Fiancé by Friday

by Catherine Bybee

  Michael shook his head. “No. I get my share of hate mail. Goes with the territory.”

  “I’m going to need copies of anything you have,” Dean told him.

  “I’ll have my assistant drum them up. We keep everything in case of an issue like this.”

  Birds nesting in a Jacuzzi and causing some kind of electrical issue Blake could stretch…but three different incidences. His brain didn’t stretch that far.

  “So you think the dead birds are directed at you?”

  Karen shrugged. “I hate birds. Serious phobia. I suppose if someone was determined to press one of my hot buttons, the dead birds could be directed at me.”

  Michael moved to the edge of his seat. “I’ve had missed calls and paper mail with strange ‘gifts,’ but I’ve never had anyone leave dead animals where I can find them.”

  “I’ve watched enough crime fiction to know that dead animals eventually progress into people. Do you think that’s what’s going on here, Dean?” Eliza asked.

  Dean and Jim looked at each other, their nonverbal communication written on their faces.

  “That’s one theory.”

  “So it’s not implausible that there is a rabid fan of Michael’s out there who isn’t happy with his relationship with Karen?” Eliza asked.

  “Could be.”

  Blake shook his head. “Then why would Neil pull Gwen away?” Why leave the letter behind about contacting the damn president if he didn’t call? And if he didn’t call…did that mean he and Gwen were dead? He hated this. The not knowing. The inability to control the chaos of the situation.

  “Neil must believe this has something to do with him,” Jim added.

  “Why? Why would someone use Karen and Gwen to get to Neil? Neil works with me.” Blake stood and started to pace. “Why not go after Neil’s family…someone he’s involved with romantically?”

  “Does Neil have a family?” Dean asked.

  “I’ve heard of a grandmother. I think his parents are dead. I’m not sure.” Damn if Blake wasn’t sorry for not knowing that now. When he looked up, he noticed a look between Eliza and Karen.

  “What?”

  Karen glanced at Eliza, gave her a half smile. “You gonna tell him or am I?”

  Eliza studied her shoes. “I-I, ah…not sure how to tell you this, Blake.”

  He felt a headache coming on. “What?”

  “Your sister…Neil…”

  His skin grew cold. “What?”

  “They have this thing…”

  “A thing? What the hell kind of a thing?” His blood pumped hard in his chest. Neil and his sister? How had he missed this?

  “It’s not a thing like you’re thinking,” Karen added. “They’ve never acted on it.”

  Acted on what? Now he was really confused.

  Eliza tossed her hands in the air. “It’s like this. She’s always had it bad for him. I noticed in Texas last year. She never really opened up to me about it. But I’m guessing she said something to you, Karen.”

  Karen shrugged. “Yeah. I knew. It’s not like she’s been subtle. Neil, for whatever reason, hasn’t ever acted on what is obvious to everyone.”

  Blake erupted. “Well it sure as hell wasn’t obvious to me.”

  “You’ve been a little busy,” Eliza said. “Either way. It’s safe to say I think Neil cares for Gwen on a much deeper level than as a job. Otherwise why would he have reacted the way he did?”

  Blake sucked in a deep breath. “Where the hell does Carter keep his whiskey?”

  Gwen moved around the bathroom with a towel holding her newly dyed hair. She hand-washed her clothes and draped them over the towel rack and the edge of the sink. She wore her nightgown, the only clean item of clothing in her bag, and nothing else. She’d wanted a hot shower and ended with a tepid one at best. It was a blessing that the heat in Utah was in the triple digits, giving the water an extra degree or two within the pipes.

  Once she finished washing her last pair of underwear, she turned toward the mirror. “Well, Gwen. Let’s see what you look like with brown hair.”

  With all her brave words and intentions, she couldn’t go red. Not yet. Baby steps, she told herself. The natural state of her platinum blonde hair would appear different with any darker color…so she chickened out and used the brown. And then didn’t leave it in all that long.

  She twisted the towel off her head and shook out her wet locks.

  Not bad. Not fabulous, but not awful either. Without a hair dryer, Gwen used her brush to pull some of the wetness from her hair.

  With nothing left to do, she opened the door and stepped on the comforter on the floor.

  Neil sat on the bed watching the television, which was tuned to a local news station.

  “Well? What do you think?” She spun in a circle.

  Neil found the remote and turned down the set. He glanced at her head and then let his gaze slide down her body.

  “I like it.”

  He didn’t. She could tell, but he wasn’t going to say anything against it.

  She ran her fingers through it. “It’s not awful. Probably looks better dry.”

  “How long before it washes out?”

  “A few days.” Which was the only reason she did it. “Bathroom’s yours. There is laundry…everywhere.”

  “No helping that. The air conditioner isn’t the best. Seems a little cooler in here to me.”

  Barely. But being clean made up for the heat. A fan over the bed spun and moved the air.

  Neil moved around the bed and disappeared into the bathroom.

  On second appraisal, the room was even worse than she thought. With hardly enough room to walk between the bed and the furniture, the only option was to sit on the bed. Gwen peeked outside and found only a glow of a distant room and a streetlight.

  “At least it’s quiet.”

  The local news talked about a break in the heat wave over the next few days, which was something Gwen looked forward to. The heat wore on her after a while. Perhaps it was her upbringing in Europe that made her intolerant to excessive heat.

  The bed was surprisingly comfortable. The king-size bed.

  There’s only one bed.

  The implications of that fact hit her and she smiled.

  And when the shower turned off, she felt her skin heat with expectation.

  A short while later Neil emerged from the bathroom. He wore only a towel around his hips. What she saw brought a gasp from her lips.

  “Oh my God, Neil…I had no idea.” She shot from the bed and stood at his side.

  His glanced down at his own massive chest, which filled the doorway better than any man ever could.

  “Impossible to escape the military without one.”

  The ink spread over his left shoulder and wrapped around his back. It wasn’t a picture of a face or animal…or even a symbol she recognized. Rather it swirled and spiked and flowed with his skin. It was raw and urgent, just like the man. “What is it?” She traced it with her fingertips.

  “A tribal tattoo. Some of us were on leave. Got drunk.”

  She couldn’t picture him out of control enough to allow this. “Do you regret it?” She hoped not. She thought it suited him perfectly. The muscles on his back rippled under her touch.

  “Too many other things in life to regret. This isn’t one of them.”

  She couldn’t stop touching him. Didn’t want to. She ran her fingernail along the swirls as if the ink were a living thing. “I had no idea this was hiding behind your clothing.” Mesmerized she reached the final spike below his rib cage and worked her way back up. “What is it Americans say…go big or go home?”

  His chest rumbled with a short laugh.

  She followed her finger with her gaze. “You don’t do anything partway…do you?”

  “Do it right, or don’t do it at all,” he said under his breath.

  She grinned now, and moved her gaze to his.

  Her breath caught with the intensity of his stare.
<
br />   She flattened her palm on his chest and licked her lips. One subtle movement of her hand and he caught it in his. For one awful moment, she thought he’d peel her off.

  “I’m not an easy man, Gwendolyn.”

  “I never wanted easy.”

  She matched his stare and her breath quickened.

  He released her hand and pushed his fingers into her hair. He studied her face, like only Neil did…as if searching for the answers in life. If she could give them to him, she would. There was a vulnerability in his gaze that she wanted to make disappear.

  And when he gripped the back of her hair, and pulled her into his embrace, he took control.

  His kiss was hard, almost a warning…she enveloped it.

  The thick expanse of his chest rippled under her hand as she matched him for every kiss. She nipped his lip when he pulled back to kiss her neck and shoulder. He tasted her, using his tongue and teeth along her collarbone. The scruff of his chin felt delicious on her soft skin. He’d leave his mark on her, she knew. She loved the thought.

  He released her hair and ran his hand down her back. When he reached her bottom, he squeezed her hard, and pulled her close. Under the towel, his erection already strained. As much as she wanted to see and feel that part of him moving inside her, she wanted this more. The torture of discovery and desire that made every pore in her skin weep for him. Only him.

  Fingers found the bare skin of her backside. “Where are your knickers, Gwen?”

  Was that laughter in his voice?

  “Useless garment when going to bed…don’t you think?” She scraped her teeth along the ink on his shoulder before swirling her tongue around his erect nipple.

  He groaned, and brought her lips back to his for a deep kiss that reached to her toes.

  His hand reached under her nightgown, his thumb grazed her breasts.

  Gwen pushed into his touch.

  “You’re intoxicating,” he told her. “And this,” he tugged her nightclothes over her head, “isn’t needed anymore.”

  His massive hands returned to her shoulders once she stood before him completely bare. Neil looked his fill, his lips lifted into a grin. “Incredible.”

  His stare brought a wave of power over her.

  Slowly, he eased his hands down her chest. He cupped one breast and leaned in to taste. When his soft mouth found her, the world tilted.

  He caught her before her legs gave way completely, and he lifted her to the bed.

  Neil’s eyes darkened as she stretched on the bed.

  “Vixen.”

  He dropped one of his knees to the bed.

  “Drop the towel, Neil.”

  It was on the floor in an instant. And she stared. Her body shivered. She knew he’d be large, given the size of the man…but bloody hell.

  “Scared, Gwendolyn?”

  She forced her eyes away from his intimate parts. “That is not fear on my face.” She sucked in her lip, chewed it.

  “Good.” He fell onto her, setting one knee between her thighs and taunting her as he continued exploring her breasts with his tongue and mouth. Her body was a mass of sensation. The staggering weight of him felt like armor. Protective.

  She’d always wanted this man, and now she knew why. With her heart and body working in tandem to please him, she finally experienced what it was to feel everything. Every touch…like how his fingers gripped her hip as they descended on her thigh, lit up her skin, her senses.

  His thick heat pressed against her belly, begging to be touched. As he explored her body, she played with his as she’d always wanted to. The firm globes of his butt filled her palms. As she squeezed him, he tilted his hips into her.

  She distracted him with a kiss, and slid her hand between their bodies and gripped him.

  Neil tore his lips away. “Fuck, Gwen.” He moved into her touch, dropped his forehead to hers. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She loosened her grip, but stroked him softly. “That’s never going to happen.”

  “You’re not ready…not for what I’m going to do to you.”

  Her body flooded with moisture.

  She opened for him. “Why don’t you check?”

  The hand that gripped her hip moved to her center and easily slid inside her. Her eyes rolled back. “Oh, please.”

  He stroked her again, added another finger. “You’re ready.”

  “Maybe next time you’ll take my word for it.”

  He played with her a little longer nearly completing her with his hand before chasing her orgasm away. She squirmed under him, trying to force all of him between her legs. He shifted on the bed, leaving her…and then returned with a condom.

  “Finally,” she whispered taking the packet from his fingers and opening it herself. “Allow me.”

  He knelt between her thighs as she sat forward and rolled the protection over him. She trailed her hands under him and down his legs before collapsing back to the bed.

  With effortless hands, Neil pulled her hips up and toward him before teasing her a little longer by running his hands down her thighs and spreading the folds of her for his gaze. Only when she reached for him did he seem to snap out his trance. Taking both her hands in one of his he stretched them above her head and held her still.

  “Last chance to back out.” The words sounded painful coming out of his mouth.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  He smiled, lowered his body to hers. The thickness stretched her, filled her, and left nothing but mindless joy in its path.

  “You OK?” he asked.

  She opened her eyes, smiled. “I won’t break, Neil.”

  Just when she thought she’d absorbed all of him, there was more. She was filled and completely enveloped him as he started to move. Slow at first like a runner warming up for a long marathon. Hot waves of desire bundled deep inside her started to tighten even more.

  He wove his fingers with hers, kept her arms spread as he kissed her and possessed her all at the same time.

  Gwen matched his pace and squeezed him with her thighs and the muscles deep inside her womb. Neil moaned and moved faster. He plunged with such force the bed slammed against the wall and she wanted more.

  She wrapped her legs around his waist and tilted closer. The tight spot of passion blossomed and spread until she ripped her lips from his to breathe his name. Her body exploded into a million stars like a desert night sky.

  His fingers gripped hers as Neil followed with his release.

  He came to rest on the side of her. Gwen kept her thigh over his hip, refusing to back far away. He kissed her knuckles and held her hand between them.

  “I should feel guilty about that,” he told her. “I don’t.”

  “Glad to hear that. Otherwise I might have to tie you up in the night and purge you of such thoughts.”

  He laughed and smiled. She loved his smile, wished he’d grace her with one more often.

  “You surprise me, Princess.”

  “Really? How’s that?”

  “You take bugs outside, flirt like a wicked woman, dress like a lady, and make love with your whole being.”

  If he knew she’d never made love like they just had…not even close, would she scare him away?

  “Go big or go home,” she said.

  He laughed hard and released her hand to tuck her into his side.

  For the first time since she’d met him she heard his breaths even out and Neil fell asleep.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I have Raven in my sights, Mac.” Billy’s face was lowered over the rifle, his finger inched toward the trigger.

  Mac twisted on the inside. Squeeze the trigger. Damn it, just squeeze and take back all the pain.

  “Damn.”

  “What?”

  “Gwen. His kids jumped in Gwen’s lap.”

  No! That can’t be right. She’s not here. She’s back at the tower. Safe. I locked her in myself.

  Mac shoved Billy back, looked himself. Just like he thought. K
ids were in Raven’s lap. Not Gwen. She’s safe.

  Billy jumped up, turned an accusing finger his way. “You should have done your job. You didn’t make the call and I’m a walking dead man.”

  Everything moved slowly. Boomer, Robb, and Linden followed Billy through the dark heat. They penetrated the compound, took out three in their path.

  “This time we’ll all come back alive,” Mac whispered to himself.

  Boomer and Robb moved in first, Linden close behind. The kid was there, just like before. This time Mac was ready for him. Only this time the boy ran to her…he ran to Gwen. Then blew them both to pieces.

  “Neil! Neil!”

  He jerked awake, his arms around something.

  “Neil, wake up.”

  Gwen lay in his arms. Alive.

  “Can’t. Breathe,” she gasped.

  Neil released his vise grip. “Damn. Sorry. Did I hurt you?”

  She sat up and ran her hands up and down her bare arms. “I’m OK. But you…” Gwen pushed his hair back. “That must have been an awful dream.”

  He pulled her back into his arms, gently this time. “Go back to sleep.” He checked his watch. He’d slept longer than he had in years, but it was still only four in the morning.

  Gwen wrapped her arm around him and intertwined one of her legs with his. “Do you have nightmares like that often?”

  Not like this one. “Sometimes,” he told her, hoping she’d not pry. His heart rate needed to slow down. The image of her blowing into a zillion pieces was fresh on his mind.

  “You don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I don’t.”

  They lay there for a few minutes, neither of them talking, neither of them sleeping. Gwen ran her hand over his chest as if trying to calm him.

  He kissed the top of her head and assured himself she wasn’t gone. That Raven hadn’t removed her from his life. Neil closed his eyes and tried to think of something pleasant.

  Gwen’s face as she came. Now that was a much better picture to take to bed.

  Gwen ran her leg up his and between her touch and his memory, his body responded.

  “Hmmm,” she hummed. Her fingers moved lower on his stomach. “Let me erase the nightmare, Neil.” He always thought her hands were tiny. Compared to his they were, but she found him, gripped him, and he shot to full attention.