Rescue Mission

by Danica Winters

  He tapped on their hotel room door before making his way inside. Joe must have been in the travel crib; a blanket was draped over the bars. Summer was perched on the bed, her knees up, as she watched some kind of true crime television show on the flat-screen.

  She put her fingers to her lips as he walked in, then pointed at the crib, motioning that Joe was asleep.

  There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about and so many questions that he wanted to ask—about what plans she had in mind, and how they would keep in touch when she went away. When Kevin had requested he take Joe, Mike’s first reaction had been absolute and abject fear. He was in no way capable of taking care of a baby alone. The kid had peed on him; he could only imagine what else was in store. He didn’t know much about taking care of a baby, and if he didn’t have Summer standing over his shoulder and coaching him along, Mike wasn’t sure he would really know what to do.

  That being said, he would be more than happy to take his son. It was his duty as the father and, even if he wasn’t Joe’s dad, he would have done it for her.

  Summer sat up and moved to the end of the bed. Standing, she made her way over to him and took him by the hand. Without a word, she led him into the bathroom, apparently wanting to talk somewhere that wouldn’t bother Joe.

  Good.

  She pushed the door closed behind them with her foot. He rested against the marble counter and just as he opened his mouth to speak, she moved between his legs and took his face in her hands. He stopped as she stared into his eyes. His body responded; the hungry look she was giving him meant only one thing.

  Leaning in, he took her lips and slipped his hands around her waist, pulling her hard against him so she could tell exactly how she made him feel. He wanted her, had wanted her from the moment she had come back into his life, but now she was on the cusp of walking back out.

  Oh, the irony. It was an incredibly painful thing to have a life filled with contradictions.

  As badly as he wanted to take this time and make every part of her body quake with ecstasy, he questioned it. Things were likely to change, permanently, between them if they opted for this road. If he chose to take her, here and now, it would be making the choice to keep her forever. But there was no way of knowing if she was in the same place or same frame of mind. Maybe she wanted to have one last night together.

  He wanted to stop their kiss, to pull back and talk. But from her feverish pitch, if he pulled away now, it would only lead to a full stop. He couldn’t run the risk of her thinking that his questioning their situation was any sort of rejection.

  Summer was and had always been his everything, even when they hadn’t been together.

  She tasted like trepidation and excitement, mixed with the sweet and salty flavor of her lips. He’d always loved the way she tasted.

  Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his hair, guiding his mouth closer, savoring their kiss.

  “Take me,” she said, not even bothering to stray from their kiss.

  Damn, she was so damn hot.

  He flipped her around so that she was pressed against the counter and then lifted her onto the cold stone. She gasped as he slid down her pants and her warm flesh pressed against the marble. He smiled, taking a certain amount of joy in the fact that she was having such a medley of sensations. He couldn’t have planned it better. She was the kind of woman who needed every sense thrumming to really enjoy lovemaking.

  He got down on his knees in front of her and kissed her skin, starting at her ankle and slowly working all the way up her inner thigh to the soft, satiny fabric of her panties. She tasted just as good as her lips. As he gently ran his fingers under the edge of her underwear, she lifted her hips and he slipped them down her legs, exposing her fully to the air.

  He pulled her closer to the edge of the counter as he gave her a greedy grin. Reaching up, he unbuttoned her shirt, pulling it off her shoulders as he kissed where the fabric had just rested. He slipped his hands behind her back and undid the clasp of her bra with two fingers. Thankfully, that part was easier than he had remembered. He smiled as he edged the black straps down and exposed her dark pink nipples to the air. They were as hard as he was and he pulled one into his mouth. She arched beneath his kiss, groaning as he made her nipple grow impossibly harder. He flicked his tongue against her hard nub.

  He ached for her as she moved against him. “I hope I’m still as good at some things as you remember,” he said, releasing her from his torturous kiss.

  She answered with a lusting, seductive smile. “I’m sure you are. If anything, I bet it’s like fine wine and it’s gotten better with age, just like the rest of you.”

  He ran his hands along her thighs toward the point where they met. He grazed her most sensitive bit, making her shudder. “That’s what I think of you calling me ‘old.’ You won’t do it again, will you?” He pressed his fingers inside her as he spoke, eliciting only a nod as a moan rippled from her throat.

  His mouth went to the place his fingers had been and her moan grew louder. This was one of those moments he wished he could make last forever. He loved watching her as she threw her head back, her glistening hair falling down her back. Her lips had grown pinker, the same shade as her nipples.

  He took his time, savoring her sweetness and the way she writhed as he worked her over. Yes, if he spent his entire life in this position, he would have considered it a life well spent. It didn’t take long until a series of quakes and shudders took over her body and she cried out.

  He hadn’t lost his touch. She held out her hands, motioning for him to stand, apparently unable to find the words.

  Her eyes were glazed. This was just how he liked her—well sated, to the point that all she could do was smile and relax.

  And yet, instead of relaxing, Summer reached down and opened his belt buckle, kissing his neck as she slowly unzipped his pants. With her mouth moving against his neck, he could barely register everything she was doing to him, but he soon found his pants on the floor and her putting on a condom and directing him into her.

  She leaned back as he slowly moved inside her.

  “Damnnnn...” he groaned, barely able to think about anything besides how she felt against him.

  He had spent many nights since their breakup imagining moments and memory-makers like these, with her back pressed against the mirror and her ass on the countertop of a hotel bathroom, but they all paled in comparison to the reality.

  Though she had been thoroughly satisfied once, Mike knew he held the power to send her there again. If this was going to be the last time they’d ever be together, he wanted to give her the best she could get. Maybe, if he was lucky, she would think about him after she left and use him in the same way he had spent so many nights thinking about and using her.

  He pressed deep into her, hitting the depth of her but giving her more. She moaned, the sound full of pleasure and tipped with the sweetness he knew could bring her to the edge once again. Slowly, he worked in and out, until her nectar ran heavy...she was close.

  Summer grabbed his hand and pressed it against her mouth as she finished. The sensation of her arching and quaking against him made it impossible to hold back. Together they found what they had both been missing.

  Chapter Eighteen

  There were perfect moments in her life, but last night had been one of the best. Mike had always been an incredible lover, but he was even better than she had remembered.

  What was even sweeter was that after their lovemaking, they had gone to bed together. He had wrapped her in his arms and she had slept better than she had in years. Joe had even managed to sleep through the night, which was a miracle in and of itself.

  But now came the time to say goodbye.

  Every part of her hurt with the thought of leaving her boys. And there was nothing she hated more than goodbye. Hawaiians had it right, using only one word—aloha—int
erchangeably for both hello and goodbye. With only one word, you were reminded at the moment of parting of how good it had felt to say hello. It was almost a reminder that soon enough the person you loved so much would be coming back into your life. But maybe goodbye really was the better word here; she could make no promises of return. She could only hope.

  Mike held Joe in his lap, rocking him gently as he fed him a bottle. Joe was gazing over at her as he guzzled the liquid, but she couldn’t help but notice the way he refused to turn his head away from her. The look in his young, innocent eyes didn’t make her leaving any easier.

  “I’m sorry, little guy. Mama has to go. I love you.” She looked at Mike and their eyes met. “And I love you too,” she said, regretting that she hadn’t said it before in the last few days.

  She wished she had found a better moment to tell Mike how she was really feeling, but this would have to do. At least he wouldn’t be left wondering if she felt the same as he did. Sure, they could only have a long-distance relationship right now, but hopefully the future brought something different.

  She couldn’t believe she was leaving.

  But she had to go before this got any more difficult than it already was.

  One more kiss. She walked over and ran her hand over Joe’s soft, downy hair, trying to take this one last chance to memorize the way his hair felt, just like she was touching a passing cloud. Leaning in, she gave him a soft kiss and took in his baby smell.

  She looked up at Mike. “I hope you know that you are going to do great. Since the beginning, I have always known you would be the world’s greatest dad. And husband.” Her voice cracked.

  He took her hand, his warmed by the baby, and pulled her lips to his. “I love you, Summer. When things go back to normal, I would be honored if you would consider being my wife.”

  In her wildest dreams she wouldn’t have thought something like that would happen—her walking out seconds after Mike promised her forever.

  Though her thoughts briefly moved to the past, she really only cared about this moment and the hope that rested at her fingertips, fingertips that had just brushed against the clouds and now rested in the radiant warmth of Mike’s sunny touch.

  “And I would be thrilled if you would allow me the honor of taking you as my husband.” She kissed him, lacing her lips against his with a delicate promise. “With or without a piece of paperwork, the ceremony, and a party... I thee wed.”

  “And I thee wed, Mrs. Spade.”

  She took his face in her hands. “Mr. Spade.” She rested her forehead against his, letting this simple touch in this complicated moment be all that she needed to solidify the bond and promise that had been so long in coming between them.

  “Forever, you will be mine and I will be yours.” Mike put his hand on hers, cupping them together against the stubble on his face.

  She gave him one last kiss, letting her lips linger on his for a moment too long, a moment that allowed the tears to start to well in her eyes. Instead of turning away, blocking him from seeing how she truly felt, she let him look upon her...let him see that this was harder than anything before.

  “I’m sorry I have to do this. I’m sorry I have to leave,” she said, trying to keep herself from sobbing.

  “Baby, you know I understand. But you have to know that you are not leaving forever. Only for right now, and Joe and I will be waiting for you when you get back.”

  “Where are you going to take him?” she asked.

  “Once I know you’re safe, I’ll take him back to the STEALTH compound. When you are ready, you can come there too. We can plan a real wedding. Get every kind of flower you can dream of and have a ceremony at the bottom of a rolling mountainscape. We could do it this month, have the world covered in snow. Do a winter wedding.”

  She knew he was talking of all this in an attempt to give her a moment to collect herself and to think about something other than the pain she was feeling, and she loved him more for it. He had always known how important it had been to her that she stay strong, and he also knew how it was a battle she often lost—and he loved her through it all.

  “I’d love a winter wedding. Red flowers, gray mountains, white snow.” She could see the landscape in her mind’s eye. Yes, it would have been beautiful. “All I’d want is me, you, Joe and a witness. Something simple.”

  “All I want is you.” He smiled.

  “I’ll start planning,” she continued. “I have a feeling that I may have a great deal of free time on my hands when I get to Kirtland. They will probably have me doing a bit of training, but—”

  Mike’s phone buzzed, cutting her off.

  He looked down, surprise registering on his features. “Kevin is outside. He is waiting.”

  She wouldn’t even bother to wonder how or when Kevin had gotten Mike’s number and tracked her down to this hotel, but he must have figured out that she didn’t have hers with her and just as quickly gotten a bead on them.

  There was no more time for softness, no more time for goodbyes. There was only the harsh, bitter, wintery reality that waited for her outside.

  “Have a good flight.” Mike let go of her and resettled Joe’s bottle for him. “Let me know when you make it and that you got there safely. Okay?”

  She nodded as she turned, grabbed her bags, and walked out. Looking back, she gave him one more wave as the door to her world closed behind her.

  KEVIN WAS SITTING in a blue pickup outside the lobby’s front doors. He was scowling at his phone, looking annoyed. This was going to be either the longest or the shortest trip ever. Only time would tell.

  Summer knocked on the window. He looked up and motioned for her to get in, but the annoyed look on his face didn’t lessen. Throwing her bags in the back seat, she climbed up into the front passenger seat of the truck and buckled in.

  Kevin didn’t say anything as he put the truck into gear and pulled away from the hotel. The air was heavy with angst, but she wasn’t sure if it was coming from her or from Kevin. Though she wanted to ask him about the day’s plans, she didn’t dare speak. This was his show, and he had been kind enough to offer her a safe harbor.

  They drove for five minutes before he finally cleared his throat. “What did you learn?”

  She slid him a sideways look, trying to figure out exactly what kind of answer he was looking for from such a cold, no-lead question. “I’m sorry?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

  “What has this exercise taught you?” He repeated the question in the same monotone voice.

  “Exercise?” What was he talking about?

  Kevin didn’t say anything as he pulled up to the gates of Malmstrom Air Force Base, flashed the guard his ID and answered a few questions before the gates were opened and they were waved through.

  He remained silent as her mind whirled, trying to make sense of Kevin’s question. Was he implying that what had happened to her—Joe’s kidnapping...the code exchange—all of it had been some sort of training exercise?

  She had to have heard him wrong. He couldn’t have possibly put her and her child in danger in an attempt to teach her something... Or had it been to test her?

  She didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand.

  Her thoughts came in short, fast bursts.

  If Kevin was using this to teach her something, he was a total jerk. Who would use her child? If that was what he was willing to do, then she wasn’t sure this job and the people she worked for were the kinds of people she wanted to be associated with.

  Anger oozed from her pores. She could kill the man sitting next to her. “How in the hell do you sleep at night?”

  He frowned as he looked over at her. “What?”

  “Are you telling me that all of this was your doing? That your people took my son? That you staged all this?” She tried to find the words threatening to melt together in her fiery rage. “How did
you get Ben to go along with this nonsense?”

  Kevin slowed as he drove through the base, toward the airfield. “First, I don’t know who Ben is or what you think he’s gone along with. Second, it wasn’t my idea to do things this way. I have to answer to a boss, as well, and I was just told what to do and how to do it. I didn’t agree to kidnapping Joe, but your friend Mike made it all too easy for our contractors to get their hands on your boy.”

  How dare he blame this on Mike. He hadn’t done anything she wouldn’t have done. “You had to have given them the okay. No one would just take a child.”

  “I don’t have to answer your questions, but given the circumstances and how all of this has unfortunately played out, I will make an exception in telling you that those men—the contractors who took Joe—paid the price for coloring outside the lines. For this training exercise, they were given strict instructions to watch you and to learn your potential weaknesses while you dug into Mike for information about Rockwood. However, they jumped the gun. Both have been released from their contracts with DARPA.”

  “And that is all to say nothing about how you played me,” she seethed. “You made me feel like I wasn’t going to get Joe back. You manipulated me into playing their stupid game.”

  Oh crap. What have I done by bringing Mike into this?

  “Is Mike in trouble?” she asked.

  “Don’t you think you should be more concerned about your own welfare, given the fact that you brought an unauthorized person into your work with the DTRA?” Kevin asked.

  “If Ben hadn’t threatened me, and if your people hadn’t taken our son, I would have never gone to Mike for help. You forced me into a position where I had no allies. What little I told him was limited to what he needed to know. You can hardly hold that against me.”

  Kevin stared at her for a long moment. “Who is Ben and how did he threaten you, exactly? Are you talking about your ex from your days in Rockwood?”