As the minutes and hours ticked by she’d grown increasingly more terrified that Alfric wouldn’t come out of ‘Big John,’ as she’d heard several locals call the building, unharmed and alive.
She’d seen the Hazardous Materials van arrive an hour earlier and, while the flow of people being evacuated from the building had finally stopped a while back, there’d been no sign of Alfric or the law enforcement team he had with him.
She stared hard at the tall building, her eyes watering from fear and her heart pounding in her chest from panic. Please God let him be safe.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder and a cell phone appeared next to her ear. She grabbed it without thinking and turned to see who had handed it to her. A small group of CPD stood off to one side of her, their backs mostly turned to her, but nobody else was there.
She scowled and put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“Mon chou. How are you? Do you miss me?”
Pleasance’s knees went to liquid.
All of the blood fled her face and bright stars erupted before her eyes. She forced herself to breathe deeply and locked her knees in place. “Jon Luc?”
“Yes, beautiful friend, it is moi.”
“Wha…” She had to clear her throat twice to get the words out. “What do you want?”
“Ahhh, you see, that is the question isn’t it? I want many things, mon chou, many wonderful things. But right at this moment I want you.”
“Me?” She really needed to sit down or she would fall. But she forced herself to remain upright and completely still, as if any movement would draw him to her like a shark. “What do you want from me?”
“You and I need to speak. And to ensure that you come to me, I would like to tell you that, at this very moment, Monsieur Honeybun is holding a canister of Sarin gas in his very capable hands and I have my finger poised over the button to release the gas into the air. If you do not turn and walk quietly toward the street behind you right now, I will push the button.”
She heard someone whimpering and realized it was her.
“What will it be beautiful Pleasance? Will you come to me, without telling anyone where you are going? Or will you be buying a simple black dress for the funeral of Alfric Honeybun?”
The lights of the cop cars started to swirl around her head, making her feel as if she would pitch to the ground again. Pleasance closed her eyes tightly against the vertigo and sucked in great, gulping gobs of air. She knew she couldn’t let him push that button. But the alternative…
“My finger is growing heavy, ma chérie .”
Pleasance jerked, nearly dropping the phone. “I’m coming.”
“I look forward to seeing you.”
The phone disconnected and she closed it with numb fingers. Dropping it on the ground, she turned away from the building and headed beyond the circle of flashing lights. Her vision was limited once she passed the cars and she blinked against the disorienting change in light level.
Tears rolled down her pale cheeks and her heart pounded hard in her chest.
She stumbled and a hard hand grabbed her beneath one arm. She started to turn, but a harsh, all too familiar voice stopped her. “Do not look at me. Walk straight ahead.”
Pleasance bit her lip and forced back the terrified sobs building in her throat.
As they approached the street, a long, black car pulled up, looking sinister in the shadows where it lurked.
A back door opened and Jon-Luc’s right hand man pushed her toward it.
Pleasance forced her thoughts away from what was coming and concentrated instead on praying that Alfric was out of the building and safe.
Chapter Thirteen
His fingers could almost reach. Alfric stretched his arm a bit more, causing his muscles to scream and cramp.
The small white canister had a digital clock on its side that was clicking down the seconds until the thing would go off.
One minute.
Sixty seconds. That was all the time he had until the small canister opened and shot nerve gas through the ventilation system of the entire building.
Sweat dripped from his forehead and into his eyes. He had to blink to see the numbers on the canister.
Forty seconds.
His cell phone rang in the pocket of his jeans. He barely noticed.
Just a tiny bit more stretching…
Thirty seconds.
His fingers touched metal.
Twenty seconds.
The canister twisted, escaping his grasp.
Fifteen seconds.
The inside of his hazmat suit was like a steam bath, the Plexiglas barrier in front of his face dripped with condensation.
Ten seconds.
Finally, he managed to pull the tiny canister close enough that he could wrap a finger around it and drag it toward his hand.
Five seconds.
“Get that vault over here!”
He sensed movement nearby as he pulled the tiny canister from its hiding place in the ductwork.
Alfric slid the small canister carefully into the vault and nodded for it to be sealed. He turned to Cleats. The man’s wide face was covered in sweat beneath the clear plastic of his hazmat suit and his chest heaved with nerves. “There’s probably at least one more somewhere. We need to keep looking.”
Cleats nodded and lumbered away, pulling his radio off his belt and speaking into it as he went.
Alfric’s pocket burst into song. The exciting strains of the Mission Impossible music filled the room. He reached for his cell. “Honeybun.”
“Alfric, she’s gone!”
Alfric frowned, “Brick? What do you mean she’s gone? Who’s gone?”
“Pleasance. I turned my back for a few minutes and when I turned back around she was gone. We haven’t been able to find her in the crowd.”
Alfric was already heading toward the elevator. “Expand your search. Find her, Brick! I’m coming out now.”
Sweat sprang from Alfric’s face. Handling poisonous gas hadn’t been enough to cause Alfric to sweat, but thinking about Pleasance in danger was. He knew that meant something important, but at the moment he didn’t want to think about what it was.
“Pleasance?”
She jerked to a stop as she was climbing into the long, black car and turned toward the familiar voice. A tall woman with spiky, short brown hair stood next to a car parked on the street half a block away. The woman’s face was cast in shadow, but her long, lean form struck a chord in Pleasance.
Brita started walking toward the car, her long legs eating up the distance quickly.
Pleasance jerked her arm from Qamra Tamarat’s grasp and stepped away from the car. Tamarat’s cold, black gaze slid from Brita back to Pleasance and he gave her an evil smile.
“Kiss your boyfriend goodbye, bitch.”
Pleasance hesitated, her gaze flying from Brita to Tamarat, who was quickly climbing into the car without her. She even took a step toward the car, her fear for Alfric nearly choking her.
“Pleasance, wait! I need to talk to you.” Brita was running now. She grabbed Pleasance’s arm as the car slid away from the curb, moving silently but quickly away from them.
Pleasance turned back toward the Hancock Center and started running, screaming to Brita, “It’s Raia’s men, they said they’d release something and Alfric would die. I have to get into the building and warn him.”
Brita ran alongside her. She punched numbers into her cell phone as they burst back through the circle of cop cars and past, heading for the building. The familiar sound of the Mission Impossible theme sounded nearby. Brita stopped, grabbing at Pleasance’s arm and missing, just as the woman plowed into a tall, red haired man with a worried face, wearing half a hazmat suit.
“Oh my god, Alfric! I thought you’d be dead.”
Brita was already marshalling the CPD to find the limousine carrying Raia and Tamarat.
Alfric wrapped his arms around Pleasance. She was shaking and sobbing against his shoulder. Be
fore he knew what he was doing, his lips were on hers and her cries turned to whimpers as they consumed each other’s mouths, drawing comfort in the only way they could.
Alfric’s mind shuddered and calmed as he realized she was there and she was okay. His hands slid hungrily over her, memorizing the slim, soft curves of her body as if he hadn’t seen her in months or years.
As if he’d been afraid he’d never see her again.
“It’s okay, honey, I’m here. I’m okay.” He held her a moment longer and then pulled her away, to arm’s length. “Where did you go? Brick told me you disappeared.”
“Raia’s men had her. Fortunately, I saw her before she got into the car.”
Alfric turned to Brita, seeing her for the first time. He frowned. “Before she got into the car? Pleasance, please tell me you weren’t going to Raia.”
She grimaced. “Okay.”
They stared at each other for a beat. “Pleasance?”
“You told me not to tell you.”
He shook his head. “Woman, you’d better start talking right now.”
She shrugged. “Make up your damn mind, Honeybun.” She stepped away from him, discovering suddenly that she couldn’t get her mind to work when she stood so close. “He said he’d kill you if I didn’t come.”
“Kill me?” Alfric frowned, “How?”
“Gas. He said he had his finger on the button to release the Sarin gas you were holding if I didn’t come with him.”
Alfric’s eyes jerked to Brita’s. “He knew I was holding the canister?”
Pleasance nodded. “That’s what he said.”
Brita looked at Alfric and nodded. “I’m on it. You get Pleasance out of here.”
Brick held a key out to Alfric. “Here, my place is empty. I’m going back to Washington tonight.”
Alfric nodded. “Thanks.” He called Clancy and they turned away, heading uptown to Brick’s place. It wasn’t far. It was a nice night to walk. And it was especially nice with Pleasance tucked under his arm.
“Merde!” Jon-Luc flung the remote detonator across the car in a fit of temper. The thing bounced off the back of the driver’s head and the man jerked in surprised pain, causing the car to jump the curb for a second before he got it back under control again.
“Am I the only one who can do things correctly, Qamra? Must I do it all myself?”
Qamra Tamarat kept his mouth shut and didn’t point out that he’d just been carrying out Raia’s orders and that the plan had been stupid anyway. Instead he said, “Why don’t we just kill the girl?”
Jon-Luc left off fussing with his immaculate white suit to glare at his lieutenant. “Do you think you’re capable?”
Tamarat’s cold black gaze settled on his boss. He remained silent. Just pinning the smaller man with a dead stare. After a moment, Jon-Luc looked away. If they’d been wolves Jon-Luc would have just ceded power to his second in command. Maybe he had in the human world as well. But he still held a couple of cards that would keep Tamarat under control.
Hopefully.
“Maybe you should start with the dog and if you’re successful killing him you could graduate to real people.”
The cold black gaze held firm.
Jon-Luc suppressed a shiver. “I know how important it is for children to have self esteem. Baby steps…Qamra…baby steps. We can set you up with small goals that you can reach until you have the self esteem you need to complete a job.”
Finally, Tamarat opened his mouth. “You’re getting bitchy, sweetheart.”
Jon-Luc’s pale lips slammed shut. He turned to stare out the window, pouting.
Having re-established control, Tamarat turned to the driver. “Take us home.”
The man was rubbing his head where the detonator had clocked him. “Yes, sir.”
Tamarat sat back, dismissing the petulant Frenchman as he quickly assessed his options. He needed to get Honeybun and the girl alone and in a controlled environment. He thought about this for a moment until he had a viable option. Something that would work extremely well. And, as a bonus, it would probably increase his self esteem too.
Having made that decision, Tamarat smiled.
It wasn’t a pleasant sight.
The elevator doors slid shut and Alfric pressed the button for the penthouse apartment. Pleasance’s head rested on his chest. She hadn’t spoken for several moments and he thought she was almost asleep on her feet.
She felt wonderful in his arms and smelled even better. Alfric rested his chin on top of her head and inhaled deeply. As the elevator dinged to mark its upward progress toward Brick’s place, Alfric closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment.
Pleasance felt his lips in her hair. His arms tightened around her, bringing her deliciously closer to evidence that he was not immune to her charms. She buried her nose in his shirt, reveling in the wonderful smell of man, and sighed.
The doors slid open. Clancy padded out, heading toward the couch.
Pleasance lifted her head and looked into Alfric’s eyes.
His lips lowered to hers.
Weariness fled as the world exploded into sensation. Lights flickered behind Pleasance’s closed eyelids. Heat enveloped her, washing through her body like a tidal wave, and left her throbbing and wet for more.
Alfric’s kiss, which had started out as a gentle question, quickly lost its tentative feel. With a growl of pure lust, he pressed her against the wall of the elevator and ground himself into her. His lips consumed her, his tongue pressing through to tangle with hers.
Pleasance inhaled his essence and moaned. She grasped his taut, round butt cheeks and dragged him closer.
Alfric slipped a warm hand under the hem of her T-shirt and slid it up the satiny flesh of her belly, lifting the T-shirt off over her head. He bent to place a soft kiss on each velvety mound of flesh quivering above her low-cut bra. His thumbs caressed the silk of the tiny bra. It was fire engine red and looked delectable against the creamy brown of her skin.
Pleasance threaded her fingers through his hair and laid her head back against the elevator wall, giving herself up totally to the feelings that swamped her. She gasped as he dropped to his knees and started kissing his way down her flat belly. He slid her jeans down her legs, pausing to probe her belly button with his hot tongue, and then moved lower, sliding his tongue just beneath the red lace at the top edge of her silk panties.
Pleasance arched toward him, begging him with her body to take away the ache from the place where she throbbed with need. Alfric placed his hands on her narrow hips and turned her to face the wall. He grabbed each slim calf and pulled her legs wide.
Then, he reached up and peeled the red silk of her panties down over her taut, round butt cheeks, licking and nibbling the tender flesh as he exposed it slowly to his heated gaze.
Pleasance pressed her hands into the elevator on either side of her head, and folded her upper body into the wall, arching her back more deeply to give him better access.
He pulled the panties off her legs and nestled his tongue into the cute little dimples in the vee of her delicious butt. His hot, questing tongue slid into the tight crack beneath the dimples and slid slowly down. Pleasance’s knees buckled as he neared the juncture of her long legs and he grabbed her thighs to steady her.
Alfric stood up and dragged his jeans and boxers off quickly, wanting to feel the heated silk of her skin against his engorged flesh. He pressed himself against her warm, round buttocks and then, with a muttered curse, remembered there was something he had to do before he could bury himself deep inside her. Reaching down for his discarded jeans, he yanked the wallet out of the back pocket and pulled out the condom he always carried for emergencies. He had it out and on in record time, feeling as if he would explode if he didn’t get inside her body soon. Then, he reached around her body as he fitted himself tightly against her and found the hard, little bud of her pleasure with one finger, using his other fingers to delve into her hot, wet channel.
Pleasance whimpere
d, “Alfric, please…I can’t wait any longer.”
He milked the tiny bud with his fingers as he used his other hand to position himself at her eager entrance. He lowered his head and bit her gently at the juncture of her neck and shoulder as he slid slowly, deeply into her.
Pleasance cried out and wiggled her butt, wordlessly urging him to increase the tempo of his delicious invasion.
Instead, Alfric stopped moving his hips entirely and used the hand on her soft mound to hold her tightly against his body, while wrapping his other arm around to release a breast from its silk prison.
As she tried to buck against him, he held tight and bent his head to suckle the sweet spot on her neck where he’d bitten her.
In a state of total, mindless arousal, Pleasance ground herself into his hand and moaned. Tears of sheer pleasure and frustration slid down her cheeks and dropped onto the iron band of arm wrapped around her, holding her in place.
When he felt her body begin to clamp around him, Alfric pulled away and turned her, lifting her against the wall and driving hard into her waiting body. She wrapped her legs around his waist and captured his mouth hungrily.
He pistoned his hips so hard and so fast that Pleasance lost control almost immediately.
“Oh my god, Alfric!” She threw her head back and screamed, her body plunging into violent release as he continued to drive relentlessly into her. Pleasance settled to the bottom of her orgasm and started climbing almost immediately into the next one.
Alfric wrapped his arms around her body and lifted her from the wall. He carried her out of the elevator and into the apartment, heading directly to the nearest bed. He carefully lay her on the edge of the bed and grabbed her ankles, lifting her legs to provide better, deeper access.
Pleasance felt her body building toward another erotic explosion. She fixed her gaze on the man between her legs and let herself luxuriate in his beauty, while he strummed her body like a world-class musician.
Alfric’s eyes met hers and she nearly gasped from the depths of emotion in them. He held her gaze as he drove them both higher and higher, closer and closer to that edge, until with a final hard, deep thrust, Alfric fell over the bright, sharp edge of pleasure, dragging her screaming with him.
Life Liberty and the Pursuit of a Honeybun Page 11
