Chayton's Tempest (40 page)

her safe.

“Not across the damn country from her,” he swore as he

lit another cigarette.

He began pacing. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Powerful strides took him from one end to the other and yet

took him nowhere. There was no way to get her out of his

system. He
knew
they were supposed to be together. Until those

words came from her mouth, he realized he would continue to

feel that way.

“Tempest!” Her name fell from his lips and he sank to

the couch. Never again would he laugh at a man who was all

tied up over a woman. He finally understood. Nothing else

held a candle to the emotions Ms. Tempest Independence

Burnell
evoked from him.

Putting out his smoke, Maverick wondered what it

would be like if he’d known about her pregnancy. Would they

be a family? Happy?

He believed so.

Stretching out his legs, his gaze moved through his

apartment. He compared it to the warm coziness of her house.

His lacked.

He needed to get a house, a home for her. Could he offer

her something powerful enough to get her to move from her

son, her livelihood? Everything she felt safe around.

Would his love be enough? Would she trust his love was

genuine?

Maverick headed for bed. Her dappled gaze was with

him as he pulled the sheet up over his waist and closed his

eyes.

Those eyes were still there come morning.

He knew he looked rough as he walked into the briefing

room, but Maverick just sat down quietly and waited for the

meeting to begin. He ignored everything else, barely giving

more than a fleeting hello to his teammates.

Harrier walked in, met his gaze, and arched a brow

before he took his seat. Maverick glared sullenly at him, just

waiting for the comments to begin.

Not long, apparently.

Hondo started in on him first. “Problems sleeping,

Maverick? You look like something the cat puked up.”

He curled his lip in silent warning. It didn’t work.

“Problems with a certain woman?” Tyson asked.

His jaw clenched, but he remained silent, knowing full

well he deserved whatever they dished out. He looked over

each of the men for whom he’d die for in a heartbeat and saw

the glint off each of their wedding rings. Things had been so

different before they’d been attached. Lots of guys’ nights out.

One-night stands. Hookers. But none of them seemed to miss it.

Not at all. The amount of love they had for their women used

to amaze him; now, it was perfectly clear to him. Maverick felt

the same way about Tempest.

The men tossed rude comments back and forth across

the table while he did his best to ignore them all. Each remark

made it more difficult for him to remain mute, however.

“Well, he doesn’t have a grin on his face, so we know

she’s not here. What happened?”
Dimitri
teased, “Didn’t you

get a happy ending when you talked to her?”

His lip lifted.

Harrier grinned and held up a hand. “Let me stop this

before it gets ugly in here and I have to call
Lex
to patch

someone up.” He gestured to the file before him. “We have a

target.”

That one line grabbed everyone’s attention and the room

sobered in a heartbeat. All joking was put aside as the men

fully focused on leader of the
Megalodon
Team.

Later when the men left the briefing room to grab their

gear, Harrier stopped Maverick. “A minute, Lieutenant,” he

ordered.

Lieutenant
? Harrier didn’t call him that often, so he

waited without question.

Leaning against the wall by the door, Harrier studied

him with his cornflower-blue eyes that were sharp and

assessing. “I need your game face here, Lieutenant.”

“I’m ready, Commander. I know I look like shit right

now; but by the time we land in Kyrgyzstan, there will no need

to worry. I won’t let you down again.”

Blue eyes narrowed. “You have never let me down.

Don’t think like that. I’m just worried at how much more

exhausted you appear lately.”

Maverick shook his head. “I did let you down. Because

of me, you almost died. Yes, I’m tired, but I’ll sleep on the

plane. I’m just unsure of where things stand with her.”

Harrier walked over to him. “You
did not
let anyone

down. Stop thinking that way. You saved me. You brought me

out of that mess so I could see my wife and kids again. No one

on this Team thinks you let me down.”

Maverick ran his tongue over his teeth. “Okay. But I

swear I’ll be ready. My mind is on the mission one hundred

percent.”

“You know there isn’t another man I’d want as our eyes

and covering our ass, don’t you?”

With a grin, Maverick nodded. “
Gettin
’ old on us,

Commander? Sounding a bit sentimental there.” He didn’t

want to feel soft. He liked the jabs, the sharp wit the men

shared. This wasn’t what he did well.

As if Harrier knew his train of thought, he grunted. “Not

too old to kick your sorry ass.”

“You and what army?” Maverick teased.

“Please, I’m not Army; I only need me to
whup
you.”

Laughing, the men left the room together for their

lockers to grab their gear. Maverick walked behind the men

while approaching the SUVs taking them to the plane. The

mood was still lighthearted but not as much as before.

Maverick sat beside Hondo as they took off in the vehicles.

Hondo leaned his head against the dark-tinted window and

closed his eyes, not saying a word, but his lips upturned

slightly.

“What’s’ so damn funny, Hondo?”

“I
dinna
say a word.” His tone never modulated.

“Man, I can hear your thoughts rattling around up in

that shaved head of yours. What gives?”

Hondo remained silent as they stopped and he got out

of the vehicle. Maverick was right on his heels as they boarded

the waiting plane.

As they taxied down the runway, he heard someone else

chuckle. He looked up and saw
Osten
smirking at him. It didn’t

take long for the Italian to say something to the men around

him. Whatever he said made both
Dimitri
and Ernst look back

at him with shit-eating grins as well.

“What?” he snapped, hating how he felt.

“Nothing,”
Osten
said with a big cheesy grin.

Tyson and Scott also turned to look at him. Maverick

sent them all a fierce glower. It only added to whatever the

men found so damn funny.

Bastards!

“Sucks, don’t it?” Hondo’s deep lilt reached him.

Maverick turned his head and stared over at his best

friend. He looked asleep, but Maverick knew better. Hondo

was nothing if not extremely astute.

“What sucks?” he asked, playing dumb, not entirely

sure he wanted the response.

The man barely moved. “Knowing you’re so in love

with a person and not a damn thing you can do about it.”

Maverick grunted. His friend was right on the money.

How did he stay so calm? He used to be the cool and collected

one. He glanced back to
Aidrian
“Hondo” O’Shea. The man

was in the exact same position; but this time, Maverick knew he

was sleeping. And he also knew he should be as well. Soon

after the plane reached cruising altitude, Maverick, too, fell into

what could possibly be the last good sleep for a while.

His rest was deep and peaceful. Tempest waited for him.

Beside her were Dakota and Shelia. And Tempest held a small

bundle wrapped in a pink blanket in her arms.

_

Tempest stood behind her bar, rag in hand, just staring

at the empty establishment. It was well past closing, but she

just remained there. She’d sent everyone else home, needing to

be alone for a while.

Her left hand wiped an endless circle and her right nails

tapped out a cadence on the teak top. Mitchell Whitehall was

still around and staying at her house, actually. She was still

amazed she’d offered. He’d been as well.

He helped out here and there. He primarily stayed

outside in her backyard where he took care of her plants. He

would spend hours out there, picking short weeds she hadn’t

even seen.

His skin looked darker and not so drawn. The bags

under his eyes were disappearing. She hated to say it, but he

appeared much better than when he’d first arrived.

The entire past week had been odd. Maverick hadn’t

called again, but
Xaria
had, so Tempest figured they were on

another mission.

With a sigh, she walked from behind the bar, sat down

at a table and groaned. Even Dakota had been acting extremely

odd. Something was bothering him, something serious, and he

wouldn’t tell her.

Not a sound came from the building aside from her

breathing. Resting her head on her arms, she allowed the

silence to flow over her. She was exhausted. The thought of

sleeping in the office skipped through her mind more than

once.

“I can’t,” she bemoaned. “I have a visitor.” Wearily, she

pushed away from the table and finished cleaning up.

Dakota had waited up for her and was in the kitchen

when she walked in the house.

“Hey,
Dak
,” she said, locking the door behind her.

“What are you doing up?”

“Waiting for you.” He placed a sandwich down and

pointed. “Eat.”

“Waiting, why?” Tempest asked, sitting and eating the

food. She was famished.

“I have to tell you something.”

Finally!
The tone made her leery, but she was happy he

would share his concerns with her. She took another bite of

sandwich and waited for him to continue.

Dakota kept wiping his hands off on his shorts and he

stood before her worrying his lower lip. Tempest swallowed

and moved her plate to the side. There was a knot in the pit of

her belly. She knew what the news was. She
knew.

Instead of waiting for him to say anything else, she

asked, “Are you two getting married?”

There were tears in her son’s eyes as he looked down at

her. He knelt beside her, and placed his head on her lap.

“I’m so sorry, Mama.”

Mama. He never calls me that.
“Are you getting married?”

she asked again, her hands stroking the back of his head.

“I asked her. She wanted to think about it.” He sniffed.

“I love her so much; I don’t know what I’d do if she says no.”

Blinking back tears of her own, Tempest whispered, “Do

the right thing and be there for your child.”

“How did you know?” he questioned.

“I just did.” Tempest closed her eyes and prayed it