Retribution (31 page)

When the time had passed and no more thuds sounded from the door, it swung ever-so-slowly open, and Dray ushered her into a darkened room with recessed lighting. He tried to gauge her reaction. Her face gave away nothing.

She sighed heavily and glanced at him. “Okay, you know I gotta have my iPod and my laptop. Is there cable or satellite?”

“No cable. We have satellite. You can connect to the web, and the interface is secured, so at least you can watch what you want on your computer. iPod? Check. Laptop? Check. Anything else you need while I head upstairs?” he asked her.

“You,” she responded simply.

He’d been in the act of turning to head back out when he heard her reply. Trying to bring some lightness to the current atmosphere, he looked at his watch and teased, “Oh,
mo ghrá,
just can’t get enough of me can you? It’s only been what? An hour?”

“I’m not feeding that gargantuan ego any more than I already have.” She glanced around the bunker, her hands moving restlessly up and down her arms.

“Are you cold?” The bunker was kept a comfortable seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit all year long no matter the outside temperature. He knew her reactions had nothing to do with physical chill. It was more an emotional response to stress and fear.

“No, just worried about how and when this is going to end.”

“No worries,
leanbh
. I’ll keep you safe.”

“It’s not me I worry about, Dray. It’s you,” she stated with a sad smile. “Oh, geeze, get outta here. No more drama, puh-leese. Go get my stuff because the sooner you get out of here, the sooner you can get back to me.” She shooed him away. “Go on.”

The decision to leave was a hard one to make. He wanted her to know he trusted in her own innate strength and that he trusted her to let him know when she needed him. This was about more than just leaving her, it was about returning for her.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll lock the door from the outside this time. When I get back, we’ll go over how to do that from the inside and all the other features Surrey equipped this bitch with.”

With that he moved out the door and left her with the heavy thud of the locks as they reengaged.

Dray quickly gathered up the few items she’d listed along with a change of clothing for her and was heading back down when one of the warehouse’s perimeter alarms was triggered.

“I’m on it, Dray,” Con shouted as he flew past Dray to the door.

He dropped Sasha’s stuff on the couch. “I’m right behind you.”

One hour later and all they’d managed to find was a dead pigeon whose throat had been slashed. An obvious dig at Dray with its Ecuador overtones. The bird had been placed directly on top of the infrared sensor line that had screeched the warning.

“Look, Dempsey is a brazen asshole. I’m gonna bunk on the first level tonight, so if the alarms trip, I can be out quicker. Oh, Surrey called and said all remains quiet out there. He said it’s too quiet, but I think he just wants some action. He said ‘damn’ and ‘woman’ so much together, I’m not sure if he wants action from Hal or combat action.”

Dray grunted. “Don’t ever forget how crazy Dempsey is, you understand me? Crazy and former Army Ranger don’t always mix well. Don’t try to anticipate his movements because he’s good at what he does. Keep out of the line of fire and don’t respond until you’re given an opportunity for a kill shot. I’d give my left nut to have Itchy here right now on the scope,” Dray said earnestly.

“Yeah. By the way, have you heard from Bleak today?” Con inquired.

Something in Con’s voice had unease ghosting through Dray. “Why?”

“Because Surrey can’t raise him and neither can I. I know he’s had some family problems, but damn, if we were still in Force Recon, he’d be AWOL as a motherfucker,” Con stated emphatically.

“No, I haven’t heard from him since last night. Keep trying to raise him and keep me posted. There isn’t much else we can do right now out here. Get back in and monitor things. I’m going to take Sasha some of her stuff. I’ll be back up later tonight when she goes to sleep.”

“It’s a tough job,” Con teased, “but somebody has to do it.”

“Not somebody. Me.”

He walked away to Con’s laughter.

“Jerry-boy, you’re in position I take it?” Dempsey asked.

He’d had no thought to question his wisdom in recruiting Jerry for this task. He held Jerry’s world in his hands. Therefore, the other man would comply with every wish. Even if Dempsey asked for Jerry’s own life.

Plus, Jerry had proven invaluable for intel on Dray Bonner and his actions. Not waiting for a response, he continued. “Good. Good. Your distractions are proving humorous for me, but right now we need to solidify the plan. Are you listening, Jerry?”

“They aren’t my distractions, asshole, they’re yours. Now tell me what the next step is so I can get in position.” Jerry’s voice was hoarse.

Dempsey smiled. Good old Talia. Talia was everything to Jerry: the sun, the moon, the stars, everything. Nothing in this world would keep him from trying to save her life from Dempsey. And he had. He held her where no one could touch her. He giggled at the thought.

“Whoever’s they are, they’re funny. Now listen, tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp, Jerry-boy, you’ll meet me at the corner of Wilmington and Rowe Streets. The rest of your directions will be delivered at that time. Until then, Jerry, get some rest, man. You look like shit.” Dempsey said in a dead voice and then disconnected.

He leaned back in his chair and joy coursed through him.

He was so very close.

So. Very. Close.

The insistent prodding at her backside woke Sasha up. She stretched, only to be stopped when Dray kissed her ear.

“You’re gonna get what your body’s asking for if you keep moving like that.”

She chuckled. “It doesn’t feel like my body’s the only one asking.”

“Mine’s not asking, baby, mine’s demanding.” He punctuated this with a thrust of his pelvis against her backside. “Has anybody ever told you that you have an amazing ass?”

She pushed back against him and wiggled said ass.

“That’s a trick question, right? ’Cause if I say yes, you’re gonna get all ‘that’s my ass and nobody better ever say it to you but me ever again’, but if I say no, you’ll just think I’m yanking your chain. I’ve got you figured out, Bonner. So exactly what answer would you like me to give you?” Pleasure speared her womb, and a slow heat began to simmer as his big hands held her still while he rocked deliciously against her.

He licked her neck and whispered, “The truth shall set you free. Why don’t you turn around, face me, and we’ll find out together which answer gets us further?”

He didn’t wait for her permission or acquiescence. He turned her over before she could draw another breath and began eating at her mouth.

Teeth clashed, mouths bit and suckled, and breath was exchanged, each unwilling to come up for air if it meant leaving the other’s mouth for a second. Their desperation for one another was palpable.

His hands stroked up and down her body, rousing her desire almost to the point of pain as she begged him with words and actions to bring her fulfillment.

“Slow down,
mo ghrá
, we have all night,” he urged her.

She didn’t listen. Her brain shut down as he continued his sensuous assault on her body with kisses that drifted over her mouth and then traveled a lot farther south, only to return for more.

“I’m not the one moving at Mach one here, buddy. You say—oh my word, Dray, that feels so good,” she breathed on a low moan. “You say we have all night, but I’m sure if you don’t finish this soon, I’ll burn up.”

“Then I’ll be right there with you, dying in the flames you build around me.
Cheannsa,
let me love you,” he whispered worshipfully against her lips as he moved to kneel above her.

“Yes. Love me.”

That was what she wanted, his love. His immediate devotion to her during this time of crisis, his obvious need for her physically, and his care of her as they made love had cemented their bond. He’d never said the words “I love you,” but he touched her as if she was everything to him.

Her fragile heart hoped she was.

Then she couldn’t think clearly enough to hope as he positioned himself at her entrance and plunged deep with one stroke. His hips pistoned, pushing his cock in and out of her sheath. She held on as he rode her until her breath was gone and her insides contorted in need so fierce she wondered if she’d survive.

Dray teased her with erotic love words that held no meaning beyond the measure they served to stoke her desire higher. His lips and tongue played havoc with her breasts and mouth. He left marks on her that she never wanted to heal, and she returned the favor, scraping his back in her quest to reach climax.

“Deeper, Dray, I need you deeper,” she begged.

He flipped her over onto her stomach and pulled her hips up as he pushed her upper body flush with the bed. He stilled behind her, and she wanted to weep.

“Dray, I need you.”

His hands molded her ass, gripping and pulling the globes apart. He cock toyed with her entrance, and she keened in frustration, trying to push back. His hands prevented that, and then he shocked her. His thumbs pulled her further apart, and the whisper of a caress over her rosette forced the breath from her lungs.

“One day, Sasha, I’ll take you here,” he growled.

She couldn’t respond. Hell, she couldn’t even breathe.

He seated his cock deep inside her, one thrust taking her mind and replacing it with a white-hot supernova of pleasure.

It was primal. She felt things she’d never imagined. Every movement of her inner muscles working his cock drew moan after moan from her. It was too intense. Warmth poured through her body, and in the moment of release, she felt such blinding emotion she wanted to yell.

She may have. It crested hard and took her over. She would have fallen face first had he not shoved a pillow under her breasts. Harder, deeper, and faster, his movements pushed her over the cliff and right back up another one.

He played her body like a master. The heat that centered in her womb spread, her clit begged for ease, and her heart pounded. Still he stroked her, tugging on her nipples, nipping at her neck and back.

“You feel so fucking good,” he groaned.

His lips ghosted over her spine and she shivered. She pushed back, demanding he ease her. She was on fire. And then…she fragmented into a million pieces.

“Yes!” she moaned loudly, her muscles tightening and locking on his cock as light burst behind her eyelids. Orgasm rushed through her, a freight train that left no part of her untouched.

She opened her mouth to scream, and blackness consumed her as the pleasure peaked.

* * * *

Once she began talking, she couldn’t seem to stop. She’d woken up from the most beautiful experience of her life and felt him at her back, where she instinctively knew he would always be. The words had come without hesitation.

She told him of her experience at el-Din’s and her fears over the next months. She told him of her need to find Lily and bring her to the U.S. to grow up safely and securely. She’d made Kharima a promise, and she was going to keep it because her own biological mother had never kept hers. She told him of her hopes and dreams from the time she was little girl to now, though she edited some of the more current ones because she didn’t want to put pressure on him if he wasn’t ready to give her what she wanted. She gave every part of herself to him.

He held her close as he told her about growing up with a pain in the ass, younger-by-four-minutes twin brother and how they’d lost their parents at a young age. He told her of their unique ability to communicate with each other and how much they had loved their Grandda. He shared stories about growing up, entering the Rangers and later Spec Ops, and he told her about his hopes and dreams from a young age to present.

He never mentioned the word love, but she knew the emotion wasn’t foreign to him. She knew that whether he called it by the word or not, he’d loved his parents, his Grandda, and even his pain in the ass, younger-by-four-minutes twin brother.

And Sasha knew he loved her. If the words didn’t come easily to him, she was all right with that. He expressed it with every glance, every touch, and every whispered plea for her to love him.

Through the short night, they talked about the things they liked and disliked, their hobbies and families. He liked to read, of all things, and she liked to play the guitar. He asked her to write him a song; she said sure, as soon as he wrote her a book or a sonnet.

Then he switched for a moment to the serious as he explained each detail about the bunker so that she would know how to operate and handle herself within it, and he explained, in vague detail, how he was going to trap Dempsey and eliminate him.

So it went on until he finally wheedled her into singing him a song. She held him and stroked him as if he were a child. His head cushioned on her chest, hands playing with his auburn locks, she sang a song of love and redemption: the two things she had found with this man.

He slept. Eventually, she did too.

She woke to a screaming alarm clock.

Time was warped inside the concrete bunker. Where she would normally wake to the sound of birds and sunlight unless it was raining, she awoke to a darkness muted only by the bunker’s recessed lighting turned low.

She hit the ringing clock and immediately looked for Dray.

Bereft. That’s how she felt; his absence was a pain in her heart.

She tried to shake off a sense of impending doom and gloom made worse by her closed off surroundings. Thirty minutes later, showered and dressed in jeans and sweater, she went to the kitchen to fix some coffee. She’d turned the lights on bright but still saw and felt shadows in every corner. Again trying to shake off the eerie feeling of loss, she noticed a handwritten note on the table. Smiling at the masculine scrawl, she devoured each word.

Mo ghrá,

You’re beautiful when you sleep.

I’ll be gone for a while but will be back when I can. Don’t worry about anything. This is what we do for a living and we’re good at it: You’ll be safe, I promise.