“I’ve gotten so used to keeping it all close to my chest. I’m not sure I know what the truth is anymore.”
I touched his face. “Tell me what you do know.”
He smiled softly. “I’d rather just take you to bed.” He moved close and kissed me, his lips soft and gentle against mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, tugging him closer to me. He felt so good against me; it felt like a limb had suddenly grown back after an amputation. I ran my fingers through his long hair and nibbled at his bottom lip.
His hands slipped along my hips, my thighs. He moved lower, touching my legs, his fingers seeking out the hem of my long pencil skirt. I lay my head back and moaned as his lips moved over my throat, his mouth seeking out my breasts.
“Luke,” I whispered.
“I missed you,” he said against my ear. “I missed the feel of your touch. I missed the taste of your lips. I missed the sound of my name on your tongue.”
“I thought I’d lost you for good.”
He pulled back slightly, wiping away a single tear that had somehow managed to escape my eye. “Never.”
“I was losing hope.”
He shook his head against me. “I was there.”
“Why, Luke? Why did you leave? Why did you come back like…like this?”
He groaned, pulling me closer to him even as he slowly began to tell his story.
Chapter 10
Luke
Two years ago…
“I’m at my rehearsal dinner, Edgar,” I said. “I’m getting married in the morning.”
“No, brother. You’re getting killed in the morning if you don’t get the hell out of there. I’m telling you, you shouldn’t have gone to Garner. He and Forrester—you know they worked together a long time back.”
“I know. But Garner wasn’t involved in France.”
“That’s what you think.”
“Was he?”
Edgar didn’t want to say more than he had to on the telephone. But it wasn’t really necessary. I was already putting the pieces together in my head.
I was in France a couple of months ago, wrapping up an operation I’d been working on for over a year. I was part of a group of CIA agents who’d infiltrated a fledgling terrorist cell to influence the direction other terror groups were going at the time. The operation was top secret, one that was known only to those directly involved. We were told that our work was meant to redirect the budding ISIS terrorist faction in France in a way that would do less harm. Sometimes stopping terrorism wasn’t about arresting everyone and halting all their actions. Sometimes it was about using them to destroy bigger threats that might be on the verge of mass destruction. That’s what I thought we were doing in France.
I was wrong.
“I thought you and Emily took them down.”
“We were about to. But someone interfered.”
“Why didn’t you let me know?”
“You were gone by then.”
“What do you mean, ‘interfered’?”
“They want to keep it going, man. They’re still running the terrorist cell, blowing shit up all over Europe. They’re being smart, of course, keeping it to small stuff, but they’re working toward something big. And you just opened a fucking door on the whole thing. If you’d talked to anyone else, you would have exposed the whole thing. That puts a target on your back.”
“My back?”
“They’ve invited themselves to your wedding. They’re going to take out the whole church.”
I stopped and spun around, studying my closest friends and my family through the window of the restaurant. Megan.
I couldn’t do this to her.
“You have to disappear, man. Go work things out with these people.”
“How do I do that?”
“Make them think you’re one of them.”
“Okay.”
I didn’t see as I had any other choice. I listened as he told me what to do, my heart breaking as I absorbed the impact this would have on Megan.
My darling Megan,
I never thought I’d be writing these words, but I find myself in a position that I never dreamed I would be in. I can’t marry you. I can’t tie myself down to such complete commitment. Not now. Maybe someday…not now. I’m sorry.
I’m leaving. Don’t wait for me to come back. It’s not fair to you.
I love you,
Luke.
I left the note beside the bed as she slept, a soft smile on her lips. I ached as I looked down at her, wanting more than anything to lie with her and just hold her in my arms. These last three months had been the best of my life. Living day in and day out with her, looking to the future with optimism rather than cynicism…it was wonderful. I couldn’t believe that I had to walk away.
But I did. I left and met up with Garner and a group of other CIA agents I’d worked with since joining the agency. I kept telling myself it was the only way to keep Megan safe.
And she was safe. For a while.
And then Amber walked into her life.
I wasn’t even in Texas at the time. I was in California, checking out some rumors that Garner was afraid would come back to bite us. It was Garner himself who called me and said that Amber was at Dragon.
“What the hell is she doing there, Luke?”
“I have no idea.”
“You assured me that Amber knew nothing about Peter and everything he was involved in.”
“She doesn’t.”
“But she’s visiting your ex.”
It was like a knife slicing through me when he referred to Megan that way.
“I’ll check it out,” I assured him.
I’d tried to stay out of Houston in the months after my disappearance. I only went back a handful of times, but never again after Peter’s accident. There was no need. I was Garner’s lackey now, his little puppy dog, running off to do nonsense errands while he reveled in the idea of having me wrapped around his little finger. He loved the idea that I’d come to the dark side because I was—according to him—so straight laced that I had to have had a stick up my ass. He loved that he’d managed to corrupt me.
I was one of the bad guys now.
I flew to Houston and followed Amber for a day or two. When Cole showed up, it was nearly impossible to watch her without him spotting me. So I went around them, checked out Jack Forrester, and followed him around for a while. I convinced him that the good guys were on his ass. And then I dropped his name to a couple of colleagues who were on the right side of the fence. Of course, it didn’t last long. He and Kurt Sanchez were arrested after I was able to assure Garner that Amber knew nothing, but Garner was still in a position where he was able to get Forrester released. He took care of Forrester himself.
I stood at the edge of that unmarked grave and watched as Garner berated Forrester for his actions. I watched Forrester grovel for his life. And then I watched the life taken from him, seeing it disappear from his eyes in an instant, then saw him fall back into the cold, empty hole. That’s the moment I knew that this was how I would end up if I wasn’t smart.
It was time for me to play my own game by my own rules.
It was time for me to be the man Megan thought I was.
Chapter 11
Luke
“I went to California and had the surgery,” I said, waving my hand near my face, “because I needed to be close to you. I had to make sure you didn’t learn anything that could put you in danger.”
“What did this Garner think had happened to you?”
“He knows where I am. He thinks I’m destroying evidence—that I’m protecting him.”
Megan frowned, the look almost as beautiful on her as a smile. I ran my thumb over her bottom lip, wanting to taste it more than anything.
“He thinks you’re protecting him? How?”
“By corrupting Emily’s notes. By making sure there’s no way you’ll find any evidence among your brother’s things. By making sure no one else approaches you.” I leane
d forward and kissed her forehead lightly. “You and Dragon have been the only breeches in this whole operation. Garner’s bosses at the CIA have no idea what he’s up to. As long as they get the results they ask for, they don’t look too closely. And his colleagues, they all assume that what he’s doing is sanctioned. The people in France, they have no idea that the CIA is even involved. It’s the perfect operation. No one but you, me and my friend Edgar know everything that’s happening.”
“And Dominic. And Hayden.”
I stepped back slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I left them with Emily’s notes. They know everything that was on them.”
I untangled myself from her body and crossed the room, tempted to put my fist through the wall. I couldn’t believe she would put them at risk in that way!
“Why would you—?”
“Because they’ve been working on this right alongside me, Luke. They’ve put as much time and effort into it as I have. And Dominic was there in Paris with Emily.”
“I know.”
“Don’t you think he deserves to know the truth?”
“Not if it puts him and his wife in danger! I’m trying to protect all of you here, but you’re making it so difficult!”
“We have to find a way to end this.”
I snorted. “Don’t you think I’ve tried?”
“But now we have the ammunition.”
I looked at her. “What does that mean?”
“We do what Emily was trying to do. We go public with her notes. We go to the CIA, or a reporter.”
I shook my head. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Not if we do it right.”
“Megan—”
“We can’t go on the run for the rest of our lives. We have to end this.”
I went to her and slid my hands over her hips to pull her hard against me again.
“I love that you’re so optimistic. But I’m a little afraid that you’re not seeing the whole picture here. Garner is CIA. He could ruin your life even if he can’t find you. He can destroy your business and bring charges against you and your family that you can’t fight. He could make you look like a fool and take away any credibility you might have had to convince people that Emily’s notes are authentic.”
“I’ve seen Emily’s notes. He’d have to work pretty hard to take away the power of those.”
“He could, Megan, he—”
She pressed a finger to my lips. “We have to do this, Luke. It’s our only option.”
I wanted to believe her that it would work and that we could actually extract ourselves from this nightmare. I wanted to believe that the dreams we’d had of our future could actually come true. But I was afraid to believe.
She moved close, her lips less than a breath from mine.
“I love you. I know that you’ve done all this for me. But now it’s time for you to let me take over.”
I tried to object again, but she kissed me. It was a slow, gentle kiss that made my head spin. I was suddenly so aware of the exhaustion that had been following me around. It caught up and curled around my neck, weighing so heavy on my shoulders that I wanted to share the burden. I wanted to shovel it off onto her. She was willing. But…this was Megan. Megan was strong and independent. Those were some of the things I loved most about her. And some of the things that made it so hard for me to be the man I wanted to be when I was around her.
I was raised to believe the man handled all the hard stuff, the heavy things. But Megan wanted to share in those responsibilities. That was what made me put off our wedding for years, making her wait until I was out of the Navy, and then when the CIA came calling, until I was in a position where I could feel good settling behind a desk. It was always something, some excuse, but she waited patiently. She was okay with waiting for me.
I wasn’t. I shouldn’t have waited. I should have made her mine a very long time ago.
I wanted to possess her now. I wanted to crawl inside of her and stay there, to be such a part of her that no one could tear us apart. I ripped at her clothes, pulling that thin blouse from her body, ripping it so that several of the buttons made a pinging sound as they landed in the stainless steel sink. My mouth moved down to her throat as my fingers invaded her bra, pulling the material back to give me room enough to capture her nipple. She sighed and the sound was like a bush fire rushing over a hillside. It just made me want her even more.
I had to pull her off the counter to get that damn skirt off of her. It was such a nuisance! Women’s clothing should all be easily removed. But now she was on her feet and that sexy ass was right there…I turned her around and ran my hands slowly over it, groaning as my fingers parted her cheeks and went searching for the familiar slit hidden just beneath. She arched her back as I slid inside of her, two fingers thick and long, sliding against the satin flesh that was hidden from everything and everyone but me.
“I want you,” I whispered against her ear as I pulled her head back, as I twisted my fingers in her hair and pulled her back against my shoulder. “I want to be inside of you every day for the rest of my life.”
“I’m yours,” she said, her voice tortured with her need. “I’ve always been yours.”
That was all I needed, all I’d ever needed. I let go of her long enough to free myself from my jeans. I pulled her hips back and thrust hard inside of her, filling her with one movement. She cried out, wiggling her ass hard against me, accepting me with a need that was as large as my own.
I held her still for a second, closing my eyes as I tried to grab my control, trying not to completely lose it. She tried to move, to grind herself against me, but I held her tight. I began to rotate my hips, rolling against her before I began a good, steady thrust, making her moan with every movement. She reached back, her hand sliding over my hip. And a twist of her head allowed me to see her gorgeous blue eyes and her beautiful, almost angelic, face.
How long had I watched her? How long had I stood so close, but been unable to touch her? How long had I lied to her, unable to tell her I was standing right there in front of her? How many times had I lain with her as Dante, aware of her tumultuous emotions, but unable to tell her the truth—to tell her that she wasn’t giving up hope or moving on from what we had? How many times had I wanted to tell her that I was the man she loved?
She was mine again. I wasn’t ever going to give that up. Not again.
I reached around and pressed my fingertips to her clit, feeling her cunt expand and relax with every thrust of my thick cock inside of her. Her moans came faster, and then they stopped, and there was just the soft rush of her breaths slipping from between her lips. And then her thighs quivered, her belly tightened. I felt her press back against me, and then stand very still as her orgasm burst through her.
It was about all I could take.
Just as my own release began, something registered inside my head, some alarm that had been trained not to get lost with even this intense pleasure.
Danger.
Megan began to cry out. I slapped a hand over her mouth, pressing my own against her shoulder, biting down to keep my own scream from slipping out. As it passed, slowly, I opened my eyes and studied the window over the sink. The lights were low in the kitchen. We probably weren’t visible beyond a few feet. But there was a light in the trees just beyond the driveway.
There shouldn’t be a light there.
It was moving, jiggling, like a flashlight being held by someone walking over roots and brush and debris.
They’d found us.
“Stay low,” I hissed against Megan’s ear.
I pulled away, fixed my jeans, and took her hand. I dragged her, naked, across the living room to the master bedroom. There were more lights. I could see them through the living room windows. Not just in the front, but on the beach, too.
Megan grabbed some clothes out of the dresser and ducked into the bathroom. I got the gun I knew she kept in the closet and made sure it was loaded. Slipping back to the living room, I st
ood off to one side and watched the lights, counting.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Five. We could take them out.
Megan came silently down the hall. I pressed the gun into her hand and watched as she checked the ammunition before loading a cartridge into the chamber. I reached for my duffle, removing my own weapon. After following the same procedure she used, I swung the bag over my shoulder and led the way to the glass doors that led to the back deck.
One. Two. Two of them went down almost silently on the beach.
I grabbed Megan’s hand and made my way quickly around the side of the house, keeping close to the side of the house, in the shadows that the overhanging roof created. Three. Megan caught one trying to slip up close to us from the water’s edge.
Four was in the driveway. I popped him just as Megan approached the passenger side of the car, the keys I’d handed her in her fist. The lights on the car flashed as she pushed the lock release. Five made the fatal mistake of running as he came to back up his already downed friends.
Megan got him with a single shot.
If not for the report of our unsilenced guns, the night would not have been disturbed. Not that it was, terribly. It was that time just before dawn when the night animals were settling down to bed and the morning creatures had yet to wake. If anyone had heard, they hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it just yet.
We drove away, rushing back to the city we’d just fled.
Chapter 12
Megan
“I need your phone.”
We had pulled off the highway at a busy fast-food restaurant that served incredible breakfast burritos. I had one of those burritos held to my lips, watching him for a reaction.
He tugged the throwaway out of his pocket and handed it to me without objection. That surprised the hell out of me.
I set my food down and studied the phone. It wasn’t one of those I’d seen a million times on the rack at Walmart or Target. It looked for all the world like the smartphone he’d tossed out the window when we first made our escape.
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