Page 21 of With You

“No, you aren’t shutting me out again.”

Her eyes shifted away from mine and I saw the trace of guilt before she hid it. Fuck no, this wasn’t happening.

“Look at me, kitten.” I gripped her chin firmly in between my thumb and forefinger, pressuring her to make eye contact. “This isn’t over, you and me. I don’t give a fuck if we’re in some hotel room or back home in Little Falls. You get me?”

Sam was a natural fighter. If you told her she couldn’t do something, she’d damn well do it just to prove you wrong. She was exuding that same energy now, her narrowed eyes and stiff posture told me that she wanted to deny me, to push me away and punish both of us because she was scared. Of what she felt and how right this was between us. If she needed more convincing then I’d give it to her.

“You said you were sorry for leaving? Well, I’m sorry for letting you. I could have fought harder, made you listen, made you stay until we’d talked it out. You weren’t the only one to blame, Sam. Maybe we needed the time apart, to grow up and find out who we were outside of two teenagers that were looking to the Marines to tell us who we should be. This is our second chance, kitten, and I’m not letting you go this time.”

Her eyes had lost their defiance during my speech and her mouth was forming a small smile. That had to be a good sign. “Kitten?”

“You like when I scratch your head. Seemed appropriate.” I’d thought of the comparison each night as I’d run my fingers through her soft hair, my nails gently scratching at her scalp, she’d hum in contentment and fall asleep within minutes.

“Tell me you copy so that I can rip this sheet off your body and eat your pussy until you pass out.”

Her smile grew and she pushed her palm against my chest. I lifted myself off her slightly, unwilling to give her enough space to escape. She pulled the sheet aside, showing me every perfect, naked inch of her.

“Copy that, Ross.” Then she spread her legs and I got busy fulfilling my promise.

* * *

The drive to Baz’s ranch was quiet. We were both inside our heads preparing for the conversation that awaited us.

Out of respect, I’d made no attempt at discovering the identity of Baz’s friend and his sister. We had very little information on who was behind the human trafficking ring and the last thing I wanted to do was alert the wrong people, potentially giving away their whereabouts.

It was a discussion that I’d had with the entire team. I was good at what I did and there was a strong possibility I could find the friend that Baz had told us about, but potentially putting a victim in harm’s way was a risk that none of us would take.

Baz was waiting for us at the gate, Dog standing faithfully at this side, tongue hanging out and her tail wagging with excitement. He let us through and after relocking the gate, we continued the familiar path to his home.

The nights where we ate dinner at the ranch had been fun, each of us sharing stories from active duty. But tonight, the mood was more somber. Even though Baz had made dinner, none of us seemed to have an appetite as we waited for his friend to call. One phone call, that was all we were going to get, no video and no contact with the sister. That was the agreement.

I paced the small living room. Normally I was the guy behind the scenes, I gave information, I didn’t sit around and wait for it. Sitting still and waiting made me anxious. I couldn’t even sit on the couch and watch a movie, I always had to be doing something with my hands.

I’d started crocheting in my down time and it quickly became my favorite stress relieving hobby. Being inside of Sam had taken its place. I started to think about different patterns that I could make for Sam as I paced. Maybe a teddy bear with devil horns, that would be badass, just like her.

“You’re sure he was going to call tonight?” I checked my watch, noticing that it was two minutes before the meeting time.

“Yes, sit down for fuck’s sake. You’re making me nervous,” Baz growled at me.

Sam grabbed my arm on my next pass and pulled me down onto the couch next to her. The three of us stared at the black phone in the middle of the coffee table we’d admired on our first visit. When it lit up with the words “unknown caller,” Baz jumped out of his chair and reached for it.

“Hey, brother,” he held the phone to his ear and I could hear the muffled sounds of a man speaking on the other end. “Yeah, they’re here,” he looked at us. “Both of ’em, Samantha Hebert and Monroe Ross. Told you they’d pass your check.”

I shared a glance with Sam. It was unsurprising that he’d give our names and what we wanted to his friend, we already knew that Baz was loyal. Whatever the friend had found clearly made him agree to talk to us. That helped me get over the discomfort of knowing he’d run our backgrounds. Something I’d done hundreds of times, so I knew how revealing they could be.

Baz pulled the phone from his ear, touched the screen and placed it back on the coffee table.

“Go ahead, brother. They can hear you.” Baz returned to his chair.

“Hebert, Ross,” the voice on the phone said. “I’ll start out by saying the only reason I’m talking to you now is because I trust Baz with not only my life but my sister’s as well. He told me you were good people, good Marines that wouldn’t put us in danger. That being said, I don’t know you and you may have questions that I’m unwilling to answer. If you aren’t okay with that then we can end this right now.”

Another shared glance with Sam and I nodded for her to take the lead. We’d discussed how we’d handle the interview ahead of time, Sam would take point and I’d chime in if needed. She had more experience in this area and with my memory recall, I was better off listening without the distraction of thinking of the next question to ask.

“We understand…what should we call you?” Sam sat forward on the couch and propped her elbows onto her knees.

“Don’t fuckin’ care. It’s not like we’re going to be friends after this.” A car honked in the background and my mind automatically wanted to start tracing the call, to see if I could track his location, but a promise was a promise even if you had the best intentions.

“Fair enough, I don’t guess you’re willing to share the name of the boyfriend who kidnapped your sister?”

---