"And most of all, my wife, the woman I love more than any person in the world, you thought I didn't love her anymore."
It was then she saw the pain in David's gaze. She realized how much her words and actions had hurt him, too.
He turned the dial up all the way and she cried out. She was so close, on the verge of exploding. If he just made it last a little longer...
He turned it off.
"Please, David, please. I'm sorry." She sobbed, ashamed that she had been too weak to confront him and instead pulled away, hurting both of them. "Please, I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I love you."
David brushed the tears from her eyes and pressed a kiss to her lips. The damn inside her burst open with that one small touch, and the tears flowed free. She cried for the years of loneliness, for living in the same house but not connecting. For knowing he’d suffered because of her selfishness.
"Hush, it's okay. I'm sorry too. I let work and life distract me. But I promise, I will never let you feel alone again.”
He sprinkled kisses across her nose, her cheeks, her chin. Her breathing hitched, and she tried to get the crying under control. It wasn't until his lips took possession of her mouth that she moved past the sorrow and into longing. Every nerve in her body seemed raw. Everywhere he touched tingled and burned.
David tore his mouth from hers, and this time they were both panting. He untied her panties and threw the vibrator across the bed. He took his time, stretching out on top of her and tangling his fingers in hers. He pushed her legs farther apart; his cock nudged her entrance, easing inside. She held her breath.
David pushed forward, slow, steady, stretching her wider as he went deeper, not stopping until he filled her completely. Until nothing existed except for him and her and their need. The need to connect to one another again.
He dropped his head to hers, sweat dripping from his temples into her hair. “Fuck, I’ve missed you. Missed this.” David pulled back and plunged inside.
He felt so right. So perfect for her. “Please, David. I need you.”
He kissed her again, a leisurely taking of her mouth. He didn't move, just stayed there, filling her. Lori wriggled her hips, and David groaned.
He lifted his head, and she saw he’d been holding back. His gaze burned with fire, with passion.
This time when he pulled out of her he didn’t take it easy. He slammed back into her, pushing her entire body up the bed, only stopping because she held her hands over her head. She cried out and wrapped her legs around his waist. She didn’t need a gentle taking. She needed his dominance. His power.
David slammed into her over and over until her self-control finally snapped and she screamed, pushed over the brink into the bliss of pleasure. He continued to pound into her, prolonging her orgasm into one long, bone-jarring ride of ecstasy. She was aware of his shout. Of him stiffening over her in his own release.
David collapsed on top of her, not pulling out, but locking their bodies together as one. Lori drifted free and high. Higher than she’d ever gone.
She regained consciousness sometime later, David still inside her. She never wanted him to leave.
This was what she’d been missing. This crazy passion. And it had been there the whole time. They’d denied each other for years.
“I don’t ever want to go back, David.”
David lifted his head, the satisfied smile on his face tugging at her heart. “I won’t let us. Ever. I promise. I will never leave you.”
He took her mouth, slowly and completely. Totally in control. And she loved it. Loved him.
“Let’s get a shower. I have plans for that sassy mouth of yours.” He untied her wrists, massaging her arms as he brought them down.
Her body prickled in anticipation. She’d longed to take him in her mouth earlier, but he’d denied her. Whether he knew it or not, she had plans of her own. Ones that involved him losing a little control.
Seven
They made love again in the shower. David dried her, lavishing attention on every detail. He slipped on some sweats, and Lori pulled on a pair of silk shorts and a matching top.
“How about some supper?”
Lori’s stomach grumbled, and she realized she’d skipped breakfast and lunch. “Sounds marvelous. How about pancakes?”
“I knew I loved you for a reason.” David wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close.
“You cook.” Lori gave him a mischievous wink and wiggled out of his grip.
“Damn woman, I thought you understood your place around here.” David made a growling sound and lunged for her.
Lori squealed and dove around the bed. “I do. It’s watching you cook my supper.”
Her teasing was rewarded with his deep rich laughter, something she’d been denied for too long. “You win. I’ll cook. You watch.” Lori couldn’t help her triumphant grin.
“But I’m not eating pancakes. I’m eating you.”
Lori froze, the very real image of him kneeling between her legs sending a flush of lust straight to her core. “Again?”
“Honey, you’re way sweeter than any syrup.”
“David—” Lori’s words were cut off by the trill of her cellphone. She grabbed it, saw that it was her mother and held a finger up to her lips. Then she answered. “Mom?”
“Mommy! Grandma said I can’t tell you about coming to spend the night with her. That it was a surprise.” Miley’s voice filled the room.
“Oh, sweetie, it was such a nice surprise too. How’s your brother?”
David caught her attention and pointed down stairs, mouthing that he would start supper. Lori blushed and shooed him away. She couldn’t concentrate on her kids with the images he’d planted in her mind.
“Tim is out back with grandpa, catching bugs.”
“What?”
“Fireflies.” Lori heard her mother say through the phone, and a smile broke across her face. Of course Miley would say bugs. She found anything that flew, or crawled, or wiggled gross.
“I love you, Miley.” Lori felt near to bursting at that moment. She had her husband back, her marriage. Her kids were happy and safe and being spoiled rotten by their doting grandparents. And she had David all to herself for two whole weeks.
After a few more minutes of talking to Miley and one very brief yell from Tim in the background, Lori disconnected the call. She was floating on a cloud of happiness about half-way down the stairs before she realized David hadn’t gotten to tell the kids good-night. A few seconds later, Lori turned the corner into the kitchen, the cell phone ready to dial and froze in her tracks.
A dark-haired man stood in her kitchen with a gun pressed to David’s temple. “Ah, so nice of you to join us, señora.”
Lori’s heart rammed up into her throat, threatening to burst from her body. The glow of happiness dissipated in less than a second.
“Put the phone on the floor before I put a bullet in your man’s head.” The man’s heavily accented words were so scary she could barely think. He pressed the gun harder against David’s temple, forcing his head to tilt sideways under the pressure. “Now, puta.”
His words snapped her into action, and Lori slowly squatted down, holding the phone in front of her. When she was below the island counter, where the man couldn’t see her hands, she glanced down and hit Greer’s phone number before laying it on the floor at her feet. David’s partner, and her cousin, might be their only hope.
She stood just as slowly, not chancing another glance downward to alert the man, but she caught the brief flash of the change in screen on her smart phone and knew Greer had answered. Before he could talk, she said, “Who are you? Why do you have a gun to my husband’s head?”
“Because your man thought we didn’t know he was undercover. But we know. The Lobello’s know everything. Just like I know how much it will hurt him for me to hurt you.”
“Let her go. She has nothing to do with us,” David ground out, but the man didn’t budge his weapon.
“No, señor. I don’t think so. You know what we do people who betray us. You know what we do to their family.”
Fear gripped Lori hard. She had no idea who this man was, or anything about his gang, but she knew without a doubt he was involved with David’s case. Just like she knew their lives were about to change forever.
Eight
"Son of a bitch." Greer slammed his beer down on the coffee table, drawing his brother Raylan's attention.
"What is it, bro?" Raylan's strong Cajun accent filled the small apartment. His brother had come up to Mississippi from south Louisiana for an interview with Greer’s boss at the DEA.
Greer held up a hand and put his cell on speakerphone.
“Please, let us go.” Lori’s voice cracked through the phone.
“I’m sorry your husband got you involved, señora. But don’t worry. Santos will take care of you.”
Fucking Lobello’s. They should all be locked up by now. But somehow they'd blown David's cover and were in his house. “The cartel is in Lori’s house,” Greer whispered to Raylan.
His brother’s black eyes went deadly.
A grunt came through the phone, followed by Lori’s scream, and then silence. Greer’s entire body tensed. He strained to listen for any sound, any indication of what was happening. Then he heard it, Lori’s quiet sob, and he nearly fell off the couch. Fucking hell, she was still alive.
“No gun shot,” Raylan whispered. “They’re still alive.”
“Get your cell. I need to call headquarters.” Greer jumped to his feet. Raylan grabbed his phone from the kitchen, and then they were both running down the stairs to Greer’s unmarked car.
Within seconds, they peeled out of the parking lot toward David and Lori’s house. Raylan called headquarters, quietly filling them in on the situation as Greer sped down the highway.
"Please don't hurt him. Please, please don't hurt him." Lori's pleas echoed through the phone, ripping at Greer's heart. In spite of the danger to herself, she pleaded for her husband. She'd always put herself before others, even now, when she was in much danger.
"Shit." He resisted the urge to punch the steering wheel and instead gripped it harder.
"No, señora, we not hurt him now. He needs to be awake for what we do to you." Dread dropped Greer’s stomach straight to the goddamn pavement. The Lobello’s made a typical assault look like a walk in the park. Greer had personally seen the mutilated corpses of women after the gang dumped their bodies. Images of wide, sightless eyes still haunted his nightmares. Only now, those images were replaced with Lori’s.
Raylan ended his call. “DEA is on the way. FBI and ATF are almost to the compound.”
“Get the gun out at the glove box. There’s another underneath the seat."
Raylan’s dark eyes, the exact image mirror of Greer’s regarded him silently. Lori was like a little sister to them.His stark eyes hardened into the cold ice, and he yanked his long black hair back into a low ponytail. The guns came next. Raylan locked and loaded them.
"Get your hands off me," Lori's shrill scream pulled him back. He stomped his foot on the gas, but the fucking thing was already on the floor, topped out at a hundred and forty mph.
"Just hold on. Don’t fight them." Greer kept his voice low not daring to alert them to the phone call active in the room. He needed to hear every detail, every clue.
“Can’t you go any faster?” Raylan whispered.
Greer heard a loud snap, followed by Lori's shriek, and he knew the asshole had hit her. Just like he knew by David’s silence that his partner was unconscious. If David had seen anyone harm his wife the man would be dead. No question. No hesitation.
“Floor it, dammit.” Raylan bit out, his grip on the overhead door handle white-knuckled.
The silence in the room was interrupted only by the intermittent sound of shuffling feet(?), and then a door opening and slamming.
"Dammit!" Greer gave in to the urge this time and slammed his fist against the steering wheel. The sharp pain of the skin across his knuckles splitting open was nothing compared to the pain in his gut. "They've taken them. Greer and Lori are gone."
"Can't you make this thing move faster? Maybe we can catch him," Raylan said, his voice tight.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. How in the hell did they make David? He was responsible for the takedown."
Greer took a curve, squalling tires all the way around as he slammed on the brakes to keep from going into a ditch. "Get Hunter on phone. Now. His team is helping us with this mission."
"You got it." Raylan dialed. "He's not answering."
"You keep dialing that motherfucker until he picks up the phone." David was not only Greer's partner, he was his best friend. They’d had each other’s backs for years. Greer didn't know if he could function without him.
“If any of them hurt Lori, they are dead.” Raylan hit dial on the phone again.
Lori had been like a little sister to them. Her folks had died in a car accident when she was ten. Greer and Raylan’s mother, Slidell Wild, had adopted Lori and raised her as the daughter she’d never had. They’d watched over Lori, chasing away bullies when she was little, and horny teenagers as she grew older. It used to piss her off to no end when Greer would step in and intimidate the hell out of boys looking to score with his cousin.
"Still no answer."
Only now, Greer didn't know if he’d be able to protect Lori. Didn't know if he'd be able to have his partner’s back.
"About damn time—” Greer yanked the phone from Raylan's hand and slammed it against his a ear. "You take the compound yet?"
"Can't exactly talk right now."
"Answer my question, dammit."
Hunter sighed. "There was a slight delay in the mission. We’re set to move in a couple of hours."
Cold dread gripped him. "Do you have eyes on the compound?"
Hunter snorted. "Of course."
"The fucking Lobello's made David. They got him and Lori."
Greer waited on Hunter to get through cursing before he continued, "Lori must of dialed my number after they broke in. I heard everything. The Lobello’s took both of them."
"Shit. Where are you?"
“On the way to their house, but I think they’re gone. Fixing to re-route to the compound."
"Hold on." Hunter’s voice became muffled, like he’d put his hand over the phone. "Get Cord on the COM. Tell him to watch out for any incoming vehicles. Got two victims kidnapped, possibly unconscious or injured."
"Greer, we’ll meet you there."
"Just hurry up." Greer ended the call. Then he slammed on the brakes and did a U-turn speeding back towards the direction of downtown Greenville. The Lobello compound was located just on the other side, a couple miles out.
“How did they find out about David?” Raylan muttered..
“There’s only one way. We have a traitor on the team.”
Xxx
"Put them on the floor. Santos has special plans for them." The dirty man continued to bark out orders to the men dragging Lori and David, but this time in rapid Spanish.
The dark concrete room they’d brought them to smelled of mold, one light bulb hung off center in the room. Lori struggled against her bonds, , but with her hands bound behind her back; the effort was useless. The man holding her shoved her to the floor and pain shot through her body as she hit the ground, unable to catch herself.
She ignored the pain and turned to her side to watch them toss David down beside her, his hands and feet bound. Her husband didn’t make a sound when he hit the ground. He’d yet to wake up from when the man slammed his gun into David’s temple. Blood dripped on the floor from the open gash on his head.
Lori heard a faint clicking and turned to the door, the fear in her transforming into rage when she saw the woman standing there. “You bitch.”
Agent Janice approached, her formal suit jacket and pants replaced by a revealing blouse and short skirt. “I gave him a chance. He didn’t want me, so…” Janic
e shrugged then squatted next to David and gently ran a finger across his lips. “Such a fucking waste.”
“Get you hands off my husband.” Rage blinded Lori.
Janice straightened and closed the distance between them. Lori wasn’t prepared when Janice slammed a foot into her stomach, forcing all the air from her lungs. Lori bent in two, gasping.
Janice grabbed her hair, ripping Lori’s head back. “I can’t wait to watch Santos have his turn with you. And when he’s finished, I’ll make sure you’re still alive for the rest of his men.”
Janice shoved her head into the concrete and pain slammed through her skull. Lori tried to blink back the oncoming haze. “You’ll pay for this,” she whispered. “They’ll find out it was you.”
“And just who is going to tell the police about me? After tonight, you’ll be dead, or you’ll wish you were, and I’ll be living it up in the villa Santos promised me.” Janice walked to the door. “I’d save my energy if I were you. You’ve got a long night ahead.”
The door slammed shut behind her. As soon as they were alone, Lori scooted over to her husband. "David."
He didn't move. The entire side of his face was covered in blood, but the wound was in his hairline, and she couldn't move his hair out of the way to see how bad it was. "David, please wake up."
The freezing cold of the damp floor seeped into her skin, further chilling the icy fear in her bones. She had to find a way to get him conscious before they came back. She quickly surveyed the room, but the place was completely empty except for a couple of crates and boxes in the far corner. She fought the urge to give in to helpless sobs.
For nearly two years, David and Lori had been unaware and uncaring. And today, she’d finally gotten her husband back. Finally gotten another shot at happiness, only to have these bastards try to rip it all away.
What would happen to Miley and Tim? Would they try to hurt them, too?
Lori's heart beat hard in her chest. "David. Wake up. Wake up now." She nudged him with her shoulder, but he didn’t move.
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