Wet For Her Warriors (Book 5 of the WILD -- Warriors Intense in Love & Domination -- Boys of Special Forces) (25 page)

Thank fuck for
Kellan. His buddy, also standing, held out both hands in a smoothing motion.
“Okay, kids. Everyone’s skewing a little too Andrew Lloyd Webber here, and the
last time I checked, nobody packed a mask or a cat costume.”

Tait shot him a
sardonic glance. “That’s because none of us are John Franzen.”

The levity
helped a little. Kellan walked over to Lani and gently tucked her head against
his chest. “What’d you do after the meltdown?” he queried.

“She came here.”

The interjection
came from a new visitor to their knoll. The woman was hard to miss in her long
Indian sari of bright yellow and blue but would’ve snagged their attention without
it due to the lyrical power of her voice. Though her headscarf didn’t hide all her
gray hair and her pace was more a shuffle than steps, she carried herself with
such regal grace that Tait was prompted to rise a little, then bow to her. She
patted his head and murmured something in Hindi, which he painstakingly
translated to “you’re a good boy,” though he was rusty on everything from that
region except Pashto and Farsi. Nevertheless, he looked up to give her a smile
of gratitude—and only then realized the woman was blind.

“I’m sorry,”
Lani said, pushing from Kellan to approach the woman, “but how do you know
that?”

“Because I saw
you, my dear.”

“You…what?”

“You think we’ve
only been given eyes with which to see?” The woman slipped her hand into Lani’s
while shuffling toward the bench. Though Kellan stepped over to help her, she shoo’ed
him away before sitting, pulling Lani down next to her. Right away, she raised
a hand to Lani’s head, running fingers lightly over her hair and shoulders. “Ahhh!
Your energy is different today. So different than that first day. Both
beautiful sights, but
that
day,” —she sighed, folding her hands back in
her lap, Lani’s still pressed between them— “imparted a memory I shall truly carry
beyond the veils with me…and if lucky, into my next existence, as well.”

Tait leaned
forward. “Why?” It blurted out as a demand before he could help it. The woman’s
wisdom and experience were imprinted in the lines on her face, yet she spoke of
the first day she “saw” Lani as if it rivaled a journey to the summit of
Everest. Her excitement injected his own blood with a crazy blend of awe and
excitement compelling him closer to her.

Her next action
shouldn’t have stunned him, but did. She lifted a hand, bidding him to crouch on
the ground in front of her. When he did, she repeated the same exploration of
his head that she did of Lani.

“Told you the
Sunday School hair was worthless,” Kell mumbled.

He let the
comment pass. It was pretty damn easy. The woman’s touch was like a rain shower
of peace, pelting him with warmth, opening him without judging him. He swayed
from the bliss of it, trying to steel himself for the loss and pain that was
sure to follow. Women of quality, especially one able to bring him a feeling
like this, didn’t stick around for long after seeing his fucked-up soul.

“Ssshh.” The
woman pressed her fingertips into his scalp. “Be still. Let the fears rest.”

“I know how to
be still,” he growled.

“No.” Humor
danced across her face. “You do not.” She leveled her face with his, and for a
long moment, her eyes widened as if a miracle had restored her sight. “Outside,
you are a windless ocean, but inside, you keep running, fighting. You have
declared war against your own beauty, and the unique truth of this moment. Why?
There was a time that you didn’t fight destiny. That you believed in magic. The
time has come for you to believe again, warrior. And you can. You are safe
here.”  

He clenched his
jaw until it ached. Battled to pull away from her. He had to escape before it
was too late and she took him into canyons of his soul he’d vowed never to
visit again.

You are safe
.

No. That was
something he guaranteed for others. A net he assured for submissives. It was a
luxury he couldn’t afford to indulge—and this encounter, now eerie and bizarre,
was vivid proof.

“Damn.” Kell’s
voice was gruff with new solemnity. “She really does see you, man.”

“Shut up.” His
lungs pummeled the crap out of every breath he took. His mind sizzled and his pores
awakened, sensations he hadn’t felt since the morning they’d called from the
hospital to tell him Luna had awakened from her coma. Three days later, every
angel that had lifted him was all too eager to jump to the dark side, dragging
him to a grieving hell.

He had to
escape. Had to shake this woman’s eyes and words and fingers. Why couldn’t he
move? She barely touched him, yet her face held an intensity that bewitched
him, a tenderness that humbled him. He’d seen expressions like it before, on
the faces of the wives and mothers who greeted the boys at the base, returning
from their deployments. But when a guy worked Spec Ops, he often arrived home
like he’d left: in subterfuge and silence. Didn’t matter much in his case,
anyhow. If they threw him a parade down the center of town and dumped five tons
of confetti on it, Mom wasn’t coming out of hiding, and Luna wasn’t rising from
the grave.

This is insane.
Kellan was right. Where are the phantom mask and cat costume
?

“So lost. So
confused. So afraid.” The creases in the woman’s face deepened as she kept
exploring him, though she released one of her hands to reach again to Lani. “This
was exactly how
you
looked that day, my dear.”

Lani followed
her lead and lowered next to him. “I imagine I did,” she murmured. “I thought I
was going a little insane.”

As if he wasn’t
in enough torment, Lani pressed one of her hands around his. Tait jerked but she
held fast.
Fucking great
. Fate’s torture chamber of an afternoon was
more fun by the minute.

He gave up staying
balanced on his haunches and dropped fully to his knees. They hit the ground
hard, making the moisture from last night’s rain seep through his pants. “I’m
not insane,” he snarled.

The old woman
laughed. “But why not?” She persisted with her fingers against his head. “‘Breaking
down’ is simply breaking free, my friend.”

Lani laughed.
Not just a giggle, but a full and melodic laugh. As Tait gave her the only
reaction he could summon, a stunned gawk, she declared, “Yes. That’s it. That was
what I felt that day. It was like a mountain had collapsed on top of me. I was
trapped, and had no idea how to move the damn thing. And then I arrived here…”

“And you walked
down by the water,” the woman filled in. She closed her eyes again, finally
freeing Tait from the stare that saw nothing and everything.

Lani’s laugh
faded, though the enchantment on her face remained. “Yeah,” she rasped, “I
did.”

“And what of the
mountain on your soul?” the woman prompted.

Lani swallowed
hard. She let her gaze trail toward the river, but that meant including Tait in
its path. Before she spoke, she looked back to him. “It was lifted.
Completely.”

She spoke only four
words. Followed them with the equally simple beauty of her stare. Then why did
the moment feel like so much more? Why was there a downpour in Tait’s spirit
that started with the silver salvation of
her
tears? And why did his
three words of response feel like opening a gate that would turn the torrent
into a flood?

“Lifted by
what?”

His answer came
from the old woman. “Not what,” she whispered. “
Who
.”

Lani blinked at
her. Her face was a sunlit portrait of awe. Her fingers twisted harder against
his. “Yes,” she rasped. “You’re right.”

Kellan grunted.
“I’m glad to hear that, sweetheart, because I’m in the wilderness without a
compass here.”

“Me, too.” Tait peered
more intently at both women. If Lani had come here seeking answers that day,
and one of the monks or fellow worshippers had helped her, that was awesome—but
certainly not a cause for acting like she’d been visited by an angel. “What are
you trying to say? She’s right about what?”

The woman dipped
her head toward Lani. “Tell him, dear one. Tell him about the voice you heard.
The voice that belonged to the energy that I saw.”

As her voice again
turned each word into poetry, it also transformed the hairs on his neck into spikes
that could cut diamonds.

Visited…by an
angel.

On a Wednesday.

Six months ago.

Suddenly, he
longed to be anywhere but here. Just as suddenly, he knew if the whole hill
caught on fire, he wasn’t going anywhere.

Lani slammed her
eyes shut. Tears soaked her lashes then tumbled down her cheeks. She heard Tait’s
breath freeze in his throat and was certain hers did the same thing. She’d
never told anyone about those bizarre moments on the river bank during that day
filled with so much loss, anger and confusion. It had been so easy to write the
experience off to the power of her emotions, mingled with the transformative
magic of the monastery.

This special
woman, with her all-seeing soul, had shown her otherwise. Beseeched her
otherwise. Called the truth out of her soul again.

She had to obey.

“I thought I was
going crazy.” Her voice was barely a crack on the air, though the wind held its
breath in consideration. “At the same time, it was the most wonderful crazy in
the world.”

Tait squeezed
her fingers again. “I understand,” he whispered. “I do.” More tears stung her
eyes, filled with gratitude for his thick, sincere words.

“I thought it
was just a trick of the wind at first, that maybe I overheard somebody else’s
conversation. But—but she repeated herself until I listened.”

She heard Tait’s
rough gulp. “A little husky?” he asked. “And a lot bossy?”

As she giggled,
the salt of her tears tickled her lips. “Yes. Exactly.”

“Shit.” The
astounded blurt came from Kellan. “Holy. Fucking. Shit.”

Tait cupped his
hand to the side of her face. “What did she say, Lani? It’s okay. Please tell
me.”

She gave him a
shaky nod. “‘Don’t give up, goddess.’ That was all it was…at first.” She smiled
a little. “It took a few minutes to ditch the ‘tricky wind’ excuse and buy into
the ‘I’m officially going crazy’ one. After that—”

Her mind chopped
into her voice. Was she really about to do this? To say this? Suddenly, the
bridge between remembering the moment and recounting it out loud was enormous
and terrifying.

“Lani.” Kellan appeared
again. He dropped to his knees alongside Tait, taking her other hand in the
unshaking strength of his own. “T’s right. It’s okay. We’re both right here.
Let it out, sweetheart.”

She wound her
fingers just as tight through his. It didn’t help her careening balance or
erratic heartbeat, but she finally sucked up enough courage to give a
what-the-fuck to her qualms. So what if the two of them wrote her off as a
whacko after this? It wasn’t like she had to worry about running into them at
the grocery store or seeing them at
all
in another week.

“She told me
that life wasn’t always going to be so hard. That all the bullshit and the
struggle were going to be worth it. That sometimes, walking through fire is
good, because it strips your spirit to be replanted with better things. Then
she said—” Another stupid cry burst out.
Shit
! Why was she giving this
such importance? It wasn’t like they would, despite their comforting touches.
“She said that those new things were coming soon. That they were both being
prepared for me.”

The guys went
still, palpably considering her statement. Even lost in the whirl of her
memory, she could discern how the words must be hitting them.
They were both
being prepared for me
. Crap. Could it have sounded any more Biblical and pretentious?
Yet neither of them snickered. Neither of them
moved
.

The silence
stretched on. It was broken by the blind woman’s prod. “And what did she say
then? The last of her message?”

Lani looked up
and winced. “You heard that part, too?” She returned the woman’s nod with a
shrug that edged on embarrassed. “I’m not sure that part was real. I mean, it
sounded like a joke.” Were stress-induced head voices from on high even allowed
to have a sense of humor? “I think I just overheard it from other people
walking in the garden.”

The woman
turned, undeterred. “Just tell them what she said, dear one.”

Lani opened her
eyes. She pulled her hands free in order to swipe at her cheeks, an effort to
hide her nervous laugh. “It was…stupid. I muttered something about how I really
must have been crazy, with voices in my head so clearly not my own. And then
she
said—”

“What?” The
prompt came from Tait when she interrupted herself with another huff.

“At first, I
could’ve sworn she giggled. And then she said…‘Crazy is good, girlfriend. Don’t
you know that the craziest witches snag the hottest wizards?’”

*
* * * *

Ten minutes
later, honestly wondering if her arm was being yanked out of its socket, she stumbled
across the monastery’s parking lot in Tait’s wake, rushing three steps for
every one of his urgent strides. Kellan had been following as rear sweep but
jogged forward to unlock the jeep before opening the back seat door. She stifled
an urge to laugh, undoubtedly to play cover for her dread. The two of them moved
with military precision, meaning her confession about the “visit from the
voice” had been an unknowing revelation of national security secrets, a hypnotic
trigger to kill her, or solid proof for thinking her one almond away from the
nuthouse.

No matter what,
their goal was obvious. To get her out of here fast.

Had she really
been awash in tranquility just a half hour ago, walking with them beneath the
trees, feeling a little balanced about life again? Had she truly thought it a
stroke of genius to come and let the magic of this place push destiny’s reset
button for the three of them?

Way to go,
mastermind
.
Look how well her “brilliance” had paid off. Prophecies from voices out of thin
air, random Potter references, and now this fire drill ending to their field
trip…yeah, some picture-perfect day.

The disaster’s
lead-in had been no less weird. As long as she lived, she’d never forget the
moments immediately after her bizarre gut spill. She’d pre-written a script
filled with nervousness and discomfort from both of them, but instead received a
pair of unblinking stares, filled with tangible intensity. After that, they’d
taken a pair of long breaths, Kellan pushing his out while Tait pulled his in.
They were in complete sync—about honestly believing her.

The icing on
their astonishing cake was delivered by Tait, who raked her with a gaze that
made her wonder if she’d sprouted horns or wings or both. Still, she hadn’t
been able to turn away. His eyes.
Gods, his eyes
. Their golden fires contained
both Hell and Heaven, searing her to the core with their depths of pain but
blazing to her soul with the strength of their hope.

Her confession
had unraveled him. In return, he’d done the same to her.

She’d been so
consumed by his gaze, she barely noticed when he pulled her back up and started
dragging her back to the car. The realization was astounding, considering the
pace he set. That was when her confusion hit, pounding harder with every step
they took, until now. Lani planted her feet, hesitant to climb into her own
damn car with the man.

“Hokulani.”
Though his eyes still tore into her like spiritual blow torches, the rest of
his face was locked in tension. “Get in the car.”

Instinctively,
she stepped back—only to collide with the brick wall of Kellan’s chest. “It’s
all right, starshine.” His voice was steady, strong, and warm in her ear. “It’s
going to be okay. It’s not our intent to freak you out any further—”

“I’m not freaked
out!”

“You’re shaking
like a soaked kitten.” His hands on her waist, as solid as his voice, proved
his point with maddening clarity.

“Fine,” she
spat. “D-do you blame me?”

“Blame you?
Sweetheart, we
understand
you.”

“Huh?” She jerked
her gaze up at Tait, which deepened her confusion. He was wrapped in more
layers of strain than before, his chest taut, his shoulders coiled, his legs
braced. “Okay,” she snapped, frantically trying to blink back tears, “I’m glad
someone ‘understands,’ because I sure as hell still don’t.”

Damn it. How had
things gone so sideways? Three hours ago, swore to wean herself from these two.
Now she was the filling in their hard-bodied soldier sandwich, wondering why
she couldn’t turn off her body’s hot reaction to them, while her mind screamed
orders to beat them away.

Kellan grunted.
“I’m really fucking this up.”

Tait rolled his
eyes. “Because you think ‘feelings’ and ‘talking’ shouldn’t be in the same
sentence.”

“Working on it,
ass munch.”

Surprisingly,
Tait threw out a crooked smile. “I know, man.” He turned the expression down to
her. “Just like I’ve been digging up more of my own shit lately, too—and
‘working on it.’” He raised his hands to her shoulders, pulling her a little
closer with gentle command. “Amazing what a couple of stubborn dick-smacks will
do when they have the proper motivation.”

Heat rushed up
her face.
Lovely
. Like she needed to feel like a sixteen year-old being flirted
out of her panties, on top of everything else her senses had been through
today. “I just thought we could all come here for clarity,” she admitted. “And now…”
She dropped her head. “That’s sure as hell not the case.”

Tait ran a
reassuring hand to her nape. “Clarity? About what?”

“What do you
mean, about what?” She jerked her head up, including Kellan in the scope of her
scowl, as well. “About this. Us. Whatever it is. About both of you—and making
sure that I don’t get attached to it.” She couldn’t hide a small wince. “To
either of you.”

Once again,
their reaction didn’t throw her for a loop. It tossed her for two or three.
Their chuckles came as a shock yet a reassurance. “Did you hear that, T? She
doesn’t want to get too attached.”

Tait skimmed his
fingers to the side of her face. His gaze, capturing hers in its direct beam
again, was more molten and brilliant than it’d been in the garden. “Too late,
dreamgirl,” he whispered. “It’s so completely too late. If you don’t believe
me, ask the crazy witch who visited your head.”

His profession incited
a wave of reactions. First, she laughed. He made everything sound so easy, so
normal. After that, a sigh emerged. He did all that while channeling the beauty
of an angel, the sun glinting in his hair and etching every bold line of his
face. Finally, she swallowed on a throat thick with elation and gratitude
before rasping, “Then you don’t think my mind is grilled cheese?”  

Tait’s stare
dipped across her face. A heavy, hungry intent defined his gaze. Lani held her
breath, horrified he was about to kiss her right here…knowing she’d die if he
didn’t.

It was time to
die.

He halted his
lips less than an inch above hers. “Goddamn, could I go for some grilled cheese
right now.”

“Hmm.” Kellan’s
voice brushed her ear at the same teasing proximity. “Isn’t that a coincidence?
Me, too.”

“Hop in the car,
babe, and we’ll show you how much.”

It was suddenly
the easiest feat in the world to follow Tait into the back seat of the jeep. And
the hardest. As Kellan gunned the car’s engine to life then sped them back
toward Kuamoˋo Road, effectively toppling her into Tait’s lap, that
internal skirmish worsened. As she’d hoped—and dreaded—the man didn’t let her
scramble back to her seat. With commanding sweeps of movement, he had her
straddling his lap before Kellan made the left turn that marked their official
exit from the monastery.

“Sergeant Bommer.”
It was a bitch to summon an incensed tone, especially as the man cupped both
sides of her ass to seat her more fully against the apex of his body. As he
did, she instantly felt his cock surging for her, pounding against his pants. “Listen
to me! We have a seatbelt law in this state, and if you think that just because
we’re out in the middle of—”

The fast
thwick
of the seatbelt, yanked out by him then clicked into its holster, cut her
short. She gasped as the belt retracted a little, locking into its new
position—across her back. He’d belted both of them in. At once.

“There.” He
curled an utterly roguish grin. “Now we’re law-abiding citizens.”

Gods. She really
felt like grilled cheese now. The warmth of his eyes, the slow burn of his
smile, and now the hot ribbons of his fingers, up the center of her ass and
along her spine, turned her into compliant goo in his arms. The scenery sped by
in reverse as she spread her hands along his broad shoulders, desperately
fighting for any logic she had left. “I guess you want me to thank you now?”

The sarcasm
drifted from Tait’s lips. He slowly shook his head. “No, dreamgirl. This is the
part where
I
thank
you
.”

Logic, say
buh-bye
.
The rest of the world joined the exodus from her senses as he wound a hand
against the back of her head and dragged her mouth against his.

Lani sighed,
joyous from the instant explosion of him. There was no melodrama about the
comparison. He breached her with brutal passion, filling her at once with his
tongue, his taste, his heat. His growl detonated through her body, a perfect
companion to the wild, tangled jungle that sped past the windows. She returned
his eruption with a high-pitched moan, though she heard the sound as if someone
else made it, another creature camped out in her body, made of pure, wanton
desire.