Shifted Temptations (26 page)

I poured a glass of milk and thought about how I wished I could just jump in a car and drive to the store or anywhere for that matter. I looked down at the cast on my left wrist with a frown. I had three more weeks before I healed enough to have it and the one on my leg removed.

I sighed knowing those weeks would crawl by slower than molasses.
At least Liz would be back within the week and I couldn’t wait to see my friend. We had so much to talk about.

“Here, let me help you with that,” Bear said as he walked into the kitchen.

He took the milk jug out of my hand and put it in the fridge, before turning back to grab my glass. I followed him to the table and sat down in the seat he pulled out for me.

“Thanks,” I said as
I took the glass from him.

I sipped my milk while he sat down in the chair next to me. His hazel eyes were trained on my face, his expression serious. I knew he had something important to talk to me about and I was
afraid of what it might be.

“Want to play monopoly?”

“Huh?” I wasn’t expecting him to want to play a game.

“Listen, I’m sorry I have been
kind of out of it lately, but I’ve had a lot going on with work.”

His smile
didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Is everything alright?”

Bear shook his head. “I can’t really talk about it, sorry.”

I knew he would say that, but
it had not stopped me from feeling disappointed. Again, I wondered if Jordan and Alex would be coming home. I wanted to ask, but I knew he couldn’t tell me anything. I would just have to wait it out and a game was a perfect way to get my mind off things.

I agreed and Bear went to
the hall closet to get the game. He brought it over and began setting up the board. His smile was a little wider and I knew he was about to say something ridiculous.

“Prepare to get your pretty little behind beat
.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that a threat or a promise,” I said cheekily.

Bear threw his head back and let out such a loud bellow of laughter that it had me chuckling right along with him.

“You are something else, Sam. I swear if I had met you first...”

He trailed off and I couldn’t stop the blush from heating my cheeks. It only made Bear laugh harder and I smacked him on his hard shoulder playfully.

Snorting he said, “Be careful, I don’t want you breaking your other hand.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, let’s just play. I’m ready to show you how this is done.”

He just smiled and began sorting out the money. Once the board was set, we chose our game pieces. Bear picked the horse an
d rider and I grabbed the car.

“I always wanted to be a cowboy,” he said as he rolled the dice.

I looked him over, pretending to give him a critical eye and shook my head.

“Sorry, you just don’t look like a cowboy.”

He smiled. “Yeah, but that don’t stop a boy from dreaming.”

We played for the better part of an hour, shooting insults and trash talking. I was winning, of course. I had most of the properties and
wasn’t lacking in money either. Bear grumbled about me cheating, which earned him glares and more insults.

“So why does Jordan and Alex have a closet full of board games, anyway? I never knew they liked to play stuff like this,” he asked as I took my turn around the board.

I shrugged. “They’ve had them a while, I guess. We use to play them a lot back when we first met.”

“You make it sound like you don’t play anymore. Why?”

My cheeks heated again and he chuckled.

“Oh, I get it. You guys moved on to playing like grownups instead.”

My lips pulled up into a grin, but it probably looked more like a grimace. It was still hard to think about those times. I had moved on, and luckily, Alex and Jordan were with me now, yet I continued to regret how things became so messed up back then.

“Hey, I’m
sorry,” Bear said softly, his smile falling. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

I waved my hand
, dismissing his apology. “I’m not upset, just some unpleasant memories is all.”

“Want to talk about it?”

I opened my mouth to say no, but shut it again. As I looked at Bear’s concern expression, I realized I wanted to tell him. Something about him made me feel comfortable, so I opened my mouth and told him what had happened. I told him everything, except the dirty details, of course.

He was looking at me
sadly, as I finished. “I’m really sorry it went down like that, but it seems that everything has worked out.” He smiled. “You’ve got a little girl on the way and I could tell right away that Jordan and Alex are head over heels for you.”

“You’
re right. I am very thankful that it has worked out so well. I just hope they come home soon. I’m ready to start a future with them and there is so much to do before the baby comes.”

Bear
’s gaze was steady on mine. He looked as if he was mulling something over. I knew my face showed my confusion, but I stayed quiet, letting him get his thoughts together.

Finally, he let out a long sigh
. “We need to talk.” His voice was deep, yet soft.

“Okay,” I croaked. I cleared my throat and
sat back in my chair. “Jordan and Alex aren’t coming home today, are they?”

“No, I’m sorry, they aren’t.”

I nodded. I knew they weren’t, but deep down I had hoped.

“How much longer will they be gone?”

Bear shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I can’t tell you.”

I reached out and grabbed his hand.
“Please tell me what’s going on. Please?” I begged as my eyes began to tear.

When
he shook his head again, I stopped him from speaking.

“Who am I going to tell? There is no one here with me
, but you.”

He massaged the back of his neck
and let out another long sigh.

“You’re right, if the guys trusted you enough to let you in on their secret, then they would want you to know what was going on. It’s not right to keep you in the dark.”

I began to let go of his hand, but he surprised me by tightening his hold, as he looked me square in the eye.

“The mission did not go as planned. Someho
w the enemy found out ahead of time and set a trap.”

I gasped. “Is everyone alright?”

Bear bit his bottom lip and I began to tremble. It was obvious from his expression that everyone was not all right. Were Alex and Jordan gone for good? Would Bear have told me if that was the case?

“Everyone is alive, we think.”

“You think?”

“Paul, Jordan and Alex have been captured. The rest o
f the team was able to get out, though Leo was badly hurt. He’s healing as we speak.”

I stopped listening after he said Jor
dan and Alex had been captured.

“You have to do something! Go in and get them!” I practically shouted.

“Our team is doing everything they can to get them back.”

“Obviously not if you’
re still here,” I said as I pulled my hand away from his.

How could
he just sit there playing a board game while my men were being tortured or worse?

“I can’t leave, Sam. Jordan and Alex wanted me to watch over you and that is what I am going to do.” He narrowed his eyes on me. “I will not break my promise. Our team is working on getting them home and I have complete faith in them.”

His voice softened along with his eyes as tears began streaming down my face. “You should have faith too. It will all work out, you’ll see.”

~ 29 ~

Jordan

“Hmm,” I groaned as I snuggled closer to Sam. My palm ran over her smooth, naked hip and up her waist until it rested just under her heavy breast. My cock hardened in anticipation of being inside of her again and I pulled her closer so she could feel how much I wanted her.

“Jordan,” she moaned as I rubbed myself against
her enticing ass.

All I had to do was lif
t her leg and I would be home, but I wanted it to last. I wanted to tease her, tease myself, until we were both so close to the edge that we would explode in a fit of passion like never before.

My hand grasped her breast and I plucked at her harden nipple as she arched, pushing her breast more firmly into my palm.
Sam began grinding her luscious backside against my erection causing me to groan and nip at her neck.

“Jordan,” she said again, this time a little firmer.

I ignored her pleading and placed wet kisses across her shoulder as my hand began to travel down her flat stomach. I paused, wondering how her stomach had become flat at supposedly eight months pregnant.

The thought was fleeting and I forgot why I had paused
soon after. I shook my head as my hand continued its journey south. Just as my fingers brushed her silky curls, she called my name again.

“Jordan!”

Her voice sounded different, a little lower and huskier. She must have been extremely turned on. I grinned proudly, but why had she shouted?

I buried my nos
e into her neck, behind her ear. The long brown waves of her hair fell across my face like a caress and I rubbed my nose against her skin tenderly. I took a deep breath to drawl in her sweet scent only it wasn’t as sweet as I remembered.

“Jordan!”

I took in another breath through my nose and began coughing uncontrollably. What in the hell! She smelled musty and I could have sworn I just snorted a big pile of dirt.

“Jordan!”

Alex? Where was he? We had to give Sam a bath. I loved her, but damn, I had never smelled anything as horrible.

“Jordan! Wake up!”

What? The image of Sam, warm in my arms, dissolved and I opened my eyes, blinking a few times groggily. I was lying on a dirt floor, which explained the lungs full of dust. Where was I?

I lifted my head, wincing a little at the pull of sore muscles, and took in my surround
ings. I was in a room that was fairly large, about the size of my apartment. It had dirt floors, which I had already noticed, and concrete walls. Light fixtures hung low from the ceiling, swinging slowly and giving off a dull yellow glow.

“Jordan.”

I sat up carefully and turned towards Alex. He was sitting only about six feet away, but two layers of metal fencing separated us. I was in the center of an 8’x8’ cage, made of steel wire mesh. It seemed Alex was in the same situation.

He was sitting on the ground
cross-legged. He looked a little worse for wear with his hair matted and dirty. His bare chest was covered in dried blood and dirt. Below the waist, he wore a pair of gray sweats that looked as rough as the rest of him.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Markus says we’re under the new Town Hall.”

“Mark
?” I growled. “That asshole betrayed us!”

A whine from the other side of the room had my eyes shifting past Alex. There was movement,
but the wire mesh was hindering my perfect eyesight. I closed my eyes and sniffed.

His fear
mixed with the musty, damp odor permeating the air. I savored the taste of his fright on my tongue. He would become much more afraid before I was done with him.

“No, he was our informant.” Alex said firmly.

I shook my head and looked at him. “He was the only one who could have ratted us out.”

Alex pointed to the cage on the other side of him.
“He is locked up because they found out he was helping us. He is not the snitch. Paul is.”

“Paul?”

I was dumbfounded for all of about two seconds before I started grinding my teeth together. I should have known the dark bastard would turn traitor.

“Yeah, he turned on me when I was searching for you. I got knocked in the head and woke up in here.”

“Damn!”

“That was four days ago, Jordan.”

“What? I’ve been out for four days?”

“You were hurt pretty bad. There was a whole in your side the size of my fist.”

I looked down at my torn and dirty clothes. Lifting my dusty black tee shirt, I saw a round scar, shiny with new skin. Shit, it was rough looking, but it would be good as new in a few more days.

Dropping my shirt, I examined the cage. There was no door, which I thought was odd, so I began looking around for how they got me into the thin
g. Looking up I saw a chain attached to the top of the cage. I followed the chain to a pulley system. It seemed they just lifted the cage up and down to capture or release their prey.