The Promise of Love (27 page)

Soft. Americans are all soft.

Murphy took a seat across from him. He didn’t wince, but the lines around his eyes whitened. He and Marcus had been attacked by special ops outside of Masters’ home in Canada. Marcus was dead. Murphy had only gotten away by hiding in a barn six miles or more from the site. He’d been lucky Savage hadn’t left his ass there.

The two additional men got in, and the doors slammed closed on the noise.

“Don’t bother explaining. Sometimes the only way to do a job right is to do it yourself.”

He nodded to the pilot, and seconds later they were airborne. They even had a patient—one of Potter’s experiments who probably wouldn’t make it past the first operation, let alone long enough to talk about what had been done to her.

“Jansen is set up for surgery tomorrow morning,” Murphy said.

“Yes. Seven a.m., I believe. Quite early,” Savage muttered. “Who is on the ground?”

“Two former Sentinels are in the area along with two Rangers, and”—Murphy rubbed his chin with his fingers—“Petrok and a squad of Delta Forces.”

Savage nodded.
Petrok.
Or when he’d known her, Petrokski. She was high on his list of scores to settle. But first he would hand deliver a death sentence to Jansen for killing Martinez. Then, while the man took his last breath, he’d make certain he saw them carrying off his woman. Nothing got to a man like taking his dependents. Especially his wife.

“We focus on Jansen. Once he’s in surgery we simply wait, and when everyone believes he is going to be fine, we make certain he isn’t.”

“And? If we see Petrok?”

Savage met Murphy’s blue eyes. “We kill her and everyone else.”

“Except Masters,” Murphy clarified.

“Except Masters, and by the time Potter’s done with her, she’ll wish we had,” Savage added, softly patting the woman strapped down on her gurney.

* * * *

“Princess, I think we can safely say you’re going to feel this in the morning if we don’t stop, not that there aren’t a few hundred other things we could do…”

Paris groaned and let her legs fall open and off his sexy butt. He laughed and his penis slid free from her very, very happy body. He was right. She
was
going to feel this for weeks. She wasn’t hurt, but when she squeezed her inner muscles, she could feel the impression of his thick, large cock where he’d been making her crazy for hours.

“I love it,” she whispered. She peeked and found him hovering over her.

His grin said it all. He sighed, though, as if she’d spoiled all his fun. “Does this mean we’re done? No anal, ’cause that might make an impression.”

She was too weak to laugh, but did. “
You
are crazy.”

“Hopeful, just making suggestions, planting seeds, you know, for when you’re really horny.”

“David, cuddle with me,” she demanded, weakly thumping him on the shoulder.

He laughed and caught her hand. “First, let me get you some water, and see if I locked the door—”

“You locked the door, there’s water there, come on,” she murmured, and tried to tug him down. His arms were like solid steel.

“You’re whining.”

“I am. Why are you being so mean?”

He kissed her for an answer and tousled her hair after. “I’ll be right back.”

She curled on her side only to get the blankets thrown on her. They smelled brand new.

Has he come here often?

She smiled and stayed under and sure enough, David pulled them down and kissed her again. “How about a movie?”

“A movie? Now?” she asked.

“Sure, I have popcorn, too. It’ll be fun.”

“Are you nervous about tomorrow? And isn’t it midnight? No eating after—”

“That’s an ol’ wives’ tale, you can eat. Now, you’re hungry, aren’t you?”

She blushed. She was hungry and now that he was so energetic, she felt her strength coming back. “If we watch a movie, I might want dessert.”

“Oh ho, is that so?” He tousled her hair again and laughed. “You recover and I’ll go get some snacks. See about a movie. Nothing girly,” he warned with a mock grimace.

“No? What about—?”

“You decide, but be warned, if I hate it, I’m having sex with you while you watch it.”

He said that so deadpan and walked away that she wasn’t able to come up with an answer. The double whammy of his naked back and butt, along with the idea of him making love to her while she watched TV, was so completely stunning she simply stared after him until his chuckles grew too quiet to hear.

How does he know I even like popcorn?

She crawled around until she found the remote control for the huge TV, then straightened their covers and found most of the pillows. After that, she couldn’t figure out the remote. The stupid thing was in English, but she had no idea how to make it work, and when she hit the on button, it did nothing. Instead of dealing with it, since she knew David could figure it out in seconds, she relaxed back on the very well-used bed and pushed the piles of blankets down around her and stared around the room.

Slowly it sank in that this was the first time since David had barreled back into her life that she’d been alone.
And now you’re in his bedroom.
The private jet had been a blur. As promised, she’d slept, with him holding her, too. The shopping, engagement, then more grocery shopping, then here—all seemed unreal. At the same time, it’d seemed like weeks since he’d been back, not days.

His scent still lingered on her.
Probably along every inch, too.

It’d been a whirlwind, but it had been like that since the first. She felt alive with him. Safe. Secure. More, she could tell him anything. Anything at all.

The bedroom was clean, and neat, a bit more stylish than she’d imagined he would have, but not girly at all. She sensed him in everything from the dark wooden furniture to the navy blue bedding. The pillows made her laugh, since he had around five or so, but since three of them didn’t match the sheets, she thought he’d thrown them in here.

She glanced around, and couldn’t remember if there were more bedrooms than this one, but she thought maybe there would have to be. The outside of the house had seemed big, so maybe it was a three-bedroom. What would he do now? He’d said he was done with the service.

Would she go back to teaching? She couldn’t imagine not skating, and she couldn’t picture David not finding a way for her to be able to skate. Already he’d told her there was a rink not that far from his house. He’d even suggested the skating would be good for his leg.

David. He simply took care of everything. It was startling, but sank in like one of his warm kisses. All her life, since she could remember, she’d been the one taking care of people.

Her uncle was safe. David had made sure of that when he’d come for her. He’d also set him up on a vacation, so he was probably more than fine as well. She had a niggling worry that he’d paid for her uncle, but she’d ask him about that.

Tomorrow he’d be in surgery, and for some reason she was nervous. She knew why. Her dad had died during a ‘routine’ operation. She’d been a little girl, but old enough to know that he shouldn’t have died. Plus, her mom had made certain she knew. Every time a man left her, her mom would drink until she’d cry and cry about her father deserting them. About every man deserting her.

David is different. He didn’t desert me. Plus now I can take care of him.

“Hey, why the sad face, and why don’t you have a show on?”

David not only had snacks, he had on a dark brown robe, which looked good on him, because what didn’t? He carried a tray with drinks, popcorn, chips and a bowl of pineapple. She spotted two enormous sandwiches, too, and Skittles.

“When did you get Skittles?”

“I snuck them in at the grocery store. You like them.”

“I do, huh?” She took a grape one and scooted over, handing him the remote when he positioned the tray to the side. On the bed. “Is that safe?”

He disrobed, taking her breath away, and got under the covers. Immediately he pulled her up close then took the remote. “It’s safe, now what’s the deal?”

“I couldn’t figure it out and I knew you could.” She wiggled closer and fixed the mess he’d made of the covers. “Why do you have so many pillows?”

He turned the TV on to illustrate her point, and immediately adjusted the volume and flicked through a few channels.

“Pillows?” he muttered, then glanced down and around. “Hell if I know. I threw them in here last time I was here, I think. After I did some cleaning. You don’t like them?”

“There’s five.”

Attention back on the television, he said, “Ah, well, toss ’em down on the floor and you can use me.”

She popped a Skittle in his mouth and smiled when he winced. “You don’t like them?”

“Too sour, now why the sad face?” he asked, not looking away from the TV. “How about one of those sandwiches?”

“Which one? Ham?”

“Sure, ham.” He flicked through a television guide. “Ah ha! Not
Iron Man,
but
Avengers
, that one with the Hulk, you know?”

“I like that, here, take a bite, Mr. Movie man.”

He winked, got the channel set and took her and the sandwich. “Now, why the sad face?”

“Are you paying for my uncle’s vacation in Florida?”

He’d taken a mouthful of food, so he choked a little, but, eyes watering, shook his head. “Hell no,” he said around his enormous bite. “I let Uncle Sam do that.”

“Is that the absolute truth?” He shook his head, more prepared this time. “Hand me the beer before you answer the real question.”

“Just checking,” she murmured, and handed him the beer, kissing his cheek when she did. “I was just worrying over you getting surgery. My dad died in a routine surgery. I don’t like hospitals.”

David chewed and swallowed with his mouth way too full. He took a big drink of the beer and wiped his wrist over his lips. “Is that so?”

“David.”

“Princess, you could have told me this from the start. It kinda explains the marathon sex, but I hope you want a repeat of that, because that was a dream come true.” He examined her face, then kissed her once, tasting like sweet beer mixed with sexy David.

“I’m not dying on a leg surgery. In fact, I’ve had more surgeries than you have pretty little white teeth. This thing”—he gestured with his beer to his leg—“is nothing more than one more, but to you, that’s not the case. What are we going to do about that?”

“About that?” she asked and got a sandwich stuffed in her mouth. She bit down or the stubborn man would have kept it there, and chewed while he watched her with a big smile.

“You’re so damn cute. So, yeah, you. I don’t want you worried. There are drugs for that, you know.”

“David, I am not taking drugs to not worry!” she said when she’d finished the mouthful.

“Good. I don’t want you to. How’s the sandwich?”

She stared at him and realized what he was doing. But the sandwich was good, and the movie was just starting. She leaned over and kissed him. “I love you. I don’t want to lose you. I’ve never felt so free, and I don’t want to go back to how unhappy I was, without you,” she added, knowing her eyes were filling up, but the words had to be said. “I just might worry a bit, but once you’re awake I’ll be better, that’s all.”

“Paris, you are more than I ever dreamed, and this surgery and this screwed-up situation here”—he gestured to the room with a grimace—“isn’t going to break us apart. I went out of my mind when you were gone. I don’t want to go through that again, and I’m not putting you through that, either. Trust me.”

He rubbed her arm and his warmth, along with his words, eased some of her worry. He was just too alive to not be.

“Okay, let’s watch the movie, then. Is that pineapple for me?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Here, sit back, but watch the parts,” he warned when he pulled her knee up his leg. She laughed and patted his covers over his hips. “Okay, okay, no patting, that’s just insulting.” He shocked her by biting her lightly on the top of her breast.

“David!”

“Okay, there,” he murmured and pointed the remote at the lights. They dimmed and the TV’s sound increased. “I soaked those in vodka,” he added when she bit into the pineapple.

She swallowed the juice and vodka too fast and choked. He grumbled, but laughed when she glared at him until she could breathe properly again. “Why did you do that?”

He cuddled her closer at the beginning. “I thought it’d help you relax, now, shhh… The movie’s starting.”

The vodka might’ve helped, but it was David who really eased her worries. Or being in his arms.

She made it to the part where Iron Man got caught in the enormous plane’s engines waiting for Captain America, but the rest of the movie was lost on her because there were some things that were much more fun than movie-watching in her life now. And besides, she rationalized, she wanted David tired enough that he stayed off his leg tomorrow after the surgery.

Chapter Eighteen

David caught Paris sitting down carefully at the kitchen table and his grin grew as he put the phone away. “Will called again. He likes to act like a mother hen, huh?”

“Are you really a bad patient?” she asked.

“No. Are you ok?” He parked his butt across from her.

She gave him a flat stare, or tried to. She was simply too cute to pass it off. Her eyes were sparkling anyway, and the longer he met her eyes, the more her face turned rosy.

“Because if you are, I was thinking we didn’t—”

“David Jansen, stop teasing me,” she grumbled and shifted in her seat.

“Seriously, are you…?” He paused, not sure how to ask if he’d done something wrong.

“I’m fine and thank you, I’m just a little tired, maybe a tiny bit bashed, but I like it,” she added when he tensed.

Bashed.
That did not sound good.

“And no—in case your next question was, can you see?—you can’t.”

Well, that’s that
. He couldn’t just tip her over and peek under her dress. Besides, he assured himself, he’d showered with her, and when he’d gone down she’d been a little pinker than usual, but he knew intimately she was more than fine.