by Lauren Wood
Derrick felt her lips lightly touch his and felt the kiss, it was over before he wanted it to end. He lowered his mouth to hers, and took her over. He thrust his tongue into her mouth, not invading it but exploring it lightly. He didn’t try to overpower her at all, but he wanted her to feel his passion.
Mac could feel it, there was a connection between them, not just her imagination. The kiss he gave her left no doubt. It was a sweet probing of her mouth on his part, and she did the same, pushing her tongue to meet his. Their tongues danced for a few minutes, and they both pulled back.
Derrick looked down at her, afraid but excited. He really was burned by his ex, and she popped up quickly in his mind to torture him. “Really you think she would ever want you? I didn’t and you threw yourself at me for a while. You thought I wanted you, maybe you are just thinking she wants you right now.” Her voice sounded off in his mind.
Mac could see the conflict of emotions going over his face. She touched the side of her face with her fingertips. It worked she grabbed his attention. Instead of saying anything though, she put her mouth on his again, and kissed him intensely. She didn’t want sex, no she just wanted to let him know that he was something special to her. As she pulled her mouth from his, she could see the fire in his eyes.
“I don’t know what I can offer you, I’m broken, and I don’t know how long it will take to fix myself.” Derrick said looking down at her, he had walked into the water, but was still holding her close. He didn’t want to lose the contact of her skin on his, it felt so nice, so odd after so long without a person.
“Everyone is broken in all honesty, in one way or another. Maybe not by someone else, but there could be a part of their past that haunts them through the years, and makes them feel they are unlovable even. But you have to realize that there may be someone who will help you feel better as you fix those broken parts of you.” Mac said.
“You are so beautiful, and such a good person. What if I’m not a nice guy when you get to know me? I don’t want to be hurt again, I can’t take it.”
“Love is always a gamble, you will never find it if you don’t give yourself to another person. You either throw the dice, or you hold them close and never find someone. Me? Well I’m willing to take a chance to find another person who will love me like I love them. If it’s you, this would be great. I think there is a good chance, and you know what? I’m very willing to take that chance. The ball is in your court though, I can’t force you into this. I learned my lesson if you love someone you can’t make them love you no matter what, if they don’t at the start.” Mac said, the whole time thinking of the past mistakes she had made, but willing to try it with Derrick.
Derrick looked at her. “You know I’ve not stayed in a place more than a month for the past 3 years. I don’t want to drag you around and never give you a home. A place where if we want we can grow a family, have memories that will last a lifetime, even have our grandchildren visit there one day.”
“So why can’t we find this? We just have to find a place where we feel is home. I can work, you can get a job. We start together, we help and support each other . That is after all what love is all about.” Mac said.
“Why not, why shouldn’t we try it. Like you said, it may work, but if we really want it we can make it last. We can have it all, everything and we can build it together.” Derrick stated. “Maybe we can even get married, I think I would like that a lot.”
Mac stopped and smiled. “Are you asking me to marry you right now?”
Derrick shrugged his shoulders as if to say why not?
Mac smiled and laughed. “Well one thing is I don’t even know your last name. I mean it can’t be anything to messed up that will make me sound funny. You know if there is a guy out there who has a last name like Roni, well could you imagine that , my name would be Mac Roni.” All I need is the middle initial A and it would be perfect.” Mel laughed hard, so did Derrick.
“You really are something else. I swear you have made me feel so alive, and I barely know you. My last name is Jonas.”
“Oh are you related to the band members?” Mac joked.
“No sorry to say.”
“Okay so Mac Jonas, not bad at all. I could get used to that.” She pulled herself up on his shoulders and kissed him.
“So it’s acceptable to you?” Derrick laughed.
Mac gave him another kiss to show him how acceptable it was to her.
Derrick hugged her closely. “So let’s go find a place to get married. I’ll get you a ring in one of the towns around here, find the justice of the peace office and then it will be done!”
“Seriously, you want to do it now?” Mac asked, shocked, she had thought it was part joking on his side.
“No I’m serious I don’t want to let this go. You really do make me feel great. There is something about you that I want to keep around. We can wait until tomorrow, but I want to tell you I want to wait to make love to you until we are married. I want us to be husband and wife first, then we can do more.”
Mac looked at him, it was like he could see deep inside of her mind, and it was what she had always wanted. A guy who was more about being morally correct instead of one who didn’t want to make a commitment to get her body.
She smiled up to him. “I will be more than happy to be Mrs. Mac Jonas, it will make me very proud.”
Derrick kissed and hugged her. He looked around at the scenery. He had never really been in Pennsylvania, but he could see them finding a cabin in this area, having woods surrounding their property. Kids who could learn to play in the woods from their mother. He smiled, she really would and had already changed his life around. He couldn’t wait until they were husband and wife!
THE END
UNSEALED DESIRE
Chapter 1
“I know exactly your price and the client has given us 50% down with the rest to be delivered upon completion of the assignment. Shelley, I’ll have everything prepared for you. Your passport has already been updated and new identification issued in the name of Kelly Walker. You just need to remember that you’re there for a teaching symposium. All your credentials will be in order and you’ll have an ironclad story that I’ve already updated to your laptop.” “Jackson has always been the one that has kept me going all this time. This is not the type of business that I can get into with someone that doesn’t have my back. He knows that eventually my clock will be punched, but until then he has decided to ride the gravy train with me.
“Jackson, we both know that anything can happen on any given day. Life is full of surprises and you never know what’s going to be waiting for you around the corner. I will say that I’m glad to have you on my side. If you weren’t, I would be very worried that you were working against me in some way. There have been several organizations that have been trying to track me down without success. I’ve been very careful, my disguises are impeccable and I live by a moral code that I follow every day.”
Shelley had been working in the field of problem solver for quite some time. It’s been years and even today, she can barely remember how she got started. It came when she was at her lowest point, drug addicted and looking for her next fix. She came across a young man that wanted his wife taken care of. She found that problem solving was something that she was good at and she decided to make a drastic jump in her career choice. She never had anything to tie her down and didn’t have the social skills to really keep a friendship alive for more than a couple of weeks.
“Shelley, we’ve been playing cat and mouse for some time and eventually we’re going to have to see each other face to face. I know that you’ve been hesitant to do that and I understand that you wanna keep this strictly professional. I’m just saying that I would like to have a face to go with the name.” Jackson was a little worried that things were getting too high profile for his liking. He had heard some stories and he knew just from listening that this was one of her targets that had met their final last breath. “As always, be careful and don�
�t trust anybody.” As he turned off the microphone to his laptop, he immediately wired the $10,000,000 into her account. It was 11,000,000, but he got that extra 1,000,000 for himself. It would be the same way when the second part of payment came in after the job was completed.
“This business can be taxing on the best of us, but I recently learned that maybe life has been passing me by. I try to make the best of a bad situation by going to fancy restaurants and enjoying culture, but there seems to be something missing. Some profound puzzle piece that has not permanently made me content and happy is still out there waiting for me to find it. I know that I’ve never been good at relationships, but maybe it’s time to finally find someone to share my life with.” Shelley was packing her clothing, making sure that the attire matched up with the story of somebody that was an educational professional. She wore her hair dark down over her shoulders and with a slight wave. She had a pair of nondescript glasses and her eye color was now permanently changed to that of green. That came courtesy of well placed contacts. It was also a twofold reason, as she did have one eye that was stronger than the other. With these contacts, she could have that 20/20 vision and still do her job without worrying about age creeping up and tapping her on the shoulder.
She worked alone, never bothering with a partner in the field, because she learned from past indiscretions that things like that can get ugly in a hurry. Everybody has their own agenda and that included herself.
She had this dream in the back her mind that she wanted to retire on a secluded island or maybe on a sailboat. Shelley knew that it was only a pipe dream and that her life was pretty much dictated by a bullet with her name on it
She had bought her clothing at the boutique that catered to those of a more sophisticated taste. It wasn’t expensive, but was something that she felt was choking off her air supply. The black blazer, the white blouse and the knee length black skirt really didn’t suit her. She looked in the mirror, making herself believe the story that she was about to tell those at customs. She could immerse herself into a fitting role like getting into a warm bath on a sunny afternoon. Sometimes, she felt like she was losing a part of herself, but that only came with the need to separate her feelings from what she did.
Before long, she was on board a plane that was soon taxiing into the Washington State. It was said to be a hot spot for political activists and back dealings in alleys that most likely were in offices. She never did like this city, but she was going to force herself to walk through streets that had haunted her for years. Each step outside of the concourse made her a little lightheaded and memories that had long been buried came flooding back in a hurry.
She remembered the fire, burning her skin and that permanent reminder of that scar up her left arm that indicated that she had been in the fight of her life.
She picked up the Manila envelope, perused the contents one more time and then tossed the whole thing into the trash. She had ripped it up into tiny pieces, making sure that there was really no way for anybody to know what exactly she was doing. They would need many hours to put it all together again and by then, her business here would be over and she would be long gone, before they even realized that she was the suspect that they were looking for.
“I need you to drive me around for the next three days. I’m willing to pay you $10,000, but only if you keep your mouth shut and not say anything to anybody. If you can do that, then there’ll be a bonus of another 10,000 dollars at the end of this transaction. That would give you $20,000 for three days work. I think that you would be a damn fool to turn that down.” “I had already walked by several other taxi drivers and I didn’t get a good feeling from them. This one named Nicholas looked to be ready and available for just about anything. I could see the hardened eyes, the way that he shifted nervously in his seat like he knew that somebody was going to come looking for him any day. It didn’t hurt that he was quite good looking, but I never mix business with pleasure.” Shelley watched his eyes and saw them light up like the 4th of July with dollar signs dancing in his eyes.
He had thinning brown hair, which he was constantly combing over to make it look like that premature balding was not something that was hereditary in his family.
He looked at this Asian tempest, her dark hair and short petite figure and had immediate visions of what it would be like to have her wrapped around his waist. She was offering a good deal and something that his gambling habit had predicated him working two jobs. That $15,000 debt would be wiped out and there would be no need for those that were shady to come to his house and give him a reminder.
“I do believe that you have a deal.” Shelley told him where her hotel was located and there was not even a word spoken the entire trip. Her mind was this steel trap and she was going over the pertinent details of who this Brent person was. From everything that she read, he was a dedicated officer with the navy. He joined when he was 18 and now turning 25, he had already had several medals. One was for bravery and most of his missions were redacted, so that nobody knew exactly what they entailed. She was a little leery about the man himself. He seemed cloistered, willing to do whatever it took for his country and not having anything to keep him from risking his life.
This was a man that had nothing to lose and was willing to throw it all on the line for the chance to impress those that were higher up.
The mission was pretty easy and she was to eliminate the target and make sure that he was not able to deliver the package. The package was to be taken and sent by courier to a P.O Box in Missouri. After she had taken care of that, her job would be done and she could move on to the next one without complications or anything to stand in her way.
“I’ll be back down here tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM and I expect you to be here. Punctuality is very important to me and I have a schedule to meet and I expect you to adhere to my wishes.” She knew his name, but did not want to say it, in case he decided that gave him an opening to idle chitchat. “I’m only getting him to do this for me, because I need somebody that I can at least control like a puppet on a string. Whatever his money woes are, will be more than enough to make him my loyal lapdog. He’ll come when he calls, panting and begging for attention and if he misbehaves, then he will get more than a rolled up newspaper on the top of his nose.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. The kind of money that you are spending is going to get you exactly what you want.” He was wearing this old threadbare suede brown jacket that had seen better days. His wife had left him and he was now feeling what it was like to fall into the bottle. He had recently quit drinking, but that didn’t stop him from his other vise of gambling on sports or anything else that he could get his hands on. Most times, he could pull himself out, but this time he had gotten in over his head and he was going to need an immediate influx of cash. “I’ll be here at the curb tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM.” He was already counting the money in his head and thinking about what kind of extravagance he would afford himself with the extra $5000 left over after the debt was paid.
“Make sure you are or there will be consequences to your actions.” Shelley made sure to give him that evil eye. It made him shiver to the very notion that she wasn’t just talking about taking away payment. “I’m a woman that always gets what she wants one way or the other.” She slammed the door and walked with her high heels and that briefcase over her shoulder. It was a leather black one and when she stepped through the door of the hotel, her demeanor changed to a more sedate young woman.
Standing at the counter and waiting her turn was not one of her finest moments. She wanted to pull the girl by her hair and slam her down onto the floor, so hard that her skull would. She was complaining about the air conditioning not working and it was in the middle of October. The temperature outside didn’t come up anywhere near air conditioning weather. If she was acting as Shelly, she would have been more impatient, but Kelly was more meek and mild. She was the type to let people walk all over her.
Shelley finally got her room that was
specifically reserved for her. It was the room that she needed to be in. Jackson was courteous enough to arrange all of this, including the party favors that couldn’t go with her through customs.
The room was pleasant enough, but it was only a room. There was nothing special about it. She would only use it to sleep and she did very little of that. Being a light sleeper make her senses well honed and ready to strike like a cobra when necessary.
She took out her case, which was underneath the bed, as requested. She was quite proficient with any weapon and the one that she had chosen for this particular occasion was a high caliber rifle. She brought it to the window and used the viewfinder to target the room directly across from her. It was in another hotel, but this was the perfect vantage point to see her target and get a feel for who he was. He had not arrived yet and then she had a delicious idea of how to get close without having to leave questions in her wake.
Chapter 2
He had arrived and he had a sliver briefcase in his hand. He had it handcuffed to his wrist. He was wearing a suit and Brent felt like the tie around his neck was a noose. He wanted to pull free from it, but he knew that he’s supposed to be playing it cool. Being low profile is not something that he was used to. He was always the one that was first into a firefight. He never believed in asking anybody to do something that he couldn’t do himself.
“You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.” He had only come down for a drink to unwind a little, but now he was seeing this beautiful Asian woman with the kindest eyes. “I came over from the hotel across the street. I heard good things about the martinis here and I wanted to find out if the reviews were right. I’m not one to brag, but I make better ones than these.” Brent had always been suspicious about women that made advances out of the blue. For some reason, he didn’t care and his guard was lowered by the casual way that she had touched his knee. It seemed like an accident, but there was also something calculating about every move that she made. There was no wasted motion.
