Lucky II (Patten Bodyguards Book 6)

by Stella Marie Alden

  He doesn’t feel like talking and I don’t push. Perhaps we made a breakthrough, maybe not. I have no idea what goes on inside his mind and I am frustrated to the max.

  He brings my hand to his lips, stops, and kisses it. Then, with his arm around my waist, he stares out into the ocean. Children jump in and out of the water, screaming with delight. A mother scolds, a father builds sand castles, and families sit under umbrellas on bright towels.

  He sighs deeply as the waves roll in and out. “I’m afraid if I stay, you and the baby may never have this.”

  “Why?” I barely whisper the word, inhale, and hold my breath. Is he going to open up?

  “I’m toxic. People around me die.” When he toes the sand, I slip my arm around his firm waist, and squeeze.

  “I didn’t die, Lucky. Neither did our little peanut. We’re here because you never gave up.”

  “But, if I didn’t work for Patten, none of this would’ve happened.” Brown eyes darken as they turn up toward mine. “I was the one who convinced you to come to New York. If not for me, you would’ve had a safe job at the uni.”

  I lift a shaky palm to the stubble on his cheek, my heart pounding. “You can’t really believe that. Grayson

  offered me a job long before I met you.”

  “You said you wanted to make EMF waves safer, not build weapons.” His eyes close, he turns his face, and kisses my hand.

  Steaks of white clouds hover over the horizon as a soothing, salty breeze caresses us. No one has ever taken responsibility for my actions so it takes me a few minutes to formulate a response. I need to get this right.

  Slipping my hand from his waist, I cup his other cheek and wait for beautiful but sad eyes to meet mine. “Grayson was the one who persuaded me. If I want to make EMF safer, I need to lead the research. Only then, can I get the public to understand how dangerous it is. He’s letting me save the world.”

  He nods a couple times and purses his lips. “I can’t make you leave your job?”

  “No, honey. I love it. I thought you liked yours, too. We have a great life here in DC.”

  “I like it well enough. However, when I get my degree, I may have other ideas.”

  “Whatever you want to do, is good with me. I’d prefer you don’t reenlist but I’m here for you. No matter what, I don’t want you going away until the nightmares fade. Deal?”

  “Only if the intervention is over.” Grinning, he scoops me up and starts to let go but I grab him around his neck.

  “Lucky, no. We just got dry. I swear, no more.”

  Laughing, he drops me into the ocean, and I get him back by wrapping my cold body around him. He ducks under the water, bringing me with him. We play like two kids until waterlogged and exhausted, we head back to Grayson’s house.

  There’s a note on the kitchen table in female script. At the beach with the kids. Go have fun.

  “What do you think?” I kiss his cheek. lift my eyes to the face I love so much, then inhale sharply.

  The black centers of his eyes darken, his nostrils flare, and below his waist, his suit tents. “I need to have you right here, right now.”

  I shiver, our gazes lock, and he pulls my bikini ties. My suit drops to the floor. Naked and pregnant, I stand before him and wonder how he can find me sexy.

  “So fucking beautiful.” Stepping forward, he backs me up to the island, lifts my butt onto the countertop.

  My clit clenches and a chill runs up and down my spine. He briskly rubs the goosebumps on my arms away.

  “You cold?”

  “My God, no. I got a fever, for you.” My hands at the back of his neck, I dig in my short nails, and bring him to my mouth.

  A moan erupts within his chest, he turns his head, and holds me in place to take the kiss deeper. His tongue enters my mouth, I open, and he explores. With hands in my hair, he leans forward, his hungry lips devouring mine.

  When I try to take the lead, he growls. The lips between my legs swell with want, rubbing against his chest.

  I wrap my legs around his waist, clamping him tight to my ache, desire overwhelming my senses. His busy mouth kisses my neck, nibbles at my earlobe, then down to my collar bone. He tongues the hollow and I arch back, tits up.

  Both hands surround one breast and when he sucks, zings shoot to my core. Panting, my fingers wrap around the edge of the counter top as his teeth clamp and pull.

  “Loch…” Holy God, I may cum.

  Eyes deep in the throes of passion, he lifts his lids, then shifts to the other breast while pinching the first with thumb and forefinger.

  I blossom, stiffen, and unwrap my legs so he can get down to business. With both nipples in his grasp, he kisses to where I shaved my pubes.

  “Fook Callie.” Inhaling sharply, he presses his nose into my mound and I spread wider, about to erupt.

  Suddenly, he removes the pressure on my tits and I exhale, disappointed until his thumbs clamp on the upmost part of my inner thigh.

  When his tongue flicks over my clit, I scream. “Oh shit. Please…”

  One finger presses close but not where I need it most. Swollen, tits like rocks, my heels dig into the island cupboards and I arch.

  A small breeze of his breath caresses my throbbing need, then his tongue flattens over me, and I fall over the cliff of desire.

  While I tumble through heaven, he drops his bathing suit, and slips me off the counter. Then, from behind, he enters me fully.

  Like a parachute opened in a freefall, I shoot up into the clouds of orgasmic delight, shuddering around his thickening cock.

  “Calliope, fook me.” His pace quickens, his balls bounce against my ass, and the dishes in the island rattle.

  Arms around me, he angles in and up. I go off again with a scream which gets him off. His seed flows into me, out of me, and drips down my legs as he empties again and again.

  After a bit, he pulls out, turns me, and whispers into my ear. “Warm enough, luv?”

  “Mmmm.” I snuggle deep, inhaling sex, our sweaty scent, and something all him.

  “We probably should clean up and head back to our place before the kiddies return. We could traumatize them for life.” He kisses the top of my head and I moan.

  “I can’t move.”

  He chuckles. “Me neither.”

  Eventually, we manage to shower, get dressed, and sanitize the countertop. Then, we drive across the island, and make love on and off, until dawn.

  Chapter 25

  Lochlan

  It’s well past noon by the time we wake, check all the texts from our friends, and drive back to Gray’s empty, unlocked house. We grin as we make our way past the kitchen island and out to the noisy deck full of friends.

  Gray hands me a beer while Callie reaches into the cooler for a sparkling water. Then, we sit at the picnic table piled high with potato salad, burgers, hotdogs, and a melon salad.

  Isabella stares pointedly at a red mark on my wife’s neck. “Looks like everything’s all good?”

  Callie blushes like a teen and my willy swells. Damn, if I don’t want her again.

  Grayson, sitting cross-legged at a miniature blow-up pool, points with an orange rubber ducky. “Nightmares last night? Or did you two even sleep?”

  “Not a wink.” I take my incredible wife into my arms and kiss her soundly.

  Callie glances down at the tenting under my loose suit and whispers, “Best you wrap a towel around that.”

  I nibble on her ear with a chuckle. “Nah, he’ll settle down in a bit. Besides, the kiddies are too little to notice and Gray is family. He’s aware I’m hot for you.”

  For a whole week, we alternate between making love, partying with friends, and helping to watch kids. I have a few more sessions with Blake to talk over some shit and the fog is mostly gone.

  Tired from a long day in the sun, I sit on the deck with Callie on my lap, the moon hanging low over the ocean. We both jump when her phone rings.

  “I’ll get it.” She eases off my legs and
into the kitchen where her phone charges on the black granite countertop.

  I rush in when I hear her gasp and turn on the overhead light. Pale, she clutches the cell tight to her ear as she listens. I slide behind her, unwrap her fingers from the small device, and put it on the countertop in speaker mode.

  “…Capitol Building. Expect us in ten minutes.”

  I don’t recognize the voice, but the command in the tone is definitely military. “This is Lochlan James. Say again.”

  “A helicopter will be landing for your wife in twenty minutes. The president has ordered her to Washington, sir.”

  I almost tell him to bugger off but think better of it. “Make sure there’s room for me.”

  After a few moments of silence, he comes back. “Copy that. See you soon, sir.”

  “Oh my God, Loch. Come see.” In the living room, Callie’s turned on the telly.

  A talking head speaks in front of the Capitol. “What we do know is this. About an hour ago, people started getting sick and leaving the building. Some had second degree burns and were taken to a local hospital. Sources in the White House aren’t saying but experts believe there is some kind of electro-magnetic weapon in the Capitol Building. The president has been taken to…”

  “Shit.” I turn up the volume and join her in the bedroom where she’s tossing things willy-nilly into a suitcase.

  I barely have time to throw on jeans and a dress shirt before a loud whop-whop of rotating blades sounds overhead.

  Grabbing our bag, I lock up, and walk her to the top of the dunes. On the beach, three young men in fatigues jump out of the helo and run toward where I wave.

  The first one up the hill says, “Doctor and Sir James? You ready?”

  The second we bob our heads, the one in the lead takes my wife’s hand and shouts, “Let’s go.”

  I step between the young upstart and my woman and whisk Callie into my arms. Then, I duck under the blades and hand her up to a waiting officer. Once inside, I strap her in and seconds later, the bird is in the air. It hugs the coast, the moon rises higher, and I point out the Sandy Hook Lighthouse.

  I’ve been in helicopters plenty of times but this is Callie’s first experience. Even if she hadn’t told me, I’d have known from her wide-eyes and the way her jaw drops as she stares below at the dark ocean.

  She’s either thrilled or terrified, maybe a little of both.

  “You okay, luv?”

  She points to the lights of Atlantic City and shouts, “This is… amazing.”

  A marine taps my shoulder and hands me two pairs of comm units. We both put them on and the roar inside the cabin subsides. After the captain introduces himself, I recognize the next voice.

  Detective O’Brien says in our headsets, “Doctor and Sir James, can you hear me?”

  Callie adjusts her microphone closer to her mouth. “Yes, I can hear you clearly. Can you tell me what’s happened so far?”

  “We think someone got ahold of an EMF generator and placed it somewhere in the Capitol Building. We need you to explain how to turn it off remotely.”

  Callie purses her lips. “The news said people had second degree burns so it’s not one of mine but I can try.”

  “Thank you. You’ll be landing in less than an hour. I’m sending you everything we know.”

  A young serious-faced marine hands Callie an open laptop. She puts it on her knees and turns the screen so I can see, too.

  Audio plays in our headset. “At approximately twenty-one hundred, a device was planted on the floor of congress. At that time, people started complaining, throwing up, and an emergency was issued. Several people are still inside. The Secret Service has tried to reach the device with shielded suits but cannot get close.”

  Callie shakes her head and says into her comm. “I’ve never heard of EMF so strong it penetrates shielding. Can you please put Jason on the line? I need him to do some calculations.”

  She works with the AI unit all the way to DC, most of which I don’t understand but I do see her face. She’s grim, determined, and apprehensive.

  When she pauses, I ask, “What have you learned?”

  “I think they stole the backup unit from Blue Plains.”

  “That’s good, right? You can turn it off?”

  She shakes her head, no. “I should be able to but they’ve modified it somehow. I’ve been working with Jason but there isn’t enough data online for him to figure it out. Other than what I’ve published, my technology is basically unknown. So, I’ve given him access to all of my research. Now he’s going through a combination of passwords and pins to see if he can shut it down. It may take a while.”

  We sit and listen to the comm unit and watch CNN until we land on the White House lawn. From there, the Secret Service whisks us into a briefing room. Grayson is already there, pacing, as is Detective O’Brien and his wife. Jason stares out from a monitor on the wall, blinking occasionally.

  He stirs as we walk into the room and smiles. “Hello, Doctor and Sir James. I’m glad you have arrived safely.”

  Gray glances at it, then shakes my hand and kisses Callie’s cheek. “I assume you two are up to speed?”

  Callie nods, “I’ve been working with Jason but why bring me here? I could’ve done this from home, over the internet.”

  My boss frowns. “The president was firm. He’s taking no chances.”

  While Callie speaks techy to a roomful of experts, I motion Grayson aside. “What’s the real reason we were flown here?”

  “The FBI has the three we followed in the tunnel incident in custody. One of the men is singing like a canary. He claims they’re part of a group trying to save mankind from EMF. According to them 5G is going to kill every living thing on the planet.”

  “A few crazies?”

  “No, the FBI did a little digging. The group is millions strong, and growing. Apparently, like global warming, they got plenty of science to back up their claims but the government won’t take them seriously.”

  “This was their answer? Almost killing our wives? Kidnapping Callie?” My heart goes out to her. She’s going to be in the middle of a shit storm. The old Lucky steps out of the past. Like an Aussie Rambo, I’m ready to rock and roll.

  “The canary says no one was supposed to get hurt. They only wanted to talk to Callie, get her to join their movement.”

  “Yeah, right. Did they consider a phone call? Email? Text message?”

  “I didn’t say I believed them.” Gray frowns, then grabs a stale-looking sandwich from a platter.

  I opt for a few chips. “So now what?”

  “We wait.” He glances in the briefing room where Callie shuts down option after option from the world’s top experts in her field.

  “Why not put on Patten’s EMF-proof jumpers and shut it down?”

  “Tried it. A couple guys got burned pretty badly. Somehow, the terrorists figured out how to get frequencies to penetrate our suits. Hold that thought…”

  He turns up the volume on the direct feed from CNN with a close up of a woman’s face. “…we are demanding an immediate shutdown of all 5G, smart meters, and cell towers.”

  “They’re nut-so.” I shake my head. “That will never happen.”

  Grayson listens to the list of demands, brows furrowed. “They can’t win but the publicity will force people to take a closer look. Already, millions are tweeting and Facebook had to shut down from a capacity overload.”

  “Fuck me. So, they’re right?”

  He shrugs. “It’s been proven that brain cancer can result from holding a cell phone too close to your ear. Callie will say more research is needed before we pollute the whole damn world with dangerous airwaves.”

  “Is that why you hired her? You knew it might come to this?”

  “I hired her because EMF is a damn good deterrent in certain situations. It’s the best security money can buy. I gave her a lab because I have suspected for a long time there is much more we need to investigate.”

 
“You plan on making a bundle?” I stare at him, incredulously.

  He smiles and slaps me on the back. “Soon, we’re going to have a safe alternative to the current technology. Reread your wife’s contract. You guys are going to be rich, be able to buy your own damn beach house, whatever you want.”

  As much as I like the thought of not ever having to worry, if I could go back in time, I’d rather be broke and safe. However, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle. At the thought of her being in danger, my inner Rambo stirs. Fuck if I’ll ever let anyone hurt her again.

  We walk back into the briefing room and everyone stands at attention when the President of the United States walks in.

  He shakes my wife’s hand. “At ease. So, Dr. James, where are we in shutting this thing off?”

  Jason speaks from the monitor. “Hello, Mr. President. I am Jason. I have disabled the EMF unit.”

  The room breaks into applause and I walk over to my brilliant wife and kiss her on the lips. “Good job, eh?”

  “I didn’t do much. Just opened my research up to Jason. He did the rest.”

  The president shakes her hand. “Thank you very much for your service.”

  “My pleasure. Glad I could help.” She clears her throat, frowning. “This is going to change everything, though, isn’t it, sir?”

  He nods. “Be prepared for a congressional hearing or two.”

  “Yes sir. I’ll do my best to explain.”

  After he goes, I look to the FBI agent in charge. “So, are we free to go?”

  “Just a few more questions. Thank you. Both of you.”

  “Do we get a ride back to the beach?”

  He laughs. “Seriously? You need a flight?”

  “Nah, I think we’re ready to go home.” I reach my arm around her large waist and hug her to me.

  Chapter 26

  Lochlan

  Three months later…

  I put down my sociology book and sigh. “What the fook does this shit have to do with law enforcement?”

  My wife laughs from where she sits next to me on the couch. “It’s your last semester. I would think you’d have figured it out by now. Much of what you learn, you’ll never use.”