a Touch of the Past (An Everly Gray Adventure) (30 page)

"Sshh. Let me appreciate you, Sunshine."
 

Yes. That was exactly what he was doing. This wasn’t about sex. It was about...

He draped the towel over a rack and helped me into one of the Ma Kai bathrobes. "There’s fruit, cheese, and champagne on the lanai."

Taking my hand, he led me outside. "I checked on Adam’s flight. Delayed. We have a couple hours before we have to pick him up."

I faltered at the slider. Couldn’t take another step. The lanai was lined with candles, blazing bright in rainbow colors, blending with the sunlight that was sparkling on the waves like a million tiny diamonds.

Diamonds. Rainbows. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Is the rest of my life going to be diamonds and rainbows?"

"I sincerely hope so." There was a ripple of laughter under Mitch’s words.

I slapped my hand over my mouth. "It was rhetorical. I didn’t mean to say that. Must have been a hangover from last night."
 

Mitch wrapped his arm around my waist and guided me outside. With a tender kiss, he sat me in one of the cushy deck chairs, poured two glasses of champagne, and then he took my hands. "Whatever happened last night is part of you, and I love you."

I bent, pressing my face against our joined hands. "I can’t talk about it. It’s so new and strange. I don’t know what to do with it."
 

It was scaring me, him being so gentle, treating me like I might break.
 

"Whatever it is, Sunshine, we’ll face it together. I hope." He slipped his finger under my chin, lifting my face to his. "I want to share your life, protect you, care for you…"

My heart fluttered, the butterflies stealing my fear. My doubts.

"…to love you for the rest of our lives. Will you marry, me Everly?"

I needed to touch him. I brushed my fingers over his forehead, along his cheek, his lips. The images my fingertips picked up were soft and full of love. Seeing how I looked through his eyes always humbled me, only this time the love was so deep, so true, it touched my soul.
 

"I love you, Mitchell Hunt and—"

My cell rang. I didn’t want to grab for it, but with Annie and Parker still so ill…doubt crashed into me. I ran inside, snatched it off the dresser, and thumbed it on.
 

Adam. He was supposed to be on an airplane that was landing here in one hour.

Twenty-seven

My ears filled with a
dull roar that knocked the words that were forming in my mind into a meaningless pile of garbled letters. Fortunately, they didn’t escape, since Mitch’s expectant expression had shifted to a blank mask, his eyes shadowed with doubt.

Leaving him, running away, had put the doubt there, and I needed to take it away.

But a tiny voice in the corner of my mind niggled me to call Adam back. He should have been in mid-air over the Pacific. Warning vibrations shimmied along my spine. Something was off, but it would have to wait. For once I needed, wanted, to put Mitch first.
 

I shut out the neon green number staring at me, tucked the phone in my pocket, and smiled at Mitch, bringing all of my attention and love right back where it belonged. I took his wrist and led him back outside.

"And," I said, sitting across from him, holding both of his hands in mine, and pausing until his brown eyes warmed to melted chocolate. "There is nothing that would keep me from spending the rest of my life with you. Will you, Mitchell Hunt accept me, with my quirks and ESP fingers, as a permanent part of your life?"

"Yes." His answer was soft, but sure, and it held the promise of tomorrow. He leaned forward, pulling me into his arms and kissed me. I didn’t hesitate, slipped my hands inside his robe and ran my palms over his chest. "Mine."

"Yours." He caught my hands. "This part of our future needs to be moved inside."

 
He backed me into the room, my fingers busy untying the belt on his robe. I pushed it from his shoulders, and did an involuntary lip lick. Every inch of him, every irresistible nook and cranny called to me, demanded my touch. My palms skimmed his body. "You’re so warm. I want to—"

He slipped a finger under my chin and tipped my face up, his mouth stopping my words with a slow kiss. When he stepped back, my robe was on the floor and his gaze explored my body, the dimple in his cheek popping out when he caught me fidgeting. "We have at least an hour."

A flash of need burned through the core of my body, and I smoothed my palms along the sides of his torso, his back, seeking something deeper than touch. Something eternal. "I need to be one with you, to feel you in every fiber of my being."
 

I reveled in the shudder that rippled through him, the muscles that tightened under my hands. His physical response to my touch was so honest and real. "You’re my touchstone with reality, Mitchell Hunt."

 
"And you’re my magic, Sunshine."

His words caught me, twisted around my heart. I didn’t want to be magic. I wanted to be normal—and then I met his gaze and saw the magic—golden light mixed with the warm brown in his eyes. Reality and magic. Us. Together. My gifts might be difficult, but he respected them. And I couldn’t, wouldn’t, deny them. Not ever again. They were a part of me and were meant to be shared. Starting now.
 

I ran my fingertips over his cheek. "The real magic is that you accept me, gifts and all, and that helps me to accept them. And the certainty you feel about what we share. It chases my doubt away. Not about us, but about myself. I never really believed I could love someone, share who I am with anyone because of my gift. Because I’ve always seen what guys wanted to hide, how they wanted to use me for quick sex and then move on. Love looks pink to me, and the depth of the color surrounding your heart is almost red it’s so intense. I promise, Mitchell Hunt, to respect what I see when I touch you, to treat it as the gift it is, and to honor your boundaries."

"You already do that. But this is different?" He stroked my body, his hands everywhere, caressing, arousing.
 

"Umm-hmm." Explanations could wait. Sex. Need. Hands. Mouths. I licked his lips, taking his breath into my lungs. "We’re alive, the reality and magic binding us together. Right here. Right now."

"Now is good," he whispered, tumbling us onto the bed.
 

Waves pounded on the shore, the perfect background to the physical promise of the love that we shared. Wild and peaceful. Strong and gentle. Perfect. It was my last thought before drifting into a light sleep.
 

Mitch tilted his head, rousing me, his gaze holding mine. "Are you ready to leave Hawaii, Annie, and Kahuna Aukele?"

I inhaled a deep breath, held it until my lungs ached for release. "Yes. Annie and Parker are going to be fine. Parker has Jayne. Adam will be here within the hour, so Annie will have both her brother and her fiancé to take care of her. I know your house is your sanctuary, that you need the freedom of the country to heal after your assignments, and I want us to make our home there…"
 

I jerked away from Mitch. "Oh, no! I totally forgot to call the Hilton and cancel their wedding plans. Sean asked me to, said he couldn’t do it."

Mitch smiled, sweetly shy. "And they have a wedding ready to happen minus the bride and groom. Your only living relative is here. What would you think about us…?"

Married. Tomorrow. It
was right
. "Annie would love it if we used the moment, make her day special since she can’t. I have my dress. All we need is the paperwork and rings. But what about your parents and your brother?"

"We can Skype them in. I think Adam and Jayne will stand up for us.

"We’re getting married. Tomorrow!"
 

And then Mitch and I would return to North Carolina and face reality head on. Together. There was a lot to be said for the strength of two people, joined with love. I slipped my hand into Mitch’s.
 

"Let’s go get Adam and ask him to be our best man."

"Adam. Damn it all, I forgot about Adam. That was him on the phone." I yanked it out of my pocket and hit speed dial.

"There’s no answer."

Mitch cocked his head at me. "He’s in flight. Are you sure it was Adam?"

I shook my head. "It was his number, but I guess it could have been anyone using his phone. Maybe he lost it or something. He wouldn’t have missed that flight, not with Annie so sick."

"Voicemail?" Mitch asked.

"Yes! There’s a message." I flicked the button, then turned on Speaker so we could both listen.

Adam, here. Had to catch a later flight. Annie’s
…his voice faltered…
Annie’s townhouse, and yours were ransacked. Don’t think anything is missing, but I had to check it out before I could leave. Tynan Pierce is here, staying at Annie’s. Watching. I’m in LA. Layover. Arriving in Honolulu at nine tonight.
 

"Someone broke into our houses? That must be what Brody Williams meant. There has to be someone working with him." Panic surged through me. "But nothing was taken. Damn it, I hope whoever it was didn’t spread the toxin all over. Pierce is staying there, and Adam would have gone through everything."

"Gloves. They’re both very experienced, and they both know about the toxin." Mitch took the phone out of my hand and dropped it back in my pocket. "They’re good men, well trained. So let them do their job while we take care of things here. At least you weren’t there. Williams, or his proxy, didn’t hurt you."

There was enough wobble to his words that I knew it scared him, too. "We have each other. And I’m not sure the townhouse means that much to me anymore, not with Annie moving here."

 
He kissed the top of my head. It was an advantage to being taller, and it always made me smile. "Since we have three hours, well, two and a half, could we go check on Annie and Parker. I know they’re not awake, but I’d like a few minutes alone with Annie to ask if we can take over her wedding. And Sean, we should ask him, too."

"We can do that. I’m thinking we should bring the Jeep to Adam at the airport. He’ll want to stay with Annie."

I stepped out of Mitch’s arms. "Yeah, that’s a good plan. We can collect his baggage, give him the key to Pierce’s room, then he’ll be able to move around on his own, do what he needs to do."

Mitch tilted his head, a mischievous gleam in his eyes, and then he swatted my butt. "Couldn’t resist."

I flipped him a look on my way to the closet. "Payback happens."

We headed back to
Tripler
—a little later than we’d planned because we got carried away changing clothes. Mitch liked my lacey underwear.
 

The guard manning the Tripler gate recognized us from previous visits, so motioned us through. It gave me pause. "We need to make sure Pierce cleared Adam so he can get in to see Annie. I think. Maybe not, maybe Adam has an in with the military that I don’t know about."
 

"I think Adam can handle it, and he’s perfectly capable of checking with Pierce." There was a bit of a growl to Mitch's words.

Oops. I’d nudged the one place where Mitch was insecure—Tynan Pierce. Well, I got that. After all this time, I wasn’t sure about Pierce either. Best to let that one go. Sometimes silence is much better than useless words.
 

Mitch parked, then waited, watching me over the edge of his wire-rims. "Annie probably won’t be able to respond yet, you know."

"I know. But I need to ask her anyway, make sure it’s okay for us to step into her wedding." I worried my bottom lip. "It’s a thing. I have to touch her, see if she understands."

He nodded. "We’ll see Annie first. Then we can ask Jayne to stand up for us, and we can talk to Adam when we meet him at the airport."

I flashed him a smile. "Perfect."

 
We rode the elevator to the ICU, and I checked my cell for any messages while Mitch stopped in at the nurses’ station, asking them to send Sean out so we could switch places.
 

He strolled back to me, pointing down the hall with a huge smile on his face. "They’re out of intensive care. Moved over to a regular room about fifteen minutes ago."

We trooped down the hallway, talking over each other, bubbling with excitement at the news. One of the nurses must have recognized us, because he pointed over my shoulder. "Right through there. They’re in a semi-private suite."
 

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but to have the four of us in the same room with Annie and Parker well on their way to recovery held a special magic. The energy sizzled. Sean and Jayne still had crater-sized circles under their eyes, and their faces were lined with fatigue, but their bodies were relaxed and their smiles were genuine.

Sean grabbed Mitch in a guy-hug, slapping him on the back a few times. "Glad you’re here. She’s good, man. Gonna be okay."
 

And me? I watched. With my eyes closed, of course. I needed to see the rainbow, to reassure myself that it was still working, and there was no sign of dull green poison anywhere around these two people who meant so much to me.