Luke: Armed and Dangerous (28 page)

Heart pounding like a herd of wild horses galloping across the desert, Trinity followed
behind Luke, keeping enough distance between them that she’d reach Joyce about the
same time he got clear of the cave.

Joyce Butler watched them coming, her eyes mostly on Luke, whom she perceived to be
her only real threat.

Trinity was counting on that.

She clasped her two hands together, and thought about all the times Joyce had run
her down, all the pain she had suffered from the bullying Joyce instigated.

For that, Trinity actually forgave the bitch.

It didn’t matter anymore.

What she couldn’t forgive Joyce for was threatening her sister and the man she loved.

This little murder plan of hers, that just wasn’t going to happen.

“I love you, Luke,”
Trinity shouted at the same time she swung her fists up and under Joyce’s gun arm.

Contact.

Trinity felt the jolt of her fists hitting Joyce’s hands and the gun butt all the
way through her skull.

Joyce screamed and the weapon fired as Trinity forced the woman’s hand up toward the
cave’s ceiling. Rock shards rained down on them, landing on their heads and faces,
getting in Trinity’s eyes. Her eyes stung as she followed her first swing with another
one, this time slicing her fists against Joyce’s wrists and knocking the gun from
the woman’s hand.

Another shot fired. Trinity didn’t know if it was from Joyce’s gun, and she didn’t
stop to think about it.

“You fucking bitch!” With a shriek, Joyce raked her nails along Trinity’s cheek, but
Trinity didn’t flinch.

Years of kickboxing training and Trinity went on autopilot. She landed a punch to
Joyce’s jaw, snapping the woman’s head back. In a flash of movement, Trinity positioned
herself for a side kick and slammed one Nike-clad foot down on Joyce’s thigh, just
above her knee.

Joyce Butler screamed again and fell back against the cave wall. Her face was a sickening
shade of purple, her eyes glittering with fury. Her brown hair stuck up like horns,
making her look like the demon she was. “You’re gonna die now, slut,” Joyce spat as
her hand shot to her back pocket where she probably had a second gun.

With a powerful right jab, Trinity buried her fist in Joyce’s belly, her hand sinking
deep into the soft flesh.

Air rushed from Joyce’s lungs in a loud cough, doubling the woman over until she dropped
to her knees. Trinity snatched Joyce’s extra gun from her back pocket. She backed
up a few steps, and just like she’d learned at the firing range, she cocked the weapon
and aimed it at the bitch’s head.

The way Joyce was rolling around the floor and screaming in obvious pain, though,
it wasn’t likely she was going to be making any moves toward Trinity.

Sparing a glance toward the front of the cave, Trinity saw Luke casually standing
with his own gun back in his hand.

Trinity’s gaze met Luke’s.

He smiled, and the look he gave her pumped the volume on every word he spoke. “I love
you, too, sugar.”

The next few days passed by in a virtual blur for Trinity. It was worse than after
Fenning’s arrest and Joyce’s supposed “disappearance.” She’d hardly had a chance to
see Luke with all that he’d had to do to wrap up those pieces of his investigation,
and they hadn’t had a second alone. Her body ached to feel him again, to be wrapped
up tight in his arms and stare into his eyes for hours.

The moment she got him to herself, she was gonna jump him. After she beat him to death
for not telling her he was a DEA agent.

He’d explained that.

Zack had explained it.

And Noah, and Clay Wayland, and even Skylar had taken a turn—but Trinity still thought
a kick to the gut was in order.

His name wasn’t even Rider. It was Denver.

With a sigh, she perched on the small stool at the vanity table in her bedroom and
ran a brush through her strawberry blond waves. But she didn’t even see her own reflection.
Instead she couldn’t help but relive the incredible sex she’d had with Luke in the
cave. And then the terrifying moments that had begun immediately after.

Thank God they had made it out alive.

When Luke had reached behind him for his gun, he had managed to press a button on
his cell phone. It had opened a line to some kind of special setup that notified his
partner, Rios, and gave him Luke’s coordinates, along with letting him in on the conversation
in the cave.

Rios had called for backup, but had gotten sidetracked when he’d run into a group
of Joyce Butler’s men on his way up the mountain, illegal immigrants they’d been using
as mules to smuggle cocaine into the United States from Mexico.

After Luke had secured Joyce’s hands behind her back and bound her ankles with strips
of material he’d torn from his denim shirt, he had whipped out his cell phone and
reached Rios.

Thirty minutes later it was all over. The sheriff’s department, the DEA, ICE, CBP—heck,
it had seemed like everyone had arrived. Trinity had been vaguely embarrassed by the
thoughts of the whole world snuffling around the cave where she’d just had wild sex—and
gotten interrupted, of course, by that psychopathic bitch.

What was it, anyway, with people catching her having sex? Payback for all those times
she’d watched Skylar and Zack?

Trinity sighed at the thought, feeling a twinge between her legs. Here it was, Christmas
Eve, and she had no idea when she would get to see Luke, or where he even was right
now.

Or even what she was going to do about the future.

Yesterday she’d contacted Human Resources at DropCaps and notified them that she’d
be working from the Flying M until at least March. They had no problem with that,
as long as she scheduled some time at the London, San Francisco, and New York hub
offices, so she’d set up those visits. If things
did
work out for her and her cowboy...

She shook her head and smiled. A cowboy for cripes sake, and a lawman to boot. Anyway,
if she and Luke were going to make a go at their relationship, she would try to get
an estimate of how often she’d need to travel, and take it from there.

After all that had happened over the past couple of weeks, Trinity felt as though
she had come full circle. She could finally leave behind the old, insecure version
of herself and see where the future led her—even if that was back into some aspects
of her past, like Douglas. She just needed to be herself, and being herself was all
right.

Trinity sighed again as she set the brush down, grabbed her makeup compact, and popped
open the lid. She patted a little more foundation along the four long scratches marring
her cheek, souvenirs of her encounter with Joyce Butler.

A smile of satisfaction crept across Trinity’s face. She’d kicked some serious butt
in that cave, and it had sure felt good to let that bitch have it. No doubt, with
all the evidence the various branches of law enforcement had gathered, Joyce was going
to spend a very long time in prison—and the cartel she’d been working with had vanished
like coyotes in the night. Guerrero might still be in business, but the bloody turf
war Luke had described to her, that was history for now.

After Trinity finished putting on her makeup and had fastened earrings in all of her
piercings, she slipped into an elegant strapless dress that she’d bought in Paris.
It was a deep shade of emerald green, reached two inches above her knee, and hugged
her slender figure. It didn’t come near showing the amount of skin as the dress she’d
worn at Nevaeh’s. She felt sophisticated, sexy, and beautiful in it.

Too bad Luke wasn’t going to see her in the dress—unless he made it to the party at
the Gadsden Hotel tonight. She hadn’t felt like going without him, but she’d promised
Skylar.

Trinity struggled for a moment with the zipper, but finally managed to get it up.
The shoes she chose were a matching green, but a decent height. Not like those death-on-sticks
heels Nevaeh had talked her into wearing at that Christmas party where Trinity had
met Luke. The stupid thong she was wearing was too tight, sliding up her crack, but
she could handle that.

The hell with it.

Trinity hiked up her dress, peeled off the thong, and tossed it aside before pulling
the dress down again. Just the feel of the outfit’s silky material brushing against
her bare ass was enough to give her ideas for about a dozen fantasies, all of them
involving Luke.

A knock sounded at the front door—probably Rylie, here to take her to Gadsden. Skylar
and Zack had left earlier, needing to take care of a few things before they attended
the party.

Trinity grabbed her handbag and headed out of her bedroom, down the hall to the living
room. Her heels clicked against the tile, and she wondered why the house was so dark.
She could swear she’d left the lights on in the kitchen. Only the colorful, twinkling
bulbs on the Christmas tree illuminated the living room, giving it a soft holiday
glow.

Trinity fixed a smile on her face and yanked open the front door—

To see Luke standing there with his sexy grin and that adorable dimple. “Merry Christmas,
sugar,” he said in his deep, vibrant tone.

“Luke.” Trinity’s voice was only a hoarse whisper as she threw her arms around his
neck and pressed her body to his.

Their mouths met, frantic, urgent, and demanding. He yanked up her skirt and groaned
with obvious satisfaction when his palms rested on her naked ass. The next thing she
knew, he’d picked her up and she’d wrapped her legs around his hips. Her head spun
as he swung her around and backed her against the wall, never breaking contact with
their kiss.

He felt so good, smelled so good, tasted so good.

Somehow he unbuckled his belt and she felt the coarse brush of denim against her thighs
as he unfastened his jeans. Their hands and their mouths didn’t stop moving. And when
he freed his cock, he drove inside her right there, right then, no teasing, no waiting.

Oh, God.
It felt so good, him taking her like that, his tongue plunging in and out of her
mouth. Hard and fast he thrust into her, hurtling her so fast toward the peak that
she could barely breathe.

Trinity purred her pleasure and her climax blasted through her in a flurry of incredible
sensation. Luke swallowed her cries as his hips jerked against hers and his hot fluid
filled her completely.

Lights blazed on, sudden and blinding.

At the exact same moment several voices shouted, “Surprise!”

And then the room went completely silent.

Trinity tore her mouth from Luke’s and buried her face against his shirt. “Oh. My.
God.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

“Um... oops.” Skylar’s voice came from behind them. “Um, guys, let’s head back into
the kitchen. We’ll break out the food while these two, uh, say hello.”

Giggles, laughter, snorts, and scattered conversation faded as the crowd moved out
of the living room and into the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Skylar said, and then the living room went dark again, leaving only the twinkling
Christmas lights.

When the room was quiet, Trinity tilted her head to look up at Luke. “Think we’ll
ever be able to have sex without someone walking in on us?”

“Maybe.” Luke grinned and pressed his forehead to hers. “At least until we have kids.”

As far as Luke was concerned, they didn’t need to join any damn party—but that was
purely for selfish reasons. He’d wanted to keep Trinity all to himself. But despite
her embarrassment, she’d told him that they might as well get it over with.

Somehow that sounded familiar.

While Trinity had “freshened” up in her bathroom, Luke took her overnight bag out
to his truck where he’d left a bag packed with a few of his own things. Once they
escaped from this mandatory shindig, Luke was going to steal her away for some serious
time alone.

Turned out that everything had been a setup—other than them being caught in the act.
Again. Rylie had asked Luke to pick up Trinity exactly at seven, to take her to the
party at the Gadsden. “Something came up at the last minute,” Rylie had said.

Hell, something had come up all right.

Just, ah, not quite what anyone expected.

When Trinity was as ready as she’d ever be, she and Luke joined the party that was
now in full swing.

“Nice of you to make it,” Zack said with a grin as they reached the living room.

“I’m really sorry.” Skylar shook her head, a blush creeping up her neck as she reached
for her heart pendant. “We had planned the surprise party out so well... it just never
occurred to me ...”

“I can assure you that we were definitely surprised,” Luke said with a straight face
and Zack snorted with laughter.

“What is this all about?” Trinity asked, sweeping her arm to encompass the room and
all the guests.

“I planned this ages ago.” Skylar shrugged. “It started off as a welcome home party,
then became a celebration that you two idiots survived to see another Christmas—and
then, when you said you were staying awhile, Trinity—” Skylar broke off, obviously
trying not to cry. “I really missed you, all those years you were gone.”

Trinity smiled up at her older sister. “Thanks. It means a lot to me. You mean a lot
to me.”

For the next couple of hours, Trinity and Luke mingled at the party. The whole time
he kept her close to his side, his arm around her waist in a protective embrace. She
was grateful for his support as they talked with one person after another... all of
whom had seen her with her dress hiked up to her waist and her legs around Luke’s
hips.

“Nice ass,” Nevaeh said with a snicker after she and Trinity hugged.

Trinity gave her a mock frown. “I keep telling you to stop eyeing my ass.”

With a wink, Nevaeh replied, “Well then, keep it covered, sweetie.”

It seemed like most of their friends had made it. Of course Sheriff Clay Wayland,
Brad Taylor, Cruz Rios, Noah Ralston, Wade Larson from the Coyote Pass Ranch, along
with Renee Duarte and Shannon Hanes from the valley on the other side of the Chiricahuas.