Monday Morning
When Elizabeth finally woke from the restless sleep, the house was alive with noise. It was like everyone and their mother had moved in and were suddenly taking over. She opened her eyes and jumped. Tony was sitting on the side of her bed, newspaper, and coffee beside him. He was the last person she expected to see on her bed, or wanted to see.
“Where’s Ethan?” she asked, taking the coffee he held out to her, and thanking him. He looked like he had been run through the emotional ringer, just as she had, but possibly worse.
“He’s wrapping up some directions for the teams; he said you guys were leaving in a little while for Quantico.”
“We are,” she answered, sipping. “How are you doing?” Elizabeth could see the black rings under his eyes.
“I’m miserable as sin. I miss my job. I miss my friends, and I’m just lucky Agent Blackhawk is letting me anywhere near this operation and you.”
Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ear, and wished she could offer him more reassurance, but he made this mess on his own. “He’ll allow you back on duty while we’re away,” she answered, matter-of-factly. She knew him. Ethan Blackhawk would want every eye and ear open, including Tony’s. He wouldn’t be willing to waste a resource now that they would be down two more people.
“I heard about your dad, and I’m sorry,” he muttered, not knowing what to say about her father. Then he panicked as the tears welled up in her eyes. “Oh crap! I’m sorry, Lyzee,” he said, taking the coffee cup from her and hugging her. Tony reached for the tissue box only to have Blackhawk hand it to him. Their eyes met, and he went to release her.
“Don’t worry, Tony,” he reassured, sitting beside her, stroking her leg gently. “I missed you, baby. Did you get any rest?”
Elizabeth turned at his voice and went into his arms, curling around him and kissing him on his neck. She held on, almost like a child would. It wasn’t far from the truth. Suddenly, she felt like a scared, hurt child.
Deep down she hated that she was this weak, but she couldn’t stop the flood of pain. “I missed you too, Ethan. I slept a bit. It would have been better if you were with me.”
Blackhawk kissed her cheek. “I was a little busy, but next time. I promise.”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Tony, you're back on duty, effective immediately,” he decided, holding her against him and offering her comfort. “There’s a member of my team, Brice. He’s a genius, but he’s going to need help navigating all the information in constructing a timeline. I need you to sit with him and assist.”
“Am I still off the street?”
He nodded and spoke honestly, “Just for now, but give me some time. I have to make sure Mr. Cory doesn’t want to kill you if he finds out you were the one with his daughter. Fathers are very protective of their daughters, but fathers who are looking for a scapegoat for their daughter’s murder, can get mean. It’s for your own protection. As of right this moment, Lyzee’s job is in the clear, and that was my first priority, protecting her. Records show you came to me as soon as it was handed over to the FBI, you have been questioned, and your alibis will be checked. I just can’t let you out on the street if information gets leaked to Mr. Cory. He’ll come looking for you. My priority now is to keep you alive.”
Elizabeth moved away from him, wiping her eyes. Her heart was filled with love for this man. He wasn’t only honorable, but he was just compassionate. After everything that went down between the two men, he could have let Tony fend for himself, and yet he didn’t.
“I didn’t think about that,” he replied. “Thank you, Agent Blackhawk.”
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks. I get to think about all the details,” he said, smiling and Elizabeth laughed. She was well aware what the ‘big bucks’ amounted to and it was indeed funny. Once upon a time she made them too.
It was the first laugh she had heard in hours, and it made her feel a little better, At least that wasn’t broken in her. She still could find humor. Knowing what was coming was hard, it was going to be a miserable thing, and she would need the random happiness to get her through it. Well, that and Ethan Blackhawk. He was all that was holding her together, and she couldn’t imagine not having him.
“My team is ready. I have people going back over everything we touched on, and they are going to dig into everyone’s past that was killed, or involved in this. Something will pop, and we’ll be back on track. As for us, we leave shortly, there’s a jet waiting to take us back to Quantico.”
Elizabeth hopped out of bed. “I need a shower then. I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
Tony turned his attention back to the agent. “You’ll keep her safe?”
Blackhawk nodded as he started pulling clothes from his suitcase. “She’ll be safe. We’re going to be staying at my place for a night or two. As soon as we get through the exhumation, she’s going to see Gabe. He ordered me to bring her there and don’t worry, I’ll guard her with my life.”
“Okay.” Tony slid off the bed and smiled. “You better hurry, she’ll be done showering soon.” He laughed when the agent lifted his eyebrow. “Come on, like you weren’t thinking it yourself.”
“Lock the door on your way out,” he said, amused by the man. Oh, he was most definitely thinking it, even with a house full of people, and yet he knew he wouldn’t pursue it.
Ethan wanted to make sure Elizabeth was safe, protected, and he wanted to put her first, doing what was best for her. Blackhawk tossed around the options, and he decided to join her, just keeping his hands to himself.
Elizabeth stood under the hot spray, and it felt delicious across her body. It eased the stress, and relaxed her muscles. She rolled her shoulder, checking the stiffness and pain. Before this was all over she hoped it was healed just in case she needed to use her arm.
“How’s the mobility?” he asked, watching her carefully.
She jumped at the sound of his voice, and turned, “You scared me!” Elizabeth noticed he was naked, and ready to join her.
“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to frighten you,” he grabbed the shampoo from the ledge and joined her. He would forever buy this same shampoo just because it reminded him of her. “Let me help you,” he said softly, running his soapy hands through her hair, caressing her scalp, and enjoying how she leaned back against him, almost naturally.
“You're really good at that,” she sighed. “Lots of practice?” she asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but suddenly feeling a pang of jealousy that he would share this with anyone else but her.
He laughed, his voice full of humor, “That’s a dangerous question and if I answer it, keep in mind the best crime scene team is downstairs, and they will find the proof you murdered me.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help but laugh, even as she felt such intense jealousy like never before in her life. Stepping under the water spray she let the shampoo wash out of her hair, and down her body in a soapy stream. There was the awareness of his eyes watching her, and it heated her body.
He tried to not think about it, as he closed his eyes to wash his hair. It wasn’t easy as he willed his mind and body to not go there. Right now, she was an emotional mess. What she needed was someone to hold her up, not jump her like a horny teen in the shower.
Elizabeth watched him, blinking the water from her eyes. She couldn’t understand why he was trying so hard to not touch her; after all he joined her in the shower. Now he was drawing away, trying to pretend she wasn’t there. Maybe he didn’t want to deal with the broken and unfixable mess she had become.
Could she blame him?
“Why are you pulling away from me, Ethan?”
Her words shocked him. “What?”
Her lip trembled and the tears came as she spoke, “You’re pulling away from me. I can feel it. What did I do?”
Damn it!
He didn’t want her to feel that way. He was just trying to be cautious, giving her some space and letting her get over the previous night’s events. “El
izabeth, you just found out your father was murdered. I’m just giving you time to adjust.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her body. “I’ll meet you downstairs, Agent Blackhawk.” Her words hit their mark and his eyes gave him away for the briefest moment, and then it was gone again.
Watching her walk away, he felt the anger building as he rinsed himself off, and then followed her out into the bedroom. Elizabeth stood, drying her hair and ignoring his presence in the room. Part of him saw the vulnerability, but the rest of him was just angry about everything else that was going on around them.
“We need to talk!” Blackhawk could feel the tension building as he stood inches from her.
“There isn’t anything to talk about. You said it all. My father was murdered, and I shouldn’t be able to feel peace and comfort with…,” she almost said the man she loved, and caught herself.
Why add to the embarrassment of the moment? It obviously wasn’t reciprocated and probably never would be.
“Never mind.”
His temper was ready to break, and he could feel his carefully constructed control starting to fray at the seams. He hadn’t slept in what felt like days, he couldn’t remember when he last ate, and now she was pushing him, almost daring him to lose it and he just might.
“Lyzee, I only meant,” he started, trying to explain, but when she turned away from him, it was the end of his control. It became the straw that broke the agent’s back. He had enough and snapped.
Elizabeth started to walk away, she needed to pack, and then they had to leave. Her heart was broken. She couldn’t believe this man would emotionally desert her, but then again she didn’t own him or his heart. She didn’t know what she expected, but she found herself profoundly disappointed, because she wanted so much more.
When he put his hand on her arm, yanking her around, there was the startled look on her face. “I didn’t mean it like that, and you need to knock it off,” his voice vibrated in anger. “I haven’t slept in forever; I’m tired, scared and afraid of what’s coming. What I wanted in that shower and what I was going to do were two different things. It wasn’t for me, Elizabeth, but for you. I was giving you time to heal, not putting space between us, and if you can’t see that, I don’t know how to make you understand.”
Blackhawk grabbed his clothes and slammed back into the bathroom to get dressed, and get away from her. What he needed now was the space.
Elizabeth stood there unsure what to do. This was a new thing for her. Although she didn’t want to make him mad, she didn’t want to leave a growing void between them either. It was scary to feel this emptiness. She had come to love him and needed him so much that it terrified her.
Taking a chance, Elizabeth went to the bathroom door and knocked lightly. When he didn’t answer it hurt her, but she didn’t give up. Turning the knob she found it unlocked and she entered, ready to face him.
When she saw him her heart broke. He stood under the spray of water, hands braced on the wall, face in pure anguish. She hated herself for hurting him. This man was holding everything together and holding her up too. The pressure on him had to be crushing. There was no doubt in her mind that she owed him an apology.
She dropped her own towel and went to him. Maybe she should have been afraid he would reject her, but she didn’t care. Right now, Ethan needed someone to heal him, and he was just as raw inside as well.
Moving to him tentatively, she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his shoulder blade. Leaving kisses across his tattoos, Elizabeth just offered what she had to give.
Love.
Blackhawk was experiencing such emptiness, as he stood alone in the shower. He couldn’t believe he put his hands on her in anger. She just found out her father was murdered, and instead of care and calm, he lashed out at her. If she never forgave him, he’d understand.
As he retreated and stood under the shower, hoping to wash away the pain and anger, he felt her near. It was as if his heart just knew when its owner was close. He stayed very still, wary of what was coming and he accepted his fate. There was no way he would fight back if there was an argument. Right at that moment, he was too empty of all emotion.
When she laid her cheek on his back and hugged him, everything inside him broke apart into a million pieces and never fixable to anyone but her. She held the last piece; Elizabeth LaRue was the cornerstone that held everything together in his heart.
His life wouldn’t stay together unless she was the center.
Elizabeth slid around to the front of his body, bringing her lips to his, gently, lightly, with all the tenderness she had inside her for this man. She coaxed him into the kiss, making him melt with all she felt for him. When he didn’t push her out, but gave her total access to him, there was relief.
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him to her body. “I’ve had a rough night. I’m edgy and short tempered, but you didn’t deserve to be the target of my frustration. Please forgive me.”
Could he be this lucky?
“I always want you, Elizabeth. I could die from all the want I feel for you.” His words said it all. There were just the last three words he wanted to hand her. Part of him was unsure if she was ready to hear how he felt. He never said them to anyone, ever. The only woman who ever heard them from him was his mother, as she was dying.
Saying ‘I love you’ was a gift from him. The words meant commitment and forever. Those words would be the one thing he could promise her that no one else would hear but her. In all his life he never felt compelled to say them to anyone, but her.
There was a battle brewing deep within him over letting them out, or keeping them locked deep inside.
“Don’t worry Ethan,” she replied, leaving little kisses across his chest, and shoulders. She was hurting inside, and so was he. Elizabeth just didn’t see it until now. Blackhawk was just as wounded by his past, and she felt the need to fix him. “I want you, and always will,” she deepened the kiss, offering him more, offering him all.
When they broke apart, he lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist. He felt like he was watching from outside his body, as he positioned himself to take her. All he could do was pray he would be gentle, and that she would understand how he felt about her, without hearing the words.
Before he could give her that last piece of him, she had to know everything, and he was scared shitless. Over the last two decades, he built the man he was, and only this woman had ever made him feel vulnerable. He needed to bring her to his home, and see what she saw there.
His attention was torn back to the kiss, her wandering hands, and the woman he held pinned to the shower wall.
Elizabeth welcomed the invasion of him pushing into her, as he braced her back against the cool of the shower tile. He moved slowly in and out of her, achingly so. For now, Ethan was drawing out the pleasure and the passion as long as he could last. Her hands found his hair; they buried themselves in it, holding his mouth to hers as his did the same. Both were trapped until they found what they needed in each other.
Blackhawk could feel her shaking with every glide in and every pull out; she whispered his name against his mouth until they were moans.
It undid him and she felt so good, like he found his way home after years of being lost, hungry, and desperate. He didn’t understand how he knew from the dreams that this woman would be the only way to find peace, and happiness, but he just knew.
He was pulled back to focus as she tightened around him and then shattered. All her inner muscles pulled at him, luring him over the edge with her. At the precipice, he let himself fall, because ultimately, there was no one he wanted to be with more than her.
* * *
The killer watched from the tree line, binoculars in hand. He could see all the FBI agents milling around, and then he saw the sheriff, loading her suitcase into the back of her Jeep. The FBI agent followed suit, and he felt rage.
The man she was whoring around with was taking her somewhere, and it infuriated him. She was leaving, running away again, and he had to find a way to bring her back. This destroyed all the plans; she was to be the next victim, taken out much like her nosey father had been, but this time more painfully. He would break her first and make her feel pain.
Taking a few calming breaths, he tried to relax. All he needed was to find out where she was going. In Salem, that would be easy. People talked and all he had to do was listen and watch.
No one ever saw him, he blended into the background. He would find her location and get to her. There was no place safe enough for Elizabeth LaRue to hide.
He packed up his gun and called it a day. The voice demanded he not kill her by bullet. The sheriff was meant to suffer for her sins, much like the other witches.
Oh yes, she would feel the pain.
* * *
Ethan Blackhawk and Elizabeth LaRue both slept on the jet, side by side in two seats that reclined. They needed some sleep- just a few hours to catch up before they were back in Georgetown and having to face the ugliness that was coming.
When they had boarded the jet, he had to confiscate her gun, and he felt horrible doing it. They were crossing state lines, and she wasn’t FBI anymore. There wasn’t enough time to get jurisdiction papers filed. He was pretty sure she was going to fight him, but she hadn’t in the least. She pulled it off her hip, removed the clip, checked the chamber and handed it to him. Right then he wanted to apologize, but she wouldn’t let him.
Rules were rules.
Blackhawk let her curl into his body, sharing his space, and they both slept soundly. Not long into his slumber, the dreams were back. He found himself standing and watching her across the yard. They stood behind her house in the flowers and the look on her face was pure confusion. Words weren’t uttered, and there was no sound until the very end, when she looked at him, eyes meeting eyes and once again she pleaded for help.
The Killing Times (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 1)) Page 24