembered the terror of being at the mercy of someone.
“Grey is speaking to Deacon now.”
“He doesn’t want to work with me.”
“He’s a team player and he doesn’t have a choice. He needs back-up. Grey never sends anyone into a situation without it, and we’ve no one to spare at this point in time.”
“Of course I’ll help; I’ll be glad to do anything I can.” Even though he might not want it, this would give her a little more time with Deacon. She could prove herself to him and keep him safe. Ending the call, a shiver of unease wafted over her. As elated as she was to do this, she knew he would be equally furious.
Taz began to pace back and forth across the room. “Okay, Levin, time to pull yourself together. You’re not a pushover. You will stand up to this man and do what needs to be done. Don’t let him intimidate you. You are every bit as good as he is.” As soon as the words left her lips, she knew they weren’t true. She’d matched his performance in some areas, but she hadn’t known he was working at a disadvantage. Losing his leg would affect his balance–which would affect everything. And she’d never known. The realization she would be his backup hit her hard. They would be partners. He was her responsibility. “I can do this.”
“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?”
Taz jerked her head around to find him standing in the doorway of her bedroom. “Neither. It’s just a statement of fact.” She gave him a challenging stare. “You need me.”
Yea, he might. But not in the way she thought. “I’m stuck with you.”
Stuck with her? She mulled the phrase, pondering its meaning. “Since we’re not glued together, I assume this is an insult.”
“You assumed correctly. This is not my choice, it’s a bad idea. I don’t want to work with you.” Why was he being such a jerk? As he watched her absorb his words, her body stiffened and straightened as if arming herself with an invisible shield. “But a child’s life is on the line, so we’re going to have to deal with it.” He glanced at the pile of clothes on her bed. “Are you ready? We have to leave immediately.”
“I’ll be ready in five minutes.”
“Good.” He hesitated a moment, his eyes drawn to her beauty. She was so graceful, yet capable. Fragile, yet so strong it took his breath away. “And don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
“As I will keep you safe. We’ll be partners.” Taz kept her back to him.
“No. I’m in charge. You’ll do what I say, when I say. Am I making myself clear?” With hands on his hips, he waited for her response. How was he going to endure this? All he wanted to do was tackle her to the bed and make love to her until he was satisfied–how long that would take he didn’t know.
“Diamond. Glass. Something.” She zipped up her small bag of belongings.
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘crystal’.” He held his hand out for the bag, at least he could be a gentleman.
“Don’t treat me like a woman, Deacon. Think of me as a man.” She stepped around him and headed for the door.
Deacon rolled his eyes, letting his hand drop. “Ask me to do the impossible. My cock has been buried deep inside of you, I could never forget you’re a woman.”
“Try,” she called over her shoulder. “It will be easy. I won’t be throwing myself at you anymore.”
“Oh, really?” Deacon snarled, right behind her. “Making love to a cripple wasn’t your thing?”
Taz stopped so suddenly, he crashed into her. He put out his hands to steady her, but she moved back. “Don’t touch me. And no, you’re wrong–as usual.” She glared at him, refusing to allow her body to respond to his magnetic pull. “I still want you. You’re amazing.” Despite their differences, she refused to let him think bad of himself. “I just don’t want to have sex with someone who doesn’t respect me and doesn’t really want me. You’ve stupidly deprived yourself of intimacy for so long, you would’ve had sex with anyone who threw themselves at you.”
Her impassioned pronouncement stunned him. She turned and walked away quickly before he could form a response. “Now, wait a minute…” Deacon cursed as his phone buzzed. It was Grey, he couldn’t afford to ignore the call. “Jones.” He started walking again, following the infuriating bit of femininity as she headed toward the garage. Deacon could see she was waiting for him outside. Did she really mean those things she said? “What’s up?”
“Are you on the road?”
“Fixin’ to be.”
“The stand-off has gone from bad to worse. We’ve found out the kid has diabetes. He can only go without his medication for a few days or he might lapse into a diabetic coma.”
“Shit, we’re on our way. You’ll have blueprints, directions, instructions waiting for me?”
“Yea, I’ll be sending you an email. The Governor is going to pull everyone else back as soon as you’re in place, but we have until tomorrow to get our act together. Call me when you hit Dallas and I’ll tell you where Athena has reservations for you. One room or two?”
“Two,” he answered, then thought better of it. “Hell, no. One. We need to resolve some shit and I need to keep a close eye on her.”
Grey laughed. “Sounds like you two are well on your way to becoming another Tony and Ziva.”
“I don’t know who that is,” he lied. He knew how much his friend loved NCIS. “Let’s just say we’re sparring at the moment.”
“I love to spar with Athena,” Grey sighed. “All right, I’ll let you go. Drive safe.”
“Will do.” Deacon pocketed his phone. As he approached Taz, he saw she was watching an eagle sailing on an air current overhead. “Majestic sight, isn’t it?” He’d decided some type of truce was warranted. They had a job to do, and he had to come to terms with it. He couldn’t let his attraction for her get in the way. Accomplishing the mission had to be job one, but keeping her alive and well ran a close second. And this was exactly why he didn’t want to work with a woman, especially one he had feelings for. He inwardly groaned–the enormity of his mental admission shook the very bedrock of his world. “I wonder what we look like from his vantage point.”
“Small and insignificant,” she whispered, not really intending for him to hear. “Was that Grey on the phone?”
“Yes, he’s making arrangements for us. He’ll be feeding us information all along.” Deacon led her to another part of the garage, opening the door for her to walk through. “After you.” She gave him a faint smile and he speculated about her choice of words. Did she feel small and insignificant? “Do you have any family left in Russia?”
“No, my parents were only children and so was I.” She was surprised to find he drove a big black pickup truck. “I imagined you driving a sports car. Are you a cowboy?”
“Did you see any cows anywhere on my place?” He opened the back passenger door of the double cab dually. “Most Texans wear boots, and a hat sometimes, they might even have a horse. That doesn’t make them a cowboy.”
“When I was a small child I would spend the summers with my grandmother. I loved her very much, she lived in a small rural village and I helped her all I could. She was sick a lot of the time, so I took great pride in taking care of her. Every morning, it was my job to get up early and let the cows out of their pens so the town cowboy could collect them all and herd them into the foothills to graze. He’d bring them back every evening and I would put them up for the night. He didn’t wear a hat or boots,” she said as she climbed into the front and fastened her seat belt. When he was settled into the seat next to her, she was very conscious of his size and the memories of what it felt like to be under him in bed made her quiver. She crossed her legs to try and ease the ache in her core.
He started the engine and opened the garage door, driving out into the afternoon sun. “Clothes do not make the man, but that was a sweet story. I neve
r knew any of my grandparents,” he drawled, his mind still dwelling on the fact she felt insignificant. “Do you have a lot of friends here in the states?”
“No.”
When she didn’t elaborate but continued to look out the window, he decided to take a different approach. “How did you end up in Austin?”
The view from her window was worth seeing. For several miles the drive leading from the Eagle’s Nest bordered the river and she enjoyed watching the glint of the sun’s rays on the water. “I came for Austin City Limits and decided to stay awhile.” As much as she was entranced by the passing scenery, she got far more pleasure from sneaking glimpses at Deacon Jones. He was dressed in black jeans and a tight, black button up shirt. He didn’t wear a cowboy hat or boots, but he was certainly all man. Again she cut her glance toward him–this time he was looking back and she jumped a little.
“I see you giving me that side-eye sass,” he teased, needing to see her smile. “Who did you see at the festival?” She blushed prettily and his felt his cock twitch.
“Asleep at the Wheel, Billy Idol and Foo Fighters.” She named some of the featured performers. “Were you there?” Taz liked to think they might have passed like ships in the night during the gigantic world-famous Austin celebration.
“Classic. But, no.” He shook his head. “Crowds just aren’t my thing.”
“Do you have lots of friends here?”
Ah, she was turning the tables on him. “A few.” He could see her fingers tightly laced together. “Nervous?”
“No.” She let her hands flutter apart. “A little.”
“I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to be afraid.” Deacon couldn’t resist, he reached over and clasped her hand, easing it down on the console between them.
“Oh, I’m not afraid of our mission,” she assured him, trying to ease her hand out of his grasp. “Tell me about your friends.”
Deacon just tightened his grip, caressing her palm with his thumb. “All right. If you’ll tell me what’s given you the jitters.”
“Jitters. That’s an odd word.”
“You know what I mean. Don’t play games with me, Levin.”
Somehow him addressing her by her last name made her feel better. “Last night was…intense. I don’t really know how to act around you now. You’re only the second man I’ve been with and the first man that I slept in his bed all night. And today, you are so different. I don’t know what to expect from you.”
Wow. Well, now he had his answer. “How do you want me to be?”
She shook her head, turning her head to look out the window again. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll tell you one thing. What you said earlier about me having sex with you just because you were handy and willing was a crock of shit. Do you really think I’m amazing in bed?”
Taz could hear the smile in his voice without seeing it. She smiled too, but kept her face from his view. “Yea. But I don’t have a whole lot of experience. Remember?”
Deacon laughed. “Oh, burn!”
Her head whirled around to give him a quizzical look.
“You said something witty and slightly disparaging to me,” he explained and she nodded, which made him laugh again. “You’re cute.”
She shook her head. “Tell me about your friends.” As he began to speak, he kept her hand in his. She hoped he couldn’t tell her heart was racing.
“Apart from the Omega Team, I’ve met some folks who live in the area. Logan Gray is the Fire Chief and I volunteer when I can. I joined because of Maverick Sawyer, our paths crossed in Afghanistan a few times. He’s a good guy. I’ve also met one of my neighbors across the river by the name of Micah Wolfe. I don’t know him well, but I volunteered with him down at the Angel House homeless shelter in Austin.”
“So, you are a philanthropist of sorts?”
He chuckled. “Not hardly. I just know how it is to need a helping hand.” For some reason he decided to open up, to talk to her of things he’d never told anyone else. “After I lost my leg, I thought my life was over. My wife left me. I spent months and months in rehab, learning how to get along on a prosthesis. I almost gave up. If it hadn’t been for a woman named Cady McCoy, I don’t know if I would’ve made it. She’s a physical therapist. She put me through the wringer and got me on my feet–or should I say my foot.” Taz squeezed his hand at that and he squeezed back. “Through her I met a lot of good people–her husband Joseph and his brothers. They introduced me to a friend of theirs, Cassie Cartwright, who was in a wheelchair at the time. I learned a lot from her about hope and how to deal with pain. She’s better now, though. She had an operation to remove a piece of shrapnel. Joseph and his friend Beau LeBlanc sponsor an area rodeo for handicapped kids and I got involved with that, helping design some rides and prizes for the children.”
“Does that have anything to do with those toy Jeeps and motorcycles I saw in your shed?”
He smiled. “You’re such a snoop, but yes, it does. I love to take these ride-on toys and adjust them so a child can use them for physical therapy and not even know it. They just think they’re having a good time when in actuality they’re exercising muscles and repeating movements to make them stronger. One little girl, Chelsea, has a problem holding her head up. So, I changed the gas pedal’s location from the floorboard of her little car to a flexible panel behind her head. If she leans her head back with pressure, her car will go.”
“That’s ingenious, Deacon!”
“You should’ve seen her smile. There’s another child, a little boy, called Jeremy who can’t walk or stand without help. But if he holds onto the steering wheel and pulls himself up, his fire truck will move forward.”
“I think what you’re doing is wonderful. I wish I could put down roots and make friends.”
Her voice trailed off and Deacon didn’t prompt her for more. He was too busy thinking. ‘What if’s’ were barreling through his head like a herd of wild horses.
When she heard the sound of the blinker, Taz realized they’d hit the interstate in Austin. “Move to the right hand lane. There’s been a rash of rock-throwing incidents. The last news report I heard said they’d discovered some of the bricks are being thrown from opposing lanes instead of just from overhead.”
“Yea, I heard about that. Micah Wolfe has been helping the governor’s task force trying to find out who’s doing this. There’s been over fifty cases in the last eight months.”
“Well, I’ve only been here since October. Hopefully they’ll catch the maniac soon.” He’d relaxed his grip, so she took her hand back on the premise of changing the angle of the A/C vent. “I’ll probably be gone by then. I was telling Athena I’ll be leaving soon. I’m thinking of seeing the mountains out west.”
Deacon frowned. “If you don’t join up with the Omega Team, what will you do?”
“I don’t know. Change my name, stop in some sleepy little town in the northwest, maybe take up writing.” The thought was so boring, she almost yawned.
“Somehow, I can’t see you finding a life like that very satisfying.”
He was probably right, but she didn’t have to say so. “How could you know what satisfies me?” As soon as the words left her lips, Taz flamed. Even she with her limited understanding of English grasped the unintended innuendo.
“I’d say I’m an expert on what satisfies you, Levin. And since we’re sharing a room tonight, I’ll prove my point.”
“We’re sharing a room?”
“Damn straight.” He gave her a wicked grin. “I need more time, one night with you wasn’t enough to satisfy me.”
CHAPTER SIX
By the time they reached Burkburnett, Taz was fit to be tied. She knew that phrase because Athena used it all the time. Sometimes Grey did things just to see how far he could push her. She’d also learned from Athena that those times when they ‘pushed each other’s buttons’ sometimes led to great ‘make-up sex’. If she and Deacon were intimate tonight, it would definitely fall into tha
t category.
After he’d informed her they would be sharing a room, she’d been speechless. The idea of being with him again had her body vibrating with anticipation. Her heart and her mind were much more hesitant. She could easily become addicted to this man, walking away from him would be difficult.
And then Grey had called and she witnessed firsthand the concept of another phrase– ‘the shit hit the fan’. “Do I take orders from you or from Grey?” she asked again.
“Me.”
“And who do you take orders from?” she pushed, which probably wasn’t wise. The only answer she got was a low rumbly growl. “I don’t see the problem. Grey thinks this is a good plan.”
“I don’t. It’s too dangerous. If anyone is going onto the ranch with the medicine for that child, it will be me–not you.”
Taz threw up her hands. “The idea is that I don’t look as threatening as you.” She gestured toward his big body.
“Exactly. Those men at the Ainsley ranch aren’t playing with a full deck. If you think I’m going to let you walk into that place unprotected, you’re off your rocker. We’ll come up with a better plan.”
“I don’t know about decks and rockers, but you wouldn’t know a good plan if it bit you…” Instead of finishing the sentence she let out a frustrated growl of her own.
Deacon’s mouth flew open and his eye brows raised. A surprised laugh erupted from his lips. “Did you say what I thought you just said? I think I’ll show you tonight what a little nip on the ass feels like.”
“Would you do that?” she muttered with disbelief. She knew she should be angry, but that wasn’t the emotion she was feeling at the moment.
“In a heartbeat, honey.” He slowed down and pulled into a small motel. “Wait here. I’ll get the key.”
“I’m hungry,” she announced as he started to get out. “How about if I walk across the street?” She pointed to a small restaurant with a huge plastic cow standing outside. “I could buy some hamburgers to go and meet you back here.”
