Kincade's Rose (Megalodon Team) (7 page)

“Good.  Breakfast is out here.”  Tyson
reached out his left hand and she saw the flash of his ring before she placed
her hand in his.

Jayde couldn’t explain how comforting it
was to see that ring on his finger.  She felt secure and easily walked towards
him, stepping from behind the chair.  Oblivious to everyone else there, he
kissed her before leading her out to the main room.  It was brief, but it was
enough to convey his feelings to Jayde.

She saw five guys lounging around the
living area.  They were all dressed similarly to Tyson, but to her, none looked
as good.  Each of them looked at her inquisitively.  Tyson went to the kitchen
island and began fixing her a plate; the few who weren’t watching her observed
him with amazement.  Jayde wondered why.

A tall, dark, handsome man stood and walked
toward her.  He flowed like water.  “Well, well, well…” he began.  “Aren’t you
going to introduce us, Cade?”

Cade?
  She thought his name was
Tyson!  Jayde looked over at him and saw a scowl on his face.  “Leave her
alone, Maverick.”

The tall man ignored him.  “Hello, there–”

“Maverick!” Tyson had a threat in his
voice.  “Leave her alone.”

Again the directive was dismissed. “What’s
your name?”  Maverick kept looking at her.  He was very suave.

“Your plate is ready,” Tyson interrupted
them and looking directly at Jayde.  “Come eat.”

She glanced back at Tyson then stuck out
her hand at the man who was in front of her.  “Jayde.  My name is Jayde.”

“Mine is Maverick, my dear.  But if you
call, I will answer to anything.”  He winked at her as he shook her hand.

Jayde thought Tyson might say something
about their sham of a marriage but he kept his mouth shut and glared, giving
her a small stab of disappointment.  With a small smile, she took her hand back
and went to Tyson who held out her chair for her, before he had to take a phone
call.

The rest of the men came over and
introduced themselves.  All but one flirted with her, putting her at ease.  The
blond man named Scott just watched her.  Jayde noticed that the more flirting
they did, the more pissed off Tyson appeared to become.  Maverick was the worst
of the lot; straddling a chair next to her, he kept up a steady conversation.

The second his dark hand reached for a
piece of fruit on Jayde’s plate, Tyson reacted.  His hand closed over
Maverick’s wrist, halting his movement.  “Enough.  Leave her alone, Maverick,”
he growled.  “In fact, all of you leave her alone.”

Maverick stood and met Tyson glare for
glare.  “Why should I?”

“Aside from the fact I said so?  Because
she is
my
wife
!” Tyson snapped.

The room fell so quiet it was as if
breathing had ceased. Each of the five men tried to close their open mouths but
couldn’t seem to do so. Maverick raised an eyebrow but backed off silently.

“What did you say?” Scott asked. Jayde
couldn’t tell if there was disgust in his voice or just plain surprise.

“I said,” Tyson ground out.  “Jayde is my
wife.  Respect her, protect her; just remember she is not up for grabs.”

“Well, damn,” another voice piped in, “I
didn’t expect you to get married especially after the whole fiasco with…” it
fell silent after the man gained five glares.  But it was too late; Jayde had
caught on.

One of the others, Dimitri, stood and
walked over with a half grin on his face.  “Well, hell, congratulations! 
Welcome to the family, Jayde.”  He placed a quick kiss on her cheek and shook
Tyson’s hand.  The others offered congratulatory speeches for Tyson as well.

Jayde felt uncomfortable with the looks she
was receiving from everyone so she tucked her head and dug into her food.  She
vaguely remembered hearing a phone ring and someone tell Tyson it was for him.

After she finished with her food, she sat a
while longer.  Tyson was still on the phone and the other men were standing in
groups talking to one another.  Finally she slipped away into the small room,
shutting and locking the door behind her before climbing into the bed and
succumbing to tears.

He obviously had someone else in his life. 
Why did that make her so sad?  When was she going to get home?  The events of
the past few days were just too much and she fell apart.

Tyson got off the phone with his supervisor
in the counterterrorism unit.  They’d been briefed and understood his need to
keep Jayde protected since he’d claimed her as his own.  They would set her up
with an apartment wherever she wanted to go and a joint bank account into which
part of his checks would be deposited.

Now, all he had to do was explain to Jayde
they were really married, and he didn’t plan on divorcing her.  Then he’d tell
her about the apartment and the joint account.  That should go over
real
well.  Finally, he would tell her he was a Navy SEAL who’d just been cleared to
go back on duty, so he’d be leaving for indefinite periods of time to destinations
he couldn’t disclose.  Yep, should be a piece of cake…which was exactly why he
was still sitting by the phone.

If he were honest with himself, he would
admit he was scared shitless.  He was scared she’d demand a divorce, say she
never wanted to see him again, and tell him she hated him.  A woman had never
meant more to him, and he’d known her less than ninety-six hours, but he knew
her mark was upon him forever.

When Tyson came back to the present he
didn’t see her at the table and stood immediately. His friends had knowing
looks on their faces as they gestured to the bedroom. His heart slowly began to
beat normally.  Tyson went to the bedroom door and tried the knob.  Locked.

He knocked again and when he didn’t receive
an answer, he unlocked the door with the key.  A soft smile crossed his face as
he saw her curled up in a small ball on the bed, the pillow clutched to her
chest.

“Jayde,” he said quietly.  “Jayde, I have
to talk to you.”  He shut the door behind him so it was just the two of them.

“Go away,” she mumbled, gathering the
pillow closer to her face.

“Not until we talk.”  He sat down on the
bed and frowned as she scooted away from him.  “Look at me,” he ordered.

“Go away.”

“No,” he said.

“We have nothing to say to one another
until you get me back to someplace I recognize.”  The pillow muffled her voice.

“Would you stop talking to the pillow and
look at me?”

“No!” Jayde had responded so fast it seemed
his words hadn’t even faded from the air before she’d refused his request.

“No?”

“No.”  If anything, her grip on the pillow
tightened.

“Don’t make me take it from you,” Tyson
whispered.

“Just leave me alone whoever you are!”

That time he heard the tears.  “I’m your
husband, Tyson Randolph Kincade.  Come on, Jayde look at me,” he coaxed.

That got a response.  She sat up in bed and
threw the pillow at him before presenting him with her back again.  “No, you
aren’t my husband! Who the hell is Cade?” she snapped.

“Fine,” he growled, pissed solely because
she said he wasn’t her husband.  He forced her onto her back and straddled her
body.  Tyson smiled when he saw her eyes closed tightly, a smile that faltered
as he saw the tear stains on her cheeks.  “Cade is my nickname, what the men
call me.  Look at me.”

She wordlessly shook her head, then she
began to struggle.  It was nothing for him to subdue her, but he didn’t want
to.  Nevertheless, he gathered both her wrists in one of his hands and slid his
other one behind her head to bring her mouth to meet his.

Tyson caught the moan he knew she didn’t
want him to hear.  As her bucking body began to rub against him, he let go of
her wrists and raised her shirt.

Jayde fumbled with the buttons on his
pants.  Her eyes opened and found his direct gaze on her.  He read the
barefaced need in her eyes and stripped them both of their clothes in record
time, his mouth covering hers as he slid deep within her welcoming heat.

Her fingers dug into his back, her legs
clenched around his waist, Tyson made love to his wife of two and a half days
like a man possessed with a portion of his SEAL team out in the living room of
a house in the middle of the Belizean rainforest.  His mouth captured every one
of her moans and whimpers.  He knew she wanted it faster, but he refused.

For what seemed liked forever, Tyson kept
her on edge as he just slid in and out of her with smooth, deliberate strokes. 
Fresh tears fell from her eyes and his thumbs wiped them away as he moved
within her.

With the two of them like this, the outside
world didn’t exist.  There was no family, no jobs, no problems—no anything. 
Just them.  Him and her.  Together as one.  How it was supposed to be.

It got to be too much and his pace
quickened, sending them both over the edge.  The squeaking of the bed frame did
not register to either one of them, though it was easily heard by the rest of
the men in the house who just smiled.  Once again, Jayde drew blood while Tyson
screamed a release into her mouth.  Kissing her again, he slid out of her body
and covered them both with blankets, spooning their bodies.

“I love you, Jayde,” he whispered as he too
fell under the lure of the sandman.

A deep voice intruded on their slumber.
“Wake up you two, the plane is ready to go.”

Jayde and Tyson woke up.  They were lying
on their right sides.  Tyson had his left hand resting with hers, showing their
identical rings to the man who had awoken them.

Jayde still hurt. Having only made love a
few times before she met him, he’d worn out every one of her muscles. The sex
she’d had pre-Tyson was nothing like it was now; he made her totally involved
as opposed to being merely “there.” The hiking they had done earlier had helped
to fatigue her, but it was the intensity of their lovemaking that had really
done her in.  As she looked over her shoulder, she noticed what seemed to be
all of the men standing around the bed grinning at them.  She gasped and shrank
closer to Tyson with embarrassment, pulling the blanket up over her face.  She
hoped they would all just disappear.  How would she ever face them again?

“Get out, guys,” Tyson grumbled.  He looked
down at Jayde’s darker body next to his tan one and the glare he’d been
sporting turned softer and gentler.

“Well come on now, Cade, we were concerned
that she might have killed you when you came in and didn’t leave for a few
hours.  Then again, I think we can see that you would’ve died a happy man.”  A
round of male laughter filled the room.

“Out!” Tyson yelled.

“Okay, only since we see your clothes all
over the room.  The plane is ready to go.”  The last sentence was a bit more
sober.  But they all filed out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

“Come on, let’s get dressed,” Tyson said as
he climbed out of bed, seemingly totally at ease with his nudity.  Jayde inched
to the edge, holding the blanket around her like a shield.  Tyson arched an
eyebrow at her action.  “What are you doing?”

“Going to the bathroom,” she said as she
picked up her scattered clothing.  Jayde wouldn’t look at him as he stood there
putting on his boxers and then his pants.

“And the blanket is…what…part of your
outfit?” he asked.

“Something like that.”  She backed into the
chair and stumbled, barely managing to recover the blanket before it dropped to
the floor.

“You do realize that I have seen you naked
already?” Tyson reminded her as he strode towards her in nothing but his pants.

“That was different,” she protested as she
tried not to become aroused by the way his pants hugged his lean hips—tried and
failed.

Tyson stepped on the edge of the blanket
and crossed his arms over his chiseled chest as he shook his head.  “Don’t
think so.”

Jayde kept backing up but couldn’t get to
the bathroom since he was on the corner of the blanket.  “Do you mind?”  She
nodded in the direction of his foot.

“Not at all.”  He just looked at her and
blinked his hazel eyes.  “Go on and get dressed.  I’ll wait here.”

“Can you get off the blanket?”

“I could but I don’t want to.  Why are you
so embarrassed?” Tyson wondered.

“I don’t know, I just am.  Will you close
your eyes?”

Tyson knew it would take longer than a few
days to understand his woman, but he decided to grant her a brief reprieve. 
“Sure.”  He shut them almost all the way and it took all of his willpower not
to grin as he watched her drop the blanket and bolt for the sanctuary of the
bathroom.  God, his wife was a beauty.  His wife, he didn’t think he would ever
get tired of saying that.

“Are you ready in there?”  A voice came
through the door.

“Almost, she’s just in the bathroom,” Tyson
answered as he tugged his shirt on over his head.  “Come on in if you need
to.”  He sat on the bed and put on his socks and boots as his best friend on
the team entered.

Scott “Harrier” Leighton was tall and
extremely muscular with blond hair and blue eyes.  With a quick glance at the
bathroom door he turned back to his friend.  “I have to say, Cade, we were very
surprised with the news of your marriage.”  He pulled the chair up beside the
bed and straddled it, facing his friend.

“It was quick,” Tyson admitted.

“How long have you known her?”

Two and a half days
. Blinking away
his thought Tyson answered, “Long enough Harrier, why the questions?”

“Because I was the one who picked up the
pieces with you after Carrie.  You do remember your words to me, right? ‘I will
never be that involved with a woman again.’  And she was only a fiancée.  You
married this one.  Carrie was only four months ago; sure you aren’t just on the
rebound?”

“Jayde saved me down here in Belize.  And
it was over long before it ended with Carrie, you know that.  Hell, man, I
hadn’t even slept with her in a little more than a year.”

“So you married Jayde out of gratitude?” 
Harrier’s eyes glanced towards the door, content that the shower was still
running.

“No, that was how we, well I, made it out. 
We had to renew our vows or I was going to be back in interrogation and this
time it wouldn’t have been just the uncomfortable shackles and high heat that
they hit me with.”

“And once you’re back in the States?  Don’t
take this the wrong way, but there is the color difference.”

“So?”  Tyson’s voice grew dangerous.  “What
about it?”

“I’m just saying.  What do you really know
about her?  Her family?”

“I will do whatever is necessary to protect
her,” Tyson said. He should have known Harrier didn’t mean anything bad about
color. His friend was in love with a stunning black woman himself, just hadn’t
managed to convince her they were meant to be yet.

“Meaning, you are going to help her get set
up somewhere in the States?” Harrier paused.  “Does she know what you do?”

“She knows about the counterterrorism
unit.  That’s it.”  Tyson looked at the bathroom door.

“You know what is best for you, so if you
are happy, then so am I.  All I am going to say is this:  Carrie has been
hanging back around.  She told all of us how much she misses you and realizes
what a mistake she made.  Apparently, that guy she was with has started to hit
her.”

“Is she all right?  Has she left him?” 
Tyson was a staunch defender of women.  Regardless of his past with Carrie, he
would still protect her against a man who beat her.

“She says she is waiting for you to come
back home…” Harrier paused again.  “Then she will leave him.”

“I have to get her away from him.”

Harrier nodded solemnly, then a grin
crossed his handsome face as he put up one booted foot on the bed frame. 
“Sounded like you were having fun in here,” he quipped as he shoved his foot,
bringing the loud squeak the metal frame made to Tyson’s attention.

Tyson smiled and nodded.  He hadn’t
realized the others had heard them.  “Don’t tell Jayde; she would be so
embarrassed.”

“Not my place to say anything. But I can’t
vouch for the rest of the men,” Harrier said with a grin, and Tyson knew full
well he’d already ordered the men to keep their mouths shut about it.

“Oh! I didn’t know anyone was out here!”
Jayde exclaimed as moved towards her boots.  She hoped she came off as
surprised, yet nonchalant, although she was anything but.  They’d heard the bed
squeaking; her face flamed with embarrassment.  But it was what
she’d
heard
while drying off in the bathroom that knocked the wind out of her sails… the
little she had left.

“Just came in to see if you were ready to
go, ma’am,” Scott said politely, standing.

“Ready to go home?  Definitely.”  She
smiled and nodded at them both as she picked up her bag of “souvenirs”, though
admittedly there wasn’t much since Tyson had made her hightail it out her
hotel.  Jayde was determined not to show Tyson or Scott how much was she hurt and
mortified.

Tyson put his hand on the small of her back
and guided her out of the house to an awaiting Jeep.  With a nod to Scott and
the rest of the men, he and Jayde got in the back and drove off into the
darkness.

“Jayde, I have to talk to you,” he said as
they bounced along on a dirt road.

“What?” 
Why does my voice sound so
broken
?

“We have contacted your parents and told
them you would come home late.”

“You what?” she screeched.

“Don’t worry.  My boss told them you were
imperative to our operation here in Belize, and that he loved working with you
and has offered you a job,” Tyson continued calmly.

Jayde was astonished.  “Why?”

“So you can decide where you want to move. 
An apartment will be reserved for you and you can paint.  Go wherever you want in
the States.  He said he would tell your parents you are working in an office
there,” Tyson said as he looked across the dark Jeep at her profile.

“I don’t need you to do that,” she
protested as she remembered the love he had in his voice for the woman named
Carrie.  She’d heard it when he and Scott had been talking earlier; she’d
unwittingly caught the tail end of that conversation as she’d finished her
shower.  Besides, being indebted to him was not what she wanted.

You want him,
her mind screamed.

“Trust me; they are grateful for the help
you gave us.  As am I.  Those men I encountered are part of a cell that we have
been after.  This is the least my employers could do.”

She had a chance to go wherever she
wanted.  “Where do you live Tyson?” 
What is this “cell” you are after, this
whole terrorist thing?

“I have an apartment in Washington, D.C. 
Why?” Tyson asked.

“Just wondering.  I want to go to
Washington…state.”  She nodded and reaffirmed her decision. “The Seattle area.”

“Okay, do you want to go home and see your
parents first?”

Jayde tried to not to cry; he didn’t sound
the least bit sad she’d chosen a place clear across the country from him. “No.
I should go get my things from New York, though.”

“Don’t worry about it.  They will be moved
for you.  A two bedroom good enough for you?”

“Perfect.”  Jayde smiled.  She had some
money set aside and she’d just have to dig into that.  “Just make sure it
doesn’t cost an outrageous amount to rent.”

“Right.”  He leaned over and whispered
something to the man in the front passenger’s seat, who immediately got on a
phone.  “We will send you to Seattle, then.”

“Okay.”  Part of her didn’t want to accept,
but the part that had suffered the fear in the jungle did.

“I just want to tell you that I am very
proud of you, for the way you handled yourself from the second we met.”

Jayde avoided his eyes, her smile turning
tremulous. “Well, it certainly has been an adventure.  Thanks for taking care
of me.” Tyson pulled a card out of his wallet.  There were some numbers on it. 
Jayde looked at it closely in the dark and back at him.  “What is this for?”

“If you need to get in contact with me and
I am not close by.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.  Besides, you will
be too busy saving the country to have time for me.” Jayde said, proud her
voice didn’t waver.

“We are going to D.C. first,” he said as
the Jeep stopped. They walked to the waiting plane.

“Okay.”  She buckled herself in as the
plane taxied off down the packed dirt strip.  It didn’t even look like an
airport, but Jayde didn’t feel like asking questions.  All she knew was she was
going home.

Tyson watched as his wife settled into a
seat and closed her eyes.  He still didn’t know how he was going to let her
go.  The place in Seattle would be taken care of by him.  He tried to listen to
what Harrier was saying to him, but all he could focus on was the woman
sleeping across the plane from him.  Carrie was nothing but a distant memory,
and if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, had been for a while
before he kicked her out.

He ran his hand over his face and swore. 
Jayde had become his heart and he didn’t want to lose her:  the way her face
sparkled as she climbed over rocks and jumped streams.  How she loved the
outdoors.  Her strength.  Her beauty.  Her love.  Maybe she would consent to
move to Washington D.C. and stay at his place.

As he sat here he realized how little he
actually knew about her.  Tyson knew she loved to paint, but he didn’t know
what she painted, or with what.  And he still wanted to know what she’d been
thinking the day he’d met her when she’d licked her lips with that heated look
in her eyes.  That amount of passion in a woman deserved to be released by a
man who would appreciate it to the fullest extent…like him.

Tyson laced his fingers and studied her
sleeping form.  Her dark skin was smooth and blemish free.  Her full lips felt
perfect against his.  The roundness of her body hid the muscles that made her
such a joy to watch outside.  And she possessed perfect ass.

But her eyes…dear Lord…her eyes were a
weapon.  Those dark-brown orbs dragged a man into them and didn’t let him go.

He wanted to be the one who helped her find
whatever she was looking for.  He wanted to protect her from her overbearing
family. 
Who would keep the men away from her when he was not around?
 
Tyson growled low as he thought of her, his wife, going out with other men.

All of a sudden there was a loud explosion,
jolting the plane with a terrific force.  Jayde bolted awake with panic all
over her face. She immediately looked for Tyson.  He was heading for the
cockpit.  The entire plane was shaking; it felt like it was going to fall apart
at the seams.

Jayde saw black smoke billowing across the
window. She couldn’t tell where it was coming from.  All she knew was that she
was petrified.

“Jayde!” Tyson’s strong voice caught her
attention.

“What is going on, Tyson?  What’s
happening?”  Her dark eyes were wide with fear as she looked into the
remarkably calm ones of Tyson Kincade.