HOT SEAL Lover (HOT SEAL Team - Book 2) Page 7

  “Seems to be.”

  “Are you?”

  Remy’s gaze snapped to his team leader. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Viking’s expression didn’t change. “No reason. If you want me to take her, I can do that. Trade you a pudgy banker.”

  Remy snorted. “Fuck no. You keep the banker.”

  Viking tipped his head toward Paul. “The bodyguard, huh?”

  “Not much of one. He knew the airport was in danger two hours ago and did nothing.”

  “To be fair,” Viking said, “I don’t think there was much he could have done about that. You want him to wander into a hot zone with her?”

  “No, but he could have been on the road to Merak by now.”

  “Again, would you be satisfied if he’d done that? We wouldn’t know where she was—and Girard would be having a shit fit back at HQ if that were the case.”

  “Yeah, fine, point that out.”

  Viking grinned. “Cheer up, you crazy Cajun motherfucker. We’ve got the girl and we’re on the way in five.”

  Christina recognized some of the SEALs. She’d met them at Matt’s or at Buddy’s Bar. They looked different like this. Meaner. So big and broad—and armed to the teeth. Not the kind of guys you’d want to fuck around with, that’s for sure.

  They went outside and started to climb into two light brown vans that sat in the circular driveway of the hotel—she didn’t know if they were armored, but she hoped so. They didn’t look military grade, but she suspected that was done on purpose. Once inside, she knew why no one could bring a suitcase. If they had, there’d be no room left inside for people. She had her briefcase and her purse, which was all she needed. Her computer was small and fit in the briefcase.

  The van wasn’t dinky, but it wasn’t huge either. The inside was stripped down, with steel floors and bench seats along the sides. At least there were seat belts. There was also equipment stowed at the rear, which severely cut down on the amount of room available. Ammo, she imagined, looking at the boxes.

  And didn’t that thought just make her shiver? She hoped they wouldn’t need to break out the ammo.

  Once they were all inside—four SEALs, Christina and Paul, and a pretty woman with big boobs—Remy sank onto the seat beside Christina instead of across from her. His side pressed against hers from shoulder to knee.

  Christina shrank from the contact, not because it was horrible but because of the things it did to her insides. Yes he was armored, and yes he smelled like sweat and sand combined, but it didn’t seem to matter. Her body was on red alert.

  “Let’s roll,” he said, and the SEAL behind the wheel pressed the gas. She’d seen him playing pool with Remy. Cody? Cowboy? Something like that. The other one in the passenger seat was the one with the Russian name. And sitting across from them, beside the redhead with boobs, was Cash McQuaid. Hard to forget a name like that.

  Or a face. Cash grinned at her and then winked. “Having fun yet, little sister?”

  “Loads, thanks. So did Matt send you guys to get us?”

  “Not Richie,” Remy interjected. “Seems as if a State Department evac notice didn’t get your attention. You five—six,” he added after a glance at Paul, “just thought you’d hang out by the pool and sip margaritas all day.”

  “I had a flight out tomorrow,” Christina said, wanting to wipe the superior smirk from his face.

  “Yeah, well that’s not happening, is it? You shouldn’t have come in the first place. Think I might have mentioned that a few months ago. And I’ll damn sure bet your brother mentioned it.”

  Cash’s gaze moved between them with interest. They hadn’t been a thing long enough for any of the guys to know about it, but it must seem as if they knew a little too much about each other right this moment. Though, on the other hand, she might have said a little too much during a girls’ night out once. If Ivy had told her husband, would Viking tell the others? Surely not.

  “I have a bodyguard.”

  Remy snorted. “No offense, cher, but I’m thinking Paul here is ill-equipped to deal with insurgents.”

  “I’ve had training,” Paul said. “I’m licensed.”

  “Sorry, buddy, but downtown Baq in a few hours isn’t quite the same as nailing a weapons test in a controlled environment.”

  “Think what you want, asshole, but I could nail your ass in one shot.”

  “Can’t shoot what you can’t see, Paul. And trust me, if I was hunting you, you wouldn’t see me.”

  Cash was gripping his weapon and looking about as mean as a scorpion. “Dude, I don’t know where you got that chip, but you need to chill the fuck out,” he said to Paul. “Save the pissing contest for another time.”

  “Whatever. Fucking SEALs. Always think you’re the best at everything, don’t you?”

  “Where’d you put that duct tape, Money?” Remy asked. “I’m thinking this guy needs to shut his face before I get pissed.”

  Christina reached out and put her hand on Remy’s arm. It was like touching a hot iron in a way. She wanted nothing more than to jerk her hand away, but she kept it there while her heart hammered harder than before.

  “Look, the situation is what it is,” she said. “I came to meet with Sheikh Fahd. I was leaving tomorrow even if he hadn’t signed the papers. It’s not Paul’s fault we didn’t go today.”

  Remy whirled on her. God, he was intimidating. He hadn’t been so intimidating in her bedroom. Well, not true—he had, but in a completely different way.

  “You shouldn’t be here, Christina. At fucking all. And you damn well know it. You’ve known it the whole time. But you came anyway, and you put yourself and this man in danger by doing so. Now you’ve put us all in danger as we work to get your asses out of here.”

  Her blood was boiling, and yet guilt pricked her too. Maybe she shouldn’t be here, but what about these other people? Was she the only person they were here for?

  “There are six civilians in this group. You would have been here whether I was here or not,” she said tightly.

  “You have a connection these people don’t. And don’t think the Freedom Force wouldn’t figure that out if you were still in the city when the rebels took it. They’d march every single American—every foreigner—into a prison camp and start figuring out how to exploit the goods. Don’t you watch the fucking news?”

  Fear gripped her. Yes, she’d watched the news. Yes, she’d seen the hostages and the beheadings. Everyone had. And yet it wasn’t here. Not in Baq. Not even close to Baq—though, geographically speaking, it was a lot closer to Baq than to the US.

  She noticed he hadn’t confirmed what she’d said—that they’d still be here even if she wasn’t. She swallowed. “I’m here now, Remy. You have me. It’s going to be fine.”

  He only glowered.

  11

  The ride was monotonous. At some point Christina fell asleep. She didn’t intend to, but she must have dozed off on Remy’s shoulder.

  She dreamed. Not of the desert. Not of sand and heat and danger. But of liquid heat, pleasure, veils. Freaking veils, like this was a tale out of One Thousand and One Nights.

  She pictured veils and Remy. His masculine face contorted in pleasure as she sank onto his cock again and again. His face as he came, the beautiful lines and furrowed brow. The intensity.

  She woke with a start, hot and achy and disappointed. Because it wasn’t real. Because she smelled gas fumes, heat, horror. The desperation that people emanated because they were afraid.

  She hadn’t forgotten where she was. She knew precisely what was happening. She looked across the aisle, her gaze landing on the redhead. The woman stared back at her, her eyes wide and afraid. Her mascara was smeared and her hair frizzed from the humidity. She looked wild. Afraid.

  “Where are we?” Christina asked of no one in particular.

  Cash spared her a glance. “On the road to Merak.”

  That wasn’t necessarily complete information, but she wasn’t going to press him. Just then a
n explosion sounded in the distance and the redhead gasped.

  Paul jerked from his dozing and blinked. And Remy… wait, where was Remy?

  Christina’s heart tumbled as she snapped upright, searching the vehicle. And then she nearly wilted as she realized he was sitting with his back to the two men up front, talking to them over his shoulder. He’d moved to the floor, his gun cradled in his lap, his head turned as he spoke.

  “It’s behind us,” Cash said. “In the city. It just sounds closer than it is. We’re safe.”

  The woman beside him didn’t seem appeased.

  “What’s your name?” Christina asked.

  Remy turned his head at the sound of her voice this time, but she didn’t make eye contact with him. She was focused on the woman.

  “Penny,” the woman said softly.

  Christina leaned forward and reached across the aisle. “Hi, Penny. I’m Christina.”

  Penny shook her offered hand with a moist one.

  “Look, I know this is scary,” Christina said. “But these guys are the best there is. Believe me.”

  “You know them?”

  As if that was in doubt after her conversation with Remy earlier, but maybe Penny hadn’t been paying attention.

  “Yes. I know them all. Fantastic guys to have at your back in a fight.”

  Penny’s eyes widened even more, if that was possible, and Christina regretted mentioning fights.

  “Or in general,” she added. “They’ll get us out of here safely.”

  Penny twisted her hands together. “I didn’t want to be here at all, but my boss—Mr. Davis—said it was safe. I have a six-year-old at home.”

  Her voice broke then, and Christina couldn’t help what she did next. She crossed the aisle and sank onto the seat beside Penny. Then she put her arms around the other woman’s shoulders.

  “You’ll get back to your child. Isn’t that right, Cash?”

  The handsome SEAL next to Penny nodded. “That’s right, ma’am. We’ll get you home. It might be loud and scary sometimes, but we know what we’re doing. Promise.”

  Penny’s smile was shaky. “Thank you.”

  Christina could feel the other woman trembling. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’d be crazy not to be scared.”

  Penny sniffed. “You aren’t.”

  Christina blinked. “I am. But I trust these guys.”

  Her gaze tangled with Remy’s. His dark eyes were intense, glittering, his sexy, sensual mouth set in a hard line. She didn’t know how long their gazes locked—it seemed like forever, but then the van lurched to a stop and her heart sped up again.

  She heard a window power down and then voices. Remy turned and got involved in the conversation. A few moments later, he got to his feet.

  “Stopping for a few minutes, kids,” he said, shifting his weapon before opening the van door and jumping down into the night.

  A second later he was back.

  “Traffic’s at a standstill. No idea what the holdup is, but we’re stuck for a while. Everybody out for a few minutes. Stretch your legs while you can, but stay near the vans.”

  Christina got to her feet with the others, her bones creaking from so long in one position. When she stepped down from the van, Remy was there, his hands spanning her waist as he lifted her and set her on the sand. He let her go as if she’d burned him. She stumbled sideways but recovered.

  He helped Penny down as well, so Christina couldn’t say he’d stayed to help her specifically. Yet her body had responded to his touch, the same as it always did. Her nipples tightened and her core ached. Ridiculous, considering where they were. What was happening.

  She trudged a few steps in the sand, then stopped and stared back in the direction they’d come. The city of Baq was a beacon in the night. But not for the reason it should be. The skyline glowed. She knew instinctively the glow came from fires, not from city lights.

  She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Qu’rim might be a desert nation, but the desert was cold at night, and she hadn’t packed a jacket. You didn’t need a jacket when you never ventured out into the night. She’d had a wrap for chilly meeting rooms, but it was still in her bag in the hotel. She hadn’t thought to grab it.

  She stared at the road behind them. Then she turned and looked at the road ahead. It was literally jammed with traffic in both directions as people fled the capital. And that traffic was at a complete standstill. She didn’t know if that was good or bad, but people seemed to take it for granted that they weren’t going any farther tonight. They were setting up camp at the side of the road, starting cooking fires, lingering around vehicles that weren’t moving.

  She turned back to the van and searched for Remy’s dark form. He looked just like the other SEALs, but there was something about the way he moved—or maybe it was the way she responded to him—that meant she knew which one was him.

  He helped Penny take a few steps on shaky legs, then Paul jumped from the van and Cash followed. The others climbed from the van in front of theirs. The SEALs didn’t relax, however. They were alert, watchful, hands on weapons as they surveyed the area.

  She didn’t know what they were waiting for, but she shivered again at the chill in the air and the intensity of the situation.

  Viking—she knew the big blond SEAL from Matt and Evie’s house, Buddy’s, and also it was hard not to associate him with a Viking once you heard his team name—came over to her.

  “How you doing, Ms. Girard?” he asked, his voice so serious and formal.

  “I’m great, thanks. You?”

  He grinned then, and she felt a little wave of relief flood her that he could be so friendly during a—what? Siege? Refugee crisis?

  “Considering we got all of you out of Baq, fantastic.”

  She smiled. “Bullshit. You’re an adrenaline junkie. Like my brother. All of you are. This stuff trips your trigger.”

  His grin got bigger. “A bit.” And then he sobered. “But seriously, the most important thing is getting you out of here and on a plane back to the States. Which we will do, don’t worry.”

  “I’m not worried,” she said.

  “Good.” His gaze strayed over her head, and then he touched his helmet as if he were tipping his cap before turning and walking away.

  She felt Remy’s approach rather than heard it. When she turned, he was there, looking gruff and unapproachable.

  “Don’t stray,” he ordered. “We don’t know what’s out there yet.”

  Her throat ached as she looked at him standing there. He was tall and tough. Strong. She felt safe when he was near. And yet she’d run away six months ago and kept running until he’d stopped calling her.

  For a moment, she regretted that more than she could say. But then she remembered the utter devastation she’d felt at Ben’s betrayal and knew she’d done the right thing. Men lied. They cheated. She knew it better than most.

  She also knew that you could never tell who would hurt you. How could she explain it to him though?

  “I’m not straying. And I’m not stupid, contrary to what you might think.”

  “Never said that.”

  “Didn’t you?”

  His jaw flexed. “Not directly, no.”

  He’d implied it during his tirade in the van earlier though. He knew it as well as she did.

  “As if Cash couldn’t figure out what you meant when you went off on me. He’s not stupid either.”

  “You may not be stupid, Christina—but you did something pretty oblivious when you came to Qu’rim.”

  “It was a meeting. In and out and done.”

  “But it didn’t work out that way, did it?”

  She sighed and rubbed a hand up and down her forearm. “Look, I get that you’re pissed at me. And I get why…” She bit the inside of her lip. And then she decided to go for it. “I really am sorry for… for everything.”

  His face hardened, his eyes glittering hot. He knew what she meant, and he wasn’t buying it. “You aren’t, b
abe. If you were, you would have answered your phone any one of the hundred times I called you. You’re only sorry that we’re here, like this, and you feel uncomfortable. I get it—and you got nothing to worry about. I’m not hung up on you. I’m not harboring hurt feelings or crushing on you like a lovesick teenager. It was never about that—it was about how good it felt with you and how I wanted more of the same before we called it quits. But I’m over it now, so don’t worry your pretty head that I’m nursing a broken heart, okay? It’s awkward, but we’ll get through it. Once we hit Merak and put you on a plane, you never have to see me again.”

  For some reason, that thought didn’t give her the comfort it once would. Or had it ever? Honestly, since the morning he’d left her place and she’d felt so utterly devastated by everything that had happened between them, there’d been no comfort in avoiding him. She’d pretended it was for the best, but seeing him again only ripped the bandage off the wound.

  “I was scared,” she said, her throat tight.

  His expression didn’t change, but she thought maybe he softened a little. Maybe.

  “Running away never fixed anything for anybody, cher. I think you know that as well as I do.”

  Before she could speak, several of the SEALs materialized out of the darkness. “Got a big problem up there,” someone said. “Tractor-trailer jackknifed on the bridge over a wadi. Nobody’s going anywhere on this road tonight.”

  12

  The sound of babies crying woke Evie from sleep. Blearily, she pushed upright, but her husband spoke in the darkness.

  “I’ll get them, Evie. You sleep.”

  “I can do it,” she said.

  “No, cher. You were up all last night. Let me take care of them… and you.”

  “M’kay,” she said sleepily, sagging back into the mattress and thanking God that Matt was home to help out. He worked a lot and was gone a lot, but he’d been home for a few weeks now, and that made her happy.

  Sometime later, Evie jerked awake. The house was quiet. She turned to Matt’s side of the bed, but he wasn’t there. She pushed the covers back and slipped into her robe before padding down the hall and into the twins’ room. Her boys were sleeping and Matt wasn’t there, so she pulled the door shut and crept down the stairs.