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WORM

W orm had made quick work of packing a bag for the trip to Denver. Thankfully, Hawk has gotten him approved for 72 hours of leave time. Thankfully, there isn’t anything urgent going on at the moment and no indication, his team would be called up anytime soon. Hack being the computer genius he is, has gotten everything taken care of for him, from flights, to hotel and rental car reservations in Denver.

Worm is going to owe him big, but it is well worth it. Knowing that Allison is safe and, on her way, to meet him. This fact alone has relieved the tension that’s been riding him since the moment he’d learned she was missing. He is waiting to board his flight when it occurs to him, he hasn’t checked in on his mom and sisters in a couple of days. Allison’s disappearance has distracted him from his duty to his family. Emotions he doesn’t want to think about at the moment hit him. How could he neglect his family like this?

He calls his oldest sister, Leigh. She picks up after three rings. Leigh is eighteen and old enough to help see to things, but Russell knows it’s a lot of responsibility for her. She is in her senior year of high school. She should be worrying about who is going to ask her to homecoming and what she’s going to wear, not about grocery shopping and picking up Sadie, their youngest sister from softball practice.

“Hey, Russell!” Leigh’s sweet voice comes over the line. “I was beginning to think you’d gotten deployed without having time to let us know.” Russell immediately feels even worse for not checking in on them the last several days.

“I’m sorry, sis. No, I haven’t gotten deployed. I just had something going on that took a lot of my time and attention. I’m really sorry I haven’t checked in. How is everything?” He cringes as he waits for Leigh’s reply. His mom has good days and bad days, so he never knows what kind of an answer he will get to that question.

“Everything is going okay,” Leigh answers, though she doesn’t sound completely confident in her answer. “Mom has been a little better the last few days. She actually remembered to pick Sadie up from practice without me having to remind her.” Leigh giggles a little. “She and I were both shocked.”

“I bet you were, but that’s good,” Russell agrees. “Has she been able to work any?” His mother works from home as a customer service representative for a call center. Thankfully, it is a job she can jump on and work as little or as much as she wants. She’s been hit or miss since their father passed away last year, and it has made things difficult financially for the family. Russell has been paying most of the extras for his sisters while his dad’s pension has been keeping the monthly bills paid.

“Actually, she has,” Leigh’s voice conveying her surprise. “I think she might be coming out of it, Russ. At least I hope she is. I’ve been really worried about her. I wish you could come home. I know you can’t, but still, I miss you, and so does Amber and Sadie. Although, Amber would never admit it. She is such a little brat all the time.”

“Cut your sister some slack,” Russell admonishes. “I know she can be a pain in the ass, but everyone deals with grief differently. I’m sorry you are having to bear the brunt of taking care of everything there. I have considered not re-enlisting when my time is up.”

“No! I shouldn’t have said anything,” Leigh is practically whining. “I don’t want you to give up your career. I know you love what you do…I just feel overwhelmed at times. When you come home to visit, I feel like a weight is lifted, because I know you’re going to take care of things for us.”

“I understand, sis. I’m glad mom is doing better—” he breaks off when the PA system crackles and his flight is announced. “I have to go, sis, but I’ll call again soon, okay?”

“All right, Russ. Be safe out there. I love you.”

“I love you, too, sis, and tell the rest of the crew I love them, too and I’ll call again when we can Facetime. Bye for now.” He ends the call and boards the flight to Denver. He is anxious to see Allison, to hold her, and know she is safe in his arms. He suppresses the guilt he’d felt for neglecting his family in his pursuit of finding Allison. He doesn’t know how, but Allison has quickly become just as important to him as the rest of his family.

A few hours later, his plane lands in Denver. He exits the plane and is anxiously scanning the area in front of him. Allison and Dude’s plane landed over an hour ago, so they should be waiting for him when he disembarks. People are milling about in front of him. He raises up on his tiptoes to see over the crowd.

At long last he sees her. Their eyes meet at the same time and instantly the connection he’d felt when they first met is there. The crowd parts and Allison is running into his arms. He crushes her to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“Sugar,” he says, taking a deep breath to inhale her delicious scent. She has plastered herself to him in a tight embrace. How long they stand there holding one another he couldn’t say, the thrones of people move about them like water around a rock in the middle of a stream. Dude is standing patiently off to the side waiting for them to get themselves together. “Hey baby, are you okay?” Russell asks when he pulls back to look down at her.

“I am now,” Allison whispers, looking up at him with so much emotion in her face. He isn’t sure if he should dare to hope she is feeling the same way about him as he is about her, but he can’t seem to keep from wanting her to. “Thank you for coming to get me, for going to all this trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all, sugar. I’m just glad you called me when you needed me.” Russell looks her over from head to toe. She looks a little worse for wear. He can see the fatigue in her eyes, dark circles under them. She looks like she’s lost weight and her hair has lost some of its luster. There is bruising on her face and forehead which makes his blood boil with anger. Those assholes are going to pay for hurting and scaring her. Despite all these things, she’s still gorgeous, especially looking up at him with such adoration, like he is her knight in shining armor.

“I’m going to take off,” Dude says as he walks up to them. “It was nice meeting you Allison, I just hate it was under these circumstances. Perhaps you and Worm will be back out to San Diego soon and you can come by the house, meet my wife, Cheyanne.”

“Thank you for escorting me,” Allison replies. She looks up at Russell briefly before continuing. “I’m not sure when we will be out there together, but thank you for the offer.” Dude nods. He shakes Worm’s hand then pulls him aside.

“Take care of her, she’s a nice girl. You’re a lucky man.”

“Thanks, I know how lucky I am and I’ll definitely be taking care of her,” Worm assures him. Dude grins at him knowingly.

“Have you talked to Tex about getting her a tracking device?” Dude asks, surprising Worm.

“Yes, it’s already been taken care of, but I haven’t discussed it with her. We are kind of a new thing. I don’t even really know where we stand. I just have this need to know she’s safe and well.” Dude slaps him on the shoulder and grips it hard.

“I completely understand where you are coming from,” Dude replies, with a grin. “You don’t have to be looking for love for it to find you. When you meet the one, you just know. Good luck man. If you need anything else, let us know, yeah?”

Worm is again nodding, but reeling from Dude’s choice of words. Love? Is that what he feels for Allison? It can’t be, he hardly knows her. Yet, his heart rebels at the thought. Worm turns his head to watch as Dude makes his way down the concourse toward where his return flight will be boarding soon.

Worm turns back to Allison. He takes her hand in one of his while getting one of her bags with the other. He begins to lead her down the concourse to the rental car area. “Where are we going?” she asks. “When does our flight leave? I only had the one ticket in the email you sent.”

“Our flight isn’t for a couple of days,” he informs her. “I thought you might want some time to process everything before we got back to Jacksonville. Your parents have been frantic with worry. They’ve been at a hotel near Emma’s place for three days. Emma is at her rope’s end, but when I told her what I had planned, she thought it was an excellent idea.”

“Oh no!” Allison exclaims. “I’m such an awful daughter. I didn’t even think to call them and let them know I was all right.”

“It’s all right, sugar. We told them you were okay, but that your phone is messed up so you might not be able to call.” Russell glances at her looking a little sheepish. “I know you had expressed some reluctance to share the details of your life with your parents, so I took the liberty of buying you some time with a little white lie.”

Allison stops walking and stares at him with her mouth hanging open. Shit! He has fucked up. She is going to be pissed at him and he can’t blame her. What right did he have to interfere in her relationship with her parents? “I hope that was all right?” Tears well up in her eyes, making his heart hurt. Without conscious thought he reaches up to rub his chest.

“Thank you!” Allison suddenly exclaims, throwing her arms around his neck. He hesitates for a second before wrapping her up tightly. When she pulls back to look up at him, he can’t wait another second. He lowers his head, pausing just before his lips meet hers, giving her time to pull away if this isn’t what she wants.

Allison doesn’t disappoint him. She closes the distance. Her mouth is as warm and sweet as he’d remembered. She opens instantly, their tongues stroking each other as if they have been kissing this way all their lives. He groans at her sweet taste, just as she moans into his mouth. He could kiss her all day, but they are jostled by others on the concourse. A man yells, “Get a room!” as he passes by them.

Russell ends the kiss reluctantly. He rests his forehead against hers while they both catch their breaths. There’ll be time for kissing and hopefully more, if Allison is feeling up to it, when he gets her to their room.

When he can speak without sounding breathless, he says, “So I take it I’m not in the dog house for taking liberties with your parents?” Allison grins up at him, though she still has a haunted look in her eyes.

“No, you’re not in the dog house for being all caveman,” Allison looks up at him with a coy grin on her face. “I’m actually really thankful. I should be ashamed for not thinking to call them, but they can just be a bit much. Thank you for sparing me having to deal with them before I’m ready. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome, sugar,” Russell drawls, feeling like he is ten foot tall and bulletproof. He has made Allison happy and that means the world to him. “I would do anything for you.” She gawks at him again like he has shocked the crap out of her and perhaps he has. It hadn’t been his intention to drop that truth bomb on her, but it is how he feels. He’s never been one to play games. He just says what he thinks and what he means. “I wasn’t a hundred percent sure on the dynamics of your relationship with them,” Worm continues to change the subject, “but I remembered our conversations about family and just thought you might not mind me running a little interference.

“You did good, big guy,” Allison rests her head on his chest. He pulls her closer, kissing the top of her head.

“We better go,” he says after a couple of minutes. “I don’t want to take a chance that the rental car place doesn’t hold our reservation.” She releases her hold on him. He takes her hand in his again and they make their way to pick up the SUV Hack has reserved in his name.

Thirty minutes later they are loading up in the vehicle to head to the hotel. “Do you guys always have to travel in a beast of a vehicle?” Allison asks when he is lifting her up into the passenger seat. Russell chuckles at her question as he reaches over her to grab the seat belt and secure her in her seat.

“Yep,” he affirms, clicking her belt into place. Allison rolls her eyes in such a cute way; he isn’t even the least bit annoyed by her actions. Now, if that had been one of his sisters, that would be a different story. On them it’s annoying, on Allison? It’s adorable. He drops a quick kiss to her lips before backing out of her space and shutting her door.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the hotel Hack had booked for them. Within a few minutes, they’re checked in and headed up to their suite. They step into the elevator and he selects their floor. Worm had asked Hack to get them a two-bedroom suite, just in case Allison wasn’t comfortable with sharing a bed with him. Yeah, they’d hit it off at the wedding, but after everything she’s been through, she might not be ready for more than him holding her for comfort. He won’t do anything to make her feel awkward or ill at ease.

Allison hasn’t told him what those bastards did to her. What if she’s been violated in some way? He glances over at her. She has her arms crossed over her middle like she’s holding herself together. Images of what might have happened begin playing out in his mind. He feels physically sick at the thoughts running through his head. He is such a dickhead, thinking he might have a romantic stay with her in Denver, when she’s been through hell for more than a week.

He will put her needs first. He can wait until she’s had time to process what happened and to heal from everything before he attempts to move their relationship forward, but he will move them forward. He is convinced she is meant to be his. He just has to believe she feels the same. He reaches this conclusion as the elevator announces their arrival to their floor with a loud ding-ding.

He leads Allison down the corridor to their room, while pushing the luggage cart with her belongings. He opens the door and gestures for her to proceed him into the room. She enters the spacious room. Her head turns side to side taking in the opulent room. He’d asked Hack to go all out on the arrangements. He’d wanted to pamper her, and he will, just not with multiple orgasms like he’d planned.

He parks the luggage cart just inside the door and heads to the ensuite bathroom. He runs the water to get it hot, then stops the tub, letting it fill, then adjusts the temperature so it won’t be too hot for Allison. While it’s filling up, he gets towels and washcloths laying them in easy reach of the tub. He walks back out to begin unloading the luggage cart. Allison is staring at him with a dazed look. She must be so tired, he thinks, as he works. After the cart is empty, he pushes it outside their room. He’ll take it back down once he has her settled in the bath. He closes the door and walks over to her cautiously.

“You should take a hot bath,” he suggests softly, gently placing his hands on her biceps. She looks up at him startled as if she didn’t even realize he was in the room with her until that moment. Their eyes hold one another for a moment, then she’s in his arms holding him so tight, he isn’t sure he can breathe, but he’d never tell her. He holds her to him just as fiercely. Her body is shaking from her tears. “Shh, baby. You’re okay. I’ve got you.” He holds her until her tears subside. She suddenly jerks back from him.

“Shit! You left the tub running!” She exclaims running toward the bathroom. He follows behind to see the water is just reaching the top of the tub. Allison has shut off the water and is shaking the water from her hand. She turns to look at him wide-eyed. “That was close,” she breathes out.

They stare at one another for a moment, then Allison begins to laugh. He joins her with a chuckle. He walks over to pull the chain to the stopper, allowing it drain out some of the water. When he is satisfied she can get in without sloshing out the water, he replaces it again. Allison has calmed her laughter. Their eyes meet again that same feeling of connection wells within him. A feeling of rightness overwhelms him. He steps closer, noticing her breathing is getting faster as is the pulse at the base of her throat. He places his hand on the side of her face. His thumb grazing her chin back and forth, before he slides his hand to cup the back of her head and pull her closer.

Her hands come up to land on his chest, steadying herself. “What are we doing?” She looks up at him with such longing, but yet uncertainty. He doesn’t answer her, just pulls her closer to press a kiss to her forehead. His lips lingering a bit, enjoying the feeling of having her close.

“You are going to get your bath, sugar,” he says, answering, but yet, not answering her question as he releases his hold on her. “I’m going to take the luggage cart back down stairs, give you some time to yourself. What would you like to eat? I’ll go out and get us something and bring it back.” She continues to stare at him so long he thinks he has upset her in some way. “Or we could go out if you’d prefer?” She shakes her head.

“No. I…I don’t want to go out.” She heaves a huge sigh. “I’m not really in the mood for anything in particular. Whatever you want will be fine. Just…no sandwiches or cold soup, okay?” She shudders in such a way he instantly knows it has something to do with her being held captive. Just another reason to end those bastards.

“All right, no soup or sandwiches,” he agrees. “Enjoy your bath. I’ll be back soon.” He turns to go, but her voice stops him.

“Russell?”

“Yes, sugar?” He turns back to face her.

“Thank you, again for…for everything.”

“Anytime, sugar. Anytime.” He steps out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.