Code Name: Kayla's Fire (5 page)

Greg was an extremely stable, sexy, understanding man. The brothers
were the same except for one thing: anger. Daniel had been possessive to the
point of violence. She’d chosen the wrong one to marry. Greg had taken a lot of
responsibility that didn’t belong to him after Daniel had his breakdown. Since
those days, Greg had been someone she could always count on. “Greg wants me to
marry him.”

Mace shook his head slowly.

“He wants me to go home. He calls every day, asking me to leave San
Diego.”

“I know. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” He gave her a crooked look. “I
haven’t told the Captain because I know how he’d react.”

She drew the basket toward her with an enormous compunction to eat
everything and anything in sight. God, she was hungry. She turned, looking for
the waiter.

“What d’ya need, beautiful?” Bruce asked, seeing her wave.

The wind tried to whisk the menu from the table and she snagged it,
handing it to him saying, “Can I get the appetizer platter?”

“Sure thing.” He swept a look at her drink, and seeing the first one
gone already, and the second one halfway drained, he raised a brow. “Another?”

“Yes, please.”

“Kayla, take it easy. I’m not getting a ripping because you’re falling
out of the chair when the Captain gets here.”

She ignored him. “Extra sour cream too, please, and extra jalapenos. Hot
ones.”

“Are you feeling all right? You’re eatin’ like one of us, and you hate
hot food.”

“I’m hungry, what the heck! Am I on ass watch too?”

“No, but it’s gonna be if you keep eatin’ like that.”

She threw him a dirty look. “Back on point, SEAL.”

Mace shook his empty bottle at Bruce and got a wave. “Kayla, he’s
already burned his black book and every napkin he’s ever gotten. He kept them
in the middle drawer of his desk. We used to razz him about it, making up
excuses to get to that drawer.” Mace’s expression sobered. “The day the finger
came, and we had the meeting, the Captain opened it for a second, only pens rolled
around in there.”

Mace’s attention drifted over her shoulder. She cranked her head to
see a pretty young blonde sitting two tables to their right eyeing him. “I know
what kind of man he is. He’s devoted to his profession and his country. Not to
mention a different flavor of woman.”

“He’s in love with you, Kayla. That’s why he gave you his trident.
It’s our most honored possession, and when a SEAL gives it to one woman, he’s
telling her she will be the only woman. She is his challenge and his future.
The same promise and dedication we make when we accept the trident.”

“When did he become a SEAL?” she asked, changing the subject. The
night after the car accident, she thought she was dreaming when Thane told her
he loved her. It was ludicrous. She didn’t doubt he was concerned for her
welfare. Nor was there any guessing when it came to the bedroom, but love—he’d
overreacted because of the accident, and he hadn’t said it since.

A grin teetered on his lips. “Don’t you guys ever talk? Or are you too
busy doing something else?”

“Stop that,” she blurted, purely from embarrassment.

Mace broke out into a laugh. “Kayla, that shade of red looks good on
you.” She cuffed him. “Hey, it’s a perfectly natural thing to do when two
people are in love.”

She concentrated on the street instead of him. “Not in love.”

“Really?” he said, nodding slowly with a broadening grin as if he
could read her thoughts. “I know different, and so does the Captain.”

“What? Why do you say that?”

Mace leaned forward, and waited for her to do the same. She rolled her
eyes and leaned over. “Because when the drugs took effect in the hospital, you
spilled the beans.” He sat back with a big grin, and raised a brow at her.

“Here ya go, gorgeous,” Bruce said, placing another margarita in front
of her. “So when’s your friend going to leave? I’ve got a break in fifteen
minutes.”

Mace’s lips twisted into an evil, satisfied smile.

“She’s busy,” a low timbre growled from behind them.

“Umm, okay.” The waiter stepped back as Thane, dressed in a black
torso tight T-shirt and fit jeans cupping the parts of his body in proportion
to the enormous man, kept his steely stare on Bruce as he took the seat next to
Kayla.

Mace’s lips curled with a grin. “Not so tough now are ya, Brucccce?”
Mace said, followed by a short laugh.

Bruce stretched his neck and threw Mace a
fuck off
look.

“What do you have on tap—Bruce?” Thane asked, but the edge in his
voice wasn’t missed.

“Whatever you’d like, sir.”

“Uh-huh, pale ale, thanks.”

Bruce shot a quick look at her while dropping two sets of napkins
wrapped around cutlery on the table. “Your order will be up in a couple
minutes, ma’am.”

“Thanks, just Kayla, not ma’am.”

“You guys work at the base?” Bruce asked. “SEALs?”

He was an observant guy, spotting the UDT belt buckle Thane wore.

“Just Navy,” Thane replied, turning his topaz gaze on her, raising her
body temperature.

“How you feeling, sweetheart?”

Mace dug in his pocket and dropped a ten on the table. “My cue to
leave. See ya guys later.”

“Thanks, Mace.” They fisted each other, and Mace dropped between their
heads, and gave her a big noisy kiss on the cheek.

Thane burned a grin and shook his head. “She’s mine, ya know. That’s
not gonna change, Petty Officer Callahan.”

“A guy can always hope. Later.”

She finished the rest of her margarita. Bruce swept by picking up the
empty glass, steering clear of the mountain of man sitting beside her. Thane
tracked him as if studying a hit. “What’s with Romeo?”

“He’s cute. I think he wants a date. Why don’t we make it a double, me
and him, and you and Miss Sweater-too-tight?” stirring the embers of the fight
they’d had in the weight room over the admin assistant.

Thane coursed her with a look, and then his lips tightened into a
grin. Trying to read the meaning behind that grin had her brows coming
together. “Miss Sweater-too-tight have any more flat tires or is she all full
of hot air?” Thane folded his mighty arms across a taut chest, and leaned back
comfortably. “How many times did she rub her ass against you today?” He stared
at her, not letting his gaze veer, just a blink. “What the hell are you doing
here, anyway?”

He gripped her arms, and yarded her to within an inch of him. “Fall
back, my sweet mermaid. That tongue of yours is especially sharp today, and
there’s no reason for it.” His hand threaded through her hair, and he came down
on her lips with a hard, disciplinary kiss, one that extinguished one fire, but
created another. Releasing her, but not enough for her to pull away more than a
couple inches, Thane kissed her gently on each cheek, and then placed a serene
kiss on her lips. “Who’d want a woman pumped up with Botox, when a guy could
have a beauty like you?”

She sputtered. “Right.”

“You
were
right. I sent the
request for an in-depth investigation into her roots. This afternoon
intelligence reported back saying they’ve found a few loose ends.”

“So when’s your date with her? Let me guess, you’re going to screw it
out of her.”

Her phone vibrated on the table, and they both
looked at it. The planes on Thane’s face darkened like the prairies under a
moving thunderstorm. “What the fuck does he want?”

Chapter Four

“
Bonjour
, Greg.”

“How’s my beautiful
expat?” Greg said with a cheery, familiar note.

“
C’est bonne, et tu?
”

“I miss you, but I tell
you that all the time, don’t I?”

Her heart unfurled from
a corner with his comforting timbre. Thane’s brow creased tight, and so did his
fists as if trying to stop himself from swiping the phone from her hand. “
Oui, c’est vrai
.”

“Oh, I get it. The SEAL
is close by, isn’t he?”

“
Oui
.”

“I called to let you
know I’m on a plane next Friday.”

“Where?” Tension
tweaked her temples. In all the years they’d known each other, he’d taken the
role as a brother, in spite of his feelings. She missed him.

“To San Diego. I’ve got
too much leave banked, and my captain wants me to chew some of it up. You and I
are going to Hawaii.”

“Hawaii?” she echoed,
suddenly longing for a tropical westerly to sweep all the bleedin’ insanity
into a corner for a week or two.

“Don’t worry about the
overbearing SEAL. He can survive without you.”

“I don’t know, Greg.”
Silence on the phone indicated she’d hurt his feelings, and just like that she
caved. Greg was the last man on earth she ever wanted to hurt, and he knew it.
“I know you. You’re making an excuse for a working holiday. You’re not getting
involved with chasing down the Shark.”

An honest growl
emanated from the SEAL sitting beside her.

“Either way, I’m
coming, Kayla. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re
always fine. You need to get out of there and take a breath. You love Kauai.
We’ll go there. Laze around. We both need some R&R.” He chuckled. “You can
burn your ass like you did last time snorkeling.”

“Very funny.”

“Seriously, Angel, I
know what being hunted by the Shark is doing to you, even if you won’t admit
it.”

Greg had an eerie way
of tuning into her frequency. They always spent their vacation time together.
“Hawaii, huh?” A familiar sound of triumph, if not relief resonated through the
line. “All right, get your behind here and we’ll figure it out.”

“See ya soon, Angel. I
love you.”

“
Je vous aime aussi, au revoir
.”

The storm hadn’t moved
away from Thane’s expression, and the trough of angry creases intensified as
she disconnected the call. “He’s coming?” he rumbled.

She sat the phone down
and shored up her defenses; she would not buckle under because of his expanding
chest, and an aura quickly turning white hot. “For a visit.”

“On his way to Hawaii?”

Over time, she’d
learned Thane’s anger meter. When he stilled, it meant he was peaking out. “To
pick me up on his way to Hawaii.”

“What?” At a half-shout,
heads cranked around and stared at the man radiating anger at dangerous levels.
“Are you seriously considering this?” A flash of insecurity rose in his eyes.
“You’re going to get on a plane with a guy that loves you?”

The couple next to them
darted glances their way, and she lowered her voice. “Thane,” She rubbed her
temples, and felt like screaming inside. “His CO wants him to use some leave,
and probably shake the war off his back. He’s reaching burnout, and his senior
officer sees it. It’s regular operating procedure in Canada. There’s only a
couple hundred JTF guys, and they’re overworked.” Thane’s biceps strained. If
he uncoiled, he was going to neutralize something or someone. “I think he’s
right. I need to get away for a little bit, and regroup.”

Thane’s brow furrowed,
and he began to work his jaw. “You mean get away from me, is that it?”

“Stop it, Captain. This
isn’t about you. We always take our holidays together, every year, a couple
times a year.”

Thane leaned forward,
his eyes pinned to hers. “So for a couple weeks he can pretend he has what he
desires.”

Sparks flared in his
eyes, and she looked away. “He’s as close to me as a brother.”

“He wants to be your
lover. Again,” Thane shot back.

“I’m—”

“
Je vous aime aussi
. I love you also,” he said wistfully. “And you
don’t think that gives him hope, Kayla?” His expression emptied, and he dropped
his gaze to the table then shook his head. “You’ve never said that to me.”

“Said what? I love
you?” A small laugh jumped from her throat. “You’re kidding, right?”

Thane’s Adam’s apple
bobbed. “You say it to Mace. You say it to Lapierre.”

What
the hell?
“Are you criticizing me? I say it because I mean
it, Captain, and I don’t say it to a lot of people.”

Thane rolled the bottom
of his bottle, following the embossed tiles of the table. “I’ve noticed,” he
said, shifting in his chair.

She reached for his
trident hanging around her neck, and his eyes rose to track her movement.
Countless months of restraint between them had finally broken when the Shark
turned all his attention on her. Fear kept her mind looking one way, while her
desires snuck under the fence and ran rampant. She had to herd those desires
back into the pen, or she’d be making the biggest fool out of herself, and
telling him the same thing, except it wasn’t the same kind of love. It was the
dangerous kind.

“I need a break, and so
do you.” She swiped her purse from the back of the seat, digging for some bills
tossing them on the table, and sliding her glass over a corner, so they
wouldn’t blow away. Thane’s hand came down on her wrist, and she yanked it
away. “Captain, you’ve done more for me than I deserve. I’m asking you to stand
down. I don’t want you chasing the Shark any more.”

Thane wound his hand
around the nape of her neck. “Never going to happen, sweetheart, and neither is
you getting on a plane with Lapierre.”

His muscles contracted
under her hand as she tried to push away. “I want you to go back to work.”

“You’re serious,” he
breathed out. “Kayla—”

“If you won’t stop
chasing the Shark, then I have to leave.” She clutched his pendant and drew it
over her head, placing it on the table in front of him. “I will never forget
your kindness, but it’s time for you to walk away, Captain Austen.”

There. Done. He stared
at her, his expression a sheet of confusion. “Kayla, we need to talk about
this, don’t— ” He stared down at his trident, and then up at her.

No more words. Cutting
this off now was the right thing, and she headed for the stairs.

The restaurants and
shops began to glow with strings of lights twined around potted cypress trees
and dangled across every entryway as the sun fell behind the hills. Music
poured from the venues butted next to each other. The nighttime ambiance hung
in the air, and dusted everyone but her. She turned right down the main drag
walking quickly. Tears rained down her cheeks. She had nothing to cry about,
certainly not Thane.

Keeping her head bowed,
she ploughed down the sidewalk. Thane fell in step with her, and she
immediately turned left away from him. He followed silently. She halted near
the end of the road beside the Old Town San Diego State Park. A restored hotel
and a couple of museums skirted the edges. “Stop following me.”

“And then what?” he
said reaching for her, swiping her tears away with his thumbs. “I don’t want
you living in fear. This ends now, and I know I can end it.”

“Captain, I’m not going
to live.”

Strong fingers clenched
her waist, the angst in his features clear. “I know you have more mettle in you
than that.”

Resting her hand on his
heart, she tried again. “I’m being realistic, Captain. I want you to set a trap
for him, and I want you to use me. I know you know how to do that.”

“I’m going to catch
him, Kayla, but I won’t put you in danger. So don’t ask me again, because the
answer will always be no.” She pushed as he pulled her tighter to his chest.
“Do you really think you’re going to send me packing just because you’re all
bristly? I’m used to tough, little lady.”

A grin creased his lips,
and it ticked her off. “You are going packing—like a mule,” she said tersely.
“You’ve had your fun, and so have I. Now you’re going to hit the road.”
Uncertainty flashed in his eyes before he released his grip. Looking into the
darkness, she bit down on the disappointment in her heart. In a second, he’d be
gone, but she wouldn’t hear his feet on the gravel walkway. The Ghost would
draw his men back, and let NCIS do their job.

She jumped when he
clutched her. “You’re scared,” he said, against her ear.

“So what? I’m not
allowed to be scared knowing what’s going to happen to me?” she snapped at him.

“Not of the Shark.”

“Go home, Captain.” She
continued to stare out at the lights of Old Town. Somewhere, in the darkness
the Shark was planning and unraveling. All she needed to do was put herself in
the open and he’d come. A chill ran up her spine, the killer’s mind had to be
twisting with impatience by now.

“If you’re not afraid,
then I’m taking you home with me.” He kissed her cheek tenderly. “I haven’t had
a decent night’s sleep in a week, and it’s because you’re not next to me.”

“Then call Miss
Sweater-too-tight for company.”

“I don’t want the
secretary. I want you. I want us.”

“You’ve had me, now
move on,” she said harshly. He pointed a finger at her, but before he said
another word, she grabbed it and twisted, glaring back at him. “Don’t start.
Take the men and go on a mission.” He shook his head, but at least he was
listening to her. “I’m putting in my resignation, Captain. This time you’re
going to accept it.”

He stepped back,
blinking. “So you can go on some vacation with Lapierre, then two weeks of
indoctrination and you’ll be back in Canada. Like hell,” he sputtered. “Where
are you going?”

“I’m going home, for
one.” She stepped around him, heading for one of the hotels to call a taxi.

Before a shout could
even leave her lips, the gravel was gone from her feet, and she was in his
arms. He walked straight across the field and plopped her onto a bench.

Squatting in front of
her, he said very slowly, “You’re not going anywhere. Now, cool off, Ms.
Banks.”

She thrust her hands
against his shoulders, and he tipped backwards, but she didn’t get far. This
time he had her from behind squeezing her like a python. Turning her, he
grasped her chin and forced her to look at him. “I will leave you alone, but I
am not going to stop hunting for the Shark.” His fingers squeezed her arm. “I
don’t blame you for not wanting a life with me. Who the hell would?” He paused,
his voice caught in an uncommon stutter. “But you—are not resigning.” His jaw
tightened to a rigid edge, and his eyes sharpened to angry gems with the little
bit of moonlight reflecting in them. “You can fight me every day. Call me out
when I act like an ass. Shatter my heart into a thousand pieces if you leave
with Lapierre, and I’ll accept that too. But you are going to live.”

“Likewise,” she
replied, fear replacing her anger.

“Then don’t try to stop
me.”

“What if you’re hurt
because of me? Pull them back, Captain. Please.” She dug her fingers into his
arms. “Get your team away from me, and I want you the farthest away.”

Thane shook his head.
“If I do, you’ll die, Kayla.”

She gripped him harder,
not that she could do any damage to arms like his. “I know,” she bit out.
“You’re just drawing this out, and it’s driving me crazy.”

A painful expression
twisted his features. “Can you even imagine how much death I’ve seen? I’ve
accepted all of it, but I will never accept yours. I can see it in my mind,
because I’ve seen it so many times. To see you lifeless, to feel your skin,
cold instead of warm, stops my heart,” he whispered against her lips.

“I’m asking you not to
chase him any more. Go home, and I’m going to do the same. I don’t want you
near me. I can handle this on my own.”

“Kayla—” he said,
shaking his head slowly. “You can’t fix this by yourself.” He leaned his
forehead against hers. “It’s not a terrible thing to say you need—to accept
someone’s help. Shit. Is it so damn hard to say you need me?”

A roller coaster of
emotions shot through her, and then an old, familiar feeling began to crawl
across her chest. She raised her eyes to meet his as the horrible, sour pang
filled her. “I won’t do that.”

A sad smile tightened
his lips. “But you’ll accept Lapierre’s. I—I guess…” He looked around and
swallowed heavily.

“Thane, sex does not
mean anything. You of all people should understand that.”

Clutching her in his
arms, he pulled her onto his lap, and lay back on the bench. Before he said a
thing, she covered his mouth, but he gently pulled her hand away. “I want you
to live. I—I want you to have faith in me. Don’t hold my past against me,
because you weren’t in it. If you had been, it would have been very different,
and so would have yours.”