Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
B eckham
My. My. The woman was feistier than I’d believed.
She looked far too adorable in her baby pink boy shorts and raspberry sleeping top, her long legs and rounded bottom accentuating just how tight the material was stretching across her luscious buttocks.
I’d almost ripped them off in appreciation, fucking her brains out simply because she appeared young and innocent. And fresh as a spring day. Fuck me, I was losing it. Both ways. She wasn’t mine to take like a wild animal, although I’d done that before. Maybe in growing older I’d also grown wiser and into a man with more humanity?
Nope. I couldn’t fool myself on that one.
I leaned against the doorjamb, more amused than anything. I did so enjoy watching her display of emotions. She had more than I’d seen in all the women I’d met, including my mother. And she had expressions that could lift you up or drive you into an early grave.
I’d predicted what the lovely woman would do. Maybe I was testing her. While she’d been pleasant during dinner, providing a feast that had satisfied all four of us, I’d been paying attention to her reactions, noting she was collecting every possible scrap of information. That indicated two things. Either she was someone to be considered an enemy, which I highly doubted, or she had a much larger background than she’d mentioned.
Whatever training she’d undergone had provided her with excellent listening, observation, and planning skills. She simply hadn’t counted on the fact I was paying just as close attention to her as she’d been with all of us.
“So. What are we going to do about this?” I asked as casually as possible.
She lifted her head in utter defiance before slinging her purse over her shoulder and slamming the Camaro’s door. When she headed in my direction, she was glaring at me with more hatred than I’d seen up to this point.
I remained where I was and she gently, but willfully pushed her palm against my chest. “I suggest you get out of my way.”
“Or what?” It was fun to tease her. More than I would admit to anyone. I shoved her keys into my pocket. If she had a chance, she’d continue to defy me.
“Or you won’t like what I can do.” As soon as she tried to sidestep me, I grabbed her arm, leaning in the way I knew she could barely stand. “I’d like to see you try. I’m curious what other skills you have, and I’m a pretty good judge of character. There’s something fascinating about your background you keep secret on purpose. Don’t you?”
She managed to plaster a smile on her face as she lifted her head. “For me to know and you to find out. Or drop dead. I prefer the latter.”
“I assure you that I will find out if necessary. We’re going back to the house.”
“Of course we are.” Kenya jerked away, storming into the darkness. I shook my head and continued to wonder what in the hell I was going to do with her.
When I heard a couple of cracking sounds, the girl stepping on limbs quickly, I shook my head for a different reason. Did she really believe she could get away from me? I was so exhausted it took me a few seconds to adjust to the fact she’d run, finally heading after her in the darkness. She knew the lay of the land, which enabled her to find her direction easily.
Meanwhile my muscles ached and I’d yet to have that shower my body needed. Plus, she was at least twelve to fifteen years younger than me and here I was, racing after her in a darkened environment and in the middle of the thick patch of trees.
All I could think about was what the hell she was thinking.
I’d give her points for effort, but as soon as I captured her, and I would do that, she would need to be taught a stern lesson.
After a few seconds, I howled like a wolf just for fun. She was truly a formidable woman, the kind that had my blood pumping and my cock throbbing. I wanted her, the desire increasing as the hunt ensued. I could do this every night, at least until my body gave out.
My hunger was off the charts completely, the need for her unlike anything I’d experienced in years if not ever.
She was damn good at avoiding me, zigging and zagging through the trees, keeping her position unknown. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she had some kind of military training. That was entirely possible. That would account for a good portion of her skills that most men would covet, let alone women.
I was more excited than before, allowing her enough space to make the hunt fun. Maybe I was being ridiculous as there could be enemy soldiers waiting for a single mistake, but I couldn’t help myself. This was the best entertainment I’d had in a hell of a long time. I found myself enjoying the moment perhaps too much, especially after my eyes adjusted to the shadowed light. While the moon was big and bright although not full, the trees blocked every clear line of sight.
But that didn’t deter me.
This was a strange competition between us, challenging the balance of power, and of course I was determined to win. And at least protect her from perceived danger if nothing else.
We continued our game, but I could tell she was getting tired or running out of places to try to foil my approach. I shifted behind a tree, stopping every bit of movement, waiting until she made her next move.
It took a full two minutes but when she did, I wasted no time, picking up speed until she began to scream as if I was the bad guy she needed to be worried about. I caught her seconds later, slapping my hand across her mouth to squelch the sound. As I pulled her against the heat of my body, we were both fighting to get enough air in our lungs.
I took a few seconds, reminding myself I needed to get my ass back into the gym on a regular basis before laughing softly. “Nice try, little wild one, but this isn’t how things are played out in my world. You were provided with the rules, which in my mind were nothing troublesome, wasting only a single night of your life. But you refused to play ball, acting as if I’m a serial killer or something. That just won’t do.”
I debated issuing her punishment right here in the middle of the clammy woods, but I couldn’t allow my raging libido and my need to win overrule my common sense. The fuckers from before weren’t finished with their threats. Wasting any additional time away from what limited protection we had would be careless.
And I wasn’t that kind of man.
“Now we’re heading back as I said before, and you will be punished.” I shouldn’t feel surprised by anything else she did, but when she kicked me hard in the shin, I had to fight to keep from making a painful sound myself. I had a feeling she was finally the one shocked when I easily threw her over one shoulder, immediately trudging through the forest back toward the house.
Or so that’s where I hoped I was headed.
She’d had a definite advantage over me, likely knowing the woods like the back of her hand. Still, I was pretty good with directions, something taught by Pops just in case a difficult situation arose such as being kidnapped.
“Let me go, you bastard,” she moaned as she pummeled her fists against my back.
“No can do. You did this to yourself.”
“You’re insane. You break into my place. You force me to cook for you and your… men. You tie me to the bed and you refuse to leave. I think I have every right to try and get as far away from you as possible.”
“Here’s the thing, princess,” I said in return just to annoy her. “You’re in as much danger as I am and with you being outside, you have a much larger target on your back.”
“You’re just saying that to scare me.”
“Am I?” Maybe it was this moment when I realized just how important a flashlight was. I hadn’t thought to carry one in my various vehicles or what I called my favorite tool bag. The contents included a share of typical tools because I’d learned they came in handy during an interrogation.
However, after tonight, I’d include a flashlight or two.
“You’re such a bastard,” Kenya barked, bringing me out of my thoughts. “I will get you for this.”
Goddamn, the woman could make me smile. “What did I say to you earlier, darlin’? It will be so enjoyable to watch your skills in action.”
She continued fighting me, even more in earnest after I’d told her she was in danger. Perhaps her concept of what danger was consisted of something entirely different than I’d experienced. The girl was far too lithe and strong and when I made a turn like I remembered she’d done, she took that opportunity to pitch her body hard against me.
It had been so unexpected that I managed to trip over an unseen limb, doing my best to keep her cradled in my arms as we both tumbled forward. She took the brunt of the hard hit, the full weight of my body landing on top of her. At least from where we’d landed, I had a clear view of the exterior lights on her fine establishment.
Her breathing was more labored, and I instantly became concerned I’d crushed her in the fall. Somehow, she’d managed to hold onto her purse through the chase. That also amused me.
I cupped the side of her face, as she did what she could to shake my hand away. “Are you hurt?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
The way she was squirming had a single effect. It made me even more aroused than before. I wasn’t certain how my cock could ache any more than it did at that moment. Usually, I would call my behavior reckless but with the moon finally slipping through the thinner line of trees, the bright beam seemed to highlight the two of us perfectly.
Of course, I wasn’t the kind of man to believe in serendipity or whatever that shit was, but her lips had become far too irresistible. They were full and lush, rosy-red like apples, without needing lipstick. I was floored how much electricity soared through both of us. I was also fighting to keep some sense of control, but it was impossible.
So I kissed her. It wasn’t just my usual casual kiss before I enjoyed fucking a woman, almost as if I felt obligated to do so. Kissing Kenya was passionate, ripe with such intense desire I was thrown by the sensations rushing all the way down my spine. I wasn’t certain I’d ever had this kind of reaction to anyone, let alone someone who had trouble branded on her forehead.
But as I thrust my tongue inside, the taste of her reminded me of the apples I’d thought of before, so sweet I could do this for hours.
Something else that wasn’t like me.
As imagined, she fought me at first but within seconds, she wasn’t pummeling her fists against my shoulders any longer but clenching my shirt. She was even doing her best to arch her back, lifting and bending one leg to push against mine. I could swear there were bells going off somewhere. What wasn’t there to enjoy about the woman?
I finally pulled back into rational reality, breaking the kiss. Yet I still couldn’t help myself, sucking on her bottom lip. When I eased my head back by a few inches, I could tell she was as contemplative as I was, trying to figure out why our chemistry was so strong. The answer wasn’t going to be easy, nor would it happen right now. We were still out in the open and that needed to take precedence.
As I stood, reaching out for her hand, she acted like she wasn’t going to take it. Whether or not she could see my admonishing gaze I wasn’t certain, but finally she slapped her hand into mine.
I pulled her up, intertwining our fingers together this time and half dragging her to the back of the house. I noticed Camden in the distance, walking the grounds as he would any military compound. At least we should be able to get through the night.
The moment I had her inside, she tried once again to jerk from my hold, but I wasn’t going to play dumb any longer. Especially since her skills were apparently more than what I’d expected.
I did take her purse from her shoulder, gingerly placing it on the floor near the refrigerator.
When I spun her around so her back was against me, wrapping one arm around her waist and planting my other hand around her throat, she stiffened. Especially when I lowered my head, pressing my nose and mouth just under her ear. “Listen to me very carefully. As I told you several times before, I enjoyed dinner and the time we spent together. I appreciate all you’ve done but I was deadly serious about you following my rules for one major reason. Keeping you alive. The bastards who chased us began in my hometown, torching a brand-new recording studio that had nothing to do with any aspect of illegal crimes.”
“So what?” she hissed. “That has nothing to do with me.”
“Don’t be a fool, Kenya, and don’t try to play me off as one. Yes, I came here and retaliated, opening fire on the men I believed were responsible and perhaps they were, but they hadn’t issued the orders. Someone far more dangerous did. We were lured into coming here, likely to do nothing more than enjoy antagonizing us. Seeing what we were made of. In turn, the fuckers died by my hands.” I was even wondering if the bartender had something to do with the lure.
She finally stiffened as if something I finally said was hitting home. About damn time. In addition to all her skilled traits, she was without a doubt the most hardheaded woman of all time.
“Good girl. Maybe now you’re getting a partial picture. They were suicide assassins, something new and different in the dangerous world I live in. Do you know what that means?” I nuzzled closer into her neck. While my hold wasn’t tight, she certainly acted as if it was.
“Like suicide bombers, ready to die for their cause.”
“Yes, indeed. I assure you that isn’t normal by anyone’s standards. Another group followed us, destroying our vehicle. If I hadn’t put a bullet in their brains, they would have followed us directly here. That being said, I am fairly certain there’s another group or more of these fuckers just waiting to strike. Do I believe they know where we are? Not yet, but I assure you given this town of yours isn’t very large, they could discover our location by morning. I don’t think you want to be a part of that shit. Now, do you?” And I didn’t want her to be either.
“No. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sure you are and I appreciate your verve, your lust for life, and all the other things I should be saying right now but I’m tired. I’d aching all over. My head is killing me and I know you at least well enough to realize you’ll use my exhausted state against me. Again. So, I’m going to add a little incentive to continuing to be a good girl.”
“That’s gibberish,” Kenya huffed. “What are you trying to say?”
“You prefer blunt directness. I can truly appreciate and respect that so even after you disrespected me, I’ll grant you this one wish. I’m going to provide you with one punishment I consider to be the best reminder not to disobey there is.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to spank you.”