Chapter 21
“He’s waking up.”
The words rattled around in his head like shrapnel pinging against the armor of a tank. A spike of pain pierced his skull as he opened his eyes and someone flashed a light in them. Sam tried to figure out what was going on but his thoughts gelled in his head.
“He has a concussion. We should take him in to make sure nothing else is damaged,” the same voice said. It sounded familiar. Why couldn’t he think straight? Where did who want to take him? Oh, right. The concussion.
“Sam?” Tamara’s voice cut through the fog surrounding his mind like a knife. She was all right!
He sat up, trying to knock the paramedic aside. His head swam and he tipped over instead. Someone groaned as Tamara’s arms caught him. A moment later, he realized he was the one groaning.
“What happened?” Sam muttered. The last thing he remembered was flying through the air after he'd been tossed aside like an empty sandbag.
“You hit your head pretty hard after the car exploded,” Tamara told him. Something didn’t sound right about the way she said that. He hadn’t imagined everything after the explosion, had he?
Sam opened his eyes again, and saw the worry and fear in Tamara’s gaze. The car was nothing more than a smoking mess with firefighters wrapping up their hoses. How long had he been out?
The paramedic looking over him was the same one from the accident early that day. “You seem to be having a lot of car problems, lately,” he said to Sam with a smile.
“At least this one wasn’t mine,” Sam tried to laugh, but it turned into another groan.
“We should take you to the hospital for a better look.”
Tamara’s arms tightened around Sam. He looked back at her and could see that as worried about him as she was, the threat of him leaving her left her ready to panic.
“I know what to look out for,” Sam told him. “If I notice anything wrong, I’ll go straight to the hospital.” Sam decided to do a quick check of himself. His neck was sore, as were his ribs, but nothing felt broken. His prosthetic was twisted to the side. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was busted.
“I have a set of crutches in the ambulance,” the paramedic said. “Did you get that one from the VA?”
“Yeah, and it’ll be months before they can get me a new one.” Sam wasn’t bitter about the speed of the VA. He understood that any government entity worked slower the more important it was. “I have another one at home I can switch to.” His thigh was still throbbing, so maybe it would be good to put his running prosthetic on. Right now, he just wanted to go home and go to sleep.
He almost groaned out loud when he remembered he couldn't sleep for a few hours. Damned concussion!
Tamara helped him to his foot while the paramedic grabbed the crutch. Sam thanked him for it, then waited for him to leave, before turning on Tamara.
“What really happened?” He tried to keep his voice calm, but his head was swimming with too many unanswered questions. What was she hiding? What happened after he’d been knocked out? Where were those three people? How were Alex and Adrian? What the hell was going on in his city?
“I-I don’t know,” she stammered.
“I called a cab,” Brock said as he joined them. Subie was at his side. She refused to let go of her boyfriend. Brock’s shirt draped loosely on her. Now that she was standing, it covered a bit more of her nakedness.
Sam couldn’t stop the scowl that spread across his face as he faced Brock. The kid could have gotten them killed multiple times, and he’d refused to listen to Sam. He could understand being concerned about someone you cared about, but not to the point of stupidity.
“Sorry about earlier,” Brock offered as Sam continued to glare. “I just—“ he glanced at Tamara and Sam saw fear enter his eyes. He had to swallow before he could continue. “It won’t happen again.”
“Damn straight it won’t!” Sam growled. “You fucked up big time back there. It won’t happen again, because I’m not—“ He cut himself off as he realized what he was about to say. He wasn’t going to take the kid on another mission. Sam hoped there would never be another mission. He glanced down at Tamara and shook his head. Whoever that had been, whatever they were, they wanted Tamara and were willing to kill to get her. Was he strong enough to stop them? Why did they want her? They’d called her a fallen angel. . . Sam barely stifled another groan as he realized he had even more questions now.
“You saved us,” Subie said softly. There was an uncertain quality in her tone that’d never been there before. What she’d been through must have really changed her. “You both saved all of us!”
Before he knew what was happening, Subie pulled Tamara and him into a tight hug. Tamara had saved them too? What happened when he was out? And Brock had looked at Subie with fear.
The cops had a few questions for them and then let them go. It seemed Brock had most of the answers. Sam hadn’t even known the man was aware of what was happening. Of course, he left out the part about the three crazy people.
For once Jenkins wasn’t there to cause problems.
“Come back to the hotel with us,” Subie begged. “I’d feel safer with you there.”
Sam was about to argue and saw that Brock didn’t look too happy about it. Sam had a lot of questions for Tamara that he wasn’t comfortable asking in front of the other two. One of those questions had to do with why Brock wanted to get away from them too.
“Of course we will,” Tamara said before he could respond. “Won’t we, Sam?”
Sam’s head was really throbbing, and he didn’t feel like arguing. “Sure, whatever,” he muttered.
Tamara gripped his hand, and looked up at him. “Your head’s really hurting, isn’t it? I know a way we can take your mind off of it when we get to the hotel.” She leaned in closer to him. “We can use whatever room they’re not in.”
Sam couldn’t stop the small smile that split his lips. Despite himself, and despite everything that’d happened, Tamara was the same young woman. If she really was a fallen angel then he wondered what heaven must be like. He already knew what hell was like.
Sam made the cab stop at his place so he could get his running prosthetic strapped on. Tamara helped him and showed a strength he didn't know she had when she served as a human crutch for him. She even knelt in front of him and attached it with barely a glance at his crotch. He was surprised and a little disappointed.
“How were Alex and Adrian?” Sam asked after he climbed back into the car and they left for the hotel.
“Adrian’s skull was smashed in. The paramedics said they wouldn’t know more until they checked him out at the hospital,” Brock answered. “Alex was pretty messed up, and they rushed them both away as soon as they could.”
“What did they say about you, Subie?” Sam asked.
Tamara backhanded his arm for some reason and gave him a scandalized look.
“She didn’t want them looking at her,” Brock offered. Sam saw the woman cuddle up to her man through the rearview mirror. Apparently it was a touchy subject.
“We’ll be next door if you need us,” Tamara said after they paid the cabby and walked up to the rooms. She pulled a keycard out of her pocket. Sam wondered how she'd gotten it but forgot about it when Subie grabbed Brock's pants at the waist.
“Good idea," she said to them. She turned to Brock and said, "Come on. I need you alone right now, anyway!”
Before he had a chance to say anything, Subie’s lips were plastered to his. It didn’t look like he wanted to argue the point as they went into their room.
“Let’s have a contest to see who can be louder,” Tamara smirked at him.
“Tamara, wait,” Sam said as he closed the door behind him. “We need to talk.”
“Not yet,” she told him, shoving him back against the door. “There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now I want to forget about everything that’s happened. I feel dirty inside, and there is only one tool I know will make
me feel clean.” She grabbed his crotch, stood on her tip-toes, and pressed her lips to his.
He tried to hold out. He had a lot of questions he wanted answered. Too many questions. As her lips parted and he felt her tongue snake across his lips, his defenses weakened. When her hands worked at his pants, his reservations cracked. When she moaned a breathy, “Please, Sam,” he succumbed to her will once again.
He used the break in their kiss to grab her shirt and pull it off. They were soon melded together, bodies writhing together in shared bliss. Sam entirely forgot about his head as he rolled her onto her stomach and thrust himself inside her. The walls between the rooms were thin. He heard Subie cry out and remembered Tamara’s challenge. He grunted as he picked up the pace and was rewarded a moment later with Tamara’s own cries of ecstasy.
He forgot about their neighbors when Tamara pulled away, turned around, and tackled him. She kissed him with abandon, and he found himself returning it with interest.
He didn’t know which side finished first, but the room fell silent as Tamara collapsed next to him. They were both breathing heavily and covered in a light sheen of sweat.
Sam slipped his arm around her slim waist as she placed her head on his chest.
“Thank you, Sam,” she breathed. “You always know how to make me feel better.”
Sam smiled and hugged her tighter to him. The feeling was mutual, but he didn’t feel like talking. It had been long enough for him to finally go to sleep, hadn’t it? The clock on the nightstand showed that it had been a few hours ago that he’d been knocked out.
“I think I’m falling in love with you, Sam.”
Tamara’s words sent a jolt through him, waking him up instantly. He didn’t know what to say. He cared for her, sure, but love? They hadn’t known each other that long. Maybe it was just the trauma of the last few days making her feel that way. He’d seen it a few times in Afghanistan. Two people shared a horrible experience and became close afterwards. He knew those relationships weren’t supposed to last.
When he remained silent for a while, Tamara shifted to look up at him. He closed his eyes and acted like he was asleep.
Tamara shifted again, and he felt her sweet breath on his lips a moment before she lightly kissed him.
“Sleep, Sam. Tomorrow we can talk.”