Bound by Danger Read online

  “I’m afraid being with Josh, won’t be half as nice as being with you, until I get used to him more.”

  “Ha!” He broke free from her hold and pulled her down to his chest. “You don’t love him, like you love me.”

  Her impish smile cheered him.

  “Say it, Deidre.”

  He wrapped his arms around her back and pressed her firmly against his body. There would be no interruptions this time as long as no one broke in. His men had strict orders to leave them in peace.

  “My career…”

  “Careers are important.”

  She sighed, her tone full of exasperation. “You say that, but you don’t mean it. Our careers don’t coincide with one another.”

  “What else?”

  “What do you mean, what else? That’s the problem! What if in a few years, you decide I wasn’t the one for you. I would have given up my career for nothing!”

  “You’re the one for me. You just have to stop fighting the notion. Listen, I have every intention of us working out the particulars of our jobs. All you have to do is say you love me.”

  She took a deep breath, her eyes watching his with such an intensity he wondered if she could read his mind. He loved her with all of his heart. Didn’t she know it?

  “All right, Dave. I love you. I thought it was just infatuation at first. I’ve never loved anyone before. I don’t want you to leave, ever. There, I said it. But it makes no difference.”

  “Yeah, I knew it. It makes all the difference in the world to me.” He touched his mouth to her pouting lips and pressed them firmly. Now he could marry her. Well, after he resolved the case. He turned off the television.

  They started kissing, but still worried about interruptions, Dave carried Deidre back to bed. “We both need to get some sleep tonight.”

  “I promise I won’t wake you to have sex again tonight,” she said, with the most naughtily delicious smile.

  Dave grinned down at her as he kicked the bedroom door shut. “I’m not making the same promise. I aim to get even.”

  And he would. Although he suspected she’d enjoy it as much as he would.

  She’d slipped into the bathroom to change into her silky nightie that he’d bought for her in Orlando, while he climbed into bed nude, covers over his burgeoning erection, arms tucked behind his head, watching the doorway, waiting.

  He liked the notion of getting home from a mission or a day on the job and being right here like this, anticipating having Deidre on top of him, or underneath him, definitely all around him.

  He needed to talk to Charlie and get hold of her parents. Then he was going to do this right. But until then, he wasn’t wasting another moment spent with her.

  She walked into the bedroom and without his permission, his gaze drifted over the pink chemise—her rosy nipples barely visible under the silky gauze, the lace making it look all the more feminine—and alluring.

  He jerked the covers aside and welcomed her into bed.

  She smiled as she saw just how ready he was to have her come to bed.

  “I take it you’re not sleepy, yet,” she said, her expression wickedly amused.

  He only grinned, waited, watched as she climbed on top of him, then leaned down to kiss him. The lace and silk caressed his belly as her sweet mouth captured his. Her tongue plundered his mouth, her hands cupping his head, thumbs stroking him, he was in heaven. He slid his hands up her nightie, along her thighs, to her belly, higher, until he held her breasts, felt the fullness, her rigid nipples, and squeezed gently, reverently.

  She looked enraptured, her eyes hot with desire.

  There was something really erotic about her climbing on top of him, spread to him, ready for him, claiming him. He moved his hands from her breasts to her legs, stroking the back of her thighs as their tongues tangled. His fingers bumped against her curly hairs.

  Until he couldn’t hold back and dipped his fingers into her dewy wet curls, sinking a couple of them between her feminine folds. She smiled against his mouth, lowered herself onto his fingers, ground a little. Hell, he would never last.

  He began to stroke her, eager to please her as much as she pleased him. She was moaning and writhing, poking her tongue into his mouth, stirring him all the more. Her eyes were now closed as she soaked up the way he touched her, played with her, caressed her until a small cry of pleasure broke free.

  Immediately, he unseated her. Then he yanked off her enticing nightie, baring him to her before he took a rosy nipple in his mouth. He suckled, kissing, and licking, while his other hand was busy stroking the remaining breast, heavy and aroused. He covered her with his body, thrusting against her, rubbing his cock against her mound, working out all the pent-up worry concerning her over the past few days.

  This is where he wanted her. Safe, in his arms, loved.

  She spread her legs for him and he didn’t take a moment longer to thrust inside of her, reminding himself she had to get some sleep tonight. He had to also so he’d be alert the next day.

  Plunging deeper, he captured her mouth again, kissed until they had to come up for air. She met his thrusts hard and wild, her fingers stroking his back, his buttocks, his body on fire.

  Her face was beautiful and flushed, her eyes dark. She dug her fingers into his sides as he felt the climax caress him, his own body releasing, exploding into her. Pure joy seized him, the white hot heat of the moment sending sparks of electricity through him.

  For a moment, he just looked into her fathomless blue eyes, his hands combing through her hair. “I don’t really mind if you…wake me again tonight,” he said, with a wink.

  She looked like she liked the idea…very much.

  Sleep was overrated.

  ***

  After another night of unbelievable sex—an extraordinarily wonderful way to start a new day—Deidre arrived with Dave at her workplace where she waited anxiously for the civilians to show up so she could escort them all over post. Dave would follow in his own vehicle, while three other Feds drove in another, and others were posted at various locations to watch over her.

  Dave hadn’t liked that she was doing her job. But she really wanted to do this. And it was her job.

  Already her boss had given her the evil eye for wearing a skirt to work. She loved it, but he had said himself she could wear her Class B uniform.

  When two full-bird colonels walked into the building, she saw her boss’s lower jaw drop, his skin turned whiter, and he stammered, “I…Cpt. Roux was to escort you, but if this isn’t acceptable, Maj. Lee can be your escort officer.”

  She couldn’t believe her boss was so flustered. She loved it. Talk about someone who couldn’t hide his obvious distress at screwing up big time on an assignment.

  “Why Cpt. Roux will be perfect for the job,” the one colonel said with a distinctive Georgia drawl.

  Deidre loved him and beamed with delight. The colonels outranked her lieutenant colonel by a rank. Making full colonel wasn’t an easy task, and her own boss was a backstabber extraordinaire as he tried to catapult his way into the next rank. But now, these colonels would have been a delight to work for. Here her boss had thought the two men were D.C. civilian bureaucrats. She couldn’t be more tickled to see him groveling on the linoleum floor.

  She hurried to open the door to the building for them, but the colonel grabbed it instead. “After you, Ma’am.” He was a dream to be sure.

  Dave wasn’t far behind in the SUV as Deidre rode in a military sedan with the two colonels. She escorted them to see the commanding general and to several different locations on post. When she was done, she brought them back to the G-1.

  As she walked down the hall to her office, she heard one of the colonels say to her boss, “We appreciated having Cpt. Roux escort us. She did an outstanding job.”

  Of course their kind sentiments wouldn’t have softened her boss’s heart where she was concerned. In fact, she assumed he’d be harder to live with than before. But all in all, she’d had a wond
erful time.

  Dave soon joined her in the office and as he took his seat, her boss poked his head in the doorway. “You have an officer’s wives’ luncheon to attend. It’s mandatory.” He quickly vanished.

  Unmarried female officers didn’t normally attend officer’s wives’ luncheons or meetings or anything else they put on.

  Dave shook his head. “You said we’d come here so that you could escort the colonels today.”

  “It’s just a luncheon. As long as I’m not running around out in the field or anything—”

  “And then we return home.”

  “I don’t have my boss’s permission.”

  “Deidre, that’s not his call.”

  “Okay, fine.” She just wanted to enjoy the one day this year she was able to wear her skirt. Especially if it killed her boss. She grabbed her hat and purse. “This should be interesting.”

  ***

  In one of the ballrooms, large tables were covered in white cloth, featuring a centerpiece of red, white, and blue carnations, the officers’ wives seated around them, eight to a table, except for Deidre and an enlisted woman, who also was dragged into the affair. She still wore the desert uniform and being enlisted, Deidre was sure the woman felt even more out of place than she did.

  Standing near the doorway leading into the ballroom, Dave watched her while his fellow agents waited outside.

  Deidre buttered her roll.

  “So do you have any children?” a pretty brunette asked her, seated on the other side of her.

  Children. Wouldn’t mind, but she kind of preferred having a husband first. Horse before the cart, that sort of thing. “No, I’m single.”

  “Oh.” That was the end of the conversation. Obviously the woman didn’t know what being single meant any longer. Deidre could have talked about many subjects. She’d traveled all over the country. She was certain most of the officers’ wives had, too. But at least this one couldn’t think of a thing to say, if it didn’t include children.

  “I had a cat once though.”

  The woman wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips in disgust.

  If she was going to be made to attend an officers’ wives function when she wasn’t even an officer’s wife, she’d have some fun anyway. “They can be as silly as children sometimes. Funniest antics. She’d crawl into paper bags, under my oriental rug, into my clean laundry.”

  The woman’s mouth dropped open. Deidre smiled. To equate a cat to a child. The horror of the notion. “Had a dog once, too. Followed me around like a shadow.”

  Dave was smiling a little at her as if he understood her discomfort.

  The lady across the table spoke to her next. “Are you getting married soon?”

  “No.” What else could she say? Sure Dave had mentioned marriage, but he was still leaving, and they weren’t engaged so no, she wasn’t getting married anytime soon. And here she figured she could talk about any topic thrown at her. Guess not. Marriage and kids were out. But now if they wanted to know about swimming in a flooded river filled with alligators and snakes during a Florida storm, or how to safely save a drunk thrown from a boat from drowning, she’d be fine.

  The woman tossed her a simpering smile and turned to her friend.

  Deidre turned her attention to the enlisted woman and smiled. The woman looked like she wanted to crawl under the table. None of the officers’ wives bothered to draw her out.

  Deidre asked her, “So do you have any pets?”

  “No.”

  “Been assigned anywhere else?”

  “No.”

  “Like it here?”

  “It’s all right.”

  “Ah.” Conversation with her was like removing impacted wisdom teeth.

  Deidre wiped her fingers on her napkin, then took a sip of her iced tea. That vague tingling in her temple began. It was Red. She looked up at the kitchen entrance.

  He stood in a white kitchen uniform, his eyes taunting her to follow, but there was no smile this time.

  Her heart rate increased. Her skin chilled. She glanced back at where Dave had been, ready to alert him. He had vanished.

  She just stared at the spot where Dave had been as if he would suddenly materialize out of thin air. She couldn’t believe it!

  Torn between waiting for Dave to take care of the man, and risking her own neck, she hesitated. Indecision wracked her brain.

  Red nodded, just once, then turned and disappeared into the kitchen. This was her fight. As usual. Her visions told her so.

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Deidre jumped up from her seat. Forget kids and husbands. “I’ve got to catch a killer.”

  Chapter 20

  Several gasps erupted when Deidre darted across the busy officer’s club dining room in her black leather pumps. Running in a streamlined skirt wasn’t the easiest thing to do. And heeled pumps on a waxed floor didn’t help either. For a second, she wished she was dressed in her combat uniform.

  Adrenaline flooded her bloodstream, giving her the courage to face her foe. But by the time she’d made it to the kitchen, Red had already vanished.

  “Where’d the red-haired man go?” Deidre shouted at the cooks. One pointed at the doors leading into an alley. She dashed outside. She would have felt better if she’d had Dave’s gun, but she wasn’t going to let this guy get away from her no matter what. Not this time. His stalking her would never end, if she didn’t force him to take action.

  While skirting the four cement pilasters erected to keep vehicles from running into the building, Deidre surveyed the parking area beyond the dumpsters. She recognized this place from her visions.

  Before the car appeared, its engine roared in the distance.

  She backed up and bumped against one of the three-foot tall concrete pillars. Here, she stood her ground. “Come and get me, Red. Ball’s in your court.”

  The old Plymouth pulled out of the side lot, idled for a moment, then the wheels spun as the driver jammed on the gas pedal, his foot still anchored simultaneously on the brake.

  Deidre’s heart raced as she waited for him.

  He released the brake. The car lunged forward like a lion attacking its prey too frightened to move. His polished teeth shown as the vehicle grew close. His peach freckles seem to grow as his face reddened.

  She hoped when she jumped away from the barrier, the concrete would stop him sufficiently. Physics wasn’t her best subject.

  Her legs trembled. For a split second, she was indecisive—should she jump back or to one of the sides? She was out of time. She leapt to the side as firecrackers popped in the air.

  The car crashed into the concrete pillar with a bang and roared partway over the broken beams of cement laced with metal rods and wire mesh. Grinding to a stop, the car’s fender jammed against the concrete block building with a jolt.

  Sitting on the ground, Deidre propped herself up with the palm of her hands, skinned and bleeding. She took a deep breath, realizing at once she’d made the right choice. If she’d jumped backward, the car would have crushed her. With every intention of getting to her feet and making sure Red wasn’t going to bother her any further, she leaned forward to rise.

  “Damn it, Deidre!” Dave shouted as he ran toward her, his leather shoes slapping the asphalt in rapid succession. Before she got to her feet, he pulled her from the asphalt. But as soon as she stood, she felt her legs shaking, the adrenaline still coursing at a high rate of speed through her overwrought body.

  “Take care of her,” he said, passing her off to Bill. Then Dave motioned to Johnson with his weapon readied and headed for the vehicle.

  Bill held onto Deidre’s arm with one hand, passing his strength and reassurance to her trembling form, but his other still held his gun at the ready while he watched his fellow officers approach the wrecked vehicle.

  The wall blocked the driver’s door shut. He couldn’t get out that way. When he didn’t attempt to exit the car, Dave slipped to the back of the vehicle. With a cautious step, he made his way around to th
e passenger’s side.

  Deidre glanced down at the rear tires, realizing at once Dave must have shot them out when she heard the firecracker noise. Had Dave slowed the car down enough to give her time to jump out of the way?

  She held her breath as he peeked through the door’s window. Her skin instantly chilled. Goose bumps trailed down her arms and legs in worry as she anticipated Red’s response to Dave’s attempt at arrest.

  “No airbags to protect the driver. His head impacted with the glass, shattering the window to smithereens.”

  Deidre tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come. She cleared her throat. “Is he—”

  Dave pulled the door open. “His lap belt wasn’t in use.” He reached into the car. “No pulse. He’s dead.”

  He holstered his gun, then joined her, but as soon as he took her hand, she pulled it back from him. “Are you all right, Deidre?”

  “Just a bit skinned up.”

  “Take her home, Bill. And keep her there.”

  She wrinkled her brow at him. She knew he was doing his job, and she was in uniform, but couldn’t he have given her a kiss? One little kiss?

  He motioned to Bill with his head to remove her.

  Deidre sighed deeply, intent on having the last word. He was mad at her. Too bad. If he’d stayed where he was, he could have gotten the bad guy all on his own. Yet she couldn’t quash the disappointment she felt in not getting his kiss and a reassuring hug from him, uniform and professional duty be damned. “All right, Dave. I’ve worn my skirt long enough today.”

  He shook his head and the look of worry wrinkling his brow made her realize he’d lecture her later that night about her safety.

  Bill took her arm and led her to the SUV. “Dave says you’re more trouble than any other case he’s ever worked.”

  “He does, does he? So where’d you guys go anyway? Red walked into the entrance to the kitchen. I turned to motion to you, but none of you were in sight.”

  “Red had a decoy pose some distance from the officers’ club. Led us on a wild-goose chase. As soon as we caught up with the man, we learned he was paid to play a prank.”