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He was assessing her for weakness. Always, he’d been assessing her for weakness. She’d once thought his looks penetrating, sexy. Now she knew them for what they’d really been—reconnaissance. His gaze lowered tracking over her face, down to her chest and farther to her feet. No doubt cataloguing weight, and physical condition, trying to ascertain how easy it would be to take her down without as little effort as possible.
I’m different now, Cap. Let me show you.
She brought her arms up swiftly between his and turned so her back was to his front. She waited for him to lower to her level, and then she struck, throwing back her head and tagging him with her head in his nose.
He released her immediately and she was gone. Running, blowing her whistle and waiting for the shot that would finally end her. She didn’t put it past Captain Jacobs. He’d betrayed her and her family from the very beginning.
She’d maybe gone twenty feet before she was scooped up like a ragdoll and held against his body, so tightly the next breath she drew might be her last.
He dug his chin into the sensitive area at her collarbone.
“Get off me!” She knew she screamed it.
He lowered Ava immediately and turned her, staring down into her face. His nose looked none the worse for wear. Damn it!
“Get him off me,” he demanded, his full lips moving slowly.
Caesar had the man’s leg in his teeth, holding him but not rending and tearing.
She shook her head, tempted to give Caesar the command to kill.
“You do it, the dog will suffer,” he said.
He’d never hurt her dog. He was a first-rate asshole, but he’d never hurt her dog. Ava held up a fist and made an abrupt movement toward the side. Caesar released Cap’s leg and sat down.
“I hate you,” she said, and the words that had probably been no more than a whisper reverberated in her soul.
“I know,” he responded.
Ava had never heard his voice and it was one of her greatest regrets. She had felt the notes of it rumble against the curve of her breast, at her belly, at her neck, but she’d never heard it. He’d come into her life years after she’d lost the ability to hear anything.
Why was he here? Was she now going to have to run from him and the men who had given her no rest the last two years?
Why was she mourning that she’d never heard his voice?
“Calm down, Ava,” he said, speaking slow and deliberately so she could read his lips.
“Get your hands off me,” she bit out.
Caesar came to her side and sat, staring between her and Cap, waiting. Her dog had always loved him. If he didn’t still feel some loyalty for Captain, the man’s leg would still be between Caesar’s jaws right now.
“Where’s your ears?” he asked.
His beautiful face was so solemn. He seemed thinner than the last time she’d seen him. Of course, a lot could happen in two years and Ava herself could stand to gain a few pounds. Not that thinner on Captain Jacobs was a bad thing. He’d once been heavily muscled—active SEAL duty did that to a soldier. Had he retired? Not re-upping must have killed him. What had happened? Was he hurt?
And again, why did she care? He’d never considered not re-upping for Ava. Nope. His entire life had been all about military service. His team had been his life. And she hadn’t been a part of that.
He’d not allowed her to be.
Maybe that had been guilt on his part? After all, he had been part of the team that ferreted out the secrets her father had been hiding. The fact he’d used Ava as a way to get close to her father, well, Ava had made it pretty easy for him hadn’t she?
“Your ears, Ava—where are they?” he asked again, patience clearly wearing thin at her lack of response.
She patted her pockets and threw him a nasty look. “I seem to have misplaced them. Between the running for my life and being kidnapped, I guess I lost them.” She’d been going for snarky.
He laughed.
Yeah, she’d missed snark by a mile apparently.
