by Marie Wathen
“No ma’am. As bad as I want to make love to you right this moment I can’t. I want our first experience to be about you and me. There are so many outside factors pushing their way in at the moment that it’s just too much for us.”
Releasing my hip, he scrubs his hand over his face, digging his fingers into his scalp while piercing me with his emerald eyes.
“Breesan, we really need to talk. I’ve done things I’m not proud of but I can’t keep them from you. I need to get everything off my chest before we move into this phase of our relationship.”
“Marcus, I trust you. I can’t explain why I feel this way, but I do. You tried not to get to me. You pushed. I pushed. We both believe what we are doing is for the best. The truth is you see right through me. We may be moving fast according to other people but what I feel for you I’ve never felt for anyone…ever. I never thought I was worthy of a relationship like this. I know I’m young and perhaps foolish for saying all of this but I want this relationship.”
“Baby, you are priceless. I wish you would value yourself as much as I do.” He kisses me softly then draws my body to lie down on him. “And that’s why I want to do things different with you.” I nod my head against his shoulder.
Sighing loudly, I rising up and look at him seriously. “If you want to talk then I think I need to move. Otherwise I’m going to be distracted and I won’t concentrate on what you’re saying.” Laughing, he slides me to the other side of the bed.
“Well, first you already know I’m in a joint task force with the DEA but I didn’t get to explain everything. I work with Rhys, who you met last night. Kole and my sister, Sam, are on the team also.”
I interrupt. “Kole is in law enforcement?” I ask in complete shock.
“Yes, the gym is his cover. He owns it, but Shaylyn runs the day-to-day aspects. He is our tech-guy. All the latest and greatest gadgets make their way into Kole’s hands and then we get them. My role is surveillance. I have a few other small responsibilities, but basically I trail a target monitoring their movements. In some cases I do this from a distance. The target usually has no idea I exist. In other cases, I assume a predominant roll in the targets life. The job I’m currently working requires I go undercover.”
My nervousness in his reveal causes me to begin to fidget. He notices my movements and stalls his explanation. He takes my hand in his and brings it to his mouth. The action soothes me and I’m thoroughly distracted. He smiles at his accomplishment.
Relaxed now I say, “Okay, I’ll take that back now,” I tease, effectively pulling my hand from his grasp.
I move from lying to a sitting position facing him. I pull one of my legs over the other in a half-lotus position. He rolls to his side, propping his head on his hand. He reaches down and scoops my hand back and tugs me down to him. I catch myself before falling on him and he stretches up to place a sweet kiss on my lips. I laugh and shake my head. He’s not laughing, just staring at our interlaced hands.
“I need to finish babe.” He sighs.
I know whatever he wants to tell me is important and it involves me. It’s possibly relative to what happened last night, which is why I become more agitated. I nod my head for him to continue.
Chapter 26
Breesan
“There is a large group working out of Willow that has been around for over twenty years supplying drugs to the United States. They are big time drug dealers and the leader has eluded the DEA during all of that time. We received information a few months ago on a possible contact that was - involved with him. Since then we’ve been trailing the target. I picked up a security job working for the target and do extra-surveillance when not working at the gym.” So far his story doesn’t involve me, so I decide to relax until he looks at me sadly.
“What’s wrong? You look sad all of a sudden,” I state.
“I want you to know that when I met you at Morgan’s welcome home party, I really did not know it was you. I told you that I would never intentionally trick you. I was working that night. Earlier that day, I lost the subject but I caught up to her there,” he explains.
I continue to listen and something about his tone begins to send a little tiny niggling thought to the back of my mind. My sensors are starting to send out alarms. I have a feeling I’m not going to like the rest of his explanation. I remain quiet, allowing him the time to reveal the information at his own pace. That sensation increase and on instinct my hand reaches for the bothersome sensation in my neck.
“Breesan, have you ever heard of someone called Dr. A?” He asks. My hand freezes in place and I shake my head. He continues.
“I didn’t suspect you would, but I thought I would ask. Your stepmother, Julia, is the target and I’ve been trailing her since the beginning of May. But I had to go undercover to get close, so I work security for her. Most of my responsibilities have been driving her to meetings at the castle and surveillance - on you. She does require…” I interrupt again.
“Wait, wait! I don’t think I heard you clearly. You’ve been watching me? But…” My mind is a scrambled mess. Unable to form one clear thought, I stare open mouthed waiting for him to tell me that I misheard. His expression is dead serious.
“Yes. On her order, I have monitored your routine. She told me some, but not exactly why she wants you followed. I assumed it was for your safety. Who you meet, where you go and…” He releases the hold on my hand as he slides up the bed, resting against the headboard, putting distance between us. My heart hammers in my chest. Ohgod please don’t betray me. “Breesan, I’ve never told her anything private. She knows basic information. But the last thing she requires me to do is monitor your communications. Your cell is bugged; phone, email, and text.”
He accessed my phone, my email, and my text? Ohgod. Does he know about the text message I got last night after Tristan was shot? Is the text about Tristan? Someone texted me to say “He’s not dead yet.” What the hell was that about? The other text messages were random crap. This has to be crap too.
Marcus is continuing to explain why he was stalking me. “It was to include Facebook, if you had one. Which I’ll admit, I thought at first it was weird for at nineteen-year-old woman not to have some, if not all, forms of social media. But after a short time I realized you are unlike any nineteen year old woman I’ve ever met.” I snort with indignation.
My agitation builds. “You’re serious! I may not have a life per se, but what I do have is private and that shit pisses me off,” I growl. He nods, but doesn’t interrupt my anguish.
“Do you know how illegal that is? Of course you do. You’re a damn cop. Ohgod, I feel like a fucking knife has been stuck in my back.” I freak a little. OK a lot. My fists clench tightly and I punch the pillow in front of me.
“I never needed to tell you a damn thing about me. You knew how pathetic my life is already. And the shit I told you about me in your truck. It must have sounded like some pathetic cry for help.” My breathing is ragged while my hands are trembling from anger and fear of being so exposed. I’m in full meltdown mode – a panic attack is impending.
Silence
“Fuck,” I mumble infuriatingly.
Looking at his face, I scan his features for any sign of deception. Nothing. He intends for me to know everything. As much as I’m probably going to be sick by what he reveals to me, I need to know.
Releasing a defeated sigh, I regain my composure and whisper, “Go ahead. I need to know it all.”
“It’s not my intention to make you feel this way, but I understand it. I know things about you, yes. But most everything I do know about you is what you’ve told me.” He chuckles softly, causing my eyebrows to draw in.
“Every other woman in the world tells everyone, everything but not you, baby. You’re mysterious, intriguing, and addictive. Shit. Remember the night you went alone to the movies? That was the first night I observed you. I sat three rows behind you and watched you watching the movie, crunching popcorn and goobers at the same.” Winking
playfully, he smiles at my preferred snack combo.
“My absolute favorite movie snack too by the way.” Shocked, my mouth drops open and he chuckles again. “You laughed a few times and I’ll admit, I thought to myself, “what girl laughs at blood, violence and gore the level of that movie? But you did it more than once and I lost my heart that night.” I smile at the memory of the night he’s recalling. Slanting my head, I observe him closer. “What is it, baby?” He smirks.
“I remember you. It kind of creeped me out, with us being the only two people in the theater. Plus, you sat directly behind me. Total creep factor, you might want to work on that in you stalker-creds.” Stunned, I sit silently at the thought of him watching. “Wait, how often do you watch me? And you’re sure you don’t know why she wants you watching me?”
He nods, “Answering your last question, I told you I would never lie to you. I honestly don’t know what her deal is. But as far as trailing you, I usually watch you in the afternoons from the time you leave home until you return. I’ve followed you to the library, to meet Anna, to Orange Beach when you went with a group to Flora-Bama.” He grins proudly. “I was impressed when you played the hell out of that guitar.” I blush. This is real exposure and it scares me. I don’t think I was ready for him to have full access to everything about me so soon.
“This is so not fair. You know everything about me and I don’t have much on you.” I shake my head and with a resigned sigh, I give him a pitiful look.
He grins and lifts my chin up with his forefinger to look deep into my eyes. “Sure you do. Have you forgotten the night in my truck?” Hell no.
Forgetting one of my favorite Marcus moments, I would have to be a fucking loon. That was the night he pulled me into his arms and held me closer than anyone before. And my heart knew then.
Lost in the memory of that night, I realize it’s quiet. Raising my face, I see him staring back at me and his eyes are hooded. He’s remembering that night too. My desire for him is an inferno. Damn. Feeling completely disoriented, I must get control of myself being around him. At least until I get more answers about Julia’s involvement in tonight’s shooting and Dr. A.
“What are you smiling about baby?” Marcus asks.
“I could ask you the same question,” I reply softly. Not wanting to answer that question just yet. “Let’s get back to you, okay?” I add. Knowing if we don’t, he’ll know soon about the inferno he has stoked to life inside me.
“Yes. I need to finish, then I want to go by the hospital and check on Tristan.” He confirms. My heart jolts at the mention of his name.
“Ohgod, Marcus we should already be there.” Sliding around to get up, he grabs me halting me on the edge of the bed.
“No, we’ll finish this first and then go. You need to know everything now,” he says adamantly.
“But, you’re not at the hospital with your family because I blacked out like an idiot. Oh, I feel horrible Marcus. What will they think of me now?” Turning a blistering red shade, he pulls me to him. My head lying on his chest, my arm drapes over his bare abs. Oh damn. Shivering uncontrollably, I pull my hand away. Placing it on top of my thigh, I grip tightly, nearly causing a bruise. But it’s imperative that I keep my hands off his body or I won’t be able to think straight.
“Besides Gran and Granddad, I’m not sure who all will be at the hospital, but you don’t need to worry about what they think.” Bobbing my head slowly, I still can’t believe he would delay being with his family to stay here and tell me about himself. What’s so important?
“If you’re sure but get to the facts because I need to get there and so do you. I still can’t believe what happened last night.” I shake my head. We remain silent for a few minutes, just holding each other. Horrible scenes of panic, blood, and tears rush through my mind. I intentionally shiver trying to shake it off.
“Dr. A is a drug lord.” Breaking the silence, he begins his explanation. My body tenses at the thought of Marcus’ dangerous job, I wrap tightly around him and he sighs.
“He’s been using Willow as a means to smuggle drugs into the U.S. We’re sure he has most of the dock and customs workers on his payroll. It took the department nearly fifteen years to get information on him. He’s a fucking ghost. We’ve narrowed down some things on him but no one has verified his identification.”
“One of our guys got lucky while he was on a fishing trip a few years ago and spotted his vessel leaving a port off Willow. We trailed his yacht by satellite through the Atlantic, losing him near the Virgin Islands. The trail went cold after that and stayed that way for a long time. We set up a team to monitor the Willow port for over a year but no one spotted him.”
“Finally, two months ago, Sam got a tip that his ship was spotted leaving South America heading north. We worked quickly, integrating me back to life on Willow so I could go undercover. We didn’t know it was going to lead to Julia until last month.” Taking a cleansing breath, I prepare myself to accept what he’s telling me.
“All communications from the island are being monitored. If you live here, you’re business isn’t private. Everything runs off satellites or cell so we’ve got every facet under surveillance.” He pauses to make sure I’m still with him. The break gives me the chance to ask the questions burning in my mind.
I scoff loudly, “How the hell could Julia be involved with a drug lord? She couldn’t. This is crazy. I mean she’s a real bitch and I can’t stand her, but that just doesn’t make any sense to me. Could your Intel be mixed up on the communications coming from Julia?” I begin laughing at the preposterous idea.
He shakes his head before answering, “They’ve verified everything. Hopefully we can prove it soon. Sam got info last night that indicates his yacht docked a few miles up the beach from here at Castle Landing. That’s the reason she wasn’t at the party last night and couldn’t stay long after the incident.”
He blows out a hard breath before continuing. “As bad as the shit that happened last night is and it is fucking horrible, but from what we initially determined it doesn’t relate to Dr. A. So we can’t have our team on the case. I can’t be on the case. It’s bullshit, but our purpose is to catch bastards like Dr. A and stop drug smuggling.” I nod, understanding his situation. Being pulled from one direction to the other, work or family, can’t be easy.
“When Sam returned to the dock last night, she spotted Julia getting on Dr. A’s ship. We have a team monitoring their location but they set sail during the shooting.”
Gasping harshly for air, I feel a strange sensation moving along my skin. I scoot off the bed and this time he doesn’t try to stop me.
“Damn, is this true? Could Julia be involved with a drug lord? This whole thing is fucking ridiculous. They must have Mrs. Prim and Proper confused with someone else. She couldn’t be involved in something so sinister.” Pacing the room, I work the information out in my head (I thought). Having a bad habit of talking out loud to myself, I reveal to him all of my musings.
He interrupts my musings, “It’s not really out of character for her. She’s hiding behind Mrs. Prim and Proper. Her affair with him has been going on for years. She has overseas bank accounts set up in her name with extremely large balances and weekly deposits. Sam thinks she may not even know of the accounts. It appears that he or someone working for him established all of them in her name. If we could get something tangible to connect her to him there may be a possibility of positively identifying her and arresting both of them.” I freeze. Mixed emotions for Julia and the situation rack my mind, but doing the right thing takes precedence.
“Her boxes!” I suddenly recall that when I was looking for items belonging to my dad, I discovered all the boxes with her journals. “She has tons of private journals in boxes locked away in our attic. There has to be information about him in those books, or in the big truck with a lock on it,” I offer proudly. Quickly I see a sparkle flicker in his eyes. Bounding off the bed, he rushes to me, cupping my face in his hands and places
a kiss on my forehead.
“You.” He kisses my nose, “Are.” He kisses my left cheek, “The.” He kisses my right cheek, “Best.” He kisses my lips.
It’s a sweet kiss of appreciation, but still a warm kiss that curls my toes. Sliding one hand around my neck, his fingers dig into my hair tilting my face upwards. The other moves under my collar, beneath the thin layer of my t-shirt to lie flat against my skin. The warmth of his kiss, combined with his touch, and I melt. Bravely opening my mouth, I desire tasting him. He doesn’t disappoint. Marcus gives me everything. Holding nothing back on kissing me, he possessively moves his mouth over and over mine. Our tongues move together, twirling, sliding in and out.
Oh yes, dear god he is mine.
Licking the roof of my mouth, he swirls his delicious tongue with mine in a slow dance. I become numb to everything but this man. I’ve lost all control to him devouring me. He’s not kidding about claiming me. Surrendering to his dominance is a new concept for me, but it feels natural. Need urges me to become bold. Clawing at his backside with urgency, I must get him closer. He obliges quickly without argument. Panting and groaning fiercely, we are uncontrollable now. Hands everywhere, bodies rubbing together and a heat building between us so strong I don’t ever want to stop kissing him. Too soon he pulls away from me. Giddiness and disappointment wage a war inside me: one, because of the kiss, and the other, due to the loss of contact. Giddiness wins, causing a silly smile to break across my face. Opening my eyes, I see him watching me longingly. Damn his eyes are drinking me in.
“God Breesan, how did I get so lucky to find you?” Refusing to answer his question because for the first time I feel like the lucky one, I smile seductively
He slides his hand from my hair around to my face. With soft fingers, he lightly strokes my cheekbone. A thumb traces the outline of my lips, stopping for me to kiss the pad. His intense emerald eyes move from watching his thumb to my eyes. When our eyes meet, he gives me a look that imprints on my heart. He looks at me with such raw emotion.