Preconception

by Aliyah Burke

  She saw the headlights in the side mirror. They closed in with incredible speed and she whimpered when the vehicles collided. Again and again the one behind hit into them and she couldn’t help the scream this time when they rolled off the road and toward the edge of the mountain. They teetered on the side for a brief heart-stopping moment before sliding on.

  * * * *

  Declan stirred and winced at the pain that lanced up his side. He touched his head and drew his fingers away, tacky with his blood. What the hell had happened? He took a moment and tried to sort through the events that had put him in this predicament.

  Protection. Running. Shooting. Caro.

  He couldn’t see anything because of the inky darkness surrounding them. Not even the headlights were on. “Caro?” He reached out one arm and sought her in the dark. Nothing.

  “Caro? Sweetheart, I need you to answer me if you can hear me. I can’t see you. Are you okay?” He struggled to unhook his seatbelt, grunting at the impact of him hitting the roof when he was finally freed. They were upside down and he moved cautiously against the roof to where she should be. One of her hands hit him in the face. Moving with instinct, he unhooked her belt and caught her weight as she collapsed onto him.

  He lay there, arms around her as he checked for a pulse in her neck. She had one and he breathed in relief. The wind rocked them and he stiffened when the vehicle slid forward slightly.

  Shit. I have to get us out of here. Problem was, he didn’t know where they were, or what was outside. That didn’t matter. All he truly knew was they couldn’t stay in here and slip to whatever was below. He inched back and tried the handle on the door. It creaked open and he squinted against the swirling snow. Keeping the still unresponsive Caro against his chest, he continued on until they were fully free of the overturned SUV.

  It may have been longer but to him it didn’t much feel like it when the vehicle tipped and slipped down. He shivered and wrapped his arms tighter around the still unmoving woman in his embrace. As he continued moving them back, inch by cautious inch, he ran over what possessions they had.

  Their clothes. At least each still had on their coat. No hats, though. He had his Glock, he could feel the handgrip pressing into the small of his back as he inched along. The wind whipped the snowflakes around and they stung like little bees as they struck his exposed skin. With one hand he turned up the collar of his coat and curved his fingers inside the sleeve. He had no gloves.

  “Mmm.”

  He froze at the low groan from Caro. Two more escaped her before she stirred.

  “What happened?” Caro asked in a rasped tone, like she’d taken a punch to the throat.

  Or the snap of a seatbelt across her throat. “We went over the road. SUV’s gone over and we need to get up to the road and find a way to the airport so we can get back to Atlanta. How are you feeling?”

  “Like I went over the edge in a car accident.” She shifted. “Why am I lying on you?”

  “You were unresponsive and I had to get you out of the vehicle.”

  “I can’t see shit.”

  “Me either. And no, I don’t know where we are.”

  “Damn. What about the ones who were after us?”

  “Haven’t heard a peep from them, if they’re still up there. They may very well have continued on their way once we went over.” She got off him but didn’t go far—her leg against his told him that.

  “So what do we do?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Head hurts but I don’t think there’re any broken bones, if that’s what you are asking.” A moment of silence. “What about you?”

  “Same.”

  “Okay, so we can move. But to where and how? I can’t see a damn thing and I don’t know where the edge is.”

  “I’m going back from where the truck went over. Slowly.” He fixed his other sleeve to protect his hands. “Keep as much of your body covered as you can.”

  “Do you want your gloves?”

  He’d been moving again but stopped. “My gloves?”

  “Yeah, I took a pair of yours from the cabin before we left.”

  Hell yes he wanted them. His fingers were crying in agony. “You need to keep them.”

  “Do—” She grabbed his arm and worked her way down. “You don’t even have any protection. Take them.”

  “No.”

  “Look, it’s smarter that way. My clothes are bigger, I can wrap them in my sweatshirt. You have a gun, I’d just rather your fingers not be frozen when the time comes for you to be needing to pull a trigger.”

  “We’ll share.” He nearly groaned as the warmth surrounded his digits. “Fingers okay?” he asked.

  “All wrapped up in my shirt and long-sleeved shirt. Then the coat sleeve. I’m fine. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  A few tics of time later and she wrapped a scarf around his neck.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I have a hood in this coat. I’m guessing you have nothing since you left in your bomber jacket.” Her lips brushed his skin. “Don’t worry, it’s not hot pink.”

  He wouldn’t have cared. It stopped more of the buffeting snow and wind. “Thank you.”

  They worked together in mostly silence until he could feel the hard packed road beneath his feet. Helping her up to stand beside him, Declan wrapped an arm around her. She leaned against him without a word.

  “What now?”

  “I could use a break from this weather. Let’s see if can’t find some shelter then figure out where we are and how to get to the airport from here.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” She hooked her arm through his and yawned.

  Declan thought about where they’d been when the car had first begun nudging them. There should be an abandoned cabin not too far from where they were. He struck out and she came with. Her body trembled beside his but she never once made a complaining peep.

  It had been a while since he’d been there but he still managed to find the cabin within the hour. Or what remained of it. Not even a full four walls but there was a bit of barricade from the winds and cold as they sank down and huddled close.

  “Tired,” she muttered.

  “Stay awake, Caro. I can’t have you falling asleep on me here.”

  “Just a short nap? I’ll let you take one after.”

  “No. We can’t risk falling asleep.”

  “Right. Hypothermia.” She moved closer. “So what? Wanna strip naked and share body heat?”

  “I would love to,” he said candidly. “Not going to happen, though. We just need to rest our legs a bit before we press on.” He touched his head wound, grateful to discover it had stopped bleeding.

  “So we’re supposed to sit here and not fall asleep?”

  Her tone made him chuckle. “Exactly.”

  “Okay, so talk to me then.”

  He fought his own yawn. “About what?”

  “Christ, man, I don’t care. Anything to keep me from falling asleep.”

  “Tell me about you and Jimmy.”

  She stiffened. “Okay, let’s not talk about anything. He’s off the table. If I’m about to die, I don’t want to do it with that prick on my mind.”

  He smiled slightly. “So what then?”

  “Tell me about you being married before.”

  Not a topic he wanted to go through but, hell, why not? “Very well. I wasn’t married but a few years.”

  “Who. To whom?”

  “The ADA prosecuting the case you’re part of.”

  He didn’t hear a peep out of her for two and a half minutes. “You were married to the woman prosecuting. The ADA.”

  He nodded. “Yep. Jacquelyn Ashcraft.”

  “So what happened?”

  Any other situation and he would have shut her down, not wanting to expound on the dissolution of his marriage. But it was what it was.

  “We’d married when I was new to the force. Later on, it was apparent she wasn’t content being with just an officer.”


  “Aren’t you still an officer?”

  “I am. She wanted me to become a detective and move up the ladder. I was then, and still am now, content with walking a beat. I like where I am.” He flexed his toes. “So she moved on as she continued to move up. It wouldn’t do for a woman angling to become the next District Attorney to have a regular cop as a husband. So she left me and our small place and moved uptown.”

  “Bitch.”

  Her heartfelt sentiment had him smiling, full-fledged this time. “She’s always been after something more. I was a mere mortal in her way of becoming immortal.”

  “So she ditched you and wanted her gilded cage.”

  “Pretty much. This case will most likely cement her bid for DA if it goes well.”

  “I see.” Her words were subdued.

  “You are way different than I thought you’d be in a situation like this.”

  Her bark of self-deprecating laughter was anything but amusing. “Yeah, it’s like I’m a whole other person.”

  “It is. And since we’re putting all cards out, I like this persona better, much better, than the Jasmine I first met.”

  She muttered something that sounded a lot like ‘me too’ before giving a noncommittal grunt.

  With a bit more energy, he helped her up and took five seconds kissing her before saying, “Let’s get this over with.”

  Chapter Nine

  Bones had been replaced by icicles. Caro wasn’t sure she’d ever be warm again. She drew her arms inside her clothes and shoved her freezing fingers beneath her armpits. They’d walked and rested then walked some more.

  I’d put my toes under here too. Her feet cried for warmth. “How much farther?”

  “Few miles.”

  “This is like walking along Mendota in eighty below.”

  “What?”

  Shit. I have to be careful what I say. The cold is addling my brain. “Just muttering.” She definitely had to be more careful. It wouldn’t do to be talking about a lake in Madison, Wisconsin, when she was supposed to be from Atlanta.

  If he had any suspicions he didn’t share them. “Need a break?”

  “Yes. And a car. Some thick socks fresh from the dryer.” She grinned at the thought. “After a hot shower. Oh, God, a nice steamy hot bath.”

  “Didn’t you just say shower?”

  Semantics. “Changed my mind. I want to be submerged in the water. Have it surround me in a cocoon of warmth.”

  “Wine as well?”

  “No. Hot toddie.”

  He drew her close. How he managed to exude such heat in their current situation, she had no clue. “And are you alone?”

  Her body responded. Apparently it wasn’t so cold. “I may have room…for a cop. Might be a tight fit, though, so we’d be in close proximity.”

  “How close?” His warm breath teased her ear.

  “Very. Fitting close like a puzzle piece.”

  “Sounds like heaven to me.”

  “Yes it does.”

  He kissed her and she sagged into him. His strong arms banded around her, anchoring her to his unending strength.

  “Then let’s get there.”

  She longed to cry by the time she saw the outlying lights for the small airstrip.

  “Damn it.”

  Two words she had no wish to hear. She crouched beside him, bracing her arm against him. “Those trucks shouldn’t be there, should they?”

  “Nope.”

  “Don’t they think we’re dead? Why are they waiting there?” She desperately wanted them to go away and leave her the fuck alone. Go so she could begin to thaw out and remember what it was like to have feeling in her limbs.

  “Reckon because they are scared of their boss and don’t want to risk anything going wrong.”

  “But how would he know if they waited or not?”

  “When you show up in court that man will know you weren’t stopped here. They killed the other witness. Jackie told me that when I talked to her before we left.”

  “You talked to her before we left?”

  “Yes.”

  Why did that knowledge fill her with jealousy? I’ll chalk it up to the cold because there’s no way in hell I’m thinking straight.

  “So what do we do now?”

  “I say we head for one of the smaller outbuildings and get out of the wind for a bit then decide how we’re going to overtake them and steal a plane.”

  “Can you fly?”

  “Yes.”

  Her brow rose at that. Another piece to the man puzzle of one Declan McBride. Cop. Amazing lover. Pilot.

  They moved slowly down and she was actually thankful to the wind as it howled around them for it masked the sound of the door squeaking open. They slipped through into the dark building. She could see a bit more since one of the tall outside lights was near but there wasn’t complete ease of seeing around them. She saw several desk shapes, a few chairs and outlines of shelving units.

  Caro didn’t move until Declan had checked the entire thing. The cold still lingered but, considering that she no longer trudged through deep snow and fought off brutal wind, she was fine.

  “We’re good. Stay away from the window, though.”

  “Sure.”

  She avoided the chair and sat on the desk, feet off the cold floor. Moments later, Declan sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

  “What’s the plan?”

  “I need to get a phone and discover how many are out there.”

  “There should be a phone in here. I mean, it’s an office.”

  “You’re right. Let’s look, just be careful.”

  “My new middle name.” She slid off and went to the side away from the window. There was another small room and she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Then she flipped on the light. A bathroom.

  Swiftly she took care of emptying her bladder then took out some paper towels and stared at the dried blood on her head as she washed her hands. Turning on the water, she waited for it to get hot. Declan knocked.

  “You okay?”

  She shut off the light and opened the door, drew him in and shut it behind him. Then she hit the switch again. The man took up a good bit of the room in there. He wore her red scarf and she saw blood on him as well.

  “You need to wipe off that blood.” She wetted the towels in her hand and beckoned him closer. Declan stepped around her and sat on the closed toilet lid. She did her best to be gentle as she got off the dried blood.

  The hot water began to steam up the room but she didn’t shut it off. The warmth felt wonderful. The small room allowed their own body heat to add to it as well.

  Declan stood up and took the wet wad from her hand then tossed it in the trash. He drew her close and unzipped her coat. She returned the favor and sought out his skin beneath his shirt.

  Everything but the two of them faded. This was about nothing more than the two of them being grateful they were alive. His lips proved to be too much of a temptation for her and she pulled him to her mouth. Needing to feel him.

  In a heartbeat it went from gentle to dominating. Caro didn’t mind. This man, this cop allowed her what she needed. He lifted her and pressed her against the wall. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moved her arms to hook around his neck.

  “Caro,” he rasped.

  She shifted against him. “Please.”

  They exploded, tearing at clothing until she moaned with pleasure as the thick head of his cock nudged into her. Caro’s eyelids fluttered and she exhaled as he filled her.

  Declan rested one hand against the wall at her head. His other he had between them as he played with her clit. Light flicks had Caro grinding against his shaft.

  “Move,” she panted.

  He did with a swift pinch to her clit. Caro dug her hands into his broad shoulders and bit her lower lip as he stroked deep and hard. Their grunts filled the air as they both catapulted down toward the end they craved.

  Long powerful thrusts. Be
hind them the steam continued to build in time with the passion. She closed her eyes and rode it out. Words weren’t needed. This was not tender. Not slow and gentle. This contained a desperate edge. Almost like they both knew it would be the last time.

  He released her clit and put her hand there instead. When his fingers sank into her hips she mewled and played with herself.

  “So fucking sexy.” His words were low and drawn out.

  Caro opened her eyes and found him watching where they were joined. His gaze blazed when he met hers and she flexed her internal muscles. His grin was feral and she gasped when he increased his speed. His jaw was set, his muscles in his neck drawn taut as he fucked her.

  The release raced over her, spreading throughout her entire body, and she bowed, a keening cry escaping before he slammed his mouth upon hers, silencing her. One, two, three more strokes before his seed filled her.

  He remained buried inside her as they both fought for breath. Against her, his heart pounded as hard as her own. The kiss gentled and he eventually drew back.

  “What?” His unrelenting gaze sort of unnerved her.

  “I want you again.” He thrust his hips. “And again. I can’t get enough of you, Jasmine.”

  Had he stripped her naked and plunged her outside in the wind and snow, she couldn’t have been any colder than she was right then. Forcing her expression to remain neutral, she gave a shrug. “Don’t we have a plane to catch?”

  He withdrew and placed her on the floor. They cleaned up swiftly and she shut off the hot water after dressing. She wanted to cry but she refused to allow any tears to fall.

  You brought this on yourself, Caro. You made the decision to go along with this charade and the man has no reason not to buy you being your twin.

  He held her stare and dragged a knuckle down her cheek before hitting the switch and plunging them into darkness before he opened the door. They went to separate ends and began looking for the phone.

  She located it and lifted the receiver checking for a dial tone. “Declan.”

  “Find one?”

  “Yes.”

  He was beside her in no time and she handed him the phone. She listened as he dialed a number and asked for Lieutenant Meltzer.