Strength of Love: Book 3 in the Heirs of Orion Series

by D. Anne Paris

  "You're not so bad yourself."

  "Not so bad?" he taunted.

  "Ok, you're really, really awesome in bed. Better?"

  He kissed her lips. "Yes, much better." He took her hand and led her out of the room. They headed downstairs to the kitchen, where Helen Stevens was humming a tune and had just placed a cake into the oven.

  She smiled when they walked in hand-in-hand.

  "Sleep well?" There was a twinkle in her eye and heat shot up to Elle's cheeks.

  "We rested enough," Tiny replied as he let go of Elle's hand and opened the fridge.

  "There are a couple pieces of French toast left. You just need to heat it up." Helen walked behind Tiny and pointed to a plate covered with aluminum foil.

  "You're the best, Mrs. Stevens!" Tiny exclaimed. He grabbed the plate, removed the foil, and shoved it into the microwave. He started it and looked back at Elle, who was making some coffee.

  "If you want some bacon or sausages I can make some for you," Helen offered.

  "Oh, that's not a problem. I can fry some bacon." Tiny went back to the fridge and searched it.

  "It's on the second shelf."

  He moved a jar of pickles and found the package in the back. He took it out and placed it on the counter.

  "Do you want any, Elle?"

  She glanced back at him. "Sure."

  "Great!" He looked through the bottom cabinets and found a frying pan.

  "It's nice to see that you know how to cook, Jason," Helen commented when he lit the fire under the pan and opened the package.

  "Well, my mom believed I would stay a bachelor my whole life, so she made sure I knew how to cook so I wouldn't starve." He grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled away the bacon from the package and placed it on the pan. It started to sizzle.

  "Oh, such a nice man like you? I'm surprised she thought that." Helen grabbed a paper towel and wiped down the counter.

  "I never really had a long term girlfriend. Not many could handle me." He looked over at Elle, whose gaze captured his. He winked.

  Helen laughed. "I'm sure you can break that pre-conceived notion." She glanced at Elle and smiled. "There are some ladies worth keeping."

  Tiny moved the bacon around in the pan with the tongs. "I'm willing to change, if the right girl comes around."

  Footsteps could be heard from the hall, then Daniel entered the kitchen. His hair was disheveled, and stubble peppered his face. "Hey, Mom, Anne needs some help with the baby."

  Helen threw the paper towel into the trash can and looked at her son. "Where were you this morning? You missed breakfast." She stepped up to him, worried. "You need to take a break from looking at all those files, Daniel."

  "No, it' not that. I'm fine." He turned and walked away before she could ask any more questions.

  "What is going on with that boy?" Helen asked out loud. "He's been missing meals and always has his head in that computer."

  "I'll take some food over to him, Mrs. Stevens." Tiny stirred the bacon again. "No one can say no to bacon." He smiled at her.

  Helen walked up and patted his stubbly face. "You're a good man, Jason."

  She turned and patted Elle's shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen.

  "So you know how to cook," Elle started.

  "Surprised?"

  Elle strolled over to him and pressed her body against his, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Actually, yes, I am. I never thought you'd be a master chef."

  "Ha, I'm no master chef, but I know how to make a couple of meals."

  Elle inhaled his masculine scent. "You need to show me someday."

  The deep rumble of his laugh reverberated through her body. "You don't believe me, do you?"

  "I didn't say that. I'd just love to try some of your cooking."

  He twisted around in her arms and reached down to plant a kiss on her lips. "How about I cook something tonight and we can eat it in your room."

  "Dinner in bed?" she coaxed.

  "Hm, not a bad idea. I can eat dinner and then you." His eyes darkened and he swooped down and kissed her.

  A hot drop of bacon grease spattered onto Elle's hand. "Ouch!" She shook her hand.

  "Oh, crap, are you okay?" He took her hand and kissed it then turned his attention back to the bacon. "New rule. No fondling each other next to the frying bacon."

  Elle ran to the sink, turned on some cold water and shoved her hand under it. "I agree. Damn, that stings."

  Tiny lowered the heat and covered the bacon with a lid. "How bad did you get burned?"

  Elle took her hand out from under the water. "Not that bad. It's only a drop."

  "But it still probably stings."

  "Yeah, I'll live." She shut off the water and tore a paper towel from the roll to blot her hand dry.

  "Go have some French toast. The bacon should be ready in five minutes."

  She went to the microwave and pulled out the plate of French toast. The scent of cinnamon made her mouth begin to water. Her aunt made the best French toast from scratch. Elle could never get enough of it.

  She put it on the counter and looked through the cabinets for plates and cups. She found them on the other side of the sink and placed everything onto the counter.

  "Can you bring me the plates? The bacon is ready."

  "Sure."

  "Get an extra one for Daniel."

  Elle went back to the cabinet where she found the plates and took an extra one out.

  "Thank you." He gave her a quick peck and divided the bacon among the three dishes.

  She took them to the counter. Tiny fished out some utensils from the drawers and handed a set to her.

  Elle smiled. It felt great to eat breakfast with Tiny. Hopefully it would be the first of many.

  #

  "There you are, Intel!" Tiny bellowed when he found Daniel in a corner of the library, hovering over a tablet.

  Daniel looked up and back down at his tablet. "I'm busy, Tiny."

  "You are never too busy to eat." Tiny carried the plate with bacon and two pieces of French toast and a mug filled with hot coffee.

  "I'm not hungry," he grumbled.

  Tiny set the plate, cup and utensils on a small table in front of Daniel. "You can't say no to bacon, my friend."

  Daniel's eyes darted to the plate and back to his tablet. "I'm really not hungry."

  "Ok, no one can say no to bacon, so either..." He lifted his pointer finger. "you're sick, but you really don't look like you have a fever or are pale." He lifted his second finger. "You lost your dog, which I know is not true because I almost tripped on him. By the way, you're one piece of bacon short because of him. Or..." He lifted his third finger. "You got problems with your woman."

  Daniel’s eyes shot him a look.

  "Aha! So it's number three." Tiny plopped down on a leather chair on the other side of him. "Ok, what happened?"

  He typed something on the tablet. "I don't want to talk about it."

  Tiny looked at him and grinned. "All right, if you don't want to tell me, then let me tell you what kind of a night I had!"

  "Did you fall into the frozen lake while ice fishing?" His sarcastic tone was not lost on Tiny.

  "Nope, things were a lot hotter!"

  Daniel slowly looked over at him. "I'm afraid to ask."

  Tiny leaned forward. "Did I ever tell you how great your cousin's ass looks naked?"

  "Oh my...! Arg!" Daniel put the tablet on his lap and shook his head. "I don't need that image in my head."

  "I can give you more details."

  "What?" Daniel shot him a fiery look. "Why would you do that?"

  "Because something's bothering you real bad, and from the looks of it you haven't slept, and obviously you're not eating. It's going to get a lot worse if you don't talk to someone."

  "Why do you care?" Daniel's voice was laced with ice.

  Tiny made sure his look was stone cold serious. "Because I've seen guys do crazy stupid shit because some woman broke their hearts. You're a good
man, so I don't want to see you do anything to permanently fuck yourself up."

  Daniel stared at Tiny and then put the tablet on the table next to him. He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed. "I called my girlfriend Becca a few days ago to catch up with her. She seemed distant, uncaring, like I was just wasting her time by talking to her." He sighed. "When I asked her what was wrong she told me she was waiting for me to come back home, but it's been so long..."

  Tiny knew what was coming next. He'd heard the same story far too many times when he was deployed.

  "She told me she fell in love with someone else." His voice started to shake. "I couldn't believe what she was saying. I lost it. I told her I was always faithful to her and it was unfair that she cheated on me." He cradled his head and sighed. "She told me she hasn't told the person yet, because she wanted to break it off with me first."

  "I'm sorry, Daniel."

  He lifted his head and chuckled. "Oh, it gets better. The person she's in love with is her best friend Ashley."

  Tiny lifted his eyebrows. "Your girlfriend is bi and you didn't know it?"

  "She never mentioned it before. She always talked about guys and all her exs were guys. I feel like a comet from space just smashed down on me."

  Tiny let out a long slow whistle.

  "I don't know what to do. I'm still in shock." He sighed and flopped back against his chair.

  "Well, the first thing you are going to do is eat." Tiny motioned to the plate.

  "Tiny, I can't..."

  "I can describe to you in intimate detail the fine curves and valleys your cousin has."

  Daniel sighed. "Haven't I been tortured enough?"

  Tiny moved the plate closer to him. "Eat this and there won't be any torture."

  He grunted, grabbed the plate and began to eat the toast. "I hate you."

  "Join the club. Membership fee is a beer a month." He flashed a smile.

  "God, I could use a beer."

  "Don't worry, Intel. I'll make sure you completely forget about your ex." Tiny leaned back and crossed one leg over the other one.

  "I'm afraid."

  "Don't be. You're part of the team and we all take care of each other."

  Tiny flashed him a smile, even though he knew that Daniel was probably freaked out.

  Chapter 13

  "So, the lovebirds have finally honored us with their presence!" Dean announced as Tiny and Elle walked into the dining room. "And you are..." He looked down at his watch. "five minutes late. What's wrong, Tiny? Are you slowing down?"

  Tiny flipped him off. "Nice one, old man." He walked to the dining room table and pulled out a chair for Elle next to Jeri.

  She smiled her thanks and sat down. Tiny pulled out a wooden dining chair next to hers and sat as close to her as he could get. Daniel found more info on the Agency and was eager to share his findings with everyone. With the plain wooden dining table and various nature themed paintings the room looked more suited to a corporate board meeting than an intelligence meeting. Everyone was tense except little Natalie who was napping in Anne’s arms.

  Tiny noticed Daniel’s hair was brushed back and he was freshly shaved. “Hey Daniel, you’re looking better!” Tiny wrapped his arm around the back of Elle’s chair.

  “Thanks.”

  "Ok, so now that we're all here, Daniel's got some new information that he wants to share." Keith announced and then sat down.

  Everyone turned to Daniel. He tapped a few keys on his tablet. "I've been tracking and searching through all the information that was on Karen Aimes's computer to learn more about this Agency." The mini projector in the center of the table projected an email on the bare wall.

  "This is an email where she talks about the research she was conducting on Keith's DNA."

  Tiny saw Keith tense as he read the email.

  "This confirms what she told us about mixing Keith’s sperm with Jeri’s eggs and implanting those embryos in surrogates. None of them took and there was only one embryo left."

  "The one that broke when we were rescuing Keith." A slight tremble laced Jeri’s voice.

  "Yes." Daniel continued. "Most of her emails and data correspond with genetics and her wanting to produce a gifted individual she would eventually clone."

  "What a sick bitch," Keith muttered, his arms crossed as he sat and listened.

  "Well, since we went in and destroyed her work, that won't happen." Tiny casually wrapped his arm around the back of Elle's chair.

  "Thank goodness." Helen spoke up.

  "But there is something else I discovered that's disturbing." He pressed a few keys and a medical report popped up. "Karen was in the hospital for a brief period and then transferred to a rehab institute since the doctors thought there was brain damage that occurred to cause her to not be able to speak."

  No one looked at Elle, but she still felt like sinking into her chair.

  "You did what you had to do, Elle," Kenneth reassured her.

  Tiny reached over and squeezed her hand. "You saved me, remember that."

  Elle nodded and looked back at the image and froze. Her eyes widened. "Pregnant?" she whispered.

  "What?" Dean asked.

  Tiny's head whipped around and skimmed through the report.

  "Elle read it correctly. Karen Aimes is pregnant," Daniel responded.

  The room grew silent. Tiny started to do the math in his head. Based on her due date the time that he was with her aligned perfectly. The air left his lungs and the room felt like it was closing in on him.

  "Who's the father?" Keith's tense voice cut through the quiet.

  Daniel shrugged. "It's listed as unknown, but based on the calculations she was already pregnant when we intercepted her."

  "Fuck!" Keith stood up and knocked over the chair. "We need to find her and get her to tell us who the father is."

  Dean looked over at his friend. "Don't jump to conclusions, Keith. Far as we know she could have slutted around and it could be an average Joe's baby."

  Tiny slowly sucked in some air so he could speak. "Like me."

  All eyes turned towards him, including his Angel. Even in the dim light he could see the shock on her face. He couldn't keep this a secret from her, not if he really wanted a future with her.

  Tiny sighed and leaned forward to clasp his hands. "A few days after we rescued Anne, Karen, although she told me her name was Kayla, came into town. I met her at my local bar. We had some drinks and then..." He left the thought hang. He looked up at everyone. "But I used protection..."

  Dean was the first to speak. "It's never 100% effective. You had no idea who she really was. She could have conned any one of us."

  "Or bribed someone," Keith told them, referring to his ex-girlfriend selling off his sperm to Karen.

  Tiny ran his fingers through his hair. "We need to find her."

  "I know where to find her," Daniel said. "The problem is we won't be able to understand her." He tapped the tablet and a female voice started speaking gibberish. "I got this recording from someone Karen had ties with. It's a recording of them trying to speak to her. As you can hear, she can't form any rational words at all." He turned it off and looked at them. "There is no way any of us will be able to communicate with her. Your best chance is to wait until the baby is born and then do a DNA test."

  "I doubt we'll be able to do that without raising some flags at the Agency," Kenneth said. "This group sounds like they have both the money and the power to make things go the way that they want- no matter what."

  "She needs to willingly come with us," George said. "And then she has to disappear just like we did. If this kid really is Tiny's or Keith's this Agency mustn't get their hands on it."

  "I don't think it will be that easy," Dean shook his head. "If we bring her here she's a security risk. There's no telling what she would do if she was here. She could make one phone call and this place would be surrounded."

  "But if we don't than they could have a child they could use as a weapon." Keith lif
ted the chair back up and sat down on it again.

  "Is there any way we can find out who the father is before we decide to bring her in?" Jeri looked around the room at everyone.

  "Let's check." Daniel replied. He pulled up a browser and typed in 'paternity testing'. He skimmed through the results and pulled up one website. "Looks like we can through something called 'Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity test'. It needs the blood of the mother and the alleged father."

  "Then that's what we need to do." Tiny leaned back against his chair and and crossed his arms. "Where is she?"

  The screen changed to a map with a dot in the middle. "She's at a rehab facility in Texas that specializes in speech therapy."

  "Tiny, Dean, be ready at 0500 tomorrow to leave." Keith barked at them. He shoved his chair back and stormed out of the room.

  Jeri quickly stood up and followed him.

  Tiny leaned his head back and rubbed his face. What the hell was he going to do if the kid was his? He was always careful. How could this happen? He opened his eyes and realized that everyone had left except for Elle. She sat in her chair and looked down at her hands, which she was rubbing.

  Tiny grabbed hold of her hands. She stopped rubbing them and looked at him.

  "There's a good chance this kid isn't mine,"he reassured her. "I used protection, and it was only one night."

  "Sometimes that's all it takes."

  When he opened his mouth she stopped him.

  "I'm a baby from a one-night stand. I never knew my dad."

  Tiny squeezed her hands in reassurance. "I'm sorry."

  Tears formed in her eyes. "This child needs a father." She inhaled swiftly. "And if that's you then you need to be there for it."

  Tiny reached out and tilted her face towards him. "This doesn't change our relationship."

  A tear fell down her cheek. "Yes, it does. A child needs constant attention. You won't have time for me anymore."

  He felt his heart tear at hearing those words. His thumb wiped the tear away. "I will. You make me see that there is some good left in the world. You're my Angel. I won't let you go, ever. I need you in my life." He leaned his forehead against hers. "Please believe me."

  He leaned in and captured her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back.