Chapter Twenty-Two

 

 

 

William eased the door open to the bedroom, but Sara didn’t move. Her breathing was low and even, so he guessed after not getting enough sleep for so many nights in a row, she’d finally found a way to fall asleep without him.

He wished he could do the same. He rubbed his head and contemplated the bed, but knew if he got in it, he’d want sex. He headed back out and took the couch. He was too wound up to sleep. They were running around in circles. Hitting dead ends on Potter. It was more than he could handle. Sara had been quiet all through dinner. She’d barely eaten, then claimed she was exhausted. He blamed Troy. The Ranger had scared her and pissed him off. Troy nosed in business that wasn’t his affair. He had half a mind to call Petrok and ask her new husband about the bastard.

His phone vibrated and he flipped it open to reveal an unknown number. A chill settled over his shoulder blades. He clicked his com on. “Unknown number on my ID.”

“I got it. Answer. I’m tracing,” Jones muttered. “Keep him talking.”

“Bryson.”

“Ah, Commander, I was wondering when you would pick up.”

Will waited a second then shifted his phone to his other ear. “Who is this?”

“Oh, I’m certain you know. Tell me, have you already gotten tired of her? They say variety is the spice of life, after all.”

“One more time, who is this?” He kept his tone even, bored even when inside he was raging. He would never grow tired of Sara, never have enough of her. Even now he fought not to go to her, check on her, to ensure she was safe.

The line went silent, then Potter cleared his throat, almost sounding embarrassed. “This is Ashton Potter, Commander.” A pause then he said, more in control, “I’m aware you realize what a mistake you’ve made. I mean, what does that Ranger think? You’d take a girl like Sara Stevens to your home and sully your mom’s house?” Laughter and something else, a click or something very like it, hit the line. He pressed the button for speaker and listened harder.

The bastard has us wired. “Why are you calling me?”

“Why, I’m giving you a chance, of course. It’s clear you’re tired of her already. Walk away. Leave her. It won’t matter either way. Not in the long run. If you go now, or you go…later. But if you go now, I let you walk. If not…well, I’m afraid you’ll have to die. It’s just that difficult to extract one woman when there are so many stationed too nearby.”

He waited, wanted to hear Jones to deny that the bastard was wiring them, but Jones was silent. If anyone else was on the com, no one else spoke either.

“Tell me, will you give up if you don’t catch me, Commander? I mean, you have a job now, correct? And a sweet thing down in Georgia, isn’t she? Waiting on you.”

His skin crawled. He’d told no one about that text from the girl in Georgia. Hadn’t even checked his phone in ages. If Potter had access to his text messages, he had… He’s in our systems. All of them.

Potter laughed. “I suppose you have to live out the wildness with a willing woman. Why not? Then settle down with a good girl. Tell me, have you shared her the way you shared Paris? Does she like it?”

He almost crushed the phone. He would never share Sara. Never have anyone but her in his life. She got him. She fit him. But he suddenly felt like she was slipping away, no matter how tight he held her, she was already gone. The urge to check on her was strong.

“William?”

He spun around. Sara stood in the hallway, holding the back of her hand over her mouth with a hurt expression.

“Ah, Ms. Stevens, I see you—”

William hung up the phone and threw it on the sofa. He barely caught Sara as she went to her knees. “Sara, look at me. Look at me!”

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to break his hold. Men jerked the door open. His team had arrived. They filled the RV, but he had no time for them. Sara kept struggling. He couldn’t take his attention off her. His heart was beating painfully, warning him this was something much more dangerous than Potter. Worse than her house blowing up. Her breathing was hard, filled with sobs she couldn’t keep down, and she was stronger than he’d believed possible.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

He held her tighter to his chest, forcing her to slow down so he could glance at Carson.

“Get out and check the perimeter. This is the alarm before the blow. We need her out of here.” Carson heard him and shouted orders as the men rushed back out of the RV. He was beyond caring. Sara kept up her fight, screaming and sobbing for him to let her go. “Sara, listen to me, stop. Stop and listen to me.”

“No! I don’t want to listen to your lies! Let me go! Let me go!” He dropped her, afraid he’d hurt her when she fought so hard.

She stumbled and caught herself on the sofa. His phone buzzed, indicating a text and the girl down south showed up on his phone, her big smile and blonde hair clear as day. Even from where he was he could see the text.

 

Can’t wait to see you! Xxxooo

 

“You… You bastard. You sorry, disgusting bastard.” Sara got to her feet and stared at him as if he’d suddenly turned into Potter. “Get away from me! Get out of here and don’t you dare come near me again!”

“I’m not going anywhere.” He caught her hand when she raised it to smack him. “I am not leaving you. You’re letting that bastard win, Sara. Stop. Think. Why the hell would I want a woman like that? He’s making shit up. He’s trying to make you run. Stop and think.”

She’d frozen but right when he thought he might have gotten to her, she shook her head and tears filled her pretty blue eyes. Painful, terrible tears. “You slept with Paris.”

He couldn’t get his brain working. He stood there like an idiot without a word coming to him.

She covered her mouth again and sobbed. “You and David. She… I knew it was someone. I knew she’d said…she said she…”

“It was nothing like you’re thinking. We… David didn’t allow me to touch her, the first time.”

“First time?”

He grimaced.

She hit him, hard right on the head, not the face, but shocked him badly enough that she broke away.

“And you think I’m too wild? I draw too many men? You can’t bring me home? What about you? You’re wild. You’re always pushing and pushing, now I know why. You do want me, but only for sex, then what? Share me? I will never be shared.”

He threw his hands up. “It was once, when Paris was clearly into David. Then when we needed her, when I needed her because I couldn’t take the fucking drug Duke wanted me to take. I already have that shit in my veins. What do you think makes me able to fuck all night?”

“What?” She stepped back then attacked him again, hitting him a few times on the chest with her fists. “I’m not on a drug. So, what is my excuse? Or did you give me something?” He caught her hands when she tried to smack him. Breathless, she hissed at him like an angry cat.

“Damn. No, you’ve not been given anything. Not by me.”

That stilled her. Too late he realized she might take that to mean the dumb ass in Wyoming who had.

“Sara—”

“You’re a bastard.”

He winced. “I’m pretty sure my parents were wed.”

“I doubt it.”

“Sara.” He pulled her closer but she nearly twisted away. He took both her hands and held her in place. Staring into her eyes, he tried to be clear with her. “It was only because Paris loves Jansen. She’s a friend, and she cared whether I was even more fucked up than I am. That’s why she went along with it. But it was always David, never me.”

“Oh, I believe that.”

He swallowed down the instant retort to her sarcasm and focused on her. He kept his voice down, so it was only for her ears, and hoped it wasn’t for Potter’s. “I used to be affected by something a lot like what you were given. It was supposed to be a trail run of something they wanted to use on soldiers. I signed up. The side effects were all over the charts, but for me, it was a constant erection that didn’t go down.”

“Oh? It goes down.”

Again, he let the sarcasm roll over him. “With you, it’s more than satisfied, yes.”

Her eyes widened and she tensed to struggle again.

“Sara, with you I… It’s not there. There were times when I couldn’t reach climax, no matter what I did. I began to fear having sex, I worried I’d hurt someone. I stopped trying to ease it long before I came for you.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

“It means you have me, not some damn Sentinel side effect.”

“You just said that was why you could go—”

“Woman, I haven’t wanted to have sex with anyone the way I want you.”

She twisted and turned, trying to get away. He held on as gently as he could.

“Such bullshit. Do you believe your own lines?”

“Lines? Lines, huh?” He jerked her flush with his body. “What upsets you more, my having two experiences with David and Paris, or that I get hard for you?”

“What upsets you more? The thought of me having sex with David and…Troy, or me not ever wanting to have sex with you ever again?”

His head felt as if it might explode with the rage at the mere idea of Troy touching her. Anyone touching her. “You’re never having sex with Troy. Or Jansen.”

“You don’t have a say in that. I mean, why should I fight the men off if they get a hard-on for me? Right? I mean, look at me. What would your folks say?”

“You listened in on my—”

“I heard you when I came back with groceries because you obviously didn’t care who hears you,” she shouted loud enough for the entire campground to hear.

“You’re right. I didn’t care.”

She gasped and tried to hit him again.

“I said, if you had listened, that we couldn’t afford to bail me out of jail for beating up any of those rednecks for trying to make a move on you. If you’d listened.”

She stilled her struggles and breathed through her nose as she narrowed her pretty eyes. “I don’t believe you. You never show anyone what you’re thinking, and you don’t talk about me like that. You won’t even kiss me in front of—”

He hauled her into his arms and kissed her. She gasped. He tried to remind her of all the reasons she was here, with him and not some other man. As soon as his tongue slipped past her lips, he lost his restraint. He plundered her hot mouth and roamed his hands over her back, sides, and ass with a hungry groan. It took longer than he liked for her to respond, but she finally fell into him. She also broke the kiss with a twist of her head.

“You can’t just kiss me and it’s all better,” she whispered harshly.

“No, that’d be too easy,” he snapped, irritated all over again by her.

Her eyes dared him to say more.

“Bryson! We hafta go!” Troy suddenly appeared, pissing him off but giving him the chance he needed.

He didn’t let her go. Instead, he kissed her long and hard until she was holding onto him for support. Until she rested against him as he controlled the kiss. Only then did he lift from her lush mouth. “Now we go. You’re to stay with me. With me.”

The mute nod after the storm of her anger was enough to convince him he had to get her away from the team. This has gone on long enough. Gotta hide her. Keep her safe, away from every threat. “We go, but we go alone. Set up the perimeter, I’ll take my truck. No one else, Troy. No one.”

“No! No. He wants you to do that!” She shocked him, and no doubt Troy with her frightened, heartfelt whisper. “I won’t go. Not alone. He wants to kill you. I heard him. He wants me, but he wants you dead, William. That might happen if we split up.”

“Your house blew up. It’s gone.”

She shook her head.

He pushed harder. “Why? Because he wanted it gone. He’s out there, or someone else is, right now. We go deep.”

“With the team.” She stood taller, holding her head up even as she twisted her sleeves.

Will wanted to shake her again. Instead he gave Troy a short nod. “With the team.” He went over a new plan in his head then turned to Troy. “We leave the trucks. Leave the RV. Grab packs. We’re on foot. With all his technology, he’s got no idea how to track without it. We go back to the basics. He won’t have a clue. Sara, go get those boots back on. I want to make that ranger station by midnight.”

“Are you crazy?” Troy shouted. “It’s past dark. She can’t walk in the—”

“Troy, if you don’t mind, I can talk for myself. I can walk. Daylight. Dark. Doesn’t matter. As long as I’m walking away from that sick fuck. Flashlights would be nice, though.”

Troy closed his mouth, opened it then snapped it shut. Finally, he shook his head but headed back out.

Sara met his gaze. Hers made it clear he was bordering on being in that sick fuck category she had Potter in.

Like hell. I’ll explain this to her. She’ll see reason. “Get your boots on. I’ll gather the supplies.”