by Zoe Dawson
Back at the house, the local authorities were pulling up. He showed his badge and turned the grandmother and daughter over to them for safekeeping. Back in the house, Beau went to one of the downed tangos.
Kinley said, “I called Daniel.”
Beau nodded. He turned the guy’s head and exposed the right side of his neck. Two crossed swords were tattooed just behind his lobe and level with his jaw.
They answered the local authority’s questions that were asked, showed their badges and were released.
He carried Kinley’s weapon as she went into Mrs. Thompson’s bathroom to wash off the blood. Beau stood behind her. As she wiped her hands, she met his eyes in the mirror. “You did good. Don’t start second-guessing yourself now.”
She accepted her weapon and tucked it back into the small of her back. “Two Swords,” she said.
“Yup. Looks like they wanted her dead and unable to give us any information.”
“So, it was someone they were transporting into the country.”
Kinley’s phone rang and she answered. “Yes, sir. This is conclusive? All right. Thank you.” She listened intently, then her eyes widened. “The commandant? But wouldn’t this be handled by the Atlantic area commander, sir?” She listened some more. “Oh, I see. All right. We’re heading there now.”
She rubbed her hands over her face. “They want us to head over to OPBAT at the embassy for a briefing. We got a hit off INTERPOL. The DNA matches Diego Montoya, and the commandant and director want to talk to us. Mrs. Thompson died for nothing.”
“That’s significant that the commandant is involved?”
“Yes, normally he doesn’t handle these kinds of matters, but he’s royally pissed at the boldness of Montoya and he personally wants to make sure that man is apprehended.”
During the ride over to the embassy, Kinley sat mute in the front seat. He could see how she rubbed at her hands. He reached over and covered them after the fourth time. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine.” She clasped his hand though—tight. “That’s the first time I’ve ever…killed anyone.”
“They were clean kills, and you realize they were going to kill you?”
“Yes, I know that. It’s just…not what I expected. I’ve shot at targets for forever, and I’ve been on drug busts where I’ve had to pull my weapon, but so far I’ve never killed anyone.”
“Well, if you ever get used to it, that’s when you have to worry.”
She turned to look at him. “Have you gotten used to it?”
He squeezed her hands and shook his head. “I have a professional detachment. They’re tangos in my head. Always the enemy. I did my job in combat. Not something I’ve gotten used to, but I have no regrets, Kinley, and you shouldn’t, either.”
She nodded.
Back at the embassy, in their conference room, they all sat down in front of a widescreen.
“Go ahead,” Daniel said.
The screen flashed on. One side was taken up by the Commandant of the Coast Guard, and the other was filled with the director of NCIS, with Chris standing close behind him.
“Agent Jerrott,” the director said, “we want you and Agent Cooper to remain in the Bahamas to track down any information you have on Diego Montoya in cooperation with the DEA.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep us posted on any leads you uncover. We will keep Homeland informed.”
The screen winked off. Beau turned to Daniel and Ken. “Let’s go hunting, boys.”
“Who’re we hunting?” Daniel asked.
“Anyone who has two swords tattooed right here on their neck,” Beau said pointing to the area the tattoo would be on his neck.
Chapter Eight
Kinley was dead tired after running down government and DEA informants. The list of Diego Montoya’s potential associates was pages long, but the ones they could find claimed they had no idea where he was. A few were afraid to just mention his name. They were no closer to nabbing a cartel member.
She rubbed the back of her neck as she rolled away from the computer Daniel had allowed her to use.
Rising, she walked to their break room and put some coins into the snack machine. She wasn’t really hungry, but she needed a break. Actually, they needed a break in this case. From her vantage point she spied Beau at the computer. His cheek rested against his hand as his eyes scanned the screen. His broad, long-fingered hand. He leaned back and stretched all those muscles then ran his hands through his hair, and it settled haphazardly against his cheeks and forehead. Her gaze riveted to his moves, she accepted the shudder of pleasure that rolled down her spine at the image of those strong hands caressing her flesh.
Nope, she wasn’t hungry for food, and her hunger shouldn’t be this intense for a man she’d just met.
This candy bar was a desperate attempt to quell the anxiety growing inside her. Anxiety that had little to do with solving the job at hand, and a lot to do with the fact that despite her attempts to not think about him in the way she was thinking about him, her desire hadn’t eased at all.
Working side by side with him and watching his quick mind in action certainly hadn’t helped matters at all. Wasn’t it enough he had a body that wouldn’t quit? He had to have a tantalizing mind, as well? She stole another glance at him and shivered, taking a much-needed breath. As she turned around, she almost ran right into Daniel.
“Hey, sorry,” he said as he steadied her. “Can I have a word with you?”
She looked down at the candy bar, twisting the wrapper in her hand. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Daniel. She hadn’t missed the way he’d looked at her—a starving man who remembered how she’d filled him up. But, in her experience, the illusion was unfounded, and he’d acted in a way that made it difficult to look at him and not feel contempt. “About what?”
“Did you get my emails?”
So many emails, the minute he’d gotten his promotion. She’d noted the date. But she’d just hit the delete button whenever one came into her mailbox. She’d also blocked his number. How he didn’t get the hint was beyond her. “I got your emails.”
He gave her a pained expression. “Did you read them?”
“No,” she said, her voice going flatter, her chin rising. “I didn’t.”
He looked away and was silent a moment. Finally, he said, “I wanted to apologize. I’m really sorry about what happened. I don’t have an excuse except I was wounded, sick with what happened. On medication. My mind was fuzzy.”
Her thinking paused for just a short moment. Doubt settled in. All that was true. He had been wounded and on medication. But he hadn’t set the record straight when he could have. She didn’t want him to make her think about what had happened between them. It made her examine what she was doing with Beau much too closely. Whenever she thought too hard about Beau, she got really scared.
She went to go around Daniel, but he grabbed her arm just a bit too tightly. She stopped.
“Look, I know I messed up big-time. But I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.” He drew her closer, but Kinley jerked away from him.
“What do you want?” she snapped.
His face softened, his eyes going tender. “Another chance. A chance to make it up to you. We had something good.”
She tried to remember what it was like with him, but Beau…kept getting in the way. The way his sexy, soft hair felt against her palms and fingers, the feel of his muscles beneath her touch, the way he tasted and sounded when he kissed her. The way he’d held her against him while she cried her eyes out. Where had Daniel been when she’d been heartbroken and scared? Letting her take all the blame?
“We did, and you destroyed it. You betrayed me. You let me take all the blame and we both know it wasn’t my call.”
“I know,” he said softly with remorse. “It was my call.”
She closed her eyes. “A man died, Daniel, because of my hunch, the hunch that was discounted. I begged you to call for backup. Now, b
ecause of that, I second-guess everything. Everything. You took something from me, and I can’t get it back. I thought I could trust you, but I couldn’t. I can’t.”
“I know,” he said, his voice sounding crushed. “I won’t ever forget that my actions got a man killed. Never, but I’ve got to put that in my past. I think we can get past that.”
She tried to camouflage the unsteadiness in her voice. “I don’t think so.”
“Don’t make any decisions right now,” he pleaded. “Think about it.”
His earnest expression made her chest ache. She’d spent so many years constructing a safe, stable world. Daniel had been key in teaching Kinley how easily—and swiftly—that safety and stability could be altered. She didn’t need the reminder.
“I can’t…”
He met her gaze, his eyes bleak. “I know you can’t make me any promises. Just think about it.”
Before she could tell him that there was no way she was giving him anything but a letdown, Beau spoke.
“Kinley.” His voice made her jumpy. It sounded so clipped. She turned to find him at the door. “You about ready to go?”
“Yes.” She looked at Daniel and he reluctantly let her go.
When she got to Beau, he turned and headed for the street. She followed with the candy bar still in her hand but dropped it in the trash on her way out the door. It wasn’t what she was hungry for. She couldn’t stop herself as she ran her eyes over Beau’s broad back as he got in the car. Once she was seated in the passenger side, Beau took off. He didn’t say anything as he drove. He clenched and unclenched his hands on the wheel, his face tight.
This time she reached over and touched his shoulder, wondering at the many things that could be plaguing him. “Are you all right?”
“Just tired,” he said in that same clipped tone. Ah dammit, had she done something wrong when they were looking for a member from the Crossed Swords? Had he found some kind of flaw from when she’d taken down those guys while trying to save Mrs. Thompson’s life? Maybe he’d changed his mind about her. Doubts assailed her as she watched his angry face, her insides jittering. It would be better, much better, for both of them if he would just lose interest.
But, if she was being honest with herself, that thought made her feel a little bit out of control.
Arriving at the hotel, he parked, and they walked inside. She tried her best to appear unaffected and coolly in control as she sailed across the lobby. Beau reached past her and pressed the elevator button. When he stepped in after her, it felt a bit tight, as if he was suddenly taking up way too much space, using up way too much of her precious oxygen. And yet he was standing a normal distance from her, not so much as looking at her. None of that seemed to help with the way she reacted to him on a purely physical level. She’d never been so aware of a man before. She didn’t have to try hard to remember perfectly the depth and breadth of him.
Was he really someone she could truly trust? Was there anyone she could really trust?
Then there was the way he’d held her. Even more than his physicality, there was his compassion. She’d felt it so keenly and he’d been so patient, so gentle and kind. That more than anything she couldn’t seem to get past.
Case in point. He’d been affected by Mrs. Thompson’s death, whether it was knowing that the little girl they’d seen briefly was going to grow up without a mother and father, or the fact that six goons had been dispatched to murder two defenseless women and a child. All she knew was the way his jaw had hardened and the regret in his eyes when he saw that Mrs. Thompson was dead.
Maybe he was blaming her.
Even as she thought that, she dismissed it. He had been the one to tell her not to second-guess herself and she shouldn’t be doing that now. She glanced at him and all her thoughts just seemed to freeze. Beau was the full deal. Tough, deadly warrior, compassionate man, intelligent, and all residing in a physical body that was hard to resist.
There was plenty to make a woman’s mouth water from looking at him, but how many of those women had experienced the real Beau? He seemed affable, but she thought it hid a guarded man. She knew about hiding everything that was uncertain in her. She recognized it. He might seem easygoing, but there was a coil of danger that shivered across her skin.
Beau remained silent as they ascended. But it wasn’t his silence that made her nerves jangle, it was how taut he was, and she was sure it didn’t have anything to do with fatigue. That silence of his was making her analyze things she didn’t want to think about. As soon as the doors opened, she stepped out and walked briskly to her room. She was struggling with her own hang ups. Was she unfairly using her whole professionalism spiel to help her to keep her distance from Beau? They weren’t partners. They wouldn’t be seeing each other after this mission was over. She was starting to get the really bad feeling that she was closing herself off emotionally because Beau was someone who was pushing her out of her comfort zone. Even with Daniel, Kinley didn’t have to go very deep to realize that it was nothing more than a temporary thing for her. She needed that to keep herself safe. To not get in too deep.
Except now, it wasn’t working. She was going to be disappointed if he didn’t want to… Oh, wow, she was such a ninny.
She slipped her key card into the door and when the green light pulsed, she pushed it open. As she turned toward him to say goodnight, he crowded her inside.
He pushed her up against the wall. In the light from the hall, before the door closed, she glimpsed his dark blue eyes, his hair a tousled mess, and a hint of beard stubble shadowing his incredibly handsome face. But instead of looking like a man who was going to kiss her, he looked like a man who was going into battle. The intensity in his eyes reached right inside her, squeezing her heart.
Then the door slammed, and they were cocooned in the semi-darkness, ambient light trickling though the window.
“Are you going to give that bastard another chance?” he asked harshly.
She’d been completely wrong about his anger. It wasn’t directed at her and it wasn’t anger. It was his reaction to Daniel touching her, getting close to her. He was completely jealous.
He could deny it all he wanted.
The easygoing, charming Beau hid this side to him. Not so easygoing. Not a surprise. He was a SEAL. The toughest of the tough. But she heard the need for reassurance in his voice.
There was a light and a dark side to him, and the combination was doubly dangerous. “Are you?” he whispered. His hand slid to the back of her neck, and he tilted her head. Before she could say anything, his mouth was on hers. Hard, demanding. Hot, so hot, moist, a seductive tease that made every bone in her body melt.
She couldn’t compare Daniel to Beau and use the same tired reason that she’d used with him. If she was being honest with herself, the reason she needed the distance with Beau was because she wanted him and he was more of a threat to her control, her fear of getting too close. What happened with Daniel and the death of his partner had shattered her confidence. But Beau was already so different. He listened, was supportive, and took her seriously.
And her tingling mouth had been waiting for this. It had been sensual torture. She’d expected a warrior’s kiss, bold and aggressive, attempting to conquer through sheer will and force. It was because he’d looked so fierce and determined.
But it wasn’t what that felt like. It was an onslaught all right, an all-out blitz. But he kissed her with an almost desperate need, and it couldn’t be more seductive. The fact that he wasn’t as confident as she expected touched that unstable and unsure part of her and made her ache for him just that much more.
He took her emotions and twisted them around more than any man she’d ever met. He kept surprising her. And the way he twisted her, left gaps in her armor for him to slip through and affect her… Wholly, intensely, without intent or design—just pure reaction at a base level that maybe he wasn’t even aware of. This wasn’t a seduction by him; it was a seduction of him. That was much more difficult
to resist than a confident man taking what he wanted, making it all about him and his pleasure. With Beau, that just wasn’t the case. There wasn’t anything more alluring or a bigger turn-on than a man she was crazily attracted to who wanted her and made no secret of it.
She pressed back, kissing him just as fiercely, letting the life of him, his sheer sexy presence filter through her, seep into her, absorbing him through her pores.
He slipped his hands under her arms, curling them around her back, and lifted her effortlessly into him, growling softly against her lips when she wrapped her legs around his waist, the sound rumbling through his chest.
Her hands coiled around the heated muscles of his biceps, traveling up to his broad, flexing shoulders and around his neck, anchoring herself.
He was breathing harshly. His hot, velvety tongue slipped into her mouth as he drove his hips into hers, and he made a soft sound this time as his erection ground against the core of her.
He supported her bottom as he pushed them away from the wall and moved to the bed. She held onto him like a limpet. He stopped at the edge of the bed and let her slide down his body. Pushing her jacket off her shoulders, it dropped to the floor behind her. He cupped her cheeks, pushing the hair off her face, his palms smooth.
She stared up at him, into eyes that held her so solidly, so completely. Body shaking, lips trembling, she held his passionate gaze, held on to it tightly.
She slipped her hands beneath his jacket and lifted it away, shoving it until he shrugged out of it. Reaching for his shoulder rig, he unbuckled, turned and set it on the chair near the bed. Kinley reached back for her weapon and unclipped it from the small of her back and moved around to slide it onto the nightstand table. She couldn’t lose herself in this man. She had to hold something back. Could she let herself trust him, even though she was losing her resolve?
She closed her eyes. Was she going to take this step? She was driven by her own goals, but she couldn’t seem to get past one all-consuming feeling—she felt safe with him.
