Page 5 of Under Control

Carrick quickly shrugged off his black utility jacket and draped it over the shoulders of a reluctant Danica, and he put the hood up to conceal her identity.

He looked back into her eyes and squeezed her tightly to him. “Do you trust me?”

Her mouth dropped open and she shrugged in clear disbelief. She didn’t say yes.

But she didn’t say no.

As he kept her pressed against him, the moment felt like an eternity, and Carrick memorized every soft curve on her face. With that, he made a promise to protect her then turned his head to focus on the task at hand. Determined, he hoisted Danica up and carried her in his arms as he began a dash up the grassy mound of the park, not far behind Delta.

Even with his skates on, cutting into the soft ground underneath them to propel their way up the hill, his thighs, thickly muscled from years of hockey, easily handled her added weight. He’d been used to hard drills with skates on in hockey, along with harder drills in the SEALs. It was nothing to run with her in his arms—skates or not.

“Delta, where’s the goddamn car?” Carrick barked irritably as they crested the top.

“Over there…waiting.” Delta motioned and made a break for it as Carrick nodded.

Delta was used to how controlling Carrick could be.

Even in mid-sprint up a grassy hill with hockey skates on, Carrick’s mind was grinding and calculating. All that SEAL training had taught him how to reassess on the fly. There was something really irking him. In no way was her reaction normal. It had been way over the top for a runaway girl. And in all their interactions, she’d seemed to be a sweet, put-together young woman. That was when Carrick knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was a lot more to the client’s motives than what he’d been told.

Danica dug her fingers into his shoulders, clinging for dear life as she bounced up and down in his arms.

“Where are you taking me?” Danica sputtered.

“I’m protecting you,” he growled, recognizing that it was growing more personal.

“From who, exactly?”

That’s an excellent question.

At the top of the grassy hill in the park, Carrick steadied in the soft ground beneath him with Danica still in his arms. There was the black armored luxury SUV sitting at the top of the hill, just another couple of leaps across the concrete sidewalk. Carrick quickly lunged forward, whipping open the back door with one arm and hurling Danica onto the truck’s back seat bench with the other. Delta was already stationed up front as their driver. It wasn’t exactly how they’d planned the operation to go, but there they were.

“Moose, glad to see you could make it,” Delta sniped with sarcasm. “Ready to blow this Popsicle stand?”

“Let’s get the fuck out of here.” Carrick pushed Danica across the bench, planting himself firmly beside her.

He began loosening the top buttons on his black long-sleeve shirt, because he was melting. The truck was roasting hot in the interior—or maybe it just felt that way after his blood had gotten pumping as they made their run for it. It wasn’t just the level of effort to move two human bodies up a grassy hill on skates, but it was the anger that was bleeding across his eyes. He didn’t like being deceived, being fooled with, which was becoming increasingly more obvious.

As the truck pulled away, the idling black car across the park moved as well, and Carrick had no doubt he would be seeing it again in short order.Whoever those assholes are, they are in for a fucking treat.Carrick narrowed his eyes, wondering who would willingly go up against a former SEAL, who was fresh out, and another SEAL, still enlisted. Battle rhythm coursed through Carrick’s veins, and he could taste blood in the water. As he closely followed the movements of the car leaving the edge of the park, he just hoped and prayed they’d give him a fucking reason. He’d been pent up without release for too long, and giving these jokers some payback would be very satisfying.

“Where to, boss?” Delta asked as he pulled the truck out of the parkway, turning from downtown.

“Shake our tail first.” Carrick pulled off his black baseball hat and smoothed his hair back again. “Then back to the roost.”

Carrick gave a curt nod and Delta flipped open the keypad in the center console. There, he’d added features to the armored truck. Of course, when Carrick had opened the business the previous year, he had been aware that he had to equip the company truck to get the job done. Delta knew exactly what to do. He hit a green button that lifted a pane of tinted glass, sealing Carrick in the back seat with Danica. The glass was bulletproof, dark and meant to stymie surveillance and protect VIPs.

As the glass closed them in, Danica leaned back, her eyes wide, clutching her chest and taking labored breaths.

“What is happening?” she pleaded softly. “Please, tell me what’s going on, Carrick.”

“I’m taking you home,” he responded matter-of-factly.

Carrick realized his tone wasn’t reassuring, but somewhere along the line, he had been forced to switch back to being the cold professional. He couldn’t let her in. He couldn’t risk any more distractions—and she’d become the biggest one of all. That, he hadn’t expected.

Her eyes were still wild with fright and sweat was beading on her forehead. Her cheeks had grown pale, and she looked faint. Clearly, that wasn’t from running uphill on skates, since he’d carried her. He’d seen enough in battle to know when a rookie was in shock. Instinctively, as he’d been trained, he undid her seatbelt. Then he helped her from his hooded jacket and unbuttoned her thick gray sweater to help her breathe. As he got closer to her, drinking in her scent, her girlish vulnerability jumped out at him, threatening to once again pull him out of his military mindset. He gritted his teeth, continuing on. Pulling her sweater down her shoulders, he revealed her collarbone then her chest, letting her clutch the fabric of the loosened sweater across her lower arms and stomach. He didn’t miss how her perfect plump breasts rose and fell with her inhalations, which caused his mouth to water.

Damn, he mumbled to himself, pushing the sight out of his mind.

“Carrick…” she pleaded again, and he knew exactly what she needed.

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