by Honor James
“Whatever you wish, my love.” He smiled for her. Tucking her hand through his arm, he took the case and headed for the door, nodding to the guard who opened it for them. She could feel the tension in his body, the muscle under her fingers tight. The worst moment was walking out of an operation and having to give the bad guys your back, even for a moment.
Hope hated turning her back to the men in the room, hated it with a passion, but she did so all the same. With her arm around David’s back, she laid her head on his shoulder and walked out toward their car with the case in his hands. It wasn’t until they were in the car that she breathed out slightly. “Let’s get the hell out of here,” she whispered as she tilted her head slightly to allow her hair to fall to cover her face. “There was a hidden room that the bastard stepped into. No clue where it went,” she grumbled. “So let’s get gone, shall we?” Besides, now they had his prints on the diamond that David offered up to him, which was rather brilliant, in her opinion.
Nodding he passed her the case and started the car. Pulling out of the spot, he took his time getting them back on the road. Only when they hit the blacktop did he push the accelerator down a little more. “Fuck me,” he said, shaking his head. “I hate buys, I fucking hate them.” Reaching under his seat, he came up with a cell phone and, turning it on, flipped it open. “It’s me, we have them and we may just have something for you to identify this guy with. Yeah, sounds good, see you in twenty.” Hanging up, he disassembled the phone and snapped the SIM chip before tossing everything out the window in a slow trail of tech.
“I hate them too. Too much can go wrong.” Hope leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “But this time, we got through it.” She knocked on the wood paneling in the car and sighed. “Please tell me that this means we can go home?” she asked ever so hopefully.
Looking to her, he gave a tight smile, but didn’t answer. In fact, he didn’t say anything as they raced back to the city and to their meet with the CIA. Passing over the gems to Patrick, they all waited for the gemologist to take a look and give a nod. Then, and only then, did David finally relax. “Now we can go home,” he said to her. Catching her hand, he pulled her into his arms, in front of all of them, and hugged her tight.
There was a shit-load of paperwork and a ton of debriefing to do before they actually could go home. But they stuck with it, gave every ounce of information they could and handed it all over to the CIA. They would follow up with the seller and his crew, tracking them back to wherever they’d come from. And if anything showed up on the home front, she and David’s team would be the ones knocking down doors.
For two days they debriefed, gave their full accounting of every moment, well…almost every moment, of their time undercover. They wrote out reports, wrote more reports and filled out forms of every color and type. The US government did love its paperwork, and the branches of law enforcement even more so. Because it was a multiple agency task force involved, it made it even more complicated.
But, finally, they were packed off to a hotel room. All the FBI clothing and items had been collected, cleaned and checked over thoroughly. They were finally in a clean room, tucked deep into the city and away from all possible prying eyes. When the door shut behind them, they shared a look, both turned to the bed and headed for it to fall face-first onto the surface. Oh, they’d get around to tearing off each other’s clothes and all the fun that came after, but in that moment they shared a similar deep, driving need. For sleep.
She had never been so exhausted in all her life. After a bit of time, she shifted and wrapped her arms around him. Yawning, she said, “I think we should get undressed, I really do. However, right now I just want to hold you.” Thankfully, the FBI hadn’t tried to take her ring from her that David had bought for her. If so, she would have likely had to hurt someone. “I’m so glad that is over though.”
He made some noise in his throat and pulled her in closer, his nose pressed to her cheek. “Sleep, strip later,” he muttered. He sounded just as tired as she was, more so, maybe, but she so wasn’t going to bet on that. “Love you, Hope. Sleep for now.”
“Love you too,” she whispered with a yawn, and then was out cold. The heat of his body, his breath against her cheek all that she needed to fall deeply asleep.
Chapter Ten
Three days later
Hope fell down on his couch and sighed. Her head leaning back on the back of the sofa, she yawned. “God, I have some freaking serious jet lag,” she muttered. “I’m glad that your place was closer to the airport than mine was.” She opened her eyes and looked at him, a grin on her lips as she looked up at him. “But remember that we are going to give my bed a chance, too,” she teased him.
Sitting next to her, he chuckled and nodded. “I made a promise and I shall keep it. Mainly because I know how good your aim is.” Tipping his head back, he let out a sigh. “I have no clue what time it is, but all I want to do is sleep, again.”
“God, no kidding. Between all of the paperwork and all of the bullshit that we had to go through, I swear I feel as if we have been moving twenty-four-seven, and that seriously sucks ass.” She stood and held her hand out to him. “Come on, David, show me to the bed?”
Groaning, he muttered a bunch of not-so-kind things under his breath about making him move just when he was comfortable. Getting to his feet, he took her hand and led her through his place to the back where the bedrooms were. His room was dark, the drapes pulled tight against any and all light. “Black outs,” he said, and the lights came on a moment after the door shut. “Since we sometimes work odd hours, I’ve learned that it’s the only way I can truly sleep unless I’m beyond exhausted.”
“Black outs are brilliant.” She had them herself. She stripped out of her clothing and pulled the bedding back. She slipped into bed and sighed at the cool sheets against her body. “Oh, I love it. High quality Egyptian cotton, I’m assuming?” She yawned again and snuggled up closer to him. “Goodnight,” she whispered when he finally climbed in bed with her. Her cheek to his chest, and she was out cold.
* * * *
When she finally woke, it was to find herself alone in the bed. A soft sound as she sat up had her looking to the door just as David came in with a coffee cup in hand. “Hey, you’re awake.” He smiled at her as he came closer. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he leaned in and kissed her gently. “Coffee for you, my dear,” he said, passing her the mug with care.
“Oh, you are a god among gods,” Hope whispered and leaned up in the bed. She breathed in the coffee and sighed. “Oh, this smells so very good.” Looking up at him, she asked, “How did you sleep, by the way? Are you feeling more human now?” She certainly was, thank god.
Chuckling, he nodded, reaching over to brush her hair back. “I slept like the dead. I woke up about an hour ago with the serious need to visit the facilities, which then led to the driving need for caffeine. Once in the kitchen, I realized I had no food, so I ran out to the bakery to get some goodies for us to nibble on while the coffee was brewing up.”
“Now see, this is the kind of treatment that I can get used to. I mean seriously used to,” she admitted bluntly. “Feeding me in bed, giving me caffeine in bed, now that’s a man.” She took a drink of the brew and sighed happily. “Oh god, this is so good.”
“I’m not feeding you in bed. That’s 2000-count Egyptian cotton you’re on, woman. Not happening,” he said, staring at her with a horrified expression. Then he grinned and chuckled. “Actually, I would feed you in bed, but it’s all a little messy, so it’s likely best we’re in a part of the home we can hose off if we need to.”
“Right, good point. Okay. I’m getting up.” She held her coffee in one hand and slowly got out of bed. She didn’t bother with clothes. Instead, she simply followed him to the table where he put the food. “This looks good. I can’t believe you cooked for me,” she said with a grin. “Damn, I love you, and you are totally a keeper.”
“Does it count as cooking for you if I went out an
d bought it?” he asked with a laugh. Grabbing the coffee carafe, he poured her a refill and then sat down across from her, leaving the carafe in her easy reach after refilling his own cup. “Though I can cook, as long as it’s mostly basic and simple. I only have three truly complicated dishes I’ve managed to master and am working on a fourth.”
“You mean you left me and freaking went to get food? Oh, you are bad. So bad,” she teased him with a grin. “It’s all good though, because I totally love you and don’t mind. I’m good with it, that you went and got us food.”
“It was either run down to the corner bakery for food, or a few blocks to the market for food stuffs to make you breakfast. I didn’t want you waking up alone here, so I chose the lesser of two evils and hit the bakery. So quit your bitching and eat,” he said with a grin. Opening the box of baked goods, he turned it her way to choose first from the delicate and fluffy-looking treats.
She laughed. “Who said that I was bitching? I’m just happy as hell you got me food.” Okay, so she had been a little offended for a moment, but now, now she was over-the-moon happy. She had the man she loved at her side, sugary pastries and coffee. What more could a woman want?
Laughing, he leaned across the table and kissed her hard. “I’ll always get you food, Hope. After all, I fully intend on making you work off each and every calorie in the best of ways.” Smiling against her lips, he kissed her once more and fell back into his seat.
Hope smiled and leaned into him. “Well, you do know the best of ways to work off calories.” She touched her fingers to his cheek, winked and then leaned back. “Now then. Feed me, will you? Later we will work on trying to figure out just exactly why that bastard Cramer sent someone out to knife me.” Well, to kill her, but that was neither here nor there. “And you have to call your brother, too, because I seriously need to kick his ass for following me around and not even buying me a drink.” She laughed then and after that, all thoughts were gone, and instead she was just enjoying being with him.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the mid-seventies Honor has always had a love for the written word. Whether she is reading a book from another author or writing a story of her own, she is always letting her mind expand and delve into possibilities. It all started off as scribbles for her, then a phase of poetry before she found her true calling in the erotic paranormal genre where her imagination is the only limit.
Since beginning her journey as a published author in 2011, Honor says she has learned a great deal about herself and writing. She believes that it’s a never-ending journey, the mind always wanting to learn and to grow. With that comes a better skill and smoothness to her writing she’s discovered and begun to enjoy more with each story she creates.
Thankfully, as she puts it, she has a job that gives her plenty of opportunity to write whatever comes to mind with very few interruptions. Her biggest supporters are, as always, her family. Her two children and her husband are continuously providing her with laughter and joy, making the time she takes to write a little bit easier. Without them and their support she knows she wouldn’t be half the author she is today.
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