Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One) Read online

  Sarah looked over and smiled at the man. “He’s so damn stubborn. It’s exhausting.”

  He laughed.

  Then he picked her up, lifting her above him as she stared down at him. “I was a fool.”

  When he spun her around, they tumbled onto the couch.

  “Oh great. I get to watch you two drool all over women while we try to figure this mess out. This should suck the big one,” Rogue stated.

  Dakota laughed. “Well, unless we find something, there’s not going to be a mess to solve. We are at a dead end.”

  “Yeah, three dead men, and we have no more leads.”

  Sarah looked at him. “You have three dead men?” she asked. “Do I want to know?”

  He lifted her blazer to make sure she wasn’t carrying a badge.

  She was safe.

  “One of us here is a little gun happy.”

  “Hey! I rescued the girl, I got the intel out of him, and the other one…totally not my fault. He tried to run me down.”

  “He’s kidding, right?” Sarah asked.

  “Are you gonna cuff me, blondie?” Zayn asked, nuzzling Stella’s neck.

  “No, but that’s a lot of bodies to have lying around. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten a tree but some shower curtains instead,” she teased.

  “Well, and the homeless guy in the park,” Rogue added. “He’s probably our fault too.”

  She closed her eyes. “Is it safe to assume that this has gone awry?”

  They all laughed.

  And laughed.

  And laughed.

  “NO, it’s pretty much going how I expected,” Dakota stated. “We aren’t playing on the side of the law.”

  “Where did you put the dead guys?” she asked, afraid to know.

  “The river,” Rogue offered.

  “Jesus.”

  “You can head out now.”

  Zayn pulled his gun. “Actually, she can’t leave. She knows too much.”

  “Well, you’re not shooting her,” Dakota stated. “I love her. She’s not being dumped in the river.”

  “Gee, thanks, babe.”

  “Then I guess you have to find a way to silence her,” Zayn stated.

  “Like what? A gag?”

  She hit him. “Dakota!”

  “Maybe marry her.”

  The whole room went silent. Dakota stared at Sarah. “I’m going to marry her as soon as we find Bonnie. Then I’m going to throw her the biggest wedding she’s ever seen.”

  Zayn winked at Sarah.

  She was going to kiss that man too! For people she’d just met, she really liked them.

  “Here’s what I don’t get,” Rogue said.

  “What?”

  “She was a Fed what? Yesterday?”

  “Yeah, and?”

  “We just told you there were four bodies. We killed people. You aren’t freaked out?”

  She laughed. “I worked with Dakota. I’ve been shot at, we’ve nearly been killed, and I do believe there was that one prostitute you had to fight off and ended up killing.”

  They all leaned forward.

  “Do tell,” Zayn said, grinning. “We thought he was ‘Mr. By the Books’.”

  He laughed. “I am. She was trying to shank me to get to some cocaine. It was her or me.”

  “You’re no fun,” Rogue said as his dog came into the room and went first to Stella, and then to Sarah.

  “What’s his name?”

  The three of them said, “Odin.”

  The other man said, “Kugsha,” and then sighed.

  “Fine! His name is Odin. Okay?”

  He started chewing on the tree.

  “Odin! No!”

  He looked at her and rolled to his back.

  “Jesus! My dog is ruined. He used to be ferocious. Hey! How did you get in here?”

  “I walked in. Odin didn’t even care.”

  Again, he sighed.

  “How about you help her get settled into a room?” Rogue said, knowing what he’d want to do if the woman he loved was back after six months. “Then we’ll start going over intel.”

  Sarah raised her hand.

  “Yes, Miss Valley?” Rogue asked.

  “I’m excellent at research. Oh, and look,” she said, grabbing her tablet off the table.

  “Is that…?”

  “Marcus didn’t ask for my security clearance back. I think he knew I was coming here. I still have full access.”

  “Now I may kiss her,” Rogue said, grinning.

  “I’ll let Zayn shoot you.”

  “He’s harmless.”

  The big man growled. “Try me. Three of those bodies were all mine.”

  He had a point.

  “Come on, Sarah. Let’s get you settled,” Dakota said, winking at Rogue. “I may be a while.”

  The men laughed as he walked out of the room.

  Meanwhile, they picked up the tablet and were in their glory. Someone gave the foxes the keys to the henhouse.

  And they were going to use it.

  Upstairs, they barely made it into his room. The second they were in the door, he shoved her against the wall and joined her. Their bodies were pressed together, as they tore at each other’s clothes.

  It had been over six months since he’d touched her, and all he wanted was to get lost in the wonderfulness of Sarah’s amazing body.

  That lush, silkiness…it called to him.

  He moaned when she had his pants open at the fly and her hands in his boxers.

  “God! I missed this,” he muttered, biting her on the neck to taste her. She was still wearing that peach scented deliciousness she called lotion.

  It made him rock-hard.

  She didn’t argue. Instead, she pulled his shirt open, sending buttons scattering in the wake of her destruction.

  They both got wilder—if that was even possible.

  As she got tangled on her jeans, he shoved her onto the bed to pull them off.

  “Get naked, Dak,” she said, as she struggled out of her blazer and the shirt beneath it.

  He stared down at her in the girly pink panties and bra.

  “Thank you, Jesus. I’ve missed sex.”

  “Only the sex, Dakota?” she asked.

  He grinned. “No, not only the sex. I missed my partner,” he said, as he shoved his pants and boxers down his legs.

  Her eyes went right to his dick.

  And she licked her lips.

  Yeah, he missed that too.

  She reached for him.

  “Wait!”

  She stopped midway to his erection. “Uh, this might be construed as really bad timing,” she stated.

  “We have to talk.”

  “Blessed baby Jesus, I hope you’re kidding. I’m so wet I could swim in my panties.”

  He laughed. “No, but I want you to know about something that happened.”

  She didn’t like the sound of that.

  “There was this woman.”

  Her face said it all.

  Then the tears filled her eyes, and she moved away from him.

  “I see that you didn’t miss me as much as I missed you,” she said, reaching for her shirt.

  “Wait! She came onto me. She got my pants open, and I stopped her.”

  “Why are you telling me?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

  “Because if we’re going to do this, Sarah, I want nothing between us. I don’t want to screw this up. I couldn’t have sex with her.”

  “I don’t understand that. You had better explain. I feel like crying.”

  He realized how that sounded.

  “When she touched me, all I could think of was you. I didn’t want to be with her. I wanted you, Sarah. That’s how I knew you were the one. After all of these years, I found my other half.”

  Her heart skipped.

  “Not Elizabeth?”

  He laughed. “Nope. You. It was you,” he said, climbing onto the bed to be face to face with her. “They aren’t my Sarah. They aren’t even
close.”

  “Oh, Dakota.”

  They tumbled onto the bed, and he was all over her like a starving man being given a good meal. He left no spot on her untouched—by lips, tongue, and hands. When he got to her breasts, he spent the most time there.

  He lavished them with attention, making sure she felt everything that he had in him for her.

  “Oh, Dakota,” she whispered as he traveled down her body to his other favorite spot.

  Well, both of their favorite spots.

  Dakota was a firm believer in it was better to give than receive. She loved that about him.

  And she wanted to receive all night long.

  “I want to hear you shout my name. I want to make you cum so I can slide home and join you,” he said.

  “Yes, Dakota. Yes.”

  He found her wet, swollen, and ready for him. With the tip of his tongue, he made her squirm, even as his fingers left marks on her legs as he held her in place.

  “I missed this,” he muttered, as he flicked his tongue over her clit.

  She moaned and struggled not to go mad with lust.

  It wasn’t easy.

  He worked her hard, driving her up, but refusing to let her fall. He’d waited over six months for this moment, and he was going to enjoy every single second of it.

  He earned it.

  “Dakota!” she hissed, as he changed up the rhythm again, making her miss that delicious fall into the ecstasy.

  She begged.

  Pleaded.

  Whimpered.

  Dakota continued the torment and it was making her crazy—he loved that part best. When he lifted his head to grin wickedly at her, she moved, scissoring him with her legs and switching positions.

  He laughed. “I missed you.”

  “Did you miss this?” she asked, sliding down his erection.

  He moaned as his body quaked from that feeling of being sheathed deeply within her.

  “Now I think I’m going to take a really slow ride. I hope you can hang on,” she teased.

  His hands went to her hips. “Probably not. I’m old and out of practice.”

  She braced herself on his chest. “You’re perfect, Dakota. There’s never been anyone more perfect for me.”

  His heart skipped.

  “I love you.”

  She smiled at him. “I love you, too, but you’re going to suffer. What were you thinking? Who leaves for that long? You couldn’t pick up the phone?”

  He laughed until she began moving.

  His breath was caught in his chest as he watched her slim hips, the bounce of those full, breasts, and then as he disappeared into her body and re-emerged slick.

  “Jesus Christ!” he muttered, trying to hold on. When she ground against him, he shook.

  “Hey, old man, how are you doing?”

  He laughed as she continued to ride. “I’m not doing the work, so I’m good, baby.”

  She stopped, stared down at him and didn’t speak.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  The look on her face scared him.

  “Baby?”

  Her lower lip quivered.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You’ve never called me anything but Sarah. It just caught me off guard.”

  He touched her cheek.

  “I never thought I’d hear you call me anything again. The last six months have been so hard on me.”

  His heart ached.

  He rolled, placing her beneath him. “You are my baby. You’ve been her before I even realized it. I’m sorry I hurt you, Sarah. It wasn’t what I wanted. I couldn’t picture you…”

  He closed his eyes.

  “Your partner?”

  “They destroyed her and wouldn’t let her die. He brutalized her. I couldn’t face seeing that with you, and not because you’re my partner, but because I was in love.”

  “Make love to me.”

  He lowered himself and brought his mouth to hers. Slowly, as his lower body did its job, he made love to her lips.

  Deliberately.

  Gently.

  Perfectly.

  They came together and found each other again. Her hands were on his shoulders, and his were holding her to him.

  It was them.

  It was tenderness.

  As he drove them up, she stayed with him, accepting each stroke into her body.

  When he was so close, he pulled away, keeping his mouth so close to her ear. He felt her body give way, shattering apart in pleasure, and he let himself go.

  They fell.

  During the tumble, he whispered so many sweet things in her ear. They were all the things she never thought she’d hear, and here they were.

  When the orgasm abated.

  When the pleasure slowed.

  Only then did they open their eyes.

  “Are you really going to marry me?” she asked.

  He smiled and rested his forehead against hers. “If you’ll have this old man. All you have to do is stay alive after I catch Bonnie. Don’t let her get you, Sarah.”

  She heard the hitch.

  “Dakota.”

  He lifted his face and there were tears. “If you die, then take me with you. I don’t want to find love, finally, and have it slip away. I can’t survive without you.”

  His words touched her.

  They were the most beautiful declaration of his love for her. They were so meaningful, that she was glad she’d held on the last six months.

  She pulled him down, holding him against her body. Together, they reconnected.

  They found the center.

  Dakota Rakin could breathe for now.

  He had his love back, and all he had to do was hold on.

  Forever.

  * * * H U N T E R * * *

  One Hour Later

  When they came downstairs, they were both recharged, and Sarah was riding piggyback. Dakota was laughing, there was a spring in his step, and the world seemed brighter.

  “I hate you both,” Rogue muttered, knowing that he was NOW the ONLY person not getting laid in the whole damn house.

  Well, him and his dog.

  Great.

  “Well, you could always show up at that certain woman’s place and go from there.”

  “Yeah, I can’t do that. I believe she said she’d pluck out my liver and feed it to me. I’m a vegetarian. That would be awkward.”

  Zayn looked horrified.

  “I know, right?” Rogue stated. “Charlotte has a temper, and can be mean.”

  “No. You’re a vegetarian? How did that happen?”

  He laughed that he was upset about that and not his liver story.

  “Blame my mother’s gene pool.”

  Dakota helped Sarah off his back. “Here you go, baby,” he said, sitting beside her.

  She leaned against him.

  “What did you find?” he asked, pointing at Sarah’s tablet.

  “That she has it pass coded, so we had to wait for the lovebirds to finish nesting,” Rogue stated.

  “It’s ‘I.l.o.v.e.d.a.k.o.t.a.”

  “Please don’t make me vomit,” Rogue said. Only, he entered it in, and it worked. “How did IT let you get away with that?”

  “I have breasts. IT will let you get away with anything when you do. That’s how I got him all the perks,” she said, jerking her head toward Dakota.

  “Very true. I never had to change a password the entire time we were partnered up, and the firing range guy had the hots for her. Now I have to go back and kill him.”

  Then he thought about that.

  “Zayn?”

  “Maybe as a wedding present.”

  Sarah laughed. “I feel so cheap,” she said. “Then again, we all know how men are about the female anatomy.”

  Stella laughed.

  When the men all glanced over, she shrugged. “It’s true. What wouldn’t a man do for boobs? They are like the motherland and you want to be there.”

  Sarah giggled.

 
; “Knockers.”

  “Titties…”

  Rogue stopped them. “This is our team? Are we supposed to find this mad abductor with you four all love struck and discussing breasts? What’s in the water?”

  Sarah grabbed the tablet and got serious and fast.

  “I can multitask. I’ll handle it.”

  She picked up his phone and touched it to the tablet. “We’re lucky they didn’t take all of your work gear away when you quit,” she said. “Your stuff still syncs.” There was a beep on the phone as it searched through all the GPS locations.

  The two men who hadn’t worked with her before watched at how quickly she was working.

  “You didn’t even tell her what to do,” Zayn stated. “How did she know that was your plan?”

  “We worked together for a full year. The US Marshals attempt to put people together that complement each other. Sarah is a tech wiz, and she’s helped me find countless killers.”

  She smiled. “Your search on the phone shows me that you’re looking for a location that will connect to what you know about the few names you found working this case.”

  Zayn went to give them to him.

  “No need. I know how Dakota works. He leaves notes on his phone. They all transferred over to the tablet.”

  “I hope there’s no porn on there,” teased Zayn.

  Sarah looked up. “Yeah, me too. Awkward.”

  He laughed.

  “Have some faith in me. There’s no porn. That’s the work phone.”

  She kept typing. “I’ll check your personal one later. If I find any, I’ll replace it with better stuff.”

  “There’s my girl.”

  She picked up his phone and touched the tablet to it again, and again, there was the beep as the information scrolled across the screen.

  “This is why our associates are leaving the business,” Rogue said. “The cops have all the fun toys.”

  “Yes, yes, we do, and I found locations that tie into Austin Sharp, Gus Cobb, Levi Dickenson, and Logan Best. There’s one place they all went to that I can find in the details.”

  She looked like she was going to throw her tablet at the large screen on the wall, but instead, the information flew from it to the screen.

  Like magic.

  “I think I can get into this,” Rogue said. “Teach me,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.