“Get off me!” Ashton roared on the floor. “You’re dead! You’re both dead!”
The man straddling him just pushed Ashton’s bloodied face into the plush carpet to shut him up.
Skyler banished the two from her reality. In her universe, she and Drake were alone, sitting knee to knee, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. How long had she waited for this to happen? “I have to be dreaming.” The suspicion that her mind was playing tricks on her made her groan in despair. After that blow to the head, it was all too possible.
“Shhh. It’s me, baby. See?” He pressed her hand against his chest where his heart beat hard and fast beneath his soft shirt. “I’m really here. You’re safe. No one’s going to hurt you again.”
She caught back a sob of joy. He was real!
“Dad,” Drake called over his shoulder, snapping her out of her trance. “See if you can find the keys to these cuffs. Then you can put them on him.”
Dad? Skyler regarded the other man in surprise. His hair, evidently once as black as Drake’s, was shot with silver; his features were craggier, but there wasn’t any question he and Drake were related. Searching Jameson’s pockets, the older agent turned up a set of tiny keys. Within seconds, Skyler’s hand was free.
“Where else are you hurt?” Drake asked, rubbing her tender wrist and tossing the cuffs down to his father.
She shook her head to signify that she was fine but sobs of relief got the better of her. Drake pulled her close, crooning words of comfort in her ear as Skyler burrowed against him, letting his never-forgotten scent anchor her in the reality that he was holding her, shielding her.
Still, nothing could block out the reality of his father hauling a resisting Ashton Jameson to his feet. “Let’s go,” he said to his son, “before any of his friends show up.”
“Right.” Drake looked down at her with real concern. “Can you walk, babe? Or do you need me to carry you.”
Skyler dashed the wetness from her face. “I—I can walk. He didn’t. . . ” She choked on the words, unable to articulate them. Scooting to the edge of the bed she pushed shakily to her feet, refusing Drake’s help.
“You did a good job messing up his eye,” he said with a grin that faded as he caught sight of the swelling by her temple. “That’s quite a goose egg. You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Could you carry my purse and the other bag?” She was pleased to see them stashed in the corner of the room.
As he went to collect them, Skyler’s gaze slid back to the bed. If not for Drake, she would have bled to death there, one pint at a time.
With Drake’s steadying hand under her elbow, she made her way through the expansive cabin, across the glittering deck and the gang plank to the pier, where shock caught up to her, sapping the strength from her legs. Still, she started to take one shaky barefoot step onto the gravel.
As she stumbled, she heard Drake swear beneath his breath before sweeping her off her feet and into his arms. He carried her and all her belongings effortlessly across a lot filled with landed boats. Locking her arms around his neck, Skyler concentrated on breathing, on telling herself that she was safe. The steady sway of the man who held her soothed her frayed nerves and she fixed her gaze on the tan skin of his muscular neck where she wanted almost desperately to place a kiss. Ahead of them, she could hear Drake’s father prodding Jameson, ordering him to pick up his pace.
At last, they stopped.
“What’s the plan?” Drake asked his father as he set Skyler on her feet. The ground felt cold and she started to shake again. He draped his arm around her slender shoulders.
“Police Station,” the elder Donovan said shortly. “I’m taking Jameson in for questioning. Skyler doesn’t have to make a statement, yet; I can vouch for her about the kidnapping. Just put her up front with you.”
The realization that Ashton would be riding in the same car robbed Skyler of a portion of her relief.
“And then what?” Drake demanded. “I’m not going to turn her into WITSEC.”
“We’ll talk about that later, once she’s rested. After you drop me off at the station, you can find a hotel and sit tight for a while.”
For a while. Skyler balked at how temporary it all sounded. Without another word, Drake helped her into the front seat, plonking her purse on her lap and stowing her bag under her legs before he rounded the vehicle to slip behind the wheel.
His father pushed Ashton into the back seat and slid in beside him. As she glanced back at them, he caught her eye. “Connor Donovan,” he said, with a nod. “Now that we’ve met, I can see why my son would risk his career for you.”
“Hey,” Drake snarled over his shoulder, “keep your comments to yourself.”
Skyler sat back and stared sightlessly at her unfamiliar surroundings.
Drake cranked the engine, backed up the car, and drove them out of the marina.
“I don’t know what you’ve got in mind, son,” Connor cautioned from the rear seat, “but Miss Dulay belongs in protective custody. You need to contact the U.S. Marshal’s office and turn her over to them.”
“Bullshit,” Drake retorted with an angry glare in the mirror. “They had their chance to keep Sky safe and they blew it—three times. Like hell I’m going to trust them to protect her now.” He gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white.
“If there’s a problem in the program, you can trust them to fix it.”
“Why the hell should I trust them when she almost fucking died!” Drake shouted.
Connor drew a harsh breath. “So—what?—you’re going to give up your career for her?”
“If I have to, then, yes,” Drake answered.
A weight fell abruptly onto Skyler’s chest. What have I done? Not only had she put the man she loved at risk for Centurion retaliation, but apparently she’d unwittingly jeopardized his career by forcing him to do the job WITSEC was supposed to do.
She ought never to have called him in the first place.
Chapter Five
“We’re not going to be here long,” Drake informed Skyler as they stepped into their motel room, just blocks from the police station. “Only long enough for you to freshen up and recover. And then we’re going to take off,” he promised, dropping their bags and turning to face her. “I’m going to take you far away from here—so far no Centurion or WITSEC agent is ever going to find you again.”
She looked so battered standing before him, so jaded, her eyes rimmed with exhaustion, that it broke his heart.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. He ran a light finger over her bruised forehead. “Maybe we should get you to a hospital.”
“I’m fine. I just…”
“What, baby? What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”
“I’d like to shower.”
“Sure.” He bit back the words, But hurry. They didn’t have much time if they were going to stay ahead of the game. As long as she took a quick shower, he could use that time to devise a plan for their disappearance.
With a whispered, “Thanks,” she slipped into the bathroom and he heard the lock click.
Drake pulled a worn address book out of his duffel bag. Normally, he accessed his contacts through his cell phone, but he’d dropped that into the back of a pickup truck parked at the gas station where he’d filled their tank en route to this motel. Obviously, the fastest way anyone could track him and Skyler was by his cell phone. This little book, on the other hand, couldn’t betray them. He carried it around for emergencies only, since it listed the private numbers of support personnel at the Bureau. He thumbed through the pages. Who in Support could get him a passport for Skyler on the sly and lightning fast?
Not that guy. Not him, either. Nope, not her. The staff at the Bureau were all straight-laced, by-the-book types. With a hopeless sigh, he tossed the list of numbers back into his bag.
Okay, so leaving the country by air probably wasn’t going to happen. He’d take her out by boat, then. Of cou
rse. His undercover status as a yacht salesman opened all kinds of doors for them. First he’d switch the plates out on his rental and then drive them down to Florida. From there, they’d hop on a yacht to the Bahamas and then board a freighter bound for South East Asia. Boy, would his sister Lucy be surprised when he showed up at her place in Phuket with Skyler in tow!
Pacing to the window, he searched the parking area for any sign of suspicious activity. Several early birds were up and leaving the motel but, otherwise, the parking lot stood quiet.
He heard the toilet flush. Then silence. Would it be fair to Skyler to ask her to hurry?
The bathroom door yawned open. “Drake?”
He rushed to her side. “Yes?” She had shed her pajama bottoms, leaving her in just her shirt and her panties. He fought to keep his eyes off her smooth thighs.
“Would you take a shower with me?”
His body thrummed with enthusiasm. “Er…” How the hell was he supposed to turn that down? “Baby, we need to get a move on.”
“Okay.” She stepped back, glanced into the mirror and grimaced. “I wish I could brush my teeth.”
Obviously, she didn’t get the need for haste, but it wouldn’t throw their plans off too much if they washed up first. “Wait one sec.”
He brought his shaving kit to the bathroom, squeezed a line of paste onto his toothbrush, and handed it to her. As she brushed her teeth, he anticipated learning every detail about her daily routine in the days to come. When she was done, he took the brush back and scoured his own teeth while she turned the shower on.
It wasn’t until she pulled off her pajama top exposing her pert, perfect breasts that it occurred to Drake that they might not be leaving the motel as quickly as he’d planned. The soft inviting light in Skyler’s eyes made him realize she had more in mind than just a quick shower. His heart started to thump a little faster. “Baby, I don’t know if we have time to—”
“Shhh.” She placed a finger on his lips, stepping close enough to brush her breasts against his chest. “I need you, Drake. I need you to show me that I’m still alive.”
She couldn’t have said anything more coercive than that. Lowering his head, he kissed her lush, wide lips with as much restraint as he could muster, but just the simple touch of their lips sent ripples of pleasure flowing to his extremities.
Still, he held himself in check, letting her be the first to open her mouth, to slide her minty-tasting tongue between his lips in search of his. Relishing her trust, he vowed he would banish the nightmare of the last six hours from her thoughts.
He stripped off his shirt in one fluid move, baring his chest. Skyler’s eyes widened as she looked him over. “You’ve gotten so much bigger.”
Her words made him feel like Superman. “I’ve spent a lot of time at the gym. It helped to pass the time.”
A shadow moved across her face. “Every day without you feels like forever,” she reflected.
“That’s why we’ll never be apart again,” he swore, tackling the zipper on his jeans and shucking out of them. His pant leg got stuck on his holster. “Sorry.” He stripped off the holster and lay the gun on the granite countertop.
“It makes me feel safe,” she assured him.
Anxiety speared him briefly. What if the U.S. Marshals caught up to them and took Skyler back? Worse still, what if the mob managed to find them, even on the other side of the world?
The vision of Skyler sliding her panties off her hips and down her legs chased all thought from his mind.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, denuding himself with less grace, but with obvious enthusiasm.
She pulled back the shower curtain, and a cloud of steam wafted toward them.
“Careful, it looks hot,” he cautioned as she stepped under the spray.
“That’s how I like it.” She beckoned him to join her.
With a groan of bliss, he dove into the deluge and drew her slippery curves closer. She wrapped her arms around his waist, laid her head on his chest, and released a long, shuddering breath.
For the longest time, she didn’t move.
“We okay, here?” he inquired, tipping her chin up. With a stab of dismay, he saw that she was weeping.
“Wash me,” she requested.
Wordlessly, he reached for the bar of new soap and lathered the washcloth she had set within arm’s reach. Beginning with her neck and shoulders, he filled the enclosure with the scent of lavender as he soaped her. “You’re so lovely, Sky,” he murmured, longing to comfort her. “Lovely and strong.” His words made her lower lip tremble.
He realized she’d had no choice but to be strong. Neither one of them had had a choice.
But that was about to change—after he demonstrated how truly alive she was.
As he washed the undersides of her breasts, Skyler raised her arms in an unspoken invitation for him to touch her everywhere. Setting aside the cloth, he used his bare hands to cleanse her soft globes. Every pass of his thumb over her nipples made them tighter, firmer. She moaned, dropping her head back.
“Still good?” he asked, trying not to think of the time slipping away from them.
“Oh, yes.”
Going down on one knee, he took the cloth again and soaped her feet and ankles, moving leisurely from arch to knee.
She watched through heavy-lidded eyes as he drew the washcloth ever higher. The steady ascent made her breathe faster, made her curve her fingers into his wet hair. When he ran the terrycloth through the golden curls at the apex of her thighs, her pelvis tipped toward his touch. She swayed against him, parting her legs in a subtle invitation. Dropping the washcloth again, he eased his fingers into the delicate folds of her cleft. “Like a flower,” he marveled, tracing the slick petals until her thighs trembled.
“I want you, Drake.” The words came rushing out of her. “I want you every minute of every day, forever.”
He surged to his feet, gathered her against him and said roughly, “Then run away with me, Sky. I’ll take you so far from here that no one will ever find us again. We’ll live together the way that we were meant to.”
Her eyes pooled with tears. “Make love to me first,” she pleaded.
When Drake turned off the water and threw a towel around them, Skyler knew she’d won the bid to distract him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be swept far away by the man she loved. If anyone stood a chance of keeping her safe, it was Drake. But at what cost? He would have to leave everything behind—his career, his family, his reputation—all for her. Not to mention that hiding her from WITSEC was probably a crime.
He had to realize all that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let her distract him so easily.
But there was still one thing he could give her—the memory of this moment. In the lonely months to come, she would savor every detail.
Droplets sprayed the tiled floor as he swung her out of the tub and briskly rubbed her down. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her into the bedroom, yanked the coverlet and sheets from the bed in one grand gesture, and sent the pillows flying. And then he tackled her onto the mattress, careful to protect her from the weight of his body as they fell in a tangle of limbs and laughter, huddling together for warmth.
“I could never get enough of you,” he confessed, as their bodies aligned in a way that left them both breathless.
It would have to be enough for now. “I love you,” she whispered as he found her slick opening. Wrapping her legs around his thighs, she welcomed his possession.
With restraint that made her love him all the more, he claimed her inch by gentle inch until he filled her utterly.
Just as in that magical moment in her bedroom four years ago, they fit together perfectly, like a hand in a glove. In some ways, they scarcely knew each other. In others, she knew him better than he knew himself—which was the reason she couldn’t let him run off with her.
With Skyler emitting soft cries of pleasure, her body squeezing around him so tightly it put him into a mindless trance,
Drake roused to awareness just enough to realize they were being careless. He went still. “We forgot protection. It’s in my bag.”
Her grip tightened. “Don’t get up,” she pleaded, holding him closely.
“You could get pregnant,” he warned as she rocked against him, sending him closer to his climax.
“I know.” Lifting her head, she deliberately caught his lips in a kiss so sweet it threatened the last of his self-control.
“And that would be okay with you?”
“Getting pregnant? Having your baby? Hell, yes.”
Her mild swear word made him chuckle. She was full of surprises. He tried to be the voice of reason, which didn’t work so well considering his presently limited cranial functioning.
“That wouldn’t be fair to either of us, Sky. We’re going to have to travel for the next month or so. I can’t have you feeling sick on a freighter across the ocean.”
A tear appeared at the corner of her eyes, sliding into the hair at her temple.
Drake stilled for a second time. “What’s wrong? Talk to me, Sky.”
Her eyes resembled sapphire pools. “I’m not leaving the country with you, Drake,” she informed him with lament. “I’m not turning you into a fugitive.”
Stunned, he pushed up on his hands to gaze down at her. “I’m not sending you back to WITSEC. Hell, no. We’re making a break for it.”
She just shook her head. “No. As much as I love you and wish we could be together, I refuse to cost you your career, Drake.”
His eyes burned with frustration as his half-formed plans went up in smoke. “Damn my father for saying that to you!” he raged.
“I’m glad he did. It woke me up.”
“It won’t be like that, Sky. I can find another job. I swear, I can take care of you.”
“I know you can, but you shouldn’t have to. Just give me this moment, right now.” She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling him back down against her. “Stay with me every second, for as long as you can.”
Long Gone Page 4
