Phoenix Rising: A Fortis Security Novel Book 7 (Fortis Security Series) Read online

  The sound of fabric tearing and his lips on her made her arch into him again, her hand going to his hair and gripping it hard.

  “So fucking beautiful,” he rasped against her breasts as he toyed with the hard peak of her nipple. He laved both before he took her thigh, hoisting it around his waist and grinding his hardness against her hot core.

  She was driving him insane with the need to be inside her. Lifting up, he pulled the ruined dress over her head leaving her naked from the waist up, only the tiny G-string she wore separating them. He quickly divested himself of his bloody shirt and tux trousers.

  A sense of power that he hadn’t felt in years flowed through him as he watched her eyes wander over him, stopping to admire the tattoos on his ribs, biceps, and chest. Her eyes went wide when they lowered to his hard cock and he smothered a smirk of satisfaction.

  “Keep looking at me like that, baby girl, and I won’t last long.” Putting a knee on the bed he covered her body with his, the contrast of her softness against his hardness making his dick pulse against the wetness of her pussy.

  “I’m going to fucking worship this body,” he whispered as he kissed his way down her torso, before tasting her sweet pussy. Her body came off the bed as his mouth found her clit, her hands pulling at his hair as her hips moved to meet the movements of his tongue.

  “Oh God,” she moaned as her thighs began to quiver.

  He pushed two fingers into her wetness and the feel of how tightly she gripped him made him moan. Using his mouth and fingers, he brought her close to climax twice before he let her fall.

  He watched her tumble through her release and thought he had never seen anything more stunning in his life. Crawling up her body he kissed her gently letting her taste herself on his lips and felt her throaty moan.

  “I’m going to fuck you now, Megan,” he whispered, and she shuddered beneath him.

  “Please do,” she whispered back as her small hand gripped his hard cock.

  Fuck she was trying to kill him.

  Her hand pumped his cock and he leaned his chest back to watch her, the sight of her hand jerking him off was the most erotic thing he could imagine. Pulling back, he slipped an ancient condom from his wallet and rolled it over his rock-hard dick. With a grin he leaned in and kissed her, his dick sliding through the hot wetness of her entrance.

  “Please, Daniel, stop teasing me.”

  His grin became wider and subconsciously he realised it felt good to smile again. Catching her hands in his he lifted them over her head, gripping her wrists with his much larger hand. The position caused her breasts to thrust up, and he couldn’t resist a taste of her perfect nipples and nipped at her skin before kissing the bite away as she squirmed.

  Holding her wrists in his, their eyes met, and he slowly pushed into her. She was so tight that he had to concentrate to stop himself from thrusting in hard and hurting her. God, she felt as if she was made for him. Her breath caught, her mouth falling open slightly.

  He fucked her slowly, his rhythm increasing as he felt her relax and start to thrust back against him. He hooked her legs over his arms as he fucked her harder, adding a thumb to her clit as she began to tighten around him. Her body shook, perspiration coated her skin and her scream started to rip from her throat. Quickly he silenced her with a kiss as she climaxed on his cock, milking his climax from him with the tight ripples of her pussy. All the while he kissed her as he tried to fight the feeling that his life had just changed forever.

  Daniel knew from the first second he had seen her, it had been visceral and intense and completely unwelcome. He was still so messed up over Claire and the way things had ended with them, he’d had no right touching Megan. He glanced over at Dane and Lauren who were talking to two members of Zenobi he hadn’t met before.

  A stunningly beautiful Indian woman with long dark hair and a Blonde American. Both women were tall and had that dangerous air that all of the Zenobi women carried. As if they could smile one minute and gut you the next and not even get blood on their Louboutin’s or chip a nail in doing so. Dane laughed at something the blonde said but snaked his arm around Lauren in a familiar and protective way.

  God. Dane was going to kill him if he found out he had slept with Megan and if she was pregnant, please God no, then Dane would probably torture him first and he wouldn’t blame him. Drew came over with a whisky and sat opposite him, he too was watching the women.

  “I don’t know whether to fall in love or run for the hills,” he said as he watched the women move away from Dane and walk towards Roz and Kanan who were dancing cheek to cheek, completely oblivious to anyone else and only caring about each other. He remembered what that felt like, but it was hazy as if it had happened to someone else and as he always did, he wondered if anything from his marriage to Claire had been real.

  “Yeah they are pretty terrifying,” he acknowledged Drew.

  Drew turned towards him, and Daniel looked away from the women giving Drew his full attention. Things had been awkward, and Daniel knew Drew wanted to clear the air.

  “I wanted to apologise and say thank you,” Drew started. “You were right, I did have some shit going on and while I wouldn’t say it’s all sorted, I have a grip on it now and can see things more clearly.”

  “I appreciate you saying that, Drew. You’re a good and valued member of this team and as Lauren’s brother, you’re family to me, too. It’s tough to deal with things you have no control over, believe me, I know, so if you need to talk, then I will listen. Out in the field though, I’m the boss and I need to know you will listen and do as I say. So, while in here I’m your friend, out there I’m not.”

  “Understood and same goes. I know I have much less life experience than you guys and no military experience. I want to be a part of the team, but I also value this family I have been given, more than you all know and if I can give back to anyone I want to.”

  Daniel knew that Drew had a lot to process but whatever Kanan had done had helped this lad a lot. He needed to realise he had value and was cared about and was not to blame for his family. Maybe it was advice he should take for himself.

  His eye caught on Will as he rushed into the room making a beeline for Zack. Something was wrong, his body language screamed it and Daniel felt his gut clench with a sense of doom. Rising he walked quickly towards Zack as Drew and Dane moved in beside him.

  “What’s going on?” Dane asked as they stopped beside Zack and Will.

  Will looked at Dane with sympathy and regret and Daniel felt his world shift. Oh God, not again.

  CHAPTER 2

  AS THEY CAME upon the scene, Daniel felt the blood drain from his face as Dane swore. Dear fucking God. Surely, He wouldn’t be so cruel as to do this to them all again? Zack parked his vehicle beside the overturned wreckage of Megan’s Volvo and they all jumped out.

  Lauren, Dane, and Zack got there first as he felt himself holding back, scared of what he might find. Visions of Claire, dead and surrounded by blood, planted themselves in his brain, slowing his walk even further.

  He heard a car door slam and watched as the two Zenobi women got out, their eyes moving around the area, searching for a threat. They must have come to the same conclusion as he had, the threat was gone, but had been there. The evidence was right in front of his eyes.

  “Daniel,” Dane called, fear evident in his voice.

  Not many would detect it, but he knew Dane better than almost anyone and he was scared. Shaking off the fear that dogged him, Daniel moved and crouched beside his best friend. Taking a deep breath, he looked inside the mangled vehicle and his heart almost stuttered to a stop.

  Megan was hanging upside down, her hair covering most of her face as blood trickled down the part of it he could see. She was unconscious and as he felt her neck, he was relieved to find her pulse was strong and steady. Gently, he swept her hair back from her face and saw the blood was coming from a cut on her cheek and eyebrow.

  His eyes felt hazy as his own blood rushed t
o his head. Images of Claire kept fighting with the scene in front of him, the smell of blood, and feelings of anguish assailed him as he felt his arms grow heavy with Claire’s dead body.

  “Daniel,” Dane called sharply.

  He shook his head and the images faded until he saw Megan—his sweet Megan—was hurt, and she needed him.

  “You okay, man?” Dane asked as he looked at Daniel, his hand on Daniel’s shoulder.

  “Yes, yes I’m fine.”

  Lauren reached out to touch Megan and Daniel grabbed her hand. “What are you doing?”

  “She’s in pain, Daniel. I’m just going to offer some help while you do what you need to do.”

  He released her as Dane glared at him. “Yeah, sorry.”

  Lauren looked at him with compassion and he hated that they all saw him as weak. There was no room for weakness in combat or any crisis situation. He was a combat medic and a fucking good one and he wasn’t about to let Megan down now.

  Then it struck him. Jesus Christ, she could be pregnant with his child.

  “Place your hand here on her shoulder,” he motioned to Lauren. He could hear Will and Zack talking behind him, but his focus was on Megan. Lauren placed her hand on Megan’s shoulder and closed her eyes as Dane stood behind her, offering support as best he could.

  She snatched her hand back and her eyes shot to his. “I think she might be pregnant,” Lauren said quietly so that only he could hear.

  Daniel’s stomach hit the ground as fear for Megan and the baby flooded through him, making it difficult to breathe.

  Lauren kept her voice low so that Dane didn’t hear. “Did you know?”

  Daniel looked at her and he must have been wearing his guilt like a hair blanket because her eyes flared wide before they evened out.

  “Okay, forget I asked,” she murmured.

  Turning back to Megan, Daniel got to work triaging her injuries as best he could. But he couldn’t tell with her like this if anything was going on inside. Her breathing was good as was her airway, but they needed the paramedics here.

  Swivelling to Zack, he called out, “How long for the paramedics?”

  “They’re five minutes out,” Zack returned as he held his phone to his ear, barking out commands as he did. Lauren started to shake, and he looked at her quickly.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quickly.

  “Yes, it just takes a lot out of me.”

  He turned to Dane knowing his best friend would not want to sacrifice one person he loved for another. He loved his siblings but the bond he and Lauren shared was next level.

  “Dane, get her out of here, she’s hurting herself,” he said.

  Dane stepped forward and took hold of a now weak Lauren and lifted her bodily away from the wreck.

  “Traitor,” she mouthed as Dane carried her back the car.

  It gave him a few moments alone with Megan. “Hang in there, sweetheart, help is on the way,” he said as he gently swept her hair back from her face.

  A tiny groan murmured from her lips as she started to come around. “Daniel,” she whispered hoarsely, her hand moving to her head.

  “Easy, sweetheart, you’ve been in an accident. Just try and stay still for me.”

  “It hurts so much.”

  “Where does it hurt, baby?” he asked softly as if it was only them alone in the dark shroud of the night.

  “My shoulder and my head.”

  He desperately wanted to ask if she had any abdominal pain, but he didn’t want to freak her out and cause her to go deeper into shock. The sounds of an ambulance could be heard now.

  “Daniel?”

  “Yes?”

  “Don’t leave me.”

  Her words made him swallow as an ache shafted straight to his solar plexus. He knew she was talking about now, but a distant part of him wanted her to mean ever, and yet he was the one pushing her further and further away with his behaviour. He wanted something he didn’t deserve, something so strong that it hit him for six. He didn’t deserve her, he had no right to want her like he did.

  She was off limits to a man like him. He was not the man everyone thought he was. How could he be, when he wanted another woman a mere year after his wife was murdered, and an innocent at that. No, his tastes and needs were too dark for Megan.

  He knew if he allowed her to see the real him, she would run, but what now? If she was carrying his child could he let her go? A part of him held on to hope that it was a mistake, that she wasn’t pregnant, but a bigger part, the part he kept trying to silence, wanted her pregnant with his child. Tying her to him in a way they couldn’t escape.

  “I won’t leave you, Megan,” he said as he checked her pulse again. Flashing lights behind him signalled the arrival of the paramedics. He turned to shout at Dane, who was walking back towards him. “She’s awake. Can you stay with her while I speak with the paramedics?”

  “Yes of course,” Dane replied as he jogged to them, dropping to the ground.

  “Hey, baby sis,” he said as he took her hand in his, “what did I say about women drivers not being as good as the blokes?”

  He chuckled when she replied, her voice weak with pain. “Asshole.”

  Daniel watched them for a second, not wanting to leave her.

  Dane turned to him and frowned. “Go, I have this.”

  Daniel felt an overwhelming desire to stay and push Dane aside and tell him that he had this but knew he couldn’t. He nodded and walked away, moving towards the female coming towards him, whose hard hat read Doctor.

  “Hi, I’m Daniel Thompson, I’m a trained first responder and combat medic.”

  The Doctor shook his hand as she walked beside him. He gave her an update on what he could see. “The patient is a twenty-seven-year-old female, she was unconscious on arrival but has come around. She has a cut on her cheek and eyebrow and a dislocated shoulder. Her pulse is strong and steady, with no sign of breathing difficulties. BP is one seventy over ninety, but that could be from hanging upside down. She is also pregnant.” The words felt like they stuck in his throat as he said them. He imagined a neon sign over his head screaming, here he is, this is the bastard that knocked up innocent Megan.

  “Any complaints of pain in her abdomen?”

  “No, and I didn’t mention it as I didn’t want her to freak out and injure herself.”

  The doctor nodded as she set her bag down beside Dane.

  “How far along do we know?”

  “About twelve weeks or so I would say.” He could feel Dane’s angry stare on him as he stood and moved away.

  “Thank you, we will take it from here.”

  He and Dane moved away giving them room to work as a police car pulled up. Both men looked as Detectives English and Herbert got out and walked towards Will and Zack.

  “Why are they here?” he asked.

  “Zack called them to handle the scene while we and Roz’s girls take a real look around.”

  Daniel looked at his friend. “I take it we are all on the same page here then?” he said as he listened to what was happening behind him with Megan.

  Dane looked at him intensely, his face furious, his jaw hard with suppressed anger. “That someone tried to murder my baby sister?”

  “Yeah, that someone tried to murder Megan! Let’s find the bastards and make them pay,” Daniel replied as he tried to control the play of emotions. He was like steel in the field, could hide his feelings from anyone, but Dane knew him so well, so he looked away from his stare as he battled to get his fury under control.

  “Yeah, then I’m going to kill the bastard that knocked my sister up!”

  CHAPTER 3

  DANIEL WATCHED as Megan was loaded into the ambulance, concern for her warring with the need inside him to find out who had caused her accident. He had managed to evade Dane’s queries about the potential father of her child for now, but he knew it would come out at some point. He had no intention of walking away from his child or hiding from his responsibilities. If, and i
t was looking more and more certain she was, Meg was carrying his baby, he would step up.

  No child of his would ever doubt if he or she was wanted. He would love and provide for them to the absolute best of his abilities. It was his one true joy in life, his love for Paige, and the one thing he never doubted through all the shit. She was a constant. His heart squeezed at the thought of her with a baby brother or sister. Something he had thought he would never be able to give her.

  He did have regrets about how it had happened but that didn’t mean he would run away and hide. Dane would just have to get over it eventually. He knew he would have to take some shit for a while and he would, but not forever. Dane was his best friend and he knew he had crossed a line sleeping with Meg. He hadn’t meant to, it hadn’t been planned but it was done and now he had one hell of a consequence to deal with.

  Even with all that considered he still wanted her, she still brought out his most dark and dominant side. The image of her kneeling in front of him, her lips swollen from his cock made him almost insane with lust. He wanted to protect her and claim her, force her to admit she was his in a way he had never wanted anything else.

  He felt such shame that he wanted her that way when he had buried that side of himself when he’d married Claire. It was as if the universe had picked the most innocent, sweet woman it could find and pushed her into his path. Why couldn’t he have felt this for Claire and why did she give up and leave him in this fucking predicament? That was the big question. Why had she let it all happen? And wasn’t that the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.

  He watched the blue lights of the ambulance fade with Lucy following it as it headed for the hospital. She had come to collect Dane and Lauren and had been fit to be tied when she’d arrived and found Meg hurt.