by J. M. Madden
She shook her head. They were so different, and yet she found him utterly fascinating. And he tasted like a naughty daydream. “Maybe you can shoot them and I’ll patch them up for trial,” she laughed.
He reached out a hand and she gave him a fist bump. Then he wrapped his hand around hers and drew her in. Raine gasped at the smooth move, and grinned. And when he lowered his mouth to hers, she was already going to tiptoe to meet him. Noah rested his lips on hers, nibbling softly. “I know this isn’t the place for this,” he whispered against her mouth, “but I can’t seem to help myself.”
Raine couldn’t help herself either. She let the kiss flow where it wanted to, leaning into his chest to hold herself up. His strong arms wrapped around her back, pulling her tight.
A sound began to intrude on her bliss. Noah growled, but didn’t pull away. The sound intruded again. Was it someone knocking on the door?
With a curse, he pulled away and stalked to the door of the apartment. “This had better be important.”
Pausing, he moved to the side of the door, listening for just a moment. He cocked his head almost comically, his eyes going wide as he glanced at her. Obviously, he’d heard something she couldn’t. Swinging the door open, he looked at the bare-chested man on the other side.
It took Raine a moment to realize the man was Haven.
“What the hell…”
She moved toward him, her hand out. “Haven, are you okay?”
Haven stepped into the room and took her hand, giving Noah a smile. “I thought you’d hear me if I told you who it was.”
“I heard you, buddy. How you doing?”
Noah shut the door behind them and Raine walked Haven into the living room, into the light from the window.
“You’re moving like you weren’t even shot. Can I look?”
Haven nodded, shrugging the stolen coat from his shoulders. “It’s not bothering me anymore.”
Raine was amazed at the healing. There was a bit of a puckered scar, and little tiny marks that she thought might have been stitch marks. “Haven, it’s only been a day. This is amazing.”
She looked up into his eyes and had another shock. Haven was there. Normally, his eyes were shadowed with pain or worry, but right this moment his eyes were incredibly clear, direct. The color was startlingly sharp and she couldn’t remember him ever giving her this much eye contact. “How are you Haven?”
Sighing, he looked out the window, then back to her. “I’m feeling better than I ever have, and I have a story to tell you.”
“Let’s sit at the table,” Noah murmured, watching Haven.
The man moved like he was a little achy, but not too bad. Raine watched him like a mother hen, ready to jump in to help, but she restrained herself.
“Can I get you anything,” she asked.
Haven looked at her with a smile. “It’s been a while since I ate anything.”
“Since the bear ate anything,” Noah corrected.
Haven grinned, shocking them both. “I didn’t want to expose my actual face.”
Noah barked out a laugh and Raine moved mechanically to the fridge, her mind swirling with questions. There were cold cuts and cheese in the drawer, so she slapped together a quick sandwich and grabbed a Coke from the bottom shelf. She set the items in front of Haven and sat down at one of the empty chairs. He immediately began to eat the sandwich. She looked at Noah and was gratified to see that he was as confused as she was. Raine turned to watch Haven eat, noting the increased appetite, increased motor skills, and sharper mental acuity.
“You’re different,” she said simply.
He nodded, swallowing a huge bite of sandwich. “Very. I found Belladonna.”
Raine’s eyebrows shot into her hair. ”You did? Where did the ambulance take you?”
Popping the top on the Coke can, Haven drew in a big swallow, his Adam’s Apple working. “It took me to Senator Cameron Hall’s building. Penthouse, whatever. Belladonna was there. She patched up my bullet wound and later she came in and did something to my mind. It was like she swept all the cobwebs out of an old house, or something. I’m not even sure how to explain it, other than I have more mental clarity right now than I’ve had in about three years, probably when I originally volunteered for the project.”
“Did you see the senator?” Noah asked.
“Oh, yes, he was there, though Donna told me who he was later, and a guy named McCullough.”
“He’s Secret Service.”
Haven’s eyes widened. “Oh. Our conversation makes more sense now. I think he could have gotten really nasty.”
“He’s the one that comes in and cleans up the senator’s messes,” Noah said. He moved to the opposite end of the dining room table and dug through a stack of papers. He singled one out and handed it to Haven. “Is that Donna?”
Haven nodded as he took the paper. “She was a nurse with Dr. Shu years ago and had a bit of natural mental ability. As soon as she was given the drug her power started to grow. She called herself the catalyst, because she could see what abilities each man had, and she could enhance those abilities.” He turned to look at Raine. “She literally took my head in her hands and within seconds, all of the shit I’ve been dealing with, the fear and anxiety, has been swept away.”
“And your abilities?”
Without even shifting, a guardian suddenly loomed over top of them, looking more clearly defined and menacing than they ever had before. He was dressed in Army Ranger camo, helmet, and had a black carbine rifle in his arms, eye to the scope and pointed at Noah. Noah shoved back his chair instinctually in alarm, reaching for his gun, then stopped. He looked at Haven, his eyes wide. “Okay, you got me there. Get rid of him.”
The form immediately disappeared.
“That was… impressive, Haven,” Raine murmured, watching Noah reholster his weapon and sit back down in the chair.
“As long as you feel better, that’s all I care about,” Raine told him. “So, then she helped you escape, apparently. Why didn’t she come with you?”
Haven was about to answer when CIA Officer Rose and his small team entered the apartment. Immediately, Rose’s eyes focused on Haven. “This is your runaway bear.”
Haven snorted, sounding more normal, more like a guy, than Raine had ever heard him sound. “Resident,” she corrected.
Rose frowned, looking at Noah. “How did he get here?”
“He knocked on the door.”
Rose looked slightly alarmed. “Poole, run the security. Was he followed?” He turned slightly aggravated eyes to Haven. “How did you know about this location?”
“I didn’t exactly. Belladonna, Donna did. She told me where to head and that I would eventually feel Raine and Noah on my own. And I did.”
Raine blinked and looked at him. He had felt her? She looked at Noah, who shrugged slightly, as lost as she was. Haven’s abilities had never before manifested that way, at least not that she knew of.
“And how did she know about this location?” Rose demanded, moving toward Haven aggressively.
Haven didn’t move and he didn’t manifest guardians. Apparently, Rose didn’t intimidate him. “Donna has abilities stronger than anyone I’ve ever seen. She might have pulled it from his mind. Or she might have pulled it from someone else.”
Rose’s eyes widened and Raine could understand his trepidation. It was scary to think that someone could just walk up and pull something out of your head, whether you wanted them to or not. She didn’t really have anything to hide, well, other than what she was feeling for Noah. Her eyes flicked to him, then away. Rose on the other hand probably had a head full of things to hide.
Haven waved a hand. “That stuff is unimportant. We need to rescue her daughter, Lilly. She’s being held on Hall’s compound north of the city. Once we have her and she’s safe, Donna can get away from the senator. Well, maybe. She has some kind of collar on and says there’s a sedative in it.”
Rose looked at Poole, who was pounding furiously on
the laptop he’d carried in.
“Donna Frame had one daughter. Husband was killed in Iraq. Daughter is sixteen, about, but I can’t find school records for her since twenty-seventeen.”
“No truancy reports or anything?”
Poole shook his head. “Nope. The only thing I see is where Victoria Hall was granted guardianship.”
Raine looked at Rose. “Wouldn’t the mother have had to sign off on that?”
Rose gave her a condescending smile. “You’re talking about a corrupt billionaire New York senator who has been in office longer than each of us has been alive. I have a feeling it was pretty easy to convince a just as equally corrupt judge to grant custody to his cheating wife.”
Raine frowned. “No need to be rude, city boy. I just asked a question.”
She was glad she was on the other side of the dining room table from Rose, because his face flushed with anger, then he took a breath. “You’re completely right. None of this is your fault. I’ve just been chasing this fucker for months, and he always manages to slip out of my grasp. We’re so close.”
“If you can ensure that Lilly is safe, Donna will be invaluable,” Haven told him. “The senator forced her to work for him as soon as she started manifesting her abilities, so she’s seen everything he’s done. He doesn’t let her out of his immediate vicinity because he uses her as a secretary at meetings so that he can read his competitors. But when he’s not using her, he sedates her. And I think he lets his guards do what they want with her.”
“Tell me about the collar,” Poole order.
“We need to call Wulfe and Elizabeth,” Noah murmured to her.
She nodded, reaching for her phone. Elizabeth answered almost immediately and Raine headed toward her bedroom so that she could talk more easily, leaving Haven to talk to Poole. She felt Noah moving behind her, a solid wall of power and lusciousness. Once in her bedroom she sank down on the side of the bed, allowing Noah to take the chair near the window. But he didn’t. He sat right next to her, making the bed sag.
“Raine?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, trying not to focus on Noah. “Anyway, Agent Rose is looking at options right now and they’re trying to figure out what to do about the collar.”
He was staring at her, Raine realized. Or maybe he was watching her speak on the phone. If Elizabeth were on speakerphone, would he still look at her? She poked the appropriate button. Why, yes, he did.
“Tell me more about the woman. She’s former Army?”
“Yes, a nurse. Supposedly she worked with Shu years ago when he first developed the serum.”
“So, she was treated with Spartan. No, we can’t even assume that. She might have been given something completely different that early in the program.” Elizabeth sighed, frustration heavy in the sound. “My God, she could be directly responsible for every man in this building.”
“Ma’am, she’s strong. Haven said she called herself the catalyst because she could basically see the men’s potential and bring it out. It sounds like she’s been very careful, though, and only brought men close to the senator that she herself can manipulate, at least mentally.”
“But he’s basically holding her over a barrel because he kidnapped her daughter. Where is the daughter?”
“Somewhere up along the Hudson. Haven says he’s had her for three years.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re not sure about the paperwork part of it. Poole is investigating that. There has to be some kind of trail.”
“Yes,” she sighed.
“Ma’am, I can’t explain to you how different Haven is. There’s no fear in him, or anxiety. He looks at you like a man. Clinically, I don’t even see any reason for him to be in the recovery building. I was only with him a few minutes, but he’s… different.”
“Well, no matter what the reason I have to appreciate it. And his manifestations?”
“Stronger than ever,” Noah leaned in toward the phone. “More detailed, more intimidating. They did not look like the specters and manifestations he’s done before. And he said that once he got close to the apartment, he was able to feel us. I’ve never seen him do anything like that before.”
“That’s amazing,” Elizabeth said. “I hope I get a chance to meet this woman.”
“I don’t know if I would use her or not,” Noah cautioned. “You’ll have no idea what she’s doing until it’s done. And no matter how long she’s been with the senator, I think everything she does needs to be suspect.”
“Agreed,” Raine said. “As amazing as it is holding conversations with Haven, I hope it’s long-term. It’s such a sudden change, though.”
“It is. Well, monitor him as much as possible. Don’t let him go off and do anything crazy.”
“Will do,” Noah answered, leaning into Raine’s shoulder. “And I’ll keep Raine out of trouble as well.”
“Hey,” she cried, laughing. “What the heck?”
Elizabeth laughed. “Be safe you two and come back as soon as you can.”
“Yes, ma’am. Bye.”
Raine looked at Noah. “You’ll keep me out of trouble? I think it goes the other way around, buddy.”
Noah grinned at her and stood, holding a hand out for her. Obviously, Raine didn’t need help standing up, but she took his hand anyway. Then she frowned when he let her go.
It was becoming way too easy to touch him like that.
Chapter 10
Noah felt a little invasive following Raine into her bedroom for the phone call, but he loved the slight flush of pink on her pale cheeks. When he sat right next to her on the bed, he thought she was going to leap off. There was a nervousness to her, an awareness, and he wondered if it was as strong as his own. Since the kiss, he’d been hyperaware of her wherever she was in the apartment. When he sat next to her on the bed, her heartbeat had fluttered, then taken off, loud enough in the quiet room that he could hear it. Her breathing had picked up as well, and there was a quiver to her exhalations that was so…arousing. He had a feeling she would make those same sounds making love.
Immediately his body quickened and he watched her try not to respond to him. Oh, okay, he could see what she was trying to do. He wasn’t going to let her though. As the conversation with Elizabeth progressed, he leaned in to speak a couple of times, and when they were done, he took her hand to ‘lift’ her off the bed. It was a little harder now to find alone time with the CIA and Haven here, but he would do what he could.
Officer Rose gave him a narrow-eyed look as they returned to the main room, and Noah just gave him a grin. When Poole had called them earlier, he’d said he was sorry to interrupt, meaning he had them on video. Rose and Poole knew that he’d kissed Raine. Or that she’d kissed him. They’d definitely kissed each other.
Noah had been around the block several times, but they’d always been stress free hookups. Women on the same base, or at the same bar. Quick and easy. He’d never had to go out of his way for companionship. Without ego he knew he was a good-looking guy. He’d worked hard for this body and women appreciated it. And he let women appreciate it, he thought with an internal chuckle.
Raine was different though. That first kiss at Christmas had shaken him a little, because it hadn’t been like anything else he’d ever experienced. Something about the woman called to him, made him want to slow down and look at things through her bright blue eyes. Damn, she had the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen, and the finest ass. It didn’t take much to remember how she’d felt straddling his lap. The surge of heat had shocked him.
Haven looked up from the table, frowning at him. Noah paused, wondering if he was thinking too loud. For some reason the look made Noah feel a little exposed.
“We’ve got surveillance photos of Manchester House but they’re not recent,” Poole said. “The satellite won’t have fresh pictures for another eight hours. If we go in, we go in slightly blind.”
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Rose sai
d, taking the pictures in hand. “If we don’t go in, there’s a chance they will either move the girl or kill her. They need leverage, though, so I assume they’ll take her underground and try to get away. I don’t think we’ll see the senator up here. He will want to disclaim any knowledge of what’s going on.”
There was a pounding at the door. Rose looked up sharply and motioned for his people to go see who it was. “I love that my safehouse has turned into Grand Fucking Central Station,” he muttered.
A tall, brown haired man stood on the other side of the door, hands clasped in front of himself in a typical military stance, though he was dressed in jeans and a suit jacket. A second man stood beside him, shorter and stouter, with deep, night-dark skin.
“General Holtman and Deputy Director Green to see Officer in Charge Rose.”
Rose welcomed the other men in warily, and Noah could almost see the building power struggle. More than likely they were each used to being the highest ranking official in the room. Holtman was beyond all of them. The general came prepared to cooperate, though, and Green appeared to be ready as well.
He introduced himself to the room and stepped up to shake Haven’s hand. “So, you’re the one all the fuss is about.”
Haven blinked, looking a little shocked. “I’m sorry, sir. I never meant to cause trouble.”
“Yet here we are.” He reached out to slap Haven’s arm a few times, almost knocking him over. “No worries. It would have happened sooner or later. Senator Hall has been a pain in our asses for many years and he’s cost many lives. Just the thought of how many men have willingly gone along with this scheme…” The deputy director shook his head, turning to Rose. “We have a brand-new team ready and waiting. And I have a judge on standby ready to file a warrant for the senator’s arrest for kidnapping, assault and a slew of other charges.”
