The Omega Team: Keeping Karen (Kindle Worlds Novella) (7 page)

I
f Karen
never saw another police station again, it would be too soon. The local police questioned her at length about the events at the cottage. Though they tried to separate her from Ethan, he refused to budge. After several hours, other marshals arrived with the news that Angela Krueger had been arrested. The man Ethan shot at the house had been identified, and warrants were being issued for several members of the Saldino crime family. Apparently, Angela’s mother and Carmen Saldino had been lovers once upon a time. It was all so very twisted.

By the time they were able to leave the police station, even her tired was tired. Ethan held her hand and they went back to the beach house long enough to collect Luthor. The cat had survived the attack unscathed, but he yowled at them when they ducked beneath the police tape. She felt awful about the wreck of the house. Worse so when she found out it was Ethan’s personal place.

“Stop thinking so hard, darlin’,” he’d said, pulling her into his embrace. “It just means we get to redecorate.” The
we
sent a thrill through her blood. They hadn’t really had time to talk about much, especially since they were heading straight back to DC. As far as anyone could tell, she was safe again—but Karen wasn’t sure she would be able to sleep.

Luthor suffered the indignities of the cat carrier with great aplomb. Ethan didn’t let her drive, insisting he was fine. Despite her thoughts to the contrary, she fell asleep with her head on Ethan’s shoulder. In Virginia, he didn’t take her to her apartment but to a townhouse in Sterling.

“Yours?” It seemed an unnecessary question, but he grinned as he pulled into the garage.

“Mine.”

“Ethan…”

“Nope.” He pressed a finger to her lips, twisting sideways to face her. “We’re going inside. You’re going to get a shower, food, and some sleep. I have to check in with the office, and I need to file more reports, but you’re staying with me.”

Amused, she raised her eyebrows. “Decided have you?”

“Umm-hmm.” With one finger, he traced the line of her lips. “Tell me what happens in the movie at this part.”

“Well, normally, I’d go back to my life and you’d go back to yours. We’d be apart for a bit—you doing your thing and me putting my life back together. I’d think the adrenaline wore off and we weren’t meant to be. I might take a trip somewhere, but then you’d come find me. We’d end up having mad passionate sex as we reunited, and the happily ever after happened.”

“Huh. Good to know.” His response was not what she thought it would be, but she was too exhausted to argue the point. That and too curious about his place.

Inside, he sent her off to shower while he let Luthor out. His place was a lot like the one in Florida. All clean lines, definitively masculine, but also comfortable. A handful of personal photos were scattered about. In his bedroom, a photo of her sat on the bedside table, and her heart did a little painful thump.

She was eighteen and in her graduation robes in the image. The smile on her face had been bittersweet and triumphant at once. He’d asked her to marry him later that night. Of all the photos to keep of her, she didn’t understand why that one.
And maybe it’s none of my business.

One perk of being closer to home—she might get her own clothes back, though she had enjoyed wearing his shirts. The idea of stripping naked and just crawling into his bed warred with her need to shower off the last twenty-four hours. Had it really been a whole day since he’d pushed her into the closet and told her to secure the door?

A week since she’d been thrust into his life, and here she was in his place.

Stop it.
Anxiety and overthinking were two issues she’d always coped with over the years.
I’m here. He brought me here so he wants me here.
Did he want her? Or did he just want to know she was safe?

Annoyed with the twisty route her brain insisted on following, she stomped into the bathroom and turned the water on in the shower. Peeling off the clothes, she didn’t spare herself a look in the mirror. She had no desire to see how terrible her hair and the rest of her looked. The scent was more than enough of a turn off. Under the hot spray, she let it soak the tension from her bones.

The door opening caught her off guard, and she turned to find Ethan standing there, as naked as she was. “Uh, hi…”

“Hey,” he said, easing into the shower. “I thought we’d fast forward to the part where I come find you and we have hot, passionate sex before our happily ever after.”

“What if we miss something important?”

“The angst?” He planted one hand on either side of her, boxing her against the shower-warmed wall. “The longing?”

“They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.” She glided her palms over his chest. It had been a long time since she’d seen him nude. Taut muscle met her questing fingers. He’d always been lean, but somewhere along the way he’d added thickness to his shoulders and pecs.

“Well, my heart was pretty damn fond to begin with,” he said, dipping his head to press a kiss to her throat. She tilted her chin higher to allow him access. “I don’t need any more lonely montages.”

“Are we really doing this?” Why did she have to analyze everything? If she were any of her friends, they’d already be past the questions. Yet, she didn’t want to regret any moments or impulsive decisions. More, she didn’t want
him
to regret them.

“I am,” he said against her throat, then pressed a kiss to her shoulder before lifting his face to meet her gaze. Resting his forehead against hers, he studied her eyes. “I love you.”

“I don’t want us to have any regrets.”

“Do you know what I regret most?” He trailed his fingers to her hair. Despite his proximity, he kept his touches light and almost chaste. Passion uncoiled within, kindling a slow burning fire in her veins. All she had to do was slide forward a step and they would be breast to chest.

“What?”

“Letting our friendship go when you said no.” He traced the outline of her ear. “Saying no to marriage? You were right to do what you needed. It wasn’t right that I let it end there.”

“You weren’t the only one. I could have reached out to you, and I wanted to many times, but I didn’t think it was fair.”

The corners of his mouth tipped into a half-smile. “We were stupid kids. Let’s not be stupid adults.”

“Hey, now, nobody gets to talk about my guy that way. He was damn dedicated, honorable, and smarter than pretty much any other guy I’ve ever met.”

“Oh, really?” Challenge flared in his eyes. “What made him so special?”

“He loves me.” She slid her arms around his neck. “I love him.”

“Yes, he does.” He closed his mouth over hers. The soft glide of his lips requested access, and she opened to him. Her breasts crushed against his chest, and it was all new and like coming home. Her body was one long, needy ache. He drew out her lower lip, grazing it with his teeth, and then he swooped in again, not letting her catch her breath as their tongues tangled.

How long they held onto each other beneath the water, she lost track. Every touch of his lips to hers fired off a fresh wave of sensations. She wanted to drown in his kiss. When he lifted his head, he panted for breath and her heart squeezed.

“Anything I need to worry about?”

“Such as?” The drugging effect of her desire left her brain to addled to parse the statement.

“Anything you don’t like? Any health concerns?”

Oh.

“I’ve got an implant.” She tapped her arm. “I had a physical a few months ago and no recent lovers. You?”

“No implant. Clean bill of health.” He shut off the water and pushed the door open. She missed him the moment he moved away. Then he returned and wrapped her in a towel before kissing her at length.

Instead of leaving her, he ran the towel all over, drying her skin. It was erotic to gaze down as he knelt at her feet then worked the towel along her legs. He paused to press a kiss to her belly and grinned. “I like the butterfly.”

She laughed. “I’m glad.” The little blue tattoo had been a whim. He didn’t have any that she’d seen yet, but they had all night to explore.

God, they had a lot longer than that. Excitement skittered through her. He whipped the towel around himself as he stood then he dropped it and she was in his arms. He lifted her, and she had to wrap her arms around his neck to hang onto her balance.

“Going all caveman on me now?”

“No, ma’am,” he said with a grin, crossing his room to the bed where he settled her in the center before dropping down to cover her. Cradling her face in his palms, he nuzzled her mouth with another kiss. “Just a cowboy knowing when the time to pin his filly is.” The exaggerated drawl totally cracked her up. She laughed then wrapped her legs around him.

“Well, then, you should ride her cowboy.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” The twinkle in his eyes, the soft laughter in his voice, and the love in his expression secured her heart even more firmly in his grip. Her body felt full and tight as he kissed her. His hot hands were on her breasts, palming her nipples then stroking along her sides. Everywhere he touched her, she caught on fire.

They didn’t need any words. He abandoned her mouth, then kissed a trail to her breasts. She slid her fingers into his hair, holding him close. All sensation rushed to one nipple. The hard tweak of his fingers against the other startled her and added another layer of pleasure.

He skated his touch downward, across her belly. She was sprawled, naked, against his bed with his mouth and fingers stroking her pleasure into an every tightening spiral, sending her higher and higher.

His strength offered a perfect complement to her own. He loved her. More, he respected her. How she’d ever let him go, she couldn’t imagine. She wasn’t that girl anymore, though. No, she’d grown up and become a woman, one who would never let him go. She clung to him, widening her thighs obediently when his fingers delved into the heat between her legs. A whimper tore from her throat as he stroked his thumb right over her clit, and she went off.

Every nerve sizzled, and she dug her nails into his shoulders, holding on for dear life as she bucked senselessly against his hands. The moment seemed to stretch on forever. She floated on a sea of pleasure, drifting lazily back to earth only when he pulled away.

Opening her eyes, she found him gazing at her with a kind of adoration on his face. He was a beautiful man. Not one made of densely packed muscles but lean and corded all over. His cock jutted out beautifully, the tip red and thick with a glistening promise of pre-cum on the tip.

A shiver raced over her flesh, and her muscles tightened.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, his voice a sexy new caress to go with all the others.

“I love you.”

“I love you more,” he whispered, easing into her without ever taking his gaze away.

“I love you most,” she groaned, digging her nails into his shoulders. Every sensual glide of his cock fitting into her drew them closer. Never again would she leave. Never again would they be apart.

“I love you best,” he declared, and she couldn’t argue.

Every thrust pushed her sensitive flesh wide, and she thrilled to the invasion of his body. She panted, trying to find some purchase, but he gave her none as his hips swiveled. He eased into her with agonizingly beautiful slowness. No sooner had he sunk into her than he withdrew and slammed home. The alternating speed drove her wild, and she struggled to hang on to him.

Her breathing became gasps, and her heart pounded in her ears, her sex—everywhere he touched her. When his mouth closed over hers, they fought for air between each breath and the next, and then spasms inside of her crashed one into another as his body went taut.

His shout chased her over the edge, and the world exploded in a wild cascade of pleasure. Ethan collapsed against her, pinning her to the bed, and she reveled in the crushing masculine weight. It grounded her as she continued to float on a sea of lust-fulfilled ecstasy.

Home.

Finally.

T
hree Months Later
…

E
than settled
into the chair opposite Grey. The man had come all the way back to D.C. “You can’t really need me that bad for the team.”

Chuckling, Grey set an envelope on the table. “We like to have the best men and women for the job. How’s Karen doing?”

“She’s great. Back to work unraveling the mysteries of computer code for the greater good.” And swearing off banks, at least until the next puzzle presented itself. The last twelve weeks had been good to them. They’d worked on renovating the Destin house and found a great place in Leesburg to move into together. He was taking everything one step at a time. It wouldn’t be his house or hers, but theirs.

“Well, if she’s interested in some work…” Grey spread his hands.

“I’ll take it under advisement. At the moment, the farther we keep her from dangerous puzzles, the better.” He didn’t touch the envelope, though he suspected it was a job offer. “What’s that?”

“An opportunity. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Ethan had already resigned from the marshal service. It was time to tackle a new life, a new job, and one that would keep him closer to home. Closer to Karen. If all went as planned, when he proposed in three more months, she’d say yes. And if she didn’t…he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I can’t stay long, but I wanted to let you know that the team is still interested, and we’re here if you need us.” Grey rose and extended his hand.

Rising, Ethan accepted the handshake and chuckled. “Ditto. If I can help, I will.”

“Appreciate it.” The other man strode away, and Ethan watched him for a moment before he pulled out his phone and called the woman who held his heart. She answered on the first ring.

“Hey, how did it go?”

“Not bad, darlin’. The only question is do I open the envelope or not?”

“Hmm,” she said with a thoughtful chuckle. “Do you want to open it?”

“I’m curious, but I don’t make these decisions solo anymore.” Not when she came first. She would always come first.