Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) (4 page)

“Because I messed up.” She slipped her hand out from under his. “He was one of the first targets and I—”

“Targets?”

“—confronted him.”

“You did what?” Shane’s voice stayed flat and emotionless.

She looked away, but she could still see the moment. Filled with indignation and a sense of satisfaction, she’d stepped up to Jeff as he came out of church and told him, right there in front of his fiancée, that he’d been found out and now everyone would know. His business associates, his family, all the people he’d lied to for years, would know.

He’d claimed to be deployed while he played in Europe as a civilian. The tales of getting out early for some heroic act were even more ridiculous. She spewed it all in public instead of letting the website uncover him while she maintained her anonymity. A huge misstep she’d never made again, but the one time with Jeff was enough to keep her on edge.

She glanced at Shane again. Saw the rage bubbling under the surface and knew it was all for her. “Please don’t break out into a lecture.”

“I can’t, because I’m speechless.”

“You don’t need to exaggerate.”

His mouth opened twice before he spit out any words. “Do you have any idea what I’d do if someone hurt you?”

She’d waited forever for him to say something like that, and now he’d said it in a wave of fury. “No. You don’t exactly share your feelings. How am I even supposed to know you’d care?”

“I’d care.” He nodded toward her plate and the globs of now-cold cheese. “Fuel up, because we’re going to spend a lot of hours talking about this.”

She didn’t hide her wince. “I was afraid you’d say something like that.”

“You think fake military guys get angry? Wait until you hear this real retired army guy.” He stole a French fry off her plate.

“I should have gone with Cam,” she mumbled under her breath as she picked up her sandwich.

“Too bad, because you’re stuck with me.”

She wanted to hate that idea, but she couldn’t.

Chapter Five

Under the circumstances, Shane thought he’d stayed pretty calm. He somehow choked down a burger and drove them to his house without wrecking the car despite the anger shaking through him.

The idea of Makena putting herself in the middle of so much danger made his head pound. He could feel the thumping through every inch of him and had to clamp his mouth shut to keep from yelling at her. Yelling or kissing...one of those.

“Are you ever going to talk again or is this whole brooding thing as good as I’m going to get this evening?” she asked.

“Excuse me?” She just didn’t stop. Anyone should be able to see his nerves ran on the edge. Not her. She pushed and demanded.

He hated to admit it, but her refusal to back down from him was one of the many things he found so sexy about her. The face and how she looked in those jeans ranked pretty high as well.

She paced around the family room of his end-unit town house. The strip of houses sat up on a hill with a view of the Chesapeake Bay. He’d picked it because he could get to the Corcoran Team office in Annapolis quickly but didn’t live right on top of the place like some of the other members. He needed a break now and then.

Seeing her there filled him with a strange sense of calm. She’d been there before, but always with other people. For group get-togethers. That had been on purpose, but now it was just the two of them. He tried not to think about the big bed upstairs, waiting.

She turned around and faced him while she rubbed her palms up and down her arms. “I get that you’re disappointed in me.”

Not that. Not even close. “Wrong word.”

He actually viewed her secret work as brave and important. He just wished she didn’t do it. The idea of her in danger, of some idiot who thought lying about being a SEAL was a good idea tracking her down and taking his revenge, almost doubled Shane over.

“I’m worried about you being involved in something that could get you hurt.” He’d already blown it by saying he cared. He tried to write that off as the usual concern someone would have for his best friend’s sister. Nothing more.

He knew better.

She waved a hand and shook her head. Neither seemed all that believable. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, you look fine.” She’d paled until her skin looked white. And the way she hugged her body, wrapping her arms tight around her middle, said she’d reached her end. It was the only reason Shane hadn’t launched into his mental list of a thousand questions.

“Admittedly, I’m a bit shaky.” She sat down hard on the armrest of his couch. The room stayed mostly in shadows. The light over the stove in the kitchen behind her cast her in its glow.

“Getting attacked will do that.”

Her leg swung back and forth as she stared at her hands. “And I fear you plan on lecturing me all night.”

“We got the time, so why not?” He aimed for a lighter tone, but he felt anything but and the words came out harsher than intended.

She glanced up, pinning him with an intense stare. “I can think of better ways to pass the time.”

He backed away until his heel hit the step leading up to the foyer and his front door. When he realized she had him running and jumping, he stopped. This was his house and he was in control. Had to be, and that meant maintaining his hands-off policy. “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

The smile. She knew. He’d bet money she knew. “Tempt me.”

She shrugged. “Didn’t know I could.”

No way he believed that. She’d caught him staring at her more than once. The way she looked. “Do you own a mirror?”

“Do you?”

He went out of his way to never mention any casual dates with other women when she was around. With his past and his record with women—with his family’s experience with marriage—she needed to stay in the hands-off category, but he didn’t want to hurt her. No matter how he fought it, the attraction zapping between them went both ways.

“We need some ground rules.” Seemed logical to him even though he had no idea what those rules would be except clothes on, no touching.

“Right.” She sighed and got up. Walked around to the bottom of the stairs and stared up. “Are we staying here tonight?”

She made it sound as if they were sharing a bed, and that was not happening. He’d sleep on the floor and stay awake. He’d be sensible.

All good thoughts, but they scrambled in his mind as he walked toward her. One second he stood in safety by the door. The next he waited one step below her with only inches separating them. Not a smart move, but his mind and body seemed to think otherwise.

“You’re going to get some rest and then we’re going to talk about your side job in the morning.” She was going to hate this piece. “We need to fill Connor in and let him look into Jeff.”

“Why only me?”

Sometimes she said something and lost him. Left him far behind her, coughing up dirt and trying to put the pieces together. “What?”

“Shouldn’t we both rest?” She laid a hand on his shoulder.

He concentrated on the danger and ignored how good the simple touch felt. It burned him through the cotton of his shirt and had him squirming. “I’m assuming you’re experiencing adrenaline burn off.”

“Are you talking about that sensation of having balls bouncing around my stomach?”

Not really. “Sure.”

“I did, but now I feel as if I could sleep for a month.” Her fingers moved into his hair.

He somehow managed to swallow. “That’s the one.”

“Are you going to sleep with me?”

He hit the breaking point right there. They were both adults, but she was so hot and tempting and...forget control. He dragged her off the step and down beside him. Before he could think it through or come to his senses, he lowered his head.

His mouth covered hers, and the ground shifted. He’d thought to wipe out the years of need with a quick kiss. Once and move on. Get back to work.

That backfired.

His mouth crossed over hers in a blinding kiss that had him wrapping his arms around her as his heartbeat hammered in his chest. Heat built between them, and a strange energy pulsed through the room. Forget staying detached and moving on. He fell in deeper. Tasting her, holding her, had every nerve ending zapping to life.

The noises she made went straight to his head. He debated taking her to bed and wondered how much they’d both regret it in the morning. The last thought had him lifting his head. He saw a flash of light off to his right and let go of her while he reached for his closest gun.

She stiffened. “What is it?”

“Visitors.” He’d caught the beam from the flashlight, thin and bouncing as the holder walked. His gaze zipped to the front door and he saw another beam right before it blinked out.

Two attackers with enough training to know to come in quietly and simultaneously. This was going to get loud.

Her fingernails dug into his arms. “How is that possible?”

Good question.
The place didn’t trace to him and no one had followed them, so Shane had the same question. But he’d worry about that later. “Go upstairs.”

“Shouldn’t we run to the car?”

Time to fill her in on the bad news. “The easy ways out are blocked.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I think you do.” He didn’t have time to explain and she was smart enough to know exactly what was happening. She just didn’t want it to be happening...and that made two of them. “Go upstairs and hide in the closet in my room. You’ll see an extra weapon in the box on the floor. The bullets are hidden in the opposite corner.”

“You keep a weapon in your closet just in case?”

All over the house, but now wasn’t the time to go into that. “Go, Makena. Stay in there unless you see or hear me or one of the other members of the team.”

“Right.”

He grabbed her before she could spin and run up the steps. His hand cupped the side of her face. “I’m serious. Do not be a hero here.”

Some of the haze cleared from her eyes and she nodded. “I get it.”

The thump of her feet against the stairs echoed as Shane put his back against the wall. He had a knife and two guns within easy grabbing range, and that was just counting what he carried on him. Other weapons sat, hidden, nearby. Whatever he had to do to keep the attackers from getting upstairs and to her, he would do.

After a soft click, the front door opened. That would trip the silent alarm and send a scramble code back to Corcoran headquarters. On cue, the phone started ringing, but Shane waited. Not answering would have Connor moving in reinforcements even faster.

The entire team could come. Shane didn’t care. He hoped to have the situation neutralized before then. One peek of a human and he’d shoot.

The crash of the glass from the back door shattering caught him by surprise. He ducked, unsure what had caused the break, a bullet or something else. When he lifted his head again, he spied the man stepping into his house. Shane came off the wall firing. The attacker’s shoulder flew back as if he’d been hit, but he kept coming.

They had Kevlar vests on and he didn’t, which put him at a distinct disadvantage. Shots rang out as he ducked. A second man came through the front. They had him pinned down and trapped. He couldn’t crawl away or bore through the wall. That meant going upstairs. Bringing the fight to her. He hated the idea, but he had to keep moving. Standing still guaranteed he’d be shot.

In a crouch, he spun around the railing and started up the stairs, firing covering shots as he went. A simple mantra kept running through his brain—
aim for the head
.

Plaster kicked up around him and more glass shattered. He reached the top of the stairs just as one of the attackers started up behind him. Shane ducked around the wall for protection and concentrated on the steps. The thudding sound grew closer. He waited until the last possible second, then shifted and fired. Nailed the attacker right in the head and sent him sprawling backward.

Shane’s breaths came out in steady pants as he scanned the downstairs, looking for the second attacker. The quiet hit him. The banging had stopped and nothing moved except for a curtain that caught the breeze from the broken window.

Too easy. They’d had him trapped and he got out. No way should that have happened without more bloodshed and a hail of bullets.

He heard a noise behind him in the bedroom and sneaked inside, gun up. His gaze went to the window. Nothing there. If the attacker had climbed in, he was hiding well. Too well.

The dark hair came first, sticking out around the corner leading to his bathroom and closet. Then Makena’s face appeared.

“Are you okay?”

Makena whispered the question, but it echoed in his head loud enough to sound like a scream. With a finger over his lips, he gestured toward the window. He had to get her out, and there was only one way down from here.

He opened the bench under the window and took out the rappelling gear and held it out to her. “Here.”

She stared at the rope and the carabiner, the locking mechanism that would secure her to the rope. “Are you kidding?”

“No.” He opened the blinds, careful to keep the noise to a minimum, and glanced over the windowsill. The night was still on the ground below. He could see everything thanks to the security light he’d set up.

But they were running out of time. A second gunman roamed the house, and gunfire would bring people running. The police had likely already been called. His cover would hold, but Makena being at a second shooting in only a few hours would raise alarms. She’d be questioned, and Shane could not tolerate the idea of her sitting in a police station where he couldn’t watch over her.

“We don’t have time to argue.” The rope was set up and ready to go, just in case. The sheer drop would be rough on him but impossible for her, so she needed the equipment.

He hooked the rope in position and slid it through the hooks that would hold it steady for her to climb down. They didn’t have time for a sling and instructions. She needed to move.

With one eye focused on the door, he opened the window and shifted her until she sat on the sill.

She shook her head and clamped a hand down on his forearm. “I can’t do this.”

“Makena—”

She shook her head and her teeth chattered. “It’s impossible.”

“You can do anything.” He glanced at her, quick but deadly serious. “You unmask liars as a hobby. You have more guts than most people I know.”

“But I—” Her voice cut off and she ducked as gunfire pinged through the room.

“Hand over hand.” He gave her a push. “Down, then run.”

Just as her body slid over the edge, he ducked behind the bed. He had limited ammo left but another gun within reach. He could cover her as long as necessary.

Shots rang out for a few more seconds, and then silence. Shane looked up, took in the ripped comforter and shards of glass all over the floor. Dark clothing flashed in the doorway, then footsteps thudded on the steps.

Makena.

Shane raced to the window. She stood at the bottom, staring up. He didn’t wait. With one hand on the rope, he dropped out of the window. He held his body weight steady for a second, descending at a rapid pace, then giving up and jumping the rest of the way.

He braced for impact. His knees took most of the brunt. He bit back a groan as he landed. That would hurt later, but he couldn’t worry about it now. Snagging her hand, he took off, racing through the open yard at the back of the property to get to the parking lot. There they could duck in between cars and wait.

Their sneakers scrunched in the grass, then tapped across the concrete. Through it all, he never let go of her hand. He tugged, trying to keep the pace doable. She surprised him with her speed. Never complained or questioned, either. The woman impressed him in every way.

They slid to a stop by a truck and bent down. Shane watched for feet as he sent the emergency signal to Cam. Connor could mobilize fast, but Cam tended to beat them all to a site. Shane was about to tell Makena how proud he was when he picked up the shadow. A man moving around the side of the building. He could go one of twenty ways, but he headed for them. Straight for them.

The attackers showing up at her house was one thing. People following them here was another. Impossible, actually. Shane knew subterfuge tactics. He could break a tail. But now this. It was as if they had a homing device in... He looked over his shoulder at Makena. A tracker. The first guy had planted one on her. Shane would bet on it.