Thomas's Vow

by Liliana Hart

  “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up. Maybe Sleeping Beauty is a more appropriate name than Matilda.”

  Cat turned her head and couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction at the sight Thomas made. He was lounged back in the bedside chair, his t-shirt taut over his muscles and his jeans worn and comfortable looking. His hair was still mussed from sleep and his chocolate eyes weren’t giving any of his thoughts away.

  Insecurity began to eat away at the edges of her confidence. She wasn’t used to the relationship dance. She’d never actually had a relationship before. Her only experience with sex had been when she was eighteen, but that was before her life changed completely. The FBI had put a damper on that relationship real fast.

  So she did what she always did when faced with an uncomfortable situation. She pasted a smile on her face and brazened her way through. “How long have you been up? You should have woken me.”

  “I’ve been trying to since yesterday morning. Your body obviously needed the sleep.”

  Now that he mentioned it, she did have a pressing urge to make her way to the bathroom. She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and realized she still didn’t have clothes on. She glanced at Thomas beneath her lashes and saw he wasn’t unaffected by the sight of her body. His eyes darkened and his gaze was intense before he shook his head as if to wake himself from a trance.

  Something was definitely going on.

  “Take it easy,” he said. “You’re libel to be stiff after being still so long.”

  “I’ve got it. The pain’s not nearly as bad as it was. I’ll be out of your hair before you know it.”

  His lips tightened and she made her way to the bathroom, her muscles loosening a little with every step.

  “Do you care if I take a shower?”

  “No. Go ahead. Try not to get your stitches too wet. I’ll take another look at them once you get out and get you a fresh bandage. One of my brothers brought by the duffle bag of clothes you had in the trunk. I’ll set it inside the door for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  The shower went a long way towards improving her mood. Her muscles relaxed under the hot spray, and it felt good to wash her hair and get clean. When she stepped out of the shower, the duffle bag that held her clothes was just inside the door. She pulled out a pair of loose boxer shorts and a grey t-shirt, deciding to forego a bra for now. She brushed out her hair and rubbed cream into her skin. The sight that greeted her in the mirror didn’t exactly shout seduction. She still looked like a kid, though she’d turned twenty-four the month before.

  Thomas was waiting for her when she came out of the bathroom. A tray of toast and eggs sat on the nightstand, and he hand fresh bandages laid out on the bed.

  “Go ahead and get comfortable. You can eat while I check your stitches.”

  “You got it, Doc. So…did I miss anything important yesterday?”

  “Well, Cooper was pretty upset you weren’t available to talk to him. And I had plenty of patients curious to know about the woman who tried to run over the O’Neil’s cow. But other than that it was a pretty uneventful day.”

  Cat sputtered around her toast. “I did not try to run over that cow. It just walked right into the middle of the street. If I ever see the O’Neil’s they’re going to get a piece of my mind. They can’t have their livestock roaming all over town.”

  Thomas grinned as he put a small bandage over her stitches. She sighed in disgust. There would be a hell of a scar once the stitches came out.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Thomas said, throwing away the old bandages and pulling his chair closer to the bed. He didn’t meet her eyes when he asked, and the food in her stomach was beginning to feel like led.

  “I guess.” She wiped her nervous hands on a napkin and pushed the tray away.

  “What’s this?” The bottom dropped out of her stomach as he held up the gold Mayan mask.

  “Do you make it a point of going through all of your guests’ things?”

  “Dammit, Cat. What do I have to do to prove that I want to help you? That you can trust me?”

  “I just met you. And while you seem like a nice guy and I’ll admit to a definite attraction, I’m not in the habit of unloading my life story on strangers. No matter how trustworthy.”

  “Do you understand that my brother is digging into your background? He’s been determined to peel back the layers ever since he found out that the identity belonging to your car was a fake. And I promise you, Cooper is a tenacious son of a bitch. If there’s something to be found, he’ll find it.”

  Cat blew out a long breath, knowing the truth was bound to come out eventually. “I told them that identity wouldn’t hold up well enough. But it’s not like they ever listen to me. As long as I do what I’m told they don’t really pay me any attention.”

  Thomas set the mask aside and took her hand. “We’ll deal with this. The both of us. I can hold my brother off as long as I need to. And if you’re in trouble I can help you. Just as long as you promise to stay out of trouble in the future.”

  “It’s not like that, Thomas. I can’t just quit.”

  “So are you telling me you actually stole this? You’re a thief? And you have no intention of quitting?”

  “Yeah, I stole it. But it’s not what you think.”

  His expression was hard as granite, but he stared at her with determination. He wasn’t going to give up on her, and that gave her the courage she needed to tell him the ugly truth.

  “I was raised to be a thief. My dad and uncle trained me from when I was a little girl. I didn’t have a normal childhood—regular school hours or close friends. They trained me for the big jobs because they were getting older and slower. Museums mostly. And a few private estates with extensive collections.”

  Cat stopped and took a drink of her juice, her throat as dry as dust.

  “And then my dad and uncle got caught and were sent to prison when I was eighteen. My dad was killed within weeks by a fence he’d cheated out of a hundred grand. As far as I know my uncle is still behind bars. I don’t think he’ll see daylight for a long time.”

  “If they’re no longer in your life, why do you feel you have to keep up their work? You could start fresh. Leave that life behind you. No one here but me knows your real name. And I’d never tell anyone. You could have a life here.”

  “You’d want me to stay here, even after everything I’ve just told you?” Cat asked, disbelievingly.

  He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. “I knew I wanted you forever the first moment I laid eyes on you. I wasn’t planning on telling you that right away, but it seemed like a good time. I know we don’t know a lot about each other, but I very much believe in fate. And even though our minds don’t know each other, I think our bodies recognize each other very well.”

  He skimmed his gaze down her body and her nipples puckered, remember the pleasure he’d given her before. He looked back into her eyes, and she made a decision she knew would change her life forever.

  “I think our hearts recognize each other as well,” she said softly. “And if you’re willing to take a chance on someone like me, then I have no choice but to trust you with everything I am.”

  A visible weight seemed to lift from Thomas’s shoulders and his smile was encouraging.

  “It’s not my father or his legacy that keeps me in this game,” Cat said. “It’s the FBI.”

  “What?” The look of surprise on his face was almost comical.

  “The FBI never had enough evidence to prosecute me when my dad and uncle were arrested, and dad and Uncle Jimmy didn’t roll on me when they were questioned. I’d just turned eighteen, and I knew I was looking at a stiff penalty if I was caught, so I kept my nose clean after they went to prison. But then a couple of FBI agents came to my door one day. And they gave me an offer that was hard to refuse. It’s not a crime if I’m stealing for the good guys. All I have to do is steal back items that have already been sto
len. I’m a very hot commodity among museums. And I make a nice cut of the profit.”

  “So you can’t quit because the FBI won’t let you?”

  “That’s one of the reasons.”

  “What’s the other?”

  “I just don’t want to.”

  Chapter 5

  “Stealing is a hell of a rush, Thomas. I wish you could understand, but I can tell by the look on your face you don’t.”

  “No, I don’t.” He rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair, tousling it more than it already was. He was having a hard time grasping all this. He’d opened a bigger can of worms than he’d anticipated.

  “I want you to understand.” She grabbed his hand and waited until he looked at her. “Being a thief is all I’ve ever known. It’s been my entire life. And I can guarantee if the FBI hadn’t knocked on my door that day then I would have been taking jobs on my own. What would I have done if I’d gone straight? I was the daughter of a felon with no real schooling. You think I was going to walk into some place and get a job?”

  He realized she was right and answered. “No, I can see how that would have been difficult.”

  “My arrangement with the FBI satisfies us both. I’m putting priceless artifacts back where they belong, and the FBI is making sure one of the best cat burglars in the world isn’t running loose among society.”

  “That’s all fine and good until you get shot. What happens then?”

  “I find a sexy doctor to patch me up.”

  He grunted with annoyance and tried to stand up, but she kept her hand wrapped around his.

  “Despite what it looks like, this is the first injury I’ve ever gotten on a job. And I still got the mask for the National Museum in Canada. And as soon as I pass it over to them I’ll get a very nice paycheck. Everybody wins.”

  “This is a lot to take in,” Thomas said. “I never made plans that the woman I loved might be a cat burglar.”

  Her breath caught in her throat at his declaration. “Thomas…I can’t…”

  “Don’t say anything yet, Cat. You just need a little time to get used to the idea. And I need a little time to see if we can work out some kind of compromise. In the meantime, where do you want me to hide this?”

  He picked up the mask gently, examining the fine workmanship of something that had lasted generations.

  “Wrap it back up and put it back under the bed. It’s as good as any place for now. Unless your brother decides to go snooping like you did.”

  He smiled sheepishly. “I’ll take care of Cooper. Don’t worry. He can be hard-headed, but he’s nothing if not logical.”

  “If you’ll get my phone, I can call the curator of the museum and have him come here to pick up the mask. We’re not that far from the border.”

  Thomas looked at his watch and then took off his shirt. “I have exactly two hours until patients are going to start showing up. Why don’t you hold off on making that call for a little while?”

  “Why don’t I?”

  Thomas stripped out of his jeans and let her look her fill. She devoured him with her eyes, and her breathing became slow and laborious. The want in her eyes made him feel like Superman, and his cock was as hard as it had ever been.

  What they’d shared two nights ago had been just the beginning. He’d spent all of the day remembering the taste of her against his lips and thinking how amazing it would feel when he was finally able to get inside of her.

  She crawled up on her knees and placed her hands against his abs. Her breath feathered against his erection and he knew if she took him in her mouth again then this would be over before it had even begun.

  “Not this time, sweetheart. I need to be inside of you.” Thomas sat back in the chair beside the bed and watched her out of hooded eyes. “Take your clothes off for me.”

  Cat grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, and he growled low in his throat when her breasts were exposed. They were firm and full—a perfect handful—and the buds of her nipples were ripe like raspberries. He longed to take them in his mouth, feel her pussy clench around his cock with every suckle he made.

  “Now the shorts.” His voice was barely a whisper, and he had to clear his throat as her hands went to the elastic waistband.

  “Patience, Doctor MacKenzie. The best things in life are worth waiting for.”

  “Just remember that payback’s a bitch, sweetheart.”

  She discarded the shorts and tossed them to the floor, leaving her only in a pair of black lace boy short panties. She ran her hands over her hips and toyed with the waistband.

  “Mmm, I hope you have more of those,” he said. “I might need to buy you some in every color.”

  “Do you want me to take them off?”

  “Yeah. But get off the bed and stand in front of me.” She did as he asked, but he stopped her before she could push them down. “Now turn around and bend over as you take them off.”

  She blushed at his command, but she turned around. He saw her take a deep breath for courage before she bent over in front of him. He couldn’t help but run his hands over the backs of her thighs and toy with the lace edges of the panties. Her hands were propped on the bed, and her hair hung like flaming ribbons over the covers.

  “You have no idea how fucking sexy you look like this. I can see how much you want me.” His finger touched the dampness between her thighs and she pushed back against him, wanting more.

  Thomas tugged the panties down slowly, until she stood bared before him. He inhaled her scent, her desire, and couldn’t help but taste the dewy drops that had gathered on her folds.

  “Ohmigod,” she moaned even as she pushed back against his face for more.

  His fingers bore into her hips and his tongue devoured her, moving in and out of her just as his cock would be soon. She shuddered against him and he knew she was just on the edge of an orgasm, so he laved his tongue against her pussy one last time before pulling away.

  “No, don’t stop,” she begged.

  “Patience, sweetheart. I told you payback was a bitch. Now back up and sit on my cock. And then I want you to ride me.”

  Thomas pulled her against him and moaned at the sight of her tight ass sinking down on his cock. She was warm and wet and oh so tight. Her breath caught as the head of his cock parted her folds, and then she gave one long moan as she impaled herself on him to the hilt.

  “Fuck,” he rasped, closing his eyes and concentrating so he didn’t come too soon. He straightened his legs and propped her over his thighs so the penetration was deeper. Both their breaths were labored and sweat dampened his brow. And then she began to move around him and he knew he was lost forever. Nothing had ever felt so exquisite.

  “Mmm, Thomas.”

  She rode him with abandon, her hands cupping her breasts as her hips gyrated against his, milking him with every stroke. He brought his hand around and parted her folds, his finger finding her clit with ease. He tapped his finger against it rapidly and her movements became disjointed, too overwhelmed by the sensations coursing through her body.

  “That’s it, baby. Just a little more.”

  “Oh, God. Please…”

  Thomas pressed one hand against her stomach and kept the other slapping against her clit. Her vaginal muscles tightened around him, and it had him gritting his teeth to keep from going over the edge with her. He wasn’t nearly ready to be done with her.

  Cat’s juices soaked his cock and spasms wracked her body. She slumped forward, boneless, and would have collapsed to the floor if he hadn’t been holding on to her. He kissed the nape of her neck and lifted her from his body. She whimpered as contact was broken.

  “Easy, sweetheart. Just lie back on the bed.”

  He turned her around gently and pushed her back on the bed. The disoriented, sleepy, look in her eyes filled him with satisfaction, but this time he wanted to look into their blue depths as she came apart in his arms.

  “Look at me, Cat.” Her eyes fluttered open
and he slid into her with one smooth stroke. He kissed her once, twice, and then began to move.

  His muscles quivered with restraint and he captured her hands in his, staring deep into her eyes with everything he felt bare for her to see. Her legs hitched around the small of his back, changing the angle so he was able to go deeper, kissing the mouth of her cervix with every thrust. His balls drew tight against his body, and he knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

  “You’re mine, Cat. All of you. I don’t care about your past. I only care about a future we can both find satisfaction in.”

  He took her mouth in a savage kiss just as her pussy tightened around him. This time he went over the edge with her.

  Chapter 6

  Thomas looked at his watch for the seventh time in the last forty-five minutes. She should have been back by now.

  He’d wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her the rest of the day and make love until they were both exhausted with pleasure. But he’d had patients to see—even more than usual because of the curiosity surrounding the mystery woman who was currently residing in the MacKenzie guest room.

  So he’d reluctantly gotten up and showered and dressed, while she’d made a call to the museum director at the National Gallery in Canada. The man had been relieved at the sound of her voice, and truly glad that she hadn’t been more severely injured. They’d agreed to meet at a diner at one o’clock about twenty miles south of the Canadian Border. They’d make the exchange, her FBI contact would be notified, and then the money would be deposited in her account.

  She’d told him she would come back. She’d promised.

  But it was already a quarter till six and there was no sign of her. His gut clenched with fear that she’d changed her mind and decided to keep living the way she had been—an anonymous name with no friends or family—going from place to place at the FBI’s whims and stealing back what had already been stolen.

  The last of his patients was walking out the door when his brother walked in. Cooper looked tired, and guilt ate away at Thomas. He knew his brother loved him and only wanted what was best for him. They hadn’t spoken since the harsh words they’d shared the morning before. He had no idea how to explain Cat’s predicament. It wasn’t his secret to tell.