Code Red: The First Mission ~ Chapter 4

Mika's Note: Aww, poor Blake! 

Ali stood off to the side of the stage, hidden from the audience by a pile of speakers. Her view, however, was totally unobstructed. Blake was on his second encore, and so far, so good. No trouble or threats of any kind. Not unless you counted the surge of star-struck females that kept trying to pull him into the crowd. She smiled at the thought of it. How many of them would know what to do with him if they got him?

“Thanks ya’ll!” he called to the crowd. “Good night!”

Moving past her, Blake reached out and touched her arm, followed immediately by his band. She turned smartly on her heel and followed them. Smiling at his drummer, she moved past him and stepped up to Blake’s side. “Good show, as usual. Those women love you.”

He looked away a bit uneasily. “Yeah, they get a bit crazy sometimes.”

“Aw, they can’t help themselves. You’re just too darn cute.”

He looked at her sideways. “You’re being sarcastic.”

“Just another service I offer,” she teased, squeezing his arm playfully. “Wait,” she said, stopping him from reaching for the door to the tour bus. “Let me check first. And don’t give me that look. I’m here to look after you. All of you.”

He gave her a mock bow and allowed her to check out each bus before letting them all aboard. “All clear guys, go ahead.” They all nodded their thanks, moving around her to get onto their busses. At first, Blake and his band mates had been a bit uncomfortable around her but, as the weeks wore on, they got used to her presence. Now, they were even happy to have her around.

“Where are we headed next?” she asked the driver.

“Back to the hotel for the night. We leave tomorrow afternoon to head to the next place.”

“Good. Thanks.” She patted the bus driver on the shoulder and moved down the aisle, deciding on a seat. Blake grabbed her arm as she passed.

“I may not smell all that great but I’d like to talk to you, if you don’t mind.”

Laughing, she took the seat next to him. “I’m so used to being around nasty, sweaty men that I probably won’t even notice.”

He shook his head and smiled at her. “The guys and I would like to thank you for all you’ve done for us since you joined the party. We appreciate you keeping us safe. That last time… well, it scared the crap outta us all. Don’t want to go through that again, ever.” He looked out the window, trying to control his emotions. “I guess what I wanna say is, could I buy you dinner? As a thank you, just a thank you, I promise. If you’d rather not, after all that’s happened, I can live with no.”

Ali looked into his blue eyes and saw how scared he was to be asking her out. She figured it had to be the gun. Men don’t trust a woman who was packing. And their near-miss a few weeks ago? Couldn’t possibly be that. So, she decided to go easy on him. “Sure. Sounds good to me. Tonight? Or sometime later?”

“No, tonight, if that’s okay.” She nodded and he relaxed a bit. “And I’ll shower first,” he added quickly.

“Awww… but I like my men all hot and sweaty,” she teased.

He leaned in conspiratorially, “Shh… that comes later.”

Ali couldn’t help but laugh. And hope.

~*~

Ali knocked twice on the hotel room door. A muffled “coming” came from inside moments before the door opened and a pair of blue eyes peeked out. Smiling, Blake let her in. “Ready?” she asked.

“Yep. Let’s go,” he smiled and grabbed his hat.

“What is it with that thing?”

“I like my hat, thank you.”

“I like it too, but doesn’t it need some alone time?”

Blake growled at her and placed it firmly on his head.

Ali sighed. “So much for all that beautiful hair.”

Aside from the hat, he looked good. She watched him close the door, noticing the way his worn, faded jeans hugged his legs and thighs and totally molded to his firm backside. Smiling, he took her hand and led her down the hall to the elevator.

“I like this shirt,” she told him while they waited on the elevator to arrive. “The blues and greys really make your eyes stand out. As if they weren’t blue enough already.”

“Thanks.” He got quiet for a moment as the elevator arrived. While punching the button to take them to the ground floor, he looked her over. “You aren’t so bad yourself, tonight. Green isn’t your color, you know.”

“Well, I highly doubt olive drab green is anyone’s color, but it’s okay. Better than those nasty desert cams anyway.” She laughed. “But you ought to see me in forest or hunter or even lime green.”

Blake grinned and shook his head. “This is gonna be one heck of a night, I can tell already.”

“Baby, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” Ali sang.

“Oh lord, help me,” he teased.

~*~

“This is actually pretty good for a hotel restaurant,” Blake commented, pushing his empty plate away. “How’s your dinner?”

“Great, thanks.” Ali pushed her nearly clean plate away too.

“Nice to see a woman who isn’t afraid to have an appetite.”

She looked a bit sheepish, and then laughed. “It comes from being a soldier. You eat when you get food because you never know when the next meal’s gonna be.”

“Well, I like it. Dessert?”

“Absolutely!”

“You’re a bit too eager, I think,” he teased.

“Only when it comes to dessert,” she hinted.

Resisting the urge to turn twelve shades of red, Blake buried his face in the dessert menu. “Mmm… chocolate cake.”

~*~

Blake took Ali’s hand again outside his door. “I hope that threat of replacing you doesn’t come true anytime soon, I’m just getting used to you.”

“Well, gee, thanks,” she joked.

“I think you know what I mean. I’d miss you if you left.”

It seemed to take a lot for him to admit it. “I’d miss you guys too.”

“And me?”

“And especially you, you big dork.”

He grinned his goofy grin. “That’d be me.” Blake caressed her face with one hand. “You’re tall for a woman. It’s not often I can look someone in the eyes without getting a crick in my neck.”

She smiled. She’d noticed the same thing. “I’m six-foot-one. Still quite a bit shorter than you, but not bad.” She took his hand from her face, kissed the palm, and let it go. “Thank you for dinner, although you didn’t have to thank me for doing my job.” She allowed him to continue holding her hand; she wasn’t quite ready for him to let go yet.

Placing his freed hand on the back of her neck he leaned in and briefly pressed his lips against hers. “I don’t want to say goodnight yet.”

“Then don’t.”

By way of response, he pulled her through the door and hung the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the handle in record time.

~*~

Blake didn’t even bother to flip the light on. The courtesy light gave him enough illumination to see what he was doing and not kill himself in the process. He pulled her close to him and tilted her head just enough to look into her eyes. Brushing her hair from her face, he asked desperately, “Are you sure you…”

She cut him off with a kiss. The tension left his body and he returned the kiss heartily, hands moving along her back. One settled along her waist while the other wound its way back to her neck. “I know I shouldn’t, but I’m not sure we’ll ever get another chance. And I can’t let you get away, I’d regret it for the rest of my life.” She pressed herself against the length of his body, causing a well-anticipated reaction in him.

Blake sighed into her mouth, giving in to his body’s demands. Ali pushed away slightly, breaking the kiss.

“This has got to go,” she murmured, tossing his hat onto the dresser. Running her fingers though his disheveled curls she grinned. “I just love your hat hair. It’s so sexy.”

“And I think you’ve lost your mind, honey.” He pulled her back against him. “Now get back here.”

She gave him a throaty chuckle and prepared to show him just how lost her mind was.

~*~

“Mmmm…”

“Heh. I like the sound of that.”

“Then keep kissing me, Cowboy.”

“Yes ma’am.” Blake turned his attention back to her neck and inhaled deeply. Nipping lightly at her skin, he guided her back towards the bed. “You smell so good.”

“See? That’s what a shower will do for you.”

Biting playfully, he nipped a bit harder than before, causing a squeal to escape her lips.

“Oh god, that was so not me that just did that.”

“Mmm… but I think it’s perfectly you,” and he laughed that sexy, masculine laugh.

She slid her hands into his back pockets and pressed his hips against hers, hoping he’d get the point. And by the way he felt he was getting the point very clearly.

“You’re gonna get yourself into trouble doing things like that.”

“Trouble? I was lookin’ to get lucky.”

Groaning, “You just might get that too.” He began to release her trapped shirt from her jeans, biting at her lips while he tugged.

A knock at the door startled them both.

“Mr. Matson? Are you in there?”

“Shit!” she hissed, tucking her shirt back in as best as she could.

Blake gave her an inquiring look then turned to the door. “Depends on who’s on the other side.”

“Lt. Albert Rogan and Bazooka Joe. We’re here to relieve Lt. Hart.”

Grinning, Blake turned back to her. “It takes two men to replace you?”

Ali shrugged and winked. “You’ll understand when you meet them.”

Wondering how he got caught up in all this, Blake sighed. “Okay, I’m coming.” He looked to her and whispered, “Are you okay? Can I let ‘em in?”

Ali nodded, not trusting herself enough to speak.

Returning her nod, he turned on the light and let the two replacements in.

~*~

Albert gave his adopted sister an eloquent look as he passed by her and into the room. “New uniform?”

“It’s called being inconspicuous. If I look like ‘em, then they don’t suspect.”

“Mmm… so that’s what it’s called.” He grinned at her, noting the flushed cheeks and scowl on her face. “Your secret’s safe with me, lover.”

“I really hate you some days, Albie.”

“Yeah, I know. But it’s all good.”

She rolled her eyes at him, knowing it didn’t do any good to lie. He knew her better than she knew herself, or so it seemed.

“We’ve been sent to take over. Ali’s got a more important assignment that requires her special skills,” Bazooka, also sometimes known as Lt. David Haley, was saying.

Blake looked over his head and caught her eye. “Special skills?” His blue eyes sparkled at her. “Should I be jealous?”

“Jealous?” ‘Zook scratched his head, confused. “No, she’s a disguise expert able to impersonate just about anyone she has a mind to. And her talents are needed.”

Albie looked at her sideways and mouthed, “Jealous?”

She smacked him and took a place next to Blake. “These are two of our more, um, interesting officers. Albert Rogan, mountaineer and all-around geek, and good friend,” she motioned towards the geek in question and he nodded. “And David Haley, expert in the area of explosives and anything noisy, hence the code name of Bazooka.” Bazooka nodded in acknowledgement and blew a big, pink bubble.

“And this is where the nickname comes from,” Albie explained, popping Bazooka’s bubble all over his face.

“Nickname?”

“Yeah,” Ali grinned. “Bubble Gum Brain.”

Blake lifted his eyes to the ceiling and mouthed, “Why me?”