RYDER: A Standalone Military Romance (Blake Security Book 1) (10 page)

I found the bottle of pain reliever, and after taking four, I headed out to get the bags. I passed Alicia sitting at the table in the kitchen with a pile of rice, boudin balls, and something that looked like cut up alligator strips in front of her. I wondered if Granny and Ol’ Sal had their final confrontation and that was the result.

I laughed and Alicia looked at me strangely. “You doing okay?” she asked.

I winked at her. “I’m tough.”

She smiled. “Good to know. I’m sorry you got shot helping me.”

“Ah, it’s just a scratch,” I told her in my tough-guy voice. “How’s the food?” She looked around to make sure Granny wasn’t there and said, "It's delicious, but way too much.”

I laughed. “Yeah, Granny doesn’t know a thing about serving healthy portions.”

“Sit down, cher. I’ll fix your plate.” Granny came into the kitchen behind me.

“I didn’t get the bags yet, Granny.”

“Well get on and git ‘em. Supper is cooling off.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I went and got the bags and put them in the room Granny told me to. When I got back to the table there was a plate there for me with even more food than Alicia had on hers.

“Eat you two,” Granny said. I watched Alicia take a bite of the rice. Her hand shook, as she brought the fork to her lips. I had an incredible desire to hold her until she felt safe and stopped shaking. I wished that she would let me in.

I was almost finished with my plate when I heard a car pulling in. I reached for my gun and slid out of my chair. “Cher, what are you doin’? That’s T-Bo comin’ ta pick me up. Miss Molly Labelle is de’pouille.” That meant she was a mess, and it was very non-specific in our language. I didn’t ask Granny what exactly was wrong with her and she didn’t elaborate. She went on to say, “I was headed over ta help do some cleanin’ up round her place.”

I pulled the kitchen curtain back just enough to see a blue pick-up stopping next to my car. I hadn’t seen T-Bo for a long time, but it was unmistakably him. He’s one of Granny’s oldest friends and much less preserved than she is. T-Bo is about seventy and looks to be about ninety. In his day, he was an alligator wrangler. That meant that when there was a gator causing trouble for one of the settlers along the swamp, they’d call him to come and get rid of it. He has scars on top of his scar tissue from that, as well as places where skin is actually missing from his legs from his days of catfish hunting. I couldn’t for the life of me, even after growing up here, ever understand why anyone would want to catch a catfish bad enough to stick their arm or leg in a deep hole and let something bite down on it.

Granny got up and went over and opened the door. “T-Bo! Look who’s here!”

T-Bo’s faded blue eyes landed on me, and then they almost disappeared as he grinned broadly. “Cho Co! Ryder!” Cho Co is an expression of surprise in our world. He shook my hand heartily, and then looked over at Alicia.

“Hi T-Bo,” I said. “This lady is my friend, Alicia.”

“Ga Lee, ain’t you pretty, boo.”

His accent was even thicker than Granny’s, and when I looked at Alicia, I could see by the look on her face she hadn’t understood a word he said. I didn’t blame her; sometimes with T-Bo it was even hard for me. It only took her a second to recover, however, and I was impressed. She smiled prettily and said, “It’s very nice to meet you Mr. T-Bo.” I couldn’t help but smile at the “Mister”; I’ll bet T-Bo’s never been called that.

He took her hand, but instead of shaking it like he did mine, he brought hers to his lips and the old flirt kissed it. I rolled my eyes, but Alicia was once again sweet and gracious. Granny insisted T-Bo sit down and eat with us—and for the next thirty minutes I went back and forth between my native Cajun language and proper English as I talked to T-Bo and Granny and tried to interpret for Alicia. Twice Granny refilled my plate and both times I told her I’d had enough. Both times I ate every bite. The whole meal was actually exhausting, and I was secretly glad when Granny announced it was time for them to go.

“I won’t be back ‘til da mornin’, cher. It’s my turn to stay with Miss Molly over da night.”

“Okay Granny.” Once again she put her little hand on the side of my face.

I was surprised when she looked into my eyes and said, “I sure am glad you okay, cher. If you get yourself shot again, you’ll have to contend with me.”

I tried to keep a straight face as I said, “Well, in that case, I’ll be good for sure.” She smacked me lightly and her face crinkled back up into a smile.

With a look of mischief in her eyes she said, “You think you’re funny wit that smart mouth, but you jus ask Ol’ Sly how mean your Granny can be.” She leaned in close before she left and said, “Take care a dat girl too. Son âme est troublée.” Once again she was telling me that: “Her soul is troubled”—and I suspected Granny had hit that nail right on the head.

RYDER

              After Granny and T-Bo left, I poured Alicia and I a glass of sweet tea and we took it out on porch facing the swamp. She sat quietly sipping hers for a long time as we listened to the sounds drifting up from the water. It was mostly quiet but for the occasional plop of one of our famous jumping fish along with the buzz of a bumblebee. Alicia broke our silence by saying, “I can’t stay here, Ryder.”

              My first instinct was to be offended. “I know it’s not a mansion, but it’s safe.”

              She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. I can’t risk your grandmother and your lives. This is my problem, and I need to fix it.”

              I felt bad for thinking she was judging the way we lived. I got the feeling from things she’d told me that the little shack I’d grown up in might be a palace compared to some of the places she’d lived. “Any chance you’re ever going to share what that problem is with me? Maybe I could help you make it go away.”

              “You can’t, Ryder. Nobody can help me. I have to deal with this on my own. I do appreciate the offer, and everything else you’ve done for me.”

              “How do you know that I can’t help you? Between me and Blake and the rest of the guys we work with, we’ve got a combined forty years of military experience. We’re good at what we do. There aren’t many problems we can’t eventually solve, and I know that we could keep you safe. But…we have to know what the problem is first.”

              “This is the kind of problem that the more people know, the worse it becomes. I will stay here for tonight, but I’d appreciate it if you could take me back to town tomorrow, please.”

              “I’m not holding you prisoner here, Alicia. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, but like I told you at the hotel, I won’t leave you alone.”

              She sighed and sat her tea glass down. Getting up and going over to the porch railing, she looked out into the swamp. I was surprised when she changed the subject. “The trees look like they grow right out of the water.”

              I got up and stood next to her. We both looked out at the smooth, glassy surface of the water. To some people, the swamp was an ugly mess of mud and reptiles, but I’ve always been able to see the beauty in it. I realized I liked sharing it with Alicia. “It’s only about knee deep,” I told her.

              “Really? It’s hard to believe alligators and other things live in there. It’s so calm and quiet.”

              I nodded. “It comes alive mostly at night. It’s like a symphony out here of crickets and frogs, and the bugs will be so thick you won’t be able to stand it this time of year.”

              “It’s peaceful now,” she said, “I like it.”

              “I like it, too. To me this will always be home. Do you ever miss your home, Alicia?”

              She shook her head. “I don’t really believe home is a place. I believe that home is where your heart is happy and where the people you love are. I don’t really think of Russia as home because I was never really happy there. This is home to you because you have fond memories and the people you love are still here. I’m going to have that someday.”

The idea that she was twenty-four years old and she’d never been happy made my heart hurt. Bravely, or stupidly, I rested my hand on her shoulder. I felt her tense at first, but she relaxed quickly and even lay her head over slightly so the back of my hand was touching her cheek. We stood there like that for a moment before she looked at me. God, I wanted to kiss her. Instead, I asked, “So there’s nowhere that you consider home?”

              “No,” she said. “I know it’s out there somewhere; I just haven’t found it yet.” She didn’t break eye contact with me, and I thought that her hazel eyes were blazing with the same need that I was feeling. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part, but her full lips taunted me, and I finally couldn’t stand it any longer. I dipped my head down, and before she could think it through and move away, I used my hand to tip her chin up and I kissed her. The first touch was soft and warm and I meant to leave it at that, but I felt her lips fall open underneath mine—and suddenly my own mouth was demanding more. I slipped my tongue in between those full lips and found hers, and as they danced a seductive tango, my body responded in ways that even I had never experienced before. It was as if—for the first time in my life—I was really wide awake. Every one of my senses tingled, and while I lost myself in the pleasure of the kiss, my senses experienced everything all at once. I could feel the tingle of the hot breeze on my skin, and I could hear the gentle sway of the water as the fish swam through it. I could smell the water and the marsh and every raw fiber in my body felt something, and it was all good. My head was trying to override it all, but I was blocking it out. She’d melded into the kiss, and her soft curves were pressed into my big, solid body. I let the hand resting on her shoulder slide along her satiny hair and down the curve of her spine to her lower back. I stopped there—although I was aching to feel the rest of her. God, she’s beautiful, and she smells amazing, and she tastes even better. I wanted the kiss to last forever—and just about the time I had that thought, she suddenly pulled back. She looked up at me with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, and God help me, but I wanted to kiss her again. Her chest rose up and down rapidly as she tried to catch her breath, and finally, in a breathless voice she said, “Maybe I should go tonight.”

              My voice was raspy as I said, “No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that…”

              She reached up and put her fingers to my lips. “I wanted you to do that, Ryder, for a long time. But the timing couldn’t be worse. I can’t get involved with you anymore than I can tell you who is after me and what they want.”

              I once again held her shoulders in my hands and with a pleading look I said, “Alicia, please, let me help you. I won’t kiss you again.” She glanced at one of the hands on her shoulder, and I moved them back to my sides. “I won’t touch you either. I won’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

She looked down and actually laughed softly. In a quiet voice she said, “That wasn’t uncomfortable, but that’s the problem.” When she looked back up at me, she said, “I really like you Ryder, but this can’t happen.”

              “Tell me why, Alicia. If you like me and I like you, why not?”

              “You wouldn’t like me so much if I told you. Some skeletons are best left buried.” She shrugged my hands off her shoulders and stepped toward the stairs that led down off the porch. She started to descend it and looked back at me and said, “You don’t think that alligator is around close, do you?”

              I smiled. “You never know about Ol’ Sly. If that wasn’t him Granny served us for lunch earlier, he could be.”

              She looked shocked. “Are you serious? We ate him?”

I laughed. “I was just kidding, sorry. I’m sure that was…beef.” She laughed then and shook her head.

              “Well, whatever it was, I really liked it. It’s no wonder you grew so big getting fed like that.” She went ahead and walked down the stairs, stepping lightly and looking around as she did. I followed her down, and we walked across the dirt driveway to the water’s edge.

              “You should have seen me when I was a kid. I looked like one of those hot air balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.”

Smiling, she said, “That’s hard for me to imagine.”

“I know, but I really wasn’t always the perfect specimen you see before you today.”

She laughed at that, and I said, “You should do that more often.”

              “Do what?”

              “Laugh. You have a beautiful laugh and I love the way it lights up your face.”

              She blushed and looked like she didn’t know what to say. Suddenly something else caught her eye, “Does that boat work?”

              She was looking at Granny’s fishing boat. It had a small outboard motor on it, and if I knew Granny, it was in tip-top shape. She caught all of her own fish and crawdads. If there were shrimp in the swamp, she’d catch them, too. I needed to remind myself to ask her where she got that gator meat though.

To Alicia I said, “Yeah, I’m sure it’s working. Do you want to go for a ride?”

              Her face lit up. “I’ve never been on a boat.”

              “Never?”

              “Nope, not ever. I’d love to go. If it’s okay.”

              I ran my eyes over her. That morning I’d thought about how pretty she looked in her yellow dress with her dark hair and tan skin. I hated to ask her to change it, but it wasn’t really fishing boat attire. “It’s definitely okay,” I said. “Why don’t you go change, and I’ll make sure it’s got gas in it and it’s ready to go?”

              She was beaming. I loved seeing her so happy. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She made it as far as the steps before she turned back around and said, “The alligator won’t jump in the boat, will he?”

              I grinned. “Maybe, but I’ll protect you.” I winked and made a muscle. She laughed. “Hey, there’s a bag of marshmallows on top of the fridge. Grab those on your way back, okay?”

“You want a snack already?”

No way could I eat another bite of anything. I’d pop wide open. I smiled at her and said, “You’ll see.”

I watched her go into the house, and I had to close my eyes for a second and picture Blake and Leif and Abrahem’s face before I could comfortably move around. I grabbed the rope the boat was tied up with and pulled it closer to the small wooden deck I stood on. I checked the gas and oil and did a cursory check to make sure there were no holes in it. Words like “sink” and “crash” were practically outlawed in the swamps. I was bent down when I heard the screen door slam, and my mouth went completely dry when I looked up. Alicia had put on a pair of cut off denim shorts and a red tank top. The shorts stopped at the tops of her shapely thighs, and the rest of her long legs were smooth and tan. Jesus, I’m not sure I’m strong enough to resist her in that outfit.

              “Is something wrong?” she asked. I hadn’t thought about what my face must look like as I lusted over her.

Trying to make it go back to neutral, but knowing I was probably failing miserably, I took the bag of extra-large marshmallows she held out to me and said, “No, not at all. Are you ready?”

              She squeaked like a little girl. It was adorable and made me want her that much more. I—at least—knew that what I really wanted was to see her happy. I felt a little better about the carnal desires I had every time I looked at her then. If I wanted her to be happy, that meant it was really about her and not all about me. I took her hand and helped her down into the boat, the whole while trying not to stare. She’d pulled her pretty dark hair back into a ponytail—and it gave her face an even more youthful, vulnerable look. I helped her sit down on the little bench seat, handed her one of the life jackets that Granny kept in the boat, and then I untied it from the deck. I used my hands to push us off so we floated out away from the shore. When we were far enough out, I put the shift lever into neutral and pulled out the choke. Once I put it in the start position, I pulled the starter rope until the engine started up. I choked it until it was running smoothly, and as we started to move, I heard Alicia let out another little squeal of delight. “Hold on,” I told her. She grasped onto her seat with both hands and smiled from ear to ear as the little boat bumped through the swamp. It was definitely not a comfortable ride, but for the first few minutes, I was in show-off mode. Her smile never faltered even as the smelly swamp water splashed up and sprayed her across the face. When we got to the old bridge underneath the main road, I turned off the motor.

              “So what do you think so far?”

              She giggled. “I love it!”

              “Good. How would you like to see something really cool?”

              “What?”

              “Just watch.” I sat down next to her. The bench was small and I’m huge so our thighs were touching and even that slight contact sent a shiver through me. I tried to ignore it and concentrate on what I was doing, but it was hard. I pulled open the bag of marshmallows and handed her one. She giggled again.

              “I really can’t eat anything else right now.”

              “Throw it,” I told her.

              “Throw it where?”

              “Out there by those posts holding up the bridge.” Looking at me like I might be a little bit crazy she tossed one in. As soon as she did, three young alligators appeared on the surface of the water and wrestled each other out of the way until one of them had the marshmallow in his mouth.

              “Oh my God!” She clapped her hands together. “Did you see that?”

              I laughed. “Yep, throw them some more.” For a few minutes, I just watched her toss the marshmallows in one at a time. Each time the baby alligators got one she’d squeal and giggle. It was adorable and tortuous at the same time.

              “How did you know they like marshmallows?”

              “Everybody in Louisiana knows it, but nobody knows why. My best guess is that they’d eat anything you gave them. I’d never feed one of the big ones like Ol’ Sly, but I think it’s okay with these little guys.”