Read Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers Online
Authors: Caridad Pineiro,Sharon Hamilton,Gennita Low,Karen Fenech,Tawny Weber,Lisa Hughey,Opal Carew,Denise A. Agnew
Tags: #SEALs, #Soldiers, #Spies, #Cops, #FBI Agents and Rangers
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me?” he asked on impulse, pretty sure he knew the answer already.
Her gaze hardened, a shields up. “I’ll be perfectly fine on my own. I’ve got food and water.”
“I’m not so sure you’ll be fine.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’ve got a protective streak a mile wide, don’t you?”
He nodded. “So?”
“Does it lure a lot of women into your bed?”
Frustrated and surprised by the question, he glared at her. “No.”
“Or is it just your secretive past that does that? Do they try and get to know you and figure if they sleep with you you’ll tell them your secrets? Is it a lure?”
Anger reared its head, burning bright in his stomach. “I don’t play games with women, Cassie. Never have, never will.”
She crossed her arms. “You’re playing a game when you won’t talk about your past.”
“You haven’t told me all of your past. You’ve got a fence around you so high, I’m amazed you even kissed me.”
He saw a flash of recognition and acknowledgement in her eyes, and he felt like he’d scored a point. He wasn’t proud of feeling that way, but he did.
“Goodnight, Griff,” she said, leaving his room quickly.
Moments later he heard the door locks engage on her door, and he had to be satisfied that the locks would keep her safe.
* * *
Getting to the house Wednesday night was easier than he thought it would be. Most people spent that night dealing with living back in a medieval world. He smirked as he settled on the couch in the house that he now belonged to. Yes, he belonged. He drew in the house’s scent and enjoyed the stench. He closed his eyes. Dust. Decay. Old. An
eau de
something immeasurably ancient. It came to him in a flash, as things had occurred to him easily as a child and teenager. He’d known many times in the past what people thought, especially if they believed bad things about him. He knew when his mother and father thought horrible things. When they’d treated him and his siblings like crap, he’d also known they’d pay for it one day. At first he thought karma would catch up with them, but then he realized karma didn’t always work until people were dead. Until someone made them dead. And so when karma didn’t kill them fast enough, he took it into his own hands. Every time he accomplished this goal, his mind and body felt lighter. Satisfied. As if he’d had great sex or a good meal.
His thoughts raced as he recognized the true smell of evil. It lingered in this house, possessed it in ways he’d never felt in any other place. All the place needed was new blood. New slaughter to give it a clearer, more pungent smell. He loved his new house, and yearned for the time someone would wander into the lair and discover just how delicious and happy they could be living with him here.
He closed his eyes and waited. Then he got an idea. One that filled him with the greatest of pleasure. He knew someone who would want to live with him here. With a smile of satisfaction, he made a decision on how to get her to the house.
Blackout: Chapter Nine
Thursday
Cassie heard a car roar to life as she stepped out the back of the resort. The engine had a familiar purr. When she rounded the corner and looked toward the parking lot, she saw Griff under the hood of the car. She paused, just watching him work. She might have argued with him last night—disagreed somewhat at the very least—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate him for what he was. One hunk of gorgeous manhood. He wore a flannel shirt that wasn’t tucked in to the waistband of his jeans. Jeans that curved against long muscled thighs.
His position gave her an excellent view of his ass, and she allowed a smile to slip out. Cassie mulled over her discussion last night with Griff as she’d left his room. She knew her own mind and knew staying with a man like him could be dangerous in a lot of ways. She’d never gotten the vibes off of him that he’d physically harm her, but she didn’t trust herself not to care about him a little too much. She refused to shack up with a guy. Just because he had enough testosterone, personality and gentleness to fuel dormant bits of her libido didn’t mean she had to give into his demands that she do what he wanted.
Last night while she’d disagreed with him a strange thrill had bubbled and percolated in her blood stream. When she’d left his room, she realized their discussion felt far different than the arguments she’d had with her ex-husband. She’d never felt excited discussing anything with the ex, whereas the mere act of not agreeing with Griff made her want to reach out and grab him. To kiss him.
She hated that. She didn’t want to be excited by a man who clearly liked giving orders, and who would no doubt relish telling her what to do if he thought he could get away with it on a regular basis.
No, she’d had enough of that ten years ago. She’d made it through the ego-crushing experience of being married to a dominating man. She’d learned her lesson. It had been a very, very good thing she hadn’t stayed with him last night and maybe done something stupid.
Yeah, she’d keep telling herself that.
She cleared her throat, and he jerked around. The guard dog expression in his eyes made something inside her stir with the slightest hint of fear. Yeah, he could be dangerous. Very dangerous if he wanted to be.
“Hey,” he said. “Sneaking up on me for a reason?”
“Watching you work. So the Charger’s fine?”
He turned back to the car and slammed the hood. “Yep.” He sat in the car long enough to turn it off. He left the car, slammed the door and locked it. “The garbage can kept the parts safe. We’re good to go. We can leave here whenever we want.”
“We?”
“Your rental isn’t likely to work. It’s a brand new sedan, right?”
“You’re right. It’s probably fried.”
“Let’s try it.”
They wandered to the sedan and she unlocked it. When she hoped inside to start it, it simply made a clicking noise. “Damn. No juice.”
He leaned on driver’s side door and looked down on her. “Look, even if you hate my guts, I’ll still offer you a ride out of here when I leave.”
“Well, let’s not get dramatic. I don’t hate you.”
His eyes narrowed, and the hint of a smile found his mouth. It disappeared almost as quickly as it came. “Look, I get your need for boundaries. You mentioned an ex-husband, and my guess is he’s part of the reason you’re like this.”
Resentment danced inside her. “Why I’m like this? You make it sound like a defect. I think it’s a really good thing I’m strong independent woman. But I also know there are a hell of a lot of men who are threatened by that. Are you?”
He planted his hands on his hips, and his face had turned to stone again. “Hell no. I get that you’ve been hurt. But you and I should stick together during this event. If we want to survive, we need to work as a unit.”
“A military precise operation.”
“You got it.”
She slipped from the car and locked it. The keys went back in her jeans pocket along with her room key. “I agree. Let’s work together.”
His eyes narrowed. “Okay. Look, I’m going to head over to the sheriff’s department and see what’s happening. Maybe I can get an idea of what shape the world is in.” He took the car keys out of his pocket and held them out to her. “Here.”
She stared at his hand. “Why?”
“I’m walking to the sheriff’s department. I don’t want anyone to see I have a working car. But if something screwed up happens, I’d like you to have the car so you can leave whenever you want.”
She took the keys, but said, “Griff, nothing’s going to happen to you.”
His big shoulders went up and down in a totally nonchalant gesture. “You never know. Better you have the keys. I’ll get them back as soon as I return. See you later.”
As he walked away, her hands clenched tightly around the keys. She looked down at them, a sudden weight settling on her shoulders that felt like enormous responsibility. Maybe even a tiny bit of guilt. The man was trusting her with a car he obviously loved.
“Griff,” she called out.
He turned back, still within ear shot. “You might regret giving me these keys.”
“Why?”
“I drive too fast.”
He laughed, the sound sharp and genuine. But instead of taking back his keys he waved and kept walking.
She headed back to the resort back entrance, feeling more in control. Now that she knew the parameters of her relationship with Griff, she could stop thinking about how damned gorgeous he looked and how much he turned her on.
“Yeah, right,” she murmured.
When she returned to the front desk, Penny was staring at the counter in front of her. Her mug looked displeased. What had thrown Penny off, Cassie couldn’t say. Maybe the fact she couldn’t watch twenty-four hour news channels anymore, people hadn’t paid her for rooms, or that her son hadn’t returned.
“Something wrong?” Cassie put up one hand. “No, don’t answer that. The world is probably screwed. Of course something’s wrong.”
Penny smiled, but it didn’t look genuine. This morning her hair looked as if she had barely dragged a comb through it. She wore too much makeup; her eyelashes were so thick with mascara they looked artificial. Maybe they were. She’d never seen Penny made up or as frazzled as this before.
“Nothing’s wrong dear. Other than the world going to hell, of course,” Penny said.
Cassie leaned on the counter. “There’s a lot to be thankful for. Without electricity things should actually be more quiet. Hardly any car horns, traffic, obnoxious planes flying over. You know. All those pesky modern conveniences won’t stress us out anymore because we won’t have them.”
Penny snorted a short laugh. “You’re right.”
“We still have working flashlights. Griff’s crank radio brought in radio operator that said quite a few satellites and GPS systems aren’t working. But we don’t know how accurate that report is. There’s still some blessings to be counted, though.”
“Yeah but that doesn’t change the way most people really are.” Penny touched her rounded belly as she stepped from behind the counter. “Right here in the core, people just don’t give a damn about their fellow neighbors. They’re just shits.”
Wow. This woman continued to surprise Cassie. Where she’d seemed uniform enough in behavior when they first met, now she went from cheerful to off-kilter in a heartbeat.
Cassie didn’t know how to respond. “Are they?”
Penny glared at her computer, unplugged and without juice for maybe eternity. “Yes.”
“I prefer to think everyone has their good and bad points.” Cassie figured there wasn’t too much she could do to change Penny’s mind, so she steered her in a different direction. “Is there somewhere in particular your son might go? Somewhere we could start looking for him?”
“No. Nothing I’m aware of. When is Griff coming back?” Penny asked as she wandered to the closed front doors.
“He said it might be awhile.”
“Maybe we should look for him. Do you think he’s in trouble?”
“He just went to the sheriff’s department to see what’s going on.”
Penny drew in a breath and released it between her lips. “What if something happens to him?”
How the hell could she answer that? “If there’s anyone who can take care of himself, it’s Griff.”
Penny grunted, her frown still firmly in place. She stared out the locked glass doors. “If anything did happen to him, how are you and I going to survive? Are you trained to handle the new world out there?”
“No.”
Penny nodded emphatically. “Neither am I. Here’s what I think we should do if Griff is killed—”
“No.” The word snapped out of Cassie. “I’m not going to think like that because it won’t happen.”
“You don’t know jack.” Penny’s voice held vinegar and ice in one nasty combination as she threw a disgusted look at Cassie. “We need men to protect us. So we had better keep our eyes peeled if anything happens to Griff.”
Was this woman serious? Cassie was momentarily speechless.
In another part of her brain she acknowledged worry. If anything did happen to Griff what would she do? Yes, he’d already taught her a significant amount she’d need to survive without modern conveniences. But the idea of doing any of it without him scared the crap out of her.
“Penny, I refuse to live my life like that. I’m a strong woman, and I can do this on my own if I have to.”
Penny shook her head and pushed her fingers through her tangled hair. “Maybe you can, but you can’t tell me that you could battle a full grown man without help. I don’t care how strong a woman you are.”
“I’m not talking about physical strength. I mean mental. Women survived the wild west without men on many occasions. I think we could do it again if we had to.”
Penny smoothed her hands down her jeaned hips, drawing her long-sleeved blue sweater over her rounded body. “All my life, up until running this hotel, I’ve had to make it in the world by doing what I had to do. So that makes me a strong woman. But I’m not stupid. If a man wants to do it for me, let him.” Penny headed for the front. “I just need some fresh air. I’m not staying in here all the time.”
Penny pushed open one side of the double doors.
Cassie’s heart leapt as she lifted a hand in protest. “Penny, don’t.”
Penny went out the door and down the steps without a backward glance. Cassie hurried to the doors and what she saw a second later froze her heart. Two men were talking to Penny, and they didn’t look savory. Looks, of course, didn’t always mean what a person thought they did. Yet these guys gave Cassie the creeps. One wore fatigues she imagined the guy bought at a military surplus. They looked new and current. He had a shaved head, big tattoos on both forearms, and a huge rifle. An automatic rifle from the looks of it. Could the military be coming into town to help? The National Guard? It seemed too quick for that type of assistance to be here, out in the boonies. Besides, the uniform appeared cobbled together like pieces of a puzzle forced to fit.
The other man wore a black vest over a blue flannel long-sleeved shirt and jeans. His long black hair and mustache under a cowboy hat made him appear like a cowboy from an old west movie. He glanced her way, and the smile that spread across his face sent a cold wave over her.