“Are you inside?”
“Yes.”
“Stay inside, make sure the door is locked, and someone will be right there. We had already been notified and we’re on our way.”
She smiled at the volunteer and said, “Don’t alarm anyone else, but we have to be vigilant about strangers.”
The volunteer nodded, but her wide eyes and pale face gave evidence to her nervousness. As Agatha turned back to the window in the door, she saw the truck pull into the parking lot, jerking to a stop just in front of the center’s door.
A heavyset man threw open his door and jumped down, landing with both booted feet on the pavement. Slamming his truck door, he stalked to the front of the center, raised his fist and pounded on the door.
“Gail! Let me in! I know you're in there!"
Safely inside, Agatha turned to the volunteer and ordered, "Get to Gail. Tell her to stay in the back, and not to come forward. Make sure she has someone with her. Then call Ann and let her know we have an emergency."
The volunteer hurried off to do her bidding, and Agatha waited, knowing the Saints were on their way.
Within a minute, an SUV pulled in by the front door and three Saints jumped out. Bart, Jude, and Blaise headed straight for the door, as she watched through the window. Bart and Jude quickly subdued the large man, who continued to rant that the center was holding his girlfriend hostage. Still yelling threats, Bart secured his hands behind his back with zip ties, while Blaise moved to the door of the center.
Opening it, she barely jumped out of the way in time as Blaise rushed through. He immediately placed his hands on her shoulders and peered into her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, her gaze darting to his side, trying to see what was happening. Before she had a chance to speak, Gail came bursting from the back room, her eyes wild as she said, “Thomas? Thomas is here?”
Agatha broke free from Blaise’s hold and turned to Gail. Speaking softly, she said, “Gail…what are you doing here?”
“He came? He came here?”
“Gail, you need to go to the back. Let the police handle this.”
Gail’s chest heaved as tears filled her eyes, and she said, “Why is he here?”
Outside, with his face still pressed against the brick wall, Thomas yelled, “Gail! I know you’re in there!”
Before she could stop her, Gail started around to the door, but her progress was stopped as Blaise placed his arm around her shoulders. She had gotten far enough to be able to see Thomas.
Agatha pleaded, “Don’t go back to him. You’re strong and getting stronger. Do this for you.”
Gail looked at Thomas and asked, in a voice scratchy with emotion, “Why are you here? If you care about me, ever cared about me, you would leave me alone.”
“Baby, you belong to me. You should be home with me.”
“That’s what you never understood,” she said, tears sliding down her cheeks. “I don’t belong to anybody except me. You never got that. And when I wasn’t going your way, you showed me what you thought of me with your fists. That’s not love. That’s ownership…and I don’t belong to anyone but me.”
Turning, she fell into Agatha’s arms, her chest heaving with exertion. The police arrived, taking Thomas after getting statements from Bart and Jude.
One of the police officers turned to Gail, and said, “Are you going to press charges?”
Ann approached from the back, and said, “The center will press charges.”
Agatha looked at Gail and said, “You need to get a restraining order. Ann will go with you and you can do it right now.”
Ann nodded. “Gail, what Agatha is telling you, is exactly what you need to do. You’ve already started the process of standing on your own. We want to help you, and you can help yourself by getting a restraining order.”
Gail nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. The police had Thomas in the squad car, and Ann wrapped her arms around Gail before leading her outside.
Blaise crossed the room, pulling Agatha into a hug. “You okay?”
Nodding, she said, “Yes. I’m sorry to bother—”
“This is no bother, Agatha. This is what you’re supposed to do. Nathan’s out tracking an elderly man lost from his home, or he’d be here telling you the same himself.”
Sucking in a deep breath before blowing it back out slowly, she said, “Thank you.”
Blaise kissed the top of her head and warmth spread throughout her body. The idea that Nathan’s friends cared so much that they’d drop everything to watch after her, and would go so far as to embrace her, overwhelmed her. She had never experienced that sense of peace with her family.
“Yeah, I saw her,” the driver of a black car said in a thick Russian accent as he drove down the road.
“It didn’t take her long to call in her protectors,” Yurgi growled.
“I circled around, but stayed out of sight and out of range of the cameras. Looks like they got to her within ten minutes.”
“We’ll keep an eye on the situation. Lucky for us that man tried to get in…now we know she’s got protection and we’ll have to find another way to get to her.”
Scarlett, nose to the ground, trotted at a fast clip along one of the paths in the park, with Nathan right behind. Two police officers were with him, both trained in how to approach a person with dementia.
Confident that Scarlett would find him quickly, he still felt the usual anxiety when someone was missing. His heavy boots thumped sure-footed over the damp ground as his eyes stayed on Scarlett. She left the path, moving through the trees and his anxiety increased as he saw they were nearing the pond. Fuck, don’t let us be too late.
Scarlett headed out of the trees, causing he and the policeman to increase their speed following her. Nathan looked ahead and saw an elderly man sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pond. Scarlett trotted close before sitting on her haunches, indicating this was the man they had been looking for.
Nathan gave the two police officers a nod and stood back with Scarlett as they approached the man carefully. He watched as the two police officers skillfully engaged the man in a conversation, listening as he described a similar pond from when he was young. Offering him water, they assisted him to his feet and the group began traveling back toward the road.
As the man neared, he looked down at Scarlett, and a wide smile broke across his face. “Had me an old coonhound when I was a boy. Best dog I ever had.”
“Yes, sir,” he agreed, watching with pride as the older man rubbed Scarlett’s head and she patiently allowed the petting. Reaching the street, he observed the police officers carefully settled the man in the back of their cruiser to take him back to the home he had left.
Bending, he scratched Scarlett’s ears and under her chin, saying, “You did good again, girl. Let’s go home.”
His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out seeing a message from Blaise. Reading it, his heart skipped a beat. Fuck! Aggie!
Nathan hurried to the center as fast as he could. Rushing through the front door, his heart pounding, he saw Agatha approaching from the back. Not giving her a chance to speak, he rushed to her, crushing her body against to his.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Agatha tried to assure Nathan, but her voice was muffled, her mouth pressed to his chest. His flannel shirt was soft against her face and she wrapped her arms around his middle.
"Jesus, babe. My heart hasn't stopped racing since Blaise called me."
"It was Gail’s ex-boyfriend,” she said, her gaze holding his. She smiled and said, “You know what was the best thing to hear? When she said she wasn’t property to be owned by anyone. I could have burst with pride.”
He peered into her beaming face and kissed her gently, saying, “The work you do here is amazing, babe. You make a difference…you’ve got to know that.”
“Well, you’re the one who found her in the first place, so I’d say your work is pretty amazing too.”
He look
ed at the clock on the wall, and said, "It's close enough to the end of day, please babe, tell me that you can go home now."
She nodded, still feeling his heartbeat pounding against her cheek. Turning, she moved to get her purse before walking out the door with him, thinking that she loved hearing the word home describing the place they were going together.
25
Walking through the woods along the tree-lined path, Agatha thought she was in heaven. Her hand was linked with Nathan’s as they walked, the sound of the dogs moving along the trail in front of them mixing with the birds above. She sneaked a peek at him, marveling at his confident stride, his feet covered in his work boots, his legs encased in jeans that strained across his powerful thighs. He had recently trimmed his beard, but she liked it just as well when it was scraggly. Finally, she jerked her gaze back to the sights around her.
The tall trees, thick underbrush, and woodland creatures scurrying through the leaves on the ground captured her attention. The sun cast beams through the limbs above, illuminating the fairy-like woods. “This is beautiful…so peaceful,” she said, pulling the fresh air deeply into her lungs.
“What is, babe?”
“This. You. Us. The walk in the woods. The dogs. The sunshine.”
He laughed, throwing his head back. “Damn, girl. That just about covers everything.”
Scrunching her nose, she lifted her shoulders. “I guess it does, but that’s how I feel. I’ve never had walks in the woods before. I’ve never been around pets. I’ve never had a chance to just enjoy the beauty of nature.”
Nathan stopped in the middle of the path, wrapping his arms around Agatha and pulling her in tightly. He loved seeing her in one of his flannel shirts, hanging down her thighs, knowing she was safe and warm in his arms. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he closed his eyes as he tried to imagine what life was like before she escaped her family. All the things he took for granted growing up, ran through his mind. “I’d love to take you to my parents’ farm sometime. Both to meet them and to let you see where I was raised. It’s not fancy, I’ll warn you, but it was home.”
Agatha looked up at Nathan’s face. A sunbeam shot through the trees, illuminating him around the edges with a glow. Her heart squeezed with the knowledge that she loved this man. “I’d be honored to meet your family.” She sucked in her lips, before adding, “I never thought anyone would want to take me to meet their family.”
“Sweet Aggie, the honor would be mine.” Cupping the back of her head with one of his hands, Nathan gently pulled her head back, slightly lifting her lips to his. The kiss was soft and gentle, but with the swipe of her tongue against his, it went deeper and wilder. If not for the bounding dogs that came rushing to them, swirling about their legs, he was sure he would have taken her against a tree.
Lifting his head, he laughed, “As much as I’d like to answer the call of the wild right now, babe, I think the dogs are trying to tell us it’s time to go home.”
They continued their walk along the path as they headed toward the cabin. The dogs, recognizing they were heading home, trotted ahead, their tails wagging as their noses sniffed the ground. Once there, he went into the kennel to feed them as Agatha headed into the house.
When he joined her inside the cabin, he swooped her into his arms, stalking back to the bedroom.
As he let her body slide down his front, he stopped just before her feet touched the floor, where her lips were at the same level as his. With one hand behind her head, and the other banded around her waist, he gripped her hair gently, angling her head for maximum contact. Tongues tangling, vying for dominance, they bumped noses as their heads moved back and forth.
“I want you naked,” she mumbled, her lips not separating from his.
He lowered her to the ground, pulling back as they stared at each other, both panting. With a grin, she whipped her shirt over her head and he did the same. Fingers flew over buttons and zippers as they stripped. Standing naked, their eyes drifted down and back up again, each admiring the view.
Agatha had never had the opportunity to give a blowjob before, but she hoped her racier romance novels would provide the guidance she needed. Before Nathan could move, she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth. She swirled her tongue around the tip before moving him in and out. Too large for her to take all of him in, she fisted the bottom of his shaft while sucking.
“Oh, babe,” he moaned, his hands tangling in her hair. He gripped her honey blonde tresses tightly before loosening his hold, conscious of hurting her. My caring man.
Digging small crescents with her fingernails into his thighs, she held on as she concentrated on pleasuring him and, from the satin tightness of his cock, she could tell she was succeeding. Sparing a glance up to his face, she watched as his head tilted back, the veins in his neck standing out, before he dropped his chin to watch her. Smiling her delight, her lips bobbed up and down over his erection.
Overcome with sensations, Nathan felt his balls tighten and, as much as he wanted to come in her mouth, the desire to come into her tight sex was stronger. With effort, he gently grabbed her hair again and pulled her head back. His cock slid from her mouth and he instantly felt the loss.
Before she could speak, he bent and lifted her up by her underarms, tossing her gently to the bed.
“As much as I love your mouth, babe, I wanna come buried balls deep inside of you.”
His words sent a jolt straight to Agatha’s sex as she spread her legs, immediately lifting her arms to welcome him.
He reached for a condom, but she halted his arm. “I’m on birth control. Harlan insisted.” At his raised eyebrow, she blushed. “What I mean is, he insisted that I see a gynecologist after I told him that the only doctor I had ever been to was the family doctor.” Shrugging, she added, “When I saw the gynecologist and she asked if I was sexually active, I told her no but that I hoped to be. She suggested I go on birth control and, I confess, I liked making that kind of decision and not leaving it up to my mother.”
Nathan’s breath caught in his throat as he stared down at her beauty. “I’m clean, but I want you to be sure about this.”
“Absolutely,” she grinned.
“Damn, Aggie,” he groaned, “you’re perfect.” The tip of his straining cock teased her slick opening. As he slowly stretched her tight, accepting walls, he continued to whisper in her ear, “I want to claim every inch of you.”
Pulling him tighter to her, Agatha welcomed the feel of his thick cock. Her desire matched her need to be connected to him as he sucked the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulders. Feeling the nip of his teeth on her pulse sent convulsions through her core.
Losing himself in the sensations, Nathan’s movements increased in tempo. Her walls pulled against him with every outward motion and welcomed him with every thrust. Her nipples pebbled against his chest, the soft mounds of her breasts pressed tightly to his pecs.
Kissing a trail down her shoulder to her breasts he latched around a hardened nipple. Pulling it deeply into his mouth, he swirled his tongue around the tight flesh and blew his breath across the bud, watching her shiver in delight.
As Nathan continued to thrust, Agatha felt every movement, her inner walls reveling in the electricity that bolted outward. Her legs ached from clinging to him so tightly, but her desire to join with him as closely as she could, made her lock them in place, even though they trembled with the exertion. She could feel the orgasm nearing as her core pulsed. Crying out his name, she threw her head back against the pillow, her sex convulsing around him.
“I want to watch you come,” he said, grinning in satisfaction as she tilted her head forward and her eyes jerked open.
As Agatha’s body shuddered in ecstasy, her orgasm washing over her, a blush moved from her chest to her cheeks as she held his gaze. Nathan continued to grind against her clit as he thrust several more times before his neck tightened, the muscles cording as he powered through his own orgasm, emptying deep inside
her body. Moving in and out, he continued until drained. Falling forward, he crashed half on her body, half on the mattress.
Agatha welcomed his weight, the feel of his heaviness on top of her, his hips still nestled between her legs. Smoothing her hands over the muscles of his shoulders and down his back, she noted the hard planes melding into the dips and curves.
Neither spoke, both steadying their breathing. As the physical sensations slowly faded, the emotions heightened.
His voice gravel rough, he asked, “Are you okay, baby?”
“Yeah,” she breathed, holding his gaze.
Gently moving his mouth down to hers, Nathan captured her lips as well as her breath. Thrusting his tongue between her lips, he plundered her mouth, relishing each curve, ridge, and the taste of her. Agatha matched his ardor, her tongue parrying with his. This kiss was different…this felt like being claimed.
Pulling him to her, she kissed him deeply, hanging on to his shoulders as they allowed their passions to take over. Much later, she curled up in his arms, drifting away into a peaceful sleep.
The dark night had descended, but Charlie was unable to sleep. As she slipped from bed, she looked down at Luke, sleeping soundly. Not wanting to wake him, she padded softly from the room. Once inside their home study, she fired up her secure computer, opening the programs she had perfected over the years, encrypted for maximum security.
Seeing a new email from an address she did not recognize, she opened it, knowing her computer would immediately kill the message if there were any detected viruses. Stunned, she read,
We see you have her protected. We’ll assist FBI. She knows the way, if we are needed.
“What the fuck?” She began typing fast and furious, attempting to discern where the message had come from. As brilliant as she was with encryption, she could not believe they used a program that kept her from being able to see who sent the message.
Searching Love_Saints Protection & Investigations Page 20
