Read Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender Online

Authors: Maya Banks,Karin Tabke,Sylvia Day

Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender (27 page)

BOOK: Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender
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Sophia sat quietly and watched Colin go into a convenience store and emerge a few minutes later with a plastic bag. The bloodstain on his shirt had widened. He hopped back into the car, pulled out of the parking lot, and headed toward Cannery Row. He reached into the bag and handed her a cell phone. “It’s a throwaway. The only number you’re going to call, and only if you need to, is mine.” He pulled out another throwaway. “Go ahead and program them in.”
As Sophia did, she asked, “Did you get something for your wound?”
“Yeah.”
“Where are we going?”
“To a safe place.”
No place was safe for her. But she kept that to herself. Trying to convince Colin that Angelo would eventually get them only pissed him off. And she didn’t want to piss him off. He had put his life on the line to protect her. She had been terrified this morning, but he had kept her calm, reassuring her they would make it. In her heart of hearts, she believed that if anyone could keep her safe, it was Colin.
Thirty minutes later, they pulled up to a double-studded wooden gate, with the image of a large horse head, like a chess piece, carved into it. It was very similar if not the exact same design as the tattoo that ran down Colin’s right side.
Colin took his cell and punched in a number. “Sergeant Daniels requesting permission to enter, sir.” He spoke in the clipped respectful tone of a subordinate speaking to a superior officer.
A moment later, the gates rattled, then slowly opened. Colin gave the car some gas and entered what Sophia could only describe as a psychedelic jungle. Overgrown palms and ferns, dotted with bright blooming bushes and plants she had seen only in magazines grew in a crazy kaleidoscope of colors, textures, and fragrances. Wind chimes, garden gnomes, and lawn jockeys peeked out from between brightly colored planters that were peppered throughout the yard with no thought given to strategic placement. But somehow, it all worked. At the end of the gravel driveway was a sprawling hacienda. And standing on the front porch with a rifle slung over his shoulder and two mastiffs drooling at his feet was a man who looked like he should be sitting on a street corner with a cup, begging for his next drink.
“My captain,” Colin said, shaking his head, a smile splitting his face. He pulled right up to the porch and put the car in Park. “Stay here.” He slid out. The massive dogs began to bark. A sharp command from the captain shut them up.
Colin saluted the man. Something caught in Sophia’s throat, and her belly rolled. The hot sting of tears distorted her view. Angrily, she swiped at her eyes. She did not want to have such tender feelings for Colin. Being hot for him was one thing. But at every turn he proved he was a man worthy of any woman’s love. She shook her head. Love? She did not know what it meant anymore. She didn’t even try to figure it out.
The captain said something gruffly, and Colin embraced him. Then heads together, they spoke urgently. The captain nodded, then went inside. Colin came around to her door and opened it. He extended his hand and said, “Come on, Sophia. No one will find us here.”
She let out a long breath she had not realized she was holding and took his hand. The captain was nowhere to be found when they entered the airy, open house. “Captain O’Malley is the shy type. He thinks it’s better you don’t get a good look at him. I told him he was a dick, but he insisted we have the run of the bottom floor.”
“Is it because he doesn’t want me to know what he looks like?”
Colin shrugged. “I stopped trying to figure him out years ago. I just know we can trust him and he’s going to get us to New York.”
“He’s driving to New York with us?” She was praying he was not.
“Sweetheart, we’re flying.”
“How? I don’t have ID?”
“Captain O’Malley is a man of many talents, with many toys. One of them flies.”
Sophia should have been excited by the prospect, but she wasn’t. Flying meant going to New York sooner rather than later, and she wasn’t planning to go at all. Not if she wanted to celebrate her next birthday.
“When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. If she was going to make her escape, she was going to have to do it tonight. No way in hell was she getting on that plane.
Chapter 6
 
C
olin showed Sophia to a large, comfortable bedroom at the end of a long hallway. It was decorated to reflect the landscape outside; a hodgepodge of fabrics, wandering textures, and exotic colors framed an eclectic grouping of furniture that all somehow worked. Peeking into the large bathroom, she almost drooled over the huge sunken tub. Colin stepped in behind her and she jerked in surprise.
“Remember what I said? Joined at the hip.”
Sophia shivered. His warm breath caressed her neck just as his body heat pulsed behind her. “I think we can part long enough to bathe.” She wanted some private time to figure out how she was going to get away from Colin. Her belly did a slow roll. Leaving him was not going to be easy.
“I’ll scrub your back.” He brushed her long hair from her shoulder and pressed his lips just behind her ear. Gooseflesh erupted along her skin. She wanted to close her eyes, lean back into his hard chest, and let him hold her for the rest of the night. But she had to go.
He slipped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest just as she wished. His lips trailed along her ear.
Her knees shook when his tongue slid languorously around the shell of her ear. He sucked in her earlobe. Her nipples stiffened. She closed her eyes and let herself forget for just a few minutes. After all, they were safe and both consenting adults. And wasn’t she entitled to a little pleasure after all they had been through?
His fingers traced around her aching nipples, then one at a time he plucked them as his tongue swirled along the shell of her ear. Sophia moaned, arching against him. Everything about this man excited her. He was dangerous, passionate, and knew exactly what her body craved.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Sophie. I swear on my life,” he said huskily.
His words brought her back to the here and now. Reality.
She turned in his arms and looked up into his intense blue eyes. It took her a moment to compose herself so that she could speak without her voice cracking with emotion. She believed Colin, but she could not make the same vow. “I wish I could promise you the same. Even if Angelo goes to prison, he won’t rest until one of his thugs brings your head to him on a platter. And you know he can do it from prison.”
“Let me worry about that,” he said, lowering his lips to hers. She welcomed the kiss. She welcomed the comfort he gave. She welcomed all that Colin Daniels had to give, but with one exception. She would not allow him to forfeit his life. That she would not take. If she went back to New York with Colin, Angelo would kill him.
Her heart ached at just the thought of losing him. She gasped as the sudden realization that she loved him slammed into her heart. She had always loved him. That night he made love to her, she fell in love with him. He had been so gentle, so loving, so reverent. He had made the terrible years after, bearable. It was her dreams of him that had pushed her to get out of bed in the morning. The fantasy of what could be between a man and woman. Not the violence of Angelo or the weakness of her father.
She would not thank him by leading Angelo to him.
His lips grew more demanding and the emotional hooks he’d already imbedded into her heart sank deeper. She could give in to what they both wanted. A single night of passion. Maybe one that would carry her through another ten years? Or would it destroy rather than save her? Prove fatal to her heart?
She craved him, but losing herself to him on all levels would only make a bad situation worse. Fear trumped her craving. Fear of wanting more. Fear for his life. Fear of falling deeper in love with a man she would already die for.
She tore her lips from his. “Colin, we need to clean up your arm.”
“Don’t worry about me. The captain’s going to stitch me up,” he said, trying to recapture her lips.
She turned away, not brave enough to look him in the eye, afraid of what he might see.
“Stop avoiding me, Sophie.”
She swallowed and looked up at him, forcing a soft smile. “I’m not, I’m just nervous.”
He looked past her to the tub. “A good soak might help relax you,” he said, grinning as if he had plans for something else that would relax her too. “Fill that monstrosity. I’ll be in the bedroom getting fixed up.”
He left her then. And took all the warmth with him. Feeling an odd sense of emptiness, she pushed runaway plans from her thoughts. She would think of them later. Sophia turned her attention to the large room. As bathrooms went, this one was a slice of heaven. The huge spa-sized sunken tub was smack-dab in the middle of the room, with two walk-up steps. Nearby, a carved stone oversized shower with two heads, a triple Italian stone vanity, a commode, bidet, and a large baker’s-type rack with big fluffy folded towels and all kinds of lotions, bath salts, and oils. How odd, she thought, that a single military man would have all the necessities of a lady’s bath. Maybe there was more to the captain than met the eye.
There was only one aspect of the bathroom Sophia didn’t care for. While there were high skylights, there was no way out except back through the bedroom. But that meant no one could come in either. No one but Colin. That meant she was safe. For now.
She quietly shut the door and turned the two waterfall faucets on full blast. She took her time selecting bath salts and oils. She set them on the edge of the tub, then took out two big fluffy towels and nearly squealed with delight when she opened the single drawer beneath and found a folded white one-piece terry cloth patio dress. She pulled it out, hoping the captain would not mind her borrowing it while she was there. She needed to wash her clothes. And, she exhaled nervously, while Colin was asleep tonight, she’d slip out the window and take off to parts unknown. If she didn’t know where she was going, how could Angelo track her? She would take some of Colin’s cash and lay low for as long as she could, then start moving.
Eventually, she’d land somewhere, make a few bucks waiting tables, then move on again. She accepted that as long as Angelo was alive, she would never be safe. She also accepted that as long as she and Colin were not connected, he would live.
When the mini swimming pool was half-full, Sophia stripped, clipped her hair up with several bobby pins she’d found in the vanity drawer, and sunk into the steamy, velvety water. Ohhh, that felt sooo good. She submerged herself up to her neck and savored the exquisite simple pleasure of a bath. Resting her head on the curved marble cutout made just for that reason, she turned the pulsing jets on and liquefied more. Her muscles were so tense they ached. The pulsing jets pounded and rolled against her stiff body, loosening the tension one inch at a time. What she would not give for a full-body massage.
“You look content, Sophia.” Colin’s deep voice sounded from less than a foot away. She opened her eyes and caught her breath. He wore only his jeans. His defined chest and abdominal muscles shimmered in the humidity of the room. The thick muscles in his arms and shoulders rippled with the slightest movement. The dark horse tattoo along his right side made sense now. It was his Company insignia.
She looked at his right biceps and was impressed by the neat row of stitches across it. She noticed he had another scar about four inches long that ran along the inside of his left biceps, and another one just like it farther down his forearm. She pointed to them. “How did you get those?”
“Knife fight in Fallujah.”
For the first time, Sophia saw Colin as the survivor he was. His childhood, high school, the marines, hand–to-hand combat in a foreign country, the task force. He had the scars to prove he had engaged and walked away the victor. Could he win against Angelo? A spark of hope lit up in her heart. If anyone could, it was Colin. “I’m glad you won.”
“I always win,” he said. No arrogance, just fact.
He pulled off his jeans, leaving only his boxer briefs between them. He stepped up one step, then the other. Sophia’s belly did a slow flipflop. She moved across the tub out of harm’s way. “What are you doing? You can’t get your arm wet!”
He grinned that boyish grin that got her every time. He shucked his underwear and stepped into the tub and then sank down into the frothy bubbles. “Come here,” he said hoarsely, catching her eyes with his hot gaze.
She shook her head and moved around the perimeter away from him. “No, Colin. No more.”
“You asked me to make love to you. What better place than right here?”
She grinned but held firm to her resolve. It was going to be hard enough saying a silent good-bye as it was. “I asked you to have sex with me. Not make love. And that was before—”
Lightning quick, he struck out a hand and grabbed her wrist. She squealed as he pulled her toward him. Her bottom moved helplessly in the warm oiled water.
“Would you believe me if I told you that in all the years I have been sexually active, I have only made love to one woman, one time?”
BOOK: Men Out of Uniform: Three Novellas of Erotic Surrender
13.64Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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