Read Dangerous Attraction: Part Two (Aegis Group) Online

Authors: Sidney Bristol

Tags: #SEAL hero, #broken man, #sex toys, #romantic suspense, #serial killer, #kidnapping, #FBI

Dangerous Attraction: Part Two (Aegis Group) (10 page)

BOOK: Dangerous Attraction: Part Two (Aegis Group)
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Travis lifted his hips, moving in time with her.

“Oh—oh!” Bliss tossed her head back, her hips rolling. He could feel the flutter of muscles right before her vagina tightened in orgasm.

“Fuck—Bliss.” He grasped her hips, lifting her, and thrust, losing himself in the tight, hot feel of her body around his.

He squeezed his eyes shut as his orgasm spurted out of him. Bliss fell forward, collapsing against his chest, her breath fanning over his skin. He wrapped his arms around her.

If only every day could be spent with her.

––––––––

11.

D
aniel lifted the cigarette to his lips, his gaze on the black SUV. He didn’t smoke, but it gave him a reason to loiter outside the hospital. Tapping the phone lines hadn’t told him anything he couldn’t have guessed on his own. What he needed was another way to keep tabs on them, especially once they returned to Vegas later in the day.

Three figures climbed out of the truck. The two men automatically put the smaller woman between them, not that Bliss was worth saving. But she was for later.

He waited until they’d entered the hospital, and then waited longer, letting the cigarette burn down almost to the filter. Disposing of the butt, he kept his head down and strode out to the parking lot, peering at the other cars. No one had pulled in after the two bodyguards, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t waiting for him to expose himself. So far, the cops were looking in all the wrong places, the places some other idiot would go on the run. But not him. He had a brain.

Daniel pulled the spare rental key out of his pocket and clicked the fob. The black SUV beeped.

One more glance around.

No one was watching.

He circled the truck and opened the passenger door. A few belongings littered the console and floor board. Nothing useful. He dug into the back seat and came up with several bags. One of which had Bliss’ nametag already attached to it.

Perfect.

He dug into his pocket and pulled out the tiny tracking device. Disguised as a bit of garbage, it would blend into her belongings. With any luck, it would lead him right to her once they went to ground in Vegas.

A pair of black gloves stuck out of the seat pocket. He grabbed them, turning them over.

Nice.

He shoved them in his pocket and got out of the SUV, locking it with the rental key. Satisfied, it was time to get out of the city and hit the road. His new ride should be ready soon, and he needed to return the key before it was missed.

Daniel’s plans were falling into place.

Bliss peered out between the blinds. The upper-middle class house was one of many nearly identical models in the Las Vegas housing development. Except it wasn’t. This one was owned by the government. Not just the police, but
the government
. An unmarked police car had delivered them here and then left. Someone was supposed to bring Travis’ rental around eventually. From the talk that had gone on around her, she picked up that their arrangement was unusual.

The difference was Travis. His continued presence in her life made everything different.

“Where the fuck are they?”

She turned and watched Travis upend his bag onto the big bed that sat in the middle of the master suite. He’d marched in here and deposited both their bags on the dresser as if it were the most natural thing. She liked that. Liked knowing he would be next to her tonight when the nightmares came again. That when she needed him, he’d be an arm’s length away.

But only for another week, at best.

During the flight she overheard his hushed phone call. He was passing up work to be with her, and while she appreciated that, she couldn’t let his life stall for the sake of her comfort.

“What’s wrong?” She crossed to the bed.

“The gloves. I had them earlier, but they aren’t in any of my stuff.” A few days ago, his ferocious frown might have sent her into hiding. Now she just wanted to kiss him.

“They’re somewhere.” She shrugged. They’d packed in such a rush to make the flight before another front blew in. She doubted he really thought about what went where.

“But they should be here.”

“You’ll find them.” She climbed onto the bed and lay down on her side, watching him. “Heard from Ethan?”

“Yeah. He texted. Sounds like he’s still being a grump.”

“When will he get home?”

“Tomorrow, as long as flights aren’t grounded.”

“You guys seem really close.”

“Should be. We’ve known each other since Basic.”

“Yeah?” She curled her arm under her, eager to hear anything about his past.

Instead, Travis grunted and started folding his clothes.

Well, nuts.

“What was that like?” she asked.

“Basic? Bullshit.”

“That’s all you have to say about it?” She laughed and threw a pillow at him.

Travis caught it, folded it in half and sat on the mattress, the pillow under his forearm.

“I don’t have a lot of good memories from Basic.”

“Why?”

“I had a friend that enlisted with me. He couldn’t hack it, got kicked out and...it’s just bad memories.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Carlos went on to have a kid. It was his baby momma who went crazy, threatened to kill the kid, and I grabbed the boy while Carlos talked her down.”

“Oh, no.”

“Yeah.”

“But...what happened? You told me a little, but I’m guessing not the whole story.”

Travis sighed and stretched out, cramming the pillow under his head. He stared at the ceiling, hands crossed over his stomach.

“Carlos had a bad picker. He only liked the crazy women. He knocked up Priss right before Basic, and he always said getting kicked out was good, because he got to be there for her during the pregnancy. She was never right in the head. Every time I was home, they’d broken up and been back together a couple of times.”

She held her breath, dreading the end of his story.

“That last time, they were split up. She called, pissed about something that didn’t even make sense, and threatened to kill their son, Manuel. Carlos, he was scared. Real scared. So we went over there, and she’s hitting on this kid.” He swung his hand in the air, not looking at her. “He was seven, I think. She’s just wailing on him. Carlos grabs her, and I figure, this kid needs help. I grab him, get in the truck and go down the street until the cops come.”

Her heart hurt. On the surface he was just rattling off the details, but she knew how much it had to bother him. Travis was a protector. He’d acted with the best interests of the kid in mind.

“We must have sat there for an hour. I thought no one was coming. I didn’t have a cell phone, and all I’ve got is a screaming kid. Well the cops get there, yank me out, start yelling, and they haul me to prison and give the kid back to Priss and Carlos, who in that hour had patched things up and were back together. They stayed together all during my trial. Carlos, he lied through his teeth on the stand. It was awful, but he never was very strong when it came to women. Worst of it? I was in the pen maybe six weeks when I heard Priss killed Carlos on one of her crazy benders.”

“No!”

“Yeah. I got paroled a couple months later.”

“What happened to Manuel?”

“He lives with Carlos’ mother now. I go by and see him whenever I’m home.”

“Does he like you?”

“Yeah. He got all the brains his parents never had. Smart kid. Scary smart.”

“What did you do after that?”

“I got out and went straight to a bar. My sister, Emma, showed up, and we drank until we were seriously fucked.”

“Really?” Bliss laughed and tried to picture what Travis’ sister must look like. She had to be an interesting woman.

“Yeah, you don’t want to have a drinking contest with her. Our old man had her on the bottle young. She can’t drink me under the table, but she can hold her own.”

“Your dad got you guys drinking when you were kids?”

“My sister. My mom would have smacked him silly. Didn’t stop me sneaking a few beers.”

“Okay, wait...” She shook her head, rearranging the pieces.

“My dad stepped out on his wife a lot. He only had two kids though. Emma, whose mom is his wife, and me. We’re about a year apart.”

“And it’s your dad who had the run-in with the serial killer?”

“Yeah. BTK. He murdered my grandparents and made him watch.”

“That had to be rough.”

“It wasn’t a cake walk.”

“And you said a copycat tried to kill your sister?”

“Yeah, earlier this year, guy called himself BTKiller. He was...I don’t know, trying to recreate the original BTK murders because he thought he was the reincarnation of the guy. You’d have to ask Emma. He had this idea that if he killed all these people, her and this cop, he’d set his soul free or some bullshit.”

“And that’s how you got hooked up with the FBI?”

“Kind of. Their guys called me, asked me some questions. It went from there.”

She shook her head, mind reeling. They hadn’t even touched on his time in the Navy, doing whatever it was he did, or his job now. Danger was woven into the fabric of who he was. There was no use wishing him safe because, even doing something safe, he was dangerous.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, I’m wrapping my head around all of it.”

“I’m not a good person, Bliss.”

“Right.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re seeing me as the man you want me to be.”

“Or maybe you’ve decided to be a martyr because a few idiots said you were a bad apple? I can’t believe that. You’re a lot better than you give yourself credit for.”

“I’m not.”

“Fine. If that’s what you want to believe.” She rolled off the bed, stood and stretched.

If Travis wanted to be a martyr and believe he was some sort of awful human being because a bunch of bad stuff had happened to him, she wasn’t going to change his mind. But now she understood him a tiny bit better, and she liked what she’d seen.

“Where you going?” he called out as she left the bedroom.

“Kitchen.” She hadn’t stopped being hungry since they’d picked her up out of the snow. Sure, another meal would go straight to her hips, but they were hers, and she wasn’t about to feel guilty for being alive to eat.

Travis watched Bliss leave the bedroom.

She didn’t get it. And he didn’t know how to make her understand. His life was cursed. There was a darkness he couldn’t shake. He’d been born into it, and it would die with him. There was no future if she couldn’t accept that.

A future?

What the heck was he thinking?

He shook his head and sat up, busying himself with putting his clothes into a drawer.

There was no denying he liked Bliss. She was special, and he would be crazy to not want her in his life. But that was a something he couldn’t ask of her. He couldn’t offer her a stable home like Grayson. He wouldn’t be around to take her calls, have dinner or anything. She deserved better than him, and that was the end of it.

He put the last of his things away and headed downstairs, following his nose.

Bliss stood at the stove, stirring something in a pot. She was barefoot and bounced her hip in time to music only she could hear. Just the sight of her was a punch to the gut. This time two days ago he hadn’t been certain he’d ever see her again. And here she was.

It was enough to make a man wonder about the future. To want something different. But even trying to live part time in Vegas to be nearer to her wouldn’t be fair to her. He’d watched the stress that kind of separation put on Ethan and Molly. Sure, other guys made it work, but someone always suffered. He wouldn’t ask her to do that.

Travis crossed to the entry and the brown box the officer had left for him.

“What ‘ya got there?” Bliss asked.

He set the box on the kitchen counter and opened it. A couple of things for him, and two for her.

“Belated Christmas presents.” He held up the two items.

“Oh, you’re so thoughtful. I’ve always wanted my very own Taser. And Mace?”

“Will you be serious?”

“Fine. What’s up?”

“I want you to keep these with you. Have you used mace before?”

“I had some in college. I know the basics. Point it away from you. Aim for the eyes. If I get it on me, don’t try to wash it off with soap, use milk.”

“Good. And the Taser?”

“You sure that’s necessary?”

“It could be. I’d like you to have a gun, but first you need to know what to do with it.”

“A gun? Seriously? Me?”

“What? You operate a vibrator. It can’t be that much different.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”

“Look, I just want you safe. These are easy tools to keep around in case you need them.”

She sighed and tapped the spoon on the pot.

“Fine. How do I work it?”

They left the soup on to simmer while he showed her the basics of the hand-held device. It had enough juice to stop a man in his tracks long enough for her to get away. That was the most important thing he had to drill into her.

“If you’ll consider it, I’d at least like to show you how to shoot.” He placed the items back on the counter. Later he’d make sure they got into her purse.

“But they said we couldn’t go out.”

“Not now. Some other time.” He got at least a week off between gigs, sometimes more. Plenty of time to make a trip to Nevada.

“Like—what? You’re just going to come back to Vegas to teach me how to shoot a gun?”

“Sure. Why not? You don’t want me here?” Hadn’t he just decided that was a bad idea? He had no self-control where she was concerned.

She blinked at him for a second, then stared at the soup, stirring it slowly.

“It’s not that. I like you. But it’s hard to lean on you and know you’re going to leave any minute. I was starting to think I’d never see you once you left.”

“I never said that.”

“No...”

“I wouldn’t mind coming back if you wanted to see me.”

Bliss nodded. It wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for, not that he knew what he wanted from her. It was all so tangled and twisted inside of him. He wanted her even when he knew the best thing for her was not him.

BOOK: Dangerous Attraction: Part Two (Aegis Group)
13.28Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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