Storm Warning (Security Specialists International Book 4) (20 page)

“Here are other known associates.” Keely pulled up several more pictures. All of them ugly customers, thugs mostly. “I have reports on all of these men. Read them. Memorize them before you leave for Cancun next week. After arriving in Cancun, DJ, you and Tweeter will take a day or two and play tourist to attract the attention of any interested parties. Conn will cover you. After you board the yacht for the trip to Belize, you’ll stop for a day and dive the Big Blue Hole. We’ll be monitoring you over NSA-satellites and through hidden cameras and listening devices on the yacht. If someone’s following you physically or electronically, we’ll figure out who they are and their possible motives before you get to Belize.”

“This means, once we’re in Cancun, DJ,” Ace said. “Our cover story starts. I’m your man and you’re my arm candy. We’ll stick together like glue.”

DJ brushed her cheek against Ace’s shoulder and murmured, “Oh, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble being your girlfriend.”

“Oh, sugar, I’m counting on it,” Ace muttered for her ears alone.

One week later, Sanctuary

DJ moaned, “Good … so good … ahh… sweet Jesus…”

Tweeter chuckled as he continued to suck on her swollen clit. He could say for a certainty that his warrior-woman was now over her discomfort about letting him eat her pussy.

“Ace … oh my gawd!” One hand grasping at the sheets, she lifted her hips toward his mouth and held his head to her pussy with her other hand. He brought her to her third climax of the evening—once with just his fingers and now twice with his mouth.

Over the last week, he’d eased her toward this moment with lots of kissing and petting-to-orgasm. She’d been reluctant to let him eat her “down there” as she called it. Just two nights ago, she declared it “unsanitary.”

But this evening, after she’d had a girls’ Happy Hour in the Lodge bar area, she’d come back to his—now what he considered their—cabin and given him the go-ahead. He didn’t know which of the women had told her to “go for it,” but he was happy one or all of them had. He really liked going down on a woman and giving her pleasure. It was even more special since this was his DJ.

DJ loosened her grip on his head and now played with his hair as he lightly tongued her through the post-orgasm mini-spasms. “That was so-o-o good.” She petted his head. “The girls were correct. I liked it. In the future, I’ll never doubt your more superior knowledge of how to give me pleasure.”

Tweeter smiled as he rubbed his unshaven cheek along her inner thigh and inhaled her musky scent.

“Are you sniffing me?” DJ leaned up on her elbows and stared at him. Her expression was priceless—a mixture of shock and awe.

“Yeah…” Slowly, he moved from between her thighs and then stretched out alongside her flushed, relaxed body. He’d learned early on that too quick of a movement, especially with him in anywhere near a male-superior position, freaked her the hell out. While DJ was doing so much better in the intimacy department, she still wasn’t ready for full-on intercourse—and even when she was—he’d urge her to be on top until she grew accustomed to taking his cock inside her body. “…you smell like hot sex and taste so sweet. I could eat you up.”

She turned to face him and traced his mouth with a finger. “Your lips are swollen.” She leaned in and kissed him lightly, tasting herself on his lips. “Hmm, more earthy than sweet, I think.”

Tweeter laughed and touched his forehead to hers. “Well, my taste buds think you’re candy.”

“Guess it’s your taste buds that count then.” Rubbing her nose over his, she took a quick nip of his lower lip. She brushed a hand down his torso. When she reached his throbbing erection, she clasped it in her fist and began to stroke him exactly as he’d taught her. With a week of hand jobs under her belt, she’d become an expert at giving him pleasure in this manner. “How do
you
taste?”

Ace moaned at the thought of her luscious, hot mouth on his cock. “Um, never tasted my cum, so I can’t say. But…”

“Hush.” She leaned in and swept another teasing kiss over his mouth. “I need to try this. You’ve given and given, and I…”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” Tweeter nipped her chin then licked the sting away. “I love what we have together … what we’re progressing toward. There’s no rush.”

She frowned. “Maybe not … but I need to try. This is about you … me … us.” She leaned in to teeth his ear lobe, then whispered, “Help me … please?”

Tweeter pulled away and angled her face toward his. The tears in her eyes pierced his heart and turned his resolve to protect her from her previous hurts to mush. He groaned. “Okay, sugar, but if you can’t…”

“If I can’t,” she swallowed hard, “I’ll stop and let you hold me. I like it when you hold me, Ace. I feel so safe in your arms.”

And DJ was scared. Fear lurked in her eyes, darkening the normally clear aquamarine to stormy teal. His woman was strong, but past trauma was insidious and difficult to overcome. The fact she even tried after what she’d experienced demonstrated how much she trusted him.

Tweeter rolled over on his back and laced his fingers behind his head. “It might be easier this way, with you on top and between my legs. That way, you can move away more easily if you need to stop.”

DJ nodded. Her eyes widened. Her pupils were so big he could only see a thin line of her irises. She moved slowly into position. Her formerly relaxed body was now tense and trembling. He wanted to call a halt, but the determination on her face kept him quiet. He couldn’t insult her courage that way.

Once she was kneeling between his legs, she sat back on her calves and stared at his erection as it lay on his abdomen. She traced his length with a finger. His cock twitched.

She smiled, a slight curving of her lips, and glanced at him, a twinkle in her eye. “I think your penis likes my touch.”

“Sugar, after this past week, my cock is addicted to your touch.”

Her lips curved up even more. “So, what do I do?” She shot him an anxious look, the short moment of ease she’d found had vanished as quickly as smoke on the wind.

“Remember how I started by licking your pussy?” She nodded. “My cock also likes to be licked. Begin on the shaft and as my slit begins to leak, you can tongue the head.”

“Okay.” Fisting his shaft, she bent over and took a lick … then another until she was lapping at him as if his cock was a messy ice cream cone.

Tweeter held as still as he could, not wanting to startle her, but it wasn’t easy. He fought against the urge to thrust.

“That feels so good.” He praised her, then coughed to ease the strain in his voice. “You can add a squeeze or a stroke with your hand, if you want.”

She nodded and alternated strokes of her hand with licks of her tongue. He moaned, and she smiled as she placed a kiss on the tip of his cock. When she swiped her tongue over his cock head, he groaned, “Fuck … that’s good.”

Encouraged by his reaction, his warrior-woman grew bolder and placed her mouth over his glans and took his shaft slowly into her mouth. The feeling of her hot, wet, silky mouth was intense and became more so when she hummed as she took even more of his cock inside.

Then he fucked up royally. He lost control and thrust his cock farther into her mouth.

DJ gagged and released his penis.

With a look of terror in her eyes, she scrambled off his body and then off the end of the bed. In her panic-stricken retreat, her legs became tangled in the comforter and she fell to the floor with a loud thud.

The sound hammered at his gut.

Tweeter surged off the bed, but stopped and then approached her cautiously.

Animal-like cries came from DJ’s throat as she tried to scramble backwards, but the comforter inhibited her escape. The mewling sounds and the vacant look in her dilated eyes gutted him.

Walsh, why the fuck did you move?

“Dahlia Jane? Sugar?” He got down on his knees about two feet away from her and held his arms open. “Baby, it’s me … Ace. I won’t hurt you. Let me hold you. Please. Remember? You said you’d let me hold you if you got scared.”

The awful sounds lessened to whimpers. DJ’s breaths were shallow and far too rapid. Tendons on her hands shone white from the death grip she had on the comforter.

The past had her in its maw.

Tweeter roared silently, helpless in the face of an enemy he couldn’t see … couldn’t kill.

“God … sugar … please … let me … I need to hold you … protect you,” Tweeter pleaded, knowing what happened in the next few seconds was crucial to the immediate future of their relationship.

DJ opened her mouth, tried to speak, but couldn’t. She shook her head. Lines of frustration creased her forehead. She closed her eyes and held her breath, then exhaled a second or so later in one big rush.

“Ace…” she rasped. She opened her eyes and found him. “S-s-s-o sorry…” She shuddered, violently enough he could hear her teeth chatter. “Help me?”

Tweeter moved to her, pulled the comforter up and around her nudity, then tugged her into his arms and then moved her to his lap once he sat on the floor. He rocked her and peppered soft kisses anywhere he could reach without having to let her go.

“S-s-sorry…”

“Fuck … don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. You’re not ready. I’m okay with that. Hear me? It’s okay.” He never wanted to hear those mewling cries or be the cause of the hell he’d seen in her eyes. If he had to start all over again with the wooing, he would. She was his to protect, even from him.

DJ nodded and burrowed into his body. She clutched at him as if she were afraid he’d disappear if she let him go.

She’d soon figure out he wasn’t going anywhere, and if he did, she’d be right there with him.

Tweeter didn’t know how long he sat on the floor rocking her before she sighed. Her breathing, back to normal. The rigidity in her body, dissipated.

Sweet blessed relief lifted a load off his chest. “Let’s move to the bed, okay?” He kissed the side of her head and nuzzled her ear.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Can I have something warm to drink. I’m so cold.”

“You can have anything you want.” Tweeter made sure she was bundled up and set her on the floor before getting to his feet. He quickly positioned some pillows against the headboard, then picked her up and placed her on the bed with her back cushioned against the pillows. He pulled the rest of the bedding on top of her to keep her warm until he could climb in next to her. “How about hot chocolate with some creme de menthe in it?”

She attempted a smile. “Sounds good. When you get back, will you hold me?”

“Planned on it.”

“Good, because I need to explain…”

Tweeter placed his fingers on her lips. “No explanations necessary.”

DJ shook her head and laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Ace … yeah, I think I need to talk about this. I want to exorcize the monster in my head. I want you to help me get him out of there once and for all. Or, at the very least, bury him under better memories, so he can’t keep me from living the life I want to have with you.”

Each time she verified she wanted to be with him, his heart filled with joy to the point of bursting. The past week had been one of the happiest of his life. So, if she needed to share the demons in her head, he’d listen and do whatever it took to help her defeat them.

Tweeter kissed the tip of her nose. “Okay, you talk. I’ll listen. I’ll be back as soon as I get our drinks.”

His would be scotch, straight, a double. He had a feeling he was gonna need the alcohol to deal with DJ’s revelations.

*

Eyes closed, DJ huddled under the blankets and couldn’t keep from shivering. She was so cold, inside and out, as opposed to earlier when she’d burned from the pleasure Ace had given her with his hands and mouth.

She cursed the frigid darkness which had surged from the depths of her mind and stolen the happiness, the closeness, she’d experienced from Ace’s lovemaking—and it had been lovemaking and not mere sex.

Ace had told her again and again she was more than a sexual fling. He wanted a relationship with her. Simply recalling his words warmed her and helped slow the trembling.

He loved her.

Yeah, he hadn’t used the L-word yet, but he demonstrated his feelings in a myriad of other ways. He’d also told her he wanted to make a life with her. If all that wasn’t a declaration of love, she wasn’t sure what was.

“You okay, Dahlia Jane?”

The way he said her full name—with such sweet affection and tenderness—made her melt even more. She opened her eyes.

Ace stood by the bed, still gloriously naked, with a concerned look on his face. He held a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a glass of his favorite scotch in the other—a double from the looks of it. Ouch, she’d really done a number on her man.

Her man.

She especially liked the sound of that, since she’d never thought she’d ever have one.

“I’m better.” When his eyes narrowed as if he didn’t believe her, she grinned. He was so cute. “Really, I am.” She threw back the bedclothes. “Crawl in, darlin’. You need to know what triggered my meltdown. It has to do with what happened that night. Together, we’ll beat back the memories.”

“God, I love you.”

Her heart stuttered and she forced herself to take her next breath.

He’d said it. He loved her.

The truth of the words was evident. His tone had been husky and his expression so fraught with love that her heart ached trying to hold all the emotion contained in the words.

DJ focused on his face. She wanted to memorize how he looked at this moment. She’d then tuck the image away in a safe place in her mind and pull it out when her past threatened to drag her down.

Ace loved her—and she loved him.

Any lingering frost melted away.

Was it totally gone? Probably not. Evil never totally left, but it would always be checked by the strength of Ace’s love and thrust back into the depths again and again until it lost its power to rise and take her over.

“DJ?” He was worried.

She smiled and opened her arms.

Ace sat the drinks on the bedside table. He crawled into bed and wasted no time in tugging her into his arms and pulling the covers over them.

Cocooned by his body and blankets, she snuggled against him and idly traced little patterns on his chest. She inhaled and let his scent permeate her pores and soothe her as it had done so many times over the few weeks she’d known him.

“Talk to me,” he muttered the words against her hair.

“So-o-o, you love me?” Just saying the words thrilled her to her toes.

Ace tipped her face to meet his gaze. “Yeah. Can’t help it. I fell for you the first day. You okay with that?”

DJ leaned in and kissed him, putting all her joy, her love into the act.

Ace groaned and took control, twisting his tongue with hers.

She whimpered, wanting more, and took it. She ran her fingers up his neck to cup his head and held him to her as she claimed every inch of his mouth as hers.

Ace clutched her to him as if he’d never let her go.

DJ hoped not. In his arms was where she wanted to begin and end each day for the rest of her life.