Uncensored Passion (Men of Passion) (25 page)

CHAPTER 23

The ultimate gift

Trey settled into the passenger side of his vehicle slowly, grunting with the effort. Jerry shut the door and went around to the driver’s side. But not until they were buckled in and on their way did Jerry speak.

“I saw Gavin Johnson. Talked with him after I left you at the hospital. I told him the truth, Trey, that Dorri would have been written up, had she survived, and if you had done what you should have, she would have been up for a court-martial for what would be considered a treasonous act. I also told him how instead you swore all of us to secrecy and then wrote up the incident in such a way that she came out a hero.”

“Let me guess. He didn’t believe you.”

“You got it. The asshole said I was just trying to whitewash what you’d done because we’d served together. I told him I could parade the rest of the team by him to back up the true story if it took that to make him believe it—”

Trey held up a hand to stop him talking, saying, “Bet he said they would all just corroborate what you said out of a sense of duty.”

Jerry nodded. “Man, you really know that crazy dude, don’t you? That’s exactly what he said.”

“Unfortunately, I do know him. I know Johnson is like a bulldog when he gets his teeth into what he believes is the truth, and he never lets go. He’s been living with his desire for revenge so long that it’s become second nature to him. He doesn’t want to believe the truth about his niece, so he won’t.”

“At least I think I made him think about it. I told him he should be ashamed for blackening the name of a real hero, one who put his life on the line for God and country every day fighting terrorists in that damned war.”

“Thanks for trying, Jerry.”

“Oh, and I took Sarah out for coffee,” he said with a sheepish grin. “She’s nice and lots of fun to be with. And she’s quite a looker. Plus she’s real happy that I’ve decided to settle in San Antonio, so I think I’ve finally met a real woman, thanks to you.”

“So, you two hit it off?”

“We did. And the age difference doesn’t bother me at all. Man, I’m sick to death of some of the younger women I’ve been dating, who really can’t relate to things I’ve experienced. We really don’t communicate well, so it’s relaxing to interact with a woman like Sarah. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“So tell me, Trey, who floats your boat?”

“Floats my boat?”

“You know what I mean, man. Who does it for you? And where is she?”

Trey turned away, looking out the window, his jaw clenching. Jerry shot him a look and saw he’d hit a nerve.

“Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Not bad memories. Mostly, it’s a great memory. But now it’s just that, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sure, man.”

They lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip back to Trey’s apartment, Jerry wondering who the woman was, and Trey lost in the memory of Kayla’s wild abandonment in bed and aching with wanting her.

Jerry pulled into Trey’s assigned parking spot with the comment, “Well, here we are, back home at last. Bet you’ll be glad to be back in your own bed.”

Trey nodded mutely as he opened the car door and grunted with the effort of getting out of the car. He had to just sit with his legs out the door for a minute, catching his breath, gritting his teeth against the pain before standing. Jerry came around to steady him when he swayed.

“Easy there.”

“Hate to be putting you on the sofa,” Trey said as he and Jerry entered the apartment.

“I’m just thankful it makes out into a bed, man. It’s a hell of a lot better than a foxhole or behind a sandy ridge. We’ve both slept on much worse.”

“Right.”

“So, are you hungry? I can whip up a mean omelet. Oh, and I stocked the pantry and the freezer. Thought tonight we’d have steaks and salad.”

“That’s sounds good. But I’m not hungry now, Jerry, and you don’t have to wait on me, man. I’m all right. Give me a couple of days and I’ll work through the soreness.”

Trey knew Jerry was feeling awkward, not knowing what to say or how to act to make things better. He managed a smile. “But I appreciate your being here. Let’s just chill. Have a beer. Watch a little TV. So tell me, when are you seeing Sarah again?”

“Well, tonight maybe. I thought, if it’s all right with you, I’d invite her over for dinner.”

“Sarah is always welcome here.”

“She’s been so worried about you. Said she visited you once but you were asleep and she didn’t want to wake you up, but that you looked awful and it broke her heart. She said she couldn’t stand to see you like that. Man, I’d be jealous if I didn’t know better, thinking the two of you had something going on. Anyway,” he said with a chuckle, “I thought it would put her mind at ease if she saw that you’re now on the mend and gonna live. Even though you kinda resemble Frankenstein’s monster with all your stitches and your blackened, closed eye.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Anytime, bro,” Jerry said laughing, as Trey went to the bathroom.

When he’d closed the door, he stood staring at his reflection, thinking,
hell yeah, I do look like Frankenstein’s monster.

Grimacing with pain as he rolled his head to try and relieve the knotted tension in his neck, Trey’s eyes narrowed in suppressed rage as he thought about the guys who had worked him over. And that thought segued to Dr. Romero, then to J.J., and back to Kayla.

Everything goes back to Kayla. God, I can’t stop thinking about her and wanting her. Why does she have to live such a screwed up life?

The cell phone ringing startled him. He fished it out of his pocket and answered, “Hello.”

“Trey?”

Trey’s heart lurched. It was as if he had conjured her up!

“Hello, Kayla.”

“How are you?”

“Sore, but okay. I’ve been through worse.”

“I feel so—so responsible. For J.J. and for you,” she murmured, almost too low for him to hear clearly.

“You aren’t responsible for what other people decide to do, Kayla. We all make our own choices and just have to live with them,” Trey reassured her, though he didn’t actually believe that entirely.

Her lifestyle, her accepting J.J. into it, and his butting into it all had ultimately led to J.J.’s breakdown and suicide attempt. But he knew she didn’t need to hear that. She didn’t even need to think that. Yet he knew she
was
thinking that because Kayla Saradon was smart and intuitive. “Trey, I—I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”

“I wish things were different. I—I wish….”

“I know. But they aren’t. Remember what you said about ships passing in the night? Well, guess you were right. That’s us.”

He heard her intake of breath, heard the catch of it, and knew she was close to crying. It grabbed at his heart, but somehow he managed to keep his voice steady.

“Take care of yourself, Kayla.”

“You, too.”

The line went dead, and for the longest time, Trey just held the phone and stared at it, thinking that was how he felt inside, dead and disconnected.

He wondered if he would ever feel differently. How long did it take to get a woman you love with everything in you out of your head?

With a sigh, he silently thought,
I might get her out of my head, but I’ll never get her out of my heart, dammit!

Trey didn’t realize how long he had been in the bathroom until he heard Jerry knocking on the bathroom door, asking, “You all right in there? You fall in or something?”

“I’m fine. Be right out.”

Swallowing back the ache of his loss, Trey left the bathroom and wandered back into the living room. He sat down, favoring his side with a groan, and listened to Jerry talk. But he wasn’t really tuning in. He heard just bits and pieces. His mind was too consumed with the lingering memory of Kayla in his arms, beneath him, on top of him, licking his body, bringing him to a fever pitch of desire.

He resolutely stopped the memories there, determined not to think of her in those other men’s arms or doing those things to them. He wanted to believe she had given him, and him only, the ultimate gift of such total erotic surrender. He could live with that thought. He couldn’t with the other. In that way, she would always be his and his alone.

CHAPTER 24

Only mine

Sarah arrived at 6:30 p.m. The steaks were almost done and the salad made. After her initial shock at seeing Trey’s battered and stitched face now that the bandages had been removed, the talk was kept on the light, uncomplicated side. Trey was aware they were both trying to make him forget what he’d been through, so he played along, laughing at Jerry’s inane jokes and pretending everything dark and sordid was in the past and forgotten.

The only time Sarah alluded to the events that had precipitated his firing was when she said, “Gavin has taken an extended vacation and, man, am I glad. He’s been harder to get along with than usual after your visit, Jerry, so maybe what you told him got through more than you thought. Maybe he’s reevaluating his take on what actually happened, like he should be. He might even decide to offer your job back to you, Trey. I know for a fact that both of the other partners would hire you back in a flash.”

“I doubt that, Sarah. But even if he did offer, I wouldn’t take it. I haven’t decided what I want to do yet, and thank goodness I have enough saved that I can take a little time on that. Actually, I’ve been mulling over the idea of opening my own private investigative and personal security company. That way I could hire a couple of guys for security and handle the investigative part myself. Only I would want to take the kind of cases that would be more inclusive than those taken by M. J. and L. I wouldn’t take a case simply because of a large fee involved, and I wouldn’t limit myself or any operative working for me to the narrow guidelines set forth by most agencies.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

“I would want to really help people, take on cases that had been given up on by others, that seemed impossible. And do whatever it took to see the job through. Maybe crack some old cold case files and set the families’ mind to rest about their murdered loved ones, or track down some missing kids. Protect people that need help but can’t afford high-priced security. That sort of thing. So, Jerry, if I do decide to open an agency, would you be interested in becoming a personal security operative? Or better yet, how about becoming a partner?”

“Hell, yeah. That sounds right up my alley. I’ve got some dough stashed away myself, so if we pooled our resources, we could start a bang-up, classy agency.”

“Well,” Sarah said enthusiastically, “the first thing you’ll need is a first class secretary/receptionist, and I know just the person.”

“Sarah, it would be a risky, start-up business and it might fold, especially since I’ll be bucking all the bad-mouthing Johnson has spewed out there about me. Then you’d be out of a job. And you’ve been with M. J. and L. for a long time, so I know we couldn’t afford to pay you the salary you’re getting now.”

“Are you trying to burst my euphoric bubble by talking me out of what sounds like the most exciting job I could get, Trey Cameron?”

“I just want you to give it serious thought, Sarah. Don’t do anything rash that you’ll regret later. Besides, it’s just in the planning stage in my head right now.”

“Well, when it leaves your head and materializes into an office in need of a secretary, let me know and I’ll be there. Working with two of my favorite guys sounds like heaven. In fact, it doesn’t even sound like work at all.

“Plus, I can probably swing a few cases your way, because I know the ones who didn’t have the biggest bucks and got turned away from M. J. and L. And by the way, never underestimate the power of word of mouth, because it can be a powerful advertising tool.”

Jerry hugged her. “Sounds like a plan to me, Trey. And Sarah, you’re one special lady.”

“And don’t you forget it,” she teased.

As Trey watched the two of them hugging, seeing their strong connection, he felt a jabbing pain of regret.
God, I wish Kayla and I could connect like that. Why couldn’t she be just a woman like Sarah, satisfied with one man?

They talked until late in the evening about the agency idea and what the best location for an office would be and how much start-up capital would be needed.

Trey saw the way the two of them kept stealing glances at each other, saw their need to spend time alone, so he excused himself, said he was tired—and truthfully, he was.

“See you in the morning,” he told Jerry. “And glad to see you again, Sarah. Hope you’ll forgive me for conking out. Guess I need more rest than I realized.”

“I understand. You’ve been through a lot. I sure hate what happened, Trey.” She gave him a gentle hug.

“I know. Thanks. But hey, I’m gonna be fine in a day or two.”

“If there’s anything I can do, just call.”

“You’ve already done the best thing, just being my friend.”

As Trey closed his bedroom door, he could visualize the two of them embracing, kissing, and whispering those things that two new lovers say to each other.

Undressing and climbing between the sheets, he thought about all the things Kayla had said to him and all the things she had failed to say, and it hit him like a punch in the gut.

He almost wished he’d never met her. Almost. But not quite. Because she had given him the greatest day of his life, the kind of lasting memories that would be etched in his subconscious forever. And if he could never have her again, at least he had that. He consoled himself with the thought that that was more than most men would ever know.

A restless sleep, driven by exhaustion, finally overcame Trey, and he fell into the cobweb softness of his dream Kayla’s arms
.

He ran his hands down her body. The static crackle of what felt like electricity skittered throughout his senses as he touched her heated skin. His fingers parted that curly patch of hair between her long, beautiful legs, seeking that wet, eager clit, and massaged it until she was begging him…