Chapter Three
Dylan’s thumbs moved over the burner phone. Replying to Ben about what was going on here at the safe house took all of two sentences.
My charge is calm. She hasn’t changed her story.
He threw a look at the closed bedroom door. When he’d asked about those gems, the expression of blank shock on her face wasn’t something people easily faked unless they’d been trained extensively to cover their reactions. Dylan had seen it before, and he didn’t like that he couldn’t get a read on Athena.
Ben must be busy because he didn’t respond. So Dylan pocketed the phone and quietly walked to the bedroom door. His hearing was excellent, but he didn’t detect a sound from inside. He stood there a long minute, wondering if he should knock and ask if she needed anything.
Hell, he might ask just to hear the sharp edge of her tongue one more time. Her spunk amused him.
Deciding he should leave her be, he turned toward the living room again just as a crack of thunder shook the house. A muffled noise from within made him jerk his hand up, prepared to break in the door if necessary.
The choked sound cut off and silence reigned again, though the rumbling growl of thunder went on and on. Another streak of lightning lit the place, and in that old trick his pére had taught him for figuring out if the storm was getting closer or moving away, Dylan began counting.
One-one hundred, two-one hundred. Three—
Another loud boom hit, and he listened closely at the door, but no sound reached his ears.
The storm went on and on, raging like it only could on the Gulf. Dylan moved away from Athena’s door a few more times, only to be brought back by another thunderbolt so intense that he was sure she might need something.
He wasn’t going to contemplate why he felt the urge to stand guard this way like some protector.
His shirt clung to his spine, the sticky air not even cut by the air conditioning, and he pictured her on the bed, pantyhose balled up on the floor and her legs bare. Maybe even sleeping in her bra and panties.
His mouth dried out.
He’d been around a lot of beautiful women, but he’d been trained to be aware of every single thing in every single moment, and right now he admitted Athena stirred his blood in a way he hadn’t felt in too long. Maybe it was only because he was a horny motherfucker, but he didn’t think she was just any other woman.
Dylan had reminded Ben that a Knight always followed his gut, and right now it was screaming that Athena was the most desirable woman he’d ever set eyes on.
He sank to the floor outside her door, leaning his back to it. With one leg outstretched and the other hitched up, he slung his arm around his knee and let the noise of the storm roll over him.
As a kid he’d always loved storms. Then he’d experienced battle and quickly those placid tones of thunder had transformed to something to be feared in his mind. He’d heard of fellow Marines being thrown into PTSD episodes during storms, but luckily he was okay.
He rested his head against the door and let his mind wander back to those summer nights in his childhood bed when he’d listen to the thunder, Chaz and Roades not far off in the bunkbed. Sometimes Roades, being youngest, would get up and pad down to their parents’ room to crawl between the sheets with them and gain comfort, but Dylan would lie there and listen to the fury of nature.
When another flash of lightning lit the hallway, he thought of how Athena would look in the bluish light, those dark curls highlighted to the color of a raven’s feathers.
His cock twitched with the need to sink into her, to claim her as the world raged around them.
Port in a storm. Hell, his thoughts of keeping her safe were going off the rails.
Thunder vibrated the house again, and a thump behind the door had him leaning away from the door. It flew open and Athena tripped over him. She went down hard—or would have if he hadn’t caught her.
The air whooshed from her and then she struggled against him, only managing to tangle her legs more with his. As lightning streaked down again, Dylan made out her features. Parted lips, wide eyes, the adorable slope of her nose… and enough hair to wig two women and a child.
Her eyes grew huge as she realized he was holding her cradled against his chest and his thigh rode high against the V of her legs.
“Get off me!” Palms on his chest, she pushed away. She rolled onto her stomach and then got to all fours.
He gazed at the roundness of her ass. “Jesus,” he muttered, launching to his feet before he could grasp her hips and yank that beautiful behind back into his groin.
His cock throbbed. Damn, this woman was giving him a run for his money. He reached down for her hand. When he pulled her to a stand, she folded her arms tight over her chest.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Protecting you.”
“Guarding more like.”
God, that sassy mouth was the equivalent of flint to steel. It had been a very long time since he’d had a spirited woman. Most saw how he looked and fell into bed with him with very few words exchanged, and Athena was refreshing as hell.
The storm seemed to hit a fever pitch, and he wasn’t coping very well with the burn in his groin either. He ran his fingers through his hair, thinking up something to say, but she turned and headed to the kitchen.
She was fully clothed though her legs were bare, he knew from the scorching heat he’d felt through his cargo pants. He fixated on her backside until she bent over to retrieve a bottled water from the refrigerator.
He tore his gaze away. “Sit down.”
“Why?” She looked about to bolt back to her room and lock herself in again.
Probably not a bad idea if she knew the dirty thoughts circulating in his mind.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched, and he drew away.
“When my brothers couldn’t sleep during a storm, my maman would make us hot cocoa and a special snack.”
She eyed him, that adorable crinkle between her dark brows begging for his lips. He wanted to feel the worry smooth away and then look into her eyes before claiming her mouth.
“Trust me.” He waved to the stool again, and she reluctantly took it.
Sometime while they had been sleeping, the power went out, but he had a flashlight with a strong beam. He switched it on and set it in the center of the countertop so the halo of light struck the ceiling and lit the space better than a candle could.
He went about fixing the cocoa and a snack. Bread, peanut butter, grape jelly. He placed the sandwich on the plate and began cutting off the crusts. He didn’t glance up but felt Athena’s gaze following him. And fuck no, he wasn’t going to admit the way it tightened his insides.
When he pushed the plate across the counter to her, she stared at it.
“PB&J with the crusts cut off,” he said.
“I know what it is. I’ve never had the crusts cut off before.”
He lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “It’s how my brothers and I liked it.” He mixed up some hot cocoa for each of them and placed two steaming mugs on the counter.
“I always liked PB&J as a kid.” She lifted the triangle to her lips.
“I know.”
She froze before she bit off the corner. “You know?”
He studied her face. If he told her that he could find out more in a file than she’d ever want to disclose to any other human, she’d hop off that stool, run to her room and lock the door faster than he could draw breath.
But he couldn’t lie to her either.
“I’m known as a brainiac among my team. I can find things out.”
She dropped her sandwich to her plate and glared. “How?”
“I’m good at uncovering information.”
“So you read people’s grocery lists from their trash.”
The laugh took him by surprise. It escaped his lips before he could bite it back, but damn, it felt good. He shook his head. “No, I don’t do those things. But there’s information on everybody in the world if you know where to look.”
She shoved the plate back at him as if by eating it, he’d have some advantage over her. She leaned her elbows on the counter. “Do you know my father’s name?”
“Mohamed Mohamed.”
She smacked her palms off the counter, frustration taking over her pretty features. “My car make?”
“You don’t own a car. You take public transportation.”
Angry heat glimmered in her eyes. If the light had been better, he might not have been able to keep going in the face of that anger, but he was feeling a bit reckless too.
“How about my date to the senior prom?”
He fished out the name from the file locked in his brain. “Sam Marsh.”
A half-scream, half-moan rose from her. “Oh my God, what don’t you know? Don’t answer that.” She snatched up her sandwich and took a two bites, rapidly chewing and then swallowing. She took up her mug and sipped.
He found some cookies and offered her one.
She snatched it up and threw it at him. It bounced off his chest and hit the floor, crumbling on the tile.
He fixed her in his stare.
She scrambled off her stool and backed up.
He circled the counter, stalking her all the way across the room until her back struck the wall. Dylan was a little ticked at not understanding who this woman really was in all of this—and wholeheartedly aroused.
Bracing his palms on the wall on each side of her head, he leaned in. She tipped her face up, boldly meeting his gaze. “Athena, I don’t know what role you play in this game, but I am not treating you badly, am I?”
“Cocoa and a sandwich don’t make up for you taking me out of my shop and forcing me into this safe house.” Her voice held an edge that only set his blood racing faster.
He dipped his gaze to her lips. “The cookie doesn’t make up for it?”
Her breaths came faster. “You know what I thought about the cookie.”
Grunting, he resisted the need to swoop in and claim those plump lips, to swallow all the sassy words she used to combat him in the only way she knew how.
“Cher, I am not the enemy—know that.”
“What are you then? I don’t want to be here, and I’ve done nothing wrong.”
He studied her expression, confused by the way her eyes dilated. Fuck, he wanted to kiss her until she was gasping. Then thrust into her until she was screaming his name.
“Athena, I run off gut instincts, and all my alarms are saying I need to keep you here.”
“I’m in danger?” Her words came out too soft, too breathless.
Yeah, in danger of him ripping off all her clothes.
* * * * *
As Dylan leaned over her, the storm was drowned out by the thunder of Athena’s heart. His spicy male scent ignited body parts she’d forgotten she owned, sending a smoldering heat down between her legs.
God, she could still feel that hard thigh of his wedged there when she’d fallen over him in the hallway.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said.
She stared at his angular jaw, so shadowed with beard growth that it could no longer be considered scruff. In the few hours between finding her in that closet and now, he’d sprouted a full-on beard.
Her eyes threatened to slip shut, and she bit off the feminine sigh that his good looks roused in her. She must be out of her freakin’ mind. Maybe this was what Stockholm syndrome felt like—didn’t they all claim they were protectors and not captors?
Except she was being accused of terrorist activity.
Her head told her to duck out from under his arm and break for her room. So why was she standing so still, rooted beneath his dark gaze?
“I can’t let anything happen to you.” His warm breath washed over her lips. A string pulled tight between her nipples and her pussy, a bolt of need with more energy that any lightning the storm could bring.
Oh God, he was hovering so close, his hard lips a scant inch away. If she went on tiptoe, she’d be able to see if his mouth was really as hard as it looked.
And if that beard was rough.
“Dylan…”
“Athena. Hell, I want to kiss you.”
He did? Her mind stuttered to a stop, and she closed her eyes, waiting for it to come.
But it never did. Five heartbeats later, she opened her eyes.
His stare zapped her with electricity. She barely registered his movement before his mouth slanted over hers, landing with all the hard need she’d read in his eyes.
A soft moan left her, and she angled her head. He took immediately advantage, parting her lips with his tongue and sweeping it inside her mouth. Another moan escaped, more primal this time.
Raised as a lady, she should be horrified at how she sounded right now, but she’d forgotten how to care about anything but Dylan’s taste and the feel of his mouth moving over hers.
She raised a hand and grasped his shirt, balling the fabric in it. He planted a hand on her lower back and swayed her away from the wall, bowing her hips to meet his even as he plunged his tongue deep.
Tremors started in her core and spread out through her entire body until she was tingling with want. She must be insane, reacting to all the fear she’d felt the past six hours. This definitely wasn’t her.
Okay, she wasn’t so prim that she couldn’t kiss a handsome—okay, hot—man back. But he was a stranger, a brute who’d put her in a situation she did not want, even if it was his job.
He moved his fingers in small circles up her spine, leaving heated tension with each warm pass of his fingertips. Another crash of thunder shook the house, and suddenly Dylan jerked away.
Breathing hard, he glared at her as if she’d been the one to initiate the kiss.
She ducked under his arm and took a step back.
“Fuck. I’m sorry.” His arms hung at his sides. Damn, his appearance punched a hole through her, all carved muscles and the strength of two men. And he roused the desire of two men as well.
Confusion claimed her mind, taking all the words with it. She held his stare for another heartbeat before turning away and going back to her room. She closed the door quietly and leaned against it, thinking how good she’d felt in his strong arms while the storm raged around her.
* * * * *
Fucking hell. Why had he kissed her?
His body was asking a totally different question, though—why hadn’t he picked her up and taken her to bed?
He blew out air through his nostrils and stared at where she’d last been standing.
He wasn’t one to take advantage of people—ever. And it didn’t set well with him that his desires had overcome his control. Ben would hand his ass to him and Colonel Jackson would have him court martialed for his actions.
Only he wasn’t about to tell them. Would Athena tell?
When he thought of her soft lips under his and her body pressed so tightly against him, he only felt her need, not fear. She’d kissed him back with as much enthusiasm, but he still had no excuse for what he’d done.
The impulse to return to her door and sit outside was strong, but he couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to keep from knocking softly and asking for entry.
The storm was beginning to die down, the thunder moving off in the distance. Rain fell more gently. As he stood in the kitchen, contemplating his actions, the power restored and he moved to shut off his flashlight.
Athena’s plate and mug were still on the counter, and he took them to the sink. The cookie crushed under his boot, and he shook off the crumbs with a smile.
Damn, the little wildcat had gotten enough guts to throw a cookie at a man who outweighed her by a good hundred pounds and had been trained to be a killing machine.
He moved to the living room and stretched out on the sofa, a step up from the floor in front of her door. He listened hard for any noise coming from her bedroom but only heard the rain pattering the windows and roof.
His mind was too exhausted to work over the puzzle that was Athena—whether or not she was working with the people they were trying to bring down was something he’d have to leave until tomorrow.
The pillow beneath his head was lumpy and he tossed onto his side. Then returned to his back again. Finally, he tossed the pillow to the floor and tried using his arm, but no way was he going to fall asleep. There was another bed, but he couldn’t trust himself with only a wall between him and Athena. At least this way, he had to take enough steps to reach her that he’d come to his senses before walking into her room while simultaneously unbuckling his belt.
Maybe not.
His cock throbbed behind his fly at the scenario he’d conjured, and now all he could think about was Athena’s skin glistening with perspiration as she rode him nice and slow…
Fuck. He sat up and then gained his feet, standing for a moment, undecided. When his cock gave another hard twitch, he sprang forward. There was a bathroom off the kitchen and he’d at least have some privacy if he had trouble swallowing his moans.
He navigated in the dark, his vision supreme, and barely closed the door before he whipped open his jeans and reached into his briefs for his hard cock. Wrapping his fingers around the base, he squeezed. Eyes closing at the sensation of pulsating need.
Part of him knew he was acting like a horny animal, but he was a man in his prime and he’d gone too long between lovers.
No, he was not totally losing it over this woman who was his charge.
In his mind’s eye, he undressed her. Starting at the dainty buttons at her throat and moving all the way down between her breasts, dipping his fingers between the fabric as he went.
He stroked his cock from base to tip, a groan at his lips. Fuck, he needed to stroke hard and fast to get this out of his system, but the images flooding his mind were too damn good to ignore.
Dropping his lips to hers, sinking his tongue deep into her sweet mouth and tasting her rising desire. Then peeling off her top and skirt to reveal the fancy lingerie he knew she must wear, judging by what she carried in her shop.
Perky breasts.
A moan passed his lips as he rolled his swollen cock head through his fist.
Laying her down and parting her round thighs.
Jesus, he was going to blow any second.
A thumping noise made him fall still, though it took more willpower to stop his fist. He breathed hard in the small enclosed space, his orgasm right there.
Another bump and then more that could only be footsteps.
And Athena didn’t have any shoes.
“Goddammit.” He shoved his steely cock back in his underwear and zipped his pants. When he stepped out of the bathroom, the Knight Ops team was standing in the kitchen. Roades bent over before the fridge, pulling out containers.
Chaz grinned. “Forgot to flush, dude.”
“I didn’t get to finish. What the fuck are you assholes doing here?” Blood raced through his system, and he felt all his veins standing out, snaking down his arms.
Roades shut the refrigerator, cutting off the light in the room.
Ben stepped up. “There wasn’t time to mess with a call or text. We need you and the woman out of here. Now.”
Dylan’s brain caught up to his brother’s words. “Why?”
“If she doesn’t open her shop tomorrow, it presents more of a problem to all parties.” Ben eyed Dylan as if he knew every dirty thought in Dylan’s mind since he’d set eyes on his charge.
“Meaning if she doesn’t open, the people who are involved will know something’s up and she becomes more of a target.”
“A target with a beautiful face and great hair.” Chaz bit off a precooked sausage and chewed.
“Hey, don’t underestimate a lot of hair. Great for pulling or pinning to the bed.” Roades held up an unpeeled carrot and bit it off.
Dylan clenched his fist, prepared to knock his mouthy brothers on their asses.
Ben closed his eyes momentarily. Finally, he opened his eyes and stared at Dylan. “Get the girl and meet us outside. You’ve got five minutes.”
The room emptied as Knight Ops filed back out the door, each carrying some food Roades had swiped and leaving Dylan standing there wondering what the hell he was doing.
He shouldn’t be in the middle of this at all. If he hadn’t insisted on bringing Athena to the safe house in the first place, he wouldn’t need to worry about getting her back safely to open her shop because she’d already be prepared to do that.
Her shop.
If she was opening those doors tomorrow, they had a lot of work to do tonight to right what they’d destroyed inside when tossing the place.
There weren’t any options.
He walked through the house and rapped on Athena’s door. She answered immediately, and his cock hardened more at the sleepy rasp of her voice. Five minutes wasn’t enough time to do anything with her, even steal a kiss, because once he started, he’d never stop.
“Athena, we need to move you again.”
The door flew open and she stood there, eyes wild. “Where? Is there a threat?”
God, now he wanted to pull her into his arms and press her head to his chest and whisper that it was going to be okay.
Him? Whisper? He was a fucking Marine with the mind of an intelligence officer. He could hack a man’s entire life and then turn around and shoot him between the eyes from half a mile away.
Whatever this woman was doing to him needed to end—now.
“We need you back at your boutique. You have to open it in the morning.”
“My—Are you kidding? I can’t open so soon after you guys tore it apart!”
His gaze centered on her hair, and Roades’ words filtered into his brain again. Good for pulling, pinning to the bed.
Fuck.
“We need to go. Did you leave anything behind?” She was still fully dressed minus the pantyhose.
She gave him one of her trademark looks that he was beginning to recognize as her gearing up to open her mouth and give him the sass.
“Do I look like I have anything to leave behind? You ripped me out of a closet and I don’t even have shoes.”
He did feel bad about that, but his experience with his sisters was that if you gave them thirty seconds to complain, it wouldn’t stop for a very long time.
Grabbing her by the elbow, he drew her out of the room and led her down the hall. At the front door, he looked at her bare feet. “Do you need me to carry you to the vehicle?”
She blinked rapidly and then said, “I’m fine.”
As he closed the door behind them, he mentally scoped the house. He’d walked in with exactly one woman and was going back out with her. He did still have the burner phone in his pocket, though.
The black Knight Ops SUV sat waiting for them in the shadows. When they approached, the side door opened and he urged Athena inside. Then he dropped the phone to the ground and stomped it hard, smashing it to pieces. He kicked them into the gutter and climbed in.
“We saved you some cheese.” Roades reached over the back seat and extended a block of cheese still in the wrapping.
Athena glanced back like she couldn’t believe her eyes, but Dylan barked out a laugh. Leave it to his brothers. As kids, their maman said they could eat even if the world was coming to an end.
He took the cheese and held it out to her.
She shook her head and faced forward again, arms wrapped tight around her torso.
Hell, he really was hungry as hell. Did she realize how delicious her breasts looked thrust upward like that?