Indulgence (247 page)

Michael casually turned toward the window, nursing his
whisky, and staring out at the starlit night. “Want to tell me about her?” he
asked.

With a sigh, Graeme moved to stand next to Michael. “Not
much to tell,” he said, with a shrug. “We dated, I loved her, but it wasn’t
enough. Barry was always begging her to go out with him. I encouraged her to
try new things, hoping she would realize I needed to try other things as well.
Shit.

“We were too fucking young to know what we wanted. Then
Barry joined the Army and was going to Afghanistan. He begged her to marry him
before he left. She did and worked hard at being a wife. I worked hard at being
a cop. Eventually I left.

“Fuck!” He pounded his fist against the heavy glass of the
patio door. “This is fucking my fault. I should never have pushed her into his
arms.”

He turned to meet Michael’s steady gaze. “I can’t forgive
myself for this.”

Michael raised a comforting hand to Graeme’s shoulder and
gave a squeeze. “You were young, and you needed to find out who you really
were. This isn’t your fault, Graeme. You’re not responsible for this, Barry is.
You do realize we’re going to kill him?”

He studied Michael’s face. So calm, so self-assured. “Yes,”
he agreed.

One word said it all. Years of training, of commitment to
law and order, gone without regret. Together, they would hunt down and kill
Barry Ashford.

He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. His
traitorous hand reached out to smooth Michael’s uninjured cheek. When Michael
didn’t pull away, Graeme lowered his head and brushed Michael’s lips in a quick
kiss. The deal was sealed.

Graeme arrived back at his cabin just as the delivery truck
pulled down the dirt driveway. Michael was stripped to the waist while he
helped two other men sort wires and stakes. The surveillance equipment. He
caught Lizzie’s gaze and gave a nod before briefly consulting with Michael. It had
been quiet except for the delivery.

He swung onto the porch, sat next to Lizzie, and took her
hand. “They didn’t find any trace of Barry. I filed your statement along with
my report. The FBI agents showed up again. They wanted to talk with Michael. I
told them I would pass it along if I saw him.”

Lizzie smiled. “If you see him,” she said dryly.

“Well, I could be wrong, but maybe one of those strapping
lads down there can get a message to him.”

“Why is he helping me?” she asked.

“I think he must have an overwhelming sense of right and
wrong, and I’m not sure he trusts us lawmen to get it right. It’s probably why
he started his company.”

“You know, I thought he was your lover last night.”

Graeme went very still.

Lizzie continued, “It must have been the drugs, because I do
realize you didn’t know who he was at the rest stop. Still, I suppose other
things have fallen into place for me this morning.”

“What do you mean?”

She squeezed his hand tightly. “You’re gay. I don’t know why
I never figured it out before. Not that you’re obvious. Not that there’s
anything wrong with—”

He started to laugh as Lizzie blushed furiously.

“Stop laughing at me,” she said, a small smile tugging at
her lips. “I’m just embarrassed because all this time I thought you just didn’t
love me.”

“Silly, little bit, don’t you know I’ve always loved you?”

“Not like I loved you, not like I wanted you. I would have
married you in a minute, Graeme Kennedy. Instead, you found me someone else,
someone you thought would love me better than you could. I didn’t understand
that at all, you know,” she said on a sigh.

“We should have had this talk a long time ago, sweetheart.
I’ve loved you since the day I first laid eyes on you, but I was confused. Are
you sure you’re okay to talk about this now? Because if you’re ready to talk,
I’m going to ask Michael to join us. Some of the history might spill over into
what’s happening now.”

“Yes, let’s do this, I don’t want to wait.”

He stood and watched Michael for a minute before he called
him over. He wore a pair of Graeme’s shorts, and his thighs were as big as
trees. Muscles rippled under golden, sweat-slick skin. His dark hair was tied
back, and loose curls clung to his neck and face. Lizzie’s hand slipped into
Graeme’s as he stood at the edge of the porch and watched.

“I’ve been watching Michael all morning. He’s pretty
magnificent, isn’t he?” she asked.

Graeme glanced down at her and placed a kiss on her
forehead. “So are you, sweetheart.”

“You don’t need to say that. My ego isn’t that fragile any
more. It’s pretty obvious you find him yummy.” She smiled.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea what I find yummy,” he said
and pulled her into a hot, demanding kiss. He closed his eyes, savoring the
feel of her in his arms. He pushed his tongue against the soft “oh” that escaped
her mouth, and her lips parted for him. Her mouth was sweet with a faint taste
of peppermint. He cradled her chin in his hands and deepened the kiss, savoring
the feel of her tongue tangling with his. When he drew back, it was with a
final suck on her plump, delicious lower lip.

“Seems to me, that if anyone gets kissed, it’s supposed to
be the hero, and I believe that was me,” Michael said lazily from close enough
behind Graeme to make him jump.

Elizabeth giggled and smiled. “I’m not sure I know you well
enough for that!”

Michael winked and moved past her into the shade of the
covered porch. “You wanted to talk to me?” he asked.

*****

Michael looked from the auburn-haired beauty to the
dark-haired devil at her side. She was lush, curved in all the right places,
with eyes that sparkled emerald when she smiled. Graeme was an interesting
mixture of cowboy and cop. Tall, with short, dark hair that curled around his
ears. His eyes were dark as night and gave nothing away. He watched everything,
like a cat, waiting to pounce underneath that veneer of lazy grace.

Michael moved them inside to talk. You never knew what toys
Ashford might have access to, and sound could carry a long way outside. He
turned on some music to create some background noise, ignored Graeme’s barbs
about making himself at home, and got them each a cold beer.

After a few minor complaints from Graeme over the boxes of
supplies that now littered the floor of the kitchen, they were ready to get
started, but neither Graeme nor Liz looked as if they were ready to go first.
That was okay, he was ready to start.

“Here’s what I know about the two of you. Feel free to
interrupt if I’ve got something wrong. You and Graeme dated in high school, but
Graeme wasn’t sure enough about his own sexuality. He thought you’d be better
off with someone else,” he said looking at both of them.

“Goddamn, Michael!” Graeme said. “Don’t fuckin’ sugarcoat
it.”

“You’ll never get sugarcoating from me,” he assured Graeme.

Shaking his head, Graeme said, “Hell, it’s okay. That about
sums it up, anyway. Little bit, I did love you, but I wasn’t ready to commit to
anyone, not even you. I couldn’t help feeling this attraction to other men, and
I didn’t know what to do about that. You wanted to settle down, I still felt
like a kid. We’d known Barry for a while, he seemed like a nice guy, and I
thought he really cared for you. It never occurred to me that you would decide
to marry him!”

Liz sighed. “It seems so long ago now. Nearly ten years. I
don’t know if I can explain so it’ll make sense, because it hardly makes sense
to me now. I was fourteen when my parents divorced, and it left me feeling
unsettled, as if I couldn’t believe in anything. I became obsessed with wanting
to belong, with wanting someone to love me. I wanted the whole fairy tale,
happily-ever-after ending. I thought I was going to have that with you, Graeme,
but you were having your own issues and pulled away.

“I understand that now, but not then. It just felt like
another abandonment. Barry told me all the things I wanted to hear. He loved
me, and he wanted me to marry him so he’d have something to hold on to when he
left on his deployments. I understood that need for an anchor. So we married.
Seems ridiculous now, but we made it work for a long time.

“Most of the time it was like being single. He was always
deployed, and I started working for Brooker, going to college at night. Time
passed quickly. He would come home for one or two months, and then take off for
five or six months at a time. It wasn’t until this last time that there was a
huge problem, and I told you about that last night,” she finished with a shrug.

Michael wasn’t fooled; he knew that story had cost her a
lot.

Graeme said, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I know you probably
don’t want to hear this, but I think we need to put it on the table here. I do
still love you. I want to keep you here forever, not just because of the
danger, but because I feel like this is where you belong.”

The pronouncement caught Michael off guard; he felt left
out. It was the same feeling he’d had on the porch watching them kiss, and he
didn’t like it. He pushed the conversation forward. He didn’t want to hear
their declarations of love.

“All right, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s
talk about Ashford for a minute. The windows are already wired, the perimeter
will be wired in another thirty minutes, then it’ll be just us up here. I took
the liberty of bringing in some supplies. Tonight is ours to do whatever we
want. He won’t come yet, because the area is still too hot with the feds. We
probably have two or three days at most, but we still need to be on our guard.

“Liz, did you ever see your husband in uniform?” he
continued, throwing the question out casually.

Elizabeth immediately shook her head. “No, he was part of
some kind of Special Forces unit. They weren’t supposed to let anyone know who
they were.”

“Well, brace yourself, sweetheart. There is no record of
Barry Ashford as a member of any branch of the armed forces. There is, however,
a lot of evidence documented at the State Department that Ashford is a
mercenary. He’s wanted on several counts of murder and espionage in
Afghanistan. It’s all been a lie.”

*****

Elizabeth spent the afternoon coming to terms with what
she’d learned and with the mess she’d made of her personal life. She’d called
into work and let them know why she’d disappeared and that, under the
circumstances, it was unlikely she’d return before the week was up. She wasn’t
sure she’d still have a job, but right now she didn’t care. She’d called an attorney
friend of hers to get started on having the entire marriage annulled. The news
about Barry should have been more shocking, but she’d realized in her telling
of their story that she’d spent very little time with the man over the years.
It was an incredible relief to know it was coming to an end and she’d be able
to erase him from her life and start over.

While she was thinking, she sorted through the boxes Michael
had delivered to the cabin. She marveled at what wealth could do. The security
items had been left outside, but the boxes for inside the house were like
Christmas. His clothes had gone over the cliff with his SUV; hers were still
with Barry. He hadn’t even asked, just quietly made the arrangements with
someone to provide her with everything she could need. In addition to clothes,
he’d apparently requested lots of food, a case of expensive single malt whisky,
wine, and beer. It looked like they were here for a month-long party instead of
under siege.

She dressed for the evening in an elegant jade green silk
blouse and a pair of white capris, marveling at both the assortment of casual
and dressy clothes he’d provided as well as his eye for style and size. Who had
he gotten to purchase all of this? She could learn to love a man like him.

Bouncing into the living room, determined to make the
evening a festive one, Liz went straight for Michael. With a grin, she threw
herself into his arms for that hero’s kiss he’d been lamenting earlier.

His arms banded around her, and his mouth claimed hers. The
kiss exploded. Her mouth opened, and his tongue was sleek, gliding. He bent her
back slightly in his arms, and found another angle so he could reach more of
her mouth. She pulled his tongue, sucking as he slid it in and out, an
unexpected promise.

His fingers twisted into her hair, tugging firmly, holding
her right where he wanted her, and she felt herself grow wet with desire. Oh
God, this got out of hand fast.

He stood her up on shaky legs and gave a little growl that
sent shivers up her spine. Before she could even think, she was grabbed from
behind and turned around. Her Graeme was smiling at her, that same crooked
smile she’d grown up loving.

“My turn,” he said, and although she wasn’t even clear of
Michael’s arms, Graeme pressed against her and gave his own version of the
mind-melting kiss.

Graeme’s mouth was different but just as delicious. His
shadow beard rubbed against the skin of her cheek. He bit her lips, as if
taking the taste of the other man and savoring it. Michael pressed against her
backside, never stepping away to give Graeme more room to work.

Elizabeth’s senses swirled, and she thought it was entirely
possible to drown in the overwhelming kisses of these two men.

Michael’s hands found her waist and slid under her shirt to
rest against her bare skin, burning her. Graeme pressed his hips forward. There
was no doubt he was very happy to be right where he was.

The common sense side of her wanted to slow things down,
take her time, consider the consequences. The woman that survived the beatings
and near-death experience said fuck that! She’d survived, and she wasn’t going
to let Barry or anyone else take anything away from her again. She was ready to
make a serious change starting now, because life was too short not to take
chances.