“You’re both going after Emily, both vested in her safety and well-being. You always have been, as long as I’ve known you,” he began.
“Where’s the question in all that?” Gabriel asked.
“The question is: what are you really going to do when you find her? Not talking about this pervert who’s made her the center of his or her world, cause we’re all going to have a hand in taking this sick one down. I’m talking about how you two will handle sharing one woman for the long-haul. We’ve all known Emily is the one, for both of you, for years. And you’ve got to know you have our support, one hundred percent, in whatever kind of relationship you work out. But are you really, finally ready to make that leap? Make it real and official?”
Gabriel turned to study Ethan’s profile for a long moment and then he drew in a deep breath and nodded. He cut his eyes back to Noah, and saw a gentle smile playing on his lips. Noah looked calm and at peace, as he had all along with what they were proposing.
“Yes, we’re ready to stake a claim and let her know she’s ours. She always has been, like you said, and we’re not waiting another day to tell her so,” Gabriel finally said in a soft voice.
“Well, good,” Ethan smiled and glanced over at Gabriel. “Because if you two knuckleheads were going to wait any longer, I think Lawton and I might have moved in and asked her out, just to get you two in gear.”
“And you would have been prying my foot out of your ass if you’d attempted it,” Gabriel said in a near growl.
Ethan’s smile grew and he chuckled. But his smile fell away as he signaled to pull into the hospital’s entrance. “And there they come,” he murmured, seeing the solid black helicopter lowering itself onto the red and white helipad.
“And here we go,” Noah smiled from the back seat.
Ethan parked as close to the aircraft as he could, while Gabriel and Noah stepped out and grabbed their luggage from the back. Kaden nodded at them through the windshield, as did Garrett, but neither man left their seats. They waited patiently for the two men to load their gear and then secure the outer door.
Noah strode forward and gave them both a pat on the shoulder, thanking them for coming back in from leave to help them out.
“Get your ass back there and shut up,” Garrett grumbled. “Since when do we not help family out?” He ended the rebuke with a heart-stopping smile that always drew the ladies in like flies. Coupled with his dark brown hair and intense hazel eyes, he was constantly fending women off when they had to go undercover in nightclubs or bars.
“Yeah, get your ass back there,” Kaden echoed him teasingly, with his own roguish grin.
Noah smacked the back of Kaden’s head and returned to the cabin, hearing both men’s laughter as he dropped into a seat. Gabriel chuckled softly and kicked back in his chair.
“You’d better sleep while you can,” Gabriel warned him.
Noah frowned at that comment and sat up a little straighter in his seat. “Oh, really? And just why is that?” he asked and arched an eyebrow.
“Because I don’t plan on us sleeping at all once we get to her.”
“Don’t you think we should at least talk to her and give her the option of whether she wants a relationship with us, before we move to that level? This is Emily we’re talking about. And other than that kid she briefly dated during her sophomore year in college, I’ve never known of another long-term guy in her life. She may need more time, especially with everything that’s swirling around her now,” Noah sighed.
He honestly didn’t want to wait to make Emily theirs any longer either, but he’d be damned if they would scare her more than she already was, by moving too fast.
“Noah, if this is going to work, you and I need to be of one accord,” Gabriel said and released a sigh of his own. “We can’t ever be so divided on major issues that she feels torn between the two of us. Like she has to choose you over me, or vice-versa. Does that mean she’s getting two men who are carbon copies of one another? Absolutely not. She knows us and our personalities.”
“But what it does mean, is that we have to be willing to work together to make major decisions easier for her to accept and then deal with. Make them less stressful. I am only committing to one woman here, as are you. But she will have two men who are very demanding and very set in their ways, who want her as their life partner. Luckily she’s known us practically our whole lives, and so she’ll know full well who she’s getting in this partnership.”
“So, in regards to the physical aspect of our relationship with her, I have to say, yes, I’m ready to offer that to her. If Emily accepts and wants that too, I have no reservations whatsoever taking her into my arms. But if she’s not ready, I’ll wait as long as it takes. She’ll get no pressure from me. Now do you understand what I meant? And are you on the same page with me?” Gabriel said and stared into his friend’s eyes.
“I am,” Noah said with a slow nod. “And I agree that we have to be willing to make some things easier on her. Whether or not we initiate a physical relationship should be the easiest part of it all, and not forced in any way.”
“And it won’t be,” Gabriel said as he closed his eyes, intent on catching a little shut-eye during the flight west. “She’s the sweetest, most giving of souls I know. I think she’s just been waiting for our dumb asses to wake up and smell the coffee.”
Noah chuckled and settled back in his seat too. “Hey, I like coffee. It smells good.”
“So does Emily,” Gabriel smiled. He drifted off thinking not only about how good she smelled, but how sweet she was going to taste too.
CHAPTER 7
With the kitchen tidy, Emily headed towards the cabin’s hot tub. It had been calling her since she first arrived hours ago, and she was ready to finally relax a little bit. She had even forced herself to focus and write after she’d eaten, getting down the next chapter in her current novel. She’d worked, and now she wanted some time for herself.
As she made her way back, she turned on the lights in the living room and in the bedroom she claimed as hers, purely out of habit. At this point, she hoped and prayed she had evaded her stalker enough over the past few days of travel, that she was at least temporarily safe.
She had no doubt that eventually the twisted one would catch up with her at some point. People couldn’t hide forever, and Emily knew she was just buying herself a little time with her abrupt road trip. Still, she hoped that if she moved on frequently enough, she might manage to hide in plain sight for quite a while.
Her hand hit the light switch for the enclosed porch, and she realized then that she had not lowered the bamboo shades around the room to shield it from prying eyes. She quickly moved around the area and lowered each and every one. All the way to the floor. Then she turned and knelt beside the Jacuzzi’s controls and read the little card the owners had placed there detailing its care and instructions.
Once she realized it worked just like the one Noah and Gabriel had integrated into their back deck, she started its jets and smiled as the familiar rumble and swirl of water began. She adjusted the temperature and then walked over to a rack at the edge of the porch to retrieve two towels. Emily placed them on the edge of the steps, laying the revolver on the top of the fluffy stack. Then, she turned and disrobed.
She loved to feel the water against her exposed skin, and had secretly enjoyed the guys’ hot tub on several occasions sans swimsuit, though they had no idea. They had always insisted that their home was her home, and that whether they were there or not, she was free to make herself welcome. So, she had. Frequently.
Emily walked slowly down the steps and slid into the water until it was up to her neck. She tilted her head back and let out a very unladylike groan, one that she felt all the way to her toes.
“Oh yes!” she sighed. Emily moaned again as she settled herself on a wide ledge and let the jets begin to beat against her back and legs. “This is what Heaven will be like. I know it.”
She closed her eyes and laid her h
ead against the little pillow that was suctioned there and just let go for a while. For if this was the only moment she could let her guard down and really feel peace again, she thought, then she was going to savor it as a starving man does his next meal.
Noah and Gabriel cut the lights to their company SUV, long before they began the drive up the winding lane that ran through the small resort. Ethan had already called ahead and talked with the owners, letting them know that four FBI agents were in route and would take over the care and protection of one of their guests. Mr. Eberhardt was promised a visit the following morning from Kaden and Garrett, so their badges and faces could be seen, but was told to stay out of official business otherwise.
Still, the men used the caution that was firmly ingrained and second nature for them, knowing from experience that one could never be too careful. They kept their lights off as they drove up the winding road and examined their surroundings carefully. They found Emily’s cabin with little trouble and knew it was hers when they saw her own SUV tucked against its side.
“Clever girl,” Noah praised, when he saw how she had positioned the vehicle. “She does listen to us, after all.”
“Yes, she does,” Gabriel said with obvious pride. “Come on, let’s get our gear and then get our girl.”
He backed their larger SUV in next to hers and then switched off the engine. After grabbing their few cases and backpacks, they headed for the front door. Gabriel noted that many lights were on and that all the shades were drawn here as well. He pressed his lips into a fine line, hating what he saw before him and then his eyes drifted to Noah.
“You see what I see?” he whispered.
“Oh yeah,” Noah drawled, his tone not hiding his anger at all.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed as he lifted his hand and knocked on the door. His knuckles beat out a familiar rat-a-tat pattern, one that he had always used back home when signaling to Emily that it was him at her door. Gabe hoped it was enough to let her know who was paying her a visit in this unfamiliar place. But even still, he called out her name so she would hear his voice.
There was nothing. No sound of footfalls approaching the door. No sound of movement from within.
Noah stepped off of the porch and walked to the nearest window, trying to see any hint of her silhouette behind the closed blinds. He shook his head and stepped back onto the porch as Gabriel knocked again, calling her name louder this time.
“Maybe she’s in the back of the cabin in the shower or something,” Gabriel shrugged. “She would have heard me otherwise.”
“I hope a shower’s the only thing keeping her from opening the door.” Noah’s jaw flexed faintly as he considered the alternative. “Give me a few and I’ll get us inside.”
He took out his small tool kit and began to work on the door knob. In less than a minute, he had the old lock open and they slipped inside. Their eyes took in the empty kitchen, dining, and living area. Gabriel walked forward and turned off the living room’s lights and then they headed towards their right in the direction of the bedrooms.
“Em!” Gabriel called again, hoping she would hear him and that he would not startle her. Given the fear she had been living with, having her suddenly frightened by their unannounced visit was the last thing he wanted. Still, only silence greeted them as they looked into each of the bedrooms.
“She’s claimed the one with the king-sized bed,” Noah chuckled as he placed his cases in the second bedroom.
Gabriel moved to do the same. They peeked into the bathroom, realizing Emily was not in the shower, and then they walked through the master bedroom towards a familiar sound. Very slowly, they opened the door to the back deck and saw a sight that brought them both up short.
“Oh, hell,” Noah muttered.
“Hmmm,” was all Gabriel could muster.
“How do we play this without scaring the shit out of her?” Noah asked, not taking his eyes off of Emily, where she lay reclined in the frothing water. Naked.
“Is she awake?” Gabriel asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t think so,” Noah said and began to move forward. He was surprised that his legs still worked.
He leaned over her and realized she was sound asleep. A most dangerous situation, for what if she toppled over and drowned, he wondered. He looked back up at Gabriel and saw his friend’s intense stare focused solely on Emily. Noah knew from past experience that when Emily fell into a deep sleep, brought on by exhaustion, she could be carried by him or by Gabriel and never wake up during the transfer to her bed. So, he made a decision in that moment that he hoped was the right one.
He stepped back and began shucking his clothes. His shoes and socks went first and then his holster and t-shirt. When he began to peel his jeans down his legs, Gabriel finally broke free of the trance Emily had held him under and he looked at Noah with a frown.
“What in the hell are you doing?” he whispered.
“You said we were going to get our girl,” Noah chuckled. “Well, our girl happens to be in the water, so I’m going in after her. Don’t worry, I’m keeping my briefs on. For now.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes and then kicked off his own shoes. He sat on the edge of the hot tub and crossed his legs, right beside where Emily lay. He reached out and smoothed a hand over her blonde locks, marveling over the various hues that made up her tresses. Some strands were almost white they were so fair, while others were almost as dark as Noah’s blonde hair.
But he also took in her pallor and the dark circles that lay under her eyes. Shadows that had never been there before, not even when Emily had lost her parents or grandparents. No, now she just looked fragile to him, as though she might shatter or break at any moment. And that just was not the Emily he knew and loved. It tore at his heart that the stalker’s slow and relentless pursuit had brought this on. It made Gabriel more determined than ever to find the bastard and take him apart.
Noah waded down the steps and made his way over to where she rested. As gently as he could, he lifted Emily and took her place on the ledge. Then he settled her on his lap with his arm wrapped around her back to support her body. His eyes roamed over her face and he saw what Tara had mentioned to Gabriel on the phone. Emily was pale and there were pronounced smudges under her eyes that suggested she hadn’t rested well in ages.
It made his gut churn in anger and rage that someone would target such a pure and loving person. Someone who had never, to his knowledge, hurt another soul in all of her twenty-three years. Just like the child predators he, Gabriel, and their team chased down, this stalker was cut from the same cloth.
“She looks so tired,” Noah muttered.
“Yeah, I see that too. Go ahead and try to wake her gently, so we don’t startle her,” Gabriel prompted, drawing him away from his dire thoughts. Gabe could always sense when Noah was drifting off into the grey areas that went along with their work. And usually it only took a few softly spoken words from his best friend, his brother, to bring him out of it.
Noah nodded, and then leaned in as he lifted Emily closer to his face. He moved his lips to her ear and kissed her there briefly. She shivered and he smiled before he spoke to her.
“Em, Gabe and I are here and we need you to wake up, sweetheart. Open those violet eyes that we both love and say hello. We’ve missed you so much these last weeks,” Noah murmured to her. “Wake up, baby.”
She moaned and shifted slightly, curling further into his chest. And then, ever so slowly, her eyes fluttered open.
“There you are, gorgeous. Emily, it’s me, Noah. Don’t be scared or alarmed, because you know you’re safe when you’re with me. Gabe and I are both here now, and I swear to you on my life that no one will get through us to get to you.”
“Noah?” she asked in the softest, sweetest whisper he’d ever heard. After days of manic searching they’d found her, and Emily was safe. And right where he wanted her.
“Yes, baby, it’s me. Gabe too,” he said and turned slightly so she could see him just over
Noah’s shoulder.
Her eyes widened then and they both saw the full range of emotions flit through her gaze. There was shock, fright, worry, anxiety, and finally acceptance, relief, and even happiness as her eyes filled with tears. Noah pulled her closer and Emily buried her face against his neck and began to cry.
Deep, racking sobs tore from her lips again as they had earlier, and she keened there in his hold. Noah pressed his lips to the top of her hair and murmured nonsensical words to let her know they had her now, and they were not letting go. Gabriel couldn’t take the distance while she cried and he shed his clothes in record time to join them.
Like Noah, he kept his briefs on, and came to sit on the ledge on Noah’s left. He cupped the back of her head with his large palm and gently massaged her until the last of her tears were spent. When Emily began to hiccup, Gabriel felt as if someone was tearing his heart right out of his chest.
“Emily, look at me, honey,” Gabriel urged her.
It took her a few minutes, but finally Emily lifted her head from the crook of Noah’s neck and stared at Gabriel. He cupped her face and smoothed her tears away, shaking his head as he did so.
“I’m glad you got that out, because we need to talk. And I want you to listen to every word Noah and I have to say to you tonight. Can you do that, Emily? Can you listen to us and talk with us?”
“Gabe, you and Noah shouldn’t be here with me. It’s not safe…,” she began, but Noah cut her off by placing a finger over her lips.
“It is safe, baby,” Noah reassured her. “We know all about it, and we have our whole team working towards making you safe now. Gabe and I are not leaving you for one second. This is what we do, sweetheart. We take on the predators and we put them away. Now, we’ve got one who’s threatened our very heart, and there is no way in hell Gabe or I will let that threat go unchallenged.”
“No! You’ve got to leave,” Emily protested and shook her head vehemently. “If something happened to either of you, because you were guarding me, I couldn’t live with myself. It’s why I’m here and not at home. No, let your colleagues guard me, or assign someone else to me. I can’t let either of you get in the crosshairs, and if you’re with me, you will be,” she said, her face contorting from her newest tears that were beginning to flow.
Theirs To Claim (Predatory Desires Book 1) Page 5