Elizabeth picked up the test and read the little screen. Her heart skipped a beat, and she carried it out to him with no emotion showing on her face.
“Well?” he asked, nervously.
She handed it to him and just watched his face, as he read the stick, and then looked up at her.
“We’re having a baby?”
Elizabeth nodded, about ready to weep with joy. All she wanted to see was the same joy on her husband’s face. Once she did, the dam would break, and she would be a blubbering mess.
“We’re having a baby.” This time it was a statement, not a question.
“Congratulations Ethan, you're going to be a dad.”
Ethan Blackhawk dropped the test and grabbed his wife, pulling her into his arms. This was the most amazing thing he’d ever heard; next to the day she told him she’d marry him. Suddenly all he wanted was to taste, feel, and be part of the woman before him. She was carrying his child. His wife was growing him a family for them to have forever.
Elizabeth put her arms around his neck and kissed him long, slow, and deep. When she broke away, she could feel the need coming off his body in waves. “We’re having a baby, Ethan.” Her hands went to his t-shirt and she pulled it over his head. All she wanted was to run her hands over his chest, and the tattoo she loved so much. Slowly, she laid little kisses across it, as her hands wandered elsewhere. “I find that I want to climb all over my husband right now.”
“Lyzee baby, I love you,” he said, freeing her hair from the ponytail and pulling her shirt off her body. “I can’t believe it!” He took her mouth with his and enjoyed the tangle of hot, wet kiss. His hands found her jeans and flicked the button open. Now he wanted his wife, naked and in their bed immediately. “Climb away,” he mumbled, kissing her hard and fast. “In fact, I love when you climb all over me.”
“I love you too, Ethan” she whispered into his mouth, as she worked on the button of his jeans. Pushing them down his body she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist.
Blackhawk carried her to their bed, climbing onto it and never disconnecting her from his body. She was his miracle, and he couldn’t wait to rejoice in the marvel they made together. “Need to celebrate,” he said, pulling her bra off and tossing it over his shoulder and returning to kissing her, face, neck and body.
“Get naked, Ethan,” she mumbled, as he continued to drive her crazy with his mouth.
He broke away obeying. “You too, Lyzee!” He pushed his boxers off and stared with such intense lust as his wife slid out of her panties. He couldn’t help but feel the deep desire to take her right then and there.
“Now, Ethan, I can’t wait!” she said, burying her hands deep in his hair and pulling him down to her body. As her mouth got busy, his body tightened in response.
“My God Lyzee,” he whispered, as she directed him into her body and wrapped her legs around him, locking him in and trapping him. “You're going to kill me one of these days,” he moaned and kept kissing and exploring her. Since he was unable to move in her it was making him crazy, despite the instinct demanding him to take. Elizabeth had a way of torturing him in the best way. Just the feel of her clenching down around him and teasing him was so overwhelmingly erotic. It was sweet, delicious torture by his wife. No other woman had this effect on him, only his Elizabeth.
Elizabeth whispered words in his ear, and he moaned again. His wife had a way with words and the mere thought of what she was suggesting was beyond anything he was prepared to hear.
The heat was building in her own body, as her sexy husband was so lost in her. She couldn’t help but remember the first time they got naked, and she saw all the tattoos. They made her wild with want and lust and now they still had the same effect. She just couldn’t get enough of her Indian warrior. She whispered more words and felt him throb deep in her body.
“Keep it up and I won’t make it very long, baby,” he said, trying to not visualize the things she whispered into his ear. Hearing them was wild enough, but picturing them just might cause him to explode in flames.
Elizabeth rolled until her husband was beneath her, looking up into her eyes. All she saw was the combination of love and need. “I want you, Ethan,” she whispered as she began moving slow and tortuously. “Every day I just find myself wanting you more, and I don’t know how it’s possible.”
“Baby,” he moaned, arching into her body to meet each glorious slide. It felt so damn good. All he hoped was he’d manage to keep a little bit of control. She continually tore his control apart until it lay in tatters around him. Something about this woman just did it for him, and now she was carrying his child. The possessiveness was raw and powerful in him, and he could feel it growing out of control. This was his woman, and he wasn’t going let anyone harm her or their little growing child.
Blackhawk felt her tighten around him, squeezing him and trying to lure him over the edge, and the minute he felt her break apart with her orgasm, he rolled until she was back underneath him. He rode it out, waiting until her eyes cleared, and he began moving hard and fast into her already sensitive body. Now, he would take what he owned. She was his wife and mother of his child. Something possessive took control. It held him in its grasp and refused to set him free until he claimed her. The need in him grew and threatened to spill over.
Elizabeth felt her orgasm explode and usually her husband followed her, but not tonight. Ethan was in a mood, and he was aggressive and wanted more. As her world tipped, and she landed on her back, she finally focused on her sexy husband over her. “Ethan,” she whispered, right before he claimed her mouth hard and rough, as if trying to leave a mark on her, visible to everyone that she was possessed. Something in her started to build again, as she thought about being owned by him and found it appealing. In fact, it called to her and her body, forcing the steady climb again, as he moved hard and deep into her, taking what was his.
“Scream for me!” he demanded, against her mouth, as he felt her break apart again. With one pull from her body he forced his way back into her hard and fast. He was fighting against the intense squeeze of muscles and her body’s resistance. Elizabeth gave him what he wanted, she screamed his name and then he fell into the rush with her.
Elizabeth couldn’t open her eyes yet. She still didn’t have her breath back, and she could hear her husband breathing just as heavy. “Wow,” she whispered against his chest, as he was lying over her body protectively. The weight of him was a comfortable reminder that she couldn’t get enough of him and never would. All she felt was safe beneath him.
Blackhawk laughed and rolled to his back, a sweaty mess and too drained to get up yet. He pulled her onto his chest, and she curled against him. “Yeah, wow would describe it, Lyzee.” He kissed her on the forehead.
She cuddled closer, running her fingers over the raven tattooed on his chest. She loved it beyond words, and it just drew her in and made him even more exotic. “This is the problem we always have,” she said, leaning up on one elbow.
“Us having incredible sex is a problem?” Blackhawk opened one eye, grinning smugly.
“We’re going to have to start eating and then having sex. I have another person to grow,” she said softly, leaning down and kissing his mouth. How she loved that mouth and the sexy tan skin.
“I promise next time there will be dinner first,” he muttered against her kiss, and felt his body waking up again. “If you’d stop kissing me like that,” he warned her, as she deepened the kiss, ignoring him. When she pulled away he didn’t continue. His mind had gone completely blank.
“Yes, Ethan? You were saying?”
He found his train of thought and tried again. “As I was saying,” he tried again to get it out, but her hands were tracing his chest and then abs and threatening to go lower.
“Want to take a shower, Mr. Blackhawk,” she whispered into his ear, along with some of the things she wanted to do in there and then bit him.
“Elizabeth,” he whispered, shocked at just the words.
“You kiss your husband with that mouth?” Ethan Blackhawk couldn’t help but feel his body coming full awake at just the mere suggestion. His wife was out of control, and he loved every second of it.
“I’m going to do much more than kiss you with it,” she answered, rolling off their bed and walking into the shower.
“Coming Cowboy?” Elizabeth looked back at him over her shoulder.
Blackhawk watched her walk away, the sway of her hips, the silky black hair. Yeah, he was definitely coming…
* * *
He had watched the brothers from the shadows of the trees as they worked the scene, and immediately he felt jealousy at being excluded. It had been his party. He created the circle and had called the spirits, inviting them there, and yet he wasn’t being celebrated with them.
It angered him as he watched the two unworthy of their lineage taking all the glory and making their grandfather proud. One day, the old man would look to him with pride and adoration. Once Timothy saw how well he had learned and practiced being a shaman, he would be elevated to the status he deserved.
After all, he was the bull now but would evolve into the bear and without him the fox and raven would have nothing to stand on. He would be the sturdiest of the three.
As he crept out of the shadows, he left the paper on the step leading into one brother’s home, giving him a clue. What fun would it be when he killed them if they didn’t understand why they had to die.
* * *
Callen Whitefox sat at his table looking over some information from the crime scene as he ate his dinner. Just viewing the pictures of the distorted medicine wheel made his skin crawl. It was something so perverse that it made him despise the little customs and traditions that he grew up respecting. Deep down, he knew this couldn’t have been one of their tribe. No one in the Indian Nation would allow this vileness to be representative of their people. Whoever did this, had to be an outsider. Maybe, he was just trying to convince himself, but it was all he had left on the hope front.
As he took a bite of his sandwich, he heard a creak outside on his porch. Immediately everything in him paused, so he could listen for the sound again. Everything was normal; the only thing filling the night air was the steady downfall of the rain, pattering against the windows and roof of his cabin. It must have been the wind or the weather. Back to his dinner, and to his crime scene photos, ignoring all else. He had to be missing something, but he just wasn’t quite sure what that something could be.
* * *
Nothing was more relaxing than lying in bed with her husband and running her hand across the tattoo on his chest. The steady motion of his hand making the same motion across her back was cathartic. The night had been a productive one. In the shower they again made crazy love, her pressed against the shower, and him wild and free.
After, they did something that they rarely had a chance to do, they decided to have dinner in bed on a rainy night, just spending time together alone. There was laughter and talk of baby names and all the hopes and dreams that they had for their future together. It was wonderful to be near him and this connected, knowing that they made a miracle of their own. Ethan finding her was the first miracle, surviving the serial killer in Salem was the next one. Just to be blessed with starting a family together, she felt so fortunate.
“Are you awake?” she spoke softly when his hand stopped moving.
“Yes, I’m just thinking, baby.”
Elizabeth already knew he would be. The tension in his chest as her head rested on it spoke volumes to his mood and state of mind.
“Want to talk about it?”
Blackhawk didn’t respond either way. In his mind all he kept thinking about was the fact the older man knew she was pregnant. What if he was right about her being in danger too? The merit that it gave his words made him feel off-balance.
“You’re freaked out again, I can tell,” she continued, “all because of what your grandfather said.”
He shouldn’t be surprised, since she always had a way of reading him accurately. “He was right about the pregnancy.” It said it all. He wasn’t sure whether to buy into his grandfather’s gift of ‘seeing’. He wasn’t a convert yet, but it gave him something to ponder.
Elizabeth rolled to her side and took his hand in hers. “I’m going to be fine.”
“I hope so,” he said finally. “Can we talk about anything else?” he was feeling edgy again, and it was ruining his mood, and tonight was about celebration of their pregnancy.
“I’d like to talk about your brother.” Elizabeth wanted to know what he did to betray him. It was time he let her in, giving Elizabeth a glimpse into his past. “I know it’s not going to lighten your mood, but it needs to be discussed.”
“I guess you have every right to know. He’s my brother, but you’re my wife. I don’t want to have any secrets between us anymore.”
“If you can’t talk about it I understand,” she offered, giving him a way out, like he did when she couldn’t talk about her last days in the FBI before she left for Salem. In her heart she hoped he’d want to tell her everything and share, but she understood sometimes you just weren’t ready.
He stared up at the ceiling, thinking back. It was so many years ago that it seemed like a lifetime ago. Two decades back and he was so young then, so incredibly naïve about everything in life. He was sure he knew it all and had been in charge of his life. There was no doubt in his mind that he was invincible, both his mortality and his heart were titanium and unbreakable. Boy had he been completely wrong on both counts.
Elizabeth curled even closer to his body and offered him support.
“After coming back from the foster homes, I needed to reconnect with my grandfather and my brother. It was more so with my brother, because I really missed him a lot. We bonded and grew up together, fighting the same battles and demons. It was us against the world, our father, and fate. It’s kind of silly now as grown men looking back on it, but he was all I had at the time. I never realized how lonely life was back then until now. Callen was my lifeline to just feeling alive. The raven and fox had the reputation of being inseparable.”
Elizabeth touched his cheek, running her thumb over his lower lip gently, lovingly.
He looked into her eyes, knowing she deserved to hear the rest and know the truth. “I was dating this girl, Kaya Cheek. She was just as wild and reckless as we were, and she would pretty much do all the shit we did without hesitation.” Blackhawk took a breath. “I was sleeping with her a lot. I wasn’t even in love. You know how young boys are when it comes to sex. Now as I can look back at it at eighteen and nineteen, it was all about getting laid. I think part of the allure of Kaya was how easy she was to obtain. Some women you have to work for and some are just a given. There’s no doubt that she was a given.”
Her laughter surprised him, and it was evident by his face. “I'm afraid to know which category I fall in on that one, Ethan.”
Blackhawk looked at her confused that she wasn’t aware which category she fell in. “Baby, I had to work hard for you. I was terrified you’d shoot me down and break my heart. The first night we had sex, and you walked out of the room was ego crushing. Every day I still work hard to be with you, and I don’t take it as a given. Kaya Cheek was a given.”
Elizabeth smiled and kissed his neck, giving him the courage to go on with his story. She was glad he had to work for her. The things you work for, you appreciate far more.
“I always used protection. There was no way in hell I was going to be like my old man, knocking up every woman on the reservation.” The hurt in his voice was still there, he could hear it himself. “She wasn’t the only girl I’d been sleeping with at the time, and I knew the facts about how not to get caught in the fatherhood trap,” he paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “and then one day out of the blue she comes to me and tells me she’s pregnant with my child.”
“Oh, Ethan,” she already knew where this was heading and her heart ached for him.
> “I told her it couldn’t be mine and explained to her that it wasn’t possible. We’d taken precautions and I was safe. Then came the anger. I demanded to know who she cheated with and what his name was, because he was dead. Now that I look back at it, it’s funny, because I was sleeping with other women at the same time. It was a hit to my ego, and it pissed me off. She’d been playing me, just as much as I played her.”
“I don’t blame you for being angry,” she said, softly. Now the betrayal and his lack of willingness to connect with another woman were so much clearer. Her sexy husband had been burned considerably before and quite a few times. Apparently, he tried to find his worth in the act of sex and not in love. That was a dead end for sure.
“At first she insisted the baby was mine. Swore on her life, my life, the child’s life, anything to make me believe that the baby belonged to me.” Blackhawk rolled over to face her. “I was nineteen, pissed and angry, and I found something in me I didn’t like. There was this growing violence towards her.” Blackhawk looked into her eyes. “I pride myself on my control, but I didn’t always have it. As a boy I wasn’t as in control.”
Elizabeth said nothing, just let him continue. This was his past and his story to tell, and she would just support him and be patient.
“I grabbed her by the arms and shook her. For the first time in my life, I physically put my hands on a woman in anger. I felt all the hate and anger in me, that this woman was accusing me of being my old man. I just snapped and lost it on a pregnant woman.”
She tucked a strand of his hair behind his ear and waited.
“I was so full of rage, Elizabeth.” Blackhawk watched his wife’s eyes and there was no hate or recrimination as he purged his secret sins. There was just calm and understanding, she wasn’t going to judge him, or hate him because he hurt someone else. “As I was shaking her, she started crying and finally through the screaming admitted it all.”
Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) Page 11