Her Dominant SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 9) Read online

  “I talked to some of your prison buddies. It seems like you’re looking for a ticket back to Pikeville.”

  “A man’s gotta make a living. Especially when he has a family to take care of.”

  It hit Drake like a ton of bricks. His mom had actually handed over her cell phone to his dad. She had to have known that he was going to try to kill her son.

  Some fucking family.

  “Where’s Piper?” his dad asked in an oily sounding voice.

  “She’s safe.”

  “She’s my daughter. She belongs with her mother and me.”

  “Don’t lie to me old man. You didn’t ransack Trenda’s house looking for Piper out of paternal love. What the fuck is going on?”

  “She’s a minor. For the next year and three months, she is your mother’s and my responsibility. Wanda’s worried about her.”

  Norville knew Piper’s exact age? That was just plain wrong.

  “I’ll tell her to call Mom.” Sure, that was going to happen.

  “You’ll go away for kidnapping,” he threatened. “I don’t care how fancy you think you are, it won’t matter when they send you to Pikeville.”

  Drake laughed. “Thought you were going to kill me, Dad. Which is it?”

  “I think killing’s too easy. Thirty years in prison is a much better way to go. I have friends who’ll fuck you up.”

  “It was great talking to you, Dad. Give my love to Mom.”

  Drake hung up the phone. He had all the information he was going to get.

  Drake checked on the three men as he headed back toward his vehicle at the old drive-in theatre.

  ***

  When Drake got back to the chalet, it was almost midnight. Aiden let him into the gate, and when he came in the door, he saw Karen still on the couch.

  “Why is she still on the couch and not in a bedroom?” Drake demanded.

  “She wanted to wait up for you.”

  “Trenda put up with that shit? You did?”

  “The teacher is pretty formidable. Come on, let’s go into the study where we won’t disturb her.” Drake saw that Aiden had already set up shop with his laptop on the desk. Aiden pulled open a cabinet and waved his hand in front of a wide array of liquor bottles. “What’s your poison?”

  “I don’t suppose they have a beer?”

  “You plebian.” Aiden opened a small mini fridge. Drake went over and pulled out an IPA. Meanwhile, Aiden poured himself some Irish Malt Whiskey. They sat across from one another in the plush leather arm chairs.

  “So, how’d it go with Daddy Dearest?”

  “Typical day at the Avery’s. He tried to kill me again.”

  Aiden continued to sip his beverage, unperturbed by the information. “Yes, I’ve read your testimony that put your father away. It sounded like he would have killed you that day in the basement. Piper ended up in surgery, right?”

  “I think she’s always going to end up with problems with her arm because of what that bastard did to her. He wants me dead right now, no big surprise. But what was really interesting is that Dad knew exactly how old Piper was. He said that she would be a minor for a year and three months.”

  “Ahhh, he wants to become more involved.”

  Drake choked on his swallow of beer.

  “Sure, we could look at it that way,” he said slowly. “I have to ask Trenda if Mom is counting on any sort of entitlements while Piper lives with her.”

  “I can’t imagine there’s much,” Aiden said as he sat back in the chair.

  There was a knock on the door, then it pushed open. “Is this a private party?”

  “Shouldn’t you be up in a room?” Drake asked Karen.

  “I wanted to talk to you about something,” she said firmly.

  Aiden finished his whiskey and then stood up. “I’m out of here. Nothing personal, but you scare me when you use that teacher tone, Miss Eastman.”

  “What does a teacher tone sound like?”

  “A little more clipped like you want me to clean the chalkboard or take saltpeter.”

  Karen laughed.

  “She’s out of here too,” Drake said to Aiden’s back. “I’m taking you up to a room,” he said to Karen.

  “I’m fine on the couch.” He put his arm around her and guided her up the stairs.

  “Which room did Trenda give you?”

  “The one next to yours.” Even in the dim light of the hall, he could see her blush.

  “She didn’t mean anything by it, Karen. Unless of course there’s a connecting door, then I’m going to kiss my sister.” He pushed open her door and turned on the lights. This room was done in rose and gold tones. “Let’s get you settled.”

  “I do not need to be settled. I need to talk to you about something.” She reached around him and shut the door.

  She might not think she needed to be settled, but her ribs were obviously causing her pain, he could tell just by the way she leaned on him up the stairs. At some point, his sisters must have talked her out of the pantsuit because she was wearing pink plaid flannel pajamas. They matched her toenails.

  “For God’s sake, Karen, why aren’t you wearing socks?”

  “Oh shit, they’re on the couch, I must have kicked them off. I can’t leave them there.” She tried to push by him.

  “Don’t worry about somebody finding your socks, your feet have to be freezing. Get into that bed right now.”

  “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” She threw back her hair and stared up at him in amazement. “Is surly and dictatorial your go-to attitude when dealing with women?”

  He opened his mouth, and then she slammed her hand on top of it. “Shut it. I know the next thing that comes out of your mouth is just going to piss me off even more, and I don’t want to fight. This is important. We need to talk.”

  He carefully pulled her hand away. “You need to get your ass in that bed where it’s warm, then we can talk.”

  “Drake-” she began in her teacher's voice.

  “Karen, I’m the second in command of my SEAL team. Guess who’s going to win this little battle of wills.” He watched her consider it, then turn toward the bed. Before she got there, he pulled back the covers. She eased into the bed, and he pulled up the comforter, ensuring she was snug. “Now tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “Piper. I found her in her room throwing up.”

  Drake’s gut clenched. Before he could turn away, Karen grabbed his wrist. “She’s okay now. It was nerves.”

  “Are you sure? It could be the flu.”

  Karen’s eyes were warm with reassurance. “She finally fell into an exhausted sleep a couple of hours ago. She hasn’t been sleeping. Can you do me a favor and go into her room and tell her you’re home and okay.”

  “I shouldn’t wake her.”

  “The reason she was throwing up is she was sure that you were going to get hurt, or worse, and it was all because of her.”

  “She can’t possibly believe that,” Drake protested.

  “She does. Go reassure her that you’re okay. She’ll sleep better.”

  ***

  Karen watched as Drake left her room and turned off the lights. The moonlight coming through the bedroom window seemed inordinately bright. The comforter was scratchy. The air in the room seemed stuffy. Her ribs hurt like a son of a bitch, and it hurt to breathe. She so wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight.

  “Fine, admit it.” Her voice sounded like a bass drum in the quiet room, and the words echoed in her mind.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid. She actually had a master’s degree in education, but she was the most stupid woman on the face of the Earth. What the hell was she doing falling for a man who was so domineering, overbearing, and over-protective? She’d grown up with that type and had sworn to stay away from them, they were impossible to deal with. Then again, for her first time, she’d tried calm and malleable, and that had been a disaster.

  She rolled over again, and banged her head against her pillow, then
grinned. God, having him carry her, and worry if her feet were cold just gave her a zing of warmth in her girly parts. Hell, the man hadn’t even kissed her. Those eyes, that southern accent, those muscles. She sighed again. Then how he cared about his sisters. Lord, but he was such a man!

  She rolled over and groaned, but she couldn’t tell if it was pain from the ribs or neediness. She had it bad.

  She didn’t hear anything, but it was as if the stuffy air in the room shifted, moved, tendrils caressed her cheek warning her that she was no longer alone.

  “I’ll leave if you want,” Drake said. She struggled to sit up.

  “How’s Piper?” She soaked in the look of him.

  “Good, she went right back asleep after I told her I was home safe.”

  She waited.

  “Are your feet warm?”

  “I’m warm all over.” Did she just say that?

  “I was both hoping you’d be asleep and hoping you wouldn’t. If you weren’t, then that meant you were probably in pain. You look pale.”

  “It’s the moonlight.”

  “Nope. When you’re pale with pain, your freckles are more noticeable.”

  “Way to make a girl feel good about herself.”

  He knelt on the bed, and reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “How about this, no matter how pale you get, your lips are still strawberry red and you biting them right now just makes them more swollen and kissable.”

  It no longer hurt to breathe, because she was no longer breathing. She stared up into eyes so brown they were black. He looked like a fallen angel, and God help her, he could talk like one too.

  “Drake, don’t start something you don’t mean. Now’s not the time, I’m too susceptible, and the timing sucks.”

  His eyes darkened.

  “You’re right, it does. But God, Karen, you were hitting all my buttons when you first showed up and then seeing those assholes hurting you today scared me to death.”

  “Ha! You came in like a superhero, you showed no fear.”

  “You’re kidding, right? When you stopped talking to me on the phone, I thought my heart would stop.”

  She searched his eyes and saw that he wasn’t kidding.

  “You don’t know me,” she protested. Praying he would disagree.

  He chuckled. “You’re smart. You have a heart as big as all outdoors. You’re stubborn. You’re sexy as hell. And you’re not afraid of me.”

  His big warm hand, the same hand that had cupped her cheek earlier today, traced the back of her fingers. She loosened her hold on the blanket. He stroked her hand with his fingertips, and finally, she grabbed it with both of hers, like a lifeline.

  “I have to kiss you.”

  Thank God.

  She closed her eyes and nodded. Drake’s other hand curl under her chin and tilted it upwards. Soft butterfly kisses brushed over her eyelids, and she opened her eyes.

  “There you are.” He smiled. “I was worried I was too ugly to kiss.”

  “You lie, you don’t have an insecure bone in your body.”

  He grinned.

  “Do you know I’ve wanted a kiss since I saw those pretty pink toenails. I bet that you always make sure your nail polish matches something you’re wearing, don’t you?”

  Karen blushed to the roots of her red hair because she did always make sure that if her outer layer didn’t match her toes, then her lingerie sure as hell did. How did this man manage to figure that out?

  “Drake, I’m out of practice.” He gave her a questioning look. “On the kissing.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding. Hell, Lady, men should be lining up outside your classroom.” He gave a slow sexy smile. “Well, this is all the more fun for me.”

  He gave her a devilish smile, and then his lips brushed against hers. She felt his touch all the way to her pink toenails. She gripped his hand so hard she worried she might break her fingers against the steel of his flesh.

  Warm tendrils of heat flowed through her veins as he slowly parted her lips with his. His lips beguiled a response, and her breath sighed into his mouth, the intimacy startling. Soon she was sharing a smile as well as a kiss, but then his lips started to move, dance, cherish.

  Karen was overwhelmed by the sensations flowing through her body as he licked and nipped, taking her higher. She didn’t know when, but her hands were now in his hair, pulling and twisting.

  Was that her making those sounds?

  “Honey, come back.”

  Drake Avery had the best voice in the world. Why was he kissing her eyelids again?

  “No, my mouth,” she pouted.

  “You were moaning. Your ribs were hurting.”

  Karen’s eyes drifted open. “You’re kidding, right? Kiss me.”

  He chuckled, and his thumb brushed her bottom lip down. Her tongue swiped out at his thumb. Drake groaned.

  “See, I told you my ribs weren’t hurting. You just groaned.”

  He dipped down, and this time she was more prepared, but she wasn’t. He was a marauder. Where before he coaxed, now he plundered, and she reveled in it. Her head dropped back, and Karen shuddered, need pulsed through her body. Her breasts ached, and she needed relief. She tried to press them against his chest and gasped in pain.

  “Dammit, Karen Eastman!”

  Had she thought she liked his voice?

  ***

  Her gasp of pain cut through him like a knife. He pressed softly at her shoulders until she was resting against the pillows. Her eyes sparkled up at him like the most precious gems, but she couldn’t hide the lines of pain that surrounded them.

  “Don’t swear at me, or you’ll be in debt for the rest of your life.”

  “So, you caught on that I’m buying my niece’s affection, huh?”

  His hands swept gently down her body. She flinched slightly. “I should never have kissed you when you were injured.”

  “Are you kidding? I can’t imagine the pain pills being any better than your kisses.”

  Now wasn’t that nice to hear? It was utter bullshit, but still nice to hear.

  “You’re too much of a temptation, Miss Eastman, I need to get the hell out of here.”

  “Can you tell me what went on tonight? With your dad, I mean?”

  He sighed.

  “I’ll tell everybody in the morning.”

  She nodded, then yawned.

  Drake lifted their linked hands, and tenderly kissed hers.

  He stood up and watched as she snuggled into her pillows, then he pulled up her covers. He thought about kissing her again, but he wouldn’t risk it.

  “Good-Night, Drake,” she said sleepily.

  “Sweet dreams.”

  “They will be now.”

  He quietly shut the door behind him.

  Chapter Nine

  “The twins called. They want to come down from ETSU,” Trenda said as soon as he entered the kitchen.

  “Right now, I’m bad news. They need to stay away from me until all of this dies down.”

  “Yeah, like that matters to them. If you don’t meet with them, Chloe will just drive through the streets of Jasper Creek with a megaphone.”

  Drake pulled down a mug and poured some of the liquid magic into it. “Come on Trenda, can’t you put them off?”

  She leaned against the counter and folded her arms. “Don’t you want to see them?”

  He stared at her incredulously. “Of course, I do.”

  “Then this weekend, let them come over and say, ‘hi’.”

  “I said no.”

  “They’ll be hurt.”

  Drake should have known that. Dammit, where was his head?

  “Hey.” Trenda stepped forward and put her arms around him. “I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad.”

  “I know you didn’t. Okay, Saturday it is.” He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Where’s my niece?”

  “Piper’s dressing her. Bella loves her Aunt Piper.”

&nbs
p; “More than me?” Evie asked as she walked into the kitchen. She headed straight for the coffee. Drake pulled down a mug.

  “Bella sees you more often. Piper is new and shiny.”

  “Larry said he’d have supplies sent up Saturday,” Evie said as she started pulling out food for breakfast. “He asked me to e-mail him a list of what we needed.”

  “Not grits,” Aiden said as he walked into the kitchen.

  Evie snickered. “I’m so making grits for breakfast.”

  “As long as you make more biscuits, I’ll choke down some paste.” He took the mug that Evie handed him, and she went and got herself some more coffee.

  “So, what’s on today’s agenda?” Aiden asked.

  “We find out what Delmar and the judge have been up to for the last twelve years. I want to know just how deep they are into the drug trade with cousin Huey.”

  “How do you intend to find that out?” Trenda asked as she and Evie started preparing breakfast like a well-oiled machine.

  “I’m calling some friends of mine who are going to investigate those two within an inch of their lives. They’ll have all of their financials, including everything they’re hiding.” Drake chuckled.

  “What?” Evie asked.

  “I think your brother just had an evil idea,” Aiden said.

  “Yep. Clint is my teammate, he and his fiancée Lydia are scary on computers. I think it would be great to see how they could fuck with the sheriff and Comey.”

  “I like it!” Evie bounced on her toes.

  “You’re a bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?” Aiden said speculatively.

  “That fucking sheriff almost killed my brother, damn right I’m bloodthirsty. Let me talk with Clint and Lydia. I can point them in the right direction.”

  “What do you mean?” Drake asked.

  “She means she has files on damn near everyone in town,” Trenda answered.

  “I might not have his financials. But I know who the judge has been sleeping with for the last five years. I also know the sheriff had a deal to run prostitutes through the LeeHy Motel.”

  “Yeah, but you stopped that by reporting minors being taken across state lines to the state police,” Trenda said.

  “Was that true?” Aiden asked.

  “She was gone by the time they got there, but they shut down the operation. Delmar was pissed.”