Lunatic Fringe

by TL Schaefer

  Heath pulled me against him, just holding me, his chin resting against my hair. “Yeah, let’s,” he agreed.

  The heat of him lingered as we pulled apart and headed for the door. I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing, but with Tori safe, I knew we could take on the world.

  WE HEADED FOR FBI HEADQUARTERS to work with the sketch artist and got a reasonable approximation of our abductor’s face, build and mannerisms from two nights before for the local patrol officers, then drove to the safe house, where we were read in by one of the agents manning the perimeter.

  They’d found nothing new at the house Heath, Tori and I had been held at, but it was apparent from tire tracks at least one vehicle had breached the crime scene tape at the beginning of the long driveway, then turned back before alerting the agent on site. There were still variables out there, variables that Kavenaugh and Roney were chasing down.

  Joe called me on the burner cell to let me know he and Tori had made it to the undisclosed location Heath had set up and rendezvoused with the CASI kids.

  My ex said Tori was acting a bit shy, but that was to be expected. Jonah had offered to sit down with her to talk if she needed it, and that reassured me more than anything could. Joe seemed to be happy with the security there.

  And then Heath and I were truly alone in the house. No calls to make, no one to check in with.

  We both seemed to realize it at the same time, and the air thickened between us.

  Everything I’d said yesterday, about Tori being next door, about waiting until she was safe, seemed to hang in the air between us. Because Tori was safe. And we were in the house alone. We were both alive. And dammit, I wanted to celebrate that. With Heath.

  “Be sure of this, Moni,” he said, his voice low and rough. Moni. Only he called me that and it turned something inside dark and liquid.

  I strode across the room to him, trembling in anticipation, “Oh, I’m sure,” I said, and I could only describe my voice as purring. “I want you Heath. More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

  There, I’d said it, thrown down the gauntlet.

  He leaned down in response until his lips, and only his lips hovered over mine. “Good,” he breathed, the warmth of his breath ghosting over my lips. Then he kissed me, just a brush of our mouths, no other body parts touching.

  We played like that until I ached to feel his body against mine again. He pulled back and stared into my eyes. “You’ve already changed my world,” he said, and the floor beneath me shifted at his words. I’d never changed anyone’s life.

  “Now I’m going to rock yours.” The promise was dark, lush, made everything inside clench in response.

  He held out his hand and I laced shaking fingers through his before he pulled me against him, his body hard and unyielding. But I could see the pulse thrumming at his throat, could feel his heart beating against mine, even through our clothes.

  So, so many clothes.

  “We need to hurry,” I said, “the others may be back soon.”

  His eyes flared at my words and a corner of his perfect mouth kicked up. “Would you like that, Moni? For them to find us fucking like rabbits? Maybe right here on the living room floor?”

  Then he laughed as he felt my nipples peak against my bra, against his chest. I tried not to whimper and failed.

  He leaned forward until his mouth almost brushed my ear. “I had no idea you were an exhibitionist. I’ll be happy to explore that later, maybe over the back of that couch. But tonight? Tonight I’m not hurrying. I’ve waited thirteen years for this.” His lips grazed the shell of my ear and a full-body shudder rocked through me. He pulled away. “I don’t care if the others are here. Tonight I’m going to make you scream.”

  I pulled in a deep breath. “You’re doing an awful lot of talking, Farrell.”

  He laughed and the sound almost stopped my heart. I’d never heard him laugh. Not like that.

  Then he stepped away from me, drawing me forward by our joined hands. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  He led me down the darkening hallway to his bedroom at the end of the hall. Stood in front of me, then pushed on my shoulders until I sat on the bed. “What do you want, Moni?”

  “You, this, us,” I said, motioning between the two of us.

  He caught my hand, brought my fingers to his lips. Sucked my finger into the hot cavern of his mouth. I shuddered in response as his teeth lightly scored the nail before pulling hard then letting me go with a long, obscene lick. “I’m going to do that to your nipples, then your clit,” he promised. His fingers descended, slipping the buttons free from my blouse, then he slipped it over my shoulders until the fabric pooled at my back and wrists. “Lean back on your arms,” he whispered and I did, offering up my breasts for his inspection. For him to keep his promise.

  But he leaned around me instead, drawing the fabric of my blouse tight, trapping my wrists together. “Don’t move,” he ordered, “but I want to hear you, Moni. Every delicious sound.”

  I quivered at his words, but held still as he moved before me again, his attention wholly on my breasts. He unsnapped the front clasp of my bra, leaving it to dangle from my shoulders and leaned in, rubbing his five-o-clock shadow over the swells of my breasts, shooting goosebumps through my body.

  Then he closed his mouth over one peak, fingers tweaking the other and the pleasure was so intense my vision fogged. “Stay with me,” he murmured, still laving and playing and twisting until I was writhing against him, my breath coming in short, choppy bursts.

  He pulled away, cool air replacing the warmth of his mouth. Standing, he surveyed me, a wicked, wicked smile wreathing his features. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more beautiful than this,” he said, then knelt between my legs. “Lose the pants, Moni.”

  I’d regained a bit of myself when he pulled away, enough to play a bit. “Wanna help?”

  That same smile tipped the mouth I’d once thought cruel, cold. “Nope. Gonna watch you as you show me every inch. Like I said, I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

  I gulped, then disentangled my hands from my bra and blouse and went to work on my jeans. And Heath watched as I kicked off my shoes, as I slid the pants down my legs. Until I sat before him in only panties, breath rasping in my lungs, pulse hammering. Waiting.

  “So fucking pretty,” he rasped, then cupped my face in his hand, heating me when I hadn’t realized I was cold. His fingers moved, trailing between my breasts, down my belly, to the waistband of my panties before pausing, leaving a trail of sensation behind. “Lay all the way back,” he ordered quietly, so very quietly.

  And God help me, I obeyed, laying atop the bedspread, my fingers clutching the fabric as if they’d keep me tethered. His fingers ghosted over the elastic of my panties, and then he was pulling them down, down, until he crowded between my knees, nothing but air separating us now. Anticipation curled in my gut. This was going to be so, so good.

  Then his mouth was on me, hot and seeking and demanding and I yelped as my back bowed, as my feet scrambled for purchase. His arm banded across my stomach, holding me there as I writhed, and the contact shot my pleasure even higher. He plundered and licked and plucked, holding me on a knife’s edge until I couldn’t take it anymore, until I was plunging over, his name on my lips as I came.

  I vaguely heard the crinkle of cellophane, realized distantly that he was putting a condom on, and then the bed dipped as he settled in next to me, his hand ghosting over my body again, bringing me down, settling something deep inside.

  When I could breathe again, I cracked an eye and found him reclined on one arm, all that perfect skin on display, just watching me. “You look very pleased with yourself,” I said, my voice so husky I barely recognized it.

  “I’d say you’re the one who looks pleased,” he replied, then leaned forward, his expression serious. “Are you ready for this, Moni? For us?”

  I realized what he was asking. It was one thing to play around with oral se
x, to give each other pleasure. It was fooling around. But what we were about to do? It meant something to both of us. Maybe everything.

  “I’ve been ready for this for thirteen years,” I whispered, and it was true.

  Something like hope kindled in his gaze as his mouth descended, as he shifted closer until our bodies were aligned. His lips met mine just as our bodies slid against each other, skin-to-skin for the first time. Pleasure hummed through me at the contact, and as I felt his cock nudge at my opening, it was like something clicked.

  Then he was sliding inside and the feel of him, big and masculine, inside of me, surrounding me, smothered me in pure sensation. I arched against him as he began to move, his breath coming in sharp rasps at my ear, his sculpted body sliding against my over-sensitized skin. “Raise your hands over your head, Moni,” he said, and the nickname shuddered through me as I moved my hands. He linked his fingers with mine at shoulder height and began to undulate above me as he thrust, his body one long, lean machine that brushed over every exposed surface, sending fire and heat and sparkles through me as I began to crest, my heart pounding an ancient beat, my nerves screaming for completion as fingers vised around his.

  And then I was shattering around him, screaming my pleasure until I was hoarse and limp, and still he moved within me, his thrusts long and slow and unhurried.

  “You with me, angel?” he asked and when I nodded, he released my fingers and dropped down on his elbows, his mouth on mine, his kisses long and deep and drugging, his tongue velvet against mine.

  And God help me, my body began to respond again, warmed and softened as he changed his angle, as he brushed my clit just so with every thrust. I grasped his ass, pulling him harder against me, and he laughed against my mouth. “Nails, Moni, nails.”

  I slapped his ass in return, something like joy curling through me. “More, faster, now.”

  “As milady orders,” his lips caressed mine, and it was as if I’d unleashed something with my words. His body went rock-hard as he held himself barely above me, his chest caressing my nipples, and then he was moving, pistoning in me so hard and fast I had to grab his ass again for leverage.

  The strength, the power, that he’d held leashed for so very long came untethered, and as he moved over me, in me, the fire filled him, not burning, but glowing.

  And as I began to peak again, as he surged and surged and surged, my inner empath reached out, touched his fire, soothed and petted and smoothed until they intertwined and we crested together and fell into oblivion.

  Chapter Fourteen

  WHAT CAME BEFORE...

  I held up my glass in a salute as Sgt Art Nealson walked out the door. Good riddance. How did I keep ending up with such losers? He’d seemed really nice at first, and we’d had a great time partying together. But he was going back to his old girlfriend or some such bullshit.

  We’d been an item when I returned to Kuwait after Mama’s “fall” down the stairs, found out we were at the same joint base, and decided to continue when we got stateside. He was pretty good in bed and had decent taste in food and music, and I’d thought that things were going pretty well.

  It wasn’t that I was looking for hearts and flowers or anything. Or maybe I was. Maybe I was looking for what Mama and Papa had before he died.

  I sure as hell wasn’t going to find it in Nealson. So I poured myself another drink and pushed him from my memory.

  Now... Denver

  Arin seemed to know as soon as she walked into the house, a small smile gracing her features. Roney bulled in behind her, with Kavenaugh bringing up the rear.

  Kavanaugh had called her from Colorado Springs now that the kids were locked down with Heath’s security guards. Joe was there as well, and could handle himself well enough. Now that we had Trang in custody, finding Grace was our number one concern. For the road ahead, we needed Arin’s eyes, ears and badge here.

  Heath and I had dressed just moments before, the act of pulling clothes on interrupted by quick caresses and lingering kisses.

  We were definitely in a honeymoon phase.

  I checked in on Tori and she was safe, if a little quiet. She’d argued against even speaking to me, but Joe wouldn’t stand for it. Said I was her mother and she’d damned well listen to me, even if she wasn’t interested in talking.

  The echo of her words earlier in the day still hovered like a ghost between us, but as we hung up, she told me she loved me, and it began to heal the hole that’d been open in my heart.

  When I talked with Joe he said she’d begun to open up a bit over dinner as she began to digest the reality of the kids around her, the fact she could be different, that I was different. I still didn’t know where they were and that was fine with me. Until we knew the true extent of Grace’s power, I’d rather not be the weak link if she could turn me to her will.

  “Chinese food is on the way,” Heath said, settling in on the couch next to me. “Sitrep?”

  Kavenaugh stripped out of his Kevlar and draped it over a dinette chair. “Nothing yet. Tip was a bust. There was definitely activity on one of the access roads, but they were gone by the time we got there. The Forestry Service has some cameras up there and are collecting the footage. Hopefully we’ll get some faces or plates we can start working.”

  Which was legit police work. Frustrating as hell, but legit.

  And it was finally legit police work that came through late that night, long after Heath and I had retired to our separate rooms. Because we still had to find Grace, still had to end this, and jumping each other’s bones all night didn’t seem prudent.

  TSA had the hotel abductor in custody. He’d been trying to board a flight to Brazil using a fake passport. We still didn’t know his true identity, but he was now in FBI custody.

  “They checked his teeth, right?” I asked, remembering last year when a Russian agent had chomped down on the arsenic tablet in his mouth and effectively ended our questioning. Dead ending our investigation. Again.

  “Yup,” Kavenaugh answered as we left the house, heading for the field office. “Garden variety dentistry. I want you monitoring the cameras when Arin and I question him.”

  Standard operating procedure, though I knew it frustrated Heath. He wanted to be in the room, wanted to be doing something other than watching.

  With our newfound closeness, it took everything in me not to run a comforting hand down his arm, but this wasn’t the time or the place.

  I wasn’t worried about what the others might think. They were all trained police officers and had noticed the decreased sexual tension, if nothing else. But Heath and I had always been strung pretty tightly, bound to our exterior personas to keep us in control, whether we realized it or not.

  What we did behind closed doors was different, an escape. And until Grace was behind bars, or drugged to oblivion, or whatever we were going to do with her, those personas were the glue holding us together.

  So I kept my hands to myself, though our knees touched as we sat on the bench seat of the huge SUV, and it was enough.

  The guy who’d abducted us was as average as I remembered. Six feet, mousy brown hair, an unremarkable goatee. But his eyes? They were scared to death, even though his expression was placid. He demanded a lawyer the second Kavenaugh stepped into the room, so he was allowed his call, then Carter and Arin re-entered the room and settled in opposite him.

  “I said I wouldn’t talk without my lawyer,” his voice was calm, but a thread of fear ran beneath his words.

  “Oh, your lawyer is on the way,” Carter replied. “Agent Thomas and I are just gonna chat, not ask any questions. No law against that.”

  Arin chimed in. “Just so you know, before your lawyer gets here, Trang is out of commission and Ms. Pearce is in the wind.”

  The guy’s Adam’s apple bobbled at that news. He was scared of one of them. Maybe both.

  “We know Trang was the inside man. We just can’t figure out how deep you’re in. We’ve been working this case for months and have ne
ver heard even a mention of you. I’m starting to wonder if you’re an independent contractor. Just sent in to grab two people, drop them off, and then disappear.”

  Even in the next room I could tell that Kavenaugh had hit the mark.

  “Here’s the thing. We’ve got you for kidnapping two people. They’re both alive and kicking and have already identified you as their abductor. So there’s that. We’ve got Trang on ice and he’ll eventually talk since Pearce has left him dangling. It’s only a matter of time, and you know why? Because she betrayed him, and that will eventually turn him to our side long enough to catch up to her. But you? You were just doing a job. Had no real allegiance to her beyond the paycheck. When your lawyer gets here, maybe have a chat about how helping us find her might make your charges go from a federal crime to aggravated assault, which is a local gig.”

  Kavenaugh pushed away from the table and Arin followed, not giving the prisoner a chance to talk. Because they wouldn’t violate his rights. Wouldn’t potentially taint prosecution against him—or Grace Pearce—when we finally got there.

  We met them in the conference room we’d appropriated for the case.

  “He’ll fold,” Kavenaugh predicted. “He’s a professional and doesn’t know shit, except for what he was hired to do. Trang was probably the go-between. We’ll see when his lawyer shows up.”

  And that’s all there was to it, really. Grace was in the wind with no support from O’Donnell and his cronies. The kids were safe. There was a BOLO out on Grace.

  It didn’t mean she couldn’t weaponize someone to do something batshit crazy that involved the CASI kids. Didn’t mean she still wasn’t a fucking menace to society. Didn’t mean she didn’t still have a potential “school” full of kids who were in danger. Kids we needed to save.

  Just because Trang had told us a few things didn’t mean he hadn’t held back the important bits.