Page 106 of Defenders of Jawhara

Giggling, Keira tried to push him away but as soon as his lips latched on to her nipple and gave it a bit of a tug, her laughter turned into a moan. “So your solution is to get me naked?” She was panting as she asked, and her fingers were pressing against his head, urging him to continue.

“Well, at least for the next several hours. I’m open to discussions of alternative activities after that.”

Wrapping her legs around his hips, she arched her back, pressing herself against him and grinding her pelvis against his erection.

“While that sounds like a great plan, you, once again, have too many clothes on.”

Slade disconnected his call with Brock and stared at his phone. He was happy for his business partner and friend. Brock deserved to find the happiness that he’d denied himself all these years. He still remembered when he’d brought Keira to Slade Security. Underweight and hungry—hungry to prove herself, which she did over and over. And the more successes she had, the farther Brock seemed to get from her. He silently congratulated himself on finally bringing them together, and he was happy that they’d found happiness.

It was too bad that not everyone got their happily ever after.

He turned off the engine, and the SUV sat there pinging, warmth drifting in from the open window, a light breeze scented with pine. Oregon was dry this time of year. Brown pine needles littered a fenced front yard, almost covering the dry grass. Colored toys lay strewn around like a hurricane had left them there. He checked his phone yet again to confirm that this was the address Bethany Simmons had given him.

Bethany’s children must still be young.Tayra’s ill and having to deal with little kids?He shook his head. His sarcasm meter was piqued, but he’d better put a lid on that. No sense making things worse. He also shouldn’t be making assumptions. Bethany Simmons might run a daycare for all he knew, or she could be looking after the neighbor’s kids. He glanced around. Not many neighbors here.

The house stood back from the main street, just off of a winding road. It looked rustic—logs and a green metal roof. An orange Volkswagen that had seen better days stood in the driveway. There wasn’t a garage. Bright flowers of some kind in boxes off of the front porch danced in the light breeze. The front door opened, and the most beautiful woman he’d seen in a long time stepped out. The screen door banged shut behind her.

This had to be Bethany Simmons.

His first thought was that she looked a lot like her sister, Tayra. His second was that Bethany had the kind of beauty that would age well. High cheekbones, sharp jawline, wide hips on an otherwise slender frame. Even though he judged her to be in her thirties, she had the look of someone weathered—like teak that had aged, the edges all a little softened, the colors mellowed. Her shoulders slumped a little, and Slade wondered if he should have made getting here a higher priority.

After returning from Jawhara, he’d had to spend four days in San Diego before he could get up here—business had demanded his time, in the form of a tangle only he could unknot. He’d worried the whole time. Bethany—Tayra’s sister—hadn’t sounded good on the phone when he’d spoken to her. She hadn’t sounded as if she had urgent business, but she had sounded troubled. She’d also wanted Brock, but Slade wasn’t going to pull Brock away if she wouldn’t tell him why. Plus, he’d just gotten together with Keira and was happier than he’d seen him in years. He wasn’t going to take that away from him for a woman who’d refused any contact with him for the past ten years. He remembered how devastated he was when Tayra had first broken things off with him, making it clear that she never wanted to see him again. Old hurts ran deep, and Slade didn’t see any point in dredging anything up for Brock, if he could avoid it. He deserved that much and more.

Slade didn’t know the full details of what was wrong now, but Tayra was ill. He knew that from what Bethany had let drop. It seemed Tayra had been sick for a long time and fighting. Bethany had said that if Brock couldn’t come, someone else needed to come to Oregon. Well, he was here. Now what?

Bethany stood on the porch, shading her eyes with one hand. She was dressed in black, but the skirt and shirt looked old, a little brown on the edges. She had on black pumps, and her brown hair curled around her face was tugged by the breeze.

Behind her, a young boy came out of the house in a black suit and white shirt. His narrow tie looked crooked. He slipped his hand into Bethany’s, and she helped him down the three steps to the sidewalk. Slade watched them, frowning. The boy had something wrong with his legs. A surge of compassion for the kid tugged at him.

He got out of his car and headed toward Bethany. She looked like she’d been crying; her eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks splotchy. He caught a faint hint of perfume—lilacs, something as delicate and heart-stopping as she was. Slade halted in the shade of a large pine, his face damp with sweat. The boy looked up at him, watching, with his head tipped back and his eyes bright.

He looked like…Tayra. He even had her eyes.

Tayra’s eyes had been as unique as the woman herself. They’d changed color with her moods. Tick her off and icy gray slipped in. When she was happy, the color shifted to an almost moss green. She and Brock had been inseparable in high school, but Brock had always been fated to join the Navy and become a SEAL. Tayra had known that, but the idea of it and actually being married to a SEAL were two entirely different things. She’d been unhappy from the moment they’d moved into military housing, and her resentment had only deepened from there. Despite her behavior, for Slade, his people were his family, and he looked after family. Tayra might be the former Mrs. Brock Wells, but she’d still been married to one of Slade’s people. That made her family, too. Still.

The question was—what was Bethany?

Slade glanced at her again. Her expression hadn’t changed from wooden, but he was stunned at the grief he saw in her eyes. He knew at once that he’d come too late. At least, too late to see Tayra alive.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. What else could he say?

She leveled her gaze at him and asked him, her voice cold, “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that, Slade?”

END OF HIS STUBBORN LOVER

SLADE SECURITY TEAM BOOK ONE

BLURB

He wasn’t looking for romance. But love had other plans…

Slade only cares about two things…his job and his team. He’s never been interested in settling down or starting a family. Those are attachments he doesn’t need. But when he goes to check on the boy left behind by the death of his business partner’s ex-wife, Slade meets Bethany Simmons. This computer programmer is smart as a whip and beautiful as well. And Slade can’t help but take notice.

When Bethany contacted Slade Security to let them know of her sister’s death, she never thought it would be Slade who would show up. With his tanned skin, salt-and-pepper hair, and ripped body, one look at Slade makes her go weak in the knees. But despite her attraction, Bethany’s not going to let anyone take her nephew away from her. Not even a silver fox like Slade.

Bethany’s determined to find a way to adopt her nephew. But as the simmering attraction between her and Slade grows, a dark secret is revealed. And it just might change both their lives forever.

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