Engaging his Enemy (Shattered SEALs #4) - Amy Gamet Page 0,34
nearly let himself in, years of walking right into this building ingrained in him like the oldest habits he had. But this was Davina’s turf now, and last he saw her, she was more than a little angry with him.
He furrowed his brow, the headache that had taken root at the hospital now more severe. He’d taken a chance and told her exactly what he wanted—to be with her again, to share her bed—and she’d shot him down as surely as a target in a carnival booth. Now he was back, weary, exhausted, and drained, and needing even more from her than he had when last they’d fought.
Razorback’s words rang in his mind. He couldn’t control anyone but himself. He couldn’t make Davina do what he wanted, he could only ask. He couldn’t plan what would happen between them, he needed to wait and find out if she’d ever open those arms and give him a second chance.
God, how he wanted it. And not just stolen kisses once a month, after Wyatt was in bed. He wanted to be with her like he wanted to be warm, needing to draw love from her as if drawing heat from the sun.
The door opened, and he watched as her expression changed from welcoming to wary in an instant. “Can I come in?” She stepped back for him to enter. Soft music played in the background and a book sat open facedown on the coffee table. The room smelled like apple pie. He slipped off his wet shoes.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Not well.”
He sat on the couch and told her what happened at the port, the injuries his friends sustained, Ben’s apparent disappearance and his subsequent text.
“I can’t believe Ben would do anything bad.”
“Why, because he’s been such a model of law-abiding goodness? Maybe DeRegina offered him a promotion for doing such a good job helping him launder his drug money.”
She reached out, resting her hand on his forearm, and he stared at it. What would his life be like if he’d stayed with her? If he’d never left her all those years ago, never felt the shadow where she’d once stood, never tried so hard to fill it up with women who didn’t matter?
He thought of his brother, wishing against hope Ben would come out on the other side of this mess on the right side of the law, but he knew in his heart it would never happen. “I need to stop Ben.”
“Why do you have to do it? Why not just leave him be?”
“He’s already hurt people. If I don’t stop him, he will hurt more.”
“You can’t control his behavior.”
“God, if one more person tells me I can’t control something, I’m going to put my fist through a wall.”
She pulled her hand back. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Yes.” She went to the sideboard and poured two glasses of bourbon. A heavy gust of wind could be heard battering the house, the only sound outside of the quiet music playing. “Where’s Wyatt?”
“At a friend’s house for the night. He’s had an eventful few days. I figured it would do him some good to get out for a while.” She handed him a glass.
“You’re probably right.”
“Zach, I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. If you want to see Wyatt, of course you can do that. I let what you said about us get me upset. I think where Wyatt’s concerned, we have to be careful not to do that, to separate you and me from you and Wyatt.”
The bourbon was good, the spicy liquid leaving a trail of heat all the way to his stomach, and he felt the muscles in his neck and back begin to relax. “I’m sorry for what I said.”
“Thank you.”
“Not the part about sleeping together, just everything else.”
She smiled. “I didn’t think you were sorry about that part.”
Her cheeks were lightly flushed, her eyes glistening with laughter and something he hoped he wasn’t imagining. She was a vision, more beautiful than he had ever seen her, her skin luminous and inviting his touch. Blood rushed to his cock as warmth from the bourbon spread throughout his chest. He drained his glass.
Would she look the same as he remembered, feel the same way in his arms? Or had she been with men between then and now who’d altered the way she loved a man? The thought incensed his territorial nature, even as he knew it should not, and he longed to claim her body with his