* * * *
A while later, with empty plates pushed to the center of the dining room table, glasses replenished with iced tea, and Claude having taken a seat, they all looked toward Malachi.
“The TSA’s, along with our own military experts, are taking the plane apart starting with the wing that was damaged. Whoever planted the bomb, and yes, we do know that much, knew if they took out that section of the wing, it would be almost impossible to land the plane. The direct loss of fuel was also something our saboteur would be counting on.” Malachi turned to Kira. “You said you heard two explosions.”
“Yes, the first one woke me up. A second one occurred almost immediately. It was then I heard the ripping sound.”
“From what we have been able to piece together so far, the first bomb must have taken out the landing gear, since Bartlett said it would not descend all the way, and the second one, got the wing.” Malachi took a sip of tea, grimaced, and then turned to Claude. “How about breaking out that bottle of Tennessee white lightning you’ve got hid?”
Claude grinned, jumped up, and headed to the kitchen. He returned a few moments later, with four shot glasses on a tray, and the requested bottle of whiskey.
After everyone had full glasses, Malachi continued. “Whoever did this had to be counting on the fact the plane was flying over some pretty desolate countryside. I’m not sure if they wanted the plane to go down immediately or not. I am sure someone in Gareth’s employ leaked the information about our flight change. They had to. Because Air Force One wasn’t supposed to fly anywhere yesterday. I just got the word myself the night before and informed Gareth, as well as you two, the next morning.” He nodded to Kira and Claude.
“Did you tell anyone else?” Kira knew Malachi blamed himself for what almost happened, but no way could he have known.
“No, that’s just it. I didn’t.” The frown digging into Malachi’s face intensified. “Wait a minute, I did notify Commander Bartlett and the crew at Andrews Air Force Base. They had to get AF1 ready.”
“Is it possible someone tampered with the plane at the base?” Gareth, who had remained remarkably quiet, tossed the question out into the silence Malachi’s words brought.
“Impossible. The plane was checked out before and after it taxied out to the runway. It had to be done after y’all were on board.”
“But wouldn’t that mean it had to be someone on board already?”
“Yes, Kira, and that makes the hair rise on my neck. Someone we trusted to make sure the president was safe committed treason.”
“But whom and why?”
“I don’t know yet, Gareth, but excluding Commander Bartlett, who I don’t think could be bribed with any amount of money, the four of us here at this table, and Doctor Shelton, everyone else will be on my list of suspects.”
“I suppose you already have the list of everyone on board?”
“Yes, the list was compiled and then checked off as everyone boarded. With close to seventy, counting crew, guests, and sundry, we’ll have to go through each of the names, their backgrounds, and finances, to determine who might have been open to a bribe. Also, who might have a grudge against the president.”
Kira took a sip from her glass. She welcomed the slow burn of whiskey as it blazed a path down her throat to her stomach. It was minute in comparison to the anger she felt considering someone had tried to kill Gareth.
“Kira, we’ll find whoever did this, and they’ll be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Well, just don’t let me find them first.” Kira’s words were low, but edged with such retribution, her male companions actually sucked in their breath.
“Kira, I think that—”
“Forget it, Gareth. I’ll find who did this, and they’ll pay, and if they know what’s good for them, they’ll pray it’s a quick and merciful death.”
A hand touched her chin, forcing her head up. Her gaze lit on Malachi, who leaned down for one millisecond. “Get yourself under control, Kira.”
At his words, Kira realized her vision had become interspersed with red. She also realized her fangs were almost completely extracted. Malachi was right. She had to get a hold of herself. Now was not the time to allow her temper full reign—not if she didn’t want Gareth to find out she was a vampire.
“Sorry.” She swiped a hand over her eyes, forced her incisors to retract, and then looked at Claude, who wore a commiserating expression on his face, and then finally at Gareth.
The man looked a bit stunned at her vehement statement, but not horrified. Good, her secret would remain safe, and she would make sure she followed through on her promise to kill the person responsible for trying to kill her mate.
The sun crossed the tree line and started making its way to bed on the western horizon as their meeting adjourned. Kira stepped outdoors and made her way back to the glen she’d found earlier. She needed some perspective.
Actually, she just needed some space. The what-ifs of why and who’d set the explosives had gone on for the rest of the afternoon.
It was Claude who suggested Kira take off for a bit. She still wasn’t quite sure how old the vampire was, but he was fast becoming one of her favorite people.
Not that she had a lot of favorites, for she pretty much kept to herself when not working. Her mom called her on a weekly basis, unless something came up, which meant she could probably expect a call anytime now if Elizabeth Jackson had seen that newscast—just what Kira needed. Her mom had never understood her craving to do something instead of waiting for Prince Vamp to show up. And she certainly wouldn’t understand Kira’s attraction to Gareth Hayes.
Hopefully, her brothers would leave her alone. The six of them ganging up on her was more than she could handle at the moment. It sucked being the baby of the family at times.
She found a bench, half hidden by a leafy bush, and sat down. Should she quit the VGP? Would that help Gareth or make it worse? Was she even willing to give up something she’d wanted for most of her life—all for the love of a man?
“Kira?” Gareth’s soft tone announced him before he stepped into the glade.
“Hi.”
“I thought we could talk.” He stood still, watching her, almost as if he expected her to cut and run.
“Sure, why not? I’m not doing anything important.”
His slight chuckle lacked amusement as he moved to the bench. “Care if I sit down?”
“No, make yourself at home. I should be getting back, but I guess if you’re by yourself, I need to stick around as your guard.”
He lightly stroked her arm, which she promptly pulled away.
“Don’t be that way, Kira.”
“What way? Mad because of what’s going on? Hurt because you put yourself close to me and then told me we have to be friends? You know, Gareth, I’m tired of this game. I’m a good agent. I never planned to fall…I hate this as much as you apparently do, but life sucks at times. So I guess we’ll just have to keep going as we are.”
Kira followed her words with action by jumping to her feet and heading back to the house. She only gained a couple of steps toward her goal when an uncompromising grip caught her arm and spun her around.
“Fall what?”
Gareth’s gaze shone with intensity. He wanted and planned on getting an answer, but she couldn’t tell him she had fallen for him. It would just put more of an anvil around his neck—at a time he needed to concentrate on more important matters.
“Nothing. Now let me go.”
“Please, don’t just walk away.”
Kira tried to pull away, but Gareth held her fast. She couldn’t use her creature strength without him being suspicious. “Why not? Our situation is the same. I don’t see how we can change it.” She resisted the overwhelming urge to push a lock of hair out of his eyes. Her hand trembled, warring with her determination not to touch him—no matter how much she wanted to.
Instead of answering, Gareth ducked his head and pressed his lips against
hers. She melted into his body like a piece of candy in the sun. His arms wound around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest. Kira moved her hand upward to touch the hard muscle beneath his navy short-sleeve shirt. It wasn’t enough. As she allowed his tongue access to her mouth, she pushed even closer. The hard bulge of arousal beneath his jeans touched her belly. She wanted it lower, inside her—deep as it would go.
Gareth’s hands caressed her hair and face before moving downward to dip inside the tank she wore. His fingers found and teased her nipples until they were hard pebbles of ache.
Her moan echoed in the glen. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and returned the favor. His flat nipples hardened with her frantic caresses. Still she needed more, and slid her hands downward to grasp the zipper of his jeans. Gareth’s groan as she grazed his erection through their denim barrier, pushed her lust to higher levels. Her incisors lengthened, her blood pumped harder throughout her veins, and the blood hunger she kept hidden leapt to the surface.
Kira pulled her lips back from Gareth and nibbled a path up the column of his throat. She could smell the blood pulsing beneath the skin. She opened her mouth, her incisors barely an inch from his jugular vein.
“Kira! Gareth!”
Malachi’s booming baritone restored her common sense and her call to duty. My Lord in heaven, she’d almost made the president of the United States an appetizer. Although still appalled at her imminent action, she reluctantly pulled away from his neck, then his body.
“Kira, I...”
“Don’t you dare apologize, Gareth. If you do, I swear I’ll hit you.”
His laughter teased her ear as he leaned forward. “I was going to say I’m sorry we were interrupted.”
She felt the heat of embarrassment sting her cheeks. When would she learn to think before she blurted out the first thing on her mind?
“Well, in that case, so am I. I guess this means we’re back to where we started?”
“No! I don’t think I could ever just be your friend or pretend you are nothing to me. Somehow, we’ll figure out a way to handle any negative press.”
“Oh good, you’re together.” Malachi looked a bit flushed, something unusual for her boss. He may not have been close enough to view their terminated love play, but Kira was sure his hearing had picked up on their sound effects.
“Malachi, I presume you came out for a reason.” Gareth’s tone now turned a bit icy as he waited for the head of the Secret Service to speak.
“Yes, I did. There’s been a few more developments.”
“In what, the crash?”
“That and the press’s comments, Gareth. One of the Washington super-papers has a front-page article, and I turned on the television manually since I destroyed the remote control. Ryan Simmons has an exclusive of us exiting the plane. There’s a picture of you and Kira you need to see.”
Moments later, Kira stood with Gareth and Malachi as they watched a replay of their faces and reputations displayed across the national, and probably world news.
“So the agent President Hayes said was just an agent seems to be a bit more to him than he is letting on. I took this picture as they recovered from being hurled fifty feet through the air. It blatantly shows our own president displaying a most definite personal attitude toward the woman who guards him at night. Will there be further developments in this relationship? I’ll be waiting and watching, as will the rest of America. Ryan Simmons for Washington’s finest network.”
Kira’s knees threatened to buckle. She searched for and found a chair. How in God’s almighty name did the man get that picture? It was just a millisecond. He must have had the camera in his hands just waiting for anything to happen. But why? As far as the press or the media knew, she was a nonentity, someone who guarded the president. Why would they go for this type of scandal when they should be focusing on the crash itself?
She accepted a glass of wine from Claude and then looked at Malachi. At the moment she didn’t think she could stand to look into Gareth’s eyes. He must have been feeling all kinds of emotions. Regret, guilt, anger, and so much more. All because he showed a shred of kindness.
Get real, Kira. You know it was more than that. His hand shook when he touched you. He, as well as you, were scared spitless over what could have been lost.
And now it looked as if they would have to go back to square one. No way, no how, could they be anything more to each other. Gareth would just have to understand that. And she would have to step down from being his agent.
Tears burned the back of her eyes as she watched Malachi slap Gareth on the shoulder. Had she missed something?
“So, what do we do now? I can tender my resignation. I guess we can tell them it was just a moment of lunacy after almost dying.”
“No, I’m not accepting your resignation, no matter how much you want to give it, Kira. We’ll find a way to fix this.” Malachi hissed his answer.
Kira set her glass of wine down on an end table, stood, and walked over to Malachi. She still couldn’t look Gareth in the face. “How are you going to fix this? The only way is for me to step down. You know it, and I know—”
“But I don’t know it, Kira!” Gareth’s arm slid around her waist. Her breath caught in her throat even as she struggled to dislodge his hold.
“Gareth, let me go. You do know it, or at least you would if you weren’t so damn stubborn. You have almost three years left in office. This would be political suicide for you if the press thinks you’re having an affair.”
His laughter was the last thing she expected in the way of a response. Now she knew he was certifiably off his rocker.
“I should at least get to enjoy an affair if we’re having one. Not just be accused of it. And since I’m not married it wouldn’t be one.”
“Would you be serious? It’s not just about you. It’s about this country. The people look up to you. They opened their hearts to you when you lost your wife. How is this going to look to the regular people?”
“Kira, this is not up for discussion. I’m not going to be forced into choosing the Oval Office or you. It’s not going to happen.”
“Children, children, if I could have your attention for a moment.” Malachi’s eyes twinkled with something Kira wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Go ahead. Kira and I are finished with this conversation.”
Before Kira could open her mouth to say anything else, Gareth dropped a kiss on her lips. “Now, hush up, and listen to what the man has to say.”
With both men daring her to disobey, she clamped her teeth together so hard her jaw ached and her fangs almost locked.
“All right, from where I stand, there’s only one thing that will fix this particular problem. In fact, it will probably make things easier to keep you contained, Gareth, while we track down the terrorist.”
“I’m all ears, Malachi. What’s this great solution?”
“Simple, you and Kira will announce to the press, and to that idiot Simmons, you’re engaged and will be married within the next month. You’ll also tell him you lied about your relationship to protect your fiancée, and you’re sorry you did so. After that, you’ll tell them you and Kira fell in love at first sight, which is what I believed happened, and she’ll continue to be an agent because she’ll give her life to protect her husband and her country.”
Chapter Thirteen
“You’ve got to be out of your mind, Malachi. No one’s going to believe that drivel. Also, you can’t possibly expect Gareth to be locked into a marriage that may or may not work. I refuse to do this.”
Malachi, the devil, actually grinned at Kira. “I not only expect it, I command it, Agent Jackson. You’re still an employee of the Secret Service, and I’m your boss.”
“And I’m yours, Malachi. This is not fair to Kira. Maybe she doesn’t want to get married. Maybe I don’t.”
Kira’s heart shattered. So, all his protests about it being the media keeping them from having a relationship were nothing but a
bunch of crap. Well, at least she knew the truth now. If she couldn’t get out of her job, then she’d guard Gareth like no agent ever before had guarded his assignment. While she was at it, she’d lock up the pieces of her heart and guard them as well.
“I wasn’t finished.” Malachi glared right back at Gareth without even sparing her a glance. “The marriage will be performed by a friend of mine. He’s a former judge. He no longer has the power to marry anyone, and that’s what makes this plan ingenious. You two will be married in the eyes of the public, but when Gareth leaves office, you can go your separate ways if you desire to, or sooner if the press hounds let up. Of course, I can always get a real minister to do the job if you’d rather.”
“No, I think the first suggestion is the best. This way, neither one of us has to make a commitment if we don’t want to.” The words poured off of Kira’s tongue, leaving a bittersweet taste behind. So much for fairy tales and happily ever afters. They certainly weren’t for her. But at least Gareth would be able to do what he wanted once the gossip died down.
This time when she made a move to leave Gareth’s embrace, he released her. “Look, it’s been a long few days. Malachi, would you mind too much standing guard? I really want to go to bed.”
“Sure, hon, get some rest. Gareth and I will just have a nightcap.”
“Actually, I think I’ll turn in, too. I’ll speak with you both in the morning. I’m sure we have to put together a press release to do damage control.”
With her heart trailing behind her, she avoided eye contact with Gareth and headed to her room. Once in bed, Kira pulled the covers over her head and cried like there was no tomorrow. For her, there wasn’t. Acting as the wife to the man she loved without love being involved for both of them would make every day of the rest of her life a deep cavern of emptiness.
Smith, Faith V. - Presidential Heat [Vampire Government Protectors] (BookStrand Publishing Romance) Page 8