Singed (24 page)

“Are you doing it for me?” She had to ask. As much as she wanted him out of harm’s way, he’d resent her later on down the road for pushing him out of action before he was ready.

“Well, partly, but I’ve been thinking about it for a while now. I wouldn’t want to leave the guys completely when they’re running ops, because I’ve spent most of my life doing that kind of work. I’m not ready to give all that up yet. But I am willing to take a step back. It’s time.”

Claire kissed him. Set her hand against the uninjured side of his face to cradle his cheek in her palm and settled her mouth over his. “I love you,” she murmured, “no matter what you do.”

Gage made a rough sound and slid his fingers into her hair to cradle the back of her head, deepening the kiss. “You won’t run out on me this time?” he muttered against her lips when he pulled back an inch.

“No,” she vowed, meaning it and surprised by how good it felt to say aloud.

“Even though I’m way older than you and I have a teenage daughter and I can’t have any more kids and I do dangerous shit for a living?”

At one time she’d convinced herself that Janelle and his vasectomy were yet more reasons why they couldn’t be together, but now she realized how stupid she’d been. She wanted Gage more than she wanted anything, even the chance to be a mother. Maybe somewhere down the line they could talk about adoption but if not, it wasn’t a deal breaker for her. Being a stepmother to Janelle was a bonus, not a burden, and she hoped they could form a close relationship from now on if the girl was willing. “Nope. No running,” she promised, smiling against his lips.

“Good because I wouldn’t let you go again anyhow.” Gage grinned and tucked her head back down against his shoulder, cuddling her close. “Gonna marry you, you know.”

A joyous smile broke over her face, her heart swelling. “Are you?”

“Yeah. You didn’t know, but I bought a ring back in March.”

He had? Stricken, she sucked in a pained breath and started to lift her head to apologize but he held her fast against his shoulder. Warm lips nuzzled the bridge of her nose. “Gonna go talk to your dad and ask for your hand as soon as I get out of this fucking hospital, then go pick up the ring.”

She loved his old fashioned manners. Her father would be deeply touched by that gesture of respect from Gage. Man, would she love to overhear that conversation. “You kept the ring?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t ready to give you up completely. Guess some part of me never stopped hoping I’d get another chance to convince you I’m the only man for you.”

She closed her eyes and smiled against the hospital gown. “You
are
the only man for me.” She couldn’t wait to be Gage’s wife. “And if you want out of this place sooner rather than later, then I guess you’d better be on your best behavior and do what they tell you, huh? Starting with taking your meds.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” His sigh was full of resignation. Then he squeezed her once and kissed her forehead. “Pass me those pills then, baby, because I want to slide that ring on your finger by tomorrow night.”

Chapter Fourteen

Four days later

The first thing Gage noticed when he woke was that he was alone in his bedroom at the Outer Banks. He was acutely disappointed by that until he smelled the scents of brewing coffee and frying bacon drifting up from downstairs. He sat up and climbed out of bed, feeling much less stiff than he had when he’d left the hospital in Baltimore three days ago. The cuts on his chest were healing and the bruises were turning from purple to yellow, not nearly as sore as they had been. The side of his face was already growing new skin, though he’d probably have a bit of scarring despite all the vitamin E cream Claire insisted on slathering on him every day.

After a hot shower to ease the aches and pains even more, he threw on a T-shirt and a pair of jeans and headed down the narrow staircase to the main floor of the beach cottage. His shoulders almost brushed the walls as he descended but he didn’t want to make any major structural changes because his grandfather had built this place with his own hands and Gage wanted to preserve it.

At the bottom of the stairs the tang of salt and thyme wafted in from the open window above the kitchen sink. Beyond it, the Outer Banks lay bathed in the warm September sunshine. Bright morning sunlight filtered through the French doors he’d installed that summer, opening up the tiny space to a gorgeous view of the rolling waves hitting the beach a few hundred yards away.

If he strained hard enough he could hear the muted roar they made. His ears had healed to the point that his hearing was already improving and that fucking annoying ringing had pretty much stopped.

The sight that greeted him in the galley kitchen made his heart swell.

At the stove stood his two girls, their backs to him, chattering away while they flipped pancakes and added the finished ones to a platter waiting on the counter beside Claire. Her sapphire engagement ring sparkled on her left hand as she grabbed the ladle and poured batter onto the sizzling hot griddle. Janelle had her red-gold hair pulled back into a ponytail and Claire’s caramel-brown hair was loose against her shoulders. They stood hip to hip as they cooked and were so into their conversation that neither of them heard him enter the kitchen. They both craned their heads back when he came up behind them and settled his arms around their shoulders.

“Mornin’,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of Janelle’s head and then bending to cover Claire’s lips with his own. She tasted like orange juice, sweet and tangy, and he went back in for another sample.

“Ew, okay, come on,” Janelle muttered, wiggling out from under his arm to attend to the cooking pancakes. “Can you guys tone it down in front of me? I’m only here for a couple days, you should be able to manage it no problem.”

“This is toned down,” Gage told her, smiling as he thought about the last time he’d eaten pancakes with Claire in this very kitchen, months ago when she’d practically attacked him and stripped him naked right in front of the stove.

As though she was remembering it too, Claire turned pink and smacked his arm while Janelle shook her head, but he noticed his daughter was smiling. She’d made it very clear that she approved of the impending marriage and she and Claire had spent hours going through wedding dress magazines over the past two days since she’d joined them. They had another two days with her before Janelle flew home to her mother’s, then he had one last day alone with Claire before they were both due back to Baltimore to work with the Titanium team and the rest of the taskforce to find the NSA mole and bring down the fucking cell that had nearly killed him. The team had since learned that the assassin had planned to take out him, Hunt, Ellis and Dunphy. Mostaffa had acted on orders from the contact in Tajikistan, who in turn had acted on orders from the man who appeared to be directing the TTP cell, Malik Hassani, former head of intelligence for the Pakistani ISI.

When he and Claire got back to Baltimore, they had a lot of serious shit to contend with.

Until then he planned to enjoy his time with his girls, because getting away here was good for all three of them. Claire was still grieving for Danny and the change of scenery had been the best thing he could have given her. And when Janelle left, he and Claire would spend their last day enjoying the beach, then he’d rediscover every sensitive spot on her delectable body with his hands and tongue without worrying about anyone overhearing the sensual cries he pulled out of her. Gage loved his daughter, but he couldn’t wait to be alone with Claire again.

“You hungry?” Claire asked him.

“I’m always hungry around you.”

Janelle made a strangled sound and turned from the stove with a huff. “Seriously? Hello, I’m right here. God, talk about scarring your kid for life.” She grabbed a plate and helped herself to bacon and pancakes, poured syrup all over everything and headed for the French doors. “I’m gonna go eat out on the deck so you two lovebirds can have some privacy before I lose my appetite.”

The doors shut behind her and Claire shook her head at him in consternation. “You really should watch teasing her like that. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”

“Trust me, she loves how affectionate we are around her. She told me last night during our father-daughter walk on the beach that she’s happy about us and excited for the wedding, especially since you asked her to be a bridesmaid.”

Her smile lit up her whole face. “She said that?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He reached out to run his fingers through her soft hair, loving her all the more for how willing she was to make Janelle a part of her life. Their life. “I know walking into being a stepmother isn’t easy, but so far you’re handling it like a pro.”

“Well.” She ducked her head and glanced away, that pleased smile still in place as she ladled more batter onto the hot griddle. “I’m not going to try and force anything, but respect is a two way street. I figure I’ll just give her time and let things develop naturally, then hope for the best. It’s an adjustment for us all, but I know we can do it. She’s a great kid, which helps.”

“That’s her mother’s doing.” While he didn’t have much good to say about his ex, in the parent department he had to give her an A plus. God knew he hadn’t been the best husband while they’d been married.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s your doing as well. She worships the ground you walk on, in case you haven’t already noticed.”

“I made a lot of mistakes with her and her mom, and I’m the first to admit it. But I’ve learned my lesson and changed a lot so I won’t make them again, I promise.”

“Better not, otherwise I’ll beat your ass,” she muttered, but he caught the way her lips quirked as she said it.

Grinning, Gage wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his body while he looked out the French doors. From his vantage point he could see Janelle’s profile, the end of her red-gold ponytail trailing over one shoulder. His daughter was a beauty, and it would only be a matter of time before the boys came sniffing around.

He shook his head. He could hardly believe he was the father of a teenage girl. Now that was some poetic justice, right there. “I’m glad you’ll be with me through whatever comes next with her. Because I have a feeling I’d better get busy cleaning all my rifles.”

Claire laughed and flipped the pancakes. “Oh, you’re gonna be
that
dad, huh?” She chuckled. “I love it. I can see you now, out in a rocker on the front porch with a rifle and some gun oil, polishing up the barrel when her date comes to pick her up.”

He could see it too, and the fucking horny little bastards showing up at the door better not even think about setting a finger on his baby girl before she was twenty one. “I know how teenage boys think,” he grumbled.

“You mean that they have sex on the brain all the time like men do?”

He grinned and pressed his hips against the lush curve of her ass, already growing hard at the thought of what he’d do to her later on tonight once Janelle was asleep in the guest room. If they could wait that long. “You love that I think about sex all the time.”

“Only because you’re so good in bed.” She eyed him over her shoulder, those sexy gray eyes sweeping over his chest. “And anyway, all that strenuous bedtime exercise sure seems to have helped you heal fast.”

“It’s all about incentive with me,” he murmured, bending to nibble at the side of her neck. He smelled her warm, sweet fragrance, savored the little catch in her breath and the scattering of goose bumps that rose on her skin. If he slid his hand under her shirt, he knew he’d find her nipples hard and pressing against the cups of her bra. He’d never experienced such explosive chemistry with anyone but her and he looked forward to enjoying it as often as possible.

Claire slid the most recently finished pancakes onto the platter, but there were still a few ladles of batter left in the bowl and he didn’t think he could wait that long. “How hungry are you right now?” he purred, sliding his hands up to cup her breasts. “Can breakfast wait while you come upstairs with me for a while?”

She tilted her head back and opened her mouth to reply but instead he watched her eyes darken with desire when she saw the hungry look on his face. “We can’t. Janelle’s going to come back inside any minute and she’ll know what we’re doing.”

Gage glanced outside and smiled. “Nah. She’s on her iPhone now. We’ve got all kinds of time.” Enough to pin Claire to the bed and make her beg to come before he finally relented and sent her over the edge. “I mean, if you can keep up with me.”

In answer she quickly reached out and turned off the stove. “Race you to your room, old man.”

Gage barked out a laugh and released her, then gave her a few seconds’ head start before chasing up the stairs after her on silent feet. He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her, but right now he was going to remind her of some of the perks that came with taking an older, more experienced husband.