She pointed at the samples of the dead victims’ livers on the table. “Yeah, no.”
He got it.
Organ meat wasn’t for the squeamish or the morgue staff. They handled enough of it to make it a definite no.
“She’ll be fine, Boone.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about her getting a checkup from the ME. That’s a little creepy,” he offered.
Both Callen and Ethan laughed.
“Welcome to our world,” Ethan stated.
“Hey! Chris makes my life easier. I haven’t had to go to a doctor in a long time. It’s like one stop shopping. I come here, get my bloodwork done, and he writes my prescriptions when I need an antibiotic,” she stated.
“That’s so wrong,” Ethan stated.
She crossed toward Chris. “See you at home. We’re ordering Chinese. Is that okay?”
“Get my usual.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “On it, Doctor Death. I’ll get something for Bethe.”
He loved that she cared about his daughter like she was one of her own.
They all headed out. When Merry, Boone, and the bosses were all gone, Tony lowered his voice.
“Are you really never moving out?” he asked.
Chris wasn’t sure.
“I’m happy there.”
“But what if you meet a lady. You can’t bring her home to have sex, Chris.”
“I can go to a hotel.”
“And that’s enough?”
Chris thought about it. He was safe, Bethe was happy, and he had Elizabeth.
“It’s more than enough.”
And for now, it absolutely was.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk
Monday Night
When they got home, they played with the kids, fed them a healthier dinner than they were going to consume, and tucked them into bed.
Once they had Bethe in her room, she crawled out of it, down the hall, and right toward Charlie’s room. They might as well put a bigger bed in there because they were pretty sure the two girls were going to be inseparable.
As they all hit the couch, Chinese and wine in tow, they were ready to begin breaking down the suspects.
Honestly, they hoped one of them was a killer. This case was puzzling.
When Merry sat down alongside Boone, Elizabeth stared at her. “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked.
“Uh, helping?”
She pointed at the stairs. “Bed, feet up, and get some rest. “You have a long day in the lab tomorrow, processing all the trace. You don’t need to be working. I have your reports.”
“What if you need me to explain?” she asked.
Elizabeth stared at her. “Please don’t tell me you think this is my first day on the job. I can read a tech report upside down, swinging from a tree, and with one eye closed.”
Callen opened his mouth.
“I will hurt you.”
He closed it.
Merry wasn’t so sure.
“When you were pregnant, you worked long hours, and you had perfectly healthy children.”
“Today, my son licked the dog. They may be healthy, but their sanity is in question. Don’t risk it. Trust me on this one. Do you know how many germs are on a dog? Go rest, Merry. It’s already after eight. We have this. Boone, you can go too.”
“I feel bad. I’m supposed to be helping. I did come to you with this.”
They all knew who had him distracted.
Besides, it was so much easier if he kept an eye on Merry. Then they didn’t have to worry about her being safe. They had enough on their plates with this killer.
He, or she, was a hot mess.
“About that,” Ethan said. “Your boss has pulled you back to regular duty.”
His face said it all.
“No.”
Ethan knew he could only do so much. “I can’t keep you on the team. I can’t keep you away from your job. Your partner, she’s stirring the shit pot. She’s bitching about you getting preferential FBI treatment. I have to keep the relationship between us and the police flowing smoothly.”
“I’m not leaving Merry. It’s not happening.”
Merry touched his cheek. “I’ll be okay. Don’t tank your career because of me, Boone. You love being a cop.”
“Yeah, but I happen to love my fiancée and unborn child more. I’d rather have them than this. I can go work any boring job after this is done if need be.”
Merry was horrified. “Don’t you dare quit your job!”
He kissed her softly on the lips, and then rested his forehead against hers. “Cher, you worry about growing our little one, and I’ll worry about putting the bacon on the table.”
Elizabeth said nothing.
Finally, she handed them their Chinese and pointed at the stairs. “Go.”
Boone grabbed their food and glanced over at Ethan. “I’ll handle it tomorrow. I know you’ve been running interference over this one, so thank you.”
He nodded.
When they were gone, Chris glanced over at her. “Why don’t you just offer Boone a job?” he asked. “He could pass as a Fed. He’s in shape, healthy, and he’s smart. He’d pass all the qualifying tests.”
She said nothing.
“Lyzee, what’s going on?” Chris asked.
“Nothing.”
“Well, it’s happened. In fifteen years, you’ve never lied to me, and you just did. I know when you’re slinging the shit. You won’t look at me.”
He looked over at the men he called brothers.
“What’s going on?”
Ethan figured he should be honest. Chris was very astute, and he’d already picked up on it.
“We hired Cyra, and she ended up dying. What Elizabeth isn’t saying, Chris, is that’s on us. Had she not been a Fed, had she not been part of our team, she might have lived. You would be happy.”
He put down his food. He wasn’t hungry anymore.
Honestly, what she was saying wasn’t true. Chris knew now that eventually, like Cyra, he wouldn’t have been happy. She wasn’t the one for him.
“I see. That pisses me off.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. “I carry the blood of so many on my hands, I don’t know if I can do it again. I’ve cost people their lives, I’ve watched the ones I love die, and I don’t know if I can live with one more coffin in the long line of victims attached to my name.”
He hurt for her.
She was genuinely suffering because of this. Sliding over, Chris dropped his arm over her shoulder. “You are being way too hard on yourself.”
“Tell that to Doctor Trudeaux and Cyra. They were perfectly happy. Then look at Ethan. I nearly lost him too. I don’t want to be the one who tells Merry that being on my team got the father of her child killed.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Gee, thanks, Christopher.”
He turned her face so she was forced to look him in the eyes. With Elizabeth, her emotions were easily read there. She wouldn’t lie, and she couldn’t hide.
“Honey, this wasn’t on you, Elizabeth. Lily targeted me, that carnivorous gardener went after Samuel, and Ethan…he survived. Not every person you let into the circle is going to get hurt.”
Still, her heart ached over all of this. People died on her watch, and that was her burden to carry. Chris didn’t get that because his job was different. He wasn’t responsible for lives. With one choice, it could end someone’s life.
That was a huge weight to carry.
“Let’s just work,” she stated. “Here’s the list.”
No one pushed her.
They knew better.
Elizabeth was telling them the conversation was closed, and she wasn’t going to continue.
Chris stayed beside her.
He knew that when he was hurting, and even when he wanted to be alone, she never left his side. His arm stayed over her shoulders, his hip was against hers, an
d his focus was on the woman he loved so much.
“Let’s work,” he stated. “Then we’ll talk.”
She didn’t argue, but it wasn’t happening.
No matter how much she loved Merry and respected Boone, Elizabeth wasn’t having more blood on her hands.
She just wasn’t.
That ship had sailed.
Boone and Merry would have to let Fate figure it out. She wasn’t getting involved in this one.
It was likely a matter of life or death.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Upstairs, they settled into bed. When they were all cuddled up, Merry began rubbing against the man she loved. His low moan was enough to remind her that he would always want her.
He just did.
“Cher, your boss told you to rest. This isn’t exactly what she had in mind, I’m sure.”
Merry’s hand slid beneath the blanket that they were cuddled beneath and into his pajama pants. When she stroked him, his eyes closed and his heart thumped wildly in his chest.
“Merry,” he whispered.
“I was wrong. I have no problem having sex with you at my boss’s home.”
When the bed shifted, he moved to watch her shove the blankets back and straddle his hips. She was now sitting over his erection, grinning wickedly.
Apparently, she was in the mood, and Boone wouldn’t stop her. He needed a distraction. In the back of his mind, he was thinking about how he was going to have to leave her.
How he was going to go back to work and she would be unprotected.
“Let’s run away.”
“What?” she asked, caught off guard.
“I want to get married. Let’s go to Vegas and elope tonight. I really don’t think we should wait.”
Merry stared down at him.
“Your boss will give you time off, and I know I can get it. Let’s do something wild and crazy, cher. Let’s become husband and wife.”
She knew what he was trying to do.
It was crystal clear.
“I haven’t met your parents yet. What if they are scary Voodoo practitioners and I want to hide?” she teased.
The parents of this man had to be just as sweet. They raised a good boy.
And together, they’d have a wonderful life.
“I love you.”
“It’s about what Ethan said, isn’t it?”
Boone didn’t believe in lying, so he wouldn’t cross that line with Merry. She was his wife-to-be. She deserved his respect, honor, and the truth.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be fine. I swear to you, Boone, I’ll fight to keep our child safe. You have nothing to worry about. I trust the spirits,” she said, pointing at the makeshift altar they’d made across the room.
“Come with me,” she said, holding out her hand.
He followed.
Boone didn’t know what she was going to do.
“We’ll pray about it. Together.”
He couldn’t lose her. Not after he’d finally found his other half. When the smoke first showed him that she was out there, he was doubtful. There was such a fear of his beliefs that he never thought he’d be able to keep both a woman and religion.
It was always one or the other.
Now he had both thanks to her.
“Cher.”
She knelt before the altar and pulled off his absconded shirt. All she was left wearing was her panties. Her belly was barely showing their little bump, but she had an idea.
“Put a spell on me.”
“What?”
“Do the Voodoo that you do so well. Protect me.”
Why hadn’t he just thought of that? Then he could stop stressing about it so much.
“If you do it, the spirits will protect us, and you can stop worrying. We absolutely can afford a good life on only my salary, but with both of our salaries, Boone, we can have more kids. I want a bigger house. I want a yard with analytical Natives running around. I want your children. In order to have that, you have to work.”
He was aware.
“I want more babies too. I want four. I want what your boss has. This house is pure chaos, and it’s insanity all day long. Yet, it’s filled with hugs, kisses, and lots of love. That’s beautiful to an only child.”
She understood.
“So spell me, my sexy Voodoo guy.”
He dropped to his knees and began working on lighting candles with matches. He chanted in Creole, and he began smearing the ash from the match across his palm. When he drew a symbol, he was ready.
She smudged him.
Then he smudged her.
When they were done, he dropped beads over her head, feathers, and they both shared the beads that had been his parents’ necklace for their wedding.
When he placed his palm against hers, the ash transferred. What he wasn’t telling her was the spell was offering himself up for her safety. In Voodoo, there had to be an offering, and it was going to be the best one he could give.
His life for hers.
He’d die to have his baby born.
While he knew it would hurt Merry, he knew that the child’s birth would heal her. She was smart, strong, and she’d love their child for both of them. If he had to die, it was clear that their love would go on forever.
She’d never be alone.
“I love you,” he whispered, opening a vial he had brought with them. It contained some chicken blood, and he needed it. He smeared words on her belly, making sure to do it just right.
When he glanced up at her, he wanted one more thing.
Her.
His mouth sought hers, and there was that love, lust, and heat that he’d found a couple months ago when she’d arrived in New Orleans.
She melted into his arms.
He never wanted to forget this feeling.
“Oh, Boone,” she whispered, running her mouth across his chest, shoulders, and lower.
He watched her.
He couldn’t move.
Boone was so in love, his eyes filled with tears. When she pulled him from his pajama bottoms and slipped him into her mouth, he was forced to close his eyes.
Here was peace.
Love.
He prayed the spirits wouldn’t take either of them. Boone wanted to have this in his life every day.
He needed her.
As she worked him in and out between her lips, she could feel him beginning to shake. She knew what would make him crazy.
She used her teeth.
The second they scraped up the length of him, across the tip, and off his dick, he was wild.
His eyes popped open, and he was on her.
They rolled across the floor, beads going everywhere. They scattered as he pressed her to the floor beneath his body.
“I will love you until the end of time.”
“I will love you, too, Boone,” she promised. It was absolute truth. What they shared was stronger than what threatened to tear them apart.
He was meant to be hers.
She could tell.
“Fill me. Take me. Show me how to come alive,” she whispered, staring up into his icy blue eyes. She was sure her violet eyes were just as filled with love.
Sliding between her legs, he nudged his way into her body. When her legs wrapped around his hips, he began moving.
It was a gentle glide in and out of the delicious heat.
When she was filled and falling, he paused to let her enjoy the tumble. As she came, his erection buried in her, he was lost to any woman but her.
She was his heart.
Soul.
Life.
There was no way he’d be able to go on living without her, and he prayed he wouldn’t have to do it. To lose Merry, it would be like losing his everything.
“Oh, Boone,” she whispered, as she surfaced from the orgasm.
When he least expected it, she rolled, putting him on the bottom. As she began moving, her hands on his shoulders as she rocked back and
forth, they never broke their gaze.
It was a promise.
It was a silent one where they vowed to have each other’s backs for the rest of their lives. To Boone, it was better than a piece of paper, proclaiming their unity.
It was forged in love.
Smoke.
Blood.
“Merry,” he begged, finding her hips with his hands. As he held on, she continued her ride, rocking and sliding until he was pretty sure he was going to lose his mind.
It was consuming him.
Merry was making his body go up in flames.
She was tearing him down, layer by layer, to find the truth beneath it all.
She was his gift.
And he’d protect it.
“I’m not going to make it much longer,” he muttered, watching her breasts sway above him. He was rock hard, she was wet, and together, they were building something amazing.
“Cum for me, Boone. Fall and take me with you.”
He wouldn’t deny her anything. She would forever have whatever she needed.
If the spirits would keep them safe, he’d worship them and her each and every day and night until his last day on Earth.
“Oh God!” he shouted, driving his erection up, and deeper into the heat of her body.
When she exploded apart, he did too.
Together they came.
As they rested on the floor, Merry tucked against him, he felt uneasy.
Something was definitely coming for her.
He was afraid.
He was scared shitless.
She couldn’t die.
If she did, so would he.
Chapter Sixteen
Tuesday Morning
They woke when the kids began running around. Elizabeth was asleep against the arm of the couch, Chris the other side, Ethan the floor, and Callen was hanging over the side of the big overstuffed chair.
At some point, they had fallen asleep, and no one had the strength to go upstairs to bed.
It was one hell of a long ass night. As they got older, they were getting harder and harder to survive.
She was getting old.
“Wake up, Mommy,” CJ said, giving her a kiss on the lips. Then he laughed when she grabbed him and wouldn’t let him go.
Act of Blood (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 16) Page 41