Crave (Talon Security #1) Read online

  CRAVE

  THE TALON SECURITY SERIES

  MEGAN O’BRIEN

  Crave,

  Copyright © 2016 Megan O’Brien

  If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or win it from an author-sponsored giveaway, this book has been pirated. Please delete it from your device, and support the author by purchasing a legal copy from one of many distributors.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, mechanical or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

  Edited by Hot Tree Editing

  eBook formatting by Maureen Cutajar

  www.gopublished.com

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Epilogue

  PROLOGUE

  My pencil flew over the blank paper as the words stitched themselves together into the elusive chorus I’d been chasing for days. I plucked at my guitar strings, humming the melody I hoped would work with the words I’d written.

  The dull ache in my neck and back bordered on pain and I forced myself up and into a stretch. I’d been at it for hours. Why my creativity only ever seemed to flow while I sat on the floor was beyond me.

  “Sam!” my roommate Caden hollered from the other room. “Are we out of peanut butter?”

  I laughed, shaking my head. Caden was like a big kid most of the time. He was also one of my closest friends.

  “Samantha!”

  I wandered out to the kitchen, finding him searching through our pantry as though he could conjure a meal if he studied the bare shelves hard enough. “No need to ‘Samantha’ me.” I rolled my eyes.

  He only pulled out my full name when he was desperate. And Caden really only got desperate about one thing: food.

  “If you finished it and put an empty container back in the pantry, then yes, we’re out of peanut butter,” I answered him dryly.

  “Shit,” he mumbled. “I have to get to work.” He gave me his best beseeching expression, complete with wide puppy-dog eyes.

  I sighed. “Let me see what I can rustle you up.”

  “Thanks, you’re the best.” He grinned.

  “You working late tonight?” I asked as I busied myself whipping him up a quick meal.

  As owner of a successful tattoo shop, Caden often worked late, especially on weekends.

  “Probably.” He nodded, his eyes on his phone as he fired off a few texts. “Thanks,” he murmured gratefully a few minutes later when I placed a quesadilla in front of him.

  “No sweat. Are you going to stay with Danika again tonight?”

  Cade had been staying at his girlfriend’s house more often than not. A large part of me worried that he was putting any plans of moving in with her off because of me. With our other roommate, who was also Caden’s older brother, Sid, being gone half the time, and my best friend and former roommate, Piper, having moved to Nevada, I was alone a lot of the time. That didn’t mean it was Caden’s responsibility to take care of me though.

  He shrugged. “Probably. What have you got going for tonight?”

  “Wild plans, my friend. I want to try to finish that song and then I’ve got a hot date with a Law & Order marathon.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “So you’re going to sit here and work on the depressing-ass song I heard you fucking around with all day and then sit alone and watch crime shows?” he verified.

  I shrugged. “Yep, sounds about right.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Sam, let’s be real—you’re waiting on Sid like you always do when he’s been gone.”

  “No, I just want to stay in tonight,” I answered defensively.

  It was a lie and we both knew it.

  He groaned. “Living with you two is getting fucking exhausting,” he grumbled.

  “Isn’t it time you got to work?” I suggested with mock sweetness.

  He sighed. “Thanks for the grub,” he replied, stuffing the rest of his food in his mouth. “Catch you later.”

  “Later.” I waved, watching as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door.

  “Come by the shop later if you get bored!” he hollered as he slammed the door behind him.

  Really, he meant if I got lonely.

  Caden was looking out for me as usual.

  I wandered back to my room and grabbed my guitar. I tried to pick up where I’d left off, but as so often happened with songwriting, my creativity was a fickle thing. It came and went with an unpredictability that could be beyond frustrating. Even when I desperately wanted to write, when I knew it would soothe me to stitch inner turmoil into a song, communicating in a way I wasn’t good at otherwise, I’d never been able to force it.

  Music had always been a constant, so honest in its volatility. I needed that now more than ever, with everything feeling like it was changing so quickly. I sighed, setting my guitar down and abandoning it for the night in search of a warm blanket to curl up with.

  When his key turned in the lock a few hours later, my heart quickened its pace as I fought the urge to run to the door. Instead, I poked my head up from the couch, watching silently as he set his duffel bag down beside the door.

  Sid.

  Dressed in head-to-toe black, his heavy work boots sounded against the floorboards as he walked further into the room. His black T-shirt showcased the colorful tattoos running up the expanse of both of his muscular arms. When his electric-blue eyes landed on me, a warm smile lit his handsome face.

  I beamed in return. “Hey. Welcome home.”

  “Thanks.” He sighed, running a hand over his recently shorn dark hair. He collapsed on the couch beside me.

  I fought the urge to crawl into his lap and hug him. He’d been gone for two weeks, a short trip this time. Sometimes he was gone for months at a time. Every time he went out on a job, I worried about him.

  I knew that, as a former Marine and now highly trained security specialist, he could take care of himself. That didn’t mean I didn’t worry about him.

  “Are you hungry?” I asked. “We’re kind of low on supplies at the moment but I managed to make you something and hide it from Cade.” I grinned.

  He chuckled. “Wow, I’m amazed you could hide anything from him. He has a better sense of smell than a bloodhound. I’m famished. But I can get it.”

  He started to get up but I stopped him. “You’ve got to be exhausted. I’ll get it.”

  He sighed, not putting up much of a fight, which further confirmed how tired he must be.

  My brother had formed Talon security after getting out of the SEALs and had recruited Sid and a few other men to join him. They only took a few contracts a year, providing security for corporations doing business in areas of disruption overseas. Most recently I knew Sid had been somewhere in the Middle East. He’d also traveled to Africa in the last year. Aside fr
om where he went and how long he’d been gone, he couldn’t share much. It was just as dangerous as when they’d served in the military if not more so; I knew that much.

  I heated up the pasta dish I’d made him and watched it revolve in the microwave, trying desperately to tamp down the turmoil that was my constant companion when it came to Sid.

  After years of close friendship, my feelings had changed unexpectedly, morphing into something terrifyingly close to love. When I really thought about it, I knew those feelings had always been there. They were present in the twist of my gut when he looked at another girl, or the butterflies in my stomach when he wrapped an arm around me. Despite the time they may have taken to bloom, it still felt like a light switch had flipped on and now I was grappling with what the hell to do underneath the bright lights.

  “How many episodes in are you?” he asked, breaking me from my reverie, his eyes turned to the Law & Order SVU marathon I’d been watching.

  “Three,” I admitted.

  He chuckled, shaking his head at me.

  I placed the plate in his hands and sat back down, curling up with a blanket over me at the other end of the couch.

  “Trav get back okay?” I asked after my brother.

  He nodded, taking a huge bite of pasta. I knew he wouldn’t say much more and I didn’t press him.

  “Everything okay here while I was gone?” he asked once he’d swallowed.

  I shrugged. “Yeah, same ole same ole. Cade’s been staying at Danika’s most nights. I think they’re getting pretty serious.”

  He nodded, a thoughtful expression passing over his face at hearing about his little brother. “Looks like you guys actually cleaned up a little bit,” he noted, looking around our living room.

  Sid was by far the cleanest of us. I didn’t tell him it had actually just been me who had cleaned up, that I didn’t want him to come home to a messy house. Instead, I shrugged, trying to appear indifferent.

  He finished his meal and placed the plate on the coffee table in front of him, patting his lap in silent invitation. I stretched out my legs across his muscular thighs in our typical TV-watching position.

  Sid and I had always been somewhat affectionate. However, the sheer need to touch him as of late was new and something I was still desperately trying to understand.

  “All right, Sam, I’m cutting you off,” he said after the episode ended. “How about we watch something less depressing, hmm?”

  I let out a dramatic sigh. “Fine.”

  He started an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and with the exception of the occasional laugh, we fell into a comfortable silence I only ever had with him.

  “Hey, sleepy girl, time for bed,” his deep voice came to me through a dream.

  “Hmm?” I mumbled, forcing my eyes open.

  Sid stood peering down at me. He reached for my hand, his skin warm and rough against mine. “To bed,” he ordered, his tone light as he shuffled me to my room. “Christ, I really hope there’s never an emergency I have to wake you up for—you’re always so out of it,” he complained as I shuffled awkwardly to my room. “Night, Sam,” he said quietly as I flopped on my bed.

  Because I was half-asleep, the next words escaped my lips of their own accord. “Glad you’re home safe, Sid, missed you,” I murmured sleepily.

  I closed my eyes against the look of surprise that crossed his handsome face.

  ****

  Mottos?

  The text from Cade the next evening made me smile. A drink at our neighborhood bar sounded perfect.

  Be there in 20, I responded, wondering if Sid would be joining us. I hadn’t seen him all day and my heart leapt at the thought.

  I was relieved the three of us still spent so much time together. When the guys had first come to me about breaking up the band, I’d been crushed. We’d been playing together off and on since college, but with Caden’s tattoo business picking up and Sid traveling so much, it just wasn’t possible. Plus, they had their own dreams to chase. I was still sorting out mine.

  It was closer to thirty minutes by the time I walked in to the dimly lit dive.

  Sid and Caden were immersed in a game of pool at the back of the bar. Sid’s beautiful blue eyes studied the table intently. He wore a ball cap pulled low, masking his expression. I watched him, trying not to drool over the way his tongue swept over his full lower lip as he concentrated.

  I shook myself out of my Sid haze and walked over to the table, picking up a cue. “I play winner.” I grinned by way of greeting.

  They both looked over, offering nearly identical grins.

  It was always a close call, but Cade won the first round. I won the second and played Sid. As usual, the three of us got wrapped up in our world, competing playfully and making bets against who would do the chores if they lost.

  “Another round?” Caden asked a good deal later. The bar had started to fill up, with the clink of glasses and low hum of conversation ricocheting off the walls.

  “I’ve got plans,” Sid’s deep voice replied and I wondered if I imagined the way his gaze flashed to me before hitting the floor.

  Was that guilt?

  “Oh, yeah, who is she?” Caden smirked.

  “Nobody you know,” he replied as my insides twisted in agony. In the years we’d been friends, I’d always felt a twinge of jealously on the rare occasion that Sid went home with someone. Now… now it was like fire in my belly. I wanted to bend over to assuage the pain burning in my gut.

  Normally I’d paste a smile on my face and pretend I wasn’t dying inside. Tonight, I simply couldn’t do it. Instead, to my utter horror, I felt tears fill my eyes.

  Sid’s eyes widened in surprise as I shoved past him, eager to get the hell out of there.

  I practically ran home, feeling utterly humiliated. I’d just told him everything I felt without saying anything at all. Months of hiding my feelings betrayed in a single moment.

  I threw my purse and jacket onto my bed and paced back and forth. Sid and I had always had a certain intensity between us, but the past few months it had reached a crescendo.

  He barged into my room moments later, his nostrils flaring.

  I reeled around in shock, my entire body zinging as I gauged his expression warily. We stood staring at each other, the energy in the room thick with tension.

  “What was that, Sam?” he demanded, his voice low and strained.

  I stared at him with wide eyes, knowing we were on the precipice of something huge, something we’d never come back from. I’d hidden my feelings for so long, lied to myself and anyone who asked. I simply couldn’t do it anymore.

  “I think I’m in love with you,” I whispered hoarsely.

  There was a second where I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. That second felt like hours as my heart pounded so hard I thought he could hear it.

  Then he moved. He took one big step and I was in his arms, his lips crashing down on mine.

  He kicked the door shut as he pulled me so tight against him I wasn’t sure where I ended and he began. His tongue swept past my lips; his taste, the sweetest I’d ever had.

  I’d imagined kissing him more times than I could possibly count. The reality was a million times better.

  He backed us toward the bed, his hands grasping the hem of my shirt and pulling it up and off. I did the same with him, my hands roaming the plane of his broad muscular chest.

  He made a deep rumbling sound as his tongue tasted my neck.

  We tore at each other’s clothes, the pent-up sexual tension electric as we sought to devour each other.

  “Fuuuck,” he groaned when he got the first look at my bare breasts, before his mouth moved to feast on each nipple.

  I grasped his biceps, trying like hell to remain standing. I managed to unclasp his belt buckle, wanting more than anything to taste him.

  He slipped my panties down my legs, sliding down my body and to his knees. His expression was fathomless as he looked up at me.

  I sucked in a
ragged breath as his tongue swept over my core. He feasted on me, devoured me in a way I’d never experienced.

  “I’m going to fall,” I gasped.

  “I won’t let you,” he rumbled.

  He had me on the brink in seconds. I cried out his name as the most powerful orgasm I’d ever had swept through me.

  He rose back to his feet and took my mouth again, his hands grabbing my backside and squeezing with another low groan of appreciation.

  “Condom?” he demanded.

  “I don’t have any,” I panted.

  “I do, one second,” he replied, his tone harsh with lust as he stalked out of the room.

  I bit my lip, my heart hammering in my chest as I waited for the moment I’d dreamed about to become a reality.

  I waited, naked, for what felt like an eternity. With every moment that passed, I grew more and more anxious. After a few minutes, I grabbed my robe and went in search of him.

  I found him fully dressed, sitting on the edge of his bed.

  My heart sank deep into the pit of my stomach.

  “Hey, you okay? What happened?” I asked with quiet dread.

  “I’m sorry Sam, I….” He appeared at a loss for words.

  I swallowed hard against the razor blades suddenly piercing my throat. “You don’t want me,” I stated flatly.

  He shook his head, his blue eyes flooded with emotion as he managed to look up at me. “No, it’s not that. Christ. I’m sorry.”

  He rose, brushing past me, and headed out to the living room.

  “Sid,” I rasped, my eyes following him as he grabbed his keys and walked through the front door.

  He didn’t even look back.

  And I moved out the next day.

  CHAPTER 1

  Six Months Later

  The chords hummed against my fingers as I sang through the chorus one last time. Seated in a comfortable chair in the recording studio in West Hollywood, I still felt as though I was having an out-of-body experience.

  “It’s perfect, Sam—beautiful.”

  I looked up at Autumn with a shy smile, placing my hands over the strings to stop their reverberation.

  Autumn and I had run into each other throughout the years at various gigs. Her career had taken off in the last year, and by some miracle, she’d requested that I write her a few songs.