“Put it down,” the stranger demanded of her, then said softly. “I’m one of Hunter’s friends.”

“Yeah? Me, too.” Ben crossed his arms over his chest.

The stranger took a menacing step closer. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t feel too friendly toward you, since you’re trying to get in his wife’s panties.”

Kata stood and faced the guy. “I don’t know who the hell you are or why you’ve come, but you don’t get to strut in here and threaten my friends.”

A dirty smile lifted his lips. “Actually, I do. Your husband sent me. I’m Jack Cole.”

TWENTY minutes later, Kata still stared at Jack as he lounged against the sterile hospital room’s wall and sent her an unnerving glance. Ben had left for the moment, ostensibly to call in sick to his bartending job, but she didn’t doubt for a second that he’d also gone to move his truck.

“You don’t have to hover,” she told Jack.

He shrugged. “Occupational hazard.”

Everything about Jack Cole unsettled her. His every loosehipped move was calculated and full of controlled power. Danger rolled off him. Jack was one bad son of a bitch she wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. And she had no trouble believing that he could totally, utterly dominate a woman. He and Hunter had too much in common.

Instead of pointing out that she hadn’t asked Jack to do this job—a waste of breath—she grumbled, “Where is Tyler?”

She’d rather have him as a babysitter than the menacing Cajun.

As if Jack had read her mind, he smiled smugly. “Checking with the security detail in the hall. He hasn’t had a chance to confer with them much since he put them in place nearly twenty-four hours ago.”

Kata nearly choked. “Tyler’s been here all that time? But I sneaked out of his apartment. How did he . . .”

“Know? Cher, when you left his place, he wasn’t three minutes behind you,” Jack drawled, looking amused. “He didn’t drag you back to his apartment because he realized why you’d gone and that your mom needed help.”

Relief and gratitude poured like a warm shower through Kata as she looked at her mother, still heavily medicated and asleep. Mamá’s color appeared rosier today, but her lingering, hacking cough hadn’t improved. The doctor hoped her mother would be well enough to go home tomorrow. But even if she was, who would care for her? Certainly not Gordon.

“So . . . Tyler watched me from afar?”

“No. He blended into your surroundings. He knew that if he showed his face and played the heavy, you were likely to run again, which wasn’t optimal for you or your mother. The hospital environment is chaotic, but along with some of the local off-duty officers who are buddies of ours, he put together a detail to keep you safe until I could take over.”

Wow. Tyler had done all that seamlessly, invisibly. Kata had been on edge since arriving at the hospital, worrying not only about her mother, but fearful that somehow the threat would find her. But Tyler had managed to keep her safe with quiet efficiency. Behind all the charm and bluster, he was a badass.

“I’m not leaving my mother,” she vowed, raising her chin.

Jack smiled, and it wasn’t pretty. “Hunter loves a challenge. I can see why you fascinate him.” He shrugged. “But it’s not my job to give you the spanking I think he’ll be itching to give you when he returns.”

“A spanking? For taking care of my mother?” She advanced on him with narrowed eyes. It was probably stupid to provoke someone so much bigger than her, but she was exhausted—and he’d just crawled on her last nerve. “I’m being a responsible adult, not a bratty child. I don’t need some man to put me back in line.”

“So responsible adults sneak out a second-story window and away from their security detail, putting themselves in danger?”

Kata winced at his question. Okay, so she’d done that. Still . . . “I wasn’t sure if Tyler would let me go.”

“But you didn’t ask. You didn’t advise him of the situation.” Jack edged closer, his tone dropping to dark steel. “You’re not a bratty child, Kata. Hunter will want to spank you because you didn’t give his protection a chance. A Dom’s job is to know what you need and to provide it. To protect you. He’s trying to do all that from halfway around the globe and went to a hell of a lot of trouble to see you safe. Instead of trusting him, you cut his protection loose and acted rashly. What good would you have been to your mother if the assassin had been waiting for you at her house and put a bullet between your eyes on her front lawn?”

Horror assailed Kata. She’d imagined that she’d be safe enough if she moved quickly, then spent all her time in a public place like the hospital. Yeah, she got Jack’s point that she’d been reckless, but something in her rebelled at the idea of punishment. “Can’t he just talk to me? Tell me his concerns? Spanking is so—”

“Simple and effective. People respond to the unpleasant and generally avoid behaviors that lead to it. Not that he’ll hurt you in the traditional sense, but he’ll make sure you feel remorse. I’m pretty sure the orgasm he’ll withhold will be its own kind of pain.”

Kata wanted to deny that she’d find any such spanking arousing enough to be on the edge of climax, but she knew better. Just like she knew that he could hold back her orgasm for hours and hours, if he chose.

She braced her hands on her hips. “You don’t think spanking is condescending?”

“Am I offending your feminist sensibilities with the truth?” Jack raised a dark brow. “Look, we know you’re women, not children. But the spanking isn’t all for you, cher. When a Dom feels his woman has endangered herself, sometimes he needs to reassure himself with your skin under his hand and your cries in his ears. We’re only a few thousand years from cavemen. In evolutionary terms, the blink of an eye. Now, from my perspective, you can remain at the hospital as long as we can keep you safe. Just don’t imagine that Hunter will be as calm when he comes back.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask who the hell he thought he was to give her “permission” to stay with her mother. But he was Hunter’s stand-in, the assigned watchdog who had no compunction about doing whatever necessary to keep her safe. That he wasn’t shuttling her back to a secure facility was probably cause for celebration. When Hunter returned, she’d have to pay the piper—and damn if the idea of an erotic spanking didn’t make her wetter than it should.

Or should she just give him the divorce papers and end this before she got in deeper?

Kata chewed on her lip and retreated to the corner to sort through her tangled thoughts.

“Oh my gosh, the baby is gorgeous, Jack!” a petite redhead gushed as she hustled into the hospital room, her blue eyes lit with excitement as she placed a soft kiss on his intimidating face. “Wait until you see him!”

This must be Morgan Cole.

With every step, a sparkling gold and ruby choker bobbed at the hollow of the woman’s throat and her slim hips swayed with a well-sated sensuality. A huge diamond winked on her left hand. Jack had both married and collared her?

The woman’s lips looked swollen, as if she’d been thoroughly kissed recently. And she looked sublimely happy. As he put his arms around her, Jack’s expression was nothing short of smitten.

An inexplicable bolt of envy pierced her. Not that Kata wanted Jack, but she yearned for the affection Morgan had, wanted to be steeped in that sort of tenderness and sexuality with someone who meant everything to her. Kata had never been aware of such a need. Hell, until recently, she would have denied it with her dying breath, especially after having Mamá and Gordon as her role models. But now the craving for a relationship like Jack and Morgan’s blindsided her. The kind Hunter had described. His face swam in her mind.

“Tell me all about Deke and Kimber’s baby, mon coeur.” Jack smiled at his wife.

He worshipped Morgan with just a gaze and a few words, bowling Kata over again. Did being a man’s submissive make the relationship deeper—or just more dangerous? Morgan looked like a vibrant woman, full to the brim with happiness. But Kata didn’t know how to reconcile that vision with the reality she’d seen her stepfather dish out for all these years. How could the woman be anything but miserable under her domineering husband’s thumb?

“Ten little fingers and ten little toes. He’s so pink and chubby and perfect.” Morgan sighed. “The maternity ward isn’t very busy, so they brought the baby in, and I got to hold him.”

“And now you want one?” Jack’s smile was nothing short of indulgent. “I’ve been telling you since our wedding night that I would love babies with you.”

Morgan glowed. “And I’ve appreciated your patience.”

The big man returned her grin but didn’t say another word. No pushing. No pressure. Just sparkling dark eyes that matched her excitement. Looking at Jack and Morgan, Kata wasn’t sure exactly what to make of their exchange. Who had the power here?

“Can we . . . ?” Morgan asked with hope in her blue eyes.

Jack’s smile only deepened. A warmth she would have never imagined him capable of suffused his face. “Whatever you want. You know that. Of course, I’d be thrilled.”

“It’s definitely worth . . . discussion.” Morgan kissed her husband, then shivered at his touch. “But first things first. Where is . . .” Morgan whirled until their stares locked. The little redhead started, a hand to her chest. “Oh, I didn’t see you in the corner. Kata, right? And, oh God, I just talked about having a baby.” She blushed, then punched her husband. “Why didn’t you tell me we weren’t alone?”

Jack laughed, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulder with a wink. “If Kata has been married to Hunter for more than ten minutes, I’m sure she knows where babies come from.”

Morgan did a poor job of repressing a smile. “Yes, and no doubt, Hunter will want, um . . . lots and lots of practice when he returns.”

That’s what Kata feared—and yearned for so desperately. Memories of their night in Logan’s condo kept swirling in her head. Hunter had controlled her body so completely that it still stunned her. The thought of giving that much of herself again both thrilled and terrified her. He would return in the next twenty-four hours, and those papers were burning a hole in her purse.

She’d come to a fork in the road. Take a chance that her relationship would be more like Jack and Morgan’s? Or was that a fairy tale? Were she and Hunter destined to be more like Gordon and Mamá?

SIX a.m. Hunter shoved his phone in his pocket with a curse and headed inside the hospital. He didn’t like any of this one bit.

The past forty-two hours had been a total waste. Hunter had encountered no arms-for-drugs deal going down by Víctor Sotillo’s old gang. From everything he could tell, the thug’s organization was barely limping along. They’d slowed their pace on funneling money to the corrupt local and national governments who, in turn, did business with Iran to fund terrorists and nuclear weapons. Hunter had no idea who was leading the Sotillo gang now. His local informant had assured him that Adan Sotillo, Víctor’s salsa-dancing brother, was dead, though he had no details or proof. Provided Hunter’s local snitch wasn’t wrong or lying, if neither Sotillo brother was alive to turn an illegal profit, then who was running the show?

Even more perplexing was why he’d been sent to Venezuela in the first place. The pending deal that had created this blazing fucking emergency? He’d been unable to find even a hint of it. Usually, when he and the other members of SEAL Team 4 went anywhere near Sotillo’s haunts, the meeting was fast, ugly, and brutal. This time, unnerving silence.

Was it possible that Adan’s sudden death, so soon after Víctor’s, had forced the criminals to slow their plans? Or had someone tipped them off? Either way, the “emergency” that had called Hunter to Venezuela and interrupted his honeymoon hadn’t materialized. And he was beyond pissed off.

As soon as he got ahold of Barnes, Hunter vowed to chew his commanding officer a new asshole. Respectfully, of course. He’d probably be reprimanded anyway, since Andy liked exercising his newfound power. But he had a bigger problem now that he was back Stateside.

Hunter understood the need to drop everything and assist a sick loved one. He respected Kata for putting her mother’s welfare above her own, since he did it every day as a soldier. But goddamn it, she wasn’t trained for these situations. She’d disobeyed every direct order he’d given her and shed every safeguard he’d put in place. She hadn’t asked for help when she needed it.

He had no doubt she was going to balk at her punishment, though she damn well deserved it. And he needed to feel her around him, under him, taking him. He needed to connect with her in a way he’d never needed anything or anyone.