Arctic Fire_A Fortis Security Novel Book 6 Read online

  “Okay, Doc, I can do that.”

  Zack came on the line then with an update. “I have Eidolon liaising with us and monitoring the satellite images of the Denisovich stronghold. Hang tight and stay in touch.”

  Kanan hung up and looked at Roz as he sat on the bed beside her. She had begun to shiver, and he knew what he had to do but it wouldn’t be easy. Roz was his kryptonite, touching her again would be the greatest pleasure and the most hideous pain because he wanted her, but she didn’t want him.

  Roz moaned in her sleep and shivered until her teeth chattered. Kanan swore viciously then began stripping his clothes. When only his boxer shorts remained, he walked to the bed. Slipping in beside her, he pulled her gently to him, fitting her back to his front as he wrapped his arms around her cocooning her body with his.

  “K,” she said weakly. In her moment of weakness, she reached for him and he let a smile tip his lips. This was a tiny victory, but a victory none the less. She shook as he held her tighter rubbing his hands up and down her arms and back until the shivers slowly died down and she fell still, her breathing more relaxed.

  “Sleep, Kitten. I have you.”

  He didn’t rest though, he spent the time relishing having her in his arms again without her whip of a sharp tongue splintering him. Not that he didn’t enjoy their verbal sparring, she was intelligent and clever, quick as a whippet and so sexy his dick twitched just being near her. But it wasn’t that, it was the care she showed for others despite everything she had been through that had made him fall for her. He couldn’t think about the time they had spent together five years ago though. It was too painful to relive that perfect month without thinking about how it had ended.

  He had thought he had walls up, but the walls around Roz’s heart were like a fortress, one she protected with a cold exterior and a brutal intensity. He saw through her though, he knew the woman she really was, and he had no intention of giving up even if she drove him nuts. No, he would stick around until she either shot him or gave in.

  Exhaustion pulled at him and the next thing he knew there was a banging at the door. Jumping up he grabbed his firearm from the bedside table and headed towards it. He was fairly sure it was the team. Russian mobsters didn’t knock before they killed you. Looking through the peephole he saw Daniel. He cracked the door and lifted his finger for them to be quiet. Daniel, Drew, Will, Zin, and Mustique filed in.

  Zin looked him over with a look that could freeze lava before shaking his head.

  Kanan frowned and glared back. “What’s your problem?” K snarled. He didn’t need Zin’s attitude right now.

  Zin walked up to him while Kanan held his ground, hands on hips. He wouldn’t let this cold Russian asshole intimidate him when he was doing the unspeakable with his sister. “Nice boxers,” Zin sneered and Kanan looked down realising he was standing there in his Scooby Doo boxers.

  “Fuck off, Zin or I’ll tell Celeste you're replacing Samson’s fillet steak with the cheap stuff.” He laughed as the tall, broad-shouldered mountain of a man paled.

  “You wouldn’t?”

  Kanan raised an eyebrow and grinned. “I would.”

  “Fine. How is my sister?”

  Kanan walked to the bed and grabbed his jeans and Henley thermal. He dressed quickly and sat beside Roz on the bed.

  Daniel had ignored their squabbling as he called it and had begun getting his kit ready, so he could examine Roz. Will and Drew were sweeping the room and Mustique was standing off to the side looking like a contained ball of dynamite.

  That was the thing with Roz, she inspired loyalty with her girls because she truly cared for them, and in return, they gave her their loyalty and love.

  K and Zin watched as Daniel took her temperature and frowned before pulling the sheet back exposing her flat abdomen. He hated that the other men were seeing her like this, but when he looked up he realised that Drew and Will had turned their backs to give her some privacy.

  Once again K was reminded how different these men were from the ones he had worked with so often over the years. Despite their training, they were still gentlemen. Daniel removed the bandage and gently prodded at her wound. Much to Kanan’s horror, it was pink and angry looking, and his fear was confirmed when Daniel spoke.

  “She has an infection setting in. I need to sew this wound and get some stronger, more targeted antibiotics into her. What have you given her so far, and when?” Kanan recited what she had been given, and Daniel nodded. “That’s good, it will have given her a fighting chance. Her wound isn’t actually too bad, infection is the biggest threat at the moment. We’ll get this drip set up, and she should be fine in a few days.”

  Kanan and Zin nodded before Zin walked to Mustique and beckoned Kanan over.

  “What happened?” he demanded his arms crossed over his chest.

  Kanan wasn’t used to working in a team and answering to people and part of him resented it, but a bigger part was grateful. He had been alone for so long, but now he thought that maybe he had found his pack. “I arrived two days ago. Found this room, but she was already gone. I figure she was watching the Usov stronghold all this time. Her car is still back at the bottom of the mountain. I didn’t know where she was, so I waited. I was about to leave when Celeste called.”

  Zin and Mustique nodded.

  “What happened when you got out there?” Mustique asked.

  “She was slumped over her snowmobile, covered in snow. I found the bullet wound and got her out of there. The rest you know, she hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”

  They all looked to the bed, at the strongest woman they knew, and silence reigned as they watched Daniel finish up.

  “Just as well, she would hate looking weak and helpless,” Mustique said softly.

  “Yeah, she would probably want to shoot us all just for fussing over her,” Kanan huffed.

  Zin snorted a laugh. “Best she never finds out. I would hate my Pixie to be left without us,” Zin said.

  Kanan went stock still as Zin acknowledged how much she needed Kanan as well as him. So, the bloke was a bit of an overbearing asshole, but he loved Celeste to the point of distraction. K could live with that and if he had his way he was going to do the same with Roz if she didn’t give him a heart attack first.

  Daniel walked to them. “I set up the antibiotic drip and closed her wound with a few stitches. We need to set up a plan of action.”

  “I want her out of here,” Kanan said categorically. Mustique shook her head while Zin stayed silent. He could see the man was torn.

  “No way, she came here for a reason, if you ship her home she will resent you for it and disappear. If you want to help her, stay, and follow this through with her. But take her home and you will lose her. She will see it as a betrayal,” Mustique finished and walking to the bed, she knelt down and touched Roz’ hand whispering something to her sleeping form.

  “I hate to say it because God knows I want her safe too, but she’s right. We need to see this through if we want her safe.”

  Kanan remained silent as the others agreed. He had to fight the urge to pick her up and run with her back to his island where they had been happy. They were right though, his Kitten would see it as a sign that they thought she was weak or they saw her that way, and he would lose her anyway.

  What did surprise K though was that Zin was deferring to him on this. He didn’t have a choice, did he?

  “Fine, we stay and finish this,” he said, cold, hard determination in his voice.

  “Okay then,” Daniel replied.

  K realised that although he hadn’t been obvious about it, Daniel was running point on this. His leadership style was so different from Zack’s that he hadn’t realised it through his tiredness. Daniel had controlled the whole thing and had made it seem that he hadn’t. It was very clever, he respected the man for it.

  “We’ll be in our rooms, on either side of this one. Will and Drew have installed some security trips on the windows, and a camera on the exit
s. We have things covered for now and it should buy us some time until she is on her feet,” Daniel said as he looked at Roz.

  Kanan nodded as his brain ran through things they needed to do. “What about her car? We can’t have it found. If we are lucky the storm will have helped.”

  “Zin, Mustique, can you go and retrieve the car or torch it? Get rid of all traces of her from there, including fingerprints or DNA. We need as much time as we can buy,” Daniel said.

  “We’ll go now,” Zin said to Daniel as he and Mustique left but not before casting a look at Roz.

  If only she knew how loved she was K thought as he showed them out. Locking the door, he returned to the bed to check her. Leaving the bathroom door open so he could listen for her, he took a lukewarm shower.

  Showering quickly, he ignored his body’s natural response to being in the vicinity of Roz and dried himself before putting on clean, black boxers and slipping into bed beside her. He would probably get a punch in the face for being in her bed, but he was willing to take the chance, and anyway, it was to keep her warm he told himself.

  Yeah right, she was going to kick his ass. The thought made him smile.

  Chapter Three

  Roz felt the safe haven of a strong body at her back and snuggled back into the warmth. Even in her drug-induced haze, she knew who it was. Only one man had ever had that effect on her—Kanan. He made her feel precious and small, but not weak or frightened, at least not in the true sense. The danger from this man wasn’t to her physical wellbeing nor was it from cruelty.

  No, the danger where K was concerned was that her heart might thaw, and she couldn’t afford to let that happen. If it did, she would feel again and that was not something she could risk. She could enjoy it for a minute though.

  Finally, her bladder started screaming for mercy as she came fully awake. Moving the heavy arm that was around her middle she tried to creep from the bed, ripping the cannula from her hand as she did and biting her lip as pain from her abdomen made her want to cry out.

  She had nearly made it when a strong, quick hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Instantly she went on the offensive wrenching her arm away and spinning away from his touch. A hiss left her as pain shot through her.

  “Hey, Kitten, it’s only me.” The softness of his words cut through making her want to lash out at him for making her weak.

  “I know who it is, asshole,” she spat, as she avoided his gaze. She heard a chuckle as her head shot up in feminine indignation. Her heart clutched at the sight of him. He was too fucking beautiful for his own good.

  Tall, lean, muscular, but not too bulky. His dark hair mussed from sleep, his gorgeous hazel eyes rimmed with amber towards the irises. She felt her eyes travel over him taking in all the beauty that was Kanan. The tattoo on his left bicep of a Celtic cross and a new one on his chest of a lone arctic wolf. Her breath hitched at the meaning behind the wolf. It was the Zenobi symbol and she knew in her heart why he had had it done. It was stunning. Her hands itched to touch it, to run her fingers over every line. Finally, her eyes travelled lower, brazenly taking in the sexy v that led into his boxer shorts.

  “See something you like, Kitten?” His voice had lost the chuckle and now sounded deep and husky, and it made her body flare. She shut it down angrily, furious that she had let him affect her like this. Raising her eyes slowly to give herself some time, she met his slumberous gaze with her hard one.

  “Not really, just wondering when you stopped going to the gym. You’re starting to get flabby, K.” she said as she turned quickly towards the bathroom. She heard him laugh and she felt her temper flare to life.

  Before she could react though, a wave of dizziness hit her hard, making her grab for the wall. Before she had even moved to catch herself, he was there, his arms around her, holding her up.

  “Wow, Kitten, you had a nasty gunshot and you need to take it easy.” She hated that she needed him, but she had to acknowledge inwardly that at the moment she did. Maybe after some more sleep and a meal she could give him the slip and continue her mission.

  She allowed him to help her to the bathroom with only a few muffled grumbles.

  He helped her in, then left closing the door. “Don’t lock it, Roz.” he barked making her glare at the door.

  Using the toilet, she then washed her hands. Roz hated that she felt so weak, but her energy was gone already with just that little bit of exertion.

  Opening the door, she shot fire from her eyes at K who was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his gorgeous bronze chest. He reached for her wrapping an arm around her as he led her back towards the bed.

  “Don’t worry, Kitten, you’ll soon be back to kicking my ass,” he grinned.

  “Don’t flatter yourself, I could kick it now if I wanted to, I just can’t be bothered.”

  “Okay, Kitten,” he murmured and she wanted to smack the patronising words off his handsome face. Never in her life had she met a man that drove her so insane. One minute she wanted to rip his clothes off and climb him like a tree, the next she wanted to punch him in the face.

  Climbing into bed she slapped his hands away as he tried to tuck her in. “Stop fussing,” she demanded.

  He sighed and walked around the bottom of the bed and pulled the sheet up to climb in beside her.

  “Um what the hell are you doing?” she asked coldly.

  He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “What does it look like, I’m getting into bed.”

  “Not in here you’re not,” she said making a grab for the blanket.

  “Yes, I am,” he growled, pulling it back.

  “I will shoot you,” she huffed folding her arms over her chest.

  She watched his eyes drop to her cleavage briefly before they came back to her face. He looked at her closely before putting one knee on the bed and prowling closer until he was nose to nose with her. Standing her ground, she held his gaze even while her heart began to beat faster.

  “I am getting in this bed and going to sleep, Roz. You can either shoot me or get over yourself. Or don’t you trust yourself to keep your hands to yourself?” He crooked an eyebrow and shot her a smirk.

  Her temper, which was so calm and controlled that it was legendary, hit boiling point so fast that she spluttered to get words out. Breathing deeply, she sent him a cold hate-filled look and then turned on her side, away from him with a huff.

  “Fuck you, I can trust myself, I just don’t want you pawing all over me again.” She saw hurt flash through his eyes and felt guilty but stamped it down. It was good she hurt him, she didn’t need him getting under skin again. He grabbed a pillow and a spare blanket from the bottom of the bed and shot her a look filled with fire.

  “Don’t worry, Kitten, I won’t subject you to my pawing,” he said snidely as she watched him walk to the tiny couch, hating that it was on the tip of her tongue to say sorry. She didn’t say sorry, she didn’t feel guilty. His next words made it so much easier. “At least not until you beg me to.”

  “Ha! Dream on buddy,” she laughed humourlessly.

  “Oh, I do sweetheart. I do.”

  The light was turned off and she heard him tossing and turning as he tried to get comfy on the small couch. Snuggling lower she listened until sleep tugged at her. As she was slipping into a slumber she thought she heard him say, “God woman! Why do I let you do this to me? I must be certifiable to keep banging my head against the wall.”

  All she could think as she slipped under was, don’t give up on me.

  Chapter Four

  Tossing and turning on the tiny lumpy couch, Kanan tried to get comfortable while tugging the sheet, if you could call it that, over his large body. He listened as Roz shifted on the bed knowing that she was still awake.

  He was angry over her words, but not at her. No, he was angry because he had let her get away with pushing him away for so long. He had thought that she just needed time, weeks had turned into months, then months into years, and like a soft prick, he had let
her put her shields back in place.

  Her heart was now so firmly locked back under a fortress of ice that it would take an inferno to melt. Just as well that his feelings for her were molten hot. He grinned at his musings.

  He, more than anyone, knew what she had been through and had seen the woman it had made her. He had fallen for the girl first, but then five years ago he had fallen for the woman. He had thought he was getting somewhere, she had shown him a side of her that nobody else had ever seen. A softness, a vulnerability, and a sweetness that nobody except Zin had seen, and then just as he had been about to tell her how he’d felt, she had disappeared.

  In his hurt he had let her go, let her walk away from what they shared. He had been a fool. A stupid, stubborn fool. Roz thought that she could push him away and use words to make him leave her, what she didn’t realise was that he couldn’t. She was the other half of his whole, he needed her in all her facets, the bitch, the warrior, the assassin, the protective boss, the loving sister, the beautiful lover, and the loyal friend. He wanted it all and he wasn’t walking away until she saw that they belonged together, she was not getting rid of him.

  Stretching his legs, he heard her breathing deepen as she fell asleep. What his kitten didn’t seem to understand was that she was safe with him, she knew it subconsciously, otherwise she would never have fallen asleep like she had, leaving herself vulnerable to him.

  With a smile, he settled, closing his eyes, and tried again to get some rest.

  ~~~

  His eyes shot open as he felt a movement by his head. Whirling, he jumped from the couch pinning the body against the wall. Hearing a soft whimper, he pushed back and saw Roz dressed and heading for the door.

  Keeping her pinned with his body he grasped the hands that swung at him and turned his body slightly knowing full well that a cheap groin shot was not against her principles.

  “Where the fuck are you going, Kitten?” His voice came out gravely and soft, but his words held contained fury. Bucking against him she tried to get free and he swore under his breath. “Cut it out or you’re going to rip your stitches.”