Act of Blood (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 16)

by Kelley, Morgan

  “You, Elizabeth. I don’t get what you see in me. I don’t deserve you, angel.”

  “I see the poet. I see the big heart with the gentle touch. I see my future.”

  He watched her in the moonlight. When she tugged off his tank top, they were both topless.

  In the distance, there was a crash of lightening.

  “We should go in,” he offered when goose bumps raced across her skin.

  “No. Let’s stay here.”

  Clouds were rolling in, and there was one hell of a storm brewing, but it wasn’t the one outside. It was the one in them.

  The battle began as her mouth met his.

  There was the slide of tongue and teeth as they both desperately needed each other. The heat was there.

  The fire.

  The love.

  Callen pushed her off his body and pointed at her pajama bottoms. “Get naked.”

  She didn’t hesitate.

  In fact, she tossed them over her shoulder and they went off the edge in the wind.

  His woman stood there in the wild weather, her hair whipping around her, and Callen knew he’d never see anything more amazing in his life.

  That was saying a lot. He’d seen her give birth to their children, and still this moment rocked him.

  She took his breath away.

  Elizabeth looked like a warrior—some Pagan one placed on the earth to torment men everywhere. There was a scar on her chest from a killer, and one across her abdomen where she had to have surgery to save her after giving life to their son.

  She was beautiful.

  He did the only thing he could.

  Whitefox dropped to his knees and moved toward her just like that.

  “Callen.”

  “You’re my goddess. You’ll always be her. There will never be another woman for me but you. I’m not drifting away. I’m trying to keep every other man away from my treasure.”

  She lovingly touched his face with both of her warm palms.

  “I love you, Elizabeth.”

  She didn’t get to say the words back to him. He instead pulled her down to the rough outdoor carpeting and began touching her.

  His lips found every spot on her body that filled her with desire and need. Callen loved the way she felt beneath him. As he slid down her body, to the vee between her legs, he glanced up at her.

  His heart skipped.

  Callen’s breath hitched.

  She was his only, and he’d show her what she meant to him.

  “I want to taste the first, and last, woman I’ve ever really loved like this. I want to worship my wife, lover, and best friend.”

  Then he dove in.

  Elizabeth watched the clouds roll in above her as Callen broke down her control. With his lips and tongue, he pushed her over the edge into one hell of an orgasm.

  She shook around him.

  Still, he wasn’t done.

  Not even close.

  Sliding up her body, he scooped her up in his arms. Elizabeth sought out his mouth, and it nearly brought him to his knees. Callen could feel her hands pulling him from his boxers. He was free, and she was stroking him.

  “Oh God,” he moaned into the kiss.

  The heavens above them opened up, and the rain began falling. Callen slid down the wall as she was perched in his lap.

  “Here,” she whispered. “I want to make love to you here in the moonlight beneath the rain.”

  If she wanted to do it in a volcano, he wouldn’t say no. Elizabeth was the owner of his heart, and she could have his body whenever she wanted it.

  He was easy like that.

  “Lyzee,” he said, watching himself slide home. It was the best feeling in the world.

  No, it was the second best.

  Knowing she’d make love to him in a rainstorm, at the top of a building, was the best feeling.

  This was love.

  This was her love for him.

  “Oh, sweet baby Jesus,” he muttered as she began riding him. Watching her was quite a sight. She was getting wet from the rain, and his dick.

  This one was going in his sexy memory file for a very long time.

  As she rode him, her hair whipped around her. She reminded him of something.

  “You’re a sexy siren luring men to their death,” he said, to no one in particular.

  She smiled at him. “I love you, my poet.”

  “I love you more.”

  As she continued to ride, the lightning was above them, crashing down around them. Being out there was probably the stupidest thing they’d done, especially since there was metal around them, but Callen couldn’t stop.

  He needed her to have this memory.

  Callen wanted it too.

  “I’m so close,” he said, watching her full breasts bounce. His hands found her hips, and he pulled her down harder and harder until it stole both of their breath.

  “Cum for me, angel,” he said, praying she heard him over the storm.

  When she threw back her head, and her body began milking his, Callen didn’t fight it.

  He exploded with her.

  There.

  In the storm.

  With his woman.

  He could feel her heart pounding against his as their chests touched.

  When she lifted her head, he saw the emotion. “I’m never leaving you. No matter how hard it gets, or what happens tomorrow, I’m staying. You’re my wife.”

  She ran the pad of her thumb over his lip. “I have to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “I did something,” she said, as the storm raged on around them. “You may or may not be happy about it.”

  Yeah, he really didn’t like the sound of that.

  At all.

  “What?”

  “I paid for this with your credit card. Congrats. You shopped for me and didn’t even know it. When you get the bill, don’t be bitching.”

  He started laughing.

  Of course she’d find a way to amuse him in the moment. As they sat on the patio floor, rain falling down on them, she’d take that moment to make him smile.

  And that was why she owned his heart, mind, body, and soul.

  “That’s my girl, spending my money like there’s no tomorrow,” he teased.

  Her face went serious.

  He honestly believed he’d crossed the line teasing her about it. Callen was about to apologize to her.

  “Angel,” he began.

  She placed her fingertips over his lips to silence what he was about to say.

  “No, Callen. It’s definitely our money. I see that now.”

  He relaxed.

  “I was wrong to let it bother me. It’s part of my poet. Don’t lose Jackson James. He’s part of you. I already love him too. Just let me have the man I fell in love with, once in a while, and I’ll be all right.”

  He tugged her down to meet her mouth with his. He could do better than that.

  “Screw the money, Elizabeth. Let’s go have some pizza and make love after a movie.”

  “Really?”

  He grinned wickedly. “I wouldn’t have you any other way.”

  And he really wouldn’t.

  Life didn’t get any better than this.

  Chapter Five

  Saturday Morning

  Boone and Merry’s

  House

  They’d had one hell of a day yesterday. When they’d gotten home, Merry was beyond exhausted. In fact, she was so worn down, that she practically had to be carried to bed.

  Pregnancy, in combination with a strenuous job, was brutal on her body.

  It worried Boone.

  He wasn’t sure how long she could keep up the insane pace of leading Elizabeth Blackhawk’s lab team. It had to be emotionally, physically, and mentally draining to carry that kind of load on her shoulders.

  Boone was tired just watching her.

  Now she was still in bed, and he was kneeling in front of his altar worshiping his Gods.

 
It was his morning ritual each and every day. Taking the Voodoo out of New Orleans was easy, but removing it from him?

  Yeah, it wasn’t possible.

  This was his thing each day before he headed out the door. Boone would pray for protection, and thank the deities for one more day on Earth.

  So every morning before work, Boone would take the twenty minutes to do his rituals. It grounded him, giving him peace.

  This morning, he felt off balance, and he wasn’t sure if it was the case or something more.

  Lighting a candle, he stared into the flame.

  The words he whispered were in backwoods creole, tinged with the French of the early settlers in the bayou. It was the language of his ancestors.

  His people.

  When he began dropping beads over his head to continue with the ritual, he heard the bed move.

  “Want my help?” Merry asked.

  She’d been watching him, and she had to admit that a naked man kneeling in feathers and beads turned her right on. Boone took his beliefs seriously, and that was sexy.

  His faith was unshakable.

  His beliefs were at his core.

  It made Merry proud of him. In a world of people who had nothing to believe in, he did.

  He marched to the beat of his own drummer, and she loved him for it.

  Boone glanced over, the crystal blue of his eyes locking onto her violet ones.

  “Always, cher. You can worship with me whenever you want.”

  Boone had to admit that it turned him on. When he’d met Merry, he never thought that he’d have this with her.

  She was a scientist.

  The mere idea that she’d worship in his religion was huge for him. It reminded Boone of his parents. His mother was the Voodoo practitioner, and when she met his father, they fell in love. Together, they’d share that morning ritual, tying them even closer together.

  He wanted that.

  Their religion blossomed and their marriage flourished.

  He wanted that too.

  Boone loved how sweet, loving, and special that was for a couple. He truly believed it was one of the reasons their marriage was still going strong nearly forty years later.

  They had a strong foundation.

  He craved that with Merry.

  Holding out his hand, she didn’t hesitate to take it. When she was free of the tangle of bed sheets, Merry pulled off his t-shirt.

  His eyes never left hers.

  It was another reason she loved him. Boone made her feel like she mattered. Merry wasn’t a piece of ass or a lay to him. She was important.

  “Help me call the spirits,” he said.

  Boone watched her even as his heart thundered in his chest. She called to everything in him, and he knew she was special. The smoke had told him she was the one, and it had been right.

  “Show me how,” she said, kneeling beside him until they were hip to hip.

  “Light the candle, sprinkle it with some herbs, and we’ll pray.”

  She did as he instructed, and she waited for him to teach her the words. While she didn’t understand them, they offered her peace.

  Who knew?

  Merry actually liked having faith. It filled that missing part of her. Well, Boone did, but he was so deeply entrenched in his beliefs that no one could separate them.

  She repeated after him.

  It was hard not to notice that he was hard. His erection was right there, and it was making it difficult to focus on the candle.

  He must have known what she was thinking. When he finished the last part of the prayer, he glanced over at her.

  Maybe it was the incense, the prayer, or the man beside her, but Merry wanted him.

  She was madly in love.

  “Cher,” he whispered, bringing his mouth to hers.

  There was something about the way life blossomed when their lips touched.

  It drove them both insane.

  “Boone, I need you.”

  Oh, he needed her too.

  As they tumbled to the soft carpet of their bedroom floor, he began making love to her mouth with his. It was heated, frenetic, and just like each and every morning.

  They’d worship and then make love.

  Boone didn’t think he could function without either part of their ritual.

  Merry was wrapped around him, wildly kissing him when they both heard it.

  It was a car alarm.

  Boone lifted his head.

  “I think it’s mine,” she stated.

  The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He didn’t like this at all. Had they not had issues with Derek, he wouldn’t think anything of it, but now…

  He couldn’t ignore it.

  “I’ll go.”

  She looked panicked. “Boone, please don’t.”

  “I want you to stay inside. Do you hear me, cher? You protect yourself and our child. If anything happens, you call the Blackhawks.”

  Her hand went to her stomach as she thought about the little life growing there. “Yes, Boone, I understand.”

  He tugged on his jeans, grabbed his gun, and slipped out of the beads. Barefoot, he padded down the hall to the stairs. In the silence of the house, he tried to listen to see if they were alone.

  All he could hear was the car alarm.

  Heading down the stairs, he finally made it to the door. The alarm was still set, and they were safe. Looking outside, he saw the lights flashing on her ride.

  It looked fine.

  Maybe they were being paranoid. It had been a week since Derek left the last message.

  Maybe this was simply a pedestrian had set off the alarm. Hitting the button on the remote by the door, the alarm stopped. Boone didn’t really want to go out there, but he didn’t have a choice.

  Opening the door, he looked around. Broderick Seaton was there, checking out the noise too. It must have woken him and Johanna from a dead sleep.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Boone nodded.

  The coast appeared to be clear. Heading down the stairs, he stopped beside the car.

  That’s when he stepped on some shattered glass.

  “Shit!” he muttered.

  Brody tried to avoid it.

  And that’s when he saw it.

  “Uh, you have a serious problem,” Brody said, pulling his sidearm from the back of his sweat pants.

  Boone looked toward the direction the man was pointing, and that’s when he saw it.

  The front windshield was busted, there appeared to be a shattered bottle on the ground, and red paint on the hood of her car.

  God!

  He hoped it was paint.

  Boone and Broderick Seaton both heard Merry coming up behind them. When they glanced back, she was dressed and holding her sidearm pointed at the ground.

  “Boone?”

  He didn’t want her to see it.

  “Merry…”

  It was too late.

  At her gasp, he knew she’d read the message from her deranged ex.

  ‘First he goes, and then you follow. Whores have to die too.’

  Merry’s eyes filled with tears as her heart began pounding in her chest. She couldn’t lose him. She simply couldn’t fathom her life without him.

  “Boone.”

  “It’s okay, cher. Let’s call your bosses. Ethan and Elizabeth will handle this, and we’ll go back inside. I promise it’ll be fine.”

  Broderick pulled his phone out of his sweatpants pocket. “I’ll call it in,” he stated. Brody saw the fear on Merry’s face, and he was worried. “It’ll be okay, Merry. We’ll find him.”

  Unfortunately, she didn’t buy it.

  At all.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  He was in the kitchen with Chris when his father stumbled into the house. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all, and that said it all.

  Someone took his advice and had a whole lot of pie last night. In fact, someone binged on it.

  Et
han glanced down at his watch and started laughing.

  Wyler flushed red.

  “What?”

  “A little late?” he asked.

  “I found myself tied up and just made it home now,” Wyler admitted.

  Chris loved his adopted family. He was going to test the waters. Yes, he busted Elizabeth, but the men?

  It was worth the shot.

  “Really? How’d you get free?”

  Wyler sputtered once he got it.

  “Dad got his sex on,” Ethan started chanting. “I can’t wait to tell Elizabeth and Callen.”

  “Maybe we could keep this to ourselves,” Wyler said, pouring himself some coffee.

  Ethan checked out his father. His shirt was buttoned wrong, his fly was down, and then he saw it.

  “Oh my God!”

  The man froze with the cup halfway to his mouth.

  “What?”

  “You have a hickey! It’s huge!”

  His hand went to his neck to cover it. “You’re going to ride my ass over this, aren’t you?”

  “Did you enjoy it?” Ethan asked.

  Wyler gave him the grin. “Oh yeah, I did. It’s like riding a bicycle. With Bly, it was never this much fun.”

  Both men snickered.

  “Now I remember why you and your brother are always trying to molest Elizabeth.”

  Blackhawk gave his father a fist bump. “Welcome back to the world of sane women. Chris is the next one to get back out there.”

  He shook his head. “Uh, no. Nice try. I think I need a few years of women-free living.”

  Ethan was about to say something when his phone went off. Glancing down, he read the text.

  “Chris, get dressed. You and I have to handle something,” he said, putting down his coffee.

  “What?”

  He slid his phone toward the man.

  “Shit!”

  Yeah, he could say that again.

  When they got there, Boone was already fully dressed. From the way his shirt bulged, Ethan knew he was wearing Kevlar. That said it all.

  The cop was freaked out.

  This was bad.

  When he and Chris saw the message, it was enough to worry them both.

  “Chris, go check on Merry. I’ll talk to the Detective.”