Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four)

by Kelley, Morgan

  Everything in him wanted to say yes, but he just couldn’t do it. He wanted her to be safe, and the hospital was a safer place than at the bed and breakfast. “No baby, you stay there until tomorrow. I’ll survive a night without you both.”

  “Okay love bug,” and she waited for his laugh, and it never came. That worried her more than anything. Whenever she used that nickname he always laughed or snickered. Something at least in response to show her he got it.

  “I better let you get back to your game. I’ll dream about you tonight, baby,” he added. “I love you Elizabeth, more than anything in this entire world.”

  “I love you too.” She listened to him disconnect the call, and her heart crumbled and the tears started.

  “What’s wrong?” Whitefox pulled her into his arms and kissed them away. “Is he okay?” Now Callen was worried too.

  “He isn't doing well, Cal. We have to get out of here and get back to the bed and breakfast. Ethan didn’t sound right and I can’t sit here knowing he’s distracted and a killer could be watching him through the window.”

  Whitefox weighed the options before him, and decided to go with her gut feelings over what Blackhawk had ordered. “Okay, here’s what we do. You go for a walk around the corner. When the nurses aren’t looking, then head into the stairwell. I’ll meet you there. I need to call us a taxi to take us back, and set it up so the nurse stays out of here until tomorrow morning. By then we’ll be at twenty four hours and in the clear.

  Elizabeth kissed him quickly, wanting to get out of there fast. “Thank you for understanding!” She slid off the bed, grabbing her gun and badge and tucking them into the back of the scrubs. As she peeked out the nurses were busy at the station, and she took her chance, slipping out. Out into the hall, Elizabeth moved towards the stairwell exit. Once inside, she held her breath waiting for Callen to come through the door. Now, she had to hope that no one else found her waiting there. Security in this place would make Ethan cringe. Elizabeth found the most unobtrusive spot and waited for her partner to pull it off.

  Whitefox turned on the TV, locking the door before closing it. It might buy them some time if they were discovered. They could claim accidental lock out while they were just taking a walk.

  Strolling up to the nurse’s station, he smiled at the youngest woman, whipping out the Blackhawk grin. Callen played it up big time for the girl, and was feeling incredibly guilty. He swore that after this, no one would see the grin but Elizabeth.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, smiling back.

  Whitefox pulled out his badge and pointed at the door he just closed. “Hi, I’m on protection duty for Director Blackhawk. I’m going down to grab a smoke and then come back. Can you just make sure no one bothers her? She just went to sleep and doesn’t want to be disturbed the rest of the night until discharge tomorrow.”

  The woman looked down at the badge and then the gun on his hip. “Sure thing! I’ll put a ‘do not disturb’ note on her file.”

  “I’ll slip back in shortly. I really appreciate your help, sweetheart.” Now he turned on the charm.

  “Anything for the law,” she answered, smiling and batting her eyelashes.

  Whitefox winked and walked towards the exit, he looked over his shoulder and waved at her for good measure.

  So far so good.

  When he opened the door, he found Elizabeth back in the corner trying to stay unnoticed. “News flash, they’re going to notice a gorgeous woman with a bandage on her forehead trying to hide in a concrete corner.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Thanks!”

  He turned around. “Hop on; I’ll give you a ride, beautiful.”

  Now she stuck her tongue out at him, but complied. “I believe that’s my line, minus the beautiful part. You’re more ridiculously sexy.”

  Whitefox laughed, trying to not picture her riding him. One of the things he loved most about Elizabeth was she never hesitated. With Desdemona he always had to talk her into doing something silly like a piggy back ride. Elizabeth just trusted him completely and never questioned if he could pull it off. She just knew he would. It was that unshakable faith in him that owned his heart.

  “Do I want to know what you did to get away?” she inquired, wrapping her arms around his neck and keeping her voice low, as she whispered in his ear.

  Callen got goose bumps as her breath tickled against his flesh. He was pretty sure she did it on purpose. “You don’t want to know,” he answered, laughing.

  “Oh well here’s my basic rule when it comes to being in a relationship with someone. If I get naked with you, there are no secrets or lies.” Then she nibbled on his ear. Apparently Callen had the same erogenous zone as his brother. Good to know for future reference.

  He tried to focus on the stairwell, and looked up at the number two and prayed he didn’t drop her. “Angel, you’re killing me.”

  “Don’t change the subject,” she replied, laughing and then running the tip of her tongue along his ear lobe just because she could.

  “I pulled out the badge and the Blackhawk grin,” he finally answered, concentrating on what she was doing to his entire body, while only focused on his earlobe.

  “Poor woman never had a chance,” she answered, pulling the hair tie from his ponytail. Callen Whitefox’s hair was considerably longer than his brother’s hair, and a warm brown color, but it was still the same silkiness she loved to run her hands through.

  “If I drop you, then you have no one to blame but yourself,” he mumbled, as she moved to his other ear and whispered into it. “Angel!” Now her hand was in in the opening of the front of his shirt. And she had the top button undone.

  Elizabeth giggled.

  “You’re a menace to men everywhere.”

  “I have no desire to be a menace to anyone but the Blackhawk men. You and your brother make me wild,” she added and this time bit him just as they exited the building.

  “Elizabeth, you really want to have sex in the grass in front of the hospital? Don’t think I have that much control. Ethan has had months of practice. This is new to me.”

  Now she was laughing. “Okay, I’ll behave until we get back to the bed and breakfast, and then I can’t promise anything. I think I’ll blame it on the day’s events.”

  Whitefox saw the cab and pushed her into it, giving the man the address. The man looked at the gun on his hip and the one in her hand and looked nervous.

  “FBI,” he pulled out his badge. “Just get us there fast, okay?”

  The man took off like he was driving a race car.

  Elizabeth slid across the seat and into the side of his body. Automatically, he put his arm around her shoulders, holding her to him protectively. When her hand went to his upper thigh, his entire body started waking up.

  Staring up at Callen, she winked and pulled his mouth down to hers, using his hair. “Thank you for springing me. You’re my Indian in shining armor, Cal,” and then she proceeded to kiss him. It was slow and gentle, but full of so much emotion. When they broke apart, she ran her fingers over his cheek and lips. “Or maybe that should be my Indian brave in feathers and war paint.”

  The visual of that heated her body. Elizabeth pictured both men all ‘warriored up’ and had to kiss him more.

  The meeting of lips had his full attention. When Callen pulled away from her, everything in him demanded he take her right there. Instead he leaned down to her ear. “You make me absolutely crazy, and I think you do it on purpose.”

  “I do.” Then she started giggling when the man driving looked up at them in the rearview mirror. She ran her hands up and down his thigh until he finally had to stop her. Already his heart was pounding, and he was having a difficult time breathing.

  “Don’t be bad, you know what happens to women that are trouble, Elizabeth.”

  She grinned up at him and then whispered in his ear.

  Callen would have swallowed his tongue if it wasn’t attached. “Jesus, Elizabeth. I don’t have a reply for that other
than please count me in,” he muttered, as the man pulled into the bed and breakfast. He paid him as fast as he could, and Callen would have tossed the entire wallet at the man at this point. All he was thinking about was the woman tormenting him.

  As the cab pulled away, he looked around. “Okay, now we need to get to the room.”

  “Want me to climb the tree,” asked Elizabeth.

  “Hell no! You have a concussion. We go in the front door and hope there’s none of our doctor staff around to rat us out and pull your gun and badge.”

  “I’d lose them both for Ethan,” she said, hopping back onto Whitefox’s back.

  He knew Elizabeth meant it. “Okay, act normal and we’ll sneak in and past the front desk to our room.”

  Elizabeth was amused. Here was a very large Native man, hair no longer pulled back, carrying a woman on his back. Yeah, no one would ever notice that. She grinned and held on, trying to not break into outrageous laughter.

  Whitefox walked right in, nodding at the woman behind the counter.

  When she went to speak, Elizabeth held her finger to her lips, and then they were off, racing up the stairs. They cleared all three doctors’ rooms and only had three left to freedom. When they heard the click of a doorknob, they knew they needed to hurry or the jig was up.

  * * *

  Ethan sat at the little table in their room and was working. Of course he was, because much like his life before his wife, he was a compulsive workaholic. Now that he was alone again, Blackhawk didn’t know what to do but work. So first step was to revert back to his bachelor ways and order Chinese and then dive headfirst into scanning tech reports from the bombing. Anything to distract himself from the obvious; he was incredibly lonely.

  If his wife knew he was still working, she’d kick his ass. He looked at his watch and wondered if Elizabeth would think he was insane if he called again or just plain desperate.

  That’s when he heard it. There was a slight click of someone inserting a key into his lock. Automatically, he went into protection mode, hitting the lights, and grabbing his gun. Moving off into the corner with the most protection, he waited as the door opened and there was a shuffling sound.

  Quickly, he hit the lights and stepped out with his gun aimed at the sound.

  “Ethan!” giggled his wife, as she stared at the nose of his Glock. “I didn’t think you’d try to shoot me,” she winked.

  His gun came down and his wife attacked. She ran at him and jumped up wrapping her legs around his waist. “Baby, what are you doing here?” he asked, looking over at his brother who was grinning.

  “We broke out,” she answered, leaving kisses across his face until she found his mouth, and he kissed her back.

  God, he wished her there and she appeared. Her being wrapped around the front of him was the most amazing feeling in the entire world. No, her kissing him was the most amazing feeling.

  Elizabeth broke away and stared into his blue black eyes. “We missed you and couldn’t stay away.” She buried her face in his neck and just enjoyed the scent of his cologne. It was like finding her way home.

  Blackhawk glanced over her shoulder at his brother. Whitefox was leaning against the wall and grinning at them both. “I missed you both.” Ethan moved towards his brother and they sandwiched Elizabeth between them. “I was sitting here as miserable as I’ve ever been, without you two.”

  “We’re here now,” answered Callen.

  Elizabeth kissed her husband again, and then kissed Callen. “I can’t wait to just curl up with the two sexiest men in the world, but after I take a shower. Do you know how many germs are in hospitals?” she shuddered.

  “Great and you tell me that after you just shared them and spread them all over me?” laughed her husband.

  “Be glad, I had them spread all over me in the cab ride over here,” added his brother.

  “You loved every damn second of it! Who the hell are you kidding, Callen?” she retorted.

  Ethan lowered her gently to her feet. “Go shower baby, we’ll be here when you come out.”

  Elizabeth turned and ran her hands up Callen’s body, until he was completely tense, and then she pulled him down to her mouth by handfuls of his hair. It was a scorching kiss, and she enjoyed every second of it. The man had some spectacular oral skills.

  Next she turned around and did the same thing to Ethan, except this time she pulled his hair free of the hair tie and ran her fingers through the black silkiness. When he went hard against her body and hands wandered, she pulled away breathlessly. “So much better without your hair pulled back.”

  Elizabeth winked at both of them and went to pull some clothing from her suitcase. “See you soon, boys.”

  The men watched every move she made. “Sex?” asked Blackhawk, not looking away from the bathroom door.

  “Uh huh, but I think we need to teach the vixen a little lesson. She likes to torment, but I think she needs to see what it feels like to be the victim for a change.”

  He looked over at his brother. “I think you’re right, but we need to be extra gentle. She does have a concussion.”

  Whitefox mulled it over, as he heard the shower go on. “How about this?” he said, explaining his plan.

  Blackhawk laughed. “Perfect. You shower first. I’ll put out the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.”

  He grinned wickedly at his brother. It was like being young men again, and out to cause hell. Just this time it was going to be far more enjoyable. Instead of raising hell on the Rez, they planned on dedicating all their wild ways to the woman who stole their hearts.

  * * *

  Agent Tori Christensen and Julian Littlemoon lugged their gear back to their rooms. Both looked beyond beat and exhausted. Tori was tired, cranky and wanted a really hot shower. Trudging through miles of swamp was long painful work.

  “If you need anything, come get me,” stated Julian, hoping that she’d be knocking on his door and soon.

  “All I need is a shower, beer and sleep. Maybe food but that’s debatable.”

  Littlemoon grinned. Oh, he’d love to join her on all three of those things. There were beers in his mini-fridge, and he wouldn’t mind getting all soapy with her.

  “Night Julian. See you in the morning for round two,” she stated over her shoulder, closing her door and dropping her own gear to the floor. Immediately, she began stripping and heading for the shower. Tori dropped the tags into the sink. They needed to soak to get the ooze off them.

  Once she found the hot water, she was in heaven and feeling so much better. Washing the gunk from her hair and skin felt amazing. Only after she was really clean, she wrapped a towel around her hair and body and wandered out to her suitcase. Pulling out her pajamas, she pondered if she had the energy for dinner. Just then there was a knock on her door.

  Looking out the peep hole, she was confused. It was a bottle of beer.

  Opening the door, Tori found her swamp partner standing there with a six pack and a wicked grin on his face. “Oh look it’s a beer delivery.” Now she blocked the doorway and simply stared at him.

  “Pizza is on its way. I de-leeched and figured I could help you out if you needed my assistance.”

  “Wow, that’s pretty heroic of you, Julian. You just met me and are willing to de-leech my person. Thank you, but I generally save that until I really know a guy.”

  Julian grinned. “Okay, since you don’t need my assistance with that, how about we go with something not quite as exciting, like dinner? Want to have dinner with me, Special Agent Victoria Christensen?” he asked, waiting for her answer.

  She laughed and stood back. “Since you asked so nicely, I think I can do that.” Tori walked back into the room and could feel his eyes on her back. “What?” Tori asked, turning.

  “I didn’t expect you to be a ‘pajamas covered in hearts’ kinda girl.” Now, he was more than grinning.

  “I’m a hopeless romantic kind of girl, what can I say?”

  Littlemoon didn’t have a witty reply
, but he did crack open a beer for her and hand it to her. “I hope you like pepperoni,” he finally said. “I took a chance that you enjoyed living on the wild side.”

  “Anyone that doesn’t, should be on a government watch list,” she accepted the beer. “In fact, I like pepperoni so much; I’ll buy you dinner when it arrives.”

  “Wow, a woman that wants to buy me dinner! I don’t know what to say.” Yeah he did. He wanted to have sex with her right there and then. Tori was alluring, funny, and he was fascinated.

  “I knocked you into leech filled water. It’s the least I can do to make it up to you.”

  Julian stepped closer and saw her eyes dilate. “I have to say that you intrigue me Special Agent Christensen.” He took a long sip trying to cool down his body.

  “Do I?”

  There was a knock on the door, and Tori grabbed her wallet, making a hasty retreat from being that close to the man. Her face began to flush, and she prayed it was the pizza guy. Suddenly, the room was warm and felt like she was prey to the sexy Native man.

  Thank God for miracles! It indeed was the pizza, and Tori paid the owner of the hotel for bringing it up. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. When she closed the door and turned around, Julian was incredibly close to her. So close that she could smell the scent of his shampoo and cologne.

  “Thanks for dinner,” he stated, taking the pizza from her hands and putting it down. Then he turned back to her and pulled her against his body and kissed her.

  Tori should have objected, but for some reason she just couldn’t think of what she should say no to. Here was a handsome man kissing her. Her hands slid up his shoulders, and she kissed him back.

  If there was one thing she knew better than most, was that life was too damn short, and she was going to live in the moment, no matter what.

  Thank God for that!