“And hopefully, a line on food production possibilities,” Maureen said, gazing at the map. “Or lead us to more Bunkers. They have to be spread across the country.”
Jax shrugged. “We’ll see. But we need a plan, Winter.”
Damon took a seat. “We have to get the Merc and Vanguard soldiers working together.”
Greyson nodded. “A common enemy should do it. We’ll combine squads in the attack.”
“Are we planning this now?” Damon asked.
Jax shook his head. “No. We’re waiting for April to report in.”
“April?” Just the mention of her name warmed him right up—and it was already hot in there. It was good that he’d see her again on neutral territory. Had she really dumped him? The last day was kind of hazy, but she’d definitely tossed him back into friend territory. “What’s she reporting in on? The kids she’s working with?”
“No.” Greyson frowned. “She met with good ol’ Pastor King last night, and he agreed to let her back in tomorrow to interview anybody she wanted—pregnant women and all. So we’re here to come up with a plan. I thought you were lead on this investigation?”
The warmth he’d previous felt turned to a chill and then moved right back to lava. “She. Did. What?” Damon snapped.
Grey pushed back from the table. “Uh-oh.”
Damon’s jaw clenched, bringing back his splitting headache. “She went into the church building by herself last night?”
“Had a bottle of wine with the guy,” Jax said cheerfully, his brown eyes glittering. “Down in his comfy and nicely appointed office—in a basement with only one ingress and egress. Definite fire hazard.”
Damon sat back, his focus narrowing. He did not have a temper. No. Not him. He did not have a temper.
“You totally have a temper,” Greyson said, reading his mind as usual.
Maureen nodded. “I’ve only seen it once, but it was spectacular.”
“I do not,” Damon gritted out. “I’m the fucking calm one.” He had specifically told April, without question, to stay away from King and his church until Damon could go in with her.
“Thought you were point on this op,” Jax reminded him.
Damon lowered his chin. “Enough from you, Mercury.”
Jax straightened. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t think I will.” Damon planted both hands on the table. “My love life is none of your business.” Love. He’d just said love. Damn it. “If April is willing, and if I want to fuck her three ways to Sunday and back, then it’s none of your business.”
“Three ways to Sunday and back,” Greyson snorted beneath his breath to Maureen.
She nodded, looking back and forth between Damon and Jax. She bit her lip and seemed to hold her breath.
Damon continued on as if his best friend weren’t a jackass. “Jax, if you have a problem with me, or with me and April, then you and I can step outside right now.” There was no reason to damage the nice table.
Mercury’s eyes narrowed. The guy wasn’t challenged very often—by anybody. “I do appreciate a nice invitation.” He began to push back from the table.
“Then consider yourself invited.” Damon rose.
“Wait a minute.” Greyson stood, right between the two of them. “We’re trying to get Vanguard and the Mercs on the same page. If you two go at it, we’ll be sending the wrong message.”
Maureen stood next to Grey. “I agree. You guys have to bury the hatchet. Come on.”
“I’d rather bury my fist in his face,” Damon said, meaning every word. He’d had it with the Vanguard leader’s interference.
Jax studied him. “Didn’t think you’d be the one to declare war.”
Grey rounded. “You thought it’d be me?”
“Yeah,” Jax said, keeping his gaze on Damon.
Greyson shrugged. “I can see that.” He glanced over his shoulder. “The Mercs follow Damon as much as me. They’re loyal to him and will take up arms.”
“I’ve noticed,” Jax muttered. “I ain’t okay with you and April.”
“No shit,” Damon snapped. “Want to explain why? You have a woman.”
Jax’s gaze narrowed. “I buried her child. Me, Damon. I’m the one who piled the dirt on the coffin.”
Damon swallowed. “I know.”
“You weren’t there. Didn’t see her almost shoot herself just to escape the pain.” Jax’s eyes darkened. “She’s better now. With the kids and herself, she’s better. If she loses one more person she loves, I won’t be able to save her again. I just know it.”
“She doesn’t love me,” Damon said quietly. The woman had made that more than clear. “And she’s stronger than you think.”
“Nobody is that strong,” Jax countered, pulling back his chair.
Damon did the same and sat. “You’re wrong.”
Jax lifted a shoulder and slowly folded up the map in front of him. Finally, he looked up at Damon. “I hope we never have to find out. But I still think you and April are a bad idea.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Damon said evenly. “If I want April, I’ll have her.”
“Is that a fact?” came a spirited voice from the doorway behind him.
Jax’s eyes twinkled again as he looked past Damon. “Hello, April.”
April couldn’t believe her ears.
Damon partially turned. “You only heard a very small part of that conversation.”
“I heard enough.” She moved past him to the center of the table to sit across from Greyson and Maureen. She looked around at the assembled group. “Damon and I have decided to just be friends.”
Damon exhaled loudly. Jax nodded and smiled. Greyson shook his head, and Maureen just gave her what had to be the most sympathetic look ever.
Jax reached over his shoulder to a pile of boxes and drew out a legal pad. “I would never interfere in your personal life, April. But thank you for keeping us informed. It’s good when we work together and have everything out in the open.”
Damon’s chin lowered threateningly.
April’s pulse kicked up a few beats. The undercurrents in the room were making her skin itch. “Um, okay.”
Jax nudged the pad over to her to show a list of names. “Here’s who we think are members living in the church apartments.”
April flipped the top page over to see more names.
Jax slid a pen her way. “Please confirm tomorrow if they are there or not. And if there’s any way to get some of the folks to open up about church members who are living outside those walls, do so. I know they have people in my ranks.”
April nodded.
“She is not going in alone,” Damon said, his voice a low growl.
She blinked. “I think I should. I’ve been perfectly safe each time I’ve gone, and the members relax more around me.” Her adrenaline was flowing. “They like you and want you to join and keep them safe, but we’re trying to get sensitive information here. I should go alone just this time.”
“No.” Damon’s jaw set so hard it had to hurt.
“Yes.” April crossed her arms.
Raze Shadow appeared in the doorway, seemingly out of nowhere. The guy moved like a ghost. “We have two soldiers back from our Century City Bunker to debrief. They just arrived.”
Jax nodded. “Good. They’re late, but I figured they’d run into some trouble on the way here. Greyson, you’re welcome to stay. Damon and April? Please go figure this out and let me know the plan before it is executed tomorrow.”
“You know the plan.” April shoved away from the table, grabbed the papers, and headed for the door at full steam.
Raze slid out of her way, his dark eyebrows rising.
She didn’t need to turn to know that Damon was on her heels. Even though he moved silently, the guy let off heat like crazy. At the moment, she didn’t care.
“April—” he started.
She threw up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it.”
His hand at her nape jerked her to a halt.
She gasped, her heart thundering. He’d stopped her in the middle of the cafeteria area? What the hell? She slowly turned. “What are you doing?”
“We’re talking about this.”
All around them, soldiers stopped eating and looked up to watch.
“You okay, April?” one of the Vanguard guys asked, setting down his utensils.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m just fine.” The idea that Damon was perfectly okay with starting a scene shocked her. Fighting was for alone time. This was so far out of her experience, it wasn’t funny. “Have you lost your mind?” she whispered.
A Merc soldier stood up in the far corner to get a better look. Tensions rode high in the room, and Damon wasn’t doing a thing to stop them.
He stood so much taller than her that he towered without seeming to try. “I said we’re talking about this.”
It hit her then. The guy didn’t bluff. Never had and never would. And the damn man seemed to be in charge of whatever room he was in. Oh, he was the quiet and thoughtful one who watched everything. But people naturally gravitated to him and to his thoughts. “You are a total control freak,” she murmured, putting more pieces of him together.
“So I’ve been told,” he said dryly. “Now. Are we going to go somewhere and discuss this rationally, or do you want to do it right here?”
The first soldier stood up. “I say right here.”
April waved him off as more chairs scraped back. Her mind spun, and her temper finally exploded. “Everyone, knock it off. This is not a Vanguard vs. Mercenaries issue. This is a Damon is being an ass issue because we slept together last night.” Oh, God. Did she just say that?
“You slept with her?” The Vanguard soldier charged.
A Merc soldier intercepted him, and they crashed onto a plastic table that cracked right down the middle.
Then all hell broke loose.
April yelped and ducked as a body flew over her head.
“Damn it.” Damon put a shoulder to her stomach and tossed her over, manacling her legs with one strong arm. Dodging and weaving, he kept both of them from getting punched and ran for the back door.
Within seconds, they were outside in the warm night.
He shut the door and slowed his pace, walking down the street. The sounds of the fight filled the night behind them. Something large crashed through the glass door.
“That’s gotta hurt,” Damon said, not pausing in his stride.
April came back to reality, her hair hanging down his legs. She started to struggle. “Put me down, you jackass.”
“No.” His hold on her legs kept her pretty much immobile.
She punched his back from her awkward angle, no doubt inflicting absolutely no damage. Her shoulder protested the odd move.
“You want to get spanked again?” He sounded as if he were asking about the time. He was so casual.
“No.” She balanced herself on his broad back to ease the pain in her shoulder following her ineffective attack. Even though he moved smoothly, her stomach took a few bumps as they made it through Vanguard territory.
“Winter,” another soldier said casually, walking by.
“Hey, Henry,” Damon said congenially. “Doing the rounds tonight?”
Was he actually having a conversation right now? April snarled.
Henry hustled away. “See ya. Good luck.”
Damon kept walking to her apartment and opened the door, carrying her inside. He walked several steps and then set her on the worn Formica counter. His hands landed on either side of her legs, his arms caging her. “All right. Now, we talk.”
22
There’s a lot in this world I can handle. Damon Winter is not on that list. Not even close.
—April Snyder, Journal
April stopped breathing. Damon’s arms caged her, and he’d lowered his face to a few inches from hers. His eyes were a deep brown, and his gaze was direct. She totally didn’t know what to do. Her legs were spread, her knees on either side of his hips. Desire slammed into her, and she fought it. “I can’t believe you let a fight start back in the cafeteria,” she whispered. If all else fails, deflect.
“It had to happen at some point,” he said. “And I don’t care about them. They all know how to fight and defend themselves. It’s a good way to blow off some steam. You and I, apparently, have things to talk about.”
“Like what?” she snapped, lifting her chin. His warmth cascaded over her.
He just studied her with his intense gaze. Within a minute, she found herself squirming on the counter. Man, she wanted to be so tough and say the right and snappy thing. But her mind went blank.
Finally, he breathed in as if taking in her scent. “You ready to talk now?”
A part of her she didn’t much like wanted to nod and agree with him. “Nope. I’m all talked out.” Yeah. Not the snappiest response, but it wasn’t entirely obedient either. If he didn’t move back, she was going to run her hands over those very fine abs. What was wrong with her? “So time for you to leave. Nighty night, Damon.”
He smiled then, the sight a clear warning.
She blinked, bemused. So that’s what a deer felt like stuck in headlights. She felt small and trapped…but not afraid. Interesting. He’d never hurt her, and she was comfortable in that assessment. She was not happy with the way her body electrified at being so close to his. She had to get a grip. “Either talk or get out,” she said, testing the waters.
“You ever been really spanked?”
Her body stilled. Her mind fuzzed like a bunch of clouds covered it.
“April?” His voice rolled right over her like warm whiskey.
“N-no.” Her skin started to tingle. Everywhere.
His expression told her nothing. “I didn’t think so.”
Sure, she’d read all those sexy books way back when. But she’d never explored. “Is that a threat?”
“More like a promise.” He leaned in closer. “On the force, if somebody disobeyed me on a job, they got fired. In the Mercs, they get kicked out, which is as good as a death sentence. But on this mission, I can’t fire you or kick you out. So what recourse does that leave me?”
She stiffened, totally intrigued and not wanting to be. Her nerves jumped, and her sex softened. She had to hide her reaction. “This is inappropriate.”
“What is?” he asked softly.
“You, ah, threatening to spank me.” She tried to drum up more outrage and not stare at his too kissable lips.
He cocked his head ever so slightly. “I didn’t threaten you. Just asked you a question.”
She rolled her eyes, and her nipples tightened against her thin bra. “Give me a break, Damon.”
“Did I, or did I not, tell you to stay away from Pastor King and the Pure church until I recovered from the flu?” The authoritative tone of his voice was even more of a turn-on.
Her body was totally betraying her right now. “You did,” she muttered.
He nodded. “And did you, or did you not, go have a nice bottle of wine with the good pastor—alone—in his basement office?”
She fidgeted as much as his arms would allow. “You know I did.” She sounded like a petulant teenager, so she snapped her head back. “But I was doing my job, and you know it.”
“You were defying me, and you know it.” His voice was so soft it was almost deadly. “Right?”
She swallowed. That was all true. Admitting it seemed like a bad idea, however. There had to be a way out of this mess without giving him total control. Yeah, right. Like he didn’t have the upper hand the second he’d decided to take the mission. “I wanted to help those people.”
“Maybe,” he allowed. “You also wanted to disobey my orders.”
All right, he might have a point. She did want to prove something to both of them. He was so insightful, it was scary. And another turn-on. “Maybe I did want to show that I could handle an actual mission,” she allowed.
His low chuckle warmed her face. “Ah, baby. You wanted to challenge
me.”
She could only stare at him. Could he be any more arrogant? The sun started to go down outside, and the pinks and golds of the sunset splayed across the strong lines of his handsome face, not softening him in the slightest. “What are you talking about?” Her voice rose just enough to show that she knew exactly what he was saying.
His gaze bore into her. “You sure you want to play it that way?”
She didn’t want to play it any way. Nope. Not at all. She didn’t know how to do this, and if playing connoted a game, then she probably wasn’t winning. “Wh-why would I want to challenge you?” She rolled her eyes and blew out air as if saying “whatever.”
His knuckles caressed the side of her face, and she jumped. “To prove you could and see what I’d do?”
“You’re crazy.” Yep. Now that she was really thinking about it, that’s exactly why. Well, plus, she really did want to help the folks in Pure if they were in trouble. The jury was still out on that.
“I like this stubbornness of yours,” he said abruptly.
She sat up straighter. “You do?” Bubbles popped through her abdomen.
He nodded. “I do.”
“Nobody has ever said that to me,” she said, softly surprised.
“I have no doubt.” He leaned in closer, and one of his big hands tangled in her hair. The feeling of his strong fingers at her nape streaked heat down her body. He slowly twisted until he had a good grip, and she couldn’t move. “You don’t want to be stubborn on an op involving danger.”
Op? What op? Forget the damn op. Her breasts strained against her thin bra, wanting free. Wanting him. The night before, she’d had the warm mellowness of alcohol to lower her inhibitions. Tonight, it was all Damon. If his hands were on her, then turnabout was fair play. She palmed his twelve-pack.
His eyes darkened even more. “April. I’m trying to make a point here.”
She snorted. “You have me against the cupboards with my legs spread and your hand in my hair. Just what kind of point are you trying to make?” If he could call her on her baloney, she could do the same.