MILITARY ROMANCE: The War Within Himself (Alpha Bad Boy Marine Army Seal) (Contemporary Military Suspense & Thriller Romance) (80 page)

Chapter Four

Valerie had been saved by an angel. That was the only explanation. Death had greeted her with his insidious sneer but a force stronger than it had intervened and ripped her out of its clutches. Her mind was empty of all of its worries. Thoughts about the book and the investigation and the men who wanted her dead had no bearing in this new head of hers.

But something wasn’t right.

She was falling, her arms flailing around her for something, anything to grab onto and coming out empty handed every single time. Her chest felt hot and heavy, like someone had reached their hands into her rib cage and wrung out her lungs like a giant sponge.

Ah. But there it was.

Relief.

Something like a kiss of air lifted her out of this, the glorious sensation of lips that cared for her. But alas, it only lasted a short minute.

And then she was falling all over again.

She felt like she had been filleted, her insides drawn out for everyone to see, but none of that mattered. She was cold. Frigid air froze her cells, that essential life energy quickly slipping away from her. There was desperation in the back of her mind, but it was not her own. There must have been another person there. She knew it had to have been her savior, but when she tried to open her mouth to tell him that she was okay, to thank him, her body wouldn’t move.

There was a heavy blow to her chest.

She let out a scream in her head, her back arching in pain. The sharp sensation traveled through her veins, but so did something else. It was like that kiss of air, but it lasted longer. It was far more crisp.

It reached down and out to the far recesses of her body from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. Then, more of the blows to her chest. She could taste the salt of the waves of water rumbling up through her chest. She could feel the beginnings of her eyes rolling open.

She was aware of the hands on her sternum but she had to push herself. She began to scrunch up her abdomen, but the sharp pain stopped her. Still, she willed herself awake, using her own strength and that of her angel.

Finally, she was able to wrench herself out of the depths. The force of the water rushing up through her throat propelled her off of the ground. Her head of thick wet hair flew around her, splashing salty water onto the walls. Strong arms clasped around her, a hand slamming on her back as water poured out of her mouth. The burn of salt and bile lingered, stinging her throat.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Valerie wiped her hand across her lips, blinking her eyes open so that she could get her first glimpse of the man that had saved her. Her heart started pounding against her chest at the sight of him. He had the most interesting eyes—dark purple with a kind of gray haze over them. His face held a precise bone structure with high cheekbones and a strong jaw. The wet hair laying down his neck and shoulders, punctuated with shades of gray, framed his perfect face.

Valerie absentmindedly placed a palm on his strong chest, feeling his heartbeat under her hand. “Hi,” She whispered.

He leaned into her. “Hi.”

His warm breath sent her heart into overdrive. “I have to get you inside.” With that, he lifted her up into his arms.

Valerie bit her lip, clutching onto his wet suit for support, but she didn’t need it. He held her as if she barely weighed over twenty pounds. She glanced all around her. She seemed to be in some sort of compressed chamber, but he took her to a door and entered a code into the small keypad. A loud buzzing sound rang through the chamber.

Valerie winced as he pressed a large button under the keypad, allowing the door to open and revealing a dark corridor. He carried her through the hallway, which then opened up to an even larger space. There was a full, stainless steel kitchen and then an even smaller area that housed a day bed and a desk with a white lamp next to it.

He set her down on the bed and clicked the lamp on. “What is this place?” Valerie asked, pressing her back against the back of the bed.

The man went into his kitchen, which, upon second look, looked a lot like a lab as well, complete with test-tube holders and pipets. “It’s my station. I’m here on…
scientific
work.”

Valerie narrowed her eyes. An underwater lab didn’t make much sense to her. “So, you’re a scientist?”

He shook his head as he pulled open the fridge and retrieved an unmarked bottle of water. “I’m a Lieutenant in the military.”

Valerie’s stomach lurched. “Are you Cuban?” She demanded as she took the water from him. Her mouth watered just at the sight of it, but when she took her first gulp, it became apparent that the sweet liquid was the farthest thing from water. As it splashed down her esophagus and into her empty stomach, she found that the pain in her abdomen was already starting to go away. She shifted the cloth that had been wrapped around her to reveal a wound that had already begun to crust over. 

The man laughed, the sound bringing a subconscious smile to Valerie’s face. “No, I’m Javen Ning and I do not have any earthly affiliations.”

Valerie furrowed her brow. “That doesn’t make any sense,” She said.

But then Javen placed a soft hand on her cheek, his eyes locked on hers. “Of course it does. Just think hard enough and the answer will come.”

Valerie let her eyes flicker shut. She knew that if she could bring herself to sense his emotion deep enough, she might be able to uncover what he was hiding.

But something wasn’t right. Her mind kept hitting some sort of mental block. It was like he refused to let her in. But that didn’t make much sense, because in order for him to refuse her entrance, he would have to know that she was knocking on the door in the first place, which meant… “You can do it too.”

Javen’s lips folded into a smile. He nodded slowly. “I’m like you.”

Valerie let out a slow breath. “I thought I was the only one. Well… my parents… they were more like me. I mean, they seemed to always know what to say and how to act it was like they had a constant read of everything I was feeling.”

Javen nodded, taking a sip of his own water. He then set it down and reached for a blanket, which he then used to cover Valerie.

Valerie shook her head. This was impossibly thoughtful of him.

“Your parents were like you.”

“What are the odds?”

“Pardon?”

“What are the odds that you would rescue me? That you would be exactly like me?”

But Javen just raised an eyebrow. “It’s not as much of a coincidence as you think.”

“What? Do you mean you were searching for me?”

Javen leaned into her, placing a hand over hers.

Valerie resented that her efforts to hide her anxiety had been in vain.

“I am looking to reunite our kind. I want to tell you more. I want to tell you everything, but I cannot breathe another word until I am certain that you are what I think you are.”

“And how do you plan to gain this certainty?” Valerie asked. She resented the idea of being held just outside of this exclusive club.

“I can run a DNA test right here in my lab. It will only take a few hours and then you’ll know. All of those questions you’ve had your entire life can finally be answered.”

It all sounded far too good to be true. Insane almost. But Valerie felt herself drawn to this man. Just looking at him was enough to send her heart into overdrive and her body on fire. She didn’t know if she could control herself being alone in a secluded lab with him for a couple of hours. She feared the consequences of actions she held practically inevitable. “But I have to get back. They will be looking for me.”

Javen flexed his jaw. “They
will
be looking for you, which is exactly why I can’t take you back. Those men, whoever they were, will be waiting for you at the surface. We have to give it time. They need to think that you’re dead. Or else you won’t be able to survive the seawall.”

Valerie knew he was trying to be persuasive, she could see it in his magnificent eyes, but as hard as it was, she needed to try to see things with her own mind. She evaluated his statement at face value. A short cost-benefit analysis told her that it didn’t matter whether he was just trying to be persuasive or not, he was right.

“Okay,” She nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Chapter Five

Valerie hated needles, but somehow, Javen made it bearable. After fetching her a change of clothes that consisted of a pair of joggers and a large t-shirt, he began to massage her arm. Valerie had been given shots hundreds of times to immunize herself against diseases and such, but she had never been prepped so thoroughly. It was like a dance with Javen, for his touch was gold and had the power to eradicate all of her fears.

“What could a person like you have done to be wanted killed?” Javen asked, right when he stuck the needle into her elbow.

Valerie winced at the strong ache. “What do you mean a person like me?”

He shrugged, his brow furrowed in concentration. “You’re a beautiful, obviously smart, woman with an advantage over everyone else. What did you do to get yourself in trouble?”

Valerie’s heart fluttered at the complement. “I ousted one of the largest drug trafficking groups in the world.” She couldn’t help but feel pride just saying it out loud.

Javen’s lips stretched into a crooked smile. “Did you really?” He said as he took the vile of fresh blood into the kitchen.

For lack of anything better to do, Valerie followed him. “Yes.”

“And how did you manage that?” He said, turning to her with a cotton swab in his hand.

Valerie shrugged. “I’m an accountant for a corporate law firm out in Miami. It just turns out that that very law firm is owned by a man affiliated with this group.” Valerie shuddered to remember the gory details of how she went from a happy, healthy employee, to a disillusioned woman running for her life. “He was laundering their money.”

“Please open your mouth. I need a DNA sample.”

Valerie felt a warmth in between her legs as he placed his hand on her face once more. It only lasted one short, agonizing moment.

“So, how are you certain?” He asked as he drove the swab into a test tube full of a blue-ish liquid.

Valerie frowned. “However anyone is certain. It was obvious the numbers didn’t add up. And the more I went asking, the more walls I hit. Then I started getting threats…” Valerie had to stop here. The last four months of her life had not been the easiest.

Javen poured the sample of her blood into what looked like a drive, then plugged that drive into her computer. He then turned his attention to the mixture in the test tube.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

Valerie let out a humorless laugh. “It is utterly remarkable that you even care.”

After sticking the test-tube in a boxlike machine, Javen turned to face her. He took a step towards her, putting less than a foot between the two of them. Valerie could feel his body heat radiating from him. She lifted her hands, an instinctual gesture, and laid her palms on his chest. All restraint had left her. She was too tired to deny herself what she really wanted.

Javen brushed his finger against her thigh. It was a small movement, but it spoke volumes. “How could I not?” He whispered, his gaze falling on her lips.

Valerie’s chest rapidly rose and fell with her breath. Her nipples were hard from the cold… and from him. She could feel him undressing her with his eyes and she couldn’t take it anymore. A short cost benefit analysis yielded little to no negative repercussions for. One. Little. Kiss.

She reached for him, her hand landing behind his neck, and pulled him down towards her. She drank him in, her eyes rolling back at the sensation of his hand hiking up the inside of her shirt. She wanted him inside of her already! She hitched her leg on his hip as he shifted her around so that her back was to the counter.

He hoisted her up on top of it, peeling her shirt off of her head. Her breasts bobbed free. He licked his lips before he licked her nipples. He had one hand on her free breast and the other clenching her jaw. Valerie moaned as she sucked on his finger, her hands clutching at the back of his head.

Javen ripped her joggers off, exposing her nakedness. He pressed his head against her torso, driving himself up through the center of her chest. She attacked his lips, a purr rolling in her throat as he thrust his tongue into her mouth. She pressed her fingers into his face, squeezing him as hard as she could with her legs.

He ripped them open, sucking on her neck as his fingers pressed into her cunt. Her jaw swung open as she sucked in buckets of pristine air. Her eyes watered; he was sucking on her so hard. One long, guttural grunt slipped from between her lips as she peeled off his shirt and dragged her nails down his back.

Javen grabbed her wrists with both of his hands and slammed them against the cabinets over her head. He dragged his tongue from the center of her collar bone up to her chin, landing a passionate kiss on her lips.

Valerie shoved him off of her and jumped off of the counter. She pulled his pants off, letting them pool around his ankles.

He stepped out of them and grabbed her arms, forcing her to turn around.

Valerie let out a sigh of ecstasy as he pushed her until her chest pressed against the cool counter. He entered her.

He pulled on her hair, stretching her neck taught as he banged her. One hard thrust after another after another.

Valerie could feel it in the belly of her being, the essence of the two of them radiating out, their lust filling the entire submarine. He fucked her harder and harder until she was shaking back and forth, her breasts bobbing up and down and her lips flapping around.

He let out a groan, followed by three swift grunts.

And then he came.

Valerie took a moment to catch her breath, but she could feel that ache in her abdomen. “Javen?”

“Yes?” he sounded just as out of breath as she felt.

“My stomach hurts.”

“Oh!” he hopped off of her like he had been shocked. “I’ll get you more medicine.”

“Thank you.” Valerie found it hard to talk around her dry mouth.

“Of course.” Javen traced his finger down her spine, planting a soft kiss on the back of her shoulder before putting on his pants and leaving her to redress herself.