22. Chapter 22
“You better introduce me to your Daxton friend,” Kate said.
Acquiring the helicopter-and-airplane hybrid hadn’t been a problem of money but of legality. Daxton had worked miracles. Raz shook his head. “You’re not stealing from him.”
The metal vibrated as she landed on the grated cargo area. “I think he can afford my quick fingers if he bought this.”
She exited the aircraft and gawked back at it, her eyes still as wide as when she had entered it hours earlier.
Raz sighed, the weight of the next mission pressing on him.
His team had agreed to continue on to the submarine after listening to Raz explain Kate’s history.
That darkness Kate hid still worried him, but she hadn’t lied about her intentions.
They’d steal Lucifer’s Bell along with the LRAD replica, and Raz could finally destroy it.
A hand on Raz’s shoulder had him turning.
“Looks like you have some competition,” Sid said, freeing himself from the cockpit.
“Luckily, it’s not a living thing.”
“But it’s a delightful ride.”
Raz sighed and Sid chuckled. Exiting down the steps, he recalled the memory of him and Kate in the SUV.
Her breasts swayed with each of his thrusts as her thighs gripped his.
Vehicle sex was never easy, but with Kate—it was a moment he would never forget.
Still, with the way she withdrew from him and along the link afterward, he couldn’t shake the feeling it had been goodbye sex.
He stared at her short-cropped hair, swaying about her face while she laughed at something Sid said.
The smile that graced her lips was wide and genuine, but it couldn’t mask the strain between her eyes.
The link simmered with darkness and trepidation.
This wasn’t a game to her. This meant something. And Raz could only hope they’d succeed.
In the distance, the sun faded behind an ocean backdrop, and crisp night air funneled fresh, salty scents past Raz’s senses. He squeezed Kate’s thigh as she sat beside him in the third row of the van. It’d been a while since he’d been to the beach for fun.
“Visiting Coronado Island isn’t part of the plan,” Kate said, a complaining note in her tone as Caige parked the rented minivan alongside a rock wall.
“True,” Lewis said from the front passenger seat. “But relaxation is important before any mission.”
“Everyone knows their beach duties, right?” Raz asked.
“Supply run,” Caige said, voice deeper as if he’d switched his Illusion out of boredom.
“Fire charming with Sid,” Lewis said.
“What am I doing?” Kate asked with a sigh. The link fluttered like butterflies ramming against Kate’s stomach, but he was determined to distract her from the impending mission and find out why she believed this would be a goodbye for them.
He winked at her. “You will accompany me on a romantic beach walk.”
Groans filled the vehicle, followed by doors opening. The trunk popped up as Sid gathered some supplies they had packed. Raz laughed and bent to take off his shoes.
“What are you doing?” Kate asked Raz.
“We won’t need them.”
“Oh.” She took off her black combat boots and rolled her leggings up to her knees. He’d worn shorts for the occasion.
As he exited the van, with Kate behind him, she shivered. “It’s cold at night with the ocean breeze.”
It had a bite, and goosebumps prickled up his arms. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her closer.
Together they walked to the beach inlet, and the still-warm sand crunched beneath his toes.
Ahead, the waves crashed against the coast, midnight water cresting into gray foam.
To his right, Lewis had already claimed a metal firepit, and Sid placed the fold-up chairs around it.
They traveled farther away from the others, toward a shadowy cliff in the distance. As the sky grew darker, pockets of stars lit it up. But Kate’s gaze stayed locked on the ground, and the link shimmered and tugged as if her mind were working a million miles a second.
She said, “About the plan tomorrow—“
He tickled her side, and she leaped away from him, hands up, warding him off from doing it again.
“What was that for?”
“You’re supposed to be relaxing, not thinking about the mission.”
“But…”
He lunged forward to tickle her, but she dodged out of his way, giggling. His heart flew, light and airy. Unable to help himself, he hauled her closer and kissed her. She melted into him, body molding against him as their lips caressed.
“Now, look up,” he whispered, tilting her chin toward the sky.
He drank in her wondrous expression as she gazed up at the starry view. Her black hair curtained back and her cheeks pressed high from the dazzling smile that lit up her entire face. His dragon thrashed, the desire to claim burning along his spine.
“There are so many,” she said. “I haven’t seen them like this since I left Japan ages ago.”
She caught him staring at her, but he didn’t look away.
“What?” she asked.
“I’m wondering what I did to deserve you. You gave me hope when I’d nearly given up. And spending time with you has been the most fun I’ve had in a really long time.”
Her throat worked, and a flash of something he wanted to deny—guilt—passed through her gaze. “Raz…”
Shit. Did I say the wrong thing?
She grabbed his hands, chilly fingers grasping his. The lump in his stomach fell another notch.
“I’m glad I make you feel that way, but I…” Her voice shook. “I hope one day I can be worthy of you.”
“What?”
A high-pitched whistle cut into the air behind him, Lewis rounding them up.
Kate tugged him. “Let’s head back.”
“Kate…”
“I have a lot to atone for, hot rod.” She shrugged and stared up at the sky. “Just don’t give up on me.”
Never. But something in her dark expression whispered doubt through him. What did you do, Kate? From her behavior, it was something she couldn’t forgive herself for either. And that terrified him.
The crackling fire warded off the chilly sea breeze as Raz sat on the lawn chair between Sid and Kate. Many rounds of hot chocolate and s’mores later, Raz still couldn’t enjoy the night. Kate’s words weighed on him. What did she have to atone for? And what would she have to do to accomplish it?
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen you with this much facial hair,” Lewis said to Raz.
Raz scratched the thick hair on his face. He’d only grown out his beard for his part in the mission. “I don’t think I’ve had this much hair since Navy bootcamp.”
“What made you guys decide to join the Navy SEALs, anyway?” Kate asked.
Raz chuckled. “We needed a challenge. And it’s excellent training in the end.”
“More like torture for Rogues,” Sid muttered.
“Oh, yeah?” Kate murmured.
Raz said, “With a beast with a superiority complex, authority figures telling you what to do…not such a good mix. But we needed the experience to help us become a cohesive unit.”
“Fewer dominance feuds,” Lewis said, trailing off with, “Though I’m wondering if we need to send Raz back.”
Kate chuckled along with the others, bathing him in a moment of familiar serenity.
“Do you remember when Raz ate a grenade and shifted to a dragon when it blew up?” Sid asked.
“What?” Kate leaned forward. “Seriously?”
“Stop it, you shit.” Raz kicked sand at him. “We both know the Venezuelan gang members never pulled the pin correctly, and I only jumped on it.”
“I’m trying to make it sound better than you being a fucking suicidal idiot for covering it.”
Kate laughed. “Sounds more like a hero you need to thank.”
Sid grumbled but gave Raz his fist in a thank-you gesture.
He bumped it, chest inflating with warmth.
He wanted Kate to have this night with his team.
She needed to know whose lives were in her hands, because tomorrow he was giving her the reins, as fucking much as it scorched a fearful fire in his gut.
The last time he’d trusted someone like this, it had severely backfired.
“Okay. I have to ask,” Kate said, gazing at Caige. “Why do you always Illusion your appearance? Don’t you get tired?”
The air grew tense. Not even his group would bring up that discussion as it was the bane of Caige’s existence.
Caige sighed, his eyes trained on the pit. “Every damn day. But when you can do what I do…most of the dragon community wants you dead.”
Raz’s heart bled both at his admission and at the truth behind it.
He met Lewis’s gaze across the flames, and his surprise mirrored Raz’s.
Sometimes these outings loosened Caige up, but his opening up spoke of his trust in Kate.
Something must have happened between the two of them for him to trust her.
As much as this had been about Kate bonding with his team, it was a weight off his shoulders to see how well they also bonded with her.
“What can you do?” Kate asked.
“Exactly what you need me for. Get in and out of places undetected. And to a territorial species, I’m easily seen as a threat, especially when they used me as an assassin in the past.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said. “I also can’t rely on my community, and the few I know probably want me dead. It’s a lonely existence, but it makes the relationships you have that much stronger.”
Sid cleared his throat. “Well, I think that’s enough talk for tonight. It’s time.”
Ah. Fuck. He didn’t expect Sid to bring up their tradition.
“Do we have to?” Lewis asked, gazing back at the pitch-black ocean, waves crashing against the shore.
“Do what?” Kate asked.
“You’ll find out,” Raz said.
Sid stood. “We have to see what kind of fire you’re built from, Kate Ichikawa, and it’ll grant us good luck tomorrow.”
Kate’s eyes twinkled with curiosity as she stood. “All right.”
Raz groaned but climbed to his feet with Lewis and Caige behind him. Raz linked his arm with Kate’s and steered her toward the ocean, his body tightening just thinking about their plan. A stupid tradition that had persisted after graduating from BUD/S to become a Navy SEAL.
“So we’re going for a swim?” Kate asked.
“You only wish,” Lewis muttered.
At the shore, they all turned their backs to the ocean. Raz guided Kate with his arm. Freezing cold water surged up to his ankles, and goosebumps prickled over his skin. Fuck this shit. Lewis linked his arm with Kate’s on the other side, and Caige linked arms with Raz.
“Okay…now what?” Kate asked, shivering.
Sid’s voice hiked in pitch on the other side of Caige. “On one, we move to our knees, and on two, onto our backs.”
“No way,” she whispered. “For how long?”
“Ten minutes?” Raz said. Everyone nodded except Kate.
“What?” she exclaimed.
“One,” Raz said, tugging Kate down as they all kneeled. Sand dug into his shins and an icy wave rushed over his ass. Seriously, fuck this tradition.
“Nope…Nope…” Kate said, teeth and arms chattering already.
“You can pull out if you want to,” Lewis said.
They waited for her answer.
“Two,” she said, tugging Raz down. In turn, everyone fell back, but Raz controlled the descent with his protesting abs. Even as the cold seeped through his clothing and a wave crashed over him, gritty against his face, he smiled. Spitting out the salty water, he opened his stinging eyes.
“You guys are insane,” Kate spat out while another wave broke over them, cold and sandy. “This isn’t relaxing.”
But they laughed anyway.