Phoenix Inheritance (8 page)

“I want you,” he breathed in her ear.

Good.
Her toes curled.

He hooked his thumb under her jeans and tugged. She lifted her hips, and he pulled the pants and underwear off all at once, tossing them to the side without even looking.

Whew. Safe there. And now she was fully exposed to him. She wanted to go faster, skip this step, jump to where they touched each other and went crazy, rather than have him stare at her.

“You're perfect too,” he said.

She wasn't, but she wasn't going to argue with him.

He stretched out on the bed next to her once more, stroking her legs with the tips of his fingers. She let out a long shuddering breath, shaky, wondering if she could come without him barely touching her. Possibly. They'd done that once, in Greece. It had taken hours. Long, lazy, wonderful hours.

He teased her legs apart with his fingers, exposing her, and she didn't care about being naked any longer.

Her nipples were hard and erect. Her hand tightened around his shoulder. Every nerve seemed exposed, as if the slightest touch would overwhelm her and send her plunging into some otherworld where touch was the only sense she had.

Daz put one tantalizing finger between her legs and slipped it inside her. She bucked, moaned and closed her eyes. Her hips pushed against his hand, wanting more. She loved this. She hoped Daz loved doing this to her.

“Do you want me, Renee?”

“Yes.”
Don't make me talk. I don't want to talk. Don't break the spell.

He bent his head to her. Her muscles tightened in anticipation and then his tongue was on her clitoris and there was nothing but the feel of him teasing that bundle of nerves. She tossed her head back and clenched her jaw to muffle a scream.

He stopped for a second. Don't stop, she thought. A few more touches and she'd explode.

“Just let go, Renee,” he asked. “Scream if you want. You always did before.”

“I don't want to wake Charlie,” she breathed out. That was the last thing they needed. Charlie would…no, forget about Charlie for these few, precious moments.

Daz went back to what he was doing, and it took only a few seconds before she lost control. Her hand curled into the covers. Her breaths grew shorter and shorter and she kept reminding herself not to scream but it was so hard…so hard…

Her body stiffened and she let it all go as the orgasm hit. She rolled to the side, curling around Daz, her hand around his neck, her leg around his waist, and her bad arm tucked carefully against her chest.
Daz. Stay with me, okay? Stay with me this time.

Too long, too long…it had been too long…and too long away from Daz…

Gradually, her breathing slowed. He slid up the bed and pulled her against him, covering her in warmth and heat. She licked his skin, draping kisses along his collarbone, above the handprint scar. This was no time to stop.

“What about you?”

He buried his hand in her hair and kissed her. Their tongues entwined. Against her leg, she felt his erection, so ready for her.

“I need to have you,” she whispered.

“I have an idea,” he said.

He sat up against the headboard, keeping his legs flat in front of him. His erection jutted up, enticing.

“Straddle me. That should keep your shoulder out of the way. And I want to look at you.”

Yes, this way. Yes. She kissed him, face-to-face, and lowered herself over him. And they were one.

“Ahhh…”

She couldn't tell if that was him or her. He gripped her hips. She arched her back and began to ride. Inside her, another orgasm hit and she lost control again, and all she could do was ride and feel him caress her inside, feel his hands tight around her hips, hear the sound of them moving together and the squeak of the bed.

He came with a quiet sigh. His fingers dug into her hips. After a long moment, he pulled her against him loosely, mindful of her shoulder.

“I'm going to do this right this time.” He kissed her.

What? “That was pretty right.” She laughed.

She slid off him, her body still coming down from the high. They shifted. She lay on her side, on her good shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Gonna do this right,” he whispered again.

But she didn't answer. She didn't want to think of what had gone wrong in the past. She only wanted him, holding her tight. Tonight was good. She was alive. Daz was here. It was
perfect.

Tomorrow would have to wait.

Turkey, Nine Years Ago

Daz and Gabe put up their portable tent just outside the guarded border of the relief camp, as close as possible to the medical tent where Zach was being treated.

Daz hated to leave Zach without a guard, but the doctors had made it clear neither he nor Gabe could stay in the tent with him. Daz left word with the guards at the closest entrance about where to find them if, for some reason, Zack took a turn for the worse.

“Staying around a few days is probably a good idea,” Daz told Gabe and they settled inside the tent for a rest. It'd been over a day since either had closed their eyes. “Adds to our cover of hiking under leave.”

“You think they bought the whole ‘scared villagers shot at us scary foreigners' explanation?” Gabe asked.

“It doesn't matter.”

“Why not?” Gabe asked.

“Because what they're really worried about is whether we're going to cause trouble. They're in a tough spot, being the only place around with food, water and medicine for miles, and the guards are just local untrained guys pressed into service. All it would take would be about a dozen armed men to steal everything and do some serious damage on the relief workers.”

“Oh. I didn't think of that.”

“Everybody thinks SEALs are heroes. But we go into our missions armed and ready to defend ourselves. These people are out here, unarmed, trusting on goodwill while they help others. To me, that's damned heroic. Your reaching for the gun, by the way, was a very bad move. Never do that again.”

“Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir. It won't happen again.” Gabe rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I'm still touchy.”

“It can happen, especially since this was your first firefight. Overall, you were exemplary, especially guiding us out of the mountains.” Daz stretched out and set his handgun next to his head, to be in easy reach, if needed. “Just follow my lead next time.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Gabe had been spooked by the armed men who'd wounded Zach. So was Daz, especially since he still had no idea who they were. They had been given no intel on civilian convoys with armed guards in the pre-mission briefing. For all Daz knew, their foes might have been Greeks, Turks or Bulgarians. Not being killed had been more important than identifying exactly who'd been doing the shooting.

Daz still didn't understand why they'd been shot at. All they'd wanted to do was cross the road. The guards had opened fire without warning. Daz figured the trucks had likely held some sort of illegal goods. Drugs, maybe? Whatever it was, unless the men pursued them to the relief camp, it wasn't his problem, though he hoped his mission commander would let the locals know about it, so they could follow up.

Gabe remained seated, still awake, but he'd stopped being twitchy at every little sound. The young petty officer had proven to Daz that he could handle a mission. Now Gabe needed to prove he could come down from a mission. Some people couldn't and became glory hounds. You had to weed those out from your team. But his initial assessment of Gabe as someone steady under fire had proved true and he thought it'd be the same with the aftermath.

“Once we rest up tonight, we should help with the recovery efforts. That might get us inside the camp to watch over Zach,” Daz added.

“You just want a chance to hit on the Wonder Woman with the search-and-rescue dogs.” Gabe grinned.

“Sure, why not?”

Teasing from Gabe was a good sign, much better than him being jumpy. Not that Gabe was wrong. When Daz finally got off duty, he'd love to spend some time with Renee Black. Her jeans and work boots had done her no favors but she certainly rocked the sleeveless Wonder Woman T-shirt she'd been wearing, showing off some nice muscle definition in her arms and shoulders. He supposed she was a little short for an Amazon but she packed a lot of power in that small frame.

More, he wanted to crack that shield she'd kept up emotionally the entire time they'd talked. He'd rarely met someone so self-contained. He couldn't even tell if she thought
he
was attractive.

She'd be a good poker player. And she had to be very disciplined too, to train SAR dogs. That meant it would be a challenge to make her relax. He liked challenges. Why did Renee train SAR dogs? What did she do in her spare time? Why the superhero T-shirt? What was she like in bed when she let go?

“Sure, I'm up for helping the relief workers,” Gabe said. “These people obviously have had a rough time.”

“Good,” Daz said.

Their tent barely had enough room for the two of them to lie down flat. While Daz closed his eyes, Gabe fiddled with their radio in an attempt to communicate their position and the reason for their delay to mission ops. Until that was done, there was literally nothing else to do. It hadn't gone as planned, but the target had been extracted and staying behind with Gabe and Zach had ensured the escape of the target and the rest of the team on the copter. Now if he could only follow his own advice and rest.

Daz put his hands behind his head while Gabe muttered to himself or, rather, muttered at the radio for not cooperating with his repairs.

Maybe he should drop a word tomorrow about the convoy and its guards to Renee. He bet she'd know the best person to pass it on to. It'd give him a chance to talk to her again after he'd cleaned up. He tended to make a better impression when not covered with three days' worth of grime and sweat.

He sighed again, knowing his mind was going in circles from being overtired.

“Stop pining about the girl,” Gabe teased.

“How do you know it's the girl?”

“It's always a girl with you. Anyway, I've got the radio going again, at least partly.” Gabe tapped the utility bag that encased it. “I've reported in via code. We should get orders back by morning.”

“Great.” Damn, he'd really wanted to stick around and help.

“Did she even like you?” Gabe asked.

“None of your business,” Daz said.

“That's a ‘no' then.”

“Fuck off.”

Gabe grinned as Daz rolled to the side to catch some shuteye.

Daz fell asleep wondering exactly what it would take to impress Renee.

Renee awoke to the sound of crying. She sat up on her cot, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Kim was perched on an overturned milk crate, her head in her hands, sobbing softly. Renee rushed over to her.

“Kim?” Renee put her arm around her friend's back. This had to be bad. “What's wrong?”

Kim wiped the tears away from her cheeks and straightened. “Sorry, sorry, Renee. I didn't mean to wake you. I just needed somewhere quiet to…to…”

To break down, Renee thought. And whatever it was, it had to be awful to put Kim in tears. People must be dead.

“What happened?” she asked.

“We lost the supply plane.”

“What?” No, that couldn't be what it sounded like. It just couldn't be. “Do you mean it wasn't allowed to take off, like you were worried about?”

“No, I mean it crashed.”

Oh, no. No, no, no.
Jake and his dogs were on that plane. Jake, her mentor. Her friend. The one responsible for getting her into SAR work.

Renee took a deep breath, her throat closing. “A crash is confirmed?”

“It's confirmed they lost communication and the plane never arrived. I'd say that's enough confirmation.”

Renee hugged her, needing the comfort herself as much as Kim. The dogs, sensing something very wrong, head-butted their knees. That brought a weak smile to Kim's face. She took a deep breath.

“The wreckage hasn't been spotted yet but it's only a matter of time. Only a crash would account for it vanishing from radar and being overdue.”

“Fuck.” Along with Jake and his dogs, Kim's fiancé, a physician with Doctors Without Borders, was on the plane.

To cover her own tears, Renee knelt down to her dogs. Kim didn't need her falling apart too.

“Any word on survivors? What about the locater beacon?” The question had to be asked.

“No word, no locater beacon activated.” Kim shook her head. “The plane was losing altitude slowly when they lost it on radar.”

“If it was a slow descent, they could have had a controlled crash. There could be survivors.”

“They why aren't they giving off a location? The only explanation is that the plane was destroyed.”

Or, Renee thought, someone could have turned off the locater beacon. The supplies on that plane, especially the meds and painkillers, were worth a lot on the black market.

“Maybe it was damaged and they landed to make repairs,” Renee said.

“God, I don't know what to think, whether I should hope or not.” Kim's voice broke. She waved her hand around. “You and I know survivors are not bloody likely. I'm probably in denial.”

“If you are, so am I. It's not impossible someone's alive. I've done some plane rescues in wooded areas after a controlled crash. I've found people alive before. There are valleys in those mountains where they might have landed reasonably safely.”

“Then why no communication? Why no beacon?”

“Cell phone service in those mountains is crap. Maybe any communication isn't coming out?” Even here, at the base of the mountains, it was erratic.

There was hope. There had to be hope. Jake was an ornery retired Marine. He wouldn't die easy. If anyone could survive, he could.

“You need me to get together a SAR team to go out there? I can gather volunteers,” Renee said.

“That's the worst part!” Kim balled her hands into fists. “The plane's last known location was on the Bulgarian side of the border. The Greeks and Turks need their permission to get helicopters to conduct a search. And, so far, we're all getting the runaround. For some reason, the Bulgarians are all stirred up about planes in their airspace.”

“Shit.” Renee whistled to her dogs. Thor and Loki came to instant alert. She was going to need them. “Air's not the only way to search. And boundaries are hard to guard in mountains like this. Do you have the coordinates of their last known location?”

“What?” Kim brushed away tears with her sleeve. “Renee, you can't cross borders in an unauthorized search.”

“I can take a hike in the mountains with my dogs. And, oops, somehow I might bring one of those tracking signal gizmos with me to bring help in case I find survivors. What's wrong with that?”

“You could be arrested or even killed.”

“For finding survivors of a crash?” Renee shrugged. “I doubt it.”

“What if your dogs are hurt or killed?”

Crap. She'd risk herself, but Thor and Loki? Renee began pacing, but there was barely six feet of open space in the cramped tent and she almost stumbled over her duffel bag in the corner. She stopped, petted her boys, and gave both dogs water and the last of the food in her plastic container, almost absently, trying to decide.

No, really, it was no decision. This was why they'd trained as a team: to save lives. And they enjoyed finding survivors. In many ways, she risked their lives every time she went out. This would be no different.

Kim collapsed back on the milk crate, evidently not ready to face the world just yet. This was a woman who juggled diplomats, local officials, soldiers and anyone else who had to be handled to save people. And now Kim couldn't get any of it to work for the man she loved.

This is just not right.

The plane had to be within a day's hike or so.

“Hang in there.” She handed Kim a tissue. “Get to work ordering the world around and find me the last known location of the plane. I'll do the rest.”

Kim managed a weak smile. “I appreciate the thought but even you and your amazing dogs can't go into the mountains alone on a mission like this. And since it might cross borders, it's unauthorized, and I can't send anyone from the camp with you, either.”

“And the locals have too much on their hands already with recovery. I know.” Renee straightened. “But I can handle it.”

“Really? You'd still try?” Kim gripped her shoulder. “No. You can't go.” She stood. “I'll get back to work with the Bulgarians. We'll get choppers in the air within the hour. I won't give up.” She cleared her throat. “But thanks, I was ready to, you know, fall apart.”

“You wouldn't fall apart. You just needed a moment to break down. Go give 'em hell, okay?”

Kim nodded.

“But get me the last known location. Just in case.”

Kim put her hands on her hips.

“Look, I'll stop at the border. If Jake's alive, he'll send out one of his dogs to bring people back to the crash site. Sirius and Orion know Thor and Loki. They trained together. It could save us hours of looking if they meet up.”

“That's a long shot.”

“Long shots are exactly my thing. Get me the last known location.”

“I'll think about it.” And Kim swept out of the tent.

Kim's reluctance be damned. Renee was going out there, as soon as possible. She stepped out of the tent. The dogs trotted off to do their business. Renee shaded her eyes with her hand. Sunrise was just hitting the edges of the mountains in the east. She wondered if the crash survivors would see their first light as hope or if it would simply reveal to them the depth of their disaster.

If there were any survivors at all.

No, she'd not believe that. Everyone on that plane had been involved in relief operations. They were trained. They knew the drill. They wouldn't lose hope; they'd keep it together, against all odds.

If anyone could survive, they could.

But Kim was right about one thing. She needed help if she was going out there. Hell, she needed an armed guard or else she might get shot like that sailor, Zach.

She grinned as Thor and Loki came trotting back. She knew exactly where to find her armed guards.

Daz woke at dawn, took a change of clothes to the river and washed off, as some of the locals were doing. He rubbed his chin on the way back, wishing he could shave. Beards were damned itchy when they came in. But he'd be able to get rid of it soon.