Hot SEALs: Her Special Alpha (Kindle Worlds) (X-OPS 3.5) (7 page)

Eden smiled sweetly at him. “Like I said before, Mr. Spillane, we’d like to ask you a few questions about Tim Ainsley.”

Sammy swore. “What the fuck is it with all you people wanting to talk about Tim lately?”

Eden exchanged looks with Travis before turning back to Sammy. “We’re not the first people to ask about him?”

“Hell, no. Some guy came in here about a week ago with a couple of his friends and told me he wanted to buy out Tim’s debt for ten cents on the dollar. When I told him to pound sand, the asshole did this.”

Sammy held up the bandage wrapped hand. Even with all the gauze, Travis could see the man’s pinkie finger on his right hand was missing.

“He cut off your finger?” Travis couldn’t believe he was shocked considering all the things he’d seen in the army, but damn.

“Cut it off?” Sammy snorted. “Hell, no. The damn freak had these long-ass claws for fingernails. He sliced into me, then reached out and ripped the fucking thing right off! Put it in his pocket and walked out with it when we were done, too, so I couldn’t even try to get it reattached. Fucking asshole.”

“What did this guy look like?” Eden asked.

“Six-five, long brown hair, scary looking psycho eyes. Growled a lot.”

Eden looked at Travis again. There couldn’t be many guys who looked like that running around Virginia Beach. It had to be the wolf shifter.

“At first I thought maybe Tim had hired this guy to come in and try to make his debt disappear, but then I heard Tim got his ass beat up by these same guys a couple days ago, so I’m guessing that’s wasn’t it.”

“Is it normal for people to come in and try to buy someone else’s gambling debt like that?” Eden asked.

“Never happened to me before,” Sammy muttered. “And the worst part was, I felt bad about having to turn over Tim’s tab. I’ve been his bookie since he was sixteen—he grew up around here. Tim might be a godawful gambler and was never going to be able to pay me back everything he owed, but he’s a good guy who made regular payments and was trying to get this gambling thing under control.”

Travis almost laughed. A bookie with a heart of gold? He wasn’t so sure he bought that one. “How much did Tim owe you?”

Sammy shrugged. “About a hundred grand, maybe a little more. I can’t tell you exactly because that asshole took the laptop I kept my books on along with my finger.”

Travis was floored. Beside him, Eden looked just as shocked. How the hell could Tim gamble himself so deeply into debt? “Any idea what this guy wanted with Tim’s tab?”

“No clue,” the bookie admitted. “It’s not like Tim could pay it all back at once. He’s about tapped out.”

“Any idea where this big guy and his friends hang out?” Eden asked.

Sammy’s eyes narrowed. “You two going after that asshole?” When Eden nodded, he smiled. “I heard they were staying in a duplex vacation rental on the beach. Ocean Front and 53
rd
.”

“You we’re pissed enough to track them down, but not go after them?” Travis asked.

Sammy shrugged. “I’m a business man. And I like my fingers. I figured if I made a move on these guys and failed, the psycho with the freaky fingernails would be back for my other pinkie and maybe a few more fingers. I put my money into better security and forgot the revenge.” He looked over at his guys lying on the floor. One or two of them were just starting to stir, but the rest weren’t even conscious yet. Sammy winced. “I guess I should have saved my money.”

Eden slipped out of the booth. Travis followed, holding the gun down at his side. He didn’t think Sammy would try anything, but he’d keep the weapon handy just in case.

“Thanks for the help,” Eden told Sammy.

The bookie didn’t say anything until Travis and Eden were halfway to the door.

“Hey! If you find that asshole, watch out for those fingernails of his,” Sammy said. “And if he still has my finger, I’ll pay you for it. I can’t get it reattached now, but I’m kind of sentimental about it.”

Beside Travis, Eden made a face.

“Gross,” she whispered as they walked out of the bar. “There is no way we’re bringing back his finger, even if we do find it.”

“I don’t know,” Travis said as he opened the passenger door of his rental car for her. “How much do you think he’d pay?”

She made a face. “I don’t care. And if think you’re going to find his finger and bring it back here, you’re walking.”

Travis chuckled as he strode around the front of the car, then slid behind the wheel and started the engine. “How do we get to Ocean Front and 53
rd
?

* * * * *

She and Travis sat in his rental car several blocks down from the beachfront duplex, going over what they’d learned at the sports bar and trying to figure out why the wolf shifter and his buddies had bought Tim’s debt. As they talked, Eden kept an eye on the house. She hadn’t seen any movement inside or out since they’d gotten there about fifteen minutes ago, and was starting to think they were going to have get closer if they wanted to know for sure.

“You think it’s possible they bought the debt because they thought Tim has more money than he really does?” Travis asked.

She shrugged. “Crazier things have happened I guess. But it seems like an awfully complicated way to make money. Men as vicious as this wolf shifter could easily find a faster way to get cash, without pissing off one of the more powerful crime figures in the local area.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Travis agreed. “Okay, so what’s the plan this time? And if you say we’re just going to go walk in and chat with this psycho, I’m cranking the car and we’re leaving right now.”

Eden couldn’t help but smile. Travis was so cute when he was being protective. She didn’t think he would actually follow through with his threat if she told him that’s exactly what they were going to do, but it was nice knowing he worried about her.

It was hard to believe, but in some ways it felt like she worked better with him than she did with her team at the DCO. Not that she had a problem with any of her teammates. It was just that she really connected with Travis. She practically knew what he was going to do before he did it, like when he’d punched that guy in the face back at the sports bar and later draw his weapon on the bartender. It felt good having him watch her back, like he was her partner or something.

“I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about running into the wolf shifter,” she said. “I don’t think he’s there.”

Travis’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you say that?”

“We’re parked downwind of the duplex, but I’m barely picking up the shifter’s scent. Either he hasn’t come outside in two or three days, or he’s not there.”

Travis did a double take. “Your nose works that good?”

She almost blushed at the awe on his face. “Well…yeah. But it’s not that big of a deal.”

He looked dubious at that. “Seems like a big deal to me. I can barely smell much of anything, and I sure as hell couldn’t tell you a person hasn’t been out of his house in two or three days.”

“Then I’ll do the smelling for both of us,” she told him. “Trust me, mine works just fine.”

“Wow.” He shook his head as if amazed. “And you can tell one person apart from another, just by the way they smell?”

She nodded. “Everyone has a unique scent profile.”

“Really? What do I smell like?”

Eden bit her lip, wondering if Travis was messing with her. Could he somehow know the affect his scent had on her? That it was turning her on like crazy even now in the tight confines of his rental car? His scent was the reason she’d rolled down the passenger window in the first place, so she could breathe without moaning out loud.

But no, he was simply sitting there looking at her expectantly, an innocent expression on her face.

“I don’t smell bad, do I?” he prompted.

She quickly shook her head. “No, you don’t smell bad at all. In fact, you smell really nice.”

His brown eyes darkened to a deep, rich chocolate, making her think maybe he did know what his scent did to her. “That’s good. I’d hate to think my scent bothered you.”

Eden smiled. “You don’t have to worry about that. You scent definitely doesn’t bother me.”

Well, it did bother her. But in a good way.

Travis nodded and went back to watching the duplex, leaving her there with her thoughts, which were completely wrapped around how good he smelled right then.

“If we want to know for sure, we’re going to have to check out the place,” he said after a few moments. “Unless you want to sit around in this hot car all day talking about the weather and what I smell like.”

Eden certainly wouldn’t have minded that. In fact, she could probably spend hours waxing poetically about his delectable scent. But then she’d probably want to jump him right there in the car, which wouldn’t really be a good idea with a bad guy possibly a few blocks down the street.

It wasn’t until she got out of the car and walked around the front to fall into step beside Travis that Eden realized how much talking about his scent had aroused her. She stifled a moan as she felt the wetness in her panties. Damn, she really had it bad for this guy.

Putting her sex drive in park for the moment, she forced herself to focus on the job she and Travis were there to do. The closer they got to the duplex, the more convinced she was that the shifter at least wasn’t there. The guy’s scent was stale, like he hadn’t been there in a while.

Travis glanced around to make sure no one was looking as they climbed up onto the porch and approached the front door. When he was sure they were out of sight, he drew the 9mm she’d let him borrow and covered her while she picked the lock.

“You’re seriously good at that,” he whispered as she opened the lock and eased the door back. “I never realized how much I liked a bad girl until now.”

Eden gave him a quick smile over her shoulder, then poked her nose inside the open doorway and took a few sniffs. After a moment, she pushed the door open the rest of the way. “There’s no one here.”

He put the gun away and followed her inside. “You would have been nice to have around on a few of the special operations missions I’ve run in the past. It would have saved me a buttload of grief.”

The first floor of the duplex consisted of a small kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms and a bathroom while the upstairs had three bedrooms and another bathroom. She and Travis quickly checked each room. The shifter’s scent was just as stale inside as it had been outside, meaning he probably hadn’t been there for three days. And considering the scents of the other guys who’d been with him were practically nonexistent, his buddies hadn’t been there, either.

There were plenty of indications that someone had been staying here, though. Not only were there empty food and drink containers in the trash, beer and a half eaten box of pizza in the fridge, and a couple newspapers and magazines on the kitchen table, but the blankets on all five beds were rumpled. There were even some toiletries left behind in the bathrooms. The guys she and Travis had fought in the alley had been professionals. Eden couldn’t see them leaving all this evidence behind, not unless they were bailing in a hurry.

She and Travis looked around, but for all the crap left lying around, there wasn’t anything that gave them a clue as to who the hell these guys were.

“Upstairs is clean,” Travis asked as he joined her in the kitchen. “Any luck?”

She shook her head. “No. Seems like these guys bolted pretty quick.”

“You think they left town?”

“It looks that way. They must have figured we’d give their descriptions to the cops and wanted to get out of Virginia Beach before they got arrested. Or maybe they figured out Tim doesn’t have a damn penny to his name and decided there was no reason to hang around here any longer.”

“That’s what I was thinking, too,” Travis agreed. “You want to get out of here and grab something to eat?”

Eden looked around the kitchen one more time, then smiled. “Sounds good.”

Chapter Seven

They ended up back at her hotel room with a big bag of take-out from the nearby P.F. Chang’s. Eden had really wanted to eat at the restaurant, but there was already an hour wait for a table. So when Travis had suggested getting take-out, she’d quickly agreed. She couldn’t imagine anything better than dining on spicy chicken in the quiet of her hotel room with Travis to keep her company.

They spread everything out on the small round table where they’d both been sitting yesterday when she’d been wiggling around on his lap like Tickle-Me Elmo. Eden tried her very best to push that thought aside and focus on getting the dinner set out on the table.

Travis put sweetener their iced teas while she opened the lids on the take-out boxes. She put her container of brown rice closer to her box of spicy chicken and pushed his closer to the box of Mongolian beef on his side of the table.

It was fun eating out of the take-out containers together. She hadn’t done anything like that since she was back in college cramming for exams.

“You ready for the wedding tomorrow?” he asked as they ate.

“Uh-huh,” she said. “I have my dress, shoes, and purse all ready to go. I’m going to meet Emily at the country club with the rest of the wedding party, then we’ll get dressed there. Knowing my sister, she’ll be up at sunrise getting her stuff ready. How about you?”

He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin, then gave her a grin. “I don’t have to put on a wedding gown, so I doubt I’ll be getting up at sunrise.”

She laughed, marveling at how good he was at making her do that.

After a while, however, she realized he was mostly poking the Mongolian beef around in his take-out carton with his chopsticks instead of eating it.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

Travis didn’t say anything for a long time, and she was about to prod him when he finally lifted his head to look at her. “I was wondering what comes after the wedding. Are you heading right back to DC?”

Her breath hitched. Why would ask if she was going back to DC right away unless he didn’t want her to leave just yet?

“I have another whole week off,” she said. “My boss ordered me not to come back until I had used up a full two weeks of vacation time. He says I work too hard.”

She expected Travis to laugh about that, but instead his brow furrowed, like there was something heavy weighing on his mind.

“Maybe we can spend a little time hanging out,” he suggested. “Go up to DC and drive around some, take in the tourist stuff?”

Eden bit her lip. She wasn’t sure if Travis was trying to get rid of her, or saying he wanted to keep seeing her. Why the hell didn’t men come with instruction manuals?

“Sure, we can go up to DC,” she said quietly. “Or we can stay down here and hang out on the beach. Either one works for me.”

He smiled, clearly relieved. “Great. I thought maybe we could look around DC so I can check out apartments. See if maybe there were some jobs I might be able to apply for.”

Eden’s heart started thudding hard in her chest, and she felt her breath coming a little faster. “You’re considering moving to DC?”

Travis tensed again. He poked at his food with his chopsticks again. “Yeah, I was thinking about it. But only if you’re okay with the idea. I don’t want you to think I’m stalking you.”

She almost laughed. “Of course I wouldn’t think you’re stalking me.” Actually, she was thrilled at the idea. “But what about the job offer from your navy friend?”

Travis shrugged. “It’s a good offer, and I probably would have taken the job already if I hadn’t met you. Now I’m not sure if I want to take it. Virginia Beach and DC are a little too far apart for my liking.”

Eden’s heart was thudding so loudly she was sure Travis could hear it. “Are you saying that you want to keep seeing me after this? Like have a relationship, I mean?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” he said. “Unless you’re not interested, in which case, that’s not what I’m saying at all.”

She realized she’d been sitting there holding the container of chicken up in her hand for the last five minutes. She set the box on the table and pushed it away from the edge. Then she put her hands flat on the table so she wouldn’t start clapping them in joy.

“I’m definitely interested and I’d love if we could keep seeing each other.” She smiled. “And yes, I think you moving to the DC would be really great, too. There are a ton of jobs up there for someone with your qualifications. I could even help you look. If you want my help, I mean.”

In fact, she knew the perfect place for him to work—the DCO. He already had the tactical skills for the job as well as the security clearance, and Eden knew for a fact that he worked with shifters quite well.

She didn’t want to say anything about it until she talked to John, though. But she’d think about when they got up to DC. Right now, she had seven whole days to spend with Travis doing whatever they wanted.

“I’m not too proud to ask for help,” Travis said, digging into his Mongolian beef with a lot more enthusiasm now. “And while I’m not that picky about where I work, I should probably warn you food service and retail are probably out. I’m not real good at the customer service stuff.”

She laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They talked about what kind of tourist stuff they could do in Virginia Beach while they finished dinner, but as they sat there afterward, Eden could no longer contain the burning question she’d wanted to ask since Travis had brought up the idea of moving to DC.

“How long have you been thinking about turning down the job your friend offered you and moving up to DC to be near me instead?”

He rested his forearms on the table, his lips curving into a sexy smile. “I was attracted to you the first moment I saw you in that alley. But the real turning point was yesterday when we were right here in these chairs talking—and kissing. That was when I realized there was something special going on between us and that I didn’t want it to end when you went home.”

Neither one of them were saying the “L” word out loud because they both knew it was way too soon to put a name to what was going on between them. But somewhere inside her heart, Eden knew that was what Travis was talking about. Because that was what she was feeling, too.

“So you just up and decided to move to DC to be near me?” she asked, then quickly added, “Not that I’m complaining, of course. But I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever met a man willing to take a leap of faith like this, especially after knowing someone for four days.”

He chuckled. “I can’t take all the credit. I wasn’t really sure what I should do, not until I talked to Jon—the SEAL who offered me the job. He’s the one who convinced me I needed to take a chance and tell you how I feel because things this good don’t come around very often.”

“Why’d you wait until now to tell me?” she asked. “You could have called me last night, or told me in between stopping at Sammy’s sports bar and the duplex on the beach.”

“I could have,” he agreed. “But there was one thing holding me back.”

“What was that?”

“I wasn’t sure how you felt about the whole thing, and I didn’t want to freak you out by coming on too strong,” he explained. “But then we started talking about the wedding, and I realized that if I didn’t say something, you’d be gone and I’d never get another chance to tell you how I feel.”

Eden felt her heart squeeze. Okay. If this got any more romantic, she was going to cry.

She set down her tea and got up to walk around to Travis’ side of the table. When he pushed back his chair, she climbed on his lap like she had yesterday. The moment she did, she realized how right it felt. She belonged on his lap just like he belonged in her life.

“Well, I for one am very glad you did tell me how you feel,” she said. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be doing this right now.”

Then she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him like she’d wanted to do all day.

Travis groaned, one of his hands getting a firm grip on her hip while the other moved up to tangle in her hair. His tongue teased its way into her mouth, and she let out a soft growl, reveling in how good he tasted, something which had nothing at all to do with the food he’d just eaten. This was all him—pure, unadulterated Travis Dalton, stud muffin.

Eden felt the tingling in her gums just moments before her fangs slipped partially out. She almost forced them back in, but stopped herself. Travis knew what she was. There was no reason to hide it. Even so, she was still surprised his startle reflex didn’t kick in even for a second. Instead, he just slowed down a little, taking his time to run his tongue carefully over the tips of her fangs. Her body trembled at the sensation. Why did this feel so damn good?

Because for the first time in your life, you’re getting a chance to know what it’s like to be with a man who totally accepts you the way you are—fangs, claws, and all.

When Travis finally pulled away, it was only so he could slip his hands under her shirt and shove it up over her head. Then his mouth was back on hers, pulling more moans of pleasure from her as he reached behind her and unclasped her bra.

She hated to push him away even for a second so she could get the damn thing off, but the moment she sent it sailing across the room, she weaved the fingers of both hands in his dark, silky hair and pulled him forward to get that amazing mouth of his on her neck.

He started at her ear, nibbling and licking her lobe in the most spine-tingling way ever. She wasn’t sure, but was it possible to have an earlobe orgasm? Before she could find out, his warm, soft mouth was on the move, trailing wet kisses down her neck, pausing momentarily at the sensitive skin over her collar bone before finding his way to her cleavage.

Eden leaned back and let out a long, soft moan as Travis moved back and forth from one nipple to the other, nibbling a little harder at them with his teeth than he had her earlobe. She’d never had a guy do that before, but clearly she’d been missing out. He alternated between hard nips, gentle sucking, and slow sensual lapping, too. Somehow, he seemed to know when his oral assault was becoming too intense, switching at just the perfect moment.

Eden could have sat there in his lap all night enjoying what he was doing to her breasts, but Travis obviously had other ideas. He pushed her back on his lap, leaving her no choice but to move her hands behind her to support herself on his knees. The position pushed her breasts higher, a move that Travis definitely appreciated if the white hot heat in his eyes was any indication.

With her arms behind her, all Eden could do was watch breathlessly as Travis glided his hands up her midriff to her breasts, cupping them and tweaking each nipple between his thumbs and forefingers. He kept his eyes locked with hers as he squeezed and massaged, apparently enjoying the way she writhed all over his lap in pleasure.

His mouth curved into a lazy smile as he slid the fingers of one hand down from her left breast, along her tightly stretched abs. He paused for a moment to toy with her belly button, but then moved lower yanking open the buttons on her jeans with a tug.

Gaze still locked with hers, he slipped a hand down her pants. Eden couldn’t help but suck in a breath when the tip of one finger eased inside her panties and found her clit. She didn’t realize how excited she was, not until that very moment. But when he touched her clit, she knew he could make her come right then if he wanted to. She was that turned on.

Her hands tightened on his knees, and she leaned back even further, lifting her ass off his thighs a bit to give him better access. He took the hint and burrowed a little deeper into her panties, moving his fingertip in tight circles directly on her clit.

“Oh God, that feels good,” she moaned, wiggling and gyrating her hips faster in time to the movements of his finger. Her fangs were completely elongated now, so her words came out a little slurred, but Travis didn’t seem to mind.

“I love watching you move like that,” he said in a low, sexy voice. “And the way your eyes glow brighter and brighter the closer you get to coming is the most exquisite thing I’ve ever seen.”

“You think you can make me come like this?” she challenged.

“Oh, I know I can,” he said in a husky voice. “Then I’m going to carry you to that big bed and make you come over and over again until the sun comes up.”

Eden purred. She loved a confident man, especially one who knew how to work her body like a Travis did.

He was smart enough to know that the best way to make her come was to kept up a steady rhythm, and that was exactly what he did, making perfect little circles on her clit with the absolutely right amount of pressure. It took only a few minutes for the tingles to start deep down inside her. She undulated her hips faster and faster as she started to lose control, and Travis had to grab her ass with his free hand to keep her from falling off his lap. Even though she knew it was coming, she was still caught off guard when her orgasm hit. One second the tingling was slowly building, the next her body was going into spasms as her climax rushed through her like an out of control train.