Collateral Damage (27 page)

He arched a brow as he moved toward her and she melted even more. “Interesting. Just how long do I have before this said event?” He tossed an open condom on the bed, then the box of them as he looked down at her.

“Not long.”

“Long enough to do this?” He knelt at the bottom of the bed and lifted her foot to gently scrape his nail along her instep.

“Oh my God,” Lauren gasped as her hips lifted involuntarily to the wild shock that hit the very center of her sex. She had no idea the places were connected.

He gave her a knowing smile and followed the scrape with his tongue, riding her leg all the way up to the back of her knee before he released her. He did the same to her other leg then grasped her knees and spread her legs as wide as he could.

“Do I have long enough to do this?” He snatched a thick pillow, folded it in half and urged her hips up. He slid the pillow beneath her, leaving the very heart of her splayed open to him. He nipped and licked the insides of her thighs until she thought she’d go crazy.

“No,” she gasped, trying to urge his mouth to move the two inches to where her every cell burned for release. “You don’t have time for that.”

“How about time for this?” He breathed hot air over her exposed sex and slid a finger inside her, circling her opening with teasing strokes.

“Maybe,” she gasped, her hips undulating to the rhythm he set. As good as it all felt, it wasn’t the totally mind-blowing pleasure he’d sent slamming into her brain before. “Maybe not. Jack, I, oh, I so need—”

He lowered his head and thoroughly kissed the hardened center of her desire and she shuddered in a mini-release that he took control of and revved higher. He sucked and stroked and nipped and licked, fueling her need into a full throttle that sent her on a rocket path toward a scorching orgasm. She convulsed and saw stars waver before her visionless eyes and thought she’d attained the peak of heaven until he slid up and thrust himself inside her, filling her past the point of completion. Yet she wanted more of him. He caressed the taut peaks of her breasts and kissed her as he began pumping hard and fast into her.

She spiraled higher and wrapped her legs around his hips. She met his frenzied thrusts in an explosion of male to female. His need, his desperation, his shuddering shout of fulfillment catapulted her into an uncharted sea of pleasure.

Unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to see, Lauren was sure she had either passed out or had died and went to heaven. Jack’s full weight was on her and it was wonderful.

“Damn,” Jack whispered, breathless. He tried to lift up from the lush heaven of Lauren’s softness, but his arms shook too badly and he dropped back down. He laughed. “I think
I
expired. Spontaneously combusted.”

Lauren had yet to move. Suddenly worried, he gave up on his muscles and rolled to his side, bringing her with him. She was alive at least. Her baby blues were staring at him. She looked dazed and deliciously sated and he unbelievably had the strong urge to do her over and over again. He was still inside her, condom secure on his semi-aroused dick, allowing him to enjoy the taut glove of her sex a few minutes longer. He couldn’t follow through with his urge to have her again at the moment, but the strength of it still coiled inside him.

She suddenly sucked in air as if she hadn’t breathed in forever and then laughed too. “Ditto.” She sighed as if totally replete.

He brushed a curl from her cheek and kissed her, wondering what in the hell he was doing and wondering what in the hell he should do next. As much as his guilt urged him to be honest with her, telling her the truth about Bill right now didn’t seem right. It would taint what he sensed was a once-in-a-lifetime-like experience for both of them. He couldn’t do it.

Nor could he think about all of the crap they’d been through since he’d knocked on her door yesterday afternoon. A lifetime of training failed him. Rather than eating up the road and the satellite lines trying to dig deeper into the web of death spreading out from Collins’s deceit, the only thing Jack was capable of at the moment was wrapping his arms around Lauren, the wife of the man he’d killed, and breathing a soul-felt sigh of relief despite that dark cloud.

When they’d reached the motel just a little while ago, he’d been completely done in. It wasn’t because of the bullet graze; he’d fought under worse circumstances for longer periods of time. It was because he’d failed her and because of what could have happened to her. That it was also because of what he felt for her, what he shouldn’t feel for her, he ignored. He didn’t want to acknowledge it because it couldn’t be real and he knew without a doubt that anything beyond the here and now with her was an impossible dream.

He turned his mind back to what he needed to be thinking about. Somehow he should have put two and two together at Gardner’s place and come up with a ten. That he hadn’t and she’d almost paid the price for it had wiped him out and left him shaken to the very core of his being. She didn’t know it, but they’d reached the end of the line for her active involvement in solving this mystery surrounding Collins. Another thing he wasn’t going to tell her about now.

So what could he say? She’d sent him off his sexual charts. He’d thought he’d reached his sexual peak in his early twenties, had hot memories of hot sex, but nothing could hold a candle to the orgasm he just had. He couldn’t say anything because it wasn’t something meant to last. It was a dream that he could only hold for a moment.

His stomach rumbled, protesting its starved state.

“Sounds as if you’re still hungry.” She smiled.

“I am. In more ways than one.” He slid his hand to her breast and rubbed his thumb over her coral nipple, his mouth watering again for the feel and taste of her.

Her gaze widened. “Seriously?” She sounded intrigued, which turned him on even more.

“You bet.” His semi arousal inched closer to attention. “Even Kryptonited. Superman has a reputation to uphold.”

The room phone rang. She froze and he tensed. The outside world and all that they’d been through spewed into the room like tear gas grenade.

“Any reason for the clerk to call?” Gory from the bullet graze, he’d sat in the car while she’d checked them in.

“Not that I know of.”

Flipping their position, he slid away from and regrettably out of Lauren to answer the phone. Having his hot moment turned cold and being forced to clutch a wet condom in his fist, left him sorely irritated. Not to mention the fact that it ripped away his sense of anonymity. Had they been discovered? “What is it?”

“Uhhum. This is the front desk.”

“And?”

“Your wife forgot to sign the registration paper.”

“Later,” Jack said. “We’re busy right now if you understand what I mean.” He hung up the phone amid Lauren’s shocked cry. She’d snatched the sheet up to cover herself and sat, glaring at him. He forced a grin. Had it been anyone else on the phone, a wrong number, or even no one, Jack would have had Lauren out of there in heartbeat. Needing a guest to sign in sounded legit, so they’d stay the night.

“You all but told him that we were having sex.” The blush on her cheeks was refreshing.

He leaned over and cupped her chin with his free hand. “Making love.” He kissed her. “Having sex doesn’t quite cover it in my book.” Letting her go, he headed to the bathroom, wondering what in the hell possessed him to say that to her. It was a truth that didn’t need to be told. He directed the conversation back to the clerk. “The man could have waited for you to check out to sign the paper. You paid cash, so it’s not like he needed the signature to process a payment. Besides it’s not like he doesn’t already imagine every couple is getting it on while he sits lonely at the desk. In fact, he probably looks for any excuse to call just so he can interrupt. I just made him squirm for his jolly.”

Lauren’s voice followed him. “That’s so paranoid and jaded and…and probably true. You’re so bad.”

He laughed and canned the condom. A glance in the mirror made him realize it was a total miracle that Lauren had even kissed him. He looked like a zombie from Elm Street waiting on Freddy. He popped his head back out to look at her, just to make sure he hadn’t just dreamed it all. She’d scooted to the edge of the bed, her golden hair a wild sexy mess, her lips kiss-swollen, and her delectable body barely covered with a sheet.

“I’ll beg for forgiveness later. That’s a promise. Meanwhile, interested in a shower?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Yes, I am. Bring a condom with you.” She did and he upheld Superman’s reputation just fine.

The bitch! She’d shot him. Conrad couldn’t believe it. She’d shot him in cold blood. Sent a bullet plowing through his shoulder and left him bleeding in his driveway. He’d stuffed paper towels in the wound, applied pressure, and had done everything he could think of to stop the bleeding, but it kept bleeding like a stuck pig. The bullet had gone straight through the fleshy part of his shoulder but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. He walked through the woods, groaning with pain at every jarring step. He’d parked his car down the road, rightly thinking that Lauren’s muscle would be less vigilant if it appeared no one was home.

He still couldn’t believe she’d escaped him. It was a good thing he knew exactly where her conscience would lead her next. To Ray in Savannah, which was a little over a four hour drive from Fair Play. He hoped her muscle man was either dead or a vegetable. By the time she dealt with that, Conrad would be ready for her at Ray’s house on the river. And if by chance she didn’t show, he’d have Bill’s letter and would get Lauren’s sweet ass afterwards. She’d pay long and hard for his pain and trouble.

Dios.
The tentative knock on the door to the Magic Carpet Room had Andreas gritting his teeth. Fidel’s assistant was the new Fidel and already had Andreas wishing he’d made George wait until they’d landed before eliminating the old Fidel. George didn’t even arouse from his sleepy-eyed position on the couch. Andreas hoped his son was just enjoying himself too much to bother with intimidating the new servant and not depressed or feeling guilty over Fidel’s death.

“
¡Adelante!
” he ordered. The new Fidel opened the door and reeled on the threshold. The idiot was afraid of heights, which may be why Andreas chose to set up office in the Magic Carpet Room. The floor and walls surrounding him provided a panoramic view of the world they were flying over. Cameras positioned at strategic angles sent live feed, giving him a true magic carpet ride through the clouds.

George loved it, found the sensation of floating through the air calming. It was amazing the things he had in common with his son.

“¿Ahora que?
”

“Good news and bad news. Three of Bill Collins’s colleagues that he sent letters to are dead and no letters were found with them. I am still waiting to hear from the operatives sent out to eliminate the other two. The good news is the operative sent after Conrad Gardner has located Bill Collins’s wife and the military guy helping her. He followed them as they left Gardner’s residence. They’re in a populated motel in Lavonia, Georgia. He’s going to wait until later tonight before taking them. Also, Collins sent a number of erotic emails to a woman in Brazil. I took the liberty of having her escorted to
El Santuario
for you to question. You may even find her very appealing.”

“
Excellente.
” Andreas stood and paced over the clouds swirling on the screen at his feet. “Collins’s children?”

“Are not with their mother.”

“
Bien
. Keep monitoring all communications. Tell the operative to act quickly. The woman has already escaped him once, twice would prove to be adverse to his health and mine, something I guarantee he doesn’t want to have happen. Let me know the minute Collins’s wife is captured and alert the pilot that we will be diverting to the closest airport to her so she may accompany us for the rest of the flight to Peru.”

Fidel left and Andreas joined his son to watch the clouds.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lavonia, Georgia

2030 hours

The pizza was cold but tasted great. Jack chowed down on a slice as he surfed the net, searching for any thread of information that would connect Collins’s friends to a terrorist group, or any other common element that could give him a handle on what was going on. Thomas fell to his death from his deck. Edward was clubbed to death in a supposed robbery. Gardner was supposedly blown up on his boat. All dead ends, literally. And Jack had almost joined the club.

Who had been at Gardner’s?

Now, according to the phone calls he’d made to Brazil, Collins’s girlfriend was missing. The events chilled Jack to the bone. What had Collins done? Who was behind it all?

And what was up with his body? It disappeared from Lebanon to show up two weeks later in Brazil and now had disappeared again?

He glanced over at Lauren, his heart and gut twisting with guilt, worry and something more, none of which he wanted to face at the moment.

The local evening news blasted from the TV and Lauren had her gaze glued to the tube, hoping to catch a report about Gardner at Lake Hartwell. She was hurting to be with her sons. The call they’d made to Rico a short time ago found the crew already on the way to Disney World. Her goodnight routine with Matt and Mitch reminded him of when Livy was little and unsettled him, disrupting the status quo of his personal life even more.

The deaths of Bill’s friends had her upset as well. She kept saying she should have done more.

Jack wasn’t so sure. After finding out Bill’s girlfriend was missing, he and Lauren had called the local police in Tampa and Savannah where Bob Cantrell and Ray Branson lived. All the police could do was check the residences for signs of trouble, then wait until there was evidence of a crime before they could act. The world was a society of addressing disasters and problems after the fact rather than preventing them from happening in the first place.

Jack wished he could do more to distract Lauren. A humorless grunt escaped him. More?

Any more and he would likely have to go to the hospital after all. He’d carried through with his promise to back her to a wall and make her forget anything to do with Collins. It’d been the shower wall. She’d been gloriously wet inside and out and he’d nearly passed out by the time he’d thrust them both to heaven. Yet, looking at her now, wearing one of his T-shirts, knowing she was naked under it… Damn, but he could already feel another hard-on coming. And the nap they’d taken had restored his—