Not Another Soldier (19 page)

“Looking like what?”

“Like you want to pounce on me.” He offers me a
twisted smile but it’s not very genuine.

I giggle out of shock. Okay, so maybe I do want to
jump his bones but I didn’t think I was that obvious.

“Can’t I look at you without you assuming I want to
fuck you?”

He lets out a startled cough and flicks his gaze
briefly to me. “Sienna, are you trying to kill me?”

“What? I didn’t do anything!”

“You look at me like that.” He lifts his hand from the
steering wheel and gestures to me. “You lick your lips like
that
.” I
bite my lip to keep my tongue from darting out. “And you say f-f…”

“Yes?”

“Fuck.”

“And your point is? Come on, Nick, it’s not like
you’re a prude.”

“Yeah, but I’m trying to concentrate on keeping you
safe and when you do stuff like that…
say
stuff like that. Geez, Sienna,
all the damned blood rushes right out of my brain…”

I glance down at his crotch and my cheeks flame as I
realize he’s right. Shit, for all my bravado, I’m not as bold as I’d like to
believe. I didn’t realize my teasing was having that kind of effect.

But then just him sitting next to me makes
me
ache.

I fold my arms and slump in my seat. “Sorry,” I
mumble.

Nick gives me a sideways grin and pats my knee. “Don’t
be… just save it for later, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good.” He doesn’t glance at me. Just keeps his eyes
ahead. “’Cause I cannot wait to get you into bed. I’m going to kiss you and
lick you all over. I’m going to spread your legs and bury my tongue in your
sweet p—”

“Nick!” I clap my hands over my ears. He’s teasing me
and getting his revenge but his words are making me so hot and bothered, it’s
all I can do not to jump on him and make us crash.

He laughs and my stomach does a little dance of
excitement. I love this. I love him. I love that we make each other laugh and
turn each other on. I love that I feel so secure with him and that he knows all
my little—and big—flaws. He sees me when I’m a wreck in the morning and somehow
still adores me. When he looks at me, I know he doesn’t see my imperfections.
He just sees someone beautiful. It’s pretty heady. I feel a little like when you
have that first drink after a long week. My limbs are warm and loose, and my
heart feels full.

When my cheeks have cooled, I risk another peek at him
and note the stiffness in his arms again, the rigidness in his expression.

“You know you don’t need to play my protector any
more, right?”

“Babe, I’ll always be your protector.”

Oh God. It’s such an old fashioned notion but I love
it. The idea of being all protected and loved. I guess as much as we’ve
evolved, some early human instincts will never disappear. But still I can’t
have him going around looking like he’s my bodyguard. I want fun, casual Nick
back. I’m planning on going go back to work the day after tomorrow and I want
to make the most of our time together.

“Relax,” I insist. “Nothing’s going to happen now.”

He pauses to glance in the rear view mirror yet again
and narrows his eyes. “I’m not so sure about that. I think we’re being
followed.”

I twist around and his hand comes to my shoulder to
stop me. “Seriously?” I study him to see if he’s joking but that sexy mouth is
pulled into a firm line. “But why?”

“Who knows? But that car out there this morning was
theirs. It’s the same one. Maybe they were hoping you’d lead them to the
drugs.”

“But I don’t have the drugs!”

“They only started following us a few blocks back. I
don’t think they picked up our tail until then. Maybe they don’t know we found
them.”

“Picked up our t— You’re not a fucking cop, Nick. Or a
bodyguard! What are you talking about? Are you sure you’re not just being
paranoid?” This feels like it’s all getting a little silly.

“It’s the same guy. He was outside your apartment. I
had a little word and told him to scram. Seems he didn’t get the message.” He
scowls as he peers in the mirror. “And he picked up a friend.”

I slap a hand over my open mouth, speaking from
beneath it. “You had a word with him? Nick, you could have been killed! Why
didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t want to scare you.”

“Well, you’re scaring me now.” Hands clenched
together, I watch the blue car in the side mirror. “You shouldn’t be taking
those sort of risks.”

“I was born to take risks, babe.”

I narrow my eyes at his flippant remark. “You’re not
on the battlefield now, you know. This is their territory. And I don’t see you
carrying around an AK.”

“An M16,” he corrects.

I’m about to respond with something snide when he
takes a turning off. “What are you doing?”

“Going to try to lose them on the freeway.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer just to go back to my apartment
and call the cops?” I don’t like this big man act. These guys are genuinely
dangerous and I can see the adrenaline has caught up with him. He thinks he’s
some kind of spy or something. I get that he’s got this idea in his head that
it’s entirely up to him to keep me safe, but I don’t want him putting himself
in danger for me.

“There’s two of them in there now. If they decide to
do something, I’m not so keen on my chances of protecting you. I’d feel a lot
more comfortable losing them now.”

Well I guess he has a point. And at least he’s
realized he’s not Superman. Though I imagine I’ll always think of him that way.
I hold back a sigh as my annoyance disappears and my need for him swells
suddenly inside me. Damn, he is amazing.

“Sienna,” he barks, “you’re doing it again and I could
really do without it right now.” His gaze is intent on the road. He begins
weaving in and out of the traffic. I have to brace myself on the dashboard as
he applies the brakes unexpectedly. “Hold on, short stuff,” he orders.

I swing my gaze from the side mirror to in front of us
and practically bite my lip off trying to keep my squeals at bay. Nick’s a good
driver, if a little aggressive at times, but he’s hardly been trained in
evasive maneuvering or whatever. In my mind, I see us plowing into every car we
zip past, but somehow Nick avoids them.

However the sedan is close behind us. They’re not
exactly being sneaky about it. I wonder if they’re deliberately trying to scare
us. Or even attempting to catch up enough to run us off the road. My palms grow
clammy as images of twisted metal spring up in my mind. I try to gulp but the
tension in my throat is too great so I hold on and hope for the best.

When we nearly crash into the bumper of another car, I
close my eyes briefly. Nick swears and presses his horn but no crunching of
metal comes and we’re still in one piece. Abruptly, he slips in between two
vehicles and takes us off the freeway. As we go down the off ramp, I keep an
eye on the cars behind us but don’t see the blue sedan.

“I think…” My voice comes out strained and high-pitched.
“I think we’ve lost them.”

Nick nods but doesn’t look at me. He still drives like
a madman and we both keep checking in the mirrors. Only when we’re back in the
outskirts of the city, and a few blocks from my place, does he seem to relax.

“I think we’re okay,” I say, trying to reassure myself
more than anything.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“What could they have wanted? They weren’t trying to
be very stealthy.” I’m no expert on car chases but I thought the idea of
following someone was to not be seen.

“I guess they were hoping to intimidate you. Get you
to give up the drugs.”

“Well, they did a good job of it.”

I glance down at my hands and realize they’re shaking.
God, this was meant to be over. Nick reaches over and wraps one warm hand
around both them of them when I clasp them together. His touch is an instant
comfort and my thudding heart begins to slow.

“Don’t worry, Sienna. Nothing will happen to you.
Hopefully they’ll realize you haven’t got the drugs after they put that news
piece out and leave you alone. There isn’t anything for them to gain in coming
after you then.”

I nod and concentrate on breathing slowly. He’s right.
That’s what I was telling myself after all, wasn’t it? Just got to lay low and
wait for it to blow over.

Nick pulls up in front of my red brick building and
turns off the engine. His hand remains over mine, one rough thumb smoothing
across my skin and suddenly I feel all hot and breathless again. When I glance
up at him, I can see he’s having similar thoughts. The warm blue shade of his
eyes has darkened as his pupils have dilated.

And then his brows knit, and he draws back and climbs
out. He opens my car door, all business-like and I sigh at a moment lost. I
really wouldn’t have minded him kissing me pretty thoroughly just then. But
he’s still worried, no matter how glib he’s trying to be.

I allow myself a tiny smile as we head into the
building. I’m definitely going to have to think of a way to get rid of that
scowl. And I know the best way of going about it…

***

Nick

So I’ve extracted a promise from Detective Matthews
that he’s going to do his best to protect Sienna. An announcement is going out
tomorrow about the find. Hopefully this ‘Big Johnson’ will see it and realize
she’s no longer got access to the drugs.

And leave her be.

I’m not holding out much hope. Actually I’m fucking
terrified. I’m proud of her, of course I am. Who wouldn’t be? She’s sticking
her neck on the line to do the right thing, but part of me wishes she’d just
accepted my offer to find these guys and hand all the stuff over.

It’s selfish but Sienna is my priority. I don’t know
what I’d do if anything happened to her. I rub a hand over my jaw and grimace
when my fingers rasp over stubble. I feel wrecked. Unease is eating at my gut.
I can hear Sienna singing in the kitchen as she prepares dinner. She’s
relieved. She thinks it’s all over.

I think we’re just getting started.

She saunters in from the kitchen and stops in front of
me. A little flesh is visible above the waistband of her denim shorts, right in
my line of sight and my mouth dries.

“Dinner will be about an hour,” she declares, moving
closer. She threads her fingers into my hair and urges me to look at her.
“What’s going on, Nick? Why do you look so grim?”

I try to smile but fail miserably. I really don’t want
her knowing how shit-scared I am for her. When I don’t respond, she flattens my
head against her stomach. I grip her hips and hold her close. She smells like
pasta sauce and flowers. It’s a pretty heavenly combination actually.

I nuzzle her skin, inch up her T-shirt and kiss her
exposed flesh. Sienna draws in a startled breath and I hold her tighter. I
don’t want to lose her. Those words keep pounding through my head.
Can’t
lose her, can’t lose her.
I’ve waited so damned long for her, I can’t let
anyone harm her.

Her fingers continue their journey through my hair,
massaging my scalp. It’s soothing and slightly erotic. She doesn’t realize that
just touching me turns me on. I continue to kiss across her stomach, this time
using my hands to shove up her tank top and gain better access to her skin. I
lick and suck at the slight rise of one hip sticking over her jean shorts.

When her hands leave my hair, I peer up. Sienna smiles
down at me. A soft, teasing smile that has my heart flipping in my chest. With
slow, deliberate movements, she begins to peel up her top, taunting me with an
increasing expanse of smooth skin. I think I groan aloud as I hold onto the
belt loops of her shorts for support.

She whips the top over her head, sending auburn hair
spilling over her bare shoulders. My fingers tingle with the desire to reach up
and tear her bra from her but I feel kinda weak right now. And she’s
instigating this. No way am I interrupting whatever she’s got planned.

Reaching behind her, she unhooks her bra quickly and
slips down one strap, then the other, supporting the black lacey cups in one
hand. I think my mouth is open. My tongue feels like sandpaper now. Then she
releases them and I definitely groan aloud. Blood pounds in my ears and I eye
those gorgeous swells, her nipples hard and ready for my touch.

Using the leverage I have on her shorts, I tug her
down, just enough so her nipples reach my mouth. She breathes my name as I take
one of those hot peaks into my mouth and tug it with my teeth. Sucking on it, I
savor her small sounds of appreciation, enjoy how aroused she is. I turn my
attention to the other one and slide my hands down to cup her ass.

Sienna straightens, laughing as I make a noise of
disappointment when those amazing breasts move away from my mouth. But she
rewards me with another sassy grin and puts her hands to her shorts.
Snap.
She pops them open.
Rasp.
Christ, she slides the zipper down and reveals
matching black panties. The lace is so thin I can see everything underneath it.
And all I see is skin. Skin, skin, skin.