ArousingMemories (17 page)

His heart felt as though it scrambled around in his chest as
he pictured what the hour was going to bring. The two of them were going in
head-on to confront the terrorists. She would be not only in danger, but the
central target of it. The urge to lock her away in the trunk of the car was
strong. He beat it back. She was a professional and damn good at what she did.
So was he, and together they would prevail. He had to believe that. It wasn’t
simply for the sake of the people who might be harmed if they failed. He didn’t
want to lose her. Being with her again had made that point clear to him. He had
to find a way to live with her and their respective careers. Now that he had
reconnected with her, in bed and out, the thought of living without her was
intolerable. The problem resided within him, so the solution had to as well. He
pulled himself back into the present as she broke off from the rest of the
group and came toward him.

“It’s time,” she stated simply and stared him in the eye. If
she was looking for doubt, she wasn’t going to find it.

“After you, ma’am,” he replied. Pulling his gun from his
shoulder holster, he attached the silencer to the weapon and stood at the ready.

Haley narrowed her eyes at him for only a moment before she
nodded and started off. They crept in from the street side of the bridge past
the visitors center. As they crouched behind cover, they could see two men in
high waders under the bridge. Two other men were on land, armed and keeping a
lookout. They couldn’t see the last two, but knew they were there also working
on the bridge. Sev and Haley waited until voices over their earpieces confirmed
everyone was in place. Haley turned around and gave Sev the sign to advance.

In a running crouch, guns held out in front, they approached
the men on land. Haley sprang up at the last moment and yelled, “Government
agents, freeze!”

At the same time, another operative came from the other side
of the bridge with the same command, and agents waded through the river on
either side. The Sons did as expected, they fought, preferring to die than to
surrender. Haley took out one as soon as he raised his gun to fire at her. Sev
trained his eyes and gun on the second lookout. This one was as suicidal as his
friend. He aimed his weapon at Sev, but Sev had already planted his feet for a
shot that brought the bastard down.

He heard shouts and several more pops of silenced weapons.
His people were trying to keep everything as quiet as possible and so far, the
terrorists hadn’t been able to get off any rounds. After making sure he had
killed his target, Sev looked back at Haley and his heart lurched at the sight
of a man rising from the bank of the river. His brain did the math quickly,
realizing there was a seventh man who had been well hidden. The guy was a few
yards behind the operatives, who were dealing with the terrorists planting the
bombs. No one other than Sev could see him rising out of the reeds like some
swamp monster, and the asshole was bringing up his weapon toward Haley.

Without thinking, Sev started running toward her, holding
out his own gun in the hopes of taking down the new menace. Remembering what
happened at the warehouse, he gave a shout. “Haley, ten o’clock,” he warned,
trying to give her the guy’s location. He kept going to get close enough to
shoot the guy just in case. He needn’t have bothered, he realized in a spurt of
admiration, pride and love. His woman was good at her job. She had already
detected the movement and spun around to meet the danger. With a two-handed
grip, she fired her gun and dropped the man.

Haley raced over to the water’s edge to make sure her target
was down for good. Looking calm and cool, she walked to the edge of the water
to see if her people had everything else under control. They did. Two of the
terrorists in the water had chosen life rather than making a political
statement. Haley looked over her shoulder and gave Sev a bone-melting smile
before barking out orders.

“Demolition, get in there and secure the explosives.” Her
voice was strong and rang with command.

When the head demolition man gave her the thumbs-up, she
sauntered over to Sev. The smile was broader now. She stopped in front of him
and looked him right in the eye before she floored him by wrapping him in her
arms for a big hug.

“Holy shit!” she exclaimed in his ear. “We did it.” Pulling
back, she looked at him with a wide grin that slowly faded. “I miss going on
missions with you,” she confessed in a low voice. “I miss you.”

Sev swallowed past the lump in his throat. He couldn’t
believe she was actually saying the things he wanted to hear most. He needed to
make sure the reply he gave her didn’t screw things up between them. “I miss
it, too. I forgot how good you are.” Dropping his gaze, he continued. “I guess
loving you clouded my memories and my judgment.” He stared her in the eye. “You
did this.” He tossed his head to indicate their surroundings. “You positioned
people perfectly and timed the takedown equally perfectly.”

With a roll of her eyes and shoulders, she said, “We missed
the seventh man. That’s not going to look so good in the report.”

“Bullshit. The guy was a minor glitch. You took him out, no
problem.” He swallowed again. “I’m proud of you.”

Her eyes widened at the admission, but whatever she might
have said in response to his praise, her attention was taken by others needing
her time. She turned at the sound of her name and went to deal with prisoners
and explosives. Sev sighed and turned to help clean up the bodies. The good
citizens of Concord, Mass., would hopefully never be the wiser about what had
happened in the early morning in their town. He and the others had done what
they had hoped to do, stopped the attack, saved lives. Noah was getting back his
memories, too, and that was another thing to be grateful for. The one question
was where Sev and Haley stood. Was Haley in love with Noah? Was it too late for
Sev, or could he still make things right with her? He had to know, and he had
to try. As with any mission, failure was not an option.

* * * * *

Haley was grateful she and Sev ended up with several other
operatives in the car with them for the ride back to their offices. If they had
been alone, she wasn’t sure what she would have said to the man. He’d said he
was proud of the way she had run the mission, and when push had come to shove,
he’d trusted her to take care of herself, sort of. She knew he had tried to
protect her from the seventh man, but she also knew that she hadn’t needed the
help. He knew it, too. She couldn’t keep thinking about that. Sev had been her
own personal hero for so long, and apparently he still was. It meant more to
her than anything that he valued her skill.

The question was where did they go from here?

She took a quick look at him sitting next to her. God, he
was beautiful. She wanted him. She loved him. Now that she’d tasted him again,
felt him move within her body once more, it physically hurt to think of having
to let him go. The question was whether she could give herself up to be with
him. The thought of that hurt, too. Closing her eyes briefly, she sighed
silently before stealing another glance at the man beside her. This time she
caught him doing the same to her. While his expression was unreadable, there
was a definite heat to the look in his eyes. The piercing gaze he gave her in
that brief second sent a charge throughout her already jazzed system. The
normal high of the mission rush was joined by hot arousal, her sensitive body
trapped by her clothes. She wanted to rip them off and pump up the speed of the
car to release some of the tension building within her. It didn’t help, either,
when she took one more look at Sev and saw how his clothes also appeared to be
too tight, at least around his lap.

God, what a tangle. There had to be a way for her and Sev,
but in the meantime, there was the mission debriefing to complete. And they
couldn’t forget Noah. His memories were coming back, and that was a minor
miracle. He would need help, though, and the night the three of them had shared
might have complicated things even more on a personal level. Her feelings for
the younger man ran deep, but it was Sev she loved. It was all too much to deal
with at the moment, so she concentrated on driving and told her body to wait.

* * * * *

Noah didn’t wait in his room for Haley and Sev to come to
him. He was done with waiting. The last few days had left him passive and
feeling frightened and helpless. Well, that was over with, thank God. His
memories were tumbling all over themselves, vying for his attention. In many
ways it was worse than not remembering. Memories he would have preferred to
keep buried were being resurrected unbidden and it was difficult to deal with
them all. He needed time still, lots of it, and Ms. Mac and Dr. Alvarez had a
place for him to go. He would get rest, training and counseling and if he
wanted to continue with this organization, Ms. Mac assured him they wanted him
back on the roster.

He wasn’t sure at the moment what he wanted, except he did
need to see the two people who had cared for him and helped him survive this
miserable time. No way he could take off without saying goodbye to Haley and
Sev and simply hope the two people he cared so much for would find their way
back to each other. As he approached the conference room where the debriefing
had taken place, he saw the two of them through the open doorway. They were
alone and sitting on opposite sides of the big table, as far from each other as
they could get. Maybe they had needed that space to finish the task at hand,
but now they needed to bridge the gap. He was determined to help them do it.
When he walked into the room, he was rewarded by smiles from both of them.

“Noah.” Haley was the first to get up and come over to him.
She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. Returning the gesture, he
pressed his body into hers and lost himself one last time in the sensation that
was uniquely Haley. His cock bumped up against her belly and a vision of
thrusting into her core arose with his tacit consent. For a few seconds, he
pictured making love to her and let the arousal course through him. He would
miss her, but she was not for him. He pulled away before his erection became
too evident.

“Congratulations on a successful mission,” he said, smiling
and stepping out of her arms.

“It’s all thanks to your memories,” she replied.

“Which I might never have recovered in time without your
help, without both your help,” he added, looking pointedly at Sev.

The other man had come around to their side of the table,
yet held back. Noah would have none of that. Closing the gap between them, he
took Sev in a more crushing hold than he had given Haley. This was another man,
after all, and the hard muscles of them both required a stronger touch. Once
more, Noah’s cock responded, only this time, it was met by another hard bulge
instead of the soft curve of a woman. For long seconds, the two men held each
other before Noah broke the embrace and stepped back. This was also not the
person for him. Somewhere there was a woman or a man who was right for Noah,
someone he would love with the same undying passion he knew these people held
for each other.

He backed toward the door. “Thank you both for being my
friends. I’m taking off now for rest and treatment. I don’t know what the future
holds for me exactly, but I do know you two are my best friends, and that’s
never going to change.”

Haley gave him a teary smile. “Good luck, Noah. I’m sure
you’re going to be fine.”

“Of course you are,” Sev added in a gruff voice. “We’ll keep
in touch.”

“Good,” Noah replied. “I’d like that, but there’s something
even more important I’m going to ask you to do.” When they stared at him with
concerned, eager faces, he let them have it. “Stop being such stiff-necked,
prideful assholes. You love each other, so find a way to make it work.” Turning
his back on their shocked faces, Noah stepped off into his future.

Sev was pretty sure the look of shock on Haley’s face
mirrored his own. Their friend was back and had just handed them their hearts
on a platter. The funny thing was Noah was right, abso-fucking-lutely right.
Sev loved Haley and he was pretty sure she loved him back. They had broken up
over an issue that could be resolved with a little give and take on both their
parts. Whatever Haley might be thinking, Sev knew he was prepared to bend, to
compromise, to man up and accept the reality that he couldn’t put the woman he
loved in bubble wrap and keep her safe. It was time to lay everything on the
line and make things right between them. Stepping forward, he cleared his
throat, causing her to shift her gaze from Noah’s retreating back to him.

“I forgot how mouthy the kid could be.”

Haley gave him a rueful grin. “He’ll make a great team
leader someday.”

“Yes, he will,” Sev agreed. “The same way you made a great
team leader today.” When she waved in dismissal of his praise, he overrode her.
“You did, Haley. You know what you’re doing and you do it well. You can take
care of yourself, and it was wrong of me to deny your competence and let my
fears try to govern your life.”

The look on her face changed to one of both confusion and
hope. “What are trying to say, Sev?”

The plaintive tone of her voice was like a fist squeezing
his heart. He had to get this right or there would be no second chances. He
closed the gap between them and reached up, cupping her face in both his hands.
“I’m saying I love you, and I’m willing to do anything to get you back, back as
in you and me forever.”

Her mouth formed a silent O. “Are you saying you and me and
two point five kids?” When he nodded, she added, “What about fucking other men?
What we did last night with Noah was special but I don’t intend to share you
with other women or men. Will you be satisfied with only me for the rest of
your life?”