No freaking way.
“What do you want?”
He drew it.
“That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it. Put it here,” he said, tapping his shoulder.
So, Callen sat down and shrugged out of his dress shirt.
“Nice,” Billy said. “You have some ink. Then I can go fast and get back to my hottie upstairs. I wasn’t expecting that,” Billy said.
“Yeah, well, you can’t judge a book by its cover,” Callen stated. He and his brother looked clean laced but under the clothes…
Elizabeth sat in front of him and watched her husband shirtless. It was hot.
So.
Damn.
Hot.
She wanted to sit in his lap and do ridiculous things with him, and the way he pulled up his hair into that sexy bun, he knew it too.
If he pulled out his glasses, she was going to have a spontaneous orgasm right there.
“So, can we see the video footage?” she asked.
“It’s over there,” Billy said, pointing to a small room.
“Ivan?”
He nodded and headed toward it. He was good with electronics.
“Have you ever been in ‘Coopers’?” she asked, as her husband stared at her. The man was working on his shoulder, and she knew how much that hurt, but he didn’t flinch. His focus was elsewhere.
The look in his eyes said it all.
He was all hot and bothered.
To tease him, she uncrossed her legs and gave him a quick show before crossing them again. Then she flipped the next button open on her shirt so he’d get quite the view.
He swallowed.
Elizabeth watched his Adam’s apple bob.
Yeah, someone was thinking about sex, and that was perfect. They were going to be heading home after this, and she saw an interlude in his future.
A sexy one.
“No way! That place is a hipster bar. Do I look hipster to you?” Billy asked.
“You look dirty and grimy,” she stated. “That’s a dive bar. You’d fit in.”
He laughed.
“You’re funny, cupcake.”
She rolled her eyes.
If he pissed her off, he’d be walking funny from that tattoo gun being shoved into his ass.
“Have you ever seen this woman?” she asked, as he stared over Callen’s tan, strong shoulder at her phone.
“Nope. Wait! Yes, yes, I have. She parked in front of my shop once, and her car sat there for about eight hours, and I was pissed. I waited for her and told her that was for customers.”
“And?”
“She was apologetic and nice. I felt bad for scaring her. I don’t like to be mean to the ladies.”
“Well, someone didn’t feel bad about raping her across from your shop, and then killing her before shoving her in a dirty garbage can.”
He stared at her.
“I wouldn’t hurt a lady. Look at you? You just pissed me off and I didn’t try to beat you down.”
Callen actually flinched as he pushed the tattoo gun a little too deep.
She backed off. It was clear that if she made Billy mad, her husband would bleed.
Literally.
“Relax. I have to ask. It’s my job.”
He lightened his touch.
“I get it,” he stated.
“I have the footage up,” Ivan called, getting her attention from the little room.
Perfect.
Immediately, she headed his way.
As they leaned over the screen, Callen stayed seated and got some ink.
“There she is,” Ivan said, pointing at her on the screen as she walked out of the bar.
Together, they watched her walk down the street. They watched her pause to pull money out of her pocket and count it.
Then she had a spring in her step.
“She’s finished her shift, raked in the tips, and was happy to be heading home to add that money to her wedding fund.”
“Told you it was a hipster bar!” Billy stated over the hum of the tattoo gun.
She ignored him. She was focused on the woman.
“There’s the alley,” Ivan stated.
He zoomed in as much as he could, and they watched her approach where they assumed she was jumped.
It didn’t take long to see that they were right.
There was an arm, and it whipped out, grabbed her, and then pulled her into the alley out of the camera’s sight.
She timed it.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Ten minutes later, a figure walked out, dragging the can behind him.
He placed it right where someone would see it in the middle of the road.
Yeah, the killer wanted her found.
Then he headed off, around the bar, and out of range of the tattoo shop.
Well, that sucked.
Again, he was covered in a hoodie, gloves, and they couldn’t even see his face.
“That’s a long time,” Ivan stated, “if you want to get caught,” he added. “I didn’t mean that it was a long time to have sex. Ten minutes…”
Callen was laughing.
“You’re digging the hole bigger. You should know better by now,” he stated.
She laughed too.
“Uh, Billy, can we burn a copy of this?” she asked. “I need it as evidence.”
“Sure thing. In the top drawer, you’ll find discs. Have at it,” he said, finishing up Callen’s tattoo.
“Thank you,” she said, digging one out.
Ivan did the job.
Meanwhile, she was curious as to what Callen had tattooed on his body. The man was selective. The last one he got was all of their kids’ names down his ribs, and her face.
“All done,” he stated, patting his flesh with some paper towels to blot the ink.
Callen stood.
Immediately, he headed to the wall of mirrors and took the hand mirror with him.
The tattoo matched the one not far from the one he had for Elizabeth.
“Well?” she asked.
He was happy with it.
“What did you get?” she asked.
Callen turned around, and she examined the tattoo. On Callen’s shoulder, right above where he had Timothy’s memorial tattoo, and the one for his brother and her, he’d had Billy add a new one.
It was the native word for brother, and then beneath it, in English, ‘CHRIS’.
She couldn’t have possibly loved him more.
Ever.
Elizabeth hugged him.
“Why?” she whispered.
“Well, his birthday is coming up, and I didn’t know what to get him. You have a secret surprise for him, and Ethan is getting him something special, too, by jumping out of that damn plane, so this is what I would want. Even when he’s gone one day, he’ll still live on like Timothy.”
She touched his tanned cheek.
That brought tears to her eyes. Callen was, and always would be, her sweet, sensitive man.
“That is the best gift ever, and I can tell you that he will love it. He’s going to find it so special.”
He hoped so.
“It felt right.”
She gave him a kiss.
“Thank you.”
“Am I your favorite?” he asked, lightening the mood so she didn’t cry.
“Yes.”
“You’re lying, aren’t you?” he asked, surprised she’d say it out loud.
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“Damn it.”
Callen headed back over, and he let the man seal it up with plastic wrap and tape.
“You know how to clean it, right?”
“Yep.”
“Good.”
Callen pulled out his wallet.
“Nah, sign my book, and we’ll call it even. I loved your last one. All that sex was hot.”
Callen pointed at his wife.
She waved.
“I’m his inspiration.”
>
The man laughed and gave Callen the book.
“Now if you were covered in tats, you could be my old lady,” he teased.
Callen covered her mouth, preventing her from saying a word.
He knew her.
With one hand, he quickly signed the book, and then handed the man’s pen back.
“There you go.”
The man grinned.
“Good luck on your case,” he offered.
“Billy, thanks,” he said, leading his wife outside before she could strip down to prove the man wrong.
Outside, only then did he set her mouth free.
“And that’s why you’re not her favorite,” Ivan stated.
Well, he’d have to suck that up.
They had other issues. They didn’t really learn anything about the case.
“I wish there was more,” she stated, as they headed toward their ride. “At least Chris’s autopsy was right. She died around eleven.”
Again, Brian was out.
And that didn’t make her happy.
All she had now was a bunch of people associated with the dead women, no sign of Carl, and a crazed killer who liked a hoodie.
Yeah, that wasn’t good.
At all.
“Where to?” Ivan asked.
“I have to get out of these clothes,” she said, slipping out of her shoes once she was in her seat.
Callen had to get out of his too.
Only, they’d be taking a little break.
Together.
At home.
He’d earned it.
He’d taken one for the team, and now so would she…
Chapter Sixteen
Sunday Afternoon
Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk
T heir kids were having lunch when they headed into the house. Ivan headed off to get ready for round two, and to prep Heath for what was to come. He was going to be doing stakeout duty tonight.
As soon as Elizabeth was in the kitchen, she was inundated with sticky peanut butter and jelly kisses. The worst offender being Christopher Anthony.
He got it in her hair.
Well, that was just another day in her life, and it was to be expected. When you had kids, you had a dry-cleaning bill.
Cat climbed into her lap as she sat on the floor in her suit. When she reached for her gun, she grabbed her hand.
“No, baby. You don’t touch guns.”
“But you do.”
“Yes, but that’s my job.”
“What’s my job?”
“Being cute. You’re my Kitty Cat, and you have to make sure the boys don’t get in trouble. You’re outnumbered.”
“Yes, momma.”
EJ headed her way, and he took Elizabeth’s face in his hands and planted one on her lips with a smack.
She laughed and glanced over at Callen.
“He’s your son.”
He beamed proudly.
“Yes, yes, that’s my boy. He may have Ethan’s name, but that’s my sexy gene pool right there. He’ll be chasing the ladies left and right.”
“I like Bethe.”
He went over and held her hand.
“We’re going to get married.”
“Are you now?” Elizabeth said as CJ swaggered toward her. “I got no time for the ladies. I’m going to be like Daddy.”
She didn’t doubt it.
Her children were developing their own personalities, and it was a beautiful thing to see.
Charlie came toward her with a cookie. She offered it to her momma and plopped against her.
“Charlie, what are you going to be?”
“Badass.”
She cringed.
“How about we say tough? I like that word so much better.”
She’d learned with her kids that if you told them not to say something, they said it even more.
It was like they learned that stubbornness from…her.
Damn it.
“Please, Charlie?” she asked.
The little girl shrugged.
“Okay, I’ll be a tough mother fu…”
She put her hand over her mouth.
Wyler was laughing his ass off in the kitchen at the whole thing.
“I’m glad you’re amused. I’m going to Vegas with Ethan for an assignment as soon as this one is over. You get the calls from school. Tag, Dad, you’re it.”
“Hey now! They have a spare dad!”
“I’ll be running Elizabeth’s division.”
“Oh, hell!”
Who was laughing now?
“Okay, one last hug, kiddos. Mommy has to get changed and head back into the office. I’m still on duty.”
“Can we have ice cream sundaes?” Cat asked. “I want whipped cream.”
“Yes, you can.”
They climbed on top of her, and she pretended to be trapped beneath all of them. It made the kids laugh and squeal. It was the best ten minutes of her day.
“Will you be home for dinner?” Sarah asked from the kitchen.
She wished.
“No, I have a stakeout.”
“What’s that?” Cat asked.
“That’s when I sit somewhere with Daddy, and we wait for a criminal to do something bad.”
“Is daddy going to kiss you?” Cat asked.
“Hell yes, he is,” Callen stated without missing a beat.
“Callen James!”
He grinned like a wild man.
He had news for his wife. As soon as he got her upstairs, the fun was about to begin. He wanted her, and he was going to have her. He’d been patient and calm all day as he’d watched her in that skirt.
WITH no panty lines.
He’d gotten quite the show in the tattoo chair.
Now, he was going to have some fun.
At her expense.
Upstairs, they closed their bedroom door, and Callen locked it.
“Know what I miss?” he asked, as he followed her to the closet.
“What, my love?” she asked.
He grabbed her arm, spun her around, and yanked her roughly into his body.
“I miss everyone’s favorite Miss Kitty,” he said, right before he forced her mouth roughly to his. When he broke the kiss, he was wild with lust. “Remember that time we were in New Orleans?” he asked. “Do you remember the hot sex we had at that hotel?”
She ran her hands up his thighs to his hips, and then to his ass.
“Vaguely.”
“Think you can make it happen again? I feel like I really need you right now. I’m going to be away from you for who knows how long. I need my personal sex kitten.”
While she should be worried about work, Callen had a point. This might be her last moments with him.
“Maybe that can happen.”
“What will it take?”
She made the transformation.
“Three hundred bucks. Miss Kitty only takes cash. If you want to pet the kitty, you pay up first.”
It took him a second to get past the surprise. He honestly didn’t think that would work, but it did.
Immediately, he went for his wallet. While he did that, she went to her dresser, put on that slut red lipstick Callen wanted, and then sprayed herself with some of the perfume he’d bought her in New Orleans.
She was going to make him some memories for the next few days.
“Here,” he said, handing her three hundred bucks.
She tucked it in her bra and pointed at the bed.
“Strip on your way, and leave the handcuffs on the bed beside you. You wanted Nawlins, Darlin’, and you’re going to get it.”
His heart thumped as he headed there. Callen couldn't believe he was going to get fantasy sex in the middle of the day.
Fortunately, it had been quiet.
Chris didn’t call.
Tony didn’t call.
Ethan was busy.
And he was about to get off.
Yee freaking haw!
When Callen did what she asked, an
d was totally naked, she pointed at the cuffs.
He put one on his wrist and then locked it to the headboard. He placed the second one around his wrist but waited for her.
She was unbuttoning her silk shirt to show off her assets. Then she locked his arm to the headboard with the other one.
Callen was trapped.
This was his favorite place to be too.
The fun was about to begin.
As she walked around the bed, she lit some candles not far from Callen’s side. Most people liked the smell.
Callen liked the feel.
“Oh, God! I may cum right now,” he said, watching her. He wanted that wax on him in the worst way, and he suspected that was her plan.
When she had them lit, she put the light on in their bathroom and hit the lights in their room.
It mimicked that dusk in New Orleans. Once they headed into the office, they’d be crazy busy for the rest of the case, and while she was away.
“This might be it for a while,” she said, pulling off her skirt and proving he was right.
She’d been pantiless.
Callen watched with the wonder of a teen boy getting laid for that first time. He’d never been that lucky since Kaya Cheek had been his first, but this was what he imagined it would be like.
This feeling.
“Then make it count,” he muttered.
Oh, she would.
Callen tracked her through the room with lust-filled eyes. When she ran her fingers down her body, past her breasts, he was mesmerized.
How could he not be?
They were his favorite asset.
“Are you ready, my love?” she asked, as she replayed that sexy night over again in her mind.
She had the captive man.
The candles.
The sexy lady.
It was on.
“I can handle anything you throw at me,” he said trying to lure her closer to him.
“Then Miss Kitty shall show you around N’awlins, and I promise it will be a night you will never forget. AGAIN.”
At the mention of his favorite made-up prostitute, Callen’s heart began kicking in his chest.
The thump.
Thump.
Thump—was so loud, it echoed in his ears.
This was going to be mind-blowing, and he couldn’t wait to be her plaything.
As she crawled up his body, Elizabeth began leaving kisses across his tan flesh.
Then she left bites.
Then she added nails.
Yes, it was just like that night in New Orleans, and he was so wild that she’d give him this, and that she’d remembered it exactly how he had.
Dead are Forgotten Page 54
