Wood, Fire, & Gold

by Jackson, Pam

  She cut his words off with the touch of her palm to his chest. “No, no, that’s not it. I want to do something for you, Clay. I want you to know how much you’ve been driving me crazy, too.”

  “Hmm, like what?” he asked with a teasing, diabolical smirk.

  Andie pushed Clay to a standing position at the foot of the bed. She stood up and gracefully walked around his hulking mass. Her fingers feathered over the lines of his biceps and triceps. She reached his back, and once again, she traced the exquisite detail of the ouroboros tattoo. She moved around to face him and realized just how big and powerful he was as he stood naked before her. She placed both her palms on his chest and could feel his heart racing. She looked up into his face to meet his lustful stare. His sweet, chocolate brown eyes were now dark and wicked with desire.

  “Don’t tease me, girl. I will get even, you do know that.” The corners of his mouth turned up in a playful grin.

  He lightly grabbed her hands and maneuvered her palms down the hard ripples of his abdomen, stopping just short of the soft hairline below his navel. He stared intensely into her eyes. His lips started to move as though he wanted to say something, but no words came. Andie covered his mouth with a deep, hard kiss. He kissed her back, but she pulled away as she slowly went to her knees and began stroking the hard length of his shaft. She cupped his balls with her free hand as she rubbed her thumb over the thick, velvety head of his cock, releasing and then spreading a drop of moisture around the taut skin.

  Clay groaned with satisfaction and threw his head back. Her strokes were slow and measured as she moved her other hand from his heavy sac and ran it down the inside his thigh, gently touching the smooth and raised skin of his healing gunshot wound. This was where he was most vulnerable. Her touch was easy as she ran the tips of her fingers along the length of the scar made from a scalpel’s incision. At first, she didn’t know why she wanted to touch the wound that was causing him such pain and aggravation. He hid it well, but Andie had caught glimpses of the limp in his gait and the occasional grimace on his face from a sting of pain caused by the sensitive skin and muscles mending and then being tested too soon—all because he was protecting her at all costs instead of nursing his wound behind a desk.

  She blamed herself for his pain. He didn’t have to believe her. Her wild goose chase had nearly cost them their lives, and now they were being hunted by Tivoli. This was her mess, and she had dragged Clay into it. Her headstrong personality was going to kill them both. Clay was right; he should’ve placed her into protective FBI custody.

  “Baby, it doesn’t bother me,” he gasped with a throaty whisper. He lifted her chin with a strong finger so she met his eyes. “I would light myself on fire for you. The only thing that matters now is we’re together.” His lovely, dark stare penetrated deep within her soul, reigniting the heat between them.

  She returned her hand to his generous balls and took his length into her mouth. His smoky, lavender taste thrilled her tongue, and she took in more of him while stroking him. She sucked hungrily and greedily at his cock, and she could hear his deep breaths in between sharp groans. The solid length of him became more rigid with every pump of his hips as he filled her mouth. She could feel the rhythmic pulse of blood feeding the thick, veined ridge along his shaft, ratcheting up his erection to a point of near explosion. She wanted to taste him, all of him, and she anticipated the boldness of his seed as she imagined finishing him off.

  # # #

  #

  The haze that shrouded the full moon was evaporating quickly as a warm southern breeze whispered through the tall pines. Luca Eberstark stood in an open, snow-covered field strewn with granite boulders that reminded him of dice tossed on a craps table. He stared at his Swiss Military watch to get a reading on his compass. He’d been following the two sets of footprints in the snow since he had dragged himself out of that mucky swamp hours ago. His ego was injured more than his body, and he damned himself that he had let that crafty bitch and her hero outmaneuver him. His men were dead, and so was the cell phone that Tivoli had given him for hourly updates on Andie’s apprehension. It was a burner phone, so nothing would be traced back to Tivoli if this mess couldn’t be cleaned up without bloodshed—and right about now, Eberstark longed for blood. He wanted revenge for his humiliation. He didn’t let the biting cold that had been gnawing his limbs for the last several hours discourage him from tracking his prey. He would find them, and he would enjoy making them bleed.

  “That bitch will pay with her blood. Fuck Tivoli, wanting her back alive! She will die after she watches me kill her sweetheart.”

  Luca rubbed his frozen hand across the top of his shaved head and down his scarred and craggy face. He needed shelter for the night, and he would continue his tracking at first light. He had no resources to start a fire, so he needed to find an area to break the chill of the wind so he could bed down for the night. He pulled a fixed, five-inch Boker tactical knife from the sheath that was strapped to his ankle under his winter camo pants. He surveyed the dense pine trees that surrounded the open field and made his way to a sapling with long, low-lying limbs, each with an ample supply of lush, green pine needles. With quick and strong strokes, Luca removed almost a dozen of these limbs in record time. He was wicked with a knife, and now that this was his only functional weapon, he would use his knife skills for shelter, protection, and, of course, retribution.

  He huddled against one of the large granite boulders and pulled his wool hat over his head. He was just about to cover his body with the newly cut branches when he could see something glittering in the snow. He reached for the object and realized it was part of the LCD screen of a cell phone. He studied it and searched his surroundings for more of these pieces. At the base of a thick pine tree, he eyed the rest of the broken phone. He recognized it and released a muffled, sinister laugh from his paper-thin lips.

  “Okay hündin. I got you now.”

  Chapter 18

  He could die right now a happy and complete man. Never had he felt pleasure like this from any other woman. He was drunk on her; she was an addiction that could fuck him up for good. Throwing caution to the wind was never Clay’s style, but hell if he cared at this moment.

  His hips rocked steadily as his cock reached for the back of her throat. She took him all in, satisfying every nerve along his solid length.

  She’s going to kill me right here, right now. His mind searched for thoughts other than this unbelievable woman overpowering his body and soul; the last thing he wanted was to cut short this passionate experience with her. He thought about fractions, calculus—the average winter temperature in Petrozavodsk—but none of that distracted him from watching her suck him deep into her delectable mouth. He didn’t want it to end like this. He needed her in a different way—his way.

  Clay ran his strong hands through the soft silk of Andie’s hair and gently broke away. Her beautiful lips were full and crimson—and not yet done with him.

  “Andie, I need you now. My way, baby—with me,” he moaned softly yet authoritatively. He spoke the truth. Something inside him wanted them joined like nothing he’d ever felt before. He had a raw need to place his seed deep within her. He knew she was on birth control from the inventory list Paul had made from the search of her apartment, but he wouldn’t push her to take him uninhibited. He was sure there was a condom around here somewhere from the Myers boys.

  It always amazed Clay, the things you could tell about a person by searching their apartment or office space. At this moment, he was grateful he had not been the agent involved with the search warrant. Certain things—even miniscule in nature—he wanted to discover for himself about Andie.

  She stood up and backed herself onto the bed, never breaking her seductive stare. Her hair was tousled, her lips glistened, and her body was perfectly shadowed by the dim glow from a single lamp sitting on a dresser.

  “I want you inside me, Brandon,” she said softly, spreading her legs invitingly.

  He let
out a low, deep grunt as he heard Andie say his given name. Brandon ... I want you inside me, Brandon. It had been a long time since he’d heard a woman call him by his first name, especially in a sexual situation, and she said it so lovingly. This was it. No more holding back his emotions, no more trying to be stoic and cold. He just couldn’t bear it anymore. And hell knew he’d tried, but she held his heart, and from this moment on, he was forever hers.

  He crawled up her heavenly body with his heavy cock in hand and gently circled the wet folds of her sex. Ahh, perfection. Shit! Wait!

  “Andie, do you want me to get a condom?”

  She blinked twice, as if snapping herself back into reality.

  Dammit! I just fucked this up.

  Clay prayed she wasn’t having second thoughts. If she was, he’d have the biggest case of blue balls in history.

  Instead, she smirked devilishly. “Your agents searched my apartment. You’re a professional who does not miss a single detail. You know I’m on birth control, but I do appreciate your gallantry in asking.” Her expression changed to something between confusion and discomfort. “I’m not seeing anybody, Clay. I haven’t been with anyone in some time. I do flirt way too much, but ... you know, only for information for Tivoli. I don’t actually have sex with those men. I haven’t had sex since ...”

  Clay pushed his finger to her lips. “Shhh. I have the highest regard for you, Andie, and I don’t give a damn who you’ve been with, as long as for the rest of eternity it’s only me. Now, lean back, because I want you till you tell me no more, baby.”

  He reached down to grab himself again and nudged the red, swollen head of his sex against her clit. She was so slick and hot, just waiting for him to penetrate her and send them both into oblivion. He teased her at first, just circling her soft folds, then placing just the tip of his dick into her, ever so slowly. And when he noticed her hands fisting the flannel sheets, anticipating his thrust, he gave her what she wanted. He pushed hard inside of her to meet the tight muscles of her sex clamping down on him, sending his muscles into an unyielding spasm of bliss.

  “Sweet heaven and earth, you are so tight around me,” he said as he thrust harder into her. This time, he seated himself to the hilt.

  With every erotic gasp and cry from Andie, he thrust deeper and harder. He felt her arms grasping at the defined muscles of his shoulders and back, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist, urging and pulling him into her. His strokes quickened, and he became lost in this glorious and primal moment as he felt her edge closer to her own climax. He watched her come hard as her sweet cries sent him closer to his own release. But damn it all, he would hold back just to watch her face ignite with a satiated glow and feel her slick muscles tighten around his raging shaft.

  “Don’t stop, please don’t stop. I want you always like this,” she gasped between luscious breaths. “I want to come again.”

  Her words pushed him closer to his own explosion. He cradled her face and kissed her hard as he heard her breath escape with a vibrating rush of air.

  “Mmm, yeah, so selfish,” he said, teasing her as he released her lips from his devouring kiss. “Andie, my turn baby,” he groaned. “I want to fill you—look what you do to me.”

  Her gasps were elevating into soft, high-pitched cries, letting him know she was close again. He wanted to come with her, so he pushed hard, his rhythm unfaltering as his pulse drummed in his ear. His thick biceps caged her as he held her steady against the mattress so his thrusts would hit the mark every time. He felt her warm sex muscles contract again and again, and he finally let go of his control, releasing his heated seed with a fierce, animalistic grunt. She was milking him dry; with this heightened intensity, he was in heaven.

  “Always, you will have me, darlin’ ... always,” he said, taking a ragged breath. He buried his head between her shoulder and neck, placing small kisses against her silky flesh . He realized she was his destiny, and nothing, and no one, would ever separate them again. Still joined to her, he felt the urge to satisfy her once more as he inhaled her sweet scent radiating from her warmed skin.

  Chapter 19

  The morning air was cold, and it burned Andie’s lungs as she took deep breaths, climbing clumsily in the aluminum snowshoes she’d borrowed from the hunting cabin. She watched Clay flip heavy, wet snow off the back of his own snowshoes as he entered a clearing near the top of the hill. He removed a small backpack from his shoulders and threw it to the ground without any concern that the contents might get wet. Andie was pretty sure everything Clay owned was waterproof and shock resistant.

  “C’mon, hotshot. I thought you were in shape.” His sarcasm was sweet and playful; he was a different Clay than the man who had tried to keep his distance from her days before.

  “I guess I’m off my game today, since you wore me out last night,” she panted as she finally met Clay at the barren hilltop.

  He grabbed her arm and pulled her hard against him, so she nearly stepped out of the awkwardly fitting snowshoes. He smothered her lips with a hard kiss, his warm tongue teasing and firm. He was already aroused; she could feel a solid bulge in his pants pushing against her belly. She wanted him again, too—but she needed to focus on the Atros Fallis, and now it was her turn to call the shots. Clay was great at keeping the bad guys away, but she was going to show him how good she was at her job, as well.

  She gently pulled away from him, still tasting his wonderful lips. “Mmm, you’re completely amazing, but save all that energy until after we find the Atros Fallis. Believe me, Clay, I will definitely want to celebrate. Remember—business first, then pleasure.” She shot him her best femme fatale smile. She hoped she had enough will power to keep a safe distance from him, or they would both be rolling naked in the snow.

  “You can take off your snowshoes,” he said. “There isn’t enough tree cover up here to shade the ground, so a fair amount of snow has already melted from the sun. Walking through this stuff should be pretty easy.” He unbuckled the nylon straps on his snowshoes and then began on hers.

  “Where are we?” She squinted. They were standing on a barren, narrow hilltop with just a handful of small saplings and leafless brush. Clay was right—the snow was melting faster up here, and in some areas, she could see muddy patches of dark earth breaking through the white blanket of ground cover.

  He twisted his nose as though trying to alleviate an itch. “Well, remember the tall rock wall that blocked out most of the daylight on Black Ash Swamp? This is the top of that wall. I just took us up the rear end of it. And speaking of rear ends—damn, you have one 9amazing ass.”

  “No, no, I told you business first. But I’m happy that you noticed,” she said. Inside, she could feel her muscles tightening with a need for his touch. Any more of his lusty comments accompanied by his seductive bedroom eyes and drop-dead smile, and she would surely lose her self control.

  “You can’t get up here from the entrance of the swamp. It’s way too steep, and climbing gear would be necessary.” He removed his leather gloves and shoved them into a deep pocket in his fatigue pants. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses this morning, and he squinted as he surveyed the valley below.

  She remembered the way the rock wall had shaded most of the swamp, and the only plant life was a dull, green carpet of sickly moss that crept up the rotted tree stumps. She walked carefully to the edge and looked down into the ghastly swamp. She could see the murky water, half-frozen and lifeless. The tracks from the snowmobile chase were still etched in the melting snow, but Eberstark’s snowmobile was gone, most likely sitting at the bottom of the dark pool. She silently prayed that Eberstark had drowned and was buried deep within that dark mud and ice, too.

  “Be careful, Andie. Don’t fall. This is a cursed place, and ... I ...”

  She knew he couldn’t find the words to explain just how terrible this place was to him, especially after reliving the memory of watching his cousin die in that stagnant, icy water below them. She reached for his hand, squeezing it ti
ghtly. “No worries, Clay. I’m sticking right by your side.” With that, a comforted smile crossed his face.

  “May I have my uncle’s map? I’m pretty sure this is the spot where the ‘rateslang bome’ once grew.”

  “Wait, this is the place? Up here? I thought it was in the swamp. This is the Indian burial ground with the rattlesnake tree?” She could feel a schoolgirl giddiness about to overcome her, and she fought like hell to suppress it. She reached into her breast pocket and retrieved the map for Clay. Tamping down her excitement, she moved in close to him to view the map.

  “Okay, let’s see.” He held the map carefully and followed the marks that represented the elevation lines. His finger tapped the fading sketch of the tree with dense, curving roots that resembled a snake.

  “Clay, I don’t see anything up here that looks like that big tree. Just brush and skinny oaks that are barely growing. I mean, I wasn’t expecting the tree to be alive, considering that it would be well over two hundred years old, but there isn’t even a sign of a decaying trunk.”

  “Yeah, I agree. That’s the funny thing—I distinctly remember seeing the old tree trunk with thick, crisscrossed roots exposed in the dirt.” He rubbed his chin and then the back of his neck in exasperation. “Shit! This hill definitely took some erosion over the years, it could’ve just disintegrated with the weather.” Clay shook his head and mumbled, “Where the hell is this effing tree?”

  Clay moved some snow with his boot, trying to expose the rock and dirt surface. The flat top of the hill wasn’t very wide or long, so searching for the opening to the cave should have been fairly easy. But it would’ve been easier without the snow covering anything that looked like the remnants of an ancient tree.

  Andie watched Clay put his hands on his hips, and she heard him sigh heavily. The map, still held in his hand, fluttered gently with a silent west wind. She was worried that he was about to give up the search the way he had yesterday in the sycamore grove. But his time, she wasn’t going to get angry about it.