He’d just voiced Alex’s sentiments exactly. Lead. Follow. Or get the fuck out of my way.
Somehow that helped.
“I’m here. I’ll do it.”
Becker acknowledged the impossible decision Gabe had made with a curt nod. “Good. On three.”
Gabe lifted his pliers to the designated wire.
Time stopped. He noticed everything. The factory black paint on the barely visible floor of the van. The scrapes at the tailgate where the explosives had been loaded. The darkened windows concealing the weapon of mass destruction from public view.
“One.”
A silent prayer is still a prayer. Gabe flung it heavenward, a simple please God. No other words. God sure knew what was going on tonight.
“Two.”
The simple mechanic’s tool rested deadly in his hand, jaws at the red wire, ready to make the biggest mistake of his life. Or save the world. Shit. How can I be sure?
“I trust you,” Shelby murmured.
It all came down to right there and then. That split second. That terrible pivot point in history. There’d be no wishing it away, only doing what thousands of leathernecks had done before him. Believe in America. This Republic. This innocent woman at my side.
“Three.”
Gabe held his breath and cut the red wire.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Shelby peeled one eye open to see the most glorious green eyes beaming down at her, the biggest grin cracking Gabe’s happy face.
“We did it,” he said, his body shuddering under the impact of Sam Becker’s hearty slaps to his back.
“No, you did it,” Becker corrected, blowing out breaths so big his cheeks expanded with every gulp of air. He brushed the back of his right hand over his brow, wiping the sweat away. “I can’t tell you how happy I was to see you and your girlfriends in that crowd tonight. I’d prayed for a miracle. Wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to stop Fallon. Only knew I was going to try my damnedest.”
Shelby giggled she was so relieved, but the moment didn’t last.
Becker’s eyes scanned the crowd behind them, most of them more interested in the loud explosion than the celebration taking place behind the FBI van. “Listen, guys. We’re not out of the woods yet. Do me a favor and fade to black before my guys and the Secret Service get here. They might not be so understanding, and I still need to find out what that explosion was. Sure as hell hope it wasn’t President Adams.”
“We’ll go with you,” Gabe declared, and Shelby would’ve gone, too. In a heartbeat. Oh yeah. She was beyond stoked. Shaking like a leaf maybe, but ready to take on anyone who got in her way. She might not have clipped the wires like these guys did, but saving the world? Nothing like it!
“No thanks.” Becker’s gaze darkened with concern. “This is my job. You ought to be safe at Stewart’s house, so get back there now. Take Miss Sullivan with you and kick back. Drink a tall one for me. Who knows? Maybe I’ll show up later and join you.”
“What’d you do to Mark and the guys?” Gabe asked. He had to know. “To David?”
“Nothing a good night’s sleep won’t cure.” Becker’s feet pointed in the direction he meant to go. “Agent Houston and the rest of his crew are home by now. Don’t worry. They’re safe. I promise.”
“If you didn’t shoot them, what’d you give them?” Shelby asked.
“A dose of VEC. That’s all. Just enough to get them out of our way. You guys are too damned good. Every time I turned around, there you were like a Wild West posse. Had to take your boss and his team out of circulation before they screwed the pooch on the whole operation.”
“What the hell’s VEC?” Gabe asked.
Shelby explained. “It’s a muscle relaxant used on organ donors to keep them from twitching while the surgeon removes harvestable organs. Mr. Becker’s right. Your friends will be mad, but they’ll feel better in the morning.”
“Where’s Alex then?” Gabe asked outright. “Did you use that stuff on him, too?”
Becker paused, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek, as if he didn’t yet want to admit to anything yet.
“I know he’s alive,” Gabe insisted. “Isn’t he?”
Shelby stilled to hear Becker’s answer, but the glint of excitement in his gaze faded. He thumped a hand to Gabe’s back and left it there. “I honestly don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Now get out of here before the rest of my guys show up and lock you in jail. Go on. Take care of Miss Sullivan. I’ll be in touch.”
He turned away from the van and ran off.
“Let’s follow him,” Shelby insisted, tugging Gabe’s wrist to do just that. She craned her neck to see above the crowd, wanting to be off on another adventure. “Come on. He’s getting away. I can’t see him anymore. There are too many people.”
He didn’t budge. Not an inch. Gabe bowed his head while he sucked in breath after breath. “Let him. Whatever he’s doing, wherever he’s going, I trust him now. He’s right. We need to get you back to safety before something else happens.”
“But I can help.” Now wasn’t the time to step back and let someone else take over. Heck, no. She had a gun. She might not know how to use it, but... but...
Gabe simply stood there drawing in deep breaths, his palms flat to the open tailgate and his head down.
“Let’s at least go find Mark and Ember and all your guys.” Shelby wished he’d snap out of it. At least, do something.
All he did was turn his face from her and spit to the other side of the van.
“Are you okay?” she asked, finally tuning in to what was really happening. “Gabe? My gosh, you’re pale. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good, but Becker’s right.” He circled an arm around her shoulder, tugging him into his side and still breathing hard. “Let’s get out of here while the getting’s good.”
She planted a palm to the center of his chest, needing to be sure he’d told her the truth, that he really was okay instead of on the verge of another panic attack. “Your heart’s racing.”
“I know.” He covered her hand with his and pulled her across the street, headed toward the Arlington Memorial Bridge, the scene of their previous close encounter with Becker. “SWAT’s on their way. Come on. We’re at ground zero, Shell. Let’s get back to Kelsey’s where it’s safe. We’ve still got some cleaning up to do.”
She relented. Cleaning she could do. Anything to help Kelsey. And Gabe. Shelby fell into step alongside the man who had just saved D.C., if not the whole world. It had taken a lot out of him, but he’d done it without firing a shot.
Emotions she couldn’t identify swelled inside for the gentle warrior walking away from the scene, content to fade to black. Content that no one would ever know his name or his role in the miracle. Content in the knowledge he’d done his job.
His hand on hers still trembled, but he walked with his back erect, his shoulders squared and his arm protectively around her. If ever there was a right time, it was then. She had to tell him before the moment slipped away. He needed to know.
“I love you, Gabe. I really do. I’m so proud of you.”
He stopped walking, his brows lifted in surprise. Twisting her into his arms, he planted a kiss in the middle of her forehead, and she didn’t want to move from his side.
Her fingers rested at his throat, directly over the pounding pulse of her man. Her hero.
Shelby sighed. She knew exactly how Kelsey felt.
Instead of backtracking to the vehicle he’d parked to the east, Gabe hailed a cab. He didn’t want to deal with the crowd between him and there. He and Shelby arrived at Kelsey’s in no time. They entered through the rear door. The empty dog kennel seemed bleak without Whisper and Smoke sitting at the gate waiting for them.
The scene inside was no cheerier. Mark had done a good job sweeping the glass and debris, and yes, the windows were boarded, but the cute little bungalow where Alex and Kelsey had made a home and a life together felt hollow. As if its heart were missing or something. It had
to have been pretty bad for a guy to notice.
Easing his gear to the floor behind the back door, Gabe unfastened his tactical vest and let it slide out of his hands to the table while Shelby did the same. Of course, she headed for the hallway closet where Kelsey kept her vacuum and cleaning supplies, but really? Did she honestly believe his line about cleaning the house when they got back? Now? When they were finally alone? When she’d blurted out the feelings of her heart?
Oh, hell no.
He let her get a couple of steps away from him before he grabbed her hand and swung her back into his arms. “Where do you think you’re going?”
A rosy hue crept over her cheeks. Yeah. This woman had to know what he’d been thinking on the taxi ride. It had nothing to do with Pine-Sol. Certainly not Mr. Clean.
Shelby came easily against him, her body warm and willingly pressed into his. He traced his index finger along the soft swell of her heated cheek. The sweet girl blushed, but she didn’t meet his eyes long enough to answer the question in them.
He let the pads of his fingertips absorb the feel of her skin, the new texture of silky soft in his life. That now familiar fragrance of rose and vanilla lifted into his nostrils. He’d already tasted her mouth and found it addicting. He wanted a whole lot more.
She might not know it, but he’d seen this same look of adoration on other women’s faces before. Libby Houston’s when she thought she was alone with Mark in the hallway at the office. Mei Lennox’s when she came by the office with her little girls and a plate of cookies for Zack. Kelsey Stewart’s when she’d danced with Alex at Taylor’s wedding.
“I meant it,” Shelby said breathlessly, her index finger tracing some kind of a design on his shirt below his right collarbone. “I do love you.”
Enough said. With one scoop, she was off the floor and headed for destiny. Shelby weighed next to nothing, not compared to all the gear he’d carried in the Corps. Her arm around his neck felt perfect, her fingers combing through his hair more than enough motivation.
He angled her through the door of her bedroom. Laying her down, he stepped back. Like most traumatic stress survivors, she had a nightlight in her room. Sweet. The time had come for show and tell.
“How much do you love me?” He teased her with the most juvenile question he could think of. With one quick tug at the back of his collar, he pulled his shirt over his head and off, kicking out of his boots at the same time.
Her eyes widened when he discarded his belt and unzipped his cargo pants. Socks and pants went next, and there he was, a nearly naked man with a spiffy prosthetic foot that usually made women turn tail and run. Right about now.
It was time to put her words to the test. That was all he’d meant by that stupid how much do you love me question. Yeah, he might’ve meant for her to prove it, but not by sex.
By staying.
Sexy violet-blues scrolled over him, her lashes fluttering. She gave no more than a cursory nod to his foot, but his boxers? The hello darling spike beneath the gray and black plaid had definitely gotten her attention.
He crawled up the bed to where she sat, a little wary. The more he advanced, the more she tilted backward, the uncertainty shifting over her lovely face replaced by stark appraisal. Her tongue slipped over her bottom lip, licking it as if she was hungry. And he wanted it on him. He was hungry, too.
His confidence soared. His foot had passed Shelby’s seal of approval. Now—for the rest of him.
He kept advancing until he was directly over her core, and she knew it.
Not once had she shifted out of his way.
The glasses had to go. He lifted them off her nose and set them on the nightstand.
“Shelby Sullivan,” he said, his voice hoarse and deep. “Say it again.”
Just once more.
She transformed from shy girl into her alter ego. Bossy. Controlling. Nurse Sullivan. Her hands went straight to his manhood, shocking the hell out of him that she was brave enough to touch him there.
“Is this what you want to know, Agent Cartwright?” Her chin jutted forward in a dare. “What? Did you think you could scare me with that funny foot of yours, huh? Did you think I’d run because you’re kind of a bionic man and I’m just a woman?”
“Yeah. Something like that.” The conversation had taken an incredibly tender turn. This amazing, complicated woman had seen right through his bravado, the same way that he was looking through hers.
With one hand in his boxers, the other gripping his neck, she pulled him down to her mouth, nipping his lower lip with a good pinch. “I love you, Gabriel Cartwright. I love your bravery and your courage. I love your body and your feet. Both of them. You don’t scare me.”
Her clothes flew somewhere. So did his boxers. He needed to feel and to taste every inch of the soft sweet body beneath his. There was only one problem. The bold woman who’d surprised him with her audaciousness at the get-go had suddenly demurred back into the real Shelby Sullivan.
She might have known how to get his attention, and his erection, but this woman had no skills when it came to the real art of making love. His heart pinched at the sight of the brave lamb in bed with him. Yeah. She was all he’d hoped for.
Gabe stifled the need to bend her over and take her hard. Not for a first time. Not for this woman. The first time had to mean something more, so before he lost control, he eased away from her lips, capturing the greedy hands that seemed intent on exploring his body.
He stretched her arms over her head, pinning her wrists with one hand, the rest of her with his hips. The tender thing didn’t spread her feet, much less her knees to accommodate him.
He burrowed one kneecap between her legs until she parted them. Damned if she didn’t clench up on him the second he sank between her knees.
“Shell,” he said, his intentions for her body crystal clear. She had to know by now. There was no mistaking the happy part of his anatomy now resting solidly against her stomach. He released her hands. “You’ve never done this before, have you?”
That might not have been the smartest question. She pressed her lips into a thin line and shook her head. “No, but I want to. With you.”
“Why?” He cupped the side of her face, his fingers in her delightfully cool and soft blond locks. Was making love enough? Or was he a fool to be thinking beyond the incredible gift she’d offered? Did she want that same elusive more that he did?
“Because I’ve never cared for anyone like I care about you,” she said quietly. Timidly. “You’re not like other guys. I want to get to know you better. And I really like it when you call me Shell. It’s sweet.”
He gulped, the tantalizing scent of her arousal overcoming his decision to take it slow and easy. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
“Why?” she asked. “Don’t you, umm, want me?”
And there it was, the real question of the night. God yes, he wanted her, but not in a one night, slam, bam, thank you ma’am kind of way. That wasn’t him.
He rolled his eyes, teasing her, needing her to smile again. “Would I be laying here buck-assed naked if I didn’t want you?” His heart climbed up his throat, the rest of him hardened and craving her touch. “But you need to be sure this is what you want. I’ll go slow, and I’ll use a condom, but if you want me to stop, say the word. Just know that once we do this, there will be dating and there will be rules. There might even be sleepovers.”
Her breath caught with one short sharp “oh” at his ordering her around. Apparently, she liked it. The lady melted, her face lit with a glow that was his undoing.
“God, I love you, Shelby,” he promised with all his heart, wanting her more than ever. “I know it’s soon, but I’m not a patient man. I’ve lost too much already, and who knows what will happen tomorrow. I don’t trust time anymore.”
He cringed. Crap. That sounded an awful lot like the line guys going off to war used to get girls into bed. But some of them came back, right? Some of those hasty proposals turned out okay, didn’t
they? Must have. The baby boom of the fifties was legendary.
“Are you going to talk all night or are you going to kiss me?” she asked, her voice all sexy and sultry and, hot damn. Gabe sheathed himself and sank to do her bidding, his knees now comfortably between her legs and the stiffness gone from her body.
See? A little talk never hurt anyone.
He captured her mouth and set the feelings he’d controlled loose. There wasn’t one part of her body not begging for release by the time he’d tasted, feasted, and run his tongue over her. Every tantalizing nub had been sucked, nibbled, and slathered, every luscious curve and fold blessed by his teeth, tongue, and fingers.
He tempted and teased until she snared his chin, angling his lips back to her bossy mouth. “Stop playing around, Gabe. You’re killing me.”
He obliged his lovely lady with a quick “yes, ma’am,” sliding into her gently, despite the urgent thrust of her hips to meet him. Short little gasps coming from the back of her throat announced yet another new sensation to Shelby’s world.
He meant to ease back, but those fingernails digging into the cheeks of his ass added the heightened sensation of pain to their lovemaking.
Yet he knew the exact moment he’d breached her innocence. He froze to give her time to adjust to the gentle plundering of her body. Once again, Shelby proved she wasn’t like other woman. She stiffened from the sensory overload of her first orgasm.
“Oh, God. Oh, Gabe. Oh, God,” she moaned, gripping him tighter.
Tears filled his eyes at the gift of a lifetime he’d just been blessed with. Nothing could compare. His woman was so damned sweet.
He leaned back from her to watch the writhing woman beneath him, the one with her eyes closed and the sheer glow of ecstasy on her face. She smiled. She frowned. But mostly she pushed against him, wanting more.
So he obliged again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Oh. My. Gosh. That was out-of-this-world amazing. Why did I wait so long?
Because then it wouldn’t have been with Gabe.
Gabe (In the Company of Snipers Book 8) Page 33
