Crave (Talon Security #1) (13 page)

“I love you, Sam,” he rasped.

My heart nearly stopped before it picked back up triple time. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him close, grinning like the lovesick fool I was.

It felt all too soon that he was pulling out of me, sliding me down his body. He tucked himself back into his jeans as I picked up my ripped panties.

“I guess I’ll throw these out.” I laughed, feeling a giddiness that juxtaposed the ordeal we’d just been through.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his blue eyes concerned. “I was a little rough. I just—I needed you. I can’t explain it. That’s never happened to me before.”

I cupped his neck with my hand, looking up into his eyes. “I loved it, babe. I just hope no one heard us,” I added, biting my lip worriedly.

His thumb pulled gently, freeing my lower lip as he dipped low for another kiss. “We’re pretty far back here. But if they did hear, then they heard.” He shrugged.

“My brother is out there!” I exclaimed, horrified.

He chuckled. “I’ll pay for his therapist.”

“Ugh,” I groaned, dropping my head into my hand.

To their credit, no one gave us a hard time when we returned. There wasn’t one sideways glance or sarcastic comment, not even from Theo. Maybe they really didn’t know what we’d been doing. Or, maybe after what we’d been through that morning they knew we’d needed each other.

My eyes shot to the unfamiliar man in the room, out of place in his suit. “Ms. McAllister.” He nodded in my direction.

Sid moved in behind me, wrapping his arm around my chest. “Uh, hi.” I raised my hand in an awkward wave.

“The suit is Agent Richards,” Sid explained, his tone far from warm.

Ah, that explained it. Sort of.

“Thanks for the prize, Masters.” Richards nodded toward Sid. “Wasn’t Ivanov, but it was one of his right hands.”

“That fuck was threatening my girl. He’s not a prize. He’s a piece of shit,” Sid snarled.

Richards paled slightly at the tone of Sid’s voice and the death glare that, although I couldn’t see, I was sure was pointed in his direction.

“What do you want, Richards?” Travis sighed impatiently. I could tell my brother tolerated the man but only barely.

“We need to draw him out,” Richards explained. “We’ve got enough from our undercover operation to put him away for life. But as of two days ago, he’s in the wind. We can’t find the bastard.”

My mind immediately jumped to the idea I’d posed to the guys. As though Sid could read my mind, his lips touched my ear. “Don’t you dare.”

I made a grumbling noise but remained quiet.

“Obviously, we’ll do what we can. We don’t know where the motherfucker is either,” Travis responded.

Richards’s eyes narrowed. “Just like you don’t know where the diamond is.”

Travis stood straighter, his feet braced apart as he stared the other man down. “Yep. Just like that.”

Richards’s gaze cut to Sid and me. “We want to know where you two are staying so that we can aid with surveillance and provide any added cover you might need.”

Sid stiffened behind me as his grasp on me got that much tighter. “We’re good. But thanks.”

The agent’s expression grew tight as his eyes narrowed on Sid.

You could cut the tension with a knife as Sarah came breezing in. “Travis, you have a call. Theo, that shipment you ordered is here.”

She snuck a look over at me and winked.

I grinned back with appreciation. She’d just created a diversion, a very effective one, as the tense conversation broke apart.

She was even better than I’d given her credit for.

“I’ll be in touch,” Richards grumbled in parting.

“Fucker,” Declan muttered once the agent was out of earshot.

“Asshole,” Theo agreed as his eyes moved to Sarah, seeming to assess her. “You don’t have to do that, you know.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Do what?” she asked innocently.

He sighed. “Break up tension. We’re big boys. We can handle it.”

She laughed, the sound nearly musical. “Oh, I know you can, but I’d hate to see blood drawn. Mopping floors isn’t in my job description.” With that, she turned on a heel and headed back up to her desk.

I watched her go with a grin. I really liked that girl.

CHAPTER 13

W
e spent the rest of the day in bed. I’d taken a bath and despite the early hour had wanted to be buried under the covers.

We hadn’t moved much, except for me to answer what turned out to be a very awkward Skype conversation with Brad. I’d texted with him every day, letting him know how Trixie was doing; apparently that hadn’t been enough. Wanting to Skype with your dog took things to a whole new level. Sid had needed to leave the room because he was laughing so hard.

Now it was getting late, and we were curled up in the dark, though I was far from sleep. I had a lot on my mind.

“Why didn’t you want to tell Richards where we’re staying?” I asked quietly, my cheek pressed to Sid’s bare chest.

“The less people that know we’re here, the better.”

“You don’t trust him,” I deduced.

“No,” he answered, his voice a deep rumble inside his chest.

I lifted my head, my chin resting on his chest. I could just make out his bright blue eyes through the dim light. “Why?”

“Instinct.” He shrugged.

That was enough for me.

His fingers raked through my hair. “What’s on your mind? Whatever it is, that wasn’t it.”

Damn, he’d always been able to read me too well.

“Well?” he pressed, after I waited too long to answer him.

I pressed my cheek back against his chest, unable to look him in the eye. “I’m just wondering what happens next,” I admitted. “Talking to Brad earlier reminded me that he’ll be home soon.”

His fingers paused only a fraction of a second before continuing their journey through my wavy hair.

“And obviously I don’t think we can keep staying here once he gets here. Although I haven’t asked him,” I prattled on through the silence. “It’s a big enough house, I guess. But I don’t mean to assume you’d
want
to stay.” I bit my lip as Sid began to chuckle. I lifted my head to glare at him. “What?”

He grinned at me, his dimples on prominent display. “You’re so fucking cute, babe.”

“I’m not being cute. This is serious!” I huffed.

“I wonder how long you’d have rambled until I stopped you?” he mused. “Actually,” he continued, unaffected by my glare, “I think Cade and I timed it once—two minutes was your record for uninterrupted speech. I was worried you were forgetting to breathe.”

“Congratulations on your crowning achievement.” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you should shut up and let me set a new record.”

He laughed, rolling us so that he was on top of me. His body was warm and firm on top of mine. “Sweetheart,” he murmured, still grinning with his eyes full of tenderness as he looked down at me, “let me tell you what happens next,” he murmured, bending to kiss my neck. “You and I, no matter what, we’re going to be under one roof. We’ve been under one roof before,” he reminded me needlessly. “The difference is now we’ll sleep in the same bed.” He grinned as he kissed my neck.

“You—you want to move in together?” I squeaked.

He shook his head, his face still pressed to my neck. “No, Sam. I
need
to.”

My pulse quickened, battering his temple where it beat a violent crescendo from my neck. “What?”

He pulled away to look down at me once again. All traces of levity were gone from his expression, replaced with utter sincerity. “Sam, you’re my home, baby. You have been for a long time. Why do you think I stayed for so long, living with you and Cade? I could have gotten my own place a long time ago.”

“The rent was cheap,” I reminded him.

He looked uncomfortable, his eyes shifting to the side.

“Sid?” I pressed.

“Well—it wasn’t exactly cheap, Sam.”

My brow pinched in confusion. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “You know I managed the lease. Gary raised the rent a few times but I just didn’t tell you,” he admitted.

I shoved him off so I could sit up. “What?” I exclaimed.

“Don’t be pissed, babe.” He reached for me but I scooted back against the headboard. “I knew you couldn’t afford it and I… I didn’t want you to leave,” he admitted hoarsely. “I wasn’t ready then to be what you needed but I still wanted you close. I craved it. I craved
you
.”

I stared at him in shock, unable to form a response.

“Are you mad?” he ventured, after a few minutes.

“No,” I murmured finally, with a sigh. “I feel like I should be but I’m not. If you had told me, I probably would have moved out, and then who knows where we’d be now?”

He looked relieved as I allowed him to pull me back down into his arms. “So how about it, babe?”

“Oh, so now you’re asking?” I jabbed him playfully.

He chuckled. “Now where would be the fun in that?”

My fingers weaved into his hair. “You craved me, huh?” I grinned, unable to contain my pleasure at his words.

“Hell yes,” he replied emphatically. “I still do, more so every day.”

I looked up at him with a seductive smile as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Well, let’s see if we can satisfy that craving—at least for a little while.”

****

The clanging of the alarm sounding what felt like moments after we’d fallen asleep had Sid bolting out of bed.

“Get in the closet, like we’ve talked about,” he ordered. His voice was calm with a cutting edge I’d never heard before.

Sid and Travis had both been confident that we were still safe at Brad’s. Only a handful of people knew we were staying there. Despite their confidence, Sid had put me through various safety-training scenarios in the unlikely event Osip and his men found us.

It looked like I’d be using that training after all.

I managed to find my voice through the fear for my man. “Be careful,” I whispered hurriedly as I grabbed the gun he’d given me from my bedside table with shaking hands.

“Love you, baby.” He stood like a sentry, dressed only in boxers, his gun at his side, watching until I moved out of sight behind the door.

I heard the heavy dresser being pushed into position, blocking the door from the sight of anyone in the room.

I sat in the corner of the dark closet, raw terror percolating in every fiber of my body, shivering from fear and cold. I was only dressed in my underwear and a tank top. I vowed if I was ever going to be under attack again, I’d be better dressed.

Trixie sat on my lap, offering me some semblance of calm as I stroked her soft ears.

It felt like an eternity that we sat in the dark as I tried not to envision every nightmare scenario that could be taking place. If anything happened to Sid, I didn’t know what I’d do.

My breath sounded too loud in the quiet space, the soft jangle of Trixie’s collar like a deafening boom. My limbs stiffened as I remained frozen in place, afraid to move.

When the tread of footsteps sounded, followed by the dresser being scraped back, I didn’t know whether to be terrified or relieved. I waited, my breath trapped in my throat, as the door creaked open.

“Sam?” Sid’s voice was an instant balm to my fragile state.

I let out a shaky breath. “Yeah.”

The light hurt my eyes for a moment as he peered in toward me. “It’s okay, sweetheart, come on out.”

I swallowed hard, steeling myself against the fear that still crippled me. I refused to be weak when he was so strong. “Okay.”

I just had to make my legs work first.

“Sam?”

The sob that escaped was completely unexpected and maddening as I tried to right myself.

Then he was there. His huge frame took up the majority of the space as he moved in toward me. “Aw, baby, c’mere,” he coaxed, his arms wrapping around me.

“Are you really okay?” I demanded, my hands tracking his body for any source of injury.

“I’m fine, baby, really.”

Suddenly Trixie shot from the closet like a tiny cannon, her tail wagging and body wriggling.

“What the hell? I’ve never seen her do that before.” I gaped.

“What do you want me to do with this guy, Masters?” Declan’s voice called, surprising me.

“Stay the fuck out of here! My girl isn’t dressed,” Sid bellowed back.

“Fuck, fine, dude, I’m just trying to deal with this. I think he’s crying, man.” Declan sounded annoyed and uncomfortable at the same time.

I looked up at Sid with wide eyes. “What’s going on?”

He helped me to stand up, his hands clasping my shoulders gently to steady me. “Remember Tom? Brad’s ex? Apparently he thought it’d be a good idea to surprise Brad,” Sid explained. “Unfortunately for him, that means he’s currently hog-tied in the living room.”

My hand shot to my mouth. “Oh, shit,” I mumbled.

His eyes narrowed. “Oh, shit is right. I almost killed the motherfucker.” He paused, stooping low to look me in the eye. “I’m so sorry you were scared, sweetheart. Everything’s okay. You ready to get out of the closet now?”

I bit my lip and nodded, following him out into the bedroom. “What’s Declan doing here?” I asked as he handed me some pajama pants.

“The alarm feed is wired through to Talon. He was the first responder. Theo’s here too.”