Tex's Revenge: Military Discipline, Book Two (13 page)

“By that rationale you could just fuck me through a hole in the sheet,” Zora complained.

For a moment he looked stunned, then he threw back his head and laughed. “Oh my god I've missed you,” he said, kissing her until she was thoroughly breathless again. “You smart mouthed, naked little brat.”

“The nakedness is your fault,” she moaned. She wouldn't have moaned but for the fact that his fingers had dipped between her legs and were stroking her sensitive places with a gentle touch that drove her wild.

“Yes it is,” he agreed, slipping down her body. “Now hush and let me make the most of it.”

“If you want me quiet, you'll have to give me something to keep me occupied,” she said archly.

Savage smiled a dark, lustful smile as his hand drifted towards his zipper. “I think that can be arranged.”

And it so it was arranged, over and over again in a variety of positions and interesting ways, though Savage never did get properly naked throughout their passionate tryst, and neither of them appeared to notice the camera mounted in the light-shade that was trained directly on the bed before they passed out in one another's arms, quite spent from their exertions.

Chapter Nine

Dawn had never been Zora's friend. Though she was fast asleep and blissfully unaware of the events taking place without her, the morning after the all too brief night spent in Savage's arms bought with it yet more turmoil.

Savage and Tex met just after the first rays of sunlight began creeping across the compound. Following the passion of the previous evening, there was a certain twinkle in the captain's eye, a glow that only comes from the physical reunion of lovers parted too long. If Tex recognized the look, he gave no sign. They shook hands briskly, eying one another up quickly in the way that men of action always do.

Standing together outside Tex's office, they made an oddly appealing pair. Tall and broad, Savage imbued all the best qualities of earthy muscle and mind. In a pressed olive green shirt and black slacks, a touch of gray creeping through his dark hair, he looked the perfect picture of an alpha male.

By contrast, Tex's shorter, slimmer frame was more liquid, swift to adapt, easily bent, but fiercely powerful in its own way. There was a great deal of energy locked away behind his eyes as he smiled a quick, shrewd grin. “Captain Savage,” he said, ushering the larger man into the depths of his modern office with an expansive gesture of his arm. “We need to talk.”

“About?” Savage's gaze flicked over the glass surfaces and white upholstery before settling on Tex's face.

“About Zora's future. I'm not sure she has a place here.” The words slipped out so smoothly they almost sounded innocuous.

Savage's brow darkened as his casual pose faded into something stiffer. “I thought this matter was settled.”

Tex settled himself behind his glass desk and stretched out comfortably, lacing his fingers over his stomach. “She's not precisely versatile, is she? And when she's not working, which is most of the time, she becomes bored, rebellious and destructive.”

“All specialists have limited use,” Savage said, his tone clipped as he visibly struggled for control of his emotions. “When the time comes, you will be glad to have her on side.”

“And in the meantime?” Tex's brows rose as his hands flowered out in a questioning gesture. “Is she to be penned?”

“In the meantime I will deal with her.”

“No no no,” Tex shook his head, tutting as he did. “I did not recruit your services as a babysitter. Someone else will have to instill the discipline that remains sadly lacking for a lady of her relatively advanced years.”

Savage's jaw tightened at the unspoken insinuation that he had somehow failed. “And who would that someone be?”

“I have some expertise in the matter,” Tex said mildly.

Savage's snort was hardly complimentary. “The last application of your methods resulted in a half naked woman in the middle of the desert, if I recall correctly.”

“She did not know me very well then. I will get her under control.”

“You won't.” There was certainty in Savage's voice, certainty that visibly irritated his new employer.

Tex cocked his head to the side. “You doubt me?”

Savage's expression settled into an inscrutable mask. “I don't doubt you. I doubt the very concept of control when it comes to Zora Matthews. She is an... anomaly.”

A small smirk indicated Tex's rejection of that theory. “She is a woman, Captain Savage, and all women respond to consistent discipline.”

“I used to think that too.”

“Do not mistake your failure for an utter impossibility,” Tex smiled coldly as he delivered the insult smooth as silk. “All she needs is someone not afraid to be a little forceful.”

“You will achieve nothing with brutality.”

“I have no intention of being brutal.”

Though the conversation remained civil, there was tension between the two men. Like a string being drawn tighter and tighter, it threatened to reach breaking point as they did their best to glare into one another's eyes whilst still maintaining a certain amount of decorum.

“She is mine,” Savage reminded him. No matter how he said them, the words were base and possessive.“You will do well to remember that.”

“But she is also mine,” Tex pointed out. “She is mine to command. I am the one shielding her from the wrath of your superiors, captain.”

There was no humor at all in Savage's smirk. “She will never be yours.”

“Don't be so sure about that,” Tex held his gaze for a long moment.“But we have other matters to discuss. There's the matter of your first deployment. We have a Sheik who needs protection in Bahrain.”

“Bahrain.” Savage gave Tex a dark look. “If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get rid of me.”

Tex emitted a small condescending chuckle. “Don't worry Captain Savage, I have no interest in stealing Miss Matthews from you. She's not exactly my type.” He changed subject smoothly. “You will leave immediately and serve as private security for a six week tour.”

Savage bristled visibly. His jaw was clenched so hard the muscle was ticking, his eyes were narrowed almost to slits. “She won't like this.”

“And that is the reason I will succeed where you have failed, Captain Savage,” Tex said softly. “I am not concerned with what she wants. I am not concerned with how she feels. I am only concerned with one thing – that she behaves as I wish her to behave.”

“You don't care about her. She will see through you and anything you try to do with her.” Savage leaned down, placing his palms flat on the desk as he caught Tex in a steely gaze. “You think you're manipulating her, but you are only setting yourself up for spectacular failure.”

“I don't think so,” Tex said, a slight note of condescension slipping into his voice. “She was practically offering herself to me when we were alone.”

“If you so much as lay a finger on her inappropriately...” Savage growled. He was stopped by Tex's palm, upheld in his direction.

“Save yourself the embarrassment, Captain Savage. Or should I say, Mr Savage, as you no longer hold any rank.”

A red rash of fury spread across Savage's upper cheeks and neck. He stood and clasped his hands behind his back to hide the way his fists clenched and unclenched. Every part of his being wanted to go across the table and beat the hell out of the smirking devil. But he could not. To do so would be to jeopardize everything he had worked for, everything he had sacrificed.

“I think we understand one another,” Tex said in his maddeningly soft voice. “I make the rules, I give the orders. You do not make threats. You do as you are told.” He held Savage's gaze for one long, pointed moment. “Dismissed.”

Of course it was left to Savage to break the bad news to Zora. With little time to say his goodbyes he was forced to rouse her from sleep.  Her smile of delight when she opened her eyes and saw him almost broke his heart. As he had suspected, she did not react well to the news that he was leaving after only one evening.

“You're leaving?” Zora's voice rose to a screeching pitch. “But...”

“It's only for a few weeks,” Savage said, trying his best to calm and console her. His eyes reflected her pain as she alternately hugged him and smacked her palm against his chest in a muted expression of frustration.

“I don't want you to go.”

“I don't want to go either,” he said. “But I have to. You will be safe here.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Not this again. Not this again. I don't want to be safe anymore. I want to be with you.” Her voice trembled, revealing the emotion she was trying so hard to hide.

“Oh Zora,” he breathed, hugging her close. “You don't deserve any of this. We will get out of this,” he promised. “Or you will at the very least. You're going to have a life Zora, a proper life. I promise.”

“Don't make promises you can't keep,” she said, lowering her eyes to hide the tears that were already welling..

“I will keep this one. We will be together. We will be free. Just sit tight and try not to get in too much trouble before I get back.” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Her pain hurt him almost as much as his own sadness did. It took more effort to stand up and walk away from her than it would have done to run three miles in full kit. Every part of his body was heavy with the desire to stay, but he forced himself up and crossed the room, leaving her behind once more.

The hollow void was back in Zora's belly, a churning black hole of emotion that sucked everything inside. Her face was blank as he turned and walked away, save for a single tear that made its way down her left cheek an inch before being roughly swiped away by the back of her hand. It was just as she had feared. He was still married to his job, the only thing that had changed between them was the location of their agony.

After he left she lay on the bed they had shared for a long while, crying softly to herself. Having seen him again and lost him so quickly had opened all the old wounds that had started to heal in Iron Horse. As quickly as she'd gone numb, emotions rushed out of her core again. Yearning, fear, anger, it was all raw and fresh. Her turbulent emotions made her want to act out and hurt someone. But who could she hurt?

Her mind soon settled on the only target that could possibly be blamed for her predicament. Tex. He knew damn well how much it meant to her to have Savage around and he had sent him away almost immediately. Well, if he wanted to hurt her, he'd soon learn that he'd made an enemy.

Determined to give him notice of his new-found status as arch-nemesis, she stormed through to the reception desk where the pretty receptionist was ensconced as usual. Zora had a theory that she was actually a robot who sank into a trapdoor in the floor every night and was pushed up again every morning. There was something cold and almost mechanical about her demeanor that wasn't quite human.

“Where's Tex?” Zora inquired.

“He's in his office, he's not to be dist... hey you can't...”

Zora barged past the receptionist towards the door marked 'offices'. Tex's office was the last one at the far end of the hall. She discovered that by barging into every other office along the way, disturbing the occupants without anything resembling an apology. Having located the right room, she pushed Tex's door open hard enough to make it slam against the wall. The glass in the wooden frame vibrated so hard she thought it might break, but disappointingly it held up.

“You need a door stop,” she said dourly.

Tex had jumped when she entered, but he quickly settled into composed irritation. “How can I help you, Ms Matthews?”

“You,” she said, pointing a finger at him just in case he couldn't work out who the 'you' in question was. “You sent him away. Why would you do that?”

He gave her a dour look. “It's called work, Ms Matthews. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with the concept.”

“Perhaps I should familiarize my foot with your ass.”

He made an irritated, hissing sound through his teeth. “You're being rude. I don't have any time for rudeness.”

Zora glared at him. “I don't have any time for... you.” It was lamer than she'd intended it to be, but there was really little coherent to say. She wanted to vent her frustration more effectively, but Tex wasn't giving her the reaction she wanted. He was just too calm. She wanted to fight. She wanted to yell and scream and kick things.

He screwed his face up impatiently. “I suggest you worry less about Captain Savage and more about your own problems, Ms Matthews.”

“I already have problems? How did that happen?”

“Don't be flippant,” he snapped at her crisply. “I will punish you if you need it.”

That was more like it. “Touch me and I'll break your fucking fingers,” she snarled, letting anger flow through her.

He looked at her steadily. “I'm going to give you one minute to apologize, walk out that door and go back to your room. If you're still here at the end of that minute, I'm going to thrash you.” That said, he pushed back the sleeve of his suit jacket, exposing his watch.

Zora stood silently as the seconds ticked away. She'd never really thought about how very long one minute could be before. There was no way she was going to simply turn around and walk away, though the silence of the room in those sixty seconds was conducive to the sort of reflection that might have resulted in her taking the out Tex had offered if she weren't so very angry.

“Ten seconds, Miss Matthews,” Tex said, glancing up at her.

She raised a brow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Her feet were planted firmly on the floor. She wasn't going anywhere.

“Five seconds, little girl.”

She filled the last five seconds with profanity. “Shut the fuck up, don't you dare call me that.”

The end of the minute was marked by Tex standing up and approaching her. “Very well, we'll do it this way.”

“Don't you dare touch me...”

Tex's hand closed around her wrist and he tugged her over to a nearby couch without so much as another word. She'd forgotten how strong he was, how strong most men were. Savage's strength was less surprising because he was a massive mountain of a man, but Tex was almost as strong. Fighting did very little. She lashed out with fists and feet, but he ignored every blow as he wrestled her over his lap.