by Cara North
“Us?” He stopped pacing and looked at her.
She took a deep breath and showed him her hand, no poker face, no alternate agenda, just surrender to her heart. “I love you, I never stopped loving you. Did you…stop?”
She watched a million conflicting emotions cross his facial features through his eyes, before he decided. “No. I didn’t stop.”
He wasn’t saying it, but he didn’t have to when he was moving toward her and crawling back into the bed. His lips met hers in a demanding pressure and she opened her mouth to accept his tongue. He might have been trying to give her doubts because he was being more aggressive than he had ever been before, but the fact that he was mad at her or himself, or both of them for putting him in this situation only made him more precise in his movements, in his desire, and it was turning her on rather than warning her off.
Holiday had been an unselfish lover, rarely focused on his own driving need, but that was not how he was acting right now. He pulled at her blouse, sending a button off into the room to spin on the hardwood floor as he tugged it off of her and tossed it aside. She wanted to say something, but he was already eating her mouth with intense kisses again, licking, and biting.
Her eyes opened wide and rounded as she made a slight squeaking sound. He pulled back and looked at her, brows still drawn into a frown. “If you’re mine, Phoebe. You’re mine. No one else…”
She had been doing her best to keep up with him and this was a perfect opportunity to tug his shirt enough to put the neck of it against his mouth. His eyes went wide with surprise as she countered, “Shut up and fuck me.”
She had never said anything like that to him before. It was a different couple in this bed today. He made quick work of the shirt and his jeans, underwear, and socks. She had removed everything but one sock when he was pushing her back and positioning his cock against her entry. His lips on hers, one hand propping him up, the other at her hip, he pushed into her and she arched up to meet him, press him deeper with each thrust.
He couldn’t seem to get enough, to get a rhythm, it was as if he had been a starving man and a buffet was set before him. He wanted to do everything at once and while she appreciated the compliment, it was making her crazy each time he got her close and then changed it up.
She dug her nails into his shoulders, her heels into the cheeks of his ass, and then finally let out a groan of pleasure and then frustration before saying, “Roll over.”
He flipped them easily and she was on top, in control. Able to breathe, to focus, she slowed it down a little, enough to find her own pace, to relearn the way his body fit with hers, and then she found it. He tried to take control from that position and she grabbed both of his hands and put them over his head, holding them there with hers.
He smiled up at her. “Who’s holding who hostage now?”
She lifted and settled, causing his eye to twitch and his lower lip to tuck under his teeth. She had never been the one in control in their bedroom. He had worshiped her body like it was an alter and his salvation depended on making her come repeatedly. She understood how desperate he really felt, and she began to feel that too. The need to make him feel it, not hear it. To show him the way he had shown her all those years ago that she loved him.
“Don’t make me get the rope.” She licked her lips and leaned down to kiss him. Her hips slowed, rocked, and she worked for his pleasure now, not hers. “You like that?”
“Yes.” He gasped.
“I’ve missed you so much. I’ve spent the last five years dreaming about the way you used to touch me. I’m going to spend the next five years showing you that I can touch you like that too. That you can trust me with this gorgeous body of yours. That I want it, I need it…”
He was showing it all in his eyes. He was hers, always had been, and always would be if she wanted him. She moved over him with purpose, watched that storm of emotion roll through him, understood that he was about to come. She kissed him deeply, and then nipped his earlobe before saying as he came in a long hard burst, “I love you, Handsome.”
She let go of his hands and he wrapped his arms around her. His lips at her forehead as she settled her body completely on his chest as he twitched errantly with aftershocks, he whispered, “I love you too, Bee.”
She smiled uncontrollably. She didn’t have an orgasm, but she got something better, him. She also knew that he would make it up to her later, but first, “I’m hungry. I see now why you were always hungry after sex. It’s a lot of work.”
He laughed as she removed herself from his body and began to gather up his clothing. “It’s Christmas Eve, Bee. You know what that means?”
“You’re going to give me something really special in the morning?” She winked and he nodded. “Really?”
“Yeah, actually I do have something for you, but it’s not like…you know if I knew…I just…” He pulled his clothes on and then looked at her with a horrified expression. “We…I didn’t…”
Phoebe had never seen him at such a loss for words about anything. “I knew. I thought you did too with the whole…mine speech…I thought you…”
He nodded. “I do. I want to. I mean I’m glad you’re okay with it. I didn’t pack condoms. I didn’t think I would need them. Now, I just…want so much I can hardly piece it together in my head.”
“As long as you can help me piece together a sandwich, I think we are going to be fine tonight.” She walked over to him and tiptoed up to kiss his lips. “I don’t know where my other sock went.”
He chuckled and pulled her into a hug.
Chapter 5
Howard Holiday knew something was wrong. He just couldn’t tell what it was. He walked through the cabin once more and smiled at Phoebe before saying, “I need to…”
“Check the perimeter. I know. Go.” She laughed as he walked out the door. The air was crisp, clean, and cold. He stood there a moment, reluctant to leave the porch, while considering that he could be on edge because he was thrown off guard this afternoon.
She loved him. He loved her. Whatever he had to do to keep her was going to be the route he took. If that meant turning down a job with the team, he would have to do it. He was sure that they could use him in tech, but if that wasn’t what Phoebe wanted for him, then he would just go teach computer classes at a college. He had been offered a job or two in that field as well.
He made his way down the two stairs from the cabin and began methodically inspecting and checking the security cameras, trip wires, pressure pads, and pretty much every other device he could think of to outfit the area with. Was it too much? Maybe. He didn’t think so, not when Phoebe was his responsibility to protect.
His mind began to slip little memories of her through his concentration and that almost caused him to miss it. One. One heel print near a wire.
He tilted his head knowing that only a professional would be able to cover tracks this well, and only someone in a real hurry and with supreme confidence in their ability would be so arrogant to not ensure they left no trace.
He slid his weapon out of the holster and began a hurried, stealthy return to the cabin. Nothing, not a peep, not a sound, and when he opened the door and found her right where he left her he began to think that maybe he was losing it. “Bee.”
Then he heard it. Her cell phone went off. She lit up like a Christmas tree and declared, “We have service!”
She ran for her phone and he texted a message to the Omega Team HQ letting them know that they had a problem. Someone had disabled his disabler. He tried to hide that his weapon was still un-holstered as he entered the room behind her. “Who is it?”
She shook her head and tossed the phone on the bed. “Wrong number.”
“That doesn’t seem right, Bee.” He surveyed the room, the window, the ceiling. “You should put on some better shoes; maybe we can take a walk in the snow.”
Her head snapped up in awareness. She looked at the phone, at him, at the phone, and then gulped as she looked at him. “It’
s Christmas.”
“I know.” He frowned. She looked him over and when her eyes finally settled on the handgun, she began to get dressed in more than her pajamas. They had spent the afternoon playing games, and making love, and they showered together. He decided that was when it must have happened. When they were in the shower, because he would have noticed, heard, or…he had to quit thinking about the things he could not control. “Traditional Christmas Eve walk, right?”
“Right.” She was trembling and he understood why. She gave him a brave smile and they walked back into the living room area. She bundled up in her coat and he nodded to the scarf and gloves. She pulled on a knit hat and then finished with the last two items.
His only concern was to get her out of this cabin, onto the snowmobile he had stashed away, and down to the main hotel where she would go to the room he had already reserved and checked into under another name.
They left and she was quiet, alert, and holding onto the rope he handed her for silent guidance. She was a military brat, and her father was in special operations most of his career, so Holiday knew that Phoebe understood some basics because she had told him about her dad taking her and her mom out for training. Phoebe thought it was fun, her mom thought they should be glamping not camping with tactical maneuvers as part of the activities.
He knew she was nervous because this was not her dad, this was not training, this was not fun, it was real and he had to shove aside the panic in his chest when he thought about something happening to her in order to stay focused on their mission. A few steps farther and he checked, she was doing a good job with covering their tracks as they moved. She would step into his steps and used the fanned end of a broom-like device to distort the steps. One hand on the rope, the other on the device, she remained focused on her tasks and he remained on high alert.
Once at the snowmobile, he handed her a small communication device that would allow her to send him an encrypted message via text letting him know that she was safe in the room. He pulled the backpack out of the hiding spot and strapped it to her back. “Here. The key and a change of clothes are in this. I’m sorry, Bee. I failed you again.”
“You didn’t. This is probably just a bird or some crazy creature that got into your secret lair and chewed up a wire. I’ll see you in an hour.” She was lying and he knew she was doing that for her own sanity as much as his benefit.
“If anything…”
“Red button. I know. I listened.” She pulled the goggles on and then leaned in to kiss his lips. He wanted to go with her, to ensure that she made it to the hotel, but he knew she would. He knew in his gut that whatever the person came for Phoebe had it, but she didn’t know it, so it was probably on her phone or in her laptop. Fortunately, he had already copied both and sent them to the team, but it wasn’t like a television show, processing that stuff took time and any document could be the potentially desired one when they had no idea what to look for.
“I love you.” He had to say it. Just in case he returned to that cabin and it blew to the sky after he entered it again. She had to know.
“I love you, too.” She turned the key and looked ahead of her. She took off a moment later and he watched her until she was no longer in view with the naked eye or his binoculars.
“Honey’s on the move.” Holiday sent the message and knew the team would watch her from there. They had code named her Honey when he let it slip he called her Bee. His Bee. His Honey Bee. He felt the corner of his lip lift in a snarl. She was his and whoever it was at that cabin had followed her here.
He made his way back and breathed a sigh of relief that reinforcement was on the way and nearby. He still had to go back inside and attempt to collect her electronics before the perpetrator.
He was surprised to find a man waiting for him when he opened the door. He didn’t look a lot like a military operative, but then again, what does one look like? The man looked Holiday up and down and said, “Have a seat Mr. Holiday. I need your assistance.”
He felt his spine go rigid. “Excuse me? Who are you?”
“Steven.” He sat up straighter. “The General told you I was coming, right?”
Holiday was poleaxed by the statement and the casual approach of this intruder. “No.”
“Huh.” Steven situated himself in the chair and looked around the room. “Nice cabin. Nice set up with the tech, too. He was right; you wouldn’t be easy to get past. I am a little offended that you would shower with my girlfriend, but I understand why. History and all.”
Howard Holiday was feeling the last threads of military discipline slowly begin to pull too tight within him. Those fibers were about to snap. He was at war within to maintain his bearing, appear aloof. Holiday simply rolled a shoulder as a response. No confirmation or denial or appearance of more concern or emotion than necessary. “What do you think you want with me?”
“Your skill set, of course. I’ve been trying to break your code since you got here. I wasn’t able to. It took me all week to get close to the cabin without setting off the alarms and I just lucked out with that shower timing so I could get to the wires. I still haven’t cracked the codes. It’s impressive. I want you to come work for me.” The guy looked at Holiday like he had just won the lottery or something. “I’ll pay more than this Omega Team you’re signed on with now, and once the General is in his newly appointed government seat, my new contracts will go through and…”
“You’re the reason she lost the contractor job?” Holiday was astounded that this man thought he could just use people this way.
“I’m talking about using your special skills for a significant sum of money and you are asking me about contractors. I don’t get you Holiday. The General said you were a team player and that you had the good sense to walk away from Phoebe once before and would see the benefit of doing it again. I’m not saying I’m going to stay with her, mind you. She was just a means to an end.” He stood up, looked around the cabin.
“What end?” Holiday was not tracking.
“You.” Steven smiled. Then he frowned. “Did you think I was stupid enough to let that woman have information of value? No. No, no, no. This was all about getting to you. The General said if you thought Phoebe was at risk you would bring you’re “A” game. It was a test and you passed with flying colors. He was right. He was absolutely…”
“So there is no threat against Phoebe?” He asked and his watch buzzed alerting him to her text stating she was in the hotel and safe. She had been used as bait. How would she react to knowing her father had used her as bait? How was the Omega Team going to react when they found out that they had been paid for what, a training exercise? There were teal issues out there that their resources could have been used for instead of this.
“I’m not interested.” Holiday finally holstered his weapon. “If I’m what you came for, you came for the wrong man.”
“That’s unfortunate.” Steven pulled his hand up to his neck as if this conversion was paining him somehow. “Phoebe may not know anything about me or what I do, but… now you do…and while I had hoped I could give you a job and maybe even shift her back your way since it is exhausting being everything she wants…”
Holiday was taking steps forward to punch this guy in the face, but that was a mistake. Steven had pulled a small, but effective handgun from the inside of the coat he was wearing and as Holiday put all the pieces of what he was saying together, he had only gripped his own weapon before everything went loud, then silent, then black.
Chapter 6
Phoebe held onto Holiday’s hand and sighed with relief before tears of joy sprang to her eyes. “You’re awake.”
His face said it all, he was confused, a moment of panic hit him, then the doctor put a hand on Holiday’s shoulder and pushed to ensure he remained in his current position. Dr. Lee smiled down at him and said, “That was quite an injury you had, Mr. Holiday. I’m used to fixing broken legs and arms, so when I got the call there was an emergency gun-shot wound going into s
urgery, I was intrigued. You’re very lucky to be alive. If that bullet had landed any closer to the artery you’d be dead. As it is, you need to rest. Okay? The police will be in shortly to speak with you. If you don’t remember, don’t try to force it. They have the whole story, so give yourself time to truly recover before trying to force something that happened two days ago to snap back into place.”
Dr. Lee checked a few more vitals and nodded a smile as she left. Phoebe looked down at him. All that time he was worried about her and they were after him. “Maybe I should apply for a job at the Omega Team, all that time you were trying to protect me and it ended up being me protecting you.”
“What?” He cleared his throat and she gave him a cup with a straw and he took a sip of water.
She was actually proud of herself and so were the guys on the team that showed up in time to rescue Holiday and save his life. “I guess I always knew something was off about Steven. I mean he seemed to always know what I wanted or where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. You remember when we were dating and you told me about the tech you were working on to copy phones, well, I when I found out he knew my dad, I sort of copied his. He had no idea, but when you sent all of my stuff over to your office, they found that and knew he was after you.”
She frowned because she realized that even with all the answers, no one was there to stop him from getting shot. “I guess your backup was closer than you thought, but they were still too late. Why were you so close to him? The proximity is why that bullet did so much damage.”
“Damage?” He tried to turn his head but realized that was a bad idea as he winced.
“Yeah. You’re lucky to still be alive, but you will need some serious physical therapy before you can use that arm the way you used to, if ever. It tore through the muscles and the scar tissue alone is going to…”
