She looked down at her hospital scrubs and flip-flops, then back up at the opulent house. “I feel like I should be wearing a hooped skirt and holding a mint julep.”
Noah put his arm around her. “You’d look beautiful in a flour sack, and don’t you forget it. Besides, I can stop and pick up some of your things when I go back to New Orleans.”
“Forty-eight hours, remember?”
He gave her an exaggerated sigh. “Very well. I’m sure Mrs. Garber can find you something to wear.”
The caretaker’s wife took that as her cue to hurry down the steps, arms open wide. “Welcome to The Oaks, Ms. Sheppard,” the woman said, enfolding her in a hug. “We’re so happy Mr. Noah has finally found you. We’re going to take extra special care of you.”
Olivia stepped back when the older woman released her, clearing her throat. “Thank you very much, Mrs. Garber. I’m sure I’ll be just fine. No need to put yourself out.”
“Put myself out? Heavens, child, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had another woman to talk to out here in bayou country?” She hooked Olivia’s arm in hers and led her up the stairs. “No one here to talk to but the gardener and my old man, and neither one are much on small talk. Now, come on inside, and I’ll pour us a glass of sweet tea and we’ll get acquainted.”
The inside of the house was no less impressive than the outside. A wide hall ran down the center, with large rooms off either side. At the end of the hallway, a grand stairway curved around either side, leading to the private rooms. Beyond the stairs, the formal dining room sparkled with crystal chandeliers, and an antique cherry table spoke of the many meals enjoyed in true Southern style. Speechless, Olivia allowed the woman to lead her into a bright, sunny kitchen.
“Just have a seat at the breakfast nook, dear, and I’ll fix us some tea. Are you hungry? Mr. Noah didn’t say if you’d eaten or not.”
“In fact, we have not, Mrs. Garber,” Noah said, appearing in the doorway. “And I, for one, am starving.” He looked at Olivia. “You?”
She smiled. “I could eat.”
And eat they did. Mrs. Garber filled the table with succulent slices of ham, a plate of deviled eggs, crisp romaine lettuce, and thick slices of juice, ripe tomatoes. “Mr. Noah likes to build himself a sandwich,” she told Olivia, setting a plate of Keiser rolls and Vidalia onions on the table. “I hope you’re an onion eater, Ms. Sheppard.”
Olivia grinned. “Vidalias? I could eat one like an apple and die a happy woman.”
The older woman smiled. “Then dig in, you two. I’m just going to run upstairs and make up your room with fresh linens.”
“Well,” Olivia said, watching the kitchen door swung shut behind the housekeeper. “I’ll bet she keeps you on your toes when you’re here.”
Noah chuckled. “That she does. Do you like her?”
“Hey, anyone who can set up a spread like this on a moment’s notice is okay in my book.” Then she nodded. “Yes, I like her. She’s very sweet.”
After they’d eaten their fill, Olivia loaded the dishwasher while Noah wrapped up the leftovers and put them in the refrigerator.
“Walk with me to the car,” Noah said when she finished up.
With a nod, she took his hand, twining her fingers with his, and followed him out.
“I hate the idea of you leaving me here,” Olivia said.
“I know. I hate the idea of leaving you, but we can’t take the chance that they’re watching my home in the garden district. I mean to keep you safe, kitten. You and Allie. I’ll keep my cell on so you can reach me.”
She knew he had to go, but an overwhelming sense of foreboding urged her to beg him to stay. She stood on the porch, watching while the darkening sky ate up the last of his taillights, then turned and went back inside.
Her cell rang at three in the morning. Olivia jerked awake and reached for her phone. Had something happened to Allie?
“Noah, what’s wrong?”
Cruel laughter greeted her on the other end. “Sorry to disappoint you, bitch, but it’s not your abomination of a boyfriend. However, we do have him. If you’d like the opportunity to say goodbye to him while he’s still alive, you’ll get your ass back to New Orleans.”
“How do I know you’ve got him? Noah wouldn’t allow himself to be taken.”
The Sentinel uttered an evil chuckle. “Stupid bitch. He would if he thought we had you. You have until the sun rises to get here.”
Here, turned out, was in the hurricane devastated ninth ward, the absolutely worst part of town imaginable. Olivia immediately dialed Noah’s cell, which went straight to voice mail. Fuck! He’d promised to keep his cell on. They could very well have him. She couldn’t gamble with his life; she had to go.
Olivia flew from the bed and dressed in her hospital scrubs. Punching the numbers for the caretaker’s extension, she awakened the Garbers.
“I need a car, a gun, and a decent pair of shoes, and I need them now!” she barked into the phone. She didn’t give them time to ask questions, but ran into the upstairs hall and down the stairs.
Several moments passed before they appeared, alarmed and rumpled with sleep.
“What’s happened, Ms. Sheppard?” Mr. Garber demanded to know. “Mr. Lazarus gave express orders that you were not to leave here until he came for you.”
“They’ve got him, Garber, and I’m not going to stand here and argue with you about whether or not I can leave. I’m leaving and you’re going to give me what I need.”
Mrs. Garber’s hand flew to her chest. “The Sentinel? They have him?”
Olivia’s jaw dropped. “You know?”
Both Garbers nodded. “Our families have been connected for a very long time. Garbers have always looked after the Lazarus family.”
“Then you know I have no choice. I have to go to him.”
Mr. Garber headed down the hall into Noah’s study. “I’ll get your weapon. There are some tennis shoes in the hall closet.”
By the time Olivia had laced up the shoes, he’d returned carrying a semi-automatic Glock. “I’ll bring the truck around.” He handed her the weapon.
While Olivia checked the gun, Mrs. Garber hurried to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. “Leon will be filling the tank and checking the oil. You’ll want a thermos of coffee for the drive.”
Minutes passed like hours and Olivia paced the front porch waiting for Leon Garber to bring the truck around to the front of the house. The rumble of big V-8 engine and headlights piercing the dark interrupted the serenade of crickets and tree frogs. She jumped when Mrs. Garber touched her shoulder, and she suppressed a near-hysterical laugh.
“You be careful, Olivia Sheppard,” she said. “Noah’s waited a long, lonely lifetime for you. I expect you both back safe and sound to be married right here in the rose garden.”
Olivia gave into impulse and hugged the older woman. “Count on it,” she said. Taking the thermos, she hurried down the front steps.
Leon Garber stepped aside so she could get behind the wheel. “I could come with you,” he offered.
She shook her head. “I work alone.”
He nodded. “Lazarus women always have had an independent nature.”
Chapter Thirteen
Noah closed and locked the door to Olivia’s condo and keyed the lock on the trunk of his car. He didn’t care what she said, Olivia was staying at the plantation until he and Ian could get a line on the whereabouts of the Sentinel’s latest assassin. Her suitcase hit the trunk floor with a thump and he slammed the lid. She’d be pissed when she saw it but that was just too bad. In a situation like this, her life was more important than her independence.
When he slid behind the wheel, his cell rang. He pressed the keypad and brought the phone to his ear.
“What’s the matter? Can’t sleep without me?”
“Wrong, asshole,” a familiar sounding voice answered. “We’ve got her, and if you want her to live, you’ll do exactly as I say.”
“You’
ll die for this,” Noah growled.
“Maybe so, but I’ll be taking you with me, Lazarus.”
Before the caller could disconnect, he heard Olivia screaming in the background that he was not to come anywhere near the ninth ward.
Noah cursed fluently and wheeled the car around and headed for the storm-ravaged neighborhood. He knew exactly where he was going––to one of his own ruined warehouses.
Why couldn’t the woman just once do what he asked of her? What had she been thinking? Why had she left the relative safety of the plantation to return to New Orleans? Unless they knew about his safe house. He shook his head. Not possible. Ownership of that place was virtually untraceable. He reached for his cell. There it was, a call from her shortly after three o’clock. He dialed his voice mail and listened. No message, just a horrified moan. They’d lured her out using the oldest trick in the book, threatening the life of a loved one.
“Son of a bitch,” he growled, and punched the gas.
The horizon wore a ribbon of gray tinted pink when Noah eased the car to a stop in front of the warehouse. All around him, the silence of an abandoned neighborhood filled the air. He cocked his head, smiling in spite of himself. She was in there, all right, taunting her captor.
“Come on, Bellows,” he heard her say. “Untie my hands and fight me like a man.”
Richard Bellows. He’d applied for Olivia’s job, but something about him had not sit right with Ian. Well, he now knew the name of the Sentinel’s newest assassin. And to make matters worse, there was obviously a history between Bellows and Olivia. He approached the door silently, listening.
“I could kick your ass any day of the week and twice on Sunday, you stupid cunt,” Bellows roared.
A growl rumbled deep in Noah’s chest, but he restrained himself. Their bond was strong enough that Olivia must know he was nearby and she was feeding him information.
“Aw, come on, Richie, put down the big, bad flamethrower and give me back my Glock. We’ll draw from the hip; see who’s faster—just like the Old West. You always thought you were a cowboy, didn’t you?”
Noah put his hand on the doorknob when Bellows shouted at Oliva once more. He stepped through the door just as the bastard grabbed her by the shirt and hauled her up out of a chair.
“I’m here, Richard,” Noah said softly, and all hell broke loose.
Olivia let out a rebel yell and launched herself at Bellows, forcing him backward. He stumbled on a piece of debris, righted himself, and slammed the nozzle of the flamethrower against her cheek.
Noah snarled and leapt at Bellows, ripping the weapon from his hands and then tossing it across the room. “Now, you die, motherfucker!”
Bellows yanked his gun from his holster, flicked off the safety, and pointed it at Olivia. “No!” he roared, grinning wildly at Noah. “Now, she dies!”
Olivia rolled once, threw out her legs, and captured his neck in a scissor lock. She flexed and snapped his neck. “Wrong again, asshole.” Kicking him away, she sat up. “That’s for Allie, you piece of shit, and for all of our people you Sentinel have murdered over the years.”
Noah sent up a prayer to the powers that be. She’d said, “Our people,” and that could only mean one thing. He went to her and gently lifted her to her feet.
“You got nothing to say to me?” she asked, when he untied her hands.
“Oh, I have several things to say to you, kitten, but first, your place or mine.”
She started to grin, then grimaced in pain. “Fucker bruised my cheekbone.”
Noah chuckled. “That’s all right, kitten, it’ll heal as soon as I turn you.” He looked down at Richard Bellows. “What shall we do with him?”
Her lip curled in disdain. “He brought his weapon of choice to this party. Burn this place down around him.”
“Bloodthirsty little thing, aren’t you?”
This time she did grin, despite the pain. “Not yet, but I’m about to be.”
Noah smiled and shook his head. “You’re incorrigible,” he scolded, reaching down to pick up the flamethrower. Olivia stepped outside and he squeezed the trigger, shooting flames into the decrepit warehouse. They stood for a moment, watching the fire climb up the walls, then he tossed the weapon inside, and shut the door.
* * * *
The sun crested the treetops when Noah parked in front of Olivia’s condo. She’d been happy here. It was the first place she’d felt at home for more years than she could count, and she’d loved everything about it, from the clanking pipes to her exotically decorated bedroom. But it didn’t feel like home any more. She looked up at Noah when he opened her car door. He was her home, she realized, and suddenly, it didn’t seem like such a hard thing, selling the place and moving in with him. She would spend this last day here, with the man she loved, and would leave with no regrets.
“I need a bath,” she said, climbing stiffly from the car. “A hot one, with a hot man. Know anybody up for the task.”
Noah laughed and swung her up into his arms. “I just might be up to the task, but it’s going to cost you.”
“Oh, goody, I like the way you make me pay.”
He bent his head and kissed her until she squirmed. “And pay, and pay, and . . .”
He kicked the car door shut and somehow managed to open the courtyard gate with her still in his arms. When they reached the front door, he set her on her feet. “We’ll save the threshold for our wedding day, shall we?” he teased, and unlocked the door to usher her inside.
The water was hot, and so was the man. They took turns bathing one another in the large spa tub. Olivia’s Kama Sutra soap smelled like cloves and slid across the skin like silk. Noah groaned and hissed when her hands dipped beneath the water to take his cock in one hand, his balls in the other.
“When we’re done in here, I’m going to take you in my mouth and suck you until you come. Then, I’m going to tease your lovely cock back to life, slide down over it, and fuck you until you beg for mercy.”
Noah groaned, lifting her astride him. “Why wait till we’re done. Climb aboard, kitten. You can fuck me till we both beg for mercy.”
With his hands at her waist, Noah guided her over his jutting cock, lowering her until he filled her completely.
“Yes,” she sighed, grasping the edges of the tub. “Ah, God, you feel good.” She ground against him, riding him like a rocking horse. His hands took her breasts, cupping them while his thumbs brushed across her nipples. They pebbled beneath his touch, and he leaned forward taking each by turn into his mouth, sucking hard while she rode his cock.
Water lapped at the edges of the tub. “That’s right, kitten, fuck yourself on my cock. Take what you want, baby. I’m yours. I’m yours forever.”
The power of his words drove her. She took what he offered, rising, and falling on his meaty cock while the water splashed over the side. What was a little water on the floor compared to a forever in Noah’s arms?
“Give me your throat,” he demanded.
“Now?” she panted. “You’re going to do it now?”
“No, but I’m going to make you come now.”
Oh, God, the growly, predator’s voice, the one that made her want to offer herself up as a sacrifice every time. “Yes. Yes, make me come.” Wrapping her arms around him, she leaned into him. Strong hands gripped her hips, ground against her and sank his fangs deep.
Oh, Jesus, his cock seemed to swell inside her. Her muscles clenched, and she tumbled out of control. “Noaaah!” . Her pussy milked him, and her blood nourished him. With an animalistic cry of satisfaction, he came with her. “I love you,” she said, sagging against him.
He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her against him. “And I love you. What say we climb out of this tub and call Ian so we can get you converted?”
“Mmm,” she sighed. “Nap first.”
He rose from the water, taking her with him. “A nap it is.”
They slept long and hard, and Olivia woke to the smell of coffee b
rewing. She inhaled deeply, slipped out of bed, and walked to the kitchen naked. “That smells good.”
Noah turned and smiled. “I was going to bring it to you in bed,” he said, wagging his brows. He handed her a cup of café au lait.
“I don’t want to do it here. I think when you turn me, it should happen in your home.” He leaned back against the counter and cocked his head. “I know, I’ve make all kinds of noise about having my own space, but it hit me this morning, after what happened with Burrows. I don’t need this place anymore. You’re my home. I want us to start our lives together someplace that hasn’t been tainted by Sentinel hatred.”
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