Code Name: Kayla's Fire (16 page)

Nina circled her fork in the air. “What about the Captain?”

Kayla shook her head. “I know he’s concerned about me, but he cares
about everyone under his command.”

Nina’s expression morphed into a humorless expression. “Are you going
to lie to yourself? After everything he told you, you’re going to come up with
some lame ass excuse.”

Nina was one hell of an observant woman in his books.

“Say it out loud just once, Kayla. It’ll break the curse,” Nina
prodded.

“Curse?”

“Yeah,” her voice tightened. “I know you believe anyone who cares
about you will hurt you or die.” Nina pulled the napkin from her lap, and laid
it on the table. “Don’t you realize it means Daniel still has control over
you?”

Kayla bowed her head. “It’s a little more complicated than that, isn’t
it?”

Nina sat back in her chair. “Don’t worry, things will work out. You’re
probably half-crazy with the Shark chasing you. I don’t know if I could have
held out this long.”

“Nina, it’s not about me,” her voice dropped to a whisper. “He’s a
warrior, and this country needs him.”

“A ba—”

“Nina, zip it.”

“You do love him, don’t you?”

Kayla stared down at the table. Law approached, and he knew the moment
would be whisked away. “Hold up Law.” His heart picked up the pace in his
chest. Facing the open end of a missile launch tube wouldn’t extract this much
emotion from him.

“He’s intelligent, kind, and brave. He’s concerned about my welfare.
He never shirks his responsibilities—”

Bullshit
. “You’re not a responsibility, woman. You’re my forever girl. I’m
about the only sailor who doesn’t have a tattoo, but I’m going to have your
face inked over my heart before the year is out. So cut the crap, Ms. Banks,
and break the curse.”

Nina’s expression curved in amusement, and then she broke into a hail
of laughter watching Kayla’s expression.

Clay interjected. “Captain, I’ve got a plausible.”

“You recognize him?”

“Negative, he’s looking over the car.”

Thirty minutes and one very important unanswered question had gone by
too fast. The heavy pill in his stomach wasn’t dissolving. After everything
they’d been through, did she honestly believe he didn’t love her? “Kayla—”

 
“False alarm,” Clay advised.
“Guy was probably just looking for valuables.”

“Phase two, it’s time to depart, ladies.” He’d let her off the hook
for now, but not forever. She might be the most stubborn woman on the planet,
but she’d found her match.

Kayla paid their bill, and Nina tipped her chair over getting up. She
was a natural at this, drawing attention to them in an innocuous fashion.

None of the squad recognized an unfriendly in the crowd. He knew his
team would, even if the guy was a janitor they’d only seen once. The SEALs were
trained extensively to do just that. If he’d modified his looks, they should be
able to see through it.

The women left the restaurant, and headed for their car. “Kayla, I
want you to take West Cedar drive, and stop at the convenience store.” She
swiped a handful of curls behind her ear, the signal they’d agreed upon to
confirm she’d heard him.

A parking lot sat kitty-corner to the small 24-hour convenience store,
situated in an area that drained of people during the night. Thane glanced at
his watch, ten past eleven. Nina would run in and get something before her
flight, and it would give the Shark his chance, and theirs.

The team used two vehicles, both sliding into an alley behind a row of
businesses. Keeping to the shadows, they made their way on foot along the
buildings to view the parking lot. Seconds later Kayla drove up. The lot was void
of other vehicles.

Nina got out of the car, leaned over to ask if Kayla needed anything,
then strode toward the store. They all heard a bell tinkle as she pushed it
open. There was a pause in her step. “Hello. Hello,” she called out. “Anyone
here?”

“Nina, stay where you are,” Mace jumped in.

“Captain?” Cobbs asked in a wary tone.

Something was wrong. How the hell could that be?

“Hello,” Nina called again. “Oh hey, I didn’t want to startle you.
Where do you keep your headache meds, I’ve got a blinder coming…what the hell?”

Mace didn’t wait and dashed across the parking lot at full throttle.

“He’s going out the back,” Nina called out.

“Got him,” Nathan called back. He’d placed himself behind the building
along with Caleb.

Mace crashed through the front door, sending the bell into a tinkling
frenzy. “Nina?”

“I’m here.”

The team converged on the store, but Thane rounded the building. Caleb
had a guy face down on the pavement, his knee digging into the guys back,
straining his arms upward to the breaking point. The guy’s cries of pain ripped
through the air. “My turn. Caleb, Nathan inside.”

Caleb turned a wary eye on him. “Captain…”

“Now.” This was over, and the Shark’s life was over as well.

As soon as Caleb let go the guy tried to stagger to his feet. Kicking
his legs out, the guy went down hard on his back. He was no more than twenty,
his hair a straggly, greasy, long mess, his eyes wild.

“Fuck man,” he raised his hands to shield himself. “Don’t fucking kill
me,” he slurred.

Something was wrong with this picture. This guy was high, there’s no
way he was the Shark. “I’m not going to kill you.”

“I just had to tie her up.”

“Tie who up?”

“Captain,” Mace voiced on the comm. set. “I think he’s talking about
the girl in here. She’s trussed up.”

“Alive?”

“Yeah.”

Digging his fingers into a particularly sensitive spot close to the neck,
he asked, “Who paid you to do this?”

The young man winced in pain. “Just some guy,” he cried, trying to
wiggle away.

“On your feet.” He dragged the kid up with one hand by the back of his
neck. “What did he look like?”

“I don’t know, man.”

Caleb and Nathan returned to his side. Thane shook the kid hard.
“Sober up or I’ll end your sorry-ass life now. Tall? Short? What?” The guy was
halfway to the moon on drugs, his pupils enormous. He didn’t know whether the
guy was permanently fried or not, but they were going to find out. “Call
Manchester and the local PD. When this asshole sobers up we’re gonna get a
description.”

They regrouped in the store, leaving Nathan outside with the kid. Nina
knelt in front of a girl sitting on a small metal stool. She wasn’t more than
sixteen, and crying her eyes out.

“How is this fucking possible?” Tony voiced what they were all
thinking.

Cobbs’ fist slammed the counter. “Only one way.”

“Where the hell is Kayla?” he said looking everywhere.

Fox practically tripped over Tinman running for the door, and tearing
it off its hinges, the rest of the squad behind him. They all stopped. Kayla
stood across the street, her silhouette under a street lamp. She looked so
small and unprotected. He beat the other guys to her side.

“Kayla.”

She stared at the car in the middle of the empty lot. “What is it?”
She wasn’t moving, her breathing coming in short shallow gasps. He leaned over,
and she looked right through him.

“Five—eleven, heavy build,” she started to tremble. “Maybe two-hundred-twenty
pounds.”

“Easy, sweetheart,” he ran his hands down her arms, and could feel the
goose bumps all over her.

“He—ho—he, dark hair. Might be in his late forties.”

“Kayla, did you see his face.”

She shook her head. “He was carrying something.”

“A weapon?”

She shook her head again. “Container of some kind.”

They were alone, the squad already broken up and running in a search
pattern to squeeze the Shark, but he doubted he was in the area any more.
“Sweetheart.” Her hand slipped to her stomach as if protecting what had barely
started to grow, and she began to shake.

“He knows. How is that possible?”

“What does he know?” Her hand slid to her stomach as if protecting it.

“He knows about the baby.”

“Why would you say that?”

“He, he pointed at his stomach and made a cutting gesture. Oh God, he
can’t have her.”

He drew Kayla into his arms, scanning the buildings and the streets.
“Let’s get inside.” Within minutes, the squad had rallied together in the
store.

There was only one way the Shark could know about the baby, about
their plan. “Listen to me, you piece of shit.” He wasn’t talking to any of the
men around him, but the women didn’t know that, and their heads cranked around
quickly. “I’m going to find you, and when I do, I’m going to gut you like
you’ve done to every single woman you’ve tortured. I hope you like pain,
because your death is going to take hours.” Kayla stepped up to him, and he
curled his arm around her shoulders. “You will never have her. Your mind is
cracking now, and soon you’ll make a mistake. I’ll be waiting.”

“Captain?” Kayla laid her hand on his chest, and he clutched it, his
heart slowing down just by touching her, having her safe in his arms.

“We’re going back to the base to find it,” he said, scanning all the
men.

They nodded in unison. Heads turned when the flash of police lights
shot through the front of the store. Two uniforms walked in and they gave a
quick debrief.

A burly sized cop, his aging jowls drooping like the glaze melting off
a doughnut, pointed a finger over his shoulder. “Whose car is that out front?”

“Mine, it’s a rental,” Kayla said.

“You always drive around with that on your windshield?” he asked in a
cocky manner.

“What?”

They surrounded the car, staring in silence. The word “Mine” in runny,
streams of blood oozed down the glass.

“That’s not paint, right?” Nina said in a tight voice, breaking the
silence of the night. Mace didn’t hesitate, and twined his arm around her
waist. “I’m okay.” She didn’t really look it, but she kept it together.

Thane bristled with the Shark’s definitive declaration of war. “Let’s
get to the base.”

A forensic room was being set-up when they arrived. Sanitized and
ready for them within an hour, compliments of Manchester. “Ladies, you first,”
Manchester ordered. She and Nina shared a quick glance. “Everything goes in the
squares taped off on the floor. Our female tech will give you a body search,
and scan after that.”

“You really think he has us bugged?” Kayla asked, and looked at the
squad milling at the back of the room near the door.”

“From what Captain Austen told me, I have to agree. One of you is.
Finding it could give us a lead.”

“Aren’t you glad you decided to apply for the job?” Kayla said, with
sour amusement.

“Yeah, awesome,” Nina said, she wasn’t looking at Kayla, but across
the room where Mace stood with his arms crossed against his chest. He gave her
a wisp of a smile for reassurance.

It took a long time for the process to be repeated with everyone. Thane,
Mace, and Cobbs’ belts each had a tiny electronic device hidden in it, along
with Kayla’s purse. Manchester didn’t believe they’d found them all, he was
sure the entire squad had one somewhere.

“He’s one smart bastard hiding them in things that wouldn’t be washed,
and are usually worn or kept close. Everything you own will have to be processed,”
Manchester explained.

They all stood in a large circle outside of the processing room.
They’d been given white coveralls to wear, and Kayla’s made her look like a kid
in her mommy’s clothes, it draped past her fingers and legs, pooling around her
bare toes.

“How long, do you think?” Kayla asked openly for anyone who cared to
answer?

“Probably months,” Cobbs said in a dangerous tone, but a sine wave of
worry lapped his words. “I sure as shit haven’t left my belt hanging around at
work. That means the son of a bitch has been in my house. After this weekend,
I’m sending Marg and the girls to stay with her parents.”

Thane nodded. “He could lash out in any direction.” He rubbed his
neck. “Not a word of our movements.” All heads nodded as he scanned the time.
“It’s after oh-three-hundred. Rendezvous here tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred
hours.”

Kayla was staggering tired, and Nina looked worn out as well.

Thane squeezed her to his side. “I booked us into the Hilton.”

“I’m not leaving Nina,” she stated firmly.

Mace stood beside Nina, and he did not appear to be going far. “Two
rooms, sweetheart.” She sent a questioning look toward Nina, who gave a quick
nod.

Chapter Fourteen

“I feel like a homeless waif,” Kayla said, flopping back on the bed.
The Captain sat down beside her, and Nina hovered near the hotel room door.
Mace was already in the other room, checking it.

“I’ll, ah, go for a walk,” Nina said, pulling the door open.

“What? No, you’re not. Where do you think you’re going?” she said,
sitting up abruptly.

“Kayla, take a breath. I’ll go visit Mace.”

She flopped back onto the crisp white bedspread, figuring it was as
good as any answer. “I thought night shifts seemed long. This day is never-ending,”
she said, gazing up at Thane’s concerned eyes.

“Try being a SEAL, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re a superhero. Tall buildings, single bound…all
that stuff.”

He chuckled. “I know damn well you’ve never thought about me that way.
Pain in the ass, egotistical, arrogant, bossy. Have I missed any?” he asked,
swiping a curl of hair from her eyes.

The back of her hand draped across her forehead. “Probably.”

Lying down on his side, he ran his finger across her collarbone.
“Maybe we should leave the sleeping arrangements like this.”

She pinched his cheek. “I’m not so sure Nina would approve.”

“She’s got her own bodyguard,” he said in a husky timbre. “What’s
safer than having a SEAL holding you all night?”

“Yes, I’m sure Mace’d love to guard her body.”

Thane laughed again. “I think you’re right, and I think its past
tense.”

“Somebody better warn Mace—she’s an expert in Tae Kwon Do.”

“I’m sure he’s up to the challenge.” Lowering his head, he brushed a
sizzling kiss against her lips. Most of his kisses left her breathless, and
this one was no different. His steely eyes drew her into the sea of emotion in
his. “It must have been Canadian women who fought the war of 1812, we’re
dropping like flies.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. It had seemed forever ago when she’d
teased him about that.

“Besides thinking I’m an egomaniac, you think I’m brave, kind, and intelligent.
That doesn’t sound like such a bad guy. Kind of balances out the asshole,
doesn’t it?” He fingered the zipper tab between her breasts.

Great, she didn’t have any underwear on, and the heat between her
thighs had already turned to wetness. “Captain, you’re not an asshole.”

“Why didn’t you accept Lapierre’s proposal?”

The question blindsided her. The man’s mind was a network of thoughts,
most of them on high alert all the time. “I have my reasons.” She could tell he
wanted more, but she wasn’t offering. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the
pillow, and he slipped it under her head. “I’m tired, Thane.”

An unsettled gaze met hers. “Marriage is a big commitment. It’s
forever. Being devoted when you’re apart. If he asked you to marry him, he must
have thought he had a shot.”

“Divorce court says marriage is most definitely not forever, and I’ve
been through ‘never veering from each other’ through the toughest times, and I
didn’t like it. So I quit.”

“You should have quit a hell of a lot earlier, and come here. Reminded
me that maybe there’s something as important as protecting my country.” His
lips strayed down her throat, nipping the uneven pulse in her neck. “Or more,”
he whispered in her ear.

Another tremble of heat passed through her. Thane’s words made her
edgy. “Aren’t you forgetting somebody?”

“Doors locked, and I’m sure she’ll knock,” he said, fanning embers of
excitement in her belly as he sensually laid small licks and kisses across her
skin.

She placed her hands on his shoulders before he stole another kiss.
“I’m referring to Miss Sweater-too-tight.”

His head jerked back, which gave her the opportunity to slide away
from him. He sat up, and she moved to the edge of the other bed. “Kayla, you
know damn well I don’t give a shit about her.”

“I want to talk,” she said, staring at him.

“Fine, but we’re not discussing the mission.”

How the hell did he do that?
She was supposed to be a master at tactical
evasion, but he had her pegged almost every time.

He ran a hand through his hair and eyed her. “We’re not fighting about
it. We’re not debating or deliberating about it either.”

She nipped her lip, seeing he meant it. She’d made reference to Carrie
to throw him off, but that wicked, sharp mind read her every move. Folding her
hands, she rested them in her lap. Full, forward attack. “You are a SEAL.”

“Kayla—”

“Please.” She raised one hand. “You have a profession and a country
that depends on your participation in protecting it. Your team is a cohesive
unit, and although you can break apart and operate alone, when you operate
together, you’re stronger. They are used to you being there.”

His expression grew grim, but he listened. “You’re not going to
abandon them because of me. I couldn’t stand it if you didn’t go, and one of
them was injured or killed. I could never look their wives in the eyes, because
I’d feel responsible. Don’t put me in that position. Everyone thinks that we’re
in some kind of relationship. They’d blame me. I’d blame me.” Thane’s knuckles
whitened, gripping the edge of the bed. She jumped when he launched himself
onto his knee in front her.

 
“Seriously. Prioritize, Thane,
what’s more plausible for failure, your squad walking into a dangerous
situation without their captain, who gives them their extra edge of strength
and direction, or the chance of me being killed while I’m surrounded by SEALs?”

“Kayla.” He shook his head. “The Shark is in a frenzied state. One
mistake and…I can’t trust this to anyone but me.” He gathered her hands in his.
“We, we’re…” He paused and chewed on his lip as he ran his hands down her legs,
following every curve with purpose. “Why do you keep doing this?”

They worked in a highly classified department and there were rules.
The Alpha Squad family kept their mouths closed, and no one higher up the food
chain was aware of the time she and Thane spent together, but her condition was
going to bring questions. “There’s no such thing as happily ever after,
Captain.”

“Bullshit,” he said angrily.

Coming from Thane, it surprised her.

“I am happy. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.” He leaned
forward, and kissed her sweetly, his full, firm lips proving it to her with
every lingering touch. “My only fear is that you’re not.”

Her heart thumped hard. She knew what he wanted to hear.

His mouth found hers again for a long, soul-sweetening kiss. Touching
her forehead with his, he closed his eyes. “I will love you today, tomorrow and
every day for the rest of my life. That Kayla—is the truth. For the first time
in my life I want peace, but I will kill anything that tries to harm you or our
daughter.”

His arms swept around her, and her body hummed with contentment. The
last few days had been an emotional roller coaster, but other sensations began
to burn inside her, and he wasn’t peeling the clothes from her like he normally
did. Restless desire made her squirm, and she reached for the zipper on his
coveralls with an impatient hand.

“Sweetheart,” he gently pulled her hand away.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to hurt—”

She leaned back on her palms. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Come on,” he grasped her under her bottom, and lifted her up the bed,
pushing her shoulders against the pillow.

“Seriously?”

Ridding himself of his coveralls, his hardness wasn’t hard to miss.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered gently. “Stay over there.” He slipped between the
sheets, and rested a hand across his forehead.

Screw that. She rolled onto her knees and slowly, unzipped her
coveralls down to her mons. Thane’s eyes followed the sweep of her hand.
“Kayla, keep that on.”

“No,” she said sharply, and was surprised it came from her mouth with
such a childish temperamental tone.

One of his brows arched. Dipping one shoulder the fabric slipped down
to her waist. Thane’s jaws tensed. “I don’t think…”

“What? We’re never having sex again?”

He started to sputter instead of forming words. “Course not, but…”

“Oh, God,” she said flopping back on her haunches. “You’re not one of
those guys who gets all freaked out about sexual body parts and babies are
you?”

He broke into a laugh. “Kayla, I don’t want to hurt the baby.”

“She’s just fine.”

“How do you know?”

“She’s not even the size of a pea. What do you think you can do?”

His eyes darted to the wall. “I don’t know, but...Kayla keep that on.”

Ignoring him, she stood up on the bed and wiggled a little, and the
whole jumper slid to her shins.

Thane’s head thrust back into the pillow. “Jesus, woman, will you ever
listen to me?”

She leaned over and yanked the sheets back. He was trying to do his
damndest to ignore her, but when her lips nipped on the sinewy muscle between his
hip and thigh, his body jumped. She waited and did it again. The result the
same. Slithering up his muscular form, she held herself up with her hands, and
looked down into the rugged features of his face. “How long do you think you
can ignore me, Baby Daddy?” meanwhile gliding her folds up his stiff shaft.

He chuckled and averted his gaze. “I have control,” he said weakly.

“Do you?” she asked, nibbling the very edge of his jaw, and then the
pulse in his neck. Slipping her moist channel over the crown of his head with a
slow, sensual roll of her hips, a gust of air left his mouth, and she caught it
in hers, milking him deep inside her. Desire took control, and with a slow
upward stroke, he buried himself in her.

“Baby, not too deep.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Thane.”

She swayed her hips keeping him inside her, and his hands swept to her
ass, his gaze boring into hers. “Kayla, I love you so much. Oh, God.”

His lids clamped shut, and she gladly let him take command of their lovemaking,
but she knew he was holding back a little.

Light from the street filtered into the room. Something simmered in
his eyes she’d never seen before. He pulled out, and gently rolled her onto her
hands and knees. He entered her from behind, stroking her with shallow, slow
plunges. A growl of pleasure escaped him, and he reached around to circle her
wet skin. He sunk deep inside her, and she shook all over. Pausing, he kissed
her back. “The haunted look in your eyes is gone, Kayla, tell me it’s faith, because
I lied to you.”

She stilled.

“I don’t just want your trust. I want all of you.”

She rested against his chest as he linked their fingers together. They
stayed that way for a long moment, feeling each other’s warmth. His large palms
caressed her belly, and slid up her ribs to cradle a breast in each hand. When
he groaned with pleasure, her body tingled. She turned and lay on her back,
opening her thighs to him. “You have me.”

“Why can’t you look in my eyes when you say that?” He hovered above
her, holding himself back.

It took courage to do it, but her gaze slowly crawled up his molded
chest until she reached his eyes. She didn’t expect to see worry clouding his
expression. “Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?” she drawled.

“I have,” he shot back. “I’m the luckiest son of a bitch in the
world.” His jaw hardened, but his gaze warmed as he filled her with his shaft.
“You’re mine. I know you don’t understand what that feels like to me, but don’t
doubt me. It’s real.” His mouth trailed kisses to the edge of her lips. “I
can’t explain it, but when you stand beside me, I’m a man again, not a
warrior.”

She didn’t understand, but she could see it meant something to him.
Trailing her hands down his toned back, she palmed his ass, and lifted her
hips.

“Oh, yeah.” His expression melted with pleasure, and he sucked in a
breath through his teeth.

Their bodies shook with desire as his hips began to rock, taking them
both to a place where all was forgotten, except their need. Her wet channel
wrapped him in an erotic sheath of velvet. Curling his tongue around the tip,
he suckled her breast, laving it. Words of truth scattered from her mouth. “I’m
the lucky one, and you’re an idiot.” His body made hers unravel, as her orgasm
paralyzed her.

“Shit, I need you,” he growled into her mouth, his body stricken, his
shaft pulsing and releasing inside her.

She knew Thane was still awake as she lay on her side looking out the
window. They were both deep in thought. Nina never tapped on their door, and
they weren’t going to interrupt what they both knew was happening in the next
room. In a way, she was jealous. Nina and Mace didn’t have demons to conquer.
They were younger, and could make a beautiful future together. She had no doubt
Gabby, Nina’s daughter, would love Mace, and he would feel the same way.