Code Name: Ghost (A Warrior's Challenge 1) (35 page)

“I’m going to wash the dishes. It looks like
the coffee is good to go. Why don’t you take it out?” The Commander
leaned over and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “The cups
are over there.”

* * * *

She’d slipped out after giving Lydia and Red
a quick thank you. It was easy to do with all the excitement from
the children after the sugar high from desert and the promise of
Christmas morning only hours away. A knock on her door interrupted
the cadence of the waves against the rocks below her balcony.
Blinking slowly up into the night, she considered ignoring it. The
second knock was more like a battering ram.

With a big heave, she forced herself up. The
light from the hallway blinded her as she opened the door, but she
didn’t expect it to smash against the wall. Thane’s face was a
portrait of concerned lines. He reached for her and she stepped
away, but he followed her inside and closed the door.

“I’m going to keep asking you until you tell
me what’s going on. I can’t stand seeing you like this.” He reached
out to her, and again she backed up.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Haven’t we had this conversation already?
Why can’t you leave me alone? I need some time. What’s the matter
with you SEALs anyway?”

“Time for what? Has someone done something,
said something?” he asked, his temper gaining with his
exasperation. He swept her into his arms. “My beautiful mermaid.
Why won’t you talk to me? I’m here. I’ll listen.”

“I’m pretty sure you have somewhere else to
be,” she said, putting her concentration on the floor.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

His kiss was so gentle it pierced the cold,
and she melted against him. Pressing her closer, he stroked her
back.

“Phewww.” He breathed out, backing away, his
square jaw taut with determination. “I have a present for you. It’s
a little unorthodox, but you’re going to humor me.”

Her heart began to somersault, trying to
twist free of its strangled hold. “Yours is at work in your desk
drawer.”

A quick smile lifted the corners of his
mouth. “You weren’t going to give it to me?”

She’d chickened out at the last minute, even
knowing he might assume his admin assistant with her never-ending
hots for him might get the credit. “It’s not signed. I left it in
your middle drawer.”

He released her, squared his shoulders, and
extended his hand out to her. She took it but instead of pulling
her closer, he shook it gently. “Hello, Kayla.”

Her gaze darted to his, not
understanding.

“My name’s Thane Austen. I work for the
United States Navy, and you?”

Maybe he’d had too much to drink?

“Where do you work?” he asked again.

“I…” What the hell was he doing? “I work for
the Navy, too?” she said, her forehead rippling.

“Well, then, we have something in common.
It’s nice to meet you. In fact, I couldn’t resist coming over here
and introducing myself. I thought I’d throw fate to the wind and
ask if you would like to go on a date. I’m hoping like hell you
don’t have a boyfriend.”

Her mouth gaped. Role playing? The Commander
was pretending to be a regular guy, why?

“I know it’s crazy to ask, being Christmas
Eve, but would you like to take a walk with me? Maybe grab a coffee
down on the beach.”

He’d said the other night he’d wished they
were someone else, other than the Ghost and Snow White. He needed
to be with his family not playing games with her. “Thank you, but I
don’t date.”

“Neither do I. The truth is I’m a heartless
bastard. I seduce women, pleasure them and then throw them out of
my bed because I don’t want anyone getting the idea they’ll have a
future with me,” He paused. “That is, until I saw you.”

Holy shit.

“What’s your excuse?”

Well, if they were role playing. “I…”

His hands slipped down her arms with a soft
stroke. “You what?”

Okay, he had her. She stared at him,
speechless. When a mischievous grin cracked his lips, she pinned
hers closed.

“Huh, seems the lady has none, which means
she should get changed, and we’ll see what kind of trouble we can
get into.”

Despite her weariness, a laugh escaped her,
and a smile broke out on him brightening his crystal blue eyes.
Walking down the hallway to her bedroom, the Commander was close
behind as if worried she’d lock herself in her room, which did
cross her mind. She stepped toward the walk-in closet then
stopped.

“Something wrong?” he asked sensing her
discord.

Quickly she scanned the room.

“Kayla what’s wrong?”

The door to her walk-in closet was open. She
took an unsteady step toward it. She never left it open, never.

Thane stopped her with a firm hand.

She shook her head. Maybe she’d left it
open. Thinking straight these days wasn’t high on her priority
list. She walked toward it cautiously, on alert, stopping in the
doorway, she pulled it wide open and scanned the space.

He stepped in front of her and hit the light
switch. “Tell me what’s wrong, right now,” he demanded, peering
around, satisfied all looked as it should, turned to her.

“Nothing,” she said, and grabbed an angora
sweater from the hanger and a pair of jeans.

The polite thing would have been to turn
away, but he leaned against the doorway watching her, even when she
reached behind to unzip her dress. With a gentle swipe, his fingers
brushed hers aside and slowly—too slowly—he pulled the zipper down
her back, his touch trailing a sizzling line down her skin almost
made her forget and she whirled around, catching the dress before
it slipped to her waist.

“I’ll wait in the living room.” He brushed a
long kiss across her shoulder before leaving.

* * * *

“What did you get me for Christmas?” he
asked, when she reappeared flipping a sweater across her arm.

Always composed, the man pulsed with sex
appeal. He sat on her couch, his upper arm molded by taut muscle
draped across the top. The dark blue shirt with an open collar made
his eyes stand out even lighter than they normally did. “It’s
nothing.”

He sat forward. “What is it?”

“Cufflinks. Like I said, it’s nothing.”
Thane pulled her between his legs, grasping her hips.

“It’s perfect, now it’s my turn.” Looking up
at her, he palmed her cheek. “For one night we’re not the Ghost and
Snow White, only Kayla and Thane. I’m going to lie to you about
what I do for a living when you ask me, because that’s what we do,
until we really know a girl. I want to hold your hand, and worry
about our first kiss.”

Feeling the heat of a blush, she looked
away, twisting the sweater between her fingers. “We’ve already
kissed, Commander.”

“No, Kayla, you must be mistaken. I sure
thought about it the first second I saw you which was only a few
hours ago.”

“Commander…this is crazy.”

“No,” he said, brushing his lips against
hers and drawing her against his vast chest as he stood up. “The
only thing that’s crazy is how much seeing you in pain hurts me.”
His eyes darted back and forth reading hers. “I need this as
much,”—He paused gathering his thoughts— “maybe more than you.” He
gave her another quick kiss. “Our pasts don’t exist, we start new,
tonight.”

He hauled her behind him, even though she
tried to drag her feet. She was bone tired, and this SEAL was
taking her emotions on a roller coaster ride.

With their toes buried in the cool sand and
coffees clutched in their fingers, they stared out at the lights
shining from the opposite shore. San Diego twinkled as it always
did across the inky darkness blanketing the sea. “Where did you go
to school, Comm…Thane?”

He grinned at her. “La Jolla.” He shot back
with his own question. “Who was the first boy you kissed?”

She shuddered, and then told him a lie.
“Fifth grade, I think his name was Scott or Brett or …I can’t
remember.” His arm wrapped around her shoulder and pulled her into
the crook of his body thinking she was cold. “Were you a jock or a
bad boy?”

“Definitely both. Drove my mom nuts, got my
brother into trouble all the time, and I became pretty proficient
at aggravating my sisters.”

“And when did you join the SEA…Navy?” she
corrected.

“When I was seventeen. It was either that or
my dad was going to kick my ass. I’m sure this will be shocking,
but I had a bit of a mouth on me.”

There’s a surprise—not.
She tipped
her head, admiring his perfect warrior’s profile. His sharp eyes
turned toward her, and as always her stomach knotted. “Are you sure
you’re not one of those hot, sexy Navy SEALs we hear about? You
know, those macho men of honor who resist fear and think two steps
ahead of everyone else? Save the world kinda guys?”

“Nope, just regular Navy, ma’am.”

“Maybe you should think about it. You’d
probably be good at it.”

He laughed. “Yeah, ya think so?”

They were alone. The small ferry landing she
lived near was quiet instead of bustling for a change. “I do,
you’ve got sexy down pat,” she confessed, swirling figure eights in
the sand with her finger.

“Do I, now?”

She didn’t even have to look at him to know
his gaze was on her. It was kind of weird. When she did look up,
the smile drifted from his lips.

“As long as you think so, I’m good with
that.”

A predatory look mustered in his eyes and it
set her off balance. “You’re not going to kiss me, are you?”

“I want more than that, but I don’t think
you’re the kind of girl to let a guy get too many bases on a first
date.”

“Apparently, I’m a slut.”

He groaned and covered his face with his
hands. “I don’t have much practice at being jealous. None
actually.” Giving her a lopsided grin, he recognized he’d been
appropriately chastised. “Then again, the thought of you being a
slut is kind of hot, as long as it’s with me,” he said, and dipped
his head to meet her lips, but instead of kissing her, his tongue
licked a sensual trail, following the curve of her mouth. It was
the hottest thing anyone had done to her and the air hitched in her
throat.

Pulling the coffee from her fingers and
tossing it, he curled her into his strength and laid her back onto
the sand. His powerful chest weighed against hers, but he didn’t
crush her. The Commander always controlled his surroundings and his
force, especially with her. His tongue probed the corner of her
mouth, drawing her lips open to his tactile command.

Their tongues danced a sensual waltz.
Passion and heat made her want things she knew he couldn’t give.
She needed to stop this, but his kisses warmed her from the inside
as the coolness of the sand seeped into her from the outside. With
the first tremble, he had her in his lap, straddling him. His
strong hands buried themselves in her hair, tugging gently. Finding
the pulse in her neck, he bit her, and grazed his teeth across her
skin. Instantly, her nipples hardened against his chest.

“God, I’ve wanted to do that forever.” He
sighed pulling away. “Come on,” he said, lifting both of them from
a sitting position.

The muscles it took to do that blew her
mind. “Jesus,” she scoffed.

“What?”

“I can barely go from my knees to standing
without a grunt. You just picked us both up.” He placed his hands
on his hips and grinned down at her. “If I don’t keep in shape, I
can’t keep up with my younger men. Besides, I carry gear heavier
than you. If I couldn’t do that it wouldn’t be very good, now would
it?”

She eyed him. “I thought you said you were
just a regular Joe.”

He coughed. “Well, yeah, I am, but you know
how young guys are. They’re all cocky and overly sure of
themselves.”

“I might know a guy like that,” she said,
narrowing her eyes at him.

“Hey, if you want to get in shape just say
the word, missy. I’ll chase your ass from one end of this beach to
the other.”

“It’s too late for that.”

His strong hand circled her arm as she
turned away from him. “I’m starting to realize it’s never too
late.”

Her mind began brushing strokes of hope with
her emotions. “I should go. Thank you for my one and only date this
year. It was nice to meet you—Thane.” A large boulder tumbled away
from the entrance of her heart, and the darkness waited, expecting
her to enter. There was no escaping it. “Merry Christmas,
Commander.” Giving a quick rub to get the sand off her pants, she
turned toward the walkway.

“Hey.” Wrapping his arms tightly around her,
he whispered in her ear. “We’ll take it slow.” He slid his hands
down to her ass, curling his fingers around each cheek.

“Mr. Austen, that’s very presumptuous of
you.”

“Isn’t it,” he said grinning. “After
Christmas, you start training.”

She could already imagine the agony. “If the
Shark keeps hunting I don’t think I’ll be starting anything.”

Thane’s expression hardened instantly. “What
was wrong back at your condo?”

She swallowed hard. This man had skills that
could pass for ESP.

“Kayla, you better start talking to me and
fast.” He squeezed her tighter.

She deliberated telling him the truth. He’d
overreact. “I think someone was in my condo. I always shut the door
to my walk-in.”

The Ghost actually paled. “Is anything
missing?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Move in with me.”

The words made her stagger backwards.
“What?”

“I…” His chest rose taking a deep breath. “I
want you close, so I can keep an eye on you, and the only thing
that makes sense is if you move in with me.”

A nervous laugh jumped from her throat.
“Commander, I can’t live with you.”

“Yes, you can, and my name is Thane.”