The doctor had explained she might have some spotty memory. The headache had subsided in the past couple of days which was a huge relief. She’d been sleeping practically twenty hours a day drugged up on pain medication. Laurie decided it was time to wake up.
She’d also been thinking about Colin quite a bit between bouts of sleep. When he’d left her the last time he’d given her his card. She would have tried to call him already, but the card was missing from where she’d placed it in her bra. She’d almost cried over its loss.
Most likely discarded from her unremembered stay in the emergency room, she now had to wait until Colin came back from his latest assignment. He’d go to the library and she wouldn’t be there. Unfortunately, he only knew where she worked.
One thing had become perfectly clear. She wanted to stop sneaking around and hiding Colin from her aunt. Laurie decided it was well past time for her to grow up too.
Today was the day she’d decided to tell her aunt about her boyfriend, Colin Riley, the FBI agent. Sliding out of bed, she glanced at her bedside clock, nine o’clock. After breakfast, she would sit Aunt Fiona down and explain that she was in love. She would make it clear to her aunt that she’d be seeing him with or without her blessing. She hoped her aunt wouldn’t be too terribly upset.
A faint knocking sound echoed through the house. Someone was at the front door. Who could that be? Laurie hoped it wasn’t Royce. Over her long recuperation, she’d dreamed that he’d shown up and kicked the front door down again like he had at the motel.
She slid quickly out of bed and threw a robe on over her nightgown. By the time she got to the living room her aunt had opened the door.
“Yes?”
“Hi. I’m here to see Laurie,” Colin’s seductive voice carried into the room from the front porch. What was he doing here?
“She’s still asleep.” Her aunt would send him packing next. Laurie wasn’t sure what to do. Should she run out and catch him? Her aunt asked, “Would you like to come in and wait?”
What! Come in and wait? What was her aunt up to?
Colin laughed. “I would. Thanks.”
“I’m having tea. Would you like a cup?”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
As Laurie contemplated what alternate universe she’d woken up in, Colin and Aunt Fiona passed by the hall where she stood frozen.
Aunt Fiona didn’t seem to notice her cowering there, but Colin did. He grinned and waved as he passed by, then motioned her to come down the hall and join him.
She shook her head. He smiled and disappeared into the kitchen as he trailed behind her aunt.
Laurie shook her head. What was going on today? She bucked up her courage and marched down the hall to find out.
She entered the kitchen as Aunt Fiona poured steaming water from a kettle into two cups.
Aunt Fiona glanced up as she strolled to the table situated in the center of the room. “Good morning, sleepyhead. You have a guest. We’re having tea. Would you like some?” She picked up the two cups and placed one on the kitchen table in front of Colin.
Laurie shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why would you invite a stranger into the house?”
“He’s not a stranger, is he? Don’t you know him?”
“Yes.” Laurie scrunched her eyes. “Of course, I know him. I want to know how you know him.”
Fiona reached into her pocket and held up a small business card. “The emergency room doctor gave me this with your effects. They found it tucked in your…underclothes.”
Laurie squinted and realized it was Colin’s business card. The heat of a deep blush crept over her cheeks as she realized what happened to the card she’d stuck in her bra the day Colin had left.
Fiona continued. “So I called the number and talked to him to find out why you had his card tucked into such an intimate place. He was completely freaked out that I was calling once he realized who I was, but he also sounded very nice.
“So I invited him here for a chat. I wish you’d confided in me, Laurie.” Fiona gave her a disappointed look but it didn’t last long. “I know I’ve been over protective, I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know you only wanted what was best, but you were so insistent about me not dating Royce or anyone else.”
“You weren’t in love with Royce or anyone else.” Fiona huffed. “And I knew Royce would hound you forever so I made my feelings about his unsuitability very clear to make it easier for you to turn him down.
“Colin is different. I’ve spoken to him at length while you’ve been recovering. He’s here today to have a chat with you.” Laurie sent Colin a quizzical glare, but he only smiled in return.
Laurie turned and he stood up from the kitchen table. She asked, “What would you like to chat about?”
Colin cleared his throat. “I told your aunt that I wanted to marry you. I asked for her blessing.”
“What?” Laurie felt her eyes go very wide.
Colin crossed the room and fell to one knee before her. Out of his trouser pocket he produced a ring box, opened it and held it up for her inspection. “I love you with everything that I am. Will you marry me, Laurie?”
Her mouth hung open. The ring, a beautiful oval solitaire, glistened in the light from the overhead kitchen fixture. She put one finger on the edge of the black velvet lining the box. “Really? You want to marry me?” Her gaze remained focused on the beautiful ring.
He grinned. “If you say yes, you can put the ring on,” he whispered.
She giggled. “Yes.”
He stood and gave her a bear hug lifting her against his chest to nuzzle her neck. He put her back on the floor, placed the ring on her finger and kissed her mouth tenderly.
Aunt Fiona, who’d never allowed any man entrance into the house, was smiling at Colin. She wandered out of the kitchen and Laurie decided she’d entered a Twilight Zone episode.
Laurie turned to stare at Colin. The scent of sweet jasmine tea filled the room and competed with her aunt’s homemade cinnamon rolls. “What have you done to my aunt?”
“I told you, the female relatives of the women I’ve dated always love me. Plus, I showed her the ring. She said it was big enough that I must be serious about you. She’s right, I am.”
She glanced at the diamond on her finger. “Is this really happening or am I dreaming?”
Colin slung his arm around her waist. “It’s really happening. I’m kind of surprised too, but I think we should hurry and get married.” He leaned in and kissed her neck.
Pulling back, Colin kissed her mouth gently. “I’m serious about getting married quickly. I never know when I’ll be called away, so what would you think about flying to Las Vegas today?”
“Today?”
He slid his hands to her face and kissed her. “I just can’t wait.”
Laurie always wanted to do something romantic. She figured spontaneously flying off to Las Vegas to elope qualified.
“Okay. Let’s run off to Vegas and get married.”
The phone in his pocket started ringing. Colin heaved a deep sigh. “See what I mean?”
He glanced at the small screen and apparently identified the caller since he grimaced before answering with a curt. “What?”
Laurie listened to his side of the conversation. He only said four more words, “Yes…no…today...noted,” before snapping the phone shut.
“Who was that? Do you have to leave?”
“Nobody and no. I’m on vacation. I’m about to get married.” He grinned and squeezed her close again.
“What is that song always playing on your phone anyway? I can’t quite place it.”
“It’s called Unforgettable.” He shrugged and kissed the tip of her nose. “I like oldies and especially Nat ‘King’ Cole.”
Epilogue
Laurie, awash in sensation, exhaled a fast deep breath and begged. “Faster, harder. Please, Colin.”
Her brand new husband, currently positioned behind her, stro
ked a finger across her clitoris as he pushed his cock deeply inside her body.
His fingertips grazed and pinched one nipple. Leisurely. Tenderly. Agonizingly slow. It was taking way too long. She was desperate for release. She wanted hot and hard. She wiggled her butt anxiously against his muscular thighs.
“Patience, darlin’, you don’t want to climax too fast. It’s always better if you wait.” Stroke. Thrust. Pause.
Panting harshly, she pushed her hands flat against the headboard and powered backwards taking his cock deeply. The sudden thrust went seductively deep pushing against her womb.
Incredible.
He groaned as if pained but reciprocated with a short hard thrust.
Laurie moaned. “Yes. Exactly like that.”
Colin’s breath came in short gasps. He sped up the pace slightly and whispered, “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You won’t.”
He moved his hands from her hips to her shoulders and pulled her upright against his body. She looked down in time to see his tan hands trail across to cover her pale breasts.
Whispering harshly he asked, “Do you want to stroke your clit or your nipples?”
“I…I don’t know.” His suggestions were so shocking and yet oh, so sexy and exciting.
He moved her hands to her breasts. Sandwiched between his hands and her pebbled nipples, she rubbed her palms across the sensitized tips.
Colin slid one hand down and stroked her clitoris again. All the while he pushed his shaft deeply inside her body slowly and methodically. Touching her breasts intensified the already heady experience. Fast reaching a pinnacle of monumental pleasure, she lost herself in the power of the moment.
Laurie’s head slid back. Colin kissed the tender spot below her ear as the orgasm hit her in waves she cried out in bliss. Her first climax as a married woman.
Her inner muscles clenched and unclenched on his cock so full and deep inside. He didn’t slam inside her as she expected, but instead kept up a slow steady rhythm until he growled and shuddered. His arms slid around her and hugged her tight.
“I love you so much,” his whispered message tickled her ear.
“I love you, too.”
Seconds later they slid forward onto the bed. Colin snuggled behind and kissed her shoulder.
Each day blended into the next and after four days she was sad to realize they were leaving the next day.
They’d just made love again.
“So Mrs. Riley, what would you say has been the highlight of this honeymoon trip?” Colin’s head rested on Laurie’s naked breasts and he twirled a lock of her long blonde hair.
“Um…winning a hundred and thirty-four dollars playing Keno was pretty exciting.”
“Not exactly the answer I was looking for.”
“Oh, I know. The fountain show at the Bellagio after dinner last night, now that was impressive.”
Colin lifted his head and kissed her throat. “Aren’t you the funny one?” The hair twirling and pulling continued.
“I’m kidding. The highlight of this honeymoon trip was…” she paused dramatically, “…getting to see Jay Leno perform live on the strip.”
He tugged sharply on the lock of hair eliciting a giggle.
“All right. It’s you.” She laughed. “You are the highlight of the entire honeymoon trip. I almost wish we could stay here from now on and never go back.”
“I don’t believe you.” He kissed a path from her neck, across her jaw and licked his way into her mouth. “I’m going to have to start all over as if it were day one of this trip.”
“Now that could be a highlight on this honeymoon.”
After making love for the third time in as many hours, Laurie was exhausted. Colin kissed her shoulder tenderly as she dozed off in his arms.
Her dreams were particularly vivid and after only a few minutes of sleep she sat bolt upright in bed.
Colin stirred away beside her. “What’s wrong, darlin’, bad dream?”
“No. Not bad exactly. Just strange.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. It had seemed so real.
Colin sat up next to her. “How strange? Are you okay?” Concern creased his brow. It was the first time this week he was worried about her dreams.
She turned her head and smiled to reassure him. “I’m fine. It’s silly. It was just so vivid.”
Pursing his lips he remarked, “Jay Leno wasn’t in this very vivid dream, was he?”
She laughed out loud. “No. In fact, it was you in my very vivid dream.”
“Oh? Well, perhaps we could re-create it.” He ran his scratchy chin across her shoulder. “What was I doing in your very vivid dream?”
Laurie tilted her head. “You were handcuffed to an iron bed and I rescued you wearing a blue evening dress and spiky heels. Funny, huh?”
THE FORGETFUL SPY
The Double Recall 1
THE END
WWW.LARASANTIAGO.COM
AUTHOR’S BIO
Lara Santiago always loved to write. However, her pragmatic, analytical side got the upper hand at an early age and informed her she should be getting a ‘real’ job and not pursuing a creative writing career.
She joined the Air Force and spent her four years of service in Blytheville, Arkansas working nights in Supply issuing aircraft parts to guys working on the flight line. Her husband discovered her there and married her to continue getting his aircraft parts quicker than all the others.
Lara soon earned a degree in the field of Logistics—a word she thinks is very sexy. No logisticians will ever be the bad guy in any of her novels.
After the military, Lara spent many practical years working at a ‘real’ job, allowing her analytical side total free rein. Then one day, the characters banging incessantly inside her brain simply couldn’t be silenced any longer. She bought a laptop with the sole purpose of writing a book to allow her creative side to express itself and to let all those characters out. Her motto…so many characters…so little time.
To those interested, Lara’s practical, analytical side is now stuffed in a dark hole and only allowed out once or twice a month to pay bills.
When she isn’t hunched over her faithful laptop, now with half the letters chipped off in her zeal to write as fast as possible, Lara enjoys reading, catching up on all her recorded television shows, and watching movies. Oh, and occasionally, she cooks for her family, too.
She hopes her readers enjoy her stories and looks forward to hearing from them—but only if they refrain from insisting she make anyone in Logistics a bad guy. J
Check out Lara’s latest books at
www.sirenpublishing.com/larasantiago
Visit Lara’s website at
www.larasantiago.com
Books by Lara Santiago
THE BLONDE BOMB TECH
[Romantic Suspense] Bomb technician, Sabrina, flies unexpectedly into the arms of firefighter, Jake, seconds before a bomb explodes. But Sabrina is haunted by two secrets and is pursued by a killer... "practically grabs a hold of your naughty bits and sets them afire. 5 Kisses" —Two Lips Reviews, "keeps you involved until the end. 5 Angels" —Fallen Angel Reviews, "fully charged and had me ignoring people so that I could finish it. 5 Kisses"—Romance Divas.
4.5 Stars: "This is an exceptional, action-filled story that takes off with a bang right from the start. A first-rate mystery; a tortured, yet strong heroine; and a hero who is not too perfect will leave readers unable to put this book down. Included are some nicely developed secondary characters and the ending is very well done and satisfying." —Romantic Times BOOKreviews
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LITTLE RED RIDES THE WOLF [An Adult Fairy Tale]
[Erotic Sci-Fi / Shape-shifter] Cheri Amaranth brings goodies across the galaxy to her Grampa, as Caine Wolver eagerly awaits her arrival, but the Hunter interferes and takes Cheri on the wrong path. "A truly enjoyable scorching read...quirky, fun. An excellent twist on a classic fairytale. 4.5 Stars/Hot" —J
ust Erotic Romance Reviews, "fast-paced, fun, and full of scenes that capture the imagination. 4.5 Blue Ribbons" —Romance Junkies, "Captured me from its very first page...with a delicious twist that I highly recommend. 4.5 Kisses" —Two Lips Reviews.
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The Wives Tales collection
4 Stars: "These slightly connected tales are exceptionally good. The characters are well developed, and the world-building is well done without being overwhelmingly technical. The heroes are everything that heroes should be, and the heroines are strong without losing their femininity." —Romantic Times BOOKreviews
THE WIVES TALES [Print Collection]
The Miner's Wife: The Executive's Wife: The Lawman's Wife
[Futuristic] Three women auctioned off to genetically bred strangers in separate venues are uniquely destined to discover love in unusual places. "scorch-your- fingertips sex" —Leslie Kelly, "5 Kisses" —Two Lips Reviews, "5 Stars" —Just Erotic Romance Reviews, "5 Stars" —Ecataromance, "5 Angels" —Fallen Angel Reviews, "5 Hot Tattoos" —Erotic-Escapades, "4.5 Blue Ribbons" —Romance Junkies, "4.5 Hearts" —The Romance Studio, "4.5 Unicorns" —Enchanted in Romance.
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THE MINER'S WIFE [The Wives Tales 1]
[Futuristic] Hannah is sold into sexual servitude to a genetically bred stranger and finds love in the arms of her sexy miner. "scorch-your- fingertips sex" —Leslie Kelly, "5 Stars. WINNER 2006 Reviewers' Choice Award" —Ecataromance, "5 Angels" —Fallen Angel Reviews, "5 Hot Tattoos" —Erotic Escapades, "4.5 Hearts. Nominee 2006 CAPA" —The Romance Studio, "4.5 Blue Ribbons" —Romance Junkies, "4.5 Kisses" —Two Lips Reviews, "4.5 Stars" —Just Erotica Romance Reviews, "4.5 Unicorns" —Enchanted in Romance.
The-Forgetful-Spy-Santiago Page 24