Retribution (20 page)

It’s not a dream. He’s really here in my house, looking at me like he wants me for breakfast.

Maybe her stomach was playing tilt-a-whirl from indigestion. Maybe her overindulgence at Ray’s had it in knots. The thoughts hit her one after the other, but she instantly rejected them. Nah, she could attribute it all to Dray’s presence. His gaze lowered, and right there in front of everybody, Dray licked his lower lip. Sasha flushed and felt singed by the look in his eyes.

“Oh my gawd! I’m so gonna be sick. What the hell have y’all been doing up in that room, Sasha?” Hal’s question reverberated through the room.

“Shut up, Hal, before
I
throw up on
you
.” By dint of sheer will, she pulled her gaze from Dray. “Gentlemen, it’s good to see you in the light of day—”

Hal cut her off. “
And
while she’s sober. So, can we get right to the point, or do we have to pussy-foot around? You know what’s going on, Sash, or should we bring you up to speed? You know we’ve all been lied to, right?”

“Geesh, Hal, what’s with the anger? Are your feelings hurt because you couldn’t keep the bet?” Con prodded her like a bear in a trap, all the while grinning like a fool in Surrey’s direction. “That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

“What the hell do you know about that bet, Connor Parks? You know what? Never mind! Please, let’s just stay on task, shall we?” Hal’s voice was desperate, and she looked everywhere but in Surrey’s direction.

“Children, as much fun as this is turning out to be, why don’t we all have a seat and talk about the current situation?” Dray’s voice cut into the fray, but it stroked Sasha’s nerves like velvet.

Hold on to the anger, Sasha
. But like last night, it was proving elusive.

She glanced at Hal, and the enormous lump on the front of her head brought back just how much danger they were in. Dray sent her a small, reassuring smile before his gaze hardened.

“All right, here’s the deal. We’re dealing with Peter Dempsey, who is a really bad man. He’s also Ranger-trained U.S. military with a serious mental issue. He’s unstable at best, psychotic most definitely. Over the past year and half, he’s been employing various means to get at me because I turned his evil ass in way back when. Had I been looking specifically for his involvement, I would have noticed him sooner than three weeks ago while we were in Afghanistan. Without getting into details, I now have confirmation beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s willing to use any means at his disposal to hurt me. That includes using Sasha.”

“So you guys were actually truthful last night, huh?” Hal commented sardonically. “What are you going to do to keep her safe? And please,” she said, holding up her hand. “Let’s not have another replay of last night. That was ugly…for all of us,” she finished pointedly in Sasha’s direction.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Hal, everybody knows I got snockered. By the way, thank you guys for taking care of me. I love you. So,” she turned to look at Dray, “what’s the manly plan to take care of the little ladies?” Her tone was laced with a mocking she couldn’t hide.

Dray’s eyebrow arched.

It was sexy. Too sexy.

He turned to Con and asked, “What’s the latest on the safe houses?”

“They’re a go. They’ve both been outfitted with the amenities and food items you requested. The one in Denver is being cleaned as we speak. Unless we’re deviating from our earlier plan, you and Sasha go to Boston, I follow in two days. Surrey, Itchy, Hal, Devyn, and Kara all go to Denver. Bleak runs surveillance on Command and reports. I spoke with the Bennoits a few minutes ago, and they’ve agreed to a short stay with Aunt Lola. This should give us time to draw Dempsey out and eliminate him.”

Devyn groaned loudly. “Nuh-uh, no way! I have rehearsal and two video shoots starting tomorrow. I’m not going anywhere but to Houston to handle my business.”

“What do you think, Dray?” Con asked him. “Will she be off his radar enough that he won’t try to manipulate a situation using her?”

“I don’t think anyone but Sasha is in immediate danger. I know Hal was moved last night, but I think she must’ve just been staging for whoever was waiting on Sasha. No, Dempsey wants at me, and he knows the way to do that is to get to Sasha.” Giving Devyn a warning look, he emphasized, “You make sure you’re never alone. Stay as public as you can without being overt. If you see anything out of the ordinary, contact one of us immediately.” He glanced at Itchy. “Do you have any contacts in Houston?”

“Yeah, I do. If we need somebody, Nichols will be there in a heartbeat. I’d trust my own sister to him.” Itchy’s gaze was glued to Devyn.

Hal coughed to cover what sounded like “bullshit.” “Well, I’m not going anywhere without Sasha. Besides, I have contacts I can use within the DOD to keep us safe. We don’t even really need Presidio Security. You guys are contract workers, right? Where’s the money on this one coming from?” she questioned.

Sasha sighed. Her sister’s eyes were narrowed—never a good sign. She was more than likely determined to make Dray pay for hurting Sasha last night.

“That’s the good thing about owning your own business, Hal,” Surrey remarked dryly. “You get to do what you want to do, not what anybody else tells you to.”

“So you guys are just gonna fork up the money to hide us out for God-only-knows-how-long? Really? I didn’t know any of you did benevolence well. Good for you.” She gave Surrey a thumbs-up. “But, I’m going to have to take a pass on this little secret getaway. I’ve got work in Atlanta, and I’ve got the bar to study for, so I’m out, but thanks for the offer.” Hal got up breezily and walked toward the stairs.

“Sit down,” Surrey demanded in a tight voice. “You’re going with me to Denver. Are you telling me that last night didn’t put any fear into you at all about this situation? I gave you credit for more brains than that, Hal.”

Hal turned slowly. Sasha winced as amazement broke over Hal’s face.

“Oh, Surrey, that was a cheap shot. You went for quick instead of deadly, your bad. Anyway, I can take care of myself, as we all can in case you bunch of muscle heads hadn’t gotten that, and besides, Zoren’ll be around in case I need him.” Hal smirked as she winked at him.

Surrey stood up, hands on his hips and murder in his eyes. “You did such a great job last night, Hal. You know, taking care of yourself. I can see how you would think you’re invincible. And maybe you thought I was
asking
you to come. Let me make it crystal—I wasn’t. I’m telling you that you are going to go with me to Denver if I have to drag you by the hair of your head to do it. So everybody should probably start packing. Dray, what time are you and Sasha pulling out?” Surrey never raised his voice, his face ice cold.

Sasha had heard “—Enough!”

She was sick and tired of everyone talking around her and not asking her opinion. Plus Hal and Surrey’s bickering à la undertone of sexual tension was scraping her nerves raw.

She glanced at him, expecting her stomach to drop when their gazes met, and therefore was prepared when her breath caught.
Get your shit together, Bennoit!

“I’m not sure exactly when you thought you became lord over my life, Dray, but you haven’t asked me, not once, whether I felt going anywhere with you was the right choice for me.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, and her mouth went Sahara dry. He was clothed now, but earlier his shirt had been off and…
yeah
.

“You’re right, I didn’t. And if you’re waiting for me to, pull up a chair. Maybe I didn’t make it clear enough up in the room earlier. You will be safe, and I will do whatever I need to ensure that. I have to get Dempsey on my turf and operating in my way so I can take him down. I get that you don’t want anything to do with me. That’s fine for now. After Dempsey is eliminated, you can be wherever you want, but until then, it is my job to make sure you’re okay. End of discussion.” Dray emphasized his words by turning back to the guys to continue preparations to leave.

Oh, his dismissal pissed her right off. She walked over to him and, tapping him on the shoulder, Sasha composed her features. She could do serene if she had to. It sucked, but she could do it.

“Yeah?” he questioned roughly as he turned around.

“You aren’t winning the war. You’re only winning this tiny little skirmish. Just letting you know,” she said and sauntered off.

*

Upstairs in her room, Sasha gathered clothes and necessities, tossing them a little more forcefully than necessary as she wondered why she was even bothering. Last night he’d been all over another woman, and now he wanted to ride in and save Sasha’s day?

You’ve damn well lost your ever-loving mind.
She’d just bent down to get her suitcase from under the bed when Hal walked in. Sasha straightened up before she pulled the case out as Hal sat down on her bed.

“I’m going to kill Surrey, you know that, right? He’s the biggest PITA I’ve ever met, Sash. How the hell am I going to live through any amount of time cooped up with him?” Hal whined.

“Stop bitching, you big baby. Where’s the macho chick that takes on all comers and dares them to piss her off? You know what your problem is, right?” Sasha asked quietly.

Hal rolled her eyes. “No, but I bet dollars to doughnuts you’re gonna tell me.”

“Now that’s a bet you’d win. How you feel about him is worrying you.” She held up her hand to prevent Hal arguing the point. “You don’t understand why he’s twisting you up in knots. And Hal, I know our bet last night was to keep me from losing it. I appreciate the effort, but it isn’t something you have to go through with. If anybody knows what it’s like to have overwhelming feelings toward someone, it’s me. I don’t want you putting yourself out there and losing it when Surrey moves on. Because you and I both know he probably will. He’s a man; he can’t help it.”

“I don’t know, Sasha. I get this whole different kind of vibe from him.” She rubbed a hand down her face and grunted. “Anyway, I’m way too young and have way too much going on right now to even think about a relationship. Not that he is so inclined, even if I was.” A mischievous grin formed on her face. “But the bet is on. I haven’t lost one to you, and I’m not gonna start now. You know, unless you want to fold?”

“Whatever.” Sasha rolled her eyes this time. “Get your ass in gear. Apparently, we’re taking a trip. I want you to keep Kara safe for me. If that bastard comes after you guys, kill his ass. We didn’t train with Daddy for nothing. Now go pack,” she ordered.

Hal saluted smartly and left to do her thing. Sasha once more bent over to pull the case from under the bed.

“Need some help?” Dray’s husky voice sounded directly behind her.

She straightened back up and turned a glare on him.

“Leave so I can pack, please.”

“No.” He grinned.

She frowned. “Yes.”

“No.”

Anger took her by the throat. “Damn it, Dray, what do you want from me? My head is still spinning from the one-eighty you pulled this morning. I need some time to process all of this. You’re lucky I’m even going with you and haven’t given you much more than lip service so far.”

“You gave me some lip service all right. I’d like a little more if you could. Right here.” He pointed to his lips.

“Leave!” She pointed out her bedroom door.

“Quit yelling.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“No!” she yelled. Getting in his space, she pointed her index finger at his chest and ranted. “Damn it, Dray, I cannot handle this right now!”

“My name isn’t Damn It Dray and you don’t have a choice. Where is the woman I picked up off the ground in Afghanistan? I have to know you’re going to fight with me, Sasha. I can’t have you cowering in a corner or screaming for mercy when the dime drops. You keep saying, ‘I can’t handle this.’ You don’t have a choice, woman!”

His words were a whip across her heart. She pressed a hand to her chest before she could check the action. “You so did not just say that to me. You arrogant ass. This isn’t the damn military. I don’t take orders from you, and I’m not one of your men, so step off, soldier.”

“You aren’t one of my men. I’d be concerned about the hard on I constantly sport in your presence if you were,” he stated sarcastically. “And you’re right. This isn’t the military, Miss Queen of Overstatement. But you will follow my orders, because, and work with me here, you will be safe. And the only way for me to ensure that happens and get rid of Dempsey at the same time is for you to do what I tell you to do without mouthing off at me.”

He was almost yelling now, and before she could counter his move, he’d grabbed her head in his hands and guided her face to his, all the while staring into her eyes. Her body went up in flames. She couldn’t be this close to him and not feel
want
. He molded her body to his, her breasts pressed flush against his hard chest, and, not breaking their intense stare, slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

It was the most erotic experience of her life. Her eyes drifted closed as his assault on her senses continued, and she gave in to him. His kisses rocked her world. Lost in the smell and feel of him and the hot fire generated by his tongue on hers, she climbed up the man, moaning into his mouth. Teeth clashing, lips and tongues entwined, he gave her what she begged for, and still she wanted more.

He pulled away, let her fall down his body. His erection prodded her oh-so-sensitive mons and she groaned. It was time to tell him.

“I have—”

“Sasha—”

They spoke at the same time.

She waved her hand at him. “Go ahead.” She’d waited this long to tell him, what was a couple more heartbeats?

He took her cue. “We can’t finish this here. I apologize for starting the fire again. I just have the hardest damn time controlling myself around you.” His beautiful mouth turned down and he sounded almost dejected at the prospect of not having that control. “
Leanbh,
look at me. We will finish this, you and I. We have plenty of time, but right now, you need to finish packing and we need to get moving, okay?”

“Yeah, gotta go pack.” She almost couldn’t keep the relief out of her voice.