His fingers tightened around mine, a sure sign he was about to say something I wasn’t going to appreciate. “I booked us a charter flight.”
A private flight to the Cayman Islands would sound like an incredibly romantic thing for him to do, except that I wasn’t a big fan of flying. The thought of being stuck on a smaller plane for five and a half hours, going over a huge body of water? It was enough to make me feel like I was going to hyperventilate. “A charter flight,” I gulped.
“It’ll be okay, Eden,” he assured me. “I’ll be right next to you the entire time. And since it’s a private flight, I can think of several ways to distract you while we’re in the air.”
I cocked my head and narrowed my eyes while staring him down, trying not to give him any indication of the thrill his suggestion sent racing through my veins. “Fair warning, you might have to work hard to divert my attention away from the fact that I’ll be flying across the country and over part of an ocean in a much smaller tin can than I’d planned on.”
“I’ll give you hard all right,” he rumbled in my ear. “Hard orgasms, followed by a rock hard cock in your tight little pussy.”
“Private plane it is then,” I agreed, something I quickly started to regret once we’d made it through the airport and were boarding the jet he’d booked for our flight. It was bigger than I’d expected when he’d said it was a charter, but still smaller than anything I ever wanted to fly on. It wasn’t long after the pilot had informed us we were at our cruising altitude that Isaac was unsnapping both our seat belts. I stiffened in alarm, but not because I was worried about us being caught doing something naughty since we didn’t have a flight attendant. Flying without my belt buckled only intensified my fear.
“I’d grab you a drink to help settle your nerves,”—his statement didn’t help my nerves, actually making them worse—“but I have something even better in mind.”
His hand slid up my thigh, slipping under my skirt and nudging my panties to the side. My head dropped back against my seat as I moaned.
“Your pussy feels so good. Hotter than ever,” he murmured against my lips as he slowly circled my clit with his thumb. “And so damn wet.”
His fingers slipped through my wetness as he moved them towards my entrance before thrusting two inside me.
“Please,” I mewled, my hips bucking upwards to chase his fingers as he moved them in an out.
He dropped to his knees in front of me, and I was incredibly grateful for the layout of the private plane because he had enough room to maneuver as he shoved my skirt up high and ripped my panties from my body. Then he lifted one of my legs over his shoulder and dipped his head to flick at my clit with his tongue.
“Isaac,” I moaned, sliding my fingers through his dark hair and gripping it tightly. Then he sucked my clit into his mouth while twisting his wrist with his fingers inside, and a powerful orgasm crashed over me. His fingers and tongue worked to lengthen my climax, until I was a trembling mess staring down at him with a half-smile on my face because I didn’t have the energy to manage a full one.
After cleaning me up with a tissue, he smoothed my skirt back over my thighs and climbed onto his seat. I yawned widely, resting my head on his shoulder as a miracle occurred—I fell asleep on the plane and didn’t wake up until we’d landed safe and sound at the airport in Grand Cayman. After making it through customs, we stopped at a little café for lunch before heading over to Cayman National Bank for our appointment.
Isaac had managed to book our appointment with the branch manager, which meant we were in an office and not one of the cubicles out front. My admiration for my husband grew by leaps and bounds as he deftly maneuvered the bank employee into letting me stay in the office while they went to look at the safety deposit boxes. I didn’t let him know that his excuse about my nausea wasn’t pretend because my stomach really was turning. Between the flight this morning and my nerves going apeshit over what I was about to do, I was surprised I didn’t have to use the trash can under the desk to puke.
Keeping every sense on alert, I slipped around the desk I’d been sitting in front of and knelt down. I shook the mouse to wake up the computer, then quickly plugged in my small drive. Their system was password protected, and hacking it would have taken way too long, so I’d written the bug to open a backdoor to their system so I could hack it remotely. It would kick in the next time anyone logged in.
It was a good thing I hadn’t had to stop and be sick since that would have used up time I wouldn’t have had. I’d barely managed to pull my thumb drive out of the USB port, and return to my seat, before his secretary peeked her head into the office to ask me if I needed anything. I waved her off with a grimace and rubbed my tummy. She gave me a sympathetic smile and then logged into the system to print out some paperwork for us in case we decided to open an account with them. I contained my triumph until she’d left me alone, but then a huge smile split my face and I punched my fist into the air. I’d done it! I might have broken into a happy dance if Isaac and the manager hadn’t reappeared.
Isaac took the paperwork and shook the man’s hand, informing him that we would be in touch. Then he ushered me out of the bank and into our waiting limo. He slid in beside me and glowered at me. “I hope you were able to get it done because we this was your only shot.”
Cocking my head to the side, I winked at him. “Who do you think you’re dealing with, Mr. Harvey? Of course I pulled it off!” He looked a little relieved, but I could tell he still wasn’t completely calm after the whole ordeal.
I didn’t lose my grin until we were back on the plane and in the air again. I’d wanted to at least spend the night on the island, but Isaac had insisted this be a quick turnaround. He didn’t want to run the risk of anything going wrong and me landing myself in a Grand Cayman jail. Apparently, he figured he would have a better chance arguing against an extradition if the worst case scenario came about. Luckily, for both of us, it went smooth as silk—right up to the point when I found myself in the familiar position of praying to the porcelain goddess on the plane.
“That’s it,” he growled, after he’d helped me to my feet and back to our seats. “First thing tomorrow morning, you’re going back to the doctor’s office and I’m going to be right by your side this time. I never should have let you go without me. No court appearance is worth more than your health.”
Mid-flight on a charter plane wasn’t how I’d pictured sharing my big news, but I’d held off for a full day already and didn’t want to wait any longer. I’d barely been able to keep myself from spilling the beans last night when he’d been so damn certain he’d knocked me up after I’d ridden him to an incredible orgasm. Isaac and I didn’t keep secrets from each other, so it was killing me to hold out this long. Butterflies swirled in my belly as I took a deep breath. “Umm—” I mumbled. “Yeah, about that. I actually have a follow-up appointment next month.”
A hint of fear filled his eyes. “A follow-up appointment in a month? I thought you said your illness was temporary?”
“I wouldn’t say illness, exactly,” I murmured, reaching up to cup his cheeks in the palms of my hands. “And nine months is temporary.”
“Nine months?” he breathed out, his hand dropping down to my belly. “We did it? We’re having a baby?”
“Yes,” I cried, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks. Nothing was going to ruin this moment, not even the dawning realization in his eyes that I’d deliberately kept the news from him. I refused to feel badly about it since it had only been one day, especially since there was no way he would have let me go if he’d known about the pregnancy—and he was going to want to keep me in bubble wrap from this point until after the baby was born.
Chapter 8
Isaac
Long after we’d returned home and Eden fell asleep, curled up against me, I hugged her naked body close and stared at the ceiling.
A baby.
I was still processing everything, but the most prevalent emotion was joy. It consumed me and washe
d away my irritation at Eden’s delay in sharing the news. For the most part. Only when I let my mind wander to all of the worst case scenarios that could have happened on our trip, did my anger rear its ugly head. For both our sakes, I pushed it away and focused on the fact that I was finally getting everything I’d ever dreamed of. My sexy little wife would soon be round with my child and I couldn’t fucking wait to see it.
I was going to have to figure out how to boot Eden off of this case. Something about it had been bothering me since the beginning, and I was only becoming more and more concerned over the danger she could be involving herself in. As soon as she got into the bank records, I’d have to come up with a way to distract her. When the perfect idea hit me, I almost jackknifed up in bed with excitement. Luckily, I caught myself right before I did it and would have knocked Eden off of me, jarring her awake. She needed her rest. A huge smile broke across my face.
She was carrying my baby.
“Holy shit!”
I almost dropped my head down to bang it on my desk when Eden’s exclamation rang out from her office. A client was in mine and he looked towards the sound, before turning back to me with raised eyebrows.
“My wife,” I explained, scrambling to come up with an excuse for her behavior. “She’s a little overly emotional since she became pregnant. And loud.”
His face morphed into a knowing smirk and he opened his mouth but before he could speak, Eden came rushing through my door. “Isaac! You won’t believe—oh.” She stopped short when she saw the portly, older fellow sitting across from me. “I’m so sorry!”
He grinned, and the appreciation in his eyes as he looked her up and down prompted me to jump to my feet. I rushed around my desk as I spoke. “Thank you for coming in, Mr. Levine. We’ll contact you next week.” I spoke firmly and held out my hand, making it very clear that we were done.
After he shook my hand, Eden stepped forward with hers out and I grabbed on to it, tugging her into my side. She shook her head, clearly exasperated, but kept her attention on Mr. Levine. “I really do apologize for interrupting.”
“Next week,” I interjected before he could respond and glared at him until he was out the door.
“Isaac!” Eden gasped. “That was so rude!”
I chose to ignore her comment and simply lifted her into my arms, stalked to my chair, and settled her on my lap. “Sunshine, what have I said about that mouth of yours?” I rumbled with frustration lacing my tone.
Her hands fisted and went to her hips, her eyes shooting daggers at me. I tried, but failed, to contain my smile and from the steam coming out of her ears, it seemed it only pissed her off more. It was fucking adorable and I loved the stuffing out of her.
“You don’t want our baby hearing that kind of language, do you?”
This took the wind out of her sails and I grinned victoriously.
“I guess you’ll have to start watching your language too, then. No more telling me you want to fuck me,”
Yeah, that’s not happening. I immediately scowled but didn’t agree or disagree. “What has you so worked up, Sunshine?” We’d been back from Grand Cayman for three days and she’d been irritated at how long it was taking her to get any information. She must have finally found something.
Her face lit up and she started to almost hop around in my lap. I laughed and pushed her hands off of her hips so I could take their place and hold her still.
“I found several wire transfers out of that account and traced their destination. Remember that guy from the environmental studies company? The leader of the team who died?” I nodded and she continued, “He received one of the transfers. The best explanation is bribe money.” She put her hands on my shoulders and stared into my face. “Isaac, I think he falsified the environmental report that SO&G just released.”
Leaning back in my chair, I mulled over her assumption. She was most likely correct. A doctored report was one thing, but the fact that this guy was also “conveniently” deceased was sending up major red flags. “And the other transfers?” I asked.
“They all went to the same person. I have a name, but it’s a dead end.” She peered at me for a moment, clearly chewing on something in her mind. “I was thinking about calling Alex and seeing if he could make any headway with the name.”
Alex was a family friend and also happened to work for the CIA. Bringing them into the loop would blow this investigation wide. There would be too many involved parties to keep the firm’s name out of it and by extension, Eden. I started to shake my head in denial and Eden winced.
“You already called him, didn’t you?” I sighed.
She blinked her big, blue eyes at me innocently. “I thought maybe Evie might have heard the name,” she explained in an unusually subdued manner.
I froze. A memory from a random conversation with Eden’s father popped into my head. Victor’s nephew, Weston, was a CIA agent and had alluded to the fact that Alex’s wife, Evie, was rumored within the Company to have been a CIA assassin. If Eden wanted her input, it likely meant Eden thought… I almost blew the roof of the building with the force of my roar. “What the fuck, Eden?!?!?!? You think this guy might be a hit man?”
She put her hands on my cheeks and kissed my lips, trying to calm me down. It wasn’t working. “It was just a theory, babe. It could be nothing at all.”
“You’re done,” I barked. “I don’t want you anywhere near this case from now on.”
“Isaac,” she pleaded. “I think I can figure out who owns the bank accounts. I just need more time.”
I was already shaking my head by the time she finished. “No. I’m not willing to risk it. And, have you forgotten you’d also be risking our child?”
A mutinous twinkle entered her eyes, and her lips firmed into a straight line as she glared at me. “Of course not! But, my pregnant ass is sitting behind a damn computer. I’m not endangering myself or the baby.”
My protective instincts were screaming at me and I decided it was time to take her home. I wanted to be in our house, where I knew she was safe, and I could discuss this rationally.
“Let’s put this on ice and go home, Sunshine,” I suggested, though, my tone brooked no argument. “We’ll grab Chinese on the way.” At the mention of her favorite food, she perked up a little, but was still frowning at me.
I lifted her off of my lap and stood, putting on my suit coat and grabbing my briefcase. Then I walked her over to her office to collect her things before making our way down the hall to the front lobby. Before reaching the elevator, I popped my head into Jax’s office.
“Hey,” I called, interrupting an embrace between him and Natalie. She jumped and tried to scurry out of his arms, but Jax held tight and kissed her again. I laughed and when he lifted his head, his eyes were full of irritation. “What the fuck do you want, Isaac?” Natalie smacked him on the shoulder and her cheeks turned a bright shade of pink.
“I’m taking Eden home. I’ll be out for a couple of days, but we’ll still see you Sunday night for dinner?”
Jax nodded brusquely. “Yes, now get the fuck out of my office so I can kiss my wife in peace.”
Eden was giggling hysterically from behind me and the sound melted away a lot of my tension. “Carry on, lovebirds!” she trilled and tugged on my jacket, leading me away from the office.
Holding hands, we took the elevator down to the underground parking garage. Before we reached the sub-level, I pulled Eden into my arms and kissed her thoroughly. “I love you, Sunshine. You and our baby are everything to me. Everything. My only sunshine,” I told her raggedly. She smiled and pecked my lips once more as the doors slid open.
“I know.”
Still clasping her hand tightly in mine, I walked her over to the parking spot next to mine. The pregnancy was already taking its toll on her and she’d been sick and overly tired in the morning, so she’d driven herself to my office a little later in the day.
“Why don’t you ride with me and we can have someone come and get
your car tomorrow?”
Eden shrugged and smiled. “Okay. Can you get my bag from the car though?” Her face flushed with happiness. “It has my copy of What to Expect When You’re Expecting in it. It’s tucked into the console between the front seats.”
“Sure, Sunshine.” I hit the remote to unlock my car and helped her into the passenger seat. Then I jogged around to the driver’s side of her car and grabbed the handle. The keyless entry disengaged and I pulled the door open.
The loudest crack of thunder I’d ever heard filled the garage and my ear drums popped with the force. My back radiated with pain as it hit something hard and I realized I’d been thrown from the car, right before my head hit the ground and everything went black.
Chapter 9
Eden
“Isaac!” I screamed, the sound muffled by the ringing in my ears. I fumbled for the door handle and practically fell from the car. I dazedly noticed that his Audi had been pushed halfway into the parking spot next to it by the force of the blast. As I raced to his side and dropped down to my knees, I tried not to consider the damage it had done to him if it had been strong enough to move a car like that. “Please be okay,” I chanted over and over again as I ran my hands over his body.
He didn’t move, not even the tiniest bit, at the feel of my hands. Not even when I slid them over his face and into his hair. Feeling something wet, I stifled the scream that bubbled up in my throat when I pulled my left hand away and found blood on it. With trembling fingers, I yanked my phone from my pocket and dialed 9-1-1. I’d only just finished stammering out the details to the emergency dispatcher when Isaac moaned my name.
“I’m here,” I whispered into his ear after bending low. “Don’t move. Help is on the way.”
“What happened?” he muttered, his words slightly slurred.
“I’m not sure,” I answered as I pushed at his shoulders to keep him on the ground. I refused to let him move until the paramedics got there and confirmed it was safe for him to do so. I’d share my suspicions with him after we were away from there and he was at the hospital. But they’d better hurry up and get there before Isaac’s head cleared and he put two and two together on his own.
The Passion & Vows Series Page 18