Page 8 of Waiting for Him (Trident Security #3)

The thought of Benny and sex aroused her, and she mentally calculated how much time she had before they left the condo.

Taking her bottle of body gel, she squirted a small amount into the washcloth she’d found under the bathroom sink, along with a few guest towels.

She washed her entire body before sliding the lathered material between her legs.

She gasped as it rasped over her clit and sent waves of desire through her.

Dropping the cloth, she replaced it with her fingers and rubbed earnestly.

She imagined her fingers were Benny’s and how he would arouse her further before replacing them with his lips and tongue.

The daydream sent her over the edge faster than she expected, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from yelling out her pleasure.

After she recovered, she picked up the washcloth again and wiped away the evidence of her masturbation.

She pushed her wants and needs for Benny back into the furthest corner of her mind, shutting and locking the metaphorical door behind them.

Now was not the time to think about him .

. . about them . . . about how good she knew they would be together.

Her life was in danger, and by him helping her, so was his.

Sex and fantasies were out . . . logic and reality were in.

Damn .

When they walked out the condo front door a short while later, it was within the allotted time he’d given her.

Waiting outside the door was a good-looking man whom Ben introduced as Jake Donovan , a.k.a.

Reverend , one of his teammates at Trident and in the SEALs .

He was a few inches taller and older than Benny , but otherwise, he had a similar physique—broad, hard, and sinewy.

His hair color was a shade somewhere between her own light brown and Benny’s dark brown, and his eyes were covered by sunglasses, which only enhanced his Hollywood good looks.

He smiled and shook her outstretched hand before turning around and leading the way to the parking lot, with Benny taking the position behind her. She realized they’d placed themselves to protect her like bodyguards would.

Well , that’s what they are, you idiot. That’s why you came here—for protection and nothing more. At least not yet.

Benny drove her back to the Trident compound with Jake following him in his own vehicle. As she sat in the passenger seat of his Dodge Charger in silence, her stomach growled, and her cheeks burned red when he chuckled at her.

“ My dad’s getting us breakfast, so we can go straight to Trident .”

“ Okay .” She turned in her seat to look at him without straining her neck. “ If Ian has what we need, are we going to Norfolk ?”

He checked his side and rearview mirrors, then changed lanes before answering her. “ Most likely. I wish I could leave you here and run up there myself, but I’m not sure what safeguards your father might have left. I may be unable to do it without you since you’re his next of kin.”

His words impaled her like a sword. “ I wish I could leave you here . . .”

Whatever he’d said after that was a jumbled mess.

She knew she’d been hoping for the impossible.

He didn’t want to be near her. He’d rather do what needed to be done and kick her out of town when it was over.

When she didn’t say anything more, he glanced over.

She kept her eyes downcast and took a ragged breath.

“ Kat , what’s wrong?” She didn’t answer. “ Damn it, Kat , look at me. What’s wrong?” A few seconds ticked by before he cursed. “ Fuck !”

She flinched but refused to look at him.

He slowed down and then stopped at a red traffic light.

Reaching over, he tilted her chin up until her gaze met his.

“ Kat , I didn’t mean whatever you think I meant.

When I said I wanted to go up there alone, it was from a tactical standpoint.

It would be safer for you to stay at the compound.

I don’t know what’ll be waiting for us in Norfolk , and the last thing I want is you in a position of danger. That’s all.”

The driver behind Jake honked his horn, and they both looked up to see the light had turned green again. Taking his foot off the brake, Benny accelerated and split his attention between her and the road. “ Do you understand me?”

She nodded and adjusted her body so she was facing forward again.

There was no way she would tell him his words had her thinking he wanted to get as far away from her as possible.

She’d lost so many loved ones in her life and just reconnected with the only man she’d ever been in love with.

Kat couldn’t give him up again. Not yet, and hopefully, not ever.

She’d made a few friends in Portland but never knew if she and her dad would need to move again, so it was easier to keep those friendships to a minimum.

Her closest friends were her boss of over seven years and his wife.

Jeremy and Eva Pierce owned the canine training facility where Kat had found a career she was good at, which also afforded her some protection.

Kat’s handler, Chris , and Jeremy had served in the army together, and the latter now trained dogs for law enforcement and private firms along with his retired police officer wife.

When Kat had been greeted by Ian’s dog yesterday, she’d immediately recognized the dog’s training.

While Beau hadn’t been one of J & E International K9 ’s dogs, the training was similar for the specialized dogs worldwide, and most of the U.S .

dogs were trained in the German language.

Chris had never broken his non-disclosure oath about safeguarding Kat and her father in the Witness Protection Program , but Jeremy wasn’t stupid.

He knew who his friend worked for, the U.S .

Marshals , and could figure things out from there.

But the afternoon Jeremy had agreed to see if the young woman had it in her to be a canine trainer, he knew she had the right stuff.

While she was shy around people, she showed her alpha side when it came to dogs, and the animals respected her as one of their pack leaders.

At least when this was over, she had a life to return to if things didn’t work out with Benny .

They arrived back at the compound without saying another word to each other.

Boomer got out of the car after he parked and went around to open Kat’s door for her.

But he was too late. She was standing outside the vehicle and closing her door.

His eyes narrowed, but he left it alone.

Remember , ass-hat, she’s not your submissive .

His dick would like to rectify that, but his head told him, “ No .”

At least she let him hold the door to the office open for her, and he followed her inside along with Jake .

He introduced her to Colleen , their secretary, who’d just started her work day.

The two women shook hands before he led her into the conference room, where his life had changed a little more than fifteen hours ago.

Ian and Devon were waiting for them, and neither one looked happy.

Boomer held out a seat for Kat . “ Katerina , this is Ian’s brother, Devon . He’s the co-owner of Trident . Dev , this is Katerina .”

She held out her hand to shake Devon’s before taking the offered seat. “ It’s nice to meet you. Please call me Kat .”

Devon took the seat across from her, with Jake sitting in the one next to him. “ Kat it is. And it’s nice to meet you too.” He glanced at Boomer . “ Everything all right last night?”

Boomer sighed as he dropped into the seat next to Kat . “ Yeah . Just forgot about Pop coming by this morning. He was as shocked as I was. He’s stopping for breakfast for everyone and should be here in a few minutes.” His gaze flicked between the Sawyer brothers. “ What’s the scoop?”

Ian tossed him a few papers he’d printed from an email.

Some were text, others were photos. “ These are from Keon .

Sergei , " The Wolf " Volkov , was murdered in an empty warehouse three weeks ago. Double tap and clean.” Meaning he’d taken one bullet to the head and another to the heart.

No bullet casings were found. “ No suspects, but the guy had lots of enemies, so it could have been anybody. But tell me what you think.”

Rick walked in as Boomer was studying the pictures of the crime scene photos.

He looked at them over his son’s shoulder after handing a bag of egg sandwiches to Jake to distribute.

Boomer suddenly zeroed in on what Ian wanted him to see.

“ It was someone he knew, someone close to him. The warehouse is empty. If he was killed there, and it looks like he was, he was meeting someone. He wouldn’t have gone there without at least one of his bodyguards. ”

Ian nodded. “ Exactly what I was thinking. Keon , too. The FBI has the case because he’s been on their watch list for years.

Everyone they’ve interviewed in his inner circle has denied knowing what he was doing there.

So , the questions keep mounting, but the big one is .

. . if Volkov is dead, who the hell is after Kat ? And why?”

As Rick took the seat next to Boomer , the five men turned their attention to the bewildered woman. “ I have no idea. All I know is what I’ve told you. My father was dying and high on morphine, so I only have his mumblings and hearsay from twelve years ago.”

Boomer’s mind was spinning with details, none of which added up. “ What did Keon say about Mr . Maier’s involvement back then?”

Ian shook his head as he accepted the wrapped sandwich sliding across the table at him.

He left it unopened. “ Not much more than what Kat told us. Maier got himself in too deep to cut and run and ended up with information he should have never seen. Information that resulted in a price on his head.”