Body Box: Adult Paranormal Romance (Supernatural Thriller) (Dark Suspense) (The Smoke & Fire Series Book 2)

by Michele Wesley

  Kevin lugged his drooping body closer to Yala’s.

  “I’m not ready to say good-bye to you, Yala.”

  She stood on unsteady legs, her gaze still locked with his. She’d lost her train of thought when Kevin leaned closer and took her hand.

  “I’ll miss you, but hopefully not for long because I want to see you again Yala.”

  He feared he’d say too much, so he kept his words to a minimum.

  Yala was unable to transfer thought to her words, as Kevin’s closeness stole her breath and left her mentally out of focus.

  He'd assured that he wouldn’t, but the question crossed her mind; was he using his special ability to drain her mind of its ability to think? Where had all these feeling come from? More importantly, why had they grown so intense?

  Her guarded gaze left no hint that he was safe. As if walking through a minefield, Kevin treaded lightly into Yala's personal space, testing for bombs she might have planted to ward him off. He emerged on a passage into a world built on emotions. His hand slid around her waist and the touch surprised him as much as it did her.

  Her body accepted his touch with ease. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Kevin’s heady scent tempted her to lean into him and burrow her face in his neck.

  She backed out of his embrace and focused on his chest. Looking into his eyes in this moment would reveal the emotions that flowed through her.

  He bent in search of her eyes, but she wouldn’t give them.

  Words floated softly from his lips.

  “Why won’t you look at me?”

  When their gazes locked, her head was lifted by a connection so profound, her next breath and words remained fixed inside her body.

  Kevin moved to reclaim his stance, and her entire body moved with his to follow the connection they shared.

  Kevin sank into Yala's captivating world and lost his identity in her eyes. They stood inches apart. Their gazes were laser locked.

  The light tug of his hands locking around on her body sent her hands up to meet at the nape of his neck. She fondled his warm skin, as she memorized the feel of his body against hers.

  A quiver started in her stomach, and shot through her body, with a deep and dizzying intensity that kept her glued to him. She feared these unchartered feelings, yet she couldn’t let go. These mind numbing emotions were something that only Kevin made her experience; and as good as it was, it was equally as terrifying.

  Kevin didn’t have the willpower to say a quick good-bye and let Yala go. His legs refused to work, as he fought to step away from the intoxication she filled him with. He was too tempted. His lips hovered above her ear.

  “Can I ask you something?”

  Yala heard his words, but her mind took a bit longer than usual to process a response. She managed to speak, despite the intense haze of enchantment that surrounded her.

  “Yes,” her voice was no longer hers. It was a sound created for him.

  He held her in place with a serious stare as he twirled her lock of hair that never stayed in place.

  “What’s your real name?”

  She couldn’t form a single word while he ran his hand up her spine, as the other danced along the side of her neck.

  No longer able to fight the urge, Kevin closed the small amount of distance that separated them, leaned in, and teased her mouth with a succulent kiss.

  Yala was frozen, paralyzed to the sensations his kiss evoked. Her feet would not lift on her command. Her hands would not drop away from him.

  Unable to stop, instant addiction claimed Kevin, as his lips caressed hers once more. He took a moment to relish the flavor and lushness of her mouth, but his intent to break away was short-lived. A sound between a sigh and a moan escaped her. Her sensual response drew him in deeper, as the kiss intensified.

  When she parted her mouth and returned his kiss with a twinge of lust, every part of him poured into her.

  Yala forgot all else in her life, and only this kiss mattered. He wanted to know her real name. It seemed like hours had passed since he’d asked the question. If she revealed to him her full name, she was sure he would find a way to locate her secret hiding place, a world outside of Top.

  She raised her head, inched up on her toes to reach his ear and whispered, “Yancy Langston.”

  Realizing what she'd revealed, Yala closed her eyes and prayed she'd done the right thing.

  Kevin had forgotten he’d even asked her a question. The kiss had exposed all he’d been fighting to hide. Now that he knew her full name, he was certain that something special was between them. He whispered her name repeatedly and gazed into her eyes, with a huge grin on his face.

  “Yancy Langston. So, Yala was another of your clever disguises.”

  Now, he understood her agent nickname, Yala—a combination of her first and last names. In a way, she’d been using her real name the entire time. He swept his lips across her cheek, across the corner of her mouth, and finally kissed her until she broke the kiss and backed away, panting.

  His next words and actions were a shock, even to him. He slid his hand along the contours of her stomach, and inched higher, until he reached her chest. He enjoyed her reaction. His hand rested against her heaving chest, as his lips grazed her ear.

  “This is mine. I’m taking this with me, because no one else can have it.”

  Having been hypnotized, Yala’s mind finally processed what his words meant.

  Is he saying that he's taking my heart!

  She staggered back, until the counter smacked her on the butt.

  She placed her hand where he’d had his. Never having encountered anything like this before, it seemed he’d actually taken her heart; snatched it from its sturdy seat inside her chest. His action suffocated her, and she was left gasping for air.

  Kevin considered apologizing for his behavior, but he wasn’t sorry for kissing her or for speaking such possessive words. She’d taken his heart the night he met her, and it was only fair he had hers, in order to live.

  Yala stood against the counter with her hand over her chest.

  Was he a witch doctor?

  The small smile that danced across Yala’s face filled Kevin with hope. The fact that she’d given him her full name meant more than she knew.

  “Good-bye, Kevin,” she voiced, in a carefree way that only she could.

  He smiled before licking his lips.

  “I promise, this is not good-bye.”

  As he walked away from her, Kevin found it one of the hardest things he’d had to do. The idea of finding her in the future strengthened his resolve and gave him the courage he needed to keep walking.

  Yala stood against the counter with her eyes closed. Kevin’s waning footsteps were all that remained of him. When the sound disappeared, she opened her eyes, spun and gripped the countertop for support. Her body heaved and fought to get oxygen into her lungs. A nervous breakdown was imminent.

  Kevin had sprung something on her that she didn’t understand. He’d made her, of all people, feel, everything; and she wanted him, every part of him, with a fiery need. He’d revealed to her that he was taking her heart.

  It certainly felt like he’d left her chest hollow. She was left with only one question.

  What am I going to do now?

  Chapter 17

  Murfreesboro, TN

  Kevin had made a vow. He would find Yala if it was the last thing he did. Confident that he’d eventually find her, he spent every minute of his spare time tracking her. His feelings for her ran much deeper than physical. The months had gone by fast with thoughts of Yala to keep him company.

  How had he let himself fall so far, so fast? He’d handed the woman his heart and feared he’d never be whole again until he found her.

  The task of helping to track down a sniper that nearly killed the Governor of Texas had been a tedious and exhausting process. They had caught and killed their man, but taking a break was out of the question. Kevin headed to California where he continued to tra
ck the cartel responsible for the snipers. While in the area, he also helped his cousin find answers to the puzzle that had become his life.

  It took him three months between assignments to pick up the trail he’d most wanted to be on. Yala’s name wasn’t as common as most, so research and his amped up abilities were the main factors that assisted in blowing him in the right direction.

  He’d tracked Yala to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, a small but well-developed city. It took some serious hacking to tie her name to the city. She’d carved out a good cover, living a normal life without the lucid nightmares being a Top agent typically produced.

  What could be better than small-town living for a person who doubled as a spy and a mercenary?

  Without her full name, Kevin was certain he wouldn’t have found her. She’d literally transformed into a needle in a nationwide haystack. Once he’d narrowed his search down to at least a city, he snooped into Murfreesboro’s public records. Finding her address was not as easy as he’d assumed. She’d obviously put a lot of thought into hiding, but Kevin was close. He could sense it.

  When the digital world wouldn’t give him the answers he sought, he turned to the friendly and easygoing spirit of the people. He stopped at Wal-Mart on Old Fort Parkway for supplies and found the general populace friendly and polite.

  He didn’t flash a photo like a detective, but he’d been polite in asking after Yala. As he drove his rental back to the Quality Inn on Church Street, he made a U-turn to pick up a quick bite to eat.

  The scent of freshly baked biscuits aided in his decision to dine at a place called Bojangles’ Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits. While in line waiting for his food, Kevin struck up a conversation with a friendly couple, Orie and Shirley. The sociable couple invited him to join them at their table. Kevin hit pay dirt while talking to the couple. To his surprise, Shirley’s son, Nick, had a girlfriend whose second cousin’s baby daddy had a gay uncle who worked as Yancy’s lawn man. Not only did Kevin end up having a good conversation with the couple, he'd also found a possible location for Yala.

  Shirley and Orie, retired truck drivers, were like living navigation systems as they described to Kevin the area they believed Yancy lived in. Kevin recognized a good lead when he heard one and decided to use the couple’s directions.

  ***

  The next day, Kevin traveled via the directions the couple provided. After veering off the relatively smooth and fast pace of Interstate 24, he drove over a series of small country roads that took him off the beaten path. Outside the town limits, he settled into a wooded expanse of hills and lush countryside. Its isolated appearance had him tempted to turn around.

  The sharp curves of the road in several places appeared to lead to a dead end until he was right at the ninety-degree turn.

  His gaze swept the beautifully green, thickly wooded mountainous area. It was July, and although it was hot, everything thrived, lush and green. Kevin rolled his windows down. He took deep breathes. The scent of cedar and wild flowers permeated the warm breeze.

  The longer he drove, the more beautiful the scenery became. Every once in a while, the landscape would produce a picturesque home, a farm, or a cottage that resembled a snapshot from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.

  Kevin drove his rental over the curvy desolate road that eventually led to what he assumed might be Yala’s home.

  Was it her he’d spotted on a lawn mower in the backyard of a beautiful two-story, cottage–style house? He eased his foot off the gas and prayed he’d found her.

  The house in question was situated in an area where people could be seen approaching in the distance on horseback.

  ***

  Yala rejoiced in the fact that she was finally home. New York had turned into an exhausting pursuit of a terrorist. She’d used her frustration over the early departure from the Body Box case to assist the counter terrorism unit in tracking and killing one of the three terrorist who’d targeted national leaders.

  The Truleta Cartel, the same cartel Kevin had been tracking, had been behind the horrible shootings. They had been wreaking havoc on the nation for more than a decade according to Top, and putting an end to them seemed an impossible feat.

  Unable to release the truth to the nation, Top concocted a cover story to explain the deaths of two national leaders. The three shooters had all been killed. Top didn't want the snipers taken alive, and Yala as well as other Top agents were ordered to identify and kill the snipers on sight.

  Why had the cartel targeted national leaders? What was their endgame? Those were the questions Top had assigned agents to find answers to. Yala relished the fact that she wasn’t one of those agents.

  She’d used her sniper skills to kill one of the terrorist after the team she worked with had tracked him down. Surprisingly, Top allowed her a short reprieve before her next assignment, an extraction job in New Orleans.

  Top also agreed to reassign her to the Body Box case afterward. As intimidating as Yala found the Body Box case, she looked forward to getting back to it and hoped it led to a reunion with Kevin. She periodically checked in with Dr. Hughes who'd never stopped searching for a scientific explanation.

  Kevin crept into her mind. It had been months since she had laid eyes on that devilishly handsome man. Thankfully, work kept her busy enough to lessen the amount of time she spent thinking about him.

  Why was she so drawn to him?

  She’d been asking herself that question since she’d met him. The fact that they harbored secret abilities were a part of it, but there was something else between them that she didn’t yet understand.

  A silly smile never left her face as she plucked weeds while kneeling over a flower bed. She’d enjoyed the last four days of peace and solitude in her own home. She berated herself for missing Kevin so badly and sometimes wished he’d never given her a taste of what it was like to kiss him. However, she clung to the hope that he’d someday find her.

  After a long evening of gardening and yard work, she looked forward to a hot bubble bath.

  ***

  Fresh and relaxed, she headed towards the comfort of her living room couch with dinner; a bag of Twizzlers. She wasn’t sleepy, so she picked up a book she’d read three times already, Topaz, by one her favorite authors, Beverly Jenkins. She was reading the description of the sexy sounding Dixon Wildhorse when a weird vibe struck her senses. Realizing she was home and could relax, she shook off the vibe.

  Dozing with A Twizzler between her lips, her head dropped forward and her neck snapped it back up. When the chime of her doorbell called her attention, she threw her leg over the edge of the couch.

  Her heartrate a few notches. Who could have landed on her doorstep at ten at night?

  Although she was confident about her secret locale, she didn’t take any chances. She jammed the nine millimeter she kept under her couch cushion into the back of her pajama pants and crept towards the door. A tall dark shadow silhouetted the glass portion of the door. She’d had the original glass replaced with bulletproof glass and most of the rest of her house reinforced with other protective measures—in case her work world came knocking at her door.

  Yala rested the back of her hand against her back as she gripped her pistol. She sprang the door open and lost her breath at the sight of him. She stood frozen as she stared at Kevin, her voice caught somewhere between her throat and her mouth.

  Although she pulled out her weapon to click the safety on, she never dropped her gaze away from his.

  He smiled and seemed content just standing there taking her in. He handed her a single red rose.

  Her gaze remained glued to his face after she took his gift. A hurried glance was all she offered the flower because her gaze returned to him, only half believing he was truly standing there.

  “Thank you. Come in,” she voiced, softly.

  She stepped aside so he could enter and instinctively peeked outside to scan her surroundings.

  An odd silence gripped them until she noticed they stood in the
dark. She quickly turned the second deadbolt before she took a few known steps towards her lamp.

  “I’m sorry. You can have a seat, if you’d like.”

  She raised the rose in her hand.

  “Thank you. This is beautiful. I need to find something to put it in.”

  She glanced over her shoulder as she headed towards the kitchen.

  “Would you like something to drink?” she called back.

  Her words were scattered because her nerves were in chaos. A few deep breaths did nothing to calm her.

  She wasn’t this girl—dainty, feminine, shy, and unsure. The fact that Kevin was the first man she’d invited into her home had nothing to do with her amp up nerves. Who was she kidding, it had everything to do with her nerves?

  Rummaging through her kitchen, she noticed she didn’t have a vase, since flowers weren’t something she usually received.

  Kevin followed her into her kitchen. His presence tightened the space in her kitchen as his footsteps grew closer.

  She placed the flower in a pitcher that she’d half filled with water and turned towards him.

  “As you can see, flowers aren’t something I get, often. I don’t even own a vase.”

  His tongue slid across his bottom lip, an alarming action that drew her gaze to his mouth.

  “I guess that means I’ll have to start giving you more.”

  He hadn't taken his eyes off her since he’d entered the kitchen.

  He'd stepped so close, all it took was for him to reach out to grasp her hands. He kissed the back of each and drew her closer after he transferred his hands to her waist.

  “Come here.”

  His words were barely audible.

  Enjoying their close encounter way more than she expected, her fingers snaked up his arms. She took a shallow breath to calm her racing heart. Every emotion she’d shared with him emerged and danced on the surface of her being; millions of stimulating reminders of their strong connection.