Primal Passion

by Mari Carr

  “What the fuck?” Gunner said, hot on Price’s heels.

  They reached Roman together and helped the man to his feet. “That man, the Reverend. He tricked me out of the car.”

  Price glanced down the street in time to see the limo take a left turn, its progress hindered by the growing crowd of protestors. Price didn’t bother to consider his actions. He simply took off.

  Gunner was right beside him, step for step. A quick look told him his friend had indeed been shot, but given the strong, determined expression on Gunner’s face, his injury didn’t appear to be too bad. When they reached the corner, they spotted the limousine as it turned down a side alley.

  “That alley is a dead end,” Price said.

  Gunner pointed to the people blocking the street. “Looks like the Reverend didn’t realize his plan to distract us would cut off his only means of escape.”

  Price pointed to the bar on the corner. “I’ll go through the bar, come at him from the side. You block the end of the alley. We’ll trap him.”

  Price entered the bar, ignoring the bartender who asked if he wanted a drink. He walked down a long corridor, past the bathrooms and a storeroom until he found the exit that would lead him to the alley.

  He slid the door open slowly, taking in the horrifying scene before him. The Reverend had his back to Price. He held Denise in front of him as he pressed a knife to her throat. Gunner tossed his gun onto the ground at Leopold’s command.

  Price raised his weapon but hesitated to fire. Given his angle, if the bullet should pass through Leopold, it would go into Denise. Price kept the gun trained on the Reverend’s back, waiting for his moment.

  Soon enough, it came.

  Leopold kicked Gunner’s weapon under the limo and then turned to his side as he passed the FBI man. All the Reverend’s attention was focused on Gunner. Denise was considerably shorter than Leopold. She was slumped, clearly determined to make the villain drag her. She wasn’t helping the man’s escape and her position offered Price a clean shot.

  The Reverend never saw Price step into the alleyway, take aim and fire. His bullet went straight through Leopold’s head. Gunner grabbed Denise as the man fell. When Price reached them, Denise was running her hands over Gunner’s shoulder, trying to apply pressure to the bleeding there.

  “Gunner’s been shot.” Her eyes when she looked at Price were glazed, unfocused. Shock was beginning to set in.

  Price nodded. “I know. We’ll take care of it.”

  He jerked when he heard footsteps coming down the alley. Price raised his weapon and then lowered it as Agent Young approached.

  Young took in the scene. “Leopold dead?”

  Price started to laugh at the inane question. The man was lying in a pool of his own blood and brain matter. Instead, he said, “yeah.”

  Young pointed to the weapon in Price’s hand. “Is that the gun that did it?”

  Price hesitated. While he knew Gunner trusted the fellow FBI agent, Price still wasn’t sure what to make of the man.

  Gunner answered. “Yeah. That’s it.”

  Young’s gaze traveled over Gunner as he sat on the ground, Denise in his arms, her trembling hands trying to stem the flow of blood. “You okay?”

  Gunner nodded.

  “Why don’t the three of you get out of here? Get yourself stitched up. I’ll clear the scene.”

  Gunner rose on unsteady feet. He’d lost a fair amount of blood and it was clear the adrenaline that had sent him chasing after Denise was fading fast. Price stepped closer and placed a strong hand under his friend’s arm to help him.

  “Take the limo,” Young suggested. “And I’ll need that gun.”

  Price didn’t hand the weapon over until Gunner placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Price. Young knows what he’s doing.”

  Price gave the agent the gun, opened the door of the limo and helped Gunner and Deni inside. He walked to the front, relieved to find the keys still hanging in the ignition. He really didn’t want to have to rummage through a dead man’s pants for them.

  Putting the car in reverse, he slowly maneuvered out of the alley. The crowd on the street had dispersed, though there were still quite a few patrol cars parked in front of the library, their lights flashing.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror. “Where to?”

  Denise instantly said, “The hospital.”

  Price didn’t acknowledge her response. He knew where she wanted to go.

  Gunner held his gaze through the reflection. “You know how to stitch?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You got supplies at the mansion?”

  Price nodded. “I do.”

  “Then let’s go home.”

  Deni started to protest, but Price let Gunner explain why it was better for them to lay low. Young’s job of cleaning up the mess they’d left would be that much harder if an FBI agent arrived at the hospital with a hole in his arm.

  Silence fell in the limo as exhaustion took over.

  Only one thought managed to penetrate Price’s hazy mind, repeating itself like a mantra.

  We made it. We made it.

  We made it.

  Chapter Eight

  “Young,” Gunner said, shaking hands with his new partner. His boss at the FBI had decided he and Agent Young made a good team. He’d just gotten the new orders this morning that they would work together.

  “How are you holding up, partner?”

  Gunner grinned. “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

  Young shrugged. “I can think of worse guys to work with. How’s the arm?”

  Gunner pulled a chair out from the table and sat. He gestured for Young to join him. His arm was bandaged up, but Gunner refused to wear a sling. It ached like the devil, but today was too important and there was no way in hell he’d show up looking injured.

  He’d asked Young to meet with him in the library. Two days had passed since he’d seen the agent in the alley. Gunner and Price had kept Deni at home following her wild ride in the limo with the Reverend. Deni, in typical form, had bounced back quickly from the frightening event. While she’d cried herself to sleep the first night, by the next morning she was more like her old self, laughing with them over breakfast. The second night had been easier as they had playful sex in the hot tub, all of them grateful that they were still alive, still together.

  He glanced at his watch. “I’ve only got a few minutes. I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since the shooting.”

  Agent Young grinned. “Well, I don’t blame you there. If I had a pretty nurse like your Dr. Parker, I wouldn’t bother to come up for air either.”

  Gunner rolled his eyes, but he was glad to see Young had jumped to the conclusion he, Price and Deni had agreed upon. There was a brief article in the newspaper regarding the protest at the library, followed up by a slew of articles about the importance of stem-cell research. The lab director had called Deni this morning to tell her that contributions to the lab had already doubled the previous year’s campaign. Gunner suspected Price had written a fairly large check as well.

  Young had outdone himself suppressing the truth from the media. The so-called fire at the library was falsely reported as smoke bombs set off by prankster teenagers. But the true masterpiece was the explanation of the Reverend’s death.

  “So Leopold killed himself?” Gunner asked.

  Young nodded. “Got drunk in that bar on the corner, walked out into the alley and put a gun to the side of his head. Several patrons of the bar have reported overhearing him talk about the fact he was a fraud and he was about to be exposed.”

  Gunner appreciated the man’s ingenuity. Young would have made an excellent member of the Trinity Masters. “Smart. It’s harder for his followers to make him a martyr if he reveals himself as a liar and takes his own life.”

  Young straightened his tie. “That’s what I thought. We’ve also leaked some details about his early life, his time spent in a sanatorium, his run-ins with the
law, questions that have been raised about how he got his money through illegal means.”

  “What about his congregation?”

  “Word on the street says they’re disbanding. A lot of the higher ups, Leopold’s trusted friends, are vanishing, lying low until everything dies down.”

  Gunner rubbed his arm, trying to ignore the twinge of pain. “What about the guy who shot me?”

  “It was the night custodian at the lab, Chester Cook. The same guy who shot Deni’s assistant, Curtis.”

  Gunner recalled seeing the man knocked down through the haze of smoke in the stairwell. “One of Bennett’s guys tackled him right after he shot me.”

  “Yeah. The security guard was still holding him when the police got there. Told them he was the guy wanted for questioning in Curtis’s attack. Good thing Price had the foresight to flash Cook’s picture around to his staff along with the Reverend’s when we were setting up the sting operation. Helped us kill two birds with one stone. Once Cook heard about the Reverend’s suicide, he sang like a canary, confessed everything.”

  “Good.”

  Young frowned. “What’s the deal with you and that Bennett guy anyway?”

  Gunner grinned, deciding to use one of Price’s favorite phrases. “I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you.”

  Young rolled his eyes as Gunner rose.

  “I appreciate the way you took care of everything, Young.”

  The man shrugged, obviously uncomfortable by the praise. Then he stood too. “What are you all dressed up for?”

  It was the first time Young had acknowledged Gunner’s formal suit. “I have a date. And I’m going to be late if I don’t leave right now. See you at work.”

  He and Young shook hands, then Gunner headed for the rare-book room. A month had passed since the introduction ceremony.

  What a month.

  Today was the formal binding ceremony. He was about to be joined with Price Bennett and Denise Parker for the rest of his life.

  Gunner grinned. He couldn’t wait.

  A few hours and one ceremony later, Gunner entered the limo first, reaching back to help Deni in. She was giggling, her face gleaming with pure joy.

  Price stood at the door with Roman, who was also sporting stitches. While Gunner’s were in his arm, Roman’s were on the back of his head. It turned out the driver had been lured from the limo the day of the lecture when he witnessed a thug knock an old lady down and steal her purse. Roman had jumped from the vehicle to help the woman up when someone bashed him on the head from behind. He’d been unconscious in the middle of the road until the limo pulled away from the curb.

  “Take the scenic route,” Gunner heard Price instruct the driver. Roman winked and nodded as Price climbed in and shut the door.

  “We did it. We’re married.” Deni’s smile grew even wider.

  It was a contagious look. Gunner couldn’t contain his happiness either. “You’re right. We are.”

  Price stretched his arm along the backseat, tugging Deni closer. Gunner had claimed the side couch as usual.

  “I think we need to go on a honeymoon,” Price said.

  Deni laughed. “We’ve been honeymooning for the past month.”

  Price shrugged. “I want more. Besides, I mean a real honeymoon. I want to go somewhere. I own a small island in the Caribbean that would be perfect. It’s very secluded and private. No one would—”

  Deni and Gunner burst into loud peals of laughter.

  “You own an island?” Gunner wasn’t sure why he was surprised. In the past month, he’d discovered Price owned several restaurant chains, a private jet and a home on Martha’s Vineyard.

  Price wasn’t deterred. “I’ll make the arrangements with my personal assistant.”

  When Price wanted something, he got it. Gunner suspected that would cause waves somewhere down the road, but for now, he didn’t want to worry about the future. He was more interested in the here and now.

  “You look beautiful in that dress, Deni.”

  She blushed, looking down at the silky white slip dress. “I feel sort of silly in it. I don’t wear dresses very often.”

  Gunner moved toward her, knelt on the floor at her feet and opened her legs with his hands on her knees. “That’s a shame. Makes it awfully easy for me to do this.” He reached out, pushed the thin layer of her panties aside and pressed two fingers inside her hot, wet sex.

  Her eyes drifted closed and she sighed contentedly. “Maybe I should add a few more dresses to my wardrobe.”

  Gunner added another finger. “Maybe you should.”

  Price turned in his seat slightly, watching in silence as Gunner finger-fucked their wife.

  “Deni,” Gunner said when her face began to flush, her hips thrusting against him, seeking more friction. He waited until her eyes opened and focused on him. “I want you.”

  She nodded.

  Gunner reached for her, lifted her from the seat until she also knelt on the floor. He directed her between Price’s outstretched legs. Price had freed his cock while Gunner fingered Deni. When he recognized Gunner’s plan, Price lifted his hips and shoved his pants to his ankles.

  “I want you to suck Price’s cock while I fuck you from behind.”

  Deni nodded eagerly. They’d yet to discover any game their little virgin scientist wasn’t willing to play. Deni bent over the seat and wrapped her hand around the base of Price’s dick.

  Gunner tugged on her hips, spreading her ass cheeks with his thumbs. “So fucking pretty.”

  Gunner let go just long enough to release himself from his own constricting pants. Price’s sharp intake of breath caught his attention and he watched Deni’s lips move along Price’s erect flesh before parting to suck the head in deep on the first pass.

  “Fuck.” Price reached for the silver hair sticks he’d bought her as a wedding present, pulled them out and freed Deni’s thick blonde waves. His fingers tangled in Deni’s tresses, tightening, using his grip to drive her mouth faster.

  Gunner couldn’t resist any longer. He placed his cock at the opening of her sex and shoved deep with one rough thrust.

  Deni groaned and mimicked his impatient rhythm. All the finesse of the past month disappeared as the three of them moved together in sheer primal passion. Gunner fucked her hard, pounding into her tight pussy, his fingers leaving marks on her hips at his tight grip.

  Price began to mumble a mantra of curse words as Deni sucked his dick faster. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh, fuck yeah, baby.”

  Deni’s climax struck the same time as Gunner’s. They both jerked and tensed as he filled her with jet after jet of hot come. Exhausted, he withdrew and fell to his haunches. Deni had released Price’s cock as she came. When she reached out to resume her blowjob, he tilted her face up and shook his head.

  Then he lifted her and placed her knees on either side of his hips. “Ride me, beautiful.”

  Deni took his cock inside her sex and started to bounce. Price tugged at the zipper on the back of her dress and pulled the straps over her shoulders. Deni didn’t wear a bra. Gunner moved closer, planting himself between Price’s legs.

  As Price took Deni’s breast into his hand and lifted it to his lips, Gunner decided he wanted back in the game.

  He ran his finger around Deni’s sex, feeling as Price’s thick cock pressed into her. He gathered up some of the moisture there, coating his finger with it. Then he pushed the tip into her anus.

  Deni stilled as he forged farther. Without lube, he wouldn’t dare take her with more than a single finger. Deni genuinely liked anal sex and they’d both claimed her that way often. Even so, they had never been careless, never failed to prepare her properly, to make sure the act was one they could all enjoy.

  Once his finger was completely lodged, he wiggled it playfully, relishing the sound of her breathless laugh. Then Gunner indicated for her to continue her movements on top of Price. Deni had only started thrusting on Price once more when Gunner realized he had more to give.


  Reaching down with his free hand, he cupped Price’s balls firmly.

  Price’s head flew back against the seat. “Holy fuck.”

  Gunner didn’t halt his assault. He was in this far, he might as well keep going. He continued to apply pressure to Price’s balls as Deni bounced on his cock. Gunner added more fuel to the flame burning inside Deni as he started fucking her ass with his finger.

  Time stood still as they each reached for their climax, wild animals seeking satiation and not caring how they got it. Price came first, his fingers tightening on Deni’s waist. Then Deni screamed out her release before collapsing against Price’s chest.

  Gunner didn’t move from his place on the floor, though he removed his hands from his lovers.

  Price’s gaze captured his and held it. Then Price slowly nodded. Gunner understood. Maybe not tonight, hell, maybe not even this year, but somewhere down the road, he and Price would be mapping a new path, one unlike anything either of them had ever experienced.

  Deni lifted her head, glancing at Gunner over her shoulder. She shifted off Price’s lap, claimed the center of the backseat and beckoned Gunner to join them.

  She took both of their hands in hers and Gunner wondered at the sudden seriousness on her face.

  “I just wanted to say that I love you. Both of you. I’ve never really said that to anyone, and I know you both sort of got stuck with me, but I was hoping maybe you…”

  Her voice faded away, and Gunner realized she actually looked worried that they didn’t feel the same way.

  Gunner squeezed her hand and turned her face toward his with a finger on her chin. “I love you too, Deni. So much it hurts sometimes. You’re my friend, my lover. My wife. I feel so lucky to have you in my life.”

  A smile covered her face as he bent to kiss her. It was a slow, sweet, gentle melding of lips. He hoped she’d be able to feel the truth of his words through the touch.

  As they parted, Price was there. He reached for her and pulled their petite lover onto his large lap. “I think I first started to fall in love with you at the lab the day we met. You were a white-hot mess with those safety glasses hanging on your nose, the pencils in your hair, the dead cellphone in your purse. Deep inside, I couldn’t help but think this woman needs me. And I need her. I lived most of my life dating perfect women. Women with classic beauty, poise, flawless manners, the right upbringing—”