Page 46 of Heart of Danger
The smile widened. “Everything. I’m so hungry I could eat a raw horse. Knowing it’s Stella’s cooking, I’m about to rip those things right out of your hands.”
He didn’t particularly want to smile but found his lips curling upwards. It was impossible not to smile at that face. “Wouldn’t want that. So I guess I’ll just give you some of everything. There’s enough for seconds and thirds.”
He stacked her plate high with Stella’s food, liking everything about this. The beautiful woman who now had a full smile on her face. In his bed, in his quarters.
For most of his life, his bed had been empty, his life survival and leadership. The last year he’d spent constantly on the lookout because they had powerful enemies. They had the fucking US government looking for them and he was under no illusions what would happen if the government found them. Whatever the powers that be had been told about Ghost Ops, the men hunting them had been given specific orders. Shoot on sight.
They’d escaped once on their way to a court martial. The government wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
Everything that could be done to keep him, his men and their people safe, he’d done. But any soldier was familiar with the ways of that fuck Murphy and the hell Murphy could unleash, so Mac was constantly on the lookout for trouble. Paranoia was the hallmark of a good soldier. He had every right to be paranoid, and he was.
Not to mention the fact that somehow—he had no idea how—he’d been elected something between mayor and king of Haven. People now started coming to him with technical problems and organizational problems and lately—Jesus!—emotional problems. So besides keeping his people safe he now had to keep them happy and spiritually fulfilled.
Mac wasn’t a priest. Though, come to think of it, lately he’d had the sex life of one.
So, yeah, sitting relaxed on his bed with this gorgeous, smart woman, eating delicious food—yeah, that made for a nice break with his reality.
She’d settled with her back to his headboard, a big plate on her lap, some green and orange concoction in a tall glass on his nightstand. He lifted his own glass. “What the fu—what the hell is this?”
She laughed, head tilted back, long white neck exposed. Man, she had a pretty neck. He scratched his own, which wasn’t pretty, and studied hers. Necks like that were made to be touched, but this woman was too beautiful to touch. Off limits.
“You don’t have to censor yourself with me, Mac. I’m a big girl. To answer your question, I think it’s carrot juice and mint.” She lifted the glass and took a long drink. Mac followed the movements of her neck as she swallowed and his dick swelled even larger.
ThankGodhe had on tight jeans and a long sweatshirt—his usual uniform in Haven. This moment was too good to ruin with a hard on that couldn’t go anywhere. Because, really, what would a woman like her be doing with a man like him?
They were like Beauty and the Beast, not to mention the fact that there was probably a million dollar reward for his head. His face, Nick’s face and Jon’s face were no doubt on some playing cards in a Most Wanted deck. The operator who smoked him would get one big honking promotion.
So, no. Sex wasn’t going to happen. However horny he was, she wasn’t. He knew what aroused women looked like and acted like, and this wasn’t it. She wasn’t sneaking looks at him, checking out his package, casually putting a hand high up on his thigh. Standard fare for the bar chicks he picked up. Used to pick up when he used to have a sex life.
She just looked…happy. As happy as anyone can look whose home was trashed.
“What?”
She’d said something.
“I said, how do you like the juice?” There was patience in her voice, like someone dealing with the demented.
He took a long swig. “Frankly, I’d rather have a beer. Don’t know why she didn’t include one.”
She smiled. “I’m sure if you call Stella she’d have a beer or two sent up.”
He was tempted for about two seconds. Then—“Nah. It’s okay.” He took another swig of the stuff, not because he liked it but because he didn’t want to interrupt this. Whatever this was.
Catherine bit into one of the roast beef sandwiches, chewed, sighed and swallowed. “Man this stuff is good. She’s amazing. Does she cook like this all the time?”
She was smiling right at him and it was really natural to smile back, though Mac wasn’t much of a smiler. Good thing there were no vidcams in the room because Nick and Jon would have a heart attack if they saw him now. Lifting his mouth, showing his teeth. Not scowling. Talking.
“Pretty much. We’re all addicted now. Any other food tastes funny.”
“I bet.” She took another bite then put the sandwich down. “So…what’s her story? How’d she end up here?”
Mike hesitated. Stella’s story belonged to the community, not to outsiders.
But then, Catherine was one of them and she needed to know the story. If it turned out she wasn’t, she’d be injected with a really big dose of Lethe, enough to cover three days, and set loose in the valley.
Mac’s spirits dimmed a little at the thought, but it was what it was. “You know she had a stalker, right?”
She nodded. “It was in all the blogs and gossip sites.“
