by Lori Ryan
Chad hoped he could get to them before one of them lit a match. The smell of gasoline was overpowering, even with his impromptu mask, as he got closer to the house. Using a gun was out of the question with so much accelerant around.
It was clear that the men weren’t professionals and had no clue what they were doing. Surrounding the house with gasoline wasn’t a very effective way of burning it down. They needed to be working from the inside out. Not to mention, the men hadn’t even checked to be sure Jennie was inside the house before they started.
Whoever had sent these guys hadn’t taken the time to find someone who knew what they were doing. They were either acting hastily or were acting on someone else’s plan, with little thought as to how to execute it.
Chad moved into position behind the man at the back of the house. The guy was tall but looked to be fairly out of shape, his gut hanging over the top of his pants.
Chad moved quickly, grabbing him in a carotid hold designed to cut the blood supply to the man’s brain. It was a very quick way to render someone unconscious, and usually worked faster than a choke hold. He felt the man go limp in his arms.
With no cuffs or zip ties to secure the first arsonist, he’d have to hope he was able to take out the second man before the first one came to. He lowered him to the ground and listened for his accomplice.
The sound of trampling through the bushes told Chad the second man was heading around the side of the house toward him. Chad ducked into the shadows against the side of the house and waited.
“Barry,” came the man’s voice in a whisper. “Barry? Where the hell are you?”
Chad stepped from the shadows, leading with his fist. The second man was in better shape than the first. It wasn’t easy to take a dead-on hit from Chad like that and still be standing, but he came back at Chad with a right cross and a series of jabs.
Chad deflected the man’s blows, waiting for an opening. When one came, he exploded, shoving the man back against the house with a series of shots. When his adversary’s back hit the house, Chad cut off his air supply with a forearm across the neck.
“Who sent you?” Chad growled.
The man clawed at his arm with ineffective hands, his eyes bulging as he fought for breath.
Chad eased up a fraction, allowing the man a small amount of air as he asked again, “Who. Sent. You.” His tone was deadly and fierce because he needed to extract any information he could, quickly. Once the police came, there wouldn’t be a chance for any more of Chad’s style of questioning.
The man shook his head and Chad pressed in once again, cutting off the assailant’s air supply. Hearing sirens, he knew his time was up.
Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t talking easily. Chad yanked the arsonist around and gripped both his arms in a hold behind the man’s back. He shoved him ahead of him to meet the police as his mind processed the implications of this attack.
Only one person knew he and Jennie were back in town and where they were. He hadn’t even called Jack and Kelly or his mother to tell them they were coming.
Nope. There was only one person other than the people sitting in the Evans’ living room who knew where he and Jennie were. Agent Burke.
As the police car pulled away from the house, Chad turned to Jennie’s parents.
“Pack a bag quickly. We need to get out of here before Bandon finds out they failed and sends someone else. Meet back out here in five minutes. Tops.”
They didn’t argue. Chad’s tone hadn’t left much room for that and they loved Jennie as much as he did. They wanted her safe as much as Chad.
He turned to Kyle’s parents next. “I doubt they know about you, so you should be safe here, but if you’d rather go stay at a hotel with Jennie’s parents, I’m happy to pay for it. We can get you guys a suite and call it a vacation,” he said, smiling.
Most people weren’t used to dealing with arson attempts in the middle of the night. A little levity couldn’t hurt.
Chad didn’t miss the look Annie gave her husband. She was frightened. Her hands griped his arm and her husband seemed to pick up on it right away.
“A vacation sounds good right about now,” Brian Evans said. “Where will you and Jennie be going?”
“We’ve got to go see one of my friends with the FBI. If Agent Burke leaked Jennie’s location, we need to bring him and Rick Bandon in quickly.”
Kyle’s father nodded and walked toward the house with his wife to pack their things. Chad waited on the front lawn, eyes on the road, scanning in case any other unexpected visitors arrived. They were sitting ducks right now. He needed to get them out of here. Quickly.
Chapter 34
After getting Jennie’s family set up with their new bodyguard at a hotel, Chad and Jennie drove to his condo in New Haven. It was nearly dawn, but Chad had to work out who had sent the two men to Jennie’s parents’ house.
After getting Jennie safely inside, he called the only person he trusted to help him take down a dirty federal agent.
Mike Hayes was a Supervisory Special Agent in the New Haven field office. Mike served in the military with a close friend of Chad’s and if there were dirty federal agents in the office, Chad was sure Mike wasn’t involved. Mike was clean as a whistle and as dedicated to the agency as they came.
Mike set things in motion quickly, getting in touch with Burke’s supervising agent and the Assistant United States Attorney in charge of the case, Caroline Waters.
AUSA Waters would have worked closely with Burke on the case and would have as much information to help them flush out any leaks as Burke’s supervisor would. She’d be able to help them figure out what they could and couldn’t do quickly within the bounds of the law, and she could help push through any warrants they needed in a hurry.
Since Burke’s phone belonged to the FBI, not Burke, they didn’t need to wait for a warrant to dump his phone records. With Burke back in Florida and Jennie here in Connecticut, normal procedure meant he should have called a field agent in Connecticut to take Jennie’s statement here. The phone logs would easily show if he’d done that or called someone else—Rick Bandon, for example.
Chad and Mike formulated a plan. The details would stay within their small circle of Chad, Mike, AUSA Waters, and Burke’s supervising agent. No one else would know the full details of what they were doing.
Burke would be given a fake meeting location and time. It would be a location that was not anywhere near Jennie. Mike would bring in a decoy posing as Jennie. Even the decoy wouldn’t have the full story.
Then, they’d wait to see what Burke did. If information had been leaked, they’d have their source, and hopefully, enough leverage to lead to the location of Rick Bandon.
Chad got off the phone with Mike and looked over at the couch. Jennie was curled in a ball, fast asleep with Zeke on the floor by her feet. He scooped her up and started down the hall toward the guest room he’d put her things in earlier, cradling her small body against his. He needed to make her safe, at all costs.
Jennie snuggled deeper into Chad’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. When he stopped at the guest room, Jennie shook her head.
“Take me to your room,” she whispered.
She wanted to be with him. She had no idea where this was going, but she knew that much. She needed to be near Chad.
Somehow, things had changed in the last day. It was as if tiny slivers of light had begun to come through the gray shadows that surrounded Jennie since Kyle died.
She wasn’t sure if it was the talk about Kyle’s death that started to let some light in, or something else altogether. But she felt better.
Her feelings for Chad swirled in her heart and her head and she didn’t know what she wanted. She only knew she didn’t want to let him go. She didn’t want him to leave her.
Chad set her feet on the floor of his room. Two minutes ago, Jennie had felt so tired she was sure she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Now, with one look, Chad set her body on fi
re again.
“I should let you sleep,” he said in a low voice that sent shivers through her. His eyes burned with intensity and his body brushed hers, letting her know he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
“I don’t think I want you to,” she answered, pressing into him, letting her breasts graze his chest, her stomach feel the hardness of his erection as it pushed into her.
Chad trailed one finger down her neck, over her collarbone, and down to the supple curve of her breast. Warmth rushed through her body, waking her instantly.
“What do you want, Jen?”
She loved it when he called her Jen. It was such a common nickname for people named Jennifer but for some reason, she’d always been Jennie to everyone. Only Chad called her Jen.
She stood on tiptoe and ran her hands up his chest, and around his neck, pulling him down to her mouth.
“You,” she whispered against his lips. “This time, it’s not about forgetting. And it’s not about wanting to stop the pain. This time, it’s about you. I want to be with you. I want to experience every moment, savor every touch, taste, and sensation.”
She wanted to be present as they came together.
She unbuttoned his shirt slowly, one button at a time, loving the way his breath changed as her hands moved over him. Shorter, harsher breaths told the story of her effect on his body.
She felt the intensity of his gaze on her, bringing the heat in her to a boil as her breath began to match his with the quickening she’d come to realize would always happen at his touch.
She leaned in and pressed her lips to his chest, hearing a rumbling growl from Chad in response. Her hands traveled greedily and her mouth explored the taut lines of his muscular torso.
And then his hands were on her, and he lifted her swiftly, turning to lay her on the bed as though he couldn’t wait another minute to take her.
She laughed at the thrill of making Chad’s control snap, but her laughter died, replaced with a gasp as he lowered his body over hers. He framed her face with his arms and her mouth, kissing her deeply, intently. She knew what Chad had meant when he’d said he could get lost in her if they kissed. She was lost in him.
He lifted the hem of her shirt and pressed kisses to her stomach, playing lazily back and forth on the few inches of skin he’d exposed above the waistline of her pants.
Jennie felt like every nerve ending in her skin was hypersensitive somehow. Even the slightest touch sent her reeling and moaning, and wanting more. So much more.
Chad gradually pushed her shirt up, taking his time to reach the bottom slope of her breasts. He kissed and nuzzled, letting his lips trail over the lace of her bra, teasing and taunting until she thought she would scream.
Every inch of her body tingled now, as if it cried out for more from him and Jennie knew she’d be reduced to begging if he kept up this maddeningly slow pace.
His mouth was hot when it closed around one nipple as his hand teased her other breast. She couldn't believe how incredibly turned on she was and she didn’t even have her clothes off yet.
He sat her up and slipped her shirt over her head. He kissed the inside of her wrist, the curve at the inside of her elbow, then her shoulder. Each kiss ratcheted Jennie’s body to new heights of arousal.
He laid her back on the bed and began to remove her yoga pants, sliding them down her hips and thighs at a painfully tortuous pace.
Each inch of skin he revealed was laced with kisses or nips or soft breaths of hot air before he continued. Each inch of skin he revealed was set on fire.
When her pants landed on the chair, he sat on the edge of the bed and took one of her feet into his lap. His fingers grazed over her ankles as he slipped her sock off. One hand slid up her leg, caressing, sending her body trembling. The other hand took hold of her other foot and slipped the sock off.
Jennie watched in awe. How did he make removing her socks so incredibly sensual? And how did he have the control to do this? Her body shook with need as Chad slipped his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her hips, settling his mouth between her legs.
She knew she was already swollen, slick, and wet when his tongue touched her. He circled and swirled, teasing her, building pleasure with every second.
“Chad,” Jennie whispered on a moan.
“Mmm hmm?” he murmured, his lips against her labia, driving her wild.
“I need...”
“Mmmmmm?” He murmured against her hot flesh, almost sending her flying. “What is it that you need, Jen?”
“To feel…to feel you, Chad. To feel everything.”
He slid two fingers inside her in answer and she felt her muscles clench around him, pulsating and tight. He slipped them out then pressed in again, his mouth on her clitoris, sending her over the edge.
He drew out her orgasm, letting her feel every sensation, every emotion, every sensual delight he brought upon her. She didn’t think she’d ever come down from the sheer pleasure.
It felt like she was floating on a cloud as Chad’s hands and mouth played over her body, sending her to heights she’d never imagined.
Chad called on every ounce of self-control he possessed. Just hearing Jennie say she wanted to feel instead of forget meant she wanted to be here with him, in this moment.
She wasn’t trying to forget her pain or pretend she was back in Kyle’s arms. She was here with Chad.
And, he would make sure he gave her everything she needed, more if he could. He’d felt a shift in her since she had told her family about the guilt she’d been carrying over Kyle’s death. He still knew she didn’t love him the way he loved her. But for now, knowing she wanted to be here in this moment with him was enough.
As Chad felt the orgasm race through Jennie’s body, he pulled back. He watched in amazement as her face reflected what her body was feeling. She was stunning. There just weren’t any words for the beauty he saw in her.
When she began to come back to him, he gently licked and teased, coming close to where she needed his touch the most, but knowing she’d be too sensitive there right now. He slowly swirled and circled around her clitoris, not touching yet.
He gradually wound her back up again as she twisted, pleading, beneath his mouth and hands. And when she was ready, he slipped his fingers into her and closed his mouth over her while she moaned and called out his name.
Chad loved the sight of Jennie naked and pulsing with need beneath him. He could watch her come apart over and over and never tire of it. He slowly lowered his head again, but kept his eyes on her face. He captured her clit with his mouth and sucked hard as she spiraled off into an orgasm again. He’d never get enough of that.
The sounds of her sweet, raspy release were mesmerizing. The way her body glistened with a thin layer of perspiration. The way she thrashed beneath him, moaning and gasping. The look of sheer joy on her face.
The way her body tightened around his fingers, swollen and wet and hot. He could do this again and again for the rest of their lives. If only she’d let him.
Chad reached into the nightstand by the bed for a condom.
He kept his eyes on hers as he came back to the bed with her. He lowered himself over her, then took her mouth with his. God, how he loved this woman.
“Jennie,” he whispered, his lips still against hers.
Gently, Chad entered her, barely suppressing a groan at the feel of his hard length gripped by her. He held still for a minute, regaining control. He wanted this to last longer than the thirty seconds it was looking like it would be right then.
“I won’t ever get enough of this feeling, Jen.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist. He didn’t break the contact with her mouth as he drew out slowly, then plunged back in. Deep, long, slow.
He didn’t let himself go like he would have liked. If Jennie wasn’t pregnant, he’d be driving into her hard and fast and deep over and over again until they were both spinning out of control. Instead, he moved slowly, drawing b
ack until only the head of his erection was barely inside her before plunging equally slowly back in again.
Her soft mewls were low and pleading, driving him to insanity as his body wound closer and closer to orgasm. He broke from her mouth and lowered his head to her breast. The feel of her pebbled nipple against his tongue was decadent and sensual. He closed his mouth around her breast as he pushed into her sweet, wet folds with one last, deep thrust.
He felt her orgasm as she tightened around him and cried out. And he followed her, finally, letting himself go. Letting himself get lost in her, knowing he wouldn’t be able to turn back now. Whether she ever returned his love or not, he would love this woman for the rest of his life.
Chapter 35
Jennie and Chad slept through much of the day, trying to catch up on sleep they’d missed the night before. They woke in the early evening to a call from Mike.
“What’s up?” Chad asked as Jennie sat up beside him in bed, one hand resting on his back.
He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as he listened to Mike. The thought that something might happen to Jennie now, after all they’d been though, made Chad sick. He needed to end this. He needed to find a way to keep her safe.
“There’s been a delay in getting Burke’s phone messages. Some kind of technical glitch, supposedly. I don’t know how soon we’ll get the records, but I’ve been in touch with Burke’s supervisor. He wants us to go ahead with the meeting with Burke,” Mike said.
Chad cursed under his breath. “Okay. Set it up.”
“I want you to go in with a decoy. I’ve got an undercover agent we can pass off as Jennie, but I want you to be there to fill in any details or answer any questions she may not have answers to. I’ve briefed her on everything Jennie saw and heard and she’ll be ready to go by the time we meet, but I want you there as backup.”
