Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

Jack looked to Rex, and they both nodded. Rex took the keys to the rental and left for the convenience store they spotted down the street to pick up some water, whatever food he could find, and hopefully a couple of those prepaid cell phones.

He periodically peeked from behind the curtain, keeping a close eye on the parking lot outside their room while Adam continued typing away. He looked at Tamara a couple of times and hated the worry he saw on her face. Years ago when her deranged ex-boyfriend Brent had kidnapped her, he had come close to killing her. That didn’t count that the time he had beat Shelby within an inch of her life. He could only imagine the thoughts and fear that were going through their minds.

“All done.”

Adam interrupted him from his worrying thoughts, and he walked over to the screen to read the message. The account was set up as he said it would be. He used his name but Franklin for the last.

A moment of recollection hit him. He had heard of someone named Franklin who swam circles around the other tadpoles in BUD/S school and years after.

Allison,

I don’t know what your game is, and quite frankly I don’t fucking care. I gave you money for the kid, so don’t even think about threatening me with contacting the wife. Remember what happened when we were in New York and you pissed me off? Yeah, well I’ll make it worse this time. That fat lip will seem like a damn picnic. So take the money I already gave you and get the fuck out of my life!

Adam

Jack read the message and looked at Adam. He was surprised he had taken it to that level, but if there was one thing he knew about Adam it was that he had good instincts.

“Are you sure about this? You’re sure it’s Slater?” Jack asked him.

“As sure as I can be.”

“And you really think this is going to work?”

“I sure the hell hope so, because someone took a shot at us and we damn sure need to find out who the fuck it was and why they were aiming at us.”

Jack looked to the ladies, who were talking amongst themselves. He knew Adam was right. Whatever was going on it wasn’t good, and they needed to answers. No one was going to hurt his wife or any of his friends. No way in hell.

AJ spent close to an hour talking with her father. He refused to eat, saying that his stomach didn’t feel up to it. She forced the issue though and managed to convince him to at least eat some toast with a light coating of peanut butter on it.

When she’d gone to the kitchen to prepare it she was thankful that Nick wasn’t still in there. She wasn’t sure what had come over her when he kissed her. Her reaction was probably a bigger surprise to her than it was to him. While she had gone on dates in the past, she had never dated much. Sure she had an occasional date here or there when she needed someone for a work function or such, but no one that she really ever liked or was incredibly attracted to, not like she was with Nick.

Her biggest problem with most of those men was that after a date they always came on way too strong. She was no prude, but she liked to date someone for more than four hours before sleeping with them. After a while she found most men who asked her out on dates just annoyed her so she kept her distance. Just once she wished she was asked out on a date at a time when she’d run to the store with no makeup on, her hair in a ponytail and looking a mess.

It dawned on her then that Nick hadn’t seen her in makeup, nor had he seen her hair in anything other than the style that that day’s brushing had decided. She would like to blame her reaction to his kiss on that knowledge, but the truth was he was an attractive and sexy man. He definitely knew how to kiss a woman. The moment she had even tried to resist him had quickly passed with the way his tongue worked against hers so expertly.

She forced a deep sigh and tried to recollect her thoughts as she washed off the plate that held the single piece of bread she’d managed to convince her father to eat. Now that he was sleeping again she had no excuse to avoid Nick. She had to check on him whether she wanted to or not.

After drying the dish she headed back to her bedroom. She knew he was there. She had heard his attempt at quiet footsteps pass behind her while she spoke with her Dad. Running a hand through her hair she made an attempt to soften her tousled appearance.

When she walked into the room she had prepared for a confrontation, of which kind she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure if she should apologize for her behavior or be embarrassed for it. The truth was she wasn’t sure what his demeanor would be like, and that made her more nervous than anything. To her surprise, though, she was met with the sight of him lying on his back, both of his hands folded on his stomach and his chest gently rising up and down with each breath he took.

She didn’t want to wake him and knew rest was essential to his recovery, so she thought she’d tiptoe out of the room and let him be. Sure she knew it was a cop-out and just another excuse to avoid talking to him, but if it put off any potential embarrassment she was okay with being a coward for a bit longer.

Just as she was leaving the room she heard a beep come from her laptop. She knew he’d asked to use it, but he didn’t say what he needed it for. Hitting the space bar to awaken it from the screen saver’s sleep mode, she saw a new e-mail message alert.

Despite the yellow streak of cowardice running down her back she knew she had to wake him. Whatever was going on with him could not be ignored, not even for her foolish womanly insecurities.

“Nick?”

She spoke softly so she wouldn’t startle him. It must have been too soft though, because he didn’t budge. Slowly she sat on the edge of the bed next to him. The T-shirt she’d given him to wear was too tight already, but with him lying down, his breaths causing his chest to rise and fall under the constrained fabric, it only accentuated the muscles that she had seen for days when he had lain in the bed completely naked. Bathing him had been a test on her libido. She tried to not feel anything while she cleaned his body off with a warm soapy wash cloth, but he was a magnificent-looking man.

Placing a hand on his chest, she said his name again. “Nick?”

Abruptly and without warning he had grabbed onto her wrist. She moved to get up off the bed, but his grip on her was too strong. Her eyes flashed to his and saw that any signs of him resting peacefully were now replaced with a wide-eyed alertness.

“Nick…I…” She stuttered her words but had no idea what she was going to say anyway.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that, AJ.”

A lump of fear built up from somewhere deep inside her, choking her. She wanted to say something, apologize. Anything so he would get that look off of his face.

His grip loosened, and he gently brushed his thumb across her wrist. “I’m sorry. You startled me. Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head, telling him no. He hadn’t hurt her. Scared her, shook her to her core, maybe, but not hurt her. As much as her heart began racing when he’d grabbed onto her, she knew it was more from his touch than his swift actions.

“Why do you always look at me like that? Do I scare you that much?”

Oh, if he only knew. She wasn’t fearful of him in the sense that he would hurt her, quite the opposite, in fact. Her reaction to his kiss earlier just confirmed the attraction she’d felt for days. The fear she felt was of herself. She couldn’t trust herself around him. Even when she had bathed him it took all of her energy to not think about how sexy he was. The man was pure muscle from head to toe. She didn’t remember seeing one flaw on his body. Even the scars he bore looked like they belonged there. As if God himself had placed each scar strategically in the perfect spot to make him look even more desirable than he already was.

“You don’t scare me. I scare me.”

He looked at her confused. “What scares you?”

She wished he wasn’t stroking her wrist with his thumb. It was making it way too hard to concentrate on what she needed to say.

“What happened in the kitchen earlier, that shouldn’t have happened. I should have…”

Any chance she had of speaking was quickly put to an end by Nick pulling her down to him and crushing his mouth against hers. He didn’t wait to coax her as he did earlier. Instead he held her body close to his and slid his tongue inside her mouth, instantly stroking it against hers and making her whole body scream
yes
in agreement.

The speech she had prepared mentally and was ready to give him was suddenly completely out of the question. She wondered why she had even considered saying the words. Meeting his kiss and giving into the moment was all she could manage.

Several minutes later Nick pulled away. Both of his hands framed her face, and he stared at her. She was breathless and unable to do anything but look into his eyes. They were the most intense blue she could ever remember seeing. The color brought to mind the hottest point of a flame and only reminded her that her body was getting warmer. An intense ache was starting to consume her, and she found herself wishing that his hands would wander her body until they found those aches and alleviated them.

“I want you, AJ.”

Those four simple words ignited the embers that were burning somewhere inside her. In that very moment she could feel a wet heat seep from her and coat her panties. The ache she felt was now a painful emptiness. Her breasts suffered the same sense of neglect as her nipples pebbled and seemed to throb in agony over not being catered to.

Every part of her mind that she always used for reason and logic seemed to have short-circuited as she fought the urge to tell him just how badly she wanted him, too.

Insecurities flooded her mind as she thought about how much of a mess she must have looked. She had done absolutely nothing to fix herself up. She hadn’t even worn any perfume or body spray in days. How on earth could he possibly want her? Was he still under the influence of his pain medication?

She wished she didn’t feel so inadequate compared to the kind of women that a man like Commander Nick Slater had been with, but she couldn’t ignore the realization that a man like him probably had a girl in every port who looked like she could take her pick between being a Hawaiian Tropic girl or a
Playboy
centerfold. It was insane of her to think she could ever compare to women like that.

No matter how great of a kisser he was or how much her body seemed to ache for anything he was willing to give her, she couldn’t be a fool. Nick Slater was a Navy SEAL for Christ’s sake. She would be kidding herself if she thought a man like him could ever go for a woman like her.

She pulled away from him and got up off of the bed. Backing away she purposely put several feet in between them before she said anything.

“I only woke you to tell you there was a message.” She pointed to the laptop and quickly looked away. The evidence of his wanting her was very clear through the two-sizes-too-small sweatpants he was wearing.

“Don’t run away from me. I wasn’t the only one into that kiss.”

Change the subject, AJ. Quick, say something
. “I should make you something to eat. You need your strength. I’ll be back in a little while. You can have privacy while you read your mail.”

She quickly left the room, all but running from it and closing the door behind her. Never before had she been able to relate to the purpose of a cold shower, but now it seemed so very appropriate. He was saying something to her as she shut the door, but she’d purposely sounded his words out, refusing to listen for fear that she would turn right around and go back in there, giving him exactly what he wanted.

Whatever was going on with the both of them, she needed to try to stop it. Nick Slater might be incredibly sexy, but they had no future. Getting hurt had never been on her list of things to do, and she knew if she gave herself to him she would fall for him. Fall hard.

She shook her head. “You can’t allow that to happen, AJ,” she whispered to herself.

Nick pounded his fists against the mattress. He wasn’t lying when he told her he wanted her. It was insane how much he did. Just holding her wrist had already broken his self-control. That was why he grabbed her so forcefully. It wasn’t his style to be so rough and caveman-like. The need to feel her body against his and explore her mouth was too strong. He just took her, not even considering the possibility that she may not be feeling the same thing he was.

He shook his head. He remembered all the women over the years who had slapped him across the face and warned him that one day he would find a woman who didn’t fall at his feet. That day had finally come
.

His exes had finally gotten their wish. He couldn’t remember ever wanting someone with so little encouragement as he did AJ, but make no mistake, he wanted her like his life depended on it. He tried not to laugh at the irony of his thoughts. His life
had
depended on AJ taking care of him, and she did. In retrospect, he should be grateful to her for that, not grabbing her like he was some sort of animal.

Suddenly he remembered he had a new message. He got up from the bed slowly, trying not to jar himself and agitate his side, which was still sore. Clicking on the e-mail, he couldn’t help but smile. He knew Adam well. The message staring back at him from the newly made e-mail address confirmed his prayers were answered. Adam caught on to the clues and knew something was going on. It was the only way to explain the reference to New York City.