A Little Harmless Military Romance Bundle (A Little Harmless Military Bundle) (33 page)

Mal smiled. "If you want to go back to your place and clean up, I can wait."

He shook his head. "I'll take care of that later. Maybe I can talk her into staying at my house in Arlington."

"Yeah, good luck with that, Major."

"Just what are you two plotting in here?" Amanda asked sleepily.

Both of them turned at the same time, but Mal knew Dylan's heart didn't turn over at the sight of her. Her hair was a mess, a tangle of silky locks tumbling over her shoulders. She was rubbing her eyes as if trying to wake herself up, and he could imagine she was having a hard time doing so. The pain killers were strong.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

She frowned. "You guys aren't really quiet."

"Yeah, like you can talk," her brother said as he rose from the bed and hugged her. "Mom wants to talk to you today. And I'll warn you, unless you want both of them here, you will make sure to ease her worries. She was halfway packed before Dad and I convinced her to stay in San Antonio."

She smiled as she kept her arms locked around her brother. They had a family much like Mal's. They were close, closer than most families, and he knew that came from being a military family, but there was more there. The love they felt for each other was never hidden.

"I can take care of her now, Dupree," Dylan said. "I was already scheduled for a few days after the TDY, so I'll stay here and take care of the invalid."

That earned him a punch from Amanda. "Suck it, Dylan."

He studied her for a second, a frown marring those movie star looks of his. "Get in bed or I will call Mom and tell her you want her here."

Amanda matched the frown. "You fight mean."

"You should know that by now."

She smiled at him. "Thanks again, Mal, for taking care of me."

“Anytime,” he said. “Call if you need anything.”

He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to stay and make sure she was cared for. He knew that Dylan would look out for her. Still, there was a part of him that wanted to make sure that everything was taken care of, and for some reason, he was the only one who had the right to watch over her.

He said nothing else as he stepped around the brother and sister. He just needed to remember the woman wasn’t his for the taking and he would be fine.

But as he was driving back to his room, he wondered just when his body would start listening to him.

* * * *

"What's going on with you and Dupree?" Dylan asked her.

Amanda had just taken a sip of water and choked on it.

"What?" she asked and tried to cover her dismay by patting her lips with a napkin. She didn’t need her brother embarrassing her with Mal. Sure, she had a little crush on him, but it was no big deal. Really.

Dylan was studying her like he was trying to put a puzzle together. And that was bad. Really bad. Dylan loved puzzles. "There's something going on there, and I’m not too sure I’m that happy with it."

"All those slaps to the back of your head Dad gave you must have knocked something loose. There's nothing going on. Mal thinks he needs to take care of me."

"No. Well, okay he does, but it has more to do with the fact that he wants to be here. When I told him he could go, you should have seen the look on his face."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"He was going to argue. I could sense it."

She shook her head and was happy that for once that day, it didn't send the room spinning around her. It meant that she should be able to handle work tomorrow.

“He wasn’t going to argue. He just disagrees with me that I can go back to the shop tomorrow.”

Dylan crossed his arms. "No."

"What?"

"You are not going back to work until at least Wednesday. Addy's orders."

She made a face.

"And let's get back to Dupree. I thought you swore off military men."

She had. While her brothers and her father had always been faithful to their women, she knew a lot of them weren't. She knew that the faithfulness of men in the military wasn’t any different than civilians. She had proven that with a long line of cheating exes. But with the military, there had to be trust. More trust than civilian marriages. People outside of it just didn’t understand that. She had promised herself not to ever marry, but especially not military. Well, except for Mal.

She choked on her sip of water again. Oh, no. Dammit. She was losing her grip on reality.

"You're not getting sick are you?" her brother asked, panic threading his voice.

"What?"

"You look a little green around the gills there."

She shook her head but it didn't really dislodge the thought of having Mal as a husband. Hell, what was she thinking? She couldn’t even handle someone like Kyle, keep him happy. Granted, he wasn’t Malachai Dupree, but he had been sexy as hell, and she had wanted him like no one before. Until Mal.

Dammit.

"He's a member of Capital Punishment,” her brother said.

That caught her attention. "What?"

"Capital Punishment, that BDSM club."

“Hmm.” Then it hit her that her brother knew of Mal’s membership. "How do you know that? You didn't go through his records, did you?"

He shook his head. "No. Even if I wanted to, I’m not sure I could get into them. He has one level higher security clearance than I do. It would raise too many flags."

“That means you thought about doing it.” She slapped his thigh. “Then how did you find out?"

He frowned, and she knew that he was unhappy with the direction of the conversation. He sighed. "Think about it, Mandy."

The only way he would know about Mal being a member was…"You're a member? Really?"

"No. Well, I am, but lately I haven't been able to get in there and away from work. I know the owner so I get in easily."

"Really?" she asked, unable to fight the excitement.

"No. I don't think so. I am not about to get my kid sister a complimentary membership."

She pouted at him, but she knew it wouldn’t get her anywhere. "Spoilsport."

He shrugged. "Either way, I don't think your Seal is looking for a Domme."

"He's not my Seal. And why do you think I'm a Domme?""

"Really? I mean, Mandy, you run everything. You run my life, Addy's life, the business...you always like to be in control."

That was true, but there had been a part of her that knew something was missing in the bedroom. Guys always expected her to take charge, and it was something that didn't always sit well.

"I'm going to call in and make sure the colonel knows I'm here in DC again. I left a message, but just to check in."

She nodded but barely noticed when he rose to leave her alone. Her mind was turning over the idea of herself as a Domme. She wasn't. Okay, maybe in the real world she was, but she had always wanted someone to take charge in the bedroom. Kyle had called her cold. She would get aroused but she couldn't seem to be that into what they were doing. And it had been because he wanted her to take charge.

The thought of Mal being in charge of her, of taking charge of the situation, had her pulse skipping a beat. Was that the important factor that had been missing in her marriage? There had been little time for them to figure it out. They met while she was in California, married in Vegas, and he was gone before she had unpacked from the trip. The few months they had spent together before that ill-fated mission had been…stressful. They barely knew each other, and even then they both knew it had been a mistake. But then he got called back for that last mission.

And maybe he expected more out of her in the bedroom. She guessed she had wanted someone who took charge, and marrying a Seal, she thought she had.

“Hey, you okay?”

She shook her head to clear it of the tainted memories of her marriage.

“Fine. Just a little woo woo because of my meds. I think I’ll take a nap.”

He nodded and gave her a kiss. “I’m going to hang out on the couch. Call if you need me.”

She snuggled down in her bed. Thoughts that Mal would never be interested in someone like her would normally keep her awake, but she hadn’t been lying. The meds were strong, and she wasn’t accustomed to taking anything more than aspirin.

The last though in her head before she fell asleep was that it would be much better with Mal in her bed with her.

* * * *

Friday, Mal was still playing catch up. It seemed that everything ran on a forty-eight hour cycle at the Pentagon, and the punishment for taking that one day resulted in a week of living hell. He still hadn’t caught up on his email over the last four days. He didn’t regret the decision, and he knew he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

He glanced at the clock. By the time seven rolled around that evening, he had been at work for thirteen hours, and all he wanted was a break. He had fought his need to call more than once a day to check on Amanda. Taking care of a sick friend was one thing, being obsessed with her health was a little off the mark. Mal knew that her brother was already more than a little curious about his fixation on her. If he called more often, there was a good chance Dylan would figure it out.

He was shutting down for the night when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but it was a two one zero, which meant San Antonio, which could be anything since it was the headquarters for the Air Force.

“Lieutenant Commander Dupree, how may I help you?”

“Dupree, this is General Simmons, Mandy’s father. I understand you helped her this weekend?”

For a second, he couldn’t think. Who was Mandy? Then it hit him.

“Oh, Amanda. Yes, I was still on the roster to be called in case of an emergency.”

“What is your interest in my daughter?”

His brain stopped functioning. Mal was accustomed to being ordered to do things. From the time he entered Annapolis, he had thrived on it, but now…well, he was being asked about something he couldn’t figure out himself. And by the father of the woman he had been lusting after.

He cleared his throat. “Excuse me, sir?”

There was a pause. “I asked what your interest in my daughter was. Are you dating?”

“No.”

“Then why did she call you?”

“Who are you talking to?” a faint voice said from the background.

“I’m talking to this Dupree.”

“Oh, for goodness sake. You know him. He was at Kyle’s funeral.”

There was some noise of the phone being jostled around and then a soft, southern voice said, “Malachai, this is Francine, Amanda’s mother. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.”

“I am very sorry for my husband. He seemed to have the wrong idea and wanted to call you on the carpet. He’s forgotten he isn’t in the military anymore, and no one has to listen to his orders.”

He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Dylan called and said Amanda was okay and you took good care of her. I want to thank you so much. She’s our baby, so we worry.”

“She’s fine, Mrs. Simmons. She just needs a little rest, and Addy has ensured me that she was going to make sure she took it easy this week.”

“Good. She doesn’t always rest like she should. I am so thankful you were there to take care of her. She won’t admit it, but she likes to be pampered every now and then. She doesn’t allow for it unless she’s really sick.”

“I talked to Addy yesterday, and she assured me Amanda was fine.”

“Yes, but I wanted to thank you personally. Frank and I come into town every now and then, so we would love to meet with you when we come there next month.”

“Uh…”

“That is if you aren’t called out to duty. I completely understand.”

There was going to be no way out of it, he knew. She might speak softly, but he knew any military wife of twenty-five years was not to be taken lightly. They usually had nerves of steel and their word was final. And his mama, well, he had been schooled on how to treat mothers with respect.

“No, I am actually working at the Pentagon for someone deployed. Unless we are attacked, I’m pretty much stuck here until she comes back.”

“Excellent. Again, I am sorry that Frank bothered you. Goodnight, Malachai.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Simmons.”

The phone went dead, and he sat there for a second. How the hell had Amanda’s dad gotten his number at the Pentagon? He rolled his eyes. “The man’s a retired major general. He has connections everywhere.”

“Talking to yourself, Dupree?”

He glanced up and found Veronica Paul at the doorway. The sexy Air Force Major had been popping by unannounced, dropping not too subtle hints that she was in the mood for a bit of play. They had played in the past, and she was considered a favorite sub at Capital Punishment. Hell, at one time she was one of his favorite subs. But now, he wasn’t interested.

“Too many hours. How you pencil pushers take this crap all the time, I don’t know.”

“Too many hours? From a Seal? Please, you just can’t handle the things we do because you aren’t grabbing glory,” she said, her smile telling him she was joking. She was a gorgeous woman, tall, athletic, with the most amazing green eyes and the silkiest of red hair he knew reached the small of her back. And still, he wasn’t the least bit interested.