Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2))

by Kelley, Morgan

  “Red,” he answered, waiting for her at the door. “Are you ready?”

  Elizabeth nodded and smiled at her husband. Just knowing he was hers forever was breathtaking and caught her off guard at the oddest times.

  Once in the car, Blackhawk buckled his seatbelt and reached behind her seat for the flowers. “These are for you,” he said, kissing her neck.

  Holding the flowers to her nose she inhaled. “They’re gorgeous, Ethan. What’s the occasion?”

  “Just wanted to get my wife some flowers,” he said, backing out of the driveway and shifting. “Can’t a man romance his wife just because?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Absolutely, feel free to romance me anytime. Next time you say you were working out though, I’m not going to buy it, Ethan.”

  “Probably,” he laughed. “Besides, this is the first time I’ve ever gotten you flowers, and I shouldn’t have waited so long.” He brought her knuckles to his lips.

  Elizabeth pulled out her wallet and clicked it open. Inside, where the pictures would be kept, was a pressed daisy. “That’s not true, Cowboy. Here’s the first flower you ever gave me,” she said, showing him. “I kept it.”

  His heart clenched deep in his chest, as he stared down at the flower he had given her the first day she made him breakfast. It was a simple daisy. She had tucked it behind her ear and forgotten about it, wearing it to work. He assumed she had just tossed it when it wilted, but apparently he was very wrong.

  “You kept it, Lyzee?” He couldn’t believe it. Blackhawk knew he was sentimental, because he kept the two notes she’s written him tucked away. It just never occurred she was too.

  “Of course I did! Why wouldn’t I? I knew that day when I ran up the driveway and there you were, sitting on my porch waiting for me. Do you really believe I’d make breakfast for any man that showed up at my house at six a.m.?”

  Ethan Blackhawk felt like the luckiest man in the world. A part of him always wondered if she tossed that flower, and now he knew. It was a treasure for her. “I love you, Elizabeth.” He continued driving, holding her hand as emotion threatened to overwhelm him.

  “I love you too,” she answered, touching his cheek. There was never a doubt in her mind she always would.

  There was no Lyzee without Ethan Blackhawk.

  When they parked in front of his grandfather’s he had enough time to composed himself and kiss her. It was a long, slow, deep kiss that spoke volumes of the love he had deep inside him for her. Kissing his wife was a luxury, especially on a bad day, and he couldn’t resist. Controlling the kiss as he held her mouth locked to his, her hair trapped in his hand only made him want her that much more. As his body threatened to spring awake, he slowly broke away, knowing it wasn’t the time or the place. “Wait until later, Mrs. Blackhawk. We are far from finished with this yet.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Need I remind you of our wedding night?” she asked, stepping from his car.

  “Oh, I won’t ever forget it,” and he wouldn’t. His wild hellion of a wife nearly drove him wild that night as he drove his car back to the brownstone. A few times, they almost didn’t make it. Now, he was thinking about it, and his body was tight with pure unadulterated lust. “Right before we go into my grandfather’s house? Really Elizabeth?” He was having a hard enough time keeping his body in control around her as it was, and he didn’t need to be reminiscing about that insane night.

  Elizabeth giggled at the look on his face, and it made her body flush with her own want, just bringing it up. That night was one of her fondest memories.

  Blackhawk met her in front of their Mustang, and he took her hand and pulled her into his arms, kissing her again. If he was going to suffer, so was she. There would be no mercy to his bewitching wife.

  “Boy, do you realize you’re in front of my house and practically mauling the girl alive?” came his grandfather’s voice, breaking the mood. “Let the girl catch her breath before you suffocate her.”

  He pulled away slowly, grinning. “Yes Granddad, but I married her so I could maul her where ever I want,” he started laughing and still didn’t let her go. “In fact, I have a license to maul her all day, any day.”

  “I can’t take you anywhere, Ethan Blackhawk,” she slipped out of his arms and went to the older man.

  “Granddad, how are you tonight?” She kissed his cheek and took his offered arm. “Thank you for inviting us.”

  “It’s my pleasure, Elizabeth. I do enjoy watching my grandson be this happy. It does my old heart good even if he’s pawing at you in my front yard, so all the neighbors can see it,” he grinned at her.

  Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat. There was the same grin that her husband gave her all the time. It was a definite Blackhawk trademark.

  “I hope you’re hungry this evening.”

  Blackhawk followed his wife in and closed the door. This time, he was completely relaxed. The two most important people in his life were comfortable with each other, and he could settle into an easy evening with just his loved ones.

  “I also invited your brother, Ethan. He should be here shortly. I’m getting to be an old man, and I don’t know how many more times I’ll have this opportunity to have all of you here at once.”

  Elizabeth kissed his cheek again. “I’m sure many more. Besides you have a great-grandchild coming. I’m afraid you have no choice but to stick around,” she said, watching her husband smile. The love in the room for the eldest Blackhawk was shared between herself and her husband equally. The older man was completely endearing.

  “So, my dream was right? Your brother called and told me to say nothing.”

  “Granddad, I’m concerned for her safety.” He was indeed worried. “I just need to keep this quiet until we catch the killer.”

  Timothy Blackhawk nodded. “I understand my boy.” Gently he touched Elizabeth’s stomach. “I could venture my guess if you want to know.”

  “Elizabeth, he’s always right,” he interjected, before his grandfather could speak. “So, if you don’t want to know, don’t let him tell you. I can’t remember him ever being wrong.”

  She grinned at her husband, leaning over and whispering in Timothy’s ear. “Am I right, Granddad?” she asked.

  Blackhawk couldn’t help but feel so much love, as the old man grinned and patted her cheek and placing a kiss on her forehead. “I believe you are, Elizabeth. Are you sure you don’t have some Indian blood in you?”

  Elizabeth winked at her husband, knowing he was dying to know what they had shared. “No Native blood, so it must be Baby Blackhawk.”

  “Well? I think I should get a clue, I am the one who helped create the baby,” Blackhawk reminded them, smiling.

  “You will have a strong fine warrior.”

  She thought back to the time she realized she wanted kids with him, and saw a yard full of boys. They would all have black hair like their mother and father, tan skin and bright eyes.

  “I concur. I believe we’re going to have the opposite problem that Gabe has,” she paused. “And I find that I don’t mind one bit.”

  His heart pounded in his chest at the idea of lots of boys in their house. Sons. Right then he made the promise to not be like his own father. Never would he leave their sides or abandon them. “I hope you’re both right. I’d love a house full of boys!” He couldn’t help but feel excited at the idea.

  “You will bring him here after he is born and allow us to have a ceremony?” asked Timothy, looking at Elizabeth. She would be the one that would decide. He knew his grandson would defer to his wife, since she wasn’t Native, and it was her choice as mother. Just as Ethan’s mother had to decide.

  Blackhawk didn’t want to hurt his grandfather, but he wasn’t going to make his wife deal with the ceremony. After all, she wasn’t part of this world, even though it gave him a tiny twinge of sadness. The ceremonies were a rite of passage, and they still were part of his memories today, despite how much he tried to distance himself from his heritage.

&nb
sp; “Absolutely,” she said, and put her arm through the arm of the old man. “I think it would be a wonderful thing for our children to know their legacy and participate in it. I think since I’m having a Blackhawk we should do it right.”

  Blackhawk just kept getting swept away in her compassion and her love for him and his life. She didn’t hesitate and welcomed his culture, even if he wasn’t sure if he did. Her easy acceptance was making it easier for him to come home.

  “I told you Ethan. You picked a good wife,” he said, pleasantly surprised at the woman. Maybe outsiders weren’t all that bad after all.

  Elizabeth just smiled, knowing he was old school, and she was appreciative of that. “Would you like me to help you with dinner, Granddad?”

  “I have everything under control. I hope you don’t mind roast pork, Elizabeth. I never asked if you were a vegetarian,” he waited, looking at his grandson who started laughing as if there was some secret joke.

  “Ignore him, Granddad. Ethan’s laughing because if it once walked, flew, or swam I’ll eat it,” she said grinning. “If you wrap it in bacon, I’ll eat twice as much of it. I think I’d die as a vegetarian.”

  The old man laughed and kissed her on her cheek. “Go sit. Your husband will help me, or feel free to explore.”

  Elizabeth walked over to a book shelf and looked at the pictures that sat there. One was of her husband as a child. She could tell it was him. He had the same grin. “You were adorable, Ethan,” she said over her shoulder. It gave her insight to what her own children would one day resemble.

  “Ethan was a bright child, but he enjoyed raising hell as often as possible,” added his grandfather. “Authority and Ethan Blackhawk weren’t synonymous.”

  “He’s calmed down considerably. I think I’m wilder,” she replied.

  “I’m in the room,” he said, laughing and joining her at the pictures. “Here I was eight and Timothy was trying to teach me to build my own boat.”

  “He did a fine job too. It’s still out back.”

  Elizabeth didn’t know that her husband liked to build things. There was still so much she didn’t know about him.

  “Here I’m twelve and I believe right before my mother died. I was helping granddad build a tree house. That was a nightmare project,” he reminisced, laughing. The memories came crashing back, and he couldn’t help but feel the joy he felt back then.

  “It’s still back there too,” Timothy said grinning. “It was, and still is, quality craftsman ship from my boy. Possibly, one day you will allow my great-grandson to play in it.”

  Ethan leaned into his wife’s ear and whispered, “It’s the tree house I mentioned to you back in Salem,” and then he winked. “I know what our son will want to do up there if he takes after me or my brother.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “I didn’t know you liked to build things, Ethan,” she commented and ignored his wiggling eyebrows.

  Blackhawk shrugged and answered honestly, “I had a good time with my grandfather. When my dad took off and my mom was sick, it gave me a place to forget what was making me angry. I was filled with rage as a boy.”

  “He needed an outlet to work off the anger, and he was really good with his hands,” Timothy added and laughed when Elizabeth opened her mouth and Blackhawk covered it with his hand to silence her.

  “Elizabeth, don’t say it,” he warned, laughing as he dropped his hand. “Granddad doesn’t want sordid details.”

  She laughed and shrugged. There was no doubt what she was going to comment on with that statement.

  Timothy came over and picked up the next picture.

  It was again of Ethan, and he was shirtless with Timothy’s other grandson. Both already had their tattoos. It had been taken before her husband had finished up his tattoo collection. Some of her favorite ones were missing.

  “Here he is during his rebellious time. I came home one day from council, and there was the raven on his chest.” Timothy spoke softly. “How do you feel about the raven, Elizabeth?”

  She turned to her husband, placing her hand over the tattoo under his shirt, and then she kissed him. “I love the tattoo, it’s my favorite one he has, but I happen to love all of them,” and she did. “I like the tribal arm band as my next favorite.”

  “That makes me happy to hear, because it is part of him. He is the raven.”

  Elizabeth shrugged, “I just think it makes him sexy and gives me something to stare at and daydream about.”

  Timothy Blackhawk laughed at the blatant honesty. Yes, he liked the woman a great deal. “I hear Callen, let’s have dinner.”

  During dinner there was much laughter and conversation. It was easy and free flowing. No one at that table felt out of place. It was a definite family. Two generations of men, and one that Elizabeth was carrying in her body. There was such a feeling of complete joy. It was pleasurable to hear the two brothers tease each other, reminiscing about their past. Elizabeth was learning a great deal about her husband, and it was comforting to know that despite his mom dying and his father walking away, he had a fairly normal childhood. It was all thanks to Timothy Blackhawk.

  “Remember when we stole Timothy’s truck and decided to head to town for a beer?” asked Whitefox.

  Ethan laughed. “How can I forget? We were what? Sixteen and seventeen?”

  “Lyzee,” Whitefox turned to her and continued, “Granddad hid his keys, and as it turns out your husband is excellent at hot wiring.”

  “Oh, is he?” she laughed, placing her chin in her hand and smiling at her husband. “Grand theft auto, Ethan?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I do believe I told you that I had a sordid past,” he touched her cheek, and he couldn’t help but smile wickedly. “Good thing Native law stays on the Rez, or I wouldn’t be able to be an FBI agent.”

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Well, granddad finally realized we rolled the truck down the hill and started it far enough away. He did what he threatened to do. Granddad called the law on us.”

  “I had them arrested,” Timothy said, laughing. “Now it was funny, back then I was mad as hell.”

  “Arrested, huh?” she asked. “How many times were you arrested?”

  Whitefox was about to tell her, and he got the look from his brother.

  “Let’s say more than once, and leave it at that,” he added and pointed at his brother. “You were with me every time,” he warned. “I just took the rap most of the time to keep you from spending the night in jail.”

  Elizabeth believed it. Ethan Blackhawk would defend his younger brother at all costs. It was the kind of man he was inside. “Granddad, how many times was my husband arrested?”

  “Officially?” he asked, laughing.

  She shook her head. “Yes, let’s go with officially.”

  “I believe seven times,” he paused, “three times for cars being misappropriated, three times for fights and once for breaking and entering.”

  “That one wasn’t quite fair, and you know it! I was in the house with the guy’s daughter, and he wasn’t too happy that there weren’t clothes involved…” Then he realized his wife was staring at him. Worry started to fill him as he told her he had a sordid past, one that he was ashamed of and here it was out in the open.

  “Elizabeth, I’m sorry. Maybe we should stop discussing this.” He didn’t want her to be horrified. Ethan Blackhawk wasn’t proud of his past, and he could only imagine what she was thinking of him.

  Timothy Blackhawk and Callen Whitefox watched her intently to see what her reaction would be. They could hear the worry in Blackhawk’s voice.

  Elizabeth patted his cheek in reassurance. “Ethan, I’m not upset; I’m just trying to figure out how I can help Karma out, and force you to deal with all that boy nonsense when our sons pull the same shit,” she laughed.

  Blackhawk relaxed, and so did his brother and grandfather.

  “That would be suitable punishment if he’s just as bad as you were.” She watched the tension lighten acros
s his face. “I’m so not dealing with it. I have to give birth, and if the cops come to our house I’m pointing at you.” Pulling him closer she whispered in his ear, “It’s actually very sexy that my husband is a reformed bad boy. We’ll have to discuss this later.”

  Blackhawk felt his entire body tighten at the way she purred the words into his ear and ran her hand across his thigh. When she bit his earlobe he almost forgot where they were.

  “Are you bothered by my grandson’s past, Elizabeth?”

  “Not in the least, Granddad. I don’t worry about the past. I like to live in the here and now,” she winked at her husband salaciously and mouthed the word ‘later’.

  Timothy Blackhawk nodded, approving of her attitude. As he stood from the table, he patted her on the shoulder and went to retrieve the papers he had prepared for them.

  “Ethan, here is the list of women’s names,” he handed his grandson the paper. “These are the tribe that left and have not returned,” he sat back down. “On the back are the tribe that hope to one day replace me as shaman.”

  Both men looked over at the man at those words, and their faces said it all.

  “Boys, I can’t live forever. You both know that,” he answered their looks. His biggest fear was leaving his boys alone in life. They had so much loss and people who walked away willingly from them. He fully believed that the only reason he’d lived for eighty-eight seasons was to hang in there for them. Now he could rest at ease. His eldest boy would be fine as he found his lifeline.

  Blackhawk suddenly felt bereft and ashamed at the amount of the time that he had wasted, away from his grandfather. He gave up twenty years because of his anger and stupidity. When he felt his hand being taken in his lap, there was the wave of comfort. As usual, his wife just knew that he was hurting and was offering her support.

  “No one can ever replace you, granddad,” added Whitefox. He didn’t even want to think about a life on the reservation without his grandfather. If there was no Timothy Blackhawk he really had no reason to stay.

  “Elizabeth, I have a question for you,” asked Timothy.