Code Name: Kayla's Fire (31 page)

“Thane,” she said clearly exasperated. “I don’t want to agitate him.”

“The barrel of my sig to his nutcracker is going to be pretty
persuasive.”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“You ask the oddest questions sometimes.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Kayla tossed and turned all night, unable to get comfortable, and
their son didn’t help. At three o’clock Thane rolled onto his side and gently
rubbed her stomach.

“I’m going to sleep in the other room. I’m keeping you awake.”

Thane kissed her cheek. “SEALs don’t need sleep,” he said with a
soothing grumble.

She gave him a quick hug. “Yes, you do.” When she sat up, he grasped her
hips.

“Kayla, I can’t sleep without you next to me.”

“Yes, you can. Just count SEALs jumping over tall buildings or
something. I’m going to go make some herbal tea, and try to settle him down.
Your little SEAL pup is flapping around like he’s out of water.”

Thane chuckled, and placed a long kiss on her shoulder, grasping her
breast with a warm gentle hand. “I don’t think I told you how much I love you
yet today,” he said, biting the pulse in her neck.

“That’s because it’s only three hours into today. Go to sleep.”

“Yes, ma’am,” and pulled her back down with him, lazily swirling her
breast with his tongue.

A tremor rippled through her, and he chuckled. “You’ve been pretty
preoccupied with those lately.”

“Mm-hmm.” Switching to the other breast, little lightning strikes
sparked between her thighs. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more gorgeous set.”

Laving the tender point into his mouth, he rolled it with just enough
pressure to make her thighs wet. “I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of…sets.”

“Uh-huh.” His gaze wandered up her neck and set on her eyes. “True,
but only yours make me hard just looking at them.” Thane’s finger stroked a
crooked trail across her hip, and lower belly, sliding between her legs. “God,
I love you’re so wet for me.”

“This isn’t sleeping, Captain,” she admonished, but couldn’t keep the
grin or the little moan from leaving her mouth.

“No, it’s called distraction.” His thumb drew small circles where she
wanted most, and then with a slow, gentle plunge entered her channel. “Did I
ever tell you you’re perfect down here too?”

A sigh of pleasure made her sink into the pillow.

Coaxing her into position, their legs twined together, he entered her
from behind with a groan. Gentle strokes filled her, and her body accepted him,
wanting him deeper. His fingers twirled around her sensitive point. Lowering
his hips, he seated himself, his balls brushing against her sensitive skin.
With every plunge, a little cry escaped her.

Soothing, firm hands pulled her hips up. Settled on her knees, he slid
between her legs and licked the length of her heat, ending with a flutter, and
a long sucking kiss that almost had her exploding in his mouth. “I’m going to
spend the rest of my life giving you pleasure.” His tongue swiped the knot of
sensitive flesh. With practiced fingers, he rubbed her sex until the tingle
reached her toes. “I’ll never stop wanting you.”

Kneeling behind her, he ran a slow, warm hand up her back, and then
down to round her bottom, and plunged two fingers into her core. “Oh, God,
please don’t stop.” When his shaft massaged her sex she left the earth, and he
buried himself, lifting her onto his lap, seating himself all the way in. Her
muscles clutched at him, and his pleasure escaped with a string of heated
words. With a slow, deliberate cadence, she rode him, and another string of
words, far dirtier left his mouth.

Thane kissed and bit her shoulder as she worked her hips, clenching
his hardness. He stilled her, and pushed her forward, swaying his hips, pulling
his length out, and owning her with every stroke. His thickness massaged the
tender points inside her, drawing out every sweet plunge, almost toppling over
the edge and reigning each other back to make it last.

Thane’s arms engulfed her, making her feel tiny as he rolled her onto
her back. Tender hands wandered, and his mouth followed with wet kisses.
Grasping his shaft, he circled her channel, her back arched, wanting his
thickness to claim her.

“Ah baby, it feels so good when I’m inside you.” His crown spread her
opening, nudging her closer to a place that had her clawing with need. “Oh
Fuck,” his voice rumbled like thunder as he thrust inside her, their thighs
slick with her wetness.

Thane’s scent filled her, his body hard with taut muscle, demanded her
submission. When his thumb slid across her flesh, she was lost, and her orgasm
rushed through her body voicing itself with a loud gasp of pleasure.

Together they slipped into a luxurious place. Thane curled her in his
arms. “Still want that tea?” he chuckled.

“You just think you’re so damn smart.”

Thane’s palm rested against her belly. “He just needed to be rocked to
sleep.”

“Very funny.”

“I love you, Snow White. My forever girl.” Thane drifted off, and she
wasn’t far behind.

* * * *

She dropped the phone on the patio table and turned when Thane stuck
his head around the corner of the door. “That was a short run?” she said, seeing
his torso glistening.

“Didn’t want to get too far away. What did you find out?”

She pointed at the other chair. “Dr. Belton was Daniel’s therapist in
prison.”

“You found him.” Thane pulled the seat out. His unease showed in the
tensing of his masculine form.

“Dr. Belton said he was wondering when I would call.” Thane waited
patiently, but his steely gaze hardened. “Daniel is considered cured. His
doctor told me Daniel’s therapy had been consistent and had good results. By
the time he left prison he’d resolved most of his issues and had learned to
control his anger. He said when he’d first met Daniel he had one of the worst
cases he’d ever seen, but over time they found a healthy way to deal with it.”
She blew a loud breath out and scanned the trees in the back yard. When Thane
remained silent, she put her focus back on him. “What?”

Thane’s expression grew even more severe. “Does that earn him another
chance?”

“Captain Austen, your green-eyed monster is showing again. Seriously
Thane, a princess compared to me. Who should be in doubt here?”

“Definitely him,” Daniel said rounding the corner.

“What part of ‘stay away’ didn’t you understand?” Thane vaulted to his
feet.

Daniel thrust his hands in the air. “Easy, SEAL. I told you I’m not
leaving.”

She rolled her eyes when both of them went toe–to-toe. For some reason,
she wasn’t as concerned this morning, even though they reminded her of two
vicious dogs barking and snapping at each other.

If the doctor told her the truth, and she’d left most of the conversation
unsaid to Thane, Daniel’s therapy had centered on her. The doctor said his
anger and control issues had been the source of his incapability to act in a
healthy manner. He believed Daniel was a good man through and through, but had
to learn violence and love did not belong together. Daniel had come from an
abusive home, and he’d learned what his environment had taught him.

“I’m making breakfast,” she said, stopping Thane’s tirade in
midstream.

 
“If you’re cooking, I’m
eating,” Daniel said, and stepped away from Thane watching for an aggressive
movement. He followed her inside and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re beautiful
this morning, Angel.”

“Daniel,” she turned on him. “You can’t kiss me, okay.”

Daniel raised a brow at Thane, who was humming with anger in the
doorway.

“You can stay, and you can help find this monster who’s been
slaughtering women, but we are not a couple any more. If you don’t like it, you
can leave.” She watched his expression slide into boyish charm. He had a wicked
little smile, and he only used it on her.

“Can I hug you?”

“Daniel,” she groaned.

Daniel turned a not-so-friendly look on the Captain. “I mean look at
the guy, he’s probably been a player all his life. You think he’s going to be
faithful? He’s one of those friggin’ SEALs.”

She bit down on that one. What happened with Zara was forced, not
consensual. “I happen to work for those friggin’ SEALs, Daniel, and they are
all honorable men.”

“I was never unfaithful to you. These guys screw anything in arm’s
reach. I bet the boyfriend here hasn’t even asked you to marry him. You’re
carrying his child, and my guess is, he’s going to be turning his eye to some
babe the first chance he gets.”

She swallowed uncomfortably. Daniel’s uncanny ability to read a
situation with little knowledge revealed had her insecurities pawing at the
gate.

Thane’s eyes narrowed to angry slits, his temper coiling like smoke.
“Keep talking, asshole.”

“Well, has he?” Daniel asked, cocking his head at her. “The answer’s
no, isn’t it, because if he did, he would have known we weren’t divorced and
you’re still my wife.”

She ignored him and opened the cabinets to pull out some staples for
pancakes. With an easy heave, Daniel seated himself on the counter. His
muscular legs draped down the panel, his broad shoulders stretching the tight
tee he wore this morning. His confidence had cemented, his experiences made him
whole, and sure of himself. Dark, silky hair fell to just below his ears and
framed his angular jaw. He never failed to remove her clothes with the look he
gave her. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Sorry, Angel, but I was just remembering when I first saw you,” he
said, falling into a conversational tone and directing it more at Thane, like
he was an outsider who’d just dropped in. “She’d been brought in to give us a
course in tactical communications from MARPACOPS. Only eighteen, if I remember
correctly. She walked into the classroom, obviously nervous, but trying her
damndest to hide it. I’m sure she thought a bunch like us was going to give her
a bad time.” A slow grin grew on Daniel’s face. “Man, I couldn’t believe my
eyes. She was absolutely stunning, all contrast—her dark hair and eyes, and her
delicious curves. I knew right then this woman was going to be my wife.”

“Romantic,” Thane said out the side of his mouth.

“She kept me waiting for two months before agreeing to go out on a
date with me, eh, Angel?” He palmed the edge of the counter, and tilted his
chin. “She wouldn’t even let me kiss her good night, but I wanted to in the
worst way, but we made up for it after we were married, didn’t we, baby?” Setting
a bowl on the counter, Daniel stole the moment to pull a wisp of hair from her
cheek. “Course at the time I didn’t know what had happened to her as a little
girl. She was special, I knew that, and I was patient, but I knew she was going
to be mine.”

 
“I’ll tell you what I saw,”
Thane said with an edge to his voice. “I saw a woman, hiding inside another
woman. One who had secrets so deep and horrible she couldn’t live the way she
should have been living. It’s because the man she married beat her regularly,
and then in the end, scarred her so deeply I never thought I would be able to
find that real woman.”

Daniel’s smile disintegrated.

“Okay, enough,” she ordered.

“No, it’s not okay. It will never…be…okay, Kayla. He can walk down
memory lane all he wants.” Thane was behind her now, and with a quick hand, her
shirt tore open, exposing her back. “This is what you did. This,” he shouted
and swung her around. “Is what you did to your wife.”

Daniel paled, and his eyes shot to the floor.

Thane gently pulled her aside, and stood in front of Daniel, tilting
his head to catch his gaze. “Look at me, you son of a bitch. How could you do
that to her, even in anger? She’s frustrated the hell out of me more than once,
that’s for sure, but I have never laid a hand on her except to love her. No
matter how many men I’ve killed, no matter how much violence and blood has
covered these hands, I could never do what you did. And if I ever did, I would
walk away from her forever, because I wouldn’t deserve to have her, and neither
do you.” Daniel’s chest heaved with a huge intake of breath, meeting Thane’s
gaze. “Kayla is not your possession. You have no choice but to let her go.
Kayla is going to grow old with me, not you. Do you understand that?”

Daniel’s eyes darted between them. “Kayla, honey—”

“Thane, no!” The strike was lightning fast and powerful, sending
Daniel backwards over the edge of the counter. She rushed to stand over top of
him as he shook his head and pushed himself up. He took deep breathes and
raised a hand to the red mark on his jaw. Ice cold fear stiffened her. If they
started to fight, they wouldn’t stop. She waited for the explosion.

Giving his neck a twist, he straightened a look on Thane. “You get
one, Captain. Next time…”

“Next time, I’ll break your fuckin’ neck, Canuck, and bury you in the
dust.” Thane reached for her hand. “We’re going out for breakfast.”

“Why did you do that?” she stormed at him as he pulled her out the
door. She snagged a sweater from the hook, and threw it around her shoulders. “Daniel
didn’t….”

“Get in the car.”