Confer, Lorelei - Deadly Deception (Siren Publishing Classic) (19 page)

“Rachael, her name was Rachael.” Wyatt took a sip of wine. He didn’t tell her Rachael had been killed in the line of duty, or how she had betrayed him, or how he felt responsible for her death. That could wait for another time, he thought. “What about you? Why aren’t you married?”

Isabella hesitated, shrugging. “When I found Michael in bed with another woman, I blamed myself. I cried and cried, I felt so down on myself and so depressed. I thought I wasn’t sexy enough, not fun enough, and not rich enough, that it must have been my fault. When I finally got tired of being miserable I decided to move on, and I pushed all those memories behind me. I became determined to be a new me, someone not as vulnerable, someone stronger and independent. I guess I wrapped my heart in a shell so it’d never be broken again, by another man, at least. So now you might understand why I am wary of you and non-trusting of all men.”

He had sat quietly while listening to her, and when she finished he slowly nodded in understanding. He knew what it felt like to be betrayed by someone you loved, someone who you thought loved you. He also knew how to harden your heart with a protective coat to keep it safe from further cracks or breaks.

“I understand.” He drained the glass of the last of the wine. “By the way, did you pack a jacket? It can get cold in the mountains at night and you’ll need it?”

“No, I didn’t.” She finished her wine and set the glass down. “I guess I better go see if I can find one.”

She backed away, waiting patiently in the dining room for Wyatt to end his phone call. She had finished putting the sweatshirt in the bag and was draping the red fleece jacket across the top when Wyatt joined her.

He glanced at his watch. “Let’s try to get some sleep before we leave. I already put some things we’ll need in the jeep in the garage so with your bag, I think we’ll be ready to roll. You can have Amy’s room, okay?”

“Okay, I’m really tired but I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep. So much has happened.” She kept her eyes directed at her fidgeting hands in front of her. “I’m having a hard time grasping it all.”

“Well, just lie down and rest. You can always sleep in the Jeep later,” Wyatt said as he leaned back against the door frame.

She nodded, turned to start up the stairs, and then looked back at him.

“Good night, Wyatt, and thanks again for everything.”

He studied her face, committing it to memory, unable to find the right words he wanted to say. “Yeah, sure, you too.”

He listened to her footsteps on the stairs. He liked the sound of her soft treading on the staircase. It felt so natural, even though he usually only heard those of his own or of Amy. He heard the bedroom door close.

His thoughts slipped back to last night, to how it felt lying beside her, feeling her warmth. He wanted to feel her soft skin under his fingertips as he caressed her thighs. He wanted to feel her moist warm lips under his tongue. He wanted to feel so much more. Too much more!

He shook himself out of his fantasy. He made a quick scan of the house, checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were all locked. None had been opened and left unlocked. He entered the code on the keypad to activate the rarely used security system and crept up the stairs to his empty bed.

He stood in the hall in front of her bedroom door listening, waiting until he saw the light under the bedroom door go out. He hoped she got some sleep because one of them had to, and he didn’t think it would be him. He needed a cold shower.

A short while later, he lay on his bed. He closed his eyes listening to the quiet sounds in the house. All the events of the last twenty-four hours and their possible ramifications for future actions that could change so many lives, including his own, ran through his head. He realized that he looked forward to the changes, even though he didn’t know exactly why or what those changes would be. He soon dozed off and dreamed.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

The clergy’s words were a dulled echo in the early morning mist, as Wyatt stood ramrod straight in front of the coffin holding the remains of his fiancée. He glanced at the crowd gathered around the mahogany casket, colleagues, parents, relatives, and friends who had come to pay their respects. The police honor guard stood to the side, ready to make a final tribute to one of their own.

The hair on the back of his neck bristled as if someone were watching him. He turned his head and found her father staring at him. Wyatt stared back into the bloodshot, hate-filled eyes of a man who had befriended him and had welcomed him into his home, and into his family. A man who didn’t know the truth or the circumstances surrounding his daughter’s death, a man who probably would never know or understand the truth. A man who blamed Wyatt for his daughter’s death.

Wyatt knew her father would not, could not, ever forgive him.

Maybe rightly so. He blamed himself too and couldn’t forgive himself. She’d been killed in the line of duty, under his watch.

He should have made her quit the undercover operation when he first became suspicious. He wanted to get her out of there. They had even argued about it. But she refused. He should have known what to expect. He should have known.

His heart ached, and guilt filled his body, once again choking the air from his chest.

With each honoring volley, his heart shivered.

After he took one long, last look at the coffin, his eyes filled with tears. He hung his head low, his shoulders slumped, and tucked his hands in his pants pockets.

He turned and began the trek to his car, leaving the cemetery and the hateful look on her father’s face behind.

But not forgotten.

Chapter 33

Wyatt couldn’t quite identify what woke him from his recurring dream. He lay rigid, fully alert, his eyes still closed, he listened to the sobbing, shrieking, and screaming coming from Isabella’s room.

Worried her kidnappers had somehow gotten through the security system, he jumped up from his bed, grabbed a robe, and hurried to her room. Usually a very light sleeper, he believed he would have been wide awake at the first entry. He didn’t wait to think, and he flung open the door.

The moonlight spread across the bed allowing him to observe the sight of her tossing, turning, and screaming in the throes of a nightmare. She’d kicked off the light sheet and blanket, and her nightgown was pushed up to her waist, revealing skimpy lace panties. She screamed his name.

He rushed to the side of the bed, sat down beside her and grabbed her shoulders. “Isabella, Isabella, wake up, sweetheart, its okay now, honey, I’m here.”

“No, no, get away from me.” She pushed him away with her arms lashing out at him.

“It’s me, Wyatt. You’re all right, Bella. You’re safe now. You’re just having a nightmare.” He reached out and grabbed her arms.

Her eyes popped opened, and her eyelids fluttered. She looked around the room and finally focused on him. Trembling and sobbing, she swallowed, rose on her knees, threw her arms around his neck, and leaped into his arms. He was her life preserver.

When she tried to speak through her sobbing explanation, her voice sounded muffled against his bare chest.

“It seemed so real, they just kept chasing me. I kept running and running, but they still followed, getting closer and closer, Wyatt.” She hiccupped. Her tears fell down his chest. “They’re still coming after me, I know it. I don’t know when or how but they are. And Joe told me he’d kill me if I tried anything or gave them any trouble.”

She looked up into his eyes. “I don’t want you or anybody else to get hurt. What am I going to do?”

Wyatt rocked her as he had his sister when she had awakened from a bad dream after their parents’ deaths. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.” The not knowing what could happen tore at his heart. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll take care of you.”

She began to calm down but continued to clutch his neck and shoulders.

“They won’t hurt you. I won’t even let them get near you. I’m here for whatever happens and I’m not leaving you to those animals, I promise.”

* * * *

As she looked up at his comforting blue eyes, her mind wrestled with all the feelings and emotions running through her. She wanted him to protect her with his strength. She wanted him to make her feel safe like only he could. As his scent overwhelmed her, pushed away her fear, she burrowed against him. She could smell his woodsy, piney aftershave and could feel his warm skin against hers. His broad, muscled shoulders felt so powerful beneath her fingers, and when she glanced at his full masculine lips, a quiver slid down through her tired, aching body.

She held her breath as he gazed at her through the narrowed slits of his darkened eyes. And when his lips met hers, she reveled in their softness and warmth. His kiss grew desperate and hot as his mouth devoured hers making her burn with desire. She wanted his touch, needed him to put out the raging fire burning deep inside her, and so much more. She ran her fingers up his neck and played with his thick hair.

He gently pushed her down on the bed, kissing her face, licking away the tears still wet on her cheeks. He traced her neck, her lips, her shoulders, and her breasts with his mouth. He pulled her to him and lay beside her. He couldn’t get close enough to her.

Low guttural sounds rose to his lips as he deepened his kiss, and she opened her mouth and tangled her tongue with his. He moved his hands up and down her back, along her sides, spreading heat everywhere he touched. He rested one hand on her right breast, lightly squeezed her already erect nipple between his thumb and index finger. It hardened even more sending jolts of electric sparks deep inside her. She quivered and thrust her breast toward him, wanting more.

He flicked his tongue in and out of her mouth, then down along her neck. She tilted her head back, accepting his touch, and a loud moan escaped from her kiss-swollen lips.

He lowered his head to her breast, caressed his tongue back and forth on her nipple before he took it in his mouth, and began to suck.

A fire erupted within her, encompassing her body. She needed him to extinguish the blaze before her body burst into flames. She pulled him closer to her, unable to get enough of him.

She could feel his erection, hard, and throbbing against her stomach. So many emotions inundated her, making her feel dizzy. She hadn’t felt such heat and wanton desire in a long time, and she ached for more.

He continued to kiss her breasts, and then slowly lowered his mouth to her breast. He reached under her skimpy nightgown with his hand to find her soft feminine curls. When he caressed her hot, wet folds, inserting a finger inside her, she arched toward his hand, wanting more. He gave her more, adding another finger to the first. She was so hot and so wet and so ready for him.

Then he moaned into her ear. “I want you, Isabella. I want you now.”

She was hypnotized by his darkened blue eyes, and he filled her with so much passion, so many sensations that she couldn’t find the right words to answer. She pulled his lips back to hers, greedily engulfing them. She stroked her tongue in and out of his mouth showing him what she wanted from him.

He lay between her legs, sucking her breasts. He vigorously rubbed her throbbing nub with his finger and thumb as he stroked his fingers in and out.

She gasped for air, dizzy, her head spinning. She ground against his hand, demanding more, wanting more, wanting him inside of her. She reached for his pulsing manhood and felt the hardness and smoothness. She gently caressed it, with butterfly-like touch, sliding her hand up and down.

He moaned and moved to enter her, placing his erection against her entrance. She lifted her hips up to meet his as he plunged into her with one long hard stroke. They looked in each other’s eyes, and she felt awed by the drowning sensations, enthralled by the pleasure. He thrust hard, reaching deep, filling her, increasing the throbbing need at her central core. The sensation was one she’d never felt before.

Hot and wet, she squeezed his throbbing length with her internal muscles. She ran her hands over his chest, around his neck, down his back. She wanted to touch all of him, everywhere. She pulled him closer, plundering his mouth while she plastered herself against him.

Moving together, she met his rhythm and arched her back to meet his every thrust. His heart pounded against her chest, a perfect matching beat to hers. Gasping for air, he smothered her guttural moans with his passionate kiss. A kiss ending their flight of ecstasy simultaneously.

He rolled to his side and collapsed, holding her hips and taking her with him while he stayed inside her. She couldn’t speak while she watched him try to catch his breath. Struggling to comprehend what had just happened, she attempted to make sense of all the emotions running through her. From the expression on his face, she suspected he was having a few of his own doubts.

Several minutes later, when their breathing had leveled out, and he’d become lax, he slipped out of her, leaving her empty. He reached for the light covers at the foot of the bed, pulling them up and over both of them, and pulled her closer to him. He nuzzled her neck, kissed her cheek.

“Relax and go to sleep. I’ll protect you. Everything is fine.”