Fast and Furious (9 page)

*

Logan watched her pull away and turned his attention to the dealers. “Follow her,” Logan said to Blaine as he adjusted the binoculars he stared through.

“I’ll try,” Blaine drawled as he turned the key and started the bike. “She’s damn hard to keep up with even with the damn tracking device. She’s so damn fast.”

Blaine pulled out, and Logan smiled, his mind going to their lovemaking session earlier that evening. She was hard to keep up with, both in a car and in bed. Insatiable didn’t even begin to describe that sexy little minx. He could fuck her all night and still not tire of her. Hell, he had a feeling he would never tire of her.

Same went for Chase as well. He hadn’t missed the way they’d looked at each other. If she felt anything for them at all, she felt the most for Chase. They had a connection; a chemistry. He belonged with her.

Whether Chase saw that or not was another thing.

Blaine would follow Allie and make sure she stayed safe. He would follow these guys. He would then get the info to SECNAV and let them handle it from then on. He sighed as he thought about having to face Allie’s father after spending the last hour or so fucking her. Their job was to get Allie to safety, preferably all in one piece, not screw her. But screw her they had, and now that they had, Logan would have to figure out a way to not appear so damn guilty the next time he saw his boss.

* * * *

With a sob of anger, Allie stomped into the shop and threw open the fridge, looking for the bottle of vodka she’d swear she’d seen the day before. She needed a drink. Ever since seeing Sven get out of that car her emotions were becoming harder and harder to keep inside. Just the thought of them doing to Sven what they’d done to the cop made her want to vomit again.

She found the bottle at the back of the freezer. Grabbing it, she hissed at the cold glass and twisted off the top. She wasn’t even going to bother to mix it with anything. She just wanted it straight. She just wanted something to numb all the anger and regret that threatened to choke her.

Could she get Sven out? Hell, she couldn’t even get herself out. They knew. Her time was up and she didn’t have a clue what to do to save herself. It didn’t matter where she went. They would find her. They always found the ones that ran and they always made examples of them. The images would stay with her forever. They would be filed with all the other nightmarish images that had haunted her over the last two years.

Lifting the bottle, she swallowed several large sips. The sooner she could get drunk, the better. The alcohol burned the back of her throat as she swallowed. She coughed and ran the back of her hand across her mouth. It hit her stomach and she winced at the tingling warmth that quickly began to spread through her veins.

She wasn’t really a hard drinker, so this wouldn’t take long at all. Lifting the bottle, she again downed several more swallows. Coughing, she stood and began to weave her way through the back door to her boat.

A light shone through the window and she frowned, trying to remember if she’d turned the lights off. The guys must’ve left it on. That’s it. Part of her wished at least one of the guys was still there. Shoot, she’d be even happier if all three were there.

With a wicked grin, she stopped walking and lifted the bottle to her lips. After three more swallows, she dropped it to her side. She already felt the effects and welcomed the numbness she knew would soon follow. She needed it. She needed to forget.

Maybe they would kill her tonight. Better to die a horrible death drunk than sober. Maybe she would die with the memories of her foursome instead of the memories of the dying cop or the short life of Sven.

Closing her eyes, she tried to stop the flood of tears that threatened to spill over her cheeks. She couldn’t have stopped the cop’s murder even if she’d wanted to. She knew that, but it still didn’t keep the guilt from eating away at her insides. This would haunt her forever. She knew it and that made the need to get dog-ass drunk even more important.

On shaky legs, she continued toward her boat. She slid the door open and stepped inside, only to come to an immediate halt at the gorgeous vision sprawled out on her bed.

Chase had remained behind and currently slept on his back across the middle of her bed. He had one hand on his stomach, the other across his eyes. His body was completely nude and displayed in the most eye-catching way.

Good lord, he was scrumptious.

Her gaze dropped to his hard cock and a grin spread across her mouth. Had he gotten hard in his sleep? Was he dreaming about her? Either way it didn’t truly matter. All that did matter was he had a hard-on she didn’t want to let go to waste.

With a drunken giggle, she began to make her way to the bed. She felt giddy to have something to take her mind off the last twenty-four hours. What she would do tomorrow, she had no idea, but for now, she would use what was laid out so delectably before her.

She began to work her way to the bed, but tripped over something lying across the floor. With a soft curse, she righted herself then began a sexy, if slightly off balanced, stroll to the bed.

Wow. I’m drunk
.

She put her hand to her head as a wave of dizziness made the room spin precariously like a wobbly top. She blinked, trying to make it stop. She definitely couldn’t hold her liquor. But then why would she? She hardly ever drank.

“Are you drunk?”

Allie winced and dropped her hand from her forehead. She glared at Chase, or tried to, but she couldn’t see him very well past the blurry vision. He wasn’t supposed to wake up yet; at least not until she had that magnificent cock in her mouth.

“No,” she tried to argue. She shifted dizzily on her feet and put one hand on her hips, hoping she at least passed for partially sober.

His lips twitched adorably. “I think you are.”

“I can’t be. I only drank…” She lifted the bottle and gaped at it in shock. “Half the bottle,” she added in surprise. “Damn. When did I drink all that?”

Chase chuckled and sat up. “I think it’s safe to say you’re not a drinker.”

She turned her gaze back to him and narrowed her eyes. “Hey. I’ll have you know I can hold my liquor just fine, thank you very much. Now … lay back and pretend you’re asleep. Your waking up ruined my whole surprise.”

Chase tilted his head and smiled softly. “I’m not sleeping with you when you’re this drunk.”

“Fine,” she snarled and lifted the bottle to take another large sip. She swallowed and waved the bottle toward him. “There’re lots of guys out there that will.”

She turned and started to leave the room, intent on finding one of those guys. Chase jumped up and got between her and the door.

“No you don’t,” he said as he grabbed the liquor from her fingers.

“Hey!”

She tried to grab the bottle back, but he kept it out of her reach. She harrumphed and stood glaring at him with her hands on her hips. He touched her cheek, and she swatted his hand away in agitation.

His lips twitched in amusement. “Damn, you’re a mean drunk. I wouldn’t have thought that.”

“I would’ve been a sexy drunk if you hadn’t turned me down.”

“I have no doubt,” Chase drawled as he took her elbow in his hand and lead her back to the bedroom area of her houseboat. “Come on, Allie. What you need right now is a good night’s sleep.”

“What I need is a fuck,” she growled.

She tried to wrench her arm free, but Chase held tight. Her frustrations began to build, and she swatted at his arm again with her free hand. A soft sob escaped her lips and Chase turned to look at her in surprise.

Once the sob was out, another followed. In frustration, she smacked Chase’s chest. When he didn’t move, she did it again. Her sobs came faster, stronger. Tears began to well up in her eyes as the pain of the last twenty-four hours finally broke free.

“I was wondering when this was coming,” Chase said softly as he set the bottle aside and pulled her into his arms.

Allie sagged against his chest and let the tears fall. She allowed herself to finally feel the regret, the guilt, the anger. She sobbed until she thought her heart would shatter.

“It’s okay, baby,” Chase cooed. “Let it out.”

His sweet touch and comforting words only made the torrent of tears that much worse. She had no idea how long she cried. She just knew the emotional release felt good. She felt lighter somehow. And Chase was there through all of it. He’d let her hit him, yell at him, cry on his shoulder. He’d taken it all and then held her as the dam broke free.

As her sobs began to subside, Chase lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid them both across the mattress and covered them with a light blanket. Allie snuggled against his chest as soft hiccups shook her entire body.

It felt good lying here with him. She felt safe, protected, cared for. Very seldom did she stay with a man after she slept with him. She’d never been a cuddler. She got what she wanted, then left. Dray said she was like a man that way. It was easier. No entanglements, no expectations, no worries. Her life was too crazy for anything more than one-night stands.

She had a sinking feeling Chase was more than a one-night stand. And that was not a good thing. Not now.

Chapter Thirteen

Chase woke and lifted up on his elbow so he could see the clock. It was still early, not quite ten in the morning. Sunlight streaked through the blinds, landing across the sheets in bright stripes of light. Another cloudless day with ninety degree temps. It was hot, but not nearly as hot as some of the places he’d been in his Seal career.

Shaking off his military memories, Chase glanced down at Allie. She slept next to him. Lying on her side, she faced away from him toward the bathroom. At some point, she’d kicked the covers off, and Chase realized he’d forgotten to remove her shoes. She’d been so upset, he hadn’t even thought about it. She’d needed that cry, though. After seeing what she had, the last thing she needed to do was bury it.

Even in sleep, she’d continued to softly cry for most of the night. She’d had a rough day and probably from her drunken entrance, a rough night as well. He sighed and rubbed his hand over the stubble covering his chin.

They needed to talk. She needed to know what was going on and why they were truly here. He swung his legs around and set his feet on the floor. Reaching behind him, he slapped at her ass. She jumped and lifted up, looking around in surprise.

“Get up, you boozer,” he said playfully. “It’s time for breakfast.”

“Breakfast?” she replied as she brushed her hair back from her face. “I couldn’t eat anything, Chase. You go on.”

She dropped back down on the pillow with a groan. Chase shook his head and slapped her on the ass again. This time, she shot him a glare. “Hey! Knock it off.”

“Get up,” he said, this time more forcefully. “I’m serious, Allie. We need to go to breakfast and talk.”

“Chase—”

“Now.”

Chase got up and walked to the bathroom, but he didn’t miss her raised eyebrow of surprise. Obviously, she wasn’t used to being bossed around like that.

“You need food in your stomach, otherwise you’ll be sick. You drank quite a bit last night, pretty fast.”

“I’m fine,” she called from the bed.

Chase stuck his head around the door and saw she still lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Don’t make me come in there and physically get you out of that bed.”

“You know, you have a serious bossy problem,” she snarled.

“And you have a stubborn streak,” he countered.

“If I recall, I’m
your
boss.”

Chase stepped from the bathroom and threw a pair of clean jeans at her, where they landed across her legs. “We’re not at work.”

He put his hands on his hips and gave her what he hoped was a good “get your ass out of bed and do as I say” look. It must’ve worked because she sent him one final glare and jumped from the bed a little too fast.

Her face turned beat red and her eyes squinted closed as she steadied herself against the nightstand.

“Hangovers suck, huh?” he teased.

Allie sighed and sat back down on the edge of the mattress. “Yeah. That they do.” She glanced back at him with a sheepish look in her eyes, and Chase had a sudden desire to gather her in his arms. “Do we have to eat?”

“It would be better if you did. Eating may help the nausea. As for the headache, you’ll just have to deal with that.”

She shook her head and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “I can’t believe I got that drunk. I don’t normally drink like that.”

Chase snorted. “I think that was rather obvious.” At her angry stare, Chase chuckled and patted her leg as he walked by. “You’ve got five minutes, baby. Hurry it up.”

“Where are you going?”

He smiled back at her over his shoulder as he stepped out the door. “To find my clothes. I think I left them in the shop last night.” He winked. “Hopefully, there’s not any customers.”

* * * *

Allie climbed tiredly from Chase’s convertible and stared at the Denny’s packed parking lot. “Think we’ll get a table?” she asked as she shut the car door.

Chase closed his as well and nodded. “Yeah. We’ll be okay. Thought you weren’t hungry.”

Allie shrugged. “I’m not, but I could use a cup of coffee.”

Chase gave her a soft smile of understanding. She’d swear if she didn’t know better, she’d bet he knew what she was going through. He met her in front of the car and put his hand at the small of her back. His touch felt comforting and she tried to relax a bit. He couldn’t possibly know. How could he?

She peeked at him out of the corner of her eye, admiring his wide chest and strong arms. The sleeves of the white T-shirt he wore stretched tight around his biceps and it reminded her of his cock stretching the walls of her pussy.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the restaurant. She really needed to get her mind out of the gutter and stop thinking about sex. Yes, he looked good and yes, he was great in bed, but it really needed to stop. He worked for her. She should know better.

Chase opened the door and held it open, allowing her to go inside ahead of him. They followed the hostess to a table in the back of the restaurant and sat down. Chase ordered coffee for both of them, which she brought over quickly while they browsed the menu.

Allie wasn’t all that interested in food, but the coffee hit the spot.

“Feel better?” Chase asked.

“A little,” she conceded. “Although, I have to admit. I’m a little embarrassed by what happened last night.” She leaned forward and whispered. “Did I really get mad at you for being a gentleman and not taking advantage?”

Chase chuckled and nodded his head. Allie winced and felt the heat of a blush move over her cheeks. “Sorry,” she murmured, which only made Chase chuckle harder.

The waitress returned and took their order and menus. Allie hadn’t intended to order anything, but Chase insisted, so she got eggs, bacon and hash browns.

“I hadn’t realized how bossy you were,” Allie said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Chase smiled slightly and sipped at his coffee before speaking. “I guess it’s my turn to say sorry. Comes from years of military life. I’m used to barking orders and others obeying. Sometimes I forget I’m not in the Seals anymore.”

“What was it like?” she asked.

“Hectic. Scary. Exhilarating. Dangerous. Hell week was the worst. If it hadn’t been for Logan, I’m not sure I would’ve made it through.”

“You were together in training?”

Chase nodded. “Our whole team was together. You’re paired while in training. Logan is insane, so he made it through with no problems.” Allie grinned at his description of Logan. “Blaine, he’s wiry and quick, but he gets damn hateful when he’s sleep deprived. And in training you’re sleep deprived a lot. I was about ready to kill the son of a bitch after two weeks. He eventually grew on me, though. Now he’s like a brother.”

“When I was talking to Logan the other day he seemed as though something about the military has him … spooked.”

“Spooked is probably pretty close. He still suffers from nightmares. That last mission we went on was a rough one. Things got out of hand, screwed up due to bad intelligence. It wasn’t pretty. We were separated at one point and to this day I still don’t know what happened but whatever it was still haunts him.”

“That’s terrible,” Allie murmured, but inside, she understood exactly how he felt. Seeing that cop murdered would haunt her forever. Knowing Sven was involved and would probably be dead before he reached nineteen would haunt her. And there was no way to warn him, to get him out. Once he was in, leaving was not an option. If you tried you were killed. If he stayed with it, he would be killed. He was dead either way he went.

Allie dropped her head into her hand and squeezed her temples between her thumb and forefinger.

“Head still hurt?”

Allie nodded, but remained silent. That damn headache would be with her the rest of the day. She raised her head with a sigh. “You said we needed to talk. What about?”

The waitress brought their food and as Allie stared at it, she realized maybe she was a bit hungrier than she thought. She picked up her fork and began to dig in while waiting for Chase to answer her question.

“Let’s eat first,” he said as he picked up his fork as well. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

“You wake me up from a perfectly good drunken stupor so we can talk only to drag me here and not talk.”

Chase chuckled as he chewed his eggs. “Makes you crazy, doesn’t it?”

She pointed her fork at him, annoyed that he could get to her so easily. “Don’t push it this morning, Captain, Ensign, or whatever the hell your rank was.”

“Lieutenant,” he offered, his lips forming a soft smile that left her feeling as though she was being placated.

“Whatever,” she murmured.

“Okay,” Chase said. “Here goes. Dray didn’t hire us. Your father did.”

Her fork froze halfway to her mouth. “Excuse me?”

Chase leaned in and lowered his voice. “Your confession scared the hell out of Dray. He contacted your father.”

Her fork dropped to her plate with a clang. “Oh, God.”

“We were sent in to feel things out and get you out if possible.”

“I should’ve never told Dray,” she whispered.

“It’s probably good that you did. I have a feeling Dray would’ve followed you then been killed for his curiosity.”

He was right. Allie remained silent. She felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her. Dray had been working with her father? And Chase was here as an assignment? The very thought hit her harder than she’d expected. Had the sex been part of it? Did he care anything for her at all? Or did he see her as a job?

She frowned. Why did it matter?

“Due to family ties to SECNAV, it’s doubtful witness relocation would be successful. Not to mention the Russians have an uncanny ability of finding even the most well-hidden witnesses.”

She blinked. “Witness relocation? Are you nuts? No.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “I think I just said that.”

Allie shook her head in disgust. “I know what you said. How exactly do you plan to get me out, then?”

“We have a plan in the works. It’s going to require one more run from you though.”

Allie sighed and lifted her coffee cup. “Chase, I think they’re onto me.”

She took a sip of the hot coffee, watching Chase over the rim.

“Are you sure?”

“No. It’s just a hunch.”

“Then we’ll assume they are and take precautions. Blaine and I will be with you on the next run—”

Allie shook her head, but Chase didn’t let her put her arguments into words.

“We’ll be with you, but not with you.”

She snorted. “That makes a lot of sense.”

Chase grinned. “Did you know we’ve been with you the last two runs?”

She tilted her head and studied him. “Seriously?”

Chase nodded. “Blaine and Logan were with you last night and I was with you the morning the cop was killed.”

She stiffened. “You saw that?”

Chase again nodded.

Allie shook her head, forcing the tears back and stiffening her spine. “What about Logan? Where will he be?”

“He’s going to coordinate with the other team SECNAV is sending as well as the Miami DEA to go after the bad guys. He followed them last night and now knows where the shipments come in. The next step is to get the safe houses and that’s where the drivers come in.”

“I can’t believe you’ve followed me before and I never noticed you.”

Chase shrugged one shoulder. “Stealth is what Seals do best.”

One corner of Allie’s lips lifted in a slight snicker of understatement. “Obviously.”

Chase reached across the table and put his hand over hers. His touch was comforting, tender, and greatly needed. For the first time in her life, she didn’t care that he knew she needed him. Turning her hand, she grasped his fingers in hers.

“It’s going to be okay, Allie. We won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”

“You may be good at a lot of things, Chase, but you’re not God, and you shouldn’t be making promises you can’t keep.”

He leaned in closer, his intense stare pinning her to the spot. “This is one promise I fully intend to keep.”

“Why?” she whispered, then held her breath as she waited for his answer, hoping against hope it had more to do with their chemistry and attraction to one another than his job.

“Because you and I are not finished yet.”