38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
As the taxi dropped Sadie and Sebastian off on the street in front of the Met Museum of Art, a scene of pandemonium was unfolding. Hundreds of people flooded down the cement stairway heading in every direction, frantic looks of fear etched on their faces. Fire alarms blared above their confused cries.
Stunned, she stared at the colossal pillared building, the largest friggen museum in the country and one the ten largest in the world. Hard to believe it had been broken into in broad daylight. Bakari had balls of steel.
Seb grabbed the arm of a young man who flew down the cement steps and asked what happened.
“Smoke man. Smoke. I ran and so did everyone else. Something big’s going down. Probably terrorists.”
A growing line of black and white police cars lined the curb and the sound of a fire engine siren approached. Ten uniformed city policemen pushed their way through the crowds to the enormous doorway, while twenty more struggled to manage the chaos of the fleeing crowd and prevent a stampede. No sign of the SWAT team. They were either already inside or not on the scene yet.
Seb grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the steps but the crush pushed them back. Black smoke billowed out of the doors. Its pungent odor stung her nostrils and made her eyes tear.
Where were Bakari’s men? She couldn’t see anything in the middle of the sea of people. She let go of Seb’s hand and let the crowds carry her back to the street. He turned and looked at her. “Sadie?” His voice barely registered above the din.
Once free of the building some of the people gathered on the street to see what would happen next. Ambulances arrived and paramedics walked through the masses offering assistance. The last group out seemed to be limping and coughing. One elderly man had blood running from his mouth. All of this because of Bakari and his superstitions.
Seb made his way back to her and they stood together holding hands watching the debacle.
“I hate feeling useless,” she said pressing her lips together.
“You’re not useless. You got the cops here. We turned the tables.”
“Let’s hope they got here in time.” Her breath hitched. She thought of Mitchell. “Give me your phone.”
Seb pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. The crowds were thinning. She sent a text to Jeremiah with a picture of the steps and the chaos.
He responded, “Get out of there.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know why I bother.”
Another text came in: “I ordered you to get out of there.”
She wrote: “Mitchell?”
“Working on it.”
Sweet Jesus.
Seb put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. His embrace calmed her nerves a bit, but her feelings were like hot lava ready to erupt. The thought of Mitchell dying filled her with self-loathing and anger. Why did she ever become a spy? Did she really think she could change the world? Too many assholes—too many. If Mitch ended up hurt, she’d kill Bakari herself. She pushed air out of her lungs and leaned into the warmth of Sebastian’s body.
Sebastian squeezed her shoulder and spoke into her ear so he could be heard above the noise of the chaos. “Come on. Let’s get out of here. We don’t want to get in the way.”
“But…”
“I don’t want you in danger.”
“Retreating sucks.” As she spoke she spotted a familiar face in the crowd. She froze. A tingling sensation ran over her skull. Eboni, the flight attendant on Bakari’s plane, wearing a loose black dress that fell to her calves and a black hijab moved through the crowds. She looked different in the traditional dress, but her exotic dark eyes were unmistakable. They could not be hidden.
Sadie pushed through people towards Eboni, shoving and elbowing a path that would meet up with the woman. Eboni carried a large shoulder bag. Bingo.
Seb followed. She didn’t have time to fill him in, but he must’ve known she was up to something, because he stayed on her heels. When you have a giant at your back no one complains about you rudely making your way. It took five minutes to get near the woman. Seb had fallen behind by only a few yards.
Two minutes she estimated. Two minutes and she’d have Eboni. The Emerald Ankh had to be inside her bag and possibly other artifacts. Sadie put her arms up in front of herself and pushed through more people.
She bounced off of a man dressed in a white robe. The kind of garb you’d see in the markets in Cairo and came to a stop. His lean face looked to be a younger leaner version of Bakari’s. He scowled at her and said one word, “Mitchell.”
The frantic crowd pressed in on them from all sides. Her mouth fell open and she stared at him. She pressed her lips together. Tears came to her eyes. Time stood still. She couldn’t risk her friend’s life. Not for a silly old relic… not for anything. Could she trust Bakari to keep his word? Betting Mitch’s life on the word of an arms dealer sucked. But it seemed her only option. She wanted Mitch to live. The rest didn’t matter.
Sadie nodded. Seb’s strong arms encircle her waist. She closed her eyes for a second in response and when she opened them Bakari’s look-alike had vanished into the crowd. She looked for Eboni, but the masses and confusion had swallowed her as well. She’d lost them and the treasure.
“I’m ready to go now,” she said to Seb.
“A friend of mine has an apartment in central Manhattan. We’ll go there. And then you can explain what just happened.”
They walked towards the subway, but everywhere they turned hordes of people had gathered to stare at the museum making it hard to make progress anywhere. The anger of the people was palpable. It was as if their own homes had been violated and in a way they had been. The museum, the people’s sanctuary for heritage had been attacked. Their cries turned into a stunned silence surrounded by the cacophony of more sirens approaching.
Police cars and barricades blocked off the street. Two fire engines, four ambulances and at least ten police cars lined the area below the museum. At least a hundred policemen were now taking over the steps and the entranceway. The SWAT team headed up the stairs.
It was hard to believe anyone could escape through this dragnet, but they had and she’d helped them.
Breathe. She needed to keep breathing. What had Bakari said, “Things are not always what they seem.”
Twenty minutes later Sebastian and Sadie waved down a cab. As they headed back to central Manhattan Sadie told Sebastian about meeting Bakari’s brother. She was pretty sure that was who it was. His younger brother Chasisi.
Sebastian held her hand and listened. As they arrived at their destination he got a message from Xander: “Mitchell secure. Found in front of Central Station.” He was safe.
39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Their destination turned out to be a studio apartment in a seven story brown stone only a few blocks away from the hotel Sadie’d been trapped in. Once inside the dizzying noise and bustle of Manhattan stopped.
For that matter everything stopped. Finally, they were alone. Together, alone and safe.
Sebastian closed the apartment door and slipped five dead-locks into place. He turned to her. The warmth of his smile took her first, then his strong arms, then his rock solid chest. She breathed in his familiar scent. A groan came from deep inside her shuddering through her senses.
“Bed.” His voice sounded raspy as he scooped her up and into the air like a pirate and walked ten feet to the double bed.
The way he placed her gently on the mattress made her feel cherished. Her heart thundered. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her.
He laughed and sat on the edge of the bed leaning over her. Their eyes caught and held. The intensity of the moment was like no other.
He leaned in and kissed her. Gently at first and then with deepening passion. Their tongues exploring one another. Small shivers of delight ran through her body as his large hands slid under her shirt to her bare breasts.
Her breath h
itched as he fondled her, stroking her nipples sending ripples of pleasure through her body. Desire pooled between her legs.
He pulled away for a moment and their eyes caught once again. “Are you sure about this?”
She dug her nails into his back and pulled him down to her. Never had she been so sure of anything.
“I want our first time to be perfect,” he whispered into her ear as he let her pull him down.
“Then why are you talking?”
He laughed and pulled enough away from her to take off his shirt revealing a chest that belonged on the cover of a body-building magazine. Then his pants. Then his underwear. Yum.
Broad shoulders, rock hard chest, six-pack abs and a lean waist. And then below all of that an erect penis that would make the Greek gods weep. She reached for it and stroked its length longing to take it into her mouth.
He groaned at her touch. She massaged his balls and reached for the tender spot at the base of his scrotum. His hand stopped hers. “Let’s not rush.”
His baby blue eyes were on fire with need. A need that could only be matched by hers.
Sadie managed to remove her sweatshirt while he was undressing, but being so distracted by the sight of him she hadn’t gotten any farther. Sebastian moaned as he cupped one then the other breast, rubbing her hard nipples until she thought she’d explode. “You’re so beautiful.”
He leaned down and took a nipple in his mouth. Arching her back she moaned with pleasure. His soft lips and scratchy chin trailed kisses below her breasts then lower and then lower until he came to her jeans. He ripped them off and then her thong flew in the air like an elastic band. She laughed and he responded with his killer, bad boy smile.
Going up on his knees he nudged her legs further apart with his large hands. Tenderly his fingers explored her folds, stroking her clitoris sending shudders of exquisite delight through her body, creating an ache deep inside her pelvis. She gasped.
His tongue found her clitoris and stroked it with precision, while his finger massaged her tender entrance. She moaned as he stroked and suckled her. Exquisite erotic torture. His finger and mouth teased and teased. “Sebastian.” Her voice sounded raspy and desperate. Sweat covered her body.
His finger slid inside her and her muscles convulsed on it flooding her. He pulled his finger out, massaged her entrance gently and then went in again. Deeper and deeper he thrust into her, caressing the walls of her vagina as his tongue licked her clit. Her muscles convulsed. When his finger found her G-spot, she gasped. Rhythmically he touched as he suckled her clit.
“I want you,” she murmured, but he didn’t stop. Panting, she groaned. Stubborn Dutch man. That was her last thought before her body burst into a million pieces of ecstasy in what she would later call the longest orgasm in history.
As spasms of pleasure rippled through her, he held her and kissed her neck gently. She grabbed his rock hard ass and pulled him closer. “Now. Please, now.”
“Condom.” Lifting his body away from hers, he reached for the drawer beside the bed and grabbed a package. With lightning speed he opened it. She leaned back and moaned at his impressive body of rippling muscles glistening in sweat.
He entered her slowly. She gasped. His hardness pushed into her softness, filling her with his presence, completing her in a way no other man ever had.
Rhythmically he moved his hips, thrusting into her again and again. Her hips lifted to meet him. She dug her nails into his back and wrapped her legs around him to bring him into her as deeply as she could. The sensation wickedly wonderful. And then she came again, pure pleasure bursting and rippling through her body like a cascading waterfall of joy and this time he climaxed with her making a low guttural sound. He shuddered in her arms.
***
Afterward, they lay entwined, sated and complete.
“We didn’t do it right,” said Sadie.
He chuckled. “Felt right to me.”
“No, I think we need practice.”
“I plan on lots and lots of practice.” His hand stroked the long curves of her body.
“I’m serious we did something wrong.”
“Okay. Why do you think we did something wrong?” His emotive blue eyes looked at her with uncertainty.
“Because the first time isn’t supposed to be so good.”
He pulled her to him. “I like to set high standards.”
40
Chapter Forty
Sadie couldn’t remember the last time she checked her messages. She’d been far too busy having the best sex of her life and falling deeper in love with Sebastian. For the most part, the outside world faded away. But her niggling worry about Mitchell reared its head the following morning. Exactly how secure was he?
At eight in the morning Sebastian’s phone jingled. Mitchell had sent a message: “I’m okay.” Sebastian handed his cell over so she could have a close look at the screen. Her stomach dropped the length of a runway or two.
Like most men, Mitchell’s text messages tended to be cryptic, often including only graphic images and silly emoticons. But two words, okay three if you count the contraction, seemed mighty thin even for him. How serious were his injuries? The swelling in his eye had looked pretty bad. She sent him a reply, “Sadie here – How okay?”
To her amazement he shot back, “Stoned in an Amsterdam coffeehouse drinking some truly fine Heineken.”
“Have you got all your fingers?”
“Last I looked. U ok?”
“Never better.” She bit her lip. Indeed, never better.
“C U in Italy?”
She thought about that for a moment. She did love the Italian medieval town of Lucca surrounded by an ancient brick wall. It held a special out-of-place, out-of-time charm, but not one strong enough to pull her away from her present uh moment. “Thinking of staying here in NY,” she typed.
“U have a contract.”
She laughed out loud at that one. Controlled by words on a piece of paper? Not likely. She considered what to say. How could she put her feelings into a few flashing letters on a screen. I’ve fallen madly in love with a giant and cannot leave his side. And oh what a wonderful side it is. Oh that sounds so… so… so uselessly feminine. But it was the honest truth.
“Sadie?” Mitchell nudged her over the phone.
“What happens if I don’t turn up?”
It took him a while to answer. Maybe his brain had relaxed a wee too much, but then his words came. “1-u lose contract with Hot Lingerie, 2-u weaken your …” He didn’t want to type it into cyberspace, but she knew what he meant. If she lost this contract that would be two of her main employers down and that would weaken her cover as a model. Even though she wanted to throw Jeremiah off the top of a New York office building at the moment, she suspected she’d eventually calm down and want back into the fold. She loved being a spook. And her model cover worked so well. She typed: “C u there.” She’d keep her options open.
Handing back the phone to Sebastian, scattered memories of the last few days along with a twinge of guilt flowed through her mind. The op had not gone as well as she’d hoped. Letting Bakari go had been the price of Mitchell’s life, but she wished it could have ended another way.
Then she went back to Sebastian’s open arms.
***
Twenty four hours later, still entwined in sheets and the long muscular limbs of the best lover she’d ever imagined, some idiot knocked on the door. Sebastian groaned. She laughed. Light filtered through the slats of the venetian blinds. She’d never thought of New York as romantic until now.
Sebastian sat up and put his feet on the floor. Running his hand through his sun-streaked blonde hair he looked like a sexy, sleepy warrior. She stretched her legs and wiggled her toes to increase circulation. Who could be at the door? Who knew where they were?
The tingling anticipation of preparing for the unexpected coursed through her. Damn, she hated not having a gun. Her eyes swept the studio apartment for weapons. A good sized lamp sat
on the table beside the door. It would do. Wrapped in a sheet, she gingerly followed Sebastian to the door, noting that he had a gun in his hand, and went to stand by the wall with the lamp. As she leaped to her lover’s side she recognized how difficult walking had become and smiled. Having a sore vagina beat high heel blisters any day.
“It’s me. Mitchell. Let me in.”
Her shoulders dropped and her heart rose. Sebastian laughed as she pushed him aside and whipped open the five locks. He put his massive hand on the door stopping her from opening it fully. He looked through the narrow space before letting Mitchell in.
Mitchell grabbed her into a huge hug. “I’m so sorry Mitchell.”
“Me too,” he said into her hair. “I had to see you.”
She sighed. “I’m glad you came.”
“That makes one of us,” said Sebastian behind her. “I’ll make coffee.”
“American,” they both said in unison.
“Yah, yah,” he said lacing his words with a thick Dutch accent. As he wandered to the kitchen area she caught Mitchell checking out his naked ass and punched him in the stomach.
“He’s mine. All mine.”
Mitchell smiled and wiped the tears flowing down her cheeks.
“I shouldn’t have sold you out to Jonathon. I didn’t realize what an ass the guy is. I’ll never do that again. I swear.” Mitchell’s puppy eyes pulled on her. “Please forgive me.”
“And I’m sorry you were kidnapped and held hostage, because of me.”
He shrugged. “They roughed me up a bit. My chest is bruised, but I’ll have no scars. Mostly my ego took the hit. No man likes to be made helpless. Of course unless he wants to be.” His lopsided smile returned. That and his sexual innuendo told her better than anything else, that Mitchell was back to normal.
It seemed like everything could be all right. Could she dare believe that?
Sebastian reappeared wearing tight faded jeans he’d picked up off the floor and poured them coffee. She sat beside him on the sofa. Mitchell faced them sitting in a lounge chair. The caffeine hit her system like ambrosia. How long had it been since she’d had a coffee? She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “So glad it all worked out.” Seemed like stupid words to say, but she had to say something.
Covert Danger Page 21
