Now didn’t that make things all better? I wish he hadn’t said anything at all. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear...it’s not what you think. It was exactly what I thought.
“Whatever,” I said, still trying to gracefully get out of this horrid situation I had gotten myself in. I finally got my extra large body stuffed into my robe and then I rolled onto my knees when I saw his hand in front of my face. I ignored it and pushed myself to feet. That’s when I noticed them...my fluffy Garfield slippers and I groaned.
He noticed them too and said in a quiet voice, “I think they’re really cute Avery.”
That was the last straw. “Shut up Miles!”
His eyes grew quite large but he didn’t respond. I lifted my head, drew myself up and stiffened my spine. I had groveled on the floor long enough. I would make a strong and noteworthy exit, I told myself. As I moved to leave, my eyes landed on the bed where I noticed that damn letter.
“Oh hell! I almost forgot. This was the reason I came here in the first place. This stupid letter.” I grabbed it and smacked Miles on the belly with it as I handed it to him. He was no longer Just Miles in my eyes. “It came by courier while you were in the shower. I have no idea who Preston is. Do you?” I shouted.
His face had turned ghostly white. He ripped open the letter and then, if possible, his face turned even whiter.
“How long ago did this arrive?” There was an urgency to his voice. A steely urgency.
“I don’t know. It was right before I came in here and pounced on you.” There, I thought that added a nice touch.
He took two strides and reached the night stand where his phone sat. Then he texted someone. Next he made a call.
“Pete. I’ve been made. I’m in the wind and I have a package.”
Pause.
“Juarez.”
Pause
“No. Ten. Fifteen at the most.”
Pause.
“Sea-Tac.”
Pause.
“Colorado Springs.”
Pause.
“I am fully aware of that and the answer is yes.”
Pause.
“My place in Montana. They won’t follow from Peterson. Have a jet ready.”
Then he hung up and looked at me with remorse. “Avery, pack a bag. Pack only what you need. You can bring a computer as long as it doesn’t have a 4G connection. Anything else you need we can get later. I’ll answer all your questions but right now you have to get ready. We need to be out of here in ten minutes.”
“What are you talking about?” This man was crazy.
“Avery,” he said calmly, but with intensity, “you have to do this. If you don’t, you’ll die and so will I. I’m Preston and that letter was for me. I’m a DEA agent and one of the largest drug cartels just sent me a message that my cover has been blown. They’ll be here in less than an hour to kill me. Anyone here will die too. Do you understand me?”
I didn’t know what I understood. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into my room. “Where are your clothes? Travel stuff. Jeans, hoodie, things like that?”
“Over there.” I pointed to a suitcase against the wall.
He started tossing me things. “Here, put these on.”
I was getting dressed in front of him. I didn’t even bother with panties. What the hell was going on? I was shaking because he had this severe look about him that I had never seen before. When my bag was stuffed with everything he thought I’d need, he picked up my purse and asked my if all my identification was inside. I nodded. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me back into his room.
He dropped his towel and got dressed in a hurry. Pulling out a gym bag, he stuffed it with clothes and put on a shoulder holster. Then he grabbed a large gun, checked it to make sure it was loaded and jammed it into the holster. Next, he put a holster on his leg, then crammed another gun into it after checking it too. I just gaped at him. I felt like I was watching a Matt Damon movie or something.
Before I even knew what was going on, we were out the back door, running through the yard. He took us to the furthest corner where there was an obscure gate and he unlocked it using a key code, making sure to lock it behind us. Then we slipped away, down through hedges, keeping to the darkness. We got to a parking lot where there was a big motorcycle parked. He walked up to it and pulled out a set of keys. It unlocked a compartment on the back where we put our bags. Inside were a couple of helmets and he handed me one.
“These have headsets on them so don’t worry about not being able to hear each other.”
“Okay.” I was more nervous about riding on the back of that monster. I’d never ridden on a motorcycle and I was really scared.
“You okay?”
“Oh sure.” Hell no I wasn’t okay. What kind of a question was that?
He got on and then said, “Hop on.”
I lifted my leg but the damn thing wouldn’t make it high enough. “Um, can you scoot up a bit.”
He turned around and saw my dilemma. “Sure.”
With the extra room I maneuvered my large frame into that spot and sat down. This was not gonna be fun at all.
He cranked that thing up and man it was loud. Then I heard music playing in my helmet, along with his voice. “Better?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s perfect,” I replied sweetly. I thought I heard him chuckle.
How the hell had this happened to me and where were we even going? Wait! What if this guy was the bad guy and he was taking me off somewhere to murder me!
“Ack!” I screamed.
“What?” he yelled back.
“What if you’re a serial killer or something?”
“What?” he yelled that out like I was crazy. “Avery, I’m trying to save your life, not kill you.”
“Yeah, that’s what you say, but how do I know for sure?”
“Okay, I get that. But once we get to the airport, you’ll see. We’re flying to Colorado Springs on a military flight.”
“Oh, okay.” Was that supposed to make me feel better?
We started moving and he didn’t waste time picking up speed. I didn’t know what to hold on to because I didn’t want to hold onto him. I knew he was repelled by the thought of me so the idea of my hands on him must have made him want to cringe.
“Avery, you need to hold onto to me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s making it hard to drive with you wobbling back there. Besides, you could fall off.”
“I’ll find something else to hold on to.”
“Damn it Avery, there isn’t anything else. Now put your arms around me. We don’t have time to waste.”
Chapter 10
Preston
Aw fuck! When she was standing in my room wearing that short little polka dotted robe, with her wet hair hanging down her back, I almost came. I don’t think I’d ever seen anything so lovely in my life. I wanted to just hold her.
But then, what came after that was paralyzing. I’m not sure how or why it happened, but it took every single ounce of control I had not to throw her on her back and put my mouth to use. She was fucking purring...and meowing. I’m not sure how that kitty thing started but damn that was one hot pussycat. Those eyes of hers made me want to wrap my hands in her hair and just sink into them. God, they were just so damn gorgeous. And her lovely pink mouth did all sorts of amazing things to me. I could tell she loved all my tats. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl that would be into them, but she went fucking crazy over my nipple rings. Damn, I needed to stop thinking about that or I was going to come right here, right now. Thank God Caroline had those bedrooms upstairs carpeted. If those floors would have been just wood, my fingers would’ve left scratch marks the way I dug into them, trying to prevent myself from touching her. It almost broke me when I saw her face...the hurt in her eyes when I told her to stop. She thought I didn’t want her. Nothing could be further from the truth. I just didn’t want her to have me.
Now I’d put her life in danger. She didn’t even
want to put her arms around me. Hell. I let out a long sigh. I’d been so deep into my own thoughts, I’d let my concentration slip. I lifted my head and noticed two sets of head lights in my side mirror. I did a little test to see if they’d follow and damn it, I was being tailed.
“Avery, hold on NOW and tight. I don’t care if you hate my guts but I gotta do some tricky moves ‘cause we’re being followed.”
I felt her arms squeeze my waist really tight. She’d gotten my message. If only she could wrap those long legs of hers around my waist and...damn it, I needed to focus here!
“Good girl. Now just try to mold yourself to me and move with me. Don’t be scared. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flash. My bike was too noisy to hear it and I was positive they were using silencers. Swerving like a mad man, I zigzagged my way around traffic. The last thing I wanted was for her to take a bullet during this getaway. Bargaining with God all the way, I prayed like hell that wouldn’t happen.
I hit the gas and made a quick U-turn while she screamed. The foot pedal scraped the pavement but as soon as we were upright, I hit it again and we zoomed off. Turning again, I headed toward the expressway. I still had one on me, so I did some more maneuvering. I jumped a median and crossed over a couple of lanes. Avery was screaming the whole time, but I ignored her. We headed down a sidewalk for a short bit and then back onto the highway. I needed to get to the interstate where I could open this baby up. It was a Hayabusa and its top speed was 248 miles per hour. I’d never taken it that fast, but I had taken it up to 190. I’d do it tonight if I had to, but I needed the expressway for that.
Eventually we hit a clear path and I took it, making the entrance ramp at 75 miles per hour. By the time I hit the lane, I had her at 110, with Avery screaming at the top of her lungs. I took her all the way to 180, just to be safe. I kept checking my mirrors, but there was no sign of the goons anywhere. I didn’t let up until we hit Sea-Tac. I took the back route into the airport and when we hit the security gate, I pulled out all my ID and they pushed me right through. When we got to our stopping point, I told Avery she could get off. I didn’t get any response.
“Avery? You still back there?” I patted her arms that were still wrapped tightly around my midsection. Still no response. I tried to pry her hands loose but when I did, she started to whine.
I took my helmet off so she could see my face. With her arms still locked around me, I turned as best as I could and lifted her helmet off. She was somewhere between gray and white.
“Avery!” I pried her hands loose, and it took quite a lot of prying. They’re not kidding when they talk about a death grip. I put the motorcycle on its stand and I got up and then I lifted her off the bike. She wasn’t small so it took some effort, but I got her off of the thing. I walked her inside and sat her down in the first seat I could find. Then I crouched in front of her.
I patted her cheek and asked, “Are you with me here?” She blinked a few times and then her face started to get red. And I’m not talking pink here. I’m talking bright cherry red. I got really worried for a second; that is until that fist of hers connected with my jaw and she nailed me right in the kisser. Next thing I knew I was on my ass, she was straddling me and punching the hell out of me, screaming all sorts of obscenities at me. She’d totally caught me off guard, so much so, that at first all I could do was lay there and take it like a wuss.
When I finally regained my senses, I locked my fingers around her wrists and pulled her arms down to her sides. Her chest was heaving with exertion, her hair was in a mass of tangles, those eyes that couldn’t decide what color they were had suddenly turned a deeper shade of green and the only thing that came to my mind was I wanted to taste her lips so badly I couldn’t stand it. So that’s what I did. I sat up and wrapped my hands in her hair and kissed her...and not gently either. Now it was her turn to be shocked. Her mouth had opened to an O, so I took advantage of it and slipped my tongue inside of it. Dear God, how could anything taste this good? After a few seconds, she even started kissing me back, but the sexiest thing of all was when she started to mewl and then she bit my lip. I forced myself to stop, and I should’ve known this was coming, but damn it, I was lost in the sensory exquisiteness that was Avery. It didn’t last long because that firecracker brought me back to reality when the palm of her hand connected with my cheek. I’m sure I would have a red mark there for at least a week.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Trying to stop you from beating the shit out of me!”
“Oh yeah? Well, you deserved it after trying to kill me on that damn motorcycle. What’s wrong with you anyway? Are you crazy?”
She tried to get off of me, but the delayed shock had set in and her body was shaking all over.
“Oh hell, what’s wrong with me?”
She sounded so pitiful I went to put my arms around her to calm her down. As soon as I touched her, she stiffened.
“Please don’t touch me. Haven’t you done enough damage already?”
I supposed she had a good point. Her life was in danger because of me and now how was I going to get her out of this mess?
“Yes, I have and I’m terribly sorry Avery.”
“Oh, and I guess that’s supposed to make me feel better.”
“No, but I am sorry.”
I wanted to help her up, but I couldn’t because she was still on top of me and I couldn’t get up myself. I thought it best to just let her sit there until she felt better about things.
She rubbed her face with the heel of her hands and then looked at me. “I don’t suppose I’ll be going back to my job any time soon, will I?”
I shook my head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Can I at least call my boss?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible right now either. It’s too dangerous for you. And it could put him in danger too.”
“I see. So where are we going?”
“There’s a military transport plane out there leaving for Colorado Springs. It’s going to Peterson Air Force Base and we’ll be on it. Then we’ll hop on another transport and head to Andrews Air Force Base where we’ll change planes again. This time we’ll get on a private jet and head to Bozeman, Montana where I have a home. We’ll be staying there until I think things are safe again.”
“Why can’t we go straight to Montana?”
“It’s too risky. I don’t want to take any chances. They won’t be able to track us on a military transport either. One is difficult, but two flights are nearly impossible.”
“What about my brother and his wife?”
I smiled. “They’re fine and protected. They’re at a safe house. That was who I texted right away. They have another place in Seattle just in case anything like this would happen.”
“What? How can that be?”
“Avery, can we talk about this later?”
I looked up to see Pete in the doorway. “Our ride is waiting on us.”
Avery turned around and noticed Pete standing there.
“Pete this is Avery. Avery meet Pete.”
They both said their hellos. Pete eyed my face and said, “Nice handprint you got there.”
“Yeah. It’s gonna match my bruises that should be popping out in a couple of hours. We had a little issue with a reaction to the motorcycle ride. I had a couple of tails.”
“Ah,” Pete said. Then he turned to Avery and said, “Avery, if you think his driving is bad on a motorcycle, wait till you’re in a getaway car with him.”
“Thanks bud. I appreciate it,” I said. Then I gave him a little motion with my head and he walked over and helped Avery to her feet.
We headed out to the tarmac where a C-17 waited. The back of the plane was open and cargo was being loaded. Pete was giving me all the paperwork for our flights and Avery asked, “Are we going on that thing?”
“Yeah.” She looked a little skeptical. “Don’t worry. These babies are the sa
fest things ever.”
“I’m not worried about safety you goofball. Are we gonna have to sit on the floor?”
Pete and I looked at each other and just started laughing. Then Pete said, “No, Avery, I put a couple of folding chairs in there for the two of you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Good lord, I hope she wasn’t that gullible. Pete and I talked about Justin and Caroline. He assured me they’d be fine and that he had them guarded. Their main house was empty...or so everyone thought. It was swarming with agents in the hopes of catching whoever was out to get me.
I grabbed Avery by the hand and pulled her behind me as we boarded the plane. She chuckled when she saw the seats along the sides of the aircraft.
“Not like your ordinary plane, huh.”
“Oh, we’re not sitting here. Come on.” I pulled her through the cargo area to the front where the few regular seats were and chatted for a few minutes with the crew. We sat down and buckled up. It was great to be on a military aircraft because their flights always took off on time. About two and a half hours later, we landed in Colorado Springs.
I had to wake Avery up. She was sound asleep and purring like a cat. I wondered about this cat thing she had. I gotta say, it was a major turn on for me. Reaching out, I went to tap her on the shoulder, but somehow, my hand ended up on her soft and silky hair instead. I had never felt anything like it in my life. Maybe that’s why she sounded like a kitty. I picked up a thick piece of it and rubbed it between my fingers before letting it glide on through. Her profile was exquisite. It took all my control not to run my finger down the slope of her nose or along her lower lip. Watching the simple motion of her chest with each breath she took made me regret that I had to disturb her gentle sleep.
“Avery, we’re almost here.” I tapped her shoulder. She arched her back and stretched, again resembling a contented feline.
Her eyes targeted mine and I flinched. The intensity in her gaze was unsettling. My guilt escalated over what I’d done to her life knowing I’d pretty much ruined it.
“So what now?”
“We just need to change planes. Are you hungry or thirsty?”
Kissing Fire Page 7
