Ultimate Courage (True Heroes Book 2) (16 page)

A whimper escaped her throat, and he smiled as he spread her for better access and took a long lick, then another. She trembled for him.

“You taste so good, Elisa. So, so good.” He feasted then, licking and sucking as she gasped and tried to muffle her moans. The muscles in her thighs strained, and he gripped one thigh with his free hand to hold her open to his teasing.

He continued to torture her in the best of ways for as long as he could stand it, but he couldn’t wait much longer. He slid a finger inside her and groaned as her wet heat clamped tight around him. He used his thumb to rub over her clitoris as he gently moved his finger inside her. He looked up the length of her body; she had her head thrown back, abandoning herself to the sensations he was giving her. Oh god, he shouldn’t have looked up at her.

He wanted to be inside her.

Standing again, he admired the rosy nipples presented to him for a split second before he took one in his mouth, wrapping his free hand around her waist to steady her. Yelping, she brought her head up and clutched at his shoulder with one hand.

He continued to move his finger inside her, changing the rhythm of his thumb against her clitoris as she muffled her cries against his neck.

“Let go, Elisa,” he murmured reverently. “Come for me, because I want to come for you.”

Her fingers dug harder into his shoulder, and she stiffened. He kept his finger sliding in and out inside her, his thumb rubbing against her clitoris. Suddenly, she bucked against his hand, her inner muscles convulsing around his finger.

“Easy.” He soothed her as he stroked her through the orgasm, lengthening it as best he could.

Her eyes were glazed when she finally lifted her head and looked at him. He smiled. “Enjoy.”

Her smile was sweet, satisfied, as she nodded.

“Do you want to again?” He leaned forward until his forehead touched hers.

Her eyes widened. “But what about you?”

“Only if you want me.” He ran his hands over the curves of her hips, enjoying the fine tremors still running through her. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing to you.”

She ran her hands over his chest again, tracing her fingers over his abs and along the diagonal lines from the outside of his hips to his groin until she hit the obstacle of his shorts. The tip of his cock was peeking out above the waistband, and she teased him with her fingertips.

When she looked up at him, her lips were moist. “I want you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled, helping her undo the drawstring and letting his shorts fall to the floor. Reaching past her into the medicine cabinet, he retrieved a foil-wrapped condom. “Gary and Greg believe in stocking for any emergencies.”

She gave him a wry smile in return.

He lifted his eyebrows in a dissembling expression. “Hey, it’s against their rules for any of the guys to just bring any girl up here, but there can always be extenuating circumstances.”

She ran her nails over his chest lightly and looked delighted when his cock jumped in response. “Like now?”

“Like now,” he growled back.

Her gaze found his, clear and sure. “Come inside me, Alex. I want this.”

He tore open the wrapper and rolled the condom on. Placing a hand on either side of her hips, he lifted her onto the counter and pressed forward between her legs. She reached down between them and helped him fit the tip of his cock into her entrance. Then she held on to his shoulders.

“Ready?” All he could manage was a strained whisper at this point.

She nodded. “More than ready. Please.”

He slid into her, straining to go slow, but she was so tight around him he almost lost it right then and there. Somehow, he kept his control and he was buried to the hilt inside her listening to her moan. He took a breath to clear his head, and another, and then he began to grind his hips into her.

“Yes. Please, yes.” She grabbed his shoulders again, her inner muscles tightening even further around him.

“Damn, Elisa.” He drew out of her in a long stroke and drove back inside her. “I can’t hold on.”

“Don’t. Don’t let go of me,” she pleaded against his neck.

Never
. “I won’t let you go.”

He picked up his rhythm as his balls tightened, her cries driving him out of control, and moved deep inside her. Suddenly, her hold on him tightened and she shuddered in his arms, her inner muscles tightening impossibly harder around him. He came with her in a rush, buried to the hilt inside her.

R
ojas walked down the steps to the martial arts school, workout holster strapped back around his torso and T-shirt in hand, trying to wipe the grin off his face. Heck of a way to start a morning. Elisa had been very happy, too. She’d also recovered her senses faster than he had and pointed out he’d left Souze downstairs.

So here he was, being sent down to check on Souze while she showered and finished her morning routine. Elisa had also brought up the practicality of them heading downstairs at different times. But she’d sent him off with a sweet kiss and a request for cuddles later.

Hell, he’d call it whatever she wanted, so long as he got to hold her in his arms again and enjoy the scent of her. Because he hadn’t gotten nearly enough of her.

To be honest, he should try not to imagine what she was doing up there at the moment, but as he heard the water for the shower turn on, again, he couldn’t help picturing water running over bare, cream-colored skin. And he very much liked the taste of her skin.

Maybe it was because he was already trying to banish thoughts from his mind. Or it could’ve been the blind foot of the stairway and the way it got darker right at the landing. But he suddenly became aware of the sounds of people moving quietly beyond the door leading out to the main portion of the school.

He froze on the steps, listening harder.

More than one person waited beyond the visual obstruction, closer to three or four people. None of them were verbalizing and all of them were moving with muffled steps. Attempting to conceal their approach, possibly.

He was walking into an ambush.

His heart started to pound hard as adrenaline coursed through him, heightening his senses and response time. He embraced the boost as he drew his handgun. He’d need both to get himself through the next moments alive.

Damn it, he’d give anything to know where his rifle had gotten to.

There’d be a fraction of a second, if he was lucky, when he broke through the door and threw himself clear. He might be able to take out one, possibly two of the people waiting for him before the others got their shots in. If they were seasoned soldiers, he was a dead man. But if they were civilians turned insurgents, he had a chance. They wouldn’t have the same firing discipline, might not be ready to take a human life. And if they didn’t shoot to kill, he would most definitely need to take them out. Because left to continue as they were, they would eventually kill someone else.

He opened his mouth, tasting the air. It was wrong somehow. The ever-present dust and dryness were absent. The sounds of vehicles driving by and the random noises of a town living in fear were off somehow.

Didn’t matter. He needed to focus on the immediate vicinity and clearing downstairs before the person he was protecting walked down into this trap. No time to radio CC. Don’t want to risk the threat hearing the click. Slow first step. Steady heel-to-toe pressure to keep the weapon steady in one hand while reaching to check belt clip for flashbangs out of habit.
Never have them when needed.

Something cold nudged his hand hard, and he jumped, bringing his weapon to bear on the thing that’d snuck up on him. For several long seconds he stared at Souze down the sights of his handgun.

Souze.

The German Shepherd Dog stared back at him, dark eyes calm.

Oh God, what was he doing?

His hands trembled as he flipped the safety back on and holstered his firearm. He sucked in air as he leaned against the wall in the stairwell and sank down along it until his tailbone hit the step under his ass.

He’d had an episode. A thing. Whatever the fuck they called it. There’d been no warning. Suddenly, he’d been back overseas and treating everything the way he would’ve if he’d still been in a combat situation. He’d had nightmares before, been caught up in memories during the day even, but nothing as bad as this.

Those people he’d heard downstairs, beyond the door, were students of the school. Advanced martial artists come to train. Some of them were amateur fighters on the circuit. One or two were professional MMA competitors, competing in the organizations based out of Philly or Atlantic City.

None of them would’ve been able to react fast enough to him bursting through the door firing a gun to survive.

It would’ve been a bloodbath.

And maybe he would’ve come to his senses in the midst of the carnage. Or worse, he could’ve continued out the front of the school into the very public area, continuing to think he was in a combat zone.

Souze stepped forward and stuck his cold, wet nose right into Rojas’s face.

“Ugh.” Rojas pushed Souze’s muzzle away, but the GSD returned and got in his face again. “I’m okay. I’m back. It’s fine.”

He pushed himself up to stand. The dog was responding to his agitation, and he was damned lucky Souze had responded at all. It wasn’t in the scope of the dog’s training.

Rojas stared down at the dog, then buried his hand in the thick fur along the back of the dog’s shoulders. Souze’s eyes closed in response to the good scratching Rojas gave him, leaning in as Rojas moved his hand up to massage around the base of the dog’s ears.

“Thanks, buddy.” Rojas could only imagine what would’ve happened if Souze hadn’t been there. None of it was good. “I owe you. Big time.”

He stood there with Souze for a few more minutes, listening to the sounds of the men downstairs training. He needed to be sure he was in the here and now, not trapped back in places he’d left far behind. As a Navy SEAL, his missions had been in and out of hot spots, focused and comparatively short in length in terms of deployment. There wasn’t any one mission haunting him. They all did, in one way or the other. It made figuring out his own triggers a struggle, made every day an unknown minefield to navigate.

When he was sure he was steady, he wiped the cold sweat from his brow and palms and pulled his tee on over his holster. Then he continued down the stairs, opening the door slowly.

Revolution MMA was exactly the way it should be. The blinds were up, letting in the morning light, and four men were training hard on the mats. One of them was Cannon. Cannon must’ve left Souze to hang out loose downstairs without a placement command. Good thing he had.

As Rojas stepped out, a couple of them gave him an upward chin jerk in greeting but didn’t pause in their timing drills.

Rojas led Souze straight to the back door and let them both out into the open.

They should head back to Hope’s Crossing Kennels, but he was steady now with Souze’s timely help, and there was still a pressing need for action.

He had no doubts Elisa’s car would still be under surveillance. Even though there weren’t yet signs of someone tapping into the surveillance feeds at Revolution MMA, it was only a matter of time. Her stalker would likely hack into other stores with security coverage of the parking lot as well. Elisa hadn’t been back in a day or more as far as her stalker could tell, and efforts would increase in intensity to gain some sort of control over her again. If it’d been Rojas or any of his team monitoring a target, they’d have sent someone to keep direct eyes on the car.

It was the most recently known connection to Elisa.

So he started them on a long walk around the perimeter.

“Time to work.” At his words, Souze’s posture changed from easygoing to alert.

It was a familiar phrase, one Rojas used at the beginning of every training session with Souze. It let the big dog know they were getting to serious business.

He and Souze made their way around the front of the building. At this time of the morning, there wasn’t a lot of foot traffic since most of the stores didn’t open for a couple more hours. But there were a few people walking along the main road and a few joggers.

The two of them walked the length of the row of cars, stopping at Elisa’s and cutting between the driver’s side of her car and the one next to it. Rojas paused, mimicking searching his pocket for keys as he let Souze sniff around the cars. The big dog put his nose to the ground, followed a scent trail practically under Elisa’s car and up the side of it.

Either the GSD had Elisa’s scent or the man who’d placed something on her car.

Rojas faked looking in the window of the car he was facing, doing his best to look like a man who’d locked his keys in his car, then led Souze away. They headed straight out of the parking area up to Revolution MMA and went inside as if they belonged. Because they did. And it was much more natural-looking than their not-friend snooping around the cars the previous day.

Stopping at the drink station, Rojas snagged a cup and let it fill with water. He wet his throat and then held the cup low for Souze. Summer heat was lingering even through the early fall and Souze’s nose would be more sensitive if the dog was well-hydrated. Besides, Rojas wanted to give anyone who might be watching time to relax somewhat after he’d been near the car.

After a few minutes, he and Souze went back out the rear entrance and swung around the shopping strip from the opposite direction.

“
Such
.” Rojas issued the command quietly, with a firm tone. The German word sounded like “tsuuk” where the
K
was almost silent. It was short, sharp, and Souze responded immediately.

The big dog moved ahead of Rojas, stretching the lead. Systematically, the dog moved in a zigzag across the sidewalk as he first scented the ground then lifted his nose to catch what he could on the air currents.

German Shepherd Dogs were extremely versatile and very good in a broad range of skill sets. Souze, in particular, had a good knack for scent work. Good enough for K9 or military if he didn’t have other behavioral issues holding him back. As it was, Rojas was glad he hadn’t completed Souze’s rehabilitation yet because the big dog was proving himself a real asset now and a solid companion.

They’d progressed at a slow walk about halfway to Revolution MMA when Souze froze. Rojas studied the way Souze kept his nose to the ground, staring intently at the pavement. The person in question had to have walked across the pavement here.

“So ist brav.”
Souze responded to Rojas’s praise by relaxing from his frozen stance and dropping his lower jaw to let his tongue loll out.

Rojas took in their location, right in front of the entrance to a Cluck U. If he was a betting man, and he didn’t need to be to recognize a sure thing, he’d bet his target was conducting surveillance from a car of his very own and came into this place at least once to use the facilities and fuel up on grease-covered protein.

Not that he could blame the guy because the chicken strips were great and the wings could be amazing. Boom loved the potato wedges covered in melted cheese. And they had these fried dough things that could feed a hobbit for weeks.

Boom would’ve mentioned if she and Elisa had made a stop here, for sure, so he was certain he had the trail he was looking for now.

All right. They had a trail. Rojas didn’t want to spook his man until he’d had a chance to circle around and locate him, so he gave Souze’s lead a gentle tug and the two of them continued forward as if they were on a normal walk. Anyone watching them would probably assume Souze had paused at the smell of food like a normal dog.

As they walked, Rojas scanned the parking lot. More cars had arrived, mostly employees coming to open up the stores. There was one luxury sedan with tinted windows parked on the far side of a beat-up pick-up truck about midway down the aisle from the Cluck U. It was a straight path to the fast food place and back, minimum time away from his point of surveillance. Convenient.

First of all, no man owning such a nice car would park next to a truck whose owner obviously didn’t care about it when there were dozens of other parking spots to choose from. It was just asking to get dinged up, or its paint scratched, or worse.

Second, the tinted windows weren’t a thing in this area. A car with them stood out almost as badly as an ominous black SUV could.

Rojas took Souze out to the end of the strip mall and around the far end of the parking lot as if they were taking a lap around the perimeter. A couple of joggers had done the same thing. He kept his pace easygoing and casually kept his gaze on what was in front of him as they closed in. Keeping an eye on the car of interest was easy, too easy. He looked beyond the car for what was less noticeable. Once he found what he was looking for, he had Souze turn and head back across the expansive blacktop.

When the two of them came around, Rojas kept the beat-up pick-up truck directly in the line of sight to cover his approach.

When they got within a few yards, Rojas gave the track command again, “
Such
.”

Souze moved forward a step, maybe two, toward the luxury sedan and froze.

Positive confirmation.