Uniform Desires (Make Mine Military Romance) (8 page)

“What I mean is we are...combustible. But not just in the bedroom.”

“Ah, the temperament. Comes with the passion.”

“If I had known I was going to face the inquisition while we were out, I would have made sure to not take the pain pill.”

“I guess Mal didn’t tell you about me.”

“Other than you were single, could handle yourself, and well, that you’re pretty.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You added that last one in.”

He smiled. “Okay, I did.”

“I guess Mal didn’t tell you the nickname my brothers gave me, did he?”

He shook his head.

“I was known as the informer.”

He waited for a second, and when she didn’t continue, he asked, “The informer?”

“Yes. We had a big family: four boys, two girls, and a mother who worked by my father’s side to get the business going. When my mother worried about the boys, she always let me go with them. And if I didn’t, she made sure I got to question them. I can get an answer out of anyone.”

“Is that why Mal let you go with me alone?”

She snorted. “First of all, Mal doesn’t let me do anything. I stopped answering to a man the day I turned eighteen. Secondly, I don’t think so. See, knowing my brother, he’s going to go catting around after a few of his lost loves. He’s not ready to settle down yet, so I know he will go to the women he knows won’t get clingy.”

Deke rolled his eyes. “Talk about someone who’s carrying a torch.”

She zeroed in on that statement. “Do tell.”

Deke’s eyes widened almost comically. “No. No way. I am not ratting out an officer to his sister. I’ll never live it down.”

“Spoilsport.”

“I would rather be called that than whatever the team would invent to pay me back for telling you something.”

“Why don’t we go do a little more walking? I need to stop by my bar. I just need to make sure there aren’t any problems.”

“I think I can handle that.”

She nodded. “And maybe we’ll stop at a voodoo store, and I’ll buy something to make you talk.”

“Don’t even think about it. I have a healthy respect for that shit.”

Laughing, she patted his hand.

“If Kade screws this up with you, I want first dibs at a date.”

Amused with him, with the solemn expression on his face, she smiled.

“You’re the first man I’d call.”

· · · · ·

“So, how long you in town for?”

Mal smiled at Verna, and Kade tried not to cuss. He really hadn’t wanted to come to the bar, but Mal had insisted, telling him he needed to get out of the house. He knew his friend was right, but it didn’t mean he wanted to sit there with the skanky woman wrapped around Mal like he was a life preserver on the Titanic. And he didn’t want to be in Shannon’s bar.

“We only have a week of leave. So not long. Just needed to get out of Virginia, and I wanted to check on my sister. Has she been seeing anyone?”

Verna shook her head. "That new restaurant owner from down the street has been sniffing around. He’s one of the Augustins. But she shut him down. She told me he was just trying to scope out the competition.”

“Are we talking about Beau? He has always had a thing for her. When we were in high school, he used to follow her around like she was the goddess of New Orleans.”

Verna laughed, and Kade took another quick drink of his water. The woman’s laugh was equal to nails on a chalkboard to him.

“I could see that. She said it wasn’t that, but man he moons over her. Well, speak of the devil.”

He followed the waitress’s line of vision, and his heart did that little skip. The bright yellow dress she wore was made of some kind of flimsy fabric that clung to her generous curves. It dipped low between her breasts and stopped just above her knee. She was laughing at something Deke said, and dammit, he couldn’t help the way the air backed up in his lungs.

“Looks like they had a good time,” Mal said.

Indeed it did. Her face glowed with happiness as she looked up at Deke. He leaned closer and said something to her. She laughed, and although it wasn’t loud, he could hear it. It wrapped around his heart and gave a little tug. She was out having the time of her life with one of his buddies. Meanwhile, he had been stuck with Mal and the waitress from hell. He was drinking the damned water because the lazy woman had yet to get him another beer. She spotted them, and he felt her attention stay on him a moment or two longer than it had on Mal. They walked over to the table.

“I had a feeling y’all would be out. Did you do anything more interesting than entertain Verna?” Shannon asked.

“There isn’t anything more interesting than that,” Mal said, sending the waitress into peals of laughter.

“Verna, you need to get back to work. I have a feeling that both of these Seals need another beer.”

She made a face, but she did it all the same.

Shannon settled in the chair next to her brother. Chief took the chair next to her and acted as if he had a right to sit there. Between them. He shot a look at Kade, but then turned his attention to Shannon.

“Really, Mal, the woman is an idiot,” Shannon said.

“Why do you keep her around, then?” Mal asked as he scooped up another handful of snack mix.

“When you aren’t around, she’s a pretty good waitress, and I don’t have the patience to train someone else right now. She might not be the brightest bulb, but at least I don’t have to work with her anymore.”

“She’s not stupid,” Mal said.

“She went and got a two-for-one tattoo and was amazed that they spelled her name wrong on one of them. Really, who has their name tattooed on their own ass? I’ll tell you, an idiot.”

Deke chuckled. "It isn’t like you couldn’t find another woman in this town. It’s filled with them.”

“Yeah, Deke had a couple of women practically slobbering on him at the voodoo shop. It was embarrassing. I thought they might use a love potion on him.”

She leaned back in her chair, and Deke put his arm over the back of it. Like they were a couple.
Fuck
. He told himself for the millionth time that he didn’t have a right to get mad, but dammit, Deke wasn’t her boyfriend. He wasn’t anything to her.

“So, I was trying to talk him into a night on Bourbon Street, but he claims he’s an old, tired man,” Shannon said.

“I said I would enjoy a nice, relaxing dinner with you. Not some loud bar with a bunch of tourists,” Deke said.

His flirtatious tone had Kade grinding his teeth. He read the signs. Chief had shifted his chair closer, leaned into her, as if they were on a date. As if he had a right to touch her. Kade felt his temper rising, but he fought it. He was pretty sure Shannon wouldn’t be happy if he embarrassed her by re-breaking Chief’s arm.

“What’s on the agenda tomorrow?” she asked.

“I plan to follow you around like a puppy dog,” Chief said.

Her eyebrows rose slightly, but she didn’t say anything. If the red haze of anger and jealousy hadn’t blinded him, he would have noticed that she was surprised by Chief’s behavior. It was lost on him. All he saw was his friend coming onto the woman he had been in love with for too long. He did the only thing a Seal could do—other than shoot Chief.

Kade stood and walked around the table. Without a word, he grabbed Shannon by the arm and hauled her up.

“That’s enough of that,” he said.

Kade said nothing else as he dragged her out of the bar. She complained all the way, calling him many names in English and Creole. Some he knew, and he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know the others. When they reached the street, he scanned it for her convertible and found it easily. He started to drag her along to it, but she dug in her heels and forced him to stop.

“What in holy hell are you doing?” she asked, loud enough that people passing took notice.

He turned to face her and couldn’t think. Right now, he was so damned aroused and irritated, his brain just would not form words. Besides, she was a sight to behold when she was angry. Her face was flushed. Her green eyes were spitting daggers at him, and dammit, she was breathing heavily. With each breath she took, the delicate flesh rose about the flimsy neckline of her dress.

“You do not drag me out of a bar like you own me. I am not into he-men who think they can order me around. Just who the hell do you think you are?”

The darker side he wanted to control came slithering to the top and lashed out at her. He cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to him. He attacked her mouth then, letting all his frustration, his needs, his desires wash over her, over both of them. She resisted at first, but it was futile. He knew she wanted him. He used it to entice her, slipping his tongue between her lips and tasting her.

By the time he pulled back, they were both breathing unsteadily.

“You choose, now. You come back to your place with me, or you tell me to fuck off.”

He watched her lashes lower as she sighed. It sounded like regret, and he realized he might have made a big mistake with her. Maybe he had pushed his luck with her, and she had written him off. She wasn’t a woman who had to wait around for a man, especially one that had been a jackass.

But in the next instant, she looked up at him, her gaze direct, unwavering. He felt as if she were looking into his soul.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 8

Shannon’s nerves were popping with excitement and a little bit of fear by the time she walked into her house. The ride home had been quiet, Kade not saying a word. She didn’t live far from her business, but it had seemed to take forever to make it back to her house. Kade shut the door behind him, and she set her purse and keys on the table in the front hallway and faced him.

He looked so different. Fire flamed in his eyes, darkening them with the desire he felt for her. "Last chance, Dupree.”

The way he said it sounded scary and thrilling at the same time. She knew he was trying to give her an out. He hadn’t spoken of any commitment. At the moment, he wasn’t thinking of the future—she was sure of that. Doing this, she was taking a chance on her heart but not her body. Even in his state, she knew that he would never abuse her. He couldn’t think beyond today. She understood that. It was the only way he could cope with whatever he was going through. Still, she knew that he would never dally with her if he hadn’t felt some kind of connection. She knew he was good, a really good man. And right now, he needed her.

“I don’t need any warnings, McKade.” She settled her hands on her hips and lifted her chin. He wasn’t going to scare her off, not now. “Unless you aren’t up to the task, Seal.”

He hesitated for a second, as if not believing she had just challenged him. The silence stretched as they stood there staring at each other. For a moment, just a moment, she thought he might walk away. That scared her more than his mood right now. Then, he grabbed her arm again and dragged her back to her room. Not that she was fighting him at all. She wanted this, wanted him in her bed.

He shut the French doors behind him and locked them. When he turned to her, she felt the first little lick of real fear. He masked his emotions, and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Shannon knew he was a good man, but she wondered at the moment if he realized it himself.

“Strip.”

She hesitated, not sure if she heard him right. This was not the playful lover she knew in Hawaii, the one who laughed with her in bed. This man was definitely dangerous. While he did scare her a bit, there was another emotion coursing along with it.
Arousal
.

“Did you hear me, Shannon? Do it now, or I’ll punish you.”

She shivered at the thought of what he might do. It would definitely be more than last time, she was sure of that. She did as he ordered but slowly. She wanted to make sure that he understood she was giving this to him. It was her choice, not his.

She removed her high-heeled sandals, kicking them to the wall and out of the way. Then, she slowly pulled down the zipper to her dress. She shimmied out of it, letting it fall to the floor. He showed no emotion in his expression. If anything, he looked mad. His lips turned down in a concentrated frown. His eyes, though, told another story. Heat was burning still, even hotter than before.

“Panties and bra too, Shannon.”

He didn’t raise his voice, but she heard the command. His tone was low and gravelly. It did odd things to her. She liked a little playing in the bedroom, but she had never seen herself as someone who would be into hardcore BDSM. But that low, demanding voice was starting to get to her. In fact, it made her want to make him happy, to please him.

She undid her bra, and he watched. A first for her. She had never stripped for a man. Not that she hadn’t thought about it, or didn’t have enough confidence in herself to do it. She had just never wanted to do it for a man. Until now.

She shook her shoulders, freeing the fabric and causing her breasts to sway slightly. The cool air hit her nipples, and she drew in a sharp breath. They were already so sensitive. She could not imagine what it would feel like when he touched them. By the time she got it free, she thought he made a sound, but she wasn’t sure. He still showed no emotion on his face, and if she hadn’t been so tuned in to him, she probably would have missed it.