HotTango (15 page)

Cole yanked his shirt off and tossed it in the hamper. “I’ll
be right behind you.”

She jerked her head toward him. Had it been that obvious?

He nodded at the shower. “Go on.”

Tanya stepped into the cubicle, the chilled tile against her
feet contrasting with the spray of hot water. She felt more than heard Cole
behind her. The pressure in the shower changed with the closing of the door.
Her breath came in increasingly faster pants.

“Sh.” Cole wrapped his arms around her, bringing her back
flush to his chest.

She leaned into him, letting him support her. In the past,
following an officer-involved shooting, she’d been the one to offer him succor.
Now he offered her his strength and experience.

“Deep breaths, slow and easy,” he whispered at her temple.

Tanya nodded and concentrated on her breathing, the feel of
Cole’s arms around her and the comfort of her own shower.

The last few hours had been the hardest. She was never very
good at waiting. Officers had interviewed her while Cole was required to go
through the scene with IA and his rep. It was procedure. And it sucked.

Cole kissed her temple and down to her jaw. She shuddered
and turned in his hold until she could wrap her arms around his neck, then
pressed her face against his shoulder.

“I was so scared,” she said. The hot water warmed her from
the outside in.

“I know. I was too.” He peppered light kisses across her
brow and squeezed her closer.

“All I could think about was that I was about to die and the
last time I talked to you we were fighting.” The muscles around her ribs
constricted at the same time she sucked in a deeper breath. She gasped and the
tears began. She’d held them in the entire time they’d been at the scene, the
whole way home, but not anymore. “I don’t want to fight with you,” she said
between gasps.

“I don’t want to fight either,” he said into her hair.

She wiped at her face, but her tears mingled with the spray
from the showerheads. “It was so stupid. I was mad at you for actually talking
to me. I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. I should have talked to you
sooner. Not let stuff build up.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her lips,
lingering for several moments. “Let’s get you washed up, hm?”

Tanya nodded and let Cole lather her body with the frilly,
fragrant body wash he’d bought her for some forgotten occasion. He ran his
hands over her stomach, down her hips and back up to massage her breasts.

His touch grounded her. Held her in the moment. In reality.
Where they were alive and well.

Nicolas would tell the officers everything.

Trigger Happy—she didn’t know what his fate would be.

And Silence was dead.

She didn’t mourn them, though she sympathized with their
decisions. Tanya knew she’d do anything for her husband. Maybe not kill others,
but in that position she’d think about it long and hard before saying no. He’d
never forgive her if she made any other choice, and she’d want the same thing.

Cole turned off the shower and grabbed her robe from the
hook outside the cubicle.

“Here.” He held it out for her.

“Thank you.”

He wrapped a towel around his waist and ushered her into the
bathroom. Her brain had gone to mush. Cole guided her to the bed and even put
her in it. He left her swaddled in the familiar scent and feel of their bed
while he plugged in their phones and pulled all the blinds down. The sun would
be up and neither of them wanted to see it for many hours.

Technically he would be off work for three days while his
part in the shooting was under review and a psych test was administered. That
meant three blessed days of no phone calls stealing him away in the middle of
the night. Three days to figure out normal in the aftermath of change.

It was a strange thing to be grateful for, but Tanya was.

Cole slid into the bed with her, naked as the day he was
born.

That wasn’t a bad idea.

Tanya wiggled out of her robe and tossed it onto the floor.
She’d curse herself tomorrow for the damp carpet, but that was tomorrow. Cole
was right there, gathering her up again and holding her close, as if he were
just as afraid of her disappearing as she was of him.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too.” Tanya cupped his cheek and kissed him.

Cole pressed her onto her back, the kiss growing rougher,
more demanding. She cupped his head, wishing for hair to hold on to, but there
wasn’t any.

He grabbed her wrists and forced them up over her head.
Straddling her waist, he fumbled with something in the dark. Velvet wrapped
around her wrists, binding her to the headboard.

The Bondage for Beginners Kit.

Tanya tugged against the bonds and frowned.
Now? Really?

Cole braced himself with a hand bracketing each of her
shoulders. He leaned down far enough his face filled her vision.

“You will never pull a stunt like tonight ever again.” His
voice was rough, as if it had been treated with sandpaper.

“What—?”

“The putting yourself in danger. The getting involved with
the bad guys, don’t do that—ever—again.”

“I don’t plan on it.” She yanked at the fabric, finding
nothing amusing about this situation.

Cole lowered even farther, pressing her into the mattress
with his weight, his body covering hers from toe to head.

“Cole, this isn’t funny.”

“I’m not laughing. I almost lost you tonight. Don’t you know
how much that scared me? How crazy I was that whole time? I’m nothing without
you.”

It wasn’t the words so much as the tremor that shook his
voice that spoke to her. They’d been ripped apart, looking at a future without
the other. A reality born out of Cole’s deepest fears.

“Oh Cole.” She strained to lift her head, press kisses to
his face. “We’re alive. We’re going to be okay.”

“I know. But I want you to know that if you ever decide to
pull a damn stunt like that, I’m tying you to this fucking bed for the rest of
your life. I will not lose you, Tanya Westling.”

She knew he was serious, but the commanding tone, the velvet
bonds, knowing that she was the center of his world—it did something to her.

“Promise?” Tanya bit her lip and arched her back, pressing
her breasts against his chest.

He snorted. “You are unbelievable.”

“Hey, I’m completely serious.” She wiggled one leg out from
under him. Or more accurately, he let her get one leg free, and she wrapped it
around his hip.

She could feel his cock growing hard against her abdomen.
Whether he was seduced by her wanton gaze or he needed the affirmation of life
just as she did, it didn’t matter. Cole took her lips, kissing her deeply,
thrusting his tongue into her mouth, nipping and sucking her in turn, pouring
into her all the tightly-bottled-up love and passion until her head spun with
it.

“Tell me if I’m too rough,” he said into her ear.

Tanya grasped the spindles on the headboard and shifted her
legs, welcoming her husband into the cradle of her body. He guided his cock to
her entrance and pushed in.

Her back arched at the drag and feel of flesh on flesh. She
held Cole’s gaze and gripped the headboard as tightly as she could. They panted
in time, joined in body and soul, heart and mind.

He eased in and out of her pussy, allowing Tanya to adjust,
but she didn’t want slow. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him
deeper, closer.

Cole thrust harder, giving her what she asked for. What she
craved. Again and again he thrust, delving into her heart and soul to places
somehow untouched. He grabbed her thigh and hooked his arm under her knee,
opening her up to a deeper physical penetration.

“Ohmygod,” she chanted, voice pitched higher as he hit her
G-spot. Each thrust rubbed against that secret inner button.

Tanya came apart in a wail. Her vaginal muscles spasmed,
tightening around his cock as he continued the steady rhythm, ratcheting her up
even higher, prolonging the orgasm. She dug her nails into the wood, spine
arching, the pleasure saturating every fiber to the point of almost-pain.

Cole groaned over her, his breath hitching before he went
rigid.

Their bodies eased and he relaxed over her, still in and
around her.

“Just so you know, this goes beyond, ‘’til death do you
part.’ Don’t ever think about leaving me, or else I’ll really handcuff you to
the bed.”

Tanya sputtered and giggled. “Promise?”

“I do. ’Til the world ends and time stands still.”

Tanya was pretty sure she could handle that, with or without
the handcuffs.

One Week Later

Tanya stood in the long line of derby girls under the
bleachers. Between Go-Go-Randy and the fans, it was deafening.

Instead of adrenaline rushing through her veins, she felt
something different. Roller derby would never be the same. Maybe this memorial
game would help them all move on.

For a moment the crowd calmed and Go-Go-Randy’s voice rose
clear as a bell above everything else. It was a wonder what he sounded like
sober, but the Olympic Committee had balked at the use of beer in roller derby.
The team had agreed to leave the beeramids out and bring a sober Randy.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Olympiads and, well, the rest of us.
Welcome to tonight’s memorial re-bout between the Sin City Rollers
and—your—Metro—City—Derby—Dames!”

The crowd erupted. People stomped on the stands overhead,
there were the familiar sounds of foghorns, technically illegal by Olympic
standards, coffee cans with rocks in them, yelling, bells and all the usual
roller derby sounds.

Times five thousand people.

The stadium reserved for the game was sold out.

When Tanya had peeked outside, there were people sitting in
lawn chairs outside ready to watch it on big screens.

It was overwhelming.

The sound just got louder as the opposing team was
introduced, each player sprinting out onto the track and skating laps until the
entire team was accounted for. Save their three girls injured in last week’s
game who were sitting on the bench.

A hand squeezed her upper arm.

“Deep breath,” Goldie whispered behind her.

Tanya nodded just as the sounds of
We Will Rock You
blared over the stadium sound system.

“Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Let me hear
you cheer for your—Metro—City—Derby—Dames!”

The energy in the ready area was palpable. As much as this
was a redo game, it would also count for the flat track association standings.
And they wanted to win just as badly this time around as last time.

The line in front of Tanya shrank until she stood at the
opening, fans on either side of the tunnel leaning over, snapping pictures and
cheering. She rolled up to her toe stops and hunched forward in the typical
starting position.

“You know her face, but we know her name. She’s one Hot
Tango!”

Tanya sprinted forward, her world narrowing to the track in
front of her and her teammates. The volume of the cheering was so loud she
could barely think.

Just put one foot in front of the other.

She hit the track at top speed and blazed around the outer
perimeter of turns three and four.

“Hot Tango! Hot Tango! Hot Tango!”

The crowd was chanting her name.

Tanya stood up straighter, letting herself coast, and stared
into the grandstands. There were glittering signs, banners and even a row of
people with her name spelled out on t-shirts. She clapped her hand over her
mouth, shocked by the display of support. Most of these people hadn’t even
heard of roller derby before last weekend. Hell, the foreigners didn’t know
what to make of them, which had been apparent during their guest visit to the
Olympic Village yesterday to meet some of the athletes, but they all
appreciated what Tanya and the other roller derby girls had done.

She lifted her arm and waved at the crowd, taking another full
lap before Go-Go-Randy announced Goldie Fuckers. The league hadn’t budged where
the derby girl names were concerned though the Olympic officials had tried.
There were some things that were so derby, to remove them would cheapen it.

One by one the members of the Derby Dames travel team were
called out onto the court, but none of them were given the same kind of
entrance Tanya received. It was enough to make her eyes water, but since she’d
gone all out with makeup and let another girl talk her into false eyelashes,
crying was not an option.

“All rise for the playing of our national anthem by the
Mistress of Penalties.” Go-Go-Randy gestured to the woman wiggling her way to
center rink.

The Mistress of Penalties had gone all out in a PVC
mermaid-style dress that glistened under the lights and made one wonder whether
it was possible to wear anything under the gown. Regardless, she took the mic,
flipping her long black wig over one shoulder.

Every derby girl removed her helmet, holding it over her
heart.

Tanya was still off-kilter, but she felt little pieces of
herself coming back, fitting together. The biggest pieces Cole had fixed. Their
love was the glue that kept them going the last week, through the circus that
was their life.

The mood as the Mistress of Penalties finished the
Star-Spangled
Banner
was somber. Tanya kept her helmet off and her eyes on the screen
between the flags that had been raised for their game.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we will now observe a moment of
silence for the twelve lives lost from last weekend’s tragic events,”
Go-Go-Randy said over the speakers. A graphic with the Derby Dames logo across
from the Olympic rings faded into view with the words We Will Remember across
the screen.

Thirteen.

Silence had been killed on the spot. One bullet to the head.
He might be a terrorist, but he’d also been a victim. Days after their bout, a
Navy SEAL team attacked the location Ali Saed’s terrorist cell had holed up in.
What they’d found were not hostages of Nicolas and others who’d come forward
after the botched attack, but active terrorists. The cell had used its members
as leverage, targeting their family in America to do their dirty work.

Nicolas’ grandmother was not in life-threatening danger. She
was a terrorist herself.

Tanya forced herself to take long, even breaths. The
slideshow came to a close, and the stadium was so quiet she could hear the
officials rustling through paper, picking up their clipboards.

“The Olympic Committee and the mayor of Metro City will now
join me. Please give a warm, derby welcome.” Half the audience hooted and shook
their noisemakers while the other half merely clapped.

The mayor took a microphone from Go-Go-Randy. To his credit,
he didn’t bat an eyelash at the banana-yellow track suit or faux mullet or the
oversized, rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses. The handlebar mustache was totally
real though.

“Thank you, Randy and the Derby Dames, for having us here
tonight.” The mayor of Metro City was an older middle-aged man, well dressed,
trim and clean-cut. His voice was warm, comforting like a blanket on a cold
night. Tanya could understand why he was mayor. Hell, if he ran for office
again she’d vote for him now that she didn’t travel as much.

“We here in Metro City are proud and honored by our
citizens. The loss of life is a grievous thing, and we will hold the hands of
our mourning families and continue to help them. To the Derby Dames in
particular, we want to say thank you. Reports about the efforts of your
volunteers, staff and players are a testament to your honor. We are all
familiar with the video footage of the Derby Dames volunteer security ushering
people out in those first moments. They usually have a staff of off-duty
officers on-site, but because of the Games, husbands, boyfriends and fathers
stepped up to fill that hole. Players served as emergency nurses, treating the
wounded, finding bandages and saving the lives of three patrons. And then
there’s the face we’ve all come to recognize.”

Tanya had been warned, or more accurately the mayor’s office
had requested this, and who was she to say no? She pasted on as big a smile as
she could, but it wavered at the corners.

A photograph of Cole and her at a picnic faded onto the
screen. She wore a yellow eyelet sundress and he had on his uniform gray SWAT
t-shirt and jeans. They were smiling at the camera, their hands joined across
the blanket. Other images filtered across the screen. Cole in uniform, her
planting trees in the park, them taking a hike. Normal images.

“Tanya Westling behaved with courage and selfless heroism.
She served as a secondary negotiator and, with her help, through text messaging
and pictures, gave our team invaluable information that led to the safe
recovery of over a thousand hostages. Her husband, Sergeant Cole Westling, has
been a member of the SWAT team for five years, and we credit him for putting
the city and civilians before his own family.”

A large, rough hand closed around her shoulder and Tanya
breathed a sigh of relief. She’d know that touch anywhere.

Cole pulled her against his side and kissed her temple.

“Will the Westlings please join me?” The mayor turned in a
circle, searching the lines of players for her.

Cole took her hand and together they made their way out onto
the track. He was wearing his uniform, not because he was on duty but because
of this honor.

The mayor shook both of their hands.

“We won’t keep you long. I know how excited everyone is for
tonight’s game—bout, that’s what you call it, isn’t it?” The mayor chuckled.

“Yes sir.” Tanya smiled and nodded.

“Oh behalf of Metro City, I would like to give you our
Superhero Award. For those in the audience not familiar with our history, Metro
City began as a theme park town that celebrated superheroes. Those first
industrious families who put down roots here never expected us to grow into the
metropolitan hub of activity, but we have, and our citizens carry that spirit
with them. The spirit of heroes.” The mayor took two medallions on ribbons, one
in each hand, and extended them to both Tanya and Cole.

They each accepted their award. On Cole’s a man with a cape
posed as if he were flying. On Tanya’s a woman stood in a ready stance, as if
she were about to begin fighting.

There were other words being spoken, the mayor was talking
to the audience and the Olympic Committee was finally off their mute button.
The spotlight wasn’t focused on them, so Tanya took the moment to wrap her arms
around Cole and hug him tight.

Go-Go-Randy took the center rink once more. “Ladies and
gentleman, tonight’s bout will also be a charity event. One hundred percent of
the proceeds from the bout will go to a survivors’ fund to benefit those who
were injured or lost the lives of family members. So please, buy a beer,
noisemaker, t-shirt or snack, and know that it’s going to a good cause.” He
slapped his thigh. “It’s time to get this party started!”

As if someone flipped a switch, the crowd erupted into
cheers.

Tanya handed Cole her medallion and kissed his cheek.

“Hit ’em hard, babe,” he said.

“Will do,” she promised and skated to her team’s bench.

Go-Go-Randy launched into his introduction of the sport as
if he were reading it from a script. “We’re going to explain the way modern
roller derby is played, and how you’ll see it done tonight. Each team gets five
players on the track—”

“Hot Tango, you’re pivot,” Aaliyah said, tossing the helmet
panty at her.

Tanya caught it and skated out to the starting line. The Sin
City pivot was already in place. She was an Amazon of a woman, tall and wide
through the shoulders. The player held out her hand and Tanya took it automatically,
shaking it.

“Thanks for what you did, but I’m still going to kick your
ass,” the pivot said with a smile.

Tanya grinned back. “You can try.”

* * * * *

Cole sat on the edge of his seat.

The score was seventy-seven to seventy-five in favor of Sin
City, and there was a minute and half on the clock. Two injuries to staple
Derby Dame jammers had taken them out of the game and the Dames lost their
lead.

Tanya skated to the jammer line for what felt like the
hundredth time that night. The crowd went crazy every time she stepped foot on
the track, and it made him swell with pride. Now he was caught up in the
excitement with everyone else.

“Come on, Hot Tango,” Aaron bellowed next to him. Every SWAT
member who had the night off had come to the game—bout. Hell, they had reserved
seating.

“You can do it, babe,” Cole muttered.

The players assembled behind their lines. He could tell by
the lagging speed and sloppy hits the players were exhausted. Then again, he
wasn’t sure he could maintain such high speeds for a full hour.

One whistle blast and the pack skated off the line. There
was new speed to their movements, as if they knew this was a
make-it-or-break-it moment.

Two whistle blasts and Tanya shot off the line. The other
jammer was a second behind her. Together they sprinted forward. The Sin City
jammer hadn’t skated as much as Tanya. She slowly eased abreast of Tanya. Cole
saw her skate come forward to make a movement to step in front of his wife and—
BAM!

Tanya hit the other jammer full force, knocking her out of
bounds and sending the smaller woman sprawling to the ground.

The crowd went wild, screaming and cheering.

Tanya tucked low and shot forward with all the speed she had
left in her.

The clock ticked down to one minute.

“Hot Tango! Hot Tango!” people chanted.

Players jostling each other about, but at the back of the
pack, two powerhouse players were ready for her. Spanish Rose shouldered the
Sin City players aside. Tanya held out both hands and the woman grasped her
wrists, propelling her forward in a whip.

A Sin City blocker came from the outer track, sweeping in.
Cole tensed, sensing the coming impact. The blocker hit Tanya, hip-first as
many of the players did, but Tanya shouldered the woman. They remained locked
in position until Goldie Fuckers practically sat in the Sin City blocker’s lap,
forcing the woman to put on the brakes or ram into the blonde woman.

“Ten!”

Tanya swooped to the outside of the track, the Sin City
pivot tracking her every move. The rest of the Dames had their hands full
holding back the other Sin City blockers, which meant Tanya was on her own
against the Amazon.