Untamed (5 page)

She glanced at Brody to find
he had the phone shoved against his ear. She could hear bits and pieces of the conversation, and it sounded as though he was on the phone with the General, no doubt reporting all of their trouble. Finding two new people with gifts in one night would have been one thing, but when those new people were all up in your business, it was more personal. Tara tore the side of the envelope off and pulled out the paper. Her heart dropped into her stomach, and a lump formed in her throat. She read the paper once…and then again to make sure she hadn’t imagined it. She sagged against the SUV and looked up to find Peter staring at her. Veronica had moved to his side and was cupping his reddened cheek where Tara had hit him. The scene however unusual didn’t do anything to anger Tara. No, maybe the blonde bimbo realized she didn’t have a chance with Brody so she was moving on to someone she could have. Veronica stared up into Peter’s eyes. He lowered his head like he was going to kiss her and Veronica made a slight shake, no. Had Tara not been watching the exchange, she might not have believed it. It was almost as if Peter already knew her. Tara shook the thought from her head. Who cares if they actually knew each other. Maybe this had all been some kind of game between the two. What really mattered was the letter in her hand and what it meant.

“You did this?”

He held up his hands. “No. I had nothing to do with it. Dad mentioned it over dinner. I tried to talk him out of calling in the loan, but he wouldn’t listen.”

He stepped close
r to her. “Let me try and talk to him again. Maybe I can buy you some time.”

Tara held up her hand
, halting Peter from getting any closer and Veronica pulled him back to her side. Tara shook her head once before turning to Brody. “I need to make some calls.”

He glanced at the unconscious men on the ground. “I’m driving you back to ba
se. Climb in the passenger seat and make your calls while I wait for backup to arrive.”

Tara crossed her arms over her chest. “What are they going to do with all of them?”

“Haul them in to interrogate them. They threatened you, and that can’t go unpunished.” He turned and pulled Tara into his arms. “I don’t want to think what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten to you in time. If Lydia wouldn’t have called me with her vision, I’d be explaining why there are three …” He glanced at all of the men lying all over the place and then at Peter. “…six dead assholes right now.”

“Calm down,
Cujo.”She patted his chest and stepped back, unwilling to get lost in the feel of his arms again. “Some of that training paid off.”

She
pulled the door open to the SUV and was about to climb in when Peter called out to her again. “Tara, you might also want to return your mom’s calls. Last I heard your grandma isn’t doing too well.”

Tara tilted her head. Boy, Peter was just full of bad news
and new friends. Had he intended to be the one to enjoy watching her squirm? Revenge for breaking the engagement or perhaps paybacks for not answering his calls? He was getting a front row seat as her life slowly crumbled around her. Tara slid into the passenger side and pulled the door closed.

If there was something wrong with her Grams
, her mom would have called and would have said it was an emergency. Tara would have been the first person her family called, knowing how close she was to the woman. She punched in the number to her mom’s house and waited.

Her mom picked up on the third ring. Her voice was groggy
, as if Tara had woken her up. “Hello.”

“Mom, tell
me that Peter is lying and that Grams is fine, that she’s not even sick.”

Tara’s mom cleared her throat. “I didn’t know what else to do since you wouldn’t return my calls. He said he was going to see you
, and I needed you to call me back. I guess he finally found you.”

Tara glanced out the window at her ex. The corner of his mouth ti
lted up, and he raised a brow. Yep, the jerk was enjoying himself, watching all of the chaos around her grow into an almost unmanageable heap of poo. She silently questioned if the man was bipolar? Pretending to be concerned, wanting to hurt her and now silently enjoying as her life fell to pieces. It confirmed her suspicion. The man was more of an ass than she’d thought.

“Grams had a heart attack
, but she’s going to be fine. I think it would be a good idea if you came home for a day or two and spent some time with her. Your presence lifts her spirits like nothing else.”

Tara let her head fall forward
, and she closed her eyes.  There was no way in hell that she wasn’t going home. If her Grams needed her, she’d be there. Grams had been the constant in Tara’s life. Tara’s mom was always too busy keeping up pretenses and trying to keep Tara’s brothers in line. While Grams had been the one to give Tara the encouragement she needed to accept her gift. The old woman had been there for Tara all of those years ago, and now it was Tara’s turn. She wouldn’t let her Grams down.

“Tell Grams I’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I’ll tell her. Tara, try not to worry.”

She opened her eyes. As if not worrying was a remote possibility.
Her Grams was her rock, her stability. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for that woman.

“Bye
, Mom.”

“Goodnight, dear.”

Tara hit the end button on her phone and immediately dialed her chef’s number.

“Thank
God. I’ve been calling you for a week,” William all but screamed into the phone.

“Sorry, I’ve been busy with training and junk. Trust me, I would have rather been there than where I am.”

“Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Tara, not this time. The restaurant is going to hell. We’ve had bad shipments; some haven’t shown up at all. Rotten food, staff quitting, it’s like someone flipped a switch, and everything that could go wrong, did, happening all at the same time.”

Tara glanced down at the letter in her hand. “William, has Mary been making the loan
payments? I got a letter from the bank that says we are three months past due. They are giving us only thirty days to get the payments caught back up. Please tell me this is just a misunderstanding. Mary told me everything was fine, that she’d taken care of everything. That was her job, damn it.”

The line went quiet. He didn’t have to answer her question. She already knew.

“She’s called in sick for the last two days. I went to take her some soup this afternoon and I ran into her apartment superintendent. He told me that she moved. She cleared out two days ago with no forwarding address. When I went into her office and started digging around, I found letters from the bank that she’d been hiding. I had no idea. I swear I had no idea.”

Tara’s head fell forward.
“I talked to you two every other day for the last nine months. Both of you told me that everything was fine. How in the hell did this happen?”

“
I trusted her too. She was manipulating both of us. I’ve been going over the books, Tara, and it’s not good. She cleaned out the account.”

Tara
closed her eyes. The night had just gotten worse. Without her there to keep an eye on the restaurant, it was going under. Not only was she not sure who she could trust anymore, but she didn’t know whether she’d even have a restaurant or bar to go back to once this was all over.

The bar…
Her head shot up, and hope surged in her chest. The revenue from the bar might put a big dent in the amount she owed. Her heart started beating again. Maybe not all was lost. Maybe it was all still salvageable. Three black SUVs surrounded her vehicle. Teams dressed in fatigues jumped out, and Brody started barking orders.

“Tara?”

She shook her head as she watched the efficiency of the team’s movement. They took the three unconscious men, two conscious men that were still down on their knees, Veronica and even Peter and stuffed them in the SUVs. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She needed to get home
, and the sooner the better, but teleporting right that moment wasn’t an option, not unless she was willing to divulge the last secret she had in her arsenal to the one man who drove her crazier than anyone else. And even if she was willing, it wasn’t as though she could take Brody with her. After Brody’s little show of protection, she knew he would insist.

She’d pushed the limits of her abilities before. Her imagination was the limit of what she could pull out of thin air. If she’d seen it, touched it, smelled it, or even
thought about it, she could produce it, although large items came with a price to pay. Exhaustion would overcome her and set in like none she’d ever experienced.

T
eleporting was a different ball game. She’d tried teleporting once with a pizza in her hand. She’d moved from place to place just fine; holding the cargo was another story entirely. When she arrived back at her apartment, she was covered in red sauce and cheese and had pepperoni in her hair. It had taken a week to remove the garlic smell. She shuddered at the thought of trying to transport another human being, no matter how annoying the human being. She was almost certain there was no way in heck she’d be going alone. Thinking of which person they would be sending… Brody climbed into the SUV. The look he gave her, confirmed her suspicion. His jaw twitched, his hands crushed the steering wheel. He looked ready to take on the world.

She g
estured out the window. “Why are they taking Veronica?”

He glanced at her. “She’s gifted
and she offered to give her help and her statement against the assholes.”

Tara gave a slight nod. Brody was quiet after that.
His quietness confused her. There were no snappy remarks. No innuendos about them having sex. No, this was a side of Brody she hadn’t seen. The uncharted territory was making her squirm. For as long as she’d known him, he’d always been the type of guy to jump in feet first, unlike her. He shoved the key in the ignition, revved the engine, and glanced at her. “You and I have some unresolved issues to deal with.”

Chapter 5

She shook her head and leaned f
arther into the door. “Oh, no, no, no. I don’t think so.”

Brody raised his brow
, dropped the SUV into drive, and pulled out of the parking lot before he glanced in her direction. “Oh yes… yes, we do.”

Brody didn’t utter another word. He
went completely quiet on the ride back to base. She glanced at him and bit her lip. The last thing she needed was a pissed-off partner. Damn it. Unable to stand the silence for a second longer, Tara spoke. “I could have driven myself back. You could have stayed if you wanted to. Or maybe ridden back with the blonde.”
Bimbo.
“What’s her name again?”
Do you even remember?

Brody glanced her way before moving his gaze back to the road. “
Her name is Veronica….and is that all you’ve got to say for yourself?”

The muscles
in Tara’s shoulders tightened. “Excuse me?”

Even in the darkness of the SUV, she could see Brody was clenching his jaw. “Wouldn’t you rather explain about the ex-fiancée, or eve
n why you left by yourself? Those assholes could have hurt you. If I hadn’t gotten to you in time…”

His words trailed off
, and for the first time in, well, ever, she was seeing a side of Brody that she’d never seen. Tara threw her head back and laughed. Maybe it was from her nerves, of being in such close quarters with him, or due to worry over her restaurant. Hell, it could have even been from his crazy comment. All of the above would have applied, but regardless of why she was laughing, one thing was evident. Neither Peter nor those assholes would have gotten the chance to hurt her again. She could have dropped a weight on their heads, like she’d seen on cartoons growing up. She could have conjured several knives to slice and dice the bastards. And if all of that had failed, she could have shimmied herself to safety. Just because they were bigger than her didn’t mean they were smarter or that they could take her in a fight.

“You think this is funny?” Brody’s voice thickened. His frown deepened into a scowl. The
tension in the air might have intimidated a lesser woman, but not her. She was used to Brody and, right now he was acting like a big baby.

“Some partner you are. You don’t think I can take care of myself.” She said
it as a statement instead of a question. She shook her head and laughed harder. She’d been taking care of herself for a long time, long before she’d even met the infamous, sexy, flirtatious twin. She could have handled herself without Brody’s help. She wiped away a stray tear that slipped out.

“I’m wearing my granny
panties. I could have taken him.” She snorted and lifted a hand to cover the smile on her face.

He glanced down at her
bare legs. “What color?”

All laughing stopped
, and Tara’s mouth parted. “I beg your pardon.”

He reached over and ran his finger up her thigh.
“What color are your granny panties?”

Tara
swatted at his fingers and folded her arms over her chest. “I am sooo not discussing the color of my panties with you.”

Brody hit the brakes and pulled off to the side of the road. He got out of the SUV and walked around. His brows were dipped
, and he was frowning as he yanked the door open.

He stopped and took a deep breath. “We need to
clear the air before we get back to base.”

Tara pushed him out of the way and got out of the SUV. She didn’t li
ke the thought of being caged in by him. Under different circumstances she might not have minded all that much, but not with Brody on the side of the road in the middle of the night, and especially not in the mood he was in.

She crossed her arms over her chest and walked to the back of the SUV, keeping her back to him.

“There’s nothing to discuss.” She spun around on him. “You’re my partner, and I needed to stop you before you killed those guys.” She dropped her hands to her side. “The kiss didn’t mean anything; I used it as a distraction.”

Brody
’s jaw twitched as he stood there looking as though he wasn’t buying a word of what she was dishing out. This time he was getting defensive. He crossed his arms over his muscular chest, the same chest she’d been pressed up against. Damn… she needed to get away from him.

“You expect me to believe
that?” He advanced on her and pulled her into his arms. “The kiss didn’t mean anything?”

He
placed a tender kiss on her neck. “And you mean to tell me…” He pressed his body farther into hers as he kissed up the column of her neck toward her ear. He whispered, “That you don’t want this?”

He sucked on her
earlobe before he teased it with his teeth, and her head unconsciously fell to the side, giving him better access. His other hand did a slow sensual slide up her back and into her hair. “That you don’t want me? You don’t want to know what it feels like when I’m on top of you, slowly sliding in and out of you until you’re begging me for more?”

He wound his fingers in her hair and lifted her head. His lips hovered above hers. “Because
when I do take you…I am going to make you beg.”

His tongue slid into her mouth and tangled with hers. Tasting and touching every
crevice, delving deeper. Her heartbeat raced. There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to feel Brody inside of her. Nothing….except getting her life back, getting her restaurant back in order, and getting the hell out of this town.

She pushed against his chest. She knew
only one way to stop him. One way to make him see that this was wrong.

“This isn’t a g
ame, Brody.” She stepped around him. “I don’t do temporary, and you don’t do permanent. So this...” She motioned back and forth between them. “…will never happen.” 

Brody narrowed his eyes but turned around
, walked back to the SUV, and pulled the door open. Maybe what she was saying had finally hit home. Maybe he’d finally figured out that she was right. Because she was right, whether he realized it yet or not.

She moved around him to climb inside. His hand cupped her ass as he helped her in. “We’ll just see about that.”

****

Brody leaned against the doorframe waiting for General Lister to comment.
Tara had been sitting in front of the General for the last thirty minutes. His mind kept replaying their heated kiss. The feel of her legs wrapped around his waist. Now that he had a taste, he knew one thing for sure. He would conquer her.

“Sir…”

General Lister held up his hand, stopping anything Tara was going to say. Brody let out a sigh and plopped down into the seat next to her. As much as she needed a stern talking to, he couldn’t watch any more of it. The General hadn’t been there, he didn’t know what happened, and he didn’t know that Brody had been scared to death when he got the call, a feeling that he hoped to never have again.

“
General, it wasn’t her fault. The other guys started it…she just defended herself.” Brody leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We should be celebrating that her training has finally started to kick in.”

Not only that
. They should be celebrating the fact that he hadn’t killed six guys tonight because if what Veronica had said was true about those assholes wanting to rape her… Had he walked up on that, they would all be dead and Brody would be explaining why he had six corpses instead of just irate jerks locked up in their compound jail.

General Lister ran a hand over his face and stood. “Get some shuteye.
I’ve heard enough for tonight. We’ll finish discussing this in the morning.”

“Great.” Brody clapped his hands together and stood
, glad that neither he nor Tara had gotten a desk duty assignment over what had happened.

Tara stood but made no move to leave.
“Sir.”

Lister crossed his arms over his chest. “What
, Tara?”

Cupping Tara’s elbow, Brody tried to pull her from the room. She shook him off before placing an envelope on his desk. “I have
a personal crises back home that I need to deal with. I’m leaving in the morning.”

The mighty General Lister lifted a brow. Brody went to great lengths to keep his mouth from dropping open. No one, in the history of the unit
, well, no one but the General’s daughter, ever gave the General orders and expected him to listen.

General Lister picked up the envelope and pulled out the paper. You could have heard a pin drop while he scanned the document. When he was done reading
, he glanced up at Tara and tossed the paper on the desk.

“Tara, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to go. You’re too important to
our fight with Black. We’ll get this paid up for you, so you won’t have to worry about it.”

She shook her head and walked to the door. “General,
this isn’t your problem. It’s mine. Not to mention my grandmother needs me. I’ve got to go. We’ve played it your way. I’ve taken your orders like a good little soldier. I even played nice with Brody. But, with all due respect, General…you can’t stop me from leaving.”

Tara walked out of the office without even glancing back. She left Brody to deal with the General and his foul mood.

What the hell was the little vixen thinking by c
hallenging the General that way? “Sir, if it would help, I would be willing to chain her to my bed…for the sake of keeping an eye on her…you know…for the greater good of the unit.”

General Lister growled. “
Keep it in your pants, Connors. What the hell did she mean saying that I couldn’t stop her? Doesn’t she know who I am and what I’m capable of? Doesn’t she have any respect for the Phantoms?”

“Sir,
with all due respect, she’s a civilian. She’d never even heard about the Phantoms until the incident with Gracie. You asked her to stay and she’s stayed. You needed her help and she’s helping. What more do you want from her?”

“Brody, there is a war coming; one
for which she isn’t anywhere near ready for. She’s in Lydia’s vision. She’s a major player in stopping Black. I can’t let her just up and leave. Not now.” The General’s face was turning red. His whole body tensed, and he looked ready to explode. Hell, even Brody had never managed to get the General this pissed. Tara had singlehandedly brought the General’s temper to a whole new nuclear level.

“I know, Sir.”
Brody moved to the door. “General, I’m sure she didn’t mean what she said. I’ll go talk to her and get her to calm down.” Brody gestured to the envelope. “Maybe it would help if we got her personal crises to go away.”

The general didn’t reply. He gripped the table and let his head drop. Okay, then.

“I’m just going to go.”

Brody pulled the door closed behind him.

He wasn’t cut out for this crap. The only woman he’d ever cared about enough to worry about had been Gracie…up until now. Tara was hardheaded and stubborn, and he didn’t have any idea what the hell he was going to do with her. Brody knocked on Tara’s door. No answer. Just as he was about to knock again, she pulled it open. She had her phone pressed against her ear.  She held up a finger and walked back into her quarters.

Brody shut the door behind him, crossed her arms over his chest
, and leaned against the wall.

“You know I’ve got to go.
Grams needs me, and the restaurant is falling apart. If I don’t go now, then when this is all over, I won’t have anything to go back to.”

Brody followed Tara into her room. Tara pulled out her suitcase and used her shoulder and ear to keep the phone in place as she pulled hangers
full of clothes out of the closet and dropped them inside the luggage.

“You’re just going to have to deal with him. You know I would never do anything to jeopardize your family
or you, but this is something I have to do. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Tara plopped down on the bed and lowered her head. “Fine...but I
’m leaving in the morning.”

Tara said good
-bye and closed the phone.

Brody walked around to the other side of the bed and slid on top of the covers.
Leaning back against the headboard, he crossed his booted feet.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Brody laced his fingers behind his head. “You’re my partner. Whatever your problem is, it’s mine too.”

Tara pushed the suitcase on the floor and went to her lingerie drawer and started pulling panties and bras
, dropping them in the suitcase. “That’s where you’re wrong, Brody. It’s not a Phantom problem; it’s my own personal hell.”

He chuckled. She had a thing or two to learn about him. He wasn’t the type to give up easy, especially if it was something that mattered to him, and she did
matter to him…in a strictly
partner
kind of way.

“It’s our problem, doll. I need to know
if and when Black attacks that your head is in the game and not hung up on something we could have dealt with. Your problem could get us both killed.”