Her heart was involved, but maybe it would heal. She was, above all things, an FBI agent.
CHAPTER 11
On Saturday, after the morning meeting but before the evening raid, Chaz had packed his personal belongings and put them in the SUV that had most recently been rented for him to drive during this assignment. He only needed to return to the extended-stay suite one last time after the operation was over to help take down the electronic equipment, seal it as evidence, and debrief Jesse and Sydney. Barring any unforeseen situation that they might have observed via the monitors during the raid and interrogations, the team would have everything packed within an hour.
As with everything else that day, the debriefing and shutting down of the equipment went without problems. Jesse would take the hard drives that stored the many hours of surveillance data directly to the FBI Field Office and check them into the evidence room. No one would touch the package until the forensics team began its evaluation. Monday would bring the debriefing by Chaz’s superiors and the beginning of what would be a mountain of paperwork followed by depositions and the filing of affidavits over the coming weeks.
Chaz didn’t care about any of that; he was going home.
At 6:53 on Sunday morning, Stephanie awoke to the sound of the garage door rising. She jumped out of bed and rushed down the hall and stairs just as her husband stepped from the mud room into the kitchen. His smile broadened at hearing her laughter as she launched herself into his arms.
Strong arms wrapped around her as Chaz lifted his wife off the ground and her momentum spun them around in a circle. She dropped kisses all over his face until his lips pressed against hers in an exchange so tender and intense that it left both of them breathless.
“It’s Sunday.” He sighed as he rested his forehead against hers.
“Yes, it is.”
“I kept my promise.”
“Yes, you did.” A finger traced along the edge of his jaw and ran lightly down his neck. She kissed his throat. “And, I’m going to keep mine.” She tilted her head toward the mud room.
“Uh uh. Later.” Chaz kissed the tip of her nose. “I plan on taking you upstairs to the bed I’ve missed and making love to you like I could barely live without you—which is true—and making both of us forget that we’ve been apart for more than a month. Once we’re exhausted, I’m going to hold you tight against me until we wake up from our sex-induced comas. Then I’m going to feed you, because I know you’ll need your strength before we start round two. But first—” He lowered her so that her feet touched the floor, knelt, lifted the thin fabric of her short nightgown, and kissed her belly. “I missed you, too,” he said softly to their unborn child before wrapping his arms around Stephanie’s hips and pressing his face against her warm body.
Stephanie’s hands stroked her husband’s head for as long as he stayed on his knees, her fingers playing with the deep brown hair that had grown long enough that it had started curling around his ears. When he stood, Chaz told her to wrap her legs around him as his lips brushed the sensitive spot behind her ear. He carried her up the stairs with no space at all between their bodies.
They only separated for the few seconds it took to get undressed.
“No foreplay,” Stephanie demanded as her husband began dropping kisses from her throat, over her breast, and down her stomach. She scooted backward on the bed, her hand wrapped around his neck, pulling him with her. “I need to feel you inside me, Chaz. I need—” Her words were cut off by his hungry lips.
Her body was ready when she reached between them and guided his steel-hard shaft into her warm, moist center. His mouth and tongue devoured her with the same rhythm that rocked their bodies together. Stephanie moved her legs so that they were pulling his thighs tighter against her, forcing him deeper into her.
“Oh, baby, you feel so good.” He moaned against her lips before moving to take a nipple into his mouth.
Stephanie arced in response to the thrill that shot from her breast to the center of her body and down to her toes. Her first climax hit her unexpectedly. Yes, she had missed him. Still she didn’t appreciate his teasing chuckle. He pushed her long hair aside so that his teeth could lightly nip her neck as he waited for her body to relax.
“I guess you did need me.”
“Always.”
“Good, because we are just getting started.” He slid down her body, leaving kisses everywhere until he reached her right ankle. Then, he switched to the other leg and sucked a path to the neatly trimmed triangle between her thighs. “I’ve missed your scent and the way you taste,” was the warning he gave before his mouth clamped hungrily onto the tender skin and his tongue darted into her for a long stroke of the entire length of her opening. She wiggled. He chuckled, causing vibrations to make her moan. It didn’t take long for his skilled tongue exploring the walls of her sex and his teeth grazing against that tight bundle of nerves to bring her to a second orgasm more powerful than the first.
He looked up at his wife as she propped on her elbows so that she could see him. Their smiling eyes met. His tongue continued to move slowly until he was sure that she had sufficiently recovered before one finger and then another joined the assault on her body. His free hand pressed down on her hips to keep her still. Completely at his mercy, she groaned and flopped back onto the bed with a laugh. Another chuckle from him sent more vibrations through her.
After the third orgasm, Chaz moved back up her body, sucking and nibbling until his mouth reached her lips. Then, he drew back and looked down into her face.
“You are the most amazing, sexiest woman I’ve ever met, and I’m lost without you, sweetheart.” He kissed her tenderly. “Totally lost,” was barely a whisper as the fingers of one hand linked with hers. He held their joined hands between them and against his heart.
His shaft entered her and moved in the wonderful rhythm they both had missed. Stephanie’s golden-brown eyes never left her husband’s face as his body demanded she surrender everything to him. She wrapped her legs around him, holding them as close as possible while her body squeezed around his shaft in sync with the way they moved. Tears of joy and completeness filled her eyes as his forehead pressed against hers and he told her over and over that he loved her before loudly moaning her name as white-hot explosions sucked the air from their lungs. Exhausted, he collapsed on top of her until he could stop trembling enough to wrap his arms tightly around her and roll onto his back, pulling her securely against him.
“You own me, too, Chaz. I’m nothing without you.” Stephanie pressed a kiss against his chest before she fell asleep with one leg thrown possessively over his thighs. His fingers gently traced the dream catcher tattoo on her back and thanked fate for bringing her—and her gift—into his life.
True to his word, the couple spent most of the day caressing and kissing each other, eating light meals when they wanted to, making love whenever the passion hit them. They soaked in the tub and talked about Stephanie’s job, her godson, and her best friends. While his hands lovingly moved in gentle patterns across her belly, she repeated everything the doctor had said at her last Ob/Gyn visit, laughed about the things she’d found in parenting books, and described some of the furniture she thought would look nice in the baby’s room. From his position behind her, Chaz rested his chin on her shoulder and said that she could have anything she wanted.
Stephanie sighed and closed her eyes. All she really wanted was him—brilliant, loyal, strong, caring, vulnerable—and the life they were building. She felt the longing stir between her thighs and knew that she also would never get enough of his body. Her hand rested on top of his, caressing the thickening middle section of her body where their child was growing.
She had everything she could possibly want.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
As expected, Chaz and the two FBI technicians spent most of Monday morning being debriefed by Roy Gifford. Everyone had taken notes on names, date, situations; forensic evaluation of the hard drives containing the actual vid
eos from the surveillance cameras would corroborate their observations. They spent the afternoon and most of the next day writing the formal reports that would be forwarded to the Louisville field office involved in filing charges against Damien Granger.
“What about Paul Watkins?” Roy had wanted to know.
Chaz shook his head in frustration. No one wanted that man put away more than he did. But he had to admit, “He wasn’t among the people rounded up at the club. All we can do is hope that he turns up in someone else’s jurisdiction where he can be taken into custody.”
“Well, I’m definitely relieved that there finally might be enough information to make filing charges against him feasible.”
“Yeah, me too.” Chaz thought about all of the cases that would add together. Their reports would be forwarded to the appropriate field offices. It still bothered him that Watkins was so far away from his normal territory. His instincts told him that that was significant.
“Well, we have some good news on that matter. Steve McDaniels is going to be cleared to return to work in a week. Now that he isn’t needed on the Granger case, his job will be to make sure that our office is represented in whatever analysis the Bureau does regarding Watkins. Don’t be surprised if he calls you in to clarify something that might have occurred in your case in Pennsylvania as well as this one.”
Chaz simply nodded.
Roy took a sip of his lukewarm coffee, frowned, and turned away from his subordinate’s cubicle. He’d only taken a few steps before turning back.
“I forgot to tell you about the interrogation of that technician who was working with you: Brian Pleasant. As you suspected, he was working for Paul Watkins. We’re still trying to get specific details about their interaction, but Pleasant is trying to negotiate a deal. I’ll let you know what comes of that so it can be added as a footnote to your reports.”
Since Roy was already walking away, he couldn’t have seen the troubled expression on Chaz’s face. That tidbit of information said a lot. When Steve returned to work, Chaz was going to ask if there was any way to be put on the team analyzing the charges against Watkins; there was no way he wanted second-hand information. He’d work his case and that one, would work overtime if necessary. He just didn’t want anything that might affect him to be overlooked or not taken seriously. The fact that Watkins had a spy in Cincinnati, whether he knew Chaz’s identity or not, was definitely something to be worried about.
That was on his mind when he arrived home a couple of hours later. Stephanie could see that he was distracted but decided not to butt in. He’d tell her what she needed to know in his own time—or her gift would decide it for him.
Her gift.
With each day, she was more and more convinced that she was developing something new, or at least something deeper. Just like her dreams, the visions she had while awake counted as precognition. But what was happening to her was different in a way she couldn’t define.
Did she want to define it? Did she want her gift to dig deeper into the world around her? She looked at her husband who was sitting beside her on the sofa in the family room and made an easy decision. Her husband is a Federal officer of the law. If her gift could keep him safe, then yes, she would embrace it and use it in any way possible. She snuggled a little closer to the man she loved and pulled his arm more tightly around her shoulders.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
That Sunday night, Stephanie received a call from Karen that she put on speaker so that Chaz could hear.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” the other woman was asking.
“Actually, I feel a little anxious, but it’s nothing significant.”
“Maybe it’s more significant than you think. You know that I don’t get off kilter unless you are. So, we need to talk this through. What’s going on there that’s new, or different, or stressful?”
Stephanie and Chaz looked at each other. She shook her head and shrugged. He frowned.
“I’m working on a case that has me worried,” he admitted. It only took everyone a quick moment to digest that.
“But, Karen shouldn’t be connected to you,” Stephanie said more to herself than the others.
“You’re right. So, the only thing I can think of is that you’re picking up his stress and I’m picking up yours, which is coming from him. Let’s see whether something happens with your gift in the next couple of days. If it does, this probably means that you need to be more sensitive to whatever transition your gift is going through. You’re going to need to recognize it sooner.”
Stephanie thought about that for a moment before saying, “A few days ago, I was thinking that I’m willing to use my gift in whatever way that’s necessary to help Chaz do his job. Maybe you’re right that the only way to do that is to be able to react more quickly.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea.” Chaz looked at his wife. “There are too many things you don’t need to know.” He pushed away the thought that Steve McDaniels wanted his wife to do exactly what she was talking about: use her gift on demand.
“Sweetheart, I have no control over what comes to me.”
Chaz’s hand scrubbed across his face before scratching his head. “You know that means I have no way to protect you, right? Before, you only got scared if I was in danger; that’s why I changed jobs. Are you telling me that now I can’t even do my desk job? I can’t even analyze data? I need to work on cases that stress me out without worrying that you’ll be afraid.”
“I won’t be.”
“Really?” He scoffed. “I’m investigating something right now that could tell me whether or not a criminal is moving to Cincinnati, and your gift won’t even let me keep that to myself until I determine whether this rumor might affect us. Karen is picking up on you because you’re worried about something that might not even exist! You’re already anxious!” He stood and started pacing in front of the bed. “This is NOT a good thing!”
Before that moment, Chaz had never raised his voice at Stephanie. She blinked back tears of helplessness: he was frustrated and there wasn’t anything she could say to change that. Chaz was right; this was totally unfair to him.
He opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind. Instead, he stopped pacing and left the room.
“Steph, are you there?”
“Yeah.”
“What just happened?”
“The only time Chaz gets this upset is when he’s afraid that he can’t protect me.” She sighed. “Whatever he’s working on, it’s serious.”
“And that’s what you didn’t realize you were sensing until I called.”
Both women were quiet for a long time.
“I don’t know what this means, Karen. The new dimensions to my abilities seemed exciting and interesting. Now, I’m not sure that I want things to change.” She wiped away a tear that managed to escape and took a deep breath. “Can you imagine how he feels?”
“No, sweetie, I can’t.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “This sucks.”
“Yep. I’d better go find him.”
“Okay. I’m really sorry, Stephanie.”
“Thanks.”
Stephanie sat on the edge of the bed for another ten minutes. No matter how many possibilities she came up with, there was no way to keep her gift from encroaching into Chaz’s right to have a choice in what he shared. Their relationship had already taken him off of a career path that he’d loved and been very good at. Wasn’t it enough that he had stopped working undercover—for her? What else was he going to have to give up?
He wasn’t in any of the rooms upstairs. He wasn’t in the family room, or livingroom, or dining room, or kitchen. Even though it was cold outside, he was sitting on the wide railing of the deck that ran along the entire back of the house with a drink in his hand and his legs dangling over the ledge. He didn’t turn around when he heard her open the sliding door. Stephanie walked outside, wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head against his back. Normally, he would have at least laid
a hand on top of hers. Not tonight.
“You should go back inside.” He spoke softly, but Stephanie could hear the anger.
“Don’t shut me out. We’re a team, remember?” No answer. She felt him move slightly when he lifted the tumbler of liquor to his lips. “I’m trying, Chaz. I can be stronger. You won’t have to worry about my reactions to whatever I see.” Still no answer. “That’s the best I can do.” When he still wouldn’t talk to her, she couldn’t keep the tears from sliding down her cheeks.
“Baby, please don’t cry,” he said with a heavy breath. “Go inside before you get chilled. I need a few more minutes alone. I’ll be in soon.”
“Chaz—”
“Stephanie, please go inside.” The impatience in his voice was clear.
Reluctantly, she released her hold on him and did as he said. But, he didn’t come in after a few minutes. As she was removing her clothes so that she could take a shower, she heard the garage door go up and her husband’s SUV backing down the driveway and heading away from the house. Their house. Their home. Where they were supposed to be partners. After she bathed, she pulled on one of his FBI t-shirts and climbed into bed.
“He’ll be back soon,” she said out loud to reassure herself. The last time that she looked at the clock before she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer, it was almost 1:00 a.m.
At 1:47, Chaz took off his clothes and slid beneath the covers. He didn’t wrap his arms around his wife, didn’t kiss the back of her neck, didn’t even turn his body in her direction. She had felt the bed shift and woken up. Even though she’d been tempted to turn over, he’d have to come to her—not because she was making any kind of statement. He’d have to not be mad anymore. When he stayed on his side of the bed, tears rolled down her face and sank into the pillow. He’d never ignored her like this.
Loving Night: Dream Catcher Series ~ Book 2 Page 12
