Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

He rubbed his jaw at the memory of when Adam coldcocked him in Times Square right after he had gone on a drunken rant about some girl he was sure he saw first at a bar they’d been to. They didn’t fight over women, and as a whole, team guys had a rule to never do so. Women were to never come in between the brotherhood. He had been drunk off his ass though and completely unaware of how big of a jackass he was being. Adam squared him away real quick though. He squared him away right onto the sidewalk. Not one of the other guys had helped him out either. They all just shook their heads at him in disgust and disapproval.

Now that he had Adam’s attention he had to figure out what to do next. At least his mind was eased knowing that he’d gotten his friend’s attention in time. He was now on alert. Anyone targeting him wouldn’t have the element of surprise. He prayed that the same could be said for Rex and Jack as well.

He needed a disposable cell phone, one that couldn’t be traced to him and, most importantly, AJ. Now that Adam had set up an alternate e-mail he could send him a number and they could at least talk and figure out what was going to be their plan of action.

Taking several deep breaths he tried to clear his mind from thoughts of how good she had felt pressed against him. A cursory glance down at his lap told him it wasn’t working. His dick was hard and throbbing, just begging for release. Release wasn’t all that he wanted though. He wanted her.

Despite his desire to have her, she made it clear she didn’t feel the same. He hated it, but the last thing he was going to do was push himself on her. She’d taken care of him for days. Hell, she’d even cleaned up his vomit. The woman deserved a damn medal or to be made a saint, not groped like she was some tipsy girl he picked up in a bar.

“Get your shit together, Slater. You’re a damn SEAL.” He chided himself for having such little self-control.

For several minutes he removed AJ from his mind and went over the events since Tom had been assassinated right in front of him. He replayed everything Liam told him. Anything and everything, but AJ was on his mind. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.

He couldn’t put it off any longer. He needed to talk to her. Whoever Broderick hired to take him out would still be gunning for his former teammates. They needed to nail this son of a bitch for good and make him rue the day he ever sacrificed his brothers for his selfish reasons. Then he could come back from the dead.

It didn’t take long to find her. She was making some eggs and bacon in the kitchen. The smell alerted him to her location faster than the sound of the sizzling meat did. He stood on the opposite end, watching her silently work. Her hair was up in a ponytail now. Loose strands were falling everywhere around her face. The khaki shorts and plain T-shirt she wore looked like they were made for her body for the sole purpose of teasing him.

She jumped when she turned and saw him. The spatula in her hand fell to the floor.

“Jesus, I’m sorry. I wish you weren’t so afraid around me.”

He closed the distance between them and picked up the utensil off the floor. The pain rocketed through his side from the simple maneuver, but he didn’t care.

“It’s okay. I just didn’t realize you were standing…”

He couldn’t help himself. He took her nervous hands in his. “AJ, I’m sorry for the way I acted back there. I will respect you from now on. You didn’t deserve that.”

Thankfully her face softened by his words. He didn’t want her to feel unease. He wished he could see her smile again, but he forced himself to turn away and move several steps away. The need to touch her face and kiss her again was overpowering him.

“Are you all right, Nick? The food is almost ready. I was going to come get you when it was dished up.”

He kept his back turned to her. Why the hell was she still taking such good care of him? It would be so much easier if she wasn’t so sweet. If only she wasn’t such an amazingly caring person. He worked his jaw and tried to think of his bullet wound and what he was dealing with.

“Nick? Are you upset with me?”

What?
He swung around at her. “Upset with you? No.”

He went to sit at the kitchen table. Despite the yard or so separating them he needed to widen the gap. He was still too close to her.

“What’s wrong then? Are you in pain?”

If she only knew. “No. I’m fine.”

She came to him and placed a hand on his forehead. “You look flushed. Did your fever return?”

Damn it to hell
. What the hell was she trying to do to him? Make him suffer? He had a fever all right but not the kind from an infected bullet wound. Just having the back of her hand rest against his forehead was making him want to grab her and pin her to the floor.

He removed her hand and motioned toward the chair beside him. “I need to ask you a favor. Could you sit down?” He wished she didn’t look worried when he asked.

“Sure. Let me get the pan off the stove.”

He waited for her to return. It infuriated him that he had a hit out on his life, his friends’ lives, his friend was dead, and he couldn’t stop thinking of her.

“Okay, what is it?”

He hated to ask her to leave so soon again after just getting back. He really should have thought of it earlier, but it was too risky having him go into town.

“I need you to get a disposable cell phone.” He saw the hesitance in her eyes as she looked toward the hall. “AJ, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

She looked down and seemed to be thinking over her answer. “You’ll look after him? I have to go a little farther to get to the bigger market that might have them.”

“I promise. I will stay in the room with him the whole time you’re gone.”

He was surprised but thankful when she looked at him with relief. “I believe you.”

It was going to be getting dark in the next couple hours, and he didn’t want her out there walking alone. “You need to hurry though. Darkness will be here before we know it. I don’t want you still out there then.”

She rose from the table. “Let me just peek in on him first. I’ll be right back.”

He wanted her to hurry but was glad that she out of the room. Just having her near was a test of his willpower. Somehow he was going to have to get himself in check. There was no way he was going to accomplish anything when he was constantly hard and aching to be inside of her.

“He’s sleeping now. I shouldn’t be more than an hour and a half. It takes a little over a half an hour to get there. Then I’ll get what I need and hurry back.”

She was putting her purse strap around her neck as she spoke. He stared at her, completely entranced at how beautiful she looked. Her hair was in a ponytail, and loose strands were falling all around her face. She wore no makeup, and her eyes were shaded underneath with fatigue.

He stood up to get the door for her. “Please be careful, AJ.”

“I will.”

She smiled at him as she assured him. Seeing those pearly whites was his undoing. He took her face in his hands and pulled her to him, his lips crushing hers while his tongue slid into her mouth seeking the same response he had gotten from her earlier.

Please God, don’t let her push me away, he silently prayed.

Like the Lord had truly heard him, he felt her hands wrap around his neck as she moved closer to him. Her tongue, her silky and seductive tongue, met his and stroked it, teasing him. Only a moment kissing her and his cock was already throbbing unbearably hard again.

He moved her against the doorjamb and planted his legs on either side of hers. She was trapped and surrounded by his body. Dropping his hands from her face he slid them down her sides, catching the fullness of her breasts as he continued his path until he was able to grab her hips and pull her closer.

She whimpered, and he swallowed the sound. Thoughts of making her whimper as she writhed underneath his body ran through his mind. She had seen his body, but he was dying to see hers. He wanted to know what her nipples looked like. He wanted to see them pebbled under his touch.

Suddenly he felt her pushing him away, ruining the moment. “AJ, please.”

Breathless, she pushed him farther away. “Nick, I can’t do this. I need to get to town and hurry back.”

Fuck!

He ran a hand through his hair and placed his other above her head on the doorjamb, resting his forehead against hers.

“You’re making me crazy. I can’t help myself.” His words came out in a whisper, and they surprised him probably more than they had her.

She stared at him and bit her lower lip. He wanted to scream “no fair!” like a child, wishing he was the one nibbling on her succulent lips.

“Tell me you feel it, too.” He kissed her lips softly, sliding his tongue along her lips, trying to entice her.

“I…I have to go, Nick.”

He hated how nervous she looked. He wanted her to look flushed and needy for him. “AJ, you kissed me back. I know you liked it. You can’t fake that kind of response.”

A moment of sexual tension loomed in the air between them. He had never pushed any woman like this before, but he had never felt this way either. His need for her felt elemental. Primal.

“I have to go. I’ll hurry back.” She pushed past him and ran down the stairs to the sandy beach.

He watched her as she disappeared into the distance, refusing to look away. She never looked back to meet his stare. Shaking his head, he wondered if he was crazy. Could he have been imagining her response to him?

No. There was no chance. Her body betrayed her. No matter what words she said, he knew she wanted him, too. Regardless of how stubborn she was they were going to have a talk when she got back. Because one thing was for certain, sooner or later he would have her. The idea that he wouldn’t wasn’t something he was willing to accept.

AJ ran as fast as she could away from Nick and the beach bungalow. Her need to distance herself from him was essential to her survival. The way he was making her feel could only end badly for her. She had way too much to deal with already.

Her father was dying. No matter how much she tried to deny it, it was inevitable. Sooner or later his body was going to give in to the cancer, and she would be all alone. Getting involved with Nick Slater in any way was the last thing she could deal with right now.

She was well out of Nick’s sights by now, but she kept running. Even though she never turned back to look at him she could feel his eyes boring a hole right through her. Everything about him was intense. His kiss was like a magnet. No matter how much her mind protested any response to him, her body gave in each time.

A combination of stress and exhaustion made her slow her pace. Her run turned to a jog and then quickly to a slow walk. She was tired, not just physically but emotionally. She couldn’t exactly go running through town anyway. That was a surefire way to grab the attention of the locals. While she was no expert on how to be a super sleuth, she figured that after faking the death of a United States Navy SEAL, drawing any attention to them was an all-around bad idea.

A young boy sat on the street corner next to a bucket of wilting flowers. She smiled at him and handed him two coins. He tried to hand her a flower, but she shook her head at him.

“Por tu mama.”

He couldn’t be more than ten years old, but every time she came to town she saw him peddling flowers that she was sure he’d gotten out of a dumpster from the big florist in town. She heard rumors that his mother was ill. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but the boy’s determination and situation made her heart go out to him. He was far too young to go through the pain of losing a parent. She reminded herself to say a prayer for him that night when she went to bed.

The market she needed to get to was just a few blocks up. She hurried her pace, deciding she’d pick up a small treat for the boy while there. Hopefully he would be here when she came back this way.

Inside the market she wandered for a bit, trying to find the prepaid phones. She didn’t want to ask for help to locate them, afraid the two women at the counter would turn her into the latest town gossip.

Finally she found the phones. There were only three to choose from. One looked like a toy phone you would give to a toddler. Another looked like a phone she remembered owning about ten years ago. The last option was a bit more updated but still looked to be a version at least a couple of years old. Of course it was the most expensive, but she knew this wasn’t the time to be frugal. She picked up the phone along with two cards for one hundred minutes of usage each.

Picking up a couple of chocolate bars and a soda, she made her way to the front register. The two women standing on the other side gave her a smile and spoke to each other in Spanish before laughing. She knew they were making fun of her, and she didn’t really care. Let them see her as nothing more than a stupid tourist. The last thing she wanted to do was stand out.

She walked briskly down the street, in a hurry to get to the corner where the boy was. Rounding the corner she was glad to see him still sitting there. She had already decided to give him all her loose coins, but it dawned on her then that as long as he had flowers to sell he would remain there.

First she handed him the chocolate bars and soda. Her Spanish was rusty at best, so she couldn’t say all she would’ve liked to. Instead she handed him three bills and all of her coins. His face beamed with a bright smile as she retrieved the half-dozen flowers from their bucket.