RULES OF LOVE (A Navy SEALs Romance) (19 page)

Watching him sleep, the first time she’d seen him relaxed, she knew she couldn’t live without him. If they both survived.

On the dresser were her cell and holster, the Sig back in place. Quietly, she grabbed them and slipped back out the door to let Beau sleep. She was wired and paced anxiously around the lower floor of the small house. Back and forth from the kitchen to the living room and back again as her leg’s aching refused to stop. She’d used it more these past few days than over the last few months; stopping West from killing Beau caused most of the pain. West had been compromised, just as Hugh was all those years ago. Eddie wanted to trust he was the only one, but since she woke up, a nagging in her gut refused to go away.

It was far from being over. If Hugh was this intent on killing her and Savage, he wouldn’t put his faith in only one man and certainly not someone like West. He was too new to the game. It must be someone else.

Eddie stopped moving long enough to pull out her cell and call Shane. It rang and rang, but he didn’t answer. Jackie said Shane should’ve been here by now, and that was over an hour ago. He wasn’t answering his cell. Jackie said the other agents who disappeared were found dead in the warehouse. Hugh knew Shane was her brother… He was supposed to be his best man at the wedding.

She meant to try him again when a darker thought popped into her mind… Maybe the lead she hoped would go cold was actually right on target.

When they were first betrayed by Hugh, the world turned upside down and Shane had been by her side through it all. Her mind wandered over these ideas before, but she’d pushed them aside as she and Shane became closer after the accident instead of drifting. But now, when Hugh was back in play and agents were turning up dead, the thoughts returned.

Ten years ago, Shane had introduced her to Hugh. They were young, just starting their careers with the special division within the Navy and other military branches, teams sent out to gather intel for others to move in more efficiently. Hugh and Shane hit it off as friends, and not long after, Eddie was swept off her feet by his charm. Back then, he had been Gabriel Willem and was everything she’d always wanted in a man. It was too good to be true, and Shane swore up and down there was no way he could’ve known who Hugh really was. He’d been interrogated over and over, but they never found a reason to suspect her brother.

Eddie tried him again and left a message. She hung up and texted Jackie. If her brother did not check in soon, he was either in serious trouble or he was up to something he shouldn’t be. Either way, Eddie needed to know.

Heavy steps on the stairs drew her gaze to Beau readjusting his holster at his side as he searched for her. “Did I miss anything?”

“Jackie filled me in on what they found so far.”

“From the look on your face, they don’t have anything new. What about the men they took into custody?”

“Dead—cyanide pills—and I killed West before he could give us anything,” she muttered. “I knew better. We needed him alive.”

Beau shrugged as he moved to her side. “You did what you had to do to keep us both alive.”

“No,” she said and hung her head. “I killed him for what he said. That speedball overdose? ‘Gift from Hugh,’ that’s what he said… Right before I drove that knife into his throat.”

She watched the vein in his neck bulge as his jaw tensed. His anger pushed against her and he looked ready to kill someone, but that someone wasn’t anywhere near enough for him to get his hands on. Eddie knew exactly how he felt, but to see a man act that way for her filled her with an insatiable need to fall into his arms, and, for once in her life, let someone help carry her hatred.

“Well,” she said, breaking eye contact before she did something neither of them was ready for. “We’re not technically on duty. How about a drink?”

She heard him follow her as she limped back into the kitchen and dug around in the cabinets. She reached for a bottle of whiskey tucked back in a corner, the bottle dusty and old, but she didn’t care. Anything sounded good. Beau found two glasses and carried everything to the table, poured them a decent measure, and they sat down. The whiskey would do little to ease her racing thoughts, but it might help ease the ache in her knee and her arm.

Beau sipped his whiskey, his eyes on Eddie. “You’re worried about something.”

“Aren’t you?” she said. “Someone did almost kill us both.”

“That’s normal for me,” he replied with a dark laugh. “Come on, no more secrets.”

She caught the hint of anger in his voice. “You can yell at me if you want. I can take it, Savage.”

“No,” he sighed. “I’m pissed, but I’m not going to take it out on you. I think we’ve both been through enough because of this bastard.” He took another long gulp, and when his eyes found hers again, she felt as if she were staring in the mirror. “And you can’t lie to me, not anymore. What else are you thinking about?”

Eddie ran her finger along the rim of her glass, debating what to tell him. She didn’t know anything for certain, and it had been years since she’d trusted her instincts. They’d been wrong about Hugh, so why not everything else too?

“Just unanswered questions about West and the other agents.”

“The dead agents or ones still alive?”

Damn, how does he do that?
“Alive and maybe too close for comfort.”

“Eddie, just tell me what you’re thinking. It can’t be that bad.”

“Depends on your definition of bad.” She sighed and drained the rest of the whiskey, cringing at the burn going down her throat. “I’ll tell you when I know more. It might be nothing.”

Eddie glanced at her cell again, but there was no word from Shane or Jackie. Before, when it was about guarding Savage, she was fine, her usual indifferent self. Now, after the incident, there were too many questions without answers, and the world threatened to crash down around her again. But it wasn’t just her life on the line any more. The man she grew to like a hell of a lot, maybe even love a little, was in danger as well.

He shrugged his shoulders and grimaced across the table.

“How’s your back?” she asked.

“Barely a scratch,” he teased, and his eyes settled on her face before they trailed lower and she watched his pupils dilate. Since her near-death experience, all they’d shared was a kiss.

The need to be in his arms overwhelmed her, and Eddie’s breath caught in her chest as his eyes devoured her over the rim of his whiskey glass. He shot the rest of it back and wiped his upper lip with his finger before setting his glass down. His jaw clenched, but not in anger, not this time. The predatory gaze in his eyes turned into one of possessiveness, and before Eddie realized what she’d done, she rose and led the way towards the stairs.

Beau was right behind her as she hurried to the bedroom at the end of the hall. The second Beau was through the door, she closed it and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his holster off as his hands slid up under her shirt, her hands shaking with need. His touch was soft against her skin, but underneath was the quivering need to know she was still alive and still his to have. She shivered at his touch and the desire exploding within her.

His holster off and resting on the nightstand, she yanked up his shirt, tossing it aside so she could see his bare chest again. Her fingers traced the scars that puckered his skin here and there, mindful of the new injury to his back. His hand skirted around the gauze on her forearm, and his eyes narrowed in anger at the wound, making her loins clench tighter with desire for this man who would kill for her. She leaned forward and kissed his skin until his hands tangled in her hair and pulled her head back.

“Eddie.” He breathed her name, his eyes darkened with desire, and the man who stood before her was no longer just Beau Savage. He was hers.

She took off her holster, and his hands lifted her shirt and quickly undid her bra. The second she was free of it, he growled and pressed her against his body as his mouth slanted over hers. His tongue demanded entry, and she could do nothing but let him in, leaning into his touch as her need for him grew. Before, when they’d made love, she’d been Naomi, but now she was Eddie and Beau’s hands knew it. He might have been pissed at her for lying, but he seemed to care more about feeling every inch of her to know that she hadn’t left him yet.

Watching her almost die put things in perspective for them both.

Eddie and Beau had their secrets and they had their pasts, but in that moment, the only thing that mattered was holding onto each other. She ran her nails down his back, heat spreading between her legs as he grunted and moved them back against door. His head lowered, and she gasped when his mouth closed around her nipple, sucking hard and without mercy. She wanted it, needed it. Her hands threaded through his hair, pushing him closer as his hand tightened on her hip. Her eyes rolled back as every nerve in her body tingled. His tongue licked the slope of her breasts before closing around the other nipple.

She moaned, and his hand slid to her jeans, unbuttoning them and sliding the zipper down. His fingers sought her folds, and when he found them, she smiled when he cursed.

“When I’m finished with you, you’ll never think of Coleman touching you again,” he whispered in her ear. “You are mine, Eddie Sage, and I’m never letting you leave me. No matter how much shit you put me through.”

She grabbed his hair and pulled his head back so she could stare into his eyes. The range of emotions racing through her didn’t stop as an overpowering sense of love she never thought she’d feel overflowed within her. “Swear it.”

His fingers penetrated her, and she gasped at the sensation of him inside her. He nibbled her lip and whispered, “I swear it.”

Beau kissed her hard, his fingers moving inside her, stretching her as his palm rubbed her clit. She wrapped her arms around his neck, the contact between them electric. He picked her up with one arm, and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her back to the bed. Her jeans were tugged off along with everything else, and she lay bare before him. Eddie wanted him inside her, but he wasn’t going to give in that easily and knelt at the edge of the bed. His lips started at her knee, caressing the scarred skin with this tongue, making her body quiver under his touch. His stubble rubbed against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, and when his warm breath hit her clit, she held her breath, trying to hold back the plea on her tongue.

His eyes met hers, and the predatory gaze in them she’d seen the first day they met came rushing back. Eddie couldn’t help it. She let a cry escape her lips, and a moment later, Beau’s tongue thrust inside her. She cried out louder as his thumb massaged her clit, squeezing and tugging the bundle of nerves while his mouth devoured her.

He turned her inside out until she craved more than she feared she could handle, and when the edge came closer for her to tumble over, Beau sent her there. Her body convulsed in his arms, and every inch of her exploded inward.

Eyes hooded as she struggled to catch her breath, she watched him stand and slide off his jeans. She held out her hand for his and he moved over her, his muscles tense as she ran her fingers up them, outlining each taut curve and hollow. She found the back of his head and brought him to her lips, the salty taste of her on them nearly sending her over the edge again. As she let her tongue dance along his lips, Beau pressed himself against her wet folds, his tip against parts already raw and exposed, making her grab his hips and lift her own.

“You are never going to have another after me,” he whispered harshly in her ear.

“Never,” she breathed. “Beau.”

He thrust inside her hard, and she gasped at being filled so quickly. The ache turned into a throb of pleasure as he rocked forward, his hand gripping her thigh as he drove into her. Eddie’s lips parted on a moan until he swallowed it with his mouth, his tongue competing with his hips for a steady rhythm, and Eddie felt herself losing what control she ever thought she might have with this man.

She would never be the same again, and he was right. After Beau, she would never be able to have another man in her life.

Her nails dug into his shoulders, and he thrust harder, pushing her to the limit as he growled deep within his chest. His kiss grew hungrier, and when Eddie sucked his tongue, he lost it, pounding into her until she couldn’t take it anymore and tumbled over that cliff, Beau falling with her. He held himself inside her, filling her as their bodies clung to each other, sweaty and on fire with their passion. Slowly, he slipped out, and Eddie’s muscles clenched at the loss, her chest heaving against his as he rolled to the side and took her hand.

She moved to stay close to him, wanting her body near his.

“Whatever happens after this,” he said between deep breaths, “I will find you if you try to run.”

Eddie’s heart twisted, and she kissed him. “I’m not going anywhere, Savage.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Beau held Eddie close to him throughout the night, her breathing steady as she lay calm within the safety of his arms. He ran his fingers up her arm, unable to take his eyes from her face. He’d seen it under the throes of passion and he’d seen it when she was in pain, but he could only imagine the hell she’d gone through those two weeks. Hearing about it was one thing, but when he’d tried to sleep, all he saw was her in a dirty cell with Hugh hovering over her and cackling.