It Could Happen Again (Zulu Spectre) (3 page)

Moving through the kitchen, she noticed the blankets were still folded up at the end of the sofa. Doesn’t mean he didn’t sleep there. She entered her room and instantly knew he’d slept in here. To look at the room, nothing gave it away but there was a feeling in here. Surrounding her with a warmth she wasn’t used to having. Not since you two shared a bed before, that is.

She closed the door and began stripping off her uniform. Her body protested each movement, and she stared longingly at the bed. Clad in her bra and panties, she made her way to the double bed and drew back the blankets to expose the pillow. Bending, she inhaled on the pillow, his masculine scent moved through her, tingling places which had been left unattended far too long.

“Get a grip, Allie,” she said, remaking the bed. “We have nothing between us. At all.”

With everything she needed for a shower, she stepped from her room and walked to the bathroom where she took a quick and much appreciated one. The steam surrounded her, and she leaned against the counter, eyes closed, and just tried to find some energy to stay awake.

Wiping a hand across the fogged mirror, she stared at her reflection. A small laugh poured from her lips before she returned to toweling off her hair. Dressed, she departed and ambled up the carpeted area to the living room then the kitchen.

Dale watched her enter, his eyes like a brand as they moved along her skin. She broke the connection and looked away, tucking some wet hair behind her ear.

“How were you, Tyler?” she asked as she moved to kiss his cheek.

“Good.”

Turning to Dale for confirmation, she was pleased to see him nod.

“Sit down, Allie,” he said. “I’ll fix you a plate.”

Moments later, he set one before her and one before Tyler. Pancakes, eggs, and turkey bacon. She ogled him as he poured more on the griddle. How did one person manage to look so damn good? And why hadn’t she noticed him before? If he’d moved in over there, why hadn’t she run into him before?

“Don’t wait for me,” he ordered. “Eat while it’s hot.”

Tyler took the man at his word and dug in. She’d just poured syrup on her stack of three when he joined them at the table, his own plate piled high.

“Thank you so much for last night.”

His brown eyes twinkled as he met her gaze. He ate a bite of the crispy bacon and sent her a wicked grin. “First time I’ve heard that for not doing anything physical.”

She flushed and jerked her attention to Tyler who was lost in a world of eating. There was such a double meaning there, she did her best to ignore it.

“He’s not paying you any mind, Allie.” Dale’s voice, low and smooth, flowed over her like a silken wrap. “How have you been?”

Oh, hell, no, I’m not delving into the past with you, Dale Curtayn. “Well, thank you, anyway.”

“Not a problem. He’s a great kid. Although, I think I got taken.”

She smiled a bit. “He got cookies and milk, did he?”

“How did you know?”

“He’s good at that.”

“Then, I don’t feel so bad falling for it.” He touched the back of her hand with two fingers. “How are you doing after last night?”

“You saw?”

“Had the news on after he finally went to sleep.”

The concern in his voice got to her, and tears pricked her eyes. She shook them away, not willing to give into them. Hating how emotional she could be at times, Allie took a deep breath.

“Honestly, I’d like to curl up in bed and sleep. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. Local cops, state patrol, even the National Guard came out to help. All that’s left now is the cleanup, and I can’t help with that or I’d still be out there. But, the shower helped, and I can catch some winks later today.”

He held her gaze. “You’re barely awake now. Go sleep. Oh, wait, let me go strip the bed and remake it, I wasn’t sure where you kept your sheets.”

“You sure you don’t mind, keeping an eye on him for two hours?”

“Sheets?”

“Forget it. I don’t care. I’m going to go lay down.” She ate the last bite of food on her plate. “This was delicious, thank you. Tyler, I’m taking a two-hour nap; keep listening to Mr. Curtayn.”

“Okay, Auntie. He said we were going to build something today. It will be quiet so you can sleep.”

Quiet, wasn’t that a heavenly word? “Great.” She made her way back to her room and shut the door on everything else. The blackout curtains drawn, she kicked off her pants before sliding in between the sheets.

Sandalwood and male surrounded her. Burying deeper into the pillows, she allowed his scent to escort her to the land of slumber.

An orgasm woke her, and Allie sat up, lips parted as she gasped for air. Shit! Her entire body tingled from the power of what she’d just experienced. She stared down her body; it was still how she’d gone to bed, long t-shirt, panties, and she’d not even taken off her bra.

None of it mattered. Her nipples were drawn tight and pressed almost painfully against the satin of her bra. Her clit still throbbed as she continued to ride out the mini aftershocks of the mind-blowing release.

“Sucks to high hell I don’t even know what I was dreaming about.” She cut her eyes to the door. “Although, I have a pretty good idea.”

The clock informed her she’d slept for more than two hours. Closer to five. Getting up, she reached for her pants and pulled them on. While still tired, she was much more focused and alert. This, she could handle much better. Opening her bedroom door, she listened and was met with silence. She went to the bathroom to wake up a bit more.

In the living room, she found the men. Both on the floor with a large wood board between them. On the board, they were assembling a 3-D puzzle. They spoke in low tones to one another. Dale was allowing Tyler to do most of the work.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, he looked up and winked at her. There went the flipping in her gut again.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

Tyler never looked away from the puzzle. “I’m making Big Ben, Auntie. He’s from England, and this is from there.”

Yeah, she was well aware of where he was from. Another thrill shot through her at the mental recreation of his muttering to her as he took her. There is something wrong with me.

“Yes, Big Ben is impressive to see. Maybe you will get there one day, Tyler,” she said.

“Have you seen it?” Dale asked.

“Yes.” She didn’t want to think about one of her exes but visiting him over there had been wonderful. “I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thank you so much for keeping an eye on Tyler.”

Dale pushed smoothly to his feet. “Not a problem. He’s a great kid. Can’t wait to see it finished, Tyler.”

“I’ll make sure I come get you.” The boy remained enthralled by the item before him.

She walked with Dale through the kitchen to the door. “Again, thank you. I really appreciate it.”

He placed a hand on the wall beside her head and leaned close. “Stop mentioning it.” His gaze moved from her eyes to her lips and back again. She gulped. “You are intriguing the hell out of me, Allie Sumani. I want to catch up.”

She had no words. His brown eyes were like the richest warm chocolate she’d ever find. And, right now, they were focused on her. He inched in closer still until their noses almost touched and she could feel the heat from his body surrounding her.

“Just you and me.”

Dale left her there, breathless, aroused, and craving. Him.

Chapter Three

Dale drummed his fingers along the edge of the pool table then took his shot, sinking two striped balls. He scoped out the rest of the options and repositioned himself to try again.

“What’s eating you?” Alexander “Sweets” Greene posed the question.

It had been two days since he’d taken care of Tyler and had slept in Allie’s bed. He hadn’t planned on sleeping there, just wanted to see what else he could learn about her. Ended up falling asleep.

Dale looked at one of the other two men in Zulu Spectre who weren’t from America. Sweets had served in the Royal Navy and was their corpsman. The other was their heavy weapons guy, Second Lieutenant Rance “Quint” MacLean. He’d been a commando with the Royal Marines. Then, there was him, Flight Lieutenant Dale “Lights” Curtayn from the RAF. He could fly anything.

He gazed about the dark bar, smiling over the familiar faces. “Just trying to wrap my head around a few things.”

“This isn’t about that bitch, Julie, is it?” Gambit asked.

“No,” he told the Cajun. “Although she won’t take the hint that she needs to back off and not come by again.”

“I still think we should let Jack go handle it. We’re not allowed to hit women but she can.” Sweets referred to the lone woman in their unit. Jacey “Blackjack” Thompson.

“Oh no, that’s not necessary.”

“So who’s the kid you’ve been hanging out with?” Gambit stepped forward to take his shot.

“Tyler?”

“Don’t know, man; that’s why I asked you.” He sank his shot and lined up for another.

“My neighbor’s nephew. Good kid.” He flexed his fingers around the pool cue. “Why?”

“No reason, just when I run there, I usually see you with him. What’s the aunt like?”

Hot as fuck. With hips I want to grip tight while I pound deep inside her. Tits I want to suck, and a mouth I can’t wait to feel once more wrapped around my…

“Nice,” he said. “I know her from before. We…well, we used to date.”

Both men looked at him, and he cleared his throat before taking a long, much-needed drink of his beer.

“So it’s like that, is it?”

“It’s not like anything, Gambit.”

His responding comment wasn’t in English, and Dale ignored him. Sweets looked at him, and he stared at his friend and teammate. “What? It was a long time ago, and I broke it off. Never thought I’d see her again but here she is.”

“Just wondering how you’re going to keep Jack away from her.”

“She doesn’t need to know. There’s nothing there for her to investigate anyway.”

Both guys laughed. “Bon chance.” Gambit gave a short jerk of his head, and Dale turned in that direction.

Jack strode toward them, most men in the place following her with their gazes. She didn’t pay any of them a single bit of attention, and yet, Dale knew she knew exactly where each one was and how much of a fight it would be to get out if it came to that.

She looked hot in her jeans and the sheepskin jacket covering her shirt. Her hair had been confined into one long braid.

“Thought I might find y’all here,” she said.

He smiled over her accent. It only came out when she was truly relaxed. “Hey, Jack.”

She pinned him with her black gaze. “Who is she?” she asked after a few moments of silence.

“How the fuck do you do that, Jack?” he demanded.

“Women’s intuition.”

If it had come from anyone else, he wouldn’t have bought it, but Jack was something else. She nudged Gambit and shrugged out of her coat, tossing it to settle with the pile of theirs before grabbing a pool cue.

She chalked the end and said, “You may as well tell me; you know I’ll find out.”

“It’s true, Lights, she’s like a damn pit bull.” Gambit got punched for that comment.

“Let me help,” Sweets said. “It’s his neighbor.”

“Convenient,” she said. “Are we solids or stripes?”

“Stripes.” Dale had no problem with her jumping into the game. He watched her sink three balls in quick succession and smirked at the grumbling of Gambit and Sweets.

“So, your neighbor,” she prompted.

“She’s an EMT paramedic. I told them we have a history, her and I.”

“Do we get to meet her?”

“No,” he said immediately.

Three pairs of eyes honed in on him.

“Look,” he said in an attempt to placate them. “We’re not even dating. It didn’t exactly end the smoothest between us.”

“So bring her along as a friend.” Gambit pointed the cue at him. “We can behave on occasion. Hell, we can even bring Griz in to make sure we stay behaving. He can bring his wife. If Griz can’t keep us in line we all know Marly will.”

It didn’t look like they weren’t going to let it go, but Dale would hold out hope. Hell, he’d not even kissed the girl, and they were acting as if they should be picking out a color scheme for the house.

“We’re not a couple.”

They held up their hands, and he didn’t buy the act for a second. Nope, they wouldn’t be letting this go. Still, he wasn’t so stupid as not to accept the reprieve they were offering. Talk changed directions and shifted onto the large cookout they were having for Griz, their commanding officer, for upcoming his birthday. Marly had asked for their help in setting up the surprise.

By the time he left the bar, all of his team had shown with the exception of Griz. The final deets had been nailed down, and Dale was in a good mood. A mood that shot south faster than he could take a breath when he spied Allie and Tyler out front of the apartment building with a man he didn’t know. One who continually put his hands on Allie.

A low fire churned in Dale’s gut as he parked his car and continued observing them in his rear view. The man was tall and built. His ball cap shrouded some of his facial features but Dale had seen enough. He didn’t need to know the color of the man’s eyes to know he didn’t want him that close to his Allie.

That thought froze him in the process of exiting his car. His Allie? What am I thinking? I don’t hold any claim over her. That may be true logically but emotionally, but his body didn’t give a damn. A low growl emerged when the man slipped an arm around her waist.

Dale got out and left his vehicle, locking it with the fob over his shoulder.

“Hi, Mr. Curtayn!” Tyler waved and rode his bike closer to him.

“Hey, Tyler. Who’s that with your aunt?”

“Chester Morvan.”

What the fuck kind of name was that? Okay, he didn’t like him even more now. Sure, it was petty and childish but he didn’t give a fuck. “Chester? He doesn’t live in the building, does he?”

“No, he found us on the path and hasn’t left yet.”

It didn’t take a genius to hear Tyler’s dislike of that situation. Don’t blame you, kid.

Allie looked over at him and gave him a small smile. Dale, being him, took it as an invitation and strode up to the two of them.

“Evening, Allie,” he said, bestowing a smile on her which he knew had more than a bit of proprietary claim in it. “What’s going on?”

The man with her met his gaze, and Dale wanted to punch him, just because. Rich blue eyes with a condescending look ran over him dismissively. “We’re talking.”

Tension ratcheted up a few knots. Dale stared down the line of his nose at the guy. “Who are you?”

“Allie?”

“Be nice, Chester. This is my neighbor, Dale Curtayn. Dale, Chester Morvan.”

Neither man offered their hand, just continued to size one another up.

“Man, we’re having a private conversation here.” Chester waved him off.

Dale crossed his arms. “In a public area.” He looked at Allie, took in the uncomfortable expression on her face and the way she kept trying to move away from Chester. “You need to let the woman go.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Let her go.” Dale stepped closer. “Before I do it for you.”

“This has nothing to do with you.” Chester spoke over whatever Allie was about to say.

Dale saw the fire in her eyes and watched her clamp her jaw. “She keeps moving away and leaning away from you. If you can’t understand that to mean the person doesn’t want to be near you, that’s on you. Regardless, let her go.”

“Fuck you, neighbor.”

“Not my type.” He reached out and captured Chester’s wrist, applying pressure until he released Allie. “Don’t ever grab her again,” he warned, danger vibrating his tone. “You won’t like the results. Go inside, Allie.”

She got Tyler and went in. Only then did Dale follow, ensuring the door shut behind them. Allie didn’t speak in the elevator as they rode up, nor did she say a word when she and Tyler entered her place. However, less than a minute later, as he stood in the kitchen, trying to make sense of why he gave a damn if some man had his arm around her, a heavy pounding came on his door.

“Come on in, Allie.” He rested his lower back against the tan countertop and waited.

She burst in, hair falling around her in gentle waves, opposite of the fire in her eyes. “What the hell did you think you were doing?” she demanded, kicking the door shut behind her.

“Saving you from a man’s touch you didn’t want.” He sipped his water and enjoyed the sight before him.

She was so vibrant, so full of life. Right now, yes, she was pissed but her body did angry like a wet dream. Energy rolled from her, eyes were bright and hard with her righteous anger. Magnificent.

“You don’t know everything, Mr. Curtayn.”

“Dale.”

“Whatever,” she snapped. She stomped closer and shoved her finger into his chest. “Do not deign to assume you know who I want touching me and who I don’t. I don’t need you to ride in and play a knight on a white horse.”

He looked at her finger then back to her face. “One, I wasn’t deigning anything. It was obvious by the way you continually tried to get some space between the two of you.” His voice adopted a hard tone as his own rage flared at the memory.

“I’ve known Chester much more recently than I’ve known you, Mr. Curtayn.”

Her nostrils flared, and he put his face down in hers. “That may be, Ms. Sumani, but you don’t pull away from me that way. In fact, you sway closer. Not to mention I know how to make you purr.”

He captured her wrist and lifted it until he drew her finger into his mouth. Nipping the tip, he swirled his tongue around her index finger. She whimpered as her pupils dilated. He sucked on the entire thing, her response like an electrical jump to his groin. Lord, even her skin tasted good. His jeans were entirely too tight suddenly, and he wanted nothing more than to rip off her clothes and claim her as his own.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she bit off, yanking her finger out of his mouth.

He pushed away from the counter, prowling toward the rapidly retreating woman. When she could go no farther, he blocked her in, hands on either side of her head. “Are you so sure about that?”

Her chest rose and fell much faster than it normally did. He couldn’t take his eyes off her wet lips, he wanted to suck, nip, and pay them all the attention in the world. So full and plump, they were lips some women paid to try and have.

“That I don’t need a white knight? Yes.”

“Not what I meant, and you know it.” He pressed his lower body to hers, allowing her to feel the hard ridge of his erection, digging into her. “I want an answer. Tell me you’re not moving closer to me.”

“I…I’m not.”

“Really?” He inhaled sharply, allowing her fresh, pure lilac scent to wash over him. “Your hands are on my chest. I didn’t put them there. I wonder if you’ll taste as good as I remember you do, Allie.”

Damn, there went her tongue again. His cock threatened to punch free. “You don’t want me to act that way, then have better behaved men around you. Ones who know how to keep their fucking hands to themselves.”

Her nails dug into his flesh, scoring him. God, what will it be like to have her shredding my back?

“You’re sounding possessive,” she whispered.

“Feeling it as well.” His tone matched hers.

“Auntie, Mom’s on the phone for you,” Tyler called out, pounding on the door.

Dale didn’t move, and her eyes remained fixed on his. “Coming, Tyler.” She released him. “No need to be.” She glared at him. “You gave up that right, remember? When you accused me of cheating on you and throwing me out of the apartment. So do us both a favor and stay the fuck away from me.” She ducked beneath his arm and slipped out the door.

He couldn’t miss the anger and hurt in her voice. Not that he blamed her; he’d been rash and a fool. I’m not letting it go, Allie. You’re back in my life for a reason, and I aim to keep you that way.

αβ

“What does Tyler mean you were across the hall?” her sister screeched seconds after Allie had said hello.

“Calm down, Carmen.” She smiled at Tyler. “I was across the hall for like two minutes.”

“What if something had happened to him?”

She walked away to her bedroom, to have a modicum of privacy for this conversation. “By that logic, I shouldn’t even be able to pee for fear of something happening to him,” she snapped, frustrated both with her sister and her roiling emotions for Dale. “If you don’t trust me, then come back and get him.” She pitched her words low so Tyler wouldn’t overhear and think she didn’t want him around.