Ultimate Courage (True Heroes Book 2) (19 page)

It was Wegner’s turn to disregard a question. “We’re not waiting. You’re not going. Just send out Elisa Hall or we will come inside and take her into custody.”

All of them were being so careful with their words. Rojas hated word games. Souze’s hip brushed his on his left. The big dog was watching him, ready for the slightest cue.

Time for a direct question. “Is Elisa Hall under arrest?”

Wegner scowled and Patterson shifted uncomfortably a step or two back and to the side. Rojas resisted the urge to grin. No, Elisa wasn’t. This was unofficial business, as far as Rojas could tell, maybe as shady as some off-duty extracurricular activity.

“Last chance,” Wegner growled, dropping any semblance of pleasantry. “Send her out or we come in and take her.”

Rojas raised his right hand up with the
kali
stick and brought it down smartly on the other man’s fingers. Wegner withdrew his hand from the door immediately, cursing, and Rojas immediately yanked the door closed and locked it.

Wegner took a step back and drew his weapon, shouting through the closed doors, “Open the door or I will fire!”

Rojas dodged to the right of the doors for limited cover behind one of the counters. Was this guy crazy? Even with the kids in the back changing room, the walls were only sheetrock. There was no telling what could happen when he opened fire.

Souze was a reassuring presence at Rojas’s hip. The situation still didn’t require deadly force. Rojas struggled to consciously plan his next moves while he still had time to keep things at the appropriate level of response.

“Stop!” another, familiar voice called out. Even muffled through the glass doors, Rojas recognized the local policeman whose child was currently hiding in the back with the rest of the kids. “Hold your fire. Upper Makefield Township Police.”

Silence.

Cautiously, Rojas rose up from behind the counter and took stock of the scene in front of him.

Officer Kymani Graves was approaching the two strange policemen, his own weapon drawn. There was a terse exchange of words. Rojas watched, tense, and decided to set the
kali
stick down on the counter in plain sight and easy reach. He’d let Graves handle things, but be ready to react again if things escalated. He didn’t relax even once the men holstered their weapons. After a few minutes, they left looking murderous.

Rojas stooped to pick up Souze’s leash and returned to the door, letting Officer Graves in.

“Excellent timing, Ky.” Rojas shook the other man’s hand. Rojas had some decent height at six foot, give or take. But Kymani Graves stood several inches taller.

The lean man smiled, brilliant white teeth showing in cheerful contrast to his dark skin. “I see you’ve battened down the hatches, Rojas. Tell me where you’ve hidden all of our children.”

In answer, Rojas kept his eyes on the parking lot beyond Ky but called out over his shoulder. “Game’s over, everyone line up on the mat! Miss Elisa gets to tell us who the winner is.”

The kids poured out of the back changing room, babbling and full of questions. Gary and Greg arrived at a run, and Rojas gave Ky the quick version of what had happened.

Ky’s eyebrows rose, then rose higher as Rojas added in some context with Elisa’s situation.

“Good timing is right, then. If you’d had to resort to any additional action to keep them out, there could’ve been some major complications and possibly some charges for assaulting an officer.” Ky sighed. “As it was, they were outside their jurisdiction.”

Rojas jerked his chin up and down once. “They didn’t actually say where they were from, just stated their names.”

Ky pressed his lips together in a grim smile. “We’ll have to look into exactly who they were and where their district headquarters are. But in the meantime, thank you for keeping my child safe.”

Rojas shook his head. “I’m sorry we couldn’t avoid it altogether.”

Gary and Greg joined them. “Kids all seem okay. Some of them heard what was going on but Elisa kept them straight with the idea that you were having a discussion with strangers and because no one knew if they were police, they were not allowed in.”

Ky’s daughter Grace came running up. Because Souze had turned first to face the oncoming child, Rojas was warned that she was coming and he didn’t jump.

Grace looked way up at her dad. “I didn’t win the discipline contest, so I can’t choose teams first next parents’ night, but can Boom still sleep over tonight like we planned?”

Rojas winced then blanked his expression. This incident had probably left Ky with mixed feelings, and Rojas didn’t want the other man to feel obligated to still look after his daughter for the evening.

Ky only smiled his generous smile, though, and placed his hand on his daughter’s head. “Of course. Are you both ready to leave?”

Grace held up two fingers. “Two minutes! We’ll say good-bye and get our shoes on.”

Then she was running off.

Rojas caught Ky’s gaze. “I understand if you’d prefer not to.”

Ky’s smile sobered a fraction. “I was sincere when I thanked you for my daughter’s safety, Rojas. And I know something of what it cost you to keep things calm here. Not every man could do that. I’m honored that you’d trust me with your daughter after such an interesting evening.”

Rojas didn’t know what to say, so he put his hand out. Ky took it and shook it firmly. “When your Elisa feels comfortable, bring her in to see me at the station and we can see if there’s enough evidence of stalking to have a restraining order put in place. We’ll do our best to help her.”

“She’d appreciate it.” Rojas smiled then, genuine and sincere. “Thank you.”

The other man nodded.

“Speaking of your Elisa”—Greg edged past Rojas—“I’m going to take her on upstairs. She looks like she’s about to lose it.”

Rojas quickly scanned the room for Elisa and saw her standing near Boom, holding Boom’s backpack. Her smile was trembling, and her already pale skin had a faint gray tinge to it. “Yeah. I’ll—”

“Finish up parents’ night.” Gary clapped Rojas on the shoulder. “We’ll take her to unwind while you tie up loose ends here and straighten out the kids’ stories so we know what kind of damage control we’ll have when their parents ask about it.”

Fantastic
.

S
orry.” Elisa sat on the edge of the small bed as Gary hovered near her. “Sorry.”

“No worries. Don’t you worry at all. This place needs a little excitement to keep us all on our toes, anyway.” His voice was gentle, kind. There was no trace of anger.

A knock at the door to the room made her jump, despite knowing there was at least one trusted police officer and Alex between her and anyone planning to take her away. Not to mention any number of children and their returning parents still downstairs as witnesses if anything should happen at this point.

Greg entered the room carrying a small tray with three steaming mugs. “I brought up some tea.”

Gary made an odd noise. Sort of a cross between a growl and a groan.

Greg rolled his eyes. “I brought coffee for
you
, ruffian.”

“You like it rough, lover.” Gary grinned and took a mug covered in cat images.

Greg rolled his eyes, but there was an affectionate smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Maybe they’d interrupted a good date night between Gary and Greg.

Another thing Elisa felt guilty about.

“I noticed you like the mint tea in the evenings when you’ve come back.” Greg sat next to her and brought the tray close enough for her to see. “I brewed us a couple of mugs of this fantastic blend of mint and chamomile, with a hint of orange and rose blossoms. Doesn’t it smell incredible? Most of the people we have training here don’t have the palate to appreciate it.”

Most of the people training at Revolution MMA drank water or sports drinks, as far as Elisa had seen. They always had their sports bottles with them and the only people drinking tea or coffee were parents waiting as kids were taking classes.

But then, it was one of those thoughtful touches. Elisa imagined other places might only have a water station. Gary and Greg went out of their way to have comforts and conveniences available for the people who came to their school. Even this room had been created for people who trained with them to have a quiet place to rest the night before a fight. It spoke volumes about the two men and the environment they’d created within their school.

Thinking about it, Brandon had wanted those sorts of touches for Hope’s Crossing Kennels, too.

Here she was, bringing insanity down on all these wonderful people. “I’m not good for all of you. Every time I think I might be in a place to stand up for myself, my ex yanks the footing right out from under me. Worse, he threatens to hurt the people around me. I shouldn’t stay anywhere near any of you.”

“You should stay right where you want to be,” Gary said quietly. He leaned against the far wall, sipping his coffee from his cat mug.

Greg lifted a mug with a German Shepherd Dog silhouette and a caption that said
I can make it to the fence in 2 seconds. Can you?
, holding it out to her until she took it from him. He took up his own mug, covered in cockatiels, and breathed in the rising steam from it. “You’re a kind person, Elisa. And I can understand why you wouldn’t want to cause trouble for the people around you. But you’d do more harm than good just up and leaving us all. For one thing, we’d miss you. And Boom would be heartbroken.”

Elisa bit her lip, wrapping her hands around her mug until the heat almost burned her palms. “How is staying and letting my ex take potshots at you any way he can better? He’s going to try to ruin your school or the kennels next. This was too public not to cause some trouble for you. He’ll try to mess up the careers of anyone who gets between him and me.”

“He’ll try,” Gary agreed. “But trust me. Greg and I have had plenty of people try to ruin us over the years. It’d be one more challenge. Not the end of the world.”

Greg nodded. “And don’t you worry about the boys at Hope’s Crossing. Every one of them can handle himself.”

She didn’t reply, chewing on her lower lip.

“You’re worth it.” Gary came over to sit on her other side. “Don’t doubt it for a minute. Alex is out there doing what he does because there’s something about you that brings out the best in him.”

“I don’t know if it’s the best.” The words fell out of her mouth, and she grimaced at how bitter they sounded.

“He’s got his issues to work through, and they’re a little closer to the surface around you,” Gary agreed. “But he’d have kept trying to bury them to be the perfect father for Boom if you hadn’t come along. He doesn’t need to be perfect around you. And he definitely doesn’t need to be a father figure.”

Greg snickered.

Finally, Elisa had to crack a smile. “You two are incorrigible with the innuendoes.”

“Who, us?” Greg spread his free hand wide across his chest in mock affront. “If you catch what we’re throwing around, your mind went there, too.”

Elisa shook her head. With everything so serious, she’d been wound up so tightly she’d thought she’d snap. Being here with Gary and Greg, going on about completely inappropriate things, seemed silly.

And a huge relief.

She looked down at the mug. When was a person supposed to look at tea leaves for the answers, before or after drinking the tea? “Alex is trying to build a life for himself and Boom. He doesn’t need all the complications I’ve got following me around.”

“He needs you. And he’s willing to fight for you.” Gary raised his mug in the direction of the parking lot. “Without you, he wouldn’t have faced his PTSD. He’d have tried to tough it out and pretend it wasn’t getting worse. He’d have become a hermit and never gone out, eventually would’ve even stopped coming here.”

“And that would’ve been a travesty,” Greg interjected solemnly.

“I’m not helping him get better.” Elisa wondered if he’d ever supervise a parent night again. Some of the parents might request he not do so. And even if there wasn’t resistance from the parents, he might choose not to.

“You could, once you learned what he needs from you to help him relax.” Gary glanced past her to Greg and gave his partner a warm smile. “Well, you’ve probably made progress in that direction, too, so let’s say you can learn what you can do around other people. And you also made him open up. Once he did, he could admit he needed Souze. Which is a huge step in the right direction.”

“He already had Souze.” Elisa wasn’t sure if Souze being at Hope’s Crossing Kennels was the same as Alex directly claiming Souze as his dog, but she thought it was probably just a formality. “He’s a great dog.”

Gary nodded. “True. And all of the men at Hope’s Crossing tend to train the best dogs and send them out in the world to partner the people who put their lives on the line every day. They don’t keep those dogs for themselves. Without you here, Alex might not recognize how much Souze helps him. I noticed he brought Souze tonight, and Alex would never have done the right thing for himself in the past. He’d have come up with some sort of reasoning for why he could make do on his own.”

“He’s too selfless.” She shook her head.

“And so are you.” Greg reached out and tapped her on the nose.

She scrunched up her face. “Not really. I just stayed. I’ve been taking up all of your generosity.”

She’d wanted more time to get to know Alex, explore what was between them. And then she’d become attached to Souze and to Boom and to all these people who were a part of the mini-world with Hope’s Crossing Kennels at the epicenter. In a very short span of time, she’d come to love it here.

Gary grunted. “True. You stayed. And in my opinion, it was the best decision you could’ve made for you or for Alex.”

“And we’ve definitely enjoyed you being here,” Greg added, leaning in to bump his shoulder against hers.

It was impossible to remain hopeless around these two. They were such quiet wells of strength and encouragement. Well, maybe not quiet. “Thank you, both. I don’t know what any of us would do without you two.”

“I’m so glad you feel better, dear.” Greg glanced at Gary. “So I have one thing I’ve been dying to know.”

Elisa sipped her tea. “Hmm?”

“Alex. He’s good, isn’t he? We’ll never know, but you could give us a hint.”

Elisa’s face suddenly burned with embarrassment. Sophie and Lyn could’ve asked her the very same question. Gary and Greg both seemed to know about her and Alex, though, and she wondered if it was obvious to everyone. “No kiss and tell.”

Gary laughed. “Oh, the look on your face is enough. And there was definitely more than kissing. Good for you, girl. And
enjoy
.”

About an hour later, Alex knocked on her door. She answered in her sleep tee and sweats, twisting the hem of the tee as she did.

His brows had been drawn together when the door opened, but his expression cleared when he looked at her tee. “So. How’s my timing?”

She sighed. “Impeccable. I was just getting this on when you knocked.”

He chuckled. The sound of it came from deep in his torso, rolling up and out and sending shivers through her. It wasn’t necessarily filled with mirth, but it was a sound that lifted her up, excited her.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “I have a question. You can absolutely say no. I won’t be mad.”

She looked up at him. He was different tonight, darker. An air of the earlier potential for violence still clung to him. Something fluttered low in her belly, but it wasn’t fear. It was magnetic, exciting.

“Can I be with you tonight? All night?” There was raw need in his voice.

Instinctively she wanted to say yes, but he’d given her the choice, and she took the moment to think it through. “What about Boom?”

“She’s sleeping over at a friend’s tonight. She won’t know I didn’t go home.”

And it might be better that way regardless, she realized. He was on edge. His temper was close to the surface, and she sensed he was struggling with it.

The question was whether she could handle being with him like this, tense with pent-up aggression.

Heat spread through her, and her nipples tightened. “Yes. Stay.”

His clenched and unclenched his fists. “I want to be inside you.”

It was a warning.

She crossed the distance between them, rested her hands against the flat planes of his chest, and rose up on her toes to kiss his jaw. “I want you inside me.”

He set his hands on her hips and took a kiss from her, hungry and primal. He fed from her mouth, teased with his tongue, pressed hard until their teeth clashed ever so slightly before he backed off again, making her reach for him.

“I can’t get enough of you, Elisa.” He growled. “Be sure.”

She wanted this, needed it after the stress of the evening. She’d crouched in the back room with the kids and listened to him stand up for her, protect her. And now here he was and they were alone and she could give herself up to him in every way.

She wanted it, and she trembled in anticipation. “I’m sure.”

He walked her backward until the backs of her legs hit the bed. Stepping away from her, he yanked off his tee shirt and shucked the rest of his clothing, then reached for hers. In moments, she stood naked in front of him.

They left the lights on. His dark gaze took in every detail of her body, starting from her feet and rising. As his gaze lingered on her hips, then again on her breasts, her breath caught and her nipples tightened. He finally made eye contact and it burned into her. “You’re beautiful.”

He pulled her to him for another dizzying kiss, and when he tore his mouth from hers, she gasped for air. His hands gripped her shoulders, slid down her back, grasped her behind, and pulled her into his hips as he ground against her. The length of his erection was hard and ready between them, and she couldn’t resist wrapping her fingers around the rigid length of him. He was huge, and she should’ve been afraid, but instead she was turned on.

He growled. “Too soon.”

He took her hands off him and set his own on her hips, turning her to face the bed. With a palm between her shoulder blades and his other hand on her hip, he coaxed her into bending over, way over, until her hips were high and her face and shoulders were cushioned by the mattress. His hand moved from her hip to stroke her behind in soothing circles for long seconds until she steadied. Then he squeezed.

A low moan escaped her, and she turned her face into the blankets, trying to muffle the sound.

The hand on her behind slipped down, and his fingertips brushed over her, teasing her labia, then pressed at her inner thigh, encouraging her to widen her stance. She did, for him.

“I’ve been wanting to taste you,” he rumbled from behind her. His breath scorched her skin as he kneeled low. And he did taste.

He teased her with long licks as he held her in place. His wicked tongue darted between her folds, almost reaching her but not quite. Then his free hand was pushing on the inside of her thigh again, and she widened her stance even further. His fingers held her folds open for him, and he blew a hot puff of air against her.

She groaned. His chuckle rolled over her again, and she shivered with it this time.

He tasted deeper this time, exploring her folds with his tongue and darting farther into her entrance until she was whimpering into the blankets.

He was taking over her, seducing her body in ways she’d never thought possible, building a need inside of her stronger and more desperate than she’d ever experienced. She
wanted
, wanted him inside her.

“I’m rushing.” His voice was tinged with guilt. “I need to be inside you.”

Turning her head, she panted. “If you don’t hurry, I am going to be so mad at you.”

His hands gripped her behind, hard. She groaned and turned her face back into the blankets. His hands left her for a moment, but the heat of him was still close behind her. She heard the tearing sound of foil as he unwrapped a condom and rolled it on. Then the tip of him was nudging at her entrance. She couldn’t wait. She pressed her hips back toward him as she arched, and he slid into her hard and fast.

“Alex!” His name burst from her as he filled her, stretching her.

He froze. “Does it hurt?”

She let out a groan. “You’re so thick,
big
. I missed you.”