Smoke & Fire - Adult Paranormal Romance Series, Book #1

by Michele Wesley

  It took her a minute to get the quarters she had pickpocketed into the pay phone. Her numb fingers fumbled around with the buttons until she dialed her brothers.

  She told her brothers about what she discovered so that they could assemble and send agents and law enforcement officers to her location. They had a chance to catch the elusive Padre by setting up a dragnet to try to catch him when he came looking for her. While she gave her brothers the information, she dropped the pay phone twice because her hands were shaking so badly.

  The swish of the force pushed her into the wall of the phone booth, and the boom blew whistling sounds at her eardrums, like being inside a wind tunnel. The ship she had just escaped was a giant cloud of smoke and fire.

  In less than fifteen minutes, her brothers had every law enforcement agent they could contact searching the area for Padre, but to no avail. The man was as elusive as hair on a bald guy. As sure as she still breathed, she believed that Padre had somehow found out that she’d escaped and had blown up the ship.

  Elusive bastard!

  * * *

  Five days in her brothers’ secret medical facility had her feeling like her old self again. Surprisingly, nothing had been broken, just a bruised wrist, dehydration, mild hyperthermia, and a lot of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Her brothers, Laci, and Mrs. Ruth had taken turns at her bedside. Both brothers felt the need to tell her that Mycale was on assignment and it was the only reason she hadn’t seen him yet. She pretended the news wasn’t a big deal but had been happy to hear it.

  Hugs, kisses, and embraces came at her from every direction. She didn’t even complain when they waited on her hand and foot and treated her like she was disabled. She understood that she meant something to them, and the fact that they had been told she was dead had undoubtedly stirred some emotions.

  When she was reported missing from the garage, a number of agents assumed she was dead after the first forty-eight hours of searching hadn’t turned up a trace of her. After a week had gone by, they were ready to stamp deceased over her invisible file. The thought made her wonder about Mycale. Had her supposed death affected him as it had her family? Her brothers looked like they hadn’t slept the entire time she had been gone. To her, the entire incident felt like it had been no more than four days, but her brothers told her from the time she had gone missing to the time she called it had been ten days.

  She had no doubt her brothers had turned over every rock looking for her, but no one would have ever guessed she was being held captive aboard a container ship somewhere along the Potomac.

  She relayed her story to her brothers several times. Although she had come close to death, her brothers teased about the number of bodies she had left behind. They joked, that if Padre had taken her, he would have given her right back.

  CHAPTER 26

  Enough is Enough

  Mycale was finally home and for the first time glad his assignment was over. He knew he had broken protocol each time he called the brothers asking after Sori, but he didn’t care. He felt helpless. Sori was missing, and he was working, unable to get out of an assignment he had trained for.

  It had taken a lot of convincing on the brothers’ part to keep him calm enough not to abandon his assignment. The only thing that kept him from blowing protocol completely was the brothers’ promise that they were going to find her.

  Mycale’s actions reinforced what the brothers knew all along, that he cared deeply for their sister and was willing to do just about anything, including breaking a cardinal rule as an agent to help locate her.

  When Mycale entered the house, the brothers met him at the front door. Drake gave him a look he couldn’t read and said, “She is fine. She is in her room, resting.”

  Mycale let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Seeing the brothers’ lively faces and hearing that Sori was okay instantly relieved his tensions.

  Damon teased, “Damn man. When was the last time you shaved? You look like shit.”

  “Mrs. Ruth has a hot meal waiting for you. Why don’t you go get something to eat,” Drake added.

  Not arguing, Mycale inclined his head and went into the kitchen. His posture was slumped and his clothes were a bit disheveled, completely out of character for him.

  Damon looked at Drake. “Told you he’s in love with her. He looks like he’s been dragged through hell.”

  * * *

  Mycale didn’t care if she was asleep; he had to see her as badly as he had to take his next breath. He had taken a quick shower, shaved, and gotten himself together as best as he could.

  He lightly tapped on her door. Hearing the sound of her voice sent tingles up his spine. Walking slowly, his eyes zooming in on her like camera lenses.

  She was just as beautiful, if not more, than he remembered. Heart pounding in anticipation of being near her, he crept forward slowly. Only his ironclad will kept him from rushing and scooping her up into his arms. She sat atop her desk as her feet dangled from it.

  The glow of her smile lit up the room and instantly filled him with a relaxing warmth. Not saying a word, he slowly reached out a hand in a gesture that begged her to oblige him with a hug. Not hugging her immediately, his hands rested on her shoulders. “Let me look at you for a minute.”

  The intensity in the way he looked at her caused Sori to lose some of her composure. Unable to keep a smile from her face, she asked, “Should I spin for you also?”

  Inclining his head, he prompted her to spin slowly. Sliding delicately along her warmth, his didn’t allow his hands to leave her body as they traced lightly along her arms and back.

  When she faced him again, his eyes locked with hers, cementing him in place for a few seconds. Delicately tracing the contours of her shoulders and back, he pulled her closer until her body melted into his.

  Sliding her hands slowly up his arms, she needed to touch him so badly she dueled her mind to keep a semblance of control.

  Sori couldn’t believe her behavior when it came to him. He was the first and only man that she allowed to control even a small portion of her.

  He wrapped her in his arms so firmly she took in one big breath as every emotion she ever felt for him floated to the surface, instantly clouding her mind and overriding her off switch. He had so quickly flooded her mind and heart with emotions she couldn’t think beyond how he made her feel. Yes, her heart, he had finally found a way to get into her heart.

  They embraced each other like a real couple who missed the hell out of each other. He whispered, “God, I missed you. I missed you so much. I knew you weren’t gone. I knew it.” He kept squeezing her and telling her how much he missed her, and all she could do in return was accept all the love and care he poured into her body.

  Feeling the depth of his love scared the shit out of her, but it also brought her a joy that filled in the missing parts of her soul. Nestling her face in his neck, she held on, finally accepting that her life meant something to him and that he meant something to her.

  Mycale couldn’t hide his feelings as well as she could, and in this moment, he didn’t even try. The emotions flooding his body felt so good, he was shaking, feeling like he needed to laugh and cry at the same time. There was no way she didn’t know how much he loved her. No one had ever made him feel so special and so completely helpless. He wanted to be hers in every way she needed and wanted him

  “I missed you too,” She said, surprised with herself that she meant it.

  The sound of her voice closed his eyes as the echo of her words slid into his heart. He was so completely overwhelmed, lightheadedness took his mind for a second. He didn’t know how, but he managed to let her go. Enough is enough. Let the woman breathe.

  He berated his erratic behavior because he was acting like a lovesick teen. Taking a step back, he took her in again, starting at the top of her head until his view swept her feet. Her hair had grown out a bit more; jagged s
trands were straining to touch her shoulders now. He couldn’t decide if he liked the pixie cut she had when he’d first met her or this edgy bob she now wore. One made her look like a superhero, and the other made her look like a dangerous goddess. She had dropped a few pounds and bruises were visible showpieces on various parts of her body but it didn’t take away from the creamy copper glow of her skin, the lush bend of her lips, or the sharp turns of her curves. His eyes went back up to hers and they smiled at each other, both flooded with emotions so strong they couldn’t speak.

  Sori’s eyes took a slow stroll over Mycale and he was as fine as ever. He had lost a little weight but all six feet four inches of his tall chiseled sexiness whispered secrets to her body and played games with her mind. He had the kind of swagger that could make panties drop with the snap of his fingers, and the thing that made him sexier was that he didn’t seem to realize it. Her tongue quickly darted over her bottom lip because just looking at him had her body turning against her mind.

  Returning to her seat atop the desktop, she searched for a way to calm the pulsing that started between her legs and was quickly spreading throughout her body like brushfire. She had an itch for him like you wouldn’t believe. After the cabin and car garage scenes, just looking at him was all it took to get her juices flowing. She couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing.

  Concealing a smile, Mycale liked what he had seen in Sori’s eyes; for once, she let her desire for him show, and it looked good on her.

  He sat in the chair right next to her exposed legs. Directing his eyes up to her face, he didn’t want her to see how quickly she’d flooded his system with lust and desire. Certain she would kill him if he tried to be forward with her again, he had to take things in a different direction.

  He asked, “Can you tell me the story of your kidnapping, if you don’t mind? Your brothers told me, but it didn’t make sense.”

  She told him the entire story, from her capture from the garage to the time she’d called her brothers. She was happy for the conversation because it defused some of the pent-up emotions she couldn’t seem to suppress.

  His face reflected his curiosity. He said, “You were gone for nearly two weeks. It seems like you’re missing a lot of days from the time you were Tasered to the time you faced the captain. How long were you in that container? It’s quite possible you could have been in there for a week. If so, how did you survive?”

  Head tilted slight to the side, she said, “You know, you’re the only one that placed me in the container for a week. Others assumed the crewmen put me back in the room after the Taser incident and eventually locked me in the container.”

  Sori had the sick feeling that she had been stuffed in that drum and lock in that container for at least six days, but how she had survived was a mystery, one she had no clue how to explain.

  She simply answered, “I don’t know.”

  Putting his hands over his head in thought, Mycale sat back in the chair.

  He asked, “You remember the conversation we had on the cruise about being each other’s outlets?” She inclined her head noticing his worried expression. He said, “Sori, don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes, it seems like we have something extra.”

  She knew where this conversation was going, but she played dumb. “Something extra? Please, enlighten me.”

  He started, “It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s like a certain event, or maybe even when we were born, we inherited, gained, or were born with something more. Something more than what normal people have. There is something else happening inside me, and sometimes I really don’t know if it is good or bad. I don’t know if it’s restricted to my mind and metaphysics.”

  Taking a deep breath, he continued, “When they said you were dead, I knew you weren’t. I felt it, although I had no idea where you were. And it isn’t just me, your brothers too. Although they were stressed and worried, they seemed to have known without any doubt that you were still alive. And sometimes, I swear they know what the other is thinking. It also seem we can all sense danger, death, and things that other people can’t see. When we killed those assassins at the Gonzales estate a while back, I did some things that should have been physically impossible.”

  Staring reluctantly, he hoped she didn’t think he’d lost his marbles.

  Sori had been stubbornly avoiding this conversation because only recently had she realized she had been hiding some truths about herself and didn’t quite know how to share them with anyone else.

  Leaning closer to him, she asked, “Okay, let’s say we somehow have a little extra juice. Why? For what purpose? What makes us any better than anyone else?”

  He answered as best he could, “I don’t know, but since I have been around you and your brothers, I have seen you all do things that defy logic and reason, and it’s made me not feel so odd about myself.”

  He was touching her and hadn’t even realized it. She hadn’t said anything, but the quick glance at his hand on her leg let him know that she’d noticed.

  He needed to touch her to take the edge off of his now looming tension. “I hope you don’t think I am crazy or reading too much into things.”

  Presenting a sarcastic look, she said, “Now, why would I think that? My brothers can read each other’s minds. Hell, we can read each other’s minds sometimes. You see or feel things that no one else can, and I’ve even seen and felt your superhuman strength. And that rage you’re constantly suppressing, I feel it every time you touch me. If you think our mental world is spilling over into the physical, who am I to say otherwise?”

  Having no idea if she was serious or playing around, hearing her spell it out so clearly, had him back peddling. Maybe it is all mental. Although he’d initiated the conversation, he felt uneasy all of a sudden. He wasn’t sure he was ready to dig deeper into the hard-to-explain before he found a way to resolve the complexities of his feelings for her.

  Dropping his head for a few seconds, he looked up with renewed resolve. He asked, “So how long is your break this time?”

  She was glad he’d changed the subject. As much as she knew she needed to talk to someone about what was happening inside her, she wasn’t ready to face the truth.

  She said, “I have nothing on my plate except eating Mrs. Ruth’s good cooking and putting back on a few pounds.”

  Pulling his chair closer, he laid his head on the desk next to her thigh, just far enough away that he could still look at her face. He willed himself not to touch her again, although his hand slowly slid her way.

  The pain of being this close to her and not being able to touch her was agonizing. After the garage, he didn’t know if it was a good idea to keep trying to spark a fire she had clearly told him she didn’t want lit. He sat back in his chair quickly. “I won’t keep you up. I know you’ve been through a lot. I am going to hit the sack.”

  He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to finally admit to himself that his weakness for her was more than he could handle.

  Unable to take the sweet torture of her insatiable closeness, he stood. Giving her a parting smile, he said, “I am glad you’re okay.” He stepped away, paused for a moment, and continued without looking back.

  Sori didn’t want him to go, but she wasn’t good at expressing real emotion, so she just sat there and let him walk away.

  She had been sleeping nonstop for the past week, and after seeing and touching him, sleep was the last thing she wanted. After a long shower and a lot of thinking, Sori had reached a conclusion.

  Fuck it!

  CHAPTER 27

  Smoke and Fire

  Laying restless and unable to fall asleep, Mycale was convinced the only thing that could ease his suffering sat across the hall, probably asleep by now. He felt like he was drowning in quicksand. He punched his pillow a number of times, like the act would help his problem. It was agonizing to know she was so close and at the same time so far
away. She had his mind so charged, as therapy, he had Nickelback’s “Far Away” playing on low repeat in the background.

  Sori didn’t knock; she walked into Mycale’s room on a mission to satisfy “the itch” she had for him so that she could move past this attraction she couldn’t seem to shake. She’d thought it out logically and figured, if she could have sex with a marked target while the whole entire agency listened, surely she could have casual sex with someone she was extremely attracted to.

  The way she saw it, once they finally do it and get it all out of their systems, they would be able to go back to being normal—in their cases, whatever they deemed normal.

  When he saw her enter his room, his heart stopped; everything in his body froze except his eyes as they followed her movement. He had been thinking about going back to her room but had talked himself out of it completely after the third time of getting up and lying back down. Tempting fate twice before by being spontaneous with her, he was afraid to know what would happen if he tried it again.

  Climbing into his bed with nothing more than a tank and booty shorts, Sori figured she didn’t need words. Her eyes never diverted from his as she projected her intent. He expected she hadn’t come to talk, but the look in her eyes was so hypnotizing Mycale remained riveted and in place.

  Kneeling next to him now, her face hovered close his, so close he could taste her scent, as her heat radiated into him. She slid her hand under his T-shirt, lightly massaging his abs. When she slid her hand lower, just above the waistband of his shorts, the act instantly closed his eyes as his body shivered with pleasure from just her touch.