by Aimee Laine
“Hell, no, but it would give Roy that sense of accomplishment and provide another layer of safety.”
Lily draped her arms around his neck. “When this is over, I never want to see it again.”
Cael leaned to her lips and offered her a kiss. “Thank god.”
“You’re going to stop there?” Mischief twinkled in her eyes.
His brows winged up. “Don’t you want to—”
She whispered ‘no’ against his mouth as she kissed to one side and back.
“Lil?”
“Hmm?” She nipped at him.
“I’m not going to be able to hold back if you keep it up. I’ve been waiting, too.”
“I don’t want you to. I want to be filled by you. I want to know that we are who we are.” Her fingers moved to his jeans, tugging at the material. “I want to be everything for you. I want you to love me, Cael.” Her hand slipped between skin and cotton.
Cael moaned as he accepted her lips and swallowed the kiss. He nudged her hip until it pressed against him. “Even the most honorable usually have good intentions.” Cael nipped at her lower lip. “I don’t have ‘honorable intentions’ anymore. I want you with the passion of four armies about to go to battle.”
“Good.”
“But, Lily?”
She teased with her tongue. “What?”
“You know this is the week. I’m willing to take the risk, to deal with the one percent chance. To have a kid like Maggie and James. I’m willing, Lily, because this is our week. But are you?”
Her hesitation stopped him.
The crush of her lips had him barreling forward.
• • •
Conversation ceased as their bodies took hold of the moment. She slid her hands over his head and down his chest as he continued to ravage her mouth.
Lily needed Cael.
She wanted Cael.
If she could have him but for a moment, she’d take him.
Cael rolled with Lily until he straddled her, giving her plenty of access to every part of him. She ran her hands across his pecs, his arms, down to his waist, as he branded her mouth, her throat and lobes with his lips.
They’d seen each other naked in the line of duty, but Lily itched to feel and to taste.
Again.
She tugged at Cael’s T-shirt, pushing it up to his shoulders. The mix of soft and hard touches at her neck broke only for a second. With the solid planes of his abs revealed, Lily ran her hand over them. She knew Cael hadn’t enhanced his physique. He’d chosen his frame and worked out daily to stay in shape.
Trailing her hands across the ridges added to her arousal. When she reached his jeans button, he drew in air. One unclip, one unzip, and freedom to roam rested in the palm of her hand.
A squeeze elicited a moan from both of them.
A tug had Cael kicking out of his jeans one leg at a time.
With his release, Lily let her hands take in the contrasting softness and hardness, one equaling the other.
His lips could only go so far with her shirt and bra on.
Lily let go, received a ‘no’ in response but placed a finger to his lips. She nudged him back, yanked her T over her head, and before she could grab her pants, Cael had them sliding off.
He ran his hands from her knees up, his thumbs caressing the inside of her thighs as he traversed from lower to middle. Moving higher, he embraced her breasts, cupping and caressing them as she arched her back, desperate to have him against her again.
Cael lowered his body, using his elbows to prop his weight up.
Lily writhed beneath him. Between her legs, his desire jerked with each wiggle she made.
His lips sought the underside of her breasts, licking and teasing until Lily thought she could bear no more. When his teeth tugged at her nipple, she fisted the blankets, grasping as if her very existence depended on the contact.
He kissed a line from her cleavage to belly button, moving lower with each flutter until his tongue traced where his thumb had been before.
Her hands found his head, running her fingers over his short hair as he provided both pleasure and pain. When he stopped, she sucked in air.
His body ranged over hers a second later, their middles connecting as if drawn together by two magnets.
Pressure built in Lily’s abdomen to the point she figured she’d either self combust without Cael or burst the moment he entered her.
“Look at me, Lil.”
She did as he asked. Lily licked at the stubble he hadn’t bothered to remove, savoring the taste and texture of him every bit as much as he seemed to of her.
Her eyes stayed focused on his as he parted her legs with his own.
The mere thought of merging with Cael, of fulfilling a dream she’d had for so long, forced her eyes closed.
“Open your eyes, Lily.”
She fluttered them open, though her heart beat faster than she expected and heat rushed to every extremity.
His body thrust forward.
Lily cried out.
Cael slid back out, urged forth again, his actions as natural as the surf lapping against the sand at high tide.
With each thrust, Lily bit at her lip and squeezed her thighs wanting to keep Cael within her for as long as she could.
Muscles trembled in his arms, clenched in his jaw, but his gaze never strayed from hers.
A spiraling pleasure built within Lily—a lifetime of want and need all packaged into one, of waiting for the moment to happen, preparing for it, even.
Cael’s thrusts grew stronger. Faster.
Lily matched him, arching her back and clutching at his shoulders.
He sped up.
She cried out.
He moved deeper.
She wanted more.
Neither gave in.
Both took.
In a passion of yearning, as all consuming as their time apart had been.
As one, they both surrendered to their desire.
A sated smile flickered across her face.
“You look like a cat who’s just had a tasty snack of mouse.” Cael swiveled his hips, adding more sensation where Lily thought there could be none.
She curled her fists into the blankets as he carried on with his lazy movement. “I feel like the mouse who got away, though.” A small giggle had her squeezing and losing Cael’s momentum.
“Oops.” He slid to the side.
Before he could move his thigh over her, she snuggled up against him and wrapped her leg around him. “Cael?”
“Yeah?” He spoke with closed eyes.
“I love you.” And I hope that’s enough.
He held her tight against him. “I’ve loved you forever, Lily.”
• • •
The occupants of the house on top of Turner Point woke the following morning to thunder that rocked the house and lightning spearing the sky. By noon, the torrent of rain had slowed to a constant trickle, with interspersed bouts of a downpour.
At four, Wyatt called them all—not including Lily’s exclusively human family—into James’s office. “One more time,” he said. “The game plan.”
Groans moved through James, Cael, Stuart and Charley, even Lily herself.
Maggie simply filed away at her nails as Stuart rolled his eyes.
They’d been over the plans in as much detail as possible the night before, at breakfast, again at lunch and at two. Charley had put a stop to his review at that point and disappeared with him for an hour into the basement.
If nothing else, Lily trusted Wyatt had been thorough.
“Cael … you walk us through it,” Wyatt said.
Cael stepped to the center of the room. “Lily goes to the bus station, to the x-marks-the-spot spot, with Maggie.”
“Have you decided yet what you want her to be, Lily?” Wyatt asked.
“Oh, yeah.” Lily sat at the computer, typed in ‘white Maltese’ and clicked on the first image that appeared. “This.” She’d always hoped for a little dog,
but figured with their life and work, it wouldn’t be practical.
“You want me to be a fru-fru dog?”
Lily shrugged. “They travel really well. I have one of those little doggie bag holder things.”
Maggie clicked on a variety of photos. “Oh, my god. You are not putting a pink ribbon in my hair.” She spun to Charley. “Do not let her put a pink ribbon in my hair!” At James she stopped and turned back to the monitor. “Good god, these are yippy dogs.”
“I take it you haven’t been one of these, then?” Wyatt asked.
Lily hid her smile behind her hand. She knew full well Maggie would never have taken on the role of a Maltese with their sweet temperament and friendly disposition. If given the option, Maggie would probably have chosen to be a Doberman with a lot of big, sharp teeth.
“You’re not backing out are you, Mags?” James asked.
Lily cocked her head at his use of her nickname. He hadn’t called her that in years. Bitch came out quite often, as did her reference to him as a jackass, though Lily thought neither warranted either name. Except for Maggie, sometimes.
“Of course I’m not. I said I would be whatever she wants—” She sucked in deep. “—and I will. No big deal.” She shook her head, shoulders and arms. “But not until the very … and I mean very … last minute.”
“Thank you, Maggie,” Lily said.
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Okay, so back to logistics.” Wyatt pulled up the city grid for the bus station and surrounding buildings.
Cael pointed to the places that would give the most visibility to their cars so they could follow the bus—or a car if Roy changed his mode of transportation. Charley would be with James in his van. Wyatt would be inside the station while Cael would be in a separate car at the only exit from the parking lot.
“… And then we follow them wherever they go. The end.”
“Well, not ‘the end’,” Maggie said. “Then we gotta get to wherever we’re going and get back—”
“Safely,” Charley said. “And everyone in one piece, okay?”
• • •
Oil permeated the air as Lily stepped from her car outside the bus station, where people milled about, meandering into and out of the building, passing and bumping into each other in the process. The blurt of big diesel engines, starting and stopping, competed with the speaker system announcing last minute calls for passengers to embark.
She locked the car door and hitched the bag carrying Maggie over her shoulder. A small bark escaped as Lily jostled her. “Oops. Sorry … Mags.” Lily opted to use James’s nickname since it seemed to fit such a cute, little puppy dog.
“Two feet forward, Lily,” James’s soothing voice said in her ear.
It amazed her that the single, sticky-point up in her ear canal could convey his voice with such clarity.
Rather than respond, she did as he said. One foot moved. The other followed.
At the door, she noted the numbers above the frame. “Fourteen.”
“You need nine, Lil,” Charley said.
A left and a right gave her no clue as to which direction to go. She wandered farther in.
“Left,” Wyatt said.
Lily couldn’t see him through the mass of people she’d entered with, but once through, the pace slowed. Orange chairs formed rows for people to sit and relax as they waited. Across the room, doors exited to the buses, red lights shining on the rears of some of the massive vehicles as people filed inside.
The huge, Roman numeral clock above the reservations counter showed one minute until eight o’clock.
Maggie yipped.
Lily patted her head through the bag as she went left.
She passed door number thirteen.
Twelve.
Eleven.
A cluster of people waited in line within the frame of door ten.
At nine, Lily stopped.
The two metal, windowless doors hadn’t yet been opened. Lily took a seat across from them as a chime clanged through the room.
A second followed.
The third another second later.
At the eighth sound, people streamed in, milling all around her, in and out of all sorts of doors, the noise of engines revving and the whine of buses lurching forward with their thousands of pounds filling the space.
A turn to the right showed nothing new.
To the left gave her nothing, either.
A tap on her shoulder made her jump up and spin around.
Roy stood behind her.
Maggie barked a puny, useless, little sound as Lily firmed her stance.
“You came.” Roy took her arm and turned her toward the doors under the ‘9’.
Lily tucked Maggie’s bag behind her shoulder. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” His nose twitched. “You have a dog?”
Has he ever seen me with a dog? Should have picked a hamster or something I could have fit into my purse. “Actually, this is Leigh’s dog. I figured if you were trying to play me or something, she could … uh … ensure you were giving me the right girl.”
Roy didn’t say anything for a few beats. “Okay.” He hustled Lily toward the doors again and pushed the two panels apart, whisking her out to the bus area and into the near-dark evening.
He continued on past the first row of vehicles and to the second.
“Wyatt’s following you guys,” James said.
At the third, Roy took them left, out to a fourth line of parked buses.
Geez, there are a lot of these things here.
Along the fourth row, he took them to the back of a big silver monstrosity, but rather than enter, he passed it.
A helicopter waited between the buses and the police station, its blades whipping around in long swishes.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” James said.
“He really is one step ahead,” Wyatt said.
Lily hesitated.
“We’re right here with you, Lily,” Charley said.
Roy tugged her forward. “Not afraid to fly are you?”
Helicopters can’t glide if they run out of fuel or lose an engine. Maggie yipped again. Lily clutched the bag to her chest as if the little dog would ease her fear.
“Move the bag, Lil or we can’t see,” James said.
Lily lowered the bag a notch, ensuring the locket she wore around her neck had an unencumbered view.
“It’s not a terribly long trip. Just a quick stop in Atlanta before we pop over Florida and land on a private island right off the coast.”
“Where?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yeah. I just … wonder if I’ve been there before.”
“Good catch, Lil.” Charley’s encouragement bolstered Lily’s confidence.
Roy took her hand. She prepared for his placation. “Darling, Lily. You’ve been there before. For five years, in fact.”
“I was in California.”
“That’s what they hoped you’d believe. You were in the Bahamas the whole time. Where else could they get away with international conspiracy without the United States’ oversight or rules?”
“But, they dropped me in the desert.”
“Of course they did. How better to confuse you? They did the same to me, remember?” His hand slid to her fingers. He tilted down before looking back up at her. “You’re wearing it?” One finger caressed her left ring finger.
Cael’s groan came through clearly.
Lily pinched back the smile, forcing herself not to shiver at Roy’s touch. “It’s … pretty.”
A half-smile formed as he gave her a small nod. “Well, then. We’re ready.”
Lily followed him to the helicopter. Someone marched around the side and held open the door. Roy boosted her up as Maggie added more miniature barks.
“Here goes nothing, Lily,” James said.
“Be careful, Lil,” Charley and Wyatt said.
“I love you, Lily,” Cael said.
“Aw, Cael, w
hy didn’t you tell me it was mutual?” An excited little giggle broke through from Charley.
Lily banked the sigh. At least someone got to say it. I love you, too, Cael.
19
One hour in a helicopter led to a Gulfstream G5. Roy had let Lily know, in no uncertain terms, that he owned both. Despite the soft, milk-coffee colored, suede seats and plush carpeted interior, Lily couldn’t have cared less. His attempt to impress her only irritated her more.
Once in the clouds, her connection with the team broke. They’d promised her that when she landed they’d be in her ear and would be on Charley’s plane, heading her way. Lily had decided the only way to relax would be through sleep, and since her lids had already begun to droop, she let her mind comply.
• • •
As the wheels screeched their connection to a runway, Lily woke and peeked through the window. Lights from inside a three-story facility gleamed against a solid black, night sky. Of course, he’d had to bring her in through the darkness where the camera in her locket would show nothing of their surroundings.
Always two steps ahead.
“Lily?” Roy bumped against the arm of her seat.
She turned to him as Charley’s voice came through the earpiece with a ‘hello again’. “Yeah?”
“We’re here. Are you hungry?”
Maggie whimpered.
“I think my dog needs to pee.”
The plane slowed, coming to a full stop just a few minutes later.
“There’s a small clearing just around the corner of the building. I’ll take you.”
The outer door opened on a gush, letting hot, moist air into the plane. Their captain waved them out as Lily tucked Maggie in the crook of her arm. She let her out of her bag, but to change back into Maggie form would be too dangerous.
Lily stepped into the night, inhaling the scent of the ocean mixed with another flavor she didn’t recognize—a sweet, sickly smell that had her twitching her nose as Maggie yipped and snarled.
Great, something else I don’t understand, and she does.
Roy motioned her to follow, taking them both to the side of the building. “You can let him out here.”
Maggie barked again as Lily set her on the concrete. The moment she let go, Maggie ran to Roy and bit at the hem of his pants.
Lily hid the smile. Should have let me put that bow in your hair. For three hours, he’d called Maggie a ‘he’.
