Renegade Alpha (ALPHA 5) (2 page)

A couple of exhausted hours of sleep later, and he felt like shit. He was also badly in need of a shower and a shave.

Or that fuck.

With or without the shower and shave first.

Which was the reason he would have preferred to ignore this woman when she came into his office a few minutes ago. The top of the desk in front of him was just too convenient for what the increasing hardness of his dick was now demanding.

As for his earlier remark about her perfume, which she had taken such exception to…

She smelled of peaches and vanilla, with an underlying earthy, womanly smell that he was pretty sure was all—
 

“Callie Morgan,” she answered Seth huskily.

“
Caroline
Morgan?” Seth prompted sharply.

“Yes.”

Oh shit!

“Peter’s Callie?” Seth now sounded as cautious as Lijah felt.

“Yes.” She seemed relieved that Seth recognized her name.
 

Lijah squeezed his lids together and counted to ten, knowing any hopes he might have of taking that shower and shave any time soon were rapidly disappearing. The fuck would have to wait too.

Major Peter Morgan had at one time been the commanding officer of every man currently working for Grayson Security. A man they all liked as well as respected. Whatever Callie Morgan’s problem turned out to be, big or small—bleeding heart or otherwise—no one at Grayson Security was going to turn her away. Least of all Lijah.

Peter had become a father figure to Lijah during his years in the military. The other man had also respected Lijah enough to keep the secret he had been hiding for seventeen years.
 

Lijah vaguely recalled seeing Callie once or twice on base years ago. In those memories, she was a scrawny little thing with blue eyes that were too big for her pale face. The sort of eyes that had once twisted her father round the little finger of his motherless daughter.

Lijah sighed as he swung his legs to the floor and sat up at the same time as he lifted a finger against the brim of his Stetson and pushed it back on his head.

His dick gave an extra fierce jolt of interest as he took his first look at a grown-up Callie Morgan.

Possibly four or five inches over five feet in height, her figure bordered on slender, and would have been boyish if not for the fullness of perky breasts visible beneath the blue sweater she wore under her black jacket. Her waist and hips were narrow but curvy in fitted black low-rider jeans. Hair as black as night was thick and straight as it reached halfway down her back, and she had skin the color and smoothness of ivory.

Her heart-shaped face was still dominated by those eyes the color of sapphires. Beautiful eyes that probably still twisted Peter round her little finger.

Unless Lijah was mistaken, there were dark smudges of exhaustion beneath those eyes right now.

And a determined tilt to her slightly raised chin.

Indicating there was a stubbornness beneath that soft exterior?

As if Lijah needed any proof of that. Most women would have turned tail and run from his less than friendly attitude a few minutes ago. Not Callie Morgan. She obviously wasn’t about to run from a battle.

Lijah wouldn’t have expected anything less of the Major’s daughter.

Despite his own exhaustion, she had now succeeded in arousing his curiosity—as well as his dick—as to exactly what she was doing here.

If Lijah Smith was assessing her through lids fringed with thick dark lashes, then Callie’s heart was beating double time as she studied him back just as intently. Her palms had gone damp and her nipples had become engorged to aching peaks the moment she first looked at his hard and unyielding face.

Lijah was probably aged in his mid-thirties, and beneath several days of dark stubble, his features looked refined, almost aristocratic, with arched black brows above eyes of the darkest blue she had ever seen. His nose was long between sharply etched cheekbones, and his mouth—Lord, his mouth was positively sinful, the bottom lip fuller than the top, something she had once read was indicative of a highly sensual nature.

Callie had no doubt that was true, and this hard and dangerous-looking man would totally wreck a woman in bed—

Whoa.

Her traitorous nipples aside, just where had that come from?

She was only here to ask for help in finding her father, not to have inappropriate thoughts about one of the men whom she was hoping to persuade into giving her that help.

Give being the operative word.

Lijah Smith had been right about that; she didn’t have the sort of money to pay the fees needed to hire a top-notch company like Grayson Security.

Callie was here to ask for their help anyway. These men all
owed
her father, and she was here to collect.

She gave a tight smile. “Must have been some night.”

He ran a tired hand over his face. “You have no idea.”

Callie wasn’t sure she wanted to know either. “I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep, Mr. Smith. Perhaps I should just talk to Mr. Armstrong instead and let you get back to it.”

“Lijah,” he growled.

“Short for Elijah?”

“Short for Lijah.” He stood up.

And up.

And up.

Lord, this man wasn’t just muscle, he was tall too, at least three, possibly four inches over six feet. Which caused Callie to tilt her head back in order to be able to look at him as he strolled round to lean back against the desk next to the other man.

If she had thought there was too much testosterone in the room before, then the close proximity of these two men now became totally overwhelming.

Lijah Smith gave off— No, he didn’t just
give
off an air of danger. He undoubtedly
was
dangerous.

Seth Armstrong had at least made an attempt at urbanity by wearing the suit. A sophistication totally belied by those wicked dark eyes and the vicious scar on his face.

These two men might be as different to look at as night and day, but they were both undoubtedly the warriors her father had described his men as being.

Good.

Because warriors were exactly what Callie was going to need if she was going to find her father.

Wherever he might be…

Chapter 2

“Hey.” Seth Armstrong reached out and caught Callie’s arm as she swayed slightly on her feet even as she felt the blood drain from her cheeks.

No doubt out of a feeling of relief, because she no longer felt quite so alone in her worry over her father.

“Here, sit down.” Seth helped her to sit in the chair facing the desk. “Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee? Something stronger? I’m sure Lijah has a bottle of scotch hidden away somewhere in one of his desk drawers,” he added with a derisive sideways glance at the other man.

A man who hadn’t made a move to prevent Callie from falling but instead continued to observe her guardedly through that fringe of dark lashes.

Callie felt uncomfortably self-conscious under the intensity of that indigo gaze. As if Lijah Smith saw past the effort she was making to cover up her desperation and worry, as well as the makeup she’d worn to hide the pallor of her cheeks and the shadows beneath her eyes from too many sleepless nights. It felt as if that piercing gaze saw straight into her “bleeding heart.”

She dragged her gaze away from his as she turned to smile gratefully at the other man. “Tea would be lovely, thank you, Mr. Armstrong.”

“Seth,” he invited smoothly. “I’ll be back in just a minute.”

Callie’s smile faded as she realized Seth had to leave the room in order to go and make the cup of tea.

Leaving her alone with a now fully alert and watchful Lijah Smith.

“So.” Callie gave him a nervous smile after several long seconds of uncomfortable silence.

“So,” he echoed in a slow drawl.

She shifted restlessly. “Has Mr. Grayson retired from the company?”

Those chiseled lips twisted into a humorless smile. “Tamed and loving every minute of it might better describe his current situation.”

Her eyes widened. “Tamed…?”

“Long story,” he dismissed. “Exactly what are you doing here, Miss Morgan?”

“I already told you, I came to speak to Mr. Grayson—”

“No, I meant if there’s a problem, then why are you here and not Peter?” His tone was hard and implacable.

Callie’s gaze shifted down to those scuffed cowboy boots. Now that it had actually come down to the moment of telling these men why she needed their help, she didn’t even know where to begin.

Because it was Lijah Smith she was talking to.

Something about this enigmatic man unnerved her. Inwardly disturbed her in a way she could never remember being disturbed by anyone else before.

Maybe it was those piercing, all-seeing eyes?

Or the threatened power given off by that toned and muscled body?

Or the fact that he was also one of the most visibly attractive men she had ever met?

All of the above!

Even so, Callie knew she had to talk to someone. Couldn’t keep this to herself any longer.

Not and stay sane, that is.

She bit her bottom lip as she felt the sharp sting of tears in her eyes. “My—my father isn’t here because… I don’t believe he’s even in England right now.” She looked up when Lijah Smith made no response to her statement, shifting uncomfortably as he continued to study her.

“Don’t you know?” he finally prompted.

Her gaze flickered up and then as quickly dropped again. “My father often disappears on missions, sometimes for weeks at a time—”

“Your father took early retirement six months ago.”

Her breath caught at the back of her throat as she stared up at him. “I— How did you know that…?”

“I know, okay?” he snapped his impatience. “Now stop playing games, and tell me what the hell is going on!”

She pressed back against the chair as Lijah suddenly loomed over her, their gazes locked, Callie’s wide with apprehension, Lijah’s narrowed to demanding slits.

She was barely breathing, and yet she could still feel and smell the man standing above her—heat and sweat, and something male and heady she was sure was exclusively Lijah Smith.

“Stop intimidating the poor woman and step back and give her some room to breathe.” Seth Armstrong came back into the room with the cup of tea and somehow managed to insinuate himself between Callie and the other man. “I apologize for Mr. Barbarian here,” he added teasingly.

“Lack of sleep again?” Callie attempted to joke, but her hand shook slightly as she took the cup and saucer from Seth.

“I’d like to say so, but with Lijah, it’s hard to tell the difference.” Seth shrugged unconcernedly. “Drink that, and then we can all sit down and have a chat about why you’re here.”

The tea was not only hot but also very sweet. Because Seth Armstrong knew Callie was slightly in shock, and sugar was exactly what she needed right now?

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten anything, and the past week of not knowing where her father was had been a torturous strain on her nerves. This, being here with these two men, most especially the ever-watchful—and censorious?—Lijah Smith, seemed to have robbed her of the last of her strength.

Lijah knew instinctively that something was seriously wrong in Callie Morgan’s world. He also knew, whatever it was, she was reluctant to talk about it to him.

Maybe because you’re acting like that fucking barbarian Seth just called you
?

Or she just didn’t like him?

Are you surprised?

No, Lijah wasn’t in the least surprised. Seth might look scary, but he knew how to charm the ladies, at the same time as he used those scars on his face to draw them into his “bad boy” clutches. Lijah wasn’t even sure he knew how to charm, even on a good day. And today wasn’t a good day.

His mission had gone tits up three days ago, and it had only been through a little fancy footwork and the use of his .44 Magnum—he did so love that gun!—that he’d managed to turn it around at the last minute and return the six-year-old boy to his anxiously waiting parents. He’d even brought back the ransom money they had been willing to pay for their son’s safe return.

One of the three kidnappers had got away, though, which didn’t sit well with Lijah. In his book, scum like that didn’t deserve to continue breathing.

It was a very small book. The bad guys died; the good ones walked away.

Lijah didn’t consider himself as being completely a good guy, but he
had
walked away. Unfortunately, the third man was still out there, and he was definitely a bad guy—that six-year-old kid was going to have nightmares for years because of his ordeal—and Lijah was going to hunt the other man down like the dog he was.

It had been his intention to start that hunt after a few hours’ rest. He had a feeling the reason Callie Morgan was here was now going to take priority over anything and everything else happening at Grayson Security.