Chayton's Tempest (19 page)

the normal neighborhood sounds. Dakota stared at her like

she’d grown another head.

“Don’t start with me,
Dak
,” she warned, trying to ignore

the blush that was running up the sides of her face like a horse

coming down the homestretch.

Dakota opened his mouth only to shut it when Shelia

elbowed him in the side and shook her head at him. Then he

held up his hands in silent surrender.

Tempest walked back to her bedroom and sequestered

herself away. Then she settled upon the bed and tried to sort

out what the feelings were that still coursed through her body.

“What the hell did you call me, James?” She frowned as

she tried to recall the word, not that it would help her in the

least, for she didn’t speak Lakota. Lying back on her bed, she

smiled to herself.
I only call him James when I’m not sure what he’s

up to.

Closing her eyes, she let her mind go back to the kiss

he’d given her before he left. How thorough he’d explored the

recess of her mouth. How he’d tasted, better than she’d

believed he would.

Flinging her arms out, she moaned to her empty room,

“Oh get a grip, Tempest. It was just a freaking kiss!” Turning

her head to the side, she added, “But it was one hell of a kiss.”

Her body still throbbed from his touch. Groaning in

agony, she rolled over and tried to control the moisture that

seemed to pool between her legs. Her reaction to Maverick got

more and more intense each time their paths crossed.

“God, I’m like a horny teenager,” she mumbled.

“Good,” a masculine voice whispered by her ear.

Jumping in fright, Tempest found herself being rolled

over and the large body of Maverick covered her, pressing her

deeper into the thick mattress. His lips brushed over hers,

lightly. Teasingly.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded as her eyes

cut over to her bedroom door, which was still closed.

“I needed another kiss from you before I left.” His stiff

erection dug into her belly as one thick leg wedged itself

between hers, inching her sarong up higher. “And then I saw

you here, moaning to yourself about me.” His lips moved over

hers again.

“I thought you had to leave for…San Diego was it?”

 
“I do have to go. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t

going to be marrying anyone while I’m gone.”

She put her eyes on him. The look he had in his was

nothing short of tender. “I won’t.” Where the words came

from, she had no idea; but there they were and she knew he

wouldn’t let her take them back.

“I’m going to hold you to that. Now, give me a kiss. I

have to go to work, sweetheart.” Craving his mouth on hers

like a damn hussy, Tempest didn’t even fight him on it. Her

hands slid up across the muscled expanse of his back as their

lips met in a fiery explosion. Hands clawed at his skin through

his shirt as they ground together.

Maverick bucked his hips, showing her just how much

he wanted her. Dragging his teeth across her lower lip, he

released it and mumbled into her mouth, “I want to make love

to you, how I should have years ago. But I have to go or I’m

going to miss my plane. This will be finished when I get back.”

When she opened her eyes, it was if it had been a dream. He

was gone.

Thirteen

Maverick groaned in pain as the doctor probed his

wound. “Damn it! That hurts!”

His black eyes moved across the room. “Is he going to be

okay?” The leader of the
Megalodon
Team lay unconscious on

the table as a group of doctors worked frantically over his

body.

“You need to sit still, sir. You did what you could for

him, now let me get you stitched up!” the young doctor

commanded the irate SEAL.

“I need to know how he’s doing! Now!” Maverick

thundered.

The fact he had a six-inch laceration across his ribcage

didn’t deter him from lunging off his exam table the second the

words, “He’s crashing!” reverberated across the room.

Normally unflappable, Maverick was beside himself as

he witnessed his good friend and teammate begin to fade.

“Harrier!” he shouted as another doctor shoved him out of the

way. “You can’t give up!
Lex
needs you! We need you!

Goddamn it! Fight!”

It took four
corpsmans
to get Maverick restrained as

medics rushed the still man out the door and down the hall.

“Sir, sir! You need to remain here and out of the way.”

Once he was stitched up, Maverick went into the

hospital’s waiting room with the rest of his teammates. The

entire group was somber as they waited for news.

“Fuck!” Maverick snapped, causing everyone else to

glance over at him with a question in his gaze. “This is my

fault! It’s my fault he’s lying there. I should’ve taken out both

those guys. Some sniper I am!” He pounded his fist against the

hospital’s cool wall.

Tyson
Kincade
walked over to him and placed a hand

on his arm. “Don’t blame yourself,
Mav
. That second wave

took us all by surprise. You were the one who ran in there and

got him out.”

“If I hadn’t fucked up, I wouldn’t have had to get him

out of that mess.” Disgust filled Maverick’s tone. “What am I

going to tell
Lex
?” He sank to the cold metal chair along the

wall. “What am I going to tell their kids?”

“Tell her he’s going to be okay,” a soft feminine voice

entered the conversation. Maverick looked up to see a

disheveled
Lex
striding towards him.

Maverick stood and met her halfway, enclosing her into

his arms. For a while, there were no words passed among the

eight people there. Hugs were given freely as the men tried

valiantly to hold onto their emotions.

Their mission had gone horribly wrong. Not given the

proper
intel
, the team had gone in essentially blind. All of the

men had received some type of injury, but the worst by far was

Harrier. He’d taken three bullets in the chest and another two

had barely missed going through the main artery in his leg.

The doctor on the carrier had stabilized him the best he

could, but the entire Team had been flown to the closest

military hospital within fifty-two hours, which was in Spain.

Someone had notified Alexis and so it was not any big surprise

to see her at the hospital.

They’d believed that he was going to be okay; but

unfortunately once they landed, Harrier had slipped into

unconsciousness and then began to
flatline
while they were

trying to prep him for surgery.

The doors to the OR swung open and eight sets of eyes

turned anxiously to the doctor who appeared. Alexis stepped

forward and demanded, “How’s my husband?”

With a deep breath, the somber man opened his mouth

to deliver the news.

_

Ring. Ring. Ring
.

Tempest groaned as she leaned over to pick up the

phone. She’d just fallen asleep. “Hello?”

A feminine voice crossed the wire. “I need to speak to

Sarah Whitehall please.”

Instantly awake, Tempest sat upright in her bed. “I’m

sorry you have the wrong number. No one by that name lives

here.” Trembling, she placed the phone back down.

It hadn’t even been there for five seconds when it rang

again. This time, Tempest turned on her bedside light and

stared at the phone. One the fifth ring, she picked it up again.

“Hello?”

“Don’t hang up. I know you used to be Sarah

Whitehall.” This time the voice was laced with more than a

little bit of scorn.

“Who are you?” Tempest demanded.

“I want you to stay away from my son. Tell him you lied

before and that thing you call a son isn’t his. I don’t care what

you say; just make it so he stays away from the likes of you.”

The light bulb flickered on. It was none other than

Maverick’s mother, Dawn
Lonetree
. “First, I told you no one by

that name lived here so you need to keep your fucking mouth

shut, talking to me like you are all high and mighty.” Her

fingers dug into the smooth sheets of her bed. “I don’t lie, so

you just need to accept that. Now stop harassing me.” She

hung up again.

It rang again. Tempest wasn’t trembling this time, at

least not from trepidation. Now she was pissed. “Look, you

bitch, stop calling my house,” she snarled into the phone.

“He’s got a kid you know. With
Talli
. She’s pregnant.

He’ll never be yours. He knows to stay within the tribe.” The

voice was scathing. “He can’t wait for the child to be born. He

is so looking forward to be a father.”

It was like a knife was shoved into her chest. The room

began to spin as she turned off the phone and let it drop to the

mattress beside her as she slumped over. Fighting down the

nausea, Tempest turned off the light and despite the hot

summer night, she climbed under the sheets and pulled up a

blanket to try and contain the shivers that racked her body.

That night, her dreams were filled with images of

Maverick standing next to a beautiful Native woman and their

children. His face was scrunched with scorn as he told her he’d

found the one he was to be with forever.

Two hours later, with no chance of falling asleep,

Tempest swung out of bed and went to her backyard to begin

meditating. Her body finally sinking into a relaxed state, her

mind found the peace it so desperately sought.

Tempest was still in the lotus position when a shadow

fell over her. Cracking open one eye, she looked up to see her

son standing there. In his hand he had her cordless phone. As

they made eye contact he held it out to her.

Considering the calls she’d received early this morning,

Tempest was hesitant to accept the offered object. Her son

waited until she took the phone, then he sat down on the chair

and watched her.

“Tempest speaking,” she said into the receiver. “I’ll be

there in less than an hour.” She shut off the phone and

groaned. “There goes the rest of my morning.” Carefully

moving out of the lotus position, she got to her feet and smiled

tiredly at her son.

“I have to go into work. Mimi’s sick and can’t take the

shipment.” Leaning over to kiss his smooth cheek, she

continued, “I’ll see you later on this evening. Have a nice day at

school.” Then she disappeared into the house to shower and

dress.

As much as she tried, Tempest couldn’t get the hateful

woman’s words out of her head. It had been a month since

Maverick had pressed her body between his and her bedroom

mattress. He filled her dreams at night and her thoughts during

the day. While she knew he was working, Tempest found that