by Violet Paige
His eyes raked over me.
“I want to tell you everything.”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “Not now.” He needed a break. He was stressed. He was exhausted. He was recovering from surgery. “The only thing you need is to feel good. I want that.”
This was the give and take part of a relationship. The part where I had to step up and be what he needed. I was reminded of that when I stood in our closet and saw our lives blended together. Love was about ebb and flow. Crashing with the waves, and holding on during the rip currents. We wouldn’t drown as long as we were together.
“Syd,” he rasped, running his fingers through my hair with the one hand that was mobile. There was something desperate in his eyes. Something painful. I wanted to erase that with an epic orgasm he’d never forget.
But I was wrong if I thought he was going to lie there and let me serve him sexual pleasure. That had never been his style.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
Even with only one arm he managed to flip me on my back. “You said you wanted me to feel good,” he growled.
“Yes, but.” My eyes rolled back when he nudged my knees apart with kisses along my thighs.
“I want you,” he explained. “I want you screaming my name, tonight.”
I nodded. “Yes. God, yes.” My hips dipped toward him as his hungry mouth claimed my center. His tongue thrust inside me and I bucked off the bed.
My moans started low while he pumped in and out, alternating between his tongue and fingers. He guided me to my climax. He knew me. He knew my body. He knew how to make me come harder than I ever had in my life.
“Ohh, AJ,” I whimpered when I didn’t think I could take any more.
He lapped and sucked until the quivering consumed me. I looked down at his head between my legs. His dark eyes locked on mine and I came. Hard. Fast. Explosive.
He kissed the softness of my thigh, chafing my skin with his scruff.
“Ow,” I purred. It was a blissful pain.
He stepped one foot on the floor and then the other. “Unbutton the rest,” he ordered.
I fumbled with the snaps until the costume lay on either side of my breasts. AJ tugged my ass to the edge of the bed.
He stepped out of his boxer briefs and I licked my lips at the sight of his cock. So wide and solid. I ached for it.
He didn’t have to say anything for me to know he ached for me too. My legs opened, clasping my heels against his lower back and he pushed inside me.
We both groaned with pleasure. His thrusts were skillful. He had all the leverage he needed, standing on two feet. It was as if there was a symphony being played between us. The crescendo building and climbing with each breath. With each pump. With each beat of our hearts.
It grew louder, followed by a softer rhythm. The speed followed by lulls. I cried for my release, but he denied me. I clawed at the bed. I dug my heels into his back, but AJ was in control. I had given him that.
I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to wrap myself around him. I wanted more of his body. How we would accomplish all that without hurting his arm was the problem we were trying to work around.
“The chair,” I moaned. “I need more of you.”
AJ’s head swiveled. “You just want to be on top,” he teased.
“Please.” My plea was raspy.
He took a step backward, offering his hand to me. He sat on the chair. I let the rest of the costume slide off my shoulder and fall on the floor. I immediately straddled him, sucking his shaft deep inside me.
“Oh God,” I cried, my head fell backward. AJ’s tongue ran along my throat.
He held me close. Our lips met. We kissed as if we could never be satisfied. He bit the corners of my mouth. Our tongues braided together while I rode up and down.
“I can’t undo what’s been done,” he whispered in my ear.
The friction between us was like wildfire. “I don’t want you to.”
“I do love you.”
I smiled. “I love you too.”
My hips rocked forward until I cried out.
His teeth sank into my shoulder as I screamed, “AJ!”
We shook together. Our climaxes claiming us. Wracking our bodies with pulses so strong and intense I thought we’d collapse on the floor.
I wiped the sweat from his brow. His hair was damp around his ears and his neck.
“I don’t think this was Dr. Wexler approved,” I joked.
He curled a strand of my hair through his fingers, watching it fall from his hand. I wished I could read his thoughts. He seemed like he was a million miles away. I didn’t know how that was possible after what we experienced.
“No, I doubt Dr. Wexler would approve of any of this.”
Chapter Twelve
I slept restlessly. I thought maybe some of that night five years ago had crept into my dreams. I thought about it often. I opened my eyes. AJ was sitting on the floor. His eyes fixed on the door. His gun resting in his lap. I rubbed my face.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Six,” he answered.
“When did I fall asleep?” I felt a little dizzy.
“Do you want a time or a sex count?”
I pinched my lips together. “If I had a pillow, I’d throw it at you.”
He chuckled. “Probably around 3.”
I pulled the top blanket off my naked body. The candles had burned down to wax puddles.
“I, umm…need to use…”
AJ nodded toward the hallway. “There’s a new candle. You have light in the bathroom.”
“Thanks.” I reached for a T-shirt and my underwear before walking out of the bedroom.
The rain had stopped. I could hear the wind rattling the loose shutters, but the worst of the storm had definitely passed. The trees hadn’t fallen on the roof. We had survived the night.
After a few minutes, I returned to the bedroom. “How did you stay awake all night?” I prodded. I had expected him to wrap his body around mine.
He shrugged. “Trained to stay awake I guess.”
“Really?”
“You’re not going to like the real answer.”
I folded my arms. “We’re truth talkers now. Right?”
His jaw clenched when he ran his palm against it. “My ribs hurt like hell on that floor. I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted.
“AJ!”
“Stop,” he warned. “It’s normal. Doc said it’s going to be a few months before my ribs are healed. It’s nothing to freak out about.”
I was angry he hadn’t been more honest about his pain level. “Do you have anything you can take?”
“I’m not taking anything.”
“Why are you so stubborn?” I stormed around the bedroom we had claimed, picking up our wet clothes from last night and throwing mine in my suitcase.
“We have to get out of here today, Syd. I can’t be laid up on pain killers.”
It was the way he said it that made me stop. The hair stood up on my arm. “You don’t think it’s safe anymore? What happened? Did you find something else when I was asleep? Did I miss something?” I hadn’t meant to doze off, it sort of happened when we were talking. My eyes grew too heavy to keep open any longer.
He shook his head. “Nothing happened. But we can’t hang out here. There’s no telling what this sick fucker has planned. He went through great lengths to get you here. I’m not going to let him keep you.”
My tone softened. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“It’s all right. I know you’re scared.” He started tossing things out of his bag. “I want you to put everything you can in my bag and we’re going to hike out.”
My eyes widened. “But the snakes? You said there were snakes. Gators? What the hell else is in that lake?”
“I’ll shoot anything that comes near you. I just hope the water didn’t wash out the road.”
It didn’t make me feel any better.
Then I remembered the tractor sitting in the
barn. It wasn’t a fancy sports car, but I’d ride it out of here if it meant I didn’t have to worry about a water moccasin.
“AJ, there’s a tractor in the barn,” I reported.
“What?”
I pulled my hair on top of my head in a messy bun. My bangs fell to the side. “I saw it yesterday when I was poking around. I know it’s a long shot. But we could at least take it to the main road. I don’t want to step on a snake. Can we at least see if it works?”
He blew out a long breath. “All right. But I want to get out of here. The storm has passed. It’s not raining. I don’t know if there are any more surprises planned and I’d rather not find out. I don’t like sitting here when someone else has a plan.”
“And you’re sure we can’t go back to our cars? Shouldn’t we try them? What if it was the rain that made them not start?”
He shook his head. “I’m not an explosives expert, but there are too many devices that aren’t triggered until the second start-up. If someone planted those under the hood of either of our cars we won’t be going anywhere other than blown into the sky.”
“And you can’t just take a peek?”
He eyed me. “Syd, there’s a chance the hood is lined with powder. I’m not touching it without the gear. We’ll send a team to inspect your car. We’ll get it back to D.C. safely after the explosives team has a chance to evaluate the property.”
It was stupid to be worried about my new Porsche when we were caught in an explosion scenario, but I hadn’t had it long. I was already attached to it.
“All right. Then it’s the tractor.” I nodded. “Oh, and bikes.” I smiled. “I think I saw bikes, but the tires might be flat.”
“We’ll head to the barn and see what’s there.”
I looked at my suitcase and all the things I had to leave behind. But if we had miles to hike, I couldn’t drag fifty pounds of accessories behind me. It was all replaceable. All of it except my recordings.
“Wait.” I stopped AJ. “I need to save room for my recorder. I haven’t backed up any of the interviews yet. Please tell me I can open the backseat door and go through that bag. I don’t care about my laptop, but I need that recorder.”
He nodded. “That we can do. And I’m grabbing your computer.”
I smiled. I could buy new microphones and headsets. All the components I needed to record the podcast on the road were an easy one-click away, but the recordings weren’t something I could purchase. Now more than ever I realized I had to go back and listen to them again. I needed AJ to hear them. He needed to listen to what Ethan Howard had told me.
“I know why you want me to keep the laptop.” I looked at him.
He shrugged, holding up his gun. “I have my weapons, and I want to make sure you have yours.”
“But—” My protests fell on deaf ears. There was no way to convince AJ I wasn’t going to join Project Compass. His mind was set, and there was one thing I always knew about him.
He was stubborn as hell.
Chapter Thirteen
AJ slipped the straps over his arms and hauled the bag on his back like a hiking pack. His eyes had a new look. They were no longer warm or sexy. He was in work mode. He scanned the backyard, keeping me at an arm’s distance before he opened the door to the porch. The last time I saw him like this he was trying to save me from the kidnappers.
“Stay right behind me the entire time,” he instructed. “I don’t know if there is anything or anyone in the barn.”
“I walked in there yesterday maybe five minutes before you got here. It was full of junk. The tractor. Some tools. I wanted to find a name or maybe some old boxes in storage, but it was a dead end.”
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday. I have to secure it before you walk inside. You stand outside the door and wait for me to clear it. Do you understand?”
I sighed. “Yes, sir.”
He clicked his gun and a quick shiver of fear ran through my stomach.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
He waved me behind him and we took off through the yard. He stopped at the gate, looking to the left and the right. I automatically did the same thing, occasionally looking over my shoulder at the house. I didn’t realize how safe I had felt inside until I was out from under its shelter.
The ground was soaked. Muddier than yesterday. We walked at a brisk pace until we arrived at the barn. The wind whipped up, but the sky was a bright blue. I was thankful there was no more rain. No more ominous thunder.
“Stay here.” AJ eyed me.
I nodded. “I will. I’ll wait.” I wasn’t going to move until he told me to.
None of this seemed likely. The map drawn on the wall. The clues sewn into the quilt. The empty house. The pictures of a woman who was supposedly my birth mother. It made my head spin rapidly. Once again, AJ thought it was best if we were separated. Why did he keep doing this? Didn’t he know how scared I was?
He ducked inside the barn. I took deep breaths, willing myself to stay calm. Once we made it off this property we were going to talk about everything from the past twenty-four hours. We were going to dive into everything that happened on Flight 552. We would talk about Jack. I’d even open up about Project Compass, but I hadn’t changed my mind about getting involved with the FBI. I knew if we didn’t put all the cards on the table, these moments would keep happening. The moments when AJ was out of reach and I was at the mercy of hope. We couldn’t keep doing this to each other. I’d stop running, if he promised to stop moving on without me.
Maybe it was the memory of the dream from last night. Recounting that night together. Or maybe it was that even after I betrayed him, he still showed up to keep me safe. Regardless, we were at another crossroads, and we had to be honest. I knew that in the deepest part of my bones. We had used up all our second chances.
“Clear!” he yelled from inside the barn.
I ventured inside. My eyes adjusted to the darkness after the bright sun.
“You just yelled clear like I’m another agent.”
“Sorry, force of habit.”
I shoved my hands in my front pockets. I saw the tractor and the tools on the workbench. It looked like I had found it yesterday.
“You need to see this, Syd. Prepare yourself,” he cautioned. “I don’t think it’s something I can keep from you.”
AJ stood in the corner. He stepped to the side as I walked closer.
“What is it?” I asked.
I gawked when I saw the sleeping bag on the floor. There was a pillow at one end. “Th-that wasn’t here yesterday.” I covered my mouth with my hands. “I know it wasn’t. I’m positive.”
“He must have doubled back when I chased him in the woods. He spent the night here last night out of the storm. There’s no sign of him now.” AJ kicked over an open can of soup.
“I’m going to be sick.”
AJ grabbed me as a stumbled backward. “I’ve got you.”
“He was here? The whole time?” I could barely put the thoughts together. AJ held my elbow, steadying me until the dizziness passed. “Was it Jack? Do you think it’s him? Is he the one doing this to me?”
AJ shook his head. “I don’t know, babe. But I need to get you out of here.”
I trembled. “Please. Let’s go.”
He pointed behind where the door had swung open. “I think I’ve found our ride out of here.”
I looked at him. “A dirt bike? I’m sure that wasn’t here yesterday either.” I saw the mound of fresh mud under the tires and knew it was what he had used to come and go from the property. The thunder and wind had masked the sound.
“All the gauges and parts are exposed. No explosives on this ride. What do you think? There’s half a tank of gas. I think we can at least make it into town where we get cell reception.”
I nodded. “All right. Let’s try it.”
AJ rolled the dirt bike out from behind the door and into the sun. We stopped by my car and tucked my recorder in his bag.
>
“You’re going to need to wear the pack.”
“Ok. It’s not that heavy.”
He fastened it around my shoulders and hopped on the bike.
I threw my leg over the seat and climbed behind AJ. I wrapped my arms around his chest. I was careful not to hold on too tightly, but as he cranked up the bike I felt like we were both holding on for our lives.
Chapter Fourteen
I stared at the cup of coffee in front of me. My hair was wrapped in a towel and I wore a white robe from the hotel.
AJ was on the phone with his boss, a woman named Heidi. He had mentioned her in the airport hangar after the kidnapping. I assumed she was senior level.
I listened while he talked. The shower had felt luxurious. Running water combined with steam was something I wouldn’t take for granted for a while.
He smiled and nodded at me before turning toward the windows. It was AJ’s idea to take an Uber to New Orleans once we reached a gas station. It was the opposite direction of where I thought we were headed, but there was an FBI field office in the city. He wanted immediate protection for me. He said we weren’t taking any more chances.
I understood the deeper message. I wasn’t the one making the decisions. He was in control as long as someone was after me.
There was an officer in the hall outside our suite and I knew of at least two plain clothes agents that were roaming the lobby and halls. The Ritz-Carlton seemed safe to me, but I had learned this week that nothing was as it seemed.
AJ tossed his phone on the dresser.
“That was my boss. She wants us to stay until we can have a full escort back to D.C.”
My eyes popped. “Stay in New Orleans? But why?”
He sat on the bed next to me. “Two units are headed to the farmhouse now. One forensic team is going to gather everything they can about the map and the evidence we found in the barn. And the other one is taking bomb tech to analyze our cars.”
“Oh.” I frowned. “And then what?”
“Agent Canson is running the Flight 552 hijacking. He wants to fly down tomorrow and debrief you immediately. He told Heidi you’re a flight risk.”